Zhu Zhu said matter-of-factly, "Ying'er has the Emperor's literary talent, while the Crown Prince has Father's military skills. If you ask me, Father was just too busy in the past few years. Even if Ying'er had no talent, Father could still teach her. The Crown Prince is always by Father's side, how promising is that!"
Old Zhu smiled and looked at Little Zhu. “The Emperor has some knowledge that we can’t keep up with. Our Yin’er can also learn from his father. You tell me, do you know that Annam doesn’t have a winter? We have four seasons a year, but they say there is no winter there. They only have a dry season and a rainy season. There are many strange things there.”
Zhu Yue also said, "We had only heard that there was miasma in Lingnan before, but we later learned that the winters there are not cold. We thought that was the case only over there, but we did not expect that it would be even warmer south of Annam. Our royal brother has never been there, but he knows all of this."
"The Emperor is indeed perceptive; he deduced the existence of a large mine in Japan simply by inquiring from Japanese ronin." Old Zhu was even more proud, just like any other old man, enjoying boasting about his children and grandchildren's achievements. "Now our Great Ming Dynasty has no more worries about silver; it's all thanks to the Emperor's abilities!"
Whether it's flattery, praise, or simply stating some facts, it doesn't really matter.
Gu Liu
At least for now, it seems to have nothing to do with Joo Yoon-young, because although many things revolve around him, Joo Yoon-young simply doesn't care about these things, nor does he have time to care about them; he has many other things to do right now.
Now that we're talking about it, Zhu Yunying is the pillar of the family, so it's only natural that he should take on certain responsibilities.
Old Zhu has worked hard all his life, and now it's time for him to rest and enjoy his retirement, taking care of his great-grandchildren and seeing his other descendants. This would truly be the greatest comfort for Old Zhu, who values family ties.
As for Xiao Xiao Zhu, he's still just a child. Growing up carefree is what everyone expects of him. Although there are times when Xiao Xiao Zhu needs to make an appearance, it's just a brief appearance; he doesn't actually need to do anything.
As for his younger siblings, Zhu Yunying knew that as the eldest brother, he naturally needed to take care of them, which was a responsibility he should shoulder.
There's no need to worry about military merit for the time being, and the loyalty of the Chang and Xu factions is not a concern either. Their influence is also quite strong, which puts Zhu Yunying at ease.
As for the civil officials, the scholars' rebellion failed after three years. These people had no troops, so it was best for them to remain calm and obedient at this time.
Moreover, with the continuous suppression by the Hongwu Emperor and the Yingshi Emperor, many civil officials have also maintained a relatively upright attitude, without any messy thoughts, such as thinking about recreating the glory of the scholar-officials during the Song Dynasty, or thinking about 'jointly governing the world'.
While we can disregard the attitudes and opinions of some civil officials, the goal of implementing the land tax reform is not simply to have military officers carry out the work on horseback. The efforts of civil officials, including some "unranked" minor officials, are still necessary and their execution capabilities should be acknowledged.
Yu Xin was summoned to the Wuying Hall again. As the Minister of Revenue, he was indeed quite qualified to speak on this matter, as it was his duty.
"I have decided to promote this first, and the Ministry of Revenue should start making preparations." Zhu Yunying said to Yu Xin, "In the pilot areas, the land tax system will be merged into the poll tax next year. Court officials should know this, and ordinary people should also know that the tax system is changing."
Yu Xin had actually corrected his attitude. He knew he couldn't fight city hall. "Your Majesty," he said, "whether it's the Two-Tax System or the Land Tax System, the court has its own regulations for taxation. However, the first step in implementing the Land Tax System is to investigate the land ownership."
"The Ministry of Revenue will handle these matters, and the Three Judicial Offices will assist in the process." Zhu Yunying waved his hand and said seriously, "One thing at a time. Some things shouldn't be left until the last minute. Besides, the Two-Tax System has been in place for hundreds of years, and the same tax system was in place for the first thirty years of the dynasty. The common people don't understand the 'equalization of poll tax and land tax'."
Yu Xin was quick to understand the emperor's meaning and immediately said, "I will have people post notices at the government office and in front of the city gates, and I will have people explain in detail the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax."
Zhu Yunying was quite satisfied with Yu Xin's intelligence. Some things still needed to be publicized, especially policy-related matters, which required proper promotion.
Without publicity, how would the people understand that the Two-Tax System had been replaced by the Land Tax System? Without publicity, how would the people know how much grain they would have to pay?
Zhu Yunying is currently quite satisfied with Yu Xin as Minister of Revenue. Whether it was the previous banking issues or the current land tax reform, he has handled things quite well, saving Zhu Yunying a lot of trouble. Therefore, this Minister of Revenue is considered competent.
Since that's the case, there's no need to consider whether Yu Xin is a 'confidant' or not. As long as Yu Xin has the ability, he can continue to demonstrate his talent and ability in his position as Minister of Revenue.
After all, Zhu Yunying was an emperor with great power in his hands. He didn't need to worry too much about placing confidants in order to control the court. Those things were indeed superfluous for him and really unnecessary.
Yu Xin likely understood these principles, which is why he didn't have any other thoughts. Simply fulfilling the emperor's orders was enough for him; he didn't need to worry about being replaced, and he just needed to demonstrate his abilities.
Even if someone is the emperor's confidant, like Zhuo Jing, they might be demoted for disobeying the emperor. Conversely, if someone isn't the emperor's confidant, they can still retain their position as Minister.
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