Ming Dynasty: Pick up attributes from the battlefield to create the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 322 The world is shaken, military power is relinquished! Zhu Yuanzhang issues a summons!
Zhu Di didn't even bother to respond to the words of the envoy from the Ministry of Rites.

Two imperial edicts arrived.

Nothing is back.

His years of hard work are about to come to nothing.

If Zhu Di were content with this, he wouldn't be Zhu Di.

Zhu Di walked somewhat dejectedly into the main hall of the Prince's Palace.

Xu Miaoyun, who was standing nearby, also noticed something and immediately followed.

In the main hall!
"Your Majesty."

"For the Emperor and for the court, it was inevitable to seize the military power of the princes."

“Even if Father doesn’t do it, my eldest brother will in the future.”

"Has Your Highness failed to see clearly?" Xu Miaoyun looked at the dejected Zhu Di and slowly offered words of comfort.

After all, Xu Miaoyun came from a military family, so she could see things clearly.

The issue of reducing the power of the princes would be on the agenda sooner or later. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang did not do it, Zhu Biao in the future would.

"Of course I saw it clearly."

"But the timing is not good now."

"I've been running things in Beiping for so many years, and both imperial edicts have come to nothing."

"I'm not reconciled," Zhu Di said, his voice hoarse as he clenched his fists.

"Everything we have was bestowed upon us by our father. What can we do if we're unwilling?"

"Do you, my husband, dare to face Father Emperor?"

"Don't think too much about it."

"Although we lost our military power, we gained peace and tranquility for our family in the future, which I think is a good thing," Xu Miaoyun comforted gently.

"Is it good?"

A bitter look flashed in Zhu Di's eyes.

But then.

He didn't explain much to Xu Miaoyun.

"We will set off for Yingtian tomorrow."

"Go and tidy up first," Zhu Di sighed and said to Xu Miaoyun in his best gentle manner.

Hear this!

Xu Miaoyun didn't say much, nodded, and turned to leave the main hall.

After Xu Miaoyun left.

Zhu Di collapsed to the ground, looking utterly defeated.

"Old monk."

"I lost."

Zhu Di murmured, his voice filled with intense resentment.

"My years of efforts are nothing more than a decree that can be taken away."

“Zhu Xiong Ying was very smart. He knew very well that if his elder brother or he succeeded to the throne, it would not be so easy to reduce the power of the princes, and it might even backfire.”

"But when the emperor was in power, he reduced the power of the princes, and no one dared to defy the emperor's authority."

"So, the Emperor's decree has arrived."

"Father really values ​​him highly."

"In the past, all the civil and military officials opposed the enfeoffment of princes, but he alone took the initiative and did it."

"But now, because of Zhu Xiong Ying, he actually admitted in the imperial edict that his original policy of granting fiefs was wrong. Haha, how ridiculous, truly ridiculous."

"The Hongwu Emperor, who never admits his mistakes, has made one." Zhu Di smiled bitterly.

For him.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang changed so much because of Zhu Ying, and even directly admitted his mistake in the imperial edict, which was something Zhu Di could not believe.

Seeing Zhu Di's defeat before him.

Yao Guangxiao remained silent, for at this point, he had no other options.

This is an absolute trend.

This country was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, so who can defy his authority?
Before him, the will was the only will, and no one dared to disobey it.

of course!

Besides Beiping, similar events of imperial edicts seizing military power were also occurring in other vassal states.

There were obstacles and delays.

But without a doubt, no one dared to truly disobey the imperial edict.

The process of weakening the power of regional military governors was being steadily implemented.

……

Yingtian City!
Imperial Guard barracks.

It is located within Yingtian City.

It occupies a considerable area.

But now, several workshops have been set up within this military camp.

It was personally established by Zhu Ying as a royal industrial workshop.

Sugarcane workshop.

Beverage workshop.

Glass workshop.

There are also newly established soap and perfume workshops.

The first step in establishing the royal industry was to base it on these five major workshops.

On the school field.

There were at least a thousand people gathered.

Surrounding them were the Imperial Guards in full armor, as well as the Royal Guards.

Zhu Ying stood on the reviewing stand, looking down at the people below.

These are thousands of people.

All of them were newly recruited craftsmen, drawn from the common people, with impeccable backgrounds.

"Everyone."

"I, Zhu Ying, have gathered you all here today for one purpose only."

"A warning."

Zhu Ying spoke loudly, and everyone below looked on in awe.

These thousands of craftsmen were recruited in batches within the past month. They are all in their twenties or thirties and have clean backgrounds.

of course.

