Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 42: Conferred the title of King of Wu, Sugar-Coated Bullet
Zhu Yunfeng actually knew that antiques were the big part and gold was just a small part.

But there is no other way. We are just starting out and antiques are not so easy to sell, so we can only use gold as start-up capital.

He planned to find some online treasure appraisers to take a look after dinner, and then find an expert offline.

If there is no problem with the quality and appearance, send it to an auction house and you will be rich in no time.

So when facing Lao Zhu's questions, his attitude was much better.

As long as Lao Zhu doesn't go crazy, he can communicate and negotiate with the other party calmly no matter if someone hits his chopsticks or scolds or beats him.

After all, he is not as irritable as Lao Zhu.

Seeing that Zhu Yunfeng's attitude had also softened, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "Jianzhou Jurchen, how do you think we should deal with them?"

Jianzhou Jurchen?

Zhu Yunfeng was confused and said, "The military power in the early Ming Dynasty was strong. It shouldn't be difficult to destroy a fishing and hunting tribe outside the Great Wall."

"It's not difficult, but the Yuan Dynasty is still in existence and is competing with us for the support of the surrounding vassal states. The Jianzhou Jurchens could not bear the invasion of the remnant Yuan Dynasty and went south to join our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "In order to buy horse bones for a huge sum of money, I specially set up the Liaodong Division in the northeast to recruit the Jurchen tribes in the northeast and settled them in Jianzhou. If I go back on my word and suddenly send troops, it may cause fear in the neighboring countries, which will be detrimental to the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the neighboring countries."

"So that's it."

Zhu Yunfeng suddenly realized that he really didn't know much about these things.

I thought that the Jianzhou Jurchens were not very powerful at that time, so it would not be difficult to destroy them.

But this is not the case.

It is not difficult to destroy the Jianzhou Jurchens, but we have to consider the international influence.

If the Ming Dynasty had already become the overlord of the East, it would not need to consider these things and could naturally act in a hegemonic manner.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was still very wary of the Mongols, so he had to be cautious in this regard.

But after listening to what Zhu Yuanzhang said, isn't this what that gentleman once said, "Unite all forces that can be united"?

Obviously, although Lao Zhu did not know this sentence, he naturally possessed the political qualities of a politician and understood this truth.

Now the main enemy of the Ming Dynasty is the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty needs to win over the surrounding vassal states to deal with them together.

If Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed the Jianzhou Jurchens who came to surrender for no reason, it would inevitably cause panic among the surrounding vassal states, which would seriously affect the Ming Dynasty's alliance relations and destroy unity.

Therefore, as a politician, Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that military means were the worst option. Even if he had to use military means, he could not do it openly and could only find excuses.

"If there is no other way, forget it."

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that he seemed to be lost in thought, so he comforted him and said, "This is a national event, and it is not for someone like you to handle it."

Before he finished speaking, he heard Zhu Yunfeng say, "This is easy."

Simple?
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened.

Zhu Yunfeng pondered for a moment, then continued, "I have a complete set of methods to deal with the Jianzhou Jurchens without bloodshed. Well, there are so many ways to play that I don't know which one to talk about. So, I will compile a set of information for you later, and you can just play with it yourself."

"what?"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth wide with a look of question marks on his face.

He racked his brains but couldn't think of a solution. Zhu Yunfeng had so many tricks that he didn't know which one to talk about.

Is this the difference between ancient times and modern times?

It's incredible.

But for Zhu Yunfeng, this was not a big deal. He knew seven or eight ways to kill the Jianzhou Jurchens.

However, you still need to collect some information online for the specific process.

For example, by observing the great virtues of the British Empire towards its colonies, or studying the hegemony of the Moln Empire, you can basically learn how to deal with those barbarians.

Even if we can perform the tricks of Daiying and Emperor Mei to perfection, the Jianzhou Jurchens will not only not hate the Ming Dynasty, but will be grateful to it and thank us.

of course.

To some extent, the set of Daiying and Meidi is just something left over from our ancestors during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

It’s just that the ancients had very narrow sources of information, and a lot of knowledge was monopolized. Sometimes one family monopolized the information in a lot of books, which made it impossible for the lower classes and ordinary scholars to access it.

Or some knowledge was lost long ago and was only slowly discovered recently through archaeology, excavation, etc., so some knowledge naturally cannot be conveyed.

On the other hand, modern society is not only able to tap into ancient knowledge, but in the Internet age, it is also possible to conduct detailed analysis and research on international political means.

What an ordinary person comes across on the Internet in one day may be what an ordinary ancient person saw in his entire life.

This is where the difference in information comes into play.

"Our world is in the information age. A lot of knowledge may have been very difficult to obtain in ancient society, but in the modern world, it can be easily found on mobile phones and computers."

