Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 296: Change of feudal lordships

"Crackling..."

In early September, amid the roar of firecrackers, the Daming National Defense University, located at the foot of Guanyin Mountain in the outer city of Nanjing and covering an area of ​​more than 1,400 acres, was successfully opened.

There were more than 14,000 military attache children enrolled in the first class, but most of them were unwilling to enroll. If graduation had not affected whether they could inherit the official position, I am afraid that those who took the initiative to sign up would not even be able to get even a fraction of 4,000 students. .

"To be honest, I don't think highly of your so-called university."

At the entrance of the university gate built of concrete, standing under a stone monument made of cast iron concrete, Guo Ying said these words worriedly.

Beside him, Zhu Gaoxu, who was dressed in the prince's uniform, put his hands behind his back and watched the group of bitter and resentful students entering the university.

There was a smile on his lips, making Guo Ying unable to figure out what he was thinking.

He could only follow Zhu Gaoxu's gaze to look at the group of students, and then sighed:

"It is already difficult for the children of military attachés to inherit. Now you have established this university and require them to study for five years and take exams."

"I've read the class schedule you compiled. It's four years of study and one year of internship at the grassroots level in the army. It's very good, but it's not suitable for this group of military attachés."

"Most of them are already in their twenties. If they come to study here for another five years, they will have to be in their thirties to inherit their father's responsibilities."

"In addition, the difficulty you set is too high, I estimate that at most 2,000 of the 14,000 people will pass the five years of study you set."

"Your move has undoubtedly offended most of the military attachés..."

Guo Ying earnestly advised Zhu Gaoxu. This is how he was. He would do his best to help when he decided who to side with. It was a pity that Zhu Yunwen didn't listen at the time, otherwise the crisis would not have ended so quickly.

He was very worried about what Zhu Gaoxu had done: "You have offended this group of literati in Jiangnan during your voyages to the West. Many literati in Jiangnan have privately criticized you these days, and now you have offended this group of military attachés. In addition..."

As Guo Ying spoke, he looked at the three-foot-high concrete gate of the National Defense University, where stood the governors of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, as well as Zhu Di, and all the vassal kings who had stayed in the capital.

The reason why the vassal kings appeared here was because they wanted to know from Zhu Di when they could return to their fiefdoms.

"them?"

Zhu Gaoxu followed Guo Ying's gaze and looked at the vassals. Many of the vassal kings who had been looking vaguely at this side withdrew their gazes.

"Early this morning, I don't know where the vassals got the news, saying that you are planning to change the title of vassal to the vassals."

"Tell me, is this true?"

Guo Ying looked at Zhu Gaoxu nervously, but Zhu Gaoxu did not hide it and nodded directly: "I do think so, but my father is not willing."

"You..." Guo Ying didn't know what to say to Zhu Gaoxu for a moment. He didn't understand why Zhu Gaoxu had made so many enemies.

"Grandpa-in-law, don't worry about this. Just be your dean at the university."

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Guo Ying, then smiled and raised his chin: "The students have entered the school, it's time for you to go in too."

"You...you can take care of yourself. I can help you with the military attache, but you can only rely on yourself for the rest."

With a sigh, Guo Ying turned around and walked towards the university.

Looking at his leaving figure, Zhu Gaoxu's smile gradually disappeared, and finally only a cold face remained.

Yi Shiha appeared behind him. When he heard the footsteps, he said coldly: "Go and ask Hu Lun if the matter is clear and who spread the news."

"Yes!"

Yishiha's face didn't look good either. They only learned about this from Hu Lun this morning, and Hu Lun was already investigating the case.

Not only them, but even Zhu Di was also investigating this matter, but in order to appease the vassals, Zhu Di still behaved normally, as if the matter had not happened.

"Your Majesty, I wonder when I can return to Kaifeng..."

Looking at the closed iron gate of the university, Zhou Wang Zhu Di cautiously asked Zhu Di.

