Zhu Rong felt that rather than letting these two people be killed by Zhu Yuanzhang just like that, it would be better to let them go to the north to fight the remnants of the Mengyuan.
The general should die on the battlefield!
"Humph! It's not like you don't know what nonsense these two people said!”
"Why are you still pleading for them?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression softened when he saw Zhu Xiong enter, but he still snorted coldly.
"Imperial Father, these two people are your old subordinates. Before you joined the Revolutionary Army, they followed Uncle Tang to join the Revolutionary Army. Later, they followed Uncle Tang to join Imperial Father's army. They went through life and death for more than ten years and made great contributions to the establishment and unification of the Ming Empire.”
"Even if they are at fault, I hope Imperial Father will spare them on account of their past contributions!”
"They are all veterans and fierce generals. Instead of dying in such a sullen manner, why don't you let them follow me to the northern borders to guard the frontier fortress and eliminate the remnants of the Mengyuan!”
"The general's home is the battlefield. Even if he dies, he should die on the battlefield!”
Zhu Rong tried to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang with emotion and reason, hoping that Zhu Yuanzhang would spare the lives of these two veterans and give them a chance to turn over a new leaf.
Although he was a prince, he was also a general.
Naturally, he had a preference and sympathy for martial artists. If they didn't make a mistake of principle, Zhu Xiong would still try his best to save their lives.
When Liu Dalin and David Li heard Zhu Rong plead for them, they were instantly moved. They felt like they would die for their confidant!
They might be vulgar, or their character might be flawed, but they were still loyal.
How many perfect people were there in this world?
"Forget it!"
"Since Third Brother wants these two people, then I'll give them to you!”
"From today onwards, the two of you will be soldiers under the King of Yan.”
Zhu Yuanzhang's heart softened when he saw his old brothers who had followed him for more than ten years. He waved his hand and threw them to Zhu Rong.
"I thank Your Majesty for sparing my life!"
Liu Dalin and David Li felt like they had been pardoned and kowtowed in thanks.
"If you want to thank someone, thank the King of Yan!"
"Without him, your heads would definitely be moved today!”
"Humph!"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not kill them, it did not mean that he had forgiven them. He glanced at them, snorted coldly, and left.
"Phew!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang left, Liu Dalin and David Li heaved a sigh of relief. Their bodies were covered in cold sweat!
He slowly stood up, his legs still weak. He turned to look at Zhu Rong and knelt down again.
"I thank Your Highness for your great kindness!”
"From now on, the life we are waiting for belongs to His Highness, the King of Yan!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was not joking.
If Zhu Rong hadn't been here today, they would definitely have died!
Zhu Rong had protected their lives, just like their parents!
"Generals, the past is like smoke, and I don't want to say anything more. But now that the Ming Empire has been established, the world is unified!”
"From now on, you must have good conduct, abide by the law, and be a qualified general. Your words and actions, every move, will affect the views of the people of the world towards Great Ming!”
"If you violate the military law again, this king will personally deal with you!”
Zhu Xiong warned the two of them sternly.
In the past, it was the Revolutionary Army, and the military laws were not strict. But now, it was different. It was an empire, and it had to be governed by law in order to maintain long-term stability!
"If we commit the same crime again in the future, we won't have to wait for His Highness to make a move. We will commit suicide to apologize to His Highness!”
After experiencing such a thing today, they didn't dare to do it again. They promised Zhu Rong with a firm voice.
"Alright, I believe you!"
"Get up!"
"Although the remaining Meng Yuan has been banished from the Central Plains, they are still eyeing the grasslands covetously. There will be plenty of opportunities to make contributions in the future.”
"As long as you don't violate Great Ming's laws and contribute to Great Ming, this king will personally request for merit and confer you with titles!”
Zhu Rong supported the two of them by their shoulders and encouraged them sincerely.
He gave a stick and a sweet date. He used both kindness and intimidation. This kind of control method was played by Zhu Rong to perfection.
After Liu Dalin and David Li heard this, hope was rekindled in their hearts. They looked at Zhu Rong with deep gratitude and thanked him again.
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Alright, this is in the past. Don't feel any psychological burden anymore. Work hard in the future.”
Zhu Xiong patted their shoulders and encouraged them, then turned around and left.
Returning to Wenhua Hall.
The scene was still lively, and many generals were already lying on the table.
No one noticed that this seemingly lively and festive banquet had already brought two generals close to the gates of hell.
Although Liu Dalin and David Li had also returned with Zhu Rong, their expressions and attitudes were obviously much more reserved. They did not even dare to say anything more, afraid that they would be called over by Zhu Yuanzhang.
The banquet lasted from morning to noon.
The civil officials were fine. Although they were happy, most of them could control themselves and did not get too drunk.
However, almost all of the generals were completely drunk. Some were lying on the table, some were sprawled on the ground, and some were sleeping soundly with wine jars as pillows.
"Big brother, the banquet is almost over."
"Get someone to arrange for carriages to send these ministers home.”
Zhu Xiong said to Zhu Biao as he looked at the drunk officials.
"It's time to end it."
"The ministers are really happy today. I have never seen them so drunk.”
Zhu Biao nodded and looked at the drunk officials, feeling slightly emotional.
"Haha, they have been fighting for their entire lives. Now that the world is unified, they naturally want to enjoy themselves.”Zhu Xiong said with a smile. He could understand the feelings of these generals.
