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

Chapter 1278 Differential Treatment
Zhu Changxun's fief was in Luoyang. This Prince of Fu was of noble status and almost became the crown prince. Unfortunately, Emperor Wanli was ultimately no match for the civil official group and had to reluctantly appoint his eldest son, Zhu Changluo, as the crown prince. This event was known as the struggle for the succession during the Wanli era.

After Emperor Wanli lost the struggle for the succession, he could only send Prince Fu to his fiefdom. As Emperor Wanli's favorite prince, Prince Fu received the most generous fiefdom and rewards, and his status in the Ming Dynasty was extremely prestigious.

Historically, the evaluation of this Prince Fu was not good, and there were more rumors about his "Fu Lu Geng" (a type of stew). In another historical timeline, Luoyang was captured by Li Zicheng, Prince Fu was captured, and then he was thrown into a large cauldron and cooked with venison to make "Fu Lu Geng", which was then distributed and eaten by the rebel army.

Therefore, from this perspective, Prince Fu's reputation is extremely low. Furthermore, his indulgence in wine and women, and his refusal to provide financial support to the army when the city was at its gates, ultimately led to the city's fall and his own death. This demonstrates that he was an extremely incompetent prince. But is this truly the truth? Logically, even if Prince Fu was foolish, he shouldn't have been this foolish. If he were an idiot, why would Emperor Wanli have considered making him crown prince?

There's no way to talk about indulging in wine and women, because of the Ming Dynasty's previous policies towards the imperial family. What choice did princes like the Prince of Fu have but to submit? Not only the Prince of Fu, but all the other princes were the same; they were all pretty much the same.

Furthermore, there's another issue worth examining in that historical timeline: before the fall of Luoyang, the heir apparent of the Prince of Fu escaped ahead of time. If it weren't for the Prince of Fu's secret arrangements, how could the young Prince of Fu have escaped? This suggests that the Prince of Fu himself knew that Luoyang was already indefensible. Could it be that he would rather let his heir risk his life to escape than spend money to reward the troops? This logic simply doesn't hold water!

The truth is now impossible to verify. After all, because of Zhu Shenzhui, Li Zicheng and other bandits failed to capture Luoyang and were eventually surrounded by Ming troops in the Central Plains, ultimately leading to their demise.

Now, Prince Fu has submitted a memorial requesting that his advanced age and poor health allow his heir, the young Prince Fu, to be granted a fiefdom outside the capital. If the emperor agrees to this request, Prince Fu can have the court directly reclaim his fiefdom in Luoyang, and he himself is willing to move to the capital to live, thus handing over the throne to the young Prince Fu ahead of schedule.

From this perspective, the seemingly foolish Prince Fu is probably not as stupid as people imagine; in fact, one could say he is quite clear-headed.

The conditions he offered were very generous. In addition to hoping that his heir would succeed to the throne and leave the country to take up a fief overseas, he would only take away the wealth of the Prince of Fu's mansion. As for the fiefdom and mansion in the country, he would hand them over to the court for disposal. He would then move to the capital to live, putting himself under the emperor's watchful eye, so that he would pose no threat to the emperor.

Besides Prince Fu, there were several other princes: Prince Rui (Zhu Changhao), Prince Gui (Zhu Youlang), Prince Lu (Zhu Changfang), Prince De (Zhu Youshu), and Prince Rong (Zhu Cizhao).

After reviewing the list, Zhu Shenzhui found it quite interesting. The Prince of Fu, the Prince of Rui, and the Prince of Gui were all princes or grandsons of the Wanli Emperor, while the Prince of Lu was the Wanli Emperor's grand-nephew; their blood ties were the closest. As for the Prince of De and the Prince of Rong, one was conferred the title by the Xianzong Emperor, and the other by the Yingzong Emperor. This showed that these princes were not princes from the reigns of the Taizu and Shizu Emperors, but rather newly conferred titles later.

In particular, the Prince of Fu, the Prince of Rui, and the Prince of Gui were brothers and uncles and nephews. The fact that all three of them submitted a petition requesting to be granted titles outside the capital suggests that they had probably discussed the matter privately. Moreover, because of Zhu Shenzhui, as princes of the Wanli Emperor, they were all uncles or cousins ​​of the retired Emperor Zhu Youjian. They were very close by blood, and perhaps it was because of this that they took the initiative to request titles outside the capital to avoid their awkward situation in the homeland.

As for the Prince of Lu, perhaps he had similar reasons, but it's impossible to be certain whether the Prince of De and the Prince of Rong had their own ideas. Among the princes enfeoffed by Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, none of them have actively requested to be enfeoffed outside their fiefdoms to this day. This is probably because they have been enfeoffed for too long, are deeply rooted in their fiefdoms, and do not have the concerns of the Prince of Fu and others, which is why they made such a choice.

However, one person was missing: Prince Hui, Zhu Changrun. He was also a son of the Wanli Emperor and the younger brother of Prince Fu. Yet, Prince Hui did not join his brothers and nephews in submitting a petition requesting a fiefdom outside the capital. After briefly recalling Prince Hui's situation, Zhu Shenzhui understood why. Although Zhu Changrun was Prince Hui, his time in the capital was the shortest. He had resided in the capital until the seventh year of the Tianqi Emperor's reign, when the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, and Prince Hui finally left the capital to take up his fiefdom.

Moreover, King Hui had absolutely no interest in politics. He had converted to Buddhism long ago, spending his days worshipping Buddha and meditating, completely ignorant of worldly affairs and utterly clueless about court politics. Staying in his fiefdom was like being a senior monk in a temple, single-mindedly focused on meditation and chanting scriptures, ignoring worldly matters. Therefore, it was normal that he didn't submit any memorials.

