Chastity Layman

"If there are military and national important matters, I will present them face to face, and non-military and national urgent matters will be submitted later!"

In the hall, the censor in the hall sang loudly.

"I'm going down to Zhang Xingcheng, please play it!"

A middle-aged civil servant in scarlet robes held up a wat board and asked for a performance loudly.

"allow!"

Sitting in the hall and supervising the country's regent, the crown prince Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, watching him and preaching loudly.

"I invite Yuan to serve the kings and become the kingdom of vassals!"

As soon as Zhang Xingcheng opened his mouth, he said amazing words, "Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the royal family has been entrusted. From the Wude Dynasty to Zhenguan, there are twenty-four kings who have been entrusted. The eight heirs, Li Linggui, King of Chu, Li Yuanjing, King of Jing, Li Yuanchang, King of Han, Li Yuanheng, King of Feng, Li Ke, King of Wu, Li Tai, King of Wei, and Li You, King of Qi, have all reached the age of Yuanfu, and they should be in the state of vassals according to the regulations, and cannot stay in the capital for a long time."

Like a stone thrown into a pond, ripples suddenly appeared.

Among the eight kings, three are the princes of the Supreme Emperor, two are the step-heirs of the two princes who passed away to the Supreme Emperor in the clan, and the other three are the emperor's princes.

King Yuanjing of Jing was fifteen years old, King Li Ke of Wu was thirteen, and King Qi Li You was twelve.

They were all crowned in Yuanfu at the age of twelve.

According to the system of the imperial court, an adult is considered an adult if he is crowned in Yuanfu, and he should indeed be a kingdom of vassals.

Chengqian sat on it with a blank expression, "Gu and the kings are uncles and nephews, brothers, and they want to see each other often. Especially the three emperors are still young. It's too early for the kingdom of vassals at this time, isn't it? "

The thoughtful minister had already seen that the person who came today was not good. Zhang Xingcheng was a subordinate of the province, but some people knew that he had a close relationship with Prime Minister Ma Zhou and was taken care of by Ma Zhou. Who is Zhou?

Qin Sanlang's people, Qin Sanlang is the prince's teacher.

So I immediately came to the conclusion that what happened today seems to be the intention of the princelings. And at this time, the mention of the kings as vassals is probably due to rumors that the emperor has become more and more fond of Wei Wang Li Tai. He not only specially ordered Wei Wang Li Tai to open a bachelor's hall, but also bestowed thousands of volumes of books and rewarded countless manors. The industrial money and silk were used by the king of Wei.

What is even more astonishing is that it is said that the emperor wished to be with the king of Wei, who was already excellent in calligraphy and painting at a young age, skilled in cursive script, and proficient in poetry, so he deliberately wanted Li Tai to move into the Wude Palace.

The Wude Hall is in the Taiji Palace, and it is separated from the East Palace by a wall.

During the time of Wude, Wude Hall was the palace where Qi Wang Yuanji lived. Li Tai was already thirteen years old. Originally, the prince asked to leave the cabinet when he was over eight years old, and he left the palace to live outside.

Now that the prince is grown up, the emperor wants his son to move into the palace, and even live in the Wude Hall next to the East Palace, which inevitably makes people think about it.

There were even rumors that the emperor intended to let Li Tai take up the post of Yongzhou Mu, and this post had been held by the crown prince himself, and he actually served as a director, so as to exercise his ability in government affairs, and he has always performed well in the post.

All kinds of rumors made the atmosphere in the capital a bit tense.

Now that the emperor is on vacation in Bashang to escape the summer heat, at this time the officials proposed that the kings who had been served in the Yuan Dynasty should become the kingdom of vassals, but it was inevitable that there was a deeper meaning behind it.

"Your Highness, in the relationship between uncles and nephews, of course they want to see each other often, but family and country affairs are special, so it is necessary to be a vassal screen, this is the system." Zhang Xingcheng said bluntly.

Chengqian glanced at the officials in the palace.

Today is the Shuo Wang court meeting, and not only the regular officials participated, but all the officials above the fifth rank in the capital participated in the court meeting, and there were thousands of Beijing officials.

What Zhang Xingcheng said was equivalent to provoking this topic to thousands of Beijing officials.

There are twenty-four kings, but now there are only eight of the vassals.

