"Your Highness! Your Highness, you can't eat it, this thing is already broken! ”

"Come on! Your Highness is here!! ”

At the end of August, a street in the city of Beiping was filled with people blocking it.

They stopped a sturdy man in expensive clothes and a very dirty mess, and prevented him from stuffing the bread that had fallen on the ground into his mouth.

This person is the head of today's feudal domains, Zhu Gaoxu's father, Zhu Di, the king of Yan.

At the moment, he is wearing a disheveled hair and a simple smile on his face, because of his great strength, many people in Beiping can't stop him if they want to.

Some of the people looked at him and wept uncomfortably.

It is true that the vassal king does not have to take care of the political affairs of the fiefdom, and the same is true of the Yan Mansion.

However, every time Zhu Di returned from the northern expedition, he would distribute the captured cattle and sheep to the people for breeding, and return the cubs with multiple livestock after three years.

In addition, when the local government was preparing to build bridges and roads, the Yanwang Mansion would also provide some money and food, which made many people respect him very much.

In the early years, someone raised cattle to death because they couldn't raise cattle, and the officials in Beiping asked to deal with that person according to the law, but Zhu Di revealed it with a smile, and taught the man how to raise cattle and how to farm.

These things have made Zhu Di's reputation in Beiping and Daning very good.

But such a virtuous king is now suffering from madness because he heard the news that his brother was deposed, which makes many people very heartbroken.

"It's not like it's pretending to be ......"

In a teahouse on the street, two farmers who looked like farmers talked in a low voice, and the other shook his head: "You still have to see, there are many people who have pretended to be crazy throughout the ages, and don't send the news back to the south until you are completely sure." ”

"It's fine." The other nodded, and observed Zhu Di, who was losing his mind.

It's just that they didn't look long before the guards of the Yan Mansion appeared on the street, and Qiu Fu took matters into his own hands and took three or five people to carry Zhu Di into the car.

After getting into the car, Zhu Di kept banging on the carriage, obviously very flustered.

After a short time, the carriage returned to Yanfu under the arch guard of the Yan Mansion, and many people saw the carriage being beaten from the inside out along the way.

In this regard, many people can only bow their heads and sigh, obviously the matter of King Yan's madness has spread all over Beiping City, and the people in the city have a lot of sympathy for him.

Seeing the carriage leave, the people also got busy with their own affairs.

It's just that after dinner, they will intentionally or unintentionally mention the new policy of the imperial court and the 'persecuted' Zhu Di.

However, in the place where they couldn't see, Zhu Di, who had returned to the Yan Palace, continued to perform, and the Xu family also cooperated with him very much, sobbing in front of the officials and slaves of the palace, and let Zhu Di be locked in the palace of the heart, and let the doors and windows be nailed to prevent him from escaping, leaving only a small window that could deliver food and water.

Zhu Di, who was locked up in the hall, was also restless, and the sound of smashing and yelling was endless, which lasted for many days, making people feel irritable.

Gradually, the subordinate officials and slaves in the palace also began to feel disgusted with the once virtuous His Royal Highness King Yan, and the Heart Hall also became a place where everyone was bored.

Whenever someone passes by the Cunxin Palace, the sound of frantically slapping the doors and windows in the hall will sound, as well as Zhu Di's abuse.

Therefore, except for the specific time of food delivery, no one came to visit Zhu Di.

The news that King Yan was completely insane also began to spread over time.

When many vassal kings learned of what happened to him, they were even more powerless against the imperial court's efforts to cut down the feudal domain.

The chiefs of the feudal domains, Zhu Di, who has the most military power, are all crazy, so it is naturally difficult for them to negotiate with the imperial court.

In the end, they can only hope that the imperial court will not distinguish between right and wrong, and will not wipe them out in order to cut down the domain.

It's just that they don't know that their ideas are tantamount to fantasies for the current imperial court......

"The Yamen of the Sandu Division of Beiping reported that His Royal Highness King Yan Yan was suffering from a mad disease, and now he has been ill for more than a month."

