Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 270 The Temptation for Scholars

Xia Yuanji looked at his son-in-law with a strong sense of surprise. The moment he saw his son-in-law today, he felt that there was something different about him. Now it seems that his son-in-law is definitely a genius!
"After Annam is incorporated into Yunnan's territory, does Your Highness intend to directly have the Lao Military and Civilian Pacification Commissioner's Office occupied?" Although Xia Yuanji was speechless at his son-in-law's open scheme, he suddenly felt that there was still hope for the future! After calming his excited emotions slightly, he began to ask about serious matters again.

“Father-in-law, you are indeed insightful; this is exactly what I think.”

"And that's not all. I'm preparing to conquer all the lands, including Malacca, in one battle!" Zhu Zhanhe made no attempt to hide his thoughts. He turned to the map behind him, pointed to the land that now includes Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, and told his father-in-law, Xia Yuanji, that he was preparing to conquer this vast Indochina Peninsula in one battle!
“There are many people living in these lands. Annam alone has millions of people. If you add all these places together, there are probably more than 20 million people. Isn’t Your Highness afraid that they will unite and resist?” Xia Yuanji reminded his son-in-law to be careful of the enemy uniting and launching a counterattack.

“Father-in-law, throughout history, those who bring chaos have invariably incited the people to revolt. My son-in-law will have our armies take the local garrison as vanguard troops after each city we capture, and those garrison troops who survive the subsequent battles will be given land. In this way, once the matter of land distribution becomes widely known, I believe the people will follow my army.”

With the Navy soon to possess the Alligator Dragon, it seems my son-in-law is destined to win. Furthermore, I believe the entire battle won't drag on for very long.

This requires my father-in-law to quickly determine the standards for land distribution. I believe that when this document is delivered to both armies, the morale of our army and the people of those foreign tribes will be even higher than ours.

Furthermore, in order to prevent rebellions by foreign tribes after the army has quelled the rebellion, the son-in-law will also grant land to other places and relocate a group of people from different regions to those places.
It's also good for some wounded veterans in the army who can no longer fight to become local officials such as village chiefs or neighborhood heads!

In addition, the scholars sent by my father-in-law were tasked with educating the local people;
And there are Taoist temples assisting in stabilizing the people. I believe these measures will be quite effective.

"Of course, if there are still people who are blind to reason, I don't mind cleaning up the place!" Zhu Zhanhe told his father-in-law about his future plans for the area: to educate people with Confucianism, brainwash them with Taoist culture, stabilize them with immigrants, and supervise them with veterans. If people still cause trouble after all this, then don't blame him for being ruthless; he will have no choice but to carry out a large-scale cleansing operation against the foreign races! At worst, he can just immigrate some more people there!

At this moment, Xia Yuanji stared blankly at his son-in-law. He seemed to see in him the decisiveness of the Hongwu Emperor, the ruthlessness of the Yongle Emperor, and the cunning of the Renzong Emperor.

At this moment, Xia Yuanji was certain that his son-in-law had definitely awakened the terrifying royal bloodline of the Zhu family: possessing both power and virtue! Benevolence and ruthlessness! The true dragon had truly taken flight!

"Your Highness, the four offices—the Nandian Pacification Office, the Ganya Pacification Office, the Longchuan Pacification Office, and the Burmese Military and Civilian Pacification Office—are all located in my Yunnan territory."

Each Pacification Commissioner's Office was headed by one Pacification Commissioner (rank 3), one Chief Administrator (rank 4), one Deputy Commissioner (rank 4), and one Assistant Commissioner (rank 5).
The Pacification Commission was headed by one Pacification Commissioner (rank 4), one Assistant Commissioner (rank 5), one Deputy Commissioner (rank 5), and one Vice Commissioner (rank 6).
"These people are all in my Yunnan now. I wonder if Your Highness wishes to summon them?" Xia Yuanji's mind raced for a long time after his son-in-law's sudden change of heart before he slowly regained his composure. Next, Xia Yuanji explained the areas Zhu Zhanhe was about to occupy. After all, the imperial court had established subordinate offices in these places, and some of these offices were located in Yunnan itself. Xia Yuanji asked his son-in-law if he wanted to summon those local officials, wondering what surprises awaited them.

