Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 629 Brother-in-law, please teach me! (Subscribe!!)
Listening to the words of Prince Jin and Prince Yan, Ouyang Lun felt somewhat helpless.

"To be honest, what you mentioned is not a difficult matter. According to the new system of the Ming Dynasty's feudal lords and fiefdoms, the imperial court will not interfere too much in the trade between you. It is mainly based on your willingness to trade. After all, in the fiefdom, you are the highest administrators who concentrate the three powers of military, politics and commerce!"

"Of course, the imperial court has the final say. In the past, it was indeed the imperial court that coordinated everything. In the future, the imperial court will only review and supervise everything. Before you make any deal, just submit a report in advance!"

"This way, we can satisfy your trade convenience, and the court will also be much more relaxed!"

"I also hope that your fiefdom can develop better under your management!"

"If you want to continue to expand your fiefdom in the future, that is, to expand outward, you will also have enough funds to purchase weapons and so on!"

Ouyang Lun's words were enough to make Prince of Jin and Prince of Yan Zhu Di understand their thoughts and they nodded repeatedly.

"Thank you brother-in-law!"

"Does this rule apply to all of our vassal kings?"

"Of course, since it is a regulation for the management of vassal kings, everyone is treated equally. Although there are still many vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, if they want to go to the border, the court can also consider it. After all, the fiefdoms of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty are not fixed in theory in the future. It depends on the strategy of the court and your own needs. If you are tired and don't want to continue to expand the territory for the Ming Dynasty, you can also apply to be transferred back to the internal territory to be a vassal king!"

Ouyang Lun continued.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of Prince of Jin and Prince of Yan Zhu Di became brighter. Such humane management regulations dispelled many of their concerns!
Not only the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, but also the Emperor Zhu Biao's eyes lit up at this moment. In this way, the burden of the court's management of the territory will be greatly reduced! He, the emperor, can also be much more relaxed.

"Okay, if you don't have anything to do, go get busy. You have a lot of things to do next. There will also be an assessment at the end of the year. Although as a vassal king, you will not be dismissed like an official, but when the ranking list comes out, you will find that you are at the bottom. Not only will you lose the year-end bonus, but you will also lose face!"

Ouyang Lun waved his hand and sent the guest away.

The problems and confusions of Prince of Jin and Prince of Yan Zhu Di were resolved, and they also wanted to return to their respective fiefdoms to do great things. After paying their respects to Ouyang Lun, they left!

"After you two royal brothers go down, remember to tell the other royal brothers to go ahead and do their work! I and the court will always be your backers! If you need anything in the future, just tell me, and I will definitely help if I can!" Zhu Biao said with a smile.

The expansion of the fiefdoms by the vassal kings was equivalent to his expansion of the territory, and the development of the economy by the vassal kings was equivalent to his development of the economy. As an emperor, he simply won without doing anything. As long as he, the emperor, and even the emperors after him were not incompetent, they would not ruin a good hand!
"Please rest assured, my brother. I will definitely live up to your and your husband's expectations!"

"In the annual evaluation of vassal kings, our Yan State will definitely be ranked first!"

"Hehe, wait until my steel mills expand production, maybe our economic strength will catch up soon!"

"If Jin wants to catch up with Yan, it will have to work hard for a few more years!"

"No need. I plan to raise the price of steel when we go back to discuss the contract."

"Fuck! Second brother, you are too cruel."

"Hey, it's all business. Don't worry, it's just a slight increase, but I guarantee you the best quality!"

"Brother, let's go to Tianshang Renjian to relax. I'll treat you. Let's discuss this steel contract."

Listening to the conversation between Prince of Jin and Prince of Yan Zhu Di, Ouyang Lun smiled slightly. It seemed that the reform of the vassal king management system was relatively successful so far. However, Ouyang Lun also knew that there was no perfect system either now or in the future. There were only methods that were adapted to local conditions. The current vassal king system might be very useful now. It could greatly mobilize the enthusiasm of the vassal kings, accelerate the development of the Ming Dynasty, and reduce the burden on the court. It could be said that it was good in every way. However, if the overall environment changes in the future, perhaps things will be different!
Human resources are limited, so how can we think so far ahead? Solutions are dead, but people are alive. Maybe there will be a better solution at that time!

"Eh? Brother Emperor, do you have anything else to say?"

