Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Um?"

Zhu Di, who was next door, looked slightly solemn.

The surrounding Jinyi guards were already kneeling on the ground in fear, not daring to make any movement.

"Maybe it will really happen?"

Zhu Di murmured, with a hint of surprise in his voice.

Cutting down the vassal vassal means abolishing the three lifelines left by his father, Zhu Yuanzhang, to the Ming Dynasty!

Since the beginning of the war, Zhu Di has encountered many storms and waves, but he, Zhu Di, has been in an unstable state of mind like today.

Zhu Di raised his head, as if he wanted to see through the roof to see if his father, Zhu Yuanzhang, was looking at him in the sky.

Zhu Di has admired his father Zhu Yuanzhang since he was a child, and even studied and fought hard to become a hero like Zhu Yuanzhang. However, after he worked hard to get into his father's position, he underestimated his father's wisdom.

Zhu Di was distracted for a moment, and a picture emerged in his mind. His father, Zhu Yuanzhang, was standing in front of him, and he was kneeling on the ground being pointed at and scolded.

"You can fight, and you have the ability to fight all the way to Nanjing and ascend to the throne. But no matter how good you are at fighting, after one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred years, can you guarantee that the Ming Dynasty will still be able to fight at that time? We will move the capital to Peking. What should I do if the old Zhu family is taken over by someone else? Have you forgotten what Brother You went to Xi'an for? Isn't it just to find a capital city with beautiful mountains and rivers for our Ming Dynasty? "

"Have you forgotten our teachings? If anything is done beforehand, it will be ruined if it is not done beforehand. The leader of the army should not worry about victory but defeat first!"

"The three lifelines we left for Daming will be destroyed by you, the traitor!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words echoed in his mind like a thunderbolt from the blue, making Zhu Di unable to recover for a long time. He only felt the blood and blood in his chest boiling, and his throat was fishy and sweet.

Zhu Di wanted to argue with Zhu Yuanzhang who only existed in his mind, but when the words came to his lips, there was only silence.

According to Jiang Xinghuo's analysis, the overall layout of the three life-saving lines Zhu Yuanzhang left to the Ming Dynasty was impeccable, from the allocation of troops to mutual checks and balances, and even the two large plains buffer zones directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, the two rivers and the Huaihe River.

Of course, that little bastard Zhu Yunwen first opened the door to cut down the feudal vassal, and abolished the vassal kings on the Yellow River defense line and the Yangtze River defense line, so that Zhu Di did not need to face the resistance of the vassal kings on these two lines of defense.

But does this mean that if the vassal state is reduced and the Ming Dynasty faces an invasion by foreigners in the future, the foreigners will also go directly to Nanjing along the same route that Zhu Di used to appease the emperor?

As long as these three lines of defense exist, the Ming Dynasty will never be destroyed by foreigners, and it will not dare to evacuate its nest. Therefore, every time something happens, no matter how incompetent the descendants are, there is always a chance to survive. .

Zhu Di originally thought that Jiang Xinghuo was just an ordinary person with some knowledge, but after listening to these words, he realized that his decision about the future might indeed be wrong!

Jiang Xinghuo not only pointed out the methods left behind by his father Zhu Yuanzhang, but was also able to predict the reduction of vassals and the relocation of the capital that would happen during his reign!

This ability is definitely not something that ordinary "slightly knowledgeable" people can possess!

Zhu Di's heart was surging for a moment, but after all, he was the Yongle Emperor who was born in the flames of war and spent half his life in the military. His character had already been honed by killing and death to be extremely tough.

After a moment of silence, Zhu Di, who had fallen on the chair, stood up again.

In Zhu Di's eyes,

Burning with strong fighting spirit!

His fists were clenched, his joints cracking, and his whole face turned red.

An indescribable sense of excitement filled his heart, as if he had rediscovered the feeling of conquering the battlefield!

"The danger of mountains and rivers is not enough to strengthen a country!"

"If the three lifelines are useful, why am I sitting here?"

"I destroyed the three lifelines, so let's find a better way!"

"If our descendants are as incompetent as Jianwen, what's the use of having three more lines?"

"Moving the capital to the north is not because the Ming Dynasty is too close to the foreign races, but because the foreign races are too close to our Ming Dynasty!"

"The invaders can go, and I can go too!"

"Plow its gardens! Sweep its holes!"

"I want to prevent future troubles for the Ming Dynasty forever!"

"Dad, I want you to see where I should sit!"

Seeing Zhu Di's reaction, Ji Gang sighed secretly:

"This is the Your Majesty I know!"

