Chapter 756, there are many benefits for the lord to go to sea
In the capital, in the study of Liu Jian's residence, the chief minister of the cabinet.
Liu Jian was discussing something with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.
"Mr. Li, Mr. Xie~"
"You must have received the relevant news. Now some people are advocating that the feudal king will go to sea. I wonder what you think?"
Liu Jian looked at Li Dongyang and Xie Qian with a sad look on his face.
The affairs of the feudal king are not trivial matters. If the feudal king's affairs are not handled well, big things will inevitably happen. This is a matter related to the foundation of the country.
The vassal kings are the royal family members of the Ming Dynasty. Since ancient times, matters related to the royal family members have been the most difficult to deal with in all dynasties. On the one hand, the royal family members must enjoy preferential treatment, but on the other hand, they are extremely afraid of the royal family members.
To usurp the throne and seize power.
There have been too many such things since ancient times.
Not to mention anything else, in this dynasty alone, Zhu Di was originally a vassal king, but in the end he successfully ascended the throne. This is enough to show that everything about the vassal king is not a trivial matter, and one careless move may lead to serious consequences for the future.
A source of disaster.
At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to enfeoff his sons to various regions and hand over various local powers to the vassal kings. Originally, he wanted his sons to enfeoff various regions to jointly defend the emperor in the center.
But in fact it was just the opposite. There were naturally irreconcilable conflicts between the emperor and the princes and kings, especially when the princes and kings still held military power and local power.
The history of Han and Jin are enough to illustrate this point.
However, Comrade Lao Zhu did not listen to the persuasion of his ministers and insisted on going his own way. As a result, Zhu Di usurped Zhu Yunwen's throne, and then he also deprived the vassal kings of all places of their power and raised them like pigs.
The concentration and unification of power are historical inevitabilities.
Only a unified and centralized dynasty can be stable and prosperous.
Now with the emergence of the colonial law, the voice of the vassal king going to sea suddenly appeared, which made the chief minister of the cabinet feel very worried.
The Ming Dynasty has finally reached its current situation, but it cannot ruin everything now because of any major twists and turns in the feudal king's affairs.
"Mr. Liu, I've heard about it too."
Li Dongyang nodded solemnly. He knew this and was also worried.
"Behind this, the local vassal kings must be building momentum for their overseas voyages. Once the colonial law comes out, those vassal kings may not be able to sit still."
"There is support from the vassal king behind you, that's for sure. The key is what kind of attitude the court should have, and what kind of attitude your majesty has, these are all important."
Liu Jian nodded and said, "There is no wind without waves. You can tell with your toes that the local vassal king must be behind this."
Even though the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were strictly monitored, these vassal kings were still very rich. With money, they could do things, and many things could be done.
"Actually, in my opinion, it is a good thing for the vassal king to go to sea."
Xie Qian pondered for a while, thought about it and said.
"Good thing?"
Li Dongyang and Liu Jian said in surprise at the same time.
"Yes, this is indeed a good thing. The rumors are right. This vassal king going to sea will definitely be beneficial to our Ming Dynasty."
Xie Qian nodded solemnly and said.
"I think Mr. Liu and Mr. Xie should be very clear about the situation of the vassal prince."
"Although the current vassal kings are relatively stable, they are also relatively honest in various places and fiefdoms."
"But under our vassal system, the support of the royal family has become a major burden for our court."
"That is to say, the situation has been better in recent years. A few years ago, half of the taxes from our court were used to supply princes from various places."
"And as time goes by, the size of the royal clan is getting larger and larger, and the number of people is getting larger and larger. Correspondingly, the burden on our court will become heavier and heavier. A few years ago, it took half of the court's taxes to be able to provide supplies.
We are members of the royal family, but what about fifty, one hundred, or two hundred years from now?"
"At that time, the burden of the royal family will become heavier and heavier. Even if the court has more taxes, it will not be able to support the ever-expanding royal family."
Xie Qian shook his head helplessly as he spoke.
In fact, everyone knows about this matter and has clearly seen the heavy burden that the growing population of royal family members has placed on the entire country.
But no one has ever dared to raise this matter or question, because it will definitely anger the entire Ming royal family.
