"Long live my lord, I don't dare. It's enough for me to be a rich man. How dare I think about going north to assist the government? What do I think..."
The King of Fortune Zhu Changxun was still begging and begging, refusing to go to Nanjing to be an auxiliary prince. Zhu Youjian saw his bad behavior and became more determined to send him to Nanjing to enjoy happiness.
Although he already holds big cards in his hand that can bring Prince Fu to death, he is a benevolent king after all! And he has great confidence in his children...more than a hundred sons! No matter how it turns out, it’s not the King of Fortune’s turn!
As for the good thing that King Fu was supported by a group of Nanjing nobles and Donglin traitors in Nanjing to rebel... Just think about it. Now that Zhu Youjian has established his reputation, how can those cowardly guys in the southeast dare to rebel? ? If we really want to rebel, wouldn't we just dedicate the property that our ancestors have collected for generations to the country?
"Uncle!" Zhu Youjian's tone has become very stern, "Now someone has revealed to me that you conspired with the eunuchs in the court and palace to poison my father and brother... ...Is this a thing?”
"Ah..." Zhu Changxun screamed, rolled his eyes, and fainted from fright!
Zhu Youjian looked at the emperor's uncle who was lying limply on the ground, frowned, and said coldly: "Li Zicheng, wake him up!"
Li Zicheng responded, then stretched out his iron-like fingers to pinch the person. After pinching him several times, King Fu, who had fainted from fright, woke up with a groan. As soon as I woke up, I remembered what Zhu Youjian had just said, and immediately cried and complained about injustice.
However, he shouted injustice, but in his heart he had no bottom at all!
Because he didn't know whether the death of his brother Zhu Changluo and nephew Zhu Youxiao had anything to do with his... own mother Zheng Guifei!
Although Concubine Zheng had been out of power for many years, when Emperor Wanli was still alive, she was the most dominant figure in the harem. And she can not only show off her power, but also show kindness and win people's hearts. I don’t know how many eunuchs and maids in the palace have received her favor. Maybe there are a few close friends who want to help Concubine Zheng’s son ascend the throne?
Zhu Changxun was scared to death, but Zhu Youjian laughed and said warmly: "Uncle Emperor, you are not afraid, I believe you... If I didn't believe you, how could I let you go to Nanjing to take charge? ?Uncle Emperor, did I trust you wrongly?"
The letter was wrong... shouldn't he be killed?
Prince Fu nodded quickly when he thought of this: "Long live my Lord, you must trust me and be honest..."
Zhu Youjian nodded: "Okay, honest uncle, then you can go to Nanjing to sit in charge... It is to sit in charge, not to be a vassal king, so I will not build you an imperial city, but I will give you the most filial piety." Lingwei allocated a piece of land and you can build a garden yourself.
I will not take back your title of King of Fortune, but I will also give you a salary of ten thousand stones a year. You can take the gold and silver treasures given to you by Concubine Zheng to Nanjing to enjoy, and the property of Zhang Juzheng's mansion will also belong to you. But the money my grandfather took out from the internal transportation warehouse to give you is the people's wealth, and you have to pay it back to me!
As for the silver from salt tea in Sichuan, the thousand three hundred dollars from Huaiyang, and the miscellaneous taxes from Jiangdu to Taiping and Dizhou along the river, they are not what you deserve. Return them all to the court!
Also, the 20,000 hectares of land my grandfather gave you is too much. The land given by feudal kings usually amounts to tens to hundreds of hectares. Back then, Ruimiao (King Xingxian) got 4,000 hectares of land, which was already a lot, but you got 20,000 hectares. , how to get it? I'll take it all and give you another hundred hectares of land near Nanjing, which is better than nothing!
Also, you are sitting in Nanjing as a governor, not a vassal, so naturally you don't have to abide by the vassal ban. Your family can go anywhere as long as they don't leave Nanzhili. Your grandson will no longer be given the title of general or lieutenant in the future. He will go to school. If he is good at studying, he will go to Nanjing Imperial College, so that he will have a better background in the future.
Uncle Emperor, do you think you are satisfied with this arrangement? "
"Satisfied, satisfied..." How dare Prince Zhu Changxun dare to say even half of his dissatisfaction? He now somewhat understands that he is encountering a robbing emperor!
