Ming Dynasty: I, Zhu Yunwen, started by resurrecting my grandmother.

Chang Yuchun waved his hand: "Speaking of which, I'm alright at charging into battle."

However, when it comes to strategic planning, Xu Da is the one who truly excels.

There's a reason why he became a great general.

Hearing Chang Yuchun say this, Tie Xian admired him even more. It is rare for a person to be able to face his own weaknesses and admit them frankly.

Chang Yuchun made no attempt to hide his shortcomings.

Zhu Yunwen straightened his clothes and said to Tie Xian, "As soon as I entered Jinan, I felt a sense of renewal."

With you in charge of Jinan, it's truly remarkable how you've managed to make the city so prosperous.

If every city in our Ming Dynasty were like Jinan, then neither pirates nor the Northern Yuan could have conquered it.

What can they do to me?

Tie Xian stroked his beard and laughed, "King Wu, you flatter me! You are the true rising star."

My contribution is nothing to boast about!

I don't have any special abilities.

In governing the local area, I adopted the policy of following the old rules and governing by doing nothing, letting everything take its natural course, as long as the people live and work in peace and contentment.

In terms of military leadership, I don't consider myself a military genius. I dare not emulate Li Guang; I emulate Ji Bushi, advancing step by step, steadily and surely, first ensuring invincibility, then waiting for the enemy to become vulnerable.

After hearing this, Zhao Ning'er clapped her hands and laughed, "It seems that General Tie is a very humble person. He has managed this place so well, yet he says that he has no credit."

I heard you've never lost a battle, and you even claim to be a general who knows nothing about military affairs.

"Miss Zhao, you flatter me."

night.

Jinan Prefecture.

After dinner, Tie Xian invited Zhu Yunwen to his study. It turned out that Tie Xian was a very learned man.

During the Hongwu reign, he was appointed as a censor in the Ministry of Rites by the Imperial Academy. Later, he was given the name "Dingshi" by Emperor Zhu.

This shows that Lao Zhu valued him highly.

Later, after Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he appointed him as the Shandong Provincial Councilor.

Zhu Yunwen discovered that Tie Xian's study contained many classic books, as well as some calligraphy and paintings.

It seems he also enjoys calligraphy!

"I am not very talented, but when the late emperor was alive, he was kind to me and kept promoting my official position."

"I am truly terrified," Tie Xian said.

While admiring the calligraphy and paintings, Zhu Yunwen said, "Lord Tie, you are a rare official in this dynasty who is proficient in both civil and military affairs. You can conquer all directions on horseback and govern the local areas on foot. This is something that many people cannot compare to."

Often, a person with a civil service position lacks military skills; someone who can fight a war may not be good at governing a region; it is rare to find someone who possesses both.

Tie Xian waved his hand: "King Wu, you flatter me."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen gave a wry smile: "Please stop addressing me as the Prince of Wu."

I have not been the King of Wu for a very long time.

Tie Xian paced back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, his expression becoming serious: "I invited you here to discuss this matter with you."

After the Emperor ascended the throne, on the advice of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, he vigorously reduced the power of the regional princes. This matter has likely been handled poorly.

Zhu Yunwen crossed his arms and couldn't help but ask, "What do you think is wrong?"

Tie Xian stroked his beard and said slowly, "Since ancient times, vassal kings have been like a double-edged sword, with both advantages and disadvantages."

When Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and seized the world, he summoned his civil and military officials to discuss whether to adopt the enfeoffment system or the prefecture-county system.

Some people favored the feudal system, while others supported the prefecture-county system.

Finally, Li Si overruled the objections of others and adopted the prefecture-county system.

Therefore, Qin Shi Huang did not give important positions to his sons, nor did he appoint them as kings.

However, there is a drawback to doing this.

Later, when the world fell into chaos, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu attacked Xianyang to the west, and no one came to the king's aid.

If Qin Shi Huang had appointed his own son as king back then,

Do you think they could just watch the Qin Dynasty be destroyed by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu?

After Liu Bang ascended the throne and became emperor, he did not do what Qin Shi Huang did!

This is one of the advantages of the feudal system.

Of course, there are also disadvantages.

During the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Bi, King of Wu, and Liu Wu, King of Chu, joined forces with seven other states to oppose the imperial court and attacked Chang'an to the west, nearly overthrowing Emperor Jing's empire.

At this time, the princes had become too powerful to control, and their branches were strong while their trunks were weak.

This forced Emperor Jing of Han to appoint Zhou Yafu as Grand Commandant and Dou Ying as General, who joined forces with Liu Wu, the King of Liang, to fight against the Seven Kingdoms Coalition. As a result, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was quelled within three months.

