Chapter 21 Discussion on vassals with foreign surnames
On the side of the feudal lord, He Xi has finally settled the matter after several days of hard work.
But there is one force that He Xi needs special treatment for.
Nothing else. It's the Lu family.
He Xi invited Lu Zhongheng to his home and sat across from each other.
For a moment, there was a feeling of being in another world.
He Xi clearly felt that Lu Zhongheng was getting old. He is around sixty now. It is not considered old in future generations. But in ancient times, people were rare in the sixties, not to mention that the climate in Southeast Asia was quite unfriendly to this northerner.
He Xi was very sad when he talked about the Nanyang campaign.
He Xi finally opened up the matter and said, "Have you ever felt homesick during these years in Nanyang? When the fallen leaves return to their roots, doesn't the Marquis miss the sea shield?"
The so-called thought of water shield perch is an idiom. But in the Jin Dynasty, there was a minister who thought of the water shield and sea bass in his hometown whenever the autumn wind blew. A metaphor for homesickness.
The meaning of He Xi's words was obviously that he wanted to move the Lu family back to the Ming Dynasty.
To be honest, He Xi also felt that what she did in this matter was a little unreasonable. But the problem is, He Xi has to do this. Because Nanyang and the Western Regions are different. For a long time in the future, the Western Region will not be the strategic focus of the Ming Dynasty.
He Xi's arrangement for the Western Regions is not to cause trouble. No direct intervention. After all, even if the place conquered by King Yan is not directly ruled by the imperial court, it can still be regarded as the market of the Ming Dynasty. The industrial products of the Ming Dynasty can naturally enter the West through the Western Regions.
In He Xi's opinion, this was enough.
But Nanyang is different.
As mentioned earlier, external expansion will be a rigid demand of the Ming Dynasty in the future. At this point, it is difficult for anyone to change.
Without him, imperialism has been with us since the birth of capitalism. He Xi had no choice. He drew on a lot of experience from the British Industrial Revolution, but at the same time, he had to bear the consequences. As for the direction of Ming's external expansion, He Xi had no choice.
Only Nanyang. Only Nanyang.
It has to be said that our ancestors gradually expanded from the Heluo area to the entire world. China's territory has been fixed since the Qin and Han Dynasties. It’s not that I don’t want to fight. But the remaining places are not easy to hit.
Even the gain outweighs the loss.
Now it seems that only the Nanyang direction and Yunnan direction can expand. On the whole, this may not be impossible to merge into one direction, that is, the Nanyang direction. After all, Myanmar can also be said to belong to Southeast Asia.
Xinzhou is a strategic location in Southeast Asia and its geographical location is very important. Directly controlling the Strait of Malacca and controlling the crossroads of Southeast Asia.
This made He Xi unable to let go.
And the Lu family has too much influence in Nanyang. It is probably not an easy task for He Xi to send the new governor of Nanyang without taking care of the Lu family, and He Xi's relationship with the Lu family is also being neglected here.
He Xi's plan to clean up the Lu family will have a great impact on He Xi's reputation and the cohesion of people within the family.
He Xi thought about it over and over, and it was best to have a good talk with Lu Zhongheng.
Lu Zhongheng was also prepared. But after hearing what He Xi said, he was still stunned. He sighed and said, "Master He, I, Mr. Lu, listened to your words and worked hard to accumulate this family fortune. Now you are saying such things. ,It is really------"
Lu Zhongheng was full of anger, but he couldn't express it well.
The situation was stronger than the person, and he still couldn't afford to offend He Xi in front of him. I really don't dare to break up.
He Xi could only apologize and said: "Marquis Lu, I didn't expect to reach this point. If something happens to Marquis Lu, you can talk about it and I am willing to give you some compensation."
What He Xi said was true.
If there was no Civil War. The Lu family in Nanyang would not be in the same situation as it is now.
During the Hongwu period, although the Lu family was very powerful in Southeast Asia. But it’s more of an economic benefit, and it can’t cover the sky with one hand. However, after the Civil War, the officials and people of Nanyang Ming Dynasty had no choice but to
At a loss, I don’t know who to choose. In the end, they could only rely on the Lu family.
This way. The power of the Lu family has naturally increased greatly.
The Lu family annexed all the forces that were originally loyal to the imperial court in the Nanyang Governor's Mansion.
That's why there is such a situation.
If Lu Zhongheng had not done this, He Xi could now choose to support other forces to check and balance the Lu family. But now the Lu family has obviously lost its tail. If the Lu family is not captured, the stronghold of Nanyang cannot be returned to the imperial court. Xinzhou does not belong to the imperial court. Ming Dynasty will encounter problems when it expands abroad.
Is it possible that before external expansion, we need to fight a counter-insurgency war?
I can't blame anyone for reaching this day. I can only say that the situation has changed too fast.
Lawrence Lu had anticipated this incident. But he never expected that the situation would become so bad. However, Lu Zhongheng also had his own ideas, and it was not that he had no response to this matter.
