The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 430: Why should we reduce the power of the feudal lords?

The princes' reports were quickly compiled and sent to Shuntian Prefecture via a special telegraph line.

After getting up the next day, Emperor Zhu Jianxuan of the Ming Dynasty first dealt with daily government affairs, and then read the important reports sent by his sons.

After seeing that they had discovered the problem of the nobles in the American Free State and suggested that the Free State be treated as a vassal state and cleared out, Zhu Jianxuan sighed in his heart:
"The sense of smell is sharp enough, but these kids are still too young, and their pride and sense of justice are too strong."

Zhu Jianxuan thought for a while and wrote a reply more seriously, reminding his sons to think about and discuss several issues seriously.

Is the existence of feudal lords necessarily unreasonable?
What are the characteristics and differences between the current free states in the United States, the vassal states in Asia, Europe, and Africa, and the former vassal states in the Ming Dynasty?
What kind of impact will it have on themselves and the entire Ming Dynasty court?

If the monarch of a vassal state... or the ruler, acts perversely and arbitrarily in the vassal state, and exploits the interests of the local people through various cruel means.

What impact will it have on the local economy, population, and public opinion, and what impact will it have on the Ming Dynasty court?

At the same time, Zhu Jianxuan also made a simple positive response to the issues discussed in the princes' previous reports.

The focus of future development in the Americas can be placed on the Mesopotamian River Basin and the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

The environmental and climatic characteristics of the Mei River Basin are very similar to those of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of the Ming Dynasty, except that this area is basically located inland.

There is no way to maximize sea transport, but it can be connected through the main stream of the Mei River and important tributaries.

The northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, such as Florida and the Mississippi River Delta, basically has a subtropical humid climate with abundant rain and heat.

At the same time, since the scale of America is much smaller than that of the Shenou continent, the difference between land and sea is far less strong than that in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the climate on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico is slightly milder than that of the Ming Dynasty.

New Orleans is at the same latitude as Hangzhou, and the summer temperatures in the two places are basically the same, but the winter temperature in New Orleans is about ten degrees higher than that in Hangzhou.

Although swamps are difficult to develop, once developed, they become places suitable for farming and relatively livable.

At the same time, the development of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, including Florida, could create a competitive situation with the southern states in the American Free State.

It can easily attract new and old immigrants who cannot tolerate the Free State environment.

As for the issues in the lower reaches of the Dahe River and the upper reaches of the Qiaogong River, the main goal in the next few years will be waterway development to increase navigation capacity as much as possible.

After Zhu Jianxuan's reply was delivered to the princes in New York, the princes immediately gathered again for a meeting.

The princes who have made it to this point all have a keen enough political awareness.

When seeing Zhu Jianxuan's questions listed, most of the princes immediately thought of various possibilities.

After the meeting started, there was an immediate round of divergent thinking.

The American Commonwealth did not have a clear monarch, while the feudal lords in Asia, Europe and Africa all had clear monarchs. The biggest feature of the feudal lords in the Ming Dynasty was that they were located in the mainland.

The free state was the result of a compromise between the Ming Dynasty court and the local forces of the free state, and was a specific fact formed under the specific circumstances at that time.

Moreover, in the earliest stages of this compromise, local forces dominated.

Although the warlords in Asia, Europe and Africa were also the result of compromise between the imperial court and local governments, the imperial court always held a dominant position.

The imperial court handed over areas that were inconvenient to directly govern to the vassal states to guard and develop.

The native vassal states of the Ming Dynasty were also the result of a compromise between the central court and local governments, but it was a compromise between two sides that were evenly matched.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, if the central court did not compromise with the local forces and mobilize all the local forces, the entire dynasty would have come to an end.

It is a choice that has to be made, but of course it also leaves huge consequences.

The independence and autonomy of the feudal lords would certainly affect the development of industry and commerce, the speed of local development and construction, and the power and resources that the imperial court could mobilize.

The entire country cannot truly unite to completely destroy the enemy.

The perverse actions of local warlords will certainly have a greater impact on local development, but on the other hand, it will also increase the centripetal force of the people to a certain extent.

The areas ruled by the feudal lords were in chaos and disorder, while the areas governed by the imperial court were well-organized, so ordinary people naturally yearned for the areas ruled by the imperial court more.

