Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The kings had different attitudes towards the issue of establishing overseas vassal states.

The vassal kings in the frontier areas were quite hesitant about migrating overseas because their places were poor, they often did not receive royal salaries, and they had to worry about foreign invasions.

They were reluctant to give up their current lives, but they also felt that moving overseas was not much worse. Moreover, if the emperor delegated power to the overseas vassal states, they would be able to truly control power.

The vassal kings in the mainland were used to enjoying their wealth and splendor, and most of them were unwilling to move. Especially those who were famous for their wealth, such as the King of Chu and the King of Shu, were even more unwilling to move overseas. They just wanted to keep their own wealth and splendor, and were unwilling to work hard overseas?
But the problem is that the King of Chu was involved in the Chu vassal case, and it is still unclear whether he can continue to be the King of Chu.

The King of Shu has not yet arrived in Beijing because of the long distance. In addition, the She An Rebellion a few years ago made the King of Shu really frightened for a while. The kings could not tell what his attitude was now.

Among all the vassal kings, the Qin and Jin princes had the most respected status, but the King of Qin and the King of Jin did not come this time, and it was the crown prince who came instead.

Zhu Cunshu, the prince of Qin, was a man who only knew how to have fun. He had long been tired of playing in Xi'an City, and now he came to the capital and fell into a new comfortable nest.

Zhu Cunshu pretended not to know what those princes and the crown prince were thinking. When they encouraged him to come forward, Zhu Cunshu said:

"The matter of establishing a vassal state is of great importance, and we need our father to make the decision."

"I'll write a letter to my father and see what he says."

I decided to delay the time and play in the capital for a while longer.

The Prince of Jin, Zhu Shenxuan, had the same attitude as Zhu Cunshu and had no intention of getting involved in this matter.

At the beginning, because of their strong power, the two vassal states of Qin and Jin were really tormented by Emperor Chengzu and other emperors for a while after the Jingnan Campaign. They all knew the interests of the emperor, and even if they were unwilling to move their vassal states, they did not dare to openly oppose the emperor.

Among the remaining vassal kings, Zhou had the most branches, and King Zhou Zhu Gongyao was quite knowledgeable. In history, he once took the initiative to take out 500,000 gold from the treasury to help officers and soldiers resist the peasant army.

He knew that the current policy on the royal family was unsustainable. Apart from other things, of the 77 counties and kingdoms of the Zhou vassal state, only 42 still existed, and these people could not be supported by the fixed royal salary. It was only a matter of time before the policy on the royal family was changed.

Now the emperor wants to move the royal family overseas to completely solve this problem. Although Zhu Gongyao is reluctant to give up his rich and comfortable life, he knows it is right. No matter how other princes and princes persuade him, he will not stand up to oppose the emperor.

The other princes of Lu, Dai, etc., basically had no say in front of the emperor. These princes and the crown princes had no choice but to look for Prince of Fu, Zhu Changxun, hoping that the emperor's uncle would take the lead in opposing.

As someone who once competed with Emperor Taichang for the throne, Prince Fu was politically sensitive. He knew that he could not stand up and oppose this matter.

Otherwise, the Donglin Party members who had prevented him from becoming the crown prince and who had now been reinstated by the emperor would definitely catch him and scold him, or even send him to a remote place to establish a fiefdom.

In addition, he had once competed for the throne and still had some ambitions in his heart. He had some ideas about establishing vassal states overseas.

Facing the princes and the crown prince who had helped him to stand out, Zhu Changxun said to them:
"The enfeoffment is a matter of great importance, and it is a matter for your majesty and the ministers to decide."

"What qualifications do we, the powerless princes, have to object?"

"I advise you to stop wasting your energy on this place and think about where to open a fiefdom."

"If all the good places around are picked up, the remaining princes will have no choice but to go to the rotten land!"

Not only did he not agree to their request, he also taught them a lesson as the Zuo Zongren of the Zongrenfu, forcing these princes and princes to submit a petition in support of moving their fiefdoms and taking the initiative to move overseas.

After receiving a scolding, these princes and princes turned around and said "Pah", giving up the idea of ​​looking for Prince Lu, the right clan member.

The current Prince of Lu, Zhu Changxun, is a Buddhist and the son of Empress Dowager Li. He is very pleased with the emperor's promotion of the belief in Jiulian Bodhisattva. He calls himself a "Lu Buddhist" all day long and interacts with many eminent monks.

It can be said that Prince Lu was very soft-hearted. And because he lost his father at a young age, his temperament was very weak. Years ago, the emperor borrowed money from the princes, and Prince Fu needed to send his mother, Concubine Zheng Guifei, to the prince, so he gave Prince Lu a nominal position as the right clan member. When Prince Lu heard the emperor's order, he immediately obeyed without making a fuss.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with this uncle Wang. After knowing that he liked music and had made the Luqin, he sent people from the royal orchestra and the music bureau to discuss music with Prince Lu.