When Zhu Di heard this, he still had a simple and honest smile on his face: "Do you think Nanjing is uncomfortable?"

"No, no, no..." Zhu Rui quickly denied and explained: "Brother Chen is just busy going back to take care of the flowers, plants and fruit trees."

"Then stay a little longer. Anyway, the agricultural and Confucian students in Prince Zhou's Mansion are taking care of you." Zhu Di took Zhu Xi's hand and patted it kindly.

When Zhu Zhu saw this, he did not dare to continue asking.

Seeing that Zhu Ru could not get an answer, all the feudal lords looked disappointed and worried.

Seeing this, Zhu Di felt like there was a fire burning in his chest, but he still had to disguise his expression.

After glancing at everyone, he slowly put away his smile: "Since the brothers are here, I will tell you the matter today."

The matter of the vassal changes had been bothering Zhu Di for nearly a year. Seeing that someone wanted to use this matter to make a monster, he was ready to take advantage of the situation and settle the matter directly.

Without waiting for the vassals to react, Zhu Di turned to look at Wang Yan: "Go and summon the prince, the king of Han and the king of Zhao to Jiming Temple, where our family will discuss matters."

"This slave has received the order..." Wang Yan's heart tightened, and then he went to deliver the news.

Not long after, the anxious vassals got on elephant chariots one after another, followed Zhu Di's chariot, and headed back towards the inner city.

An hour later, they entered the inner city and arrived at Jiming Temple.

With Zhu Di's instructions, Wang Yan had already sent people to surround Jiming Temple to protect the safety of the emperor and the vassals.

Under Zhu Di's call, all the vassal kings in Beijing, regardless of age or adult, arrived at Jiming Temple, and the Buddhist hall in Jiming Temple was also prepared by Yao Guangxiao.

Soon, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu walked in one after another. After Zhu Di sat down first, Zhu Gaoxu stood beside him.

Not long after, except for the six kings of Qin, Jin, Chu, Qing, Shu, and Ning who were outside, the other seventeen vassal kings in Beijing came in. Some of them were Zhu Yuanzhang's sons and Zhu Yuanzhang's grandsons.

Of course, among them is Zhu Wenzheng's grandson, the current King of Jingjiang County Zhu Zenyi.

A total of seventeen vassal princes entered the Buddhist hall, and except for Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, the others were cautious.

"Second brother, in front of so many uncles and brothers, you honestly express your thoughts. If it doesn't work, we will discuss it again."

After everyone sat down, Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu to directly tell him about the changes to the kings.

Zhu Di dared to do this because the current vassals were just fish on the chopping board.

With King Ning siding with Zhu Gaoxu, only five kings in the world had military power, and the total number of soldiers and horses was only 60,000.

Under such a situation, Zhu Di communicated openly and honestly with the vassals, which demonstrated his sincerity and expressed his support for Zhu Gaoxu.

With Zhu Di's support, Zhu Gaoxu can have a good talk with these uncles and brothers.

He took a step forward. Due to his tall stature and fierce temperament, all the vassals lowered their heads with guilt. Even Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui avoided looking at each other, trying not to look at Zhu Gaoxu.

"Uncles, brothers and sisters, Gao Xu bows to you and apologizes..."

Zhu Gaoxu bowed to everyone and apologized. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu quickly stood up to help him: "Your Highness, you are not allowed to do this."

Standing up with Zhu Gaoxu's support, Zhu Gaoxu said:

"The imperial court wants to reduce the vassalage. This is a helpless matter. It is also for the sake of your uncles and brothers' future plans."

"However, the imperial court's reduction of vassal status must be carried out on the premise of ensuring the wealth of your uncles and brothers, rather than being detrimental to your uncles and brothers."

"The purpose of changing the fiefdom is for the imperial court to better govern the world. I can promise that the land being changed is by no means a barren land."

After that, Zhu Gaoxu started to change the seal.