The people in the areas under the jurisdiction of the feudal lords encountered all kinds of troubles, and the first people they hated were of course the feudal lords.

If the entire Americas were directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, the people would only be able to think of the imperial court when they encountered problems.

The existence of these local vassal states actually facilitated the imperial court's rule over remote areas, and they did have their reasons for existing.

Under such circumstances, the rulers of the vassal states acted recklessly within a certain range, and the development and construction of the vassal states was slow, which was beneficial to the imperial court.

Traditional emperors of previous dynasties may have deliberately allowed powerful ministers and nobles to act recklessly, and there was a very similar logic behind this.

Of course, America is an absolutely remote place compared to the Ming Dynasty.

If the local forces were really united, it would be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty court's control over the local area.

This is the present situation with these free states in America.

Similar situations also occurred in many local vassal states of the Ming Dynasty during the Xianning Dynasty and before.

The perverse actions of the feudal monarchs made private merchants loyal to the imperial court, and they advocated the Northern Expedition and the reduction of the feudal monarchs through various channels.

Now, private newspapers in the American free states are also advocating that the free states be changed into dominions or even provinces. The underlying logic is the same.

So the emperor asked them to think, is the existence of these vassal states necessarily unreasonable?
The princes spoke one after another, expressing their own analysis, and their analysis of the matter gradually became clearer.

But at the end, the eldest prince Zhu Jingkun made another reminder:

"The prerequisite for the evil deeds of the feudal lords to benefit the imperial court is that the imperial court should do enough publicity and guidance.

"Ordinary people were generally led to believe that the problems they encountered were caused by the local vassal states and had nothing to do with the imperial court."

The tenth prince immediately took over the conversation:

“So Father also replied to us that the focus of future development in America could be placed on the American River Basin and the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

"I think we can make arrangements to communicate such plans to the public through official broadcasts and official bulletins."

The fifth prince continued to express his thoughts:
“Based on the current situation and future plans, we should take the initiative to make an official statement.

"As long as the Ming Dynasty signs an agreement, it will abide by it. Unless the parties who signed the agreement also want to change it, the court will not change the agreement just because the current situation changes.

"It should be pointed out in particular that the Ming court will definitely abide by the agreement, so it will maintain the status quo of the Free State." Unless Adams and other Free State nobles take the initiative to request it, the Free State will always be a Free State, and the court will not interfere in the affairs of the Free State.

“So there is no need to continue discussing all the discussions among the public about changing the Free State into a province.

"Finally, I will explain the development and construction plans for Florida and the American River Basin. Everyone, including the people of the Free State, is welcome to participate."

Zhu Jingkun smiled and said:
“Yes, this is a statement to the nobles of the Free State, letting them know that we will always abide by the agreement, so they can do what they need to do without any worries.

"It is also a statement to the people of the Free States, letting them know that the court cannot intervene in the affairs of the Free States, and let them fight against the nobles of the Free States themselves.

"If you don't want to be angry in the Free State, then follow the court to develop Florida and the American River Basin."

Several princes echoed this, all thinking that this arrangement was a good one, as it allowed the Ming Dynasty to sever its ties with the court of the Kingdom of America and keep itself out of the matter.

The Ninth Prince thought about it for a long time, and finally spoke at this time:

“I think we need to be aware that the premise for the situation we are discussing to become a reality is not just a matter of propaganda.

“Public opinion propaganda is only superficial, what is more important is the vital interests of businessmen and ordinary people.

"If the Free State continues to be free and independent, its future industrial and commercial achievements will surpass those of other provinces of the Kingdom.

“That would prove that the Free State is indeed more suitable than the provinces, and our superficial propaganda would lose its meaning.

"There is a public advocacy for several free states around New York and New Jersey to become dominions, based on the prosperity of New York.

“It must be the merchants from Philadelphia and Boston who really wanted to share in New York’s prosperity.

“In addition to the direct support from the imperial court, the more important reason for New York’s prosperity is its advantageous geographical location.

“These free states in America basically occupy the best land on the east coast of America, which is the most suitable coastal land for developing industry and commerce besides New York.

"As long as they don't deliberately misbehave in the future, it should be easy for them to perform better than the inland areas in industry and commerce."

