The news that the Crown Prince was going on a diplomatic mission to Japan caused an uproar as soon as it was published in the official gazette.

Anyone who is not a fool can see that the changes in the Ming Dynasty, or the changes in the capital in recent years, are all because of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

It was during these four years that the Ming Dynasty truly gained the recognition of the people.

Even the old farmers working in the fields, the beggars who once lived on the streets, the scholars who passed the imperial examinations, and people from all walks of life, as long as they were doing a legitimate business, would give a thumbs up and praise the crown prince when they mentioned him.

Only a few decades had passed since the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. It can be said that most people encountered various disasters when they were born. Even most of the people, whether they were Han or other nationalities, had difficulty surviving.

Those who are still alive now can be said to be the luckiest among the lucky ones.

The stories that had happened to them were like a shadow that was always imprinted in their hearts. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang tried to recuperate and reduce taxes and labor service, the people at the bottom of society were still struggling to survive.

Only the Crown Prince, in just four years, brought about earth-shaking changes in the Ming Dynasty, which had risen and fallen for hundreds of generations.

This kind of people's aspirations have indeed reached an extremely peak state.

When they heard that the great Crown Prince was going to Japan as an envoy, many people began to worry, and there was even a blood letter written by thousands of people, begging His Royal Highness to stay in the capital.

The blood letter of tens of thousands of people is just a figurative reference. In reality, the names written on it are more than a million.

When a person is afraid, the people around him will also be afraid. Who would complain that they have had enough of the good life? Who would not worry about the accidents that might happen to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

This is a pain that the entire Ming Dynasty cannot bear.

The runners of the Wucheng Bingmasi were collecting these letters written in blood from thousands of people everywhere. In just half a day, they had piled up into a small mountain in the courtyard of the Bingmasi yamen.

Looking at the name written crookedly with blood on the fingertips, many yamen runners looked at each other in bewilderment.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's prestige is truly too terrifying." An older yamen runner couldn't help but exclaimed in a low voice.

The long pieces of cloth in the yard were provided by the owners of some cloth shops themselves. Even the scholars with the title of scholar did not choose to use a brush, but bit their fingers and wrote with blood like everyone else, as if only in this way could they prove their sincerity.

Hearing this, the yamen runner who was following him subconsciously looked at the scars on his fingers.

The skin was obviously torn, and it was obvious that his name was also written on the cloth.

The colleagues who usually liked to joke around said nothing when they heard this, because each of them had the same scar on their hands.

There was a sound of footsteps behind the crowd. Several yamen runners turned around and immediately clasped their fists and bowed, "Lord Li."

Lord Li nodded slightly. He was the deputy commander of the East City Military Department.

"Don't just sit here and do nothing. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's mission to Japan has a great impact. There are still many people writing in blood outside. The superiors have already sent instructions that all these written blood letters must be collected and then transported to the palace."

"By the way, when you go to collect the blood letters, remember to be polite."

Everyone clasped their fists and bowed: "Yes."

Lord Li nodded slightly, then turned and left.

When everyone looked at Lord Li's back, they saw that one of the index fingers of his hands, which were behind his back, was wrapped in white cloth with a bit of red that was very conspicuous.

…

The news soon reached the palace, and Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to receive it.

"Does our eldest grandson really have such great popular support?"

"Just because you are worried about something, you spontaneously petitioned and wrote a petition in blood?"

If such a thing happened to someone else, they would be doomed to death, but this is the eldest grandson, the most beloved and beloved grandson, and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

This vast empire will eventually be handed over to the hands of the eldest grandson.

This will only make Zhu Yuanzhang happier.

Jiang Li, who was in charge of delivering the news, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, according to the preliminary statistics of the Jinyiwei Yamen, this has caused a huge wave in the entire capital, especially after the official newspaper was issued in the morning, it spread directly to the streets and alleys of the capital, and almost everyone knew about it."

"Some wealthy people donated money to buy cloth, and passers-by in the surrounding area wrote petitions in blood. This behavior soon attracted many people to follow suit."

"Even in the end, the owners and managers of the big cloth shops in the capital donated large amounts of white cloth for writing."

"Whether they were peddlers, cart drivers, merchants, students, or officials, they all wrote their names on it."

