The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 341 Digging a hole to kill someone

That morning, Chen Jingke was discussing Taoism with Fang Xiaoru, when suddenly a chamberlain hurried over to summon him to the palace.

His expression immediately became serious.

The morning was his personal time, and in the afternoon he went to the palace to handle government affairs. This was a tacit agreement with Zhu Biao and the others.

Zhu Biao would not call him into the palace unless absolutely necessary.

So, what is it that makes Zhu Biao so anxious?
He did not dare to delay, spoke to Fang Xiaoru, and followed the chamberlain to the palace.

On the way he wanted to ask the chamberlain what happened.

The chamberlain replied: "I don't know this either. I only know that Your Majesty received a secret letter and ordered me to summon you to read it with you."

Secret message?

Chen Jingke asked: "Do you know where the secret message came from?"

The chamberlain smiled apologetically and said, "How can I know this...but His Majesty was very angry after reading the secret letter."

"In addition to asking the slaves to call you, I also went to invite the Supreme Emperor."

Please Lao Zhu?

Chen Jingke's expression became even more solemn. He actually wanted to move Lao Zhu out. This matter was bigger than imagined.

After thanking him, he said nothing more and walked all the way to the palace.

When I arrived at Qianqing Palace, I found that Zhu Yuanzhang had already arrived, and Li Shanchang and Xu Da were also there.

After seeing the gift, Zhu Biao handed over the secret letter before he could ask any questions.

Chen Jingke immediately took it and looked through it. The secret message was sent from Temasek by Xu Chailao and Cen Xintong.

This made him suddenly think, could there be something wrong with the Zongfan plan?

Continuing to look down, I was relieved to find that this was not the case.

After reading the secret letter, he already had an idea in his mind.

Zhu Biao was the first to ask: "What does Jing Ke think?"

Chen Jingke took a breath and said, "It's something that was expected."

Seeing that he was so calm, everyone was a little surprised. Lao Zhu said in a deep voice:
"Have you expected this day?"

Chen Jingke nodded and said, "This is inevitable. Gentlemen are used to not treating people as human beings."

"The imperial court suddenly wants to grant basic human rights to the enslaved people. Naturally, they are not used to it. It is normal for them to obey and violate the law."

“This kind of oppression is still widespread in Ming Dynasty, let alone Temasek Tiangao Emperor.”

"It's just that I didn't expect that they would be so rampant as to engage in slave trade in Temasek."

The impact of these words was so broad that everyone present had abnormal expressions.

But the Temasek incident really taught them a lesson.

If you don't treat people as human beings and don't establish a stable order, everything is false.

So what exactly is the content of the secret message? It’s a long story.

The development of Temasek is just as originally designed by Chen Jingke.

As the central city of the South China Sea designated by the Ming Dynasty, and guarding the Malacca Strait, it developed very rapidly.

Within a few years it became a trading city.

But chaos ensued.

What started out as theft, fighting, fraud, gambling, and the like turned into gang warfare.

Because the Ming Dynasty needed serfs and mining slaves, the slave trade rose on a small scale.

Temasek has become the best place to trade.

The slave trade is naturally accompanied by blood and killing, which further undermines Temasek's order.

The most serious thing is that the "Employee Protection Act" exists in name only, and various workshops openly use slaves to work.

It's not that Xu Chai Lao and the others don't want to take care of it, but those who dare to violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty and engage in illegal business are mostly people with backgrounds.

Either the caravan of a certain powerful family, or the tribe of a certain big bureaucrat.

He didn't dare to deal too harshly with these people.

The nature of a businessman makes him choose to compromise, hoping to slowly solve these problems through negotiation.

However, he did not realize that giving in would not solve the problem, but would only make it worse.

The thing about order is: if you can’t control one person, you can’t control everyone.

If you let one group go, other groups will follow its example.

Temasek's order is becoming increasingly chaotic.

However, those people still knew the seriousness. Although they did many illegal and criminal things, they did not dare to embezzle the assets belonging to the imperial court.

One is more active than the other in paying taxes.

Therefore, the amount of money Temasek turns over to the Ministry of Household Affairs every year exceeds that of a wealthy inland province.

This is why the previous issues did not attract everyone's attention.

Again, there are only two tasks of classical bureaucrats, governing the people and collecting taxes.

Most of the time collecting taxes is what matters.

This cannot be changed by Chen Jingke saying a few words or formulating a few policies.