Zhu Di suddenly stood up from his chair and stood next to the wall again.

In fact, Zhu Di originally believed that his strategy of "peacefully reducing the vassal state and supporting the clan" would not have any serious consequences.

But Jiang Xinghuo has clearly pointed out the first point, which is the collapse of the national defense system left by Zhu Yuanzhang, and what he said is very reasonable and well-founded.

Therefore, Zhu Di also had some expectations in his heart and was prepared to listen carefully to what Jiang Xinghuo was going to say about the second consequence of reducing the vassal state.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo didn't know that his casual words of pointing out the country according to the historical trend would set Zhu Di's small universe on fire.

Jiang Xinghuo's saliva was flying for a long time. He was really thirsty and was leaning on the tree trunk to eat melon.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was also gnawing on the watermelon, asked vaguely.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think is the second consequence of cutting down the vassal clan?"

Jiang Xinghuo immersed himself in eating the melon. After finishing half of the piece in his hand, he raised his head and said.

"The second point of trouble is different from the immediate effect of the first point. It is the chronic support of the clan that will slowly bring down the Ming Dynasty."

"Why?" Zhu Gaoxu didn't understand.

"That is, if you choose to peacefully reduce the vassal state."

"——You have to pay more!"

"The reason is very simple. Since we want to appease the feudal vassals and obediently hand over their military power and become Prince Taiping, then we must compensate them on top of their original salary, right? According to the Ming Dynasty's system, the highest prince is ten thousand dan per year, and the lowest is Fengguo Lieutenant. There are also two hundred stones."

"There are just dozens of vassal kings, county kings, and generals." Zhu Gaoxu obviously didn't understand and said nonchalantly.

Jiang Xinghuo picked up another half of the watermelon and stopped it in mid-air.

"Didn't your husband teach you arithmetic when you were studying?"

As soon as these words came out, there was a sudden silence, as if you could hear a pin drop.

The corners of Zhu Gaoxu's mouth twitched slightly, feeling that he was despised.

Jiang Xinghuo asked lightly: "How many generations do you think the Ming Dynasty will last? Does each emperor only have one son? Or, if other vassal kings have nothing to do in their fiefdoms, won't they make babies every day?"

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up, revealing a look of sudden realization.

"Mr. Jiang is right, we should all be abolished as common people without spending a single coin!"

Jiang Xinghuo was speechless for a moment and put the melon back again.

The high-spirited Zhu Di on the other side of the wall fell into deep thought.

In fact, when discussing with Dao Yan the treatment of peaceful vassal reduction, it was not that Zhu Di had not considered the issue of the number of royal families after the Ming Dynasty, but both Zhu Di and Dao Yan felt that the problem was not big.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, had already planned that the title would be downgraded every generation. The prince, except for his legitimate son, would be the prince of the county, and then the general of Zhenguo, the general of auxiliary country, and the general of Fengguo. Until the lieutenant of Fengguo, he would no longer be demoted. .

Zhu Di took it for granted that his father, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had established the Ming Dynasty's eternal system, would definitely be right in calculating the clan's salary, so he planned to raise the salary as a condition in exchange for the military power of the vassals.

But now hearing what Jiang Xinghuo said, Zhu Di felt that something was really wrong, but he couldn't figure it out.

On the other side of the wall, Zhu Gaoxu asked with a frown.

"Mr. Jiang, am I right?"

When Jiang Xinghuo, who had been lying down for a long time after eating watermelon, patted his buttocks and stood up, he heard the whistle that the airing time was over.

"I know that your hands and eyes are astute in the prison. So, go find a chessboard and some millet."

"What does the chessboard and millet have to do with the problem I'm talking about?"

"Of course it does matter." Jiang Xinghuo stretched, "Put one grain of rice on the first square on the chessboard, two grains on the second square, four grains on the third square, and eight grains on the fourth square. Put them in this proportion. , you will understand soon."

"After you understand, I will tell you how to solve the second problem."

After the free time, Jiang Xinghuo went back to take a nap.

Zhu Gaoxu sat under the shade of a tree, asked the jailer to bring him a chessboard and a bag of millet, and began to put them away seriously.

"The fifth grid contains sixteen grains; the sixth grid contains thirty-two grains; the seventh grid contains sixty-four grains."

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the countless millets on the chessboard and the direction Jiang Xinghuo left. He was stunned for a while and then murmured: "Chessboard. Eight grains of rice."

Zhu Gaoxu said in astonishment: "I know a hammer!"