Zhu Yunhuan was very angry about the Hongcang incident. In the final analysis, some people treated benevolent and beneficial policies as a business, which they considered to be the best way to take advantage of others.

This is the case with Hongcang. Judging from the current situation, the families of some students from the Imperial College and other institutions are "eating empty salaries" and "making money from price differences", but that is just the tip of the iceberg. This has already become an industrial chain.

Originally, Hongcang was used to let the families of some students do needlework, etc. After the court purchased it, it was allocated to some orphanages, etc.

This seemed to be a win-win situation, as it would relieve some students of the pressure of livelihood and allow them to study better. For some orphans, being able to get the protection of the court would also give them a way to survive.

Now some smart people have learned how to collude between officials and businessmen. Some officials will carry out a series of operations, such as recalling defective products, giving up some quotas, and even purchasing materials from designated merchants.

Not only did they produce and sell their own products, they also set the prices, and the court only needed to be the scapegoat. The royal family's care for some vulnerable groups became something that some officials felt was dispensable.

Even some orphans who had received some protection were grateful for the care provided by the royal family.

On the other hand, they would also complain about some of the supplies provided by the court, which were really just the most basic supplies, barely better than having food to eat and clothes to wear.

That’s not all. Not to mention the Red Warehouse incident, the orphanage is also full of loopholes.

Respect the old and the young, not only your own but also others’.

All educated people know this truth, and often even regard it as a golden saying, and appear to agree with it.

But if we really let these people do it, let alone just doing things that benefit us without spending any money.

It is very rare to be able to do these things well without making any profit from them.

It is true to be angry. In the final analysis, normal people hate corrupt officials very much. They feel that these people do not deserve any sympathy and that any fate they suffer is what they deserve.

What's more, some of the things these people did had a significant negative impact on the court and the people, and Zhu Yunhuan was very dissatisfied with all of this.

A new day has begun, and for many people it seems to be just an ordinary day, and there seems to be nothing special about it.

The biggest thing now is naturally that the Crown Prince will soon ascend the throne. The date has now been confirmed, and it is said that some of the budgets for the ceremony have also been decided.

All this shows that things have been settled, and we just need to work together to complete some preparatory work. There is actually nothing else to worry about.

Autumn taxes, personnel assessments, selection of soldiers and generals, etc., all of these are big things, but at the moment they are far less important than the crown prince's accession to the throne.

Many people are now waiting for some great scholars to enter the palace. It is said that many scholars of the Hanlin Academy are now preparing to discuss the various etiquette of the coronation ceremony.

Zhu Yunhuan still had no expression on his face. He just stood quietly at the head of all the officials, ready to lead them into the palace.

After all, he is just the crown prince now. Before he officially ascends the throne, he is naturally just the heir to the throne, and he naturally needs to observe some etiquette.

Before he sat on the throne, he could only stand in the outer hall before attending court. This was how a subject should behave.

Zhu Yunhuan led all the officials into the Fengtian Hall only after the whip sounded. This was to start preparing for the new day's morning court. Everything seemed no different from the past.

As in the past, there was first a report on border military affairs, and then a series of questions about whether foreign envoys would be received, whether officials leaving for Beijing would be received, etc.

These are also things that Zhu Yunhuan needs to do. It seems that he is also helping Zhu Yunhuan. After all, these are also some of the emperor's duties, but now all of this is being done by Zhu Yunhuan.

Everyone has long been accustomed to these things. Even Zhu Yunhuan makes decisions decisively with peace of mind. These things are not difficult for him.

When entering the stage of reporting matters, Chen Di and Yu Xin are now eager to try, because they are going to bring up some topics in the court, which are major matters that all the civil and military officials in the court are extremely concerned about.

After all, everyone is used to it. Although the emperor or the crown prince will summon ministers to discuss some important policies privately, it is also very necessary to discuss them openly in the court.

Everyone seems to think so. The crown prince's enthronement ceremony is the most important event and the focus of everyone's concern.

It was just a bit unexpected, and no one obviously expected it. It is very common that plans cannot keep up with changes.

Zhu Yunhuan turned to all the officials and asked, "My dear ministers, I want to ask you what is the people?"

