"What's wrong? I've been frowning since I saw you just now. Is there anything difficult?" Li Jie poured Mu Sheng a glass of wine, and then asked.

This is Li Jie's residence. After the two of them said goodbye to Zhu Yunyu, he asked someone to prepare a table of wine and food to welcome Mu Sheng, an old friend who had not seen him for many years.

Hearing Li Jie's inquiry, Mu Sheng sighed. He had nothing to hide in front of his old friend, so he drank the wine in front of him and then said, "Your Majesty's intention to reduce the vassal states is settled. Even King Min has been arrested. Next, he will officially reduce the vassal states?"

"This is obvious, but what does it have to do with the reduction of the vassal state?" Li Jie asked in discomfort Mu Sheng, looking at the distressed Mu Sheng.

"Brother Li, why are you confused? The essence of reducing the vassal states is to eliminate local military forces and thus strengthen the imperial court's control over the local area, but our Mu family..."

Mu Sheng suddenly stopped and didn't say anything more, but Li Jie finally understood what he meant. The title of the Mu family was originally just a marquis of Xiping. Mu Sheng made great contributions after inheriting the title, so he is now appointed as Duke of Qian.

There were many dukes in the Ming Dynasty, such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Tang He and others, who were all dukes, and were named kings after their death, and their descendants also inherited the title of duke.

However, Mu Sheng, the Duke of the Kingdom, is quite special, because although there were many Dukes of the Ming Dynasty, most of them were deprived of military power by Lao Zhu. Even the generals who led the troops such as Lan Yu or Fu Youde did not have permanent troops under their command. Only when the court needed them to lead the troops would they have the power to lead the troops.

In contrast, the Mu Mansion is completely different. Because the Mu Mansion is in Yunnan and is too far from the center of power of the Ming Dynasty, the Mu Mansion holds a heavy army and has a considerable power in his hand, which can almost be said to be a separatist.

In other words, although the Mu Mansion only has one Duke’s title, the power in his hands is not inferior to that of the prince, and may even be stronger. Therefore, if the vassal state is to be reduced, the Mu Mansion should actually be within the scope of being cut.

The reason why Li Jie ignored the above was actually mainly influenced by later generations, because the Mu family was a very special force. He was obviously in power, but he was deeply trusted by the court. He still resisted until the Ming Dynasty was destroyed. Therefore, Li Jie never thought that the court would put the matter of reducing the vassal states on the Mu family.

However, now that he heard Mu Sheng's words, Li Jie finally realized that the Mu family's status in Yunnan was not achieved overnight. Even when Lao Zhu was in power, he had already begun to consider weakening the Mu family.

For example, King Min was originally enthroned in Shaanxi, but later changed to Yunnan. In fact, he was used to restrain Mu Ying. Unfortunately, King Min himself was not successful and did not understand Lao Zhu's intention at all. He also did something wrong in Yunnan, and ended up with his current consequences.

The Mu family in history really gained recognition from the court in Yunnan, in fact, after Zhu Di won the world, he had just won the throne. In order to appease the Mu family, he rewarded the Mu family, and Mu Sheng also showed great obedience. This was why he received the tacit approval of the court and became the only separatist force of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the Mu family was also loyal to the Ming Dynasty and never had a second heart. This was also one of the main reasons that reassured the court.

Now that Zhu Di has gone to America, the Mu family lacks the acquiescence of the court. Although they now hold heavy troops, their treatment is similar to that of the prince. After all, Mu Ying was the godson of Lao Zhu, so if the vassal was reduced, the Mu family would probably be implicated.

Even Li Jie suddenly thought that Zhu Yunxi asked Mu Sheng to escort King Min to Nanjing in person, and maybe he wanted to take this opportunity to deprive some of the troops in Mu Sheng's hands.

Thinking of this, Li Jie was silent for a long time before asking Mu Sheng: "What do you think?"

"Me?" Mu Sheng also showed a confused look on his face. After a moment, he spoke, "To be honest, I am very reluctant. It's not that I can't bear to give up the military power in my hands, but that the situation in Yunnan is special. The garrison here must maintain a certain degree of independence, otherwise it will be difficult to deal with the situation here."

Li Jie also agreed with Mu Sheng's words. The situation in Yunnan is indeed special. It is not only too far from the capital, but also located on a plateau, surrounded by mountains, and the transportation is very inconvenient. Jiaozhi, which is even farther away than Yunnan, is much stronger in transportation than Yunnan, because Jiaozhi is located on the sea and can be easily connected by sea. In contrast, it is extremely difficult to cross the mountains if you want to enter Yunnan.

In addition, Yunnan has a complex ethnic group and the number of Han people does not have an advantage, so a heavy army must be stationed, and this force must have a certain degree of independence. It cannot be reported to the court before it can react.

It is precisely because of the above special reasons that the Mu Mansion has always existed in history. It is also because of the loyalty of the Mu Mansion that Yunnan was finally included in China's territory. You should know that before the Ming Dynasty, even if the Central Plains dynasty could conquer the place for a short period of time, its rule over it was very loose, and it could even rely on indirect rule by local native leaders, rather than directly ruling Yunnan through the Mu Mansion like now.

Of course, the situation in the Ming Dynasty has changed a lot now, and even transportation has improved greatly. For example, trains and steamships have appeared, but these new technologies are not very useful to Yunnan. Steamers cannot enter Yunnan, but trains are OK, but it is difficult to build a railway among the mountains of Yunnan.

You should know that even in later generations, Yunnan's transportation was ranked behind among the provinces, because it was too difficult to build roads in Yunnan, and it was stronger than Tibet and Xinjiang.

"Brother Mu, I think you may have been thinking too much. With the current conditions, the court still needs your Mu family to be in charge of Yunnan. Only in this way can we ensure the peace of the southern border of the Ming Dynasty!" Li Jie thought for a long time and finally spoke again.

The Mu Mansion is in charge of Yunnan, and its influence is not limited to the Yunnan province, but to the entire southern Xinjiang. After all, as long as Yunnan is not in chaos, no major problems will occur in other provinces around it. The most important thing is that the Mu family is loyal enough, which is extremely rare in history. Of course, only Li Jie himself knows this.

"Li Jie, do you think what you said is your own opinion, or does Your Majesty have the same opinion?" Mu Sheng was shocked when he heard this and asked with concern immediately. If this was also Zhu Yunxi's opinion, then their Mu family would be safe.

Unfortunately, this is just Li Jie's own opinion. As for Zhu Yunxi, Li Jie doesn't know what he thinks about the Mu family?
Chapter completed!