Chapter 1266: The Prince's Enfeoffment and Sinicization Reform

"Deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest is a path to disaster... The Nine Dragons' fight for the throne during the previous emperor's reign is the most obvious example!"

Su Mingzhe tried his best to use a gentle tone to make his meaning clearer.

Facing the man's explanation, Ruoxi just chuckled, then asked with a faint smile:

"Then how are you going to arrange for the other brothers?"

Seeing that the woman didn't seem angry, Su Mingzhe smiled and said:

"I plan to seal them off overseas and make them vassals overseas... What do you think of America?"

It is now the beginning of the eighteenth century, the year 1723.

The Western Age of Exploration has been going on for hundreds of years.

The first industrial revolution also came to an end.

The world has been divided into rough spheres of influence by major powers.

Now, Su Mingzhe proposed to divide America among his children. It is obvious that he is preparing to go to war with the Western powers.

Ruoxi was immediately unhappy when she heard this:

"That's too dangerous!"

Seeing this, Su Mingzhe immediately changed his position and asked:

"If you don't want to go to America, how about going to Australia?"

"This is acceptable!"

Ruoxi had a good impression of Australia. She knew that it was vast, sparsely populated, and surrounded by the sea, so there was no need to worry about future wars with other powers.

Seeing that Ruoxi agreed to the proposal, Su Mingzhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Ruoxi made a new request to the man:

"Your Majesty, please give the fiefs of Hongxian, Hongxin, Hongying and Hongyuan to these four people as well!"

Hongxian is Ruoxi's second son and the eighth prince.

Hongxin is Ruolan's son and the ninth prince.

Hongying is the twelfth prince Hongying, and Hongyuan is the seventeenth prince, both are Ruoxi's sons.

Seeing Ruoxi being so 'greedy', Su Mingzhe could only spread his hands and say:
"There is definitely no other Australia in the world. If the four of them want to be vassals overseas, they can either go to the South Asian subcontinent or to America. You choose for them!"

"Then let's go to the South Asian subcontinent!"

Ruoxi knew very well that although America would become "famous" in later generations, it was still a vast desert at present and was far less prosperous than the South Asian subcontinent.

Not a few days passed.

Su Mingzhe ordered the Ministry of Rites to draft an edict to enthrone the crown prince, enthroning his eldest son, the eldest prince Honghui, as the crown prince. He lived in the Yonghe Palace and concurrently served as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

Along with the edict of enthronement of the crown prince, the other eight princes were also enthroned.

Eight princes, including Hongyun, Hongshi, and Hongli, were respectively enthroned as rulers of the eight countries of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qin, and Jin, and all of their fiefs were overseas.

As soon as the news came out, there was an uproar inside and outside the court.

Ever since Su Mingzhe became the crown prince, the Qing army has been expanding continuously.

The territory of the Qing Dynasty was already comparable to that of the former Mongols.

Now, Su Mingzhe has begun to let the princes be enfeoffed overseas.
Many royal relatives immediately became envious.

The first one who couldn't stand it anymore was Prince Kang Chong'an.

This Chong'an is the eldest grandson of Prince Kang Jieshu.

Jieshu was the grandson of Prince Li Daishan and the cousin of Kangxi.

So, in terms of seniority, Chong'an is Su Mingzhe's nephew.

During the more than ten years that Su Mingzhe was the crown prince, Chong'an was considered a member of the prince's party.

Now, Su Mingzhe has ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Chong'an thinks he has a good relationship with him and is the first to come and request for an external title.

Looking at Chong'an's flattering smile, Su Mingzhe took a deep breath and said slowly:

"The matter of external conferring titles is of great importance. The previous conferring titles on eight princes has already completed the conferring of titles on the external territories captured by my Great Qing Navy."

"If you want to be sealed off, you can only go to the north or west, which are barren, bitterly cold places. Are you willing to do that?"

When Chongan heard about going to Siberia and the Northwest, he was shocked and kowtowed and begged:

"Your Majesty, I don't want to go to the north, and I don't want to go to the west. I want to go to the south!"

Su Mingzhe sighed softly and shook his head slightly:

"There is no place in the south for now. Now, the Qing Dynasty is expanding its army eastward, preparing to compete with England, France and other countries for America. If you are willing, how about enthroning you there?"

"Then go to America!"

Before entering the palace, Chong'an consulted the Semites from the Imperial Observatory for information.

