Although Empress Ma, Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and Zhu Ying were the most important people in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

But the other sons are also my own flesh and blood.

People like Zhu Gang, Zhu Chong and others were so cruel in their fiefdoms. If it were someone else, they would have been killed along with their entire clans. However, Zhu Yuanzhang forgave them again and again.

Zhu Yuanzhang also understood the problem of vassal kings. While enfeoffing them, he also established many rules to restrict them.

To a large extent, it ensures that the princes cannot influence the court.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was also a little worried about his eldest grandson.

The eldest grandson, who seems to be gentle and easy-going and always has a smile on his face, is actually a ruthless person, who is very similar to himself.

Besides, since the eldest grandson had lost his memory and had been living outside, he had less emotional ties with these uncles, the princes.

This was because the princes made some small mistakes, and the eldest grandson took action.

As soon as I left, my eldest grandson sent these uncles down to accompany me. What should I do?

This was actually what Zhu Yuanzhang had always been worried about, so he wanted to let his eldest grandson live in the palace more often, especially Yunhu and Mingyue, to slowly develop feelings and truly integrate into the palace.

After hearing the old man's question, Zhu Ying pondered for a long time.

In fact, Zhu Ying already had ideas about how to deal with the vassal kings.

In fact, Zhu Ying had no intention of excluding the princes, uncles, or future younger brothers.

In ancient times, and in the present Ming Dynasty, bloodline is an obstacle that cannot be avoided. Even for ordinary people, the concept of clan is deeply rooted.

Like Emperor Jianwen in history, it seems too much.

"Grandpa, it is a good thing that all the uncles are guarding the border, and all the uncles have made great contributions in defending the border of Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Ying set the tone as soon as he opened his mouth.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt very satisfied when he heard this and nodded to signal Zhu Ying to continue.

"My grandson thinks that now that the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, my uncles, or my younger brothers in the future, will not be worried about having no place to settle down."

"But to be honest, grandpa, before I came to the Ming Dynasty, I heard about what many of my uncles did in the fiefdoms, or I was bewitched by others, which led to extremely chaotic governance in the fiefdoms."

"Even local officials, because of their status as princes, turned a blind eye to this."

"I often wonder why all the uncles become like this after arriving in the fiefdom. Is there any reason for this?"

"After thinking it over, I finally came up with a possibility."

Zhu Ying said slowly, successfully arousing the old man's interest.

"Grandson, tell me what's going on."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked impatiently.

Zhu Yuanzhang really felt a headache about the chaos caused by the vassal kings in his vassal states.

After most of the princes were enfeoffed, their true colors were exposed, completely different from the obedient children they were when they were in the capital.

When Zhu Yuanzhang first received the memorial from local officials impeaching the princes, he was somewhat skeptical.

The Jinyiwei were also sent to investigate.

This was not enough. During his lifetime, Crown Prince Zhu Biao was sent to the fiefdoms of the various princes to conduct further investigations.

This was something that had always troubled Zhu Yuanzhang, and he had no other choice but to punish him and hope that he would mend his ways.

The crimes committed by Zhu Yuanzhang's sons are enough to fill a book.

The most ruthless among them was Zhu Yuanzhang's eighth son, Prince of Tan Zhu Zi.

Zhu Zi's biological mother was Concubine Da. This may not sound like a big deal, but in fact, Concubine Da was Chen Youliang's concubine.

There were rumors in later generations that Zhu Zi was Chen Youliang's posthumous son, which is of course pure nonsense.

After all, Zhu Zi was born six years after Chen Youliang's death.

Zhu Zi, Prince of Tan, was granted a fief in Changsha. The crimes he committed were so numerous that they are difficult to list. He was considered the worst prince.

When Zhu Zi was in the capital, he was known for his handsome appearance, intelligence and love of learning.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite fond of him, and Changsha Prefecture was extremely wealthy, which was enough for Zhu Zi to live a very wealthy life in the vassal state.

Including Princess Yu, who was also the daughter of Yingshan Marquis Yu Xian.

However, such a prince, five years after taking office, set himself on fire with his wife and left no children. In the end, his fiefdom was abolished.

