Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1275 Reproduction
The State of Song is in full swing establishing its own government and appointing officials at all levels, while also expanding outwards. It seems they are about to make a big splash.

Meanwhile, in Yongguo in the north, Zhu Cizhao was also discussing this matter with his chief secretary, Huang An.

The imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty allowing vassal kings to establish their own residences and headquarters was not only given to the Song Kingdom, but also to the Yong Kingdom. Zhu Cizhao naturally received this edict as well. Moreover, because the Yong Kingdom was located in the north and closer to the Ming Dynasty, he actually received this edict earlier than Zhu Mincheng.

However, compared to Zhu Mincheng, Zhu Cizhao's attitude was not so excited; on the contrary, he was somewhat apprehensive. He didn't even take any action, temporarily suppressing the imperial decree, intending to see how the Southern Song Kingdom would react before making a decision.

After all, Zhu Cizhao was different from Zhu Mincheng. Although both were princes, he was the son of the retired emperor. After the current emperor entered the capital and took control of the government under the pretext of pacifying the country, his father, Emperor Chongzhen, completely lost power and became the retired emperor, effectively becoming a deposed emperor under house arrest.

Fortunately, Zhu Shenzhui didn't intend to eliminate them completely, nor did he follow Zhu Di's example of "burning down the palace and disappearing without a trace," which saved the lives of the father and son. Therefore, Zhu Cizhao's title of Prince Yong was merely a title; in reality, he was a prisoner, and it was already a miracle that he survived under such circumstances.

Zhu Cizhao originally thought that he would be imprisoned in the palace like his father and two elder brothers, spending his life like a caged bird. But unexpectedly, an opportunity suddenly arose. The emperor suddenly planned to enfeoff princes in other regions and asked the retired emperor if he was willing to let his "crown prince" accept this. If so, he could be enfeoffed overseas and leave the palace to regain his freedom.

Several years ago, the retired emperor consulted Prince Yong's elder brother, who was the former crown prince of the Chongzhen era and is now Prince An. However, Prince An was afraid that this was a trap. He worried that the emperor might be using this overseas appointment as a pretext to take action against him. If he agreed to go overseas, which was so far away from the Ming Dynasty, he might die at any time due to the unfamiliar environment and various accidents.

If they died in this ambiguous way, the people of the world would find no fault with them, at most lamenting Prince An's bad luck, and would certainly not consider the possibility that the current emperor wanted to kill them. Therefore, Prince An hesitated and ultimately did not agree to the matter. As for Zhu Cizhao's other elder brother, Prince Ding, Zhu Cijiong, he had the same idea as Prince An. With both brothers refusing the matter, Zhu Cizhao, who was usually not very prominent, saw an opportunity in it.

Zhu Cizhao was not very old at the time, only a little over ten years old. Moreover, compared with his two older brothers, Zhu Cizhao was more unruly and eager to leave the palace to see the world. He believed that if he could become a free man, it would be worth giving up his status as Prince Yong.

However, Zhu Cizhao himself knew that because of his father, he would probably never be able to leave the inner palace for the rest of his life, which made him very unwilling. The sudden matter of being granted the title of a prince in the outer regions gave him an opportunity. In his opinion, although his two elder brothers had their reasons for refusing the matter, it was indeed more stable not to go. However, Zhu Cizhao also thought that this matter was still worth trying. Even if the emperor really had such a plan, he was neither the eldest son nor the former crown prince. The emperor had no need to target him first. Even if it was just for show, he should treat him well. Therefore, if he took the initiative to request the title of a prince in the outer regions, he should not be in danger of losing his life.

Thus, despite his two elder brothers' refusal, Zhu Cizhao took the initiative to propose that he wish to be enfeoffed overseas. Zhu Youjian never expected that his son, who was usually mediocre in his studies and not even particularly favored by him, would have such an idea.

After much deliberation, Zhu Youjian thought that allowing Zhu Cizhao to accept an external enfeoffment might be a good choice. This opportunity could be used to test the emperor's true intentions in enfeoffing princes outside the capital. As a result, the candidate for this external enfeoffment changed from the initial Prince An to Prince Yong, which led to the existence of the Yong Kingdom.

When Zhu Cizhao came to the New World with Prince Song, Zhu Mincheng, he chose this place as the fiefdom of Yongguo, instead of continuing south to find a more suitable region like Songguo. This shows Zhu Cizhao's prudence and wisdom.

In his view, his status was awkward, and he was no match for the King of Song. It was already quite good that he had such a territory as his fiefdom. Moreover, although the climate of Yong Kingdom was not as good as that of Song Kingdom, its resources were not bad. Whether it was the fertile land or the dense forests, as long as it was managed well, it would be enough to support the population of Yong Kingdom, allowing him to live here in peace and gradually develop.

Over the years, the eldest child has grown up, and Zhu Cizhao's temperament has become much more stable. After the initial trepidation and the excitement of settling down, Yongguo has gradually taken shape and grown stronger under his leadership.

Compared to the Song Kingdom to the south, the Yong Kingdom faced inherent disadvantages. Zhu Cizhao, the Prince of Yong, had neither many people nor much wealth. Unlike Zhu Mincheng, who had the support of the emperor and the crown prince and came to the New World with a strong army, many talents, and considerable wealth, he was not only well-equipped to fight.

Besides the few dozen men assigned to him by the emperor, Zhu Cizhao also had a little over a thousand Eight Banners troops reorganized from Liaodong. All of these men together amounted to just over a thousand. Furthermore, even supplies were provided according to regulations, and funds were pitifully scarce. In the early days of Yongguo, everything required money, and Zhu Cizhao simply couldn't afford it. If it weren't for the fact that the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going navy had set up docks and ports in Yongguo and assisted in the construction of the new Yongzhou city, Zhu Cizhao and his men probably wouldn't even have a place to live.

