"Your Highness! Your Highness, you can't eat it, this thing is spoiled!"
"Come quickly! His Highness is here!!"
At the end of August, a street in Beiping City was filled with people blocking the way.
They stopped a strong man wearing expensive but very dirty clothes and prevented him from stuffing the pancakes that had fallen on the floor into his mouth.
This person is the current leader of the vassals, Zhu Gaoxu's father, King Yan Zhu Di.
At the moment, he has disheveled hair and a naive smile on his face. Because of his strength, many people in Peiping can't stop him even if they want to.
Some people looked at him and cried uncomfortably.
It is true that the vassal king does not need to care about the political affairs of the fiefdom, and the same is true for the Yan Mansion.
However, every time Zhu Di returned from the Northern Expedition, he would distribute the captured cattle and sheep to the people for breeding. After three years, he would return the cubs in multiples of the livestock.
In addition, when local bridges and roads are being built, Prince Yan's Mansion will also provide appropriate amounts of money and food, which makes many people respect him very much.
In the early years, someone raised cattle to death because he did not know how to raise cattle. The officials in Peking demanded that the man be dealt with in accordance with the law, but Zhu Di dismissed the case with a smile and personally taught the man how to raise cattle and farm.
These things gave Zhu Di an excellent reputation in Beiping and Daning.
But such a wise king is now suffering from a mad disease because he heard the news that his own brother was deposed as a commoner, which makes many people very heartbroken.
"It doesn't look like it's just pretending..."
In a teahouse on the street, two farmers who looked like farmers were chatting in a low voice. The other one shook his head: "You still have to take a look. There have been many people pretending to be crazy throughout the ages. Don't send news back to the south until you are completely sure." .”
"That's fine." The other person nodded and observed Zhu Di who was losing his mind.
However, they didn't watch for long before Yan Mansion's guards appeared on the street. Qiu Fu took matters into his own hands and carried Zhu Di into the car with three or five people.
After getting on the carriage, Zhu Di kept banging on the carriage, obviously very panicked.
Not long after, the carriage returned to Yan Mansion under the guard of Yan Mansion. Along the way, many people saw the carriage being beaten from the inside out.
In this regard, many people could only lower their heads and sigh. Apparently, the news of King Yan's illness had spread throughout the city of Beiping, and the people in the city sympathized with him.
After watching the carriage leave, the people began to busy themselves with their own affairs.
Just after dinner, they would intentionally or unintentionally mention the court's new policy and the 'persecuted' Zhu Di.
However, where they could not see, Zhu Di, who had returned to Prince Yan's Mansion, continued to perform. Mrs. Xu also cooperated with him very well. She sobbed in front of the palace officials and slaves, and had Zhu Di locked up in Cunxin Hall, and The doors and windows were nailed shut to prevent him from escaping, leaving only a small window through which food and water could be delivered.
Zhu Di, who was locked up in the palace, was also restless. The sounds of smashing and yelling continued for many days, which made people feel irritable.
Gradually, the officials and servants in the mansion began to feel disgusted with the once wise His Royal Highness King Yan, and Cunxin Hall became a place that everyone disliked.
Whenever someone passes by Cunxin Hall, there will be sounds of frantic beating of doors and windows, as well as Zhu Di's curses.
Therefore, except for specific meal delivery times, no one came to visit Zhu Di.
The news that King Yan was completely crazy also began to spread over time.
Many vassal kings learned about his experience and felt even more powerless against the court's move to reduce their vassal status.
The leader of the vassals, Zhu Di, who had the most military power, went crazy, so it would naturally be difficult for them to negotiate with the court.
In the end, they could only hope that the court would not distinguish between right and wrong, and would not kill them all in order to cut down the vassal.
It's just that they don't know that their ideas are nothing more than fantasy for the current court...
"The Sandu Si Yamen in Peiping reported that His Highness King Yan is suffering from a mad disease and has been ill for more than a month now."
In the Wuying Palace in the capital, Qi Tai explained the situation of the Yan Mansion to Zhu Yunwen who was sitting on the golden platform handling memorials. After hearing the news, Zhu Yunwen also put down his ink pen and looked up at the people in front of him.
