One thing must be understood. As the master of the world for three hundred years, Fu Fan is the closest branch of King Yan.
In a sense, selecting someone to succeed Fu Fan is equivalent to selecting a successor for Yan Fan.
At this time, other candidates seemed very abrupt.
And if King Fu were to die, the inheritance rights of the Yan line would expand and spread, leading to endless troubles.
At this time, if a son is admitted to the Jifu Domain, this clan risk can be solved.
However, if you do this, the most uncomfortable person will be the prince.
One brother is the direct line of King Qin of this vassal, and the other is the direct line of King Fu of the previous dynasty. Good guys, on the surface they both seem to have the right to inherit the throne.
Zhu Yixi just thought about it for a moment and figured it out: "Although it is a bit cruel to the prince, this is indeed a good method."
"Your Majesty is wise." Zhao Shu praised directly: "Qin Fan and Fu Fan are able to properly solve their omission problems, which is great for the imperial court."
"As for the Crown Prince, he is as wise and courageous as His Majesty. It should be difficult for several brothers and princes to threaten his position."
The words are very clear. On the surface, Prince Zhu Cunqu is weak in strength, but in fact, his hidden strength is difficult to measure.
For example, the huge princes, princes, sons and sons, and the system of honors and nobles are all supporters behind it, and the prince will be the maintainer of the emperor.
Needless to say among civil servants, the primogeniture system naturally has a wide range of supporters.
However, Zhu Yixi understands that as an emperor in power, although he must maintain competitiveness for the next generation, it can easily become self-defeating.
Especially when a new dynasty is first established, problems are always likely to arise in the second generation, such as Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, etc.
This includes not only the complex impact of domestic and international situations, but also the indulgence and chaos of those in power.
Zhu Yixi would naturally not be like this. Once the crown prince is established, he will definitely give his full support.
Thinking of this, he kept thinking in his heart, looked up at Zhao Shu's gray hair, and couldn't help but say:
"Sir, what do you think of establishing Fan Pingguo?"
When Zhao Shu heard this, his face suddenly changed, and to some extent he turned extremely pale.
His lips trembled and he held the chair tightly with both hands, not daring to let go easily. He was afraid that he would collapse and his image would plummet.
His lips trembled a few times, Zhao Shu regained some color, gritted his teeth and said, "Has your Majesty forgotten the Battle of Jingnan in the previous Ming Dynasty?"
"This is different."
The emperor shook his head, showed a confident smile, and reassured: "The vast north at that time had not been Han land for hundreds of years. Although the Northern Yuan Kingdom was destroyed, its ambitions were still not small and ambitious."
"The King of Sai is a product of history and has its necessity."
Starting from the humiliation of Jingkang, the north has been occupied for hundreds of years. There are many people who speak and obey the Hu language. It is necessary for a general to be in charge and to guard the area.
At this time, Xungui was domineering, and under the influence of the military household system, his strength was strong. It can be said that it was a necessary choice for his sons to be stationed as King of Sai.
Zhu Yixi continued: "Sir, you misunderstood what I meant."
"The vassal state I'm talking about is actually not among the twenty-five provinces, but outside the country."
"For example, Mobei, northwest, and northeastern regions."
Hearing this, Zhao Shu frowned, which really shocked him.
"These places have deviated from the control of the imperial court. If prefectures and counties are established, I am afraid that the name will not be worthy of the reality and the difficulties will be greatly increased."
"It is better to fill in the immigrants and let the vassal kings establish vassal states. The best thing is to directly surround the entire border of the Ming Dynasty as a barrier."
The emperor spoke with high spirits, and his whole person seemed to be full of impassioned aura.
Zhao Shu nodded slightly, he had to admit that this was indeed a very good idea.
For those lands that are out of reach, greedy occupation will only be counterproductive, and it seems inappropriate to control the land. It is better to let the princes garrison and establish the vassal state.
In his mind, Anxi Province, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were directly listed.
In Zhu Yixi's mind, he listed the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Annan, the vast Central Asia, the Kazakh Khanate, etc.
Seeing his agreement, the emperor smiled: "This will help the court get rid of a lot of burden, and the threat from the vassal king to the court will be minimal."
"But it is the best help when necessary."
The king and his ministers looked at each other and laughed.
If a vassal state is established, then King Qin and King Fu will no longer be a threat to the prince, but will instead be a help.
The descendants succeeded the Qin vassal and Fu vassal, and at this time they appeared to be very wise and powerful.
There is no way, the information is missing here.
If you think your boss or the cabinet is powerful, it's actually because of poor information. People know more.
