Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 253 The only choice!

When he first arrived in the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Yunhuan had great ambitions, he only had one goal for the reforms after taking power.

As for how to achieve it specifically, we will take it one step at a time.

Later I gradually figured it out.

Now, he has a comprehensive plan in mind.

Among the many reforms, the most important are land reform and tax reform.

Tax reform has been advanced by a small amount, and the remaining hard nuts can only be cracked slowly.

As for land reform, he only conducted a pilot project in Taiwan.

But Taiwan is, after all, an undeveloped virgin land, and the barbaric indigenous people and the entrenched landlord class are completely different things.

Moreover, even in Taiwan's reforms, in order to speed up the development and utilization of land, he did not push forward in an all-round way, but only stopped at the surface.

As for other provinces.

Zhu Yunhuan took a deep breath.

Land reform is by no means a trivial matter; it is the foundation of the feudal dynasty.

To carry out land reform, the first thing is to cultivate a new interest group.

On the one hand, it is to develop industry, and on the other hand, it is to go out to sea.

Moreover, industrial development itself requires overseas raw materials and the capture of larger overseas markets.

In addition, allowing the princes to go to sea can also allow the land currently occupied by the princes to be used for land reform experiments.

Sitting in the carriage, thinking as he went, he soon arrived at Zhu Gang's place of confinement.

There were guards standing guard outside with guns. Even when they saw the Crown Prince's carriage and recognized the logo on it, they still stopped it without mercy.

It was not until Zhu Yunhuan pulled open the curtain of the carriage, poked his face out, and recognized that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself that the guards hurriedly let him pass.

Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied with this.

Prince of Jin Zhu Gang was of great importance, and his network of contacts spread throughout the city of Jinling.

Zhu Gang had always been extremely bold, so he was not surprised even if someone imitated the Crown Prince's carriage.

Only through meticulous efforts could the soldiers truly cut off Zhu Gang's contact with the outside world.

After passing seven checkpoints in a row, Zhu Yunhuan finally entered the courtyard of the mansion, where he saw Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, who was playing chess alone.

"Uncle San is in such a good mood!"

He joked, sat down across the table, picked up a chess piece and put it down gently.

Zhu Gang was obviously absorbed in his thoughts. He was suddenly interrupted. He looked up, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and then he revealed an extremely complicated expression. He said dejectedly, "Why did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince come to see a prisoner like me today? Is our father going back to the capital?"

He has been imprisoned here since he confessed his guilt and was "escorted" to Beijing.

Although the activity space in the yard is not small and the treatment is good, there is wine and meat provided every day.

But being a "prisoner" is still a world of difference compared to the days when he was a vassal king and lived a life of singing and dancing, wine and women.

I originally thought that it would not be difficult to communicate with the outside world by bribing the guards or deceiving them with some covert method.

From childhood to adulthood, he made many mistakes, and Zhu Yuanzhang had ordered the Jinyiwei to put him under house arrest several times, not allowing him to go out or contact the outside world.

But Zhu Gang always finds a way to circumvent it.

Of course, the ones who were punished afterwards were the Jinyiwei who were guarding him.

But this time, all methods failed.

No matter how hard Zhu Gang tried, he was unable to find out any information about the outside world, nor was he able to send out a single note.

Only then did Zhu Gang realize that he had really underestimated his nephew, the current Crown Prince Zhu Yunhuan.

The people guarding here are not only the elites he carefully selected.

Moreover, there are at least seven layers of protection.

Even if he managed to penetrate one or two layers, there was no way he could get through all seven.

Unable to communicate with the outside world or find out what was happening outside, the usually calm and composed King Jin began to panic.

Sometimes, he couldn't help but suddenly yell like crazy in the yard, but it was all in vain.

When I am bored, I can only read a book, talk to myself, or play chess with myself to pass the time.

But he still did not give up, always thinking that he would be able to make a comeback one day.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled faintly and praised: "Uncle San is really amazing, he guessed it right at once."

Zhu Gang sneered: "If not, why would you come here to see me?"

He remained calm on the surface, but he suddenly felt excited in his heart.

Now that my father is back, it seems I will be able to go out soon.

"How do you plan to deal with me, and how are you going to explain to my father?" Zhu Gang stared at Zhu Yunhuan and asked.

Zhu Yunhuan did not answer directly, but shook his head and said with a smile: "It seems that Third Uncle does not intend to play a game of chess with me?"