Before starting, he promised that the fiefdoms of the six kings such as "Qin, Jin, Zhou, Chu, Shuqing" would not be moved, followed by the fiefdom of King Su in Lanzhou.

In addition, the King of Ning changed the title to Nanyang, the King of Tang changed the title to Xiangyang, the King of Yi changed the title to Hanzhong, the King of Lu changed the title to Jiading, the King of Han changed the title to Chongqing, the King of Liao changed the title to Xuzhou, the King of Min changed the title to Lin'an, and the King of Gu changed the title to Qujing. , the king of Han established vassalage in Kunming.

In addition, King Zhao vassalized Changsha, King Jingjiang vassalized Guilin, King An vassalized Changde, King Qi vassalized Guangzhou, King Shen vassalized Hengzhou, King Dai vassalized Si'en, and King Ying vassalized Chenzhou.

In this way, the fiefdoms of the twenty-three kings were determined by Zhu Gaoxu.

Among them, King Dai, King Gu, King Min, and King Zhu Gaochi of Han were canonized to remote Yunnan and Guangxi.

King Dai and King Gu did so because of Jianwen's affairs, King Min because he had no background, and King Zhu Gaochi of Han wanted to avoid Taiping.

The four of them knew this well and were about to cry, but Zhu Gaoxu said before they could speak:

"In the future, the feudal king's salary will also be adjusted. Except for the cloth, silk, satin and spices, the farmland will range from 2,000 to 5,000 acres each. The tea and salt salary will be abolished, and the salary will be set to 15,000 guan for the prince. The prince of Jingjiang County is equivalent to a prince, the other princes and princesses are equal to three thousand guan, and the princess is 1,500 guan."

"The generals, lieutenants, county lords, county princes, and township princes below the princes and princesses of each prince's palace will be distributed salary by each prince's palace."

Zhu Gaoxu's arrogance made all the feudal lords open their mouths, and the thoughts they originally wanted to refute were withdrawn.

Calculated according to the royal family salary updated by Zhu Yuanzhang in the 28th year of Hongwu, the princes have ten thousand stones, the princes have two thousand stones, the generals who support the country have one thousand stones, the generals who assist the country, the generals who serve the country, and the lieutenants who support the country decrease from two hundred stones. Lieutenant and Fengguo lieutenant are reduced by a hundred stones.

The princess and her consort are worth two thousand shi, the princess and her honored guests are worth 800 shi, the county lord, the county lord and their ceremonial guests are worth 200 shi in descending order, and the county lord, the township lord and their honorable guests are worth 100 shi in descending order. From now on, it will be a permanent system.

Among them, the prince's salary and salt are worth at most 5,000 guan, the prince's salary and salt are worth 5,000 guan at most, the princess's consort is worth 1,000 guan, and the princess's 400 guan.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu has opened his mouth, the clan's salary has basically tripled.

It can be said that this is more important for the wealth of the vassals. The only problem is that the vassal kings need to bear the salaries of their descendants.

But with a salary of 15,000 guan, plus the county prince and another 3,000 guan, if he gives birth to enough county princes, then he will still make money no matter how he calculates it.

Thinking of this, the vassals stopped talking. When Zhu Di saw this, he was so angry that he almost pulled out a few strands of his beard.

He didn't expect that his second son would be so generous. This opening cost the court at least 400,000 yuan.

But he didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu hadn't finished speaking yet, because the vassal king still had military power in his hands.

"As for the guards of the princes' palaces, the prince's palace can only have one guard, with a staff of 5,600 people, and a military salary of eight dollars per year."

"This military salary is paid by the imperial court, but the guards of the Prince's Palace are paid by the Prince's Palace itself. The treatment of the Jingjiang County Prince's Palace and the Prince's Palace are the same."

Zhu Gaoxu had given him enough wealth, and then he had to reduce the number of guards. The original number of guards for the twenty-three vassal kings should have been around 250,000, but now it was only less than 130,000 after being restricted by Zhu Gaoxu.

