His eldest son Zheng Sen, whose mother is Japanese, is also the current mother of Zhu Chenggong.
His younger brother by the same mother stayed in Japan and took the surname Tagawa.
The Zheng Family's connections to Japan are intricate; even without Taiwan, they could still retreat to Japan.
For a moment, Fu also felt a bit irritable; this Alna was unexpectedly so difficult to kill.
Zhu Ci managed to calm his emotions; unlike before, he truly held the upper hand now, Alna would die sooner or later.
He glanced at Fu and asked, "Where is Zhu Yujian?"
Fu said, "I have already settled him in the Honglu Temple. Does Your Majesty wish to see him?"
Zhu Ci considered it for a moment and said, "I shall see him."
Zhu Yujian also did not expect the Little Emperor would meet him; he had already accepted the fate that he and his family would be placed under house arrest.
He had very few days of freedom in his life, now he only felt a sense of regret. He regretted that if Ma Shiying and the others had supported him instead, he was confident he could have done much better than Zhu Yousong, would never have allowed Great Ming to fall into such a state.
After performing the salutation, Zhu Yujian looked up directly at Zhu Ci.
He knew that for a commoner to look directly upon the Emperor's face was a capital offense, but at this moment, he no longer cared about that. After all, his surname was Zhu, he had committed no acts of tyranny, so the Emperor had no reason to kill him.
The moment he saw Zhu Ci, Zhu Yujian's emotions were incredibly complex: he was far too young.
Setting aside family seniority, in terms of age, Zhu Ci was about the same age as his grandson.
Zhu Ci put down the brush in his hand, lifted his chin, said, "Grant a seat."
Not bad, there was also a seat.
Zhu Yujian thought to himself, then sat down without any hesitation.
Zhu Ci spoke up and asked, "Grand Uncle, you have traveled a long way, you must be exhausted."
Zhu Yujian paused, momentarily unsure of how to respond. Hearing this, one might think the Little Emperor was being somewhat sarcastic, but the other's tone was very sincere, he even addressed him as Great-Uncle, which was essentially an acknowledgment of his imperial clan status.
Zhu Yujian could only lower his head and say, "This lowly official is ashamed."
Zhu Ci said nonchalantly, "It is a matter of time and fate; let the past remain in the past. What are your plans next, Uncle?"
Zhu Yujian??
Why does this Little Emperor make every sentence so unexpected? Asking him what his plans are? What plans does he have if not to look to the Emperor?
Seeing Zhu Yujian's puzzled expression, Zhu Ci couldn't help but smile slightly and say, "I am asking whether, in the future, you wish to be a wealthy man of leisure, or if you wish to achieve something?"
Zhu Yujian was stunned, only after a long silence did he speak slowly, "I shall abide by Your Majesty's arrangements."
Oh, so he just doesn't want to live a life of idle luxury and wait for death.
Zhu Ci thought for a moment and said, "That is just right. My Censorate is still lacking a Left Censor, so you should go there and take charge."
Zhu Yujian's abilities were much stronger than Zhu Yihai's; he was a very self-disciplined person who neither drank nor indulged in material pleasures.
He also had great methods for rectifying the bureaucracy: petty corruption was met with the cane, major corruption was met with death.
He was quite lenient toward the common people; he once directly stated, "Those who shave their heads are subjects, those who do not are refugees," which directly protected those commoners who were otherwise forced to shave their heads.
Zhu Yujian naturally knew the current state of the Great Ming court, he had also vaguely heard of Constitutional Monarchy.
At that time, he was highly opposed to this system and did not believe the Little Emperor had proposed it himself; he merely felt these were claims brought forward by the officials below in order to seize control of the court.
The most likely possibility was Grand Secretary Fu; he even felt that Fu had only agreed to support the Little Emperor's ascension because he feared that declaring himself a king directly would sound improper, so he had taken a roundabout approach instead.
However, as time passed and following the Ma Gao case, Zhu Yujian realized that this Little Emperor did indeed possess real power, so why did he divide it?
Zhu Yujian, who had long been distressed by his lack of true power and even more so by his lack of trusted ministers, could not understand.
By the time he decided to surrender, he didn't intend to make sense of it either.
But he never expected that Zhu Ci would actually dare to hand one of the three powers over to him.
