Zhu Ying actually knew very well what the old man meant.

Zhu Yuanzhang was getting older, and considering today's age, he could be considered to be a very old man.

Year after year, no one knows how long they can live.

According to historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang eventually died at the age of 71. Counting from today, he only had five years left.

The current situation is that the old man wants to see himself truly take control of the government and develop the future of the Ming Dynasty according to his own ideas.

While my physical condition is still good, I can still have the opportunity to clean up the mess for my eldest grandson.

It is said that a new official starts with three things.

But for Zhu Ying now, this is obviously no longer necessary.

On the first day of court session, there were not many changes. The ministers were just asked to report if they had anything to report and to leave if they had nothing to report.

The court meeting that might have lasted one or two hours in the past was now adjourned in less than two incense sticks of time under Zhu Ying's arrangement.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was ruling the country from behind the scenes, was also confused. It was not until all the ministers had left that he reacted.

He originally wanted to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't speak.

"Grandpa, are you a little curious as to why your grandson retired from court so early?"

Zhu Ying took the initiative to step forward and talk.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You naturally have your own ideas."

Having said that, there is still something wrong with the tone.

Zhu Ying explained: "We are leaving the court early today to give the ministers and my grandson some time to relax."

"After reviewing all the affairs of the court yesterday, my grandson discovered a problem. That is, most of the things are almost all old and commonplace, and they cannot be solved immediately."

"For matters that can be resolved immediately, ministers generally won't bother coming here on purpose."

"If we spend the entire morning discussing these matters in the court, it would be a huge waste of time."

"So my grandson feels that many issues should be resolved by giving the ministers time."

"If the problem can't be solved, there's no rush to ask for punishment."

Zhu Ying has attended the morning court for more than a year.

He discovered that most of the time, the morning court sessions were not about solving problems, but about demonstrating the majesty of imperial power.

These are certainly some effects, but this majesty displayed to the ministers in the court does not have much significance.

Although those who can go to the Fengtian Hall are definitely the most talented among talents, their IQ and EQ are extremely high.

But spending the whole morning every day chatting about trivial matters made Zhu Ying feel very bored.

There is a problem involved here.

That is, if a minister has something to report, then all the civil and military officials will have to wait for his matter.

Wait for the emperor to finish talking with the minister, and then move on to the next thing.

In one or two hours, maybe five or six things might be done.

The busiest part is reviewing memorials.

"I originally wanted to see how the eldest grandson governs, but I didn't expect him to do this to me."

"Well, we can't see your intentions now, so let's do it according to your wishes and see how effective it is in a month."

Zhu Yuanzhang only thought about it briefly and did not directly deny Zhu Ying.

He knew very well that this was something that his eldest grandson had shown him on purpose. Even if he didn't agree now, when he arrived there, the Ming Dynasty would still proceed according to his eldest grandson's arrangements.

The reason why he let his eldest grandson take power was that he wanted to see what his eldest grandson would do after he was gone.

If you deny it now, you won’t be able to see it.

After a month, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he could basically see what was going on.

For the current Ming Dynasty, even if there is no court meeting for a month, there is actually nothing too important.

So he let the eldest grandson continue.

In fact, the court meeting was over.

This is just the beginning of Zhu Ying.

Zhu Ying’s first step was to ask Guo Zhong to call all five current Shangshu to the Huagai Palace.

Minister of Works Shen Xi, Minister of War Ru Yan, Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian, Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui, and Minister of Punishment Yang Jing.

Soon we arrived at the Huagai Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally listening behind the screen.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The five of them bowed respectfully.

Zhu Ying nodded and motioned for Guo Zhong to take a seat.

After the five people sat down, Zhu Ying began to state his requests.

"Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Rites still has no minister. It has been vacant for a long time. After this meeting, please recommend a list to me, and I will make the decision myself."

The Fifth Minister did not know what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant, so he could only bow and say, "I will obey His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's orders."

Zhu Ying continued, "I called you all here today to make some adjustments to the various departments."

"From now on, the six ministries will not report any matter, big or small, to the emperor at will. All matters will be recorded in writing according to the household registration process."

"All kinds of events will be set up according to their importance and urgency, and the evaluation of departments in the future will also be divided according to their performance."

"Whether it's responsibility or achievement, it must be attributed to the individual and cannot be shirked or transferred."

…

Zhu Ying explained the regulations in detail. These rules and regulations were actually something he had been thinking about for a long time.

The specific reference is naturally the memory from the previous life.

To put it simply, Zhu Ying is now delegating power to a great extent, and as power is delegated, responsibility also falls along with it.

In other words, if something is not done well, it touches the interests of the royal family and affects people's livelihood, then the responsibility will be pursued layer by layer from big to small.

Of course, the morning meeting still has to be held, but the key purpose is no longer to deal with things. It is almost like punching in.

If there is something important to notify or announce, it can naturally be mentioned at the court meeting.

Hold big meetings for small matters, small meetings for big matters, and no meetings for important matters.

This is the view that Zhu Ying currently holds.

After he got out of this, he had more time to focus on other aspects and make scheduling and arrangements.

After Zhu Ying finished his speech, the five ministers were both surprised and happy.

The good news is that power has been greatly enhanced at this stage. Many matters no longer require separate instructions, and one has the power to make decisions arbitrarily.

What is surprising is that it is conceivable that in the days ahead, the pressure will also become extremely great.

In the past, you could throw the problem directly to the emperor for decision, but now you need to make the decision yourself, and you will be responsible for the good or bad results.