Among them are Zhu Ying's elite artisans, who will also serve as mentors, teaching these newly recruited artisans their respective skills in order to expand the availability of these new items.

Those below all looked at Zhu Ying with awe, not daring to utter a sound.

After all, the person in front of him was the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Yu Huai, and an unparalleled general who had won the title of "Feng Lang Ju Xu".

They were especially afraid of such important figures.

"This is the camp of the Imperial Guard of our Great Ming Dynasty, which is heavily guarded."

"From now on, the place where you will work will also be the workshops in this military camp. All the items made in these workshops are the lifeblood of the royal industry of our Great Ming Dynasty."

"No mistakes, no omissions, no leaks are allowed."

"When I ordered the recruitment of craftsmen, I promised them double the wages they would earn outside. This extra amount is for the purpose of keeping it a secret from you all."

"Now that we have entered this gate, we should abide by the rules."

"If anyone violates the rules, they will be executed, or their entire family will be executed."

"I will make this clear today. If you do not wish to stay, you may leave now. I will not stop you, nor will I blame you," Zhu Ying said loudly.

Royal Industrial Workshops.

Moreover, all that is produced will be available to the entire world.

In this era, the products produced by these workshops will be rare and scarce, so the techniques must not be leaked.

Even if Zhu Ying had made prior arrangements, even if it was the same workshop, with a group of craftsmen responsible for a single procedure, which is the assembly line of later generations, it was still necessary to prevent leaks.

future.

These artisans will set out to work across the world, opening workshops everywhere.

Everything started in Yingtian.

As Zhu Ying finished speaking.

The Imperial Guards on duty at the drill ground also made way for the craftsmen who did not want to stay to leave.

After continuing for a while.

Zhu Ying glanced at it and nodded: "Okay!"

"Since you have all chosen to stay..."

"Today, Lin Fulai, the first manager of Royal Industry, will sign employment contracts with you."

"And you will become the first artisans in the royal industry."

"Except for not revealing any secrets about the workshop's contents, nothing will change for you."

Zhu Yingwei said in a powerful voice.

Then he waved his hand: "Manager Lin."

echoed.

Lin Fu, dressed in a gray-black robe, walked over with an air of authority.

However, Lin Fu still felt somewhat uneasy in front of so many people. As the first manager of the royal estate, he may not have been granted an official title or rank, but in reality, he held a high position and wielded great power. He was also the current emperor's eldest grandson's representative, and since Zhu Yingxin trusted no one else, this position was naturally given to Lin Fu.

"From now on."

“You are the first batch of craftsmen in my royal industry.”

"My name is Lin Fu, steward of Prince Yu Huai's mansion, and the first manager of the royal industry in the future," Lin Fu said to all the craftsmen below.

"Greetings, Manager Lin."

The more than one thousand craftsmen below all bowed respectfully to Lin Fu and shouted in unison.

"Uncle Lin."

"These people are now in your hands."

"How to allocate and arrange them in the future."

"You are responsible for everything."

"Not only that."

"I hereby grant you the power of life and death. If any craftsmen in the workshop act dishonestly, you may hand them over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard on the spot," Zhu Ying said to Lin Fu in a deep voice.

"This old servant obeys," Lin Fu replied immediately.

"Commander Guo."

Zhu Ying shouted again.

"Please give me your instructions, Your Majesty."

Guo Zhen, the commander of the Imperial Guards, immediately came over from the side.

"From now on, every craftsman leaving the military camp will have to undergo strict screening, and they will be prohibited from taking anything out of the workshop."

“This is an ironclad rule,” Zhu Ying said solemnly.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

"I will certainly give instructions on this matter, and there will be no oversights," Guo Zhen said immediately.

"kindness."

Zhu Ying nodded and said no more.

At this moment.

The royal estate project can now be implemented in its initial stages; all that remains is to see the results.

"Within two months, these workshops will be able to produce finished products for the public."

"Next up is the Royal Bank."

"To truly revitalize the economy of the entire Ming Dynasty, we must have banks."

"However, in this era they should be called money shops, and they were not established by the imperial court. If you want to gather the wealth of the world and revitalize the economy of the whole country, banks are indispensable," Zhu Ying thought to himself.

now.

My own reforms targeting the Ming Dynasty have entered their initial stages.

The first step was to reduce the power of the regional military governors.

The workshop is the second step.

He would proceed step by step, perfecting the Ming Dynasty and ushering in the Ming Dynasty he desired.

At this moment!

"Your Majesty."

"Someone from the palace has come to invite Your Highness to the palace."

