The capital of Ming Dynasty.

Feng Sheng and others made great contributions in this expedition to Japan, so the capital naturally prepared a grand welcome ceremony.

Outside Zhengyang Gate, Zhu Ying came to greet him in person.

The neatly-organized guard of honor displayed the might of the Black Armor Guards.

The Xuanjiawei now plays many roles, including the personal guard and the ceremonial guard. To some extent, their duties are equivalent to those of the Jinyiwei, but they are only responsible to Zhu Ying.

"Duke Song, thank you for your hard work."

"Third uncle, fourth uncle, seventh uncle."

Although Zhu Ying was the crown prince, he put aside his status and bowed to Zhu Di and the other two.

Naturally, the three of them did not dare to be arrogant, as this was a moment of intimacy between the royal family, and they quickly returned the greeting.

There were crowds of people watching, and naturally, the matter of the treaty had already been published in the capital's gazette before Feng Sheng and others returned to Beijing.

Everywhere there were voices shouting "Long live the Ming Dynasty".

When a country prospers, the people will naturally share in the joy.

In the current Ming capital, the people have a high sense of happiness and a strong sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with Zhu Ying, Feng Sheng, Zhu Di, Zhu Gang, Zhu Gui and others who had followed him all the way were even more shocked by the changes in the capital.

Before the expedition to Japan, many reforms in the capital had just begun and have now been implemented.

"Is this really the capital? If I hadn't seen Zhengyang Avenue, I wouldn't have recognized it. It's simply... it's simply..."

Zhu Yu looked at the changes in front of him with a look of shock. Although he was walking on Zhengyang Avenue, he could see the surrounding alleys clearly.

Every alley is neatly planned, with shops lining the streets. The signs at the doors look almost the same. Each alley is nearly two meters wide, and people on both sides seem to walk according to a certain pattern.

"As expected of my nephew, with this ability, the Ming Dynasty will surely become more prosperous in the future."

Zhu Gang's eyes were glowing green. He had decided that after today, he would take a closer look at the construction of the city and transfer the situation in the capital to his own fiefdom in Japan.

Zhu Di's expression was somewhat complicated.

He keenly noticed that although the densely packed crowd of people watching seemed to be cheering for the victory of the Ming Dynasty and the surrender of Japan, in fact, almost all of the people's eyes were focused on Zhu Ying.

It is not difficult to guess that after going to Japan, many changes must have taken place in the Ming Dynasty, which led to the gathering of people's hearts.

There was no need to kneel during the welcoming ceremony, but Zhu Di saw many people kowtow to Zhu Ying spontaneously, and more and more people followed suit.

After Zhu Di made up his mind, the first thing he did was to understand the specific development of the capital this year.

…

In the court.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat high on the dragon throne, with Zhu Ying standing beside him.

Liu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department under the Golden Throne Hall, began to read aloud the rewards for Feng Sheng, Zhu Gang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gui.

The rewards naturally went mainly to Feng Sheng. There was no need for promotion or title, most of them were just money and the like.

When it comes to the three kings, things are different.

"Your Majesty has decreed that the overseas Japanese city of Hizen be made the fief of Prince Jin Zhu Gang, and renamed it Jincheng. The Prince of Jin will be in charge of all affairs within the territory."

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to designate the overseas Japanese city of Chikuhou as the fief of Prince of Yan Zhu Di, and to change its name to Yancheng. Prince of Yan will be in charge of all affairs within the territory."

"Your Majesty has decreed that the overseas Japanese city of Higo be made the fief of Prince Zhu Gui of Qi, and renamed it Qi City. The Prince of Qi will be in charge of all affairs within the territory."

There are not too many additional conditions, including the fact that you are basically responsible for your own taxes and do not need to pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty.

Basically, everything within the territory is under the responsibility of the prince himself.

The only thing excluded is the legislative power. According to the regulations of overseas vassal states, the laws of the Ming Dynasty should take priority over those of the vassal kings.

In other words, the princes also have the power to legislate, but when the laws set by the princes conflict with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the laws of the Ming Dynasty shall prevail.

As for the rest, you can play as you please. In the past, there was a strict limit on the number of soldiers under the command of the princes, but it has been cancelled now.

