I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 116 Reform begins with the vassal system!

The tenth year of Hongwu, late autumn.

The sun today is much better than yesterday and not as scorching, so under the autumn wind, the entire Yingtian Prefecture, including the imperial palace, feels a bit bleak and chilly.

Kunning Palace.

Since entering the tutoring class space, Kunning Palace has become the base for Zhu father and son every noon.

Even if their bodies disappeared in the real world, they could still let Empress Ma handle important matters. Although the harem could not interfere in politics, who in the court did not know that Empress Ma's status was different from that of ordinary concubines? Even if we take a step back, when Zhu Yuanzhang was still the king, Ma Xiuying had already taken care of the affairs of the harem for him and had the power to make decisions, and this is still the case today.

Otherwise, when Zhu Yuanzhang disappeared for the first time, why would Mao Xiang, as the commander of the Yiluansi, have his first reaction to look for the Empress?
At this moment in Kunning Palace, before Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao came out, there was only one person beside Empress Ma.

Zhu Di was only eighteen years old.

Although Zhu Di's expression showed nothing, he clenched his hands together and scratched his fingernails until they almost bled. It was obvious that he was very nervous and anxious.

After all, he knew what he would do in the future, and the person who predicted this had successfully predicted that his wife was pregnant with a child less than one month old.

Now I have no choice but to believe it.

"Old Four, I told you not to be anxious. You're wandering around here. My eyes are almost blurry."

Queen Ma comforted her:

"No one knows what happened inside until they come out. It's useless for you to get anxious now. If your father really wants to beat you, you can't avoid it. If he doesn't beat you, you will only make things worse if you get anxious now."

"Sit down and have some tea."

Zhu Di was complaining in his heart.

Everyone understands the truth, but at this critical juncture, who can not be anxious?
What's more, his original plan was to go to Zhongdu Fengyang for a few years of training, and then take his wife and children to Beiping to be a vassal. But now, not only did his father not mention the matter of being a vassal, he even cut off the way back to Fengyang, making it impossible to guess what he was going to do.

What a good thing!

At this time.

A voice came from behind Zhu Di.

"Girl, we're back."

Zhu Di and Empress Ma looked over at the same time and saw that it was indeed Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao who appeared out of nowhere in Kunning Palace.

Having seen them disappear out of thin air before, and now seeing them reappear out of thin air again, Zhu Di was completely convinced -

It’s really a magical method that makes people believe it!
His skin was tense all over and he looked at his elder brother Zhu Biao with a worried and questioning look.

Zhu Di finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Zhu Biao's eye signal of "don't worry, it's okay".

Fortunately.

Good luck!

Finally I don't have to get beaten this time!!!

Queen Ma also hurried forward, pulled her husband aside and asked:
"Did you really meet the Fourth Brother several decades later? What does he look like? Is he a good person?"

In fact, this is just for the sake of conversation, to see if my husband wants to talk more.

If Zhu Di was a bastard emperor, he would not say a word when Zhu Yuanzhang came out, but would just grab the soles of his shoes and start beating him. Since he didn't do that, it means that the fourth son was actually a pretty good emperor.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang pulled Zhu Biao to sit down and said vaguely:

"He's OK. The emperor did a so-so job, but he's OK. He helped us scold Li Shimin a few times, so it's not in vain that he was supported."

Zhu Yuanzhang's requirements for his other sons were different from those for Zhu Biao.

First of all, Zhu Biao was capable and never failed in his duties, so he was very trustworthy. Secondly, even if he really did something wrong, Zhu Yuanzhang would at most glare at him and would not be willing to hit him, because Zhu Biao focused more on his studies than martial arts, and was not as tough as his other sons.

If Zhu Biao was in charge of something, Zhu Yuanzhang would think that everything was good. But if other sons became emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang would be dissatisfied.

Since he said it was okay...it probably means he did a really good job.

But after drinking two sips of tea, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly seemed to remember something and stared at Zhu Di:

"You kid, remember this clearly. The child in your princess' belly is your heir apparent. If you want other children to be born before him, not only will we disagree, but even if you ask your eldest brother, he will definitely not agree!"

Zhu Di: ...?
What is this?
Now, the fetus in Xu Miaoyun's belly is so severe that even the imperial physician has to take her pulse carefully several times before he can diagnose a pregnancy. There's not even a sign of pregnancy yet, and your father has already started protecting her?

