The emperor's edict has been issued, and Li Qing's talks went smoothly.
Of course, the rich gentry were unwilling in their hearts, but they were just unwilling in their hearts and did not dare to show it at all.
Workers, looms, silkworms... Li Qing talked about the same thing, and the rich gentry agreed.
It took a month and a half, but Li Qing finally finalized the project.
Next, we just wait for the weaving bureau to be built and workers to be brought in to start work.
Li Qing took some time off and took his three daughters shopping, occasionally visiting the construction site, and lived a slow-paced life.
On the other side, the construction of Longjiang Shipyard has also begun, with Sanbao responsible for supervising the construction.
The imperial court's expenditure suddenly increased, and money was flowing like water. Fortunately, Lao Zhu had laid a good foundation, and the national treasury could still support it.
…
Autumn passes and spring comes, and another year comes in the blink of an eye.
With the new year and new atmosphere, Zhu Di Jianyuan Yongle officially entered his own era.
All the vassal kings from all over the world came to congratulate him. The whole capital was bustling with excitement. Zhu Di was very grand. During the vassal king's visit to the capital, all expenses were paid by the imperial court.
At the beginning of February, Zhu Di summoned all the vassal kings to the Fengtian Palace Square, and also summoned the civil and military ministers with famous cards to hold a banquet in honor of them.
The king of Zhou, the king of Dai, the king of Qing, and the king of Ning... came forward one by one to congratulate and pay tribute to the king and his ministers.
After a while, we started eating and drinking.
Li Qing, Dao Yan, and Zhu Di sit at the same table, and they have the same scenery.
Fortunately, Daoyan was sitting on the left hand side. This old monk did not eat meat. Unfortunately, the fat boy was sitting on the right hand side.
"Brother Qing, don't just eat." Xiaopang said softly, "I want to tell you something."
Li Qing said angrily, "Can you swallow the food first before speaking?"
"Gudong~" The fat boy raised his glass and served the food with wine.
Li Qing looked around and found that almost all the hard vegetables within reach had been cooked by the little fat guy. He put down his chopsticks helplessly and asked, "What's the matter?"
Xiaopang whispered: "It's about establishing a crown prince."
Li Qing's heart moved, and he lowered his voice and said, "Do you need to worry about this?
Who else would you be?"
"No, I don't want to be a prince." Xiaopang Fuer explained, "My father likes the second child. Now that my father has become the emperor, in a few days, the matter of establishing a heir will be brought to the table again. The weight of your words will not matter.
Then help me a little bit."
"I don't want to help him." Li Qing shook his head, "I think you're pretty good."
"..." Xiaopang rolled his eyes, "You are not my father, what use do you think I am?"
Li Qing was speechless and asked in confusion: "Isn't it bad to be a prince?"
"At least it's not good to be my father's prince." Xiaopang smiled bitterly, "You don't know that he likes to play with people the most. I'm afraid of being played to death by him."
"You two were whispering to each other, what are you talking about?" At some point, Zhu Di had arrived behind the two of them, making the little fat man's face tremble with fear, "No... nothing..."
Zhu Di snorted coldly: "There are no rules at all, how can you look like a prince?"
"Yes, yes, my father said yes." Xiaopang nodded repeatedly and kept wiping his sweat.
Zhu Di patted him hard and said loudly: "Everyone, I have an announcement."
Everyone put down their wine glasses and looked at Zhu Di.
"All the vassal kings are my brothers, nephews, nobles of Tianhuang, and relatives of our Ming Dynasty royal family. As the saying goes, a person with a rich body cannot sit down in the hall..."
Barabara...
Zhu Di's words were a bit far-fetched, and the feudal kings were confused.
But where there are stupid people, there are smart people. King Ning Zhu Quan understood the true meaning and stood up quickly and said: "Your Majesty is Shengming, and my brother was appointed by Emperor Taizu Gao to command the troops and guard the border;
Although I have worked diligently over the years, my abilities are limited and I feel embarrassed to take on such a big responsibility. I hope the emperor can allow me to rest and recuperate."
Zhu Di's face was stern, "Brother Seventeen, what are you doing?
Do you think that I should follow Jianwen's example and cut down the vassal vassal?"
"There is no sage like the Emperor, how could I think so?" Zhu Quan said sincerely, "It is true that my ability is limited, and after guarding the border for many years, I have been ill overtly and covertly, and I am really weak in guarding the border..."
He looked sincere: "I hope the emperor will give me permission."
"I think you just want to be lazy!" Zhu Di said with a face full of displeasure, "Oh...that's all, guarding the border is really hard. Since you want to rest and recuperate, I can't force you."
After a pause, he added: "Seventeenth brother, you have contributed a lot to my success in these years. My heart is open, Xia Aiqing..."
"I'm here." Xia Yuanji stood up and saluted.
"Prince Ning's annual salary will be increased by five thousand dan on top of the original salary." Zhu Di said boldly, "It is registered in the register."
"...I obey your decree."
Zhu Di smiled heartily and said, "Seventeenth brother, Da Ning is a bitter and cold place. You have suffered a lot these years. I have decided to choose a rich and prosperous vassal land for you in the south of the Yangtze River. Are you willing?"
