Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Finally back to the capital!"

Li Zunzu, whose face was weather-beaten and whose hair had turned a little gray, shouted excitedly when he saw the familiar capital.

Before establishing the Jinjiaowei as requested by the emperor, Li Zunzu had never thought that it would be so difficult to establish a garrison from scratch.

Last September, at the emperor's instigation, he volunteered to go and set up a garrison.

To this end, he first went to Liaodong with his uncle Li Xingzhong and recruited some of Li's former subordinates.

Then he took a boat to Pi Island to inquire about the news from North Korea from Mao Wenlong, and persuaded Mao Wenlong to go to the capital to pay homage.

After recruiting some Koreans as guides through Pi Island, Li Zunzu led his men through Korea. According to the map drawn by the emperor, they successfully found the Jinjiao Bay and Jinjiao Peninsula in the north of Korea.

Until this point, everything was going smoothly. Li Zunzu led his men to build a camp and planned to establish the Golden Horn Guard.

But what he didn't expect was that not long after, the Jinjiao Peninsula was hit by snow and wind. Not only was the land connection with North Korea completely cut off, but the sea also froze.

Moreover, because they were exploring the way, Li Zunzu did not bring much supplies. They lived frugally, but they still ran out of food.

Fortunately, there were some Jurchens among the old Li family members who surrendered and were good at hunting in the mountains and forests. And when they were hunting, they encountered the Jurchen tribe that originally belonged to Shuangchengwei and established contact with them.

Relying on his status, Li Zunzu exchanged food with them using the sugar, salt and other supplies he brought with him, and asked them for many survival tips, and he barely managed to get through the winter.

By the end of February, the sea had thawed, but the land roads were still not open. Li Zunzu was unwilling to wait any longer, so he and his subordinates built a few simple boats and headed south along the coastline.

After several encounters with danger and even the loss of a ship, Li Zunzu finally arrived in Korea again. He then went to Pi Island by land and successfully returned to Tianjin under the escort of the Pi Island navy.

Now, he returned to the capital from Tianjin and saw the tall and majestic city walls in his memory.

Thinking of the several near-death experiences in the past six months, Li Zunzu couldn't help but shed tears. Before leaving Beijing this time, he really didn't expect that exploring a route would be so difficult.

Fortunately, the Jurchen tribes on the other side of the Golden Horn did not completely surrender to the Jianlu. The emperor's idea of ​​taming the Jurchens of those Jurchen tribes and threatening the Jianlu from the rear could indeed be realized.

As long as he could recruit enough military and civilian households, he would be able to successfully set up a garrison and govern the northeast in the future.

Thinking of this prospect, Li Zunzu mustered up his remaining strength and returned to his home.

The plaque of Ningyuan Earl had been taken down in front of the Li family's gate long ago, but the emperor did not take back the house he had granted them, and still let them live there.

When Li Shunzu heard that his brother had returned, he hurried out to greet him. Seeing his brother, whose hair was gray at such a young age, he couldn't help but feel his eyes warm, and patted his brother's shoulder and said:
"Second brother, you have suffered, but you have also gained experience!"

"Brother has figured it out these days. Whether the Li family can be revived depends on you."

"Tomorrow I will submit a petition to His Majesty, requesting that you be allowed to take over the position!"

Li Zunzu was confused and didn't know why his elder brother had this idea.

After careful inquiry, I realized that a lot of things had happened in the more than half a year since I was away from Beijing.

The emperor has decided to restart the system of enfeoffment, granting fiefs overseas and beyond the Great Wall to members of the royal family and meritorious officials.

Zhang Tongchang, the great-grandson of Zhang Juzheng, was granted the title of Duke of Jiangling. The original location of the Nurgan Dusi Yamen and the Kuwu Island to the east were all granted to the Jiangling State.

This made Li Zunzu open his mouth in shock. He really couldn't believe that the emperor would be so generous.

Then he became a little nervous because he had realized that the existence of Jiangling Principality would compete with the Jinjiaowei. At the same time, the emperor arranged Zhang Tongchang to threaten the Jianlu from the rear.

His idea of ​​opening up the Golden Horn Guard and then the Northeastern Town in the future had already brought him a competitor, a duke who had great power in his fiefdom.

If he could not offer similar treatment, the talents of the Northeast would undoubtedly gather in Jiangling Principality. The city of Temple Street would become the center of the Northeast.

Therefore, he now understood why his elder brother changed his mind and gave up the hereditary position to him.

"Second brother, this hereditary position was something you decided to fight for."

"Big brother just took advantage of his status to get this advantage."

"Now, Your Majesty is going to implement the feudal system, so that the descendants of meritorious officials can obtain hereditary titles."

"My eldest brother is in poor health, so he can't start a new vassal state."