Did I give birth to a child prodigy?

Zhu Biao couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

He roughly guessed that his father felt that the future Zhu Gaochi was indeed a talent, and even if the fourth son lost the chance to become emperor, Zhu Gaochi would still be someone who could be entrusted with important tasks. In addition, Song Shen said in class that Zhu Gaochi was very much like a replica of Zhu Biao, which further aroused his father's remaining few generations of relatives.

My father was a very strange person. When he knew about the stupid things Zhu Yunwen did in the future, he might just be angry, but when he felt that Lu and Zhu Yunwen might endanger the safety of his family, he could cruelly take action directly. Not only did Zhu Yunwen die in the womb, but now Lu has been bedridden and is only breathing her last.

Now, there is a person who looks very much like Zhu Biao among his grandchildren, so it is normal for him to like him.

Zhu Biao didn't think it was a big deal. No matter what, he didn't think a nephew could shake his position.

So he thought about it, patted Zhu Di on the shoulder and said:
"He is indeed very talented. Fourth brother, you must treat him well in the future and treat him equally. Don't let such a good child feel disappointed."

Zhu Di didn't understand, but he was shocked.

It was obvious that I was the one who would rebel and become the emperor in the future, and I was the one who would be beaten, but now my father softened his attitude because of an unborn child. Isn't it too weird?!
"By the way, let's talk about this later. Now I have something serious to discuss."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted the topic about Zhu Gaochi and frowned:

"Biao'er, what do you think of this exam question?" "Song Shen is really... We are all the same, why does he give Li Shimin special treatment in front of everyone? What should we do with the Zhu family!"

Although he complained, Zhu Yuanzhang also understood Song Shen's approach.

In previous classes, they had a class on Qin when it came to the question of the First Emperor; regarding the question of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che had Zhang Liang, the second sage, so he didn't have to worry about who to consult at all; the Ming Dynasty was not taught systematically, but it had been mentioned more or less in previous courses, because after all, the Ming Dynasty was the latest in the tutoring class and could be compared with anyone else.

The only exception was the Li Tang Dynasty. During the time of Li Shimin, the country was just beginning to be settled. In the early Zhenguan period, the country encountered various natural disasters and man-made calamities several times. When Li Shimin was in power, he was able to suppress the turmoil in the court. But after his death, from Li Zhi to Wu Zetian and then to Li Longji, although the Tang Dynasty became stronger and more prosperous, a huge crisis was hidden under the illusory prosperity. It eventually broke out completely in the Anshi Rebellion and the Huang Chao Uprising, and was reduced to ashes.

He didn't even have an emperor of his own with whom he could discuss affairs. The newly arrived Li Longji was older than him and was also indulging in wine, women and music all day long. He was completely useless.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Song Shen talked more about Li Tang.

Zhu Biao saw that his father didn't look like he was really angry, so he thought for a moment and asked:
"Dad, do you have any idea in your mind?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his son in surprise but with admiration, and said happily:
"Did you see it?"

"But, it's true, we do have some ideas."

"Biao'er, do you remember that although Song Shen had not clearly expressed his opinion on the feudal monarchy system before, he seemed to be extremely dissatisfied with it."

"Later, you may not have seen it. When he was on the podium and watching the discussion below, I leaned over to ask him a few questions. I wanted to ask about the placement of the princes, how to prevent the princes from rebelling, and how the wild boar skin that later replaced our Ming Dynasty was done."

"you guess?"

Zhu Biao was at a loss for a moment.

The princes were placed in a safe place to prevent the princes from rebelling.

Dad’s idea is about the feudal system?
Isn't this the rule set by Dad himself? Why is he thinking of changing it now?
But think about it, judging from what happened in later generations, this feudal system was indeed not appropriate.

With so many brothers, if anyone other than himself ascended the throne, it would probably be difficult to convince the people. Song Shen also mentioned this in class today. Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen did the same thing after they ascended the throne, which was to reduce the power of the princes. It's just that Zhu Di's approach was gentler and he didn't force people to death. But in the final analysis, there was no difference.

Because he himself was both a victim and a beneficiary of the feudal system and the reduction of feudal power.

From this we can see that... there is something wrong with the system itself, but we just don’t know how to change it for the time being.

