When I woke up the next day.

Xu Miaojin felt her whole body was weak and she had no strength.

In fact, sleeping before marriage like this is against contemporary secular morality, but if Zhu Ying is the crown prince, it is a little different.

Naturally, there is no need to go to the early morning court session.

The old man is here anyway.

In the palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his ministers in the Fengtian Hall and felt speechless.

I thought at this point, I wouldn't have to care about the morning court anymore.

It was agreed that it would be left to my eldest grandson, but in the end it ended up happening to me.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied with the situation last night. After all, it was for the expansion of the Zhu family, so he was more understanding.

I already have more than 20 sons. My eldest grandson seems to be much more capable than me. He is only in his early 20s. He must have hundreds of sons, right?

Thinking that he might have hundreds of great-grandchildren, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly.

When the ministers below saw this, they immediately knew that today’s morning court would be more enjoyable.

Your Majesty is in a very good mood today.

Today's morning court sessions are no longer as cumbersome as they used to be. Basically, they consist of reporting and summarizing the latest developments in various places.

The only things that need to be discussed are the big things.

The morning court is now almost a routine meeting.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang is thinking that it may not be necessary to open it every day.

Or maybe change it to once every few days in the future?

This is not to say that Zhu Yuanzhang was not diligent, but that he found that there seemed to be nothing to do in the morning court nowadays.

Any slightly bigger matter could basically be handled through discussion among a few ministers in the Huagai Hall.

Just like today, before half an hour had even passed, the court session was almost over.

Because no one knew what to say.

Daily work reports and summaries are submitted for review every seven days. According to current rules, some minor aspects do not need to be reported separately in the court.

Everyone just needs to do their job, and the work efficiency will be much higher than before.

For example, in the Ministry of Justice, each case will be classified according to the circumstances.

There are regulations on completion time and archiving of detailed evidence.

If it is not completed within the specified time, it must be referred to the Three Courts for review and determination of the reasons.

Is it a problem of the Ministry of Justice, or is the case more difficult?

With this rule in place, any official who wants to advance in his career must pay attention to efficiency.

The Ministry of Personnel also has strict restrictions on officials' daily work.

Those who lack qualifications and work efficiency have no way to be promoted and don’t even have a chance to be a substitute.

The entire Ming Dynasty officialdom has now begun to become inward-looking.

And if work efficiency fails to meet standards for a long time, the Ministry of Personnel will also conduct an assessment.

If the assessment fails, a demotion will generally be carried out.

Even the Minister of Personnel no longer has the ability to promote people above his level. Even if there are particularly outstanding talents, the power to promote them out of turn is in the hands of the emperor himself.

Once illegal operations are discovered, the worst that can happen is a demotion. In cases of higher rank, the offender will be directly demoted to a commoner and removed from official status.

These days, it is no longer a matter of simply being recommended for official positions or passing imperial examinations to advance steadily.

The establishment of rules and regulations for each department also made the emperor's life more relaxed.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it was no longer necessary to hold morning court every day.

"From today on, without our decree, the morning court sessions will be changed to once every two days."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Zhu Yuanzhang was relatively strict and did not directly change it to once every three days or more often. Instead, he set the morning court session every two days.

In this way, at least there will be something to talk about during every morning court session.

It's not like today, where after a set of procedures and rituals are completed, there is a bit of reporting and nothing more to say.

The ministers were also extremely excited.

If they don't have to rush to the early morning court, they can sleep a little longer in the morning.

Especially in this cold winter, who doesn't want to lie in a warm bed for a while?

After the court was dismissed.

Xu Zengshou, the left general of the Right Army Military Governor's Office, was preparing to go home.

When he went out, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had not yet gotten up, so he had to go back and serve him.

"Commander Xu, please stay."

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, the voice of Liu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came from the side.

"Eunuch Liu, what's going on?"

Xu Zengshou asked with a smile.

