My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 74
For seven days in a row, Zhu Gaoxu stayed in the Wenhua Palace almost without moving a place. He ate casually when he was hungry, and squinted for a while when he was sleepy. As long as his eyes were still open, the memorial in his hand was not broken.

Zhu Zhanhe came to visit every day, and saw with his own eyes that Zhu Gaoxu had lost three rounds of weight, the beard on his face had no time to trim, it looked like weeds, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Because of lack of sleep and irregular diet, Zhu Gaoxu became more and more irritable. A little thing might make him lose his temper. Eunuch Gao Guang and others had to be careful.

Of course, there are also good aspects. For example, Zhu Gaoxu's teeth are getting better and better. No matter what kind of ivory pen or jade pen, it is crunchy in his mouth. None of them can last for half an hour. Now they can only be replaced by brass pens. The pen, although it is full of teeth marks, but at least it is not easy to break.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Zhanhe was worried but had no choice, if Zhu Gaoxu suffered enough, he would never wake up.

In addition, Zhu Gaoxu seemed to work hard, but the memorials he reviewed were finally re-reviewed by Jin Zhong and the others. According to their report, among the memorials Zhu Gaoxu reviewed, none of the ten books could be used. .

This day Zhu Zhanhe went to visit Zhu Gaoxu again. Seeing his father getting thinner, he could only persuade him to pay attention to his body, but Zhu Gaoxu obviously didn't listen.

After bidding farewell to his father, Zhu Zhanhe habitually came to the Hall of Martial Heroes. During this time, he would come to Zhu Di's place to sit and chat with him almost every day to cultivate his relationship.

Unexpectedly, just after entering the Hall of Martial Arts, Zhu Di, who was reviewing memorials, suddenly asked, "I heard from Ji Gang that you are sending sumptuous food and drinks to Jin Zhong and the others every day?"

"Uh... yes."

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment and nodded, saying that this matter could not be hidden from Zhu Di.

"Why?"

Zhu Di asked again without raising his head.

"In order to make father's dream come true, you and uncle accompanied him to act, but Jin Shangshu was very innocently involved in it. Now he is not only sent to prison, but also wiped his father's ass, so grandson feels a little sorry."

Zhu Zhanhe replied honestly.

Zhu Zhanhe has never met Jin Zhong, but he has a lot to do with Jin Zhong. Before Jin Zhong was injured, he was saved by Zhu Zhanhe's allicin.

After Jin Zhong returned to Beijing, he also entrusted someone to give Zhu Zhanhe a generous gift. The reason why he didn't come to the door in person was that his injuries were not completely healed at the time, and the second was that he had a different stand from Zhu Gaoxu, so it was really inconvenient to go to the Han Palace.

"You are very kind, child!"

At this moment Zhu Di finally put down the pen in his hand and put aside the reviewed memorial.

Compared with Zhu Gaoxu's side, Zhu Di had a lot of memorials to deal with, and sometimes encountered some embarrassing government affairs, and had to call some ministers to discuss before making a decision.

"Grandson does things, just for peace of mind."

Zhu Zhanhe lowered his head and replied.

"How is your father's side, how long can you last?"

Zhu Di finally asked about Zhu Gaoxu's situation.

"My father lost weight several times and became very irritable. Sometimes I wanted to persuade him to give up, but he didn't dare to speak."

Zhu Zhanhe smiled wryly.

"It's not yet the time, and being restless means that he hasn't recognized the reality. When he can't hold on anymore, he will naturally give up."

Zhu Di was quite calm.

"Grandfather, through observing my father during this period, I have also considered a lot. I don't know if I should say something or not?"

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment, but finally summoned up his courage and said.

"I don't know if I should say it or not? Then you still want to say it, just say what you want to say, and the emperor doesn't blame you if you say something wrong!"

Zhu Di laughed.

During this period of time, Zhu Zhanji was busy with the Yongle Grand Ceremony, and only Zhu Zhanhe ran to him every day, which made the relationship between their grandparents and grandchildren more intimate.

"Then the grandson will speak boldly!"

Zhu Zhanhe's spirit was shaken, and he organized his words before saying: "I think our Ming Dynasty is in power, especially the emperor's handling of government affairs, there is a huge problem!"

"You are so courageous, you actually pointed the finger at me directly!"

Zhu Di was surprised, isn't he the emperor of Ming Dynasty?

"Grandpa Huang misunderstood, I'm not talking about you, but starting from Emperor Taizu, there is a problem with the way our Ming Dynasty handles government affairs."

Zhu Zhanhe hastily corrected.

But Zhu Di's complexion turned even darker. Zhu Zhanhe didn't say anything about him, but pointed the finger at his father. It's better to scold him directly.

"Grandfather, please calm down. Emperor Taizu is very energetic. Even if he abolishes the prime minister and monopolizes the power of the emperor and prime minister, he is still able to handle it with ease. But he forgot that we, the descendants of future generations, do not have as much energy as his old man!"

Zhu Zhanhe gave a wry smile at the end.

Zhu Yuanzhang started with a bowl, and forcibly built a huge empire. Both military and political talents are top-notch, but no one is perfect. He also left countless hidden dangers for future generations. For example, the abolition of the prime minister is one of them.

"From what you said, do you think it was a mistake for Emperor Taizu to abolish the prime minister?"

