But if this line of succession continues, how many princes will emerge? This is a question that must be considered.
Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly and said:
"It's a good thing that Your Majesty has realized the threat posed by these vassal kings. Now that Your Majesty has brought it up, let's discuss this issue and see if we can come up with a solution."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said:
"That's exactly what we mean. First of all, with such excessive power, will these vassal kings help the emperor safeguard the country, or will they become a threat to the power struggle? What's your opinion?"
Zhu Yunwen slowly stood up and said unhurriedly:
"As the saying goes, the dragon has nine sons, each different, and their thoughts are naturally different as well. Some of them are very content to stay in one place, guard the country, and serve the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Emperor faithfully."
Some, however, are filled with ambition, wanting to leapfrog to the supreme position. This is perfectly normal, and certainly not unique to our Zhu family.
This has happened to emperors throughout history. Therefore, what we must do is try our best to avoid it.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately asked:
"Does the Crown Prince have a solution? If we don't grant these descendants certain rights to help guard various regions, and instead use outsiders, we won't feel at ease either."
This was indeed in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's thinking; family members were always more trustworthy than outsiders.
If even our own family members have thoughts of rebellion, then surely outsiders do too?
There might be more.
Family members, at least, would consider kinship ties and might not be so absolutely inclined to rebel.
But it's a different story with outsiders; outsiders don't consider family ties. Once they gain more power, they'll inevitably think of rebellion.
After all, throughout history, there have been countless examples of powerful local officials and generals rebelling.
Because of this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang became increasingly wary of outsiders.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also valued and cared deeply for his family.
Therefore, he handed over almost all local power to his own descendants.
For example, in Taiyuan, the Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang, held the greatest power within the entire Taiyuan Prefecture.
The highest local administrative official, the provincial governor, was also subject to the control of the barbarian king.
Not only in politics, but also in local military affairs, the power of the vassal kings was greater than that of the provincial governors.
As before, Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan in the north, commanded an army of 100,000.
They claimed it was to guard the border and defend against enemies from beyond the Great Wall.
However, these military powers were truly in the hands of Zhu Di.
Similarly, Prince Zhu Gang of Jin and Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin also held military power.
And they are mostly around 100,000 people.
The provincial governors did not have as much political power as the princes. And the provincial judicial commissioners did not have as much judicial power as the princes.
Even though the regional commanders in the same area did not have as much power in military matters as the princes, they still held considerable authority.
The provincial governor, the provincial judicial commissioner, and the military commander of a region were practically the highest-ranking officials in terms of political, judicial, and military power in their respective areas.
However, all three of them were subject to the control of the local vassal kings, meaning that they were all under the control of a local vassal king.
This demonstrates just how much power the regional princes wielded in their localities.
It's almost like being the ruler of a place.
It is precisely because of this immense power that these princes are prone to harboring thoughts of rebellion.
Anyone might have thoughts of rebellion, but it would be extremely dangerous if one not only had the thoughts of rebellion but also possessed the ability to do so.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to discuss with Zhu Yunwen to see if they could resolve the issue.
After all, in his view, you can have the idea of rebellion, but you must never have the strength to rebel.
Having the power to rebel makes it easy to have the idea of rebelling.
The problem now is that all of these princes of the Ming Dynasty possess considerable power.
This makes it easy to instill the idea of rebellion in them.
Just like the Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang, and the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, who came before him.
Even Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin had this idea after the death of his predecessor, Crown Prince Zhu Biao.
This incident involving Zhu Gang made Zhu Yuanzhang see reality clearly and realize that his previous idea of granting his descendants immense power to guard the Ming Dynasty was flawed and had loopholes.
That's why they sought Zhu Yunwen's advice.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said:
"So, Grandfather's intention now is to directly prevent these vassal kings from posing a future threat to the Ming Dynasty, is that right?"
Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's question, Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent for a moment, then finally sighed and said:
"That's right, but this problem seems difficult. After all, this right will eventually be given to some people. If it's not given to the descendants of the Ming Dynasty, it will be given to outsiders."
They might eventually rebel, so what can be done about that?
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