One month.

This is too long, isn't it?

Why can't it be three days?

The old man doesn't understand romance.

Zhu Ying complained inwardly.

Who doesn't want to get married? After all, my life is stable now. Getting married shouldn't be something that you force me to do and then I pretend to refuse and then reluctantly accept it.

In Zhu Ying's mind, there was actually no one to choose for the Crown Prince's Consort.

This old man didn’t introduce many people to me, so who can I choose?

After much thought, the only option is Ye Yueqing.

As for Zhao Xiangxi and Chen Muyue, they are women from foreign ethnic groups. They can be concubines, but naturally they cannot be the principal wife.

Of course, in Zhu Ying's mind, Xu Miaojin was not an option.

After all, he has the memories of his previous life. As a fourteen-year-old, he really doesn't have any ideas. Although the situation is different now, Zhu Ying said that he still has strong moral concepts in his mind.

"Grandpa, since you have issued the decree, then your grandson can only speed up this matter." Zhu Ying's tone revealed a very strong sense of helplessness.

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "My dear grandson, this is sensible. Let's talk to Concubine Ning about this tomorrow so that she can start preparing. Let the Imperial Observatory choose an auspicious day nearby so that we can get married as soon as possible."

Zhu Ying didn't want to talk about this any more, so he immediately changed the subject: "Grandpa, the uncles have already made their decision. For now, the fiefdoms of the third and fourth uncles will be in Japan. I'm thinking of letting the seventh uncle go there as well, so that the three of them can be balanced."

The idea of ​​temporarily adding a vassal king to go to Japan was actually something Zhu Ying suddenly came up with during the dinner party.

Before this, there were only Prince of Yan Zhu Di and Prince of Jin Zhu Gang.

When seeing the princes, Zhu Ying felt that if there were only two of them, they would have grudges against each other and were far away from the capital. After a long time, they would probably not be able to resist fighting each other.

This does not conform to Zhu Ying's purpose. After all, the biggest key lies in education.

Adding Prince of Qi Zhu Yu could serve as a diversion at critical moments.

Deep down, Zhu Ying believed that in the long run, Zhu Di might be stronger than Zhu Gang.

After all, the title of Emperor Yongle is not for nothing.

"As for the other officials in the Ming Dynasty who cannot be granted a kingdom overseas, aren't you worried that they might act recklessly and affect you? Or is this just a pretext, and Da Sun just wants to keep things stable first."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Those who were able to fight and were eager to make contributions to the country were sent outside the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang thought this was a good thing.

Although he is the father of these princes, he cares more about the inheritance of his legitimate descendants.

Although Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang, Zhu Di, including Zhu Zhen and Zhu Bo, their sons were very talented in military affairs, there was also Zhu Quan behind them.

But in terms of total volume, they are still a minority.

In terms of talent, it is still quite average.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to get an answer from his eldest grandson about the arrangements for these descendants.

Zhu Ying did not hesitate and replied directly; "Of course it is true, or the prince's status will bring them a lot of convenience, but in my grandson's opinion, this is also as it should be. After all, we are a family, so this convenience must be given."

"However, in terms of governance, my grandson will still arrange for personnel to monitor, or in other words, a greater level of monitoring. If you abuse the people and exploit the people, that is definitely not acceptable. You should just receive a salary from the treasury and be a wealthy and idle prince."

"Based on the current situation and trend, my grandson's Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce will accumulate a lot of wealth in the future. I want to set up a special share in the clan house as a benefit for all the royal descendants in the future."

"At the same time, each member of the royal family was given a portion of the money according to their rank and status, so that they could get their own share of property after the ceremony of coming of age."

"In the future, the princes who will be enthroned will also have a certain amount of money to recruit soldiers and counselors to establish their own vassal states in distant places."

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I am not a cold-blooded person. I don't just do things on the surface. I will take good care of our Zhu family."

Zhu Ying understood the old man's fear. Of course, this fear was also a very normal thing in Zhu Ying's view.

The so-called ruthlessness of the royal family has been proven through countless bloody cases in all dynasties. Considering the situation of his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang's worries were not unnecessary.

"Since Grandson has said so, we are relieved. Grandson, you have to remember that there may be a few evil offspring among so many people in the royal family, but not all of them are like this."

"For generations, our Zhu family was a peasant family that made a living from the land. When we came here, we encountered an unprecedented change in the Central Plains dynasty. We were lucky enough to get the Central Plains."

"It's easy to conquer a country, but it's hard to keep it. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty was so powerful at the beginning, with millions of soldiers under its command, and it conquered all the countries in the world. However, within less than a hundred years of its founding, it was shattered. This shows how difficult it is to govern the world."

"Which emperor doesn't want his dynasty to last for thousands of years? But looking back from ancient times to the present, no dynasty has ever truly achieved this."

"The longest dynasty was the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted nearly 800 years."

"And the First Emperor, who unified the country, was such a powerful figure, but he disappeared in just fifteen years."

