Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and looked at his son. His intention to divide the kings into kings had already been revealed to Zhu Biao, so his son had no objection.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked up to Zhu Biao and said earnestly: "We have considered many times to entrust the kings to the north. If you are worried about repeating the chaos of the Han and Jin kings, or the separatism of local vassal towns, then there is no need. We have already done it for you. You plan to pass."
Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang assigned his most capable sons to station on the border, such as Zhu Xi, Zhu Fan, and Zhu Di. Zhu Quan and these few people firmly locked up the Northern Yuan Dynasty in order to prevent Mongolia from counterattacking the Central Plains.
The same is true now. Even if Zhu Biao destroyed the Northern Yuan Dynasty in advance, they have temporarily surrendered. It can be predicted that within ten years, the Mongols will rebel. They are a nation that has established a unified dynasty and will not be defeated so easily.
After all, there was a great victory in history, which severely damaged the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. However, the Northern Yuan forces were like a small strong force that could not be defeated. Later, Zhu Di personally conquered the Tatars five times. In the end, even the Tatar tribe heard that Zhu Di wanted to expedition to the north. After hearing the news, I hid in the sky and shivered early, and lived shamelessly. That's it. It would be better to lead to the Tumu Fort Incident.
Moreover, the military power of the generals has also been restored. These people are all old brothers who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world. They have been in charge of the military for too long, and they are far away from the control of the court. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. It is very easy to form vassal towns and separatist regimes, and foreign enemies can still be defended. , civil strife together is a real thorn in the side.
However, remote areas still need people to guard them, and the army must be controlled by someone. The Zhu family has a weak foundation, so the princes' appointment is the best choice at the moment.
In addition, for the sake of enlightenment, the north, especially in the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture and other places, has been seriously transformed by barbarians. In ancient times, 25 years was considered a generation. The northern Han people who have lived under foreign rule for such a long time have different living habits and clothing. Almost all aspects of clothing, speech and behavior, weddings and funerals, etc. have been distorted or have a tendency to be barbarized, so Zhu Yuanzhang launched a vigorous campaign to restore Chinese clothes.
In the north, especially in the north far away from the core of the empire's rule, the sons of the emperor and the princes of the empire sit here. Their living etiquette, their clothes, their speech and behavior, and their etiquette at weddings and funerals Systems are all behaviors that lead local customs, and this also plays a decisive role in helping Northern China find its home and return to China.
Moreover, the kings have been sealed here for generations, which can also appease the local people. After all, the Northland has been occupied for a long time. Once recovered, there will inevitably be recurrences. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang sealed his sons here and guarded them here for generations. To some extent it is comforting that the emperor is with his subjects.
This was the emperor's thinking, and of course the most important point was Zhu Yuanzhang's selfishness. His childhood was so miserable. His parents and brothers all died of starvation and illness, and there were almost no members of the family left.
He grew up begging, became a beggar, became a monk, and finally rebelled with one intention, and finally conquered a huge world. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang actually attached great importance to family ties. He worked hard to design for his children to have enough food for generations to come. The way to eat.
Of course, Lao Zhu's favorite was his eldest son Zhu Biao. In order to ensure that the throne could be passed down safely in Zhu Biao's line, Zhu Yuanzhang prepared various restrictions on the enfeoffed kings.
The vassal kings he planned to enfeoff were very different from the vassal kings of the Western Han Dynasty and the vassal kings entrusted by Sima Yan of the Western Jin Dynasty. The fiefdoms of the kings in the Han and Jin Dynasties were at least half the area of the province. For example, in the Western Han and Qi Dynasties, The king's fiefdom covers almost the entire Shandong Province, including 74 counties.
More importantly, the vassal kings of the Western Han and Jin Dynasties had full control over the military, political, financial and personnel power within their own fiefdoms. Not only did they have their own armies and small courts, but they could also legitimately collect taxes. Even the appointment and dismissal of officials within the fiefdom are decided by themselves, which is completely equivalent to a small independent kingdom. In other words, they are the real kings.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang and the vassal kings are called kings, most of their fiefdoms are limited to one city. For example, the most powerful kings in history, King Qin, King Jin, King Yan, King Zhou and King Ning, their fiefdoms are not in Shaanxi Province, Shanxi Province, Hebei Province, Henan Province and Inner Mongolia are just the cities of Xi'an, Taiyuan, Kaifeng, Beijing and Ningcheng, so in terms of strength, they are not the same.
More importantly, the vassals of the Ming Dynasty only had the power to command troops in their own fiefdoms. As for administrative regions, financial power and personnel power, they were all responsible for officials sent by the central government, and they strictly interacted with the ministers sent there. Make friends.
In this context, the vassals of the Ming Dynasty not only did not have the power to collect taxes, nor did they have the power to appoint or remove officials. Even the logistics of their armies were uniformly handled by local government officials. This is very important. It is logistics that fights the war. supply.
In this context, the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty was essentially a general who commanded troops abroad. It's just that compared to other generals with foreign surnames, their status, rank and treatment are higher.
As for other aspects, there is not much difference. In other words, the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty was actually just a general with the title of vassal king.
What's more, even the powerful vassal kings of the Han and Jin Dynasties have never succeeded in their rebellion. Throughout history, the only vassal king who can successfully rebel under the unified dynasty is Zhu Di. This is why Zhu Yunwen can be famous throughout the ages. It is really an incredible loss. .
Zhu Biao looked at his father and said: "My son does not want to enfeoff the brothers immediately, but is making long-term plans for the future. The Central Plains is vast, but how many vassal kings can it accommodate?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his son without saying anything, and Zhu Biao continued: "My father is in his prime, and his sons are about to get married. There will be more and more princes and grandsons, and there will be more and more princes in the future.
"They are also Tianhuang nobles, how can they be a vassal king with peace of mind? Maybe when the court is strong, they are forced to tolerate the situation, but once there is doubt about the master and the country, the ministers are not attached, and the people do not believe it, then it is the right time,
The feudal kings would never recommend a fight. "
Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't say anything, and the meat rotten in the pot was still his own. The vassal king's seizure of power was also his bloodline, Zhu Yuanzhang. And can this be stopped by banishing the vassal king?
If the Central Plains were really empty, who would be willing to be the king of a bitter cold land? Naturally, they would still mobilize the whole country to support their troops and invade the Central Plains. The impact would definitely be greater than the harm caused by the rebellion of the feudal kings within the territory.
Zhu Biao helped Zhu Yuanzhang back to his seat: "Father, it's not that I don't know the dangers of feuding kings, but it's time for these small countries to be restrained. Before the Han and Tang Dynasties, they were like savages who were not educated, and What now?"
……………………
