Daming: I am the Crown Prince

One by one, many things seem so clear and obvious.

Therefore, many people in the court and the public are now waiting to see how the emperor and the crown prince will deal with the royal family. These are the most critical things, and as for other officials who have committed crimes, there are naturally laws to decide.

Many people are also very concerned about this matter. After all, it involves the royal family, so these are obviously not trivial matters. Especially considering that this case is not small, it can even be regarded as the first case involving the royal family since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

In the past, when the King of Qin, the King of Jin, the King of Zhou and others made mistakes, they were all personal mistakes.

This time, the vassal king broke the law. These are the most critical and sensitive things in the eyes of some people.

At this critical moment, Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou, and Zhu Yunwen, the Prince of Wulin, once again became the target of public criticism. One was a playboy who refused to change despite repeated admonitions in the eyes of many officials, and the other was a prince who had previously offended the Crown Prince and was suspected.

These two are obviously the easiest to bully and may also be the least likely to be impeached.

At the morning court session, Zhu Chong had a serious look on his face, while Zhu Yunwen had a calm look on his face, seemingly unaffected by the turmoil.

For many people, they are just observing the reactions of these two clan members. It has come to this point, and the evidence is obviously clear, so it is time to start making decisions.

Old Zhu sat on the dragon throne and waited until the time came to report to the emperor. He asked directly, "Grandson, the Northern Expedition has come to an end. Can the army return home?"

Zhu Yunhuan replied in a proper manner, "My Lord, the army has already started to return. The guards in various places have returned to their garrisons, the kings have led their three guards back to their fiefdoms, and the imperial army has been led by the Duke of Ying and the Duke of Liang."

Lao Zhu was naturally very satisfied with this answer. This was the normal process.

This Northern Expedition did not actually achieve much, and everyone was aware of this.

However, we cannot simply look at the results of the battle. The purpose of this expedition is to continue to suppress and weaken Mongolia. This is the meaning of the army's expedition. It would be best if there are more kills, but it is also okay if there are no more kills.

A series of strategic arrangements does not necessarily mean a series of short-term results.

Old Zhu continued, "Order the Five Military Commands Office and the Ministry of War to evaluate military merits, and let the Crown Prince handle the matter."

Zhu Yunhuan naturally accepted the order, and these officials had no objections as they had all long been accustomed to it.

This is already a familiar process, so naturally, no one is surprised. The power in the hands of the Crown Prince is very large. This Crown Prince has long been more than just a simple observer of politics.

After the army returned, Old Zhu asked, "Previously, officials impeached the King of Zhou, the King of Qi, the King of Wulin, and others for not being strict with their subordinates, and that many of their subordinates had violated the law. What does the Crown Prince have to say about this case?"

Zhu Su and Zhu Yunwen immediately knelt down. They felt guilty about this matter. Although they had some thoughts in their minds, the matter had already happened, and they certainly couldn't say anything at this time.

Because even if they were severely punished, they obviously had nothing to say at this time. At this time, they could only passively wait for the punishment, and as long as the punishment was not particularly severe, they could only accept it.

Zhu Yunhuan also came out and said, "Reporting to the Emperor, this matter has been investigated."

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "The Zhou Palace Manager colluded with the Zhou Palace Left Guard Commander to allow Taicang merchant Zhao You to transport grain and salt to Liaodong. However, they only issued salt permits, and no salt was transported."

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Su and asked directly, "King Zhou, are you aware of this matter?"

Zhu Su immediately knelt down and said politely, "Father, I was not aware of this. I failed to discipline my subordinates and caused this serious mistake. I request your order to punish them."

Old Zhu nodded slightly and said seriously, "Since you don't claim to be wronged, it seems that this is true. If I execute the steward and commander of your mansion, do you feel wronged?"

How could Zhu Su dare to say anything? At this time, it was enough to just listen obediently. How to deal with it, etc., these things really can't be said anything more now, everyone knows the situation.

Zhu Su could only answer obediently, "Father, I will abide by the laws of the court and dare not speak nonsense."

In fact, Zhu Su was also somewhat confident in his heart, because he had reached some tacit understanding with the Crown Prince Zhu Yunhuan in private. He would definitely have to pay some price for this matter.

