In the Indian subcontinent, although the Kingdom of Khandesh was still sandwiched between the Ming Dynasty and Timur, in fact, many of their territories had been connected.

Gulbarga, the former palace of the Bahmani king.

"Duke Liang, I heard a few days ago that the Duke ordered the conscription of 300,000 Indian soldiers. I wonder if this is true."

Li Jinglong asked.

When Lan Yu ordered the conscription of Indian people as soldiers, Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong felt something was wrong and rushed over.

Lan Yu nodded: "It is true. Timur now has more than a million soldiers and is recruiting Indian people on a large scale."

"Although the people of India are extremely stupid and have no courage at all, there is a saying that a swarm of ants can kill an elephant."

"Moreover, Timur's army is brutal, and they use the method of raising poisonous insects to train slave soldiers. Although this is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, we have to admit that this method will have miraculous effects in a short period of time."

"Among the huge number of Indian soldiers, some will eventually become elite soldiers."

"If I don't call in the Indian troops, it will be difficult to continue with the current situation. When the two armies collide, even if my Ming army fights ten to one, it will not be able to hurt Timur's army."

As a duke, although Lan Yu had military leadership, he could not ignore the ideas of Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong.

Xu Huizu was a descendant of Xu Da, and Li Jinglong was a royal relative, so Lan Yu made the explanation.

Li Jinglong frowned and said, "I know what the Duke of Liang means. Although there is a saying that when troops are on the march, they cannot obey the orders of the emperor, but the impact of recruiting 300,000 troops is too great."

"If this matter is reported back to the court, the ministers will surely accuse the Duke of Liang of not reporting it. In my opinion, the Duke of Liang should wait until the conscription is made and report it to the court first. When the order from His Majesty's grandson arrives, then we can discuss the conscription."

Xu Huizu also said: "Although the Crown Prince has long mentioned the issue of enfeoffment of states by the princes, I think the Tianzhu region will certainly be the place of enfeoffment in the future."

"But if we don't confer the title on the emperor, it will be against the law. Such behavior is usurpation. If the court investigates, I'm afraid we won't get any benefits, even if we defeat Timur's army."

"I think what Duke Cao said makes sense. We should report to the court first and suspend the recruitment of soldiers."

Lan Yu felt a little unhappy and said in a bad tone, "Is this what you two came here for?"

"You know, the situation is changing rapidly these days. If you are not careful, you will miss the opportunity."

"The Timurid army is not easy to deal with. It is no match for Zhenla and Siam. If I report the recruitment to the court and then wait for the court's reply, it will take more than one or two months even if it is done quickly."

"At the border of Jijirat State, Timur's army is constantly stationing troops. The war is imminent. If Timur's army launches a large-scale attack, who will be held responsible if we lose the war?"

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. If the court blames me, I will take the responsibility myself and will not implicate you."

Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong were also helpless about this situation.

In fact, they knew in their hearts that it was unlikely that Timur's army would launch a large-scale attack at this time, and now was the time to fight for territory.

Although the two sides are partially connected in terms of territory, they are only used for garrisoning rather than for military preparation.

If a war really breaks out, the first to bear the brunt will be the Kingdom of Kandesh.

Now they all tacitly agreed to keep the Kingdom of Kandesh as a buffer zone and divide and harvest India first.

Besides, such a war cannot be ended in a short time. It is normal to take several years. It is still necessary to go through the process first.

However, as the commander-in-chief of the army, Lan Yu was very stubborn and they could not persuade him.

In fact, many ministers and nobles had long been dissatisfied with Duke of Liang Lan Yu. After all, Lan Yu had taken too many benefits in the Ming Dynasty, and because of Zhu Ying's relationship, Lan Yu's status became even more transcendent.

Lan Yu is not just Lan Yu himself. Clan relatives, friends and nobles are a large number of stakeholders.

As the saying goes, it’s nice to take shelter under a big tree.

Under the big tree of Lan Yu, so many people have gained a lot of benefits by relying on his fame.

Sometimes, even if it was illegal, many officials would turn a blind eye. Could it be that they would go against the Duke of Liang because of such a small matter? He dared to beat even the Minister of Personnel so hard that he couldn't get out of bed.

As expected, the news quickly spread back to the country, and many ministers immediately impeached Lan Yu.

This impeachment, however, is different from rumors, as it is based on real evidence.

At the court meeting.

The first person to step forward was the Minister of Personnel, Zhan Hui.

Ever since he was beaten up by Lan Yu, whenever he mentioned Lan Yu, he would always be mentioned as well.

