"But... eldest brother's sons are all still young except King Jinling, who is already an adult. How can they serve as ministers all the way?"
Zhao Kai raised the question again, and he also quoted his price...to serve as a minister along the way, not as a prince and king of a country.
Caochen is a transshipment envoy, a messenger. According to Zhao Kai's wishes, the vassal prince can be appointed as the transit envoy and be in charge of taxes. This is equivalent to letting the vassal prince of the Ming Dynasty concurrently serve as the chief envoy of a province.
For example, Zhu Laosi was the chief envoy to Peiping under the supervision of King Yan. He had no military power and no guards (guards), so he was responsible for collecting taxes for Emperor Jianwen.
Of course, Zhao Kai would not leave a camp road like Beijing Road to the vassal king. What he brought out were the transshipment envoys from the land of wealth in the southeast. For example, he made Zhao Huan's son Zhao Jin the king of Pingjiang and appointed the transshipment envoy to the west of Zhejiang Province.
That is to say, when he was the vassal king of Suzhou, he also served as the transshipment envoy for western Zhejiang, that is, Suzhou, Xiuzhou, Changzhou, and Huzhou. The vassal king in Zhao Kai's imagination did not enfeoff land, manage the army, or visit the people. It was just a royal palace plus ten thousand acres of royal land. If he does not hold the position of a minister or other official position, he is just a rich man.
And just relying on the power of the Cao Chen in western Zhejiang, the big landowners in Suzhou, and an empty vassal king to mobilize the troops to rebel is simply the same as giving away people's heads... As long as the brain is not damaged, I believe no one will Don't leave the good "King of Oil and Water" to give away people's heads for fun.
Even if someone is really mentally retarded, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the hands of the Song Dynasty court are not vegetarians!
Therefore, Zhao Kai is not worried that this arrangement will cause troubles such as the Eight Kings Rebellion and the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion. What he is worried about now is that these vassal kings who serve as ministers cannot perform their duties... Zhao Huan's sons are still How can you be a minister when you are young and don’t know anything?
The reason why he agreed to let the vassal king serve as a minister in the southeastern routes was not only to appease the scholar-bureaucrats in the southeastern routes and the bureaucrats of the original Wu State (including military bureaucrats), but also because he did not trust civilian bureaucrats, but at the same time he did not want to To expand the power of the Fubing Group, he thought of using the clan to serve as ministers to supervise the bureaucrats below... He really wanted the clan ministers to be in charge, not just let them be clay sculptures Puppet, controlled by civil servants.
The four brothers, Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, Zhao Yan and Zhao Zhi, already understood what Zhao Kai meant and immediately started laughing.
Zhao Qi said: "Third brother, since the eldest brother's sons are still young, we can first make him a king instead of a country...At the same time, appoint an older and capable prince to serve as a minister, and wait for the third brother. When the sons grow up, let them rule the country and take over as ministers."
"An older and capable prince?" Zhao Kai understood as soon as he heard this. The four princes in front of him looked very capable!
"It makes sense!" Zhao Kai said with a smile, "The late emperor had many heirs, and I have many brothers, many of whom are smart and capable!"
Zhao Zhi said with a smile: "Yes! The fifth brother, the sixth brother, the seventh brother, the eighth brother, the eleventh brother, the fourteenth brother, the fifteenth brother, and the seventeenth brother are all under the eldest brother. They have held actual positions...some have even led soldiers! Not only are they capable, but they are also quite popular."
It’s really like a sedan chair carrying people!
Zhao Kai glanced at his most trusted brother, Zhao Zhi, and smiled: "Brother Twelve, you and Brother Eighteen are not bad! They are my brothers too!"
Zhao Zhi smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. "Thank you, third brother. We are all your brothers! Father and son go into battle, brothers fight... We also have a share in the great Song Dynasty." , I have to keep an eye on it for you!"
Zhao Kai nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "That's right, our own people are always more reliable than outsiders... If the sister-in-law can agree, then the eldest brother's sons will be granted the title of vassal king first, and they will all be given the title of county king. It's confirmed. To create a fiefdom, one person should be given a village of 10,000 acres, and the palace should be built as soon as possible. After they can manage the government, they can rule the country and serve as ministers or governors!"
He slightly adjusted the price, changing "acting as a Cao minister" to "a Cao minister or prefect".
In other words, whether Zhao Huan's sons should serve as ministers or governors of a state depends on their talents and specific circumstances.
If Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Chu, the uncles and ministers of Cao Cao, do a good job, then there is no need to replace them. Just let Zhao Huan's sons be magistrates and magistrates.
Zhao Kai went on to say: "Before they can manage the government, the seven southeast routes, no, add Jinghu South Road, a total of eight routes of Cao ministers, all have the kings of Jinling acting as agents. The Caosi and Prison Divisions of the Eighth Southeast Route, As well as the state, military, county and other government officials under the Eighth Route Army, including the Eighth Route Army's punishment, they are all recommended by the Caochen for the time being!"
The reason why he gave the Eighth Route Army so much power in personnel affairs (temporarily of course) was actually to allow them to recruit the elites among the southeastern scholar-bureaucrats and former Wu bureaucrats who could cooperate into the official offices of the Song Dynasty... And The reason why the kings of the Southern Song Dynasty, such as Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Yu, were asked to come forward was because these kings of the Southern Song Dynasty were all insiders in the officialdom of the Southern Song Dynasty. They understood the situation well enough to know who was available, who was not available, and who must be supported. .