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's puzzled expression, Zhu Yunfeng picked up his phone and said, "Besides, the current international political methods are more sophisticated. Although some methods are not convenient to use in ancient society, they are enough to deal with uncivilized savages."

"It is so."

Zhu Yuanzhang was amazed and said, "I will return to Ming Dynasty at the hour of You. I hope I can collect it before that time."

"That won't work. I don't have a printer. I'll go to town to buy one tomorrow and print out the information on paper. You can take it home and read it slowly."

"Okay, I have some more."

"Stop!"

Zhu Yunfeng couldn't stand it anymore, raised the bowl in his hand and said, "Let's talk after dinner."

Zhu Di was afraid to eat now, and said, "Yes, father, there is plenty of time after dinner, and the food is getting cold."

"Ok."

Zhu Yuanzhang realized that he was too impatient.

This should be his first official visit here, and he really wants to understand the world here.

It's not just the prices, but also the science and technology, development situation, educational methods, military strength and political ideas here that need to be understood urgently.

He naturally wanted to race against time.

But if you think about it carefully, there is still plenty of time. You can't become fat in one bite, so it's a good thing to learn slowly.

The three of them finished their meal at last. There was too much food for three people, and even Pipi couldn't eat much, so half of it was left, which Zhu Yunfeng put in the refrigerator to eat in the evening.

After eating and drinking, Zhu Yunfeng invited Zhu Yuanzhang and his son to go upstairs to rest for a while.

He saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had many questions to ask, but he had just eaten and the blood was concentrated in the stomach, making him sleepy, so he went to sit in the living room on the second floor for a while before asking.

The three of them entered the living room. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the sofa near the balcony and couldn't help but sigh: "I was tied here before. If it weren't for Pipi, I'm afraid I would be dead or alive now."

When the poodle heard someone calling its name, it immediately put on an angelic smile and came close to Zhu Yuanzhang, wagging its tail wildly.

Zhu Yunfeng rolled his eyes.

I knew that golden retrievers were unreliable, but I didn't expect them to be so unreliable. I asked it to watch over Zhu Yuanzhang, but it actually handed a knife to the thief. That means the other party was a real time traveler. If he was a real thief, my family would be in trouble.

"The mole!"

Zhu Yunfeng glared at Pipi and thought to himself that he would spank its butt hard later.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw this and suddenly felt relieved. He said cheerfully, "Pipi, I will make you the Great General of the Guardian Dog. Come with me to Daming later to play."

What the hell?

Zhu Yunfeng opened his mouth wide and asked in surprise: "I'm an official now? What rank is he?"

"First rank!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said this in a resounding voice.

"Brilliant."

Zhu Yunfeng became happy and said, "I, Pipi, am also an official's dog. From now on, I will be called a dog official."

When Pipi heard Zhu Yunfeng calling his name again, he turned his head and continued to wag his tail, grinning at Zhu Yunfeng, obviously unaware that he had been promoted.

Dog officer?

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the sofa, then was stunned, laughed and said: "Well, well, well, you dog official, you said it well. Yunfeng, I will also grant you the title of Zhenguogong."

"What are you doing? Are you holding back on scolding me? I am a royal family member after all. Why don't the ancestors make me a prince?"

Zhu Yunfeng joked.

He actually knew that it was okay to make such a joke.

Firstly, he was indeed a member of the royal family and had no intention of seizing Zhu Yuanzhang's throne. There was no loss of interest for Zhu Yuanzhang by making him a prince.

Secondly, Zhu Yunfeng's base is in modern times. As long as he does not touch Zhu Yuanzhang's bottom line, that is, threatening the imperial status of the Zhu family and harming Empress Ma and Zhu Biao, other things are dispensable.

really.

Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed not angry. Instead, he thought about it seriously for a while and said, "Then I will make you the King of Wu!"

"King Wu? I was kidding."

Zhu Yunfeng also sat on the sofa in the living room on the second floor. He was also stunned when he heard his words.

There were actually three Kings of Wu in the Ming Dynasty: Zhu Yuanzhang himself, Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth son Zhu Su, and the last one was Zhu Biao's third son Zhu Yunhu.

After that, there was no more King Wu in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Su was enthroned in the first year of Hongwu, and changed to King of Zhou last year. Zhu Yunhuan was enthroned in the first year of Jianwen, and was abolished after Zhu Di's Jingnan Rebellion, so the position of King of Wu is vacant now. Although the name of the Ming Dynasty is not Wu, King of Wu is a title that Zhu Yuanzhang once used, so it represents a very special meaning.

It is recorded in detail in "History of Ming Dynasty" that Zhu Su was the favorite son besides Zhu Biao and Zhu Di.

