Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 79 The Historical Inertia of Voyages to the West

Zhu Di originally thought that Zhu Gaoxu would take this opportunity to win people's hearts and persuade him to treat those people lightly, but he did not expect that Zhu Gaoxu would not speak according to common sense, so he deliberately showed displeasure and said: "Why?"

Zhu Gaoxu felt that now was not the best time to win over people's hearts. He had already seen that Zhu Di had taken advantage of the turmoil over the establishment of the crown prince to send Jin Yiwei to get a list of officials, obviously to eliminate dissidents and consolidate his power.

In order to prevent Zhu Di from mistakenly thinking that he was a cruel murderer, Zhu Gaoxu decided to tell the truth.

"Grandpa Bin Tianqian, Taizu, ordered my father to be fully responsible for two political affairs, one is to promote the new currency, and the other is to trial the reform of the imperial examination."

"Now that my father has inherited the throne in accordance with Grandpa Taizu's legacy, he will naturally continue to implement the New Deal. Therefore, those officials who deliberately go against my father have become an obstacle to the imperial court's implementation of the New Deal."

"Severe treatment of these people can not only deter other officials who are obedient and submissive, but also establish the authority of the father, thereby increasing the prestige of the court."

When Zhu Di heard this, he was very pleased and said: "You are indeed my good son. Every sentence hits the key point. I think so too!"

He seemed to be intrigued by what Zhu Gaoxu said, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Gaoxu, you have extraordinary knowledge and are deeply appreciated by your great grandfather. Now I ask you, after you are in the East Palace and the hearts of the people in the world are settled, What will I do first?"

"Cutting down the feudal vassal?" Zhu Gaoxu asked tentatively.

Zhu Di was surprised: "Why?"

"After the founding of the country, Grandpa Taizu ignored the dissuasion of many courtiers and enfeoffed vassal kings. The purpose was to strengthen the court's rule over all parts of the world."

"Especially in the north, more vassal kings have been enfeoffed. After all, the north has been ravaged by barbarians for hundreds of years. It is difficult to bring the Han people back to their hearts in the north without strong rule. Moreover, there are still remnants of the Yuan Dynasty on the northern grasslands. A complete sweep.”

"Now that decades have passed, the imperial court has successively established yamen in various places, which can effectively manage the people everywhere."

"In the current Ming Dynasty, except for the King of Sai who controlled the border troops and consolidated the territory, the other vassal kings no longer played a role in cooperating with the court to govern the people, and even became a local cancer. For example, he was killed by the Tai Tai a few years ago. The violent and lawless Uncle Qi who was deposed by my grandfather."

Zhu Gaoxu loved reading stories about the grassroots emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in his previous life, so he was much more profound about Zhu Yuanzhang's intention to enfeoff kings than ordinary officials of this era. History has also proved that Zhu Yuanzhang's enfeoffment system had its own shortcomings and advantages.

"In addition, the vassal kings in various places hold heavy troops and are always a threat to the court. Every time the power of the vassal kings increases, the power of the court will be weakened."

"As time goes by, the authority of the imperial court will inevitably decline to the point where it is unable to effectively rule the subjects of each vassal. The subjects of each vassal only hear the name of the vassal king and do not know that there is a court."

"At that time, the Ming Dynasty will lose its generals, and eventually the world will be in chaos, and war will start again. Therefore, it is urgent to cut down the feudal vassals."

"Could it be that you have learned about a new miraculous prophecy?"

Zhu Di was really surprised and suspected that this insightful political commentary was not Zhu Gaoxu's original creation.

He was interested just now and just asked casually, wanting to test Zhu Gaoxu's political opinions. He did not give Zhu Gaoxu a chance to prepare in advance.

"I don't dare to deceive my father. I have never talked about the reduction of the vassal state with anyone in the past. When I understood the mysterious prophecy from the book, the prophecy did not mention the reduction of the vassal state. My father has a question, my subject. I dare not refuse to answer, there must be mistakes and omissions in my humble opinion, I hope my father will correct me."

Zhu Gaoxu said respectfully.