He said: "Master He, haven't you thought about yourself?"
He Xi was stunned and said, "Myself?"
Lu Zhongheng said: "Originally, I thought that you said that you would retire after your term is over, which was probably a lie. But now it seems that it may be true. In this case, have you ever thought about what will happen after you retire? of?"
"No one will feel comfortable if you stay in Nanjing for just one day."
"In the future, disaster will surely come."
It is normal for Lu Zhongheng to make a judgment about He Xi's retirement. If He Xi wants to go further at this moment. Then He Xi would not spend so much thought on the opponent, but would instead think of ways to deal with Zhu Xiongying.
But what Lawrence Lu said was right.
This is also a worry for He Xi. Power is easy to hand over, but there is too much uncertainty about what will happen after handing over power.
If he just hands over the position but not the power, it will become a so-called elder politics, just like Japan. It is never the cabinet that really has the final say, but the so-called elders during the Meiji Restoration.
This is actually He Xi's backup plan.
Of course, He Xi has not decided whether to use it or not.
Without him, this kind of elder politics can easily form the so-called clan power.
It will be detrimental to the court in the long run.
After all, if He Xi can do this, the next chief assistant who has expired will also be able to do the same. It will take a long time. It is not the cabinet that has the final say. At that time, whatever the cabinet wants to do, it will not only have to face the emperor, but also the previous senators.
There is almost no need for any new reforms.
Now, He Xi understands very well that the biggest difference between the new era and the original feudal society is that social change is accelerating.
If it were before, within a hundred years, for many people, life would not seem to have changed much. However, in the era of industrialization, a hundred years is enough for a technology to grow from germination to maturity, and then to obsolescence.
For the court to deal with such a situation, the cabinet must have sufficient ability and power to deal with it.
Elder politics has its drawbacks.
It can even turn into a game of who can survive longer.
It's not fun.
He Xi said, "What does Marquis Lu mean?"
Lu Zhongheng said in a low voice: "Master He, have you ever thought about going out to be a vassal?"
He Xi said: "I thought about it, but it's not a good idea."
He Xi naturally also thought about banishing all the nobles, leaving a clean Ming Dynasty for him to use. But He Xi soon gave up.
There are many reasons for giving up. The first is that many nobles do not want to leave Ming Dynasty. In their opinion, Daming is the best place in the world, and only fools go to other wild places.
Second, how did Ming Dynasty maintain its overseas territories?
Vassals with foreign surnames are very sensitive.
The clan vassals also used the patriarchal system to maintain the connection between the Ming Dynasty and them. And how to maintain vassals with foreign surnames? Don't forget that in the He Xi system, the emperor's power is weak. Even though Zhu Xiongying now has the demeanor of a wise king.
but
Zhu Xiongying is just a person. He can be an emperor for at most one time, but the next emperor will never be like Zhu Xiongying.
The clan vassals could not allow the Ming Dynasty not to be named Zhu. This is one of the guarantees of the throne. No matter who is the chief minister, he can only admit it, otherwise there will be war and disaster. And the emperor can also let go of his suspicion of ministers. Of course, the struggle for power between each other is an eternal topic, but at least everyone has a bottom line. ..
Able to cooperate.
But if there are a considerable number of vassals with foreign surnames among the vassals outside, the situation will be different. It is very likely that a certain powerful official can unite with these vassals with foreign surnames. If Ming Dynasty changes its surname, Ming Dynasty will face a protracted civil war.
It is estimated that by then, the entire Asia will be a battlefield.
After industrialization, large-scale wars are very cruel.
Third, it was not so easy for vassals with foreign surnames to pass in the Ming Dynasty. The Zhu family members would also object. For example, King Yan. The King of Yan held a meeting and was willing to allow people with foreign surnames such as Xungui to have a fiefdom.
Lu Zhongheng said: "Tai Gong Jiang has made great contributions to the Zhou Dynasty, and he has been granted the title of Qi. As for you, your Excellency, you have contributed to the world, and if you go out, you will be granted the title, and you will surely find a good land. But if you are inside, you may not be safe, but if you are outside, you will be as stable as a rock."
"This is not only a good idea for you, sir, but also a good idea for many people below."
He Xi's heart moved, and she seemed to see some of Lu Zhongheng's thoughts.
It seemed like a good idea for He Xi to be a feudal vassal outside and be able to do whatever he wanted in his own fiefdom without being restricted by anyone. If you are separated from Zhu Xiongying, you can avoid conflicts by being far away from each other. This is probably the so-called principle of the king not seeing the king.
But what does Lu Zhongheng mean when he suddenly mentions other people?
He Xi knew what Lu Zhongheng was thinking, so He Xi sealed the land. Then it is impossible for He Xi to be the only one in this fief. Naturally, we need to open an opening, such as opening an opening for the Lu family.
But Hexi wanted to know, does this other person only refer to the Lu family? Is there anyone else involved? If so, who are they?
In fact, He Xi had a vague premonition.