A few days later, the emperor met with King Xialu and made it clear that he would never sit idly by and let Fu Fan die, and would definitely find a way to continue his legacy.
This made him overjoyed, and he hurriedly reported to King Fu who was exhausted from drinking and sex.
The latter was overjoyed, feeling that he had no worries, and immediately indulged in the beauty and could not extricate himself.
Obviously, according to the predictions of the imperial doctors, this blessed king's lifespan would only last a few years if he continued like this.
However, when the vassal king's plan was released, the first one to try it was the eldest prince, King Qin Zhu Cunmei.
As early as the beginning, the emperor arranged for him to have a blind date with the Mongolians. Before the princess was decided, the concubine was decided.
Obviously, the emperor just wanted to make it a screen vassal to resolve the border crisis.
Currently, the best location is Horqin Grassland, Hulunbuir and other places west of Jilin.
There are many Mongolians here and they belong to the Jimi area. As long as they build a city, it will be easy to control them.
There is still danger, and that is the threat from the Manchus.
The second choice is the Wei-Tibet Kingdom and the Qinghai-Tibet Kingdom.
As the largest vassal state in the southwest, they were given the title of country not long ago, but the emperor did not trust them and had coveted Qinghai and Tibet for a long time.
You must know that the Weizang Kingdom at this time had a great influence on the small countries in the foothills of the Himalayas. To a certain extent, it could even follow the example of Anmanan and establish a circle of its own system.
Considering the threat from the Manchus and the current war between Kang and Weizang, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is obviously the best choice.
"It's only been a few years—"
Zhu Yixi smiled slightly and showed a smile.
In October, the autumn tigers began to disperse, and the entire imperial team, including the inner court, moved back to Beijing from Yuquan Mountain.
The emperor is like a migratory bird, traveling back and forth every year. Civil and military officials are used to it, and so are the people.
At this time, the autumn taxes for the twelfth year of Shaowu were gradually put into the treasury.
What is surprising is that the total amount of summer and autumn taxes exceeded 80 million yuan, and the imperial treasury was full.
The northern provinces continue to recover. A large amount of wasteland has been reclaimed, houses have been rebuilt, and the population is gradually becoming denser.
Conservative estimates show that the population in the north has almost doubled in the past ten years, and a large number of children have been born, contributing to the main population growth.
The South was no exception. A large number of slaves were liberated and the population grew.
And all this is so clear thanks to the emperor's pardon from the beginning of the Ding tax that is no longer levied.
Although it has been integrated into the Spring and Autumn Taxes, the emperor vigorously promoted the exemption of the Ding tax, hoping to quickly restore the population.
The cabinet said happily: "In Shaanxi Province alone, the number of men and women exceeds 5 million, and in Shandong it exceeds 8 million. Hebei Province has recovered the fastest and has now reached 8 million. It can be said to be gratifying and congratulatory."
In an agricultural society, people simply believe that an increase in population will inevitably lead to more land reclamation and more food.
But they never thought that land has its limits. When it reaches a certain limit, coupled with land annexation, it will become a disaster.
“Shandong’s population is too small.”
The emperor shook his head: "Shandong is close to the capital, so the population should not be so sparse."
"The imperial court should send capable officials to Shandong."
The cabinet is indispensable.
Naturally, they did not dare to argue. This was because a large number of people from Shandong began to migrate to Jilin and Liaodong.
When faced with the emperor's problems, it is natural to solve them instead of questioning them.
This is the duty of the cabinet.
A summary meeting lasted for two or three hours.
The main problem is the security maintenance and arrangements in Suiyuan and Anxi.
Of course, the biggest enemy, the remnants of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, also urgently need to be dealt with.
For this reason, the Ministry of War argued hard and requested that 5 million special clearance funds be used as special expenditures for the war.
The Ministry of Industry bluntly stated that it is necessary to control the Huaihe River and the Yellow River. It has reached the most critical moment. Food and grass support must not be cut off, so more money must be added.
Hearing this, Zhao Shu quickly stopped: "This meeting is to check for leaks and fill in the gaps, not a budget meeting, so we have to wait a month or two."
In this way, the topic comes to an end.
Afterwards, the emperor had just rested for a while when Wu Sangui submitted a memorial:
"Please stop the recruitment of troops in Gyeonggi Province"
As the name suggests, it requires the court not to recruit troops near Shuntian Mansion, but to recruit troops elsewhere.
After all, in today's era, although the factor of weapons occupies a great advantage, the quality of soldiers is still an important factor.
For example, the Yiwu soldiers of the Qi family army and the Sauron people of the Qing Dynasty were both fierce sources of soldiers.