In addition to Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, Bao Zhao and others were also in the hall.
Not only them, but also many new faces appeared in the palace, and these people were all the six ministers replaced by Zhu Yunwen.
Among them, except for Yu Xin of the Ministry of Revenue who was irreplaceable due to his importance, the rest of the ministers were basically replaced.
Even if it was Yu Xin who Zhu Yuanzhang relied on during his lifetime, Zhu Yunwen also sent Wang Dun, a good minister in Zhejiang, to study with him.
Of course, in name it was learning, but in reality it was to let Wang Dui take over the household department.
Yu Xin knew this very well, so in the temple, he changed from being outspoken during the Hongwu period to being silent now.
"Do you think King Yan's madness is true or false?"
Zhu Yunwen had read so many history books and naturally knew that many treacherous officials pretended to be ill to question the king's affairs. The most famous one was Sima Yi who pretended to be ill to deceive Cao Fang and Cao Shuang.
"According to the memorial written by Shi Gecheng, the head of Yan Palace, Prince Yan was indeed suffering from a mad disease and was imprisoned in the Cunxin Palace of Yan Palace. Except for Princess Yan who would bring food to coax him to eat, no one visited him at other times every day. "
Qi Tai told Zhu Yunwen truthfully, and the officials in the palace also talked about it.
In the final analysis, Zhu Di did not openly oppose Zhu Yunwen like Zhu Fan and Zhu Xi did, nor did he contact his ministers in private like Zhu Xi did, nor did he commit any illegal atrocities like some other vassal kings.
As far as the court was concerned, he only had merit but no fault, so his current fate could not help but make many people regret it.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the regrets of this group of people and felt a little irritated in his heart, but on the surface he still pretended to be sad: "I just want to deal with some lawless vassals and let them know the king's ways and understand the laws without violating them. But I don't want to actually irritate the four people." Uncle, causing my fourth uncle to suffer from a mad disease, I...I am really ashamed of the late emperor!"
As he spoke, he began to sob gradually.
Seeing him like this, Zhuo Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs among the ministers, also said: "Your Majesty is kind to relatives and friends, but it is not uncommon for ministers to pretend to be sick and deceive the king throughout the ages. Just in case, it is better to send King Yan to How about moving to Nanchang to recuperate?"
"This..." Zhu Yunwen hesitated and glanced at the expressions of the ministers in the palace. After discovering that most of them were dissatisfied with Zhuo Jing's speech, he shook his head and sobbed: "The King of Yan is the closest to me and is the closest of flesh and blood to me. How about that?" Can we continue to doubt him?"
Zhu Yunwen declined politely, and by the way he said with concern: "We can call the governor of Yan Palace, Shi Gecheng, to go south to the capital. I will personally ask how my fourth uncle's condition is. If it is serious, I will send an imperial doctor to diagnose and treat him. We must not let a wise man like his fourth uncle who has contributed to the imperial court." The king is not cured.”
"Your Majesty the Holy Might..."
All the ministers in the palace saw Zhu Yunwen's true thoughts, but they still had to accompany him in the play to save face.
Seeing this, Zhu Yunwen also waved his sleeves and signaled the ministers to retreat.
Upon seeing this, all the ministers sang salutes and left, except for Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, Fang Xiaoru, and Bao Zhao who remained in the palace.
After the ministers left, Qi Tai was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, regardless of whether King Yan is pretending to be ill or not, the generals of Sandu Si should be replaced to disintegrate King Yan's power in Sandu Si, and at the same time send someone to take over the three guards of Yanshan in Yan Mansion. .”
"This..." Zhu Yunwen had just finished the drama of harmony between uncle and nephew in front of the ministers. At this moment, Qi Tai wanted him to attack Zhu Di. Zhu Yunwen, who cared about face, still couldn't wipe his face, so he turned his attention to Huang Zicheng, hoping that he He could reject Qitai for himself.
Huang Zicheng is worthy of being Zhu Yunwen's teacher. After feeling Zhu Yunwen's gaze, he quickly stood up and retorted: "The King of Yan has no fault, and he is now suffering from a mad disease. If he takes action now, he will inevitably be criticized by the ministers."
