Chapter 71 The Emperor Guards the Country

Han Dynasty.

Whether it was Liu Bang or Liu Che, they were shocked by the division and war in the Central Plains for many years, and worried about the division of the people in the Central Plains in the future. At the same time, they noticed something that surprised them and made them overjoyed: Han nationality! Han people! Orthodoxy!
“Hahahahahahaha!” Liu Bang laughed heartily without any image. He was extremely happy and swept away the depression brought by the Huns. He looked around and said, “Did you see it? Han people! Zifang, Prime Minister Xiao, this is your Han!”

Xiao He and others were also beaming with joy, including Lu Zhi, who was somewhat dissatisfied with Liu Bang. She was also extremely happy about the news and congratulated Liu Bang: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is a joy for Your Majesty and for our Han Dynasty!" In the name of the country and the nation, this is an affirmation of their Han Dynasty and also the best gift to the Han Dynasty!

The first year of Yuanshuo.

Liu Che was also overjoyed, even happier than when he learned of Liu Ju's birth. At the same time, this also strengthened his determination to continue attacking the Xiongnu: "Since I know that future generations will recognize the Han Dynasty, how can I not work hard for this? How can I allow the Xiongnu to plunder the border and bully my people?"

Faced with the emperor who was in high spirits, the ministers did not say much, but just congratulated Liu Che.

Qin Dynasty.

The First Emperor keenly sensed a bad atmosphere: "Han people... are named Han, why not Qin people?" With his contribution to the unification of the Qin Dynasty, why not be named Qin?
Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Fang Xuanling calculated: "The cession of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun lasted 430 years, and the Jingkang period of the Song Dynasty lasted 250 years. This shows that Yanyun should have been ceded before the Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty had not yet unified the country."

Not only was there no unification, but there was also the problem of north-south division and unclear orthodoxy.

Li Shimin frowned, feeling a little depressed. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, China was already divided into many parts. The Sui dynasty unified China, and the Tang dynasty unified China again. He was still trying to unite the people and bridge the differences. Why did the country split again in the future? And it was so serious?

Yes, it was that serious. After all, the Tang Dynasty, including the previous Sui Dynasty, did not have a dispute over the orthodoxy between the north and the south, or even a split in the imperial examination system.

But, the imperial examination? Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui with sparkling eyes: "Xuanling, Keming, this imperial examination seems to be different from the way my Tang Dynasty selects officials." Although there is an imperial examination now, it seems to be very different from that of the Ming Dynasty.

The two were helpless and could only say: "We will study it and try to make some changes to the imperial examination system of our Tang Dynasty. I hope Tianmu will explain it in the future."

Song.

Zhao Kuangyin was struck by lightning.

Although after seeing the previous content of the sky curtain, one had a premonition that the Song Dynasty had not achieved the goal of great unification, but a premonition is one thing and actual confirmation is another.

He was simply speechless and felt something rolling down his eyes.

"Wow, why?" Zhao Guangmei cried. This shouldn't be the case. His Song Dynasty was so powerful, but why didn't it recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun? Instead, it suffered the "Jingkang Shame" and was finally listed with the Liao and Jin Dynasties in history? What a shame!

Zhao Kuangyin calmed down and turned his gaze to his two sons: Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang.

The problem must be with his heirs! Throughout history, the best time for the unification of the Song Dynasty was basically during the founding generations of monarchs. But when it came to this, who else could we ask if not the heirs?

[Zhu Di's relocation of the capital and forcible transfer of the political and economic centers to the north was a powerful measure to deal with the division between the North and the South.

After the capital was moved, Beijing and its surrounding areas became the core ruling area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, and the Han regime's control over North China reached an unprecedented level.

At the same time, along with the relocation of the capital, he insisted on promoting the immigration policy of the Hongwu period. Not only did he settle hundreds of thousands of Han military households and their families from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in Liaodong and Hexi, but he also immigrated heavily from Jianghuai to Hebei, completely reorganizing the population structure of Hebei. This relocation of the capital greatly deepened the process of integration between the north and the south of China and avoided entering a long-term division between the north and the south again. 】

Ming Dynasty, the 13th year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked solemn. He walked up to Zhu Di and patted him on the shoulder: "You did a great job on this matter. You have the style of our Zhu family!"

Zhu Di was a little surprised, but he also straightened his expression and said seriously: "This is my son's responsibility. How dare I not do my utmost to help him?"

The sixteenth year of Yongle.

Zhu Di straightened his expression and ordered his attendants and the crown prince and grandson: "Immigration and the integration of the north and the south are the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. You must adhere to this policy unwaveringly in the future!"

The people around him all agreed, and Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi and Grandson Zhu Zhanji took the instruction seriously.