"When we first established the Ming Dynasty, we had great ambitions to expand our territory and expand our territory. But as time went by, we gradually discovered that the Ming Dynasty was in a mess."

"The differences between the Han people in the north and south, the miserable lives of the common people, and the wealthy and powerful gentry who are full of disloyalty."

"If we are not careful about these things, they will be the hidden danger of overthrowing our Ming Dynasty. A thousand-mile embankment is destroyed by an ant hole. Our Ming Dynasty seems to be prosperous and powerful, but in fact it is strong on the outside but weak on the inside."

"For this reason, we can only focus on court affairs and no longer think about mobilizing troops."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke slowly, with too much sigh in his tone. He was taking this opportunity to teach his eldest grandson how to govern a country.

It is also very rare for him to express his thoughts in front of his grandson.

Looking at his grandson's slightly thoughtful face, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, and then continued: "Grandson, you are still young. During this period of time, I know very well that you have a lot of thoughts in your mind."

"I don't know what kind of Ming Dynasty my grandson wants to build, but I know that no matter what choice he makes, we have the same idea, which is to make the Ming Dynasty more prosperous."

"Governing a country, governing an army, and governing officials is just like what Da Sun said, like cooking a small fish."

"What I am most worried about is that after I leave, my eldest grandson will become a little anxious, which may lead to disaster."

"Grandson, take this opportunity today to speak to Grandpa from the bottom of your heart. In your opinion, what level do you want the Ming Dynasty to reach?"

This was Zhu Yuanzhang's inner worry.

As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely difficult to deal with his successors.

It's not good to have a bad grandson, but I can't let go of someone as outstanding as my eldest grandson.

It can be found from the history of previous dynasties that all outstanding emperors always wanted to create their own achievements and leave a deep mark in the history books.

To achieve this, it is inevitable that a large number of reforms will be carried out across the country.

After this, it is natural to achieve great achievements.

Some emperors succeeded and left behind a great reputation that will last through the ages, while some emperors failed and left behind countless infamy.

These emperors, whether they failed or succeeded, were undoubtedly extremely outstanding in themselves.

But sometimes, a relatively mediocre emperor is the reason why a dynasty lasts longer.

After hearing the old man's words, Zhu Ying fell silent.

He wanted to say something, but he was reluctant to lie to the old man.

But if you tell the old man that he wants to hit here and there, I'm afraid he will find it difficult to understand.

After thinking it over, Zhu Ying slowly spoke:

"It is a pity that the Emperor Qin and Emperor Han were slightly inferior in literary talent. The Emperors of Tang and Song were slightly inferior to the Emperors of Tang and Song.

The great Genghis Khan only knew how to shoot eagles with a bow.

All the past is gone, and the heroes of today are still to be seen."

This time, it was Zhu Yuanzhang who remained silent.

He knew that his eldest grandson was very thoughtful, and his excellence could be seen from his many planning methods and reforms to the government system.

But I didn't expect that my eldest grandson had such lofty ambitions.

The Qin Dynasty was the hegemon and the Han Dynasty was the powerful; the Tang Dynasty was the prosperous and the Song Dynasty was the wealthy.

In the eyes of the eldest grandson, these are all existences to be surpassed.

Genghis Khan, who established a vast territory, was just a military man.

This means the Ming Dynasty that Da Sun wanted to build.

In terms of hegemony, it is not inferior to the Qin Dynasty.

In terms of strength, he is comparable to the Han people.

In terms of prosperity, it is comparable to the Tang Dynasty.

In terms of wealth, he was no different from the wealthy Song Dynasty.

Even in terms of territory, it was more vast and broad than the Yuan Dynasty established by Genghis Khan.

What kind of idea is this?

What kind of Ming Dynasty would this be?

Such a dynasty, not to mention myself, looking at the emperors throughout history, is something that no one would dare to dream of, right?

Zhu Yuanzhang's throat rolled and he wanted to say a few words.

But after hesitating for a long time, I didn't know how to start.

Looking at the determined eyes of his eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang had no doubt that his eldest grandson would definitely go further and further on this path.

The night deepens.

Zhu Ying also returned to Kunning Palace, preparing to review some memorials and then take a rest.

Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting in the courtyard of the Qianqing Palace.

Looking at the bright moon in the sky, I was a little absent-minded.

A breeze blew by, and Liu He brought out the outer robe and put it on Your Majesty.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been in a trance for a long time, finally came back to his senses.

"Liu He, what do you think of my being the emperor?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked casually.

Liu He listened to this and said quickly: "Your Majesty is an emperor of all ages. You have recreated the prosperity of the Central Plains. The people love you and both the Chinese and foreigners are subservient to you. Your great talent and strategy are second to none in ancient and modern times. Everyone in the world praises you..."

"Alright, alright." Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted with a wave of his hand.

"You are asking useless questions. You just flatter me."

Liu He listened and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I am terrified."

"Okay, we'll pardon you. Forget it, it's useless to ask you." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said.