"Your Majesty, this is a good opportunity. If you miss it, it will be difficult to catch it." Qi Tai ignored Huang Zicheng. It was obvious that the two had a falling out due to different political opinions.
"What do you think, Mr. Fang?" Zhu Yunwen turned his attention to Fang Xiaoru, but Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "The king should act in an upright way, how can he take advantage of others' danger?"
Fang Xiaoru's words made Qi Tai want to curse, but before he could speak, Zhu Yunwen nodded and said: "What both gentlemen said is right. After all, King Yan has contributed to the court, and Qi Fan has not yet been weakened, so he should attack Qi Fan first." right."
"Your Majesty!" Qi Tai was very anxious, but Zhu Yunwen raised his hand to indicate that he didn't need to say any more.
Helpless, Qi Tai could only swallow his anger, and Huang Zicheng also said: "Your Majesty, King Qi needs to be trimmed, but King Yan's wings have not been trimmed yet. You can trim King Yan's wings first, and then attack King Qi to test King Yan's condition."
"Sir, what you mean is..." Zhu Yunwen spoke hesitantly, and Huang Zicheng said without hesitation: "We should attack the Prince of Bohai County first."
"I second the proposal!" When Qi Tai heard that Huang Zicheng was going to take action against Zhu Gaoxu, he, who had different political views with Huang Zicheng, actually agreed.
"The King of Bohai County has outstanding military achievements. He also has 16,000 soldiers under the Jilin Guard, which is no less powerful than some powerful vassals. Moreover, most of his old troops are scattered in Daning, Beiping, Liaodong and other places. Once there is any change in Bohai, these people may be Endanger Sandusi."
Huang Zicheng explained his views and continued: "I think that all the old troops of the Bohai County Prince can be transferred to remote places such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan."
"In addition, I remember that Yang Wen, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Army, was recommended by the King of Bohai County to lead the war against Japan, so he should be transferred to the south."
After Huang Zicheng finished speaking, Qi Tai also put forward his own opinion: "It is possible to adjust Yang Wen and the old troops of Bohai County King to go to Guangxi and return to their hometown."
"Yes!" Zhu Yunwen became more energetic when he heard that he was going to deal with Zhu Gaoxu.
Before Zhu Gaoxu entered the Wuying Palace, Zhu Yunwen monopolized Zhu Yuanzhang's favor. However, after he entered the Wuying Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang's cultivation of him was visible to the naked eye, so he neglected Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yun kept this incident in mind for many years, and often made things difficult for Bohai when he was in charge of the country.
Since he came to the throne, he has been thinking about dealing with Zhu Gaoxu, but he put it on hold temporarily because of Huang Zicheng's suggestion.
Now that the opportunity has come, he will naturally not let it go.
"On the Bohai side, when can we take action?"
Zhu Yunwen asked the four people straightforwardly, among whom Qi Tai suggested without hesitation: "Bohai has many people but little food, and the winter is long, which consumes food very much."
"If we can delay the move to reduce the vassal status of Bohai until the spring of next year, then even if the King of Bohai intends to cause trouble, it will be difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without straw."
"The only thing you need to worry about is whether King Yan is pretending to be ill."
"If he is pretending to be ill, then once the imperial court starts to reduce the vassal status of Bohai, King Yan will definitely react."
Qi Tai expressed his concerns, but at this time Fang Xiaoru said: "It is better to return Yan Shizi and the third son to Peking and use them to contain King Yan."
"No!" After hearing the words of the Confucian scholar Fang Xiaoru, Qi Tai said categorically: "The Prince of Yan is talented. Letting him go is like letting the tiger go back to the mountain."
"You can give it a try..." Zhu Yunwen's attitude was confusing, but he himself answered: "Gao Chi is different from Gao Xu. Gao Chi respects etiquette and knows the king's way. He is kind and not as cunning as Gao Xu. .”
"Besides, now that the second son is strong and the eldest son is weak, letting him go can really curb the fourth uncle's love for Gao Xu."
