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

Zongren Mansion.

Royal Academy, teaching area.

This place was built by Ouyang Lun specifically for the Royal Academy. Before, it was where the clan house imprisoned the royal family members who committed crimes, and it was also used as a classroom. Later, Ouyang Lun renovated it and it has its current appearance.

Today, the Royal College is divided into teaching areas, dormitory areas, sports areas, canteens and other areas.

The education area is a seven-story concrete building, which is also the teaching building where the college holds classes.

At this moment, more than twenty princes were sitting obediently in the classroom. Each of them was holding a college manual and reading it carefully. No one was whispering to each other, let alone doing anything else.

Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao stood outside the classroom, watching everything quietly.

Ouyang Lun naturally remained calm about this situation, but Zhu Biao was very surprised. You know, these twenty-odd princes in the classroom were all Zhu Biao's brothers.

Most of his younger brothers were raised by Zhu Biao. It can be said that Zhu Biao knew the personality of each of them. Except for a few obedient princes, most of the princes had extremely flamboyant personalities.

Even Zhu Biao couldn't make these princes so obedient.

But Ouyang Lun did it.

"Brother-in-law, your method of educating people is really amazing!"

Zhu Biao couldn't help but sigh.

To be honest, Zhu Biao had also been trained by Ouyang Lun before and was well aware of how powerful Ouyang Lun was, but when he saw this scene today, he couldn't help but sigh.

But fortunately, my father Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang did not come. If he had seen this scene, he would probably become suspicious again.

Zhu Yuanzhang would be worried if the princes were too ostentatious, but seeing that they were so submissive under Ouyang Lun's control, Zhu Yuanzhang would probably start to have wild thoughts again.

"Brother-in-law, you just asked the princes to sign their information and admission declarations to let them know that the court knows everything about them, and to let them know that they should study hard after entering the clan house and not have any other ideas?!"

Zhu Biao couldn't help but ask.

"Your Majesty, your brother-in-law is right. This is exactly what I think!"

Ouyang Lun nodded, "Your Majesty, your brother-in-law can actually see all these. It seems that he has improved a lot in recent days!"

Seeing that Ouyang Lun approved of his guess, Zhu Biao was quite happy. However, after thinking about it carefully, Zhu Biao felt something was wrong. What did he mean by "he could actually see it?" And he improved a lot?
Does this mean I couldn't do it before?!

Although he had some doubts in his heart, Zhu Biao was still very happy. He had dealt with many problems with Ouyang Lun, but he could never keep up with Ouyang Lun's thinking. This time he was able to analyze it directly and it was all correct. This was indeed an improvement.

But Zhu Biao obviously overestimated himself, because although his analysis was correct, it was still far from Ouyang Lun’s real purpose!
Ouyang Lun said directly: "In addition to what your Majesty, brother-in-law, just said, I am actually confirming one thing."

"What's the matter?" Zhu Biao asked curiously.

"That is whether the information about the vassal kings collected by the court is accurate." Ouyang Lun said slowly.

"Then have you accepted it, brother-in-law?" Zhu Biao continued to ask.

"Of course." Ouyang Lun nodded, his lips slightly raised, "Most of the information is consistent, only a few are wrong. Someone among the princes is hiding very deeply! He is much more powerful than what we have!"

"There is a vassal king hiding his strength!" Zhu Biao realized this and looked a little surprised.

"It is true that there are vassal kings hiding their strength, but the problem is not too big." Ouyang Lun took out a document and handed it to Zhu Biao, "Emperor's brother-in-law, please take a look first."

Zhu Biao quickly took it and started to read it. After reading the information on it, Zhu Biao's face changed, "This second brother actually has so many troops!?"

"Your Majesty, your brother-in-law is holding two documents. One is the document I just asked the princes to confirm and sign. In fact, when the princes were signing, there were several pairs of eyes staring at them in the hall next to them. When the King of Qin saw the column about the number of troops, he paused for a moment. So I asked someone to investigate again. It turned out that the court counted the number of Qin's troops as 100,000, but in fact there were 220,000!"

"One is the investigation result given to me by the Tax Investigation Department a few days ago. It is suspected that the King of Qin has an army of more than 200,000."

Ouyang Lun said slowly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao was stunned.

Two hundred and twenty thousand troops!

That’s a lot!

