On the fifth day of June in the third year of Chongzhen, a major meeting that affected the history of the Ming Dynasty was finally held in the capital.
The various vassal kings or the crown prince's legitimate sons and others were led into the palace by chamberlains. Except for the King of Tang, no one else knew the content of the meeting.
They were extremely surprised when they saw that the hall was full of relatives from all walks of life. Then they saw that there was also a cabinet, six ministries and nine ministers, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and a hall filled with scarlet-robed officials, and they became even more frightened.
Know something big is about to happen.
These "pigs" who were kept in captivity always had to say hello to local officials when they saw them, so as not to be reported and punished.
Therefore, in the current environment, everyone is cautious, fearing that if the upper lip and lower lip of these scarlet-robed officials bump against each other, a big hat will be put on their head.
After everyone arrived, Emperor Chongzhen appeared.
"I continue to receive reports from various places about the situation of the clan, and I am deeply saddened. We are all descendants of Taizu, but some of them can't even fill their stomachs."
As soon as Emperor Chongzhen opened his mouth, he immediately attracted the attention of all the clan members in the palace. Although they had no worries about food and clothing, they also had many demands.
"But you also have to understand the difficulties of the imperial court. It is really powerless. Wen Shoufu!" Emperor Chongzhen said by name.
"I'm here." Wen Tiren came out of the queue and replied.
"You are the steward of the Ming Dynasty. Tell the vassals everywhere about the current burden of the court." Emperor Chongzhen gave this task to Wen Tiren.
This was decided before by Wen Tiren, so he was well prepared and started talking about it after accepting the task.
He talked about the situation of the clan from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present, and explained the burden caused by the clan one by one. Comparing it with data, it became even more shocking that the burden on the clan was shocking.
When these situations were put together, some clan members who usually had no idea and didn't care about these things were also greatly surprised. Some clan members who had always complained that the court was mean were speechless at this time. The annual income of the court was not enough to pay the salary of the entire clan.
, no wonder there are all kinds of scoundrels in the imperial court.
Of course, some clans are still stubborn and believe that the entire Ming Dynasty belongs to the Zhu family. No matter what you do, you cannot lose the people of the old Zhu family. If your income is not enough, you can tax more!
After Wen Tiren finished explaining, Emperor Chongzhen spoke again: "Every time I think about Taizu's intention back then, it was originally to let the descendants of the Zhu family protect the country of the Ming Dynasty for generations, instead of the current situation that will only bring down the country of the Ming Dynasty."
As soon as these words were spoken, the feudal princes and clan below were filled with curses. Who would want to do this? Limit this and that, and you can’t even do anything you want to do. You are so powerless!
Emperor Chongzhen didn't need to look at the faces of these vassals and clans to know what they were thinking. There was no man who didn't want power, let alone these dragon sons and grandsons who had the blood of Taizu.
He pretended that he didn't know what they were thinking and continued: "I have been thinking about this all day and night, and together with the cabinet, six ministries and nine ministers, I finally found a proper solution. It can not only solve your current predicament, but also achieve the goal.
Taizu’s expectations for the clan back then.”
Emperor Chongzhen's words were like a bomb that exploded in the clan.
No one cared about the etiquette before the king anymore and made all kinds of noises, most of which were sounds of surprise and surprise.
What Emperor Chongzhen meant was to let them protect the Ming Dynasty, which meant giving money and power. But in this case, would he feel at ease? Even a fool should know what the answer is, but what Emperor Chongzhen meant when he said this was
What?
The heads of the feudal princes and clans were filled with question marks. In astonishment, they used their eyes to see if others knew the answer.
Only the King of Tang looked coldly at these relatives, then at Emperor Chongzhen above, and then turned to look at Marquis Zhongxing aside, but remained silent, waiting for his opportunity to appear.
Wen Tiren looked at Emperor Chongzhen, and after getting the signal, he said to these vassal princes and clans: "The imperial court decided to give feudal real power to the vassal princes and clans, allowing each vassal princes and clans to have the power to command troops in their vassals, appoint officials and other powers on their own.
"
As soon as Wen Tiren finished speaking, there was no sound from the vassal princes and clan members in the palace, and they just looked at Emperor Chongzhen and the chief minister with their eyes.
Don't try to test whether they have any thoughts of rebellion. If they show their yearning for these powers, they will be thrown into the high wall of Fengyang.
In fact, in one sentence, all these benefits were given to the vassal king, unless Emperor Chongzhen was mentally ill, and all the officials in the court were mentally ill.
But is this conclusion possible? It is obviously impossible. Thinking of this, these feudal princes and clans all showed a kind of indifference to cover up their desire for these powers.
Zhong Jinwei was a little surprised when he saw this situation. He thought that some of the feudal princes and clans would be happy and excited about it.
It's not surprising that he has this idea, because he has never experienced the experience of those feudal princes and clans being held captive and having to report everything.
Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers in the palace knew that these people would react this way, so they didn't act strange at all.
"But the vassal state will no longer be within the Ming Dynasty, but overseas."
After Wen Tiren said this, he waved to the side, and the servants who had been prepared carried out several screens and erected them in the middle of the feudal prince's clan. Then he stood aside and waited for the next step of cooperation.
At this time, the vassal princes and clans were a little doubtful of the power that Wen Tiren said before that the court would give them, but now they are curious about which overseas country they will be granted.
When the screens were placed in front of them, they discovered that there was a huge map of the world hanging on each screen.
Some people have seen the previous version of Matteo Ricci's world map and found that the two are similar, with blank spaces at the bottom, but the map that has been drawn is much more detailed.
In order to maintain confidentiality, the Australian part of the map shown to these feudal princes and clans has been erased.
At this time, Wen Tiren's words rang out again: "The vassal states will all be in North America. If you have the ability to expand the territory, there is no harm in going to South America."
When Wen Tiren said this, the chamberlain standing on one side pointed at North and South America with a thin stick.
At this time, the feudal princes and clans had already surrounded the screen, looking at North and South America and comparing the location of the Ming Dynasty. They had various thoughts in their minds. The biggest problem was that they still didn't know what was going on there and wanted to know more about it.
Wen Tiren seemed to know what they were thinking, and then explained to them: "It goes without saying how big North and South America are. The land there is fertile, the products are rich, and there are a lot of gold, silver, copper, iron and other minerals, and the wildlife is abundant.
The group can be described as a treasure place.”
By this time, it was almost confirmed that the imperial court wanted them to feudalize overseas, and the feudal princes and clans began to discuss quietly.
Finally, someone couldn't help but ask questions. This person was the cousin of Emperor Chongzhen, the grandson of Wanli, the current Crown Prince of Fu, and the later Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He was only twenty-three years old.