Liu He also smiled and said, "His Majesty has summoned Commander Xu to the back hall to question him. Please ask Commander Xu to accompany me to meet His Majesty."

Xu Zengshou smiled happily, as he certainly knew why the emperor wanted to see him.

It must have a lot to do with my younger sister.

"Your Highness, I, Xu Zengshou, pay my respects to your Majesty."

"Stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xu Zengshou in front of him and asked, "I heard that the eldest grandson slept in the Zhongshan Palace yesterday?"

Xu Zengshou hurriedly said, "Yesterday, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went to the mansion for a dinner with my younger sister Xu Miaojin. He drank two more glasses during the dinner, so he rested in the mansion."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. He naturally understood the basic situation.

Then he said, "Xu Miaojin is a good child. I have discussed this with Concubine Ning before and wanted to let her enter the palace."

"It's not bad now. She will definitely be promoted to the position of imperial concubine in the future. After all, she is Xu Da's daughter. We can't say that we have treated her unfairly."

Xu Zengshou said quickly: "It is naturally my blessing to be favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Your Majesty, you may not know that after I met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a few years ago, I have always kept him in my heart. Even though I have reached the age of marriage in the past two years, no one has ever seen me."

"Now I have finally got what I wanted. As a brother, I can finally put my mind at ease."

After listening to this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

After a moment of silence, he said, "You have been in the capital for many years. Do you have any idea to go out and gain some experience?"

Xu Zengshou was overjoyed when he heard this.

He said, "I will obey your majesty's orders."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said, "I remember that you have a good relationship with the fourth brother. He will be back soon. After the New Year, he will probably go to Japan."

"Then you will go with him."

Xu Zengshou didn't expect that His Majesty would give him such a good job.

You should know that the place that the current military generals most want to go is Japan. This small country that everyone once thought was a wasteland has now become the most popular destination.

The reason behind this is very simple. Nowadays, Japan transports a large amount of silver to Ming Dynasty every quarter by sea.

There is plenty of money to be made in this job.

Anyone with a little knowledge will understand that Japan will have no shortage of opportunities to gain merit in the future. How can a small country like Japan be qualified to own mountains of gold and silver?

After we pacify Japan in the future, we will definitely reward people according to their merits.

It is the best job with both merit and benefits.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Xu Zengshou kowtowed continuously immediately.

…

"This Ming capital city is truly completely different every time I come back."

"My eldest nephew is really very capable. I never thought that he could develop to such a grand scale."

At Zhengyang Gate, Zhu Di, his two sons, and his trusted generals finally returned to the capital after a long journey.

After Zhu Di was captured on the grassland, he was soon released due to the peace talks between Zhu Ying and Elbek.

However, Zhu Ying did not wait for Zhu Di to release him before leaving.

Although he was a prisoner, because of Zhu Yuanzhang's earlier relationship and the fact that Zhu Di and Elbek were familiar with each other, he naturally did not suffer any hardship.

Since he was a prisoner, he has always enjoyed the treatment of a prince, except that he has less freedom of movement.

Later, the entire Northern Yuan Dynasty reached a cooperation agreement with the Ming Dynasty. In particular, the establishment of the Northern Yuan Mercenary Guild meant that there would be no wars on the grassland in the next few years.

At most, they were just some minor disputes.

According to Zhu Di's temperament, there was no point in staying on the grassland any longer.

Back in the capital, Zhu Ying also agreed to his trip to Japan.

Before coming to the capital, Zhu Di made a special trip to the Prince of Beiping's Palace.

That was once his fiefdom.

Now it has changed.

Ever since Zhu Ying made the decision regarding overseas fiefdoms, this meant that all the princes no longer had fiefdoms, and all the royal palaces were taken back.

Zhu Di's Beiping Palace was no exception.

Peking is now undergoing massive construction in preparation for becoming the future capital of the Ming Dynasty, and the royal palace is naturally included in the scope of the renovation.

This made Zhu Di feel quite emotional.

My biggest regret is the city of Nanjing.

It's almost unrecognizable.

