"Crackling ......"

At the beginning of September, amid the sound of firecrackers, the Daming National Defense University, which covers an area of more than 1,400 acres and is located at the foot of Guanyin Mountain in the outer city of Nanjing, was successfully opened.

There were more than 14,000 children of military attachés enrolled in the first class, but most of them were reluctant to enroll, and if it weren't for the fact that graduation involved whether they could inherit their official positions, I am afraid that the number of people who took the initiative to sign up would not be even a fraction of 4,000.

"To be honest, I'm not optimistic about your so-called university."

Standing at the gate of the university built of concrete, under a stone tablet made of cast iron concrete, Guo Ying said this sentence worriedly.

Beside him, Zhu Gaoxu, who was dressed in the prince's regular clothes, put his hands behind his back and watched the group of bitter and vengeful students enter the university.

There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, so that Guo Ying couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

He could only follow Zhu Gaoxu's gaze to look at the group of students, and then sighed:

"It is already difficult for the children of military attachés to inherit it, and now you have this university, and you want them to study for five years, and they also have to be assessed."

"I've read the timetable you compiled, four years of study, one year of internship at the grassroots level of the army, this thing is very good, but it is not suitable for this group of military attaché children."

"Most of them are in their twenties, and if they come here to study for another five years, they will be in their thirties before they can inherit their father's position."

"Coupled with the difficulty you set, I estimate that out of these 14,000 people, at most 2,000 people can pass the five years you set up."

"Your move has undoubtedly offended most of the military attachés......"

Guo Ying bitterly advised Zhu Gaoxu, he is like this, he decides who to stand on, he will do his best to help, but it is a pity that Zhu Yunwen did not listen to the original, otherwise the Jingnan would not have ended so quickly.

He was very worried about what Zhu Gaoxu had done: "You went to the West to offend this group of literati in Jiangnan, and many literati in Jiangnan have privately criticized you these days, and now you have offended this group of military attachés, plus ......"

Guo Ying said and looked at the three-zhang high concrete gate of the National Defense University, where stood the governors of the Five Armies Governor's Mansion, Zhu Di, and all the vassal kings who stayed in the capital.

The reason why the vassal kings appeared here was because they wanted to know from Zhu Di when they could return to their fiefdoms.

"Them?"

Zhu Gaoxu followed Guo Ying's gaze and looked at the feudal lords, and many of the feudal kings who had been looking at this side vaguely withdrew their gaze.

"Early this morning, I don't know where the feudal lords got the news, saying that you are planning to change the feudal lords."

"Tell me, is this true?"

Guo Ying looked at Zhu Gaochu nervously, but Zhu Gaochu didn't hide it, and bowed his head directly: "I do think so, but my father doesn't want to." ”

"You ......" Guo Ying didn't know what to say about Zhu Gaochu for a while, he didn't understand why Zhu Gaochu had set up so many enemies.

"Don't worry about this grandfather, you can be the dean of the university."

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Guo Ying, and then raised his chin with a smile: "The students have entered the school, you should also enter." ”

"You...... Do it yourself, I can help you with the military attaché, but the rest is up to you. ”

With a sigh, Guo Ying turned around and walked in the direction of the university.

Looking at the back of him leaving, Zhu Gaoxu's smile gradually faded, and in the end, only a cold face remained.

Yishaha appeared behind him, and when he heard the footsteps, he said coldly: "Go and ask Hu Lun, if the matter is clear, who is the one who spread the news." ”

"Yes!"

Yishaha's face is not good-looking, they only learned about this matter from Hu Lun this morning, and Hu Lun is already investigating the case.

Not only them, but even Zhu Di was also investigating this matter, but in order to appease the feudal domains, Zhu Di still behaved normally, as if nothing had happened.

"Your Majesty, I don't know when my brother will be able to return to Kaifeng......

Looking at the closed iron gate of the university, Zhou Wang Zhu Hu cautiously asked Zhu Di.

