"Grandpa, all those vassal kings now are your sons and my uncles!"
"He is also my father's biological brother!"
"Moreover, under your guidance, these vassal kings have become proficient in everything from literature to martial arts!"
"These vassal kings have indeed followed your request, grandpa, to guard the border!"
"My family, with such a close relationship, is naturally worthy of trust!"
"Even if my father is still here, he still trusts these brothers!"
"But I'm only one floor away. When I get there, these uncles may still be there!"
“But what about over time?”
"Those cousins are just one level apart again. What about the subsequent generations?"
"Grandpa, do you still have such a close relationship with those relatives in your family who are separated by who knows how many generations?" Zhu Xiongying said.
"This... it happened a long time ago, right?" Lao Zhu listened, but still said a little stubbornly.
If it had been in the past, Lao Zhu would have gotten angry and beaten someone if he heard such news.
You can't kill your grandson, but you can still get angry.
But now, Lao Zhu only has such a precious grandson, who is the person closest to him, and he will not get angry easily.
And he also listened to Zhu Xiongying's words.
If it were placed on Zhu Yunwen, haha, it would be fun to watch.
"Could it be that outsiders can't compare to our Zhu family members?" Lao Zhu continued to ask.
"Haha, grandpa, after many generations, they will be no different from outsiders!" Zhu Xiongying shook his head and said,
"We probably won't see each other a few times all year round, or even for many years, in our lifetime."
"The only connection is just some blood connections that have been separated for who knows how long!"
"Then they are also members of our Zhu family, and they are the blood of our Zhu family!" Lao Zhu continued.
"Yes, but it is not my blood, nor is it the blood of my successor!" Zhu Xiongying said,
"Even if I were to depose these vassal kings and let my sons guard the border!"
"When my successor comes to the throne, they will still cut down the vassal!"
Listening to Zhu Xiongying's words, Lao Zhu still felt a lot lonely.
"Does your dad think the same way?"
"It's probably like this. This matter is almost impossible to escape!" Zhu Xiongying shook his head and said,
"And grandpa, this is only one aspect of it!"
"What else?" Lao Zhu frowned and asked.
"Yes, the first generation of vassal kings naturally did what grandpa asked for, guarding the borders, protecting the Ming Dynasty, and suppressing the world!"
"That's also because grandpa started teaching these uncles when they were very young and gave them abilities!"
"But in the future, the second generation, the third generation, and even the later vassal kings, will they still have such ability?" Zhu Xiongying asked,
"The saying that wealth cannot last more than three generations, grandpa, is not unreasonable!"
"These vassal kings can almost be said to be the second generation now, the rich second generation!"
"They have long been accustomed to such a wealthy and easy life!"
"And there is still war going on now. If there is no war in the future, will these vassal kings still have the ability to suppress the world like this?"
Zhu Xiongying said,
"I'm very doubtful about this!"
"Even if this generation is okay, in the future, if there is no pressure, they will be useless!"
"This..." It's not that Lao Zhu doesn't understand this truth.
"Then let's bring them all to the capital and teach them personally!"
"The next generation will do the same thing!" Lao Zhu seemed to have caught the loophole in Zhu Xiongying's words and said to Zhu Xiongying.
"No, grandpa has forgotten the first reason?" Zhu Xiongying said.
"Hey! Is there really no other way?" Lao Zhu murmured.
"It depends on grandpa's request!" Zhu Xiongying said,
“The best of both worlds is always rare!”
"Besides, there is another reason that I didn't say!"
Lao Zhu listened and nodded with a disapproving look. Then he suddenly became interested and asked,
"How little? Grandson, what else can you do?"
"No, there is another reason for what you just said? What is it?"
"Another thing is that the imperial court cannot afford so many vassal kings!"
"Huh? How is that possible? Dasun, we know you are smart, but you can't tell lies with your eyes open, right?"
"Haha, grandpa, I don't have one!" Zhu Xiongying smiled and said.
"Why not? You said that the imperial court cannot afford it. Let us admit that these vassal kings occupy a lot of money."
"We have also thought about it. We will directly reduce their salary from 50,000 dan to 10,000 dan!" Lao Zhu said,
"In this way, the pressure on the court will be reduced a lot!"
Lao Zhu actually did this in history, and implemented it in the last years of Hongwu.
"Grandpa, these are only treating the symptoms and not the root cause!" Zhu Xiongying said.
"Not yet?" Lao Zhu asked, frowning.
"There are just over twenty people, why can't we do it?"
"Haha, grandpa, you have only seen it now!" Zhu Xiongying said with a smile,
"Grandpa, you have made more than twenty princes yourself!"
"Let's not talk about how many county princes there are under these princes, as well as generals who control the country, generals who assist the country, etc."
"Has grandpa calculated the required salary?"
"This..." Lao Zhu felt numb and stopped talking.
"If we follow the example of children like Grandpa, one prince will have more than 20 county princes and more than 400 generals who govern the country."
"What about the generals of the auxiliary country? According to twenty, that is eight thousand!"
"Where is General Fengguo below?"
"This is still one prince, but what about the twenty princes? Four generations later, there will be 160,000 generals in Fengguo alone!"
"The fourth generation is not far away, it will arrive in a few decades!"
"In addition to these princes, county princes, etc., and the following lieutenants of Zhenguo and auxiliary countries, I haven't even calculated them yet!"
"How much of my Ming Dynasty's salary will these cost?"
"General Feng Guo's salary is six hundred dan per year. General Feng Guo's salary is 160,000 dan. How many dan per year is that?"
"More than ninety million stones, can Ming Dynasty afford it?"
Lao Zhu was speechless now. He was frightened.
More than ninety million stones?
How much is the tax revenue for the next year now?
Twenty million stones!
They had worked hard for a year in the Ming Dynasty, but the generals of Fengguo could no longer afford it, and even the worse ones were not even half a star.
"Of course, I calculated too much. It may be less than twenty, but such a number will be reached sooner or later!" Zhu Xiongying continued.
When Lao Zhu heard the news, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, yes, yes!
No one is as capable of giving birth to more than twenty sons as Lao Zhu.
Now, none of my sons have given birth to many, less than ten.
In the past, Lao Zhu was still complaining, but now he realizes that what a lucky thing he is, Daming cannot afford to keep him alive if he keeps having children.
But Lao Zhu also knew this situation and had to guard against it.
Seeing Lao Zhu's angry look, Zhu Xiongying knew that he had to convince Lao Zhu today.
Otherwise, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to solve.
"Grandpa, don't forget, I also have younger brothers. Do my younger brothers also need to be sealed?"
"And my sons too!"
"At that time, I didn't know how many sons I would have, just one who would inherit the throne!"
"The rest belong to the prince, and it's another inheritance!"
"Besides, if the emperors are passed down from generation to generation, the remaining sons will all belong to the prince!"
"Keep doing the math!"
"Grandpa thinks, in the past many years and generations, there will be a situation where my Ming Dynasty cannot afford it?"
