"Lu Fan," Zhu Cixiang looked at Zhu Yihai with a smile, "Have you heard about Tang Fan's move to the town?"
Zhu Yihai replied: "Reporting to the Crown Prince, when I returned to Shandong from Haizhou, I met the King of Tang in Dengzhou City."
"The King of Tang has stepped up to manage the army, and got off his horse to manage the people!" Zhu Cixiang said, "This is the real vassal king!"
He glanced at the King of Jin, King of Qin, and King of De who were sitting next to him, and sighed: "In the past, Emperor Taizu Gao's purpose of creating vassal kings was to use the king to control the Hu and defend the court. Unfortunately, this ancestor gradually went bad. , became a vassal state where the vassal king did not command troops. How could one defend a place without commanding troops? What kind of vassal title would there be? When the bandits came, what could be done if the vassal king, who had no soldiers and horses, did not run for his life or surrender and beg for his life? What to do? Suicide and sacrifice for the country? Although he is strong, what is the use? This rule will change from now on.
Those who don't want to take charge of the army and take charge of the people, or those who don't have the ability, should stop staying outside and follow me to Nanjing to become a prince. Princes, generals, lieutenants, whatever they could find, all went to Nanjing together. There is always something for them to eat in Nanjing!
Princes, county princes, generals, and lieutenants are no longer hereditary, but the titles of this generation are still there. In the future, descendants will be demoted to the title... The prince's eldest son will be the county prince, and the concubine will be the governor. General; the prince's eldest son shall be the duke, and the concubine shall be the auxiliary general; the eldest son of the prince shall be the marquis, and the concubine shall be the general serving the country; the eldest son of a marquis shall be the uncle, and the concubine shall be the lieutenant of the country; the eldest son of an earl shall be the general of the country, Bastards are common people. After the generals who ruled the country, they were also ordinary people and were no longer included in the jade ultimatum. What do you guys think? "
How about it? Of course!
King Lu, King Jin, King Qin, and King De were all princes who lost their feudal vassals. Among them, King Jin, King Qin and King De all had bad deeds of surrendering to Li Zicheng. Even if Zhu Cihong sentenced them to death, it would be in line with the ancestral system. Now to treat them as a prince... is simply a huge favor from the emperor!
King Jin, King Qin and King De all stood up and walked to the center of the hall to kowtow and thank Zhu Cihong. Zhu Cixiang nodded with a smile and raised his hand to signal them to get up and sit down.
These three useless princes are actually useful, otherwise Zhu Cixiang would not have given them the title of prince.
They have three uses. One is to help Zhu Cixi solve the problem of the Ming Dynasty's clan being too large. Although the number of clans in the Ming Dynasty has been greatly reduced during this catastrophe, because the base number is too large, the current scale is still very large. huge. If most of them are not eliminated, Zhu Cixiang's court will not have enough financial resources to build an army and stabilize its rule.
As for the matter of cleaning up the clan, it was not convenient for Zhu Cixiang to bring it up himself, so it was best not to act like a villain. The good-for-nothing princes like King Jin, King Qin, King De, and King Heng are the most suitable villains.
They can either be evil princes or dead men with unpardonable sins...
However, King Lu did not kowtow to Zhu Cihong together with the other three kings. He was obviously a man who could not resist the temptation of power and wanted to be the second in Tang Dynasty!
"Lu Fan," Zhu Cixiang looked at Lu King Zhu Yihai, "do you want to be a vassal king who can manage the army on horseback and the people on horseback?"
Of course I did! Even in my wildest dreams!
King Zhu Yihai of Lu immediately stood up and saluted Zhu Cixiang, "I am willing to defend His Royal Highness from the captors. However, I came to the throne in a hurry during the chaos. The savings of more than 200 years of Lu Fan were all lost, so I was unable to do anything." He was not paid to defend the city, so he had to abandon the city and run away to keep himself useful."
