The hereditary king of Dong'an came from the hereditary king of Chu. He was granted the title in the twelfth year of Zhengtong and has succeeded him to this day. The contemporary king of Dong'an, Ta Shenglang, is a contemporary of the Chu king Zhu Shengzhi who now lives in Fuzhou, but he is older than the Chu grandson.

Bigger than a lot.

At this moment, I saw Chen Kai step forward to salute him. Before he could stand firmly, he quickly stepped forward to help him, saying nothing and not letting Chen Kai salute him. After Chen Kai was helped steady, he even took three steps and two steps at a time.

He went forward and bowed respectfully to Li Dingguo.

"Your Highness is a vassal of the clan. This king cannot bear this ceremony."

"It deserves it, it deserves it. Without His Highness the King of Jin, and without Chen Jinglue, how could the little king have seen Huguang return to the rule of the Ming Dynasty so quickly?"

Dong'an King Zhu Shenglang's posture was very low, and the general did not show any surprise. Only after the two sides had seen the etiquette, he came forward, saluted Li Dingguo and Chen Kai, and said in a loud voice: "

Hao Yongzhong, the last general, has met His Royal Highness the King of Jin and Chen Jinglue."

"The Duke of Yiguo is free from gifts."

"Mr. Yi Guo is so polite."

Yiguo Gong Hao Yongzhong, who was called by Qu Shiqi who stayed in Guilin, was the remnant of Hao Ni's Dashun army, and was also a powerful faction among the generals in Kuidong. After the courtesy was observed, Zhu Sheng stood expressionlessly.

Behind him, Zhu Shenglang didn't say a word, just letting Zhu Shenglang chat with Li Dingguo and Chen Kai.

After looking at Zhu Shenglang and then at Hao Yongzhong, Chen Kai, who had lost interest in continuing to chat with them, simply said something that was not surprising, and directly released the bombshell that "the emperor abandoned the country",

Hao Yongzhong's subordinates, who had no scruples, were still standing on both sides.

"ah?"

"how come?"

This time, Zhu Shenglang's mouth grew so big that Hao Yongzhong couldn't hold it any longer. However, before Hao Yongzhong could say anything, Zhu Shenglang's rosy face suddenly turned pale, as if he had been pricked by a needle.

General, he quickly bowed to Li Dingguo and Chen Kai and said: "Your Highness, King Jin, Chen Jinglue, please forgive Xiao Wang for being unwell, and please return to Fang County for medical treatment." After that, he turned around and bowed to Hao Yongzhong.

Said: "I'd like to trouble Duke Yi to arrange the trip."

What does it mean when the emperor abandons his country? In addition to the confusion of the people, the more direct thing is that the emperor's throne is unstable. He is just a side branch, and he is only a county prince. How dare he get involved in this. Originally, this trip was to take advantage of the opportunity.

Before Wen Anzhi arrived, he first became familiar with Li Dingguo and Chen Kai, so as to prepare for his smooth return to the fiefdom in the future. When Wen Anzhi arrived, these important officials of the imperial court would begin to discuss state affairs, and it would be inconvenient for him to be a member of the clan.

It was such an occasion. As a result, who knew that this kind of thing would happen again? At this moment, he felt as if he was running away. He wished he could get his wings and go back to Fang County directly, where he would be bored in his bed in Dong'an Prince's Mansion for a few days.

"Your Highness, it doesn't have to be like this." Facing Zhu Shenglang's request, Hao Yongzhong just subconsciously responded with a salute. He still didn't behave too abruptly. It was obvious that the King of Dong'an was very polite to him on weekdays.

.After seeing this scene, Chen Kai said with a smile, and then told everything about the wartime cabinet, without any intention of avoiding taboos.

"I have agreed with His Royal Highness the King of Jin and His Highness the King of Fujian who is in Zhili in the south to prepare for the establishment of a wartime cabinet following the old practice of Zhou Zhaogong. The emperor cannot abandon the country, so let's divide our luggage and disperse, shall we?"

Hearing Chen Kai's witty words, Zhu Shenglang even regretted it. Now it is not just as simple as the throne, but also involves Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong and Chen Kai, important officials of the court and powerful military factions. Think about it carefully,

They certainly can't go behind Wen Anzhi's back. Now that the Emperor is not in the country, no matter what decision these top civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty make, it will not matter what they say. The only bad thing is that they will end up being inhumane inside and out.

"Chen Jinglue's words are reasonable, Chen Jinglue's words are reasonable, but this is a major court matter, Xiao Wang is really, really... Xiao Wang kindly asks to return to Fang County for medical treatment."