Zhu Di still smiled honestly when he heard this: "Does the fifth child feel uncomfortable in Nanjing?" ”

"No, no, no......" Zhu Lu hurriedly denied it, and explained: "The younger brother is just busy going back to take care of the flowers, plants, fruits and trees." ”

"Then stay longer, anyway, those agricultural Confucian students in the Zhou Palace's mansion are helping you take care of it." Zhu Di took Zhu Hu's hand and patted it kindly.

Seeing this, Zhu Hu didn't dare to continue asking.

Seeing that Zhu Hu couldn't get an answer, the feudal lords all showed disappointed and worried looks.

Seeing this, Zhu Di only felt that there was a flame burning in his chest, but he still had to disguise his expression.

Glancing at everyone, he slowly put away his smiling face: "Since the brothers are here, then I will talk to you about the matter today." ”

The matter of changing the seal of the feudal domains has been bothering Zhu Di for nearly a year, and seeing that someone wants to use this matter to be a demon, he is ready to plan and directly settle this matter.

Without waiting for the reactions of the feudal domains, Zhu Di turned his head to look at Wang Yan: "Go and summon the crown prince, the king of Han and the king of Zhao to Jiming Temple, and our family will discuss matters over there." ”

"Slave and maid lead the ......" Wang Yan's heart tightened, and then he went to deliver the news.

After a short time, the apprehensive feudal lords took the elephant chariot one after another, followed Zhu Di's chariot, and embarked on the return journey towards the inner city.

An hour passed, and they entered the inner city and arrived at the Jiming Temple.

With Zhu Di's instructions, Wang Yan had already sent people to surround Jiming Temple to protect the safety of the Son of Heaven and the vassals.

Under Zhu Di's summoning, regardless of adulthood or adulthood, all the kings of the Beijing domain arrived at Jiming Temple, and the Buddhist hall of Jiming Temple was also prepared by Yao Guangxiao.

Soon, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochu walked in one after another, and after Zhu Di sat down first, Zhu Gaochu stood beside him.

After a short time, except for the six kings of Qin, Jin, Chu, Qing, Shu, and Ning, who were outside, they did not arrive, and the remaining seventeen kings in Beijing walked in, some of whom were Zhu Yuanzhang's sons and Zhu Yuanzhang's grandsons.

Of course, among them is Zhu Wenzheng's grandson, the current king of Jingjiang County, Zhu Zanyi.

A full seventeen vassal kings were seated in the Buddhist hall, except for Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, the rest were cautious.

"Second brother, in front of so many uncles and brothers, you honestly say your thoughts, and if you can't do it, we will discuss it."

After everyone sat down, Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu to directly tell the matter of changing the title of kings.

Zhu Di dared to do this because the current feudal domains were completely fish on the board.

In the case of King Ning standing in line with Zhu Gaoxu, only five kings in the world have military power, and the total number of soldiers and horses is only 60,000.

In such a situation, Zhu Di's open and honest communication with the feudal domains showed his sincerity and also expressed his support for Zhu Gaoxu.

With Zhu Di's support, then Zhu Gaoxu will be able to talk to these uncles and brothers.

He took a step forward, because of his tall stature and fierce temperament, all the feudal clans lowered their heads weakly, even Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui avoided their eyes, trying not to look at Zhu Gaochu.

"Uncles, Brother Wang, Gao Xu apologizes to you first......

Zhu Gaoxu apologized to everyone, and Zhu Hu hurriedly got up to help him when he saw this: "Your Highness, you can't do this." ”

Getting up with Zhu Hu's support, Zhu Gaoxu spoke:

"The imperial court wants to cut the feudal domain, this is a helpless thing, and it is also for the sake of your uncles and brothers to plan in the future."

"However, the reduction of the imperial court must be carried out on the premise of protecting the wealth of your uncles and brothers, not to the detriment of your uncles and brothers."

"The change of the fief is also for the court to better govern the world, and the kid can promise that the land of the feud is by no means a barren land."