Setting aside his identity, since the founding of the dynasty, the Emperor's attitude toward the imperial clan has always been one of suspicion; most were treated little better than livestock. Members of the imperial clan were not allowed to have soldiers; even though it had become a custom for wealthy commoners to keep retainers, these clan members were strictly supervised and were not permitted to have retainers.
As for being given heavy responsibilities, that was out of the question.
Zhu Yujian had originally prepared to let go of his expectations and accept whatever the Little Emperor decided, but hearing the Little Emperor's words now, he could not help but sit up slightly straight. "Your Majesty, is that true?"
Compared to others, Zhu Ci was very relaxed; he leaned back into the dragon throne and said with a smile, "A monarch does not make idle threats. Why would I lie to you?"
Zhu Yujian immediately stood up, bowed, said, "I accept your decree."
Zhu Ci said slowly, "The position of Left Censor is not an easy one to hold. I have already dismissed a Left Censor before; you must think carefully, for if any mistakes occur, I will not show any leniency."
Zhu Yujian's eyes and brows were filled with determination: "Your Majesty can rest assured, I will do my utmost."
Good," Zhu Ci said. "Once you take office, you only need to do one thing: rectify the bureaucracy and strictly investigate corruption.
Zhu Yujian: Heh, isn't this my old profession?
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Since you're all here, don't just sit around. *Cat holding a writing brush, arranging work. jpg*
The next update will be tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 172
News that Zhu Yujian had personally rushed to Nanjing to surrender quickly spread far and wide.
Such things could not be hidden for long, especially since the Emperor's Imperial Decree would soon follow.
Zhu Yujian was enfeoffed as Duke of Xin, appointed as Left Censor of the Censorate, with the additional titles of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion.
The previous ennoblement didn't matter much; after all, Zhu Yujian belonged to the lineage of the Prince of Tang, a member of the imperial clan. Since he had surrendered voluntarily, he deserved a peerage of some sort. Furthermore, this would indirectly dispel the previous rumors that the Emperor had no connection to the Grand Secretary, that the Prince of Ning had not suffered humiliation as the rumors suggested.
If those rumors were true, Zhu Yujian might have already been executed.
However, the subsequent appointments caught everyone off guard, especially Yan Yingyuan and Huang Chunyao.
Lately, Yan Yingyuan and Huang Chunyao have been competing against each other.
One felt that if he worked a little harder, he might be able to take the position of Left Censor, while the other felt that his recent performance had been quite good and the Emperor's attitude had softened considerably, so perhaps he might even reclaim the position of Left Censor.
They both believed they had a chance. After all, the fact that the position of Left Censor had remained vacant all this time indicated that His Majesty had no better candidates, so wouldn't it simply be a choice between the two of them?
As a result, no one could have possibly expected that Zhu Yujian would suddenly drop in from above.
As stakeholders, Yan Yingyuan and Huang Chunyao found it inconvenient to offer direct remonstrance, so they could only look toward He Tengjiao and Huang Daozhou.
As for Grand Secretary Fu? Forget it; they have already seen through it. This so-called number one official of Great Ming is actually nothing more than the Emperor's sycophant, agreeing with whatever the Emperor says.
At least, that is how it appears on the surface; as for rumors that the Grand Secretary offers private remonstrance, they have no way of knowing that.
In any case, the Emperor and the Grand Secretary frequently hold private audiences; how could they possibly know? Humph.
He Tengjiao and Huang Daozhou also felt that something was amiss, but while He Tengjiao was still composing his words, Huang Daozhou stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this action violates the ancestral regulations."
Zhu Ci glanced at him and said very calmly, "Forget about ancestral rules for now. If we were to follow Taizu's temperament, half of the civil and military officials in the imperial court would be gone by now."
Zhu Ci chimed in, "Times have changed, the rules established by Taizu have been modified so many times by now. Don't bring up Taizu for everything; even if Taizu himself were here, he likely wouldn't find it inappropriate."
He Tengjiao said more tactfully, "Your Majesty, Duke of Xin is not like other members of the imperial clan; it would be better to be a bit more cautious."
He did not dare to say that members of the imperial clan should not attend court; after all, the Prince of Ning was still standing in the imperial court.
The relationship between His Majesty and the Prince of Ning, these two cousins, is even better than that of biological brothers.
