Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 880 Siam
One thing must be understood, as the master of the world for 300 years, Fufan is the closest branch of King Yan.

In a sense, selecting someone to succeed Fufan is equivalent to selecting a successor for Yanfan's family.

At this time, the other candidates seemed very abrupt.

And if King Fu is extinct, then the succession rights of the Yan family will expand and spread, which will lead to endless troubles.

At this time, if a son is allowed to succeed Fufan, this clan risk can be resolved.

It's just that if you do this, the most uncomfortable thing will be the crown prince.

One brother is the King of Qin who is the direct line of the vassal, and the other is the King Fu who is the direct line of the previous dynasty. Good guy, on the surface, they seem to have more inheritance rights than him.

Zhu Yixi just thought about it for a moment, and finally figured it out: "Although it is a bit cruel to the prince, this is indeed a good way."

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhao Shu praised directly: "The Qin Fan and Fu Fan families can properly solve the problem of their omissions, which is wonderful for the imperial court."

"As for the prince, he is wise and courageous, even like His Majesty. It should be difficult for the brothers and vassals to threaten his position."

The words are very clear, on the surface, the crown prince Zhu Cunqu's strength is weak, but in fact, his Yingzang's strength is difficult to measure.

For example, the huge princes and sons, the honorary system, are all the supporters behind it, and the prince will be the emperor's maintainer.

Needless to mention the civil servants, the eldest son inheritance system naturally has a wide range of supporters.

However, Zhu Yixi understood that, as the emperor in power, although he had to maintain competitiveness for the next generation, it was easy to be self-defeating.

Especially at the beginning of the new dynasty, the second generation is always prone to problems, such as Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Ming Chengzu and so on.

This includes not only the complex influence of domestic and foreign situations, but also the indulgence and chaos of those in power.

Naturally, Zhu Yixi would not be like this. Once the crown prince is established, he will definitely support him with all his strength.

Thinking of this, he kept thinking in his heart, looked up at Zhao Shu's gray hair, and said involuntarily:

"Sir, what do you think of Jianfan Pingguo?"

When Zhao Shu heard this, his complexion suddenly changed, to a certain extent, he was extremely pale.

His lips trembled, and his hands were tightly gripped on the chair, not daring to let go easily, for he was afraid that he would slump and his image would plummet.

Lips trembled a few times, Zhao Shu regained some color, gritted his teeth and said, "Has Your Majesty forgotten the battle of Jingnan?"

"It's different."

The emperor shook his head and showed a confident smile. He comforted him: "At that time, the vast north had not been a Han territory for hundreds of years. Although the Beiyuan Kingdom fell, its ambitions were still not small and ambitious."

"The king of Sai is a product of history and has its necessity."

Starting from the shame of Jingkang, the north has been occupied for hundreds of years, and there are not a few people who speak Hu language and Hu clothes. There must be a general to sit in charge and guard one side.

At this time, the nobles were domineering, and under the influence of the military household system, their strength was strong. It can be said that it was a necessary choice for the sons to be stationed as kings of Sai.

Zhu Yixi continued: "Mr. misunderstood what I meant."

"The vassal state I'm talking about is actually not in the 25 provinces, but outside."

"For example, Mobei, Northwest, and Northeast."

Hearing this, Zhao Shu frowned, which really surprised him.

"These places deviate from the control of the imperial court. If prefectures and counties are established, the name may not match the reality, and the difficulties will increase greatly."

"So it's better to fill in immigrants and let the vassal kings establish a vassal state. The best thing is to directly surround the entire border of Ming Dynasty as a barrier."

The emperor spoke vigorously, and his whole person seemed to be full of impassioned breath.

Zhao Shu nodded slightly, he had to admit that this is indeed a very good way.

For those lands beyond the reach of the whip, blindly occupying them greedily will only be counterproductive, and it seems inappropriate to restrain Mi, so it is better to let the princes garrison Jianfan.

In his mind, he directly listed Anxi Province, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.

In Zhu Yixi's mind, he listed the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Annan, the vast Central Asian region, and the Kazakh Khanate.

Seeing that he agreed, the emperor smiled: "For the imperial court, this can get rid of a lot of burdens, and the threat of the vassal king to the imperial court will be minimal."

"But when necessary, it is the best help."

The monarch and his subjects looked at each other and laughed.

If a vassal state is established, King Qin and King Fu will no longer be a threat to the prince, but a kind of help.

The heirs who succeeded Qin Fan and Fu Fan appeared to be very wise and powerful at this time.

No way, the information is poor here.

You think that the boss or the cabinet is powerful, but it is actually because of poor information, people know a lot.