The "Imperially Committed Records of Misdeeds" compiled by Zhu Yuanzhang himself recorded in detail the absurd crimes committed by princes from all over the country during the Hongwu period. When writing about the Eighth Prince Zhu Zi, his numerous crimes were recorded in particular.

"Kill the Dianzhang and Dianbo... Make obscene instruments in the palace and give them to the old women in the palace, which is inappropriate in every way."

After Zhu Zi died, Zhu Yuanzhang, a father who dared to give his son such bad posthumous titles as "Huang" and "Min", did not even give Zhu Zi a posthumous title.

It can be seen how big a mistake Zhu Zi made.

Why did he commit self-immolation because he was afraid of being implicated in the Hu Weiyong case?

These are just excuses to cover up greater crimes.

The last sentence shows that Zhu Zi had a quirk and liked old women. Perhaps that was why the lustful Zhu Zi had no offspring.

Among them, it must be that he had done something that was against the ethics of heaven, earth and humanity, which led to Zhu Zi's self-immolation and expulsion from the country.

The incident involving Zhu Zi happened in the 22nd year of Hongwu.

So at this moment, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard his eldest grandson's thoughts about the vassal kings, he was very eager to know the reason.

Zhu Ying organized his words and said, "From my grandson's personal point of view, this is probably because you uncles were suppressed too harshly by grandpa when you were in the capital."

"My uncles were all sent to their fiefdoms when they were in their teens. Now that they are suddenly sent to their fiefdoms and lack supervision, their personalities will naturally change drastically."

Teenagers are in the period of forming their worldviews, values ​​and outlooks. At this time, the long-suppressed values ​​are suddenly released, and they are away from their parents and go to a completely unfamiliar place.

Zhu Ying didn't think it was strange at all that such psychological problems appeared.

"My eldest grandson, do you mean that because I am young, I should become a fiefdom later?" Zhu Yuanzhang said thoughtfully.

The princes had no power to govern the local areas. Although they had the title of prince, they could not manage the people in their fiefdoms. Although they had salaries, they did not participate in state affairs.

The power of the vassal kings is extremely great, and they have their own armies and subjects.

The output of the military households in the garrisons was their main source of income, equivalent to that of large landlords.

Zhu Ying felt that the old man's understanding was not bad, so he said, "I think that the prince should at least give birth to a son before he becomes a prince, so that he can be more stable. This is probably what it means to start a family and establish a career."

In fact, in Zhu Ying's view, when the princes were in the capital, they only acted as fathers after they had children. When they were in the fiefdoms, they might not be so cruel.

The feeling of having children is completely different from that of not having children.

After having children, men generally have a stronger sense of responsibility, and they will gradually become more patient in the process of raising children.

Zhu Ying felt that even if a prince wanted to become a fiefdom, he had to wait until his child was five years old.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his eldest grandson with a strange look at this moment.

This point was something he had never thought of.

But after careful consideration, I feel that it makes a lot of sense.

Thinking back to when I first learned that my eldest son Zhu Biao was born, I felt a completely different mood, which made me more powerful in fighting wars afterwards.

Thinking about it this way, perhaps it would be a good idea to let the prince give birth to the child before going to the fiefdom.

The reason why she looked at her eldest grandson with a strange look was because she had never given birth to a child, so how could she understand such delicate thoughts?

In fact, Zhu Ying was also a single man in his previous life. The reason why he had such an idea was, of course, what he learned from movies and TV shows.

What's the story of a gangster turning over a new leaf after having a child? The man who originally wanted to keep a low profile suddenly has hope after having a child.

After returning home after a tiring day, I immediately become energetic when I see my children, etc.

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you must have seen a pig run.

The main thing is that the current princes will be nothing more than a group of high school students in the future.

It seems unrealistic to ask a group of high school students to go to a vassal state hundreds or thousands of miles away.

"Okay, your idea is indeed good. I have never thought about this before. At present, our ten sons are planning to go to the feudal lords next year. It seems that we should let them get married first."

"By the way, they are all training under Grandson now. Does Grandson know anything about their training?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang praised it, he asked.

Zhu Ying replied: "After all, they are all my grandson's uncles. Although they are a little inferior to the soldiers, it is very good to have reached the current level. At least for now, no one is complaining."