Needless to say, gold mines were discovered in the southern Song Dynasty not long after, bringing a continuous stream of wealth to the Song. Supported by this wealth, the Song Dynasty adopted extremely generous policies towards immigrants. Coupled with the allure of the gold mines, most immigrants from the Ming Dynasty were unwilling to stay in Yong Kingdom, preferring to settle in the Song. Lacking money, a small population, and resources compared to the Song, Yong Kingdom developed under these circumstances for several years. During these years, Zhu Cizhao devised many methods, even including, with Huang An's assistance, utilizing abundant forest resources and skilled craftsmen to maintain the Ming navy's warships, with plans to later generate revenue through shipbuilding. However, even with these efforts, the pace of development was limited; Yong Kingdom was built almost entirely from scratch.

Until last year, the southern Song state, for some unknown reason, reduced its immigration quota, which led to a slight increase in immigration to Yong state and a larger population. Zhu Cizhao found this strange; he couldn't understand why Song state, which was developing so well, would suddenly change its policies. Logically, Zhu Cizhao should have sent someone to inquire, but fearing his actions would cause unnecessary trouble, he suppressed his curiosity and refrained from doing so. Instead, he used this opportunity to recruit more people and focus on developing Yong state.

But no one expected that less than a year later, such an imperial edict would arrive from the homeland. Only then did Zhu Cizhao fully understand why Prince Zhu Mincheng of Song had suddenly adjusted the national policy of Song; it turned out that this was the reason.

Although the imperial edict clearly stated that overseas princes could establish their own governments and become true vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cizhao was still worried about its veracity and feared that doing so would give others a handle against him. Therefore, Zhu Cizhao did nothing for the time being, not even informing his subordinates of the contents of the edict. He was patiently waiting to see the Song Dynasty's reaction. If Zhu Mincheng accepted the edict and implemented it, then it wouldn't be too late for him to act.

After waiting for some time, news soon came from the south that Zhu Mincheng had established his own government and military headquarters without hesitation after receiving the imperial decree. He not only set up the so-called Three Offices and Six Bureaus, imitating the Ming Dynasty court, but also appointed a large number of officials. Under these circumstances, the Song State had truly become an outer vassal state, and the King of Song had become the true ruler of the Song State.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Cizhao could no longer sit still. Since the Song state had already begun to act, how could he possibly remain unmoved? Therefore, today he summoned his chief secretary Huang An to discuss the matter and asked for Huang An's advice on whether Yongguo could also act in accordance with the imperial decree, thus making Yongguo a true vassal state.

"Your Highness, you've been keeping this from me for so long!" After listening to Zhu Cizhao's explanation and carefully reading the contents of the imperial edict from the mainland, Huang An couldn't help but say this.

"I...I also have my reasons..." Zhu Cizhao knew he hadn't done a good job. Huang An, as his chief secretary, had done a lot of practical work over the years. If it weren't for his assistance, Yongguo wouldn't be what it is today.

He knew about the decree in advance, but he kept it from him because of his own schemes. He only revealed the decree when the Southern Song Kingdom officially established its government and military headquarters.

Huang An sighed inwardly. He was well aware of the awkward position his master held. Just like himself, he had been disliked when he served in the Ministry of Works, and had been inexplicably exiled to Zhu Cizhao's service due to being ostracized, traveling thousands of miles from the Ming Dynasty to Yongguo to serve as the Chief Secretary.

In fact, it wasn't just him; the other officials in Prince Yong's mansion were basically the same. They couldn't compare to the subordinates of Prince Song, Zhu Mincheng. To put it bluntly, they were all marginal figures who were neither loved nor cared for. But since they had come to Yong Kingdom and become Prince Yong's subordinates, they were all in the same boat.

“Your Highness, since there is already an imperial decree on this matter, Your Highness need not worry. Just follow the decree. Moreover, this matter is also a good thing for Your Highness and Yong Kingdom. Once the government is officially established, it will not only appease the people, but also allow Yong Kingdom to develop. If I guessed correctly, this decree was requested by the King of Song from His Majesty. Since His Majesty has also given the decree to Your Highness, he did not intend to only grant this to Song Kingdom. From this point of view, Your Highness can also be considered to have benefited from this.”

Zhu Cizhao nodded slightly. He had guessed this as well. He had invited Huang An here today to discuss the follow-up matters. To be honest, it was impossible for him not to be excited, because once he did this, he would become the true ruler of the country. This was something Zhu Cizhao, who had been under house arrest in the palace just a few years ago, had never even dreamed of.

"Lord Huang, if I were to establish my own government and military headquarters, what should I do?" Zhu Cizhao suppressed his excitement and asked Huang An.

Huang An pondered for a moment and said, "I think there is no need to start from scratch. The most convenient way is to follow the model of the King of Song. In the next few days, I will have people carefully inquire about the actions of the Southern Song Kingdom and see how the King of Song dealt with them. Your Highness can simply follow suit. This is the safest approach."

"Yes, yes, yes, this is good! This is good!" Zhu Cizhao's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly. Since the Song Kingdom had already started doing this, his Yong Kingdom didn't need to think about anything else; he could just follow the Song Kingdom's method. Moreover, copying their methods would avoid some trouble. If something happened at court, someone might criticize the establishment of a vassal state's government, but as the emperor's eldest son, the Prince of Song could stand in front of him, thus reducing the risk considerably.

(End of this chapter)