After that, Zhu Gaoxu began to change the seal.

Before starting, he promised that the fiefs of the six kings such as "Qin, Jin, Zhou, Chu, Shuqing" would not be moved, followed by the fiefdom of King Su in Lanzhou.

In addition, King Ning changed his title to Nanyang, King Tang changed his title to Xiangyang, King Yi changed his title to Hanzhong, King Lu changed his title to Jiading, King Han changed his title to Chongqing, King Liao changed his title to Xuzhou, King Min changed his title to Lin'an, King Gu changed his title to Qujing, and King Han became a vassal of Kunming.

In addition, King Zhao was vassal of Changsha, King Jingjiang of Guilin, King of An of Changde, King of Qi of Guangzhou, King Shen of Hengzhou, King of Dai Si'en, and King Ying of Chenzhou.

In this way, the fief of the twenty-three kings was given by Zhu Gaoxu.

Among them, the three kings of Dai and Gu, Min and Zhu Gaochi, the king of Han, were canonized to the remote Yunnan and Guangxi.

King Dai and King Gu are because of Jianwen's affairs, King Min is because he has no background, and Zhu Gaochi, the king of Han, is to hide from the peace.

The four of them knew it and were about to cry, but Zhu Gaoxu said without waiting for them to speak:

"In the future, the vassal king's Yulu also made adjustments, except for the cloth, silk and spices, Zhuangtian was free from 2,000 mu to 5,000 mu each, tea and salt were abolished, and Yulu was set as 15,000 guan for the prince, Jingjiang county king was equal to the prince, and the rest of the county kings and princesses were 3,000 guan, and the county lord was 1,500 guan."

"The generals and lieutenants, county lords, county lords, and township lords below the county lords of each royal palace shall be distributed by the royal palaces."

Zhu Gaoxu's arrogance made the vassals open their mouths wide, and the thoughts they originally wanted to refute were also withdrawn from their stomachs.

According to the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the clan to calculate, the prince Wanshi, the county king 2,000 stones, the Zhenguo general Qianshi, the auxiliary general, the Fengguo general, and the Zhenguo lieutenant decreased by 200 stones, and the auxiliary lieutenant and Fengguo lieutenant decreased by 100 stones.

The princess and the concubine are 2,000 stones, the county lord and the guest of honor are 800 stones, the county lord, the county lord and the guest of honor are reduced by 200 stones, and the county monarch, the township monarch and the guest of honor are reduced by 100 stones, and it is a permanent system from then on.

Among them, the prince's Yulu and salt are worth at most 5,000 guan, the county king 1,000 guan, the princess and the horse are a total of 1,000 guan, and the county lord is 400 guan.

Now as soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, the clan's income has basically tripled.

It can be said that this is even more important for the wealth of the feudal lords, and the only problem is that the feudal kings need to bear the burden of their descendants by themselves.

However, with 15,000 yuan in hand, plus the county king and 3,000 yuan, if there are enough county kings born, then no matter how you count it, you will earn it.

Thinking of this, the feudal lords stopped talking, and Zhu Di was so angry that he almost plucked off a few of his beards.

He didn't expect his second brother to be so generous, and this opening made at least 400,000 yuan disappear from the imperial court.

It's just that he didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu's words hadn't finished yet, because the vassal king still had military power in his hands.

"For the guards of the princes' palaces, the prince's palace can only have one guard, with a strength of 5,600 people, and a military salary of eight times a year."

"This military salary is paid by the imperial court, but the guards of the county prince's mansion are paid by the prince's mansion itself, and the Jingjiang county palace and the prince's mansion are treated equally."

Zhu Gaoxu has given enough wealth, and the next thing is to cut the guards, the original number of guards of the twenty-three vassal kings should be about 250,000, but now after being restricted by Zhu Gaoxu, there are only less than 130,000.

The reason why he gave them protection was mainly because after the vassal kings changed their titles, most of the vassal kings' fiefs were not peaceful.