Zhan Hui was not an open-minded person. On the contrary, he was petty and calculative.

It's just that he is loyal enough and indeed capable, so he has been able to do a good job as the Minister of Personnel.

Given such an opportunity, Zhan Hui would never let it go.

According to the normal impeachment process, the lower-level officials usually make their impeachment report first, and then he will make his report.

But Zhan Hui couldn't wait any longer and went down himself.

"Your Majesty, I am impeaching Duke Lan Yu of Liang for treason. The front-line military reports that Duke Lan Yu of Liang recruited soldiers from Tianzhu without your authorization, and the number of recruited soldiers is as high as 300,000."

"Although the military report stated that there were 300,000 soldiers, I believe that the actual number was much higher. This is a disregard for the court's laws and military discipline, and it is a serious violation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

"Now that our Great Ming has a vast territory and tens of millions of people, we must strictly enforce the law, bind them by the law, and act in accordance with the law."

"However, Duke Lan Yu of Liang, as a duke, took the lead in violating the laws and military regulations, disrespecting the court, and doing such a treasonous act. He must be harboring evil intentions and intending to commit treason."

"I believe that we should immediately confiscate the military power of Duke Lan Yu of Liang and order him to return to the capital as soon as possible to be punished."

In the Fengtian Hall, Zhan Hui spoke impassionedly and loudly, severely criticizing Lan Yu's behavior.

The other officials looked at each other in bewilderment. Even though Zhan Hui was making a fuss about this matter, it was actually a dispute between civil officials and military officials.

Besides, what Duke Lan Yu of Liang did did indeed violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

In the court meeting a few days ago, the Crown Prince repeatedly said that the country should be governed by law. Now Zhan Hui is just learning and applying what he has learned to attack Lan Yu.

In fact, everyone understood that Zhan Hui's words were more or less intended to take revenge on personal grudges.

However, as the leader of the Huaixi noble group, Lan Yu also had connections in the court.

Jingning Marquis Ye Sheng stood up.

He was Lan Yu's relative, and had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion in Annan. He returned to the capital after Zhu Gaochi governed Annan.

Now that Lan Yu has been impeached, he naturally has to speak for Lan Yu.

"Your Majesty, I think there is something wrong with what Minister Zhan said."

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, his expression did not change much, he just said calmly: "What's wrong? Tell us what you think."

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had no good feelings towards Lan Yu. If his eldest grandson had not stopped him, Zhu would have killed Lan Yu long ago.

However, although Zhan Hui's impeachment was suspected of being a personal revenge, it was indeed in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Even Zhu Ying didn't say anything now, but just stood quietly beside Zhu Yuanzhang and listened.

Some time ago, because of the incident involving some corrupt officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Zhu Ying expressed his intention to govern the country by law and to severely punish those who are lenient according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Now that Zhan Hui has brought up these words, it is equivalent to shutting the Crown Prince's mouth.

Law is the majesty of the court and an extension of imperial power.

As the territory of the Ming Dynasty grew and its population increased, the importance of laws also grew.

Even though this law is in Zhu Ying's hands, Zhu Ying cannot change it easily. It's not that he can't, but that he can't.

Changing the law arbitrarily because of a certain event will only cause the law to lose its original majesty, resulting in more people not abiding by it, which will naturally cause greater chaos.

Of course, this also depends on what Jingning Hou Ye Sheng has to say.

"Your Majesty, it is true that Duke Lan Yu of Liang violated the law, but it is also an urgent matter."

"The military report clearly states that the reason why the Duke of Liang recruited 300,000 Indian soldiers for training was out of helplessness."

"Now Timur's army has taken over half of India, using only one million Indian soldiers as slaves to suppress the army of our Ming Dynasty."

"Although our Ming soldiers are brave, a million of them is too large. If we fight, we will suffer heavy losses. As for Timur's army, slave soldiers can be recruited anywhere, and India has a population of nearly 10 million, so the source of soldiers is abundant and inexhaustible."

"Under these circumstances, the Duke of Liang was able to call up the troops in order to reduce the loss of our Ming army soldiers. He did not report it to the court first. It was because the military situation was urgent and there was a danger of war at any time that he came up with such a bad idea."

"Minister Zhan did not ask about the military situation, did not talk about the benefits and disadvantages, only looked at the surface situation, and ignored the war situation, and then he blamed the Duke of Liang."

"Everyone in the capital knows that Minister Zhan and Duke Liang have a personal grudge. This is clearly Minister Zhan using his personal grudge to get revenge."