In fact, he took advantage of the inherent advantages of living in the era of the information explosion in his previous life, otherwise he would not be able to speak such a high-minded talk smoothly.After listening to Zhu Gaoxu's answer, Zhu Di had the illusion that "my son has destiny."

He had always known that Zhu Gaoxu was both civilized and military, and he had many inventions and ideas, such as low-cost and quick-to-make laundry soap, the idea of ​​new coins, and suggestions for improving and upgrading fire blunderbuss into bird blunderbuss and flint-hair blunderbuss, etc. However, these inventions and ideas did not jump out. The technological level currently mastered by Ming Dynasty is based on its invention.

Even the draft of the Imperial Examination Reform Regulations, which many ministers praised highly after reading it, was not something Zhu Gaoxu came up with in a day or two.

During Zhu Gaoxu's tenure as Zhili school captain, Zhu Di once witnessed Zhu Gaoxu looking through classics and studying various imperial examination systems since the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

He also knew that after Zhu Gaoxu carefully studied the official school model promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he personally went to individual counties and townships in Yingtianfu to inspect county schools, township schools, and social studies. It took him several months to explore a The direction of imperial examination reform.

After that, Zhu Gaoxu began to draft manuscripts on the reform of the imperial examination. It was not until Zhu Yuanzhang recalled him to the capital on the second day of this month that Zhu Gaoxu compiled the past manuscripts and finally formed the current charter for the reform of the imperial examination.

However, the elimination of vassal states was a major national policy that affected the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty. Without sufficient life experience and insights, it is difficult to form a unique personal opinion on this major policy involving the national level.

Even if there is an opinion, it will most likely only be a generalized talk based on what others say, and it will not be able to grasp the core of reducing the vassal state at all.

But what Zhu Gaoxu said pointed directly at the essence of reducing the vassal state.

Zhu Di couldn't identify the flaw in Zhu Gaoxu's words for a while. He only thought it was very reasonable, but he didn't know where to start when he was asked to analyze and give advice. He held it in for a long time, and finally could only continue the topic of "handling it seriously" just now. Go on.

"If the imperial court implements the strategy of reducing vassal vassals, it will inevitably be unable to bypass the King of Sai. How should the border defense in northern Xinjiang be re-arranged? Will the generals with heavy troops disobey orders? Or will they support their own troops?"

"Therefore, I want to personally conquer the remaining Yuan in the north as a deterrent. Before that, I must clean up the opponents in the court and drive out those who are not of the same mind as me."

"This time I will deal harshly with those who uphold the ancestral system and support your elder brother. This is to express an attitude and let others know that those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish."

"In this way, the rest of the people will no longer dare to make excuses. When the time comes, I, the imperial commander, will personally conquer Can Yuan, and you will sit in the rear. Only by working together, father and son, can we create a glorious Yongle era!"

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he understood Zhu Di's plan.

Zhu Di was honest and honest with him.

"But we have a headache. Now, except for your uncle Ning, all the princes in the world are in the capital. I follow the order of your grandpa Taizu and transfer the princes to outside China, so that the reduction of vassalage can be successfully completed."

"But China is too big outside, and there is no reference range. Where should the kings be transferred to? What if some fiefdoms are fertile, and a number of vassal kings become powerful and unstoppable, threatening the court in the future? With my status, wouldn’t I become the eternal sinner of the Ming Dynasty?”

Zhu Di was so excited that he no longer referred to himself as "朕", but replaced it with the colloquial "俺" that was deeply rooted in his bones.

"Therefore, I want to send people out to sea, patrol all the way, explore the mountains and rivers outside China, and then draw some atlases to bring back. For those good places, our court will directly manage them, and the less important places will be granted to the people. king."

Zhu Gaoxu thought that in history, Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the Western Seas in order to find Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen and show off the national prestige of the Great Tomorrow Dynasty. But now Zhu Di is pursuing the national policy of the Western Seas, and the starting point is actually to change the titles of the kings.

This may be the inertia of history. The voyage to the West will definitely be started by Zhu Di!
PS: I finally completed two consecutive chapters before New Year’s Eve. Please recommend, vote, and support in any way!I'll have a rest tomorrow and I'll work on my typing and try to have a blast.

(End of this chapter)