Of course, when he opened his mouth, the imperial court had to spend another million guan, counting the previous 400,000 guan, and the imperial court's income from the Japanese market trade was basically exhausted.

However, compared with the expenditure on the vassal kings and guards during the Hongwu period, the expenditure of the clan did not increase, but decreased by more than 400,000 yuan.

In fact, the feudal clans have no mind about the military power at all, after all, their military power has been taken away by Zhu Yunwen, and it is already a surprise to be able to get another 5,600 guards.

Although Zhu Gaoxu changed their titles, the treatment was not bad.

What's more, in terms of changing the title alone, most of the vassal kings basically changed to good places, and only a few feudal kings who made mistakes were canonized in remote places.

They are very satisfied, and Zhu Gaoxu is also satisfied, but his satisfaction comes from foresight.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is certain that the feudal feudal domains should be divided, and since this is the case, it is better to divide the feudal domains into places with small populations but great potential.

For example, Sichuan and Henan have a population of only more than 2 million, and if the canonized local feudal domains can reproduce the population as in history, it will also make a certain contribution to the development of Sichuan and Henan in disguise.

The more land they drove their guards to cultivate, the more beneficial it was for the imperial court.

There were as many as sixty or seventy princes canonized in the Ming Dynasty, but only more than 20 of them were successfully passed on to the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Now reassure them for the time being, and when they show their true colors after the vassal, they can start cutting down the feudal domain.

"If your uncles and brothers think it's feasible, how about the imperial court follow this system in the future?"

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at everyone and asked, everyone looked at each other, and finally Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, got up and led everyone to make a decision: "We have no objection......

Seeing everyone like this, Zhu Gaoxu also turned to Zhu Di: "Father, the family matter has been decided." ”

Zhu Di didn't expect his second child to offer such a big price, but now that the matter has been finalized, it is not easy for him to change it, so he waved his hand: "Since this is the case, then follow this move." ”

"The ministers are retiring......" Seeing that Zhu Di didn't want to say more, the feudal lords who had obtained the benefits also retired one after another.

After they withdrew, Zhu Di wanted to keep Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, but when he thought of Zhu Gaochu, he didn't have any extraneous branches.

After everyone left, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a cold face: "If you open and close your mouth, it is an expenditure of more than 1.4 million yuan, and the profits from the Japanese market have been squandered by you." ”

"Does my father feel at a loss?" Zhu Gaoxu sat on the chair next to him with a smile, but Zhu Di really didn't have a good face for him now: "Is it difficult to make money?" ”

"Naturally, it was earned." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, he knew too well the financial pressure brought about by the fact that everyone in the old Zhu family had a fortune.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, when the emperor removed remote clans from the jade plate of the clan, the financial pressure on the clan has been great.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, Zonglu's expenditure exceeded 600,000 taels, reached 1.26 million taels during the Wanli period, and 1.56 million taels during the Apocalypse.

Judging from the paper alone, the current clan expenditure of the Ming Dynasty is close to the clan expenditure during the Apocalypse, but the problem is that the current large amount of the clan's expenditure is the guard's Yulu.

What's more, among the twenty-three vassal kings, there are still four vassal kings who are under the age of vassalage and have no guards at all, so the actual expenditure is not that much.

As for the vassal king's guards, Zhu Gaoxu chose to give them first, and then cut the opportunity for the vassal king to make mistakes in the future.

In history, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Zhanji did this, and their lifespan is definitely longer than that of their father and son, and what they can do, they can also do.

Therefore, for Zhu Gaoxu, this 1.4 million yuan, whether in the long term or short term, the imperial court is the one who earns it.

"Father thinks that if it is according to the amount set by his grandfather, but after three or five generations, how much should Zonglu spend?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Di, Zhu Di was not stupid, and naturally figured out the key points, but in his opinion, it was too far away after all.

"From the perspective of three or five generations, it will naturally cost millions of Zonglu, but that is three or five generations later, who can say for sure."