The standard used to be 30,000, but now you can have as many as you want. Even if everyone in the vassal state becomes a soldier, it is your freedom.

It's equivalent to letting go completely.

This somewhat surprised the three kings. It was just a saying before, but now it has been truly confirmed.

After this, the three princes should be busy arranging their own civil servants to go to the capital.

In fact, at present, the three cities in Japan are not small. Although the area is not large, the population is large enough.

Before this, the three of them had already relocated Japanese people from various places. Even the King of Qi, Zhu Yu, who had the smallest number of people, only ruled over 300,000 Japanese people.

On this basis, there is also the issue of garrison.

Each vassal king can have 30,000 garrison troops, and the remaining soldiers will return to their original garrisons later.

Although this garrison is under the command of the vassal king, it will return to the Ming Dynasty for rotation every three years, and does not always belong to the vassal king.

From a historical perspective, the overseas vassal states established by Japan were the first time that the fiefdoms of vassal kings were directly extended outside the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

This also means that the future path of the Ming Dynasty will change to a certain extent.

Zhu Ying also arranged for the news of the establishment of the overseas vassal state to be directly reported in the capital's gazette the next day.

This can also be regarded as a wave of advertising for overseas vassal states and a way to attract traffic.

The preferential policies regarding migration overseas have also caused a stir among the people.

"The King of Jin will pay for the trip to Jincheng, and we'll give you land once you get there, starting at five acres per person. That sounds like a good idea."

"What? It's better to go to Yancheng. The official newspaper says that anyone between the ages of 18 and 35 who doesn't have a wife will be assigned a Japanese woman. How great is that? There's no need for a matchmaker. She can be sent directly."

"Qicheng is not bad either. Not only do they give each person five mu of land, but they are also exempted from taxes for three years. How great is that?"

Zhu Gang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gui naturally offered a lot of preferential conditions at this time and began to recruit people from the Ming Dynasty.

Everyone knows that people are the key.

This was especially true for scholars. Any scholar with a record of merit, even if he was just a student, would be guaranteed an assignment, given land, and a wife when they went there.

The generous conditions have indeed made many people excited.

The Palace of Prince Yan of Ming Dynasty.

Xu Yihua was discussing the issue of relocation with Zhu Di, but after thinking for a while, Zhu Di said, "You should stay in the capital for the time being."

"The conditions in Japan are not very good right now. There is no need to suffer there. It won't be too late to go there once the business is better."

The situation in Japan is not clear at the moment. Although Japan has already been annihilated, treaties are meant to be torn up.

If a war suddenly broke out that day, it would be extremely dangerous.

Obviously Xu Yihua still wanted to go with them, but Zhu Di's attitude was very clear. He wanted to wait until they had started.

But Zhu Di was not very interested in construction.

"Father, why don't you let me go with you?" Zhu Gaochi suddenly said at this time.

This surprised Zhu Di a little.

"Do you know that Japan is completely incomparable to the Ming Dynasty now?" Zhu Di said.

Zhu Gaochi replied: "I understand, of course, but the war with Japan has just ended, so there will definitely be peace in the short term, and it mainly depends on the management of domestic affairs."

"I am not a talented person. I have been learning from you all since I was young. Although I am not good at domestic affairs, I can practice slowly."

After hearing this, Zhu Di gradually withdrew his original intention of scolding.

It was at this moment that he suddenly discovered a problem. In the Prince of Yan's Mansion, when it comes to learning, it seems that the eldest son, whom he usually disliked, is the most outstanding.

There is no need to explain the situation of the second and third brothers, they are basically the same as me.

In Japan, Zhu Di also discovered this problem. When he went to the city of Jin Wang Zhu Gang, he seemed to see the shocking feeling in the capital.

But I want to do it, but I don’t know where to start.

In terms of military operations, he was undoubtedly the most successful as he led Goryeo, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Gui to attack the three cities of Japan.

But what happens after that?

War is no longer the main theme, development is.

It's impossible to lead troops to plunder Japan every day.

Well, when I think about it this way, it doesn't seem impossible.

If the Japanese pirates can invade the Ming Dynasty's coast, why can't we do the same?

But at present, it still focuses on domestic affairs.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Di finally nodded and said, "Okay, you will go with me to Japan this time."