Now that the late emperor has just passed away and the new emperor has only recently ascended the throne, his vigorous efforts to reduce the power of the princes will inevitably exacerbate the conflict between the court and the princes.

If not properly controlled, it could overthrow the imperial court.

Among the princes, the one who caused the most worry for the court was Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan.

Zhu Yunwen picked up a book from the bookshelf and casually flipped through it.

He never imagined that Tie Xian, a man in Jinan, would have such a keen understanding of world affairs.

"Zhu Di has gone mad, and Zhu Gaochi is in charge of Beiping."

"Oh, is that so?" Tie Xian was quite surprised to hear this. "Not long ago, he was leading troops to besiege the capital. How could he suddenly go mad?"

Zhu Yuntong recounted what he had seen to Tiexian.

Tie Xian listened with squinted eyes: "So, Zhu Di really has gone mad."

However, it's not quite right for the imperial court to strip you of your fiefdom.

I also heard that the court was going to execute you, but then your grandmother suddenly appeared and saved you. Is that true?

Zhu Yunwen nodded: "Yes, if my grandmother hadn't appeared in time, I wouldn't be alive."

Tie Xian sighed, poured a bowl of tea, and handed it to Zhu Yunwen: "To be objective, the Emperor's treatment of you is a bit excessive. However, as a subject of the Ming Dynasty, I still hope that you can get along well with the Emperor."

First, your current strength is insufficient; if you fall out with him, you will definitely suffer losses.

Secondly, if you are fighting each other, the Northern Yuan and the Western Regions, as well as those bandits, can take the opportunity to invade.

Then, our Great Ming Dynasty will be in danger.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen thought to himself that Tiexian was a person with a broad vision, who had a high vantage point and a far-sighted perspective.

Zhu Yunwen held his teacup and gently blew on the tea leaves floating on top: "Lord Tie, you are absolutely right. That is why His Majesty sent me as an envoy to Beiping this time, appointed Zhang Bing as the Beiping Provincial Administration Commissioner, and Xie Gui and Zhang Xin as the Commander-in-Chief."

Despite some setbacks, the task was successfully completed in the end.

Upon hearing this, Tie Xian was secretly alarmed: "Is such a thing possible? This is probably not a good idea!"

Why?

"Haven't you heard that Zhang Xin was a former subordinate of Zhu Di?"

Moreover, the couple staged a charade.

Princess Yan saved Zhang Xin's life.

Isn't it too dangerous for the imperial court to send such a person to Beiping?

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen finally understood why Zhu Gaochi had agreed so readily. Was it because of Zhang Xin?

However, judging from Zhang Xin's behavior, he seems to have no ulterior motives towards the court.

Zhu Yunwen took a sip of tea and asked, "Lord Tie, are you overthinking this?"

Zhang Xin is probably not that kind of person, is he?

Tie Xian smiled slightly: "When we evaluate a person, we should not look at what he says, but at what he does."

Do you know what mistake Zhang Xin made while serving under Zhu Di, and what it was about?

"I didn't know about that!"

"He was caught because he embezzled money," Tie Xian paused, looking at Zhu Yunwen. "Think about it, can someone who makes a mistake because of embezzlement have a firm stance?"

In other words, if Zhu Di had given him more benefits,

Will he turn back to Zhu Di's embrace?

"It shouldn't be that bad," Zhu Yunwen frowned, now feeling that this matter might be a bit inappropriate.

If Zhang Xin turns against us, that would be troublesome.

Zhu Yunwen only sent him as an envoy to Beiping and arranged for Zhang Bing, Xie Gui, and Zhang Xin to take up their posts, but he didn't tell him any of this information.

"In my opinion, as for what happens after you return to the capital, if you encounter any difficulties or troubles, you can send me a message by carrier pigeon." Tie Xian said, taking out a cage with two white carrier pigeons inside.

Tie Xian explained, "These two pigeons are specially trained. No matter where you are, as long as you release one of them, it can find me."

"Really?" Zhu Yunwen took the iron cage and examined it carefully. He saw that the two homing pigeons were not very big, with red eyes, white feathers, and were lively and cute, occasionally making "coo-coo" sounds.

Zhu Yunwen gave a thumbs-up and praised, "You are such a meticulous person. I never expected you to have such a thoughtful mind."

Tie Xian sighed: "Being an official in the bureaucracy is extremely difficult. It's like walking on thin ice; one wrong step and you're doomed."

When you return, persuade the Emperor not to rush into reducing the power of the princes. If he must reduce their power, then he should do as Qi Tai suggested, and reducing the power of the Prince of Yan is the right thing to do.

Indeed, if the Prince of Yan is subdued, then the other princes will be no match for him.

