The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 476: The Princes' Trouble
Wanli issued an edict to recruit civilians to serve as garrison troops, and gave each household 50 mu of garrison land.

This is a great thing for ordinary people.

Nowadays, there are too many common people in the Ming Dynasty who have no land at home. Even if they have land, most of them only have about ten acres.

They are the kind who don't have enough food to eat or warm clothes to wear.

It would be different if they could become garrison soldiers. Each household would have 50 mu of land, which would provide at least 100 dan of grain a year, so having enough food and clothing would not be a problem.

What's more, after becoming a garrison soldier, you will have the opportunity to go to the battlefield and make achievements.

For that guy, the military merit reward of fifty taels per person is enough to drive people crazy, not to mention the chance to be granted a title of nobility.

The common people of the Ming Dynasty were overjoyed. Anyone who couldn't get enough food would choose to become a garrison soldier without hesitation.

This has made the vested interest groups that have annexed the land a little unbearable.

Their land also needs people to cultivate it.

The corrupt officials in the court racked their brains to find ways to stop Wanli from doing this.

But they were also afraid that Wanli would go crazy and chop them down without any mercy.

Finally, they came up with the idea of ​​instigating the vassal kings to take the lead.

The princes acted as soon as they saw a plan.

Because these guys are also part of the vested interest group, and they are the ones who gain the most benefits.

Once the princes make a move, corrupt officials and even officials with ulterior motives will have an excuse.

The royal family members all say that you can't do it this way, and we follow suit and say that you have no excuse to kill us, right?

If you want to kill everyone without caring about anything, you should start by killing the vassal kings.

We just want to make you, the Zhu family, fight each other!

Wanli knew very well what these guys were thinking.

If he doesn't handle it well, these guys will definitely take advantage of the cold weather and prevent the Lanurgan Dusi from interfering with the farmers who applied for the position, thus ruining the whole thing.

So, how to deal with this matter?
Wanli explained to the second prince Zhu Changxu for a while and then frowned and fell into deep thought.

It’s not that he doesn’t dare to move the vassal king.

He just wanted to clean up the officials in the court before taking action against the princes.

In this way, the local princes would not be able to collude with the officials in the court to cause chaos.

Unexpectedly, the civil servants in the court took this opportunity to bring out the vassal king.

Of course he knew why the prince was willing to be the first to take action.

Because the princes had annexed the most land, and these guys were crazy about accepting donations to make profits. The land that a prince accepted as donations was at least several million acres.

These princes are really causing great trouble.

Seeing that he was silent and didn't write, Zhu Changxu sat there with a frown on his face, and couldn't help asking, "Father, what's wrong with you?"

Alas, I am having a headache just dealing with the issues of the vassal kings. You also want to become a vassal king, so please don’t give me a headache in the future.

At this time, he finally understood what Emperor Hongwu was thinking.

Who doesn’t want their descendants to enjoy wealth and prosperity?
Emperor Hongwu probably never dreamed that the vassal kings would eventually become the biggest scourge of the Ming Dynasty.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about the rice allowance for the royal family and vassal states. It is now almost tens of millions of dan a year, and as the royal family and vassal states continue to multiply, the rice allowance for the royal family and vassal states will continue to increase, exponentially.

One day, the grain produced by all the fields in the world will not be enough to distribute the rice to the princes and vassals!
If that day really comes, how will others survive?
If everyone else can't survive, how can Zhu's family survive?

The problem of the vassal kings will be solved sooner or later.

Now that his own son is about to become a vassal king, what should he do?

Wanli sighed inwardly and then asked, "Xu'er, you are about to be enfeoffed to the Northern Frontier. Have you ever thought about what you will do after becoming a vassal king?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changxu nodded repeatedly and said, "I have thought about it. I want to expand the territory."

That's a good idea.

The question is, how many troops can I give you to expand the territory?
Giving too much manpower may also cause problems.

The Jingnan Campaign is a clear example. Did the Hongwu Emperor also want his son to expand the territory?
As a result, the princes destroyed the royal orthodoxy!
How to solve this problem?

I cannot leave any harm to my descendants.

It seems that the question of how to ultimately control the Ming Dynasty's millions of troops needs to be carefully considered.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then nodded slightly and said: "I can give you troops to expand the territory.

However, the Beijing Army, the Border Army, the Navy, and even the soldiers of the garrison camp are not under your jurisdiction.

You can only take them to expand your territory, and they have to come back after the war.

When the time comes, I will only leave you with personal guards who are sufficient to protect your safety."

Zhu Changxu nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, Your Majesty, just let me lead the army to expand the territory."

There is always an end to expanding your territory, and in the end you will still become a vassal king ruling over a vassal state.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "Xu'er, you must remember to treat your people well.

Don't be like the princes of today who indulge in extravagance and indulge in lust, not caring about the lives of their subjects. They just keep squeezing them as much as possible. If you keep squeezing them like this, they will eventually rebel."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changxu was quite puzzled and said, "Father, they all have their own royal salaries and fiefdoms, right? Why do they still exploit their people so much?"

It's a matter of habit.

Wanli patiently taught her, "Xu'er, you are still young, and there are some things you don't understand.

The reason why the princes have become what they are today is that they have no self-control and have gradually developed this bad habit.

Everyone has desires, but some people know how to restrain themselves, while others do not.

These princes are the kind who don't know how to restrain themselves.

Perhaps their ancestors still knew how to restrain themselves, but the princes also had to get married and have children, and they also needed officials to govern their vassal states.

The children of the princes, the relatives of the vassal states, and even the officials of the vassal states all have desires.

Once there appears among these people an unrestrained person, he will try every means to influence the vassal kings and make them become unrestrained as well.

There are even many examples of people who inherit the throne of a vassal king being unrestrained.

In short, the current vassal system has big problems.

It is a big problem that the princes are living in extravagance and no one cares about them.

The rice allowance from the royal family and vassal states was a bigger problem.

There are also big problems such as the princes unscrupulously accepting cash investments and even frantically annexing land.

The current vassal kings are not only useless to the Ming Dynasty, but have become a disaster.

This won't work. I'm going to find a way to solve these problems.

Xu'er, you must be careful in the future. Don't develop the bad habit of extravagance, don't listen to slander and do foolish things, and don't covet the legitimate position of the royal family.

Also, teach your descendants well and don’t let them go astray.”

Well, I haven't grown up yet.

And teach future generations?
Zhu Changxu nodded, not quite understanding, and said, "I'll remember this."

Alas, this problem of the vassal king is really a headache.

If anyone else dared to do this, he would definitely kill them without hesitation until they no longer dared to do this.

The problem is that the princes are all relatives of the royal family, and they cannot be killed without any regard.

How to deal with these guys?
Wanli frowned and pondered for a while before picking up the pen to write in red.

He wrote the same sentence on all the memorials submitted by the princes: The rich have wine and meat in their houses, while the poor freeze to death on the streets. Is it so difficult to feed people? Do you want your country to be destroyed?

These guys need to be disciplined. Those who don’t obey will have their power reduced!
With force in hand, he has nothing to fear.

Then, he wrote on the memorials of all the civil officials: You don’t need to worry about the land issue. I am here to expand the territory. You should take care of your own business. If anyone dares to interfere in matters that he shouldn’t be involved in, his property will be confiscated and he will be executed!

If these guys dare to disobey, we will kill them until they are scared!
(End of this chapter)