In the Wuying Hall in the capital, Qi Tai explained the situation of the Yan Mansion to Zhu Yunwen, who was sitting on the golden platform to deal with the music, and Zhu Yunwen, who heard the news, also put down the Zhu pen in his hand and looked up at the few people in front of him.

In addition to Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, Tyrant Zhao and others are also in the palace.

Not only them, but there were also many fresh faces in the hall, and these people were the six scholars replaced by Zhu Yunwen.

Among them, except for Yu Xin, who is irreplaceable because of his importance, the rest of the Shangshu have basically been replaced.

Even if it was Yu Xin, whom Zhu Yuanzhang relied on during his lifetime, Zhu Yunwen also sent Wang Yu, who governed Zhejiang Liangchen, to study with him.

Of course, nominally it is learning, but in fact it is to let Wang Yu take over the household department.

Yu Xin is very clear about this, so above the temple, he has changed from a blunt speech during the Hongwu period to a silent word now.

"King Yan's madness, do you think it's true or false?"

Zhu Yunwen has read so many history books, so he naturally knows that many traitors pretend to be sick to doubt the king, the most famous of which is Sima Yi pretending to be sick to deceive Cao Fang and Cao Shuang.

"According to Shi Gecheng, the head of the Yan Mansion, the Yan King is indeed suffering from a mad disease, and he is locked up in the Yan Mansion Cunxin Palace, and no one visits him every day except for Princess Yan who will bring food to coax him to eat."

Qi Tai truthfully told Zhu Yunwen, and the ministers in the palace also talked about it when they heard it.

In the final analysis, Zhu Di did not openly oppose Zhu Yunwen like Zhu Li and Zhu Zhang, nor did he contact his ministers privately like Zhu Huan, let alone the illegal atrocities of some other vassal kings.

For the imperial court, he has only merit and no fault, so his current fate cannot help but make many people regret.

Zhu Yunwen looked at the regret of this group of people, and felt a little irritable, but on the surface he still pretended to be sad: "I just want to deal with some lawless vassal kings, so that they can know the royal way and know the law without breaking it, but I don't want to actually stimulate the fourth uncle, causing the fourth uncle to suffer from madness, I ...... I'm really ashamed of the emperor! ”

As he spoke, he began to sob.

Seeing him like this, Zhuo Jing, the household servant among the ministers, also cut out and said: "Your Majesty loves relatives and friends, but it is not uncommon for courtiers to pretend to be sick and deceive the king throughout the ages. ”

"This ......" Zhu Yunwen hesitated, glanced at the expressions of the ministers in the palace vaguely, and after finding that most of them were dissatisfied with Zhuo Jing's speech, he shook his head and sobbed: "King Yan is closest to me, and he is close to my flesh and blood, how can he continue to doubt him?" ”

Zhu Yunwen politely refused, and said with concern by the way: "You can summon Shi Gecheng, the head of Yan Mansion, to go south to the capital, I want to ask the fourth uncle how his condition is, if it is serious, it is necessary to send the imperial doctor to diagnose and treat it, and I must not let a virtuous king like the fourth uncle who has contributed to the court die." ”

"Your Majesty Shengming ......"

The ministers in the palace all saw Zhu Yunwen's true thoughts, but they still had to accompany him to perform this play well in terms of face.

Seeing this, Zhu Yunwen also waved his sleeves and motioned for the ministers to retreat.

Seeing this, the ministers sang and retreated, and only Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, Fang Xiaoru, and Violent Zhao stayed in the hall.

After the ministers left, Qi Tai took the lead in speaking: "Your Majesty, now no matter whether King Yan is pretending to be sick or not, he should change the generals of the Sandu Division, disintegrate the power of the King of Yan in the Sandu Division, and at the same time send someone to take over the three guards of Yanshan in the Yan Mansion." ”

"This ......" Zhu Yunwen just finished playing the scene of harmony between uncle and nephew in front of the ministers, and then Qi Tai wanted him to do something to Zhu Di, and Zhu Yunwen, who loves face, still can't wipe his face, so he set his eyes on Huang Zicheng, hoping that he can reject Qi Tai for himself.

