In Emperor Hongzhi's study in Qianqing Palace, Emperor Hongzhi was also deep in thought.
Of course, he couldn't say he didn't know about the rumors about the vassal king going to sea. The factory guards were enabled by him, and his eyes and ears were all over the world. As soon as these rumors came out, he immediately knew about them.
Moreover, the factory guard also quickly found out the person who spread these rumors.
Behind the scenes were King Ning, King Shu, King Zheng and other powerful local vassal kings. Together, these vassal kings were creating rumors and preparing for the vassal king to go to sea.
The factory guards also discovered the unusual movements of these vassal kings. It was not just as simple as spreading rumors, but they were even actively preparing to go to sea and found a country.
"The feudal lord goes to sea~"
Emperor Hongzhi muttered silently, he, Emperor Hongzhi, was a good old man, and he had always been very kind to the royal family members. In the past, even the poor in the imperial court had to pawn their pants.
As long as the princes below cry out for poverty, Emperor Hongzhi will still give them some benefits.
If there is no money, then give them some land and salt. If that doesn't work, give them some local taxes and taxes to the vassals in various places, so that these royal family members can gain more or less.
In addition, the imperial court has sufficient tax revenue this year, and all officials in the imperial court have received a salary increase. Emperor Hongzhi has also increased the treatment of his royal family members accordingly. It can be said that Emperor Hongzhi is worthy of these vassals.
But there is no doubt that the local feudal lord will never have enough to feed.
Unable to engage in politics and work as workers, farmers and merchants, the vassal kings were restricted in their actions, so all the vassal kings could do was to continue to create people and spread the branches and leaves of Lao Zhu's family.
The number of vassal kings is increasing, and the clan is getting larger and larger. No matter how much you reward, it will not be enough.
"Since you are willing to go out, how can I disagree?"
"Overseas, far away from the Ming Dynasty, if you want to go out and conquer a place to form your own country, it doesn't matter. The world is so big, and it might be good if they are all the countries of our old Zhu family."
Emperor Hongzhi had a smile on his face.
The vassal princes were a heavy burden, slowly bending the waist of the Ming Dynasty. In the past few years, he could clearly feel that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Ming Dynasty to support the expenses of the vassals. .
In addition, local officials repeatedly reported that local vassals were occupying fields and bullying men and women. Emperor Hongzhi wanted to solve this problem a long time ago.
It's just that there was no way to solve it before. The royal family members have all turned into pigs. The emperor can't go too far, right?
At least we can't let them not even enjoy this wealth, right?
However, as the number grows larger and larger, it is really becoming more and more difficult for the court to support it. This is also a fact.
Now that the feudal kings want to go to sea, this is a good time to solve the feudal king's problem.
Compared with Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others who were worried about the uncertainties that would arise in the future, Emperor Hongzhi saw more of the huge influence of the vassal kings on the Ming Dynasty.
The feudal king issue must be resolved.
Instead of waiting many years later for the vassal kings to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and eventually be killed when the dynasty changed, it would be better to release them now and let them roam overseas on their own, perhaps giving their descendants another path.
To be honest, when Emperor Hongzhi heard about these rumors, not only did he not have the slightest worry, but he smiled happily, finally having the opportunity to deal with these vassal kings.
"The world is very big~"
"There are many good places in Australia, Golden Continent, Africa, and Europe. It all depends on how capable you are."
"Well, Australia and Golden Continent are not good. We can only go to places like Africa, Tianzhu, the Middle East, and Persia. If you have the ability, you can rob Europe."
Emperor Hongzhi came to a world map and looked at the map carefully.
On the huge map, Emperor Hongzhi looked at each place one by one. Naturally, these vassal kings wanted to go to the most painful and difficult places.
Great places like Australia and the Golden Continent must be left to future generations.
It's good to have only one son, but there may be many grandchildren in the future, so they will naturally want to move to a better place.
The Golden Continent is full of gold, the land is fertile and vast. Australia is also huge, and the local indigenous people are very weak. They are all good places and must be left to their descendants.
"Perhaps I should encourage them to go to sea. Some vassal kings are definitely not willing to go to sea. The Ming Dynasty lived a comfortable life in the colorful world. When they go overseas, they have to rely on themselves for everything. Then they will not be as comfortable as they are now."
"Hmm~"
"The vassal kings who went to sea allowed them to recruit five thousand guards. In addition, the colonies the vassal kings established overseas allowed them to establish a country. The country they established was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Hongzhi thought carefully.
What he struggled with was not whether they were allowed to go to sea, but what to do with the colonies they occupied after these feudal kings went to sea.
Good people, do your best. How could Emperor Hongzhi not know why you went to sea?
If that's the case, then let's just allow you to establish a country.