Zhu Gang glanced at the chessboard, raised his eyes and said, "You are a bad chess player. You made a wrong move from the first move. You have already lost irreversibly. What else can I do?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and made a move, just in time to eat up a long dragon of Zhu Yunhuan.

Zhu Yunhuan was slightly stunned.

I really lost.

It turns out that I am a terrible chess player.

He was just about to play a game of chess with Zhu Gang, but he didn't expect... Well, although he lost the game on the chessboard, at least in the big game of Ming Dynasty, he has already secured victory.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't blush or feel nervous. He picked up the chess piece that had just fallen and said, "This move doesn't count. Let's start over."

Zhu Gang was stunned, and immediately said sarcastically, "I never thought that the great Crown Prince would regret his move."

Zhu Yunxun said with a smile: "King Jin used to play chess with the generals and retainers in the palace. Didn't he like it that way? Why is it that now that it's my turn to regret my move, King Jin is not happy about it?"

Zhu Gang was suddenly speechless.

He used to regret his moves quite often.

Therefore, he never lost when playing chess with the generals and retainers in the palace.

Except with my second brother, Prince of Qin Zhu Chong...well, whenever they played chess in the past, they would always fight to decide the winner.

How can you tell who wins or loses in chess? You need big fists to win.

Only when you can win the fight can you truly win.

As for the eldest brother, that is certainly someone neither of them can challenge.

He originally thought that if he could defeat Zhu Yunhuan in one game, it would also be a revenge for the "house arrest".

Unexpectedly, the opponent was also a master at regretting his moves.

People have to bow their heads under the roof.

But Zhu Gang was also a very proud person, and he felt that Zhu Yunhuan could not do anything to him, so he simply hugged his waist with both hands and refused to move.

"You do have the ability to govern a country, and the new army's combat effectiveness is also very strong."

Zhu Gang looked directly at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "If I had really led my army to attack Zhang Fu's 3,000 new troops on the grassland that day, we might not have been defeated."

"But my army will also suffer heavy losses, and it will be difficult for me to explain to my father and the court."

He said word by word: "You actually hope that I will destroy Zhang Fu's army, and then use this as a pretext to kill me, right?"

"But I chose to plead guilty. Now you are in a difficult situation."

Zhu Gang smiled to himself and said, "For ordinary generals, mobilizing troops to go out of the border without the imperial military order is indeed a capital crime that is enough to confiscate the family property and exterminate the clan, but I am the biological son of my father, the Prince of Jin of the Ming Dynasty. You can't do anything to me just because I mobilized troops to go out of the border without authorization." "Don't think that I will be afraid of you just because you sent someone to poison and kill my second brother."

"On the contrary, if you can poison my second brother, then others can also poison you."

"The one who should be afraid is you, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who has the greatest power in the world."

"The one who created the figurines has no descendants?"

"You have set a very dangerous precedent by poisoning the prince."

It can be seen that he is still not convinced.

Zhu Yunxun sighed, "Uncle San, why do you want to oppose me so much?"

Zhu Gang looked up at the sky and said, "I do want to fight for the throne, but if I can't win, being a vassal king is also a good thing."

"When my eldest brother was still around, I never thought about competing with him."

"Father is right. Being an emperor requires a lot of worries. It is far less comfortable than being a vassal king."

"But, even if I don't want to fight, can you let me go?"

He looked at Zhu Yunhuan, shook his head gently, and said, "You can't."

"You're not the eldest brother."

"We are all your uncles. We are older than you and hold military power."

"If the emperor is here, everything will be fine."

"If the emperor is no longer around, you must reduce the power of the vassal states."

"You are so eager to reform the military system, build a new army, and seize military power, which shows that you cannot tolerate the vassal kings."

"After all, half of the world's military strength is in the imperial court, and the other half is in the vassal kings."

"In this case, I have no choice but to fight."

"You can see this clearly, I can see it clearly, and most of the ministers in the court can see it clearly, so why should we beat around the bush and pretend to be confused?"

The power structure in the early Ming Dynasty had already determined that the reduction of power among the feudal lords was inevitable, no matter who was the emperor.

Only Old Zhu, who has been smart all his life, is trapped by family ties and is unwilling to admit this.

"The grassland has been pacified. The Ming Dynasty no longer needs vassal kings to guard the border." Zhu Yunhuan said frankly: "There is no need to send more vassal kings to guard the border. The current fiefdoms must be abandoned."

