Handing the secret report to Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying said, "You told me a few days ago to pay attention to military merits, and now we've been paying attention to that. Now things are looking up, and we're going to give those military merits a good talking to. Come to think of it, we've been too kind."
Old Zhu glanced at the memorial, then said calmly, "It's time to teach these good-for-nothings a lesson!"
Zhu Yunying certainly didn't want to kill military merits and meritorious officials, but sometimes he had no choice but to do so.
Some military officers had questionable allegiance, which was intolerable to the emperor. It was quite normal for such officers to be punished, and many lost their titles or even had their entire families executed as a result.
Other military officers may simply have conflicts with the court's general policies, so sometimes it is necessary to eliminate some of them. The court also needs to ensure that the military officers' power is under control and not allowed to grow indefinitely.
Some military officers met unfortunate ends, naturally because of their corruption and abuse of power, and because they were arrogant and domineering because of their achievements. This can be considered their way of getting themselves killed.
To be honest, Zhu Yunying knew a lot about the rampant lawlessness among the military officers. Sometimes he would turn a blind eye, but there were times when he couldn't pretend nothing had happened.
Zhu Yunying sighed. In fact, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the military power was indeed extremely strong.
Among the military officers who followed Zhu Yuanzhang in conquering the country, many quickly fell into depravity after gaining status and wealth, committing numerous illegal and unethical acts. Many of these officers indeed met tragic ends.
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's iron-fisted methods did indeed deter many military officers. Due to some eliminations, the military power of the Ming Dynasty became controllable, and many military officers also learned that they needed to abide by the law and at least not cross the emperor's bottom line.
But now, there are very few of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty left, while their descendants have been taking up positions in the court.
Some people may have witnessed the transition from chaos to peace alongside their fathers and grandfathers, and they may have experienced some hardships in their childhood. However, this was relatively limited, because the Ming Dynasty developed too rapidly, and wealth and prosperity arrived quickly.
This can be considered as a sudden change in wealth without a corresponding change in demeanor. After all, many of Zhu Yunying's original gang members were peasants, or, like Zhu Yunying's maternal grandfather Chang Yuchun, had experience as bandits. None of them were easy to deal with.
People from the lower classes who suddenly gain power and status are sometimes easily led astray. Many even become the very thing they once despised after gaining power, engaging in acts of tyranny and abuse.
As for those second- and third-generation meritorious officials, they don't have many memories of hardship. They are basically born into wealth and enjoy a life of luxury and privileges.
To say they had any empathy with ordinary people is simply a pipe dream; many of their military achievements were actually superior to others. As for their moral character, it would be considered quite good if they didn't commit any illegal acts.
Zhu Yunying sighed and said to Old Zhu, "We're going to clean house this time. We can't stand these people anymore, and we don't intend to tolerate them. We'll deal with those who need to be dealt with."
Old Zhu smiled and nodded, agreeing with Zhu Yunying's statement, "That's good. An emperor should be ruthless when necessary. We were willing to kill even our old brothers who grew up together back then, so you should do the same now. These military officers, sometimes they really have no character."
Zhu Yunying naturally agreed with these statements; some of the military officers did indeed need to be properly disciplined and dealt with.
The reason for calling for a purge was that the offenders were nobles from the Chang lineage, who were part of Zhu Yunying's faction.
However, even being a member of the Chang faction didn't mean Zhu Yunying was entitled to complete protection. Zhu Yunying wasn't an emperor of the Chang faction; he was the Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty. Most importantly, even as the leader of the Chang faction, Zhu Yunying occasionally needed to prune any unruly branches.
Zhu Yunying understood this very well, and the old Zhu (Zhu Yunying) naturally understood it even better. Therefore, when ruthlessness was necessary, it was essential to be ruthless. Sometimes the emperor would be sentimental, but those military officers would not understand the emperor's predicaments; instead, they would deliberately create trouble for the emperor and embarrass him.
Zhu Yunying couldn't help but laugh, and said to Zhu Yunying, "Lan Yu is still training troops in the Northwest. He has improved over the years. I see, he is more composed now, but he can't control others anymore."
Lan Yu committed many outrageous acts, including humiliating the concubines of the Northern Yuan emperor, attacking the Ming Dynasty's border while drunk, and seizing land from commoners and assaulting censors. In his youth, Lan Yu was undoubtedly a typical example of someone who was arrogant and complacent, and indeed a typical example of a lawless nobleman.
If it weren't for Lan Yu's special status and the fact that his talents were needed at the time, Lan Yu might have been dealt with long ago.
Zhu Yunying chuckled and said, "He has indeed grown up. Knowing that his title and lineage have been passed down, he has become much more obedient. In other words, he has become afraid, and seems to have lost some of his sharpness."
Lan Yu used to only have daughters, so she really had no worries about having any descendants. They were all so-called "childless" families, so what was there to care about? But after she brought her grandson home and treated him as her own, things changed for Lan Yu.
Don't think that people in this era place great importance on the continuation of incense; hundreds of years from now, it will be the same, with many people still caring about the continuation of incense traditions.
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