Chapter 456: Yang Jian-Style, "Thank You, Grand Master!"

"Grandmaster, the princes have arrived outside the palace."

In the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Xu Xin was "praying" for the emperor. At this time, Cao Zhengchun came outside the palace and reported the matter of the princes of close relatives entering the capital.

The vassal system of the Ming Dynasty had a big problem. To be more precise, all the systems left by Zhu Yuanzhang were okay at the time, but in fact, they were all problems. He only cared about his own pleasure, such as the guards and vassal kings. If they were not changed later, they would sooner or later drag down the court.

Just like the vassal system, the second emperor Zhu Yunwen reduced the vassal, and Zhu Di came to Jingnan to seize the throne.

When Zhu Di seized the throne in Jingnan, the excuse he found was that Zhu Yunwen did not follow the ancestral system to reduce the vassal, so for the sake of the legal system, he must not reduce it, but can only suppress it.

At the beginning, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty really had real power and troops. Then after a series of policies to suppress and reduce power, the vassal kings were suppressed to the point of being useless. They kept people under control, not to mention entering the capital, and were not even allowed to leave the vassal. The key is that the problem is becoming more and more difficult to solve.

Now that the country has been founded for a hundred years, the imperial court has put a lot of pressure on the finances of the court to bear the clan salaries of these vassal kings. The key is that there will be more and more of these clan members who are raised like pigs.

Xu Xin looked down on these guys and naturally wanted to get them out of the Ming Dynasty. It was not a good thing to raise them one by one.

Such things, of course, must be done by chance. When the emperor passed away, the kings submitted a petition to mourn according to the rules. According to the original rules, it would basically not be approved, but Xu Xin agreed this time and let the close relatives, that is, Zhu Youtang's brothers, return to Beijing to mourn.

"Please come in, kings!"

Xu Xin did not look back, but just focused on the emperor's coffin.

Cao Zhengchun turned around to call, and soon a group of people came in. The leader was probably in his early thirties, a little younger than Xu Xin. He was Prince Xing Zhu Youtang, the fourth prince recorded in the genealogy of Emperor Chenghua.

Zhu Wushi counted these princes who were not included in the genealogy separately. There were a total of 15 sons recorded in the genealogy for Emperor Chenghua, and Xu's stinky boy ranked 15th. Zhu Youtang ranked third, and after him was Prince Xing Zhu Youluo, who was also the head of the close relatives.

"Empress! Prince! Grand Master!"

The princes headed by Zhu Youluo saluted the queen, prince, Xu Xin and others in front of the mourning hall, and they were all very terrified and panicked.

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, after the princes left Beijing to become vassals, they would basically have no chance to return to Beijing. When their eldest brother passed away, the princes originally just issued a memorial saying that they wanted to go to the funeral according to convention, but who knew that Grand Master Xu Xin actually agreed.

This made the princes who returned to the capital very terrified. They all knew the ability of this Grand Master. In recent years, he had made drastic reforms, and he had dealt with things like opening the sea, guarding the garrisons, and redundant soldiers. The remaining big heads were the vassal kings and civil officials. The key was that the problems of civil officials were hidden and not obvious.

Therefore, anyone who has a little bit of heart knows that Xu Xin might take action against the vassal kings next. The first batch of princes summoned to Beijing might be the "Kun'er" who were killed as a warning to others.

"Let's meet the late emperor first!"

Xu Xin waved his hand and walked out of the Qianqing Palace.

The kings headed by Zhu Youtang were relieved after Xu Xin left. After they respectfully offered incense to the late emperor, they talked to the emperor's sister-in-law Zhang, all wanting to find out the rules of the court.

Zhang's words comforted them not to be anxious. She only had a general understanding of what Xu Xin was going to do, and the key was that she couldn't tell them in advance.

The funeral affairs of the late emperor Zhu Youtang were barely completed after nearly two months, and then the new emperor ascended the throne, that is, it was almost the end of July, and the court began to hold a grand court meeting again.