A few days later, the emperor received King Xialu, and made it clear that he would never sit back and watch Fufan die, and would definitely find a way to continue the incense.

This made him overjoyed, and he hurriedly reported to Fu Wang, who was empty of his body in wine.

The latter was overjoyed, feeling that he had nothing to worry about, and immediately indulged in the beauty and couldn't extricate himself.

Obviously, according to the predictions of the imperial physicians, the lifespan of the King of Fortune would only last a few years if it continued like this.

However, the vassal king's plan was released, and the first one to try was the eldest prince, Qin Wang Zhu Cunhao.

As early as the beginning, the emperor arranged for him to have a blind date with the Mongols. Before the concubine was decided, the concubine room was settled.

Obviously, the emperor just wanted to make it a screen domain to resolve the frontier crisis.

At present, the best location is Horqin Grassland, Hulunbeier and other places west of Jilin.

There are many Mongols here, belonging to the Jimi area. As long as a city is built, it will be easy to control.

And there is still danger, that is the threat of Man Qing.

The second choice is Wei Zang Kingdom, Qinghai Tibet Kingdom.

As the largest vassal state in the southwest region, they were given the title of country not long ago, but the emperor didn't trust them and coveted Qinghai-Tibet for a long time.

We must know the Kingdom of Wei Zang at this time.It has a great influence on the small countries in the foothills of the Himalayas. To a certain extent, it can even follow the example of Anmannan and establish a circle of its own system.

Considering the threat of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the current war between Kang and U-Tibet, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is obviously the best choice.

"It's been a few years—"

Zhu Yixi smiled slightly, revealing a smile.

In October, the autumn tigers began to disperse, and the entire court team, including the inner court, moved from Yuquan Mountain to Beijing again.

The emperor is like a migratory bird, running back and forth every year, the civil and military officials are used to it, and the common people are also used to it.

At this time, the autumn tax of Shaowu's 12th year was put into the treasury one after another.

What is surprising is that the total amount of the summer and autumn taxes has exceeded 8000 million yuan, and the imperial treasury is full.

The northern provinces are continuing to recover, a large amount of wasteland has been reclaimed, houses have been rebuilt, and the population has gradually become denser.

It is conservatively estimated that in the past ten years, the population in the north has almost doubled, and a large number of children have been born, contributing to the main population growth.

The south is no exception. A large number of slaves were liberated and the population multiplied.

And all this is so clear, thanks to the emperor's pardon from the beginning of the Ding tax that is no longer collected.

Although it has been integrated into the Spring and Autumn Taxes, the emperor publicized the exemption of the Ding Tax, just thinking about the rapid recovery of the population.

The cabinet rejoiced: "In Shaanxi province alone, there are more than 500 million men and women, and Shandong has more than 800 million. Hebei Province has recovered the fastest, and now it has reached 800 million. It can be said to be gratifying."

In an agricultural society, people simply believed that an increase in population would inevitably lead to more land reclamation and an increase in food.

But they didn't think about it, the land is limited, to a certain extent, coupled with land annexation, it will become a disaster.

"Shandong's population is too small."

The emperor shook his head: "Shandong is close to Gyeonggi, so the population should not be so sparse."

"The imperial court should send capable officials to Shandong."

The cabinet has nothing to do with it.

They naturally dare not argue, this is because a large number of Shandong population began to migrate to Jilin and Liaodong.

Faced with the emperor's problem, it is natural to have to solve it instead of questioning it.

That is the job of the cabinet.

A summary meeting lasted for two or three hours.

The main problem is the security maintenance and arrangements in Suiyuan and Anxi.

Of course, the biggest enemy, the remnants of Man Qing, also needs to be resolved urgently.

For this reason, the Ministry of War fought hard according to reason, and demanded that 500 million special suppression funds be used as special expenditures for the war.

The Ministry of Industry bluntly stated that the Huai River and the Yellow River should be governed.We have reached the most critical moment, and the food and grass support must not be cut off, so we have to increase the money.

Hearing this, Zhao Shu quickly stopped: "This meeting is to check for omissions and make up for vacancies, not the budget meeting, so we have to wait a month or two."

In this way, the topic came to the fore.

Afterwards, the emperor just rested for a while.Wu Sangui presented a memorial:
"Please stop the recruitment of soldiers in Gyeonggi"

As the name suggests, the court was asked not to recruit troops near Shuntian Mansion, but to go to other places to recruit troops.

After all, in today's era, although the factor of weapons has a great advantage, the quality of soldiers is still an important factor.

For example, the Yiwu soldiers of the Qi family army and the Sauron people of the Qing Dynasty are all fierce sources of soldiers.

