Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian soon learned of Sun Yuanhua's decision.

Since he was willing to accept the title, Zhu Youjian naturally wouldn't be stingy.

Although the hereditary titles of the Ming Dynasty were precious, for Zhu Youjian, who was eager to save the Ming Dynasty, they were nothing more than credit that could be converted into cash.

He needed to cultivate meritorious officials by bestowing titles upon them, so that they would support him.

Soon, Sun Yuanhua was granted the title of Earl of Wanghai, which made the court officials extremely envious.

While the current emperor is generous in bestowing titles, obtaining high-ranking titles such as duke, marquis, and earl is extremely difficult.

In particular, earls were qualified to establish vassal states, and their power and status far surpassed that of viscounts and barons.

They were extremely envious that Sun Yuanhua was able to obtain a hereditary earldom:

"What incredible luck! He got a count's title after just one diplomatic mission!"

While inwardly criticizing the bestowal, they became even more aware of the emperor's emphasis on overseas affairs. Otherwise, Sun Yuanhua wouldn't have received the title of earl after only one mission.

Many people feel that Sun Yuanhua's title of Earl came too easily and that his achievements were somewhat lacking.

But in Zhu Youjian's view, bestowing the title of Earl upon Sun Yuanhua was not a loss at all, and even a disservice to his achievements.

The success of this mission meant that Ming Dynasty ships could only sail to the west, and that they also learned where the routes and supply points were.

From then on, exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and the West continued uninterrupted, becoming part of the Age of Exploration.

This greatly promoted Zhu Youjian's maritime policy. He conferred the title of Earl upon Sun Yuanhua in order to draw more attention to overseas affairs.

Meanwhile, Sun Yuanhua's mission brought back many valuable results.

The seeds and machinery of various crops can enhance agriculture and industry in the Ming Dynasty.

The books and talents brought back can also benefit the culture of the Ming Dynasty.

Putting aside everything else, Zhu Youjian was delighted by the Rembrandt they brought with them.

He never expected that this famous painter would be brought back by the mission.

He planned to have Rembrandt paint his portrait so that his likeness could be passed down through generations.

Soldiers can also take their oaths in front of more realistic portraits to avoid deviating too far from the truth.

With these thoughts in mind, Zhu Youjian ordered the Hanlin Academy and the Academy of Sciences to organize and translate the materials brought back by the mission. He needed to digest these gains and strengthen the power of the Ming Dynasty.

He was also very kind to Sun Yuanhua, who had made such a great contribution, and gave him some advice:

"Sun Qing has just returned; she should get some rest."

"Now that you have become a nobleman, you can go to the Court of Colonial Affairs to participate in the Noble Council."

"The matter of hereditary nobles being required to establish their own fiefdoms should be settled, and Minister Sun should also contribute."

Sun Yuanhua certainly supported this point; both the old and new nobles were going to establish their own fiefdoms, which meant they would have equal status.

Otherwise, if they went overseas while the old nobles enjoyed themselves in the capital and held positions in the court, how could they feel at peace? It would be better for everyone to go and establish their own fiefdoms together.

In particular, the estates and fields owned by these people in the capital would be acquired by the imperial court and then bestowed upon them as rewards.

Therefore, the newly rich in the capital were very supportive of this policy. Sun Yuanhua was one of the newly rich who thought this way after he was granted a title.

However, he was unwilling to fight too fiercely with the old aristocracy and planned to lure them with benefits.

Thinking of the Western colonial sites he had seen along the way, Sun Yuanhua said:
"I will persuade my colleagues in the noble council to go overseas and establish vassal states."

"This mission has broadened my horizons and made me realize that there are so many wealthy places overseas."

"If we can build a few cities in our fiefdom and support hundreds of thousands of people, we have the potential to become a powerful nation."

"Countries like Portugal and the Netherlands rose to prominence from small landmasses."

Zhu Youjian became interested upon hearing this.

He recalled a famous documentary from his memory and said to Sun Yuanhua:

"It seems that Minister Sun has seen quite a lot while overseas."

“You and the members of the mission can write down your observations and experiences overseas and publish them in Ming Pao.”

"The rise of various powerful Western countries, in particular, can be described in detail."

"I hope that the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty will one day have the strength to rival the powerful Western nations."

Sun Yuanhua was delighted to hear this, because the emperor's attitude showed that he was very open-minded about the growth of vassal states, and he had the opportunity to expand his own fiefdom.

This made him feel even more certain that his choice was right, and that he could go overseas to establish fiefdoms and build his own empire after the Ming Dynasty's navy became powerful.

However, Huang Lijie, the head of the Court of Colonial Affairs, said:
"Your Majesty, a powerful vassal state will inevitably harbor disloyal intentions."

