Zhu Di lost his patience and said in a cold tone: "I ask you, are you willing to become a vassal?"
"I don't want to!"
"good!"
Zhu Di nodded and left directly.
…
An hour later, the imperial eunuch led the wolf-like and tiger-like guards in royal robes and came over and read out the decree:
"The emperor is destined to be transported by heaven and summons:
The King of Han has committed many illegal acts, has no superiority, and has no intention of repenting... Now, I am stripping off my official uniform, expelling him from the palace, and entering the Xihua Gate to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors. I admire this!"
Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment, then became furious: "I want to see the emperor...!"
"I'm sorry, King Han, Your Majesty, he doesn't want to see you." The eunuch who delivered the order cleared his throat and looked at the guard behind him, "Why don't you send King Han to Xihua Gate quickly?"
The Jin Yiwei stepped forward and saluted, "The King of Han has been offended, and even though I have a humble position, I only acted according to my orders."
With that said, Zhu Gaoxu was forcibly escorted out of the palace, regardless of the sweet smell coming from his mouth.
~
The news spread quickly, and all the officials were shocked when they heard it.
No one expected that the King of Han, who had great glory in the past, would end up like this and be directly imprisoned.
Everyone understood that the sun was setting on the king of Han, and there was no hope of recovery.
For a moment, the threshold of the East Palace was about to be trampled through. He expressed his loyalty and worshiped the pier, which made Xiaopang have a headache.
...
Qianqing Palace.
Xiaopang advised: "Father, think twice, my second brother is not guilty of this, so we should lift the confinement and let him go as a vassal!"
After all, they were brothers, and he didn't want his younger brother to be in such misery.
Zhu Di snorted coldly: "How can a woman be an emperor if she is benevolent?"
"But he is your biological son!" Xiaopang said, "Does the father really want to destroy him?"
Zhu Di paused, then angrily tossed his sleeves, "Why not? If I die, can you control him?"
"Can hold it!"
Xiaopang is very confident, "He can't make waves. If he doesn't have this confidence, then I won't be the prince."
Zhu Di glanced at him in surprise, with a rare look of satisfaction in his eyes. He pondered for a moment and sighed: "I will be the bad guy. You go and be a good person. Let him be a vassal as soon as possible. We can't delay it any longer."
"Yes, I obey the order." Xiaopang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Father, does your mother not know about the imprisonment of your second brother?"
"No." How dare Zhu Di let her know.
Xiaopang was completely relieved and headed to the Yongqing Marquis Mansion, dragging Li Qing along with him to Xihua Gate.
~
Zhu Gaoxu took off his python robe and was only wearing plain clothes. He was drinking alone, his face full of grievance and unwillingness.
"King of Han."
"Second brother."
Zhu Gaoxu continued to eat and drink as if he didn't hear the two people's greetings.
The two of them looked at each other, walked to the table and sat down. The fat boy was not polite and concentrated on eating and drinking, which was better than the fat boy.
Before long, a table of wine and food was almost ready.
Zhu Gaoxu could no longer remain indifferent and said, "I'm already like this, and you're still robbing me?!"
"Don't be so stingy. Brother, I will pay you a table again." Xiaopang said with a smile.
However, his show of kindness was met with ridicule from Zhu Gaoxu, "Stop being so hypocritical. I'm afraid you can't even wake up from your dreams with a smile like this."
"Second brother, what are you talking about? My eldest brother is not that kind of person."
Zhu Gaoxu snorted coldly and turned away, "Stop pretending, now that there is no threat to your status, you are still not allowed to go to the temple to burn incense?"
The little fat man smacked his mouth and was about to say something, but Li Qing beat him to it.
"King Han, if you become the crown prince or even the emperor, what will you do?"
"Of course it's to conquer Mobei and pacify the grassland." Zhu Gaoxu looked at the boss proudly and disdainfully, "Can you do it?"
"I can't!" Xiaopang said truthfully.
Li Qing also nodded: "The King of Han is very brave and can lead troops to fight far better than the prince. However...the emperor has already done these things and done them very well. Will the King of Han only copy the emperor's homework?"
"You fart...!" Zhu Gaoxu roared, "I have no chance. If I were in the position of the boss, I would be much better than him."
"How to do it specifically?"
"Specific..." Zhu Gaoxu was stuck. He couldn't say anything to prove himself for a while, and said bitterly, "You came here to amuse me on purpose, right?"
"No." Xiaopang took over, "Actually, being a prince or even an emperor is not as wonderful as you think. If there is a choice, I would really like to switch with you."