The scholar-bureaucrats and bureaucrats in the Southern Song Dynasty were also familiar with these kings and felt relatively at ease with them. At this time of panic, they should be willing to take refuge with them.
As for the pacifiers of the Southeast Eighth Route... when the imperial court took direct control of the heat, at most they would leave some soldiers to maintain order in the state capital below.
Although they had no military power, Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Yan were overjoyed when they heard Zhao Kai's arrangement. However, the three people's brows soon became wrinkled again. They didn't know what they were thinking.
"What?" Zhao Kai asked with a smile, "Any more questions?"
"Third brother," Zhao Qi said, "How are we going to make arrangements for my sister-in-law and the newly born Shishiro?"
The child Zhu Lian just gave birth to was Zhao Huan's fifteenth son, who has not been named yet.
"Let the fifteenth son attack the king of Wu," Zhao Kai said, "then raise Jinling Palace to Nanjing Yingtian Palace, separate it from Jiangdong Road, and let the new King Wu serve as Nanjing's left guard... When King Wu comes of age Previously, the government affairs of the Nanjing Left-behind Department and the Yingtian Mansion were handled by my sister-in-law, assisting the King of Wu. I should be satisfied with this arrangement, right?"
Now Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, and Zhao Yan were completely relieved.
The territory of Jinling Mansion is not large, but it is the southeastern imperial family that Zhao Huan and Zhu Lian worked hard to run... The tax revenue of this mansion is incomparable to that of a road in the northern Central Plains!
Asking Zhu Lian to hand over Jinling was undoubtedly like asking her to hand over her home. Moreover, Zhu Lian also purchased a large number of industries in Jinling, and these industries also required Zhu Lian to stay in Jinling to guard them.
So Zhao Kai asked Zhu Lian to stay in Jinling, and also asked Zhao Fifteen Lang to serve as the king of Wu and Nanjing as a baby. That is definitely very interesting. How could Zhu Lian be dissatisfied?
After all, among the disciples Zhao Huan stayed in Jinling, only Zhao Fifteenth Lang was the meat that fell from Zhu Lian's body!
So early the next morning, Zhu Lian, who learned the latest conditions issued by Zhao Kai from the four brothers Zhao Qi, Zhao Xu, Zhao Chu and Zhao Zhi, set out from a temple in Niushou Mountain where he was staying. , then entered the Tianque Palace and thanked the officials of the Song Dynasty.
This time, Zhao Kai also changed his previous seriousness and arrogance. He took the accompanying officials and walked out of the palace gate in person. When he saw Zhu Lian getting off the carriage from a distance, he took the initiative to greet him with a smile and said with a smile: " Sister-in-law, have the brothers told you about my brother's proposal? Are you satisfied?"
Zhu Lian paid a blessing ceremony to Zhao Kai and said with a smile: "Uncle is indeed a benevolent and righteous king... No wonder the late emperor wanted to make you his heir. Your eldest brother really didn't know about this, so he overstepped his bounds." The one who calls himself emperor..."
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "What eldest brother did is not considered arrogance... and the Song Dynasty I founded is different from the Zuo passed down by the late emperor. I am the Guangwu Emperor of the Song Dynasty!"
Zhao Kai’s stance of “reopening the Great Song Dynasty” has never changed!
In his opinion, only by insisting on "reopening" can the Song Dynasty avoid returning to its previous line of emphasizing culture over military affairs... The inertia of history is sometimes huge!
Just look at the Ming Dynasty in history and you will know that what Zhu Yuanzhang left behind was definitely not a country that valued culture over military affairs. But later on, it still fell into the trap of emphasizing culture over martial arts... It was originally based on the Han and Tang Dynasties, but ended up falling into the trap of the Song Dynasty again!
Zhao Kai then added: "Since I am the Guangwu of the Song Dynasty, then my eldest brother is the Gengshi of the Xuan Han Dynasty."
After listening to Zhao Kai's words, Zhu Lian felt reassured. She is familiar with history books, and of course she knows that Liu Xiu made the three sons of Emperor Gengshi as marquises, and also built a mausoleum for Emperor Gengshi. In addition, Liu Penzi also fell into Liu Xiu's hands after the defeat of the Red Eyebrow Army. Liu Xiu did not kill Liu Penzi, but let him live the rest of his life without worries.
Zhu Lian sighed: "Uncle Zhenren, it's a pity that my husband has a small belly and chicken intestines. He will treat him with a villain's heart. He will never dare to return north. I am afraid that he will end up in Lingnan like King Wu of South Vietnam... "
In fact, it is impossible for Zhao Huan to live in Lingnan forever. It is difficult to live in Vietnam. He may end up in "Zhao Jiapo" in Malacca... But Zhao Kai cannot say this to Zhu Lianming.
Having said this, Zhu Lian became sad again, "It seems that I will never see you again in this life..."
After saying this, Zhu Lian burst into tears, which was particularly distressing to watch. Zhao Kai originally had a heart of stone, but when he saw Zhu Lian crying, his heart began to hurt, and he hurriedly comforted her and said: "Sister-in-law, please stop crying. It doesn't matter if you can't see your elder brother. There is still me. I will definitely do well in the future." Take care of you!”
How to take good care of it? Zhu Lian's cheeks turned a little red after listening to Zhao Kai's words. He looked at Zhao Kai secretly and found that he had a serious face, as if he was a gentleman...
Thinking of this, Zhu Lian took another breath and said to Zhao Kai: "It's better for the official family to enter Jinling City earlier... The people of Jinling have long been eager to welcome Master Wang from the official family."
Zhao Kai nodded, "Okay sister-in-law, let's enter Jinling together!"