Zhu Ying said these words with some emotion.

He originally thought that there would be a few troublemakers who couldn't stand it and would just quit and run away.

Unexpectedly, although there were some small moves, almost no one was messing around and everyone was behaving honestly, which meant that some of Zhu Ying's subsequent preparations could not be used.

That's why I don't pay much attention to the training.

"Big Sun knows your current identity. Almost all the uncles you trained already know it."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

There was no way anything could be hidden from him inside or outside the palace.

Although the ten princes living in Zuoshunmen and Zuoshunmen did not deliberately supervise the situation, the eunuchs who served them had already reported the commotion to their superiors.

"If you know, then you know. Your grandson is not a grown-up girl who is not worthy of being seen by others."

Zhu Ying touched his nose subconsciously and spoke.

However, Zhu Ying still finds it very interesting to have these uncles who can train him.

"Since they won't be going to their fiefdoms next year, let's make other arrangements. When the princes go to their fiefdoms in the future, we'll set a rule according to what our eldest grandson said: those without offspring are not allowed to go to their fiefdoms."

Zhu Ying nodded, and then said: "Grandpa, in fact, in the vassal land, your grandson also has an idea."

"Oh, grandson, tell us what's going on," Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"Grandpa should know everything about my grandson's plan for Goryeo. Recently, my grandson has been troubled by Goryeo's affairs."

"At present, all the major positions in Goryeo are basically controlled by my grandson's subordinates. To be frank, I can change the world of Goryeo with just a flip of my hand."

"Grandpa knows why my grandson did not go to Goryeo to establish a country, but chose the more remote Annan."

"The current Goryeo has actually been somewhat out of my grandson's control. The people under my grandson's command now seem to be normal, but if time passes, they will naturally have other thoughts."

"We can't just leave Goryeo alone, so I think Goryeo could become one of the many vassal states."

Zhu Ying said.

It would undoubtedly be best to grant fiefs to the vassal kings outside the Ming Dynasty, especially to tributary states like Goryeo.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked, "Grandson, do you mean a complete fiefdom?"

Zhu Ying nodded.

Zhu Ying's idea was to let the feudal lords manage not only the army and the subjects, but also the local administration.

In fact, all the princes were very good in literature, after all, they had received royal education.

The Ming Dynasty Imperial Palace Academy is a place where the highest level of teachers give lectures.

It is much higher than the Imperial Academy. If you are not a real master, how can you be qualified to teach the descendants of the royal family?

Therefore, in Zhu Ying's view, these princes could also carry out their obligation to educate and truly spread Han culture.

Moreover, the title of prince is still very useful to people outside the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, this would make the princes more motivated, as their duties in their own vassal states were almost equivalent to those of the emperor.

If the king is incompetent and unjust, the problem can be solved well by removing the vassal king and replacing him with someone else. It is basically similar to the Zhou Dynasty, which is equivalent to the concept of a suzerain state.

Among all dynasties in ancient and modern times, the Zhou Dynasty lasted the longest. It had 32 generations of kings and lasted for 791 years.

Even the combined reign of the Han and Tang dynasties was not as long as that of the Zhou Dynasty.

What Zhu Ying had in mind was to take the territory of the Ming Dynasty as the center, and then continuously confer titles on vassal states to other countries, so as to continuously extend the territory of the Ming Dynasty in a broad sense.

These princes will become the strongest barrier for the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, the spread and dominance of Han culture will have a profound impact on the entire Asian continent.

This is the result Zhu Ying wanted.

A brutal unification like the Mongol Empire doesn't have much meaning at all.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and felt that his eldest grandson's idea was indeed a good one.

In this way, the conflicts between the vassal kings and the imperial court will be greatly reduced, and the threat posed by the vassal kings to the Ming Dynasty will be much smaller.

The most important thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang believed that his eldest grandson had enough kindness towards his uncles or future younger brothers.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "There is a very good official in the court. Let's arrange for our grandson to come over tomorrow. Maybe he can help him a lot."

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to assign a minister to Zhu Ying.

It was Qi Tai, the minister assigned to Zhu Yunwen in the original history.

He was a key minister who had once worked hard to reduce the power of the feudal lords.