Although the Ming Dynasty vassal princes had no real human power and were no different from pigs raised in captivity, their surname was Zhu after all, and the world still belonged to their old Zhu family.
These vassal kings are already like pigs, being raised in captivity, what else do you want?
Can't we even provide these feudal kings with adequate food and clothing?
I'm afraid these vassal kings will make things worse, and the emperor will have to deal with those ministers.
This is a problem that everyone knows about, but it is something that no one has ever thought about solving.
Even if it is an emperor, do you think Emperor Hongzhi would not know about this?
He knows it very well, even better than everyone else.
But he has no choice. The royal family members have reached this point, and this final dignity must be given. Don't go too far, otherwise people will say you are mean and unkind. Even your own family members treat you like this.
How do you want the world to see you?
In Xie Qian's view, no one could mention this matter before. Now that these vassal kings want to go to sea, this is equivalent to breaking such a situation.
It is also a good opportunity to solve the huge burden of Ming Dynasty.
"But when the vassal kings went to sea, their purpose was not just to establish a colony. They definitely wanted to establish their own country and court. What will happen to our Ming Dynasty then?"
Liu Jian thought for a while and immediately said, there is no doubt that the purpose of the feudal king going to sea is not pure.
"Yes, if they are really allowed to go to sea, in a few decades, Qin, Han, Tang, Chu, etc. may appear all over the world. Once they are full-fledged, they will definitely want to take over the Central Plains.
"
Li Dongyang also said worriedly: "This case cannot be opened!"
"Liu Gong, Li Gong~"
"Even if there is no such vassal king, once the colonial law comes out, will there be fewer ambitious people in the world in the future?"
"Besides, they are all overseas. They are far away from our Ming Dynasty. How much influence can they have on our Ming Dynasty?"
Xie Qian said with an indifferent expression.
"I wonder if Liu Gong and Li Gong know how much land the vassal kings in various parts of the Ming Dynasty occupied?"
"A lot~"
After hearing Xie Qian's words, Liu Jian thought for a while and said.
"Not only are there a lot of things, it's almost to the point of endangering the foundation of the Ming Dynasty."
"Liu Gong, just in your hometown of Henan, the land occupied by vassals of all sizes has reached about 30% of the land in Henan, 30% of the land."
"Coupled with the large and small gentry and landlords, how much land can be given to the people in Henan?"
"The cultivated land in Henan is one of the best among all the provinces in the Ming Dynasty, but every time there is a famine, how many people in Henan flee from it?"
"Every time, the ground is full of hunger, and the imagination of changing children to eat is not uncommon?"
"Is all this inseparable from the continuous encroachment of local fields by vassal kings of all sizes in Henan?"
Xie Qian's voice was amplified a lot.
Princes, they not only need a large amount of supplies from the court, but also do you think these princes are really honest in the local area?
The vassal king's family is getting bigger and bigger, and the little land and the like at the beginning are simply not enough, so what should we do?
Of course, they are constantly trying to find ways to appropriate more land and annex land. This has almost become the daily work of the feudal kings.
Anyway, they vassal kings don’t have any pursuits, they just want to have more children and occupy more fields.
Regarding this kind of behavior of the vassal princes, the ministers up and down the court also saw it in their eyes and were anxious in their hearts. Some ministers also kept writing memorials to the superiors, but Emperor Hongzhi also turned a blind eye to this matter.
Even sometimes, when these vassal kings cried out for poverty, Emperor Hongzhi would reward the vassal kings with some land, local taxes, salt, etc.
The vassal princes only occupied some land, which in the eyes of Emperor Hongzhi was nothing at all.
But there are more and more vassal kings in the world?
The land they have occupied overtly and covertly has grown beyond imagination.
After hearing Xie Qian's words, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang fell silent.
This is a fact. Although the vassal king is a pig raised in captivity, he is also a pig of Lao Zhu's family.
Although they have no ambitions, at the local level, they are constantly occupying land and local taxes, and at the same time, they are misbehaving in the local area, running rampant and doing evil.
Although local officials have the power of supervision, they do not have any power to review and arrest these feudal kings. Only the emperor can deal with these feudal kings.