Zhu Yunhuan also came out at this time and said, "Replying to Grandfather, I think that King Zhou is not strict in governing his subordinates and should be punished. The managers and commanders in his palace should all act in the name of King Zhou."

Zhu Su was still kneeling there, and he had nothing to say about Zhu Yunhuan's seemingly insulting words. Anyway, there was nothing much to say about this matter now, the main thing was to know the situation in his mind.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and asked, "Grandson, what do you think should be done?"

Zhu Yunhuan said without hesitation, "Grandfather, I think the King of Zhou is not strict with his subordinates and has been deceived. He deserves to be punished. I think the King of Zhou's supplies should be reduced to make it known to the world and to rectify the laws and regulations of the world."

It was another reduction in the royal family's supplies, and many officials were somewhat numb to it. However, it seemed that they did not find it strange at all, and they were just used to it.

The reduction of royal family supplies is not the first or second time, especially since the royal family evaluation method was formulated before and is now being directly implemented. Zhu Su and others have become the so-called killing the chicken to scare the monkey.

There is naturally nothing to say about this matter. Since such laws have been formulated, they must be enforced well.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Su and asked, "Tell me, are you dissatisfied?"

Zhu Su knelt even more respectfully, "Father, I dare not do that! I was not strict with my subordinates, and the officials in the palace were cheating. I really didn't know it. It was only because of my laziness that the thieves were able to run rampant."

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "I think that the Zhou Wangfu's stewards, commanders and other criminals should be executed to show the strictness of the court's laws. The Zhou Wang's punishment and use are not enough to show the strictness of the court's administration. Sun Chen requests that the Zhou Wang's three guards be abolished."

As soon as Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, it caused an uproar in the court.

The so-called "non-government of the people" by the princes of the Ming Dynasty still seems to be the case today. They have no administrative power in their fiefdoms, etc.

Everyone knew about this matter, and no one thought there was any problem. Even if some local officials wanted to curry favor with the princes, they naturally had some bottom lines and did not dare to let the princes really interfere in some political affairs.

As for military power, the three guards of the princes are definitely not their personal troops, and everyone knows this. But many people are also worried that over time, the princes will have the opportunity to take the three guards in their hands. Now the three guards are the troops of the court, but after a few decades, the three guards may become the princes' private troops.

Now Zhu Yunhuan, the grandson of the emperor, directly asked to abolish the three guards of the King of Zhou, which could be said to be the first substantial move of "cutting down the vassal states". If the vassal kings did not have military power, they would naturally not pose any threat.

If you think about it carefully, this Crown Prince is said to be extremely kind and tolerant to the royal family. But if you calm down and think about it now, this Crown Prince is the one who kills with a soft knife. His intention to reduce the power of the princes and restrict the royal family is obvious.

Now that the three guards of King Zhou have been abolished, there is no need to think that this is just the beginning. In the future, if he gets hold of something, the military power of other vassal kings will also be taken away.

For example, regarding the Prince of Wulin, no one thought from the beginning that he had a chance to have three guards.

What's more, he has committed a crime now, and he is a prince of a county. So he can forget about becoming a vassal king and having the so-called three guards of the vassal king.

Old Zhu didn't comment, but just looked at Zhu Su, "What do you think?"

Zhu Su said with a straight face, "There is nothing wrong with what His Royal Highness said. This incident was caused by the evil servants in the palace who secretly communicated with the soldiers of the guards, which led to a big mistake. I think the court's recall of the three guards is enough to serve as a warning to others."

Old Zhu then looked at Zhu Yunwen, "What about you?"

Zhu Yunwen was even more respectful, "I think your Highness the Crown Prince has handled the matter very fairly, and I dare to second your proposal."

Anyway, he had no military power, and the so-called three guards of the vassal king had nothing to do with him. So at this time, Zhu Yunwen naturally had full confidence, and he had nothing to lose.

After all, he had no access to military power. He only had the guards of the Prince's Mansion, which numbered only a hundred people. Moreover, even the guards of the Prince's Mansion were arranged by the Crown Prince.

If you think carefully, those are the people who are monitoring him!
The Three Guards. Zhu Yunwen never expected that he would have the three guards in name only like other vassal kings.

