The capital city nowadays truly has a wonderful atmosphere, decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the festive spirit is growing stronger every year.
Even though he had already abdicated, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed quite content, at least on the surface. Now he no longer needed to attend the morning court sessions, and he was unlikely to meet with his officials. He simply stayed in the palace, taking care of his children and enjoying the scenery. This was definitely a posture that suggested he had abdicated, and it was a rare moment of leisure for Zhu Yuanzhang.
With his hands behind his back, Old Zhu looked at the palace and said, "I think this year's New Year celebrations are finally much better."
“It’s always been the same. We still decorate with lanterns and streamers.” Zhu Yunying disagreed and said to his father, “This year, my grandson has been much more generous. He has allocated quite a bit of money to the nursing home. Under the emperor’s nose, in our capital city, this is the key point.”
Old Zhu nodded with a smile, then said, "That's still too stingy. All the charitable institutions in the world should receive these funds."
Zhu Yunying remained silent, mainly because even if he did provide such a sum of money, the old Zhu would likely still feel it wasn't enough. In the old Zhu's mind, the best approach was to rob the rich and help the poor, slaughtering all the wealthy households and distributing their wealth to the common people.
Watching little Zhu running around aimlessly ahead, Zhu Yunying didn't bother to say anything more. There was no need to worry about the boy's safety; a whole host of maids and eunuchs were following him. Moreover, Old Zhu understood that his precious great-grandson had no playmates in the palace, so the youngest Princess Baoqing was now considered favored. Princess Baoqing's mother, Consort Zhang, often took care of the two children.
"Grandfather, have some people said that I haven't granted a general amnesty recently?" Zhu Yunying didn't intend to play any tricks and said directly, "I will not grant a general amnesty. Those people who should serve their sentences will still serve them. When a new emperor of our Great Ming ascends the throne, there's no need for a general amnesty. I don't think it's necessary."
Old Zhu glared at him, puzzled. "How can it be unnecessary? When a new emperor ascends the throne and grants a general amnesty, everyone else does the same thing!"
“Those are other people, they have nothing to do with our Great Ming.” Zhu Yunying didn’t care to argue with his father, and such things were not uncommon. “Other people, other people can’t unify the world from peasants, and other people can’t conquer the world from the south to the north. We don’t need to follow the rules of the previous dynasty, and I don’t like those either.”
Old Zhu was quite gratified. The things his grandson mentioned were all things Old Zhu was proud of, achievements he was incredibly proud of. If someone else had said these things, Old Zhu would have thought it was just to flatter him. But since his beloved grandson was saying them, it wasn't flattery; it was genuine, and it was something Old Zhu was extremely proud of.
What happened to other emperors and other dynasties was their business and had nothing to do with our Great Ming Dynasty. Our Great Ming Dynasty also had the confidence to be so special!
Just as Zhu Yunying was feeling smug, he continued, "The general amnesty is not because we are reluctant to part with these convicts. It's mainly because these people have made mistakes, and they need to pay the price. We can't just pardon a group every time a new emperor ascends the throne. There aren't many good people among them."
Although it was a bit extreme, Joo Yoon-young genuinely felt that since a mistake had been made, the consequences should be borne.
Old Zhu nodded with a smile. He didn't actually object to Zhu Yunying's statement. The main reason was that Old Zhu was harsh on himself, but even more so on others. In his view, Zhu Yunying's approach was perfectly reasonable and there was nothing to criticize.
A general amnesty might earn him some good reputation, but reputation wasn't that important to Zhu Yunying. A pragmatist like Zhu Yunying didn't care much about so-called fame.
In truth, neither Zhu Yunying nor Zhu Yuanzhang had a particularly good reputation. Zhu Yunying's reputation was only slightly better because he was extremely domineering. His actions drew complaints not only from civil and military officials but also from scholars and gentry.
He was extremely harsh on civil and military officials, and nearly removed Mencius from the Confucian Temple. He also levied relatively strict taxes on grain-producing areas such as Suzhou. All of this has indeed caused many people to have some resentment towards Zhu Yuanzhang. Although Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor, many people only felt awe towards him, not necessarily reverence.
Old Zhu's reputation is now completely ruined, but fortunately, he doesn't care much about certain people. His reputation is truly not a big deal to him, and he doesn't need to worry about it too much.
As for Zhu Yunying's reputation, it wasn't much better. Although he seemed to be much more benevolent than Zhu Yuanzhang (the late emperor).
However, many people also know that Zhu Yunying liked to "take profits from the people," and most of the profits from maritime trade still went to the royal family and the court, with some powerful families only getting a small share. Furthermore, the suppression of some powerful families was something that both the old and young Zhu emperors had never relaxed, and the wealthy gentry had to think carefully before acting.
Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh, teasing Zhu Yunying, "Look, you just can't bear to part with those who commit crimes."
“It’s true that we can’t bear to part with them. Just give them some food, and they’ll do all the dirty and hard work.” Zhu Yunying couldn’t help but laugh and said, “In the past, those people in the Ministry of Justice and the prisons in these prefectures were just waiting to die, and the court had to allocate money to support them. Now it’s much better. It’s the local garrisons and governor’s offices that are scrambling to take these labor reform prisoners.”
Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh and said, "These labor camps are really useful. Those forced labors still cause a lot of complaints. But these labor camp prisoners don't have that problem. A few lashes are all it takes, and they can't have any other ideas."
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