For Lao Zhu, it seems that he has no worries now. The things he should do and the things he wants to do have basically been completed. He feels free and at ease.

The edict of succession has now been issued, and some people in Yingtian Prefecture or Jiangnan know about it. It won't be long before people all over the world know about it.

There is naturally nothing wrong with this. Lao Zhu feels that all this will not cause too much waves. At most, some people will talk about it a little, and then continue to live their lives.

After a trip to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, I felt a little comforted. I no longer had to worry about it all the time, and of course I felt a lot more at ease.

This is the case for Lao Zhu. He has done what he should do and what he wanted to do. Now he only needs to take care of the children in Xigong and he doesn't need to worry about anything else.

As for the government affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang has not officially abdicated yet. But let alone this year, even last year, he often did not attend court, leaving the affairs of state to his grandson.

Then there was nothing to worry about now, everything was still the same. Even the edict of succession had been issued, and many things were more legitimate.

Old Zhu may feel relieved, but this is obviously not the case for Zhu Yunhuan. He still has to do what he should do. Even at this stage, there are more things to do.

Yan Zhenzhi and Chen Xuan came to Wenhua Hall again. Naturally, the two of them were preparing for the dredging of the Grand Canal.

Although a lot of big things have happened recently, it cannot delay the handling of some political affairs. Dredging the Grand Canal is an extremely urgent matter.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the plan and said, "We need to speed up the section from Tianjin to Beiping. Since there are few people in the north now, I will arrange manpower to dredge Tianjin and Beiping first. Chen Xuan should speed up."

Chen Xuan immediately received the order and said excitedly, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will dredge the canal from Peking to Tianjin within two years."

Zhu Yunhuan said unhappily, "Two years? It will take you two years to dredge from Peking to Tianjin. Will it take you three years to dredge from Tianjin to Shandong? Will it take you five years to dredge Shandong?"

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan's displeasure, Chen Xuan knelt down hurriedly, "Your Highness, please understand that this time we are dredging the Tianjin to Beiping section. I also need to build the Tianjin Port Transshipment Wharf and the Canal Transport Wharf, which will take more time!"

Zhu Yunhuan could barely accept this answer. It thought it was reasonable and the two-year construction period was basically acceptable.

The siltation of the canal from Peking to Tianjin is not particularly serious, and the length is not very long. If it really took two years, it would definitely be unacceptable.

This can be said to be the simplest section of the Grand Canal dredging project, so naturally it is impossible to spend too much time on this section of the river.

But if Tianjin is included, then it is acceptable. Although the imperial court had been developing Tianjin slightly before, because it was a transit station with an extremely special status.

At the current stage of sea transportation, it is the key port for the imperial court to transport grain to the Liaodong region. In the future, it will continue to develop and become the center of grain transportation, so naturally, the scale of Tianjin will continue to expand.

Spending some time and laying a solid foundation was naturally something Zhu Yunhuan could accept, and two years did not seem particularly long.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan's expression soften, Yan Zhen said, "Your Highness, I think it will take at most two years to dredge the southern river section. It is really too long, and we need to dig a new river section."

Zhu Yunhuan understood what Yan Zhenzhi meant and said, "It's okay if you say that. I'll give you two years to complete the repair of the Jiangnan section. We can't delay any longer."

Dredging the Grand Canal was a long-term project. Zhu Yunhuan did not expect immediate results, nor did he think that it could be completed in two or three years.

In fact, he had made preparations, and in five years, some initial results were seen. In ten years, the Grand Canal would basically be connected, and subsequent maintenance and improvement would be required.

Zhu Yunhuan could completely accept spending more time on such a large project. After all, these were projects that benefited the country and the people and would benefit future generations.

As long as it is not too exaggerated and as long as it is within a reasonable range, there is naturally nothing to say.

Yan Zhenzhi then spoke cautiously, "Your Highness, I think the civilians in Jiangnan are enough. But should we be lenient with the conscription of civilians next year?"

Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, "Why? Do you think that since there is a general amnesty, some corvée labor will be exempted? Not really. Those who should be forgiven will be forgiven, but what should be done still needs to be done."