The main reason why he protected them was that most of the feudal kings' fiefdoms were not peaceful after the feudal kings changed their titles.

Of course, when he opened his mouth, the imperial court had to spend another one million guan. Counting the previous 400,000 guan, the imperial court's income from the Japanese ship trade was basically exhausted.

However, compared with the expenditure on vassal kings and guards during the Hongwu period, the clan's expenditure did not increase, but decreased by more than 400,000 yuan.

In fact, the vassals have no thoughts about military power now. After all, their military power has been taken away by Zhu Yunwen. It is an unexpected blessing to get another 5,600 guards.

Although Zhu Gaoxu changed their titles, their treatment was not bad. What's more, as far as the title changes are concerned, most of the vassal kings basically changed to a good place, and only a few vassal kings who made mistakes were canonized in remote places.

They were very satisfied, and so was Zhu Gaoxu, but his satisfaction came from foresight.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is inevitable to enfeoff the vassals. In this case, it is better to enfeoff the vassals to places with small populations but high potential.

For example, Sichuan and Henan have a population of only more than 2 million. If the local vassals can multiply the population as they did in history, they will also make a certain contribution to the development of Sichuan and Henan in disguise.

The more land they forced their guards to reclaim, the better it would be for the court.

There were as many as sixty or seventy princes canonized in the Ming Dynasty, but only about twenty of them were successfully passed down to the end of the Ming Dynasty. It is hard to say how many of the uncles and brothers in front of Zhu Gaoxu could pass down the title, let alone that there is no shortage of them. A cruel person.

Now he could appease them for the time being, and when they revealed his true colors as the vassal queen, he could start to cut down the vassal vassal.

"If you uncles and brothers think it is feasible, how about the imperial court following this system in the future?"

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at everyone and asked. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Finally, Zhou Wang Zhu Ju stood up and led everyone to bow: "We have no objection..."

Seeing everyone like this, Zhu Gaoxu also turned around and bowed to Zhu Di: "Father, the family affairs have been settled."

Zhu Di did not expect that his second son could offer such a high price, but now that the matter has been finalized, it is difficult for him to change it, so he waved his hand: "In that case, let's do it accordingly."

"I'll retire..." Seeing that Zhu Di didn't want to say more, all the feudal vassals that had benefited also resigned one after another.

After they withdrew, Zhu Di originally wanted to keep Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, but when he thought of Zhu Gaoxu, he had no trouble.

After everyone left, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a cold face: "You open and close your mouth, which is an expenditure of more than 1.4 million yuan. You have squandered the profits from Japanese shipping."

"Father, do you feel that you have lost money?" Zhu Gaoxu sat on a chair nearby with a smile, but Zhu Di really didn't have a good face for him now: "Is it possible that he still made a profit?"

"Of course I made a profit." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled. He was very aware of the financial pressure caused by everyone in the old Zhu family having a salary.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, when the emperor deleted remote clan clans from the clan jade discs, the clan's financial pressure has been great.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, the Zonglu expenditure exceeded 600,000 taels, during the Wanli period it reached 1.26 million taels, and during the Tianqi period, the quota was 1.56 million taels.

Judging from the paper alone, the Ming Dynasty's current clan expenditure is close to the clan expenditure during the Tianqi period, but the problem is that the current large expenditure of the clan is the salary of the guards.

What's more, among the twenty-three vassal kings, there are still four vassal kings who are under the age of vassal and have no guards at all, so the actual expenditure is not that much.

As for the vassal king's guard, Zhu Gaoxu chose to give it first to reduce the chance of the vassal king making mistakes in the future.

This is what Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Zhanji did in history, and his lifespan is definitely longer than that of his good brother and his son. If they can do it, he can do it too.

Therefore, for Zhu Gaoxu, the court is the one who makes money from this 1.4 million yuan account, no matter in the long or short term.