Only then did Liu He slowly straighten up.

Zhu Yuanzhang said no more. Seeing that it was late at night, he didn't need to review too many memorials at night, so he prepared to walk towards his bedroom.

After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly smiled and responded: "I suddenly discovered that the level of poetry and songs of my eldest grandson is still quite good."

I savored my eldest grandson's poems again and felt they were very charming.

"Liu He, please prepare the writing brush and ink. Our eldest grandson's calligraphy is really not good. It would be better if we write it for him ourselves."

Zhu Yuanzhang liked to ask his twelfth son Zhu Bo to write his own poems.

But Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to write his eldest grandson's poems himself.

…

After the morning court session the next day, the entire palace was in a state of excitement.

At the morning court, Zhu Yuanzhang announced the latest vassal system.

This means that from today on, all the fiefdoms of the vassal kings will be abolished, and no more vassal states will be established within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The only vassal state was enfeoffed overseas.

At the same time, the princes were granted the right to form an inner court.

In order to prevent the princes from staying in the Ming Dynasty after forming the inner court, it was stipulated that the princes could only stay in the Ming Dynasty for a maximum of three years after submitting the documents of overseas fiefdoms.

If the prince has not left after this time, his right to form an inner court will be revoked and he will be permanently deprived of his power and will not be allowed to form one again.

At the same time, the princes who gave up on establishing an inner court could obtain an industry from the imperial treasury, or they could choose to enter the government, command the army or do other things.

Once this announcement was made, the eight princes who had already established their fiefdoms naturally had no objections.

As for the other princes who have not yet been enfeoffed, such as the five princes who have already been enthroned as kings and live in Zuoyou Shun, it is a little difficult to accept.

They also hoped to leave the capital and become their own fiefdoms, where fish could leap freely in the vast ocean and birds could fly freely in the high sky.

In this way, there is nothing left.

But they don’t even have their own guards, so even if they have opinions, they can only keep them to themselves.

A group of teenagers, with the title of prince, looked around, but the civil and military officials would not pay much attention to them.

On the contrary, almost all civil and military officials applauded the reform of the feudal system.

The main reason is that the early princes headed by Zhu Chong had a very bad reputation.

The situation in the vassal state was a mess.

Even the local censor was unable to resist.

Now, if you want to cause trouble, then do it outside the Ming Dynasty.

However, some were happy and some were sad. For example, Zhu Di was still quite happy. After the morning court session, he pulled Li Jinglong to go drink with him.

Li Jinglong didn't care. As a royal relative and the majesty's nephew, it didn't matter much whether he went to the Governor's Office or not.

So he went to Prince Yan's mansion with Zhu Di.

"Uncle, congratulations. I believe that the reform made by His Majesty this time will be most useful to you."

"An overseas kingdom is a real kingdom, and it even grants the right to form an inner court. With my uncle's ability, I'm sure he can create a prosperous foundation."

Li Jinglong said with a smile.

He was relatively clear about many of Yan Wang Zhu Di's thoughts, which were already very obvious when he was in Peking.

In this regard, Li Jinglong also spared no effort to help Zhu Di.

After listening to this, Zhu Di also smiled and replied: "To be able to reach such a state, for us vassal kings, it is also a way out. Speaking of which, we have to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. This method was proposed by him."

Li Jinglong was somewhat surprised when he heard this and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is so courageous."

The idea of ​​closing the country overseas is actually very bold.

First of all, it involved the Ming army, and after it was occupied, it was appointed to the vassal kings to guard it.

This also means that a considerable portion of the army will remain in the vassal state and be controlled by the vassal king.

With a large army and his own vassal state, the vassal king almost directly formed warlord separatism.

Because to a certain extent, the territories conquered by the Ming army should belong to the Ming Dynasty, not to the vassal kings.

Zhu Di also sighed: "Perhaps in his mind, the vassal states that we vassal kings have appointed are unlikely to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. For example, the Zhou Dynasty divided the princes and kept them away from the Ming Dynasty. In this way, they can also use our power to completely solve the problem of Japanese pirates."

Li Jinglong nodded.

As it stands now, establishing overseas countries is still very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. The only hidden danger lies in future generations.

Perhaps at some point the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse and was ruled by vassal kings.

But these things happened a long time ago.

The feudal system has not existed since the First Emperor unified the country. Unexpectedly, the Ming Dynasty has restored it today.

This is very likely, like the former Zhou Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will last a very long time.

"Jinglong, we will go to Japan in the spring of next year. That will be the time for me to be a vassal again. Currently in Goryeo, Daoyan already has 200,000 troops to cooperate with us. According to my estimation, my father has at least 400,000 troops here."

"With such momentum, Japan cannot resist it, so establishing a vassal state is a natural thing to do."

"I know Jinglong has great ambitions in his heart. When the time comes, the feudal state will be destroyed and rebuilt, and the Japanese will be suppressed. I hope Jinglong can come and help me."