If we heed Huang Zicheng's advice and first reduce the power of the Zhou king's vassal states, things will get complicated.

This is called "beating the grass to scare the snake"; whether the Zhou king reduced the power of the vassal states or not is irrelevant.

However, the Prince of Yan was different.

Zhu Yunwen also heard about this matter, and Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai had different opinions.

Qi Tai advocated directly reducing the power of the Prince of Yan.

Huang Zicheng, however, believed that the Prince of Yan had made merits in resisting the Northern Yuan, and had not made any mistakes.

King Zhou had already committed many unforgivable crimes during the reign of the previous emperor, and his dismissal was justified.

Therefore, they should start with the King of Zhou. The two argued endlessly about this, each sticking to their own reasoning, and there was no conclusion. This gave Zhu Yunwen a real headache.

Upon hearing Tie Xian say the same thing, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but ask, "Why is that?"

Tie Xian took out a map, hung it up, and then used a long pole to gesture on it: "Look, Zhu Di is stationed in Beiping, which is in the north. Further north is the Mongolian steppe, which is the territory of the Northern Yuan."

Looking west, we see the kingdoms of the Western Regions, and to the east, we see pirates, who have now become quite powerful.

If the imperial court swiftly stripped the Prince of Yan of his fiefdom and brought Beiping under its control,

Then, the area from the capital to Beiping would be connected.

This place is impregnable; neither the Northern Yuan nor the pirates can find a way to attack it.

If the imperial court can eliminate external threats and quell internal troubles, then things will be much easier.

Furthermore, among all the princes, Zhu Di was the most ambitious and cunning, in other words, he posed the greatest threat to the court.

The other princes were mediocre and insignificant, like withered bones in a tomb; there was nothing to fear.

However, if we reverse the situation and first weaken the Zhou king's vassal states, then look at the surrounding circumstances:

First, Zhu Di would definitely become alert, and it wouldn't be so easy for him to attack again;

Although Zhang Bing was appointed as the Provincial Treasurer of Beiping, and Xie Gui and Zhang Xin were appointed as the Military Commanders of Beiping, they probably won't be able to play a significant role in the end.

After all, it's someone else's territory, so they're the ones who call the shots.

If Zhu Di allied with the Northern Yuan, or even with the pirates, how would he break the siege of the military advisor?

There are hardly any capable generals left in the court; they can be counted on one hand.

Geng Bingwen was too old, and Guo Ying was in poor health. Xu Huizu was very capable in battle, but Xu Huizu had a special status; he was related to Zhu Di.

Of course, I fully believe in Xu Huizu's loyalty, but my belief is useless; I'm afraid some people won't believe it.

Zhu Yunwen crossed his arms and listened quietly, then asked, "Isn't Li Wenzhong's son, Li Jinglong, very capable?"

Tie Xian shook his head: "If the court doesn't give Li Jinglong an important position, that's a blessing for the court. If the court does give him an important position, then everything is over."

He was a typical spoiled brat, all show and no substance.

Zhu Yunwen straightened his clothes and bowed to Tiexian again: "Hearing your words today is better than reading books for ten years."

I will certainly report what you said to the Emperor when I return, and have him revise the plan.

Tie Xian looked at Zhu Yunwen and smiled, "I have devised a way out for the King of Wu. I wonder if you would like to hear it."

Zhu Yunwen was very curious: "I wonder what kind of way out Lord Tie has planned for me?"

Tie Xian gestured on the map: "The Shu region is a barren land; most people don't want to go there."

Because the roads there are treacherous, often frequented by wolves, tigers, and leopards, and also shrouded in miasma.

If someone was exiled to Shu (Sichuan), it was tantamount to sentencing them to death.

However, precisely because no one wanted to go there, it became a place of great fortune.

If you return to the capital and the Emperor makes things difficult for you, you should request that I be exiled to Sichuan.

I think His Majesty will definitely agree. When you arrive in Shu, it will be like a dragon entering the sea or a tiger entering the deep mountains. You can farm there, slowly accumulate strength, and observe the changing times.

Alternatively, you can recruit former subordinates and confidants, such as inviting Chang Yuchun to join you, as he is your biggest backer.

Once you have accumulated strength in Shu,

With your grandmother and mother in the court, you have a bright future ahead of you.

Back then, didn't Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, start his army from Hanzhong, enter Guanzhong, and then compete with Xiang Yu for the empire?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen suddenly understood:

"Thank you so much, Mr. Tie, for pointing out a way out for me. I am extremely grateful."

This reminded Zhu Yunwen of a saying: "Your way of thinking determines your path."

It seems that this is indeed the case.