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng was also thinking about this question. Having just destroyed the six kingdoms, the attitude of the remaining people of the six kingdoms towards the Qin Dynasty was even more hostile than the hostility between the people in the north and south in the miracle. So how should the Qin Dynasty ease the division?
[Apart from this reason, are there any other reasons?
Yes, and they were two problems, and Zhu Di tried his best to solve these two problems together by moving the capital.

These two issues are vassal kings and guarding the border. 】

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

The harmonious atmosphere in the hall disappeared silently. Zhu Di's younger brothers looked at him with ambiguous eyes.

"Fourth brother, you really have weakened the power of your younger brothers." Zhu Bo spoke, his voice choked with sobs, but because he was young, there was no sense of incongruity.

Zhu Di was embarrassed for a moment, and could only say in a gentle voice, "It's my brother's fault, but I... I must reduce the power of the princes. Let alone other things, I am the prince who rebelled in the sky. No, no, it was Jingnan who ascended the throne. However," he straightened his chest and looked solemn, "I swear, I must reduce the power of the princes in a normal way, and I will never let my brothers encounter anything bad."

Thanks to a good nephew who did those things, now there is someone to drag him down with the blame.

The princes and nobles in the palace looked at each other and said nothing more. After all, everyone knew that the feudal lords would be reduced sooner or later. Even if the next emperor did not reduce the power, he would definitely do so later. They were not without psychological preparation. It was just that everyone wanted a decent and stable life, and that was enough.

Who would have thought that Jianwen could behave in such an inhuman way? The fourth brother is a brother after all, and he has some credibility.

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the undercurrents among his sons and asked Zhu Di: "Your solution to these two problems is to depose the princes and let the emperor guard the border himself?" As soon as these words came out, everyone began to think about this issue.

Other dynasties were not clear about this, so why are they not clear about this? The reason why Your Highness/Dad established so many vassal kings was not only to ensure that the descendants of the Zhu family would have no worries about food and clothing, and be rich and prosperous, but also to allow the descendants of the Zhu family to assist the emperor in guarding the four directions and at the same time prevent any unexpected events. This is most clearly reflected in the thirteen kings who fought against the barbarians. They had the greatest military power among the vassal kings, and their responsibility was to guard the borders, respect the emperor and repel the barbarians. Zhu Di himself was also one of the thirteen kings. (Some say nine, but here we take the thirteenth)
After he ascended the throne, he would inevitably reduce the power of the vassal states, especially the remaining twelve kings of the frontier. The means were nothing more than weakening the military power, leaving the vassal states without food and money and relying on the central government, or moving the vassal states inland, etc. If the vassal states were weakened, the power of the frontier states would also weaken. So how to ensure the strength of the border defense and avoid repeating the past of the Song Dynasty?
Zhu Di's relocation of the capital was obviously a response to this.

Zhu Di remained silent, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not urge him. After a while, he slowly replied: "I don't know how I did it, but this should be the best way I can think of."

Other dynasties were not clear about the specific policies of the early Ming Dynasty and were all waiting for the next content of the miracle.

In the early Ming Dynasty, although Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Yuan Dynasty and established a unified Han regime, the Yuan people returned to the north and repeatedly attempted to restore the country. The remaining Northern Yuan forces were still very active in the Lingbei Province, often invading the south, posing a serious threat to the Ming Dynasty.

In order to ensure peace in the north of the Ming Dynasty and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang summarized the ruling experience of successive dynasties since the Western Zhou Dynasty and implemented a ruling system that combined the county system with the feudal system, that is, setting up government offices to manage the people and enfeoffing vassal kings to protect the court.

At the same time, they followed the example of the heroes of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period who invaded the lands of the barbarians and respected the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, and implemented the strategy of "the kings pacifying the borders". In this way, the nomadic peoples would not be able to defeat the frontline princes like Qin, Jin, Zhao, Qi, and Yan who respected the kings and expelled the barbarians to achieve the conquest of the Central Plains.

On the contrary, the nomadic peoples of the Lingbei Province had to face the constant threat of invasion of their pastures and territories by the princes.

He established a total of thirteen Sai kings (initially nine, later increased to thirteen), and promoted the nomadicization of the Sai kings and the northern guards in order to raise the best war horses and cattle and sheep.

The kings of the frontier did not disappoint Zhu Yuanzhang. As the nine princes of Qin, Jin, Yan, Ning, and Liao gradually grew up, they were selected by Zhu Yuanzhang and successively settled in the important towns of northern defense. In their continuous learning and actual combat, they gradually took on the important task of guarding the border and resisting the enemy.

In the 23rd year of Hongwu, the Jin and Yan kings won the northern expedition. Zhu Yuanzhang began to delegate power to the older princes, the Jin and Yan kings, and asked them to replace the meritorious veterans to take on the important task of border defense, command the army to go on expeditions, patrol the border, build cities, cultivate land, train soldiers and select generals. These powerful frontier kings began to occupy a dominant position in the northern defense system.

