Zhu Yuanzhang is sixty-five years old this year.

At this age, what worried him most was that the entire Ming Empire would have no successor.

Choosing Zhu Yunwen before was a helpless move, as it was like picking the tallest person among short ones.

Even the fourth son, Zhu Di, whom he had previously favored, was not actually to Zhu Yuanzhang's liking.

After Zhu Ying appeared, Zhu Yuanzhang was initially influenced more by personal emotions, rather than by Zhu Ying's ability to inherit the throne.

But today, right now, it's completely different.

The suggestion of separating the military and politics is completely in line with the idea of ​​the Ming Dynasty lasting for thousands of years.

The most important thing is that the layout of the eldest grandson is simply horrifying. If it were someone else, Zhu Yuanzhang's first thought would be to kill him first.

From the early layout of Annan to the current control of Goryeo, such actions would seem like a ghost story to ordinary people.

Such a great grandson, based on his talent alone, is more than capable of ruling the Ming Dynasty.

What else does Zhu Yuanzhang have to regret?

"Grandpa, don't cry." Zhu Ying looked at the old man who first laughed wildly and then burst into tears. He quickly stood up and went forward to comfort him.

"We are happy about this."

Zhu Yuanzhang wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves, his emotions fluctuating violently. Zhu Ying patted his back gently, and he finally calmed down after a while.

"I'm old now, and I can't control myself."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with some emotion.

He himself has a bad temper, and his sons are very similar in this respect.

This is especially true when it comes to my eldest sister, grandson, and son.

"My eldest grandson, you should find some time to go and see your father. It's been so long since you returned to the capital, and you haven't even seen your father." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed slightly and said to Zhu Ying.

"Follow grandpa's arrangements." Zhu Ying said in a low voice.

Zhu Ying had mixed feelings towards this father whom he had never met, but the man had passed away and there was no possibility of communication anymore.

After hearing what his eldest grandson said, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little sad, but his emotions were not as volatile as before.

After all, I still have my eldest grandson around, so I am not alone.

No matter how many descendants you have, there are only two people who call you grandpa and dad, and now they are the only ones.

It’s not that Zhu Yuanzhang doesn’t care about his other descendants, but he always feels there is a layer of distance between them, especially now that he is old, every time he hears the words “Father” or “Grandpa Emperor”.

Zhu Yuanzhang always felt a little uncomfortable when the word "emperor" was mentioned.

"Grandson, do you have any other questions about reviewing memorials?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked casually.

However, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, his eldest grandson had already realized the separation of military and politics, and this must have reached its limit.

The last question is somewhat like a procedure.

However, Zhu Ying hesitated for a moment and said, "Grandpa, there is actually another aspect that my grandson has noticed."

Zhu Ying hesitated, because he felt that there were too many things to talk about today, and if he said them all at once, he would feel like he had indigestion.

However, seeing the sadness on the old man's face, he decided to speak out, at least to divert his grandfather's attention.

Moreover, the problem he wanted to talk about was at the root of domestic affairs, and it was a huge shock to all the systems of the Ming Dynasty.

Just like Shang Yang's reforms, it is actually imminent. The sooner it happens, the more beneficial it will be for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment. He asked casually, but he didn't expect that his eldest grandson actually had other ideas.

So he asked, "What is it about?"

Zhu Ying replied: "It's about internal affairs."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been in a somewhat depressed state, suddenly became energetic.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, his eldest grandson had unique insights into many strategies for governing the country.

Especially the last work-for-relief program.

The strategic plan of using work as a substitute for relief has now been implemented in most places in the Ming Dynasty.

Because of the eldest grandson's last warning, even though all the court officials wanted to promote it nationwide, they were stopped by Zhu Yuanzhang.

According to the eldest grandson, if work-for-relief is not supported by familiar experience and a complete budget plan, it will easily lead to widespread corruption once it is promoted nationwide.

The implementation of work-for-relief now requires special approval from Zhu Yuanzhang, and is mainly aimed at areas experiencing famine.

So far, the effect is better than expected.

There are already many disasters in the Ming Dynasty. Once a disaster occurs, it will take at least seven or eight days or even more than ten days to report it from the disaster area to the capital.

Then the capital issued an order to transfer grain from the surrounding areas of the disaster area for disaster relief.

This also involves the mobilization of the army. After all, in order to prevent accidents, disaster relief grain is usually escorted by the army.

Moreover, without a large army to suppress the starving victims, there is no guarantee that they will cause any trouble.

The whole process from raising grain to providing disaster relief, or the time it takes for the grain to reach the hands of the victims, takes at least one month.

