Zhu Youzhen sat on the dragon chariot and squinted slightly, yawning when he didn't pay attention.

As the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he also made a lot of preparations for today's court meeting to summon the cabinet, and he almost didn't sleep well all night.

Can the Ming Empire withstand the invasion of Cinnu Cineau?

If it can resist it, how will Daming rejuvenate itself and re-enter a strong era?

In the coming Age of Discovery, and in the era of the imminent gap with the West.

As an ancient empire, can the Ming Dynasty bridge this gap and allow Chinese society to completely get rid of the cycle of dynasties and enter a new era of history that is leaping forward step by step?

These are all questions that linger in Zhu Youzhen's mind.

He found that there were many things in the Ming Empire under his control that needed to be changed, but there were many things that could not be changed.

He didn't know where to start, or whether a change would have more serious consequences.

As a traverser, no one has given him any successful experience before this.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen could only try to deduce and simulate by himself, and hoped to determine the future ruling goals of the Ming Dynasty by communicating with his contemporaries.

The sky is getting brighter.

The red glow shone through the thick dark clouds to the Forbidden City.

Zhu Youzhen opened his eyes and saw that the majestic Qianqing Palace was already in front of him.

At this time, the civil and military officials have also entered the Qianqing Palace from the left and right doors.

The civil servant is in addition to the seven cabinet members who will participate in the deliberations today.

There are also six Shangshu and Shilang, the left and right imperial history of the Imperial Court and the left and right deputy imperial history of the Imperial Palace, the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and the priest of the national prince also attended the hearing.

The military attache is the left and right governors and governors of the five military governors' mansions, as well as He Xin, the imperial horse supervisor.

The ministers are the eunuchs of the ceremonial supervisor and the eunuch of the Jinyi guard, the commander and the commander.

Compared with the usual court meeting, the scale is not large, but it also gathers almost all the heavyweight ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian got off the hook and entered the Qianqing Palace directly from the Qianqing Gate Danfan.

At this time, the crown prince Zhu Cihong also walked in front of Zhu Youzhen with the escort of the eunuch: "The son of the emperor asks for peace to the emperor." ”

Zhu Youzhen actually didn't hate Zhu Cihong.

In his opinion, being so deferential and amiable as a fifteen-year-old boy was already much more sensible than when he was fifteen.

A fifteen-year-old boy who should have been rebellious and unrestrained, reckless, and dared to go against his parents and teachers, but now he behaves more gently, steadily and obediently than anyone else.

But he is the son of the emperor and the future ruler of the Ming Empire, so he is destined to surpass not only ordinary people but also geniuses.

Zhu Youzhen could see that Zhu Cihong, who had been confined for three months, had obviously lost a lot of weight, but he was also more silent than before.

After Zhu Youzhen asked him to get up, Zhu Cihong stood aside and barely said a word.

"Do you know what the civil and military officials are coming towards us?"

Zhu Youzhen broke the dull atmosphere and asked Zhu Cihong, who naturally substituted himself into the role of a father who taught by word and deed.

"Erchen knows that they are the pillars of my empire, loyal ministers and good generals!"

Zhu Cihong's answer made Zhu Youzhen shake his head and touch Zhu Cihong's head:

"You're still very simple, do you know what the people call them?"

"I don't know, please show my father", Zhu Cihong understands etiquette very well, and bowed to Zhu Youzhen and said.

"Stinky boy, as the prince, what's the use of being obedient and sensible, you look at the complements on them, the people call them well-dressed beasts, you know, do you know what a well-dressed beast is, it's a group of hypocrites, a group of people who are more cunning than foxes and more ruthless than poisonous snakes; They are not the swords in your hand, they can command at will, they are the mounts under your command, you have to learn to control and tame, and not be eaten by them, understand? ”

As soon as Zhu Youzhen said this, Zhu Cihong nodded hurriedly: "Erchen understands." ”

"It's good to understand, these people are all Jinshi selected by tens of millions of people, they are very shrewd, you have to rely on them to rule your empire and prevent them from dragging down your empire, you can't be merciful or stingy with rewards, you must have a butcher's knife and benefits at the same time."

Zhu Youzhen continued to educate Zhu Cihong for a few words, and when he saw that the cabinet and other officials had entered the main hall, he walked out with the prince and others.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

As soon as Zhu Youzhen sat on the throne, he was congratulated by the ministers.

It was only at this time that he could truly experience the greatest joy of being an emperor, which was to let these officials, who were usually high above, submit to his feet.

"Flat!"

After Zhu Youzhen habitually asked the ministers to get up, he ordered:

"Today's court discussion, not the election of the cabinet ministers and seven secretaries, only to discuss why the Ming Dynasty has today's consequences, the fall of the capital division, the thieves occupy almost half of the rivers and mountains, Jiannu took the opportunity to enter the customs, and there is a great trend of the Song Dynasty Jin Yuan; And how should I innovate and eliminate fraud in the future, reinvigorate, and unify the world as soon as possible, and reunify China! ”

"Commandment!"

The ministers hurriedly responded to Zhu Youzhen in unison.

"The seven cabinet elders are the cadres of the country, and they are all old, and they are given seats!"

Of course, Zhu Youzhen did not really do this because of the age of these seven cabinet members, but deliberately improved the status of the cabinet and strictly respected the upper and lower, so that the ministers could focus their attention on the position of the cabinet, rather than on his own emperor's throne.

The seven members of the cabinet were naturally seated by Shane.

Zhu Youzhen didn't like to sit for a long time, and after all the civil and military officials stood up and sat down, he got up and walked down, standing in front of the seven members of the cabinet:

"This year, that is, between February and March of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, from Datong to Xuanhua and then to Juyongguan, from the governor to the general of the imperial history, most of them defected to the enemy, so that the capital fell overnight, although the Son of Heaven guarded the country, the monarch died in Sheji, it is the ancestral system of my Ming Dynasty, but the prince is young, and the people are not living, how can I abandon the century-old foundation of my ancestors, fortunately, I got the last life of the ancestor in my dream, and persuaded me to move south, work hard, and work hard to save the Ming Dynasty from fire and water."

"Because of this, I have summoned all of you today to ask why the world has become so far, whether I have done something wrong, or what has happened to you here, or what has gone wrong with Daming; It made the people live and work in peace and contentment, rebelled, the world fell apart, and the hearts of the ministers were scattered! ”

Zhu Youzhen's words made the officials present fall silent, in fact, without Zhu Youzhen's words, they could also feel that Daming's current situation was indeed very bad.

But Confucian thought told them that in such a possible change of dynasty, there were two choices, one was to seek fame and the other was to seek profit.

The so-called seeking of fame is naturally martyrdom and death.

The so-called profit-seeking is naturally to surrender to the new dynasty, continue to be a literati doctor, and continue to sell the knowledge that has been studied hard for ten years in the new emperor's family.

Therefore, many of them have never seriously considered the question of how to save the Ming Dynasty.

Confucianism also did not teach them how to save the world when the dynasty was in crisis, so that many people could only talk about it at this time.

Now, when Zhu Youzhen asked, they didn't know what to say, and they didn't even dare to say it, after all, everyone knew that the emperor's majesty in front of him was not very good-tempered, and he would be killed if he was not careful.

Zhu Youzhen also knew their thoughts, so he also said bluntly: "Today's court meeting is not a court meeting to eliminate traitors, but a court meeting to discuss the new policy of the Ming Dynasty, just as the prince just said to me, all those present today are my loyal ministers and good generals of the Ming Dynasty, so you Aiqing, please speak freely, you don't have to take care of my face, you can even say my mistakes, I will not kill a person today and will not punish a person!" ”