"Since you have already established a foothold in the Golden Horn Guard, why don't you just take over the position and apply to His Majesty for a fiefdom."

"From now on, our Li family will all depend on you!"

Having made the decision, Li Shunzu spoke out what was in his mind in one breath.

He also showed Li Zunzu the draft memorials he had written in the past few days.

Li Zunzu looked at the manuscripts and no longer doubted his brother's determination. The slight resentment in his heart disappeared without a trace.

Because of his efforts, the Li family successfully got rid of the shadow left by Li Chengliang and obtained the hereditary position. However, the hereditary position was given to his brother by the emperor according to the Yinxu system, which made him very angry.

This is also the reason why he left the capital and opened up the Golden Horn Guard after the emperor encouraged him a little bit.

At that time, all he wanted was to prove himself and obtain a hereditary position.

Unexpectedly, when he came back this time, his brother took the initiative to give up his position and completely handed over the power to establish a feudal state to himself.

This moved him so much that he swore:
"As long as I live, I will never let my brother suffer any injustice."

"If my eldest brother has any descendants, I will definitely apply to the court to confer knighthood on them and treat them like my own children and grandchildren!"

As he spoke, he patted his head, as if remembering something. He took out a package and said to his eldest brother Li Shunzu:
"Brother, this is the sea cucumber that His Majesty mentioned. It has a warming and tonic effect, comparable to ginseng."

"Brother, you should eat more and take good care of yourself!"

This was something Zhu Youjian specifically told Li Zunzu before he set out.

The area of ​​Golden Horn was later called Vladivostok. Zhu Youjian knew from the name that sea cucumbers were abundant there.

In order to provide a source of income for the Golden Horn Guard, Zhu Youjian specifically instructed Li Zunzu to catch some sea cucumbers as tribute and sell them through the imperial store. This would more or less earn some silver and enhance the self-sufficiency of the Golden Horn Guard.

After Li Zunzu arrived there, although he spent most of his time hiding from the wind and snow, he always found a sunny day when he broke through the ice and caught some sea cucumbers.

He got tired of eating this thing there, so he brought some back with him as a tribute to the emperor.

After hearing this, Li Shunzu was touched by his brother's kindness, but he did not dare to accept it without permission. He asked him to pay tribute before he dared to eat it.

As the assistant manager of the Southern Office of the Jinyiwei for the past few months, he has already learned that the most important thing for the Jinyiwei is loyalty, and the tribute required by the emperor must of course be presented to the emperor.

Although he ate the tribute first, the emperor would not blame him for such a small matter, but now that the Li family was seeking the title of Earl of Ningyuan, he did not want to cause trouble. Therefore, at the request of Li Shunzu, Li Zunzu wrote a memorial requesting a report on his work, and the tributes such as the sea cucumbers he brought back were all listed in the memorial.

This memorial, together with Li Shunzu's memorial, was quickly delivered to the emperor through the Jinyiwei channel.

Zhu Youjian was very happy to learn that Li Zunzu had returned and successfully opened a camp in the Golden Horn Bay.
"He is really a talent, he can be reused!"

After seeing Li Shunzu's resignation memorial, he was silent for a while. He asked Li Shunzu and Li Zunzu to come over and asked Li Shunzu:
"You offered me the position before, but I didn't agree."

"Why are you giving up your position now? What are you considering?"

Li Shunzu thought for a long time, and then replied immediately:
"I am too weak to fight in battle."

"Even when dealing with the affairs of the South Office, I often feel exhausted."

"My younger brother Li Zunzu is brave and willing to serve Your Majesty. I would like to give him the opportunity to establish a vassal state so that he can make better use of it."

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian looked at Li Zunzu again. After confirming that the two brothers shared the same opinion, he sighed:
"Brothers are friendly and respectful, and we are united as one."

"The Li family has a good tradition!"

"No wonder there were nine generals from the Li family who supported the Liaodong border defense."

After sighing for a moment, Zhu Youjian said to them:

"I can't spoil your fun, brothers."

"Originally, I planned to grant Li Zunzu the hereditary position after the successful development of the Golden Horn Guard, but now I will grant it to him in advance as a hereditary commander."

"Then the hereditary positions of the two of you brothers will be swapped. Li Shunzu will inherit the position of Commander-in-Chief, and Li Zunzu will inherit the position of Commander-in-Chief and the title of Earl of Ningyuan."

The Li brothers were overjoyed when they heard this, and thanked the emperor for his grace in allowing them to have hereditary positions.

However, Zhu Youjian did not think of raising two hereditary officials himself. He took out the map, marked two places, and said to them:

"The highest fief of Ningyuan Earldom is still 300 square miles, located in the Jinjiaowei area, and opened up by Li Zunzu."