It is difficult for the victims to survive until this point, and it is impossible for them to stay in the disaster area and wait to die.

Therefore, the victims in the disaster-stricken areas would redeem themselves and head directly in groups towards the capital, while local governments would provide certain rescue efforts along the way.

In the past, the rescue efforts along the way were mainly provided by the government. There was no such thing as gentry, nobles, or wealthy landlords taking out their stored grain.

Things like distributing porridge as shown in later movies and TV shows are basically impossible to happen.

Generally, wealthy families have many descendants and maids and servants. They cannot even take care of themselves, let alone give alms to others.

To do such a thing is simply a fantasy.

At most, it would be a token of our appreciation when the government called for donations of grain.

Moreover, the number of disaster victims is far beyond the ability of a few wealthy families to handle.

Even when the disaster victims passed through the city, they were given porridge outside the city and were strictly prohibited from entering the city.

However, after the work-for-relief policy was introduced, these gentry, nobles, landlords and wealthy families began to become proactive, and sometimes even fought each other for the places.

In such an atmosphere, Xiaobo's disaster victims in three or four cities were absorbed.

A large wave of disaster victims would at most pass through a dozen cities, that's all.

It would not be like usual, with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of disaster victims gathering outside the capital.

"Grandson, if you have any ideas, just speak up." Zhu Yuanzhang said with some anticipation.

Zhu Yuanzhang always had a feeling that things that were very troublesome for him suddenly became simple when they came to his eldest grandson.

The famine in the Ming Dynasty harmed countless people and could almost be said to be the root cause of the unrest. However, thanks to a strategy developed by his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang has not seen any emergency memorials regarding disasters recently.

It’s not that the disasters have become less severe, but that the victims have been absorbed by the surrounding cities before they even begin to gather.

The disaster victims who were once despised now suddenly feel like they are popular.

Because once a disaster occurs, there will definitely be people who survive by working in exchange for relief, and many gentry and nobles want to take this opportunity to make a fortune.

If grain is stored in a cellar for too long, it will become stale and worthless.

No matter how severe the famine is, the gentry and nobles will not worry about food and clothing, and of course they will make as much money as they can.

Zhu Ying organized his words in his mind and said:

"When my grandson was reviewing the memorials, he discovered a serious problem: most local officials had no experience in being officials."

"And when Guo Zhong told me about these officials, I found that the circumstances of their appointments were very chaotic."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned when he heard this and asked, "What do you mean by chaos, grandson?"

Zhu Ying said: "For example, when an official first started his career, he first worked in the Ministry of Revenue. After working in the Ministry of Revenue for three years, he went to the Ministry of Personnel. After another three years, he might have gone to the Ministry of Works."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his brows frowned even deeper, because he didn't understand what problem his eldest grandson was talking about, and he even felt a little unhappy.

"Does Grandson mean that we are moving these officials around too frequently?"

In fact, in the past, many officials would serve in one place for a relatively long time, but Zhu Yuanzhang did this to prevent corruption or factionalism.

Generally speaking, officials' positions are transferred every few years, and the higher the rank of the official, the more frequent the transfer.

Especially the six ministers, who are replaced almost every two to three years.

Zhu Yuanzhang used this to consolidate power in his hands and achieve the effect of centralization.

Zhu Ying heard the old man's impatient tone, but he didn't take it to heart and continued:

"Master, what kind of books does an official need to read when he starts to work as an official?"

Zhu Yuanzhang replied: "Of course it is the Four Books and Five Classics."

At present, the Ming Dynasty used the eight-legged essay to select scholars. The imperial examination was only allowed to have questions within the scope of the "Four Books" and the "Five Classics". Candidates were not allowed to express themselves freely, and their answers had to be made up of eight consecutive parts, which could not be violated. This form of essay was called the "eight-legged essay".

After Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, his goal was to rebuild the feudal empire and strengthen central power.

However, capitalism had already sprouted at that time, and commerce and markets had developed to a great extent, which was a shock to the feudal economy.

The resulting ideas and various "heresies" also posed a shock to the feudal ideological system.

In other words, the candidates who took the imperial examinations were no longer satisfied with the ideas of previous generations. They wrote new content in their examination essays, which included not only the thoughts of various philosophers, but also the viewpoints of Buddhism and Taoism.

The examination essays were so unorthodox and mixed with new and strange ideas and bizarre discussions. In Zhu Yuanzhang's opinion, this was unacceptable.

In order to force the students at that time to follow the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, stop heresy and thus consolidate feudal autocracy, it was necessary to strengthen the inculcation of Confucian classics and bring people's thoughts back on track with official thought.