When the officials of the imperial court saw that Temasek contributed so much tax, they naturally thought that there was no problem there.

Even if there is, it is a small problem.

change? What if the income decreases after the change.

Who can bear this responsibility?
Therefore, maintaining the status quo is best.

As for the rules and regulations formulated by Chen Jingke, the social order he wanted to establish...

In the eyes of classical bureaucrats, that is naivety.

In short, Temasek's order is gradually collapsing, and bloodshed is happening all the time.

The negative consequences of the destruction of the business environment are beginning to appear.

Many passing merchant ships did not dare to go ashore and left in a hurry after replenishing supplies at the dock.

As a result, the island's business began to decline and income plummeted, which has seriously affected tax revenue.

Only then did Xu Chailao have to admit the failure of his compromise policy.

When he wanted to be tough, he found that there was nothing he could do and had to report the matter to the court.

The first person responsible for this matter is naturally Xu Chailao.

He compromised at first, but then failed to adjust his policy in time. He waited until things got out of control before reporting to the court.

But now is not the time for accountability.

For everyone here, the most important thing is to see the essence of certain problems through this incident and to avoid similar things from happening.

It's not that they don't know the importance of order, but they never thought that order could be so important.

In addition, the importance of employee protection laws also exceeded their expectations.

Slave society also has order, but that order is not benign and will cause countless problems.

The most important thing is that if you acquiesce in the existence of slaves, it will bring about a very fatal problem.

With you, everyone can become a slave.

Who dares to come to you so easily?

The Employee Protection Law fundamentally solves this problem. It not only protects the rights and interests of employees, but also gives everyone peace of mind.

Even employees are protected, let alone others?

When employees are protected, they will be more active in their work and support local order.

A virtuous cycle is formed.

If everyone works together, the local area will become prosperous sooner or later.

Zhu Biao was still the first to speak: "Only now do I know why Jing Ke enacted the Employee Protection Law early and also emphasized that order is above all else in Temasek."

Others also agreed with this statement. This is what it means to be far-sighted.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not praise him, but asked: "Since you had already guessed this situation, why didn't you tell him in advance?"

Chen Jingke cried out: "The Emperor has really wronged me. If you think about it carefully, I have said everything before."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could speak, Zhu Biao spoke first:

"Jing Ke did say it, but no one cared about it at the time, and many people even thought he was unnecessary." "Including me, I actually had this idea, so I ignored the Temasek situation."

Zhu Xiongying said slowly: "You will never be able to teach someone else, but you can teach someone something once."

Lao Zhu's face froze and he was choked and couldn't speak for a long time.

In fact, if this matter is really investigated, he is the first person responsible.

If someone had attacked him in such a vicious manner, they would have raised their butcher's knife long ago.

But there is no way, now that he is his precious grandson, he can't do anything.

Li Shanchang and Xu Daze looked up at the roof knowingly, pretending not to hear anything.

Zhu Biao saw that his father could not get off the stage, so he quickly took the responsibility on himself:

"I was indeed negligent in this matter. I believe that the ministers will learn a lesson after learning about the situation."

"The question now is how to solve Temasek's problem."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression improved a little, and he stared at Chen Jingke and said:
"Since you have guessed it, you must already have a solution?"

Chen Jingke said calmly: "There is nothing more memorable than a butcher's knife."

Hearing this, Li Shanchang and Xu Da's expressions were full of astonishment.

So this was your solution?

Very direct, but... cruel.

But it's far different from Chen Jingke's past style.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were also slightly stunned, but then they looked relieved.

Chen Jingke is indeed a kindhearted woman, but for the sake of the overall situation, he can kill people without blinking an eye.

Otherwise, there would not have been so many plans for clans and gentry, nor would the court be encouraged to adjust population distribution.

Countless people have died because of his policies.

The same is true now.

In order to make people pay attention to the New Deal and to implement the New Deal better and faster, he deliberately allowed chaos in Temasek.

Then use thunderous means to solve all these problems and remove all obstacles to the New Deal.

It's just that only Zhu Yuanzhang and a few people know about his contrast.

Li Shanchang and Xu Da didn't know much about it, so they were shocked.

Zhu Xiongying raised his eyebrows, showed an excited expression, and said:

"I believe that after this time, no one will ever violate the laws set by the imperial court again."

Li Shanchang and Xu Da thought to themselves that it would definitely not happen.

After all, no one’s household registration book is wholesale.

The next step is to discuss who will carry out the cleaning task.