The grand court meeting in July of the 18th year of Hongzhi was moved from the Fengtian Hall to the Jinluan Hall. The Jinluan Hall that was destroyed in the 23rd year of Chenghua had been rebuilt long ago.

The Golden Throne Hall is a symbol of imperial power. It is more ceremonial than practical. It is not a hall that the emperor usually uses for court meetings. The reason why today's court meeting is held here is because it is the first court meeting after the new emperor ascended the throne.

This time, the court meeting was not only held in the newly built Golden Throne Hall, but also the person who presided over the court meeting was changed. The new emperor sat on the dragon throne, and the queen mother Zhang was behind the curtain. However, they were not the protagonists of the court meeting. The protagonist was the Grand Tutor Xu Xin who stood slightly below the emperor.

Although the queen mother was behind the curtain, according to the emperor's will, she could not express her opinions. The same was true for the emperor. Before he took power, all major matters were decided by the Grand Tutor, which was equivalent to letting Xu Xin be the regent.

"Go to court! Go to court..."

Accompanied by the loud shouts of Cao Zhengchun, the court meeting that had been suspended for many days finally started again. The court officials with various beasts embroidered on their chests walked into the Golden Throne Hall after being inspected by the Han general.

"If you have something to say, please report it. If you don't, please leave the court."

The chief eunuch Cao Zhengchun stood a little lower and shouted loudly.

"Long live the emperor."

The ministers bowed their heads and cheered loudly. The object of their greeting, the fifteen-year-old emperor on the dragon throne, subconsciously looked at Xu Xin, the Grand Tutor.

Xu Xin nodded to the little emperor. It can be seen that Zhu Houzhao is indeed a little stage-frightened and dependent on him now, but it may be hard to say in the future.

The emperor will grow up, and people's hearts will change.

Soon, all officials reported some recent major events, and Xu Xin gave suggestions one by one, and the emperor basically accepted them.

In fact, these things had already been set by Xu Xin before the grand court meeting. The so-called big meetings were held in small meetings, and the big meetings were held... just going through the process.

One matter after another was dealt with, and soon another minister reported, saying that the emperor's fifteenth uncle, Renwang, had come of age, and it was time to declare vassal status.

"Uncle Benevolent Emperor wants to become a vassal, this matter...Grand Master..."

Emperor Zhu Houzhao quickly looked at Xu Xin.

Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang didn't have many children, only Zhu Houzhao and Princess Yunluo. However, in the first year of Hongzhi, he also had a close relative, Emperor Renwang, so the emperor and Renwang had known each other since childhood and had been playing together until they were adults. The emperor's martial arts skills were still his. As a teacher, he naturally doesn’t want his playmates to leave.

Just like Zhu Youtang trusted Xu Xin and Zhu Wuwu, Zhu Houzhao trusted the King Ren the most. He really wanted to be like his father who left Zhu Wuwu to assist the government. In the future, he would rule in person and make the King Ren his right-hand man. The royal family should have its own strength.

"Nioh is old enough."

Xu Xin's sentence set the rules, and Zhu Houzhao was naturally helpless and could only say that he would choose a better fiefdom.

The Ming Dynasty was divided into so many generations and dozens of princes. In fact, the real good fiefdoms have long since disappeared. For example, Zhu Youtang's biological brother, the best one can only be granted the title of Prince Xing, and the King of Qin, King Jin, and Zhu Di during the Zhu Yuanzhang period. The kings of Han and Zhao who were granted titles during this period are simply incomparable.

"Fief the land in Liaodong, follow the old system, and establish a vassal state..."

Xu Xin's simple words set off a shocking wave in the court, especially among the close relatives such as King Xing.

"Grand Master, Liaodong is just a place of restraint..."

"Then fight, and then start immigration after plowing the court. There are annexations in various places, and there are a lot of refugees. It's time to solve the problem together..."

Xu Xinzhong had already prepared a draft, and he spoke quickly and clearly when asked.

Not long after, King Ni came into the palace to express his gratitude.

He was dressed in silver armor and stood in the Golden Palace. He said, "Thank you, Grand Master!" He had a certain demeanor like Erlang Yang Jian.