Chapter 190: Ambassador of the Ming Dynasty



Perhaps the biggest difference between Zhu Yuanzhang and other emperors is that Zhu Yuanzhang did not have any very close ministers around him.

Liu Bowen, Hu Weiyong, Tang He and other ministers who often followed Zhu Yuanzhang and gave him advice died of illness, old age, or were killed by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Queen Ma and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who could have comforted Your Majesty, are no longer around.

In the 25th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang made the final decision without any doubt.

At the morning court session, when Zhu Yuanzhang proposed to establish three major academies of agriculture, craftsmanship, and firearms, the ministers had no reason to object or question it.

Perhaps they don't even understand the details and can only agree.

The civil officials of Hongwu had no choice but to obey. Who would dare to question it? Could it be that since His Majesty had not killed anyone recently, he thought the sword was not sharp anymore?

No one thought so. Even the most principled censor did not dare to interfere in policy. The only thing he could do was to accuse His Majesty of not observing the laws of propriety.

However, if Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to be stubborn, the censor had no choice but to give in. Otherwise, Zhu Yuanzhang would not still call himself "we" instead of "I" until now.

After deciding to establish the three major academies, Zhu Yuanzhang's edict began to be announced to the world through the post stations.

"We have established three schools. Anyone in the world can come and take the exam. The Agricultural School is for studying rice and wheat, and the Craftsman School is for forging weapons and making tools."

"The Firearms School is for the work of making firearms and cannons. Those who pass the examination and enter the school this time will receive a minimum monthly salary of 20 dan and 20 guan of treasure notes. This is known to everyone in China and abroad."

Zhu Yuanzhang's edicts were written in plain language, which was familiar to everyone. Even the punctuation was done so that the people could understand them.

The meaning of these words is very clear, that is, three schools have been established in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and now talented people from all over the world are being recruited.

As long as you can pass the entrance exam, you will receive at least a considerable salary.

This is a general outline, and of course it is accompanied by a detailed introduction to the three major halls and their requirements.

These relevant imperial edicts and notices will be conveyed to the 1,427 counties in the Ming Dynasty.

Anyone who can pass the preliminary examination in the county can enter the provincial capital for the intermediate examination, and then take the final examination in the thirteen provincial capitals across the country.

Finally, they were sent to the capital for an interview.

In a sense, this is almost no different from the imperial examination. The underlying meaning is exactly the same, both of which are about the country recruiting useful talents.

You should know that even an official of the ninth rank only received a monthly salary of 60 dan of rice and 30 guan of treasure notes.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that since the three academies have just opened, the selection criteria will naturally not be too high, and now is the best opportunity.

When a butterfly flaps its wings, a storm will emerge.

The appearance of this edict also meant the beginning of the entire Ming Dynasty reform.

Zhu Ying's arrival began to truly change the future direction of the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, we no longer have any chance. Given the current situation, I'm afraid that His Highness Prince Yu has completely gained the trust of His Majesty."

In Chunhe Hall, Huang Zicheng spoke bitterly to Zhu Yunwen.

This kind of election of talented people has actually bypassed most of the literati class, and many civil officials are dissatisfied.

In the past, one only had to be familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics to become an official through imperial examinations or through recommendations. But once this method was introduced, selection was no longer limited to the circle of literati.

How could the civil officials in the court not understand this logic? However, although they were dissatisfied, they looked at each other, and no one dared to raise any opinions.

Throughout history, such a thing has never happened, but under the rule of Zhu Yuanzhang, it actually happened.

Even civil officials dare not oppose Your Majesty and fight for their own interests as civil officials.

Once you open your mouth, not only will your roof over your head be in danger, but even the suicide note at home may come in handy.

Everyone could see that the five ministers standing in front of all the officials kept their heads down quietly without any unusual movements.

It’s just that this time, Your Majesty did not discuss this issue in a consultative manner, but issued a direct edict, which means that there is no room for negotiation on this matter.

Anyone who dares to oppose is going against His Majesty.

After hearing Huang Zicheng's words, Zhu Yunwen did not feel as disappointed as he had imagined. Instead, he seemed more calm.

"Although I have not met Big Brother yet, I have already felt his talent. The establishment of the three major colleges means that Big Brother's ability far exceeds mine."

"Not only that, if my prediction is correct, these three colleges will be led by Big Brother himself, and all the people who come out of the colleges will become Big Brother's trusted confidants."

Zhu Yunwen said lightly that since he started communicating with his mother about the current situation, Zhu Yunwen was like a sponge, quickly absorbing the knowledge beyond Confucianism that his mother passed on.

Huang Zicheng was originally worried, but when he heard His Highness' words, there was surprise in his eyes.