"Your Majesty, I still feel that something is wrong." Qi Tai stubbornly advised Zhu Yunzhen: "If we release these two people, King Yan will have no worries!"
"Is it available now?" Huang Zicheng, who was on the same front as Qi Tai a second ago, stood up and gave his own explanation.
"If the King of Bohai raises an army but the King of Yan is not ill, then even if the imperial court has the Crown Prince and the Third Son of Yan, King Yan will still have the King of Bohai under his command."
"I heard that before the third son of the Yan family went south, the King of Yan often said to the people around him, 'The second son is like me'. If the Bohai County Prince really wanted to rebel, then the imperial court would have killed the Yan Crown Prince and the third son, and the whole family would be harmed." Got his wish."
"On the contrary, releasing the two of them directly would arouse more conflicts. After all, the crown prince position of Prince Yan was appointed by Emperor Gao."
Huang Zicheng said this, and when Qi Tai saw that he couldn't defeat him, he turned his attention to Zhu Yunwen.
But for Zhu Yunwen, Huang Zicheng's words were more convincing.
If he really held Zhu Gaochi and his two brothers hostage, then when Zhu Gaoxu rebelled, would he kill them or not?
Killing him would be good for Zhu Gaojiu. With him in his hands, Zhu Gaojiu could also use the unstable situation to seek the throne. In short, killing or retaining them would be good for Zhu Gaojiu. Only by letting them go could Zhu Gaojiu not get any benefit at all.
When he thought of this, Zhu Yunwen thought of his grandfather: "Grandpa, you shouldn't have let Gao Xu go to the Bohai Sea in the first place..."
At this time, Zhu Yunwen had forgotten that he was the one who first suggested that Zhu Gaoxu be granted the title of Jilin.
"I have made up my mind and send an order to Prince Yan and his third son to return to Peiping to serve King Yan."
Zhu Yunwen arbitrarily decided the world, which left Qi Tai helpless. Li Quan, the eunuch in charge of the seal, also obeyed the order and immediately ordered people to deliver the order to the Jingyan Palace.
"How is the war in Yunnan? Has it affected the local mines?"
After making arrangements to reduce the vassal status, Zhu Yunwen set his sights on the southwest.
In this regard, Qi Tai regained his mood and started talking about military matters: "After Wei Guogong learned that Emperor Gao died, he took the opportunity to agree to Dao Qianmeng's surrender after the great victory in Kongtong Village. Now the army has returned to Yongchang. Rest and recuperate, but two guards and horses were left at Nandian and Jinghan Walled City to prevent Meng Meng from revolting."
"Not bad." Hearing that Xu Huizu followed his own ideas, Zhu Yunwen was very satisfied and immediately turned his attention to Yu Xin and Wang Dun.
Among the two, Yu Xin remained silent. Seeing that Yu Xin was unmoved, Wang Pu could only step forward and return the gift: "The southwest mine is still operating as usual. This year's autumn tax should be able to collect 280 from the gold, silver and copper mine." Yu Wan Guan."
"Your Majesty!" Huang Zicheng and Bao Zhao bowed to each other after hearing that the output of the southwest gold, silver and copper mines had reached such a high level.
"The people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are burdened with a heavy burden. Please ask Your Majesty to reduce taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or expand the 'tax offset with banknotes'."
"Your Majesty!" After hearing what Huang Zicheng and Bao Zhao said, Yu Xin finally couldn't sit still. He stood up and said, "Although the mining tax in the southwest is high, the imperial court's expenses are even greater."
"If we continue to expand the 'money tax offset' policy, or continue to reduce taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, then the imperial court will be sitting on empty seats, and it will take less than ten years to consume all the money and food left by Emperor Gao."
Yu Xin's words were a bit serious, so Zhu Yunwen's face didn't look good.
Before Zhu Yuanzhang died, he left to Zhu Yunwen more than 60 million shi of grain for the military camp, 74 million shi of tax grain for Taicang and various reserve warehouses, and Shui Cang warehouse, and 12.76 million gu of treasure banknotes recovered. Two hundred and seventy-six thousand, four hundred taels of gold, more than 789,000 taels of silver, and 8.12 million taels of money...