"The wild boar skin in the later generations, could it be referring to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, or the Qing dynasty that came after that?"

Seeing his father nod, Zhu Biao frowned and tried to find out about the customs of the Jurchens from his memory. However, although he was good at studying, he was not very familiar with this kind of barbarians.

Then he changed his thinking and expanded his thoughts to all the northern tribes.

After a while, Zhu Biao said:
"The tribes in the north are different from those in the Central Plains. They don't have the tradition of appointing the eldest son as the heir. Instead, the strong are respected."

"If one of the brothers is stronger and more powerful, then the better option is to give up the throne. The worse option is that the tribe may fall apart and each one will serve his own leader."

"Just like the Mongols, although they also tried to use the method of primogeniture after they entered the Central Plains, in fact, it was more of a fight, and whoever won became the emperor. This seems a bit like the style of the Li Tang Dynasty."

"I guess... the Qing Dynasty should be the same?"

"But they are all barbarians. If the Ming Dynasty uses this method, let alone the effect, just how people in the world will discuss it, it will never work!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled.

Suddenly, he looked at Zhu Di and asked:

"What about you? What do you think?"

Zhu Di had an expression that said "Ah, are you talking about me? Are you really asking me?" and could hardly hide his astonishment.

After a while, seeing that his father was not joking, Zhu Di came back to his senses and frowned:
"It shouldn't be possible to use this method..."

"Although I don't know what the Qing Dynasty you are talking about is, if we compare it to the Li Tang Dynasty, it is the ancestral Xuanwu Gate inheritance. Whoever successfully rebels will get the throne."

"Even if the Tang Dynasty got several outstanding emperors in this way, it was just a coincidence. For example, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had two coups that went smoothly, but didn't he still cause the An-Shi Rebellion in the end? Even if it was because he became demented in his later years, you mentioned that there was also Liu Che in this tutoring class. He was also a long-lived person. Why didn't he become demented in his later years?"

"The winner of a fight may be the strongest at the time, and may cherish the world more and work harder. But in the final analysis, only the eldest son can win the support of the people. Moreover, if there are many factions in the court, each doing their own thing, wouldn't it be a mess!"

"Father, you've kept it a secret for so long that even I'm curious... What method did you use that's better than the feudal system?"

Queen Ma was also watching her husband with great interest.

Although she didn't want to interfere in government affairs, she was curious about the placement of her own children, which was understandable. After all, among the current princes, many of them were born after she had been pregnant for ten months with great difficulty.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he had finally aroused the curiosity of the three people, so he stroked his beard calmly and said leisurely:

"The Qing Dynasty was the same as ours, the princes would be crowned kings, but there was a big difference."

"First, the princes of our Ming Dynasty were conferred titles very early, and when they grew up, they would go to their respective fiefdoms to protect the emperor. But it was different in the Qing Dynasty. Their princes only stayed in the capital and built palaces, and they were conferred titles very late. At the beginning, they were basically only given titles like Prince of a County or General Guarding the Country after they had made meritorious services. Some might not be conferred the title of Prince until they were in their forties or fifties, and not everyone got it."

"Secondly, the princes of the Ming dynasty were hereditary, and the eldest son could inherit his father's title without any reduction in title. However, the princes of the Qing dynasty were hereditary, and only a small number of iron-hat princes with outstanding merits could inherit the title without any change."

"The original intention of establishing the feudal system was to ensure that there were members of the Zhu family within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, to avoid civil unrest in the capital and rebellion from all sides. But in reality, once the emperor is young, weak, or stupid, things like the Jingnan Campaign will happen. And in history, after the fourth emperor ascended the throne, he also reduced the power of the feudal lords like Zhu Yunwen. After that, the feudal lords of the Ming Dynasty became completely useless."

"They have nothing but an empty title of prince. They are just idiots kept in the palace to eat, drink and have fun. Not to mention defending the territory, after more than 200 years, these royal family members have grown to more than 300,000 people, and they only eat and do nothing!"

"Think about it, whether it's a capable clan like the Fourth Brother, or those useless people who only know how to fill their stomachs, what good are they to the Ming Dynasty?"

Everyone was silent.

Zhu Di, who was at the center of the topic, was sweating profusely.

Although my father was not angry at the moment, his tone was very calm...

But he always felt that something bad was about to happen!

(End of this chapter)