Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1045 Overseas Enfeoffment
Zhu Shenzhui laughed, shook his head and said of course that was not the case.

His adjustment to the clan system was naturally to avoid possible harm caused by the clan. He was the same as Zhu Di in the past. He came to power in the same way as Zhu Di did. Since Zhu Di greatly restricted the authority of the vassal kings after he ascended the throne to ensure that the clan would no longer pose a threat to the imperial power, how could Zhu Shenzhui not think of this?

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhu adjusted the clan system and re-established the clan office to manage the clan members, changing the real titles to virtual titles. In particular, he no longer granted subsequent clan members titles in local areas, to avoid the previous practice of keeping clan members in local areas to engage in land annexation and intensify social contradictions.

In addition, although the previous royal family policy could prevent royal family from posing a threat to the imperial power, it also completely ruined the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. Over the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there are many royal family members in the Ming Dynasty, but how many of them are truly promising?
The original history was the same. When the Ming Dynasty finally collapsed, no one among the Ming royal family could stand up to turn the tide. Although they had half of the country and a million troops, they fell into internal strife, which eventually led to the demise of the Southern Ming in less than 20 years, and the Han people lost their territory.

Continuing the previous royal family policy would be extremely dangerous, which was the main reason why Zhu Shenzhu wanted to change the system. He didn't want his descendants to end up like pigs, and eventually become incompetent people who only know how to enjoy comfort.

The establishment of military schools and the training of princes were also part of Zhu Shenzhu's plan to change the future royal family. In this respect, Zhu Shenzhu's ideas were different from Zhu Di's, but closer to Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, but there were also differences.

"Back then, Taizu was a prince stationed on the border, controlling military power and protecting the royal family. Taizu's idea was good, but he never thought about the subsequent events of Jianwen reducing the power of the princes and leading to Chengzu, and he did not expect the subsequent changes." Zhu Shenzhui said lightly, with a hint of sarcasm in his words, as if he was very dissatisfied with Zhu Di's policy towards the royal family.

Hearing his tone, Zhu Youjian was a little angry. He was about to scold Zhu Shencui for being so disrespectful to Chengzu and actually blaming his ancestors. But before he could say anything, he suddenly realized that although Zhu Shencui was a member of the royal family, he was not a descendant of Chengzu, but a descendant of King Jin.

From the perspective of the eldest son of the Ming Dynasty, the one who was actually most qualified to inherit the throne after the death of Crown Prince Zhu Biao was not the grandson Zhu Yunwen, but the other two legitimate sons of Taizu - Prince of Jin and Prince of Qin. Both Prince of Jin and Prince of Qin were legitimate sons born to Empress Ma, and were the younger brothers of Taizu Zhu Biao. In terms of bloodline, they were fully qualified to inherit the throne.

However, because the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Qin died early, Zhu Yunwen was made the Crown Prince. After Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Rebellion, he was not qualified to be the emperor due to his identity. However, after Zhu Di captured Nanjing, he flattered himself, claiming that he was also the legitimate son of Empress Ma, and that Taizu had intended to pass the throne to him. Only then did he forcibly ascend the throne and rule the world.

So from this perspective, Zhu Shenzhui didn't need to respect Zhu Di at all, because Zhu Di was not his ancestor at all. Moreover, as the direct descendants of Taizu, the Jin Wang lineage was closer to Taizu than Zhu Di's descendants, so it was natural that Zhu Shenzhui didn't have much respect when talking about Chengzu Zhu Di.

Zhu Youjian looked displeased, but did not refute. He looked at Zhu Shenzhui coldly, ready to hear what he would say next.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled faintly and continued, "After Chengzu ascended the throne, he overcorrected the royal family system and completely changed Taizu's policy. On the surface, although it maintained the imperial power and ensured the stability of the emperor's position, it also had a major drawback. Do you know what it is?"

"I have never seen any drawbacks. Emperor Chengzu is far-sighted. What he did is to prolong the Ming Dynasty. Where is the problem?" Zhu Youjian sneered.

Zhu Shenzhui was not angry either, and continued, "Since Emperor Chengzu, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has become a lonely man. The royal family no longer has the support of the royal family. The clear distinction between the royal family and the royal family is unprecedented in the past dynasties. In addition, the subsequent civil officials are powerful. After the Tumu Incident, the status of the nobles close to the royal family plummeted, which eventually led to irreversible changes in the Ming regime."

"You have been an emperor, and you should have a deep understanding of your time in office. Faced with many problems in the court and rebellions in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, although you have the will to turn the tide, you do not have the ability to deal with them. Of course, this cannot be blamed on you. After all, ability is something that is innate. If you have it, you have it. If you don't, you don't. What's more, you succeeded to the throne in a hurry and you were young at the time. In addition, the civil officials in the court deliberately did it. You wanted to do good things but did the wrong thing. It is understandable."