Here we go again. Chen Kai really had nothing to say about his illness, but he had no intention of embarrassing Zhu Shenglang, so he allowed him to return to Fang County. Then, he told Hao Yongzhong to comfort the Dong'an man.

Wang Yier, don't worry too much about this. They didn't intend for him to get involved. They just wanted to be healthy and recuperate.

"When Inspector Wen arrives, we will discuss the matter of recovering Wuchang together."

After seeing off Zhu Shenglang and Hao Yongzhong, Chen Kai and Li Dingguo, who was already frowning, returned to the Chinese army's tent. After retreating, Chen Kai didn't say much nonsense and directly asked Li Dingguo: "Today is a good day."

Does Ning Yu think the Duke's attitude toward King Dong'an looks familiar?"

Of course they look familiar. Ming soldiers who were born as bandits basically never dared to be disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty clan, with the exception of Sun Kewang. But everyone knew what Sun Kewang was thinking, and that guy didn't care at all.

Seeing the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty. But they are different. They united with the Ming Dynasty to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and wanted to use the banner of the Ming Dynasty to eliminate the Manchu Qing Dynasty. When all this is over, they will naturally get rid of the name of thieves and become the Ming Dynasty.

The nobles, or shareholders, will also enjoy the dividends of Ming's shares for future generations, and will be rich and prosperous from now on.

On the other hand, they also have hidden worries, that is, under the traditional imperial thinking, their struggle for survival in the past led to chaos in the world, and they are rebellious officials and traitors. When the Ming Dynasty is restored, there is no guarantee that no one will want to settle accounts later.

At that time, in addition to the army, what they could rely on was the emperor's generosity. Hao Yongzhong kept King Dong'an in the army and served him delicious food. After all, he was not thinking about Dong'an when someone settled the accounts in the future.

The king can stand up and say a few good words in front of the emperor for him.

"So, you want to make the emperor lose the power to attack us." After saying the words, Li Dingguo shook his head violently: "Jingcheng, my Majesty is so kind, I can't stop doing this!"

"Yes, I also believe that Jin Shang is kind." Chen Kai confirmed Li Dingguo's judgment, but the but still came as promised: "But, can you guarantee that the prince can also inherit this kindness? Can you guarantee that the prince's prince will inherit it?"

Will I inherit this kindness? Ning Yu, you can’t guarantee it!"

"I……"

Without letting Li Dingguo think clearly about what he wanted to express, Chen Kai raised his hand slightly, and his deep gaze seemed to look to the other side of time and space: "Many years ago, I imagined that if one day the Ming Dynasty was revived, the emperor would

What kind of meritorious title will you give me?"

"The title of hero?" Li Dingguo didn't understand how Chen Kai's mind jumped to this. Moreover, compared to the title, the title of hero was quite unfamiliar to him, at least he had never had one before.

"Yes, the titles of meritorious officials. The honors conferred by Taizu during the founding of the country and Chengzu Jingnan all have the title of meritorious officials. The former is a civil servant who promoted honesty and integrity for the founding of the country, or a military official who promoted honesty and power for the founding of the country.

Is it to promote the sincerity of civil servants to support the country, to promote the sincerity of military ministers to declare power, or to inherit the ancestral legacy, to promote the sincerity of military ministers to maintain integrity? Basically, it all varies from person to person, is it interesting?"

Chen Kai's thinking mode always seems to be different from others, but before Li Dingguo could catch up, he continued: "But during the search process, I discovered a fact that made my hair stand on end."

"What's up?"

In his eyes, Chen Kai has always been a bold person. There are things in this world that can make his hair stand on end, which is really hard for Li Dingguo to believe.

"Ning Yu, do you know how many nobles Taizu canonized during his reign, and how many of them retained their titles until Taizu's death?"

How could Li Dingguo, a prince who was a bandit, know this? So Chen Kai asked himself and answered: "In Taizu's reign, not counting posthumous titles, there were nine dukes, fifty marquises, and four counts. When Taizu's reign, there were nine dukes, fifty marquises, and four counts.

At the time of his death, only five princes, four marquises and one earl were left."

"this……"

From the peak of sixty-three noble families, there were only ten families left. In just thirty years, this huge gap was so shocking that Li Dingguo couldn't explain the reason for a while. At this time, Chen Kai

Without waiting for him to calm down, he explained the reasons one by one.

"I have carefully checked and found that most of the fifty-three noble families were implicated in the Hu Weiyong case and the Lan Yu case. A few were expelled because of other crimes. Only three families were expelled because they had no heirs to inherit.

of."

"Some people say that Taizu felt that Emperor Jianwen was too young to control these nobles, so he had to thorn him. But Emperor Xiaokang died in the 25th year of Hongwu, and the Lan Yu case was solved in the 26th year of Hongwu.

