In the autumn of the fifty-second year of the Hongxing reign of the Ming Dynasty, half of the world pretended to be sad and weeping for Emperor Chongzhen... The Ming Dynasty and all the vassal states below began to hold large-scale national funerals. All public entertainment activities were banned, and white linen became the best-selling fabric.
The monarchs who belong to the Zhu Ming Dynasty are all arranging their own affairs - it is not easy to go on a journey. They have to go tens of thousands of miles and have to cross the ocean. Who knows if they will come back alive? Therefore, a group of filial sons and grandsons are making wills and appointing heirs or regents.
Of course, they don't have to go back to attend the funeral... they can designate a close relative or important minister to be the surrogate filial son or surrogate grandson.
But no one dares!
The person who died this time was Emperor Chongzhen, not the Emperor Hongxing who was the King of Kings... What would Zhu Cixiang think if he wanted to be a filial son and grandson? If Emperor Hongxing is unhappy, the consequences will be very serious!
Therefore, as long as they are not seriously ill or about to go to war, the kings of the small overseas Zhu Ming dynasty are all preparing to go home for the funeral after receiving the news of the death of Emperor Chongzhen.
Washington, D.C., United States.
Zhu Hehao, Zhu Hekun, Zhu Hezhen and other "three virtuous grandchildren" have gathered together and are preparing to go home to attend the funeral of Grandpa Chongzhen.
The three brothers were all wearing sackcloth and mourning. They didn't drink together, and they didn't dare to prepare too many delicious food. There were no singing and dancing to add to the fun. They just prepared a dozen dishes and ate them with simple meals.
Looking at the table of meager meals, King Huai Zhu Hekun, who was used to eating big fish and meat, frowned slightly and had no appetite, so he started talking about business.
"Brother, Fifth Brother, my father sent me a letter saying that he is going to form a heavenly alliance... Do you know what is going on?"
"What kind of Heavenly Alliance!" Zhu Hezhen, who was holding a large piece of lightly cooked lobster meat with chopsticks and about to put it into his mouth, shook his head and said, "It's our grandpa who needs the Heavenly Alliance. We won't go there just yet." Kingdom of Heaven... Before he abdicates, our father wants to build a grand alliance of the Celestial Empire, which is our old Zhu family plus the Japanese Xu family, the Siamese family, the Dzhungel Choros family and other families that founded the country. , let’s form some kind of Celestial Alliance together, and after he retreats, let Lao San, the Ming Emperor, be the leader of the alliance.”
"Brother, is this what dad means?"
Zhu Hehao nodded and said: "What our father means is not to act like a vassal state, but to turn the Celestial Dynasty into a heavenly alliance. The third child is just the leader of the alliance and is no longer our king and father."
"Then the Ming Dynasty will no longer be Zong Ming, and our country will no longer be a vassal of the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Hekun still didn't believe it.
Zhu Hehao nodded and said with some emotion: "This is what our father meant... He is a wise old man after all. He knows that the third brother can't take care of so much, and the further it goes, it will be more difficult for each country. Restrained!
Since I can't control it, it's better to let it go as soon as possible and get more benefits... In other words, my father is open-minded. If it were to be replaced by someone else, he would definitely refuse to do it, and he wouldn't dare to do it. If he didn't take care of this matter, how could the third child dare to peel off Zong Ming's skin after he had passed away? "
Without the four powerful and wealthy vassal states of United States, Qing State, Western Chu State, and Zhungeer State, perhaps Zhu Hexing could barely maintain a relatively normal vassal system.
But with these four mob states where everyone holds a gun, it will be difficult for Zhu Hexing to truly maintain the vassal system... Even if he can maintain a superficial one, it will necessarily be at the expense of the local economic interests of the Ming Dynasty. of.
This kind of sectarian and vassal system, which is a bluffing one, will be very detrimental to the Ming Dynasty in the long run.
As for strengthening the branches and strengthening the weak branches to contain the four powerful vassals, it is neither possible nor self-inflicted. Because the places where the four powerful vassals are located are not strong enough to establish a country. If they are to be contained, the United States, Qing State and Western Chu State will not exist!
As for the effect of using strong trunks and weak branches to regulate the Jungar Kingdom, it is really difficult to predict.