"Hmph!" Zhu Youjian snorted coldly, but did not refute, because what Zhu Shenzhui said was true.

But Zhu Shenzhui continued to tell Zhu Youjian that the reason why being an emperor was so tiring was not only because of his personal ability, but also because of the powerful force of the civil service group that was difficult to contend with, and also because he was alone and could not do anything.

All the previous Ming emperors understood the problem of balance in the court, so they set up the Imperial Household Department to fight against the cabinet and the civil service group, and added the Censorate as minions to suppress the court. Even so, they could only barely achieve a balance among the three parties and stabilize the imperial power.

But the problem was that Zhu Youjian did it wrong from the beginning. Because he listened to the words of the civil servants, especially the instigation of the Donglin Party, he first killed Wei Zhongxian, and then severely cracked down on the eunuch party, almost wiping out the eunuch party from top to bottom, and even suppressed the power of the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang. He almost abolished the Jinyiwei, which greatly damaged its power and vitality.

It can be said that after Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he first disarmed himself and cut off his left and right arms with a sword. Without powerful institutions such as the Imperial Household Department, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, and with the eunuch party, which was actually the emperor's party, being wiped out, he, the emperor, suddenly had no helpers and became a lonely man.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youjian became blind and deaf and was manipulated by the civil service group. Moreover, those civil servants instigated Zhu Youjian for their own selfish interests, and he acted recklessly on the moral high ground and made many wrong policies, which eventually made the situation out of control.

Zhu Youjian's own problems are also one aspect, but if you think about it carefully, if there were someone who could help him, or if there was strong support and trustworthy backing, Zhu Youjian would not have ended up like this, and the Ming Dynasty would not have become the bad situation it was in. One of the reasons is the royal family. The royal family was abolished by Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di, and Zhu Di's behavior also caused bad consequences in the later period. The emperor couldn't even trust the royal family as his relatives, so how could the royal family trust the emperor? In addition, successive emperors kept the royal family like pigs. After two hundred years, what use were these royal family members?
"Do you still remember the King of Tang?" Zhu Shenzhui asked. Without waiting for Zhu Youjian to answer, Zhu Shenzhui said leisurely, "When the Jiannu invaded the pass and approached the capital, all the royal family members stood by and watched, indifferent. Only the King of Tang, Zhu Youjian, raised an army as a prince to serve the emperor and was loyal to the court. Not only did you not use such a royal family member, but you arrested him, imprisoned him, and demoted him to a commoner. Could it be that in your eyes, a royal family member is not even as good as a minister? We, the bloodline of the Zhu family, don't trust ourselves, so who else can we trust in this world?"

"I..." Zhu Youjian subconsciously wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to say it. When he knew that Zhu Youjian had come to the throne, his first reaction was not happiness, but anger and fear, because Zhu Youjian really thought so, because he felt that the defense against the princes was even stricter than that against the ministers, and the princes should stay in their fiefdoms and live a good life, and they must not interfere in government affairs, otherwise they would be plotting a rebellion.

But the problem is that Zhu Youjian did not rebel. Instead, Zhu Shenzhui, who was sitting in front of him, ascended the throne as the current emperor as a member of the royal family. In addition to what Zhu Shenzhui said just now, Zhu Youjian was a little confused. Could it be that the princes and royal family that he had been guarding against were wrong? But this was the policy formulated by Emperor Chengzu back then. How could it be wrong?

Zhu Shenzhu's view is different from Zhu Di's. In his view, the royal family is not that scary. Although the royal family should be guarded against, it is not necessary to do so. If the royal family is treated as trash, once the country is in trouble, the royal family, who are the most powerful support group of the royal family, will become a decoration. Is this a good thing?

Moreover, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had always been trying to balance politics, using eunuchs and the Imperial Household Department, as well as the Imperial Guard, the East Factory, the West Factory, and even the Inner Factory. Wasn't it because the emperor had no help? When the nobles were no longer useful and the royal family was abolished, how could the emperor not do this? Otherwise, he would be suppressed by the civil service group.

Therefore, after Zhu Shenzhu succeeded to the throne, he changed the policy of the royal family, abolished the royal family's real seal and changed it to a virtual seal. Of course, the royal family with real seals before could only continue for the time being, but subsequent changes were necessary as time went by. When the royal family lost these powers, there was no need to guard against them. Cultivating talents from the royal family and using them as the peripheral forces of the royal family would not affect the stability of the imperial power, but would also use this power to suppress the civil service group as external aid.