As the saying goes, one should look at a man with new eyes after three days of absence. Zhu Yunwen gave Huang Zicheng a completely different feeling.

"I have already proposed to Grandfather the Emperor to cancel the title of Crown Prince that was about to be conferred on me. Now that my eldest brother has returned, it is natural that the title of Crown Prince should be assumed by my eldest brother."

"Sir, please follow me out of the palace tomorrow. I will go to visit my elder brother."

Zhu Yunwen continued speaking with a calm look in his eyes, as if he completely accepted what his elder brother had done.

Hearing this, Huang Zicheng sighed slightly, then bowed to Zhu Yunwen and said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Ying looked at the tiger talisman in his hand and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Just now when he summoned Liu Sheng and Li Xiucai for a talk, Liu He, the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department, came over and handed the tiger talisman to Zhu Ying.

This is the tiger talisman of the Emperor's Twelve Guards. When Zhu Ying gets this tiger talisman, it means that Zhu Ying will now have control over the entire Emperor's Twelve Guards, including the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Twelve Guards of the Emperor are directly under the Emperor, and neither the Five Military Commanderies nor the Ministry of War has any command authority over them.

This is equivalent to Zhu Yuanzhang handing over all security forces to his eldest grandson.

This fully proves Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in his eldest grandson.

Even the Crown Prince Zhu Biao never got the command of the Twelve Guards, which shows how much Zhu Yuanzhang doted on and supported Zhu Ying.

Of course, trust was one factor that prompted this incident, but more importantly, it was Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in the soldiers who had been trained in Zhu Ying's military camp in just twelve days.

Zhu Yuanzhang was really envious, but it didn't seem a good idea to directly snatch the soldiers under his eldest grandson.

After all, it was the eldest grandson who accompanied them in training day and night, which was why they were able to train such disciplined soldiers.

Fortunately, the twelve guards were handed over to the eldest grandson for training. Liu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, whispered:

"Your Majesty means that during the period of training the Royal Guards, you are expected to stay in the palace."

Hearing this, Zhu Ying smiled and replied: "Tell grandpa that I still need two days here, and then I will go to the palace to train the imperial guards."

"I obey your order." Liu He bowed and replied.

At this moment, Liu Sheng looked at Li Xiucai and felt relieved.

After Liu He left, Zhu Ying said, "Thank you for your hard work this time."

"Teacher's business is the disciple's responsibility. There is no need to worry about it." Liu Sheng replied respectfully.

He was not stupid, so why would he follow Li Xiucai's words and change his address to "Your Highness" in private?

"It is a blessing for a commoner to be able to serve the boss." Li Xiucai also said hurriedly, which was a bit incongruous. He called himself the boss but called himself a commoner.

Zhu Ying said no more, and said to the two of them, "The journey is long. Now that we have arrived in the capital, and I happen to be short of manpower here, we don't need to go back to the Western Regions."

"You guys stay here and help out. Send a message to the Western Regions. I'll make a list and call everyone over."

"The situation is different now. The Qun Ying City should be transferred to the capital."

After hearing Zhu Ying's order, Liu Sheng said a little embarrassedly: "Please forgive me, Master. I didn't know your situation in the capital, so I took the initiative to gather so many people to the capital."

This was Liu Sheng's previous arrangement. Considering the time of the message, it is likely that thousands of people have already lurked around the capital.

Zhu Ying paused for a moment after hearing this, then laughed and said, "Old Liu, this is a lucky coincidence for you. Notify them and gather all the personnel here."

Zhu Ying then called Zhang Bo in. Now Ye Yueqing was not with Zhu Ying, but was following Zhu Ying's instructions and coordinating matters related to the matchlock gun in the Gunpowder Department.

After instructing Zhang Bo to contact the people coming from the Western Regions, the desert, and the grasslands, Zhang Bo also told him another piece of news:

"Boss, the people coming from Annan have arrived at Tianjie Temple for many days. Boss, please see how to arrange them."

The Annan envoy team disguised as Annan Zhao Fei, arrived in the capital and openly stayed in the Tianjie Temple.

However, Zhu Ying was busy training the Xuanjia Guard during this period and couldn't take care of these things.

Hearing Zhang Bo's words, Zhu Ying said casually: "Let them come directly, and the soldiers will be placed in the Xuanjiawei military camp first."

Just as Ye Yueqing and Zhao Xiangxi left, Zhu Ying didn't expect that Zhao Fei would send the princess from Annan again.

It really is, quite good.

However, Zhu Ying does not have much time now. He has become a very busy man, coordinating the school, training the guards, and planting crops such as sweet potatoes.

He had not even taken care of the previously proposed matter of co-compilation of new imperial examination books with the Hanlin Academy.

Not to mention Zhu Ying now, there is a package plan for the follow-up.