Huang Zicheng is also worthy of being Zhu Yunwen's teacher, after feeling Zhu Yunwen's gaze, he hurriedly stood up and refused: "King Yan has no fault, and now he is suffering from madness, if he does it now, he will inevitably be criticized by the ministers." ”

"Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity, and it is very difficult to meet it if you miss it." Qi Tai ignored Huang Zicheng, apparently the two broke up because of political disagreement.

"What does Mr. Fang think?" Zhu Yunwen set his eyes on Fang Xiaoru, but Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "The king should act in a dignified and upright way, how can he take advantage of the danger of others?" ”

Fang Xiaoru's words were so angry that Qi Tai wanted to scold, but before he could speak, Zhu Yunwen bowed his head and said: "What the two gentlemen said is good, after all, King Yan has meritorious service to the imperial court, and besides, the Qi domain has not been cut, so it is right to take the lead in the Qi domain." ”

"Your Majesty!" Qi Tai was very anxious, but Zhu Yunwen raised his hand to signal him not to say any more.

Helpless, Qi Tai could only swallow his anger, and Huang Zicheng also spoke: "Your Majesty, King Qi needs to be cut, but at the moment, King Yan's wings have not been cut off, you can cut off King Yan's wings first, and then use King Qi to test King Yan's condition." ”

"What does Mr. mean......" Zhu Yunwen hesitated to speak, and Huang Zicheng said without thinking: "You should do it to the King of Bohai County first." ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!" As soon as Qi Tai heard that Huang Zicheng was going to make a move on Zhu Gaoxu, he agreed with Huang Zicheng at this moment.

"The king of Bohai County has outstanding military merits, and there are 16,000 soldiers under the command of Jilin Wei, whose strength is no less than that of some strong vassals, and his old troops are mostly scattered in Daning, Beiping and Liaodong and other places, once there is an abnormal movement in Bohai, these people may endanger the Sandu Division."

Huang Zicheng expounded his opinion, and continued: "The minister thinks that all the old troops of the king of Bohai can be transferred to remote places such as Liangguang, Sichuan, and Yunnan. ”

"In addition, the minister remembered that Yang Wen, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, was also recommended by the king of Bohai County to lead the Pingwei, so he should also be transferred to the south."

After Huang Zicheng finished speaking, Qi Tai also put forward his own opinion: "Yang Wen and the old department of the king of Bohai County can go to Guangxi to change the land and return to the stream." ”

"Yes!" Hearing that he was going to deal with Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Yunwen came to his senses.

Before Zhu Gaoxu entered the Wuying Palace, Zhu Yunwen was favored by Zhu Yuanzhang alone, but after he entered the Wuying Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang's cultivation of him was visibly improved, so he snubbed Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen has remembered this matter for many years, and he often embarrassed Bohai when he was in charge of the country.

Since his accession to the throne, he has thought about cleaning up Zhu Gaoxu, but he has put it on hold for the time being because of Huang Zicheng's suggestion.

Now that the opportunity has come, he will naturally not let it go.

"Over there in the Bohai Sea, when can I do it?"

Zhu Yunwen asked the four people bluntly, and Qi Tai suggested without thinking: "There are many people in Bohai and little food, and the winter is long, so they consume extremely grain. ”

"If it can be delayed until the beginning of spring next year, then even if the king of Bohai County has the intention to make trouble, it will be difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice."

"The only thing to worry about is whether King Yan is pretending to be sick."

"If you pretend to be sick, then once the imperial court starts to cut the Bohai domain, King Yan will inevitably react."

Qi Tai expressed his concerns, but at this time, Fang Xiaoru said: "It's better to put Yan Shizi and the third son back to Beiping and use them to contain King Yan." ”

"No!" Hearing Fang Xiaoru's Confucian words, Qi Tai said categorically: "Yan Shizi is talented, and letting him go back is letting the tiger return to the mountain." ”

"You can give it a try...... Zhu Yunwen's attitude was puzzling, but he himself answered: "Gao Chi is different from Gao Xu, Gao Chi respects the etiquette and knows the royal way, is benevolent, and is not as cunning as Gao Xu." ”

"Besides, at the moment, the second son is strong and the eldest son is weak, and letting him go back can indeed restrain the fourth uncle's favor for Gao Xu."

