Prince Yan's Mansion in Nanjing, in the secret room.
At this time, eight people had gathered in the room, all of them were vassal kings from all over the Ming Dynasty, as well as two princes who had reached the age of vassalage.
It can be said that, except for Zhu Gui and the emperor, the highest-ranking people in the Ming Dynasty are all here.
King Yan Zhu Di sat on the main seat in the room, frowning and looking at everyone in the room.
A servant came to Zhu Di and whispered something in his ear. Zhu Di's frown deepened.
At this time, the King of Shu looked at Zhu Di and said: "Fourth brother, hasn't that boy Dai Wang come yet? I see, don't wait for him."
King Xiang also echoed: "That's right, it's getting late. One king with multiple generations is not too much, and one without him is not enough. We can't delay any longer."
Others also nodded, seemingly not wanting to wait any longer.
After all, they all came here at the risk of being discovered by the new Emperor Ming Hui. If something happened, they would probably be imprisoned.
Zhu Di wanted to refuse, but after seeing everyone saying this, he could only sigh and said: "Okay, let's start discussing how to deal with the current situation in Nanjing."
That's right, the day before yesterday, when Zhu Yunwen first became the crown prince, he had already used his power to supervise the country and ordered that the guards of all vassal kings be reduced by half.
Although the military expenses of the guards were borne by the princes' palaces in various places, they had to obey the orders from the imperial court.
At that time, Zhu Di had already contacted several feudal kings with the best connections and communicated the matter with them.
At that time, they had not thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would pass away so quickly, and that Zhu Yunwen would ascend the throne so quickly.
Therefore, no more specific measures were discussed at that time.
But now the situation is completely different. They have reason to believe that Emperor Ming Hui will start to reduce the vassal status.
"Fourth brother, I think we should argue based on reason. The vassal system is a system established by the late emperor. It is the foundation for the long-term peace and stability of our Ming Dynasty. We must not let him mess around." King Xiang stood up and said.
His words received unanimous nods of approval from everyone. After all, they were all beneficiaries of this system.
But Zhu Di did not speak.
At this time, a prince stood up and said: "Actually, the main cause of this incident is the bachelor. If he hadn't strongly supported the reduction of the vassal, and often criticized Yunwen in front of him, how could Yunwen have thought of this incident?
"
At this time, someone coughed, as if to remind him, the prince immediately changed his words and said: "Yes, it is the emperor."
"What do you mean, we have to find a way to get rid of Fang Xiaoru?" King Shu said quickly and directly.
Everyone's eyes flickered, but it could be seen that they did have this intention, but who would do it and how to do it was not a trivial matter.
Don't forget that this is Nanjing. At the feet of the emperor, if the new emperor's favorites are killed, there will probably be a huge wave.
At this moment, Zhu Di, who had been silent, finally spoke.
"Fang Xiaoru is just an introduction. Even without him, I'm afraid the emperor's idea of reducing the vassal will not change. You must not take any chances."
When everyone heard this, their faces immediately became ugly.
Most of them still had the idea of making the emperor change his mind, but after Zhu Di said so, they suddenly became a little uneasy.
The atmosphere in the room became more and more solemn.
Seeing that the atmosphere was almost set, Zhu Di continued: "If, I say so, if the emperor insists on reducing the vassalage, will everyone be aware enough?"
"What enlightenment? Fourth brother, just say it clearly. I will always support you." King Xiang stood up and said.
"Yes, I think so too."
"Me too."
"Count me in."
Suddenly, all the princes and princes in the room became excited.
However, facing such a situation, Zhu Di's expression still did not relax much.
"The consciousness I am talking about is that we must uphold the laws of the late emperor even if we go to war with the imperial court. Do you all have this consciousness?"
Zhu Gui asked in a deep voice.
"Wha, what? Starting a war with the imperial court? Fourth brother, are you kidding? Are you making such a big fuss?"
King Xiang, who had previously said that he would 'always support', now said with a troubled expression.
The expressions on the other people's faces were similar. They really didn't expect that Zhu Di would say such a "rebellious" thing.
Zhu Di had a mocking look on his face when he saw this. He didn't seem to be surprised by the situation in front of him.
So he stood up, came to the King of Shu's chair, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Why are we still sitting here? Have you ever thought about it? That's because the emperor's position is not yet stable.
"
"And for the emperor, what is the biggest threat to his rights? Have you ever thought about it?"
"Aren't they Mongolians?" one of the feudal kings said.
"It was true before, but since the Northern Yuan Dynasty surrendered, the Mongols no longer pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. In this case, we are the biggest threat to the new emperor. This is why Fang Xiaoru's 'theory of reducing vassalage' can
Reasons to convince the emperor."
"It sounds like that's true."
"But we vassal kings don't need the court to pay military salaries?"
"Yes, we have to pay tribute to the court every year. How can this be justified?"
The vassal kings began to pour bitter tears, but they had to admit Zhu Di's words, that is, they vassal kings did pose a threat to the imperial court, but they only made them go to war with the imperial court because of this. Except for Zhu Di, no one present
People have this courage.
Even Zhu Di just wanted to test everyone's confidence, but as expected, he was very disappointed.
He naturally knew that Yan Di's strength was completely unable to compete with the imperial court, so he organized this gathering of vassal kings just to see if he could win over several vassal princes to stand with him.
But now it seems that he still overestimated these people.
But Zhu Di still didn't intend to give up.
He continued: "We are the ones guarding the borders of the Ming Dynasty, but now the new emperor wants to kill the donkey. Do you want to become the meat on the chopping board?"
At this time, King Xiang said with a bitter face: "Fourth brother, don't we understand the truth you said? But even if we were all added up, we would not be the opponent of the imperial court, not to mention that we are still scattered throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Actions cannot be unified at all.”
"That's right. It's easy to say, but it's still too difficult to operate. And in my opinion, isn't it already at this level?"
"It's not here yet, but it's coming soon. I think what the fourth brother said is very reasonable. If the fourth brother starts something, I'm willing to join in."
The people present were divided into two groups and started a heated discussion.