"Dad, what do you mean..." Hearing this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel happy.
"Do I want to ask my son to bring the prisoner who is in prison to the East?"
"Those who have done nothing wrong, and those who have committed minor crimes, naturally ask me to show mercy."
"We don't want to be a tyrant. We really wonder if our Ming Dynasty has fewer rebellious officials and traitors, so that the descendants of our old Zhu family don't have to hang themselves in Meishan?"
"We have thought carefully about the four major cases we raised among the fifth family members. If Hu Weiyong and Guo Huan were corrupt officials and thieves, they really made us angry."
"I want to know if our grandparents were forced to die by those corrupt officials and tax collectors in the former Yuan Dynasty!"
"If we really meet Ming Dynasty and find corrupt officials, we will definitely not be able to suppress the anger in our hearts!"
"Boss, I always remember that it is the people who are the foundation of the Ming Dynasty! In ordinary months, the people seem to be resigned to the situation. They are far less smooth-talking than those officials. They show up in the court every day.
Jumping around in front of us."
"But we, the Zhu family, must be open-minded in our hearts. In fact, we don't have to worry about no one doing it for the officials. How many people have been chopped off, there will be others rushing to do it! We set off four major crimes and killed tens of thousands of officials. The Ming Dynasty will not
Isn’t it going to turn upside down?”
"But if the people's support is completely gone, can Tiandong ask for Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong?"
"My vision should not be limited to the officials in the court. The palace and the court cannot raise a truly wise emperor!"
"We should go out to the people more and more to the common people. Only by personally observing the people's sentiments can we not be deceived by those officials."
When Lao Zhu talked about his parents, even though Ru Ming was no longer a ninety-five-year-old man, he still couldn't hide the look of sadness and indignation in his eyes, which showed that he was hit hard that year. Zhu Biao also looked solemn. What Lao Zhu said
, Zhu Biao rushed to listen to the golden words he learned from the bottom level.
Zhu Su couldn't help but nod. What Lao Zhu said was similar to the saying "from the masses, to the masses".
Speaking of which, history books also record that Prince Zhu Biao went out to the capital many times for inspections. Even before the princes came to the vassal state, Lao Zhu would order the princes who were about to join the vassal state to go to Fengyang, the central capital, to practice confinement for a period of time.
Come to think of it, maybe it was because Lao Zhu wanted to teach his sons that truth.
"Second, the situation at that time really required that." Lao Zhu continued. "According to what Lao Wu described, we estimate that it would be a few years later before Dong Dong really made up his mind to abolish the Zhongshu Sheng and the prime minister system."
"At that time, we did not have the advice of Lao Wu, and we did not set up an external cabinet to provide the government with the full details. Hu Weiyong was entangled in the government and the opposition in the east. How could we uproot Hu Weiyong's party and allow them to completely root out Hu Weiyong's party if we did not carry out large-scale assassinations?
Completely stop thinking about it?"
"If I had done this ruthlessly, when I, or even the next generation of emperors, came to power, they would have relied on their words and cited scriptures to restore the prime ministerial system!"
Zhu Biao pursed his lips, knowing that his father was wrong. If he, the founding emperor, had not made such a decisive decision in this matter, if there was a soft-hearted person in future generations, the prime minister system would inevitably be reborn.
After all, the prime minister system has been going on in that land for thousands of years. How could it be so easy to completely dissipate? Even if Zhu Biao had not been persuaded, there is no guarantee that future generations would not be deceived by those literati and bureaucrats and reinstate the prime minister system.
.
And even if history went on a killing spree like Lao Zhu's, the literati still did not give up their efforts to seize power from the king and let the king "rule from the east". Didn't the names of the external cabinets in the middle and late Ming Dynasty change one by one?
The Zhongshu Province and the Prime Minister System?
Even if he is as benevolent as Zhu Biao, he has to admit that it is indeed necessary for Zhu Dong to clean up the officialdom in that situation.
"When it came to the Lan Yu case, Biao'er and my mother... were both gone." Even though he was talking about it, Lao Zhu's voice still trembled when he mentioned it. "We are impatient.
But on weekdays, we, my mother-in-law, always show off to him."
"My two prayers are gone. What do we have to worry about at that time?"
"As long as our grandson's position can be secure, who is there in Tiandong that we dare not kill?"
Perhaps it reflects the mentality of Zhu Yuanzhang in his later years when he lost his wife and son, but Lao Zhu's voice couldn't help but contain some desolation and murderous intent.
"Dad, Dad, my son knows what you are thinking." Zhu Biao was moved. "My son shouldn't blame you for being cruel in his heart. You are so understanding and explain to your son. It's a bonus. How can your son not know you?"
Painful?"
"It's good if I know." Lao Zhu patted Zhu Biao's leg. "We did all this, and we hope that in the next month, we can safely hand over the burden to my legs!"
Zhu Biao's face turned red, and Bu Nao nodded heavily.
"What should I do if I prepare to receive Dong Lai?" But Zhu Su spoke up, interrupting the atmosphere of fatherly kindness and filial piety between Lao Zhu and his eldest brother. If he killed Zhu Xian himself, he would have become enemies with the Marquis of Yongjia, Zhu Liangzu. Please tell me no.
If my father doesn't help out and lets his eldest brother protect him, then when he meets Zhu Liangzu, won't he ask for a detour?
After all, a prince with real power is not worthy of being a prince who temporarily has no title like him.
"Although I said that before, we don't want to open a charity hall." Lao Zhu sneered. "The time we pulled out Hu Weiyong, we also brought out a lot of rotten ones. Don't we have to hold those down too?
Is the nose loose?"
"Lu Zhongheng, Zhu Liangzu and the others... huh, they gathered around Hu Weiyong. We have so many complaints. Do you really think that you are good enough to be a duke or a king?"
"No matter whether you are an official or a distinguished person, you have to kill a group of people before you can let those guys know what it means to be afraid! I think the method of 'peeling the skin and filling it with grass' that Lao Wu said is good. I heard that we will come up with it ourselves later.
of?"
"There is indeed a bit of our ruthlessness..."
In the middle of speaking, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Zhu Biao: "Biao'er, I have to stay behind closed doors in the mansion for a while. We have to take advantage of that momentum to defeat the prime minister of Zhongshu Province and put it to death.
It can only be accomplished by pushing it out from the outer cabinet."
"Some foolish officials went against the idea of abolishing the prime ministership system, and they just happened to use Hu Weiyong's name to get involved and were imprisoned in the imperial edict. They have been making noises in our ears for months!"
Zhu Su burst into laughter. Lao Zhu wanted to "silence" all the contradictory voices first! When they came out of the imperial edict later, the prime minister system had been abolished and the outer cabinet had been abolished, and the imperial court was no longer allowed to do so.
They just hold their noses and recognize the principle of changing things day by day.
Zhu Biao also shook his head, as if he felt that his father's behavior was really a joke. But at this time, he had already given up on his previous obsession with following the truth. Is this method really successful in getting rid of the prime minister?
In order to preserve the good laws of those conservative upright officials, Lao Zhu also nodded and agreed to come to the east.