The eldest prince Zhu Jingkun did not express his opinion directly, but the tenth prince, who was also at odds with the ninth prince, spoke up immediately:
"We do need to ensure that the areas governed by the Court have an overall advantage over the Free State, but this advantage is essentially inevitable.

"I do not agree that the existing land in the Commonwealth is the best land outside of New York for industrial and commercial development.

“The southern shores of the five Great Lakes and the middle and lower reaches of the great rivers of North America have geographical advantages that are no less advantageous than those of the Free State, and their scope is even wider.

"The key is that the water transport conditions on this route have been fully opened up, and there are already two large engines in New York and Taipingfu.

“As development unfolds in the America River Basin and the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, new vitality will be injected into this system.

“The entire American River Basin connects the Great Plains and is connected to New York through the Great Lakes. This entire system can be connected by inland waterway transportation.

“Shipping between free states must use seagoing vessels, at least near-shore vessels, which are excluded from the inland waterway system.

"If they engage in ocean trade, how can they compete with New York and New Orleans?

"The key point is that the nobles of these free states have become de facto vassal states, and have regarded their own free states as their own exclusive possessions.

"How can they help the private industry and commerce in these places to develop better?

“As for the official industries, the industries that the court directly invests in and controls, they must be invested in the provinces of the kingdom.

“In the future of Florida and the North Coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Great Lakes Basin and the lower Great Rivers and the American River Basin.

"As long as we offer relatively suitable conditions, we can attract immigrants and businessmen from the Free State to these places, further draining the potential of the Free State."

This time the Ninth Prince did not continue to argue, because in his heart he actually agreed with the Tenth Prince's judgment. The key point was that the result of arguing last time was not good, and he was easily trapped.

After rolling his eyes at the Tenth Prince, he muttered without comment:
"I hope so."

Seeing that the Ninth Prince, the most important opponent, had no objection, the First Prince proposed to start drawing up a formal plan right away.

Ask the secretary to write down the plans discussed during the meeting on the spot.

The main thing is to complete the draft explanatory document that will be made public. We need to consider the language carefully and make sure to define and divide the responsibilities.

At the same time, we must demonstrate our selflessness as much as possible and make everyone believe that the American Kingdom acts in accordance with principles.

The princes simultaneously entered into the voting phase and adopted the direction that the princes had discussed so far today as the solution to the problem of the nature of the free state.

This plan was originally put together by the princes, and the princes originally agreed and accepted it.

This vote was ceremonial and was passed unanimously.

After the draft of the public statement is completed, the princes will check it one by one to confirm that it meets their requirements, and then the draft itself will be archived for the time being.

It cannot be made public right now.

Let their accompanying guards go out and contact the major local newspapers and non-governmental organizations, as well as the newspapers in various free states.

Through reporters and commentators from newspapers of different types and classes, the attitudes of ordinary people in the local area towards changing the nature of the Free State were investigated again.

At the same time, an order was issued in the name of the Cabinet of the Kingdom of America, publicly summoning the main nobles and officials of various free states and dominions, as well as well-known people in the society as representatives.

Let them come together to attend the meeting at the Royal Palace in New York to openly discuss the issue of the nature and status of the free state.

In preparation for this formal public meeting, the princes asked the cabinet to make arrangements the next morning to summon the main local nobles who had remained in New York and asked them to come to the palace for a small meeting the next morning.

The notice of the public meeting and the notice of the small meeting were basically sent to John Adams and others at the same time.

Adams was very nervous after seeing the notice. The princes' public notification through the cabinet meant that the matter would be dealt with formally and openly.

The private notifications given to them may be communicated internally to key figures before being made public.

They all felt that the princes had not yet made a decision, and were probably just planning to hold a meeting to conduct a special investigation before seriously considering how to make a decision.

However, they also felt that this was a great opportunity for them to first contact the princes in private and express their opinions directly.

By the time the ordinary nobles arrived, by the time the civilian representatives came to New York to attend the public and formal meeting, the matter itself might have been determined.

What they didn't know was that before they were summoned this time, the princes had actually made the final decision based on the emperor's instructions.

Asking them to come for the meeting now is simply to notify them in advance so that they can feel at ease and cooperate with the subsequent formal meeting.

(End of this chapter)