"This ......" Zhu Yunwen began to hesitate, what the two henchmen said made sense, who should he listen to, he lost his mind for a while, and began to fall into a deep groan.

Huang Zicheng saw that Qi Tai's idea moved Zhu Yunwen, and he was very anxious, he didn't have to be with Qi Tai, but he felt that the strategy of cutting King Yan first was wrong, so he hurriedly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister opposes Lord Qi's opinion. At this moment, Chen suddenly remembered a story in the "Historical Records". ”

"Oh?" Zhu Yunwen's eyes lit up, he loves to read very much, and he also likes to discuss the gains and losses of the past dynasties with people of insight, which is also something that every aspiring young man likes to do, hearing Huang Zicheng mention the "Historical Records", knowing that he is going to quote the classics again, the interest in his heart suddenly hooked, with a kind smile on his face, and said with great interest: "Huang Aiqing remembered some story, I can't help but tell it to me and everyone." ”

Huang Zicheng raised his head, smiled slightly, with a hint of confidence on his face, and said slowly: "Emperor Qiqi, the minister remembered the story of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, who first sealed Yongya as the Marquis of Shi Fang after winning the world. ”

"Yongfang?" Zhu Yunwen was puzzled, Yongyan and King Yan were incompatible, how could Huang Zicheng pull the two of them together, frowned, and said with a blank face: "Huang Aiqing, I don't understand what you mean?" Can you elaborate? What does this tooth have to do with King Yan? ”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, please listen to the minister." Huang Zicheng smiled slightly, looked unfathomable, stood up straight, took his hands, and said: "After Han Gaozu came down to the world, because the generals were competing for merit, they didn't have time to seal the heroes for a while. One day, when he was walking with Zhang Liang, he found a group of generals under him whispering together, so he asked Zhang Liang, 'What are they talking about?' Zhang Liang said: "They are discussing how to rebel", and Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, was taken aback and hurriedly asked why. Zhang Liang said, they pinned their heads to the waistband of their trousers and followed you to rebel and fight the world, and now they are successful, and you have also become the emperor, but they have not given them a reward, and there are a lot of gossips among them, some say that you are deliberately holding on not to do this, so that you can monopolize the benefits, so they think that instead of being played by you for nothing, it is better to defect to other princes and kings, so that they can be mixed with officials. ”

Liu Bang felt scared at this time, these people are his subordinates are very brave and good at fighting, if they leave, the pillar of their country will be broken, when the time comes, once something happens, who will defend the country for him, so immediately to Zhang Liang to hear. Zhang Liang asked him rhetorically, "Who is the person Your Majesty hates the most in this life?" Liu Bang didn't think about it, and said categorically: "It's Yongya, this guy betrayed me and made me homeless for a while, I hate him the most, and everyone knows this." ’”

"Zhang Liang then hurriedly said: 'Then please ask Your Majesty to seal Yongya as a marquis first, so as to calm everyone's hearts.' Liu Bang was such a smart person, he immediately understood what he meant, so he first sealed Yongya as a marquis, and ordered the other people's rewards to be completed quickly and without delay. When everyone saw that Yongya had been sealed as a marquis, their hearts were also at ease, and they said: 'Even Yongya, a person who is hated by His Majesty, can be made a marquis, what are we afraid of? As a result, the situation in the Han Dynasty stabilized again. ”

"How similar it is today. Nowadays, there are more than 20 vassal kings of the first emperor, they all hold heavy power, strong power, especially the nine great kings in the north, a total of more than 800,000 border guards of our Ming Dynasty, the power is so strong, unprecedented in previous dynasties, if you want to weaken them, you have to take a cautious posture. ”

"Now that King Yan has no merits, he has not been praised by the imperial court, but has been cut first, what will this make the other vassal kings think? They will think: Even people like King Yan, who has no fault in the slightest, but have made great contributions, have been cut, can we still run? Based on this mentality, they will unite against the imperial court, and maybe they will rebel, and the situation facing the imperial court will be dangerous. ”

"And if we cut down those problematic vassal kings first, firstly, to punish the traitors and eliminate evil, we can gain the support of public opinion, and secondly, those vassal kings have already committed many illegal acts, and if they cut them, no one will have anything to say, and the other vassal kings will think that those vassal kings who have been cut down have done too much evil on weekdays, and have suffered retribution, and they have nothing to do with themselves, so that they will not have a fluctuating heart, and then go against the court out of fear."