Ouyang Lun found that Emperor Zhu Biao didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, and couldn't help rolling his eyes.

When Zhu Biao saw Ouyang Lun rolling his eyes, he was not angry but laughed instead, "Brother-in-law, it was absolutely right for the emperor to let you handle the affairs of the vassal kings!"

"Just letting the vassal king become the supreme controller of the military, political and commercial powers of the fiefdom, will it become a situation where the tail is too big to be removed in the end?!"

"Is this the question you want to ask, or is it the question my father-in-law, the emperor emeritus, wants to ask?" Ouyang Lun asked calmly.

"Yeah, they all are!" Zhu Biao felt a little embarrassed after being exposed by Ouyang Lun.

As expected, it was the old guy Zhu who asked Zhu Biao to ask him. The reason why Ouyang Lun guessed that it was Zhu Yuanzhang who asked Zhu Biao to ask this question was mainly because with Zhu Biao's character, he would not worry too much about this. After all, Zhu Biao trusted his younger brothers very much, and did not believe that his younger brothers would confront the court or even rebel.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was different. He fought his way up from a beggar to the throne of emperor. He had seen too many brothers and fathers and sons competing for power, so he was naturally worried about this!
"Brother-in-law, father is very satisfied with the management system of the princes you proposed. He is just a little worried. After all, in all dynasties, the princes have too much power, which eventually led to being difficult to control and even rebellions. Naturally, I advise father not to worry about this. My brothers will not do such a thing!" Zhu Biao hurriedly explained.

"Then my father-in-law, the retired emperor, will definitely tell you that when you, Zhu Biao, are here, your brothers will naturally not do that, but what if you, Zhu Biao, are gone? If your son succeeds to the throne, will your brothers still behave themselves? After all, it's not wrong for an uncle to beat his nephew!"

"I'm afraid your son is not good enough in front of those brothers who are as fierce as wolves and tigers!"

"This..." Zhu Biao was dumbfounded when he heard Ouyang Lun's words.

There are two main reasons why Zhu Biao was dumbfounded. The first is that Zhu Yuanzhang did tell him these things. Zhu Biao himself was not worried about his younger brothers, but his sons were different. The second is that what Ouyang Lun said was far more profound than what Zhu Yuanzhang told him!

To be honest, even when Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned to him how his son would face his uncles and vassal kings in the future, Zhu Di was still not too worried. After all, both his sons, Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunwen, had a very good relationship with all the vassal kings. But when he heard what Ouyang Lun said, he felt as if Ouyang Lun knew the future situation and what he said was very truthful!
Coupled with Ouyang Lun's "brilliant record", even Zhu Biao had to waver at this moment. "Brother-in-law, please teach me!" Zhu Biao said hurriedly.

"Ah——" Even Ouyang Lun had to sigh at this moment. Although he knew about the future, he could not tell Zhu Biao directly. After you die, your son will succeed to the throne. At that time, Zhu Di will rebel and seize the throne from your lineage!

What if he said it? Could it be that Zhu Biao was asked to kill Zhu Di directly? Let's not talk about whether Zhu Biao believed it or not. Even if he believed it, Zhu Biao's character probably wouldn't bring himself to do it!

Besides, many things have changed now. It is still unclear whether Zhu Biao will die young. Both Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying, father and son, have been rescued once by Ouyang Lun. If nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Xiongying will succeed to the throne in the future, and there will be no room for Zhu Yunwen. Without Zhu Yunwen's bold actions, whether Zhu Di would rebel is also worth discussing.

So at this moment, facing such worries, even Ouyang Lun didn't have a good solution.

"What's there to teach?"

"My brother the emperor, do you think your brothers, the princes, will rebel now?" Ouyang Lun asked.

"No." Zhu Biao shook his head and spoke very firmly.

"Then do you think that after you pass away and your son inherits the throne, your brothers who are princes will rebel?" Ouyang Lun continued to ask.

"Probably not. This is too long-term and I can't judge." Zhu Biao shook his head with obvious confusion.

"What a coincidence. I don't know either!" Ouyang Lun spread his hands. "Who can tell what will happen in the future? At least there is no rebellion by the vassal kings now, and everything is moving in a direction of improvement. Why bother yourself in advance?"

"If you do it now, the result in the future will not be too bad!"