America is also very rich. Not only is its territory vast, but it also has a suitable climate and few enemies, making it very suitable for land expansion.

Seeing this, Su Mingzhe issued an edict to enthrone Chongan as the ruler of Kang State, with his fief in America. With Prince Kang Chongan as the leader.

Soon, Prince Seller, the Prince of Rui's line, also came over.

Seller's grandfather, Dorbo, was Prince Rui's adopted son (stepson).

In terms of seniority, Seller is Su Mingzhe's cousin.

Because Prince Rui Dorgon was stripped of his princely title.

Seller's title was only Duke of Fuguo.

In addition, the relationship between the two parties was not very close, so Seller did not dare to ask for too much when facing Su Mingzhe.

When Su Mingzhe asked him whether he wanted to go north or west, Seller directly expressed that he was willing to go west.

In recent years, Prince Yi Yinxiang has been stationed in the northwest, and every year he sends all kinds of luxurious Western specialties to the capital.

Seller had been coveting this for a long time, and now that he had the opportunity to go to the Western Regions, he was not picky.

Chong'an and Seller were sent away.

Prince Duolo Xin Dezhao, Prince Zhuang Yunlu, Prince Jian Yaerjiang'a and others also came over and requested to be granted titles outside the capital.

As for these eight iron-hat kings, Su Mingzhe either sent them to the northwest or to America.

In the end, Prince Yi Yinxiang also came to join in the fun.

Su Mingzhe didn't want to let Yinxiang leave. After all, he was his most trusted confidant.

However, Yinxiang had been leading troops in battles for more than ten years and was already exhausted.

Seeing that he could not be persuaded, Su Mingzhe had no choice but to confer the title to him and send him to America.

The nine iron-hat kings have been enthroned.

Other royal relatives also began to show their talents.

Among them, Prince Duo Luo Yinzhen directly found his biological mother, the Empress Dowager.

Although the Empress Dowager did not want her son to go far away, she also knew that only a remote title would give him freedom, so she suppressed her reluctance and asked for a remote title for her youngest son, also in America, with the country's name "Tang".

Kangxi's princes also requested to be granted titles outside the capital.

Su Mingzhe agreed one by one.

In just a few months, the Qing Dynasty gained more than thirty overseas vassal states.

However, it is easy to issue an edict to establish a new state, but it is still a bit difficult to actually make these rulers establish their own vassal states.

Not to mention the long journey to become a vassal, just the immigration and the administrative system of the vassal state would be enough to keep the clan office and the imperial court busy for several years.

In a blink of an eye, it was the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign.

The various princes took more than 80% of their bannermen and went to sea to establish their fiefdoms.

After sending these princes away, Su Mingzhe began to announce the promotion of "Manchu-Han integration" and the implementation of "Sinicization reforms."

The first thing to do in Chinese is to change hair, clothes and surname.

The rat tail braid was cancelled.

The cheongsam of the Manchu people was abolished.

Wordy surnames were simplified.

Various situations of separation between Manchus and Han people were broken.

The Bannermen's "iron crops" were also gone.

All these reforms, dozens of them, were promoted all at once, and the bannermen who remained in the Qing Dynasty complained bitterly.

However, at this time, it was obviously too late.

After all, the young and strong bannermen followed the princes to go out to sea and conquer the world.

Most of the remaining bannermen were Su Mingzhe's die-hard fans, or the old, weak and sick.

No one can resist the Sinicization reform promoted by Su Mingzhe.

In addition, hundreds of local chieftains from all over the country expressed their support for the "Sinicization Reform" after learning about its content.

In order to weaken and eliminate the Han people's hatred towards the Manchus, Su Mingzhe also provided a large amount of "subsidies" to the Han people.

For example, if an individual or a farmer has less than 100 acres of land, the total amount of various taxes he or she pays each year shall not exceed one or two taels of silver.

If the local government dares to raise the total amount of taxes privately, the people will have reason to rebel, and even if they are arrested, they will be released without charge.

In the beginning, some officials ignored the reforms issued by the court, causing a lot of local unrest.

Su Mingzhe was not polite either. After obtaining substantial evidence from the stick, he launched a heavy attack and killed more than 600 local officials who had forced the people to join the Liangshan movement.

The rampant corruption during the reign of Emperor Kangxi was finally curbed.

The morale in official circles was boosted.

(End of this chapter)