"My father thinks that if we follow the salary set by grandpa, how much will the clan's salary be after three or five generations?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Di, and Zhu Di was not stupid. He naturally figured out the key points, but in his opinion, it was too far away after all.

"From the perspective of three or five generations, it will naturally cost millions of royal stipends, but that will only happen after three or five generations. Who can say for sure."

After Zhu Di finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled: "To be honest, I feel that with the bodies of my father and son, those uncles and brothers may not be able to survive us."

"Besides, the majority of Zonglu's expenditures are on the military salaries of the guards. As long as the guards are reduced as appropriate, Zonglu's salary can be reduced quickly."

"I think you know the situation of my uncles better than I do. It's too difficult for them not to make mistakes..."

Zhu Gaoxu told him his plan. After hearing this, Zhu Di subconsciously touched his beard and said, "You have not inherited my kindness."

"..." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless and choked after hearing Zhu Di's words.

Judging from this year's experience alone, Zhu Di's heart was as dark as his appearance. On the contrary, he was the one who was open and honest. He ransacked his house and did whatever he said.

"They are easy to deal with, but the others are not. How are you going to deal with them?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu as if he were watching a show, but Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and shook his head: "I have no intention of dealing with those people."

"That's right...well, what did you say?" Zhu Di realized later and looked at Zhu Gaoxu in surprise, only to see Zhu Gaoxu's face looking forward to a good show.

"I'll leave it to you to deal with those guys. After all, my position was conferred by you. My eldest brother won't compete with me, but you..."

Zhu Gaoxu clicked his tongue several times, making Zhu Di embarrassed.

The people they were talking about were nothing more than Zhu Jixi from the Prince of Jin's Palace and Zhu Shangbing from the Prince of Qin's Palace.

These two vassal kings who have already seized the title and controlled three bodyguards are much more orthodox than Zhu Di from a legal perspective.

Moreover, judging from the news from Jinyiwei, Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing were not convinced by Zhu Di's accession to the throne, but they had no idea about Zhu Gaoxu.

In this situation, Zhu Gaoxu really didn't need to take action to rectify them. Zhu Di was more anxious than him.

"Second brother, you still look like me."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu could not move, Zhu Di began to play the emotional card, but the emotional card seemed to be wrong.

As soon as he heard Zhu Di say that he was like him, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of the fate of his predecessor, Crock Chicken.

"You are full of energy anyway, so it doesn't matter if you use some of your energy to deal with the juniors."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up. It was obvious that he was not going to eat Zhu Di's pie.

He had taken enough blame for Zhu Di. It was obviously his idea to go to the West and build Beijing, but in the end the blame fell on him.

Now that he has become smarter, he can take the blame that should be taken. After all, he needs someone to blame him, but he will not take any of the blame that should not be taken by him.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu really didn't help him, Zhu Di could only find a way to do it on his own.

But before that, he had to find a way to finalize the business.

"Zheng He received a letter a few days ago, saying that he had distributed a tax of 5,000 guan to the ruler of Japan. If the ruler of Japan was happy, he would also write a letter of credence to me."

"In the letter, Zheng He also mentioned that if the output of the Treasure Island were reduced, it would be no less than 500,000 guan per year."

"I did the math. If we really have 500,000 guan, we can buy 12.3 million dan of grain."

Zhu Di leaned on his chair and sighed: "It's not easy for the people in Liaodong and Bohai. They are constantly harassed by the Uliangha people. I read the side reports and felt uncomfortable..."

"What do you want to say?" Zhu Gaoxu watched Zhu Di acting and couldn't help but interrupt, but saw Zhu Di looking up at him after he spoke.

"Second brother, you have to help me. You have to deal with Wu Liangha in advance."

"Didn't we agree to fight again in the spring after three years?" Zhu Gaoxu felt the helplessness of a good big brother in history. Sometimes this cheap dad of his own really thought of something.

"I can wait, but the people in the frontier fortress can't wait." Zhu Di sublimated the topic to the people in the frontier fortress, and expressed his helplessness.