"Wonderful, wonderful." Zhu Yunwen stood up unconsciously, and said several wonderful words in a row to praise Huang Zicheng's comments, but I didn't expect Mr. Huang, who has always specialized in esoteric scriptures, to talk about it so deeply this time, Zhu Yunwen was very pleased, Qi Tai was left to him by the emperor's grandfather, he did a good job, others will only say that the emperor's grandfather has the wisdom to know people, and will not praise him Zhu Yunwen.

But Huang Zicheng was personally recognized and promoted by him, and if he played well, it was enough to reflect the wisdom of the emperor today, so after hearing Huang Zicheng's thought-provoking discussion, Zhu Yunwen felt more face-saving, felt long-faced, and couldn't help but praise: "Huang Aiqing is really a man who has become a country." Mr. Fang, what do you think about this? ”

Fang Xiaoru stood up and owed to Zhu Yunwen, with a serious expression on his face, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister also agrees with Lord Huang's opinion, the so-called name is not right, and if it is not good, it will not be done." King Yan has no merits, but he was weakened first, and he can't be justified in terms of emotion and reason, which will make people all over the world laugh behind his back that the court is unreasonable and does not distinguish between right and wrong, which is very bad for His Majesty's wise image. ”

"Since this is the case, then I have decided to start with those problematic vassal kings, win the world's public opinion, and then completely solve the problem of vassal kings." Zhu Yunwen put his hands on his shoulders and said confidently and proudly, he seemed to see that he was about to become a saint of the ages who surpassed the ancients and surpassed the emperor's grandfather, and was admired by thousands of people like Emperor Wen of Han and Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and was praised by the ages.

"Your Majesty is wise, and your ministers obey your orders." Qi Tai saw that what Huang Zicheng said was clear-sighted, and Zhu Yunwen had made up his mind, knowing that it was impossible to change this matter, so he had to echo it with the other two ministers.

Zhu Yunwen stretched out his hand to help his three henchmen, but the joy on his face was gone, and he put on a worried look and an open expression again, and said, "Since you want to cut the domain, to what extent is it better?" Is it to cut their guards, or to cut their power? ”

Qi Tai is a relatively moderate vassal faction, he does not advocate overstimulating the vassal king, he just wants to make them not threaten the power of the imperial court, but he knows that after all the events that have happened in the past few days, he no longer has much say in the imperial court, especially compared to the two in front of him.

Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai are just the opposite in this regard, he is a more radical faction of cutting the domain, as Zhu Yunwen's old confidant, he has long witnessed the arrogance and lawlessness of the vassal kings, and their arrogant attitude towards Zhu Yunwen, who was only the grandson at the time, he has the heart to make the mistake of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is at the cost of his life, he stood up and made a gesture to Zhu Yunwen, and said angrily: "Your Majesty, the minister dares to suggest that those problematic vassal kings be abolished as concubines, and all their fiefs and powers will be taken back, The land belongs to Han. ”

Zhu Yunwen actually hated these arrogant and lawless vassal kings in his heart, but when he heard that he was going to abolish them as concubines all at once, he still chuckled in his heart, is this appropriate? couldn't help frowning and said, "This...... Isn't it a little too harsh? ”

But he saw Huang Zicheng suddenly kneel on the ground, straighten up, arch his hands, and generously plead to Zhu Yunwen, saying: "Your Majesty, there are two reasons why the minister dared to suggest that Your Majesty depose them as concubines. First, these vassal kings committed many lawlessness in the local area, bullied local officials, forcibly occupied people's houses, robbed people's women, and even wantonly killed the people, which caused great local anger against them. The subjects of the whole world are not fools, and they naturally know that the first emperor's treatment is just perfunctory to the people, and to put it bluntly, he still dotes on his son. If Your Majesty still deals with it lightly as before, I am afraid that the people of the world will still think that Your Majesty is perfunctory to them, and the people's will cannot be bullied. ”

"Okay, a good people's heart can't be bullied." Huang Zicheng's appetite for Zhu Yunwen made the young emperor can't help but admire, in his opinion, Huang Zicheng's words can be said to be to the point, and he can't help but praise loudly: "Huang Aiqing really has extraordinary knowledge." So why are you talking about the second one? ”