Having said that, Zhu Di had actually made up his mind to hand over the management of the city to his son.

And I was mainly responsible for the training of the troops.

Let the eldest son take care of the logistics for me.

…

The next day.

Zhu Ying summoned Zhu Gang, Zhu Di and Zhu Gang to his Kunning Palace.

"Third uncle, fourth uncle, seventh uncle."

Zhu Ying raised his hand and bowed.

The three of them also hurriedly returned the greeting: "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Ying was straightforward and got straight to the point: "This time I invited the three uncles here mainly to discuss the situation of the three cities in Japan."

Upon hearing such an opening, the first person to frown was Zhu Di.

Doesn’t what I said yesterday count?

You called us together today to change what you said yesterday?

Zhu Ying paused for a moment and then continued, "At present, the three cities of Japan are extremely important to the Ming Dynasty. If the three cities are stable, the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about the Japanese pirates."

"Therefore, the three uncles really shoulder a heavy responsibility."

"So after thinking about it last night, I decided to do my best to help the three uncles develop rapidly."

Hearing this, the three of them immediately felt relieved.

After all, in a sense, that place would become his vassal state from now on, and he would have the final say in everything, which was extremely free.

Now the Crown Prince still wants to provide support.

Zhu Ying continued, "First of all, there is the issue of food. In the maritime trade with Japan, food is a commodity that is prohibited from being exported overseas. However, the development of the city is inseparable from the people. The first thing to do is to solve the problem of food and clothing, so that we can quickly win back the hearts of the Japanese people in Japan."

"In terms of maritime trade, we will transport a certain amount of food to the cities of the three uncles every quarter, depending on the situation."

"But first, these grains cannot be given as gifts, but sold at the same price as the Ming Dynasty."

"Of course, if you don't have enough money, you uncles can buy the grain first and return it next quarter."

This proposal was immediately recognized by the three people, and Zhu Yu said happily: "I think this plan of the Crown Prince is feasible."

Even Zhu Di was very satisfied. Japan's rice production was probably not enough, especially when he wanted to expand his army.

Now with the support of the Ming Dynasty, I feel much more at ease.

Zhu Ying was also not vague and continued to talk about some support for overseas vassal states.

For example, trade.

The Qunying Chamber of Commerce will establish a stable maritime trade route, deliver goods to the three cities on a regular basis, and ensure that, in addition to the corresponding freight, the price paid by the princes will not be higher than the market price of the Ming Dynasty.

But there will definitely be certain restrictions on the quantity of goods.

The second is the support for craftsmen.

There are now many groups of craftsmen in the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, mainly in the form of trading companies, which can build cement roads for the three cities, including some important buildings.

This included opening various factories in the three cities of Japan with the consent of the three imperial uncles, and hiring workers at corresponding prices to run the factories.

While Zhu Ying was narrating, he asked Guo Zhong, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, to take out the relevant documents that had been prepared long ago and let the three princes look at them in detail.

All the situations recorded above, including what Zhu Ying said before, are extremely detailed and clear.

Its overall purpose is very simple, that is, the Ming Dynasty will give the three princes the greatest support and quickly develop the three cities.

After reading it, Zhu Di felt a little emotional.

Is the Crown Prince really so kind-hearted? Isn't he afraid that the vassal states will develop and pose a threat to the rule of the Ming Dynasty?

But no matter what, almost every item in the document is what they need most at the moment.

"My nephew knows that the uncles may have other ideas."

"It's just that my nephew wants to tell all the uncles that what they are doing outside now is a major event that affects the foundation of the Ming Dynasty for thousands of years."

"There should not be any hostility between the vassal states of the emperor's uncles and the Ming Dynasty. Instead, they should help each other."

"Not only now, but also in the distant future. Not only the emperor's nephew, but also the descendants of the old Zhu family should be like this."

The tone of these words was not harsh, but they made my blood boil.

At this time, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Ying with a sharp gaze.

He did not see the shadow of his father in her, but he saw the past of his mother.

When my mother was still alive, she hoped that the descendants of the Zhu family could be more united.

It was not until nearly dusk, almost two hours later, that the three princes left Kunning Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang also came out from behind, patted his eldest grandson on the shoulder and said, "Good, good, good."

"My eldest grandson has never let me down."