"Okay, I'm going to talk about Buddhism to comfort you! If you really can't figure it out, go find a high monk and ask him. They are the best scammers, ahem... they have great wisdom. With their guidance, you will definitely figure it out!"

"No need to look for a great monk, I have already understood. Thank you brother-in-law for your guidance! I almost couldn't get out of this predicament!" Zhu Biao expressed his sincere gratitude: "I just need to fulfill my responsibilities, and the people after me will do the rest!"

"Well, I'm just saying it casually. I hope you can figure it out!" Ouyang Lun nodded. "But you must take care of your health. I always hear from Little Li that you stay up all night reviewing memorials. Your health is your own!"

"Yes, thank you brother-in-law for your concern. I will pay attention to it." Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly.

"Good to know!" Ouyang Lun nodded, and then he planned to continue fishing, but he found that Zhu Biao still didn't seem to be planning to leave, "No. Brother Emperor, you don't have anything else to do, do you?"

"Hehe, brother-in-law is right. I do have something I want to ask you." Zhu Biao said a little embarrassedly.

"I give up. I now feel more and more that the reason you were able to become the emperor was not because of my recommendation, but because of your own efforts!" Ouyang Lun complained directly.

"Brother-in-law, what do you mean? If it weren't for your strong recommendation, father would certainly not have let me succeed to the throne early." Zhu Biao was a little confused.

"I originally thought so, but seeing how hard you work and how my father-in-law, the emperor emeritus, lives a more carefree life, I think he is attracted by your reckless work attitude. This way, he can control the overall situation, have some free time, and let you get enough exercise. Wow, this is a very smart plan!"

The more Ouyang Lun thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was greater. This old man Zhu Yuanzhang was too shrewd.

Forehead.
Zhu Biao felt that Ouyang Lun was right, but since they were discussing Zhu Yuanzhang after all, he couldn't say much and could only agree.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Just tell me about your problem."

Ouyang Lun said.

"Brother-in-law, it's like this. The more I know about those people who are incompetent and do bad things, the more uncomfortable I feel! I wish I could kick these people out of the ranks of Ming officials immediately. Letting them be in a key position is no different from putting termites on the beams of a house! " Zhu Biao said indignantly: "I wanted to take action before, but because I had to conquer the Northern Yuan Dynasty, I endured it!"

"Now that the conquest of the Northern Yuan Dynasty is complete, and even the crimes of Lan Yu and his adopted son have been dealt with, it should be possible to clean up the court and rectify the administration!"

After saying this, Zhu Biao looked at Ouyang Lun with expectation.

Zhu Biao knew very well that rectifying the administration of officials would affect the entire body, which was a very difficult task for emperors of all dynasties. It was equivalent to directly declaring a war with the bureaucracy. If he won, not only would the Ming officialdom become better and more efficient, but his position would also be greatly consolidated. Those incompetent officials who were in office but did nothing would be cleared out, and Zhu Biao could promote capable officials to take over. These officials would become Zhu Biao's loyal supporters. If he lost, he, Zhu Biao, would face a decline in imperial majesty and further control by the bureaucracy!
It can be said that rectifying the administration of officials is a matter that has many benefits but also great risks.

This is also the reason why Zhu Biao asked Ouyang Lun again and again. On the one hand, he thought that Ouyang Lun could give him some advice. On the other hand, with Ouyang Lun's current status and influence, as long as he could get Ouyang Lun's support, he would be half successful in rectifying the administration this time!
Under Zhu Biao's expectant gaze, Ouyang Lun nodded slowly, "Of course no problem."

Then he continued, "The Ministry of Revenue itself scores officials based on their words, deeds, political achievements, and other aspects every year. I will have Guo sort out this data and send it to Your Majesty. Your Majesty can also ask the Ministry of Personnel for a copy and make a comprehensive decision in the end!"

After saying that, Ouyang Lun looked at Zhu Biao and said seriously: "Brother-in-law, compared with my father-in-law, you are more benevolent. To put it bluntly, you are soft-hearted!"

"Benevolence is a necessary quality for an emperor, but sometimes you need to use tough measures! You have to make all officials fear and be terrified of you!"

"After that, apply the policy of benevolence, and the effect will be doubled!"

After listening, Zhu Biao nodded, "I will keep in mind what my brother-in-law said!"

Although Zhu Biao agreed verbally, he still believed that as long as he governed with benevolence, all officials and people would be convinced by him.
(End of this chapter)