"However," he changed the subject and said, "I can give you a bigger and better fiefdom."

Zhu Gang's face was filled with shock, and his eyes showed disbelief.

After a long while, he said, "What do you mean?"

Zhu Yunhuan was not in a hurry. He made his move and said, "Nie Huan'er is from Taiyuan, not Xi'an."

Zhu Gang's body suddenly froze.

After the death of Qin Wang Zhu Chong, he guessed that Nie Huan'er's assassination had been discovered, and he followed the clues and found Qin Wang Zhu Chong.

But he was not sure whether he knew that Nie Yang'er was the person he arranged.

Zhu Gang still held on to hope.

After all, he had been planning that move for a long time and had taken sufficient isolation measures.

But at this moment, when Zhu Yunhuan suddenly said this person's name in front of him, Zhu Gang understood that Zhu Yunhuan knew everything.

My nephew is really awesome!
Compared to his chess playing level, this scheming ability can be said to be thousands of times better.

Zhu Gang suppressed his pounding heart and dropped a bead. He asked, "How does His Royal Highness intend to deal with me?"

Zhu Yunhuan continued calmly: "Grandpa Emperor specifically asked me to let you go, and I agreed."

Zhu Gang was stunned again.

It turns out that my father knows everything.

"Then what are you going to do with me?" Zhu Gang picked up a chess piece and put it down.

Originally he thought that Zhu Yunhuan would not dare and would not kill him, but now he is a little unsure.

Will the other party really let go of someone who dares to kill him?
Although killing himself would make Old Zhu very angry, this man had not even spared his adoptive mother and second uncle. So what would it matter if he killed him, who was only his third uncle?

Would Old Zhu really abolish the crown prince for this?
Thinking of this, Zhu Gang suddenly began to feel scared.

The hand holding the chess piece was also sweating slightly.

"I shouldn't keep anyone who wants to kill me alive." Zhu Yunhuan calmly placed his pieces, staring at the center of the chessboard without raising his head. He said, "If you can prove your worth, I can consider it."

"I am willing to take the initiative to submit a petition to explain to my father the disadvantages of the vassal kings and request the court to reduce their power." Zhu Ying spoke slowly.

He is very aware of the times and recognizes things very quickly.

Zhu Yunhuan raised his head and said with a smile: "The matter of reducing the power of the vassal states is inevitable."

"I was able to convince Grandpa Huang to carry out the royal family reform, which means Grandpa Huang had already agreed."

"I didn't issue an order right away because the grasslands haven't been pacified yet. I took it slow just in case."

"Now that the grasslands have been pacified by the Ming Dynasty, the vassal kings guarding the Great Wall no longer have any need to exist."

"Whether you submit a petition or not, the feudal lord will be removed."

"That's not a significant value."

Zhu Gang fell into deep thought. After a while, he said, "What do you want me to do? Just tell me directly."

If you just want to kill me, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there is no need for you to come.

Uncle-nephew relationship?

That's not the case at all.

"Go to sea." Zhu Yunhuan uttered two words.

With a wave of his hand, the guard immediately brought a huge world map.

He pointed to the other side of the Pacific Ocean and said, "The imperial court will remove the feudal lords, but will redistribute them."

"This land will be your new fiefdom."

Zhu Gang stared at the map, his pupils shrinking slightly: "You want to exile me overseas?"

"It's not exile, but enfeoffment." Zhu Yunhuan corrected him: "It's an undeveloped virgin land, but it's very fertile."

"If you can conquer and develop it, your descendants and grandchildren will benefit greatly."

“Although the journey is indeed a bit far.”

"But you know, everyone used to think that Japan was far away."

"Nowadays, there are ships from Ming Dynasty going to Japan or coming back from Japan every day. The travel is very convenient, and it takes less time than going from Nanjing to your fiefdom Taiyuan."

“It’s more convenient to take a boat all the way.”

"The world changes like this."

"Even if we transport several million dan of rice from Japan to Nanjing, it would be much easier than transporting it over the mountains from Taiyuan, Shanxi."

"The same is true of the continent I am referring to."

"Although this place is far away from the Ming Dynasty, it has a suitable climate and fertile land. Once it is developed, you will own a rich overseas land and become a free and easy prince, which may not be a bad thing."

He paused and said, "This is your only choice."

……

(End of this chapter)