Chapter 49 Stirring the Nine Levels
Nanjing, in the imperial palace.
Zhu Xiongying held the prince and He Xi while swimming in the back lake.
The relationship between Zhu Xiongying and He Xi was confirmed, and the relationship between the two parties became more and more natural.
Zhu Xiongying said: "Uncle, I will become a vassal overseas in the future. I don't know where I want to go?"
When He Xi heard this, he knew that what Zhu Xiongying was talking about was the war in Nanyang.
He Xi has very complicated feelings about overseas vassalage.
He knew very well that Zhu Xiongying was a fiefdom to him, which was basically equivalent to an overseas vassal state. This was also a redemption of the power in his hands.
When the Zhou Dynasty established vassal states, Qi was the largest state, and the state of Qi was the fiefdom of Jiang Taigong. He Xi's current power is not comparable to that of Jiang Taigong of the Ming Dynasty, but it is appropriate to say that he is the Duke of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty.
It's just that He Xi's sealing of overseas vassals seems to be just a matter of changing his position in another place.
What does it matter?
He had never thought of becoming the lord of a place, the kind of hereditary one.
But the situation has come to this step by step. If he doesn't go overseas to become a vassal, not only him, but also his close subordinates may not end well.
It is already an established fact.
He Xi didn't pay much attention.
After all, in his opinion, many places overseas can be very prosperous. Today, although the degree of industrialization in the Ming Dynasty is low, Nanyang is already the inland sea of the Ming Dynasty. And this time the Nanyang strategy was successful. Within a dozen years, the Bay of Bengal was also the inland sea of the Ming Dynasty.
With the support of Ming Dynasty's industrial capabilities, we can make contributions anywhere. Even a battalion of troops may not be able to sweep across a country. What the Spaniards could do, it was naturally impossible for the Ming Dynasty to not be able to do it.
The problem is that America is too far away from the Ming Dynasty, and Nanyang is right in front of us.
He Xi said: "I obey your Majesty's instructions."
Zhu Xiongying said: "How is Zhu that day?"
He Xi was stunned and said, "This is a bit too far."
Zhu Xiongying said: "It's not far away. My uncle has made great contributions to rebuilding the world. Due to the ancestral system, I can't be crowned king. However, I can let my uncle lead a brigade of troops to go west and stand on his own in the land of Tianzhu. Uncle What do you think?"
What Zhu Xiongying was most worried about was that He Xi would not quit the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Xiongying and He Xi are afraid of each other.
Zhu Xiongying was afraid that He Xi would have evil thoughts. Although he knew, He Xi probably didn't. But the problem is, He Xi has this ability. This is one of them. Secondly, he was afraid of He Xi's ability. He didn't know how many times he planned in his heart to oppose He Xi's coup.
But they all gave up in the end.
I'm just worried, if things don't work out, how will it end in the future?
Therefore, he drew a pie for He Xi. On the one hand, it is to appease He Xi. On the one hand, it is for others to see.
In political struggles, there are always a few people who firmly support someone's side. Most of them belong to the middle faction. No matter what time it is, fighting for the middle faction is the most important task.
This also means having more friends and fewer enemies.
This is also the case today. The most important Guozijian faction among the He Xi factions is, after all, scholars. It is one thing for them to support He Xi, but it is another thing to support He Xi to usurp the throne. However, Zhu Xiongying acted too hastily and insisted on capturing He Xi. Many people were worried that they would be implicated. I can't say I want to get together with He Xi.
But now Zhu Xiongying keeps giving He Xi good conditions and treatment to overseas vassal states. Once he takes action, he is no less than a big country in the Central Plains. Anyone who saw it felt that the emperor did the right thing. If He Xi did something, it would be unpopular.
In the end, it was naturally to pack away the core strength of He Xi's faction.
After all, Tianzhu is a big country, and He Xi brings few people with him. How can it be pacified? Naturally, we have to recruit people from Ming Dynasty. Those who are willing to follow him to Tianzhu are naturally his core strength. These people are in the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Xiongying feels that they are in the way.
Kill, cannot kill.
He is a meritorious minister.
Use, cannot use.
Loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal.
As for the matter of He Xi being raised in Tianzhu, Zhu Xiongying was not worried.
Because he has determined one thing. Starting from today, the Ming Emperor's handling of overseas vassals will be an important matter. Now there is already a Yan State in the north, but there is also an India in the west.
Speaking of which, Yan's threat to the Central Plains was far greater than that of India.
Even if he takes action against the feudal lord, he will not deal with He Xi first.
That is a matter of the future, not even a matter of my own future, but a matter of future generations. It is not important to Zhu Xiongying now.
He Xi didn't see what Zhu Xiongying meant at first, but Zhu Xiongying's words almost made it clear. How can He Xi not know?
He Xi had no objection to this.
Before He Xi entered the palace, he had already been mentally prepared for Zheng Nan.
That is to fight on.
