Chapter 184: Cabinet 3

……

In Wenhua Hall, the lights were still on.

Zhu Yong walked in and saw Zhu Biao still seated at the desk, with several sheets of paper spread before him.

It wasn't a memorandum.

The paper was densely covered with characters, all in Zhu Biao's own handwriting.

The two characters "Cabinet" were written at the top.

Below, they were listed one by one:

Select five Hanlin officials, rotate duty in the Wenhua Hall value room, and be responsible for drafting edicts.

The edict draft format: matter + suggestion + basis, not to exceed one hundred characters.

If any of the Six Ministries has a dispute, the Cabinet chief assistant convenes a meeting, finalizes the proposal, then reports it.

Cabinet ministers have no rank, no salary increase, and retain their original offices.

The chief assistant is appointed by the Crown Prince, serving a one‑year term, and may be reappointed.

……

Zhu Yong stared at it, unable to describe the feeling inside.

"Brother." he called.

Zhu Biao looked up, his eyes bright, showing no sign of fatigue.

"Second brother, you arrived just in time. Do you think big brother's wording works?" he gestured and asked.

Zhu Yong walked over and lowered his head to read the characters.

They were neat and clear.

It wasn't a casually jotted idea, but a fully formed strategy.

His older brother, in just one afternoon, had built the Cabinet's framework.

"Brother, take a break!" Zhu Yong said.

"Not tired. Finally have a clue, so I'll strike while the iron's hot." Zhu Biao replied.

Zhu Yong said nothing and sat down beside him.

The two brothers: one wrote, the other read.

The night wind slipped through the window cracks, and the candle flame flickered gently.

Outside the window, Chang Shi and Guanyin Nu had been standing for an unknown length of time, exchanged a complicated glance, then turned and left silently.

If you weren't blood brothers, they would have almost thought their husbands had fallen for someone else.

After an indeterminate time, Zhu Biao set down his brush and let out a long sigh.

"Almost done. Tomorrow I'll take it to Father for his judgment." he said.

Zhu Yong nodded.

Zhu Biao turned his head toward him and suddenly smiled.

"Back then big brother was still little, maybe three or four years old! Imperial Mother said you got lost and would never return. Big brother didn't understand what 'lost' meant; he only knew that the person who looked so much like him had vanished."

Zhu Biao said.

"Back then big brother thought, if I found you, I'd give you the best things."

He looked at Zhu Yong and continued softly, "All these years, big brother kept searching, and when I finally found you, there was nothing good to give you."

"Second brother, you've given big brother too much: elixirs, battle merits, peace across the world, and also…"

He pointed at the few sheets on the desk.

"And this."

Zhu Yong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the words.

"Big brother has nothing to return to you except one sentence—this lifetime, big brother won't let you get lost again." Zhu Biao whispered.

Zhu Yong's eyes grew hot.

"Brother." he said.

"Hmm."

"I won't leave; I won't go anywhere." he whispered.

Zhu Biao smiled, reached out and patted his shoulder.

"Alright."

Under the candlelight, the two brothers sat opposite each other in silence.

Outside, the myriad lights of Yingtian Prefecture dimmed one by one.

But the lamp in Wenhua Hall stayed lit for a long, long time.

……

the eighth year of Hongwu, the tenth day of the eighth month.

Zhu Biao took those sheets and went to Qianqing Palace.

The father and son closed the door and talked for an hour.

No one knew what they discussed.

It was only known that in the evening, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict:

Select five officials of the Hanlin Academy—revisionists, editors, etc. —to rotate duty in Wenhua Hall, assisting the Crown Prince in reviewing memorials.

Every five days a rotation; during the stint they may enter the Inner Palace and lodge in the value room beside Wenhua Hall.

These five are personally appointed by the Crown Prince and are not under the jurisdiction of the Central Secretariat.

The court and the world debated loudly, yet no one dared to openly oppose.

After all, the Emperor said it was "co‑manage the Crown Prince's review of memorials", not to divide the authority of the Secretariat.

Moreover, those five Hanlin officials are low‑rank, modestly noble scholars, what waves could they stir?

Only a very few sensed a different aura.

For example, Xu Da...

But they said nothing.

They only stared distantly toward Wenhua Hall, deep in thought.

……

In the eighth year of Hongwu, the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

Mid‑Autumn night.

Zhu Biao did not review any Memorandum.

He and Zhu Yong stood side by side on the terrace of Wenhua Hall, watching the full moon.

