Chongzhen Chat Group

I kept talking until the three feudal princes felt their mouths were dry and they really didn’t want to talk anymore. This is the first time in my life that I have encountered this situation, and it is so welcome!

Emperor Chongzhen had been listening and felt that the three vassal princes had almost finished speaking, so he stopped free questioning. Then, he looked at the many vassal kings of all ages below and said: "The vassal king's enfeoffment overseas is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty and the vassal king. It can be said to be a win-win situation! Therefore, I plan to, in the next twenty years, Seal out all the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, including my son."

Looking at the eyes that were looking at him, he knew what these vassal kings were most concerned about, so he continued: "As for where each vassal king will be granted, it is difficult to say for the time being. After all, as far as the vassal princes' palaces are concerned, there is no Those who have the ability to conquer the vassal state. Therefore, I have decided to follow the model of King Tang, King Fu and others. Do you have any objections to this?"

The emperor was right. The princes looked at each other and responded in unison: "I have no objection!"

After finishing speaking, these feudal kings hesitated to speak, and looked at the other feudal kings, as if they wanted others to mention it first.

Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew what they wanted to ask, but he did not say it immediately. He just nodded and two servants pushed a screen to the vassal kings and unfolded it. There was a map hanging on the screen. The "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms" drawn by Li Zhizao, the young minister of Taipu Temple.

As soon as the feudal kings saw it, they immediately focused on this map. Their eyes moved, looking here and there, looking at them as if they were looking at a cake, and these feudal kings were thinking about which piece to eat!

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly thought of something in the textbooks of later generations. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers of various countries were looking at China's map to divide their spheres of influence. Later, a cartoon called "Current Situation Map" was published to satirize this matter.

Ah, what a mistake, now it’s Ming Dynasty dividing people’s territory, sin, sin!

Emperor Chongzhen was thinking in his mind, but his expression didn't change. It was obvious that he didn't care. In other words, instead of letting others carve up your own territory as in the original history, it is better to be stronger now and carve up other people's territory!

At least, today's Ming Dynasty is the most powerful country on earth in every aspect! And now, there are still many places on the earth where primitive and backward tribes live, and they need the Ming Dynasty to liberate them!

Hey, it seems that the great powers from another dimension would also use this reason, right?

After thinking for a while, Emperor Chongzhen didn't think of anything, so he stopped thinking about it. No matter what, as the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, I have to be responsible for the people of Ming Dynasty, that’s all!

After all the vassal kings looked at it for a while, he stood up and walked down, came to the screen, then looked at the vassal king who had taken a few steps back and said: "This world map is probably accurate. Now... "

As he spoke, he began to point it out to the feudal king.

"This is the Tang Kingdom, this is the Blessing Kingdom, and this is the Benefit Kingdom!" At this point, Emperor Chongzhen pointed to Laos and said, "For now, I have received a request from the people of Nanzhang to entrust the Ming Dynasty to the vassal king. Therefore, I have decided that the next place to be divided into vassal kings will be Nanzhang."

After hearing this, King Fu was obviously a little disappointed. Before that, he had been thinking about whether this place could be brought to Fuguo. He came to the capital this time with this purpose in mind and wanted to see the emperor alone to talk about this matter. But unexpectedly, the emperor had already said it in public that Nanzhang's plans were non-negotiable.

But he didn't know that in principle, the territory of the vassal states that were enfeoffed near the Ming Dynasty could not be too large!

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he saw that the eyes of many vassal kings began to glow green, and he continued: "But in the final analysis, Nanzhang was defeated by the imperial court sending troops. The cost of sending troops still has to be paid by the vassal king. Come and pay.”

After finishing speaking, he spoke to Nanyang again: "Next, in order to solve the risks of benefiting the country and blessing the country, the imperial court is likely to have a decisive battle with the Western Yi in Nanyang. In this way, there should be a few more enfeoffments in Nanyang. The vassal king. As for how many, I haven’t decided yet. And then here…”

Having said this, Emperor Chongzhen pointed to Africa and North and South America and said: "These places are a bit far away from the Ming Dynasty. But they are all good places. The Western Yi people had sent people to conquer the local indigenous tribes decades ago. .”