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Zhu Yuanzhang was quite emotional: "It is not easy for us to plan for this world. I enfeoff you for the stability of the borders of Ming Dynasty and for the prosperity of Ming Dynasty for generations to come."

Han Dynasty, the first year of Yuanshuo.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, watched Zhu Yuanzhang enfeoff his own sons and give them military power, making them an important part of the northern frontier. Although he understood his approach, he disagreed with it. After all, in addition to the external threat of the Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty also faced internal pressure from the vassal kings.

"What was the Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty thinking? Enfeoffment of the kings of the frontiers would definitely lead to rebellion by the vassal kings. If it didn't happen today, it would happen tomorrow." Wasn't the example of the Han Dynasty enough? Moreover, it seemed that there was more than one dynasty between the Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. Were there no examples of vassal kings causing chaos in these dynasties?

[After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he would inevitably reorganize the vassal kings.

But he himself was born as a king of the frontier, and he had been in the northern frontier for more than 20 years, so he was very clear about the role of the king of the frontier in the northern frontier defense. Especially in March of the 31st year of Hongwu, when the king of Jin died of illness, the king of Yan Zhu Di became the most important pillar of the northern frontier defense of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, he was the person who knew best the situation, responsibilities and pressures of the northern border.

You can reduce the power of the feudal lords, but you cannot bring the northern border defense into the equation!
What should we do? Send a general? Of course not. The border town has numerous soldiers. If one is not handled properly, the chaos of the Tang Dynasty will reappear. Do nothing? Even worse. It will weaken the combat effectiveness of the border troops in disguise. Do you want to become like the Song Dynasty?
There was no other way, the emperor had to go himself!

The emperor personally sat in the northern border, and although the pressure on border defense would suddenly increase, wouldn't there be no risk of the border army being weakened? The border army and the central army were combined into one, which ensured high combat effectiveness and prevented the army from getting out of control.

The emperor is here, the princes and grandchildren are here, the imperial mausoleum is here, and the important officials of the court are also here. No one can ignore their own safety. Isn't this a happy ending for everyone? 】

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

King Zhou Zhu Su looked at his fourth brother, a little dazed: "Fourth brother, your idea is really..."

Zhu Di shrugged: "It really worked, didn't it? Judging from what Tianmu said, I think I have achieved my goal in this regard."

The generals looked at Zhu Di subtly. They didn't expect that the Prince of Yan had such a flexible mind. But it is true that although the pressure of defense will increase, there will be many benefits.

For example, the emperor and other royal family members would not be indifferent to border defense like some dynasties in history. The same is true for court officials. As long as they can't escape, they will not look down on the army or overly suppress it. Military pay and weapons can at least be guaranteed. This situation can last until the complete collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, their faces froze. Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you thinking about! The Ming Dynasty will naturally last for thousands of years and will last forever!
Thinking back to the sky, Zhu Di first discovered the problem: "My third brother died of illness? I became the pillar of the northern border defense? No, what about my second brother? My second brother also died?"

Zhu Yuanzhang paused. The second son, Zhu Chong, the Prince of Qin, and the third son, Zhu, the Prince of Jin, were both appointed by him to the north. If they had not died, Zhu Di would not have become the pillar of the border defense. After his old wife passed away and he lost his beloved Biao'er, would he have to lose his two older sons?

For a moment, he couldn't help but burst into tears. Everyone had gone ahead of him! He was the only one left...

The sixteenth year of Yongle.

Emperor Yongle Zhu Di looked at his children and grandchildren with a solemn expression: "I moved the capital so that the emperor can take on the burden of border defense and stabilize the borders of the Ming Dynasty. This is an iron rule, and my children and grandchildren must not change it in the future!"

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Looking at Tianmu's explanation of Zhu Di's ideas, they did agree, but they were a little puzzled. It's okay to send vassal kings, so what if I send generals? As long as they rotate them at the right time...

"Tang Dynasty...the rebellion of the feudal lords!?" Li Shimin stood up suddenly. Could it be that the problem that Zhu Di was worried about was the reason why the Tang Dynasty later weakened, the imperial power declined, and the eunuchs took power?

"Fanzhen means both a vassal state and a town," Fang Xuanling speculated from the name, "Has this important border town become a vassal state?"

Cheng Yaojin also spoke up: "If it's not a vassal king, then it must be a general. I know it, it's the general who controls the army on the border!"

"Not only that, I'm afraid all aspects including the military, politics, and economy have fallen into the hands of local generals." Du Ruhui shook his head. He just didn't know how this general got such great power.

"I think," Wei Zheng said, and everyone looked at him subconsciously, "since it can be described as 'chaos', there is probably more than one important border town. I'm afraid..." All the important border towns of the Tang Dynasty are no longer in the hands of the central government!

Li Shimin only felt a biting cold wind, and in an instant, cold sweat oozed out of his back.

(End of this chapter)