"Yi Sunzu's hereditary commander-in-chief will be transformed into a hereditary viscount in the future. A viscount's territory will be established in the south of Ningyuan County near North Korea, with a maximum area of ​​200 li."

"From now on, these two pieces of land will be the fiefdom of the Li family."

"A barony can have one guard, and a viscount can have two thousand households, and they are allowed to have a fleet that does not exceed the strength of the guard."

Upon hearing this, Li Shunzu and Li Zunzu looked at each other and were both surprised.

They didn't expect that the emperor would also confer the title of viscount on the Li family and divide up the viscount's territory.

In the future, the two brothers will support each other, and the fiefdom will be easier to maintain.

This made them feel from the bottom of their hearts that the emperor was truly generous as he so easily granted them so many fiefs.

In fact, Zhu Youjian was not really generous, but he knew that the area between Jinjiaowei and Korea could not support a new vassal state.

If other people were appointed as viscounts there, the court might not be able to support them and would not be able to stop the encroachment of the Koreans.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to give it to the Li family and form a fiefdom group with the Ningyuan Earldom. With the Golden Horn Guard as the core, stabilize that area.

Anyway, he didn't think that the Li family could rise from that place and threaten the interior of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, it is too far away, quite a distance from the hinterland of Northeast China. And it is mostly mountainous and hilly, which cannot support many people.

Moreover, he had appointed Jiangling Dukedom in the north, which had more troops. Even if the Li family had the intention to rebel, they had to be dealt with first.

The same is true for the Principality of Jiangling. If they want to rebel, they need to first deal with the Earldom of Ningyuan and occupy this important place.

In Zhu Youjian's plan, these two vassal states were meant to check and balance each other. If the Li and Zhang families knew what was best for them, they wouldn't have gotten too close.

As for now, Zhu Youjian needs Li Zunzu's help to help the Zhang family gain a foothold in Temple Street. While the weather is warm and the Heilongjiang River is navigable, go west along the Heilongjiang River and explore the hinterland of the Northeast.

Therefore, he summoned Zhang Tongchang as well and asked them to work together to threaten the Jianlu's heartland from the rear.

Li Zunzu and Zhang Tongchang both knew what was most important now. Before the Jianlu were eliminated, their fiefdoms would always be unstable. When the Jianlu knew that they had reached the rear, they would definitely send troops to attack.

For the sake of their own fiefdoms, the two men immediately agreed to work together to completely eliminate the Jianlu.

Li Zunzu even had the idea of ​​making meritorious service in the pacification of Liao, turning the Ningyuan Earldom into the Ningyuan Marquisate and obtaining a larger fiefdom.

Thinking of this, he once again felt somewhat resentful towards his great-grandfather Li Chengliang. Because if Li Chengliang had not abandoned the land to raise bandits, normally, Li Chengliang, the Earl of Ningyuan, would have been posthumously awarded the title of Marquis, and after being listed as a Purple Pavilion Meritorious Official, his descendants would have been able to establish a Marquisate.

However, due to Li Chengliang's manipulation, he was not posthumously honored. Even his seat as a Purple Pavilion Hero was replaced by Li Rusong.

Li Rusong was only posthumously awarded the title of Earl of Ningyuan, so his descendants could only establish an earldom and had no chance of becoming a marquisate.

If Li Zunzu wanted to expand his fiefdom, he could only make meritorious contributions himself and be granted a higher title by the emperor.

This is also the reason why Li Shunzu gave up his hereditary position to him after thinking about it.

Because among the current lineage of the Li family, only Li Zunzu can make achievements, have the ability to establish a vassal state, and obtain a higher title.

In this turbulent era when the feudal system was introduced, if the Li family wants to keep up with the times, they must let a stronger person take over as the head of the family.

Zhu Youjian also thought of this problem from this incident.

According to the Ming Dynasty's system of hereditary succession, titles were inherited in order of succession. This was not a big deal in peacetime and was conducive to stable inheritance.

But in the pioneering era, it was somewhat out of date.

For example, he believed that Zhu Cunfu, the fourth son of the current King of Qin, was the strongest and most capable of establishing a vassal state. However, before his three elder brothers and descendants died, Zhu Cunfu had no chance to inherit the throne of Qin.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian had to postpone the enfeoffment of the Qin vassal states, and even had to send people to help the King of Qin to establish his own vassal state.

The arrangement for the Li brothers gave him an idea, which was to grant independent territories to capable people without changing the current order of succession.

Let these people establish fiefdoms instead of the imperial court taking any action.

In this way, the pressure on the court will be much less, and talented people among the royal family will be able to stand out and open up more territories.

He quickly arranged for someone to write this idea into a document and send it to the princes and princes who arrived in the capital, asking them to consider it carefully and recommend suitable talents to come to the capital to study.

After seeing this, the princes and the crown princes began to discuss it. (End of this chapter)