"This is very good!" Zhu Cixiang smiled, "The descendants of Emperor Taizu Gao are not fools, so how can they give up their lives in vain? I said it when I granted the title of Tang Fan, it would not be easy for him not to leave Shandong. Martyrdom for the country. We must persevere to the end. Even if we lose the city, we must retreat to the island and continue to resist!
Lu Fan, if I give you Prince Heng's Mansion and the money in it, will you be able to stay in Shandong and not sacrifice your country easily? Even if you become king in the mountains, will you still resist to the end? "
Yidu County, where Prince Heng's Mansion is located, is adjacent to Taihe Mountain, Yunmen Mountain, Yangtian Mountain and other mountains. They are all remnants of Mount Tai, stretching very widely. Although not steep, there are many valleys and basins, making it easy to persevere.
Once King Lu came to the mountain and became king, the Qing army would have several more difficulties if they wanted to pacify Shandong! The Taishan Mountains are not comparable to Yidu City. The latter only covers a small area and can be surrounded by 10,000 or 20,000 people.
And the Taishan Mountains cover an area so large that without 100,000 or 80,000 soldiers, even a separate encirclement and suppression campaign would not be possible!
Zhu Yihai was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed to Zhu Cixiang and said loudly: "My minister Zhu Yihai is willing to guard Qingzhou for His Royal Highness, even if he goes up the mountain and into the sea, he will do it without any hesitation!"
Zhu Cixiang stood up, stepped forward to help Zhu Yihai, and praised loudly: "Good! The Ming Dynasty needs a vassal king like you! I will issue an edict tomorrow to move the Lu vassal to Qingzhou. After I and the Lord left, Qingzhou As soon as the government handles military and political affairs, it will be jointly controlled by you, King Lu, and the Qingzhou garrison commander!"
"I thank His Highness the Crown Prince for your kindness!"
When Zhu Yihai kowtowed and thanked him, Zhu Cixiang's handsome governor Shi Bijiucheng quickly walked in from the outside, came to Zhu Cixiang's side, and reported in a low voice: "Master Qiansui, Kong Yinzhi has been captured!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded and said to Zhu Yihai: "Lu Fan, please get up. King Jin, King Qin, and King De, please accompany me to meet Kong Yinzhi, Duke Yansheng of Donglu!"
...
Kong Yinzhi could no longer walk, and was carried to the Yin'an Hall where Zhu Cixiang was by two guards in royal robes. Before he could kowtow to apologize, he heard Zhu Chunchen's loud voice shouting.
"The commander-in-chief of the imperial camp, Rongcheng, Duke Zhu Chunchen, impeached the crown prince, Taifu Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi, for the crime of alienating the emperor's relatives!"
"The King of Chenheng, Zhu Youtong, also impeached the Crown Prince, Grand Tutor Yan Shenggong, Kong Yinzhi, who framed the Crown Prince, alienated the royal relatives, and shaken the country! Kong Yinzhi first surrendered to the bandits, and then surrendered to the Eastern captives, and now he framed the Crown Prince, alienated the royal relatives, it's really This is a heinous crime that deserves death, please Qiansui Master to punish him!"
"Ah!" Zhu Cixiang looked surprised, "Isn't Kong Yinzhi Duke Yan Shenggong? Why did he surrender to the rogues and the Eastern captives? Could it be that he was wronged?"
King Zhu Yihai of Lu said: "Master Qiansui, this vassal knows that Kong Yinzhi surrendered to thieves and captives. I can bear witness!"
Zhu Youli, the king of virtue, also said: "I can also prove that Kong Yinzhi surrendered to the enemy!"
Zhu Cixiang snorted coldly and looked at Kong Yinzhi, who was softened into a puddle of mud below, "Kong Yinzhi! Three princes and a prince have impeached you. It seems that you have committed a heinous crime! I will help you figure it out and surrender to the bandits." It is rebellion, surrendering to the Eastern captives is treason, and framing this prince is treason... You are guilty of three heinous crimes! Beheading is too light, at least Lingchi! See you are Confucius in his 60s For the sake of the fourth generation grandson, I have to be open-minded, so you can kill yourself! Duke Cheng, give him a knife and let him commit seppuku."