Not only did the imperial court want to fight, but it also had to lead troops from the Southeast Asian countries.
This battle was not only to expand territory, but also to integrate Nanyang. In He Xi's mind, Nanyang was actually not far from the Ming Dynasty, and steam engines and ships were already in the not-too-distant future. Although a mature steam engine ship will probably take several decades. However, it is inevitable that Nanyang should be included in the core ruling area of the Ming Dynasty.
The war between north and south. As a result, the Ming Dynasty's control over Nanyang declined. It should be noted that in the vassal state charter formulated by He Xi, the Ming Dynasty also had many powers over the vassal state, including the power of conscription.
When necessary, the vassal troops were recruited to serve the Ming Dynasty.
Letting the Nanyang vassal army serve the Ming Dynasty was not only a way to pass on the cost of the war, but also a way to deter Nanyang.
Let the Nanyang vassal country see what the Great Tomorrow Soldiers look like, and naturally they will not have any inappropriate thoughts. Ming Dynasty's overseas management, before wireless telegraphy, it is estimated that it must be in a feudal form. This is the best and most cost-effective way. But it does not mean that the Ming Dynasty had no control over the vassal state.
Colonies can only be semi-independent, never independent.
In addition, it is to pass on the internal conflicts of the Ming Dynasty.
What happened in Guangdong taught He Xi that it is not easy to penetrate the local area and the people as a matter of reform. Many people really couldn't cry without seeing the coffin. It is simply unreasonable to explain to these people the policies of the central government and the way out that the court has given them.
As for the powerful people entrenched in the local area, some of them have been persuaded by He Xi, such as the He family in Guangdong. The other part, most of them are very ignorant. They were entrenched in the corners of the Ming Dynasty and had no understanding of the outside world. I don’t want to know either. Read the book
I feel that this is how our ancestors did things, whether it was the Song Dynasty or the Yuan Dynasty, it was always like this. If you tell us now that we have no form, they don't care. They think that strong dragons cannot overwhelm local snakes.
Don't listen to these people at all.
He Xi had given up a lot of benefits and wanted to get these people to nod, but He Xi calculated the accounts and suddenly realized that this was not going to work.
Although He Xi has worked hard to make the cake bigger. But the benefits are still limited.
He Xi's reform. It was beneficial to the people and used the interests of the development of productive forces to bribe the upper echelons of the Ming Dynasty. What he attacked was the middle level. I want to move the Ming Dynasty from the government to the subordinates, or the middle classes such as gentry, clan leaders, etc., and then to the people. The government became directly related to the people.
It is inevitable to suppress the interests of the middle class.
Some local tycoons were promoted by He Xi and became members of Congress. They transformed from local tycoons into political families, although in the eyes of many people in Nanjing, they were still weak-legged. But it is no longer the same. But compared to the powerful middle class in most other places.
The benefits He Xi gave them were impossible to compare with their original benefits.
Even if some people support He Xi's reform, they have no choice but to do so. It's just that my arms can't twist my thighs.
It is impossible for He Xi to offer other benefits to bribe these people.
Since the soft one is not enough, let’s use the hard one.
what
Xi is going to be cruel at this moment.
But there is also something to be learned about how to be ruthless. Killing is also an art.
Killing without guilt is wrong in every way. And convicting people is also an art. Law is a tool for the ruling class to rule the country, and using tools is also an art. A purge like the one in the Soviet Union would be too simple and crude, without any sense of beauty.
Naturally, He Xi couldn't play like this, and he was determined not to convict the people below just because they resisted the new law.
If people all over the world don't recognize him, he might be redefined as a hero by some people in the future.
In He Xi's opinion, the best way is for the people below to implement the new law to be capable ministers and officials, and to deal with these people's affairs quietly. No need to worry about He Xi.
But it is a pity that no matter what time, what the world lacks most is talents. If you can continue to implement the new law, and the top and bottom remain as calm as before, as if nothing has happened, such a person is either perfunctory or a prime minister.
He Xi could not expect that the people below him would all be talented as prime ministers and assistants.
He had to find a way for these people.
And what Tie Xuan did in Guangdong reminded He Xi. Immigration has always been a way to combat powerful people.
Generally speaking, the new law was implemented relatively quickly and smoothly in the north. There was no such thing because northern society was destroyed in the late Yuan Dynasty. There are no clan forces entrenched at all. Even in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were various incense halls and many Taoist sects in the north.
rather than clan power.
But this time, most of the local powerful people who resisted were from the south. After all, firstly, the South has been at peace for a long time, and even the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty did not have much impact on the South. Secondly, the Ming regime was essentially a southern regime that conquered the whole country.
Naturally, there are situations in Henan and Nanyang that cannot be asked. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang goes on a killing spree, some things cannot be avoided.
But things are different now.
Although the North-South War was a civil war, the Ming Dynasty changed from a southern power to a northern power. Now everyone in the imperial court, including Zhu Xiongying, is based in the north, not the south.