Zhu Di asked again with a blank face, can't tell whether he is happy or angry?
"The abolition of the prime minister has indeed avoided the prime minister's monopoly and strengthened the imperial power, but it also caused the emperor to have no assistants around him, and all government affairs were taken care of by the emperor. The establishment of the cabinet is probably also for this reason!"

Zhu Zhanhe stood up straight and talked eloquently, since he has decided to speak, he can simply speak freely.

The earliest cabinet members were Xie Jin, Hu Guang, Yang Rong and others. They were stationed in Wenyuan Pavilion on duty. When Zhu Di encountered some difficult government affairs, he would ask for their opinions.

However, the cabinet during this period was only regarded as the emperor's personal adviser, and did not have any real power. It was not until Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne that the cabinet gradually grasped the real power. After several repetitions, the cabinet auxiliary government system of the Ming Dynasty was formed.

"That's right. When I set up a cabinet, I was really troubled by some government affairs. That's why I called a group of smart people to help me find a way."

Zhu Di nodded and said again.

"Grandfather, you are very talented and general, not inferior to Emperor Taizu, it's just that you prefer to lead troops to fight and don't want to spend too much energy on government affairs."

Zhu Zhanhe first flattered Zhu Di, then changed the subject and continued.

"But look at my uncle and my father. Uncle is okay. He is good at handling government affairs and works very hard. Even so, he is still overwhelmed by the heavy government affairs every day. He can only relieve the pressure by overeating... "

"Wait! You said that the reason why the prince is so fat is because he has too many government affairs?"

Zhu Di suddenly interrupted Zhu Zhanhe to ask.

"Yes, uncle eats too much because of too much pressure, and he sits for a whole day while reviewing memorials. He eats a lot and does not exercise, and he will definitely gain weight. There is a very vivid name for this disease, which is called 'overwork. Fat'."

Zhu Zhanhe explained.

Zhu Di frowned when he heard the words. He had always disliked the fat Zhu Gaochi, but he didn't expect that he got fat because of government affairs.

Thinking about it carefully, in the past when Zhu Gaochi was still a heir, although he was a bit fat, his body was still in a normal shape, unlike what he is now, he needs someone to help him when he walks.

"Compared to my uncle's body, my father's body is definitely much stronger. Back then, he was the head of a general among thousands of troops, and he was brave enough to jump on a horse and hold a spear. But such a powerful general only served my uncle for seven days. I have already lost a few laps, and my whole body is very emaciated, if it goes on for many years, I am afraid that even a hard-working person will be exhausted and collapse."

Zhu Di frowned even more after hearing the above.

Knowing the son is like the father, Zhu Di still knows the two sons very well, the eldest son is good at government, and the second son is good at soldiers, but even these two people can't support those heavy government affairs.

Think about the future emperors, who grew up in the deep palace since they were young, and their talents and knowledge may be worse than those of Zhu Gaochi brothers. How can they undertake such heavy government affairs?

"You mentioned the cabinet just now, and you said that your uncle and your father are overwhelmed. Do you want me to hand over some government affairs to the cabinet so as to share the pressure on them?"

Zhu Di is worthy of being a hero of a generation, and he quickly guessed Zhu Zhanhe's thoughts.

"Grandpa Huang is wise. The cabinet is actually a very good system. As long as some reforms are made to it, it can fully assume the duties of the prime minister, but there is no threat from the prime minister to the emperor."

Zhu Zhanhe nodded with a smile.

Zhu Zhanhe does not intend to copy the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty in history, because the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty has many shortcomings. For example, most of the cabinet ministers came from Hanlin, and they have no experience in local administration. Unclear, leading to frequent power struggles between the cabinet and the six ministries.

In addition, the cabinet ministers were opposed to the imperial power, and the emperor had to train the eunuchs around him to check each other with the cabinet, which intensified the internal friction and contradictions in the empire.

"Being able to assume the post of prime minister without the threat of a prime minister, is there such a good thing in this world?"

But Zhu Di smiled and didn't believe it, and even felt that Zhu Zhanhe was dreaming.

"Grandfather, imagine that if there is an institution in the imperial court, there is no official government office, and there are no special officials, but it holds various powers such as military, government, finance, and people. All the officials in the institution are selected by the emperor. The confidant, the appointment and dismissal all depend on the emperor's will, and the internal affairs are all kept secret from the outside world, do you think this organization will pose a threat to the emperor?"

As soon as Zhu Zhanhe's words came out of his mouth, Zhu Di's expression also changed.

An institution without a formal government office and no specialized officials is basically impossible to threaten the imperial power from a legal point of view. The most important thing is that the appointment and removal of officials of this institution are all in the hands of the emperor, which makes this institution completely subject to the emperor.

However, this institution also holds the military, government, financial and other powers. It can be said that it has grasped the power of the government, which indirectly means that all powers are handed over to the emperor, which strengthens the emperor's control over the court.

The most wonderful thing is that this organization handles affairs in complete secrecy to the outside world, and the ministers in the court can only obey orders, but have no right to make suggestions, which reduces many disputes and strengthens the power in the emperor's hands again.

The more Zhu Di thought about it, the more excited he became. Although Zhu Zhanhe didn't say much, it seemed that he had opened a whole new door and saw a completely different world.

(End of this chapter)