At the same time as the fierce battle of the Tang River, Zhu Yunwen summoned Liu Jing, the second son of Liu Bowen, who was the governor of the Guwang Mansion, Feng Sheng entered the Yehuling, and all the guards behind the mountain surrendered, Feng Shengyao soldiers were under the Xuanfu City, and the King of the Valley was afraid and ran south to Beijing, Liu Jing could not be persuaded to obey, so he had to enter Beijing together. After entering Beijing, Zhu Yunwen met with the king of the valley, comforted him and left him in Beijing. Liu Jing is forty-five years old this year, likes to talk about soldiers, and his military strategy has been praised by Zhu Yuanzhang: "Zhen Bo Wen'er." After he entered Beijing, he learned that the situation in the north had changed greatly, and it was dizzying, Feng Sheng and King Zhou were annexed by King Yan, and then Geng Bingwen died, and Ping'an and Sheng Yong divided their troops into east and west. After careful consideration, Liu Jing wrote a book and offered ten strategies to quell the rebellion, Zhu Yunwen took a look at it, thought it was good, and decided to summon him.

There is another reason why Zhu Yunwen summoned Liu Jing, that is, he was very curious about his father Liu Bowen, Liu Bowen was a legendary figure in later generations, and there were "three points of Zhuge Liang in the world, and Liu Bowen who ruled the world." "It is said that like Zhuge Liang, Liu Bowen is also said to be proficient in Qimen Dunjia and astronomical mathematics, and can call the wind and rain to scatter beans into soldiers. When he heard Zhu Yunwen comment on his father, Liu Jing retorted with a smile: "Your Majesty, these are all rumors, and they are not to be believed. The eighth ancestor of the Emperor Yanqing of the Northern Song Dynasty, tired of officials to the town of the Navy Festival envoy, died in the difficulty of Jingkang, although the seventh ancestor Guangshi Gong was the fourth general of the Southern Song Dynasty, but the Southern Song Dynasty Gou'an, and finally was dismissed from the military power, and then all of them were heirlooms with poems and books, arrested the father, the old Yuan Jinshi, although there was a heart to help the people, but offended the powerful and had to return to the countryside, fortunately met the first emperor, and then the ambition of life. ”

"The will of the father, as the sages said: 'Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, continue to learn for the saints, and open peace for all generations.'" My father advocated putting public opinion first and ruling the country by law, and the law could be relaxed, but the law enforcement must be strict, and those who broke the law should not be left to chance. ”

"Although my father was famous for his military strategy, he didn't do it as a capability, and my brother was known for his literary behavior, but unfortunately he died at the hands of Hu Dang. As for the subordinates, the ancestor taught him according to his aptitude, only seeking to benefit the country and the people, and lived up to what he had learned in his life. ”

“......”

Looking at Liu Jing's eloquent appearance, Zhu Yunwen was very happy in his heart, he found that Liu Jing was not afraid of him, this is a feeling that he has not found for a long time, even Wang Du, Xie Jin and others are cautious when they see him, not to mention Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and others who have been hit repeatedly.

However, Zhu Yunwen also has some regrets, if Liu Bowen can really know 500 years in advance and 500 years later, then he will definitely tell his son, then he can be more sure of doing things by himself. But after thinking about it, he smiled dumbly, if that's the case, what are you doing so desperately? Wouldn't it be simple to wait for Zhu Di to enter the capital, and then abdicate the throne in Shuntian?

After Liu Jing finished speaking, Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "Duke Berwyn is worthy of being a model of civil servants and a pillar of the country." Now the Yanshu people rebelled, between the ten months, the surrounding areas of Beiping rebelled, and the Yanshu people had more than 200,000 soldiers, looking at the Central Plains. I had no choice but to send troops to quell the rebellion, but in March, the Duke of Lieguo was killed in battle, the loyal marquis, the righteous marquis, and the uncle of Juyong were all killed, and the senior generals of the imperial court, Gu Cheng and others, surrendered to the enemy, and almost surrendered the 300,000 troops of Zhending to the Yanshu people. Every time I think about this, I can't sleep and eat, and now the situation, can Zhong Jing teach me? ”

Liu Jing hesitated, got up and knelt down and said: "Although Zhong Jing is not talented, but since he has been consulted by the emperor, today's ministers are willing to express their hearts directly, if the emperor does not like it, he can punish the sins of the ministers, and I hope it will not affect his family." ”

Zhu Yunwen hurriedly got up, helped Liu Jing up, and said with a smile: "Zhong Jing, you can speak freely today, and I will forgive you for your innocence!" ”

"Your Majesty."

Liu Jing got up, sat down and said: "Your Majesty, the Yanshu people started in Beiping, although they have more than 200,000 soldiers, but the land is narrow and the people are sparse, and the grain and grass cannot be self-sufficient. The minister earnestly hoped that the imperial court would not be impatient and give time to the front-line generals, so that the emperor could sit back and wait for the good news to come. ”

"Now the Yanshu people seem to have strong soldiers, but they are in the place of death, the emperor is shining with candles, and has formed a siege on all sides, Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei, has come to threaten Juyong Pass, Changxing Marquis Geng Xuan has threatened Yongping from Shanhaiguan, Yongyi Bo'an has threatened Baoding according to Zhending, and the right general Sheng Yong has threatened Cangzhou and Zhigu to threaten Tongzhou."

