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

Chapter 529 The Awakened Ministers~!!

To Emperor Longwu's surprise, after his sons were enfeoffed and sent to their fiefdoms, they all began to let themselves go!

Even more outrageous, some princes actually took a liking to local Black women and filled their harems with them!
Even now, Emperor Longwu still couldn't quite understand how his son could have fallen for those dark-skinned women!
So much so that Emperor Longwu sometimes wondered if he had been too strict with his sons, causing them to rebel, or if he himself had failed to educate them properly.
Of course, Emperor Longwu cannot deny that he has many women of different ethnicities in his harem. However, to this day, Emperor Longwu has never favored a single Black woman! He didn't even select any dark-skinned women for the imperial concubine selection!

Furthermore, in Emperor Longwu's view, even if he had slept with a truly beautiful Black woman, he would not pass his empire to a foreign race!

At the same time, Emperor Longwu would not allow his descendants to do so—to pass on their fiefdoms to their offspring from other ethnic groups!
Therefore, in Emperor Longwu's view, the heirs to the thrones of each vassal state must be of yellow race! At least outwardly, they must appear to be yellow! Of course, this was also one of Emperor Longwu's methods for transforming and assimilating other races!

After all, since ancient times, people have always followed the example set by their superiors.

Emperor Longwu intends to leverage the influence of the Han Chinese image of the various vassal states and their high-ranking nobles to gradually assimilate all other ethnic groups into Han Chinese citizens with yellow skin!
"Eldest brother, go and tell them that if anyone dares to mess around with the matter of succession, I will make them come back to Longdu to retire!" Emperor Longwu still had a lot of opinions about the succession of the various vassal states!

After all, how could it be proper for a dignified descendant of the Han people to choose foreigners as heirs to the throne for his sons?

Of course, Emperor Longwu had no objection if the princes married women from other ethnic groups to fill their harems. After all, everyone has a love of beauty, and Emperor Longwu himself did the same; he didn't oppose his sons' actions!
"Third brother, spread these words around and say that it was me who said them!"

"Eldest brother, go find your brothers!" After saying this, Emperor Longwu said to his third brother, King Luzon, and the Crown Prince with a displeased expression.

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

"Your Majesty, I obey the decree!" Even though Emperor Longwu didn't specify who "them" were, the Crown Prince and the King of Luzon could tell. Furthermore, they both sensed Emperor Longwu's emphasis on and dissatisfaction with the selection of heirs for each vassal state, and immediately nodded in agreement.

"Alright, now that things are settled, pack your things and head back."

"Boss, keep a little bit of the third-generation muskets and the like for ourselves, and pack up the rest and distribute them to your uncles, aunts, and brothers!" After finishing his business, Emperor Longwu, feeling annoyed, started to kick people out.

After all, Emperor Longwu couldn't stand having a bunch of younger siblings and sons all taking advantage of him!

Of course, Emperor Longwu was very happy after making money!

"We take our leave!" The six princes who had come to pay their respects, as well as His Highness the Crown Prince, then quickly withdrew.

"These wild boys are really something..." After leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Third Prince, King Luzon, was speechless. After all, everything had been arranged perfectly until the time came to the heir to the throne, when those unreliable nephews had upset his elder brother.

For a moment, even the Third Prince, King Luzon, didn't know what to say about his nephews who had been enfeoffed.

"Third Uncle, take Brother Li and convey Father's decree to all the uncles."

I would like to trouble you two aunts to make the trip and convey the Emperor's message to the other aunts as well;
"I'll go see my brothers myself!" At this moment, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu also had a helpless expression on his face. However, after composing himself, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu still made proper arrangements for this matter.

Although Emperor Longwu did not issue a decree regarding the successor, everyone present could see clearly that if anyone were to be chosen to inherit the throne, looking like a foreigner, Emperor Longwu would definitely strip them of their throne!

"We'll go right away, we'll go right away!" Upon hearing the Crown Prince's words, the group quickly dispersed. For the next while, the Dragon Kingdom's court was truly bustling with activity!

After all, Emperor Longwu brought back tens of millions of taels of gold and silver from the various vassal states this time! At this moment, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of History, and other departments are all waiting to share this huge pie!

Furthermore, when the officials learned that the imperial court could make another fortune from foreign missions, they were overjoyed!

After all, the Dragon Kingdom has so many places where it needs to spend money right now!

Whether it's building canals, dredging waterways, local development, replacing military equipment, constructing large naval ships, or building imperial tombs for emperors, all of these require countless sums of money!

This was the first time that officials in the Dragon Kingdom's court had stopped complaining about the large amount of resources and money the Firearms Bureau consumed each year.

Some of the stingy old men in the Ministry of Revenue even generously suggested that a portion of the operating funds could be reserved for the Firearms Bureau! Their intentions were obvious!

Even more astute individuals have already realized that since firearms can be sold, can't the decommissioned ships of the imperial court also be sold?! Or, can't the imperial court's equipment, which is far more advanced than that of other foreign tribes but is internally outdated and obsolete, also be sold for money?!
After all, these are all extra sources of revenue for the imperial court!

Perhaps at that very moment, no courtier dared to object to the Crown Prince's relentless efforts to develop the remote island of Borneo. After all, Borneo's iron ore mines were the foundation for the Dragon Kingdom's foreign trade development for the next few years, decades, even centuries—a vital cornerstone of the Dragon Kingdom!

After several days of enthusiastic exchanges between the court officials and the foreign envoys, the foreign envoys finally left the capital, satisfied, with a portion of the second-generation firearms gifted by the Dragon Kingdom.

In the eyes of the courtiers of the Dragon Kingdom, these foreigners had obviously gone back to raise money!

Similarly, the officials of the Dragon Kingdom watched the alien races leave with satisfaction! After all, if nothing unexpected happened, they could squeeze tens of millions of taels of silver out of these alien races again!

And so, about a month later, on the city wall of Longdu, Emperor Longwu still stood on the city wall, watching his younger brothers and sisters, and his children bidding him farewell below the city, with a face full of emotion.

At this moment, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu stood on the city wall, bidding farewell to his uncles, aunts, and brothers.

"Your Highness, I take my leave." King Zhu Qili of Ryukyu bid farewell to the Crown Prince first and left with a group of people. Seeing the new firearms on the soldiers behind King Zhu Qili, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu also bowed to him and watched him leave.

"Your Highness, I take my leave." The Third Prince, King Luzon, followed suit with a smile. Clearly, he was very satisfied with his gains.

"Your Highness, we must also depart." A large group of people then surrounded the Crown Prince to bid him farewell. Upon closer inspection, they were a group of male and female princes of the Dragon Kingdom.

"Have a safe journey!" Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu calmly greeted the departing princes before leaving.

Finally, after everyone had left, only the figures of the two princes remained.

(End of this chapter)