"Do you know the strength of King Taiping?" the emperor asked.
"Your Majesty, all the clues I have investigated before point to you as the murderer behind the scenes. Of course I will not investigate a vassal king far away from Suzhou."
"The feudal king only has three thousand direct troops under his control! Although his three thousand guards are elites who have fought in hundreds of battles, they are not much of a threat.
The biggest threat is that he controls a huge navy, and more than half of the Japanese pirates are his subordinates! He has even been able to control the throne and life and death of the King of Korea, and can mobilize the elite soldiers of daimyo from all over Japan."
Xu Yin's back straightened. He was determined to take revenge, but he didn't care about the background of this world.
Although this world is also called the Ming Dynasty, it is obviously completely different from the Ming Dynasty in real history. It can only be regarded as an imaginary world that inherits the history of Chinese civilization.
The branch of history began with the official accession to the throne of the crown prince Zhu Biao appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Biao's death was accidental, but Zhu Biao did not die in this fictional world.
Since he was not dead, he would naturally be able to steadily suppress the vassal kings in various places, and there would be no need for Zhu Yunwen's hasty move to cut down the vassals because of his great ambition and talent.
Since the vassal system was not abolished, the vassal king system was gradually inherited.
Although the emperors of the past dynasties have vigorously restricted the vassal kings in various regions, it is true that most of the vassal kings can only block the vassal regions and cannot cause harm to the country.
But after more than two hundred years, there are still some exceptions.
For example, the King of Taiping, who started out as a pirate and quietly developed a powerful maritime power with the help of the national policy of maritime ban, is such an anomaly.
Xu Yin frowned and said: "No matter how strong the maritime strength is, it must be supported by land foundation, otherwise it will not be able to stand."
"If King Taiping was also very powerful on land, do you think I could have successfully ascended the throne as emperor?"
Xu Yin shook his head and said: "He will refuse to obey the order, and even turn against the emperor!"
The emperor was stunned for a moment. There was no Jingnan in this time and space, so there was no such thing as Qing Junzi. He couldn't help but laughed and said: "Well said! It's Qing Junzi, hahaha..."
He smiled for a moment, and finally returned to his original majestic attitude, and said: "He dare not betray the king, precisely because I have attacked all his actions on land every day since I came to the throne. That's why he can occupy many islands overseas.
But there can only be one city on land that was granted to him by the late emperor. Outside of Donghai City, he can't even think of annexing any land!"
"But even so, it is still treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. The best way is to lift the maritime ban, develop the navy, destroy pirates everywhere, and make the world surrender, so that its foundation can be completely cut off!"
The emperor smiled bitterly and said: "Then do you know that since Taizong, those who advocated opening up the sea, regardless of whether they were civil servants or royal relatives, all met the tragic end of annihilation of their entire clan? This includes your Xu family!
"
Xu Yin was shocked!
The real reason why his family was exterminated was not the three million taels of military resources, but his advocacy of opening up the sea?
"The three million taels of military resources..."
"Although it's a lot, it's not much. What's more, it wasn't someone sent by King Taiping to replace it. You should know that he relies on shipping and does a lot of trade. His annual income is more than 20 million taels, and he is as rich as the country."
This information was concealed by the Southeast Prince from Xu Yin.
"You already know who exchanged those three million taels?"
"The Jin Yiwei at that time was not stupid. If it weren't for my selfishness, I wouldn't have cleaned everything from top to bottom.
Those who replaced that batch of military supplies were the four Jiangnan families. They were the main war faction at the time and wanted the court to use this major case to suppress my forces and launch the Northern Expedition."
Having said this, the emperor poured a cup of tea leisurely and sipped it gently, as if waiting for Xu Yin to slowly digest the information.
Xu Yin thought for a moment and finally clarified many things.
“Four major Jiangnan merchants monopolize more than 70% of the maritime supply channels for silk porcelain.
Since the Taiping King originally had a monopoly on maritime trade, they must have a close cooperative relationship.
It is reasonable to speculate that the four Jiangnan families were far away from the border, but they actively took the lead in the war, and were not even afraid of heavy taxes imposed by the court. They must have something up their sleeve.
Picture what?
At that time, Prince Taiping wanted to become the crown prince, but you have been the crown prince for more than ten years, with no major faults and even more praise.
He can't compete with you using normal methods. But the late emperor's confusion in his later years gave him some hope.
So he started from two aspects. First, he colluded with the officials in the harem and spread the rumors to build momentum.
Second, actively expand land strength and gain military power.
In this way, even if you succeed in ascending the throne, he has the power of both sea and land, and is confident enough to raise troops to clear the emperor's side!
To have a vassal king command a large army, there must be a war at the level of a national war in order to have a chance.
Then actively promoting the war and suppressing the peace faction are his only means."
The emperor smiled appreciatively at Xu Yin and said, "Ordinary Jianghu people would never expect that there are so many powerful connections between them."
Xu Yin frowned and said, "But I still can't figure out why my father was involved in the opening of the sea."
The emperor stood up, walked to the desk, and took out a letter from the mezzanine on the desk.
There was no signature on the envelope, but when I pulled out the letter, it contained tens of thousands of words!
Xu Yin couldn't be more familiar with these handwritings. They were exactly Xu Hanjiang's handwriting!
As for the content, there were speculations related to Xu Hanjiang's theft of three million taels of military assets. At that time, he had already suspected the four Jiangnan families.
There are also conjectures about everything King Taiping did in this matter, and he proposed a series of plans and actions to open the sea.
There was too much content, and Xu Yin did not read it carefully.
"Your Majesty, when did my father write this to you?"
The emperor said: "Before I submit the memorial for the theft of three million taels of military equipment."
Xu Yin said quickly: "This is obviously a secret message, but my father was a disciple of Yang Tingzhi, the chief minister at the time. When did he become His Majesty's servant?"
The emperor said: "When he came to Beijing as a young boy to take the exam, he and I became like-minded friends who were determined to help the world."
This letter is proof!
Xu Yin stood up and said, "He has already anticipated what will happen after the military theft case is reported. Why did you let him do this?"
The emperor said: "Because this is also a good opportunity to attack Prince Taiping! In fact, if the late emperor had not died suddenly, Prince Taiping would have had to enter the capital, and as long as he entered the capital, he would never be able to leave the capital again!"
"But what I know is that if the late emperor had not passed away, your position as crown prince would have been unstable."
The emperor laughed and said, "I have been the crown prince for more than ten years, and then ruled as the monarch for four years. My foundation is much more stable than you think. At most, mere political trends can only hurt my branches, but it is difficult to touch the roots. I will replace them with my branches."
Genji, who do you think is the best deal?"
Xu Yin understood the emperor's intention, and combined with the night of the late emperor's death, the emperor was able to lead the imperial army into the palace and take power, killing all his political enemies.
Even if the late emperor really wanted to depose the prince, he still had enough strength and reputation to sway the emperor!