Zhu Changxun, the Prince of Lu, was also quite generous and gave a large sum of money to support Li Yu in improving the piano. It can be said that he is now determined to become a virtuous king and want to make achievements like Zhu Zaiyu, the Prince of Duanqing.

Even though such a vassal king had face in front of the emperor, the vassal kings and princes in Beijing never counted on this person.

The princes who could take the lead were unwilling to do so, and the others were not capable of taking the lead. The princes and the crown prince discussed and discussed, but none of them made up their minds to oppose the relocation.

On the contrary, the border princes who had hesitated before were touched by Prince Fu's words and began to think about it. They were worried that the good places around the Ming Dynasty would be given to other people, and they would have to live in bad places in the future.

Zhu Danzhen, the King of Han, was one of them. After careful consideration, he invited a great man to ask for advice on the matter of enfeoffment.

This great talent is Zhang Pu, who has gained fame in the capital. He is now the editor-in-chief of Ming Pao, a disciple of Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi, and a close minister of the emperor, who is often summoned.

Zhu Danshen heard that Zhang Pu was in the palace when the emperor conferred the Jiangling Kingdom, and participated in the formulation of the feudal policy. So he arranged for someone to ask Zhang Pu:

"Your Majesty wants the kings to move to their fiefdoms. Are you determined?"

"Mr. Zhang is always in the imperial court. Have you received any news?"

Zhang Pu has been wandering around the palace and ministers' houses these days, and he has no fear of the King of Han. He said firmly:
"The transfer is certain, Your Majesty, do not have to doubt it."

"You came from Shaanxi, so you should know whether there is a drought in Shaanxi."

King Han Zhu Danzhen thought about the situation in Shaanxi, nodded slightly, and asked with concern:

“Is the drought in Shaanxi really that serious?”

"I have seen droughts before, but they have never reached the point where we have to emigrate, right?"

Zhang Pu laughed when he heard this and said:
"What are the droughts in the past? Taizu and Chengzu never had dreams about them."

"Now that the Second Ancestor has appeared in a dream about the drought, it is clear that this drought is enough to affect the Ming Dynasty."

"Your Majesty, why do you want to relocate the common people and the vassal kings first?"

"It's just that they are worried that the victims will rebel and the court can't take care of you."

"If you ask me, Your Majesty should not only move, but also move as soon as possible and choose a good place first."

"Look around Daming, how many places are suitable for migration?"

Taking out a map, Zhang Pu pointed out Kuwu Island and Beihai Island, skipped the three Japanese islands, and pointed to Dongning Island, saying:
"Your Majesty decided to directly govern Dongning Island, and it is also the base for opening up the South Seas."

"We have already set up guard posts, and in the future they will mainly be used to divide up the fields. Even if a noble wants to divide up a territory there, the largest one will not exceed ten li."

"So the king doesn't need to think about this island anymore. As long as the king doesn't want to go south anymore, the best fiefdom is the Beihai Island in the north."

"Although this island is relatively cold, it is not as cold as Kuwu Island, where farming is almost impossible. It is not difficult to open up tens of thousands of hectares of arable land."

"The Kuyi on the island are not very strong and are relatively easy to conquer. The Matsumae Domain, which was enfeoffed by Japan, can drive them away or make them vassals of the king." "It can be said that this island is the best place around Ming Dynasty. There is no other place closer to Ming Dynasty than this one."

"Your Majesty, why did you seal off Kuwu Island but keep Beihai Island? Isn't it to leave it to the princes as a fiefdom for the royal family?"

After hearing what Zhang Pu said, King Han Zhu Danshen was indeed somewhat tempted. He was also quite curious about the map and pointed at it and asked:

"Where did you get this map, sir?"

Zhang Pu smiled and said:

"This is a gift from His Majesty. It allows me to broaden my horizons."

"Your Majesty, do not doubt the things in the picture. This is what Taizu and Chengzu showed Your Majesty from the air in their dreams."

"There is no map in the world today that is more detailed than this!"

Zhang Pu was somewhat skeptical about this statement, but he would not show it in front of outsiders. Facing the King of Han, he praised the map drawn by the emperor and took out the "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" for comparison.

King Han Zhu Danshen compared the two images and no longer had any doubt about Zhang Pu's statement that there was no better place than Beihai Island.

Because from the map, only Luzon could be close to it. But there were Portuguese on Luzon Island, and they killed many Chinese during the Wanli period. The King of Han knew that he had no ability to establish a vassal state in the face of such an enemy.

Therefore, in his heart, he was increasingly inclined to establish a country on the Beihai Island as the vassal state closest to the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Zhang Pu told him another piece of news, which prompted him to make up his mind:
"Your Majesty, because the other princes are unwilling to take the initiative, you have already planned to issue orders to the princes of Liao, Ning, Yi, and Hui to let the royal families of these four vassal states to establish their own states. Whoever succeeds in establishing a vassal state will inherit the throne."