"Your Majesty, the minister still thinks it's inappropriate." Qi Tai stubbornly advised Zhu Yunwen: "If the two of them are put back, King Yan will have no worries!" ”

"Is there one now?" Huang Zicheng, who was still on the same front as Qi Tai a second ago, stood up and gave his own explanation.

"If the king of Bohai County raises troops and King Yan is not sick, then even if the court has Yan Shizi and the third son in his hands, King Yan still has the king of Bohai County under him."

"When the minister heard that the third son of Yan Mansion had not yet gone south, King Yan often said to the left and right, 'The two sons are like themselves', if the king of Bohai County really has the intention to rebel, then the court killed Yan Shizi and the third son, but it was all his heart."

"It's just to put the two back directly, which can provoke the contradiction even more, after all, Yan Shizi's son is hand-picked by Emperor Gao."

Huang Zicheng said this, and Qi Tai couldn't talk about him, so he set his eyes on Zhu Yunwen.

It's just that for Zhu Yunwen, Huang Zicheng's words are more convincing.

If he really detains Zhu Gaochi and his two brothers, then Zhu Gaochu rebels at that time, will he kill or not?

Killing is good for Zhu Gaoxu, and if he is in his hands, Zhu Gaochu can also use the instability of the current situation to seek the position of the heir, in short, it is good for Zhu Gaochu to kill or stay, and only by letting the two of them go can Zhu Gaochu not get any benefits.

As soon as he thought of this, Zhu Yunwen thought of his grandfather: "Grandpa, you shouldn't have let Gao Xu go to Bohai ...... in the first place."

At this time, Zhu Yunwen forgot that he was the one who proposed to seal Zhu Gaoxu in Jilin in the first place.

"I have made up my mind, and I have sent a decree to order Yan Shizi and the third son to return to Beiping to serve King Yan."

Zhu Yunwen dictated the situation, which made Qi Tai helpless, and Li Quan, the eunuch of the palm seal, also complied with the will, and immediately ordered someone to go to the Jingyan Palace.

"How's the war going in Yunnan? Has it affected the local mines? ”

Only then did he arrange the matter of cutting the domain, and Zhu Yunwen set his sights on the southwest.

In this regard, Qi Tai regained his mood and first spoke from the military affairs: "After Wei Guogong learned that Emperor Gao had collapsed, he took the opportunity to agree to Daogan Meng's request to surrender after the victory in Kongtong Village, and now the army has returned to Yongchang to rest, but two guards and horses were left in Nandian and Jinghan to prevent Daogan Meng's rebellion. ”

"Not bad." Hearing that Xu Huizu came according to his own ideas, Zhu Yunwen was very satisfied, and immediately set his eyes on Yu Xin and Wang Yu.

Among the two, Yu Xin was silent, and Wang Yu saw that Yu Xin was unmoved, so he could only step forward and return the salute: "The operation of the southwest mine is still the same, and the autumn tax this year should be able to pay more than 280,000 yuan of gold, silver and copper mines." ”

"Your Majesty!" Hearing that the output of gold, silver and copper mines in the southwest has reached such a height, Huang Zicheng and Bang Zhao have made a contribution.

"The burden on the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is heavy, please Your Majesty reduce the taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or expand the 'tax deduction with money'."

"Your Majesty!" Hearing the words of Huang Zicheng and Violent Zhao, Yu Xin finally couldn't sit still, he stood up and said: "Although the mining tax in the southwest is high, the imperial court uses it more. ”

"If we expand the 'tax deduction with banknotes', or continue to reduce the taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, then the imperial court will be empty, and it will not take ten years to exhaust the money and grain left by Emperor Gao."

Yu Xin's words were a bit serious, so Zhu Yunwen's face was not very good-looking.

Before Zhu Yuanzhang collapsed, he left Zhu Yunwen more than 60 million stones of seed grain for Juntun, 74 million stones of tax grain for Taicang and other reserve warehouses and water warehouses, and recovered 12.76 million yuan of treasure money, 276,400 taels of gold, more than 789,000 taels of silver, and 8.12 million yuan of money......

