"What Ye Boju said actually makes sense." Liu Bowen commented after reading the transcript Zhu Zhen brought.
As the weather turns cooler and the autumn leaves turn yellow, the master and apprentice have returned to indoors due to their mutual teaching.
"He saw the disaster of enfeoffment very thoroughly and explained it very clearly." Then Lao Liu commented:
"The weakness of the royal family in the Song and Yuan Dynasties certainly made the country unstable. But the emperor's 'confession was too extravagant' was too much. The vassal kings had both fiefdoms and armies. How are they different from independent kingdoms? They will surely be too big in the future. This way
In the future, the imperial court will have to reduce the vassal status. Once the vassal status is reduced, it will inevitably arouse the resentment of the vassal king and trigger greater turmoil... I wonder which of your brothers, nephews, or nephews will come up under the banner of 'Qingjun's side'."
"Haha..." Zhu Zhen smiled with mixed feelings and did not answer.
Liu Ji suddenly said:
"Now I can understand why you are so persistent in entrusting overseas territories. It seems that there will definitely be chaos among the feudal lords in the future, and it may be closer than the 'several lifetimes later' predicted by Ye Boju."
"How did you figure it out?" Zhu Zhen asked in astonishment.
"It's very simple. Ye Boju's words are a huge threat to your interests. Once the government and the public reach a consensus, the reduction of vassals will become an enduring topic in the Ming Dynasty." Liu Ji said calmly:
"And even if the emperor is angry for a moment, he will understand over time that what Ye Boju said makes sense. I don't think there is any need for future generations. In a few years, the emperor will start to reduce your rights - because of this matter
If he doesn’t do it, you’ll have to do it after your eldest brother takes over!”
"On this issue, the hardest thing for you to do is your eldest brother. As an elder brother, you should not stop your father from distributing the family property to your younger brothers; but as an heir, no matter how generous you are to the vassal king today, the situation you will face tomorrow will be
How tricky.
"When he succeeds to the throne, the power, fiefdoms and armies in the hands of the vassal king are all given by the late emperor. If he wants to reduce them, he will be accused of being unfilial and unjust.
"Although with your eldest brother's position, you won't be criticized and scolded. But your father loves your eldest brother so much that he will definitely not be willing to let him bear this infamy, so he will definitely take action on his behalf."
"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded, Lao Liu is indeed Lao Liu, and he is really accurate in seeing things.
He knew that this was actually the peak of power of the Ming vassal king.
At present, although the vassal kings have not yet established their own kingdoms, the official system of each prince's palace has already been established.
Take his Palace of the Prince of Chu as an example. It currently has five major institutions: Wang Xiangfu, Wang Fufu, Shenjunfu, Hujunfu and Changshisi.
Among them, the Prime Minister's Office has two prime ministers, one for military affairs and one for civil affairs. They are responsible for the important military and political affairs in Chu, and are concurrently held by the commander-in-chief of Huguang and the chief envoy.
In addition, there is one Fu on the left and the second rank, the Prince on the left is Liu Bowen, and the Prince on the right is temporarily absent. There are also four attendants, who are selected to be experienced and prudent people; the four attendants are responsible for collecting the manuscripts.
Move. Because the King of Chu is still young, these seats are also empty.
Then there is the Shenjun Mansion, which is in charge of the Chu vassal's lawsuits, prisons, and executions. There is one person who is a member of the fifth rank, a member of the army, two people who are a member of the seventh rank, and one person who is Jishan.
Then there is the Hujunfu, which is in charge of the three guards of the palace. Each guard has five posts, left, right, front, back, and middle. There are two people for a thousand households and ten people for a hundred households. There are also two guards who are responsible for the guards.
One person per hundred households.
Finally, there is the Chief Secretary, who is responsible for the daily affairs of the palace. There are two chief officials on the left and right, the fifth rank.
Through such a complete and high-standard royal bureaucracy system, each feudal prince can intervene in all the important military and political affairs of each province, the military deployment of the capital guard post, military training and mobilization, and the inspection of local officials.
In particular, Fu Guan, the Prime Minister of the Royal Palace, held many official positions. They could rely on their status and influence to intervene in local administrative matters and mobilize the army within the country.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also stipulated that local civil and military officials should visit the prince every month and make monthly reports to him. In special circumstances, the vassal king could summon and control local civil and military officials at any time.
In Boss Zhu's top-level design, the vassal king is actually the imperial envoy stationed by the imperial court in the local area, supervising and having the power to take charge of local military and political affairs.
If this set of rules remains unchanged, after Lao Liu becomes a vassal, he will be the veritable King of Huguang.
Moreover, he heard from his brothers that there is no need to wait to become a vassal. When the wedding is held, the local civil and military forces will come to make arrangements and offer the local elders' "fist and filial piety". After three festivals and two birthdays, they will continue to give gifts, otherwise they will also
You won't be so wealthy as soon as you move to the palace.
~~
Although Zhu Zhen couldn't figure out the specific time steps, he knew that when his father was still alive, he began to weaken the power of the vassal king.
Anyway, by the end of Hongwu's reign, the vassal king no longer had the chancellor, the king's tutor, or even the army. Moreover, Boss Zhu strictly prohibited the royal officials from interfering in local affairs, which greatly weakened the political power of the royal offices.
Moreover, at present, the vassal king has the power of life and death for all officials in the royal palace. Who to appoint or dismiss is decided by the vassal king alone, and the court is not allowed to interfere.
But in the future, the officials of the royal palace must be appointed by the imperial court, and the vassal king can no longer comment.
However, while the political power was restricted, the military power of the vassal king continued to expand. This was because Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose of enfeoffing the kings, especially the king of Sai, was to gradually replace the positions of border generals and military ministers, and the power of the generals.
Seize it from the hands of the general.
But later, the eldest nephew felt that military power was in the hands of his uncles, rather than in the hands of military generals. He wanted to change again, but he ended up disappearing... Of course, this is another story.
~~
It is difficult to say whether the father was touched by Ye Boju Shangshu and began to reflect on whether the power given to the vassal king was too much, and then began the process of weakening the vassal king.
People are selfish, and Zhu Zhen does not want his power to be deprived.
"If you hadn't foreseen the feudal chaos, and it was going to happen in your lifetime, with your unwillingness to suffer losses, you would have jumped a long time ago." Liu Bowen teased, "How could you still be calm?
Are you angry, why are you discussing the disaster of enfeoffment with me here?"
"Hey, Master is wise." Zhu Zhen laughed, and then said seriously: "Yes, I did foresee the chaos of the feudal king in the future. I also knew that my father would begin to weaken the power of the feudal king. A few decades later, the feudal king
The clan became piglets raised in captivity. Deprived of military and political power, they were only allowed to enjoy themselves and reproduce, and eventually became a malignant tumor that brought down the Ming Dynasty!"
"People are selfish. I don't want to let myself and my descendants accept the fate of being in captivity. But I also know that there is no reason for the vassal king to preserve all rights at home. If I want to preserve all rights, the only way is to entrust overseas
!" After he finished speaking decisively, he asked softly:
"Master, do you think it's appropriate for me to mention entrusting overseas to my eldest brother now?"