Zhu Di said, but Zhu Gaoxu chuckled: "To be honest, I think with my father and son body, I'm afraid those uncles and brothers may not be able to survive us." ”

"What's more, the bulk of Zonglu's expenditure lies in the guards' salaries, as long as the guards are reduced as appropriate, then Zonglu can be reduced quickly."

"I think you know better than me about the situation of my uncles, it's too difficult to want them not to make mistakes......

Zhu Gaoxu said his plan, and Zhu Di subconsciously touched his beard after hearing it: "You guy, you don't inherit my kindness." ”

"......" Hearing Zhu Di's words, Zhu Gaoxu was speechless and choked.

Judging from the experience of this year alone, Zhu Di's heart is as thick and black as his appearance, but he is frank and open, he will copy his house when he says he will copy his home, and he will do whatever he says.

"These are easy to deal with, but the others are not easy to deal with, how are you going to deal with them?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu as if watching a play, but Zhu Gaochu chuckled and shook his head: "Those people, I have no intention of dealing with them." ”

"Yes...... Well, what do you say? Zhu Di realized it later, and looked at Zhu Gaochu in surprise, but saw Zhu Gaochu with a good look on his face.

"Those few, it's better for you to deal with it yourself, after all, my position is canonized by you, and the eldest brother doesn't fight with me, but you ......"

Zhu Gaoxu sighed a few times, which made Zhu Di embarrassed.

The few people in their mouths are nothing more than Zhu Jixi of the Jin Palace, and Zhu Shangbing of the Qin Palace.

These two vassal kings who have already attacked the lord and mastered the three guards and horses, in terms of legal theory alone, are much more orthodox than Zhu Di.

Moreover, judging from the news of Jinyiwei, Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing were not convinced by Zhu Di's accession, but they had no idea about Zhu Gaoxu.

In this situation, Zhu Gaoxu really doesn't need to take action to rectify them, Zhu Di is more anxious than him.

"Second brother, you still look like me."

Zhu Di saw that Zhu Gaoxu couldn't move, so he began to play the emotional card, but this emotional card seemed to be wrong.

As soon as he heard Zhu Di say that he was like him, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of the fate of his predecessor, the crockpot chicken.

"You have a lot of energy anyway, and it's nothing to divide some energy to deal with juniors."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up, the meaning was obvious, he was not going to eat Zhu Di's big cake.

He helped Zhu Di carry enough black pots, obviously it was his idea to go to the West and build Beijing, but the pot fell on him.

Now that he has learned to be smart, he can carry the pot that should be carried, after all, he needs someone to sing with a white face, but he can't carry the pot that he should carry, he can't carry one.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu really didn't help himself, Zhu Di could only find a way to do it by himself.

But before that, he had to find a way to get down to business.

"A few days ago, Zheng He sent a letter, saying that he had distributed 5,000 yuan of taxes to the lord of Japan, and if the lord was happy, he would write a letter of state to me."

"In the letter, Zheng He also mentioned that if the output of Treasure Island is folded, it will be no less than 500,000 yuan per year."

"I have calculated, if there are really 500,000 yuan, then I can buy 1.23 million stone grain."

Zhu Di leaned on his chair and sighed: "It's not easy for the people of Liaodong and Bohai, they are always harassed by the Wuliangha people, I read the side newspaper, and I feel ......uncomfortable in my heart."

"What do you want to say?" Zhu Gaoxu watched Zhu Di act and couldn't help interrupting, but saw Zhu Di looking up at him after he spoke.

"Second brother, you have to fulfill me, and the matter of fighting Wu Liangha has to be done in advance."

"Didn't you say that you would fight again in the spring of three years?" Zhu Gaoxu can be regarded as having experienced the helplessness of a good big brother in history, and sometimes his cheap father really wants to come out of it.

"I can wait, but the people in Biansai can't." Zhu Di sublimated the topic to the people of Biansai, and had a helpless expression.

