RPAGF Chapter 107 Can I really control these vassal kings?!
Chapter 107 Can I really control these vassal kings?!
Chapter 107 Can I really control these vassal kings?!
After the Prince of Ning sent his letter, the reactions of the various regional princes who received it varied.
First was Zhu Binhan, the Prince of Shu. After receiving the letter from the Prince of Ning, he was deeply moved and felt that Zhu Chenhao's letter made a lot of sense.
Other princes who shared his views included Prince Zhu Rongjie of Chu, Prince Zhu Yourong of De, and Prince Zhu Bing of Qin.
After reaching a consensus, they jointly submitted a memorial to Zhu Houzhao, hoping to enter the capital to meet the emperor on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
However, other princes were greatly alarmed upon receiving the letters from Prince Ning and immediately ordered everyone in their residences to burn them all.
These vassal kings all shared a common characteristic: their fiefdoms were relatively impoverished, and they relied primarily on annual stipends from the imperial court.
For example, Prince Su, Zhu Gong; Prince Min, Zhu Yantai; and Prince Jing, Zhu Hou.
They relied on the annual stipend of 10,000 shi of rice from the imperial court to survive, and dared not offend Zhu Houzhao.
As for investigating all the fields in the country?
Your Majesty, investigate if you want. Anyway, they don't have much land, and their land is very barren, so they can't grow much grain.
This shows that there were also differences among the members of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family.
Some members of the royal family were incredibly wealthy, while others were so poor they were almost begging on the streets.
The petitions from these vassal kings requesting to enter the capital were quickly sent to the palace and reached Zhu Houzhao's hands.
Forbidden City.
Cining Palace.
Zhu Houzhao sat before his desk when Yu Huatian, the head of the Western Depot, arrived with a thick stack of secret letters.
"Your Majesty, all recent correspondence between the various vassal kings is kept here."
On the dragon desk in front of Zhu Houzhao, there were now many memorials from various regional princes petitioning him.
"I understand. Leave it here."
-
Zhu Houzhao gestured to Yu Huatian with his eyes, instructing him to place everything on the dragon table.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Yu Huatian obeyed the order.
Zhu Houzhao's gaze swept over the memorials from various regional princes requesting an audience with the emperor, then he chuckled and picked up the secret letter that Yu Huatian had just delivered.
Opening these secret letters, the transcribed letters on them are clearly the private communications between Prince Ning, Zhu Chenhao, and other vassal kings!
The princes and vassal kings of the land had long been under the close surveillance of the Western Depot.
Their every move could not escape Zhu Houzhao's eyes!
After reading through the letters exchanged between the various regional princes, Zhu Houzhao smiled disdainfully and threw the letters on the table.
"interesting."
Zhu Houzhao's assessment of these secret plots among the regional princes was simply "interesting".
Most of these vassal kings didn't actually have much ambition; they just valued their immediate interests highly.
For example, Zhu Binhan, the Prince of Shu; Zhu Rongjie, the Prince of Chu; Zhu Yourong, the Prince of De; and Zhu Bing, the Prince of Qin.
There was nothing they could do; that was just their perspective. Even though they were descendants of the Zhu family, as regional princes, they couldn't see things from the viewpoint of the entire Ming Dynasty.
Of course, there were also obedient princes who did not want to cause trouble, such as Prince Su Zhu Gong, Prince Min Zhu Yantai, and Prince Jing Zhu Hou.
Zhu Houzhao also understood that the reason they did not compete was not because they were inherently kind and did not want to compete, but because the benefits they were competing for were not that great.
When faced with absolute self-interest, the influence of personal character is negligible.
Besides these, the rest were those with ulterior motives and ambitions, such as Zhu Chongyao, the heir apparent of the Prince of Nan, and Zhu Chenhao, the Prince of Ning.
Zhu Houzhao sneered. He originally only wanted to use the duel between Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng at the Forbidden City to clean up the mess in the martial arts world of the Ming Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, these princes of the Ming Dynasty were eager to flock to the capital.
Since that's the case, Zhu Houzhao granted their wish and allowed them to enter the capital together, thereby completely resolving the problem of the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty!
"Yuhuatian."
Yu Huatian stepped forward two steps, cupped his hands in obeisance, and said, "Your subject is here."
Zhu Houzhao spoke calmly: "Since my imperial uncles are so eager to come to the capital for an audience, then I will give them the opportunity to do so!"
"Issue the order: summon all the vassal kings throughout the land to the capital to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with me!"
Upon hearing this order, Yu Huatian's heart pounded wildly, and he looked at Zhu Houzhao in disbelief.
However, Yu Huatian dared not question any of Zhu Houzhao's decisions. Even if he had objections, he could only suppress them and accept the order.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After receiving the order, Yu Huatian did not linger and delivered Zhu Houzhao's command to the various regional princes as quickly as possible.
The summoning of all the princes from across the land to the capital for an audience was unprecedented in the entire history of the Ming Dynasty.
Since the Hongwu era, when the twenty-three sons of the Taizu Emperor were enfeoffed in their respective fiefdoms, there has never been a time when all the princes of the empire gathered together at the same time.
The largest-scale visit of vassal kings to the capital was in the 23rd year of the Hongwu reign, when nine vassal kings came to the capital to meet the Taizu Emperor.
In the first year of the Zhengde reign, many former princes were stripped of their titles due to having no sons, and many princes from Zhu Di's lineage became new princes.