"A few months ago, the Duke of Liang had reported to the court about his expedition to Zhenla and Siam. It is obvious that he had no choice but to act this way because the situation was critical. Your Majesty, please understand."

Jingning Hou Ye Sheng was still somewhat eloquent, at least he was able to refute what Zhan Hui said.

Normally, for something like this, many ministers should have expressed their opinions, but Zhan Hui, as the Minister of Personnel and a favorite of the emperor, impeached the Crown Prince's relative, the Duke of Ming.

Not everyone can get involved in this. If you are not careful, both sides will suffer, but you will be used as cannon fodder.

Therefore, the Fengtian Hall was quiet, and everyone was quietly watching the show, watching Ye Sheng fight with Zhan Hui.

"You are talking nonsense. I am acting in accordance with the law. How can I say that I am seeking revenge for personal gain? You are such a smooth talker. I think you are clearly trying to excuse Lan Yu."

"You harbor evil intentions and disregard the lives of our Ming soldiers just to satisfy your own needs. You are just a figurehead."

"You are Lan Yu's relative. I think you and Lan Yu are in cahoots with each other. We should quickly find out whether you are colluding with each other and have bad intentions."

"Zhan Hui, you are so unscrupulous and slanderous. I think you are itching for mercy. Do you want someone to loosen your muscles?"

"Ye Sheng, you have no respect for your superiors. Do you really think I am easy to bully? Today I will let you have a taste of my power."

Zhan Hui and Ye Sheng became increasingly hostile to each other, and started swearing at each other, until the fight was about to turn into a full-blown fight.

Of course, Zhan Hui couldn't beat Ye Sheng, and he rolled up his sleeves just for show, after all, this was the imperial court.

Ye Sheng was extremely angry. He was a martial artist and could not stand such provocation. He wanted to hit Zhan Hui's old arms and legs immediately.

However, the military officers next to Ye Sheng quickly pulled him back.

If he threw a punch in anger, he might have killed an important official of the court, in public.

It is not known whether Lan Yu is okay or not, but Ye Sheng is definitely in trouble. Neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Ying can save him.

Zhan Hui relied on this point and dared to do so.

"A minister and a deputy governor are no different from those common people. How can they roar in the court?"

"In your eyes, do you still think we are the emperor?"

"Each of them will be fined half a year's salary to serve as a warning to others."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and scolded them so badly that the two men couldn't even raise their heads.

After scolding him, Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "As for Lan Yu, he did disregard the law and acted beyond his authority, but considering the ever-changing situation on the front lines, it is not as serious as Minister Zhan said."

"But since we are governing the country by law, if someone has broken the law, then he must be punished."

"Send our decree to Tianzhu. Duke Lan Yu of Liang violated the law and disobeyed the court's rules. He will be fined one year's salary and stripped of his power of control. Duke Li Jinglong of Cao and Duke Xu Huizu of Wei will supervise each other and lead 30 troops to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

"If you dare to commit the same offense again, you will be punished for multiple crimes at that time, and you will not be able to atone for your crimes with merits."

After hearing His Majesty speak, Zhan Hui and Ye Sheng stopped making trouble.

Zhan Hui looked at Ye Sheng with pride. He knew of course that it was impossible to accuse Lan Yu of treason, but what he wanted was to get something done to Lan Yu in order to relieve the hatred of being beaten.

Ye Sheng ignored him. This punishment was already good enough. After all, His Majesty the Crown Prince had repeatedly stressed the importance of laws. Lan Yu was committing a crime against the wind and had run into trouble.

After the court meeting, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhu Ying: "Lan Yu is becoming more and more lawless. He needs to be disciplined more."

"Although I have some skills in fighting, sometimes I just do whatever I want without caring about the consequences."

"In recent years, our Ming Dynasty has been engaged in foreign wars, and the status of military generals has become increasingly high, while civil officials have been suppressed. This is not in line with the balance of the court."

"Zhan Hui is a very sensible guy. He knows that stirring up trouble at this time can avenge his personal grudge and also meet our wishes."

"Giving Lan Yu thirty military weapons is a sign of his good intentions."

Zhu Yuanzhang said this with a smile, and was also teaching Zhu Ying the emperor's art of controlling people.

As the Ming Dynasty continued to expand outward, there were more and more meritorious generals and soldiers, and in comparison, the civil officials seemed too mediocre.

Most military generals are unruly. If they suppress civil officials in the court, it is easy for them to not even listen to the emperor.

This is also the reason why emperors of successive dynasties did not like military generals very much.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his eldest grandson would continue to expand outward, even if it was without a legitimate reason. That's why he taught him carefully to prevent the court from falling into chaos after he left.