At this point, many officials began to feel a chill in their hearts, as if they felt that a storm was about to come.

The emperor usually did not like to call himself "Zhen". Once he did, it must be an important matter or an extremely important occasion. The same was true for the crown prince. He did not like to call himself "Gu" or "Ben Gong".

But once there are such official titles, it naturally means that something big is about to happen, or it is some relatively important occasion.

But this is just an ordinary court session, not even a regular court session. The Crown Prince calling himself this now must be something big.

Seeing that all the civil and military officials in the court were silent, Zhu Yunhuan looked at Ru Rong, "You are the Minister of Personnel, you have great ambitions since you were young, you are smart and studious, so you should explain to me what "people" means and how to interpret it!"

Ru Hong was nervous, but blurted out, "The Book of Songs says: 'When the people were first born, it was Jiang Yuan.' The Book of Changes says: 'In ancient times, people used knotted ropes to govern. Later, sages changed it to written contracts, which were used by officials to govern and by the people to observe. This was probably derived from the word 'Ge.'"

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slowly, and then asked, "So, the word 'people' is complicated to explain. But it is also simple. The people of our Ming Dynasty are the people, isn't that the truth?"

Although some of Zhu Yunhuan's statements were simple and crude, no one dared to object, because if one did not have to be pedantic, there would naturally be no problem with this understanding.

Zhu Yunhuan then continued to ask, "Then tell me what a 'scholar' is and what a 'literati official' is."

Many people became even more nervous. If the grandson only mentioned the "people", maybe he was just concerned about people's livelihood, etc. After all, the emperor and the grandson were very concerned about people's livelihood, which was no secret. But now this "scholar", this "literati", is likely to be very targeted. Everyone knows very well that now these are basically referring to officials.

After all, the title of "Shi" has undergone many changes. As early as the Five Emperors period, "Shi" meant a criminal officer who governed prisons, which was also its original meaning.

After Ru Hong explained, Zhu Yunhuan looked at Chen Di, "You are also a person of great talent and learning. Then tell me what it means to be an official and how to be an official. The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the ceremonial system of the five rituals of the country and the methods of imperial examinations. How should we select scholars and how should we select talented people?"

Naturally, all officials are now more nervous. The Crown Prince is becoming more and more targeted. This is not about understanding Chinese characters, nor is it that the Crown Prince is studious.

After all, everyone knew very well that although the emperor and the crown prince both recognized some officials, they did not really like or be close to some scholars. Although there were many preferential treatments for scholars, there was also a lot of suppression.

For some scholars, the emperor and the crown prince are really of the same lineage and have some natural distrust. It seems that they appoint them simply because there is no better choice.

The current Crown Prince most likely did not receive a systematic Confucian education, which makes him very different from the King of Wulin who was close to Confucianism. The King was said to be a true Confucian disciple and a wise and benevolent ruler in the eyes of many people.

But there was nothing he could do. The emperor did not like the well-versed King Wulin, but liked the scheming and overbearing Crown Prince.

Although Chen Di was also very puzzled, he still carefully and briefly explained some things about "officials" or the selection of talents. This was indeed something that the Minister of Rites should understand.

This is indeed not difficult. Not to mention that Chen Di is already very talented and learned, in fact, not to mention the Jinshi level, some scholars at this time can also start to explain various characters with ease, and even derive an article from it.

It is indeed not difficult to explain these things. What exactly is in the Crown Prince's mind is what everyone is more concerned about now, and they are constantly speculating about it.

Chang Sheng and others seemed to be indifferent to the matter, and even had a sense of gloating. Sometimes, nobles and civil servants are naturally incompatible.

Not to mention that the Crown Prince is now in power, even before he was named the Crown Prince, he often used civil servants as a reason. In fact, he was able to become the Crown Prince by using the heads of some civil servants as stepping stones.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Crown Prince will deal with these civil servants again. This is really something that the nobles are gloating over.

Many people thought that the emperor was only strict with the nobles, and that the Hu Weiyong case had involved many nobles. These seemed to be interesting things for the civil service group, who felt that the nobles had been greatly weakened by this incident.

