It should be said that Zhu Yi is cautious enough.
Even if he didn't know that the kings of Zhou and Lu were sitting behind the screen, what he said and did was only slightly out of line. More importantly, he didn't leave any evidence behind, it was just verbal persuasion.
But this is not the key point, because from the moment King Yin called King Zhou over, he had already made plans. No matter what Zhu Yi said, what he did, or what kind of 'sincerity' he showed, he would
I won't be persuaded by it.
It's not easy!
You know, in today's situation, the imperial court has just finished the great policy of rectifying the military settlements, and cut out the vassal king with a knife. Although it is said that the vassal king invaded the military settlements first, but if everyone in the world is so sensible, this
There will be no more karmic obstacles in the world.
From King Yin's point of view, he actually lost a large amount of wealth, and that's not all. After the reorganization of military settlements, the court turned its attention to the clan affairs, planning to reorganize the clan and further reduce the clan.
The king's prerogative is clearly targeted.
Even King Yin himself wanted to return to his fiefdom safely as soon as possible, but this request was blocked by the Ministry of Rites.
Each and every one of them was really harmful to his own interests, so for King Yin, he had every reason to be resentful and dissatisfied with the court.
This is indeed the case. Judging from the fact that the kings collectively targeted Yu Qian, the resentment in their hearts is indeed not small.
But the interesting thing is that even under such circumstances, these vassal kings still clearly distinguish between the imperial court and the royal family.
It is impossible for them not to know that whether it was the rectification of the army or the reform of the vassal vassal, there was the emperor Zhu Qiyu's instruction, or at least his tacit approval, behind it.
In fact, this was the reason why Zhu Yi went to the Tenth Prince's Mansion.
However, this can be regarded as being in the court for too long, so I am blind and habitually use my own thinking to consider the thoughts of the feudal princes.
In Zhu Yi's view, or in other words, many noble ministers, including Zhu Qizhen himself, habitually felt that the court and the emperor were one, especially in all major political affairs, the emperor nodded.
Next, the court plotting against the feudal king is equivalent to the emperor plotting against the feudal prince.
Pushing this downward, the two are naturally on opposite sides. At this time, Zhu Yi came to the door. Based on the principle that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, there is a high possibility of cooperation.
The vassal king used the emperor's current power in the court to prevent the imperial court from reforming the vassal vassal. The emperor gained the favor of the vassal king and at the same time achieved some of his own goals. The two were mutually beneficial and had the same position.
It should be said that in most cases, this idea is correct.
However, it did not work on King Yin. Why?
In fact, it is the love of kinship and blood kinship that has been said so much that no one believes in it for a long time.
This sentence has been said countless times, but among the competing interests in the court, the so-called friendship is actually just an exchange of interests.
However, the feudal king is different after all.
Of course, Zhu Qiyu was not so naive as to think that there would really be any family ties between him and these vassal kings whom he had barely met.
The so-called blood relationship does not refer to real blood ties. What really binds them is the increasingly complete and deeply rooted patriarchal family system since the Zhou Dynasty.
Bloodline is nothing but a bond, but this bond completely separates them from the civil and military ministers of the imperial court.
With it, when these vassal kings consider things, they will subconsciously have a tendency to stand. To sum up, it is actually just one sentence, first there is internal and external, and then right and wrong.
In fact, this is where the affairs within the clan are different from many government affairs in the imperial court.
Under the feudal system, the biggest feature is that in the eyes of these vassal kings, the emperor Zhu Qiyu is first of all a descendant of the Zhu family and their kin, and then the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the lord of the country.
This order is very important, because the emperor and the clan are first and foremost relatives. Therefore, when dealing with many involving matters, what is upheld is not legal justice, but the love of family.
To put it bluntly, if your family makes mistakes, you can teach them a lesson, but if you are unselfish and punish them harshly, you will be punished in the back.
This is why, despite King Yin's many evil deeds, the court only reprimanded him repeatedly without substantive punishment. However, King Min drunkenly wrote a poem slandering the Ren Temple, which attracted the attention of several princes of Min Fan.
The reason for being implicated.