Behind them, the duty room was lit.

The five young Hanlin officials were buried in their papers, occasionally whispering a few sentences.

Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Huanhuan chased each other in the courtyard, while the wet‑nurse jogged behind them.

Chang Wan and Guanyin Nu sat under the corridor, admiring the moon while whispering.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were absent, but a box of mooncakes was sent.

Zhu Biao took a bite; it was lotus‑seed paste filled.

"Second brother," he said.

"Hmm."

"Next year, the Cabinet will have six members."

"Hmm."

"The year after, there will be seven."

"Hmm."

"In ten years, there will be over ten."

Zhu Yong gave no reply.

Zhu Biao turned his head to him and laughed, "Why don't you ask the elder brother why he told you this?"

Zhu Yong said naively, "If the elder brother wants to speak, I just listen."

Zhu Biao smiled, turned back, and gazed at the moon.

"Second brother, the elder brother figured something out today."

"What is it?"

"The Cabinet is not just to share the elder brother's workload; the Cabinet is the future of Great Ming," Zhu Biao said softly.

"Now Great Ming leans on the Imperial Father, leans on the elder brother, and leans on you, second brother."

"But what about the future?"

"Xiong Ying is still young, Huan Huan even younger; when they grow up, Great Ming will be larger than it is now."

"Then, we cannot rely on a single person to support it."

Zhu Biao paused, and said softly, "The Cabinet is to let more people support it together."

Zhu Yong remained silent.

He knew the elder brother was right.

One person bearing the world cannot hold it for long.

In his previous life, the elder brother bore it for over twenty years and collapsed.

In this life, he wants the elder brother to bear it lightly and happily.

"Elder brother," Zhu Yong said.

"Hmm."

"Next year I want to go to South Sea and see it; the map shows many islands, I want to take a look," Zhu Yong said.

Zhu Biao turned to him, somewhat surprised, "Why do you suddenly want to go there?"

"I heard Wang Baobao say that place has spices, gems, and grain that Great Ming lacks; I want to see if I can bring some back," Zhu Yong said.

Zhu Yong said.

Zhu Biao looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"Fine, elder brother will build you a sea vessel."

"No need, the Ministry of Works is already building it," Zhu Yong said.

Zhu Biao was startled, then chuckled, "You already have a plan after all."

Zhu Yong said naively, "Elder brother secures the world, and I'll go find the world back."

Under Moonlight, the two brothers exchanged a smile.

On the Mid‑Autumn night of the eighth year of Hongwu, Wenhua Hall's lights burned through the night.

The Hanlin officials in the duty room were on their first rotation, flustered and sweating.

But they did not know that the place where they hunched over their desks to write swiftly would become the political hub of Great Ming for the next two hundred years.

And that Wu Wang was standing on the terrace, watching the moon.

He wondered what the system would sign in on New Year's Day next year.

He had not paid attention to this matter for a long time.

Anyway, it will surely be something good.

Alright, elder brother, use the good stuff for a while.

The night breeze brushed by, carrying the scent of osmanthus.

Zhu Xiongying ran over, tugging at Zhu Biao's sleeve, and said, "Father, Huan Huan snatched my mooncake!"

Zhu Huanhuan hid behind Zhu Yong, poked out a little head and said, "Elder uncle, it was brother Xiong Ying who snatched Huan Huan first!"

Zhu Yong scooped up his daughter and said, "Huan Huan, you must not snatch brother's things."

"Huan Huan didn't snatch; Huan Huan just took it," the little girl said confidently.

Zhu Biao chuckled, bent down and lifted his son, saying, "Alright, half each, no arguing."

Only then did the two children settle, perched on their father's and second uncle's shoulders, gnawing the mooncake.

Zhu Yong watched his daughter, face smeared with crumbs in his arms, and also glanced at the nephew on his elder brother's shoulder whose features resembled his elder brother's.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, eighth month, the Crown Prince Zhu Biao established the Wenhua Hall as a duty office, selecting five Hanlin officials to jointly handle memorials.

History calls it "the beginning of the Cabinet."

It was advocated by Prince Wu Zhu Yong.

Later historians often say.

The Great Ming Cabinet system sprouted from a single thought of Prince Wu, was founded on the Crown Prince's scheming, and took shape during Hongwu and the Yongle reigns.

And the starting point of that thought was merely an ordinary afternoon in August, when a simple Prince Wu said to the Crown Prince, "Elder brother, take a rest for a while."