At this time, the number of vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty had reached thirty-two.
What kind of scene would it be if all thirty-two princes entered the capital together?
Yu Huatian dared not think too deeply about it, but simply followed Zhu Houzhao's orders.
When Zhu Houzhao announced to the world the order to summon all the princes of the realm to the capital, some were happy and some were worried.
The Prince of Ning, the Prince of Nan, the Prince of Shu, and others were naturally delighted. For them, being able to legitimately enter the capital, enter the palace, and meet the emperor was already half the battle won.
Those who were naturally worried were the Prince of Min, the Prince of Su, and the Prince of Jing, whose families were struggling financially.
Their family was already struggling financially, and putting aside the possibility of incurring Zhu Houzhao's wrath, even just going out would be a considerable expense.
Moreover, when you go to the capital, you should prepare some gifts for Zhu Houzhao, right?
The gifts for the emperor could not be shabby, which was another considerable expense.
Thinking of this, Prince Min, Prince Su, and the others had already cursed Prince Ning and the others to the bone in their hearts.
But they had no choice; things had come to this point, and they could only pack their bags and prepare to go to the capital to pay their respects.
In an instant, princely mansions all over the country were making preparations to enter the capital.
Some princes from remote fiefdoms had to set off early, fearing they would miss the day they were to enter the capital.
Of course, the strongest reactions came from officials within the capital.
Memorials of advice and remonstrance poured into Zhu Houzhao like snowflakes, but he ordered Liu Jin to keep them all out of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
But while the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs could block memorials from low-ranking officials, it couldn't stop the direct remonstrances from the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.
Li Dongyang, along with Zhou Jing, Jiao Fang, Yang Tinghe, Liu Zhong, and others, arrived at the Cining Palace where Zhu Houzhao was residing, and earnestly remonstrated with him.
"Your Majesty, you must not allow any of the vassal kings to enter the capital!"
"If His Majesty wishes to see them, these vassal kings can be allowed to enter the capital in batches. If so many vassal kings from all over the country enter the capital at the same time, who knows what kind of chaos will ensue!"
"Your Majesty, please reconsider! We beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree!"
'
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Zhu Houzhao looked at the Grand Secretaries and Ministers kneeling on the ground, flipping through the memorials in his hand with some annoyance: "Why drag things out multiple times when a problem can be solved in one go? Isn't that troublesome?!"
Li Dongyang's face flushed red with anxiety, and steam rose from his forehead: "Your Majesty, the arrival of a vassal king in the capital must be handled with utmost caution!"
"The status of a vassal king is sensitive; the slightest misstep could cause a major upheaval. Your Majesty can never be too careful in handling matters concerning vassal kings!"
Zhu Houzhao slammed the memorial in his hand onto the table with a "bang," and said impatiently, "I've already been very careful!"
"What are you all so afraid of?!"
Before Li Dongyang could say anything more, Liu Jin strode into the hall and reported the situation to Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, Qi Jingtong, the governor of Hebei and Shandong, has already led 100,000 garrison troops and the newly trained Ming navy to the capital."
"Governor-General Shen Ying of Gansu and Ningzhou has led 100,000 troops from Xiliang towards the capital!"
"The Iron-Blooded Marquis of the Dragon Guard Manor has also led all of the manor's imperial spies into the capital in secret!"
"General Ling Luoshi, the Frightened General, is leading two thousand personal guards and is also on his way to the capital."
With each word Liu Jin spoke, the expressions of the Grand Secretaries and Ministers present grew more solemn.
At the same time, it made them break out in a cold sweat and their hearts pounded with fear.
In a single night, His Majesty has mobilized so many forces and so many troops to enter the capital!
Li Dongyang looked up in astonishment: "Your Majesty, this—"
Zhu Houzhao had no intention of hiding this from them. He snorted and said, "I have already ordered Qi Jingtong to lead the newly trained Ming navy and 100,000 troops from the Jilu garrison into the capital."
"And Shen Ying also led 100,000 Xiliang troops into the capital."
"I ask you, are you saying that my three major military camps and twelve regiments in the capital, totaling 180,000 troops, cannot control these vassal kings?!"
"So even my 100,000 garrison troops can't control these vassal kings?!"
"Or perhaps my 100,000 Xiliang troops are no match for these vassal kings?!"
"Li Dongyang, I ask you, can I control these vassal kings?!"
There were 100,000 garrison soldiers, 100,000 Xiliang soldiers, plus 180,000 capital soldiers. There were also tens of thousands of Imperial Guards and Tengxiang Four Guards in the palace, and tens of thousands of police officers from the Imperial Guards in the capital.
In an instant, the capital city had more than 400,000 troops on high alert.
What is Your Majesty trying to do?!
Li Dongyang, Jiao Fang, Yang Tinghe, and the others were so shocked they almost cried out.
What exactly is happening in the capital?
Why would His Majesty stockpile such a large number of troops?!
Everyone was shocked and dared not question Zhu Houzhao's decision anymore.
With so many troops at our disposal, even if all the imperial clansmen in the land gathered in the capital, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble!
"Your Majesty's vision is far-sighted; we have been overthinking things."
Li Dongyang, Jiao Fang, Yang Tinghe, and other cabinet ministers kowtowed deeply to Zhu Houzhao and offered no further objections.
At this moment, their hearts were filled with only deep fear and unease.
So many forces and so many troops gathered in the capital.
It seems that an unprecedented bloodbath is about to sweep through the capital!
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