A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 74: The four treasures of Jianwen, the cabinet’s first appearance

The first thing Zhu Yunwen did after he ascended the throne was to form his own team.

Yan Ji and Huang Zicheng had been important ministers of the East Palace for a long time, and they were quite familiar with Zhu Yunwen, the eldest son of Zhu Biao.

So he used them as his team to reorganize the cabinet.

Yan Ji was recalled from his hometown in Ningbo, Huang Zicheng also returned to the capital, and both of them entered the cabinet.

Besides them, there is another person who Zhu Yunwen will not forget.

"Where is Fang Xiaoru now?" he asked his men.

"In the Prince of Shu's Mansion, I will be the mentor of the Prince of Shu."

"Call him back! Tell him that I appoint you as a cabinet minister."

Fang Xiaoru was once summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang admired his dignified behavior very much, but he also said that "this is not the time to use filial piety." Now that Hongwu has passed away, it is the time.

Zhu Yunwen also had his own way of dealing with former cabinet ministers.

Qi Tai, when Zhu Yuanzhang asked about the ownership of the throne, he had supported Zhu Yunwen, and Zhu Yunwen reciprocated by giving him a promotion to the left minister of the Ministry of War.

Needless to say, Yan Xincheng was recognized as a loyal minister of King Yan, and Zhu Yunwen directly dismissed him from office.Being on the wrong side in the battle to establish the crown prince, this is the consequence.

Wu Bozong and Zhu Yunwen admired his former second place status very much, which proved that their literary and political skills were not weak, so they kept him.

Liu Sanwu also spoke for Zhu Yunwen, and Emperor Jianwen certainly could not treat him badly. His official position was promoted to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, and his official position was the third rank.

Liu Sanwu is relatively lucky. You must know that in the original history, as a Hanlin bachelor, he presided over the imperial examination of Hongwu for 30 years without hesitation.

That was the North-South List case...

However, he finally escaped because he had already joined the cabinet.

However, the other two examiners, Bai Xintuan and Ji Shan, were not as lucky as him. There were 52 Gongsheng students in the spring list, all of whom were from the south. Northern princes jointly signed a letter to protest. Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he shouted in the hall: "Is it my fault?" Ming Dynasty, only half of the country!!!"

The two people and more than 20 other examiners were all executed by Lingchi to thank the world.

Speaking of which, the Yan family was also affected to a certain extent this time, because Zhu Yuanzhang believed that there was fraud in the imperial examination, so the number one scholar was also postponed. The top few border guards in the palace examination and the general examination, and the Yan family's generation did the best in the examination One of them is to try the third...

But this has nothing to do with Emperor Jianwen.

The cabinet was completed and he held the first meeting of the Jianwen Dynasty.

In the imperial study room, four stools were lined up in a row and placed at the bottom. Four middle-aged and elderly people sat on them with straight backs.

Opposite them was a large desk, which was piled with various documents and memorials as always.

It's just that the person sitting on the dragon chair is no longer the majestic old man, but an elegant young man. In his hand, he holds the big seal representing the emperor tightly, as if he will lose it once he lets go.With a faint smile on his face, he glanced at his cabinet ministers.

In his eyes, there was the novelty of this feeling, and even more irrepressible joy.

"Everyone, I have just ascended the throne and my affairs are quite unclear. I still need your help. You are all my confidants. If you have any important matters, please bring them up for discussion." He said in a pretended serious manner.

Yan Ji was the first to speak:
"The most important thing now is the feudal king."

"The power of the vassal king is too great. The three guards are tens of thousands, and the king of Sai even has tens of thousands of soldiers. Once there is a disobedient heart, the world will be in chaos."

"And there are many lawless ones among them, such as King Zhu Su of Qi. They are violent and arrogant, and the people in the fiefdom are miserable. What's the use of keeping these vassal kings!" "I suggest that the guards of the vassal king be reduced and imprisoned in Fengyang, which is illegal. Those who were demoted to common people will be punished."

Yes, the first thing Emperor Jianwen did when he came to power was to cut down the vassals.

In fact, for Daming at this time, the most important thing is this.

It can only be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's idea of ​​establishing a vassal king and adopting the policy of vassal Pingzong was good, but the results were not very good.

Naturally, the vassal kings of the early Ming Dynasty could not be compared with the vassal kings of the Han Dynasty. After all, they did not have their own vassal state, but compared with other clans in history, they exceeded most.

Not to mention anything else, each king has guards ranging from thousands to tens of thousands, which is enough to make most clans in the past dynasties jealous, not to mention that all the kings of Sai have border military power.

During the Zhu Yuanzhang period, because they were all his sons and I was strong, these nine great kings were nine useful swords.

But once Emperor Hongwu dies and the emperor who takes over is not strong enough, the blades of these nine knives will be directed towards the emperor himself.

As far as the clan is concerned, in this world, as long as the person named Zhu is not changed, everything else can be changed.

Even if the person in charge is not Zhu Yunwen but someone else, this vassal must be eliminated, even Zhu Biao.

Because the vassal king has seriously threatened the central court!

Although in name, each vassal king only had three guards, King Yan and King Jin all had more than [-] troops. King Ning had "[-] armored men and [-] leather chariots", and the rest of the Sai kings were also responsible accordingly. Within the scope, it has a greater influence on the local area.

They have only [-] to [-] bodyguards, but when guarding the border, several nearby capitals basically obey their orders.

Once they had any dissent, they raised their arms to the soldiers of the Dusi, but they didn't know how many of them would turn against them.

Like this, you would cut it if it were you.

What's more, Zhu Yunwen's succession did not have Zhu Yuanzhang's endorsement.

He is guilty!

As Zhu Yuanzhang's true favorite, Zhu Di has become a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh.

Therefore, the reduction of vassal status is imminent.

The cabinet ministers also knew this and naturally agreed one after another.

Zhu Yunwen nodded, but showed a heart-wrenching expression:

"Everything I said makes sense. However, they are all my uncles. How can I bear to do this? And the country people don't know the benefits and say that I have no elders and a cold heart. So what? Okay? Let me think about it."

Huang Zicheng said immediately:
"Your Majesty, the matter of cutting down the vassal must not be slowed down. The longer your Majesty delays it, the stronger the vassal king will be. When it comes to big things, you must not look forward or backward! In the past, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty killed his brother and imprisoned his father. He was a wise king, not to mention Your Majesty? As for the rumors in the countryside, Your Majesty You can list the sins of the kings and tell them to the world, and I hope the people will understand your good intentions."

"Okay! That being the case, I will cut off the vassalage as you said. But my uncle's life must not be hurt." Zhu Yunwen finally "reluctantly" agreed to cut down the vassalage.

"Then, which vassal king should be killed first?" Zhu Yunwen asked, but his eyes unconsciously crossed the four people and stopped on the map hanging on the wall.

Peiping.

His eyes were fixed on this.

(End of this chapter)