Xia Yuanji meant that it would be a good thing if they could help reduce casualties in various places. But Zhu Zhanhe did not think so.

"Father-in-law, there's no need to trouble them. My campaign in Yunnan has been quite high-profile and undisguised; they naturally know about it, but they haven't made a move yet, probably just watching the show. Since they enjoy watching, let them continue. After all, they are officials from other ethnic groups, and there's a distance between them and Yunnan, or even the Ming Dynasty. Trying to recruit them might only make the local tribes think differently. It's better to take this opportunity to disrupt the status quo, reorganize, and replace them directly." Zhu Zhanhe didn't want to develop deep ties with the local powerful clans in Burma and other territories he was about to occupy. Zhu Zhanhe himself was powerful enough to accomplish anything without the support of the local powerful clans!

"Understood. After thinking it over last night, regarding the land distribution, the caravan, the construction of the six ministries in Yunnan, and the official recruitment plan," Xia Yuanji, having just understood his son-in-law's thoughts, also felt that they made some sense. He then began to report on the progress of his work regarding the distribution of land to soldiers, the establishment of caravans, the construction of the royal palace, the official recruitment plan, and the arrangement and deployment of officials in the occupied areas, among other things.

The thrill of wielding power, coupled with the agonizing pain of rapidly dying brain cells, tormented Zhu Zhanhe repeatedly. It could be said that at this moment, Zhu Zhanhe truly understood what it meant to experience pain and pleasure simultaneously. At the same time, Zhu Zhanhe kept wondering to himself, "Could my father-in-law have been working tirelessly all night without sleeping?"

Busy days always pass quickly. On this day, Zhu Zhanhe, as the legitimate heir of the Han Prince's Mansion and the leader of the Yunnan Expeditionary Army, summoned two hundred scholars sent by his father to the Chengyun Hall.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" At this moment, in the Chengyun Hall, two hundred scholars dressed in blue robes bowed to Zhu Zhanhe and greeted him in unison. Of course, Mu Sheng, Xia Yuanji, Zhu Zhanhe, and other members of the Han Prince's household were also present in the hall.

"No need for formalities." Zhu Zhanhe looked at the countless scholars bowing to him in the hall and felt a surge of pride. Unconsciously, even his voice carried a strange, deep sense of authority.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" The crowd bowed to Zhu Zhanhe in thanks before rising. Many secretly glanced at the Han Crown Prince on the platform, finding him so tall and imposing that even the tassels on his crown couldn't conceal his dignified and authoritative gaze. In an instant, everyone unconsciously became respectful and reserved. Even Mu Sheng and the others noticed that His Highness seemed to have changed somewhat.

"First of all, as the Crown Prince of Han, I thank all of you virtuous and talented individuals for coming to my Yunnan and working with my Han Prince's Mansion to build this land." Zhu Zhanhe began by expressing his gratitude to the scholars in a deep voice, which was also a way to warm up the atmosphere and make everyone feel at ease.

"Secondly, I think that after this period of time, everyone has learned about Yunnan and knows what I am planning to do!"
I'm not afraid to tell you all that I, the Crown Prince, will absolutely not rebel! But I will also not be confined to a small place.

"Then I, a scholar, have only one path left: to expand outwards." Zhu Zhanhe abruptly rose from his chair on the high platform of Chengyun Hall and loudly proclaimed to everyone, "I, a scholar, am determined to expand our territory!"
As soon as Zhu Zhanhe said this, the hall erupted in an uproar. Fear, panic, surprise, hesitation and other emotions were clearly displayed on the scholars in the hall.

"At present, Annam is about to be taken by our Yunnan army. Annam needs at least 22 prefectural, circuit and provincial chief officials, and no less than 100 officials of various positions such as prefect, deputy prefect, deputy envoy and assistant commissioner."

In other words, among all the distinguished individuals present, those with the ability could generally be assigned at least a sixth-rank official position. The highest rank was a third-rank official position.

"I wonder if any of you esteemed scholars are interested in this?" Zhu Zhanhe knew that scholars were men of principle, so after informing everyone that he was going to expand outwards, he dropped another bombshell: the real temptation of a substantial official position, the highest rank of the third grade, an absolute high-ranking official!
(End of this chapter)