diymy Chapter 131 Your Majesty, I request that my daughter enter the palace to serve you!
Chapter 131 Your Majesty, I request that my daughter enter the palace to serve you!
Chapter 131 Your Majesty, I request that my daughter enter the palace to serve you!
Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied with the attitudes of the Prince of Ning and the Prince of Shu.
His gaze swept over the assembled princes, and wherever his eyes fell, everyone lowered their heads, not daring to make eye contact with Zhu Houzhao.
"So, you all have absolutely no objection to my policy of weakening the power of the feudal lords?"
Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.
The princes present nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty is right. We have no objections whatsoever."
"Whatever laws Your Majesty decrees, we will fully support all your decisions!"
Zhu Houzhao nodded: "Very well, I am very pleased that all my imperial uncles are so understanding and righteous."
"Qiu Ju, take note of the following arrangements I have made."
Qiu Ju, one of the Eight Tigers of the Imperial Clan Court at the time, immediately bowed and listened to the imperial decree: "Yes, Your Majesty."
"The Prince of Ning and the Prince of Min exchanged fiefdoms."
"The King of Shu and the King of Jing exchanged fiefdoms."
"The Tang King and the Su King exchanged fiefdoms."
"Zhu Houzhao exchanged all the fiefdoms of more than a dozen princes in one go."
And basically, it involved exchanging territories between the princes of the wealthy southern regions and the princes of the harsh northern regions.
Upon hearing Zhu Houzhao's order, the Prince of Ning, the Prince of Shu, the Prince of Tang, and others all looked at Zhu Houzhao with stiff expressions, fear, and confusion.
The Prince of Min, the Prince of Jing, the Prince of Su, and others who were able to exchange their lands for the wealthy south were overjoyed and immediately bowed to Zhu Houzhao in gratitude.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty! Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"
The kings of Min and other vassal states in the harsh and cold lands never imagined that one day they would be able to be transferred to the warm and prosperous south to take up their fiefdoms.
Especially at this critical juncture when Zhu Houzhao issued an order to reduce the power of the princes, and all the princes were in a state of fear.
These impoverished princes not only did not become worse off as a result, but actually benefited from the misfortune and their lives became even better than before the reduction of their fiefdoms.
This was definitely a pleasant surprise for them!
Prince Ning and others naturally knew the situation in the fiefdom where Prince Min was located.
Being sent to Minzhou in Gansu, where the Prince of Min resided, was far more painful for him than the reduction of his fiefdom.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Prince Ning knelt on the ground, kowtowing as he asked, "Your Majesty truly does not understand. If Your Majesty intends to reduce the power of the princes, why must you also force us princes to exchange our fiefdoms?"
"We have all lived and thrived in our respective territories for over a hundred years, and we are all familiar with the local customs and traditions."
"His Majesty's sudden demand for us to exchange vassal states is a thankless and exhausting task."
"The exchange of territories among us vassal kings is meaningless to His Majesty!"
The Prince of Ning's words immediately drew echoes from the Prince of Shu, the Prince of Tang, the Prince of Zhou, and others.
Their attitude was consistent: reducing the power of the feudal lords was acceptable, but changing their territories was unnecessary.
However, this greatly displeased the Min King and his group, who had seen a glimmer of hope, and they immediately launched a fierce attack on the Ning King and his group.
"Prince Ning, what do you mean?!"
"His Majesty ordered us to change the vassal states, and you're saying we can just refuse?!"
"Are you openly defying His Majesty?!"
The words of the Prince of Min ignited the anger in the Prince of Ning. He was both shocked and furious, and worried that Zhu Houzhao would take his anger out on him, so he quickly explained.
"King Min, stop spouting nonsense!"
"This is slander! This is blatant slander!"
"When did I ever oppose His Majesty?! I simply felt that changing the vassal states was too time-consuming and laborious, and completely unnecessary!"
With just a few words, Zhu Houzhao completely shattered the already strained alliance of the vassal kings.
In front of Zhu Houzhao, the princes argued fiercely about whether or not to exchange their fiefdoms.
Zhu Houzhao slapped the table, instantly silencing the noisy Fengtian Hall.
Everyone watched Zhu Houzhao sitting at the head of the table in silence, not daring to make a sound.
Zhu Houzhao looked at Prince Ning and the others and said calmly, "Having you exchange fiefdoms is very meaningful to me."
Zhu Houzhao waved to Yu Huatian, who understood immediately and whispered a few words to the West Depot agent behind him.
Soon after, the West Depot agent came to Zhu Houzhao carrying a tray.
On the tray were neatly stacked letters, each one evidence of the private communications between these vassal kings.
Zhu Houzhao grabbed a handful of letters and hurled them at Prince Ning's face.
"Prince Ning, do you really think I'm unaware of your private schemes?"
"Look for yourselves, have I wronged you?"
"Are there any words misspelled in these letters?"
The letter slammed into Prince Ning's face, and he shuddered, an overwhelming fear instantly engulfing him.
Looking at the letters scattered all over the ground, Prince Ning reached out with trembling hands and opened one of them.
The letters contained records of his private communications with other vassal kings.
Every word, every sentence, even every punctuation mark is exactly the same!
How could this happen?