Nowadays, there are two people in court who cannot be easily offended: one is the Grand Secretary, the other is the Prince of Ning.
Although the Prince of Ning stands in the imperial court, the Ministry of Rites under his control is not that important, so no one has opposed him much. However, the Left Censor of the Censorate is on equal footing with the Grand Secretary; how could such a position be given to a member of the imperial family?
Zhu Ci leaned forward slightly, his right arm resting on his knee as he looked at them with an air of intimidation. "What? Are you all suggesting that a member of the imperial clan with no military power and no trusted confidants could actually seize my throne?"
A group of people immediately fell to their knees in a rush. "Your servant does not dare."
Rise, rise." Zhu Ci said impatiently. "Then stop the nonsense and all of you behave yourselves before me.
Everyone only saw Zhu Yujian's background and status, never considering why this man could serve as the Left Censor. Zhu Ci did not know whether to be happy that his subordinates did not try to guess his intentions, or to be angry that these people were so slow-witted.
Fu heard Zhu Ci's complaint and said with a suppressed laugh, "It is because Your Majesty is wise and magnanimous that your subordinates need not exhaust themselves to cater to your every whim."
Although both officials and commoners felt that the Little Emperor had a fiery temper and was far too strict, in reality, no one realized that the Little Emperor actually had a very good temperament.
As long as there are no issues regarding matters of right and wrong, he generally will not be punished for mere impudence.
This has resulted in the court officials being somewhat careless about minor details at times.
Previously, Fu thought this was not good, as it could easily cause the Emperor to lose prestige, but now it seemed that when Zhu Ci clearly showed displeasure, the people below would truly be afraid, that was enough.
Zhu Ci gave him a sidelong glance without saying anything, but Fu asked, "Does Your Majesty truly intend to start rectifying the bureaucracy now?"
Zhu Ci said, "In truth, the imperial court is just like a person; one must learn the rules from a young age so as not to go astray. If we don't clean things up now, these people will only become even more unruly; we cannot leave them unchecked."
Most importantly, the scholar-official group has already formed intricate connections, this is only the beginning. Once they become even more deeply intertwined in the future, will it not be even more difficult to deal with them?
This was also the reason why he had directly ordered Zhu Yujian to be parachuted into his position; Zhu Yujian had a very clean background, most importantly, he had his own views on governance and would not easily join in corruption.
As for the change in status, that was even simpler.
Previously, Zhu Yujian was the Emperor himself, so he would act ruthlessly to rectify the bureaucracy; now, he had even more to prove, or was he truly going to retire?
After Zhu Yujian took office as the Left Censor, he remained quiet for only half a month before he began to strike with thunderous force.
The first to be targeted was the Minister of Works, who was accused of numerous crimes involving corruption and malpractice. The report was submitted directly, it was not just the Minister of Works alone; even the Vice Ministers under him were implicated.
The memorial was submitted through the official channels, but the arrests were carried out during the grand imperial assembly.
Zhu Ci knew that there was corruption within the court, but it was Fu who had first sensed it. He had checked the national tax revenues and felt that the figures were somewhat off, yet the accounts appeared to have no issues at all.
After thinking it over, Fu still gave Zhu Ci a heads-up, preparing to send a document to the Censorate and then ordering the Dali Temple to investigate thoroughly.
As it turned out, while he was still collecting data for comparison, Zhu Yujian came knocking, saying there were issues within the Ministry of Works and requesting more detailed documents.
Fu didn't take it to heart at the time, merely arranging for people to assist Zhu Yujian in his investigation, but as it turned out, they actually uncovered something.
When Zhu Ci saw the memorial submitted by Zhu Yujian, he was absolutely incensed.
In fact, he had originally thought that there were some issues with local governance; the Great Ming had expanded too rapidly, the officials could not keep up. In many places, locals were still being appointed, their level of education and morality was not very high; it was only natural that they would engage in some corruption once they suddenly gained power.
In addition to this, there are issues like land distribution; farmland is always of varying quality, some families receive good land while others do not. The situation is far more complex than it seems.
Zhu Ci had originally intended to single out one or two typical cases and use them as a warning to local officials to prevent them from going too far, but he never expected that the Ministry of Works would be the first to produce vermin.