And if you use the method of garrisoning troops and directly controlling some cities and ports to control the four major powers... you will actually fall into the pit of strong branches and weak branches. If the four powerful vassals were really strong and wealthy enough, the Ming Dynasty's small garrison would not be able to control them!
In fact, the Ming Empire has always stationed troops in the United States of New Zealand. It not only stationed a naval fleet, but also stationed a large number of army troops. At its peak, the number of troops stationed even reached 20,000 to 30,000.
However, the Ming army stationed in the "rich country" will not be able to contain the United States at all. On the contrary, it will accelerate the military rise of the United States.
Because every year, a large number of officers and soldiers stationed in the Ming Dynasty are attracted by the prosperity of the United States... They will find various excuses to retire from the Ming Army, and then join the Army and Navy of the United States where the treatment is better. Many of them also The family members who are far away in Ming Dynasty will be brought to the United States together.
In this way, the more Ming troops are stationed in the United States, the faster the military power of the United States will grow!
Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty Generalissimo found the problem, they could only gradually reduce the garrison. By the 50th year of Hongxing, they simply stopped sending troops to the United States.
The effect of the Ming Dynasty directly controlling the city was even worse, not only because of the distance and unclear situation. What's more, the Ming Dynasty was unwilling to invest in the construction of a city full of gun-toting mobs on the other side of the Pacific Ocean... If you insist on spending money on construction, you will definitely lose everything in the end, and most of the cities you invested will still be there. Will join the United States.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang has always strictly controlled the investment of the imperial government's finances in vassal states... Private individuals, even the Ming Dynasty royal family, can invest, but the imperial government's finances are not allowed to invest!
Zhu Hehao gently turned the tea cup, glanced at the faces of the two brothers, and whispered: "In the future, the leader of the Tianmeng League will definitely be the third child... But the Xinzhou Continent is so far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. He doesn’t understand the situation, so he can’t possibly take care of everything? What should we do?”
Yes, it would be inappropriate for such a large Heavenly Alliance to have only one alliance leader and stay in the distant Ming Dynasty, right? Is it necessary to have a new island leader?
"Brother is right!" Zhu Hezhen was smarter and understood immediately, "The Tianmen League cannot only have one big leader, but also has to arrange several small leaders, each taking charge of their own affairs."
Zhu Hekun also understood what the boss meant and immediately echoed: "The junior leader here in Xinzhou must be the eldest brother! Mencius once said, the eldest brother is like a father! Here in Xinzhou Continent, the boss is the leading brother of our brothers. The position of junior alliance leader must belong to the eldest brother!"
Zhu Hehao nodded, "I wonder if our fifth uncle is willing to recognize me as the little leader!"
Zhu Hehao's fifth uncle, Zhu Cihuan, has no time to think about the big leader and the small leader. He is watching with tears in his eyes as boxes of gold are loaded onto a Pacific sailing ship!
This silver... is used to return Emperor Chongzhen's pension money!
He should have paid back this money long ago! Because after the Suozhou gold mine was discovered, he had money, and the 250,000 taels of silver he owed Emperor Chongzhen was not a problem at all. Even if you add 250,000, no, add 500,000 in interest, it won't be a problem.
The reserves of Suozhou Gold Mine are not low, and they receive mining taxes of three to four hundred thousand taels of gold every year! It is not a problem at all to take out tens of thousands of taels of gold and return it to Chongzhen.
But Zhu Cihuan didn't think of this... Now that his father is gone, he only remembers to pay for the pension. It's really unfilial.
He is the most unfilial son of the Ming Dynasty!
With such an ineffective son, why would he have the nerve to fight for the leader of the alliance?
The gold had been loaded, and a beautiful mixed-race girl in archery uniform quickly walked up to Zhu Cihuan, knelt down on one knee and said: "Your Majesty, all the gold has been loaded on the ship, a total of 150,000 taels."
"Aji," Zhu Cihuan looked at the girl dotingly. This was his new concubine Shimazuyoshi, "the wind direction is suitable today, let's get on the boat and set off... If the wind goes well, in two months, We can go to the Ming Dynasty. When we return from the Ming Dynasty, we can also take a trip to Kyushu, which is the hometown of your Shimazu family!"