"The Wucheng Bingmasi is responsible for collecting the completed blood letters. By the time the message was passed on, the courtyard of the Wucheng Bingmasi was already filled with completed blood letters."

“And on the streets, there’s a lot going on.”

"I'm afraid that among the millions of people in the capital, about 80% to 90% are involved."

There was obvious shock in Jiang Li's tone.

He has seen a lot of things in the market, but this is the first time he has encountered a scene like this.

To be honest, it may be disrespectful to say that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already surpassed Your Majesty.

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he did not respond immediately, but instead ordered Jiang Li: "Raise your right hand for us to see."

Following His Majesty's order, Jiang Li naturally extended his right hand.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a look and asked, "So when did you write your name on it?"

Jiang Li said with a little embarrassment: "Your Majesty, I noticed that there were still many spaces in the first batch of blood letters sent, so I added my own name as well."

This was a clever trick. In fact, it was impossible for Jiang Lin to hide such a little trick from Zhu Yuanzhang.

But this made Zhu Yuanzhang feel very useful.

From another perspective, this is a sign of concern for one's own grandson.

And with such a great response, Zhu Yuanzhang felt very happy.

"Does your eldest grandson know about this?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

Jiang Li replied, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has been accompanying Concubine Jin to paint this morning, so he probably doesn't know about this."

After all, it is the imperial palace. Apart from the more urgent information, general communications are made through the Jinyiwei.

When Zhu Ying had free time recently, he would either accompany Xu Miaojin to paint, or listen to Ye Yueqing talk about love, or visit each concubine.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who originally wanted his grandson to work hard, found that his grandson now seemed to be living a more leisurely life than himself.

But it is just like that, the court affairs and military affairs have never been delayed, but have been circulating even better.

This also made it impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to preach, and in the end he could only let it go.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Our eldest grandson is good in every way, except that he is a little too lazy."

"Just looking at his daily behavior, he is really no different from the mediocre and incompetent rulers of past dynasties."

Neither Jiang Lin nor the eunuch Liu He who served him could respond to this and could only remain silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became curious and asked Liu He beside him, "We haven't paid much attention to the censors recently. Those guys who always talk about ethics and morality have impeached our eldest grandson."

These honest officials and censors were all extremely stubborn. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang himself made any mistakes, they would directly submit memorials to impeach him.

In view of his personal experience of the corrupt bureaucracy and peasant uprisings in the late Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang re-established the Ming Dynasty's censor system and gave it great power.

At the beginning of the establishment of the state, Zhu Yuanzhang once said: "If a minister does not advise the monarch, he cannot fulfill his duty as a minister. If the monarch does not accept advice, he cannot fulfill his duty as a monarch. If a minister is unfortunate and his words are not listened to, but are instead blamed, although he offends the incompetent monarch, he has made contributions to the country and the people. If the monarch is willing to listen to advice and the ministers are good at giving advice, how can the government not be good and the world not be governed?"

This was because they were worried that future emperors would have too much power without restraint, so they set up the censor system.

On the one hand, it can purify the administration of officials, and on the other hand, it can also serve as an exhortation to the emperor's virtue.

Of course, historical developments always go against Zhu Yuanzhang’s ideas, just like the censor system, which was quite good in the first hundred years of the Ming Dynasty.

Finally, the censor system naturally had similar results to Zhu Yuanzhang's anti-corruption, anti-pornography, vassal kings, and military garrisons.

It was completely different from the beautiful scene Zhu Yuanzhang had imagined.

Starting from the "Prison of Censors in the Two Capitals" incident during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, the censors fell into the abyss of depravity and completely became the cancer of the Ming Dynasty, leading to the "Censor Disaster".

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it caused great damage to the imperial court.

To put it simply, the censor system was an office set up by Zhu Yuanzhang, which he paid salaries to. Their main job was to impeach. It was said that their words were actions, and every day they reported rumors and gave frank advice.

Once, Zhu Yuanzhang visited the capital in disguise. Perhaps because he was delayed by listening to music in a brothel, he missed the curfew of the palace.

Logically speaking, since the emperor himself had come, the palace guards would of course let him pass.

As luck would have it, a censor happened to go to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, but he didn't wait for anyone and had to leave the palace before curfew.

