"Your Majesty, there is a reason why I have so many packages. Prince Fu and Prince Qin are in the capital. I will send some to the two uncles when the time comes. We are all part of the same family.
If any vassal kings from various places come back early, they can also give some as gifts.
Secondly, you can also reward the six ministers of the cabinet and some imperial wives. The concubines can't help with major military and state affairs, so they can only do some small favors. "
"Hahaha, these concubines are interested!"
Chongzhen was very pleased: "In that case, I will also pack some, just relax and let your brain take a rest."
After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and joined the army of making rice dumplings.
Upon seeing this, Wang Chengen waved to the side, and with the eunuchs and maids waiting on the side, he gently exited the side hall, leaving the space for the emperor's family, while he stood at the door of the main hall.
Unless there is an emergency military situation or a major natural disaster today, the King of Heaven will come and he will have to stop him. The emperor finally rested for a while and had to be quiet.
Chongzhen didn't leave Kunning Palace until dinner time, and what he ate was called... miscellaneous.
He has eaten all kinds of rice dumplings. To be honest, he still prefers the ones without fillings and dipped in sugar. The fragrance of glutinous rice is mixed with the faint fragrance of rice dumpling leaves, which makes the taste better.
It was a joy for some ministers to receive rewards, and naturally King Fu and King Qin also received them.
In the Dongnuan Pavilion, I pierced a preserved fruit rice dumpling with chopsticks and ate it slowly. After eating the rice dumpling, I drank a cup of tea, making a pleasant sound.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten rice dumplings from my hometown, but the rice dumplings from Beijing still taste the best!”
"Uncle Fu Wang, with your status, you can't eat rice dumplings anywhere, but you don't care!"
"Your Majesty, you don't understand. This is called nostalgia. Eating the right food at the right place is delicious. The rest is just to fill your stomach!"
Prince Fu waved his hand, looked away from the rice dumplings, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty's summoning of ministers should not be as simple as eating rice dumplings, right?"
"Tell me about the specific situation of the feudal kings!"
"Back to Your Majesty, as of now, a total of five vassal kings have arrived in Beijing. King Zhao of Zhangde Prefecture, King Tang of Nanyang Prefecture, King Zhou of Kaifeng Prefecture, King Shen of Luzhou Prefecture, and King Lu of Weihui Prefecture. The kings currently live in the Ten Princes’ Mansion,
The mood of these people is relatively stable, but they are quarrelsome from time to time. The other kings are pretty good, but King Zhu Shuoji of the Tang Dynasty is very scheming. Your Majesty needs to pay attention! "
Chongzhen tapped the dragon table gently with his fingers, his brows filled with thoughts.
It has been more than 20 days since the decree was delivered on April 15th. Even if you walk seventy or eighty miles a day, there should be more than ten vassal kings in Beijing at this moment, but there are only five at present. Explain the resistance of the vassal kings.
In other words, he had already guessed the purpose of telling them to come to Beijing, and was stalling for time or thinking of countermeasures.
"There is no point in procrastinating. There is a price to pay for testing my patience!"
Chongzhen muttered to himself, then looked at Prince Fu: "Uncle Prince Fu, how do you think I should deal with the clan's problems?"
"Your Majesty is the Lord of the Ming Dynasty, you can handle it no matter what you do!"
"The title will be retained temporarily and everyone will be imprisoned in the capital?"
"Okay, even if you put it under their noses, they won't be able to make any trouble!"
"Why don't we follow the example of the Tang Dynasty and let them serve as officials in the dynasty and serve as chief envoys of a province or even remotely?"
"That's okay, we are all a family, and His Majesty also needs some people to stand unswervingly on the same front!"
"Or open up the four industries!"
"That's okay. This way they can support themselves and the imperial court can reduce a lot of its financial burden!"
"How about cutting them all off?"
"Of course... no."
King Fu was speechless. The emperor was so over-intentioned that he almost fell into his trap.
Chongzhen was also speechless. No matter how he tried to test, Prince Fu just agreed and gave reasons for his agreement. He was just like an old fool.
"Uncle Fu Wang, when the vassal kings come to Beijing, you can ask them one by one what they think, and I will send someone to assist you!"
"I obey the decree!"
Looking at King Fu leaving, Chongzhen sighed deeply. The vassal king was a big deal in all dynasties.
Even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's order to extend grace, which was hailed as the greatest conspiracy of all time, was not impossible to crack, and there was more than one way to crack it.
It's just that in that situation, the cost for the princes and kings to crack the grace order was too high, which made people feel that it was really impossible to crack.
Chongzhen thought carefully about the vassal king system in the past dynasties, and slowly verified his ideas. The key issue was to reduce the number of vassal kings without causing too much turmoil.
Either don't do it, or solve it once and for all, and it's impossible to crack.
"Big companion, go to the Ministry of Rites and bring over all the jade certificates from the feudal lord! This matter is kept confidential!"
PS: After Yongle, most clan houses were run by relatives of nobles, and the affairs under their jurisdiction were basically handed over to the Ministry of Rites.
After arranging these, Chongzhen pondered for a while and then started to write. He wanted to write down the thoughts about the vassal king system that he had in his mind for more than a year.
Now that the clan is settled, then the Kong family and Jiangnan will be established, and then the slaves will be established, and then they will focus on development, conquering surrounding countries and overseas trade.
Da da……
Da da……
The rapid sound of horse hooves accompanied by the sound of ringing bells was heard far away in the slightly bright dawn, surprising countless merchants and people.
Looking at the horses galloping past like a gust of wind, they knew it was a 600-mile rush.
"This direction is Shanhaiguan, right? Why is there a six-hundred-mile express over there?"
"Could it be that the slaves are attacking Ningyuan City, and Ningyuan City cannot be defended anymore. Please ask for support?"
"Jian Nu is not that bold, right? It has only been more than half a year since the siege, and he has regained his strength now?"
"I guess I have no choice. I heard from people in the exchange market that there may be a severe drought over there this year, and the price of food has increased to two taels of silver and one stone.
The merchants who built slaves in the mutual market said that as long as there was food, money, furs, medicinal materials, etc., they would be able to get it for five liang and one stone. "
"It doesn't have to be slave-building. There are more than just slave-building forces outside Shanhaiguan!"
"What do you mean? In addition to establishing slaves, there are also..."
The speaker was startled, looked around, and whispered: "You mean Yuan Chonghuan from Ningyuan or Mao Wenlong from Pidao have rebelled? This, this..."
"Besides this explanation, is there anything else that can be expedited at six hundred miles?"
hiss……
Amid the discussions of countless merchants and pedestrians along the way, Liubaili hurriedly entered Beijing, just in time to retreat from the imperial court.
"Your Majesty, Pi Dao is six hundred miles away, urgent!"
Li Ruolian entered Dongnuan Pavilion with urgent documents. Chongzhen was shocked, but the secret letter glanced at him and his expression immediately changed.
"Send the cabinet to see me!"