Since the founding of the country, there have been many kings. Later, at the beginning of Zhenguan, after Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, he deprived a lot of the titles of the kings and kings at once. After dozens of kings, only six kings remained. In the end, Xiaochang Youliang and others were involved in the conspiracy of the king, so only Li Xiaogong, Li Shentong, Li Daozong and Li Daoming were left.

Among Li Yuan's adult sons, Jiancheng and Yuanji died in the Xuanwumen Incident, and their five sons were also killed. Xuanba and Li Zhiyun also died before the founding of the country.

The rest of the sons are all young.

The result is that until now, there have been no princes.

Jing Wang Yuanjing is the oldest among these uncles and nephews. He is fifteen years old. He is the sixth son of the Supreme Emperor. Yongzhou Mu and General You Xiaowei were later renamed Jingwang, worshiped as the governor of Jingzhou, and led them from afar.

His concubine Pei is the daughter of Pei Ji.

Although he had been conferred many official positions, Li Yuanjing, like other kings, had never actually held any official position, and had always lived in Chang'an, the capital city, only in name only.

······

Bashang.

Jingyugou, Cherry Blossom Manor.

The summer is scorching, but the emperor and the empress, Wei Wangtai, Jin Wangzhi and Princess Changle are here to escape the summer heat, go boating on the water, pick lotus and fish, so leisurely.

When Li Shimin got up, he even took a dip in the water.

At noon, the sun was shining brightly. Li Shimin sat under the cherry tree, eating iced plum soup, and watching the memorial. Although he was not in the capital, the emperor still asked Yousi to send the memorial to see him off, so that the emperor could keep abreast of the dynamics of the court at any time.

After reading several memorials in succession, the emperor looked unhappy.

"Pass the decree, return to the palace early tomorrow morning!"

Li Shimin was very dissatisfied with the sudden wind that caused the kings to surrender.

Early the next morning, taking advantage of the coolness of the early morning, Sheng Jia returned to Beijing.

As soon as he returned to Chang'an, the emperor immediately summoned the princes and prime ministers to discuss matters in the palace.

"What do you think about the discussion of the feudal kingdom?"

The waiter Wei Zheng stepped forward very bluntly, "Since the eight kings have been crowned in Yuanfu, they are adults. According to the system, they should be the kingdom of the vassal. There is no reason to stay in the capital."

And Zhongshuling Xiao Yu also spoke immediately, "Your Majesty previously drafted the system of feudal feudalism, now that the eight kings have come of age, you can order them to be feudal vassals."

"Wuji?"

"Your Majesty, I also believe that the eight kings can be ordered to become a vassal state."

"Xuan Ling?"

"Be the fan."

······

All the prime ministers were in favor of the eight kings being the feudal vassals. The reason was that this was done in accordance with the imperial court system, and since it was formulated, it should be followed.

Especially Xiao Yu, who was the first to advocate the hereditary enfeoffment, believed that it was just a good opportunity to let the eight adult princes become feudal vassals, setting an example of Yongzhen hereditary.

"Then let's talk about this feudal matter!"

Li Shimin was a little helpless, but after thinking about it, he said, "Let's start with King Wei."

The first king of Wei in the Tang Dynasty was Li Xuanba. He was Li Yuan's third son, Li Shimin's mother and younger brother. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, he was posthumously named King Wei and posthumously named Huai. At the beginning, Li Tai, the second son of Li Shimin, succeeded him, and he was specially granted the title of Li Taiwei King, plus Zhu Guo.

However, after Li Shimin ascended the throne, he let Li Tai return to the clan, so he changed from the clan to Li Baoding, the son of Li Qiong, the king of Xiping, as the successor, and he was still named the king of Wei.

The two successors were all super-specified, not as the heir king, but directly as the prince.

Li Baoding belongs to the offshoot of the clan, and is Li Shimin's nephew. Li Shimin has no feelings for this nephew. At the beginning, he also wanted Li Tai to return to the clan, so he picked another nephew from the clan to succeed his third brother.

"Your Majesty, according to the previously established hereditary system, all kings are appointed governors, and heroes are appointed governors. They are all entrusted to the frontiers, so as to open up the frontiers and expand the land, and protect the frontiers." Xiao Yu is a firm advocate of the hereditary system. Very positive about it.