"If the King of Han wants to move his fiefdom, please make up your mind as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the news gets out, the royal families of the four fiefdoms will come to fight for it!"

When the King of Han heard this, he was immediately shocked, because he knew that although these vassals had county kings, they did not have real princes.

The emperor offered the position of prince to the four royal families for competition, and many people would probably be tempted.

Especially in Ning Clan, after the royal family was allowed to take the imperial examination, quite a few people devoted themselves to the cause. This year, Zhu Tongyu, a member of the royal family of Ning Clan, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, and Zhu Tongzhen and others also took the joint examination.

How could these royal family members who were able to pass the imperial examinations be incapable? Once they recruited talents, the founding of the Ning clan would most likely succeed.

No matter how conceited King Han Zhu Danshen was, he would not look down on them.

Then he thought of a more terrifying possibility from this incident, that is, the emperor abolished the princes of each vassal state and let the royal families of each vassal state fight for it -

This is even more fatal to him.

It can be said that the news Zhang Pu said seemed ordinary, but it really frightened the King of Han. Because in the eyes of the King of Han Zhu Danshen, this was a threat from the emperor.

As long as he doesn't want his throne to be abolished, it would be best for him to obey the emperor's orders and move overseas on his own initiative.

Otherwise, the emperor could find a reason to exceed the regulations for palaces and mausoleums to make the throne of King Han vacant and allow the Han vassal clan to fight for it.

Those royal family members who have ambitions to fight for the throne will certainly cheer for this.

"This approach will cause chaos among the royal family!"

"How could your majesty be like this?"

Speaking with deep worry, King Han Zhu Danshen obviously thought of the impact that would be brought about once this matter was implemented.

If the princes and the crown prince knew this, they would never join forces to oppose the relocation of the fiefdoms, because their opposition would be insignificant to the emperor and they might even lose their thrones.

Thinking back to the emperor's previous order to ask the royal family to recommend talents, Zhu Danshen thought at the time that the emperor was reserving talents for the royal family to establish the country. Now it seems that it also carries a threatening meaning -

If the kings are disobedient, they may be deposed from the throne and these talented people will fight for it.

If the kings and princes understood this intention, they would never dare to make trouble.

Zhang Pu looked at the King of Han who had already understood, and he laughed. Today, he said these words to the King of Han, just to threaten him according to the order.

After all, the emperor didn't want the royal family to make too much trouble, so he asked him to give some advice to let the kings know how powerful they were.

It would be best if King Han could figure it out. If he can’t, he will say it more bluntly!

Fortunately, the current King of Han was somewhat capable and understood the meaning of the words. At this moment, King Zhu Danshen of Han had understood that the matter of moving the vassal state was imperative, and what he needed to do was to rush ahead of other vassal states and try to choose a good fiefdom.

Seeing the North Sea Island which was closest to the Ming Dynasty and had Jiangling Duchy and Ningyuan Earldom nearby, King Zhu Danshen of Han became more and more interested and asked Zhang Pu:
"If I want to establish a kingdom, how much land can I get?"

"It's impossible that the prince and the duke only have 500 miles of fiefdom?"

"There are so many royal families in the Han clan, we have to take them into consideration."

There are thirty-six counties and kingdoms in the Han vassal state. After some princes were removed for various reasons, there are still sixteen princes in existence.

Moreover, some of those princes who were stripped of their titles still left behind branches such as generals and lieutenants.

It can be said that the number of royal family members in the Han vassal state was second only to that of the Zhou vassal state, which had the largest population.

We were only given one North Island, and each clan member could probably only get a few hectares of land.

This is good enough for ordinary royal family members, but for princes and generals, they will probably make trouble.

Therefore, King Han Zhu Danshen demanded that the fiefdom of Han must be large, or that the princes of counties be granted fiefdoms separately so that they can support their own branches.

Before Zhang Pu came to see King Han, he had learned about the situation of the Han clan and even asked the emperor for instructions. Upon hearing this, he immediately said:

"A duke's fiefdom is five hundred li, and a prince's fiefdom must be larger. Your Majesty means a thousand li."

"But Fang Qianli is too big and has the potential to become a great country. So the ministers in the court meant that the entire vassal state is Fang Qianli. But the prince's direct territory cannot exceed half, and the rest will be given to county princes, generals, and lieutenants. The total territory of each person cannot exceed Fang Qianli."

"The area of ​​Beihai Island is about 300,000 square miles. Your Majesty intends to allocate another 700,000 square miles from other places as the fiefdom of Han."

With a draw on the map, a large area east of the Asu River and Heilongjiang River between the Principality of Jiangling and the Earldom of Ningyuan was assigned to Han Fan.

When King Han Zhu Danshen saw this, he was immediately moved. (End of this chapter)