The total amount of gold, silver, money and food was probably the sum of the three years of taxes during the Hongwu period.
If the operation method during the Hongwu period is followed, this batch of money and grain can continue to make money and grain to produce food.
However, after the Jianwen New Deal, although the imperial court was apparently eliminating redundant personnel, its expenditures were actually increasing. The reason was that Zhu Yunwen exempted taxes and also reduced taxes in Jiangnan.
Calculated in terms of money, various incomes during the Hongwu years were about 26 million guan, but now that Zhu Yunwen has reduced taxes in Jiangnan, this income has been reduced to more than 22 million guan.
Despite the Southwest subsidies, the imperial court still lost more than one million guan in fiscal revenue every year.
Including various temporary and fixed expenditures, the Ming Dynasty can basically only earn a surplus of one to two million yuan every year. Therefore, if it continues to frustrate, it will have no choice but to continue to rest on the legacy left by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Yu Xin's words were for Zhu Yunwen's good, but Zhu Yunwen was not happy. He asked Yu Xin: "The reduction of taxes in Jiangnan is for the people. Why do you stop it?"
"Excuse me, please speak frankly!" Yu Xin also lost his temper. He held a wat board and said loudly: "The court treats the people well and badly. It should not be proud of cutting taxes, but should collect taxes more strictly."
"An ancient saying goes, take from the people and use it for the people. If you want to do good to the people, you can raise taxes and use them for poor people. This is better than cutting taxes a hundred times."
"When I was among the people, I never heard of people who became rich by saving money. They were all people who seized the opportunity to make a fortune because the court invested a lot of money in food."
"Take the tax collection of more than 30 million stones by the court in the 27th year of Hongwu. The court collected such taxes from the people, but Emperor Gao was not stingy in giving money and food to the people. In the same year, he used millions of stones to build the country. Fuzhou County Water Conservancy.”
"In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu alone, 4987 ponds, 4162 rivers, and 548 canal embankments were opened in prefectures and counties across the country... making the area more than 1,000 Thousands of acres of cultivated land have been irrigated, and grain yields have increased by 30%."
"This is the way for people to live and work in peace and contentment, and to get rich safely."
"If the court blindly cuts money and food, and when it is unable to make ends meet, once the local people encounter a disaster and the court cannot come up with money and food, wouldn't it mean to sit back and watch the people live and die without caring about it?"
"As for the treasure banknotes, Emperor Gao once said when he was still alive that the recycled treasure banknotes should not be used, but now the imperial court has issued more than 1.2 million recycled treasure banknotes in just four months."
"The price of private banknotes has not dropped yet because the people have not yet reacted."
"If this continues, the treasure banknote system that Emperor Gao finally restored will fall apart..."
"Okay!" Zhu Yunwen interrupted Yu Xin with a deep voice. His face was not pretty, but he didn't have an attack.
"The issue of reducing taxes in Jiangnan has been put on hold for now." He looked at Bao Zhao, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru and others, and then said, "Is there anything else that Yu Shangshu needs to advise?"
His words were sarcastic, but Yu Xin did not back down and continued to express his opinions.
"There is a shortage of manpower in the mines across the southwest, and the imperial court has acquired Nandian, Jinghan and other villages in Yunnan, so it is reasonable to relocate the people to the border."
“I think that we can move 30,000 households from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to Yongchang and Nandian in Yunnan, and then move 10,000 households to Xingdu, Sichuan, where the military households will be garrisoned to guard against the robberies from the Snowy Mountains. "
As soon as Yu Xin opened his mouth, he wanted to relocate 40,000 households, that is, more than 200,000 people.
Relocating people requires a lot of money and food. Normally, relocating a person costs no less than ten dan of food. Therefore, Yu Xin's move cost the court more than 2 million dan.
His speech made Zhu Yunwen look unhappy.
He wanted to reduce the land tax in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but this old guy blocked it in every possible way, but he was willing to spend the money himself.
