Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 18 One million stones!



In the palace, a grand Mid-Autumn Festival dinner is being held at this time.

After nightfall, colorful fireworks bloomed in the sky, and the dazzling light enveloped the entire palace in brilliance.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is originally a day for family reunion and gathering together. However, on such a festive day, many people are not as relaxed as they appear on the outside.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi held the hand of the eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji and sat under the left hand of Emperor Yongle. Sitting on the right side of Emperor Yongle was Queen Xu. The seats under the right hands of Emperor Yongle and Queen Xu were empty. No one.

Further below, there are the vassals and some princes, princes, and envoys representing the vassals.

The civil and military officials sat down in two rows on the left and right. At the head of the hundred officials was Cao Guogong Li Jinglong, and at the head of the military generals on the right was Qi Guogong Qiu Fu.

"I'll go and say hello to your grandpa later, you know?"

Zhu Gaochi's fat body sat there, like a simple and honest bear. He held his son Zhu Zhanji in his arms and whispered against his ear.

"Um!"

Zhu Zhanji nodded vigorously, without any nervousness on his face.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi knew very well that the "good saint grandson" was an extremely important factor in his fight for the throne, so he always protected Zhu Zhanji very well and watched over him personally. He would never let his son suffer the same fate as Zhu Xiongying, the eldest grandson of the Hongwu Dynasty. ’s mistakes.

But just when Zhu Zhanji had a smile on his face and was about to run towards Emperor Yongle and Empress Xu, he suddenly stopped.

The third uncle Zhu Gaosui, who was wearing a bullfight uniform, greeted Ma He who was standing behind Emperor Yongle, and then walked quickly to Zhu Di's side to say something.

The little Zhu Zhanji stood awkwardly beside Emperor Yongle. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and ran two steps quickly into the arms of Empress Xu, who was waving to him.

After hearing this, Emperor Yongle clapped his hands, and the clan members, relatives, and civil and military ministers who were conversing all raised their heads in silence.

"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a day for family reunion."

This is a formal state banquet. Zhu Di is dressed very formally. He wears a Jinbo Mountain crown, hair tied with a hosta, a crimson gauze robe that hangs down to his knees, a leather belt and ribbon around his waist, and white socks and black boots. .

Following Zhu Di's speech, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was completely silent.

"It's a pity that some people didn't get to see this day of reunion."

After saying that, Zhu Di held the wine cup in both hands and stood up.

At this time, Zhu Di stood tall and proud, completely different from when he was talking to Daoyan in Datianjie Temple.

Zhu Di looked around with an awe-inspiring imperial aura, and no one dared to look at him.

To the surprise of all the ministers, Zhu Di rolled up his sleeves, bent over, and drank wine on the ground.

"The first glass of wine is in honor of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives heroically to quell the national calamity during the four-year Jingnan War."

The ministers were stunned for a moment, and then it was Cao Guogong Li Jinglong who took the lead in drinking wine and responded at the same time: "Long live your Majesty, long live the Ming Dynasty!"

"Long live your Majesty!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

Among the roaring and tsunami-like Long Live, there was definitely a lot of contempt for Li Jinglong, but there were also noble generals with red eyes, probably thinking of their dead brothers and comrades.

Xin'an Bo and Zhang Fu, who stood slightly behind in the honorary column, choked up several times.

"The second glass of wine is for my brother Zhu Bai, King of Xiang."

In the first year of Jianwen, under the guidance of Qitai and Huang Zicheng, Zhu Yunwen successively killed the three princes of Qi, Xiang and Dai and deposed them as common people.

When the imperial edict reached the palace of Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, the fierce-tempered Prince of Xiang, was frightened and angry, unable to explain himself, so he burned the palace to death.

As a result, Zhu Bai, King of Xiang, became the only vassal king to die in the Jingnan.

Obviously, Zhu Di was making something explicit.

After the same tsunami-like long live, Zhu Di raised his wine glass again.

"The third glass of wine is to pay homage to Taizu Gao Emperor's spirit in heaven. May the clans of the Ming Dynasty live in harmony and no more traitors will rule the country!"

This time, the shouts of long live are rushing and lasting.

Those who do not agree with this are either in prison or have already been reincarnated.

Zhu Di finished his toast and finally got into the main theme of today's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

"After I ascended the throne, I often reflected on an issue."

"Is that why the emperor was so easily bewitched by treacherous ministers and took up the butcher's knife against his own flesh and blood relatives?"

Looking at the silent ministers, Zhu Di tied his hands, sighed and called them by name.

"Prince Zhou, tell me, how can we make the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty be respectful and filial to the clan members, and no longer be separated from each other?"

The one who was named was Zhou Wang Zhu, who suffered a major blow during Jianwen's reduction of vassals.

There was no way, King Zhou Zhu was Zhu Di's half-brother, he had the deepest affection, and the fiefdom was in the heart of the Central Plains. If Emperor Jianwen didn't attack him, who would he attack?

As for Zhou Wang Zhu Ji, as the historical timeline changed, he had obviously obtained Zhu Difang's words and promises in advance.

Zhou Wang Zhu Xi stood up and said: "My brother feels that if we want the clan members and the emperor to not be suspicious of each other in the future, it is better to return the three guards of the vassals to the court. After all, these are all from when Taizu Gao Emperor established the vassal state." Rewards are the property of the imperial court."

"My brother is willing to set an example for all the vassals and present three guards and horses to the court today!"

The vassals, princes, princes, and envoys present looked at each other in confusion.

We have a traitor in our midst!

But in Zhu Di's majestic eyes, he had to be reluctant to speak.

The King of Chu also came out to support him. It was useless for him to ask for soldiers and horses anyway, so he simply paid for his peace of mind and became the Prince of Taiping, so as not to end up like the King of Xiang.

At this point, several vassal kings present have expressed their opinions, and the rest is to pass the decree to the vassals who are not present.

Under his coercion and inducement plan, it was decided to return the three guards, and the stone in Zhu Di's heart fell to the ground.

Zhu Di took out a memorial from his sleeve and said: "As a family, we don't talk about two families. Since the vassals have returned the three guards, I also have to express my feelings."

"The second brother was reprimanded by me for being reckless last time. After thinking about it, he also came up with a trick. It happened to be mentioned that this matter happened to be mentioned. I thought it made some sense and told the feudal lords to listen. Of course, these things are not settled. It's okay. discuss."

Later, Zhu Di personally announced the plans to reduce the clan level, halve the clan salary, and issue a "year-end reward package" of one million shi to the vassals at the end of this year.

As soon as these words came out, the feudal lords became red-eyed almost immediately!

One million stones!

You know, the salary of a vassal king is "only" ten thousand dan a year, which is already a big number.

One million stones is equivalent to a year's tax for the Chief Envoy of Sichuan, known as the "Land of Abundance"!

Although the emperor reduced their salaries by half, he gave them an astronomical gift!

And the voice of opposition immediately appeared fiercely.


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