Zhu Yunhuan also had a headache when he mentioned this matter. "I have to discuss this with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment later. We must grant amnesty to the whole country, but we can't just grant amnesty blindly."

In fact, everyone understands that the so-called "general amnesty" does not mean that all sins will be forgiven. Basically, those that are forgiven are minor sins.

However, Zhu Yunhuan still felt that sometimes, one had to take responsibility for one's mistakes, and this was only natural. This naturally meant that he did not want to pardon the crimes of too many people.

As for making prisoners serve and work, this is also a very common thing. These prisoners are not just locked up in cages to serve their sentences, they will inevitably be taken out of prison to do hard and tiring work.

These are naturally natural things, and everyone obviously doesn't think there is anything wrong with them. These are all very normal things.

Zhu Yunhuan then added, "Although there are enough civilian laborers, the Ministry of Works still needs to make preparations. It is definitely not enough to send prisoners from all over the country. The ones nearby still need to go to dredge the canal."

Yan Zhenzhi was not surprised at this at all. This has been the practice in all dynasties. Prisoners were naturally part of the labor force for some projects, and these people could indeed do a lot of things.

While Chen Xuan and Yan Zhenzhi were still reporting on some matters related to dredging the canal, Xu Huizu was also summoned to the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Yunhuan said straight to the point, "Dredging the canal is no small matter. You should arrange the guards along the way as soon as possible. Don't cause any trouble at this time."

This was an absolutely big deal. An uprising broke out when Emperor Yang of Sui was digging the Grand Canal. In a short time, the Sui Dynasty was destroyed and the Grand Canal became one of the evidences of "the merits will last for thousands of years, but the sins will come in the present."

Those are too far away. The more recent one is about fifty years ago, when the Yuan Dynasty dug out the one-eyed stone man when building a river channel, and then Liu Futong and others started an uprising.

Regardless of whether Liu Futong and others were forced to rebel, the lessons learned from the past are in front of us, so we naturally need to pay great attention to it. Dredging canals, managing waterways, etc. is a very tiring job. Sometimes, once some officials are cruel, it is possible to provoke a civil uprising and make the country unstable.

Xu Huizu said quickly, "Your Highness, we have discussed this before and have arranged guards along the way. There will definitely be no accidents."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded with satisfaction. The Ming Dynasty's guards along the way would carry out some surveillance and assistance, but it was obvious that it was not just this violent agency. There were also the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate and other government offices.

Even if there is the involvement of the Jinyiwei, no one would find it strange. After all, this project is really too large in scale, so of course we have to be cautious.

Zhu Yunhuan then continued to ask, "How are the three guards of the King of Yan? The transferred guards should also be there. The dredging of the canal will begin in the spring of next year. There is no time to delay these things."

Xu Huizu immediately replied, "Your Highness, we have already discussed and found three military garrisons that can be transferred to Peking. The Ministry of War has also helped a lot and drawn up a list of some soldiers who can settle in Peking and Tianjin."

Everyone has long known about the move of replacing the three guards of Prince of Yan with three military farms. The main reason is that Zhu Yunhuan made no secret of the fact that he would do such a thing.

After the three elite guards of Prince of Yan were replaced, everyone understood that Prince of Yan's Mansion would only have one thousand households left as a defensive force. However, in Zhu Yunhuan's view, this was completely sufficient.

As for the original three guards of the King of Yan, they would naturally have to be carefully screened and then transferred to other places. Whether it was to deter neighboring countries or simply to distrust the King of Yan, it didn't matter.

The most important thing is naturally that Zhu Yunhuan did not conceal his attitudes at all, and now more and more people can see what he is thinking.

The Prince of Qi made a mistake and is still being punished in Fengyang. Naturally, his Three Guards of Qi have been replaced, and now he has to send people to Peking to help build and dredge the Grand Canal.

Prince Zhou seemed to have the best relationship with Zhu Yunhuan, but the three guards of Prince Zhou were all replaced, and Zhu Su could no longer mobilize troops.

