The vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty could not raise private soldiers, or they could not raise private soldiers for more than two thousand.

This is the rule set by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di.

You can sit and drink at home, spend time and drink, but it will not give you the opportunity to rebel.

This regulation has made a large number of vassal kings who are rich enough to rival a country.

But most of them stood by and watched the safety of the Ming Dynasty.

This is the case with the King of Fu in Luoyang. He would rather have the city of Luoyang be destroyed and Li Zicheng cooked him and the sika deer into Fushou soup.

He was unwilling to take out money to pay military salaries and motivate Ming soldiers to defend the city (of course he didn't know that he was the way to die)

After his death, Li Zicheng took dozens of carts of gold and silver from his mansion.

From this we can see the wealth of the Ming vassal kings. They not only have the best land resources, but also enjoy extremely high salary from the country.

Their shops, land, etc. will not pay a penny to the court.

However, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's early army almost all rely on robbing them to support them.

After more than a dozen vassal kings were destroyed by bandits, other vassal kings were indeed worried day and night, and were really afraid that they would be confiscated by bandits to destroy their families.

However, Zhu Youjian finally made great efforts to fight back against the enemy army in the capital, so that these vassal kings would no longer be worried and afraid.

But soon, the court began to carry out reforms, not only dividing the land, but also levied commercial taxes.

This reform made these vassal kings extremely angry, which clearly cut off their financial path?

Not only did they refuse to pay the encroached land, they said that they would not pay a penny of commercial tax.

The memorials Li Banghua just now gave Zhu Youjian a letter from them, requiring the cabinet to delete the tax clauses on the vassal kings.

Otherwise, they would join forces with all the vassal kings to put pressure on the court, demanding that the court remove the current cabinet and the ministers of various departments.

Li Banghua told Zhu Youjian all about the obstruction of reform by the vassal kings.

After Li Banghua finished speaking, Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Revenue, also said that he was also threatened by the vassal kings from all over the country.

They asked the emperor to make the decision for them and must restrain some of the vassal kings, otherwise it would be difficult for the reform to proceed smoothly.

Zhu Youjian was almost happy when he heard the complaints from the two officials.

These vassal kings really took themselves too seriously. He was not the cowardly Emperor Chongzhen.

"Two dear ministers, do you know how Shang Yang of the Qin Dynasty died?"

Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua were both stunned. They didn't know what the emperor sold.

As former Grand Secretary, they are of course familiar with history.

"Report to the emperor, I know how Shang Yang died. After Qin Xiaogong died, he was framed by a treacherous minister and killed by King Hui of Qin. The charge was for treason."

Zhu Youjian nodded:

"You are right about Shang Yang's death, but you did not mention his true cause of death. Shang Yang's reforms greatly touched the fundamental interests of the nobles.

After Qin Xiaogong's death, King Hui of Qin came to power, but his foundation was still unstable. In order to stabilize the overall situation, King Hui of Qin had to kill Shang Yang.

Shang Yang's death was also due to his own reform. He had the opportunity to escape, but because of the system he set himself, he killed him.

However, after Shang Yang's death, King Hui of Qin did not abolish Shang Yang's reforms and was still strictly implemented, which made Qin become stronger and stronger, and finally stood out from the seven countries.

It can be said that the Great Qin unified the six kingdoms, and Shang Yang's reforms played a huge role. Do you think I look like Shang Yang?"

The two first-rank officials of the dynasty were surprised that the emperor was able to read history well while he was busy with trouble.

Hearing the Emperor's question, he hurriedly answered:

"Your Majesty, you are your son today. Although Shang Yang is great, how can you compare with my emperor?"

Zhu Youjian laughed:

"My dear friends are too rewarded. Since I understand the importance of reform, can the vassal kings stop my reform? It's like a mantis armed mantis, you just let it go.

If anyone dares to hinder the rise of the Ming Dynasty, I will never spare them. No matter who they are, even Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who crawled out of the imperial tomb to oppose it, would not be able to hinder my reforms."

"Your Majesty..."

"Abide by the order, the emperor is wise and the old minister will leave."

When Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu heard that Taizu crawled out of the imperial tomb and could not stop the Ming Dynasty's reforms, he was shocked.

Thinking in my heart:

"Your Majesty, how can you say this nonsense?"

But I have to admit that this is indeed domineering.

With the support of the emperor, the two of them were full of confidence. They bent down and left after leaving the imperial study room to express their respect for the imperial power.

"Your Majesty, Cao Zhengchun is asking for a meeting."

Zhu Youjian raised his eyebrows and was about to find Cao Zhengchun when the old eunuch arrived, and Cao Cao's descendants were not slow either.

"Show him in."

"Abide by the order"

As soon as the little eunuch left the imperial study room, Cao Zhengchun stepped into the imperial study room.

"I am a humble official Cao Zhengchun pays homage to the emperor and wishes my emperor a long life."

When he saw Cao Zhengchun, Zhu Youjian remembered one of the two saints of the White Lotus Sect who were detained in Zhao Prison.

"Stand up, did that person confess?"

"Report to the emperor, I confessed, but I dare not say anything about my humble position."

Cao Zhengchun's words made Zhu Youjian feel a little funny. Cao Zhengchun, the number one master in the country, even had something he dared not say.

"Cao Zhengchun. Don't show off in front of me. I don't believe there are still things you dare not say. Say something quickly and let go if you have nothing."

Seeing that the emperor was swearing, Cao Zhengchun hurriedly said:

"After the torture of the humble official, he finally confessed that the assassination of the king and the lord were ordered by someone, and the people who ordered them to do things were included in the eight vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty, Fu, Huai, Ji, Qin, etc.."

Zhu Youjian smiled coldly and his face immediately became gloomy:

"Nothing nonsense, this is clearly a false accusation of the White Lotus Sect. If one or two vassal kings collude with the White Lotus Sect, it is reasonable.

How could so many vassal kings collude with the White Lotus Sect? Now vassal kings cannot raise private soldiers, so they have no strength to rebel at all.

With your ability in the West Factory, Cao Zhengchun cannot have no news about this, right? Didn’t I ask you to supervise those vassal kings long ago?

If you can't even do this, your Jinyiwei in the West Factory East Factory can be revoked."

When Cao Zhengchun heard the emperor's anger, he hurriedly fell to the ground, although all the civil and military officials were very afraid of them.

But all this power is given to the emperor, and they are just the emperor's retainers.

"The emperor calmed down. The Dongchang men monitored all the vassal kings, although they all opposed the court reforms.

I also complained and resisted privately, but I did not find anyone who came together with the White Lotus Sect.

The Qin King in Shaanxi was the most arrogant among all the vassal kings and the one with the most fierce opposition to the court's reforms, but Huye did not find any evidence of their rebellion."
Chapter completed!