Facing Yu Xin's words, Zhu Yunwen pretended that he disagreed with his political views, but immigrating to Sichuan and Yunnan would indeed increase the output of the mines in the southwest, so Zhu Yunwen turned back to his position and said in a deep voice: "Just do as Yu Shangshu said. "
After saying that, he picked up the tea on the table, and the officials also left the Wuying Palace in a wise manner.
However, less than an hour after they left, Qi Tai came in again, holding a memorial in his hand.
"Your Majesty, this is the list of generals who have been transferred from Liaodong, Daning, and Peking. Please take a look."
In just an hour, Qitai was able to finish the matter, which shows his efficiency.
Zhu Yunwen took the memorial sent by Qi Tai from Li Quan, opened it and looked at it. He was very satisfied, so he raised his head and looked at him: "Yang Wen and the Bohai generals have been transferred. In your opinion, we can send Who serves as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong?"
"Liu Zhen can be appointed as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, and Wu Gao can be promoted as the commander of the capital of Liaodong. In this way, Liaodong should be able to be defended."
Qi Tai was chatting eloquently, but Zhu Yunwen was worried: "If Liu Zhen is transferred, who else will be available in Daning?"
"Bu Wan and Chen Heng are both good generals. Among them, Chen Heng controls the three guards of Prince Ning's palace. If anything happens, as long as Bu Wan guards Daning, Chen Heng can control Prince Ning."
Qi Tai explained, and at the same time, he also mentioned the backup plan for the three guards of the Yan Mansion in Zhu Di's hands.
"If the imperial court wants to reduce the Yan vassal, it should first replace the three guards and commanders of Prince Yan's palace, and at the same time let Bu Wan, Chen Heng, Wu Gao and others control Yanshan Pass to prevent Prince Yan from escaping to Peiping."
"In addition, if you want to cut down the Yan vassal, you must first cut down the Bohai Sea, which will eliminate the possibility of the King of Yan and the King of Bohai County joining together."
"If you do this well, you can send Datong guard Fang Zhao north to Huai'an. If things change, you can immediately rush to Juyongguan to help prevent King Yan from escaping to Mobei."
Zhu Yunwen didn't know much about military affairs, but Qi Tai's confidence could be heard in Qi Tai's words.
What Qi Tai wants to do is to use the three mountain ranges of Yinshan, Yanshan and Taihang Mountains to confine Zhu Di to the Hebei Plain. As long as his depth is limited, he can then choose a large force to attack from south to north to encircle Zhu Di in the Beiping area.
"The King of Yan has a grudge against the Hu soldiers in Mobei, so I'm afraid he won't join the Hu soldiers in Mobei."
Zhu Yunwen still knew Zhu Di very well, but Qi Tai shook his head and said: "If your Majesty angers the King of Yan by cutting off vassals, and the King of Yan turns to Mobei, then our northern border of the Ming Dynasty will be in danger."
The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built on a large scale starting from the Chenghua period, which is why Zhu Qizhen was so easily captured in the Tumubao Incident, let alone the Hongwu period.
In the current Ming Dynasty, except for the Inner Great Wall left over from the Yuan Dynasty and the part of the Yanshan Great Wall built by Zhu Yuanzhang, there is basically no Great Wall that can hinder the march of soldiers and horses after leaving Juyongguan.
There is no Great Wall in the tens of thousands of miles from Shanxi to Gansu, so once Zhu Di, who is familiar with the situation of the Ming Dynasty, joins the Mobei Hu soldiers, the Ming Dynasty will definitely be confused. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent Zhu Di from going to Mobei and Bohai.
Although Zhu Yunwen didn't know anything about military affairs, he could still listen to Qi Tai's advice, so he nodded and said, "It's enough to do this according to your wishes. As for how to reduce the Bohai vassal, please draw up a charter."
"Your Majesty's Order..." Qi Tai bowed respectfully and then slowly exited Wuying Palace under Zhu Yunwen's eyes.
After he left, Li Quan and others in the Wuying Hall also saw the joyful look on their Majesty's face, and were obviously very satisfied with Qitai's words of cutting down the vassal.
(End of chapter)