It is almost catching up with the main force of the Northern Yuan army. This army size is the largest among all the princes.

Before, Zhu Biao always thought that Prince of Yan Zhu Di had the largest army under his command. After all, Prince of Yan Zhu Di had 200,000 combat-ready soldiers. Zhu Biao could still understand that Prince of Yan Zhu Di had 200,000 troops. After all, Yan State was in the most prominent position in the northern border and often had to face the Northern Yuan Dynasty directly, so it had more troops.

However, the fact that Prince of Qin Zhu Chong had more troops than Prince of Yan Zhu Di really surprised Zhu Biao. If it were not for this investigation, he would probably not have known about it.

"Brother-in-law, you have secretly expanded so many troops, what should I do?"

Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel conflicted.

"What should we do? Of course, just leave it alone." Ouyang Lun waved his hand and said, "The King of Qin's expansion is not considered private. The extra 120,000 troops are all militia. The tactics are the same as when I was in Northern Zhili. He just learned this trick."

"During the busy farming season or when the work is done, the peasants are the workers. During the off-season, they are the security militia, responsible for suppressing bandits. The princes are fully responsible for their training and equipment, but their combat effectiveness is in no way weaker than that of the regular army."

"But the court can't punish him, right?" Zhu Biao suddenly realized. Zhu Yuanzhang had complained to him many times about the Northern Zhili militia, and he cursed Ouyang Lun every time. However, the militia did play a very good role in suppressing bandits and maintaining public security, and no major incidents occurred. Zhu Yuanzhang did not mention the matter again. Unexpectedly, the militia issue now attracted attention again.

"Of course. The number of militiamen was reported truthfully by Qin Wang Zhu Chong, and was also filed with the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Justice. How can the court deal with it? Besides, the princes have the power to make decisions on local governance. Unless the princes really want to rebel, the court cannot interfere excessively. This is the rule."

Ouyang Lun spread his hands, "I am surprised that Qin Wang Zhu Chong is really rich. After all, it is not easy to support an additional 120,000 militiamen."

As a person who has experienced it, Ouyang Lun still admires King Qin Zhu Chong very much.

When Zhu Biao heard Ouyang Lun's words, he was a little confused and didn't know what to say for a moment. He really didn't expect that this new vassal management system had only been officially implemented for a short time!
The princes became so rich that they could support an additional 100,000 troops, which was impossible in the past. The princes worked harder than Zhu Biao imagined. In fact, when Zhu Biao came to the clan house, Zhu Yuanzhang told him to take advantage of this opportunity to train the princes and get a good feel for them. It was only the first day, and he was given so many surprises.

Seeing Zhu Biao looking somewhat lost, Ouyang Lun immediately spoke to comfort him: "Your Majesty, brother-in-law, it is not uncommon for princes to expand their military forces with militias, so you don't have to worry too much."

"In fact, if we think about this problem from the perspective of the vassal king, we can fully understand this point."

"Since the promulgation of the feudal lord management system, the interests of the feudal lords have been tied to the situation of their fiefdoms. As the lords of the feudal lords, the stronger the feudal lords are, the stronger they are. This is not only about the economy, but also politics and military!"

"As long as the relevant policies of the imperial court are implemented well, the economy will not develop too badly. As for politics, as vassal kings, they have the backing of a new vassal king management system. Their position in the vassal state is unshakable, and their position in the entire Ming Dynasty must be supported by the overall strength of their own vassal state!"

"Military strength is very important, so expanding the army has become an inevitable choice for the princes. After all, the more troops they have, the more they can control the situation in their territory. At the same time, if they want to expand their territory, they also need military strength. If they don't have military strength, how could the princes seize the territory during the last expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty?"

"Brother-in-law, I understand everything you said, but I..." Zhu Biao frowned, his eyes still filled with worry.

"Your Majesty, brother-in-law, do you think that the development of the vassal states is faster than that of the entire Ming Dynasty? Are you worried that one day the power of the vassal states will surpass that of the Ming Dynasty's central court? By that time, the central court will no longer be able to command the vassal kings?"

Ouyang Lun asked.

"Yes, brother-in-law, this is what I'm worried about now!" Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly and looked at Ouyang Lun quickly, his eyes full of desire.

"Please, brother-in-law, come up with a good solution for me!"