How could this happen!
To Prince Ning's horror, he discovered that their every move had been clearly observed by Zhu Houzhao.
Everything they had done before was laughable, like a clown jumping around on a beam.
The Prince of Ning's hand holding the letter began to tremble violently, tears and snot streaming down his face: "This—this—"
"Your Majesty, this—this is…please let me explain—"
Zhu Houzhao stood with his arms crossed, leisurely watching the Prince of Ning kneeling on the ground.
"Speak, I'm listening."
Prince Ning stammered for a long time, but still couldn't give a decent explanation.
Zhu Houzhao's patience had run out, and he suddenly raised his voice: "Enough!"
"You southern vassal kings, you clearly occupy a land of unparalleled wealth, yet you are still not satisfied."
"Do I need to find out exactly how many taels of silver you earn each year?!"
The southern princes present all lowered their heads, none daring to meet Zhu Houzhao's gaze.
"They have secretly colluded with other vassal kings, formed cliques for personal gain, and attempted to unite against my decrees—"
"Prince Ning, if you weren't my own uncle, I could charge you with treason based on this alone!"
"Just like the Prince of Nan, I'll exterminate your entire family, strip you of your title, and abolish your fiefdom—Prince Ning, do you think this method would satisfy you more?"
Prince Ning said tremblingly, "Your humble servant dares not, Your humble servant has been wrong!"
"Your Majesty, I have committed heinous crimes! Your Majesty, my sins are beyond measure!"
"Your Majesty has already shown me extraordinary mercy, a kindness as heavy as a mountain. I kowtow to express my gratitude for Your Majesty's holy grace. I am willing to exchange fiefdoms with the Prince of Min."
That's how the princes of the Ming Dynasty were; they always preferred compromise.
When you say you want to reduce the power of the feudal lords, they disagree, but when you say you want to exchange their territories, they agree to reduce their power.
But if you tell him you're going to kill his whole family, he'll suddenly agree to change his fiefdom; he's always so easy to talk to.
"And you?!"
Zhu Houzhao then looked at the other princes, grabbed the letters from the table, and threw them at them.
"Did you write these letters yourselves?!"
"Are you all trying to band together and challenge me?!"
Zhu Houzhao's expression was restrained, but the actions of his hands betrayed his anger.
The princes quickly waved their hands and said, "Your Majesty misunderstands, we wouldn't dare!"
"You'd better not dare," Zhu Houzhao said coldly. "This is the last chance I'm giving you."
"If there is a next time, I will join the Southern King!"
Thinking of the tragic fate of the Prince of Nan, everyone felt a chill in their hearts and quickly bowed to accept the order: "Yes, Your Majesty, your humble servant obeys!"
Thus, the princes who were initially opposed to Zhu Houzhao's change of fiefdoms now accepted it with heartfelt gratitude.
Among them, the ones who benefited the most were naturally the King of Min, the King of Jing, the King of Su, and others in those remote areas.
After dealing with the matter of the vassal kings, Zhu Houzhao looked at Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou.
"Have you thought it through?"
"After joining the imperial court, you won't be as free as you are now."
Lu Xiaofeng quickly replied, "As subjects of the Ming Dynasty, we should naturally serve the Ming court and His Majesty!"
"very good."
Zhu Houzhao nodded: "You don't need to reveal your identities. Just think of them as my spies in the martial arts world."
"From now on, you will be in contact with Zhuge Zhengwo. If anything happens, I will arrange for Zhuge Zhengwo to inform you."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Circumstances dictate that no one can change the situation. Even if Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou felt helpless, they could only nod in agreement.
From then on, they were no longer simply people in the martial arts world.
They are a secret agent planted by the imperial court in the martial arts world. They must act whenever the court needs them.
Having done the two things that needed to be done, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said, "It's late, I won't keep you any longer, you may all leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This humble subject takes his leave."
The princes left the Fengtian Hall with mixed feelings of joy, sorrow, lingering fear, and relief.
Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou, the only surviving martial arts figures in the capital, also bowed and withdrew from the Fengtian Hall.
At this moment, Ling Luoshi suddenly stepped out of the queue and knelt down to Zhu Houzhao to plead his case.
"Your Majesty, I have an important matter to request."
Seeing Ling Luoshi kneel down, Ling Xiaodao, who was standing next to him, quickly followed suit and knelt down before Zhu Houzhao.
The others in Fengtian Hall gradually left the hall, leaving only Zhu Houzhao, Ling Luoshi and his daughter, and a group of eunuchs.
Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian remained standing on either side of Zhu Houzhao, their gazes coldly fixed on Ling Luoshi.
Zhu Houzhao looked at Ling Luoshi kneeling before him and asked casually, "What is it?"
Ling Luoshi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have a request."
"My youngest daughter, Ling Xiaodao, is sixteen years old and still unmarried."
"Your humble servant humbly requests that the knife remain in the palace to serve Your Majesty!"
Upon hearing Ling Luoshi's words, everyone in the room stared at him in astonishment.
Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian frowned as they looked at Ling Luoshi, wondering what trick he was up to now.
Ling Xiaodao stared at her father in disbelief, her mind blank.
Even Zhu Houzhao felt a sense of doubt and confusion.