This was also the time when Zhu Yuanzhang returned.

My goodness! This censor waited in the palace for a long time but was not summoned. He thought that Zhu Yuanzhang didn’t want to see him, so he went out to play.

This censor really didn't give any face at all. He just kept mocking and ridiculing Zhu Yuanzhang, and even threw away all the official positions. Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless because of the system he had set. It was extremely embarrassing.

Because he wanted to restrict future generations, even now, the censor who criticized Zhu Yuanzhang is still alive and well, and he became famous because of this.

Any power, once it loses its constraints, will eventually become as unbridled as a wild horse that has broken free from its reins.

Because of the previous institutional reforms, and the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang was very wary of censors, he didn't pay much attention to it.

Then he asked Liu He.

Liu He replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, since Your Majesty let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince take power, the censors have never impeached His Royal Highness the Crown Prince again."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly and asked, "What's going on? Did the Crown Prince secretly threaten the censors?"

Although the eldest grandson seemed gentle in daily life, Zhu Yuanzhang was actually very clear that when his interests were truly affected, he would act ruthlessly and decisively, and would never drag his feet.

A kind person is not suitable for commanding an army. On this point, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt very gratified.

However, this system of censors was established specifically to advise the emperor on virtue and to clean up the bureaucracy. If they were threatened and intimidated at will, they would lose their original function and would no longer be restrained.

Of course, the eldest grandson has no problem, but how can all descendants in later generations be like the crown prince?

It was a blessing for the Ming Dynasty to have a grandson who was a perfect successor in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

If we don't talk about transcendence, there is no point.

He would laugh out loud in his underworld if he could have a son like his eldest grandson.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his eldest grandson now had the ability to stop the censors from "speaking".

Liu He quickly explained, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has set the same rules for the censors as for other officials. It is forbidden to report rumors. When impeaching other officials, sufficient evidence is required. If the Metropolitan Censorate finds that the rumors are groundless, they will be charged with slander."

"Their rewards, punishments, salaries, and promotions are also used as a reference for the Ministry of Personnel. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once said that censors are not convicted for their words, but for their actions. They have no special privileges, and the greater the power, the greater the responsibility."

"After this, the censors became more cautious in many matters, and no one casually impeached His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Because this matter involved salary reform and treated all officials equally, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at it at the time but did not take it seriously.

After all, when it comes to privileges, naturally only the royal family can be granted.

The previous incident with the censors was just an example set by Zhu Yuanzhang. If he really wanted to let the censors ride on his head, he would have killed them all first.

"This move by Grandson hit the weak spot. Those who dared to impeach anyone on weekdays unexpectedly lost to Grandson."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.

This method of not using the emperor's status to forcibly oppress, and a means of simply stirring up trouble, was what Zhu Yuanzhang liked the most.

This is the real way to control your subordinates.

Zhu Yuanzhang then instructed Jiang Li to tell his eldest grandson about the blood letter written by tens of thousands of people in the capital to see how he would deal with it.

As for the affairs of censors, for Zhu Ying, who had experienced verbal violence in later generations, what annoyed him most was the moral saints.

The censors of the Ming Dynasty are still doing well under the suppression of Zhu Yuanzhang.

In history, Emperor Yongle Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji were also considered good.

But by the end of the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Chongzhen, the situation was completely different.

In the words of Chongzhen: "The ruler is not the ruler who destroyed the country, but the ministers are the ministers who destroyed the country."

This is referring to the censors in the late Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the power of the Ming Dynasty's censors had exploded.

Chongzhen knew best how cruel the Virgin of Morality was.

If you don't listen to him, you are being stubborn.

If you don't let him speak, that's called blocking the way for speech.

If you order punishment, that is called harming loyal and good people.

If you listen to him, the censors from another faction will stand up and say that you have been deceived by a treacherous villain.

If I kill him, hey, then I will become a legitimate tyrant.

Then he was a loyal minister who died for his advice and gained great fame.

Neither left nor right, we can understand how miserable Chongzhen felt in the late Ming Dynasty and why he shouted such words.

Therefore, Zhu Ying had to take action in advance and block the censors' path.

As long as there are some restrictions, the censors can still be used by the Ming Dynasty. At least the current censors are considered to be truly clean.