In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the man sitting on the dragon throne was no longer the imposing old man who instilled great pressure in his civil and military officials, nor the suffocatingly arrogant ruler. However, one should not underestimate this valiant young man on the throne; he was not so easily manipulated. This was undoubtedly a new emperor with ambition and aspirations.
Zhu Yunying, dressed in court robes, sat on the dragon throne, looking down at his ministers. Even though the old Zhu would occasionally give him some pointers, Zhu Yunying was used to handling things on his own and felt that such matters were not too difficult for him.
Ultimately, it's always been this way. In the past, Zhu Yunying would handle political affairs first, and then hand them over to Old Zhu for review.
Looking at his ministers, Zhu Yunying slowly began to speak, “There have been many matters to attend to lately, and the audits and reports from various departments should be submitted by now.”
The end of the year is always busy, and with the abdication of Emperor Zhu and the ascension of the new emperor, many central departments are indeed unable to focus on political affairs. Zhu Yunying was well aware of this, so he reminded them that it was time to get back to work.
The officials immediately responded, "Your Majesty, we obey your decree."
Zhu Yunying smiled and then said, "I have just ascended the throne, but I have also gained a lot of experience in politics over the years. The many decisions made by the retired emperor before his abdication should be implemented in an orderly manner, and no department should shirk its responsibilities or be negligent."
This completely extinguished any remaining hope in some people's hearts. They had been planning to say something during the new emperor's ascension to the throne, such as hoping the new emperor would stop the relocation of the capital. Even though many knew the chances of these things succeeding were slim.
But now, all hope is dashed. The new emperor has pushed everything onto the retired emperor. To try and stop it would be disrespectful to the retired emperor. At that point, not only will the new emperor be furious, but even the retired emperor will be unable to explain himself.
Following the old system, it seems the new emperor didn't immediately intend to make any major changes upon ascending the throne. He appeared to be steadily continuing the policies established during the reign of the retired emperor, demonstrating a certain degree of policy continuity.
If Zhu Yunying chose to implement sweeping reforms, it would naturally be understandable. After all, it was the new emperor's ascension to the throne, and changing some policies to establish a presence was perfectly acceptable.
However, if Zhu Yunying doesn't change the policy, there won't be any problem. Policies have continuity, allowing the court and the public to get through this smoothly. Moreover, some people feel that even with a new emperor ascending the throne, the existence of the retired emperor cannot be ignored; these are all things that must be considered.
The overall atmosphere of the morning court session seemed unchanged, except that everyone was now discussing the triennial imperial examination, the first such examination since the new emperor's ascension to the throne. The separate lists for the north and south were a point of contention for many, who found them somewhat difficult to understand.
After careful consideration, Zhu Yunying proposed that Ru Chang serve as the chief examiner.
Ru Chang is currently serving as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but is acting as the Minister. This mission can be seen as Ru Chang being sent to assess these students and see if he can identify a few promising young people from this batch and nurture them.
This was naturally paving the way for Ru Chang, allowing him to rightfully assume the position of Minister of Personnel. Zhu Yunying's eldest uncle, Mei Yin, and youngest uncle, Liu Zhi, served as deputy chief examiners.
This is a truly luxurious arrangement. Ru Chang is currently the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he is also intelligent and studious. At the age of sixteen, he was selected by the local prefectures, states, and counties as an outstanding student to be sent to the Imperial Academy. Moreover, everyone knows that he is the Emperor's study companion, and many people consider Ru Chang to be the Emperor's confidant and the foremost civil official.
Mei Yin, needless to say, was the Emperor Emeritus's favorite son-in-law. Born into a noble family, he was well-versed in classics and history and had once served as the Shandong Provincial Education Commissioner. As for Liu Zhi, he was said to be the grandson of Liu Bowen, so his family's scholarly background was also outstanding.
Many people believed that the scholars from this cohort, if they were promising, would soon rise to prominence. After all, this was the first cohort of scholars since the new emperor ascended the throne, and they would be relatively valued and given special consideration.
Ultimately, however, it still depends on whether these people have talent and whether they have real skills.
Zhu Yunying wasn't particularly worried about this. The Ming court wasn't lacking in talented people; what they lacked was opportunity. Given more opportunities, some of them might quickly rise to become important officials.
After the court session, Zhu Yunying went straight to the Wuying Hall, where he still needed to handle state affairs. He naturally didn't have much time to rest; he needed to focus more on preparing for his duties. With the new emperor's ascension to the throne, there were many things to attend to.
In particular, the invitations from various regional officials, along with the memorials from local garrisons, all required Zhu Yunying's attention. Clearly, he was far from idle; he needed to streamline many more matters.
To talk about reforms at this time is simply a pipe dream; it's highly unrealistic.
Old Zhu arrived with a smile. Although he could play with his great-grandson, given his nature, he certainly wouldn't be idle. Even though he was now the Retired Emperor, it didn't mean he would truly neglect everything. Moreover, Old Zhu understood that Zhu Yunying was undoubtedly quite busy, with many things piling up.
Zhu Yunying raised his head and said to his father, "I have decided on the chief examiner for the imperial examination today."
"We've heard about it." Old Zhu nodded with a smile, then joked, "Ying'er is really willing to use bait this time, using your people and your uncle to fish. This time, I'm afraid quite a few people will fall for it."
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