Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

When the topic of enfeoffment came up, the nobles became interested.

Annam's fiefdom was clearly far superior to that of the northern frontier, after all, a provincial administration had once been established there.

What particularly appealed to them was that these places had large populations, and if they could conquer them, they could collect taxes.

Despite being ill, Zhang Weixian attended the meeting and immediately requested:
"I am willing to guard Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, so as to prevent the rebels from causing harm to Annam."

They clearly had their eyes on these two places and intended to establish a fiefdom there.

Previously, he had his eye on the Red River Delta and wanted to establish his vassal state there.

But that was when he conquered Annam on his own. Now that the court is sending troops and establishing a protectorate, the Red River Delta, which is easy to conquer, will naturally not be divided up.

He had no choice but to settle for second best and select Thanh Hoa Prefecture to the south. After all, it was a prefecture-level city, and it wouldn't be a bad choice as a hereditary garrison town of a vassal state.

Zhu Youjian held this veteran official of four reigns in high esteem, and his eagerness to attack Annam was partly due to fulfilling his promise.

Upon hearing Zhang Weixian's request, he immediately instructed Zhu Xieyuan:
"The two prefectures of Qinghua and Yi'an, as well as the mountains and forests to the west, shall be allocated to the Duke of Ying. A total of 250,000 square li shall be allocated to him."

"I have faith in the abilities of the British government and am confident that it will be able to secure these two territories."

A large area was drawn on the map, almost entirely south of Jiaozhou Prefecture, which was given to the British as an open vassal state.

Zhang Weixian was so overjoyed when he saw the fiefdom, which was the size of two Qiongzhou prefectures, that he could hardly speak.

The reason he kept clinging to life was to see the Duke of England's mansion acquire fiefdoms.

Now that his wish has been fulfilled, how could he not be overjoyed!

For a moment, he was so excited that he couldn't speak. Zhu Youjian was really worried that he would die on the spot after fulfilling his wish, so he hurriedly said to him:

"Old Duke, the establishment of the fiefdom is not yet complete!"

"You have to watch over your grandson and make sure he takes that place."

"At that time, you will be the first duke of England to be granted a real title, and you can hold your head high and meet your ancestors in the afterlife."

"Quickly summon Physician Zhang to give the Duke of Ying a proper examination!"

He ordered Zhang Jingyue to be summoned and the Duke of Yingguo's life to be hanged.

Zhang Weixian breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully he hadn't died on the spot.

However, given his current condition, he clearly cannot continue attending the meeting.

His purpose in attending court this time was to secure benefits for the Duke of England's government. Now that the location of the fiefdom had been determined and he learned that his grandson had become a frontline commissioner, he withdrew with satisfaction.

Then, Zhu Youjian looked at the other ministers whose eyes were shining and made a decision:
"The distribution of other fiefdoms will depend on the merits earned at the front."

"In short, the court only wants this area; other places can be granted out."

He casually included the most prosperous areas in northern Annam and divided them into three provinces: Jiaozhou, Lang Son, and Tan An.

Jiaozhou Prefecture will serve as the seat of the Annam Protectorate and will be responsible for suppressing the local population.

Lang Son province is important mainly because of its strategic location, which facilitates communication with Guangxi.

Xin'an Prefecture has a good port, so a large port can be built in the coastal area.

Secondly, the Hung Kee Coal Mine in the Ha Long area has open-pit reserves of 200 million tons. It can serve as a coal base in the south, supplying coking coal to Foshan Iron and Steel.

These three places were all places that the imperial court had to control; Zhu Youjian didn't care about other places at all.
-
Upon hearing the emperor's request, Zhu Xieyuan already knew what to do.

He could tell that the emperor had little interest in granting fiefdoms to Annam, so he took the initiative to take on the task.

Pointing to the Mo family of Gaoping, Zhu Xieyuan asked:
"If the Mo clan of Gaoping completely submits, how should they be settled?"