"Haha." Zhu Gaoxu sneered, "You are the prince now, of course you can say that, how noble you are!"
Xiaopang smiled helplessly and said: "Let's do this. I will give you half an hour. As long as you can come up with a strategy that benefits the country and the people and can be implemented smoothly, I will give you the position of prince."
He said it sincerely, but Zhu Gaoxu had been deceived by Zhu Di and didn't believe it at all.
"You give in? Are you the emperor?"
"Since I was little, how have I ever lied to you?" Xiaopang asked back.
Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment and fell into thinking. A quarter of an hour later, when he was about to speak, Li Qing added: "If it's about fighting and killing, forget it. Now the Ming Dynasty can't stand the torment. You know that the treasury has no money."
"..." Zhu Gaoxu couldn't argue and fell silent again.
Time passed minute by minute, but he had no clue at all. Zhu Gaoxu found sadly that he seemed to know nothing except fighting and killing.
Seeing this, Xiaopang advised: "Second brother, it's better to leave the feudal clan. What's wrong with enjoying life, eating, drinking and having fun?"
After a pause, he said, "Besides being worshiped by hundreds of officials every day and being more majestic, what else is there to do with being an emperor?"
Zhu Gaoxu wanted to refute, but couldn't find a reason.
After struggling for a long time, he said dejectedly: "Okay, I can afford to lose. If you win, I'll leave."
Xiaopang smiled, and Li Qing felt relieved.
Finally, there is no need to continue internal consumption. All energy can be focused on reforming the New Deal, and the people can also rest.
…
Zhu Gaoxu was very decisive. After returning to the palace, he immediately asked people to pack his things. It was already evening after finishing the packing, but he could not stay for a moment and set off overnight.
He didn't have much objection to the boss, but he was angry with Zhu Di, his father.
Without notifying Zhu Di, he took his wife and children to Le'an Prefecture.
It was dark and the palace was locked, and only Li Qing escorted him out of the city.
Outside the city, Zhu Gaoxu looked back at Jinling City again, with a touch of self-mockery on his lips, and glanced at Li Qing again, "No need to send it off, I will never come back in this life!"
"It's not necessary..."
Before Li Qing finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu got into the sedan and said coldly: "Let's go!"
The bearer raised his whip, the wheels rolled, and the honor guard followed.
The carriage gradually moved away, and after a while, it disappeared into the night. Li Qing sighed and turned his horse back.
…
The next day, morning.
The news that the King of Han had proposed vassalship spread in the court, and the civil officials beamed with joy, while the generals remained silent.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhu Di formally included the tenements into the mu in Yongle's new policy.
In the court, Li Qing supported him, Xia Yuanji helped, Jian Yi and Xi Ni, and Zhu Di issued the edict of "shooting the first bird", no one in the court objected.
Although the officials were unhappy, the national policy was finally put on the agenda and gradually implemented in the areas where the land had been cleared.
The situation progressed unexpectedly smoothly, and one of the reasons why Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu resigned from the vassal state was indispensable.
Sacrifice the King of Han and bring happiness to thousands of people.
The Yongle New Deal was in full swing, but Li Qing, the initiator, was extremely free. The specific implementation was carried out by Xia Yuanji, the Ministry of Husbandry, and Jian Yi, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was coordinated up and down.
Apart from seeing the Queen, Li Qing basically had nothing to do.
In fact, he is not the only one who has leisure time. Zhu Di is also very leisurely. Who allowed him to have such a big son?
Under Xiaopang's operation, the New Deal was carried out in an orderly manner. Facts have proved that most civil servants are very capable if they work hard.
Of course, these are the benefits that Xiaopang has obtained for them, and their family enjoys a 30% discount on taxes.
In order to compete with the officials for welfare, Xiao Pang had a hard time confronting his father in court. The father and son almost came to a fight, but he finally managed to save the interests of the officials.
The ministers were filled with gratitude. Even the military generals had greatly reduced their prejudice against Xiaopang. They also had a large amount of land. Xiaopang's persistence allowed them all to enjoy benefits.
No matter how troublesome things are, once someone is more troublesome than him, his mood will be much better.
This is the mentality of civil servants, and the New Deal cannot stop it. It is not unacceptable to have this result.
Taking money to do things has been done since ancient times.
The prince has paid so much for them, and they will not let the prince pay in vain. They work very hard.
Of course, the more important thing is that if you don’t work hard, the discount will be cancelled.
Those who are really unlucky are the wealthy landlords and gentry who have nothing to do and have no background. After they share their land, they only pay 10% of the tax.