Father can be an enemy to the country

"Isn't the prince an exiled monk?" Dao Yan blinked his triangular eyes and asked pitifully.

Facing His Highness the King of Chu, who had no access to oil or salt, he was really at the end of his rope.

"How could it be exile?" Zhu Zhen said calmly: "You just said that there is no chance for you to make trouble at the moment... I understand the implication."

As he said that, he opened the window and said to the stars in the sky: "I have nothing to say to others, so we might as well open the skylight and speak openly. What you are thinking is that my father relies heavily on the vassal king. Just look at the history books and you will see. You know, there will be a day when the vassal state will be reduced. By then, you will have a place to be useful, right?"

"..." Dao Yan's expression changed several times, and after a long moment he nodded and said, "Yes, the problem of the Empress Dowager is not in the current generation, but in the second and third generations."

"You understand this, I understand it, my father and brother understand it," Zhu Zhen said calmly: "Do you know what tacit understanding we have reached?"

"What tacit understanding?" Daoyan asked.

"After we are done with the kingship of the world, follow the story of King Wu of Zhou and enfeoff our brothers outside the territory, so that we can continue to expand the territory for the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Zhen said lightly. There is no need to keep this matter secret, but should let more people know. This can avoid many troubles.

"That's it." Dao Yan looked surprised at first, and then sighed in shock: "I thought there was no solution to this problem, but I didn't expect that there is such a solution..."

With his wisdom, he naturally figured out the benefits of such an arrangement in an instant.

First of all, for a arrogant feudal king like Lao Liu, this is a good place to go. Overseas, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. You can claim kingship and hegemony, form your own unification, and enjoy the power of ritual, music, conquest, and life and death.

In addition, although Yunnan is not yet settled and Beiyuan is still here, the overall situation of unification of the world has been decided, the swords and guns are in storage, and the day when horses are released to Nanshan is not far away. How to deal with these proud soldiers who have been fighting for half their lives will be another big problem.

If they could be allowed to follow the feudal lord and continue to go abroad to fight, no matter how you put it, it would be much better than eating the rabbit to death.

Furthermore, the absence of the vassal king in China would not threaten the emperor's rule, but it could also serve as a real barrier to the country and keep the Ming Dynasty away from border troubles.

Finally, the vassal kings were relatively independent and were responsible for their own financial affairs. If they had the ability, they would expand their territories; if they didn't, they would tighten their belts without weakening China.

Although there are some hidden dangers in the vassal king's enfeoffment overseas, such as weak central control, the vassal king is nominally a vassal, and is actually independent. But the emperor owns the entire territory of China, and the vassal princes live in a corner overseas, which cannot threaten the central rule.

And on the contrary, if the vassal king wanted to establish a foothold in a foreign land surrounded by foreign races and rule for a long time, it was inseparable from the legitimacy granted by the emperor and the support of the motherland behind him, so the relationship between the two parties was easy to straighten out.

~~

"There are two types of unsolvable problems in this world. One is that there is really no way. For example, making the sun rise in the west. The other is that you just think there is no way." Faced with Dao Yan's sigh, Lao Liu smiled and said: "Sometimes you stand a little higher and the pattern is bigger. Many problems that you think are unsolvable can actually be solved."

"This idea is certainly amazing." Dao Yan sighed: "But it is even more amazing that you brothers can accept this arrangement."

To put it bluntly, for the imperial court, this meant packing up unsolvable problems and throwing them abroad, leaving them to fend for themselves. So for the court, it is certainly excellent.

But for the enfeoffed vassal kings, this was a great test and tribulation. Only those who are ambitious, capable, and able to endure hardships are willing to leave their comfort zone and accept this challenge with unknown prospects.

"It's unfortunate. Each of my brothers is a ruthless person and they all want to create a family business on their own." Lao Liu said with a smile.

"What about the brothers?" Daoyan asked.

"Then it's not up to them." Lao Liu smiled irresponsibly: "Who makes them younger brothers?"

"Okay..." Daoyan nodded and asked as if accepting his fate: "So Annan is the first stop to expand the territory?"

"Master, what you said is wrong." Lao Liu immediately corrected him: "Annan has been a part of China since ancient times. It was just split away by the rebels who took advantage of the weakness of the Song Dynasty."

As he spoke, he waved his arms vigorously and said: "We, the Ming Dynasty, 'driving out the Tartars and restoring China', shouldn't we regain our homeland of Jiaozhou?"

"Of course I should." Dao Yan nodded and exhaled a long breath: "If I can regain the homeland of Jiaozhou for the country, my life will not be in vain. But Annan is far away from the southwest border, with high mountains and dense forests, miasma, and It has been independent for a long time and it may not be easy to regain it.”

"Can easy things still show the master's ability?" Lao Liu put a top hat on Dao Yan, then found a file bag that had been prepared long ago from the file cabinet, handed it to him and said:

"This is the latest situation in Annan collected by the personnel of the Municipal Shipping Department through the convenience of trade. Master, you can take a look at it first, and then we can talk."

"Yes." Daoyan took it with both hands, pulled out the documents inside and looked at it carefully.

To put it simply, Annan was in a very turbulent and weak stage at this time.

First, ten years ago, Yuzong of the Chen Dynasty who ruled Annan died without an heir. Before his death, his younger brother Yang Rili succeeded him to the throne. But Yang Rili not only ignored political affairs and indulged in pleasure, he even wanted to change his surname back to Yang.

As a result, a coup was triggered and he was deposed by his father-in-law Chen Shuming. Then his father-in-law became King Annan in the third year of Hongwu.

Chen Shuming reported the matter to the Ming Dynasty, hoping to be canonized. But Boss Zhu thought, "Annan Chen Shuming was treacherous and deceitful, and destroyed his king in order to gain wealth and honor. This is unjust, how can it be tolerated?" This is to appease the rebellious ministers and get along with the thieves! ’

Therefore, he refused to canonize Chen Shuming, which made his position very embarrassing. He had to abdicate and apologize, allowing his younger brother to inherit the throne, and then he was canonized by the Ming Dynasty.

But that was just to deal with the Celestial Empire. These Annan people closed their doors and had another face. Chen Shuming changed his name to Chen Hao and pretended to be the "Supreme Emperor", and still controlled the affairs of Annan.

But his ability was really mediocre. During his time in power, there were frequent rebellions in the country. Even the capital of Shenglong was captured by the monk Fan Shiwen.

Externally, he was defeated steadily by the Champa Kingdom. Even his younger brother Chen Ruizhong died on the battlefield with the Champa country, and his body was not recovered. This happened in the ninth year of Hongwu...

"However, the Annan people have always told lies. In their memorial to the court, they falsely claimed that Chen Ruizhong accidentally fell into the water and drowned while patrolling the border. Please ask my father to canonize his son Chen Riwei as the king of Annan." After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, he added Said to Dao Yan:

"Chen Riwei is very friendly to the Ming Dynasty. Not only did he actively pay tribute, he also asked the Celestial Empire to send eminent monks to Annan to teach the Dharma. This matter has been approved by my father, and I am ready to recommend the master to take up this position."

Dao Yan said as he read the information with a smile on his face: "Now, please use this information, master, to analyze the situation in Annan and how we should take advantage of this opportunity..."