Zhu Yuanzhang first thought of changing the crown prince because Zhu Biao had a quarrel with him. He wanted to make Zhu Su the heir, and only later did he think of Zhu Di.

After Zhu Biao died of illness, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to choose between Zhu Di and Zhu Su, but was dissuaded by the minister Liu Sanwu, so he established Zhu Yunwen.

This shows that Zhu Su was deeply loved by Zhu Yuanzhang, and it also shows how high the value of Zhu Su being made King of Wu was.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang actually wants to make himself the King of Wu. Is that a joke?
"My words are golden, I won't play tricks on you."

"real or fake?"

"Of course it's true, no joke!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became serious and said, "Yunfeng, Biaoer also asked me to treat you sincerely, and I know that. But I have this temper, and sometimes I get angry. Biaoer and Lao Si know it, but I don't really want to do this or that, I just can't control my temper, don't blame me. You are my descendant, I treat you as my own, as long as you treat yourself as a member of the Zhu family and treat the Ming Dynasty as our Zhu family's kingdom, even if you are the King of Wu, so what?"

Zhu Yunfeng was stunned again, then smacked his lips twice before slowly coming to his senses and said, "Well, I understand, old ancestor. In fact, of course I am proud that we are a member of the Zhu family. It's just that modern people's ideas are different from those of the ancients. I really can't stand the class thinking of the ancients. We are one family, so I will definitely do my best to help our Zhu family build the Ming Dynasty in the future."

"Hahahahaha."

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and laughed at Zhu Di, saying, "As expected of a descendant of our Zhu family, you have a good descendant, Old Fourth."

He completely forgot how he had made indirect accusations before.

Zhu Di's smile was uglier than crying: "Yes, yes, it's great to have so many people in Yunfeng."

"Hehehehehehe, that's because our Zhu family has good genes. The first ancestor gave birth to a good son, so the second ancestor could give birth to later descendants."

Zhu Yunfeng also smiled.

"Ha ha ha ha."

The room was suddenly filled with laughter.

It seemed as if everyone was having fun all of a sudden.

However, Zhu Yunfeng was secretly dissatisfied in his heart.

oops.

Old Zhu, if the hard approach doesn't work, he'll try the soft approach.

Although he just fell for it, he was naturally clear about it.

This is the sugar-coated bullet of Ming imperialism.

Moreover, it was an illusory title of King of Wu.

It seems that the rich family is very clean.

In modern times, this title is of little importance to my base.

To reward yourself, you have to win favor.

Old Zhu’s method of winning people’s hearts is indeed clever!

really.

No one who can become the founding emperor is stupid.

Although he was born into a peasant family and his vision was a bit short-sighted, it did not hinder his superb political skills.

Before, with his domineering nature, he wanted to control Zhu Yunfeng and take the initiative.

Now that he sees that things cannot be violated, he can also take a step back and choose another way to narrow the distance and seek benefits for himself.

Such courage and flexibility are truly amazing.

But that’s fine.

Zhu Yunfeng also didn't want to make things too awkward with Zhu Yuanzhang. Even during the cooperation, it was not a good thing to bicker with each other all day long.

Therefore, I am happy to see this. At least I have an identity, which will make it easier for me to carry out my work in Ming Dynasty in the future.

"Okay, let's talk business."

After everyone laughed for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang adjusted his sitting position on the sofa, leaned on the soft and comfortable backrest, and said, "What do you think about Hu Weiyong's matter, Yunfeng?"

"The ancestors were wondering whether they should do the same as in history and investigate the Hu Weiyong case."

Zhu Yunfeng guessed what he meant.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Actually, I have been thinking about this recently."

Zhu Yunfeng thought for a moment and said, "It's very simple. Find out the underlying logic and then see how to maximize your own interests."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly said, "Tell me about it."

"The reason our ancestors launched the Hu Weiyong case was probably not because Hu Weiyong was really planning a rebellion, nor did he have the ability to do so."

Zhu Yunfeng said.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

He had read the History of Ming Dynasty and knew that the crime he would charge Hu Weiyong with in the future would be treason.

But doesn’t he know whether Hu Weiyong can rebel?
He has no military power and no military capability, so he would be a monster if he could rebel.

So he himself knew that the charge he brought against the other party was a bit far-fetched.

However, since he wanted to kill people indiscriminately, then naturally only this charge would be appropriate, otherwise it would not involve so many people.

"In the final analysis, our ancestors wanted to abolish the prime minister and increase central power."

Zhu Yunfeng said: "Then I want to ask the old ancestor, you already know that you can increase the centralization of power and handle state affairs by yourself, but the emperors after you may not be able to do the same as you. In this case, do you still want to strengthen the imperial power?"