However, in the Empty Seal Case and the Guo Huan Case, all the officials below the rank of Vice Minister of the six ministries were executed, and the twelve provincial governments throughout the country were implicated, as well as tens of thousands of corrupt officials who lost their heads as a result.

The Crown Prince is very likely going to rectify the administration of officials. Just think about it, some officials are starting to feel weak in the knees.

Although the nobles are not necessarily honest, for some of them, corruption is not worthwhile, as their wealth and status do not depend on those things.

The Crown Prince has started to be sarcastic, which can explain a lot of things. All the civil and military officials in the court know that this is the habit of the Crown Prince. He is not as direct as the emperor, and he prefers to satirize people.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care what other people thought. He suddenly looked at Ren Hengtai and said, "Ren Yushi, you were originally the Minister of Rites, and now you are the Yushi. Tell me, what were your thoughts when you first entered the officialdom?"

Ren Hengtai's face flushed with embarrassment. He was born into a wealthy family and once held a high position. But he was confused for a moment and his bright future was gone. Even though he is still an imperial censor, he still feels ashamed sometimes.

After Ren Hengtai said some high-sounding words, Zhu Yunhuan did not make any statement, and it seemed that he wanted to let Ren Hengtai go.

"Bao Zhao, you are the Minister of Justice. You will talk about the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice later." Zhu Yunhuan began to call out the names of the generals and said, "Ru Rong should also prepare to talk about the evaluation standards of the Ministry of Personnel. Lian Zining is the Minister of the Dali Temple, and Ren Hengtai, the Censor, will speak on behalf of the Left Censor-in-Chief about the powers of the Metropolitan Censorate."

Many people began to tremble with fear. The Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were the famous three judicial departments. Now with the addition of the Ministry of Personnel, it was almost like they were firing at the civil servants.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Yu Xin and said, "I also know that we will have to spend money. The grand ceremony will cost 80,000 taels of silver. After that, we will have to dredge the canal, station troops in Daning and other places, etc., which will also cost money. I will give you some ideas. If you ignore the elderly and let the orphans starve to death, and the court doesn't care about the lives of these people, then you will have money. How do you think?"

Countless officials' faces changed drastically in an instant. They did not think that this was the Crown Prince's real advice, but rather that these words of the Crown Prince almost meant that countless officials were going to lose their heads.

"Your Highness, calm down!"

Chang Sheng and others knelt down. Even though they were still confused, they couldn't stand at this time.

"What's the point of calming down?" Zhu Yunhuan looked at the officials and sneered, "Old people and children who are lonely and widowed are a burden to the court. It's better not to have them. It's enough to have scholars who are full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, and literati who care about the world. They are the people!"

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the trembling officials and continued with a sneer, "Isn't that what you think? Being an official is just for money. What do you care about those poor people? Making money for your own clan and the government is the big deal!"

"I have nothing to ask for. If after you have taken over ten thousand acres of land, and if your tenants and their families are nearly starving to death, you can just give them a place to bury their bodies. I will be very grateful."

These heart-piercing words are simply heart-breaking. How furious must the Crown Prince be that he actually used the most tragic and difficult experiences of the Zhu family as examples!

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Chen Di and asked, "Do you think I'm rebellious?"

Chen Di replied tremblingly, "I dare not!"

"You don't dare, but your subordinates not only dare, but are also very courageous!" Zhu Yunhuan snorted coldly and said, "How about this, from now on, if anyone has achieved fame, the court will directly support the entire family, how about that?"

Chen Di said with all his might, "Your Highness, please calm down!"

"Calm down?" Zhu Yunhuan shouted angrily, "The scholars of the Ming Dynasty can't survive. They have to unite with merchants and landlords, and collude with officials to defraud the Red Warehouse in order to survive. How can I calm down? They have to rob the orphans and widows of the orphanage to survive. How can I calm down?"

The sky is falling, and I don’t know how many people are going to lose their heads.

This is not just a case of scholars defrauding "subsidies", this is also a case of shaking the emperor's benevolent rule. This matter is estimated to mean that thousands of officials will lose their heads! (End of this chapter)