Zhu Youjian said nonchalantly, "If you submit, you will be granted a title of nobility. Follow the example of the Count of Ryukyu and be granted the title of Marquis or Earl. Your fief will still be Gaoping."

"The same applies to the Wu clan of Xuanguang Town; they can be granted the titles of Marquis or Earl."

"However, the area of ​​the fiefdom must be strictly defined and cannot exceed the limit."

"If anyone violates this rule, we will resolutely suppress them."

This has always been his attitude; having realized the power he wields, he has lost patience with appeasement.

If anyone objects, beat them up first; use force to intimidate them.

Since Annam's forces couldn't reach the capital, Zhu Youjian had no fear of them.

Then Zhu Xieyuan asked another question:
"If King Le of Annam submits, how should we treat him?"

"And what pretext should we use for this campaign against Annam?"

This is clearly a big problem. After all, the Ming Dynasty is the maintainer of order in this area and needs to save face.

After pondering it over, Zhu Youjian said:
"This time, we can send troops to Annam under the pretext of rescuing the Lê dynasty and punishing the disloyal on his behalf."

"If Li cooperates well and makes meritorious contributions, he can be granted the title of Duke and be allowed to bring his most loyal people with him."

“If they don’t cooperate, just ignore them. After the battle, we’ll take over Annam under the pretext of the Mo family’s donation of land.”

"We should pay attention to winning over the local powerful families, granting them more viscounts and knights, and allocating them with territories."

"We must not repeat the mistakes of the early days of the nation, where a powerful figure like Li Li was relegated to the position of inspector."

This was undoubtedly a mistake; the Ming Dynasty had not done enough to win over the powerful clans of Annam at the time.

With over a thousand servants, Li Li already possessed a formidable force. To appoint such a person as a mere inspector would inevitably breed disloyalty in him.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian specifically requested that noble titles be conferred upon the powerful families of Annam who were willing to submit, and that every piece of land must have an owner, not be left vacant, to prevent it from being occupied by rebellious forces.

However, the biggest problem with this policy is that Annam has too large a population.

Zhu Xieyuan said:

"At the beginning of the dynasty, when we conquered Jiaozhi, we pacified more than 3.12 million people and captured more than 2.875 million barbarians."

"The registered population alone was more than 5.2 million, exceeding the total population of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time."

"Now, more than two hundred years have passed, and the population has multiplied and thrived. It is estimated that the combined population of Guangdong and Guangxi exceeds ten million, and Annam is probably the same."

"If a title is conferred upon one hundred or one thousand households, then thousands of titles would need to be conferred."

This was clearly impossible. After consideration, Zhu Youjian decided to grant titles to powerful and influential families, making them lords directly under the court's jurisdiction. Other areas would be granted to nobles, who would then appoint them as chieftains or grant them hereditary positions.

These people are a real headache, Zhu Youjian emphasized:
“We must make a special effort to win over those in Annam who are cultured and influential.”

"Anyone who is willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty and can pass the second-class Chinese character test will be granted Chinese status and can serve as an official. Those whose ancestors have Chinese ancestry will be given the first-class status."

“Once we conquer Annam, we will hold the civil service examinations. All Chinese people can take the exams. Those who pass will be appointed as officials and allowed to govern the local area.”

“The areas directly under the jurisdiction of the Annam Protectorate should be predominantly populated by Chinese. Foreigners who are unwilling to accept education can be relocated.”

As he spoke, he thought of Zheng Zhilong and the others' complaints, and said:

“The nobles, such as the Marquis of Nan’an, who were enfeoffed in Borneo, have been complaining about the lack of population and that immigrants are unwilling to go there, especially to dangerous areas.”

“We can relocate some Annamese people there; they are better adapted to the climate of Southeast Asia and can cultivate wasteland.”

"The three prefectures of Jiaozhou must be Sinicized. We cannot allow them to be lost like they were at the beginning of the dynasty, constantly threatening Guangxi." (End of Chapter)