Huang Zicheng received Zhu Yunwen's encouragement, and the courage in his heart increased greatly, straightened his waist, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please let the minister be long-winded, the minister still wants to give His Majesty a historical story." ”

"Huh." Zhu Yunwen's face showed a very kind smile, he likes to discuss historical stories with people who have the opposite temper with him, not to mention that Huang Zicheng's insights just now are thought-provoking, and he is also happy to listen to Huang Zicheng's next high opinion, and said: "Huang Aiqing doesn't have to be like this, just say whatever you want, there are only three of us here today, you can say whatever you want." ”

Huang Zicheng bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, what the minister wants to tell this time is the story of Zhang Fei during the Three Kingdoms period." Zhang Fei has a short temper, loves to beat and scold the people around him, and after scolding, he unsuspectingly left them by his side to serve day and night, Liu Bei persuaded him many times, saying that he was the way to cause trouble, but Zhang Fei just didn't listen, and finally was separated by his head and went to Dongwu. When Liu Bei heard that Zhang Fei's envoy had come to report, he had already guessed that Zhang Fei had been killed, and only said: 'Oh, fly to death.' It seems that he had been prepared for his death. ”

"The current vassal kings are just like the situation back then, they originally regarded themselves as His Majesty's uncles and despised His Majesty. If Your Majesty cuts their power, they will definitely hold a grudge and may think of rebellion to retaliate against Your Majesty. And if you don't abolish them as concubines, continue to give them the feudal country, and give them an army, it is actually giving them the strength to rebel, so that Your Majesty is like Zhang Fei, who has obviously offended the vassal king and is not guarded, I am afraid that there will be unforeseen disasters. ”

Everyone nodded frequently when he said this, especially Zhu Yunwen was even more impressed, he had admired Huang Zicheng's moral articles before, but he didn't expect his strategy to be ordinary, not to mention that this person was personally promoted by him, which shows that he has a very long face, and said happily: "Huang Aiqing is talented, then I will follow what Huang Aiqing said, first cut the problematic vassal kings, and depose them as concubines." What objections do the two Aiqing have? After that, he glanced at Fang Xiaoru and Qi Tai very politely.

"The minister has no objections." Fang Xiaoru was also very fascinated by Huang Zicheng's doctrine, when Huang Zicheng was talking just now, he was holding his beard with his hand, listening to it fascinated, and kept nodding slightly.

Qi Tai saw that the wood was already in the boat, so he didn't say anything more, I hope Huang Zicheng's analysis is right, don't cause any catastrophe for this matter, and he also bowed to Zhu Yunwen and said, "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

The core figures of Jianwen Group have no objections, the major matter of cutting the domain has been decided, Zhu Yunwen is still young and knowledgeable in the end, and such a big national policy is only discussed with these few people, of course, these people are in favor of cutting the domain, and the opinions in his heart are the same, so he also likes to listen to them.

As for the ministers who do not agree with the cutting of the domain, there is no shortage in the court, but Zhu Yunwen doesn't like to listen to them, which is also human nature, and no one wants to chat with people who are not speculative.

But the problem is that Zhu Yunwen is a king, as a king, he must be cautious when making a decision, and he must listen to the opinions of all sides, especially on such a major matter as cutting the domain, if he only listens to the thoughts of people who agree with him, at most he can only deal with some details of the matter of cutting the domain, and does not listen to the opinions of opponents, how can he know the risks and consequences of doing this?

If you listen to both, you will be clear, and if you listen partially, you will be dark. Zhu Yunwen admires the rule of Zhenguan so much, why don't you think about the meaning of Wei Zheng's words?

In any case, the plan to reduce the feudal domain that affected the stability of the imperial court was thus decided, history has its own unique charm, and it will never repeat what happened before, the previous reduction of the feudal domain was successful, but this time it failed.

As for who opened the knife first, Zhu Yunwen's gaze withstood a secret letter sent not long ago. The letter was sealed by Zhu Youjiao, the second son of the king of Zhou in Kaifeng, in which he secretly told Zhu Yunwen that his father, Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, had a bad plot and a conspiracy.

Zhu Yunwen had already sent this letter to his three confidant ministers, ordering them to talk about their opinions.