This question is the core issue, which determines whether Hu Weiyong lives or dies!

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes, pondered for a long time, and finally said: "It must be so! I don't care what the emperor will be like in the future, at least in my hands, I cannot tolerate the Ming Dynasty being meddlesome by outsiders!"

"Well, then kill!"

Zhu Yunfeng said without hesitation: "Although Hu Weiyong did not rebel, he basically deserved it. Liu Bowen was sick and sent him medicine, and Liu Bowen died after taking it. Ji'an Marquis Lu Zhongheng and Pingliang Marquis Fei Ju were scolded by their ancestors for breaking the law, so they ran to Hu Weiyong's house to drink and complain about it. They colluded with military generals and violated the taboo of imperial power. Later, they secretly contacted Lin Xian, the commander of Mingzhou Guard, and secretly communicated with the Japanese pirates. He is not wronged."

of course.

These are all things recorded in the History of Ming Dynasty. Whether or not Zhu Yuanzhang framed him for these crimes is another matter. But the current situation is that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted him to die. Regardless of whether he did so or not, he can only be a political victim.

Zhu Yunfeng would not save him, nor could he save him. He knew Zhu's temper. If the King of Hell wanted you to die at three o'clock in the morning, he would not let you live until five o'clock. He could not change that easily with just a few words.

What's more, the most important thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang believed that this would concentrate his power and help consolidate his rule over the Ming Dynasty.

In this situation, there was no reason for Zhu Yunfeng to stop it.

Because the most fundamental reason why he was able to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang was actually to help maintain the Ming Dynasty of the Zhu family, and all his policies were based on maintaining the Ming Dynasty.

Some policies will harm the Ming Dynasty in the future, so we should not implement them. Some policies can be beneficial to the rule, so why not implement them?
Including abolishing the prime minister and establishing a cabinet, the purpose itself was to strengthen central power.

So he would not object in this matter.

The systems he really opposed were mainly unreasonable systems such as caste household registration, slave guards, mass killings, and human sacrifice. As for the other systems, he helped to change them.

"Well."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Now that the decision had been made, the killing was aroused.

"But we have to strike a balance here. We need to know who to kill and what purpose to achieve. The charges and evidence must be ironclad facts. We need to be fully prepared. Otherwise, if we wantonly expand the scope and cause adverse effects, then, as I said before, the officials and the people will become alienated from the royal family."

Zhu Yunfeng said: "Historically, you massacred more than 100,000 people in Nanjing in the name of colluding with Hu Weiyong, more than 99% of whom were innocent. Doing so will lose the support of the people and reduce the sense of belonging of Ming officials and people to the Ming Dynasty. The example of the late Ming Dynasty is not far away."

"What should we do?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"I can only give two suggestions. First, investigate and deal with the case as quickly as lightning, and then quickly determine the cause. When people are unable to react, immediately deal with Hu Weiyong and his party. Then, we can start reforms, abolish the prime minister, and increase centralization of power!"

Zhu Yunfeng raised two fingers and said, "Second, we should not punish the guilty by association. We should investigate and punish the main culprits, and we should also appease the officials and the people to avoid panic and uncontrollable consequences."

"There are actually only two situations for the core of powerful people standing at the top of the country: one is to build the country, and the other is to destroy the country."

"Although you drove out the Mongols and rebuilt the Han dynasty, you did not fully devote yourself to the construction of the country in the process of exercising power, but inevitably caused a certain degree of damage to the country."

"This destruction does not mean that you have destroyed the Ming Dynasty, but that you are gradually undermining the Ming Dynasty's credibility, that is, the degree of conviction that people in the world have in our Zhu family's kingdom."

"They arbitrarily appointed and dismissed officials, treated the state as their private property, exercised strict control over and plundered the state, and engaged in a palace-owned economy."

"Although the emperor's power was supreme in feudal society and he could break through the restrictions of rules at will, such breaking of rules should be done less or avoided as much as possible. Even the emperor should abide by the rules he made, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would lose its credibility."

He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said seriously: "If officials and people feel that they are innocent but have their heads chopped off for no reason, then the officials and people who survive will only resent the Ming Dynasty. This was the case too often in the early Ming Dynasty, including the treasure notes, which also consumed the court's credibility without limit, making the people of the world become leeks to be harvested. If officials and people continue like this, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, no one is willing to go through fire and water for the Ming Dynasty anymore. Even the tragic Yashan is gone. This is your dereliction of duty, ancestor."

Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at him, with no comment in his eyes.

This descendant of ours is good in every way.

I just like preaching.

What he hated most in his life was being lectured.

(End of this chapter)