Xu Miaoqing felt slightly embarrassed. Although her husband had ascended the throne, he was still being scolded when he deserved it. Xu Miaoqing knew even more clearly that the reason her husband was being scolded was, unsurprisingly, because of the chubby little boy in her arms. That was the main reason her husband was being scolded.
It was also because Old Zhu was very good at maintaining a proper distance that he seemed to show some respect to his granddaughter-in-law, Xu Miaoqing. However, this respect also revealed an element of formality, as he was too lazy to say much. As for his eldest grandson, Zhu Yunying, Old Zhu would scold him if he couldn't stand him; it's normal for a grandfather to scold his grandson.
At this moment, Wang Chengen arrived with some maids and eunuchs, bestowing three dishes upon Chang Lanshi, and one dish each upon the wives of Chang Mao, Chang Sen, and Chang Sheng. The wives of the three Xu brothers also received special honors, with Xu Huizu's wife receiving two dishes and the wives of Xu Yingxu and Xu Zengshou each receiving one dish.
Lian Qiongqiong's mother, as well as the wives of Ru Chang, Yan Zhenzhi, and others, were also given food as a gift.
It immediately reveals the status of many people in the new emperor's heart, and also the overall structure of the court.
In the 'Eastern Palace', Zhu Yunying smiled as he poured wine for Old Zhu, saying, "Letting Yin'er go over there might cause trouble."
"It's good that things have come to this. With the new emperor on the throne, the court officials are unsettled." Old Zhu said with a smile, "Among those people you've planted, could there be any from the Eastern Depot?"
Zhu Yunying immediately became smug and said, "There really are. Wang Chengen is not bad; he has trained a few reliable people in the palace. There are several people from the Eastern Depot at the banquet over there now."
Old Zhu smiled smugly. His grandson was also a very good performer, which was indeed a tradition in the Zhu family.
Many people say that the emperors of the Liu family during the Han dynasty were all harsh and ungrateful. In fact, the emperors of the Zhu family were all the same. Zhu Biao, who was posthumously honored as Emperor Xiaowen, was also the same. Those who say he was refined and benevolent do not know how ruthless he was behind the scenes, and they did not see the viciousness in his imperial edicts in the Hu Weiyong case.
Now, during the reign of the Crown Prince, Zhu Yunying complained that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was too tyrannical. But in reality, he quickly preserved the elite of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, with some remaining in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and others in the Eastern Depot. These two intelligence agencies checked and balanced each other while also having a division of labor.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei) now focuses more on external affairs, and domestically it only monitors civilian matters. The Eastern Depot (Dongchang), on the other hand, mainly focuses on domestic intelligence, and its supervision of civil and military officials is no less than that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, only it does not make mass arrests or directly prosecute people.
Looking at his proud grandson, Old Zhu admonished him, "Ying'er, now that you are the emperor, you should change your ways. As the crown prince and grandson, you can be kind and generous, and you need to get the ministers to side with you. But as the emperor, you must make them respect you and fear you. Only then will you succeed!"
“Then we’ll have to ask Grandfather for help with this.” Zhu Yunying laughed and said shamelessly, “When Grandfather was in power, those ministers had to have someone they feared, someone who could protect them. Now that I’m the emperor, I need to gradually become decisive and ruthless. Yin’er is too young; he can’t handle this.”
Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then looked worried. "This won't do. We've killed too many people over the years, and we can't control our temper."
"For the sake of my grandson and for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, Grandfather must control his temper." Zhu Yunying smiled slyly and said triumphantly, "In a couple of days, I will have to deal with another batch of ministers. The matter of the capital relocation is not over yet. There will be another imperial examination this year, and many ministers were dissatisfied with my previous proposal to have a northern and southern examination system."
Old Zhu immediately understood and said, "Alright, then you go and be the bad guy, and we'll be the good guy. We need to protect some ministers. Tell me their names, and we'll issue an imperial edict to protect them."
Zhu Yunying reminded him, "Don't go too far in protecting them. I'm thinking of taking this opportunity to punish a group of people and teach the Kong family a lesson."
Old Zhu was speechless. His grandson had always been at odds with the descendants of Confucius. He estimated that in a few years, the Duke Yansheng's status would plummet. Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, the court officials might eventually become numb and watch the Duke Yansheng slowly fall from grace.
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