"It's so prosperous. It feels like I haven't been back for many years."

"There are too many people here. It's full of people. The alley over there is so crowded with people that I don't know how to get in."

Zhu Di's two sons, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui, took turns sighing and speaking.

This is probably similar to the feeling of a country person moving to the city.

Because of the prosperity of maritime trade and the daily needs of the nearly three million people in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and as the capital, most of the people here are wealthy.

In the capital, with such a huge population, any small business can be very profitable, which means that the people of the capital have a lot of extra money in their pockets.

Therefore, a large number of foreign merchants would come to the capital to do business.

Nanjing is close to the Yangtze River, and sea vessels can almost sail directly to the Zhengyangmen Wharf.

However, because there are too many ships, it is not so easy to sail here.

There are currently very high requirements for the management and restrictions on ships, and ordinary ships are not qualified to dock here at all.

The price of just the qualification to dock is extremely high.

Moreover, as long as the tributaries enter Nanjing, a fee is charged on a daily basis. This alone has created considerable benefits for the capital.

Zhu Di's return to Beijing also means that the end of the year is only two days away.

This year is an extremely lively year for Zhu Yuanzhang.

It was not just Zhu Di. Because of the birth of the emperor's great-grandson, all the vassal kings returned with Zhu Yuanzhang's permission.

Originally, Zhu Yunwen had already prepared to establish his fiefdom in Champa before the New Year, and was now waiting to set off after the New Year.

And for the entire capital, it was even more lively.

"It's a rare year for us to have a family reunion."

In the past two days, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to hear the news of each of his sons returning to the palace.

When you get older, it’s natural to enjoy life.

As a royal family, reunion during the Chinese New Year is actually a difficult topic.

Especially in the past few years, since the princes had established their fiefdoms, it was impossible for them to come back casually, and Zhu Yuanzhang also needed his sons to guard the frontiers.

To a certain extent, if nothing unexpected happens, it is likely that some sons will hardly see their parents again.

Now, because of my eldest grandson, the situation has changed a lot.

The threat from the grassland was lifted, and the Northern Yuan Dynasty, which he feared, had also negotiated peace. Naturally, there was no need for so many princes to guard the grassland.

In the inland area, because of the abolition of the fiefdoms of the princes, they all returned to the capital.

This year, the upcoming 29th year of Hongwu, can be said to be a time for family reunion.

As the princes continued to return, the palace became much more lively.

The palace, which used to be relatively quiet, now feels crowded with people.

However, for the princes, the most frustrating thing is that they have no place to live. Fortunately, the princes basically have mansions awarded to them in the capital.

Even those who do not have a mansion can only live in the palace temporarily.

This day was the first day of the first lunar month in the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang held a grand court meeting.

The first thing that started this court meeting was the recollections of the various ministers about some events in the 28th year of Hongwu.

Tells the story of the changes that took place in the entire Ming Dynasty last year.

It is also for the sake of making more people contribute to the prosperity of the current Ming Dynasty.

These events will then be published in the Imperial Gazette and distributed.

The Fengtian Hall alone could not accommodate all the officials for the grand court meeting, so they had to line up at the Fengtian Square.

The main thing is that all the princes have returned. Except for some who are guarding the war outside, most of the generals have also returned this year.

There are also officials from various places who come to the capital to make an annual report.

The number of people attending the grand court meeting reached an unprecedented scale, with more than 3,000 people.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty’s treasury is now full, otherwise I don’t know whether we can afford this banquet.

At today's grand court meeting, Japan has become the hottest place.

Many officials regretted very much and wondered why they did not choose to go to Japan.

Not only can you realize your ambitions freely there, but there is also a lot of money to be made there.

People like Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, Prince of Qi Zhu Gui, and Prince of Yan Zhu Gaochi who came back with them became the stars of this grand court meeting.

Many officials were even more interested in this and were trying to see if they could get in touch during the first month of the year so that they could go to Japan to work for a few years.