Wu Sangui listed the Shence Army of the Tang Dynasty, the Forbidden Army of the Song Dynasty, and the Beijing Camp in the Pre-Ming Dynasty.
Not surprisingly, they are all typical examples of being very strong in the early stage, but then languishing in the middle and late stages.
Wu Sangui believes that although there are factors related to the prosperity of Beijing, the main reason is still the lack of military resources:
The soldiers in the capital are often cunning, cunning and afraid of death.
For example, the Qian Ming Dynasty was very strong at the beginning because of the many veterans of Jingnan and the powerful soldiers of Huaiyou, so it was extremely strong.
But during the Xuande period, the strength of the Beijing camp declined sharply because all the troops came from the capital.
Therefore, Wu Sangui bluntly said that the best choice is to expand the number of troops throughout the country and recruit more honest people from the countryside who are obedient and not afraid of death.
This memorial can be said to be a great subsidy to the emperor.
Check for missing additions.
After working hard for so many years, Zhu Yixi only thought of this.
In the feudal era, common people were the least suitable to be soldiers, just like border collies were not suitable to be police dogs.
Contrary to women, what the court likes most is honest people.
In addition to the issue of soldiers, Wu Sangui also vaguely mentioned the exchange of troops between the lower frontier army and the Beijing camp at the end.
This is a very smart choice.
That is, the border troops will be transferred to the Beijing camp system, and the Beijing camp will take turns patrolling the border areas. This will greatly supplement the combat effectiveness of the Beijing camp.
But this will offend many officers and soldiers who live in the capital. After all, no one wants to go out and endure hardships.
Moreover, how to ensure that the border troops are obedient and how to establish rules are all problems.
But it is certain that this is definitely a useful supplement for the Beijing camp.
"Wu Sangui is very thoughtful!"
Zhu Yixi had been the emperor for so many years and immediately realized Wu Sangui's intentions.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army.
If he wanted to make progress, apart from military exploits, he could only curry favor with the emperor.
At this time, this memorial will definitely have a heavyweight effect.
"Interesting, very interesting."
The emperor smiled.
The twelve years of Shaowu's reign slowly came to an end as time went by.
However, the situation in the southwest is extremely intense.
Kang Guobing was heading towards Lhasa, which was only a hundred miles away, but could not advance no matter what.
Food limits them.
Helplessly, after extorting a batch of money and food, the battlefield was initially over.
Kang Guo returned with a full load and plundered a large amount of money. It can be said that he robbed Weizang completely.
In this case, Weizang could only cry to the court and ask for control.
In fact, the Qinghai area controlled by the imperial court is thousands of miles away from Lhasa, and there are many uninhabited areas in it. How difficult is it to control it?
The most they can do is send envoys to mediate.
Weizang also understood the reason. They did not dare to lure the wolf into the house unless everything was exhausted, so the main purpose of coming to Beijing this time was to obtain muskets and gunpowder.
The imperial court was not stingy either and sold a batch of high-priced matchlock guns.
Kang Guo also came to buy eagerly, not willing to stay behind.
Two thousand matchlock guns were directly sold for one hundred thousand taels of silver, which shocked the Ministry of War.
They suddenly realized that the profits from arms were simply too great.
News came from Yunnan, and Siam sent envoys to ask for help.
It turns out that Sun Kewang established the Dian Kingdom on the basis of the Toungu Kingdom. Because it possessed the advanced combat power in East Asia and attached great importance to firearms, it was powerful and powerful.
He looked around, seeing the Ming Dynasty to the north, Bangladesh to the west, and the sea to the south. Only Siam in the east was the best target.
Although the Ayutthaya Dynasty was in the stage of resurgence, its national power was not the same as that of the Dian Kingdom.
After a battle, Siam suffered terribly and was defeated like a mountain. It could be said that it was a huge loss.
In this case, Siam escaped with the help of the rainy season. It had no choice but to turn to the Ming Dynasty for help, saying:
The traitors in the Dian Kingdom should be punished by everyone. Our country should do its best to kill the thieves, but we are unable to do so...
They were not polite and directly asked to send troops.
Finally, I even wanted a batch of muskets and gunpowder.
This seems very unreasonable.
Everyone refused to send troops and supplies.
But there was nothing that could be done about the expansion of the Dian Kingdom.
In Zhao Shu's words: "Sun Kewang is unruly and Siam has not been in court for many years. The court has no other choice but to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."
The emperor was unwilling to stay out of the matter: "Let someone tell Sun Kewang that as long as he pays tribute, I will allow him to annex Siam."