All the gold, silver, money and grain are about the sum of the three years of taxes paid during the Hongwu period.

If it is operated according to the mode of operation during the Hongwu period, this batch of money and grain can continue to produce money and grain.

However, after the Jianwen New Deal, although the imperial court is removing redundancy on the surface, the actual expenditure is increasing, the reason is that Zhu Yunwen has exempted taxes and reduced taxes in Jiangnan.

In terms of discounting color as money, the income during the Hongwu period was about 26 million guan, but now Zhu Yunwen has reduced the taxes in Jiangnan, and this income has been reduced to more than 22 million guan.

Despite the southwest subsidy, the imperial court still lost more than one million yuan of fiscal revenue every year.

Coupled with various temporary and fixed expenditures, the current Ming Dynasty can basically only have a surplus of one or two million yuan per year, so if it continues to toss, it can only continue to eat the old bottom left by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Yu Xin's words were for Zhu Yunwen's good, but Zhu Yunwen was not happy, he asked Yu Xin: "The reduction of taxes in Jiangnan is for the people, why do you stop it?" ”

"Forgive me!" Yu Xin also lost his temper, he held the wat board and said in a loud voice: "The court is good or bad to the people, and it should not be proud of reducing taxes, but should be more strict in collecting taxes." ”

"The ancients said that if you want to be good to the people, you can use the tax revenue for the poor people after it is up, which is better than cutting the tax by a hundred times."

"When I was in the people, I never heard of the people who could get rich by saving, but the people who relied on the imperial court to invest a lot of money and food and seized the opportunity to turn over and start a business."

"Take the 27th year of Hongwu and the imperial court collected more than 30 million stone taxes, the imperial court collected such taxes from the people, but Emperor Gao did not hesitate to give money and grain to the people, and in the same year he used millions of stones to build water conservancy in the country's prefectures and counties."

"In the 28th year of Hongwu alone, 4,987 pond weirs, 4,162 rivers, and 5,448 canal embankments were opened in Fuzhou counties across the country...... As a result, tens of millions of acres of cultivated land in the local area have been irrigated, and the grain yield has increased by 30 percent. ”

"In this way, it is the way for the people to live and work in peace and contentment, and to get rich safely."

"If the imperial court blindly cuts money and grain, and when it is beyond their means, once the local people encounter a disaster and the imperial court cannot come up with money and food, wouldn't this be sitting back and ignoring the life and death of the people?"

"Speaking of the treasure banknote, Emperor Gao said when he was alive that he was not allowed to use the recycled treasure banknote, and now the imperial court has issued more than 1.2 million recycled treasure money in just four months."

"The price of private treasure money has not come down because the people have not reacted yet."

"If this continues, the treasure money system that Emperor Gao has managed to restore will fall apart......"

"That's it!" Zhu Yunwen interrupted Yu Xin in a deep voice, his face was not very good-looking, but he did not have a seizure.

"The matter of cutting taxes in Jiangnan has been put on hold for the time being." He looked at Bang Zhao, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru and others, and then spoke: "Is there anything else Yu Shangshu needs to be pointed out?" ”

His words were sneering, but Yu Xin did not retreat and continued to express his opinion.

"There is a shortage of manpower in the mines in the southwest, and the imperial court has obtained Nandian, Jinghan and other villages in Yunnan, so it is natural to relocate the people."

"The minister thinks that 30,000 households can be migrated from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to Yongchang and Nandian in Yunnan, and another 10,000 households can be migrated to Sichuan Xingdu Division to be stationed as military households, so as to prevent the Hello people from the Great Snow Mountain from going down the mountain to plunder."

As soon as Yu Xin opened his mouth, he wanted to move 40,000 households, that is, more than 200,000 people.

It takes a lot of money and grain to migrate the people, and normally it costs at least ten stones of grain to move a person, so Yu Xin's opening will cost the imperial court more than two million stones.

His speech made Zhu Yunwen look displeased.

He wanted to cut the Tianfu in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, but this old guy did everything possible to stop him, but he was willing to spend the money himself.