"Jiangnan?" Zhu Quan was immediately elated, "My brother is willing, thank you for your kindness."
When the vassal kings saw this posture, they didn't understand why. They immediately stood up and resigned, taking the initiative to hand over their military power.
They understood that Zhu Di was not Zhu Yunzhen, and the generals were all united with him. Even if they violently cut down the vassal, they could only endure it.
There is no harm without comparison. Compared with Jianwen, Zhu Di's doing this is already good and cannot be better.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Di said angrily: "Are you working together to force me?"
"My younger brother (nephew) doesn't dare." The kings quickly explained, "My abilities are limited and I can't handle the big task."
The kings asked to resign, but Zhu Di refused.
The kings resigned again, but Zhu Di still refused.
The kings made three speeches, and Zhu Di reluctantly agreed.
Everything was developing as expected. Zhu Di felt very happy and said: "You are all my brothers and nephews. I will not treat you badly. In the second chapter of Aiqing's Records, the annual salary of King Zhou will be increased by five thousand dan. On behalf of the king,
Two thousand stones..."
Except for King Ning and King Zhou, the other vassal kings all added two thousand stones.
Zhu Di originally wanted to add more, but was persuaded by Li Qing and Dao Yan.
After a banquet, such a big matter as reducing the vassal status was quietly solved.
Xiao Zhu spent several years chipping away at himself, but Zhu Di solved the problem peacefully with just a banquet.
After the banquet was over, Zhu Di ordered the feudal king who was guarding the border to return to the feudal territory to pack up his belongings, saying that he would find a good place for them.
The reduction of vassal status was unexpectedly smooth. Zhu Di originally wanted to leave a guard for them, but the kings refused, so Zhu Di had to give up.
In fact, it's not that they don't want it, but that they feel that the fourth child is testing him.
The reduction of the vassalage was so smooth, and Xiao Zhu was indispensable. Without his ruthlessness, how could Zhu Di appear to be benevolent?
Zhu Di was so happy that he felt that the drink was not enough, so he took Li Qing and Dao Yan to the middle hall to continue drinking.
Of course, only Zhu Di and Li Qing were drinking. Dao Yan was a monk and did not drink meat or wine, so they drank while he drank tea.
"Old monk, there are many monks who drink wine, eat meat, and even marry wives and have children. Why are you pretending?
There is a saying..."
"After the wine and meat passed through the intestines, the Buddha remained in his heart." Seeing how hard he was holding back, Li Qing spoke up for him.
"Yes, yes." Zhu Di said in a bad mood and poured a glass for Dao Yan.
Li Qing helped him and had to drag him into trouble.
Daoyan obeyed these two old men and would rather die than obey.
"After drinking this glass of wine, I will reward you with ten beauties." Zhu Di said seductively.
"..." Dao Yan was in constant pain, not to mention that he didn't want to, even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't support him.
A man who is almost seventy, what else can he do besides shed tears?
At this time, Xiao Huangmen hurriedly came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Ning wants to see you."
"Why is he here?" Zhu Di scratched his head in confusion, "Let him come in."
Li Qing and Dao Yan saw this and stood up to leave.
Zhu Di said, "It doesn't matter, it won't take long."
After a while, King Ning came in and paid homage to the king and his ministers.
The two avoided it and stood aside.
Zhu Di helped him up with a smile, "Seventeenth brother, you said you didn't want to say goodbye, why are you so polite?"
"Uh-huh..." Zhu Quan smiled dryly, "I just want to... I want to ask the emperor where he wants to entrust me."
"Where do you want to go?" Zhu Di asked with a smile.
Zhu Quan recalled what his fourth brother had said, "I will become the emperor and share the world with you." He felt somewhat confident and said, "My brother wants to go to Suzhou."
Zhu Di's smile froze and he shook his head slightly, "I'm afraid it won't work in Suzhou. Brother Seventeenth, if you think of another place, I won't give you any permission."
"Then...Hangzhou?" Zhu Quan asked tentatively.
"If you think of one more thing, I won't deny it." Zhu Di's smile faded and his tone was slightly unkind, "Think about it carefully."
There was a surge of anger in Zhu Quan's heart, but he dared to express it and said: "My brother is stupid, it all depends on the emperor."
"Look at you, I asked you to choose but you didn't choose." Zhu Di smiled again, "Then I will help you choose one."
He pondered for a moment, "How about I find you a location west of Jiangnan?"
"My brother is all right." Zhu Quan cupped his hands and said, "May I ask Your Majesty, how biased is this?"
"Hongdu!"
Zhu Quan was dumbfounded. Isn't this too far west?
"Hongdu has pleasant scenery and is a land of plenty. It's the perfect place for a rest. What do you think, Seventeenth Brother?" Zhu Di said with a 'you're welcome' look on his face.
"I... I thank you, my brother." Zhu Quan's face was not very good, "I will leave."
"Well, please go slower on the road and I won't see you off."
Zhu Di muttered: "Returning to Suzhou and Hangzhou is a beautiful idea."