The affairs of the morning court may seem very complicated, but in fact they follow a specific order and rules.

After Zhu Yuanzhang introduced his eldest grandson, the morning court session began.

The morning court is mainly divided into four parts.

The first thing to do was to receive officials entering and leaving Beijing. The officials from the Honglu Temple were the first to come out and report to the emperor the number of officials who came to Beijing to express their gratitude and left Beijing to ask for favors. These people had all reported to the Honglu Temple the day before.

These people, who are below the sixth rank, are not qualified to enter the Fengtian Hall, so at this time, the emperor will choose to summon them or not.

Those who were not summoned by name, after being informed by officials, would perform the ritual of five bows and three kowtows from a distance in the courtyard or outside the Meridian Gate. After the ritual, they could go about their own business.

The second is to deal with important border affairs.

Military issues such as those on the grasslands, along the coast, and in other frontier areas of the Ming Dynasty were all discussed and handled one by one as raised by the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office.

Of course, what can be discussed at the morning court are generally ordinary military affairs, and urgent reports from the border will naturally reach the emperor as soon as possible.

After these two things are dealt with, it is the conventional process of reporting and changing the title, which is basically the same as what Zhu Ying saw in later movies and TV shows.

According to convention, every official would "cough once in advance" before reporting on matters. This was called "cleaning up", which actually also meant saying hello, so as to avoid confusion and embarrassment caused by two people leaving work at the same time.

If two people really rushed to go out and report on something, officials from the Tongzhengsi or Honglu Temple would usually be responsible for guiding them.

After leaving work, officials need to report to the Emperor in the Golden Palace, and then return to work.

When reporting something, the memorial needs to be read aloud.

In addition to guiding officials in reporting to the emperor, officials from the Tongzhengsi and Honglu Temple were sometimes required to read memorials on behalf of others. In order to achieve a "beautiful appearance" effect, officials from the office who met the standards of "beautiful appearance" and "loud voice" were generally selected.

Regarding these government affairs, if they can be handled immediately, the emperor will ask questions or give responses. If they cannot be handled immediately, the emperor will usually summon relevant officials for discussions after the morning court. Except for urgent government affairs, he generally will not make rash decisions in court.

The reason why Zhu Ying felt speechless was at this point.

Zhu Yuanzhang was so outrageous in this regard that even the big and small cases in the capital could be discussed at the morning court.

To a certain extent, as the emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang personally investigated and tried some bandits in the capital.

Zhu Ying keenly discovered that when a slightly bizarre case appeared in the court, the old man would become extremely excited, and then he would ponder, analyze, or even directly make a decision based on the existing clues.

"So you are such an old man."

Zhu Ying complained in his heart.

It seems that there were a lot of strange things happening among the emperors after the Ming Dynasty. It turned out that it was not a genetic mutation, but a true bloodline inheritance.

It's just that the old man didn't show it very obviously, so it's not known to the public. After all, in ancient times, there was no concept of Sherlock Holmes reasoning.

Especially since the old man was the founding emperor, many people believed that it was his majesty's control over power rather than his personal hobby.

Only Zhu Ying, who had the memory of his past life, noticed it immediately.

After deep thought, Zhu Ying realized that the old man who seemed to attach great importance to power actually did not attach as much importance to it as people imagined.

"Perhaps the former prince was in a similar situation to me now. The old man would like to push all the memorials to me."

It should be noted that the emperor's power is reflected in reviewing memorials.

Whether it is personnel transfers or case handling, it all reflects the emperor's supreme authority.

Before Zhu Ying entered the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang had already been impatient to send memorials to him, even though he was going to Henan to deal with the plague, which was hundreds of miles away.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think it was a bother and still delivered it on time every day.

In the palace, needless to say.

Such a situation is almost impossible to occur no matter in which dynasty or between which father and son.

Emperors of all dynasties were lucky enough not to be wary of the crown prince. There were too many cases of deposing the crown prince in various dynasties, and no one would do it like Zhu Yuanzhang.

I can't wait to retire.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was trying to deduce the case, he suddenly noticed a strange look from his eldest grandson.

"Will our eldest grandson discover our hobbies?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart skipped a beat and he looked at Zhu Ying with some suspicion.

As Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent, the court, which had been somewhat lively, became quiet.

"Grandson, what do you think about this case?"

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and then directly pushed the question to his eldest grandson.

The fact that this case could be brought to the court for discussion naturally made the officials feel very difficult.

There was a businessman named Xu in the capital who had a very beautiful wife, Li.

This made his friends around him extremely envious of her. If she were a concubine, they would have paid a large sum of money to buy her away long ago.

In the 20th year of Hongwu, a businessman named Xu and his good friend Zhao went out to do business together.

When they came back, only Zhao came back.

Zhao said to Li that your husband unfortunately fell into the river and drowned while they were on a boat together, and there were witnesses and official documents, so the matter was concluded in this way.

Although Li was very sad when she saw the official document, she had no choice but to accept the fact.

Without her husband, Li became a widow. Although the family still had some money, Li's life was very hard.

There are always a lot of gossips about widows, let alone a woman as beautiful as Li.

During this period, Zhao would help Li in many ways and would always show his courtesy to her.

Li and her husband did not have any children, and her husband's parents died very early. Li's situation was basically the same.

Although she knew Zhao's purpose, Li, as a single woman, finally agreed to Zhao's proposal, remarried him, and gave birth to two children.

Until this year, at the end of last month, there was a heavy rain in Nanjing.

Zhao and Li's two children were playing in the water under the porch. At this time, a frog appeared and jumped from the accumulated water under the porch onto the steps.

The older children took a small wooden stick and poked the frog back into the water.

At this time, Zhao and Li were watching on the side.

Perhaps it was because of the scene or some other reason, Zhao suddenly sighed: "He looked like this when he fell into the water."

As soon as Zhao said this, he regretted it.

Although the voice was very soft, Li, who was standing next to him, could hear it clearly.

Li immediately realized that the reason her husband, a businessman named Xu, fell into the water and drowned was definitely not that simple and there were other reasons behind it.

So she kept asking Zhao what happened to her husband's death.

After many days of questioning, Zhao finally couldn't hold back and told Li the whole story.

It turned out that when Zhao first saw that Li was beautiful, he didn't say it, but he was always thinking about her in his heart.

He even talked to Xu privately many times, wanting to spend a large sum of money in the hope that Xu would give his wife to him, but Xu flatly refused.

Zhao then made a hypocritical apology and obtained Xu's forgiveness, and they went out to do business together again.

On that boat, when the waves were the biggest, Zhao invited Xu to watch, and when Xu was not paying attention, he pushed him into the water.

The waves were so turbulent that the skilled boatman did not dare to go into the water even when Zhao paid all his fortune and a hundred taels of cash to beg him to save the man.

With water conditions like this, no matter how good you are at swimming, it will be useless. You will basically die if you go in.

The passengers on the ship, including businessmen who knew Xu and Zhao, were also moved by Zhao's generosity.

After all, one hundred strings of cash is not a small amount of money, enough to meet the basic needs of an ordinary family for several years.

When the government was adjudicating the case, these witnesses naturally tended to favor Zhao.

The reason why Zhao explained the matter in such detail was that he believed that this incident happened five years ago.

Now Li and I have two children, and our life is pretty good, at least we don't have to worry about food and drink.

Even if he knew what happened back then, he would not report it to the authorities.

After listening to this, Li did not get angry or scold him, which made Zhao feel relieved. They even got intimate with each other that night.

However, on the next day, after Zhao went out.

Li killed the two children directly.

Then she took the child's body to the authorities to surrender herself and sued Zhao for murdering her husband.

When the officials asked her why she wanted to kill her children, Li explained: "These two children are the descendants of my husband's enemies, and she wants to avenge her husband."

This case immediately caused a sensation in the capital, and the officials handling the case did not know how to deal with the matter. After all, there was no relevant clause in the Ming Dynasty laws.

Zhao was naturally sentenced to death, and Li was in a difficult situation.

Especially since this incident happened in the capital city, it naturally received different attention.

So this case was reported by officials today.

After hearing the old man's question, Zhu Ying did not speak for a long time. He knew in his heart what to do, but he could not say the verdict out loud.

