Chapter 12: King Jin's trump card
Zhu Gang said excitedly: "This matter is of great importance, does the emperor really want to hear it?"

The veins on Zhu Yuanzhang's forehead seemed to be exposed, and he squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Speak!"

"Then I'll tell you, Father, please listen carefully."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

Zhu Gang then put his hands behind his back, looking like he had a lot of wisdom in his hands. He paced a few steps in the hall before slowly saying, "Father, do you know that there is a great problem in our Ming Dynasty that must be noticed? The crux of this problem lies in the vassal king system!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his expression became solemn. He actually became patient and chose not to interrupt Zhu Gang.

Zhu Gang continued, "Father was born from the common people, uh...uh...that's why he enfeoffed his sons. His original intention was to enfeoff his sons to different places in the world. He wanted to use us brothers to protect the center of the Ming Dynasty. Father, do you think what I said is right?"

This was actually a very sensitive topic for Zhu Yuanzhang, but fortunately, there were no outsiders among those who said this. Even Tang He, who was present, was one of Zhu Yuanzhang's old brothers who had joined the rebellion earliest, and was his most trusted confidant.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained unmoved. He sat upright, his eyes opening and closing, as if he was resting, or as if he was listening attentively.

Zhu Gang was not amused, but continued, "But I think this is not appropriate. Doesn't your Majesty know about the Han and Jin dynasties? Soon after, those princes who were given fiefs gradually began to disobey the central government, and thus brewed the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms and the Rebellion of the Eight Princes."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes narrowed slightly and he stared at Zhu Gang, but... he still didn't say anything.

Tang He suddenly began to feel that something was wrong, and he gradually became uneasy.

Zhu Gang continued to talk eloquently, "Of course, my father must have anticipated this possibility a long time ago, so he not only enfeoffed his sons and ministers, but also stationed officials in the fiefdoms to check and balance the various vassal states."

"Father wants the princes to guard the key points of the country and use officials to check and balance the princes. This... does provide some precautions, but... but... in my opinion, it has also created a huge hidden danger."

Zhu Gang stopped talking here.

Zhu Yuanzhang was listening calmly, but when Zhu Gang got to this point, he had no more words to say. He could not help but yelled angrily: "If you have something to say, just say it. If you have to fart, fart it!"

Zhu Gang was scolded, so he had to continue angrily: "The problem lies in the suspicion between the emperor and his subjects. Although my father solved the problems of the Eight Princes Rebellion and the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the root problem has not been solved, that is, the suspicion between the emperor and his subjects. For future emperors, what he thinks about is whether these uncles and cousins ​​will rebel one day. Although there are checks and balances, no one can ensure that these relatives will not have different intentions."

Zhu Yuanzhang already looked displeased. When he was young, he had an extremely painful experience. His parents died in his early years, his brothers were separated, and he was alone in the world to make a living miserably.

So even though he has conquered the world today, deep down in his heart, his desire for family affection is by no means comparable to that of ordinary people.

And now, his own son actually revealed this scar, which undoubtedly told Zhu Yuanzhang a reality that his descendants in the future would kill each other.

Zhu Gang obviously didn't pay much attention to Zhu Yuanzhang's expression, and continued with great interest: "As for the princes, since Your Majesty is suspicious of me all the time, I'm afraid they will live in fear every day. It's hard to guarantee that some people won't have different ideas. Over time, father, what do you think will happen?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked angrily, “What will happen?”

Zhu Gang said: "The worst outcome is that a vassal king really rebels and really breaks into Nanjing..."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said disdainfully: "With the few thousand guards of the vassal kings, you can capture the important city of Nanjing, which is guarded by hundreds of thousands of troops? Don't you think this is a fantasy?"

Zhu Gang smiled and said, "Yes, I also think that this possibility is very small. Unless the emperor carries out drastic reduction of the power of the princes, which arouses the suspicion of the princes and causes them to rise up in arms. Then the most likely possibility is the second one."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his thick eyebrows slightly, and a hint of doubt flashed across his eyes.

He thought that what Zhu Gang said was just a mediocre view on the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, but unexpectedly, Zhu Gang seemed to have a different opinion, so he said: "Tell me." "The second possibility is that the emperor will moderately reduce the power of the vassal states."

Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised and asked, "A gentle way to reduce the power of the feudal lords?"

"It is to reduce the number of guards of the princes. In order to let the princes guard the key points of the country, father assigned guards to each prince. The number of guards ranged from tens of thousands to several thousand."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. With his knowledge, this seemed foreseeable.

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "I thought you had some brilliant ideas, but it turns out that you only have these insights. Do you think I haven't thought of these?"

Zhu Gang was stunned: "Father has thought of it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Tang He, who was sitting on pins and needles, and then said calmly: "Of course I have thought of it a long time ago. I established vassal states for my sons as a temporary measure. Just as you said, the country is newly established and people's hearts are not yet attached to it. After a hundred years, the people will have been united for a long time. Even if one day, my descendants really want to moderately reduce the power of the vassal states, it proves that people's hearts have already made up their minds. So even if a moderate reduction of the power of the vassal states is carried out, it is not a bad idea."

When Zhu Gang heard this, he suddenly realized!
Oh, it turns out that my father is using us brothers. He lets us do the dirty and tiring work first, and when the world is at peace for a long time and we are no longer useful, he will let the eldest brother's descendants reduce our power.

But obviously, a person like Zhu Yuanzhang is a person who thinks three steps ahead before taking one step. How could he not have a backup plan when doing anything?

Just like in history, Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen had a conversation about reducing the power of the princes. From this we can see that the issue of reducing the power of the princes was actually already anticipated by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the current feudal philosophers were actually just stopgap measures.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gang with a smile, as if to say, boy, is this all you are capable of?

But Zhu Gang did not look frustrated at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "But father, how should we reduce the power of the vassal states in a gentle way?"

"Ok?"

Zhu Gang said: "The princes do not obey the emperor, and the emperor wants to reduce the power of the princes, so he must reduce the princes' guards. Is this right or wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Zhu Gang said: "If we cut off the guards, it will inevitably arouse suspicion among the people of the world. People will say that the royal family is killing each other, and the princes will certainly be very dissatisfied, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "That's right."

Zhu Gang continued to ask: "Then may I ask Father, in order to prevent the princes from taking desperate measures and to prevent criticism from the people of the world, what will the emperor do?"

Zhu Yuanzhang obviously did not realize that Zhu Gang actually had deeper thoughts, which made him re-examine Zhu Gang.

"Keep talking."

Zhu Gang said: "If I were the emperor, and if I were not crazy, I would choose to redeem her."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought secretly and nodded secretly.

Zhu Gang said: "How can we redeem them? Of course, we should only cut off their guards, but not the treatment and lands of the kings."

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed slightly. This sentence, like a flash of lightning, suddenly awakened Zhu Yuanzhang.

(End of this chapter)