Wu Sangui listed the Shence Army of the Tang Dynasty, the Forbidden Army of the Song Dynasty, and the Beijing Camp of the pre-Ming Dynasty.

Not surprisingly, they are all typical examples of being very strong in the early stage and sluggish in the middle and late stages.

Wu Sangui believes that although there are factors of prosperity in Beijing, the main reason is that the source of troops is not enough:

Gyeonggi soldiers are so cunning and cunning that they are afraid of death.

For example, the Qianming Dynasty was strong at the beginning, and it was because of Duojingnan veterans and Huaiyou powerful soldiers that they were extremely strong.

But in the Xuande period, the strength of the Beijing camp declined sharply, because the source of troops all came from the capital.

Therefore, Wu Sangui bluntly said that expanding the source of troops to the whole country and recruiting more honest people from the countryside, who are obedient and not afraid of death, is the best choice.

This memorial is a great subsidy for the emperor.

Check for gaps.

After working so hard for so many years, Zhu Yixi didn't think of this.

In the feudal era, common people were the most unsuitable soldiers, just like border shepherds were not suitable for police dogs.

Contrary to women, the court likes honest people the most.

In addition to the problem of soldiers, Wu Sangui was still at the end, vaguely mentioning the exchange between the lower army and the Beijing camp.

This is a very smart choice.

That is, transfer the frontier troops to the Beijing battalion system, and the Beijing battalion will move around the frontier, which is a great supplement to the combat effectiveness of the Beijing battalion.

But this will offend many officers and soldiers whose families are in the capital. After all, no one wants to go outside to suffer.

Moreover, how to ensure that the frontier soldiers are obedient and how to make rules are all problems.

However, it is certain that this is definitely a beneficial supplement for Jingying.

"Wu Sangui has a lot of thoughts!"

Zhu Yixi had been the emperor for so many years, and he immediately realized what Wu Sangui was trying to do.

The Mansion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies.

He wanted to seek progress, except for military exploits, he could only curry favor with the emperor.

And at this time, this memorial definitely has a heavyweight effect.

"Interesting, very interesting."

The emperor smiled.

The 12 years of Shaowu slowly came to an end with the passage of time.

However, the situation in the southwest is extremely intense.

Kang Guobing marched towards Lhasa, only a hundred miles away from Lhasa, but they couldn't advance no matter what.

Food and grass limit them.

Helplessly, after extorting a batch of money and food, the battlefield ended initially.

Kang Guo returned with a full load and plundered a lot of money, which can be said to have robbed Wei Zang.

Under such circumstances, U-Tsang could only complain to the imperial court, asking for regulation and control.

In fact, the Qinghai area controlled by the imperial court is thousands of miles away from Lhasa, and there are many uninhabited areas in it. How difficult is it to control it?
At most, it is nothing more than sending envoys to mediate.

Wei Zang also understood the reason. They would not dare to lure wolves into the house even if the situation was not exhausted. Therefore, the main purpose of coming to Beijing this time was to obtain muskets and gunpowder.

The imperial court was not stingy, and sold a batch of high-priced matchlock guns.

Kang Guo also rushed to buy, unwilling to be left behind.

Two thousand matchlock guns were directly sold for 10 taels of silver, which shocked the Ministry of War.

They suddenly realized that the profit of arms was simply too great.

But news came from the Yunnan area that Siam sent an envoy to ask for help.

It turns out that Sun Kewang established the Dian Kingdom on the basis of the Toungoo Kingdom. Because of its advanced combat power in East Asia and its emphasis on firearms, it is powerful.

He looked around and saw Daming in the north, Bangladesh in the west, and the sea in the south. Siam in the east was the best target.

Although the Ayutthaya Dynasty is in the rejuvenation stage, its national strength is not comparable to that of the Dian Kingdom.

After some fighting, Siam was miserable and defeated like a mountain, which can be described as a big loss.

Under such circumstances, Siam escaped with the help of the rainy season, and had no choice but to turn to Daming for help, saying:
The rebels in the Dian Kingdom are punishable by everyone. Our country should try our best to kill the thieves, but we can't do what we want...

They were not polite, and directly asked to send troops.

In the end, I even wanted a batch of muskets and gunpowder.

This seems very unreasonable.

Everyone refused to send troops, and also refused to send supplies.

But there was nothing they could do about the expansion of the Dian Kingdom.

In Zhao Shu's words: "Sun Kewang is rebellious and unruly. Siam has not ruled for many years. The court has no other choice but to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."

The emperor was unwilling to stay out of the matter: "Let someone tell Sun Kewang that I will allow him to annex Siam as long as he pays tribute."

(End of this chapter)