Then, he also gave a brief introduction to the Lower West, that is, the situation in Europe, as well as the situation of the Mughal Dynasty, the Persian Dynasty, etc., almost covering the global situation. Then he turned back to the throne and sat down. He looked at the vassal kings below and said: "For places that are too far away, we don't need to consider them for the time being. We will wait until the time is right. For now, it is mainly the Nanyang side that can be enfeoffed. I have just said that the first one is Nanzhang, which is close to the Ming Dynasty and backed by the mother country, so it can get strong support from the imperial court."

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen did not need to explain this situation. These vassal kings also had eyes. For them, the sooner they are enfeoffed, the sooner they can enjoy the power of the true vassal king.

In addition, there are many benefits. For example, if the enfeoffment is carried out earlier, more people can be recruited in the country. Otherwise, they will be left over by other vassals, and the cost will definitely be much higher. Also, if the feudal states are entrusted earlier, domestic resources can be utilized earlier, such as exchange of supplies, and the vassal state can become prosperous sooner.

The most critical point is that there are only so many places close to the Ming Dynasty. If it is too late, it will have to be divided far away. For example, in North and South America, Africa, etc., these vassal kings are actually not happy, and they feel as if they have gone to the end of the world.

Therefore, these vassal kings looked at Emperor Chongzhen eagerly, hoping that Emperor Chongzhen's next words would be to entrust them to Nanzhang.

However, the reason why Emperor Chongzhen wanted to convene this clan meeting was not without purpose. Just listen to what he said above: "But you are all the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty. I don't like to favor one over the other. It's unfair to directly designate who comes first and who comes last, isn't it?"

After hearing this, many feudal kings were a little disappointed, but they also had to admit that this seemed to be the case. In the public square, when you are an emperor, you must not be too partial! The royal family also needs face.

In this case, with so many vassal kings, one of them must become a vassal. Who should we choose?

Is it drawing lots? This was the unanimous guess among these vassal kings.

However, they guessed wrong again, and heard Emperor Chongzhen continue to say: "I don't want to hide anything from you. Some things can be said one way and another. The people of Nanzhang asked the Ming Dynasty to entrust the vassal kings to the past. In fact, it was still the case. The imperial army went to fight it down. All the ministers should know this!"

The people of Nanzhang asked the Ming Dynasty to entrust vassal kings. These are actually just excuses on the surface. These people in Wenhua Hall are not stupid enough to really believe this excuse. When can ordinary people be able to take charge of this kind of thing?

Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen said this, in order to show that he was mature or not so naive, the vassal kings all nodded in agreement.

Wen Tiren, Cao Huachun and others who had been watching the situation in the palace glanced at each other and knew that these vassal kings had fallen into the emperor's trap.

Sure enough, seeing that all the vassal kings had confirmed, Emperor Chongzhen said more seriously: "Please don't think that there is more money in the treasury now. In fact, it is just the opposite. Nowadays, there are still many natural disasters due to floods in the south and drought in the north. And in the north We have just fought with the Mongols, and there is still a war in the south, including with the Tang State. I have sent troops to garrison the Bengal Province that was newly conquered by the Tang State. Also, I am also thinking of implementing free compulsory education across the country for three years, so that All children in the Ming Dynasty can have Shu Nian. But all these things require money, and I am short of money!"

After hearing this, many vassal kings had a clear understanding in their hearts. If the predictions were good, the emperor was afraid that he would make money.

They were not mistaken. Emperor Chongzhen followed immediately and changed the topic: "Therefore, the military expenses for conquering Nanzhang, the pensions for the sacrificed soldiers, etc. still need to be paid by the vassal kings. In this regard, the other vassals that have already been enfeoffed must be paid. The same is true for the three vassal states."

When he said this, his voice rose a little and said: "Therefore, I have decided that whichever vassal king pays more money will be the first to take control of the southern vassal. By doing this, I can be considered worthy of being on the front line. Fighting together is a soldier who fights for the nobles, and it is considered a fair move for the nobles!"

Hearing this, many feudal kings couldn't help but look at each other. Many people are shouting in their hearts: "Your Majesty, we want to draw lots, we would rather draw lots, this is only fair! Your Majesty, we want to draw lots..."

However, in the end, they just thought about this voice from the bottom of their hearts.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he stopped staying in the Wenhua Hall. How could the emperor personally preside over a price reduction like an auction? The chief assistant, the ceremonial supervisor, the eunuch, and the eunuch are all here, so they can just watch the feudal king bid.