To put it bluntly, King Min slandered not only the emperor, but also the eldest son of the Zhu family, who held the ancestral jade in his hand and was the patriarch of the patriarchal lineage.
Therefore, whether as a subject or as a relative, this is a serious sin.
In this order, unless it involves serious crimes such as treason, the emperor must adhere to the principle that family law takes precedence over national law when handling royal affairs. This is also the reason why many vassal kings can obtain super high privileges.
That’s the core reason.
However, the constraints of this tie are two-way, binding both the emperor and the vassal princes and clans.
In ordinary times, this restriction is reflected in the privileges that the vassal king can enjoy when he violates national laws. However, in special times, this restriction is reflected in the recognition and submission of the vassal prince's clan to the authority of his patriarch after Zhu Qiyu inherited the throne.
This is the so-called integration of family and country.
For the civil and military officials of the imperial court, they modeled the country on the family, and they regarded the king as their father. However, for the feudal princes and clans, they modeled the country on the family, and they regarded the head of the family holding a jade guide as the king.
.
Because of this, they will clearly distinguish between the imperial court and the emperor. If the imperial decree is not in their interests, they will use every method to obstruct it. However, when it comes to clan affairs, they will regard the emperor as the emperor.
The horse's head is right.
Therefore, Zhu Yi's method worked for other ministers, but it did not work for King Yin.
Because these vassal kings, including King Yin, are accustomed to putting themselves in the position of He Tian family as one when considering problems. To put it bluntly, they feel that the emperor is one of their own and a relative, no matter what others say, no matter what
, those are all outsiders.
Considering this starting point, King Yin's first choice was to come to Zhu Qiyu and ask him about the situation, instead of listening to the "provocation" of an outsider like Zhu Yi.
This is due to the concept that has been subtly influenced by him for a long time. Perhaps King Yin himself cannot explain it clearly.
He would not even have thought that his subconscious choice was truly the one that allowed the feudal lord to find a new way out.
For Zhu Qiyu, he had been thinking about the role of the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty. In other words, what special and irreplaceable features did these vassal kings have compared with the civil and military ministers of the court?
This problem has troubled him for a long time, but now, Zhu Qiyu feels that he can vaguely touch the edge.
There are naturally some careerists among the vassal kings, but under the current vassal king system, the vast majority of the vassal kings are loyal enough to the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, unlike the ministers in the court, they were loyal to the Zhu family. People like Yu Qian and others were of course loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but they were not necessarily loyal to the royal family.
When Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, many ministers opened their doors to greet the new emperor in the Forbidden City.
Therefore, for these vassal kings, only when the Zhu family is in control of the world can they live a stable life. The courtiers protect the world, and the vassal kings protect the Zhu family.
Of course, Zhu Qiyu also clearly realized that he and the Zhu family were not the same, but that was all a story for another day.
Just talking about the issue of vassal kings, after realizing this, Zhu Qiyu felt that many problems were actually solved.
Since the core interests of Zhu Qiyu and these vassal kings are consistent, there is a lot more room for flexibility in specific methods.
This was also a path that Zhu Qiyu had seen in his previous life, and that none of the previous emperors had tried, but for some reason, he always felt that this was the key to breaking the situation.
Seeing that King Zhou and others still didn't believe him, Zhu Qiyu was not displeased.
Because the core of all past vassal reforms was to restrict the vassal king, the current moderate delegation of power is indeed abnormal. If he were the vassal king, he would not dare to agree.
If this is the case, then he has to use both soft and hard tactics.
"I still say the same thing. All the ministers in the court said that even if I am the emperor, I always have to take it into account."
"If the kings are still as usual and have made no achievements in state affairs and civil affairs, then even if I can suppress it this time, I will not be able to suppress it in the future."
"If things continue like this, the vassal reform is inevitable!"
this……
King Zhou, King Lu and others looked at each other with surprise and uncertainty in their eyes.
The emperor's words almost made it clear that he must either accept the reform charter that had been drawn up by the Ministry of Rites, or he must participate in disaster relief and play his role so that the court could see that the vassal king was not completely useless.
Of course they understand this truth, but the problem is...
Can you really take on this job?
