Chapter 5

"In the previous Song dynasties, the sea was never banned; the people were prosperous beyond anything in history!"

"Your Majesty's ancestral decree banning the sea is no different from cutting off your own arm!"

At these words.

Zhu Yuanzhang's aged face instantly darkened.

"Is it truly as prosperous overseas as you claim?"

Su Qiao helplessly shrugged his shoulders, then looked Zhu Yuanzhang straight in the eye and said

"I'm not certain whether it's prosperous or not."

"But I am certain that enough grain can be found overseas!"

Saying this, Su Qiao raised his voice clearly

"To the south of our Great Ming lies a country called Jiaozhi, and another called Annan; both were former territories of the Tang dynasty."

"Your Majesty, do you know why these two lands submitted, then rebelled again, rebelled, then submitted again, until they reached today's state?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in confusion

"Why?"

Su Qiao cleared his throat and said solemnly

"Nothing else."

"Their lands are rich, while our Great Ming is poor!"

"That is why Jiaozhi and Annan submit, then rebel again!"

Before he finished speaking, Huang Zicheng, standing nearby, could no longer hold back and pointed his finger at Su Qiao's nose, shouting

"Audacious! This is Jinsen Hall—how dare you, this villain, speak nonsense here!"

"Your Majesty, I humbly petition to have this man pushed out Wumen and executed by slow slicing!"

Su Qiao paid absolutely no attention to Huang Zicheng's words.

His mind held only one thought.

Slow slicing would do too?

Otherwise, a simple beheading won't make this money feel earned!

5, The Zhu family's realm must be stained with Zhu family's blood!

"Stand down!"

Huang Zicheng stepped forward and shouted to the group of Embroidered Uniform Guards behind him

"Did you all hear that? Your Majesty orders you to drag this man away!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guards froze, startled.

They were about to move forward.

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed his hand on the table and roared

"I told you to stand down!"

Huang Zicheng shuddered and finally stepped back.

Zhu Yuanzhang then fixed Su Qiao with a blank expression

"Young man, continue with your words."

"The Central Plains are the Celestial Empire—how could it be less prosperous than Jiaozhi or Annan?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qiao was momentarily stunned.

Are you out of your mind, Old Zhu?

You're not even cutting my head off?

Su Qiao took a deep breath and sighed helplessly

"It's not that their lands are less prosperous than the Central Plains."

"It's that their lands are richer than Guangdong and Guangxi, Lingnan, thus economically severed from the Central Plains."

"Just as Gao Li is prosperous in Liaodong, hence Gao Li remains isolated overseas; Jiaozhi and Annan are the same."

"Jiaozhi and Annan have fertile land, yielding three harvests per year, so their population grows—lifting the sea ban and sailing southward to fetch grain from Jiaozhi is an absolute necessity!"

At these words.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes instantly brightened.

Though this man seemed reckless, his reasoning was indeed sound and well-founded.

Gao Li, Jiaozhi, and Annan—all three remote overseas states—were roughly so because their bordering lands were poor while their own lands were rich.

Moreover, even just from this young man's knowledge of surrounding barbarian states,

he was clearly a usable talent.

Yet Zhu Yuanzhang still stared at Su Qiao.

"Just now you said to first seize the homes of the scholar-officials—now I ask you, how exactly do you plan to seize them, and where do you begin?"

"And if future emperors seize the homes of the scholar-officials, how will the scholars of future generations view our Great Ming's later emperors? If no one enters official service, who will govern the empire?"

"Won't this drive all the scholars of the empire into the ranks of rebels?!"

Su Qiao snorted coldly.

He raised his head and smiled at Old Zhu

"Just now, Your Majesty said there are powerful enemies beyond the frontier?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slowly.

"Yes, their enemies are far stronger than the Northern Yuan."

"Then may I ask—is the Great Ming truly without any usable troops?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback at the words.

Chongzhen had not mentioned this point to him.

But on second thought, it was about right.

If he had troops to use, how could he have been pushed to such a state?

"Yes!"

Su Qiao's expression eased at hearing this, then he said calmly,

"Just one army is needed, and the realm can be settled, the state made secure!"

Zhu Yuanzhang fixed a hard stare on Su Qiao in an instant and asked,

"Which army?!"

"The Zhu Family Army!"

At these words—

Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened in an instant.

"What do you mean?"

Su Qiao said casually,

"The ancestral statutes of our dynasty."

"All descendants of Commandery Princes shall be granted official posts."

"Sons shall be granted the rank of General Who Guards the State."

"Grandsons shall be granted the rank of General Who Assists the State."

"Great-grandsons shall be granted the rank of General Who Serves the State."

"..."

"May I ask Your Majesty, how can a General Who Guards the State merely guard the state, and not serve as a general?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent.

That's right!

He had enfeoffed his sons as princes.

For what purpose?

Was it not so that their descendants could, in the future, lay down their lives to defend the Jiangshan of Great Ming?

In this era, what was the use of having sons?

Was it not so that when fighting over water sources and land in the village, one's own family could have the numbers and take advantage?

Managing a household and managing a state follow the same principle.