Treating them as vassal states of the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to receiving the protection of the Ming Dynasty.
Once someone is bullied overseas, the Ming Dynasty can also send troops to help.
In the final analysis, Emperor Hongzhi was benevolent.
"From now on, the whole world may be taken over by the descendants of our old Zhu family."
Thinking of this, Emperor Hongzhi also laughed.
The reason why we had to be on guard against vassal kings in the past was because in the Ming Dynasty, if vassal kings were powerful, they would have unwanted thoughts.
But it's different now. The world is very big. If nothing else, Africa alone is much bigger than the Ming Dynasty. Even if the vassal kings are gone, they may not have the strength to carve up this huge Africa.
.
What's more, Africa is just one of many continents. The world is very big, and there is enough space for the children and grandchildren of the old Zhu family to toss around. There is no need to imprison them all in the Ming Dynasty and raise them like pigs.
The Ming Dynasty was not a good thing for the vassal kings or the Lao Zhu family.
"Immediately summon the cabinet ministers and six ministers to discuss the matter~"
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and then ordered.
Although this was his intention, the matter still had to be discussed carefully with the ministers. Emperor Hongzhi felt that there would definitely be many people who would oppose it.
Just as Zhu Yuanzhang encountered strong opposition from many ministers when he divided his sons, he estimated that he would also encounter opposition from many people.
The small book stand that book lovers used before has been hung up and is now basically in use.
"Yes~"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jing quickly replied respectfully.
…
Prince Ning's Mansion in Nanchang.
Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao anxiously awaits the news from the capital every day.
The news has already been released.
To be honest, he is on tenterhooks every day now.
In this kind of matter, if you are not careful at all, you may be in danger of being destroyed.
Once Emperor Hongzhi felt that he was disloyal and the ministers felt that these feudal princes were making trouble, he would really be doomed.
Now that the Ming Dynasty is booming and powerful, even if he wants to usurp the throne, there is almost no possibility of success.
The army of the imperial court fought in all directions, and all directions were submissive. The grassland people in the north are now herding horses and sheep for the Ming Dynasty. The Jurchens were almost wiped out. The Japanese and Korean countries in the east became vassal states, and Nanyang in the south was even more destroyed.
A country that has passed through.
One can imagine how powerful the Ming army was.
At this time, there were loyal ministers such as Zhang Mao, Liu Jin, Wang Shouren and Yang Yun who were capable of both civil and military affairs. It was simply impossible for them to rebel.
So the best result is actually for the authorities above to allow them to go to sea in these areas.
"Your Majesty~"
At this time, Liu Yang walked in with a smile on his face.
"Is there any news?"
Seeing Liu Yangzheng, Zhu Chenhao immediately asked excitedly.
"The prince, the king of Shu, and the prince of Zheng are all actively planning to go to sea together with their own princes, generals, etc."
"In addition, the King of Qin, the King of Jin, etc. have also expressed their thoughts and joined us one after another. They are also constantly creating rumors."
"In addition, there is news from the DPRK and the Central Government. The elders of the three cabinet ministers have expressed their support for us vassal princes to go to sea. The most important thing now is His Majesty's attitude. If His Majesty also agrees, then there will be no problem for us to go to sea.
.”
Liu Yangzheng said very excitedly.
As they spread the news, the vassal kings from all over the country also changed their minds. The princes who originally just wanted to be pigs seemed to be unwilling to just be pigs.
This is a good thing.
As long as everyone comes together to make a fuss about this matter, and the matter gets bigger, even if something happens, Emperor Hongzhi will definitely not be able to seriously kill all of their royal family members, as the matter will be too big.
And as long as more vassal kings make trouble, there will definitely be some foolish young people who directly write to Emperor Hongzhi to express such wishes clearly.
Now that the matter has been put on the table, all we have to do is say why everyone in the world can go overseas, but they, the vassal kings, can't?
Isn't this too unfair to the lord?
Maybe things would be much easier to handle. As long as there are more people, there are many possibilities for the feudal king to go to sea.
Moreover, the ministers of the court now also tend to support the feudal kings going to sea. Even the three elders of the cabinet have clearly expressed their support for the feudal kings to go to sea. This is great news.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty~"
"Good news, good news~"
Li Shishi walked in with a smile on his face and was extremely excited. He shouted before anyone arrived.
"What good news?"
Zhu Chenhao and Liu Yangzheng asked quickly.
"Your Majesty agrees that the feudal lord will go to sea. His Majesty agrees that the feudal lord will go to sea~"
"Furthermore, His Majesty said that when a vassal king goes to sea and the colonies he establishes are allowed to establish a country, the country established will be regarded as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."
"Your Majesty is truly extremely kind!"
Li Shishi said with great excitement.
"real?"
When Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao heard this, he shouted excitedly.