Finally, he sighed and said, "Grandpa, I don't know how to judge this case."

Whoever kills someone shall pay with his life. This is the law of the Ming Dynasty.

But in the current Ming Dynasty, women's chastity is highly valued and advocated.

Although Li killed people, it is very consistent with the current national conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

Nowadays, the ideology promoted by the Ming Dynasty is dominated by Confucianism.

The Confucian classic "Book of Rites" says, "The enemy of my father cannot be shared under the heaven." This is the origin of "The enemy of my parents cannot be shared under the heaven."

The Book of Rites also records that Zixia asked Confucius, "What should I do if I am the enemy of my parents?" The Master said, "Sleep with straw and use dry pillows, do not serve as an official, and do not share the world with him. If you meet him in the market or court, do not raise your weapons and fight him."

What Confucius meant was: If you bear the blood feud of your parents, you will not live under the same sky with your enemies. Don't be an official, sleep on a straw mat with a shield as a pillow, and wait for revenge.

If you meet an enemy in a public place, you don't have to go home to get a weapon, just rush up and start fighting.

And now Li's revenge for her husband is obviously in line with the mainstream thinking of Confucianism.

A similar case once occurred during the reign of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian first pardoned the person involved, but then sentenced him to death because other officials reported that he had violated the law.

The same problem was faced by Zhu Yuanzhang.

The Ming Dynasty did not have the concept of labor reform as it does in later generations, nor did it have the punishment of imprisonment.

For example, being in jail for several years or even decades is not called punishment, but awaiting trial.

In other words, it is difficult to make a judgment in this case at the moment, so the parties involved should just wait in jail.

As for how long to wait, it depends on when the case becomes clear and the truth comes out, and then we can decide what kind of punishment to impose.

Ancient criminal laws did not have strict regulations on the length of time spent in prison. Some unlucky people who offended others might spend their entire lives in prison. The reason they were in prison was actually because they were awaiting trial. Without trial or sentencing, they would always be in a state of awaiting trial.

It is indeed difficult to judge a case for a woman like Li.

The punishment that suited her was either acquittal, exile or death.

The key point is to strike a balance between emotion and law.

Li killed her son because her deep love for her husband surpassed her maternal love.

Such steadfast emotion obviously resonated with Zhu Yuanzhang. The eldest sister even disregarded herself for him.

When hearing about this case, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but think of the most critical moment in the past.

It was the life-and-death crisis that Zhu Yuanzhang encountered after joining the rebel army.

That was when Zhu Yuanzhang was suspected and imprisoned, and even food was a problem. It was Empress Ma who endured hunger and dieted to feed Zhu Yuanzhang, so that he could survive.

Then, in order to get a bite to eat, she went to the kitchen to help. When no one was paying attention, she put a freshly-made pancake against her chest, covered it with her lapel, and brought it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

When she took the pancake off her chest, there was already a burn scar on it.

Although Li's emotions were somewhat distorted at that time, her love for her husband was recognized by Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang pardoned Li's sins.

After the morning court session, in the Huagai Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Ying, "Grandson, do you think that our decision on the case just now has violated the dignity of the laws of the Ming Dynasty?"

On this question, Zhu Ying really didn't know how to answer.

Zhu Yuanzhang obviously had no intention of getting to the bottom of the matter, so he said.

"During the pre-Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian encountered a case like this. After being persuaded by officials, she finally sentenced him to death. However, at the morning court today, we released him without charge, but no official reported it to the emperor."

"Does your eldest grandson think that the ministers in the court don't know the story of Wu Zetian's decision during the pre-Tang Dynasty?"

"No, on the contrary, at least half of the ministers in the court have read it, but today, no one mentioned this matter."

"Grandson, do you know why?"

Zhu Ying shook his head slightly.

Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly: "Because I am the emperor, the supreme being, the laws of the Ming Dynasty were set by me to reflect my will."

"The ministers knew this story, but they didn't dare to mention it because they knew that I had also read this story. But they still pardoned it."

"I pardoned Li. It seems that the laws of the Ming Dynasty were violated, but in the end, it was my decision."

"I am the only one who can pardon Li. No one else has this power."

"Grandson understands what I mean."