At this time, Zhu Ying had already begun to feel that he was becoming increasingly busy.

No matter where he was, the old man would always arrange for eunuchs to deliver memorials for his review on time.

Now, Zhu Ying not only gets up early, but also goes to bed late at night.

Only when Zhu Ying actually got involved in the arrangements of state affairs did he realize that being an emperor was really busy.

If you want to be responsible, there are simply too many things to deal with every day.

The most important thing is that in Zhu Ying's mind, the country is currently in a state of reform, and many things cannot be delegated to others. They must be implemented in person.

Now Zhu Ying is preparing to rush to the military camp in the suburbs to check on the sweet potato planting arrangements made yesterday.

Just as they were preparing to leave, Zhang Bo came in again and reported, "Boss, Duke Cao wants to see you."

Zhu Ying was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was Li Jinglong.

Zhu Ying was somewhat interested in this person, but he had to hurry to the outskirts of the city. After a moment of hesitation, he said directly:

"Let him come down to the carriage and talk with me."

Even though Li Jinglong had heard many times about how Prince Yu's eldest grandson and Prince Crown Prince looked like, he was still shocked when he actually saw them.

It's not just the looks, even the temperament is the same.

At the same time, Li Jinglong did not expect that his first detailed conversation with Zhu Ying would be in a carriage.

"Your Highness, I, Li Jinglong, greet you."

In front of Zhu Ying, Li Jinglong did not have the courage to call himself a cousin or some other relative, although he was indeed a cousin.

He is really handsome and can be compared with me.

This thought came to Zhu Ying's mind the first time he saw Li Jinglong.

This is a real handsome guy. Even from the perspective of future generations, he is truly handsome and has extraordinary temperament.

He doesn’t have the feeling of a pretty boy, but rather has a graceful demeanor, and there is nothing impeccable about his facial features.

The man on the street is as beautiful as jade, and the young man is unparalleled in the world. These words are absolutely true when applied to Li Jinglong.

After seeing Li Jinglong in person, Zhu Ying also understood why Zhu Yunwen trusted him so much, it was because Li Jinglong's appearance was really too deceptive.

"I heard from Master Daoyan that you came here to look for me before. Why did you come again this time? Or do you have something to ask me?"

Zhu Ying was not very polite and did not call him cousin or anything like that.

Although he had a good first impression of Li Jinglong, Zhu Ying knew that this guy was Zhu Di's hidden pawn.

Zhu Ying currently has no pressure on Zhu Di, but this does not mean that he needs to be nice to Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong felt a little embarrassed when he heard this. He didn't expect that his good looks were completely useless in front of Zhu Ying.

You have to know that no matter who he is or where he goes, Li Jinglong has always been very popular thanks to his looks.

But today I hit a wall.

"I heard that you are in charge of the tea-horse trade in Xifan." Zhu Ying asked directly without waiting for Li Jinglong to speak, with a slightly oppressive tone.

Li Jinglong shuddered when he heard this, and then he said, "Since October last year, I have been in charge of the tea-horse trade affairs according to your majesty's order."

His words were rather cautious, but at the moment Li Jinglong's heart was not as calm as his face showed. Instead, a huge wave of emotion was brewing in his heart.

Master Daoyan has already served His Royal Highness Prince Yu in front of him, and he is responsible for the secret transaction between himself and Prince Yan.

How could Li Jinglong not be nervous when asked about this matter?

"I wonder how many excellent war horses Duke Cao has given to my fourth uncle in recent days." Zhu Ying did not hide the answer and asked directly.

Li Jinglong shuddered. He felt extremely regretful at this moment. He knew that Master Daoyan had already surrendered, so why did he still come to him foolishly?

Facing Zhu Ying's question, Li Jinglong knew that there was no room for quibbling, so he gritted his teeth and said, "A total of 5,786 war horses of various types."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying looked at Li Jinglong with a smile.

Yao Guangxiao never told him the specific number, so Li Jinglong just lied to him and told the truth.

In fact, when Zhu Ying saw Li Jinglong for the first time, after being impressed by Li Jinglong's temperament and image, a sudden inspiration came to his mind.

In fact, ancient people's concept of appearance was far more exaggerated than that of later generations.

With a handsome appearance like Li Jinglong, even if he was an ordinary citizen, it would be very easy for him to be noticed by officials and promoted, not to mention that he himself was quite knowledgeable.

Although Li Jinglong was labeled a fool in later generations, he actually had some talent.

Putting aside Zhu Di's hidden man, there was a deliberate waterproof component in the Jingnan Campaign, and his abilities in all aspects are considered excellent

Zhu Ying immediately thought that it was of great strategic significance for someone like Li Jinglong to serve as the Ming Dynasty's image ambassador to overseas countries.


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