There are only fifteen families of nobles. The Hu Weiyong case that was most implicated in your honor was the case, but it happened twelve years ago. Could it be that Taizu could have predicted that a man with white hair would give a man with black hair twelve years in advance?

this day?"

"Some people also say that Taizu did not pull out the thorn for Emperor Jianwen, but for Emperor Xiaokang. This is even more ridiculous. Emperor Xiaokang has been the crown prince since the 10th year of Dragon and Phoenix, when Taizu called him King Wu, and the first year of Hongwu.

, which is equivalent to being the crown prince for nearly thirty years. His foundation is so deep that no one in the Ming Dynasty can compare with him. When he was alive, even Chengzu had to be as obedient as possible, so he needed Taizu's help.

Did he pull out the thorn?"

Emperor Xiaokang was Zhu Biao and Emperor Jianwen was Zhu Yunwen. Seeing Li Dingguo still looking at him with wide eyes, Chen Kai made his conclusion: "In Taizu's dynasty, there were never only the Hu Weiyong case and the Lan Yu case. Kong Kong

In the Yin case and the Guo Huan case, officials from all over the world were recorded in the fourth year of Hongwu. In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, officials were arrested who had been harming the people for many years. In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, they were convicted of lying. As many as hundreds of thousands of people were killed successively.

There are only a few nobles, and the people Taizu wants to kill are never the nobles, but those who break the law and harm the people. Because those nobles collude with corrupt officials, profiteers and people, so Taizu kills them all."

"The former Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, Han Yuanzhou, once said something like this in his Northern Expedition. He said: God's way is good, and China must do it; people obey, and every man will avenge himself. Taizu also quoted this statement. But in my opinion

, Taizu himself was exactly like this."

"When Taizu was young, there was a drought in the Huaihe River, locusts, and plagues came one after another, and the whole family was almost wiped out. Didn't the Yuan Dynasty at that time provide relief? In fact, there was some, but all the food and money were misappropriated by corrupt officials.

Therefore, it was not just natural disasters and violence that killed Taizu's family. The biggest culprits were corrupt officials. Because of this, during the years when Taizu was in power, he was the most ruthless against corrupt officials in all dynasties.

What I have never seen is precisely due to the deep-seated hatred hidden deep in my heart and the worry about the future of the Ming Dynasty."

"The ten noble families who survived until the death of Taizu, Duke Xu Da of Wei, Duke Chang Yuchun of E, Duke Li Wenzhong of Cao, and Duke Deng Yu of Wei all died young. Their heirs either guarded their families or engaged in illegal activities.

He was punished, but Taizu did not get rid of his title because of his old love. Tang He, the Duke of Xin, Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, and Wu Liang, the Marquis of Jiangyin, had been stationed on the front line of defense against Zhang Shicheng for a long time. These three families were in conflict with Huaixi who had already colluded with those corrupt officials.

The nobles had very few interactions with each other. Hou Muying of Xiping was the godson of Taizu. He only recognized Taizu, Empress Ma and Emperor Xiaokang in his life. Empress Ma died of illness in the fifteenth year of Hongwu. She was so sad that she coughed up blood. Ten years later,

Emperor Xiaokang passed away, which made him even more heartbroken and fell ill. He died of illness in just two months. Sincere uncle Liu Bowen was from eastern Zhejiang, and he and Li Shanchang were political enemies of Hu Weiyong. He was also killed by Hu Weiyong, so he could not be involved.

Among them. Therefore, their titles can be spared."

No one has ever told Li Dingguo these things. Even in this era, no one has reclassified them to trigger thinking. But Chen Kai's era was an era of information explosion. What he knew

There are so many things that no one can imagine in this era.

"What about another family?"

Indeed, Chen Kai only mentioned nine companies, but he left this gap just to see if Li Dingguo really used his brain. Since he had gotten the answer he wanted, he naturally would not hide anything: "

During the years when the princes of Wuding purchased many properties, Guo Ying did not take any of them. His food and clothing expenses depended only on Taizu's rewards and salary.

Concubine Ning later also took photos of the affairs of the Sixth Palace."

The other nine noble families were indeed spared, but Wuding Hou Guo Ying was a counterexample. Not only was he spared, but he was also highly regarded. After hearing this, Li Dingguo believed Chen Kai's previous conclusion a little more. However, this

What does it have to do with restraining imperial power?

"Ning Yu, what Taizu has always wanted to build is a country where the people can have enough to eat. However, during the Tianqi and Chongzhen years, especially during the Chongzhen years, you have witnessed what the world has become.

What you see.”
To be continued...