"If they harass the Ming Dynasty like the Western countries, they will become a scourge."

"I believe it is necessary to limit and restrain the power of the vassal states."

This viewpoint is widely accepted.

Although they did not believe that the strength of the vassal states could compare with that of the Ming Dynasty, the necessary restrictions still needed to be set.

A group of people were talking at once, believing that restrictions should be placed on vassal states.

Zhu Youjian was determined to send Ming nobles to establish vassal states overseas and take the disaster victims out of the country. He did not want to restrict the vassal states at this time, lest the imperial family and nobles be even less willing to go abroad.

He was particularly dissatisfied with the suggestion that household registration should be limited based on the number of garrisons owned by each vassal state.

According to these people, a count's guard could have 5600 households. The new military and civilian guards could be expanded tenfold, but could be limited to 56000 households.

This accommodates too few people, which contradicts Zhu Youjian's measures to relocate immigrants.

Therefore, he did not want to set this restriction and intended to allow the vassal states to develop freely.

Of course, he also needed to pay attention to the opinions of his ministers, otherwise they would secretly resist when implementing his policies.

After thinking for a moment, he asked:
"After the recapture of Liaodong, the core area of ​​the Ming Dynasty consisted of two capitals and sixteen provinces, or more specifically, eighteen provinces directly under the central government."

"What is the area of ​​these two capitals and sixteen provinces? Has the Ministry of Revenue made any calculations?"

Bi Ziyan, Minister of Revenue, said:

"The combined area of ​​all the provinces is approximately 1600 million square li, or four thousand square li."

"Perhaps there are more; the Ministry of Revenue will find a way to measure it."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"This is the core area of ​​the Ming Empire, a province directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court."

"If we want to prevent the power of our vassal states from threatening the Ming Dynasty, then we must not allow their land area to exceed one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty's."

"Currently, the largest fiefdom is held by a king, who can establish a fiefdom spanning thousands of square miles."

"A square li is 100 million square li, which is one-sixteenth of 1600 million."

"This meets the one-tenth limit; just keep at it."

Clearly, he had a very open-minded attitude, believing that it was sufficient to adhere to the limitation that vassal states should be allowed to roam freely.

The courtiers, however, were not so confident. Yuan Keli said:
"Although Fang Qianli's area is less than one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty, some of its vassal states are quite large, with populations exceeding one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty."

"His Majesty said that the reason why the Ming Dynasty had difficulty conquering Annam at the beginning of the dynasty was because Annam's population was close to one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty."

"The reason we are so wary of Japan now is because its population is as many as twenty or thirty million, which is more than one-tenth of the population of the Ming Dynasty." "I think that a one-tenth limit should also be added to the population, and no vassal state should be allowed to exceed one-tenth of the population of the Ming Dynasty."

This restriction was supported by ministers such as Bi Ziyan and Huang Lijie.

In this era, the strength of a country is measured by its population and land area.

Therefore, they believed that not only should the area of ​​the vassal states be limited, but also the population should be restricted.

Zhu Youjian smiled and shook his head, then addressed the ministers:
"You are thinking too far ahead."

"If there really is a vassal state that can accommodate 20 million people, I would be overjoyed."

"That way, the disaster victims in Shaanxi and Shanxi will have somewhere to go, and won't have to rely on the imperial court for relief indefinitely."

"My purpose in attacking Annam is precisely this: to secure arable land for the disaster victims."

The courtiers also felt that this consideration was a bit far-fetched, but Japan now has a population of twenty to thirty million, which is exactly one-tenth of the population of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, its area is only 1.2 million square miles, just exceeding the limit of 1,000 square miles.

If a feudal lord's fiefdom were as desirable as Japan, it could potentially possess one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty's population and become a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, just in case, they insisted on setting population limits. Any vassal state exceeding one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty's population would be subject to forced granting of fiefdoms, just as land and iron ore exceeding one-tenth of the limit would be subject to such limits.

These people even said that if no restrictions were set, why would the Ming Dynasty need to conquer Japan?
This now concerns the newly formulated naval strategy. Although Zhu Youjian did not want this restriction to dampen his enthusiasm for opening up new vassal states, he could only say:

"Then we should impose a one-tenth limit on land and population, just like on steel."

"This condition was drafted into a law concerning vassal states and put to a vote by the council of nobles."

Let the nobles discuss it among themselves; this shows that they are valued.
-
Huang Lijie, who had just returned to Beijing, had no choice but to convene the Noble Council to vote on the bill.

The highest rank among non-royal nobles was Duke, whose fief was only five hundred square li. This one-tenth land limit was insufficient to govern them, and even less so to the royal family.