In addition, there are also the noble class, etc. Only in this way can the fundamental problems of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years be reversed. Furthermore, the enfeoffment of the royal family proposed by Zhu Shenzhu is actually very different from the previous enfeoffment. The enfeoffment he wants is not the enfeoffment of the princes in the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, who control the military power to protect the royal family. The risk of doing so is too great, and it is more likely to cause Zhu Di and himself to be in a similar situation. But what if the enfeoffment system equivalent to the Zhou Dynasty is used? Then it is completely different, and the fundamental problem of enfeoffment of the royal family can be reversed, and it will not harm the Ming Dynasty.

"External enfeoffment?" When Zhu Youjian thoroughly understood the policy of enfeoffment of royal family members proposed by Zhu Shenzhui, he felt sick and was extremely shocked. He stared at the other party blankly for a while.

"Yes! It is to grant fiefdoms to other states." Zhu Shenzhui said, "When the Zhou Dynasty granted fiefdoms to the princes, except for a small part that used their own territory, most of the princes were granted fiefdoms to other states. For example, Qi, Chu, Qin, etc. were all like this. Could it be that the vast territories of the three states during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period all came from the Zhou Dynasty? You have read history books, so you should know the truth."

Zhu Youjian nodded silently. Zhu Shenzhui was right. Not only these three countries, but many other countries were vassal states. When the Zhou Dynasty was first established, its territory was not large. Apart from Xiqi, which it originally occupied, it also conquered the Shang Dynasty.

Even so, the total area of ​​the two sides was only the majority of Shaanxi and Henan, at most less than the two provinces today. Later, the territory of the Zhou Dynasty continued to expand over time. The key to this was not the Zhou royal family itself, but the merits of the princes.

When these princes were first enfeoffed, most of them were external fiefs. The Zhou royal family simply gave them a nominal title and then pointed in a direction and told the princes that the area to the east or north (south, west) of someone would be their fiefdom, and they could go directly to their fiefdom to take up their post.

The princes who were granted fiefs accepted the order and left. However, the places they went to were not within the sphere of influence of the Zhou Dynasty at all. It was a completely wild land. When they arrived at their fiefdoms, they not only had to find ways to survive, conquer the local ethnic groups by force and expand their sphere of influence, but they also had to find ways to open up wasteland for production, increase the population, etc. These were not easy to do.

It was also because of this that these princes flourished and expanded around the territory of the Zhou Dynasty, gradually growing stronger. Of course, there were also those who were unlucky and were defeated by the Tu people before they could make any achievements after they arrived at their fiefdoms, or even died. However, with the succession of the princes for hundreds of years, the territory of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was formed, which also led to the continuation of the Zhou Dynasty for the last 800 years.

Zhu Shenzhui proposed a new way of enfeoffment, which was to follow the example of the Zhou Dynasty. However, this enfeoffment would never use the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but would directly allow the royal family to leave the Ming Dynasty and go overseas to receive the title.

As for where to go? Zhu Shenzhui had thought about it a long time ago. He could let these people go to the South China Sea countries, or to Australia further south. In addition, there are new continents that Europe has already discovered, which are all places to go. The Ming Dynasty does not have so much energy at the moment, and it does not have such strong strength to expand overseas, but it cannot give up overseas. You must know that with the opening of the curtain of the Western Age of Exploration, the West has now entered the middle and late stages of the Age of Exploration, and the division of the world has also entered the middle stage. The Ming Dynasty currently still has a chance to grab territory from the West. Once this opportunity is missed, it will be even more difficult to intervene after the Western countries have divided up the world.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui's mention of this today was not a sudden impulse, but a decision he made after careful consideration. At present, it is not appropriate to directly enfeoff other royal families overseas. After all, many senior royal families still live a good life and are used to a peaceful life. Asking them to give up their lives in the Ming Dynasty and go to an overseas enfeoffment far away from the Ming Dynasty, or even take unknown risks, these people are absolutely unwilling.

He did not have many children. Not to mention the crown prince, he had already arranged for his two sons in Mongolia. He had also considered where the King of Song would go. The rest were the princes and princesses born to Consort Xian, Consort Hui, and Consort Shu. They were still infants, and it was impossible for them to be given titles outside the capital.

On the contrary, Zhu Youjian's several princes were good choices. Anyway, these princes were equivalent to prisoners because of their status. If nothing unexpected happened, they would live under Zhu Shenzhu's control all their lives and eventually spend their lives in this way.

But now Zhu Shenzhu gave them a new opportunity, that is, to be granted a title overseas. If they are willing, they can be granted a title of king in the name of the emperor, and then be sent to a place overseas to be granted a title. As for how they will be after being granted a title, whether they can gain a foothold in the local area? Or whether they can live well overseas, it all depends on their own ability and luck, which Zhu Shenzhu cannot guarantee.

(End of this chapter)