He had just looked at the information of the various vassal kings and their fiefdoms. What was certain was that the development speed of most of the fiefdoms exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty as a whole, and also exceeded that of the territory controlled by Zhu Biao. If the territory controlled by Zhu Biao was also regarded as a vassal state, its development level would probably not even be among the top three.

How could Zhu Biao not feel worried?

Hearing Zhu Biao's question, Ouyang Lun nodded, "Emperor's brother-in-law, of course I understand your thoughts, but I still say the same thing, you don't have to worry at all!"

"The development speed of the vassal states is indeed faster than that of the main body of the Ming Dynasty. You only saw their speed, but did not realize how bad they were before!"

"The fiefs of the vassal kings are basically located in the border areas. Originally, the development of these places could not compare with the developed towns such as the capital and the south. Now, each of the vassal kings attaches great importance to the development of their fiefs, and with the key support of the court, their development speed is naturally fast."

"As for the already developed towns in the capital and the south, even with the efforts of the imperial court, they started from a high point, so their development speed is naturally not as fast as that of the vassal states!"

"But no matter how fast they develop, they will always have to catch up. It is almost impossible for them to surpass us. Now that the Ming Dynasty does not restrict the circulation of household registration, the people in the vassal states have money. They want a better life and better development, so they will migrate to the territories under the jurisdiction of the court!"

"Take the capital for example. It will continue to absorb various resources from the surrounding areas and even the vassal states, and occupy a unique advantage!"

After hearing what Ouyang Lun said, Zhu Biao suddenly understood.

As long as the Ming Dynasty still exists, the capital city will be the absolute core of the Ming Dynasty, integrating military and politics!
Just like the water flow, it constantly converges into the capital, so it is impossible for the vassal states to surpass the central court.

"Brother-in-law, I don't have to worry about the economy, but as for the military, the King of Qin alone has more than 200,000 soldiers, and the other princes are probably not much behind. There are more than 20 princes in the Ming Dynasty, and their combined army is at least 2 million, or even more. The central court does not have that many troops!"

Zhu Biao said worriedly.

"What vassal kings, what central government, they all belong to the Ming Dynasty!"

"The imperial court also has control over the vassal's own army. If the vassal wants to mobilize, it must be approved by the imperial court. The salaries of these troops are all paid by my Ministry of Revenue. As for the troops trained by the vassal with militia, they are also the people of the Ming Dynasty. If they really want to rebel, you can see that the militia listens to the vassal or the imperial edict of the Ming Emperor."

Ouyang Lun patted Zhu Biao on the shoulder and said, "My brother-in-law, the times have changed. You must be more confident. As long as you are not a tyrant, the Ming Dynasty will not be in chaos!"

"Of course, we also have ways to further restrain the princes, so that they have power but cannot use it to harm the Ming Dynasty!"

"Brother-in-law, what's the solution?!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao's eyes were full of anticipation.

"What can we do? I'll keep you in suspense for now. We've been standing outside for quite a long time. Let's go in and take a look."

After Ouyang Lun finished speaking, he walked into the classroom and Zhu Biao hurriedly followed.

The princes who were reading the academy manual carefully put down the manuals in their hands when they saw Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao come in.

"Master Zongren Ling."

"His Majesty."

Zhu Wenhai saluted Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao.

"Ah."

Ouyang Lun nodded, "Have you explained everything that needs to be said to them?"

"Yes, I have said everything I should say, and more than once." Zhu Wenhai continued, "Today is the first day of school. Your Majesty and the Lord of the Clan will be invited to speak."

"I won't say anything. Let my brother-in-law speak." Zhu Biao shook his head.

"Zhu Wenhai."

"Your Excellency the clan leader." Zhu Wenhai responded quickly.

"Have the students finished writing down their thoughts on the future?" Ouyang Lun asked.

"It's done. These are what the students wrote. Your Majesty and the clan leader, please take a look." Zhu Wenhai quickly handed over a stack of papers.

"You guys continue reading the student manuals. Your Majesty and I will look at these first." After Ouyang Lun said this, he took the papers and gave half of them to Zhu Biao.

Different from the information, what is written here are the princes' ideas about the future, or more precisely, what they want to build the fiefdoms they manage into!

It reflects many ideas of the princes. Of course, the core idea is to develop the princely land to be richer and stronger, and even comparable to the capital. (End of this chapter)