Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2654 Royal Princes, Two Capitals in Circumstances

The moment the words "granting favors and reducing the power of the vassal states, turning the kingdoms into prefectures" were uttered, the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui also began to consider the feasibility of this policy.

"Would it be feasible to move the capital to Nanjing?" Li Jing, the Minister of War, suddenly interjected at this moment.

He only mentioned the matter of moving the capital briefly from a military perspective.

If the capital were in Luoyang, given its distance from Southeast Asia, it would indeed be impossible to maintain rule there.

After all, if a problem were to occur in Southeast Asia, it would take at least half a year for the news to reach us, and then for the imperial court to send troops to resolve the issue. How long would that take?

However, if it were Nanjing, it would be relatively feasible.

If we can repair the roads between the south and Southeast Asia to ensure their smooth passage, and then, like the Yizhou Grand Camp, recruit elite troops from the southern barbarians and mountain tribes, we will have a way to defend the region should chaos break out in the southeast.

Moreover, he had heard that a Taoist priest had spread the word that Nanjing possessed the aura of an emperor, and for this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang specially changed the name to Nanjing.

"Brother Pharmacist, what you said is inappropriate!"

Li Jing's words immediately provoked opposition from many civil officials.

They were neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Sun Quan in history; they only controlled a small corner of the country in the south.

Today, they control more than a dozen states.

If one only had the southern corner of the world, then making Nanjing the capital would be perfectly acceptable.

However, with more than a dozen prefectures under its control, Nanjing was simply not suitable, and it didn't even have the potential to be considered as an alternative.

How did the South compare to the North and the Central Plains during this period?

Before the economic center shifted south, the south was not effectively developed and had no foundation to serve as a capital city.

Moreover, what kind of regimes were those that completed the southward shift of the economic center and established their capitals south of the Yangtze River? They were just some separatist forces, and moreover, separatist forces that had little chance of achieving unification.

The only exception was Zhu Yuanzhang.

Moreover, even during Zhu Yuanzhang's time, the economic center had already completed its second southward shift, and the south had been thoroughly developed, surpassing the north.

The difficulty of attacking the south from the north is not the same as attacking the north from the south!

Furthermore, while Nanjing was indeed relatively closer to Southeast Asia in terms of distance, it would still require extensive repairs to the imperial roads to ensure unimpeded traffic between the south and Southeast Asia, thus maintaining an effective system.

This is a massive undertaking, not something that can be accomplished in one or two generations. To attempt to force its completion in one or two generations is to look to the fate of the Qin and Sui dynasties.

As for recruiting soldiers from the southern barbarians and the Yue tribes, they did so to cope with the natural environment of Southeast Asia.

If Nanjing is chosen as the capital, would it be appropriate to place a well-trained army, mainly composed of foreign forces, next to the capital?

Therefore, the consideration of moving the capital is even greater than the issue of enfeoffment. "Nanjing has the aura of an emperor; this old minister, though far away in Luoyang, has heard of this before!"

"As for the suggestion to move the capital, it is naturally a disastrous move."

"However, while Nanjing cannot be the capital, it may not be unsuitable to be a secondary capital!"

"In this way, our Great Jin will essentially have three levels of political centers: Siyong as the main capital, Nanjing as the secondary capital, and the regional military governors as the auxiliary capital. This can completely fill the blind spots in our rule and solve the problem of insufficient governance in some remote areas."

"Not only that, it can also form a pattern that covers the entire world. When the world is truly at peace, the next emperor of the Great Jin can then reduce the power of the vassal states." Wang Meng, the Minister of Personnel, chimed in at this moment.

Making Nanjing the capital was definitely impossible.

However, his idea was similar to the dual-capital system of the later Tang and Ming dynasties.

Making Nanjing the secondary capital of the Jin Dynasty would help the Jin Dynasty develop the south, since the Jin Dynasty's focus in recent years has been on the development of the south.

At the same time, Nanjing, as a secondary capital, could also strengthen the deterrent effect on the vassal kings in the southeast.

In other respects, his thinking was generally similar to that of Zhuge Liang.

By utilizing the power of the feudal princes to develop and assimilate Southeast Asia, it would be sufficient to establish an effective Han Chinese civilization rule in Southeast Asia over several generations.

These generations were enough for the Great Jin Dynasty to build extensive roads, clear mountains and move forests to benefit Jing and Yang. From the beginning, a large number of roads were built to connect Jiaozhou and Nanzhou, and then radiated from Jiaozhou and Nanzhou to Southeast Asia, forming a network that now extends to the south and the whole of Southeast Asia.

Whether a feudal dynasty's rule is stable or not, its transportation and road infrastructure is of paramount importance.

Even now, in Nanzhou, there is only one road that Yao Chong opened up in Nanzhou in his early years. If we want to make the roads between Jiaozhou and Nanzhou, and even the roads in Southeast Asia, they need to be as well-connected as those in the Central Plains and the North. This will definitely have to be done slowly over several generations!
Emperor Li Xiang's fingers finally left the large stack of memorials on the table.

He slowly raised his eyes, his gaze as deep as an abyss, sweeping over the faces of every important official in the hall.

"Jinglue and Kongming's words are to the point," Emperor Li Xiang said.

“The southeastern region cannot be governed quickly by prefectures and counties. Establishing additional deputy capitals and enfeoffing members of the imperial clan are expedient measures, but also the only feasible approach.”

Li Xiang had actually given serious thought to the matter of enfeoffing princes. In fact, he had considered it even before the events in Southeast Asia occurred.

The harm caused by vassal kings certainly exists!

However, the power of a vassal king is ultimately insignificant compared to that of the central court, and it is not easy for him to truly threaten the central court. Otherwise, there would not have been only one vassal king, Zhu Di, who successfully ascended to the throne throughout history.

As for Zhu Yunwen, given the balance of power at the time, it was just as absurd for him to lose as it was for Zhu Di to win!
He paused for a moment before continuing, “Firstly, Nanjing will be the secondary capital. Both Nanjing and Luoyang will have the Six Ministries and the Censorate. The officials in Nanjing will be half a rank lower than those in Luoyang and will be under the jurisdiction of Luoyang. Moreover, their policies will only apply to the three prefectures of Yangzhou, Jiaozhou, and Nanzhou. Nanjing officials will serve a five-year term and will not be allowed to serve consecutive terms. They will be responsible for supervising the princes in the southeast.”

"Secondly, select adult members of the imperial clan and enfeoff them in strategic locations such as Linyi, Funan, and Nanchu, grant them the title of king, establish their own government and military headquarters, and give them control over local military and political power."

"Thirdly, each kingdom shall have a Chief Secretary, a Chancellor, and a Commandant. These three positions shall be filled by officials directly selected by the court. They shall be in charge of documents, supervision, criminal matters, and some military power, thus checking and balancing the vassal kings!"

"Fourth, the princes may raise troops to defend themselves, but the number of troops, armor, and warships shall be limited by imperial decree! Their taxes, apart from those used to maintain the royal expenses and local military and political expenditures, shall all be paid to the imperial court!"

"Fifth, the heirs of all princes, upon reaching the age of ten, must go to Luoyang as hostages! Every three years, the princes must personally go to Luoyang to pay homage and report on their duties, and may not leave their fiefdoms without an imperial edict!"