The knife was thrown in front of Kong Yinzhi's eyes with a clatter. It was not a full-size waist knife, but a short dagger, suitable for committing seppuku. But how could Kong Yinzhi be so willing? He didn't care about the dignity of Yan Shenggong and just kowtowed while crying.
Zhu Cixiang was not willing to spare him, so he said calmly: "Dong Cheng, please help him."
Zhu Chunchen was also unambiguous and responded. Then he bent down to pick up the knife that fell on the ground and was about to stab Kong Yinzhi in the stomach. At that time, Kong Yinzhi was scared to the point of peeing. Just when the knife was about to pierce, someone else ran into Yin'an Hall in a hurry, and then a loud report was heard.
"Reporting to Master Qiantai! We have received a secret report from the capital. The Tatars are gathering troops and preparing to invade Shandong!"
"What?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, and then said to Zhu Chunchen, "Duke Cheng Guo, have you killed Kong Yinzhi?"
"Not yet, I will kill him right away..." As he spoke, Zhu Chunchen took a knife and was about to stab him.
"Wait a while before killing," Zhu Cihong said.
"According to the order." Zhu Chunchen immediately took back the knife and stood aside.
Kong Yinzhi, who had narrowly escaped death, was so frightened that he had a puddle of water under his body, which should be his urine. There was quite a lot of it. Yan Shenggong collapsed in his own urine, trembling and begging for mercy.
Zhu Cixi walked up to him with a piece of letter paper, looked at him coldly, and asked: "You are Duke Yansheng of Donglu! Now that Donglu is coming, what do you think we should do?"
Kong Yinzhi said tremblingly: "I, I, I, I will fight with them..."
"Really?" Zhu Cixiang stared at Kong Yinzhi, not angry but proud.
"Really, really... As long as Lord Qiantui spares me, I am willing to die for Lord Qiantui and the Ming Dynasty!"
"Oh, die?" Zhu Cixiang said coldly, "Then how do you plan to die?"
"This..." Kong Yinzhi gritted his teeth, "If your family has money, use it to recruit soldiers!"
Zhu Cixi smiled: "It's good that you have such an idea, but it's not enough! If you die, your family will definitely be confiscated. All the money belongs to the court, and the court will use it to recruit soldiers."
"This, this, this..." Kong Yinzhi was so anxious that he started crying, "Master Qian Sui, please have mercy on me!"
Zhu Cixiang shook his head and said with a smile: "I have a kind heart, and I don't want an old man like you to cry and beg. So, I will give you a warning... This Tatar is extremely vicious, and he is the leader of scholars in the world. Dead enemy! I came to Shandong to destroy the holy land of Mingjiao! Do you know where the holy land of Mingjiao is? It is your family’s ancestral grave!
The Tatars came to Shandong to destroy Confucius, demolish the Confucian temple, and wipe out thousands of years of Chinese etiquette, ethics, poetry, and books in one fell swoop. This is not the only change in the Ming Dynasty. It is also a strange change in the famous religion since the founding of the world. Confucius and Mencius cried bitterly for Jiuyuan. Anyone who can read and write can sit back and relax without thinking about what he is doing! "
The Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty looked at Kong Yinzhi who was like mud, and said with a smile: "Mr. Yansheng, do you understand what I mean? Are you a literate person? Can you watch me cry like Confucius and Mencius?" ?"
"I understand, I all understand!" Of course Kong Yinzhi understood. If he dared not to understand, he would be committed seppuku. "I am going to write a memorial and issue a proclamation, calling on scholars all over the world to step forward, protect the reputation of religion, fight against the Tatars, and defend Konglin!"