As for the emperor, as long as it is not a big deal, he usually turns a blind eye. He is not trying to compete with himself, but is just occupying some land in the local area and bullying men and women. There will be fewer people like this in that place.
people?
Even if there are no such royal relatives, there will still be other people doing these things locally.
This also led to the local vassal kings often having no scruples, and annexing land became even more serious. Not only in Henan, as long as there was a vassal king, the surrounding land would slowly become the land of the vassal king.
.
"Perhaps you are right, Mr. Xie. The vassal king's problem has indeed reached a point that must be solved."
After a long time, Liu Jian nodded slowly.
The problem of the vassal king has really reached the point of endangering the Ming Dynasty.
If this problem is not solved, the Ming Dynasty will be defeated by the increasingly large vassal kings sooner or later.
"Allowing the vassal kings to stay in the Ming Dynasty will definitely endanger the foundation of our Ming Dynasty in the future. Send them overseas far away from our Ming Dynasty, and let them do whatever they want, and it will not matter what happens to our Ming Dynasty."
Xie Qian smiled and said.
He supported the vassal princes to go to sea, not only for the Ming Dynasty court, but also for himself, for the booming overseas trade and overseas colonies.
If Emperor Hongzhi and the court could allow it and encourage the vassal kings and others to go to sea, wouldn't it be more stable for ordinary people?
In Xie Qian's view, the vassal kings went to sea on a large scale, which was a good thing for the Ming court, the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, and the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty.
The imperial court can reduce its burden and gradually get rid of an increasingly heavy revenge. The annual financial support saved by the imperial court is very considerable.
For the Ming Dynasty, the vassal kings' overseas voyages could promote the development of overseas colonies. In the final analysis, the colonies established by the vassal kings overseas also belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and they could collect a large amount of tax every year.
For the people of the Ming Dynasty, when the vassal kings went to sea, their land could be returned to the hands of the people. In the fiefdoms of each vassal king, everyone had one less vampire, and life was naturally much easier.
For the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it was actually a good thing for the vassal king to go to sea. It would reduce the burden, make the country more relaxed, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty would also be more relaxed.
As for whether some powerful vassal kings will appear in the future to take over the Central Plains, there is no need to worry too much.
They are all overseas places, far away from the Ming Dynasty. In such a place, it is not known how long it will take them to establish a firm foothold. The Ming Dynasty itself has its foundation here, so how can it be afraid of them?
For the feudal lord, this was also a good thing.
There are some feudal kings who are willing to be like pigs, but most of the feudal kings are actually unwilling and helpless.
The ancestral laws are here, so they don't have to be pigs even if they don't want to.
If the imperial court and the emperor could allow them to go to sea, it would be great news for the vassal kings. They would no longer have to be limited to small fiefdoms. Many vassal kings themselves were actually very talented people.
They can also go overseas to display their talents.
The most important thing is freedom, which is what the feudal kings desire most.
In short, no matter which aspect it is, it is a good thing for the vassal king to go to sea, and it is a good thing for the Ming Dynasty in all aspects.
When a vassal king goes to sea, the huge wealth accumulated by the vassal kings must be used.
Whether it is buying ships or recruiting troops and horses, money is needed. When this money is spent, it can promote the development of the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry, weapons manufacturing industry, navigation industry and many other aspects.
When a vassal king goes overseas, he definitely does not go alone. He will definitely take a large number of people overseas, and he can also drive more people from the Ming Dynasty to migrate overseas to open up more colonies and living space.
"But, but, can your Majesty allow them to go out?"
Li Dongyang thought for a while and asked.
They felt that there were many benefits but it was useless. The key was that Emperor Hongzhi thought it was good and allowed them to go out. If Emperor Hongzhi didn't agree, no matter how good it was, it was useless.
It was a good thing for the Ming Dynasty in all aspects, but for Emperor Hongzhi, the biggest uncertainty was whether these vassal kings who went overseas would turn against the Ming Dynasty in the future?
Will these vassal kings come to seize the empire of their children and grandchildren when they become stronger?
PS: Thank you for your blessings from book friends, thank you all ~ I will resume normal updates tomorrow after my wife is discharged from the hospital ~