To achieve this goal, the best way is naturally to strictly regulate the imperial examination from content to form, so Zhu Yuanzhang made the regulations.

The standard answers for the imperial examinations must be based on the Confucian classic "Four Books" annotated by Zhu Xi, and the essays must be in the form of eight-part essays.

In this way, scholars no longer need to have their own independent thoughts, nor can they have their own independent thoughts, otherwise they will not be able to pass the imperial examination.

This is the true meaning of exam-oriented education in the Ming Dynasty.

So when Zhu Ying mentioned this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt very uncomfortable in his heart. He even twisted his body slightly, trying to suppress his violent emotions.

After all, the person standing in front of him was his eldest grandson, whom he hadn't seen for ten years. It was not easy for him to meet his beloved grandson again.

Or it could be said that Zhu Yuanzhang now doesn't know how to vent his anger on his eldest grandson.

If it had been his eldest son Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang would probably have picked up his weapons and chased him to beat him.

Zhu Ying also sensed the old man's abnormality, but he still chose to continue asking:

"Grandpa also came from a poor family, so he must understand how long it takes for a blacksmith apprentice to grow into a master blacksmith."

Zhu Ying turned and said.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't understand what his grandson meant, but he still replied, "At least three to five years, seven to eight years is normal."

Zhu Ying nodded and asked again: "Then how can a student who has passed the imperial examination and has become an official have the experience of serving as an official?"

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually calmed down, as if he had sensed what his grandson meant, and he said after a moment's hesitation:

"There are always old people who guide new people. An official starts as an assistant. When he has familiar experience, he passes the test and becomes the chief officer."

Zhu Ying nodded. At this point, the key point was almost there.

He asked again: "The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of land, taxes, household registration, military supplies, salaries, food and wages, and the national treasury."

"The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the appointment, dismissal, examination, promotion, demotion and transfer of officials."

"The Ministry of War is responsible for selecting military officers, military records, military equipment, military orders, etc."

"For an official who has never been in contact with any of the six departments, it would take at least several years to become familiar with the details. He is just an apprentice."

"When an apprentice has just gained some experience, he has to go to another place to learn. If he is a talented person, there is no need to say more, but there are not so many talented people."

"Even some well-behaved officials need to spend their entire lives studying just one thing: how to better utilize their talents."

"Grandpa, have you ever read The Oil Seller by Ouyang Xiu from the Song Dynasty? There is nothing special about it, it's just a matter of practice."

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows relaxed and he asked, "What Grandson meant is that officials should be transferred within their own positions. For example, officials in the Ministry of Revenue should be transferred within the Ministry of Revenue, and officials in the Ministry of Personnel should be transferred within the Ministry of Personnel."

"It is to help officials better grasp what they have learned, is that what you mean?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had actually considered this issue, so when it came to the appointment and removal of officials, most of them were from their original departments, with only a few very talented ones.

For example, the position of Shangshu is mainly about managing officials, so transfers will not affect the learning of the department.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, the problem with his eldest grandson was obviously caused by his lack of familiarity with the court.

However, Zhu Ying shook his head and said:

"Of course not. My grandson's idea is to open up another path to fame besides the imperial examination. The books that students read are not limited to the Four Books and Five Classics, but are compiled separately."

Canceling the eight-legged essay for selecting scholars, or suppressing it first, is a process that Zhu Ying believes must be undertaken.

The Ming Dynasty that Zhu Ying wanted to build was a Ming Dynasty where the people's wisdom was enlightened.

The eight-legged essay system imposed too much restriction on thought, so much so that later on there came into being the saying that a scholar is completely useless.

I should have known that the former scholar was not a helpless person.

Among the so-called six arts of a gentleman, learning martial arts is a must for every scholar.

For example, Confucius, a sage who is 1.86 meters tall, is probably more powerful than Xiang Yu.

After all, the tripod that Xiang Yu lifted when he was the Overlord only weighed 350 kilograms.

Confucius was lifting up the city gate. According to the conditions at that time in the Spring and Autumn Period, the lightest city gate weighed more than 400 kilograms.

Even Zhuge Kongming, the most famous military strategist of the Three Kingdoms.

Not to mention his high personal fighting power, he can easily fight at least four or five big men alone.

Today, the West has begun the Renaissance, a movement of open-mindedness.

If Zhu Ying wanted to lay the foundation for Ming Dynasty to enter the industrial age, he had to liberate his mind and allow more thoughts to collide to produce strong sparks.

The most important thing is to improve the status of craftsmen.

If you want to carry out this subsequent series of actions, first of all you need a large number of talents.

This is also why Zhu Ying's first thought after realizing his life experience was to go to Annan.