Of the thirty-one people, besides the six vassal kings, the remaining twenty-five included thirteen princes, eight generals who protected the state, and four generals who assisted the state.

The latter can be largely ignored, but the requests of these six princes to be enfeoffed outside the capital are a good thing, because once they are enfeoffed, their original fiefdoms in the homeland can be directly reclaimed, and the court's support for their lineage will be directly canceled, so they will no longer be a burden on the court in the future. However, Zhu Shenzhui considered one point: the arrangement for enfeoffing the Prince of Fu, the Prince of Rui, the Prince of Gui, and the Prince of Lu is worth discussing. After all, their relationship is too close. If they are all enfeoffed in the New World, then these four princes, together with the Prince of Yong who is already in the New World, will inevitably form a small group. It should be noted that among these people, except for the Prince of Lu who is the grand-nephew of the Wanli Emperor, the rest are all direct descendants of the Wanli Emperor. If they develop in the New World in the future and join forces to deal with the Prince of Song, Zhu Mincheng, it will pose a threat to the Song Kingdom.

Whether as an emperor or a father, Zhu Shenzhui would not allow such a situation to occur. Therefore, after careful consideration, he decided that these four vassal kings should not all be enfeoffed in the New World. At most, only one or two of them should be enfeoffed there. This way, the balance of power among the vassal kings in the New World could be ensured, and no trouble would be caused. The others had to be placed elsewhere.

As for Prince De and Prince Rong, it's not a big problem, and the same goes for some other princes. However, with so many people being granted fiefdoms at once, even though there's a lot of unclaimed land in the New World, the imperial court doesn't have the capacity to arrange it all at once. They can't just throw them over there, point to a patch of land, and say, "This is their fiefdom," can they? Some arrangements have to be made. Besides, the number of immigrants to the New World is already insufficient; if so many people are granted fiefdoms all at once, the number of immigrants won't be enough!
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Shenzhui said, "I will naturally grant the princes' request to be enfeoffed outside the capital, but this is no small matter. I cannot simply issue an edict without considering the consequences. Moreover, it will be difficult for the court to accommodate so many people at once."

“Your Majesty is right!” Zhu Yujian chimed in, agreeing: “Overseas is different from the mainland. The New World is more than ten thousand miles away from the mainland. Just one trip would take more than two months. In addition, preparations for enfeoffment and enfeoffment are needed. After arriving there, we will need to settle people and consider the follow-up. I think this matter is not urgent. It would be better to enfeoff two or three people first, and let the others agree first. We can prepare slowly and formally enfeoff them when the time is right.”

Zhu Minfeng and Zhu Minchuan also agreed. In addition, they made a suggestion: to temporarily set aside the high-ranking members of the imperial clan who held the titles of General of the State and Assistant General of the State, and instead focus on granting titles to princes and dukes. This was the key.

As the Left and Right Imperial Clan Members of the Imperial Clan Court, they were most familiar with the situation of the imperial clan. The problem of the Ming Dynasty's imperial clan lay not with the lower and middle-ranking members, but with the high-ranking members, especially the princes and dukes. They possessed the greatest resources, and the court bore the greatest burden of supporting them. To put it bluntly, the salary and output of a prince's fiefdom were almost equal to the combined income of hundreds or even thousands of lower and middle-ranking members. Granting a prince an external fiefdom would have a far greater effect than solving the problems of a large number of ordinary members. Moreover, since the Prince of Fu and the other princes were all of Emperor Shenzong's bloodline or related to him, granting them external fiefdoms first would reduce some trouble and relieve the current emperor of any worries.

Zhu Shenzhui agreed with their suggestion, as it reflected his own thoughts. It seemed they had already discussed it privately before requesting an audience, and were simply seeking his confirmation.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Shenzhui said, "These are not wrong. You can't rush things. You have to eat one bite at a time and do things one step at a time. So let's just grant these six princes the title of vassal kings first. As for the others, let's talk to the Imperial Clan Court and put them aside for now. It won't be too late to arrange for them after the Prince of Fu and the others have been settled."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Everyone quickly stood up and bowed.

"In your opinion, how should the enfeoffment of Prince Fu and others be arranged?" Zhu Shenzhui first set the direction, and then asked this question.

"Your Majesty," Zhu Yujian replied, "I believe these six men should be divided into two groups. The Prince of Fu, the Prince of De, and the Prince of Rong can be enfeoffed in the new continent, while the Prince of Rui, the Prince of Gui, and the Prince of Lu should be settled in other places after the first three princes have been settled."

"What do you think?" Zhu Shenzhui asked calmly, glancing at Zhu Minfeng and Zhu Minchuan.

"Your Majesty, we believe that what you say is very true, and we agree!" Zhu Minfeng and Zhu Minchuan replied without hesitation. Zhu Shenzhui smiled. Zhu Yujian, Zhu Minfeng, and Zhu Minchuan had all considered the concerns he had made earlier. They deliberately separated the Prince of Fu first, and then enfeoffed him along with the Prince of De and the Prince of Rong in the first batch. Instead, they put the Prince of Rui, the Prince of Gui, and the Prince of Lu in the second batch. Moreover, they specifically suggested that the princes be enfeoffed in different places. This was exactly what Zhu Shenzhui wanted.

"Very good. After you return, discuss it and come up with a concrete plan in the next few days, then let me take a look. In addition, the enfeoffment of vassal kings is a major national affair. Although there are examples of Song and Yong before, we still cannot be negligent. We must be meticulous in every aspect and not be careless, so as not to disappoint our relatives."

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the three replied in unison. With the emperor's instructions, they had a clear understanding of the situation.

(End of this chapter)