This set a good example for other brothers. The treatment of these three princes was not an isolated case. Basically, all members of the royal family would receive similar treatment in the future.

The power given to the princes in the early years of the founding of the country was really too great, which means that it is time to start shrinking it. It is obvious that taking back the military power is just the beginning.

Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied with Xu Huizu's words, and he praised, "So my uncles are sensible. This is very good, and they will be rewarded when the time comes!"

These can all be regarded as blank checks. Whether to reward or not is sometimes just a matter of Zhu Yunhuan's words.

But looking at what he has done over the years, it is obviously unrealistic for the royal family to easily take away most of the benefits from him, and Zhu Yunhuan would certainly not allow it.

Zhu Yunhuan is still only the crown prince, and some members of the royal family have complained a lot because their livelihoods and benefits have been greatly reduced.

Now, except for a few members of the Ming royal family who are guarding the fortresses, the other vassal kings obviously can't expect to get any extra rewards from the harsh Zhu Yunhuan. That is impossible.

The benefits that should be given have naturally been given, but it is obvious that they should be cut back when it is time to cut back.

Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied with Xu Huizu's words, "That's good. If things are settled sooner, everyone can feel at ease. These are all important matters, so hurry up and get them done."

We do need to hurry up to get some things done, and some things are not really about racing against time. But no matter what, we should not waste time, and we must hurry up.

Dredging the canal and removing the remaining military power from some royal family princes were things that Zhu Yunhuan cared about very much, and it seemed that these could indeed be carried out at the same time.

As long as we grasp some of the limits, there will naturally be no trouble, and many plans can be implemented steadily. This is the best thing.

Zhu Yunhuan affirmed the approach of Xu Huizu and others. He needed such ministers, not to take the initiative to share worries, but to be able to complete the tasks assigned to him almost perfectly. That was enough.

Zhang Fusheng said cautiously, "Your Highness, the Imperial Observatory has sent a report that the Observatory is requesting an audience outside the palace."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately understood what it meant. Either the stars predicted a great disaster or great joy, or the Imperial Observatory would have no presence in the court.

As for what kind of big event is going to happen now, everyone knows it in their hearts. In particular, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory has received the order from His Majesty to calculate an auspicious day.

Zhu Yunhuan did not summon them, but asked Zhang Fusheng to pass on the message, "If it is really around my birthday, these people don't need to come here to report, go back and observe and calculate carefully."

These were also what Zhu Yunhuan really thought, because he was very suspicious that some people would give a far-fetched explanation in order to please him, or would simply flatter him without any attempt to hide anything.

Zhang Fusheng hurried out of the hall and came back soon, "Your Highness, the date is the tenth day after your birthday."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately laughed, "I really didn't expect this. Ten days? I thought it would be two or three days. How come these people are more anxious than me?"

Zhang Fusheng could naturally hear the dissatisfaction of His Royal Highness the Grandson, and he obviously felt that this day was not a good day. It was definitely not that he couldn't wait, but he felt that those people in the Imperial Observatory were too unethical.

Zhu Yunhuan decisively gave the order, saying, "Tell them to go back and make a careful calculation for me. If this happens again next time, don't blame me for being rude!"

Zhang Fusheng naturally left the hall in a hurry again to convey the imperial edict. As one of the people who knew Zhu Yunhuan best, Zhang Fusheng also felt that it was necessary for him to remind those people in the Imperial Observatory.

Each of them is so troublesome, as if they care about some things more than Zhu Yunhuan, and they are also like afraid of more troubles at night. This is really ugly.

Such things cannot happen. At least Zhu Yunhuan really dislikes such things. It is more important to be steady. There is really no need to be anxious!
After discussing some things, Zhu Yunhuan could finally take a breath, but the next moment he bent over his desk and began to review memorials. Although he discussed important matters, there were also many political affairs that needed to be dealt with.

Fortunately, all of this has become commonplace, so naturally, there is no problem with it. This has long been the norm in Zhu Yunhuan's life! (End of this chapter)