"While the Hu people in the north are fighting among themselves and cannot spare the energy to rush to the aid of Wu Liangha, the imperial court must strike first."

"Waiting for an extra year will be even more dangerous. Besides, if the imperial court goes north to attack Wu Liangha, it will also make Annan relax his vigilance. This is killing two birds with one stone."

"I will only take 30,000 people with me to the fortress this time. Zhaozhou will never run out of food. I will lead the troops back to Peiping after three months of fighting at most."

Zhu Di can tell any nonsense for the sake of the Northern Expedition.

You must know that the goal of this northern expedition to Wuliangha is to drive them out of Modong, or to directly surrender them all.

To achieve this, three months is simply not enough time.

"Three months?" Zhu Gaoxu laughed dumbly: "Are you trying to coax a child?"

"I know best how to fight with firearms and horse infantry. If you say we can only fight for three months, then I might as well send a teaching order to Meng Zhang now. Anyway, he has also recruited 20,000 new Jurchen soldiers, and the horses in Bohai are also It’s enough, it’s better to let him go to the Ulliangha Grassland next spring.”

"How can that be done?!" After hearing this, Zhu Di became uneasy.

He also knew about Meng Zhang's abilities through battle reports. He might not be able to defeat some generals, but he was definitely able to defeat Wu Liangha easily.

If Meng Zhang is really asked to lead 20,000 Jurchen horse infantry to the Ulyanha Grassland, then next time he goes there he will have to hunt rabbits and yellow sheep.

"In this way..." Zhu Di stood up from his chair and raised five fingers: "I will lead the troops from Peking in May next year and return to Peking in September."

"Please don't embarrass me..." Zhu Gaoxu reluctantly refused again. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di also lost his temper and cursed directly:

"I said before that you are most like me, but now it seems that you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are also a pick-pocket."

"I will tell you directly that the imperial court will march northward next June. This time there will be an expedition of 50,000 people. You will transfer 500,000 dan of grain from Beiping and Shandong to Quanningwei and Zhaozhou to wait for the army to march northward!"

"No food." Zhu Gaoxu spread his hands, while Zhu Di's eyes widened: "Where is the food?!"

"I will build Beijing for you and allocate food rations to the people of Liaodong." Zhu Gaoxu was not afraid of boiling water for dead pigs. He had known for a long time that Zhu Di would definitely act recklessly, so he had planned the food supplies for Peiping and Shandong in advance.

Zhu Di obviously didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu knew him so well, so he was stunned.

Seeing that Zhu Di didn't speak, Zhu Gaoxu said excitedly: "The Northern Expedition is a big event, or else I will stop the construction of Beijing first?"

"I did the math. If we stop work for four months and squeeze out half a million dan, there will be no problem."

"Look at..."

Zhu Gaoxu was still stimulating, but Zhu Di ran away. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu chased after him: "Listen to me, then..."

"Shut up!"

"Why are you so angry? My son is talking to you about the Northern Expedition."

"Get away, you picker of bricks..."

"Dad! Just wait for me. Do you want to talk about Beizheng?"

The father and son chased all the way until Zhu Di finally walked into Yao Guangxiao's Zen room, and Zhu Gaoxu even yelled twice at the door.

Seeing that Zhu Di did not respond, Zhu Gaoxu hummed a tune and left Jiming Temple, leaving only Zhu Di with bulging veins in the Zen room and Yao Guangxiao who was confused.

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In the ninth month of Ding Chou, the superiors changed the title of all vassals and set the salary of each vassal: 15,000 guan for the prince, 3,000 guan for the prince and princess, and 1,500 guan for the princess. This is the rating. , the princes of the county and the clans below the princess are all distributed by the kings."

　　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "Ding Chou discussed state affairs with the prince. The prince's answers were all good, and he was very happy."

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "Ding Chou, the emperor discussed state affairs with his superiors. He was displeased and left, and his superiors chased him away."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)