Liu Lei quickly approached Zhu Ying and reported.

"kindness."

Zhu Ying nodded, then said to Lin Fu, "Uncle Lin, just follow the procedures within the Prince's Mansion. There's no need for too much pressure."

"Please rest assured, young master," Lin Fu replied with a smile.

Subsequently.

Zhu Ying then set off for the palace.

Inside Wenyuan Pavilion.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained seated on the dragon throne as always, while Zhu Biao sat to the side.

But today.

Their expressions were remarkably similar, both ashen, clearly indicating that something unpleasant had happened again.

"King Yu Huai has arrived."

A loud shout came from outside the hall.

Zhu Ying strode into the Wenyuan Hall.

When Zhu Ying saw the expressions on the faces of the two inside, he couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that the Emperor and the Crown Prince have encountered some bad things, their faces are so pale."

"You're gloating, aren't you?"

"What do you think we saw?"

Seeing Zhu Ying's smiling face, Zhu Yuanzhang scolded him in annoyance.

“It’s either a vassal king or land annexation.” Zhu Ying smiled faintly and sat down on a chair to the side.

They were already so familiar with each other, and they had even teased each other before, so Zhu Ying wasn't so reserved anymore.

"Yongying."

"Shocking."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty has only been established for a little over twenty years."

"It is still a fledgling nation."

“But land annexation has reached such a point that it is being annexed by princes, powerful officials, and even scholars who have passed the imperial examinations.”

“Anyone with tax exemption rights is annexing land.”

“If this continues, the people will have no land to cultivate, and the court will have no taxes to collect. The Ming Dynasty will perish in less than a hundred years,” Zhu Biao said with a grim expression.

And on the table.

The piled-up memorials were the first batch of land statistics submitted by the Ministry of Revenue.

Obviously.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were so furious because they saw these things.

"The so-called tax exemption for princes, noble titles, and Jinshi degree holders."

"This is a national policy that undermines the very foundation of the nation."

"With this privilege, even if these powerful and wealthy people do not actively annex land, countless ordinary people will transfer their land to the names of those powerful and wealthy people, thus avoiding paying taxes."

“That’s human nature,” Zhu Ying said calmly.

I am not at all surprised by the land consolidation.

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang imposed many restrictions on land, prohibiting private transfers and requiring land sales to be witnessed by the government.

But it's of little use to the truly powerful and wealthy.

"Yes."

"I never imagined that the national policy we implemented, which benefited vassal kings, meritorious officials, and learned scholars, would lead to the state of Ming in this way."

"We've made a mistake again."

"In just over twenty years, the land has been annexed to such an extent. In another ten years or so, I'm afraid countless people across the land will be left without land to cultivate." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, feeling utterly helpless.

And this time.

Suddenly, something occurred to him: "Xiongying, what do you think we should do now? How can we return these confiscated fields to the people? Return them to all the people?"

"What are Your Majesty's thoughts?" Zhu Ying asked with a smile.

"Force them to hand it over; whatever they've taken in, they'll have to give back to us."

“This time, Huaixi did a good job. Not only did they truthfully report the number of acres of land they occupied to the Ministry of Revenue, but they also said that they were willing to hand it over as long as the imperial court issued an order.”

"Use Huaixi as a commendation and issue an imperial edict to the whole country," Zhu Yuanzhang said directly.

"Now that they've already got their hands on the meat, does Your Majesty think they'll obediently hand it over?"

"Your Majesty should understand human nature and human sentiments better than I do, right?" Zhu Ying smiled faintly, with a hint of teasing.

What else can be done?

"If they don't hand it over, then let's show them what it means to be enraged by the might of Heaven," Zhu Yuanzhang said with a cold snort.

"father."

"It won't be that easy."

"If we really force them to hand it over, it will definitely cause turmoil throughout the world."

“After all, this isn’t just about a few or a few dozen people; it’s about almost all the powerful and influential people in the country doing it,” Zhu Biao said.

He was not blinded by rage like Zhu Yuanzhang, and he still knew the basic situation.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Are we just going to stand by and watch them take control of such a vast territory?"

"It's being reported to the Ministry of Revenue now."

“At least half of the 100 acres of land has been annexed, and ordinary people who want to farm have to rent from them, paying rent that is higher than taxes.”

"We reduced taxes for the sake of all the people, but in the end, these beasts profited from it all."

"We really wish we could kill them all," Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily.

him at the moment.

He was truly enraged beyond control.

They really want to go on a killing spree.

After all, the memorial submitted by the Ministry of Revenue was too shocking.

……

(End of this chapter)