Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The establishment of the twelve regional governors was Zhu Youjian's further improvement of the vassal system.

The Ming Dynasty could not directly govern all its vassal states, nor did it have the power to completely suppress them.

To prevent these vassal states from breaking away or causing trouble due to disputes, it was essential to appoint a powerful vassal state as its head to assist the governors-general dispatched by the imperial court in managing the various vassal states.

The Fangbo (regional governor) system during the Shang and Zhou dynasties was established for this reason.

The imperial court could grant certain powers to the heads of the vassal states, enabling them to coordinate among the various vassal states and maintain the Ming Dynasty's control over its vassal states.

The risk lies in the fact that these regional governors might annex their vassal states, grow into regional hegemons, and usher in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This is how the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Seven Warring States came to be.

It's even possible that Zhou Xibo replaced the Shang Dynasty, bringing about a change of dynasty in the Ming Dynasty.

To prevent this from happening, Zhu Youjian emphasized:
"The twelve vassal states that become vassal chiefs must set an example and meet the requirements of the imperial court."

"The most important thing is that the territory area does not exceed the limit, and even with vassal territories, it does not exceed one-tenth of the mainland of the Ming Dynasty."

"The population size and steel production should also be limited to one-tenth."

"Military forces should be subject to stricter supervision by the imperial court."

"In other words, the focus of the Court of Colonial Affairs will be on the twelve regional governors in the future."

“If we can control them, we can control the other vassal states.”

As the assembled officials gradually understood, Foreign Minister Cao Sicheng, who had extensive knowledge of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, said:
"His Majesty's intention is to appoint vassal states that have the potential to become hegemons as vassal chiefs."

"By taking advantage of the demands placed on the heads of the domains, we can legitimately strengthen our control."

"At the same time, the nobles of the regional commanders were enfeoffed to deplete their strength. Wherever war broke out, the nobles of the regional commanders were enfeoffed there."

"This is an act of grace bestowed upon powerful vassal states. Your Majesty has learned from history, and we are far inferior to you!"

They believed that this method could prevent the emergence of a hegemon and the disintegration of the vassal system.

Zhu Youjian pursed his lips and said:

"The twelve regional governors were not just a restriction, but also an opportunity for those regional governors who were diligent in governing to rise in rank."

"Although they can only possess at most one-tenth of the strength of the Ming Dynasty, they will then be divided up."

"But the nobles and citizens of the vassal states will benefit from this."

"The imperial court will not deliberately suppress any vassal state, as long as that vassal state is sufficiently subservient to the Ming Dynasty."

"The first requirement for the twelve domain chiefs is also this: no matter how strong a domain chief is, one who is not obedient enough cannot become a domain chief."

"The imperial court also needs to support the regional governors next to it to prevent them from growing into a hegemonic force that opposes the Ming Dynasty."

"The same principle applies to supporting North Korea and suppressing Japan."

"When we conquer Japan in the future, we must let Korea participate. This will not only be a reward for Korea, but also prevent the relationship between the two countries from becoming too close."

This entire set of policies won the hearts and minds of the court officials.

Establishing regional chiefs, controlling the bestowal of favors, sowing discord among vassal states...

The emperor was so skilled that they almost thought he had lived through that era.

Zhu Youjian did indeed experience this; England, the world's hegemon in history, was most adept at sowing discord between different countries.

However, it was far too difficult for England to suppress other nations on its own, and eventually it had to find allies to divide its spheres of influence. The United States, which succeeded it, was more pragmatic; despite being more powerful, it chose to cooperate with regional hegemons to establish global dominance.

England, France, Germany, and other countries all held certain positions within this hegemonic system and contributed to its confrontation with another hegemonic system.

The Soviet Union did a very poor job in this regard, pushing regional hegemons within the same camp to the other side.

Zhu Youjian knew that the Ming Dynasty was currently unable to rule the entire country, and he preferred to cooperate with regional hegemons to establish a world order. However, this was on the premise that the regional hegemon was controllable and had no potential to become a world hegemon in the future.

Unable to find a partner in the short term, he planned to support vassal states and establish regional governors, just like the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

To prevent this regional governor from becoming an independent hegemon, who was supported by the Ming Dynasty, he also incorporated Emperor Wu of Han's edict of grace to break up powerful regional governors whose strength exceeded one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty.

During this process of division, the nobles of the vassal states and the citizens of the Ming Dynasty will benefit, as they will gain more titles and land.

The overall goal was to give vassal states room to rise without letting them escape control.

Based on the emperor's idea, the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs improved the system of vassal chiefs.

In the future, the struggle for the position of the head of the twelve domains will become a key focus of power among the domains.
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To encourage the various vassal states to compete for the position of vassal chief, Zhu Youjian also stipulated:
"The preferential policies for the twelve regional governors shall not be lower than those for any other vassal state or foreign country, and shall be equal to those for other countries."

"Simply put, we should show more respect to the twelve regional governors. Whatever special privileges they offer to the Ming Empire, the Ming Empire should reciprocate with the same privileges."

"Below this, the policy is that internal vassal states are treated more favorably than external vassal states, and external vassal states are treated more favorably than foreign states, according to the Nine Domains system."

“Most-favored-nation treatment is only discussed with foreign countries, while preferential treatment is discussed with vassal states. This is the perfection of the imperial preferential system.”

"I hope that in the future, the trade between the Empire and its vassal states can be maintained at more than half."

"A vassal state must have a certain degree of trade dependence on the empire in order to become a vassal lord."

"This is economic control; in peacetime, we rely on the economy and trade."

This concept is a bit ahead of its time.

Because most countries in the world are still in the jungle era, with little order.

If a small country doesn't obey, then attack it directly, capture its leader, and plunder it.

Therefore, discussing economic control was somewhat premature; the ministers focused more on politics and military affairs.

However, Zhu Youjian knew that with the deepening of the Age of Exploration and the arrival of globalization, international division of labor had begun, and the connections between countries would become increasingly close.

In 1865, the description by the English economist Jevons already revealed the initial signs of economic globalization:
"The plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields; Canada and the Baltic are our forests; Australia has our sheep farms; Peru sends silver, and gold from South Africa and Australia flows to London; Indians and Chinese grow tea for us, and our coffee, sugarcane, and spice plantations are scattered throughout the East Indies. Our cotton has long been cultivated in the American South and has now spread to every warm region of the earth."

If this situation continues, England will maintain its dominant position for a long time.

Unfortunately, England itself was too small to maintain its advantage. Its imperial privileges were also established too late, eventually disintegrating under pressure from other countries.

In contrast, the Ming Dynasty was far larger. If it also controlled India, it would control half of the world's current population and economy.

Drawing on England's experience, Zhu Youjian established an imperial preferential system while enfeoffing vassal states. He also purposefully encouraged each vassal state to develop monoculture plantations, ensuring that each vassal state had one or two dominant crops as sources of raw materials for the Ming Dynasty.

Then, based on this, we can establish an international division of labor and create a "flying goose" economy with the Ming Dynasty as the leading force.

The Ming Dynasty guided the development of its various vassal states, and under the protection and leadership of the Ming Dynasty, these vassal states were able to take off more easily.

Each vassal state would find its place within this straitjack formation, relying on the Ming Dynasty to develop its economy and trade.

(The world population between 1600 and 1650 was approximately 5.45 million, with China estimated at 1.5 million and India at 1.3 million, totaling more than half.)
(The world's GDP in 1600 was estimated at 3.29 trillion international dollars, of which China accounted for 0.96 trillion and India for 0.74 trillion, totaling more than half.) (End of this chapter)