The question now is whether to save money or life... no, whether to save some money to survive, or whether to save money and life!
"Since you are satisfied," Zhu Youjian said, "then write a memorial to resign from the feudal clan and invite you to live in Nanjing! In addition, write a memorial to ask for a 'decided son'!"
The so-called "fixed children" was proposed by Huo Tao, the Minister of Rites, when Emperor Jiajing implemented the vassal reform, as the most effective method to control the growth of the vassal clan's expenses. According to this method, the descendants of the vassal king's side branches and concubines must be included in the civil register, and they are allowed to participate in scholar, peasant, industrial and commercial activities and support themselves from then on.
However, Emperor Jiajing lacked the courage to implement this reform and did not have the urgent sense of urgency, so he came to a "calm trial". This "calm" lasted until the Chongzhen period.
And as the vassal clans continued to multiply, the population had already grown to a level that the Ming Dynasty could not afford! Therefore, the imperial court had no choice but to let the Ministry of Rites act as a villain and use the "noble invitation" and "confestment" clauses in the "Zongfan Regulations" formulated by the Jiajing Dynasty to block the clan's bestowal. If you don't get the title, of course you won't get the corresponding salary, but you can't support yourself. As a result, there were many clans that had no money and were not allowed to work... some of them even starved to death!
"I know, I will ask the court to implement the method of 'determining children'!" Prince Fu Zhu Changxun actually didn't have many children to determine... He only had three sons in total and no grandsons. Therefore, he has nothing to lose by "fixing a child".
Zhu Youjian shook his head and said: "You don't have to appoint children for others. This is too offending. You can just invite yourself... If you make a start, all the vassals will naturally follow suit."
"I obey the decree, I will immediately submit a memorial to ask for a child!"
Zhu Youjian smiled and said: "Uncle, you are indeed the wise king of my Ming Dynasty... Go to Nanjing to enjoy the blessings after the New Year, and bring your mother, Concubine Zheng, with you. From now on, you will have a good time in Nanjing." . In fact, this city of Nanjing is much better than Luoyang. I want to go there!"
King Fu Zhu Changxun breathed a sigh of relief. He originally thought that even if he didn't die this time, he would still be thrown into Fengyang's high wall. Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian, a ruthless emperor, still showed some family affection and allowed him to go to Nanjing. In good times, even his vassal ban was lifted (actually it was just relaxed), allowing him to roam around in Nanzhili, which was much better than being bored in Luoyang City.
Seeing Zhu Changxun leaving briskly, Zhu Youjian also breathed a sigh of relief and said to the eunuch beside him: "Dai Wang and the others are here?"
"Long live my lord, the princes of the eight counties who came from Datong on behalf of the king have already arrived."
Zhu Youjian laughed and said: "Then let them go to the palace!"
The acting king Zhu Dingwei is already very ill and is about to die, but Zhu Youjian still won't let him and the other eight acting kings go... They all have to be like King Fu, "Determine their children, go Nanjing". Zhu Youjian kept the lives of several of them, including Prince Fu and his son, in order to let them take the lead in implementing the method of "deciding their children and going to Nanjing".
Of course, the purpose of "fixing children" is to curb the excessive growth of the clan's population - in the future, the direct line of the Ming Dynasty King can still seize the title, and the collateral lines can find their own food... At least, various generals must be strictly restricted and lieutenants, raise the threshold for granting titles, and those who cannot reach it will become ordinary people.
And "going to Nanjing" is to reduce the destructive power of the vassal king on the seat of the vassal... It is best to gather them all in Nanjing City, and be watched by the Nanjing Sixth Department and the Nanjing Guarding Eunuch!
The reason why they are concentrated in Nanjing instead of Beijing is to avoid further growth of Beijing's population.
Nanjing, which is located on the bank of the Yangtze River, has no pressure on food supply. It is not a big deal for multiple clans with one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand people to live on. And if Beijing wants to have 100,000 or 200,000 more casual people, Zhu Youjian will have a big headache. A population of one to two hundred thousand consumes at least one million stones of rice a year. If it cannot be supplied around Beijing, it has to be transported thousands of miles from the south. The cost is high and there is a lot of loss along the way.
Considering the dry and cold climate in the north in the next few decades, Zhu Youjian must now find ways to reduce the population of Beijing and other northern big cities!