If there is any problem in the government affairs, it is obvious that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will definitely bring troops to hold people accountable.

Zhu Ying then said: "From now on, every seven days, please submit a daily report."

"The content of the report is relatively simple. It just talks about what you have done and what problems you have encountered in the past seven days."

"There is no need to trouble you to come in person. When the time comes, the eunuch Guo Zhong will arrange for someone to collect it at your door."

"Of course, not only the ministers, but all officials from the fourth rank and above must submit their reports to Guo Zhong."

"As for the reports from the ministers below, there is no need to submit them to me. You can read them yourself."

After hearing this, several ministers felt even more pressure.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is clearly trying to take almost all of the responsibility on himself.

But now that the decision has been made, there is nothing we can do about it. We can only act according to the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Zhu Yuanzhang was listening behind the screen. He frowned slightly and thought for a while, then his brows relaxed completely.

…

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

Zhu Ying had been in power for a month.

During this month, great changes took place in the entire capital.

Even ordinary people can feel this change.

First of all, in terms of public security, the patrol intensity of the Beijing Public Security Bureau has become stronger than ever before. Even some deeply hidden criminal forces find it difficult to escape the law.

This was all caused by the report made seven days ago.

Ever since Zhu Ying issued the decree regarding the seven-day report, officials from almost all government offices in the capital have to carry out this work.

This report is easy to say, but it is not that easy to write.

For many government officials, there is actually not much to do in a day.

But you can't say in the reports you submit every day that you have nothing to do that day and went to listen to music in a brothel?

Then the black hat on my head has been worn out.

This is written in black and white without a doubt. Once it is submitted, the superiors will be able to see it.

In desperation, many officials who originally had nothing to do could only find something to do. The purpose was not for anything else but just to have something to look at in their memorials.

Especially the Public Security Department, they naturally start to go out every day. No matter if there is something going on or not, there is nothing wrong with patrolling.

Public security is one aspect, and the same is true in other aspects.

In the past, when common people went to the government office to handle business, they might not receive any news for ten days or half a month, and they could only wait in vain.

It's different now.

Things that used to be troublesome can now be done in almost three days. If they are not done well, what can I write in the report?

It's impossible to get just one thing done in seven days.

Doesn't that mean I'm incompetent?

It's not that cheating is not wrong.

But after Zhu Ying made this arrangement, he set up another department called the Official Discipline Department.

The main members of this official record department were the eunuchs in the palace, and there were also some imperial censors.

The members inside correspond to official ranks from ninth rank to second rank.

At each level, someone would conduct a random check on the contents of the report to verify its authenticity.

Naturally, we won’t say that there are many people, as the inspection is mainly carried out in the form of random sampling.

Once any fraud is discovered, it would be a crime of deceiving superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates.

If you can cheat for seven days, can you cheat for a month?

This kind of random check is conducted completely in secret, and no one knows who has been selected from the reports submitted.

The department directly under the charge of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince may seem to be of low rank, but it has enormous power.

After discovering problems during the spot checks, they did not take immediate action, but reported them to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a decision.

Which official wants his name to be known by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

Even if there is no major punishment, his future career can be said to have basically come to an end.

A simple seven-day report.

This mobilized all the officials in the capital.

Take the initiative to find things to do and to deal with them, even if there is a bit of slackness, but compared to before, it can be said that it is completely different.

The most uncomfortable place, after all, is the Ministry of Justice.

In the past, many cases could be delayed at will, but now with the release of reports, the merits are completely linked to the time it takes to solve the case.

Some old cases can only be dug up and searched for solutions.

In this short month, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying felt relieved.

And the officials really started to get busy.

Power has been decentralized.

Has Zhu Ying's power as the regent crown prince been weakened?

In fact, it has not only not weakened, but has become stronger.

Because Zhu Ying had the power to monitor and interfere in everything, especially personnel transfers in the Ministry of Personnel. Every list would be archived for easy reference at any time.

And because the officials took action, the people at this time can be said to have truly benefited and gained advantages.

This credit should ultimately be attributed to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Ying can then spare more time to do some real work.

Especially in the military.

During this month, Zhu Ying was very diligent in leaving the palace. After clocking in at the morning court every day, he would rush to the various garrisons in the capital.

For example, checking the military equipment in the garrison warehouse, the living conditions of the soldiers, and their training situations.

There are also issues regarding the living conditions of sergeants.

Within a month, he traveled all the thirty-six guards stationed around the capital.

Zhu Ying’s main control once lay in the Xuanjia Guard.

As for other garrisons, they were naturally a little unfamiliar with him. But now, as they were showing their faces everywhere, it could be said that almost every soldier in the capital's garrison had actually seen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with their own eyes.

This is an honor, but also a deterrent to Zhu Ying.

With Zhu Ying's frequent visits, the commanders of various garrisons in the capital became very restrained in many aspects.

Starting from the first guard post, especially the matter of reporting for duty, is extremely critical.

Just by taking this trip, we can find that even among the capital's guards, there are many people who are drawing salaries without doing anything.

The list was to be handed over to Zhu Ying, and the first thing Zhu Ying did when he arrived at the garrison was to take the list and read out the names one by one.

And that list is the one for salary payment. If no one is on the list when their name is called, then there is naturally no need to say anything.

However, Zhu Ying did not directly and severely punish the commanders of the garrisons for this incident. He just removed the vacant positions and confiscated their salaries as a punishment, giving them a severe warning.

One month later, in Huagai Palace.

Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang sat opposite each other.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his eldest grandson and was speechless for a long time.