This person's status must be high enough, otherwise he will not be able to move the caravans of those powerful people.

It must be ruthless enough, after all, there are many people to be killed this time, and most people really don't have such a big heart.

The most important thing is not to be afraid of offending people.

After all, the people who are taking the lead in making things happen at Temasek are the powerful bureaucrats.

This action will almost offend most of the court.

The answer is already coming.

Chen Jingke said: "Let King Qin go. He has learned almost enough in the past few months. It's time to set off for Asia Minor."

“When passing by Temasek, I just took care of it.”

Hearing this, everyone's expressions were a little strange.

By your side?
That's countless human lives, you said, it's the same as killing a chicken.

But thinking about Zhu Ping's temperament, it was really just a matter of supporting him.

The point is, I really can't find anyone more suitable than him.

The first two are easy to talk about, but the one about not being afraid of offending people is basically locked to Zhu Xi.

Is there anyone in the Ming Dynasty who is less afraid of offending others than him?

First of all, the identity of the prince ensures that no one dares to settle accounts with him.

Secondly, he will be 'exiled' to the Middle East soon, and it doesn't matter no matter how many people he offends.

But after all, this is a job that offends people. It is not suitable for Zhu Biao to speak in the presence of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Lao Zhu naturally understood this, so he didn’t ask Zhu Biao for his opinion this time and made his decision directly:

"Okay, let Zhu Ping go there."

"Biao'er, decree to restore his title and declare him to be a feudal lord overseas."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Okay, I'll draw up the decree right now."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Shanchang and Xu Da again and said, "It's time to fulfill the original promise."

Even with the two people's wealth, they couldn't help but show excited expressions, stood up and said:

"Please give your orders, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Inform each family to send a capable son to follow the second son to Asia Minor for training."

"You don't need me to say more about how to do it, right?"

The two said in unison: "Yes, please rest assured, Your Majesty, we know what to do."

Seeing him arrange everything in an orderly manner, everyone present knew that another change had begun.

Chen Jingke privately gave this change a name: the Great Enfeoffment.

This time, it was not just the princes who were enfeoffed, but also their meritorious deeds.

Yes, meritorious deeds are also distributed overseas.

Of course, only the top nobles are currently awarded, and the rest depends on their efforts.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang never said clearly how he persuaded the nobles to unconditionally support the reform of the imperial court.

But when things have reached this point, it would be stupid if Chen Jingke couldn't guess it.

Apart from enfeoffment, what else could allow the Xungui Group to sacrifice its own interests and support the reform of the imperial court?
That is a real vassal state, it is the qualification to establish an ancestral temple, and it is a true hereditary superstition.

In front of it, all interests become worthless.

Why was Zhu Yuanzhang willing to grant kingdoms to princes of the opposite sex?
The reason is simple: the world is too big.

A long time ago, Chen Jingke guided him to explore the world.

That 'Ming Dynasty mixed map' includes the entire three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.

Such a huge territory, no matter how reborn the royal family was, they would not be able to occupy it all.

Of course, without the imperial plan, Zhu Yuanzhang still would not enfeoff the princes and kings of the opposite sex.

After all, it is easy to open this hole, but it is easy to lose control once it is implemented.

No one knows whether after the vassal states merge with each other, a powerful country will be born, which in turn will swallow up the Ming Dynasty.

Didn’t Xia, Shang and Zhou all perish in this way?

But the emergence of the empire plan changed his mind.

This plan was destined to establish a large number of vassal states overseas.

Rather than leaving this position to foreigners, it would be better to entrust it to the merits of the Ming Dynasty.

The foreign vassal states may betray at any time, but the meritorious vassal states will not have to worry about rebellion at least for several generations.

Moreover, the imperial court could also use enfeoffment to exchange interests with nobles, gain their support, and carry out many radical reforms.

Naturally, this idea was not decided by him alone. Queen Ma and Zhu Biao also contributed a lot.

The family of three finally finalized the plan.

This is why Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, father and son, were able to ignore all obstacles to reform.

Facts have also proved that their idea is feasible.

Now, it is time to fulfill the original promise, otherwise the nobles will also wonder if Lao Zhu is deceiving them.

This is why Li Shanchang and Xu Da are so excited.
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The next day, Zhu Biao issued an order to restore Zhu Ping's title as King of Qin and to rebuild the King of Qin's guard.

Not surprisingly, this move was opposed by the ministers.

(End of this chapter)