Li Shimin asked for a big map, "Where should I seal?"

Hou Junji looked at the huge map, looked for the location of Liuqiu Island on it, and saw the big island opposite Fuzhou, "Your Majesty, I heard that Wei Gong Qin Lang recently demonstrated his power on the East China Sea, and led Xinjian The Third Fleet of the Chinese Navy made an expedition to Liuqiu Island, destroyed the Fanba Society on the island, captured more than 12,000 people, and set up a new Liuqiu Prefecture, which is very remarkable."

He smiled sinisterly, "I think it would be good if Duke Wei conquered Liuqiu Island in the East China Sea and let King Wei seal Yongzhen."

Duke Wei, King Wei.

Li Shimin's eyes also turned to the island of Haidong. He also knew about Qin Lang's attack on Liuqiu Island.

He hesitated, but did not object.

Anyway, this King of Wei, Li Baoding, is not close at all, he is just offering incense to his brother. Haidong Liuqiu Island only has some weak island barbarians. If Li Baoding is allowed to seal the feudal island, there is no need to worry that he will not be able to keep it. some type of.

"What do you guys think? Prince?"

Chengqian was named, and said sternly, "I think Liuqiu Prefecture is a good fief for King Wei."

"That's good, then I will enshrine the king of the vassal guard in Liuqiuzhou in the East China Sea, and grant Liuqiuzhou the hereditary governor, and Xu's descendants will inherit hereditary replacements, and Pingfan will be forever in town."

"Next, let's discuss the feudal kingdom of Chu King Li Linggui."

The monarchs and ministers made gestures with the map, and finally chose the corner near the Liaohe River in the northeast of Liaoxi and bordering Khitan, which is the most northeast part of the empire at this time.

"Li Linggui, king of Chu, was granted the feudal feudal clan in Yanjin Prefecture, western Liaoning. He was appointed the hereditary governor of Yanjin Prefecture, and Xu's descendants will inherit hereditary replacements, and Pingfan will be held forever!"

Li Yuanjing, king of Jing, was enfeoffed in Weizhou (Li County), Jiannan Road, Li Yuanchang, King of Han, was enfeoffed in Xiuzhou (Lijiang), Yunnan Dao, and Li Yuanheng, King Feng, was enfeoffed in Bozhou (Zunyi), Qianzhong Road.

"Wu Wangke," Li Shimin hesitated. After all, this is his own son, but he has sealed several brothers and nephews before, and there is no reason why his own son should not be named. "Wu Wangke granted Tianzhou (Baise), Guangxi Province."

"Wei Wang, Wei Wang."

Li Shimin looked at the map several times. His eyes swept from Liaoxi to Hetao, from Saibei to Longyou, from Jiannan to Yunnan, then to Guizhou, Guangxi, and finally to Guangnan, but he was still reluctant to leave. Determination, these frontiers are too wild and remote.

"Wei Wang sealed Tanzhou!" The emperor finally looked at Changsha.

As a result, Wei Zheng immediately stood up to object, "Since Your Majesty said earlier that all the kings and heroes are entrusted to the frontier lands, Tanzhou is not a frontier land. Changsha, where Tanzhou is located, has been an important place in the Central Plains since ancient times."

Xiao Yu also stood up to object, thinking that if the emperor entrusted Wei Wangtai to Changsha, it would be a bad start, and if the emperor entrusted all his favorite princes to the Central Plains, it would be the beginning of the collapse of the enfeoffment system.

"My minister, please entrust the King of Wei in Huiye Prefecture (Kangding) in Jiannan."

Li Shimin saw that this was already deeply barren, and it was completely the territory of the Eastern Qiang people. It was not under the real control of the Tang Dynasty at all, so he shook his head quickly.

"It can be sealed in Yizhou!" Xiao Yu said.

Li Shimin saw that it was further south than Huiye Prefecture, but the court of Huiye Prefecture had a little more control over it, but this is also the territory of the Southwest Yi. The Southwest Yizhou has been in trouble for the past two years, and he shook his head quickly. , reluctant to part with.

"Wuji?" Li Shimin's head hurt, so he had to ask his wife and elder brother, Sun Wuji, for help. After all, he was also Li Tai's biological uncle, so he couldn't bear to see his nephew sent to that barren wilderness!