Zhu Heyi...
Fan Jingwen repeated the name several times in his mind, then he cupped his hands and said, "Government is prosperous and people are harmonious, and the four seas are full of 忿(序). It is indeed a good name! Your Majesty is talented, and I admire you."
"I am ashamed of myself!"
Under the leadership of Fan Jingwen, cabinet members began to flatter.
Chongzhen did not refuse and accepted it calmly while sitting on the dragon throne.
Accepting flattery is also a recognition of the minister's loyalty.
After everyone finished flattering him, Chongzhen asked, "Do you have anything to say?"
Fan Jingwen, Fang Yuegong, and Qiu Yu exchanged glances and said, "Your Majesty, we are here because of the surrender of the general in Shaanxi."
"Is it about their military power?" Chongzhen asked again.
"Yes," Fan Jingwen took a small step forward, "I think if we don't intervene, there will be a risk of rebellion. Especially Liu Fangliang and He Jin, these two have the most troops, and if they rebel again, the consequences will be the most serious."
"So... the cabinet proposed to reduce the military power in their hands."
Chongzhen asked with a smile: "Whose idea was this?"
"It wasn't anyone's idea. It was the result of cabinet discussions." Fan Jingwen's answer was flawless.
The cabinet chief Li Banghua was not in the capital, and they were not in the position to make decisions. Therefore, when handling official business, they all used the name of the cabinet, so that they could share the credit and the blame.
Looking at Fan Jingwen without a single flaw, Chongzhen suddenly thought of someone: Zhao Zhenji.
Zhao Zhenji was a descendant of Zhao Xiong, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 20 and became a Jinshi at the age of 27. He was known as the non-stick pan of the Ming Dynasty.
Although Fan Jingwen's abilities were not as good as Zhao Zhenji's, they were not much worse.
The smile on Chongzhen's face quickly disappeared. He stood up and asked, "Your cabinet has been discussing for a long time, and you came up with such a bad idea?"
Bad idea?
Fan Jingwen felt that this word was like a slap in the face, making him very embarrassed.
"Your Majesty," Fan Jingwen bowed and saluted, "Now the thief Li Chuang is dead, and the thief Zhang Xian has fled into the mountains and is nowhere to be found. Although there are still some small-scale civil uprisings in various places, the Ming Dynasty has generally stabilized."
"The cabinet's move is to seek stability first and has no ulterior motives."
What Fan Jingwen meant by this sentence was to tell Chongzhen that although the civil officials and military generals of the Ming Dynasty were not in harmony, they had no intention of targeting the military generals, so please don't think too much about it.
Chongzhen sighed: "Minister Fan is wrong!"
"Your Majesty, please explain clearly."
"What is the key to whether a surrendered general rebels or not?"
Fan Jingwen thought about it but had no idea, so he could only look at Fang Yuegong.
Fang Yuegong didn't know the answer either, so he looked at Qiu Yu.
Qiu Yu had already been scared by Fan and Fang, so he lowered his head and pretended to think before their eyes arrived.
Seeing that the three were silent, Chongzhen laughed again and said, "Have you ever heard of the saying that life is like a rat?"
"No."
"We don't know." The three shook their heads at the same time.
Chongzhen paused and said, "Toilet rats hide in dark and damp toilets and are skinny. Barn rats live in mountains of grain and are extremely fat. They are both rats, so why are toilet rats and barn rats so different?"
“The reason is that the environment is different!”
"Put a barn rat in a latrine, and it'll be as skinny as a latrine rat in the end. Put a latrine rat in a barn, and it'll be fat in no time."
"If you were mice, would you rather go to the toilet or the barn?"
Without waiting for anyone to answer, Chongzhen asked again: "Where you put it will determine what kind of mouse it will become. This is true for mice and humans."
Fan Jingwen and the other three looked at each other and were greatly shocked.
Chongzhen's words were rough but his logic was sound. Although the metaphor he used was a bit inappropriate, the logic was very correct.
After some thought, Fan Jingwen changed his tone and said, "Then... let's not touch them for now."
"We can't just not move!" Chongzhen snorted coldly, "They are all born as bandits, used to fighting and killing, and they will never stay in one place and live in peace and contentment."
Fan Jingwen: ......
He cursed in his heart.
You can’t move, and you can’t not move!
What should we do?
After exchanging glances with Fang Yuegong and Qiu Yu, Fan Jingwen said helplessly: "Your Majesty, please explain clearly."
Chongzhen nodded slightly. He did not respond directly to the question, but asked: "Now that the Crown Princess has given birth to a child, according to the rules, shouldn't those foreign vassal states send envoys to pay tribute?"
"Yes," Fan Jingwen answered loudly, "We can ask the foreign states to become our vassal states and pay tribute."
There were two main types of tribute systems in the Ming Dynasty.
The first one is the regular tribute.
All foreign vassal states had to offer tribute to the Ming Dynasty at specified times to show their submission.
For example, Korea (before it succumbed to Jiannu) paid tribute three times a year, Ryukyu paid tribute once every two years, and Annan paid tribute once every three years...
The second type is Gagon.
For example, when the royal family has a child, a wedding, or a birthday celebration, they can notify the vassal states to pay tribute.
The tributary states recorded in the "Da Ming Hui Dian" are divided into three categories according to their regions.
Southeastern Yi: Korea, Ryukyu, Annan, Japan, etc.
(Japan did not establish a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Ming Dynasty, but conducted official trade through tribute, also known as Kanko trade.)
Southwestern Yi: Sulu (Philippines), Sala (India), Aru (Indonesia), etc.
Western Rong: Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Yilibali (present-day Yining area), Mecca (Arabia), etc.
Although there are many tributary states recorded in the "Da Ming Hui Dian", there is a lot of inaccuracy in the number.
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