After frowning and pondering for a moment, King Zhou spoke carefully and said.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that if you serve the country, it is your duty to serve the country. However, the public opinion in the court is unpredictable. If you keep your peace, the courtiers may attack and criticize you, which will make the country useless. If you appease one party, the courtiers may attack and criticize you for trying to buy people's hearts and intentions.
Unruly."
"It's not that I'm unwilling to contribute, but in fact, I'm in a dilemma. I can only do two things to harm each other. I only guard one side for Your Majesty. I'm always waiting for the court's call. I don't dare to do anything else."
After saying this, King Zhou himself broke out in a cold sweat.
Because it couldn't be more obvious.
Each of them was born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They have been well clothed and well-fed since childhood. They have everything they want, but the only thing they can't do is to do things. They are not unwilling to participate in local civil affairs disaster relief. In fact, they are very willing to do something.
matter.
After all, if given the choice, who would want to stay at home and do nothing for the rest of his life?
But no!
The lessons learned in the Battle of Jingnan were too profound, so as a member of the Yan vassal lineage, the precaution against other vassal kings was ingrained into their bones.
No matter how sincere the emperor said it now, it was still too difficult to make them believe that the imperial court had withdrawn its guard against them.
Seeing that King Zhou and others repeatedly refused, Zhu Qiyu sighed, with a hint of disappointment in his expression, and said.
"If that's the case, I won't force my uncle to do it. If my uncle doesn't want to personally participate in the disaster relief, then there's another way."
King Zhou and others felt a little melancholy.
They originally thought that with their resolute attitude, even if the emperor had any doubts, he should give them away.
But who would have thought that the first half of the emperor's sentence was normal, but the second half of the sentence changed the topic. Obviously, he still didn't intend to let them go.
Just at this time, Wynn returned and reported to the side.
"Your Majesty, the kings are waiting outside the palace to deliver their orders."
So, Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"Call in, go and summon Wang Cheng and Song Wenyi."
Therefore, King Zhou and others were relieved. There were more people. In the end, if the emperor did not respond properly and the emperor became angry, it would be better to have someone to share the burden with.
When they came back to their senses, they were completely confused when they heard the names of the two people mentioned by the emperor...
"Greetings to Your Majesty!"
Not long after, Huaien led several vassal kings into the palace. After everyone had finished their salutes, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Today, several of my uncles came into the palace and talked to me about this year's drought. They were all very worried. In order to relieve the people's poverty and national worries, these uncles took the initiative to donate a total of 23,000 dan of grain for disaster relief. I am very relieved.
.”
This opening statement immediately caused the kings to widen their eyes, and they all turned their attention to King Zhou and others aside.
Unexpectedly, King Zhou and others also looked surprised...
Your Majesty, didn't you say no?
The old princes coughed lightly and glanced at each other, but said nothing.
The emperor has already spoken, they can't say no, otherwise, the end will be very miserable.
But this look of acquiescence fell in the eyes of the other kings, and they felt that they must have reached some kind of deal with the emperor.
King Yin was not surprised. On the way they came, they also heard some news. It was said that the Ministry of Rites wanted to keep him in the capital in order to return to the fiefdom as soon as possible, and it was not difficult to understand that he would lose money and avoid disaster.
However, the King of Zhou and the King of Lu could not have any leverage in the hands of the emperor, right?
Or is it for the vassal reform?
However, if this matter can be solved by providing some food, then why did they spend so much effort before?
In the midst of doubts, the emperor continued to speak, saying.
"However, these grains are the annual salary of several uncles. It is naturally a good thing to use them for the people. However, I feel that there is no need to hand them over to the court. I can just coordinate with the local government to organize disaster relief."
?!
As soon as these words came out, the kings present suddenly widened their eyes with deep disbelief in their eyes.
Are the kings of Zhou and these people bewitching the emperor?
Let the vassal prince directly participate in the court's disaster relief?
Thoughts swirled in his mind, and King Min on the side immediately stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, there may be something wrong with this move..."
However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the Emperor.
"Uncle King Min, there is no need to say anything. What should be said, uncle King Zhou and others have just said it, and they don't agree with my idea..."
This chapter has been completed!