Old Zhu nodded slightly, and seemed to be basically satisfied with such arrangements. He did not think that Zhu Yunhuan was wary of the royal family.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally had his own considerations regarding the Three Guards and so on, and it was understandable why Zhu Yunhuan was now so determined to demand the elimination of the Three Guards.

In the final analysis, it is a question of military power. In the past, the princes were allowed to be vassal states in order to better control some areas. The princes were allowed to be vassal states, which could stabilize the security of some important places and make the Ming Dynasty more stable.

That was also to eliminate the power of a series of nobles and take the military power back from them. It was just a stopgap measure.

The military power has always been in the hands of the princes, which is what Zhu Yuanzhang can control now. If the princes' descendants become restless in the future, or if the emperor cannot control the situation, there may be changes.

The reduction of power among the vassal states was inevitable sooner or later, and even though Zhu Yunhuan had expressed his attitude towards these things before, Zhu Yunhuan would not be really angry about it.

Zhu Yunhuan also continued, "The brother-in-law of the Prince of Wulin has connections with people from all walks of life. I think they should be punished."

Old Zhu looked at the line of civil servants and said, "Ma Quan, you resigned on your own accord. I will give you respect because of your age and achievements."

Ma Quan immediately knelt down and burst into tears, "I have made a huge mistake by not disciplining my children properly. I deserve to die!"

His daughter became a princess, even if she was a princess of a county who seemed to be suspected, it was a good thing. Ma Quan always thought that his family tradition was good, but when a rebellious son who violated the law appeared, he was also angry and upset.

Saving the life of that rebellious son was simply out of the question. If this matter fell into the hands of the Crown Prince, there would be no room for it, let alone the hands of the Emperor who was always extremely strict in governing officials.

Now that the emperor did not vent his anger on the entire clan, Ma Quan should be grateful. If the emperor's character had been followed, the entire family and clan would have been in trouble!

Chang Sheng and the others were just watching the show, and even joking about it. These civil officials always talked about morality, justice, and morality, but when they did things, there was no morality or justice.

Saying one thing and doing another is common among these civil servants. They appear to be selfless, but they stretch their hands to make money or indulge their clansmen, which is even worse than some nobles.

The matters concerning Prince Zhou and Prince Wulin have now been concluded. Everyone was somewhat surprised by the punishments, but it was not particularly surprising and was all within reason.

It is not surprising that the officials who were convicted had their homes confiscated and were executed. If it were the style of Emperor Hongwu, many officials who were convicted would be skinned and stuffed with straw, which was also the emperor's usual way of dealing with corrupt officials.

As for the punishment of royal family members and so on, some people had expected it, after all, the method of evaluating royal family members had been established before.

No matter if it was the King of Zhou or the Prince of Wulin, they had run into trouble and became the targets of being killed as a warning to the royal family, and no one found it strange.

They might even think that this was the best target, as he was the emperor's doted son and had a close relationship with the crown prince. It was naturally very appropriate to start punishing him at this time.

As for the other one, he was the grandson of the emperor, the elder brother of the crown prince. Regardless of the previous grudges or their status, it would be a little unreasonable if this grandson of the emperor was not punished.

No one finds this kind of punishment strange at all, and some even think that this may be the final result.

It looked like a punishment, but it wasn't particularly harsh.

But when they knew that they were going to start eliminating the three guards of the vassal kings, many people began to tremble in fear. This was the real punishment, and this was the most cruel thing to do to the royal family.

Especially the King of Zhou and the Prince of Wulin, who seemed not to be deeply involved in some things, all ended up like this. But as for His Royal Highness the King of Qi, he was deeply involved.

The Crown Prince has not shown any intention of defending him so far, and everyone now knows a lot about the case.

The King of Zhou and the Prince of Wulin were both punished in this way. Will the King of Qi be the first royal family member to be deposed in the Ming Dynasty?

If you think about it carefully, this possibility cannot be ruled out, and the Crown Prince seems to be really angry.

Therefore, the current "reduction of vassal states" is only the beginning. The strict treatment of the royal family will most likely start with His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, who is the one most likely to be severely punished! (End of this chapter)