Outside the Meridian Gate, Zhu Yunwen looked rather embarrassed, as he was only now belatedly realizing the situation.
For example, although Little Zhu appears to be running around wildly outside the imperial city gates, and there seem to be many passersby around, it's obvious that everyone around him is a reliable person. It seems like they're letting Little Zhu run wild, but Old Zhu is watching from the sidelines.
Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunwen, then at his two grandsons, Zhu Jiye and Zhu Jihuang, who were trembling with fear. In truth, Old Zhu didn't particularly value these two grandsons. Of course, Zhu Jihuang's misconduct, along with the frivolous behavior of Prince Zhou, Zhu Su's second son Zhu Youxun, made them all grandsons whom Old Zhu didn't particularly like.
Although Old Zhu didn't like these grandsons, it didn't mean that these grandsons weren't afraid of Old Zhu.
In the Fengtian Hall, Wang Chengen cautiously approached and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus has ordered His Highness Prince Wu to take the second and third sons of Prince Jin and the heir of Marquis Yongping to the Fengxian Hall."
Zhu Yunying smiled and raised his head, saying, "Go and issue an imperial edict, ordering them all to kneel. The Imperial Clan Court Minister, Prince Jin, is currently not in Yingtian Prefecture, and the Left Imperial Clan Minister, Prince Wu, is on official business. Since both the Imperial Clan Minister and the Imperial Clan Court Minister are not in Yingtian Prefecture, order Prince Su, Prince Wu, and Prince Xu to handle this case."
The Imperial Clan Court used to be a high-ranking institution, with the first Director being Zhu Shuang, the second son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Hongwu). Zhu Shuang is no longer alive, and the current nominal Director is Zhu Gang. This means that, aside from the Emperor and the Crown Prince, the most powerful member of the imperial clan is now Zhu Gang, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's third son, who has the authority to dispose of other members of the clan.
Furthermore, regarding the Imperial Clan Court, since many princes were still outside, the cases were generally handled by the most senior members of the Imperial Clan in Yingtian Prefecture, who were personally appointed by Zhu Yunying.
Old Zhu returned to the Qianqing Palace with his bouncy little Zhu, and didn't seem to care about some things.
Zhu Yunying didn't take some things seriously. Among the imperial clan members, there were some who were reliable, and naturally there were also some who were not. It was normal that many members of the imperial clan were cruel or lawless.
It wasn't just Zhu Jihuang who was unreliable; there were many other unreliable members of the imperial clan. And these weren't just a few members of the imperial clan; they were merely representatives. Those members of the imperial clan and powerful gentry also ran rampant with lawlessness. Even among commoners, there were some unreliable individuals.
At most, it's just that the royal family has a special status, including considerable power, which makes them appear more ruthless when committing evil deeds.
Zhu Yunying didn't need to worry too much about such things, mainly because he knew very well that this kind of thing didn't only happen in the Ming Dynasty. It happened in other dynasties as well, and it could be said that such things were unavoidable.
Just continue with your official duties; there are some things that Zhu Yunying really doesn't need to make a fuss about.
Zhu Yunwen was in a good mood, though he stood at the front with a serious expression. Prince Su, Zhu Zhi, also hurried over; he was the same age as Zhu Yunwen, but three years younger than Zhu Yunying. This was Zhu Yunying's fifteenth uncle.
Zhu Zhi walked over and asked, "What exactly happened?"
"These men were riding their horses recklessly in the bustling city when they were spotted by the Emperor Emeritus and the Crown Prince," Zhu Yunwen began, explaining the situation. "His Majesty has ordered us to investigate this case. Fifteenth Uncle, what procedures do you suggest we follow?"
Zhu Yunwen, who rushed over, had a stern expression and rebuked them sharply, "As members of the imperial family, you should be careful with your words and actions. How can you, riding horses recklessly in the marketplace, commit such lawless acts, be worthy of His Majesty's great favor?!"
Well, Zhu Yunying wouldn't let things slide. He was a thorough Confucian scholar, and anyone who didn't know better would think he was of noble character and kind-hearted.
In reality, it's quite different. This person is inherently cold-hearted, doesn't care about so-called brothers and sisters, and even less about those royal uncles or the like.
He didn't care about his father's brothers and sisters, let alone the offspring of his uncles!
Zhu Zhi was displeased and said directly, "Prince Xu, if we follow your opinion, these people should be removed from the imperial clan and demoted to commoners?"
According to Zhu Yunwen, there was really no problem with doing so. Doing so would truly be in accordance with the teachings of the sage. Even though he was only a prince now, he should act according to the sage's teachings. Not being the emperor left him with some unease, but he had resigned himself to his fate and would be a wise prince.
Moreover, although his elder brother wasn't particularly close to him, he had at least given the imperial clan some hope. For example, his elder brother had previously said that members of the imperial clan would be allowed to work and enter officialdom, which was also one of Zhu Yunying's expectations.
If one day I could persuade my elder brother to bestow titles upon members of the imperial clan, returning to the system of enfeoffing princes as my grandfather had previously implemented, and to the ancient custom of granting titles and establishing fiefdoms through collective enfeoffment, that would be the best possible outcome. To gain my elder brother's trust, I would naturally need to achieve something significant, thus fulfilling my ideals and ambitions.
Zhu Yunwen was very displeased and said righteously, "A country has its laws, and a family has its rules..."
“Since there are national laws, we should just follow them.” Zhu Yunwen didn’t care about Zhu Yunwen’s attitude and said simply, “Besides, this matter is not a big deal, there’s no need to scare people with some serious charges.”
Zhu Zhi was very unhappy and looked at Zhu Yunwen, asking, "What the Prince of Wu said makes sense. It's just a small matter and he should be punished."
Zhu Zhi and Zhu Yunwen's attitudes were quite normal. In this era of kinship and mutual protection, achieving true selflessness was no easy feat. Sometimes, people would naturally side with their own family members.
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