"As long as the front-line generals don't make too many mistakes, there will be good news between October and October. As long as there is a victory along the way, the Yanshu people can only be trapped in Beiping and cannot attack. Everyone has the heart of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and when they are in a desperate situation, their subordinates will inevitably deviate from morality, and then the emperor only needs to pardon his crimes and make him turn against him, then Beiping is not enough to be peaceful. ”

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Since I ascended the throne, I have been walking on thin ice every day, lest I be ashamed of my trust to the first emperor due to improper governance. Although all the uncles are not inferior, I have not dealt with them; The king of Yan had a bad intention, but I only planned to move him, and I also gave him a choice, if he was willing to continue to defend the country, I would move him to the northwest to deal with the growing strength of Timur; If he was willing to cultivate, I would move him to Nanchang, but why did he insist on rebelling? ”

Liu Jing was stunned for a moment, a little surprised, according to common sense, the emperor should ask his absolute confidant about this kind of thing, but he has not seen the emperor for a long time, and he can't talk about familiarity. However, he was secretly happy in his heart, which showed that the emperor had high expectations for himself, and this question must be answered well.

So he pondered for a while, hugged his fists and said: "In all dynasties, the prince is not allowed to grant people with different surnames, because the prince is respected, only the son of heaven is first-class, and he is called a lonely widow on weekdays, and he is arrogant, and he is more than the emperor. ”

"Therefore, since the Han Dynasty and below, when the dynasty was founded, most of the clans were used, and the princes often supported the army to tear the ground, and once the dynasty was stable, the imperial court would cut the domain, and this process often had to be solved by war."

"In fact, the so-called cutting of the feudal domain is the imbalance of power in the country and the measure of the imperial court to take back power."

"Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty cut the domain, not because the countries want to rebel, in essence, all the countries were forced to rebel by Emperor Jing, but it also has a last resort, there is a threat from the Xiongnu in the north, but the army of the people in the south is not under the control of the imperial court, and even only knows the vassal king, not the Son of Heaven. In this way, the Han court faced a two-sided attack, once the Xiongnu invaded the border, and all the countries rebelled at the same time, wouldn't Emperor Jing let anyone slaughter him? ”

"It's like the Northern Song Dynasty destroying the Southern Tang Dynasty, 'Next to the couch, how can you allow others to snore?' ”

"However, dynasties that did not establish clans in history, such as Ying Qin and Cao Wei, once they changed and did not have the wings of the clan, they quickly perished, shouldn't they learn from it?" Zhu Yunwen asked.

"Therefore, the royal family is a double-edged sword, if the royal family is lonely and tall, and the clan has no size soldiers, once there is a change, the world will be overturned; If the clan is strong and the imperial court does not restrict it, there will inevitably be a situation in which the Eastern Zhou countries will fight, although Zhou Tianzi is still there, but it is only like a county order. ”

"So the ideal situation is that the royal family tolerates the existence of the clan, just don't let it be too powerful, but it's easier said than done, and no dynasty has done it in all dynasties. The reason is very simple, the Son of Heaven inherits from father to son, even if his son is not as good as his nephew, will there be a king who is willing to give up his son and let his nephew ascend the throne? On the contrary, the king will suppress his nephew so that he cannot threaten his son's position. ”

"So the lesser of two evils, the royal family finally chose to suppress the clan and protect its unique position."

"You're saying it's all a father-son inheritance? As long as the meritocracy is elected, the dynasty will not perish? ”

"The emperor must not have such thoughts," Liu Jing was shocked, and frequently shook his hand and said: "The strong is the king, which will only make the country more turbulent, and the inheritance of father and son is the way to long-term peace and stability of the country." ”

Zhu Yunwen shook his head and found that Liu Jing actually didn't say anything, although his views were sharp, but the conclusions were not new. He thought for a moment and said, "Zhong Jing, then how to arrange the clan?" ”

"The minister agrees with the emperor's treatment of the acting king, which not only completes the royal family's affection, but also ensures the long-term peace and stability of the country."

"Hehe," Zhu Yunwen smiled bitterly: "But, Zhong Jing, there is a special reason for the relocation of the king on behalf of the king, and other vassal kings may not be willing to do so, for example, my younger brother King Wu is unwilling to go to Taiwan, and he also found his mother to cry, so I have to give up." ”

Liu Jing got up, knelt on the ground, and said: "The emperor's kindness and generosity is really the blessing of the people of the Ming Dynasty, but Confucius said: 'The people can make it, but they can't make it known.'" Although the clan is noble, it is also a subject of the emperor, and the emperor should make a decision immediately, and must not be confused by family affection, leaving hidden dangers for future generations. ”

"Now that the founding ministers and military generals no longer exist, the policy of the imperial court has lost its continuity, and the former father created the Wei system, but the father also said that it is only a temporary law, and it needs to be changed by the benevolent monarchs and virtuous ministers of later generations. But now the important ministers of the court have not experienced the wind and rain, either they are conservative, or they change the law lightly, and the ministers are very worried about the emperor. ”

"The emperor is a promising king, and the ministers and generals need to be carefully selected and carefully cultivated, otherwise the ministers dare to assert that the Ming Dynasty will soon lose the bloody nature of the founding of the country and become conservative."

Zhu Yunwen was really suppressed, he found that this Liu Jing really dared to say anything, but what he said was proved in later generations, which fully shows that he is a talent. The design of the Ming system required the emperor to be a strong man, which was precisely unguaranteed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen picked up Liu Jing, who was kneeling on the ground, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Zhong Jing, I want to teach you a bachelor's degree in Hanlin and participate in national politics, are you willing?" ”

"Thank you, Emperor Longen."