Only members of the imperial clan who were enfeoffed outside of the Central Plains were allowed to travel more than a thousand li.

The Zhou king's representative inquired:

Does the "one-tenth land restriction" include areas outside of China?

"His Majesty previously promised that we could travel over a thousand miles in the Americas."

Huang Liji said:

"The one-tenth land restriction included all vassal states."

"However, since His Majesty has made a promise, then let's proceed according to the previous promise and add an explanatory clause."

The Zhou king's representative was immediately satisfied and stopped asking questions.

The others had no objections and readily agreed.

However, the restrictions on population and steel production puzzled them. The Crown Prince of England, Zhang Zhiji, said:

"Our fiefdoms are so small, we probably can't even reach one-tenth of the limit, right?"

"Why add these two conditions?"

Huang Lijie explained to them:
"I can't control you all, but I can control some powerful foreign vassals."

"His Majesty insists on fighting Japan because Japan has exceeded the one-tenth limit in terms of both land and population."

"Therefore, we must fight to eliminate the threat to the Ming Dynasty."

"With this bill, it will be more legitimate."

Zhang Zhiji understood now, and exclaimed in realization:

"So that's how they came up with a legitimate reason for their attack!"

"I agreed!"

He voted in favor on the spot, which influenced many nobles.

They knew that this restriction was not aimed at them, but at the already powerful outer vassal states.

But were those outer vassal states really that powerful? Many nobles were curious:

Are there really that many people overseas?

After all, if we estimate that there are five people per household, then 20 million people would amount to 4 million households.

These are four hundred marquises with ten thousand households each. Which vassal state has so many people?
In their minds, overseas areas were all wild and untamed places, unable to support many people.

In response to their suspicions, Huang Liji said:

"While some places overseas may be wild and uncivilized, there are also prosperous places."

"North Korea and Annam each have five or six million people, while Japan has twenty or thirty million."

“These places are populous and rich in resources, so the emperor gave priority to bestowing them upon meritorious officials.”

This explanation made many nobles look at Zhang Zhiji, the heir apparent of the Duke of England, with envy, because they were the first meritorious officials to establish a vassal state in Annam.

Other meritorious families who were granted fiefdoms in Annam also earned their envy.

Many people began to realize that the emperor's decision to send them overseas to establish vassal states was not mistreatment, but rather a reward for meritorious officials.

A piece of land, three hundred or even five hundred square li in circumference, could easily support tens of thousands of households, which was truly the treatment of a marquis with ten thousand households.

If ten thousand households work for themselves and pay taxes, why should they worry about not having money or their families being rich?
Some nobles who were initially opposed to establishing fiefdoms began to waver. They felt that it was worthwhile to endure some hardship to secure a foothold for their families.

Of course, there are also people who are unwilling to endure any hardship and only want to enjoy wealth and luxury in the capital.

However, the example of the British ducal families establishing their own fiefdoms showed them that they could send their sons or grandsons to establish fiefdoms. That way, they wouldn't have to suffer hardship, nor would they have to worry about their family losing its title after their death.

It could be said that the population restrictions did not displease the nobles; on the contrary, they made them reflect on why the court had imposed such restrictions.

If there really is that many people overseas, they can simply go there and live like royalty.

Zhu Youjian's advocacy of establishing fiefdoms, immigration, and land reclamation was not favored by the nobles, who preferred to directly act as masters and make their subjects pay taxes.

They used to think there was no one overseas, but now they realize that those people can also be their subjects.

The question now is, are there really that many people overseas?
Some nobles familiar with the situations in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam confirmed this to them. While the environment in these three places was not as good as that of the Ming Dynasty, they were not barren lands either, and there were indeed many people there.

Sun Yuanhua, upon returning from his mission to the West, further stated:
“Among the people surrounding the Ming Dynasty, only Japan has exceeded this limit; there are still not many people in Southeast Asia.”

"But further south and west, in the Indian region of the Western Ocean, there are about 150 million people, which is close to the population of the Ming Dynasty."

"Western countries are now establishing outposts there, intending to open up colonies."

He introduced these nobles to the situation in India, broadening their horizons.

Sun Yuanhua's experiences in Goa made him realize that establishing a vassal state like Goa in India could lead to great prosperity.

He hoped that these nobles would go with him to establish fiefdoms in India.

Everyone was stunned, never expecting that there was a place whose population could rival that of the Ming Dynasty.

If so many people could become his subjects, wouldn't that mean that the vassal state he established could be compared with the Ming Dynasty?

No wonder the imperial court imposed a one-tenth limit; it turns out there really are places comparable to the Ming Dynasty. (End of Chapter)