Zhu Biao ordered the imperial guards to arrange for carriages to send them home one by one.
The ceremony ended here.
A few days later.
Tang He knew about Liu Dalin and David Li, and it spread among Lan Yu, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Fei Ju, and the other generals.
After hearing this, the generals could not help but feel some lingering fear. Fortunately, they did not slip up after drinking.
He had never expected that there would be someone watching him from behind.
Zhu Rong's actions made countless generals feel good about him. They all expressed their goodwill towards him and moved closer to him to seek protection.
After all.
Who hasn't made a mistake before?
Perhaps only Zhu Rong, a prince who was born a warrior, would truly sympathize with and love these warriors!
Zhu Rong did not expect that he would win the loyalty of a large number of martial artists because of a moment of compassion.
Although he couldn't see any use for it now.
However, in the future, if Zhu Biao were to die suddenly like in history, these martial artists would become the greatest support for Zhu Xiong in his fight for the throne!
The Imperial Palace, the royal study.
Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Li Shanzhang, Liu Bowen, the six ministers, and the two sons of Zhu Biao and Zhu Wei. Among the princes, only the two of them were qualified to participate in the court affairs.
Sitting next to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Xi sized up the two young men beside Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang.
They were the famous Prime Ministers Hu Weiyong and Yang Xian.
Both of them were famous people in history. One was the representative of the Zhedong Group, and the other was the representative of the Huaixi Group. They had served as the deputy of the Hall of Governmental Affairs one after another, but they both died tragically in the end.
Especially Hu Weiyong!
In the Hulan Prison that made people's scalps go numb in the future, he was the one who had implicated more than 30,000 people. Old Zhu went crazy from killing!
However, the people who had come were still small and invisible. One was a seventh-rank Hanlin Academy scholar, and the other was a sixth-rank official from the Hall of Governmental Affairs.
"Today, I gathered you here to discuss how to restore the people's lives.”
"Although the Great Ming Dynasty has unified the world, it is a world left behind by the Yuan Court that is riddled with holes. The commoners everywhere are in dire straits, and there are even aristocrats and despots who are wreaking havoc.”
"Tell me, what should we do?”
Zhu Yuanzhang asked everyone.
The first and most important thing to do after unifying the world was to restore the lives of the people so that they could live.
"Your Majesty, the first thing we have to do is to cancel the exorbitant taxes set by the former Yuan Dynasty and call on the people to return to their villages. We will divide the land under heaven into official land and civilian land. The official land will collect rent, while the civilian land will collect taxes. The official rent is higher than the civilian tax.”
Hu Weiyong spoke of the countermeasures he had long thought of, eager to show himself and win Zhu Yuanzhang's favor.
Although Hu Weiyong had a strong sense of power, he was indeed talented.
The plan he proposed was very suitable for Da Ming's current situation.
"Your Majesty, most of the fields in the north are now in a barren state. This humble subject believes that the people who do not have any fields in the Jiangnan area should be moved to the north and allowed to open up wasteland. They will not collect taxes for three years and can quickly restore production in the north.”
Yang Xian was not to be outdone and stood up to add.
"Not bad, you're all right!"
"Indeed, a great teacher produces outstanding disciples. Bowen, Shan Chang, you have produced two great talents for the Great Ming Sect!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with their proposal and praised Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang with a smile.
"Your Majesty praises me too much."
"A clumsy view is not worth mentioning!"
The two of them spoke modestly, but their faces were filled with pride.
Their disciples were like their faces. If their disciples won glory, as teachers, they would naturally have face, especially when they were praised by Zhu Yuanzhang.
"The land allocated to the commoners can restore production and support themselves.”
"But through the lessons of history, this is only temporary. As time passes, the aristocrats will stretch out their claws and claws to seize the land of the people.”
"How can we effectively curb the problem of land annexation?”
After solving the problem of restoring production, Zhu Yuanzhang asked the ministers again.
As a farmer himself, Zhu Yuanzhang was very familiar with the methods of these aristocrats. They seized the land of ordinary people by trickery and forced them to become tenant farmers and exploit them to their heart's content.
He did the most tiring work and ate the least. His parents and brothers starved to death just like that.
Now that he was the emperor, he naturally did not want such a situation to happen again.
This was…
Liu Bowen, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, Yang Xian, and the others fell silent upon hearing this. The issue of land annexation had been a headache for the dynasty ever since Qin Shihuang established the first unified empire.
However, there had never been a good solution for thousands of years.
At the beginning of the dynasty, the emperor distributed the land to the people. The people worked hard and were able to eat their fill. However, as time passed, the new aristocrats began to annex the land, causing these people to lose the land they relied on to survive. They could no longer survive and began to rebel.
The cycle repeated.
It formed a strange circle, but it could not escape from this strange circle.
"Imperial Father, your son thinks that we can implement the household subsidy system and implement a whip law to effectively curb the problem of land annexation.”
Speaking of land annexation, Zhu Xi remembered a whip law proposed by Zhang Juzheng, which greatly curbed the land annexation problem during the Wanli period.
Household subsidy system?
A whip technique?
The two unfamiliar words immediately attracted the attention of Zhu Yuanzhang and all the ministers. They looked at Zhu Rong with surprise.
What kind of method could stop the dynasty from annexing land for thousands of years?
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