In the face of Yu Xin's words, Zhu Yunwen took the lunch and he disagreed with his political views, but immigrating to Sichuan and Yunnan can indeed increase the output of mines in the southwest, so Zhu Yunwen turned back to his position and said in a deep voice: "Just follow Yu Shangshu's instructions." ”

After that, he picked up the tea on the table, and the ministers also withdrew from the Wuying Hall with interest.

It was only less than an hour after they left that Qi Tai came in again, still holding a book in his hand.

"Your Majesty, this is the roster of generals who have been transferred from Liaodong, Daning, and Beiping, please take a look."

It was just an hour for Qi Tai to do this well, which shows its efficiency.

Zhu Yunwen took the note sent by Qi Tai from Li Quan, opened it and looked at it, and was very satisfied, so he looked up at him: "Yang Wen and the generals of Bohai have been transferred, according to your opinion, who can be sent to serve as the chief military officer of Liaodong?" ”

"You can send Liu Zhen to serve as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, and then promote Wu Gao to be the commander of Liaodong, so that Liaodong should be able to be defended."

Qi Tai talked eloquently, but Zhu Yunwen was worried: "Liu Zhen has been transferred, so who else is available in Daning?" ”

"Bu Wan and Chen Heng are both good generals, among which Chen Heng controls the three guards of Ning Wangfu, once something happens, as long as Bu Wan guards Daning, Chen Heng can control King Ning."

Qi Tai explained, and at the same time mentioned the back hand of the three guards of the Yan Mansion in Zhu Di's hands.

"If the imperial court wants to cut down the Yan Domain, it should first replace the three guards of the Yan Palace, and at the same time let Bu Wan, Chen Heng, Wu Gao and others control the Yanshan Pass to prevent the Yan King from escaping Beiping."

"In addition, if you want to cut the Yan Domain, you must first cut the Bohai Sea, which cuts off the possibility of the convergence of the King of Yan and the King of Bohai County."

"Do a good job here, you can send the Datong guard Fang Zhao to Huai'an, once things change, you can immediately rush to the aid of Juyong Pass, and cut off King Yan from fleeing to Mobei."

Zhu Yunwen doesn't know much about military affairs, but Qi Tai's self-confidence can be heard from Qi Tai's words.

What Qi Tai wanted to do was to use the three mountain ranges of Yin Mountain, Yan Mountain and Taihang Mountain to limit Zhu Di on the Hebei Plain, as long as his depth was limited, he would be able to encircle and suppress Zhu Di in the Beiping area by attacking from the south to the north.

"King Yan has an enmity with the Hu soldiers of Mobei, and I am afraid that he will not take refuge in the Hu soldiers of Mobei."

Zhu Yunwen still knows Zhu Di very well, but Qi Tai shook his head and said: "In case Your Majesty's cutting of the domain provokes King Yan and makes King Yan turn to Mobei, then the northern part of my Ming Dynasty will be in danger along the border." ”

The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built on a large scale from the Chenghua period, so Zhu Qizhen was so easy to be captured in the Tumubao Change, let alone the Hongwu period.

At present, in addition to the inner Great Wall left over in the Yuan Dynasty and the part of the Great Wall of Yanshan built by Zhu Yuanzhang, there is basically no Great Wall to hinder the march of soldiers and horses after walking out of Juyong Pass.

There is no Great Wall for tens of thousands of miles from Shanxi to Gansu, so once Zhu Di, who is familiar with the situation of the Ming Dynasty, takes refuge in the Hu soldiers of Mobei, the Ming Dynasty will definitely be in a hurry, so it is necessary to stop Zhu Di from going to Mobei and the Bohai Sea.

Although Zhu Yunwen didn't know about military affairs, he could still listen to Qi Tai's advice, so he bowed his head and said: "Just do this matter according to Mr.'s wishes, as for how to cut the Bohai Sea, please also ask Mr. to draw up a charter." ”

"The decree ......" Qi Tai responded respectfully, and then slowly withdrew from the Wuying Hall under Zhu Yunwen's gaze.

After he left, Li Quan and the others in the Wuying Hall also saw the happy look on his majesty's face, and were obviously very satisfied with Qi Tai's words of cutting the domain.

(End of chapter)