Emperor Yanxing issued an edict to abolish the royal titles of several of his brothers, demoted them to commoners, and gave them poisoned wine.
The queen dowager, concubines, other female relatives and descendants were all given poisoned wine.
Not a single one left.
Everyone in the court was shocked. They did not expect that Emperor Yanxing would execute the entire families of several princes and even spared no children.
Even a few toffees were not spared.
But treason is a serious crime, and Emperor Yanxing did not want to leave any future troubles.
This move of killing the chicken to scare the monkey and making an example of the tiger shocked not only the court, but also frightened the princes in various places.
Even if Emperor Yanxing executes Prince Qi, Prince Yi, Prince Han, and Prince Xiang in the future, he will spare their families' lives.
I never expected that even several concubines would die.
Even the descendants of the King of Qi were not spared.
This is too cruel.
That was the late emperor’s concubine.
However, Emperor Yanxing even killed the deposed Empress Dowager, so what was the Empress Dowager?
Prince Qing was frightened and began to wonder if he had done anything to attract attention before.
The other princes also became more restrained.
But few of them reflected on themselves. They had been kings and dominated the world for many years. How could they realize their mistakes? At most, they reflected on whether they had done anything wrong during the war.
"I want to reduce the power of the feudal lords."
This is something Emperor Yanxing had thought about a long time ago.
"Your Majesty can proceed step by step. If you cut too much at once, it will provoke rebellion among the princes, which will not be beneficial to Dajing."
"I know. I have thought about this for a long time and have never told anyone."
He did not want to provoke rebellion among the princes, so he did not express it. He also knew that it could not be achieved all at once. If the princes rebelled, it would be the danger of the destruction of Dajing.
But he didn't expect that before he even became a vassal king, several of his brothers rebelled.
"The Yu people have fled, and Jiang Liangji previously sent letters to Dongyang and Xijin, accusing them of collaborating with the enemy and betraying their country. Now that Jiang Liangji has been killed by me, I don't know what Dongyang and Xijin are up to, so I have to be on guard. There's no rush to reduce the power of the vassal states. I will think of a more reliable method."
Emperor Yanxing sighed, facing internal and external troubles, there is still a long way to go.
Bei Lingyao suddenly had an idea and blurted out, "Has the Emperor ever considered the Enfeoffment Order?"
"Enfeoffment Order?"
Emperor Yanxing paused and looked at Bei Lingyao.
When it comes to reducing the power of the princes, the first person that comes to Bei Lingyao's mind is Emperor Hui of Ming, Zhu Yunwen. He reduced the power of the princes as soon as he came to power and forced his uncle to death. He was too hasty and too radical. He forced Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, to be chosen and become Emperor Yongle.
Of course, if one is very powerful, one can also succeed in reducing the power of the vassal states through violence.
But as soon as Zhu Yunwen came to power, he obviously lost his luck.
Emperor Wu of Han's father, Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, also reduced the power of the princes, which triggered the Rebellion of the Seven Kings.
If Zhou Yafu had not quelled the rebellion and saved the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty would have been over.
Instead, Emperor Wu of Han used the Enfeoffment Order, a subtle means of reducing the power of the feudal lords.
Bei Lingyao expressed this idea.
Emperor Yanxing was suddenly delighted. "Great! This is a very good idea. The Empress is truly my lucky star."
Emperor Yanxing wanted to reduce the power of the princes, but he had many concerns. He had an idea, but it was vague and his mind was in a mess.
And we can’t tell anyone about it, lest it get out and cause unrest.
After Bei Lingyao said this, he immediately understood.
All the previous immature ideas took shape at this moment.
A week later, Emperor Yanxing issued the Enfeoffment Order.
1. It stipulates that in addition to the eldest son inheriting the throne, the princes can divide the fiefdom among other sons, and the titles will be determined by the emperor.
2. Establish the Inspector System, dividing the country into 23 provinces. Each province will have an Inspector who will represent the court to monitor local officials, powerful people and their children in the province, and strictly prohibit them from committing evil.
3. The salt and iron industries were state-run and monopolized, currency was unified, supplies were allocated, and prices were stabilized.
Fourth, establish the Dajing Imperial Capital Military Academy, with a command center, combat department, research and development department, medical department, and logistics department...
The princes and crown princes from all over the country cursed and swore at Emperor Yanxing, Prince Qi, Prince Yi, Prince Han, and Prince Xiang.
They were naturally dissatisfied with the Enfeoffment Order. They were originally the heirs to the throne. As long as their father died, they would inherit the title and the complete fiefdom.
But now their brothers can all inherit the fiefdom.
A piece of fiefdom pie changed from one portion to several portions, or even countless portions.
Power will naturally weaken.
It would be strange if they were happy.
However, in this matter, except for the eldest son of the prince, the other sons of the prince also supported the "Enfeoffment Order" for their own interests.
The Prince of Huai, a descendant of Taizu's second son, married four wives.
Each of his wives gave birth to a legitimate son.
The original wife had one legitimate son, the second and third consorts each had a son, and the fourth consort had three sons.
In addition to these seven legitimate sons, Prince Huai also had more than a dozen illegitimate sons.
The position of the crown prince is the son of the original wife. This was decided from the beginning. Moreover, the crown prince is also very outstanding. He is valued by the King of Huai and has given birth to the eldest grandson whom the King of Huai likes. His position is stable.
Therefore, the Enfeoffment Order was issued, except that the Prince of Huai was not happy about it.
Prince Huai's wives, concubines and other sons were extremely happy.
The pillow talk started, and the sons also sent warmth every day.
At this time, even if the Prince of Huai valued the Crown Prince, he could not ignore the lives of his other sons.
Not to mention the pillow talk from so many wives and concubines.
Therefore, even though the King of Huai knew that the Enfeoffment Order was a trap that would weaken the power of the vassal kings, he had no choice but to jump into the trap.
The same problem also occurred in the various princely palaces.
The Enfeoffment Order was going too smoothly.
The court was extremely busy, and Emperor Yanxing, a busy man with so many affairs to attend to, even had so little time to go to Fuhua Palace that it was like squeezing toothpaste.
Except for the crown prince, Emperor Yanxing had no time to take care of the other children.
Territories were divided into various regions, provincial governors were appointed, and the military academy flourished.
This is the first imperial capital military academy in Dajing, and it was established by the emperor.
So there are so many people who want to send their family members to military academies.
After all, the military academy covers talents from all aspects.
The command center trains generals and commanders, and the combat department trains combat-capable talents, but whether one can become a general for the country also depends on one's own strength.
The R&D department studies combat weapons, armor, shields, etc.
The School of Medicine trains military medical personnel.
The logistics department is responsible for food, clothing, housing, transportation, material supply, management of horses, carriages and chariots, etc.
Emperor Yanxing was the honorary president of the first Military Academy.
There are two vice presidents.
One was the Minister of War, and the other was the Duke of Ningguo, an old general.
Each ministry also has a minister, deputy minister, etc.
The initial system was formed under Bei Lingyao's subtle influence.
After Emperor Yanxing returned from the battlefield, he wanted to build a military academy. Bei Lingyao could not help openly, but when Emperor Yanxing talked to her, she would occasionally come up with some ideas that inspired and enlightened Emperor Yanxing.
However, not everyone can enter the first batch of students of the Military Academy, the emperor's disciples.
After the assessment, one thousand people were admitted.
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