Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Hello, Council of Nobles!"

"The current emperor is truly a wise ruler!"

Zheng Zhiyan, who was escorting Ryukyu dignitaries to Beijing, also sighed as he looked at the newspaper.

The reason why they believed in the court's offer of amnesty before was because the current emperor was willing to confer titles on them and use the Ming Dynasty's credibility in titles as a guarantee.

However, the low-level title of Zi Nan has never been conferred except for the founding heroes, which always makes people feel a little suspicious.

They were worried that the emperor might abandon them and revoke these titles in the future.

Now that he saw that the men occupied one-third of the seats in the Council of Nobles, he no longer had such worries and completely believed in the sincerity of the current emperor.

Even the court ministers and descendants of founding heroes were given titles of nobility in large numbers. What did they have to worry about?
As long as you don't cause public outrage, your fiefdom will not be reduced in size, and you won't even be moved.

What Zheng Zhiyan is thinking now is the same as Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhihu, which is to obtain a title and open up a fiefdom.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but thank Zheng Zhilong for being quick to see the opportunity and choosing to accept the amnesty when the emperor just ascended the throne.

Otherwise, how could one have such an opportunity to obtain a title that can be passed down from generation to generation?

Zheng Zhiyan thought so, and the Ryukyu nobles who came to the capital with him were even happier.

Unlike Zheng Zhiyan who still sought a title, they obtained the title of Ming Dynasty after submitting to the throne.

Although the title of earl conferred by the King of Ryukyu was not high, he was still a high-ranking noble and owned a vassal state.

In the future, you will be able to get a seat in parliament at regular intervals.

This made the Ryukyu nobles, who had been feeling a little uneasy, feel relieved immediately.

As long as they maintain good relations with other nobles and do not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, their titles will be guaranteed and they will not have to worry about losing them.
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As the first foreign vassal to submit to the government, the Lifanyuan attached great importance to the Ryukyu nobles.

Zhu Youjian also needed them to set an example and show the Ming Dynasty's sincerity to other foreign monarchs.

So he held a grand ceremony to formally accept Ryukyu's submission and conferred titles on the Ryukyu king and others.

He also directly gave some of the completed mansions of the royal palaces to these new nobles, without them having to spend money or time to build them.

Moreover, he took some time out from his busy schedule to take the Earl of Ryukyu and other nobles to Tsinghua Garden and the royal palaces to escape the summer heat and rest before the official selection in August.

Most of the kings' mansions have begun to take shape, and many princes who think the mansions are too small have moved here.

After Zhu Youjian came to Tsinghua University to escape the summer heat, they all came to pay homage.

Zhu Youjian held a banquet and invited nobles who had residences in the area to attend.

Because of the establishment of the Parliament of Aristocrats, these princes and dukes were all quite close to Zhu Youjian.

But some people are not satisfied. Chengguogong Zhu Chunchen said with a shameless face:

"Your Majesty said that the prince has a fixed seat in the Council of Nobles."

"I was granted the title of Duke of Chengguo by my ancestors. I wonder when I can join the Council of Nobles?"

Zhu Youjian frowned and said:

"The Council of Nobles is in the Lifanyuan to provide a guarantee for the vassal states, indicating that the imperial court will not arbitrarily reduce the power of the vassal states."

"As long as Duke Chengguo founds a country, he will naturally be able to enter the Lifanyuan Noble Council."

After repeating these seven words, Zhu Youjian did not believe that Duke Cheng did not understand, but Zhu Chunchen still said brazenly:

"The establishment of overseas fiefdoms is a grace from your Majesty, and we are naturally grateful."

"I have farmland in the Central Plains and do not need a fiefdom for the time being. I am willing to give the opportunity to establish a fiefdom to others first."

"I am willing to stay in the capital and help Your Majesty manage the Council of Nobles." Many kings had the same idea as him, and even wanted to use the number of votes for relocation stipulated by the emperor to avoid being forced to migrate by the emperor.

They all echoed Zhu Chunchen's remarks and were willing to give the opportunity to establish overseas fiefdoms to others first.

Zhu Youjian was extremely angry when he saw the performance of these people.

In order to encourage these people to go overseas, he was willing to give up such great power just to encourage them to move out.

I didn't expect that there are still so many people who are ignorant and unwilling to establish fiefdoms overseas.

Looking at Zhu Chunchen who jumped out first, Zhu Youjian stared at him and said:

"I appreciate Duke Cheng's kindness. I allow you to send someone to the Noble Council."

"And you don't have to give up the affairs of the vassal state to others first. I will let the Duke of Jiangling help Chengguo to establish a vassal state."

"To the north of Jiangling Principality, I will allocate you 500 li of land, all of which will be used as vassal land."

He ordered someone to bring a map and allocated him a piece of land to the north of the Heilongjiang River mouth.

Duke Chengguo's face almost turned green when he looked at this place.

The Duchy of Jiangling was said to be a bitterly cold place among the nobles, not to mention places further north than the Duchy of Jiangling.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that the emperor pointed to this place and said:

"This is the Miaojie territory of Jiangling Principality, this is Kuwu Island, and the strait in the middle is the Jiangling Strait."

"This sea area in the north is called Jiangling Sea."

"The area around this bay was the vassal state of Duke Chengguo, so it was named Chenggong Bay."

"Duke Chengguo must guard this place well. If it is lost, you will be held responsible."

"Also, don't forget to pay tribute in the future. If it's too little, it won't look good in front of the princes."

Zhu Youjian granted Duke Chengguo a vassal state in the Wudehewei area east of the Greater Khingan Range and gave him a harsh punishment.

From now on, the Chengguo Principality will not be able to compare with the Jiangling Principality, and even compared with the territories of Gao Yingxiang and others in the south, it may not be able to compare—

Even though Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng had low titles and small fiefs, the areas they were able to develop were probably larger than those of the Chengguo Principality.

It can be said that Zhu Chunchen's actions made him give up a good opportunity to expand the Chengguo family. In the future, the Chengguo Zhu family will inevitably fall behind the top nobles among the feudal nobles.

At this time, Zhu Chunchen also vaguely realized that he had done something stupid, but he had not yet fully realized what kind of opportunity he had given up.

What made him unhappy at this time was that there were more places named after Jiangling, and the area of ​​Jiangling Sea was also larger, far larger than Chenggong Bay. This made him feel ashamed and he became jealous of the Jiangling Principality.

So he said very firmly:

"You don't need the help of Jiangling Principality. I will send my own people to open up the fiefdom."

"I only ask that Your Majesty keep me in the capital to help Your Majesty manage the Noble Council."

Zhu Youjian saw that he didn't know what was good for him and was still determined to stay in the capital, so he immediately scolded him:

"This is not allowed!"

"Since Duke Chengguo has been appointed as a vassal, he must go to the vassal state in the future. He must not stay in the capital for more than half a year in a year."

"The seats of noble councillors must also be filled by relatives."

Zhu Chunchen was used as an example to warn others, and he was ordered to leave immediately and take up his fiefdom before the ice age.

At the same time, he looked at the other kings to see who he would attack first, so that they would know how powerful he was. (End of this chapter)