In the future, this matter will become a customization.

When the imperial court sends troops to conquer a certain area, the feudal kings will be entrusted with it. The feudal kings will bid for it, and the one with the highest price will win. The imperial court will then conduct training in governing the country.

This training includes managing the vassal state, dealing with the relationship between the people of the Ming Dynasty and the indigenous people, and developing the vassal state's economy (of course, this must be guided by the court based on the actual situation), how to communicate with the mother country, and how to handle the relationship with the mother country. etc.

At least during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the enfeoffed vassal states must be unified and controlled by the Ming Dynasty. No matter what aspects, tangible or intangible, they were firmly in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. As for what to do after death, the foundation has been laid here anyway. If the descendants are incompetent, there is nothing we can do.

As a person who has traveled through time from later generations, I would not be so naive as to think that a certain system can last for eternity!

It lasted for about two hours before Cao Huachun returned to the palace to report to Emperor Chongzhen that the auction had come to a conclusion. The highest bidder was the King of Zhou who was sealed in Kaifeng.

Among the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, King Zhou was an old vassal king. The first King of Zhou was the fifth son of Zhu Yuanzhang. After so many generations of accumulation, his wealth was naturally one of the most powerful among all the vassal kings.

Of course, there was more than just King Zhou among the established vassal kings. However, Zhu Gongzhen, the current king of Zhou, was not a stingy person.

In its original history, Kaifeng was attacked by King Chuang several times. It was Zhu Gongzhen who used his own money as military pay. According to historical records, Zhu Gongzhen personally took out 500,000 yuan from the treasury to pay the guards and soldiers. He also offered a reward of 50 yuan for killing a thief. He also invested his own money to build Kaifeng City to defend against bandits. It was precisely for this reason that King Chuang was unable to capture Kaifeng several times. Finally, he became so desperate that he dug up the Yellow River and flooded the city of Kaifeng before he was able to "defeat" it.

Of course, this is a matter of another dimension. In this dimension, Li Zicheng did not become the King of Chuang. He surrendered to the imperial court when he was still a general, and also volunteered to go to the far north to declare power for the Ming Dynasty, killing and driving away many Tsarist Russians. Now, with the United States, he is escorting the spoils of Mobei back to Huacheng.

For the vassal king, although they could mortgage the vassal's valuable things to the Ming Construction Bank for loans when they became a vassal, they would still have to pay interest. Therefore, some of their money was left to be used as start-up capital in the vassal state, and it was all spent when it was impossible to bid.

But regardless of this, you can still get the most money by using this bidding method.

As Emperor Chongzhen said, he was indeed short of money. As for compulsory education, now it is only because illegal funds have been used to provide compulsory education, which only benefits a small number of people. If we want to truly implement compulsory education for children across the country, the money needed will be gone. It is far from too much.

If we have three years of compulsory education, then four, five, six years... Anyway, no matter what, Ming Dynasty must have as much reading, literacy, and popularization of scientific and technological knowledge as possible!

The next day, the king of Tang hurriedly submitted his resignation and rushed back to Tang Dynasty. Before leaving, he even asked for an audience.

"Your Majesty, what should be done with Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire?" King Tang was unsure and confirmed to Emperor Chongzhen when he was making a speech in the palace.

Emperor Chongzhen heard this and did not take it seriously. He immediately replied: "Then Shah Jahan must not have the ability to send troops to take back Bengal, at least for the time being. Therefore, you can rest assured."

At this point, he pondered for a moment and then continued: "As for the matter of sending troops to the Tang Dynasty, it is just an excuse to say that he was bewitched by King Long and he wanted to expose it. That would be too easy for him. You can reply and ask Shah Jahan to compensate. As for As for the amount, feel free to ask for it from a large source. You can find your own reasons. Casualties of soldiers, damage to farmland, whatever, it's just an excuse. Just remember, the amount must be so big that Shah Jahan can't come up with the money. So. First, if he doesn’t pay compensation first, why should he let Ming withdraw his troops?”

Hearing this, King Tang opened his mouth slightly. It turns out that it can still be done like this!

Just as he was thinking about it, Emperor Chongzhen gave another explanation.

The next chapter is at night