"Taking advantage of the infighting among the Hu people in the north, I can't spare the energy to rush to the aid of Wuliangha, and the court has to strike first."

"If you wait for one more year, it will be more dangerous, and besides, if the imperial court goes north to fight Wuliangha, it can also make Annan relax his vigilance, which kills two birds with one stone."

"I only brought 30,000 people to the fortress this time, and the grain in Zhaozhou will never run out, and I will lead the troops back to Beiping after three months at most."

Zhu Di can pull out any nonsense for the sake of the Northern Expedition.

You must know that the goal of this northern expedition to Uliangha is to drive them out of Modong, or directly surrender them all.

To do that, three months is simply not enough.

"Three months?" Zhu Gaoxu smiled dumbly: "Are you coaxing a child by this?" ”

"I know best how firearms and horse infantry fight, if you say that you will only fight for three months, then it is better to send a fatwa to Meng Zhang now, anyway, he has also recruited 20,000 Jurchen new soldiers there, and the horses in Bohai are enough, it is better to let him go to the Wuliangha grassland in the spring of next year."

"How can that work?!" Hearing this, Zhu Di was not calm.

He also learned about Meng Zhang's ability through the battle report, and it may not be possible to fight some generals, but it is definitely easy to fight Wuliangha.

If Meng Zhang really asked Meng Zhang to take 20,000 Jurchen horse infantry to the Wuliangha grassland, then he would only be able to fight rabbits and yellow sheep next time.

"...... like this" Zhu Di stood up from his chair and raised five fingers: "I will set off from Beiping with troops in May next year and return to Beiping in September." ”

"Don't embarrass me......" Zhu Gaoxu reluctantly refused again, and Zhu Di, who saw this, also lost his temper and scolded directly:

"I used to say that you are the most like me, but now it seems that you are also a brick-picking guy."

"I said directly, the imperial court will march north in June next year, this time the north will march 50,000 people, you will transfer 500,000 stones of grain from Beiping and Shandong to Quanningwei and Zhaozhou to wait for the army to go north!"

"No food." Zhu Gaoxu spread his hands, and Zhu Di's eyes widened: "Where's the grain?!" ”

"Build Beijing for you and allocate rations to the people of Liaodong." Zhu Gaoxu's dead pig was not afraid of boiling water, he had long known that Zhu Di would definitely spill, so he had planned the grain in Beiping and Shandong in advance.

Zhu Di obviously didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to know himself so well, so he was stunned.

Seeing that Zhu Di didn't speak, Zhu Gaoxu stimulated: "The Northern Expedition is a major event, otherwise Erchen will stop the construction of Beijing first?" ”

"I calculated, it is no problem to stop work for four months and squeeze out 500,000 stones."

"Look at ......"

Zhu Gaochu was still stimulating, Zhu Di pulled his legs and left, Zhu Gaochu chased after him when he saw this: "Listen to me, then ......"

"Shut up!"

"Why are you so angry, Erchen is talking to you about the Northern Expedition."

"Get away, you brick-picking ......"

"Daddy! Wait for me, can't we talk about the Northern Expedition? ”

The father and son chased all the way, until finally Zhu Di walked into Yao Guangxiao's meditation room, and Zhu Gaoxu shouted twice at the door.

Seeing that Zhu Di didn't respond, Zhu Gaoxu hummed a little song and left Jiming Temple, leaving only Zhu Di, who was in the meditation room, and Yao Guangxiao, who was confused.

"Ming Taizong Record": "In September, Ding Chou, the upper changed the feudal domains, and appointed the princes to be 15,000 guan, the county king and princess 3,000 guan, and the county lord 1,500 guan. ”

"Records of Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "Ding Chou, on the state politics with the prince, the prince's reply is good, and he is very happy. ”

"Bohai Chronicle": "Ding Chou, the emperor and the upper discussed national affairs, and he was displeased and left, and he was chased away. ”

(End of chapter)