eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 571 The minister is not wronged!
"Yes. That's what I think. The clans who are begging for Zonglu came to see me, and they just want me to say something, and think of a way to ask the court to make up for their Lumi, or five hundred stones, or three Baishi, after all, is not scary."

"Not scary?" Zhu Houzhao immediately raised the volume, "You start this way, but you know what to do next? The clan entered Beijing without the will, and even successfully appealed. There are thousands of clans behind them, and they all follow their example. Your name is Zhen What will you say then?"

Yan Song cupped his hands and bent again, "If you can't deal with it, there should be a solution."

Zhu Houzhao's face changed, and then he laughed, "You are going to make these people anxious."

"Exactly. If His Majesty wants to solve the difficulties of the imperial court and vassals, he has to solve it, but how can he have to solve it? This account must be settled by others, and this trouble can be caused by others. I am willing to do this for Your Majesty. People. At that time, according to the old system, if the imperial court cannot solve this problem, His Majesty will have to change the old system. Besides, if they are in a hurry, they will not stop His Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao nodded, "That's right. The royal courts have to give Lumi 3000 shi every year. At present, there are dozens of princes in the Ming Dynasty, which is hundreds of thousands of shi. There are nearly 500 people in the imperial clan recorded by the Renfu. Even if the remaining clans have less Lumi, they need to pay an average of 150 shi per person, which is 200 million shi. Together, the imperial court will give 13 million shi to Lumi every year. Daming There are 200 provinces in the two capitals, how many provinces can produce [-] million shi of Lumi a year?
The treasury's annual taxes and food seem to be maintained at a high level, but they are also consumed a lot. Military salaries, disaster relief, and official salaries are asking for money everywhere, and I am reluctant to renovate a palace.If I really want to have 200 million shi left in a year, I will save it for ten years and get him 2000 million shi grains for my generals. "

With 2000 million shi of grain, if he opens up a few more horse farms and raises more horses, then he will dare to call out the Ming version of '30 Beiliang cavalry'.But it doesn't have so much food left every year, and there are still hungry people everywhere in the world, and it can't be saved.

"What Your Majesty said is very true. It is almost the end of the year. The next year's autumn grain has not been delivered to the warehouse, and the previous year's grain has been basically consumed. Only some contingencies are left. If the clans all over the world come to beg for Lumi , the Ministry of Households must be in a hurry. Besides, even if the Ministry of Households has tens of millions of shi of grain and rice, it will be distressing to take it out, and they will definitely say that according to the old system, there is no need to give it all."

Zhu Houzhao put a smile on Yan Song's face, "It's just that they will hate you even more."

"The minister eats the king's salary to relieve His Majesty's worries, and the minister reads the sage books to be a loyal minister. As for the length, I leave it to others to say."

"Well. However, the imperial court can't afford to pay 200 million shi a year of grain. Your account must make them more thrilling." The emperor said this with a little deep meaning.

"What does your majesty mean?"

"Somebody's gotta tell a story to everybody."

"what story?"

The emperor pinched his waist and walked up the steps, "The story that a piece of paper can never be folded in half seven times."

This is what Yan Song couldn't understand, "Why can't a piece of paper be folded in half seven times?"

"Of course it's not absolute, but it's impossible to find paper that can be folded in half seven times here." Zhu Houzhao pointed to him, "You can ask the Gewu Academy in the academy for help. Try it and see what I say Is it true? I will not explain the truth to you, and you will not understand it.

But the crux of this issue lies in 'open branches and leaves'.Do the math, when the Emperor Taizu was only a few dozen clans, and it was only over 100 years when I arrived, how many people should there be in another 100 years?How much food should it be?If you do the calculations like this, you will find that if this system does not change, let alone the eternal foundation, I will not be able to survive it for 300 years.Let Emperor Taizu know that Ming Dynasty is not as good as weak Song Dynasty, do you think he will blame us, the unfilial sons and grandchildren of later generations? "

"Then, how does His Majesty want to change?"

Yan Song dared to ask this question, he had the confidence.

Zhu Houzhao also felt that this boy was very talented as a treacherous minister, so he sat down with him and said slowly, "The wealth of the vassal king must be restricted, and the illegal wealth must be cleared. , Killing is to make outsiders laugh. Second, the suzerain vassal inherits the title, no matter whether he is the eldest son or not, he must be downgraded to inherit the title."

The second point is the real killer move.

This is what the Qing Dynasty did.

As for the Qing Dynasty, although there were various problems, the ruling technology in the feudal dynasty stage did reach its peak, and it solved the problems that the past few dynasties had not been able to solve.

Your Highness is a typical example.

In the Qing Dynasty, if your father was a prince, you had to be downgraded by one level. After a few downgrades, there would be nothing left after a few generations.

So later in Beijing, there were quite a few people with the surname Aixinjueluo who were still shining shoes on the side of the road.

A prince has [-] shi a year, and after one generation, he becomes a county king, and the county king only has [-] shi a year, and the next year will be [-] shi, which doubles down.

Yan Song knew the real intention of the emperor at this moment, but there would be a problem in this way.

"Your Majesty, the clan is downgraded to become a noble, and there will be no Lumi to receive after a few generations, so how should the clan make a living?"

It's actually not difficult to relegate to the rank and title, once the imperial decree is made, it's settled, what's the matter, can they still come to the capital to pay for food?
But what Yan Song asked is the key.

In order to solve the problem of the rebellion of the vassal kings, the Ming Dynasty almost raised the princes as waste, and they couldn't do anything.This way of living can only be done if you are a prince, but if you are not a prince, you have to find something to do to support yourself.

But in this way, some ancestral systems have to be changed, and some things have to be done by the prince.

Moreover, you can't say that the general of the town can do it, but the king of the county can't do it, that's ridiculous, and it's difficult to supervise.

Therefore, once this prohibition is lifted, it is completely lifted.

"You're smart." Zhu Houzhao praised, "I've thought about this. Downgrading to the title is going down. If you go down, you have to go up. How to go up? So I have to add another meritorious service." Ascension."

Yan Song knelt down when he heard this, "Your Majesty is a wise king through the ages, but this matter needs to be discussed in the long run. The reason why Emperor Taizong made such rules is also to prevent unbearable disasters."

"I understand what Emperor Taizong means, but times have changed. If we stick to the old ways, the imperial court can't afford to support so many clan vassals. Furthermore, in order to appease the clan, I decided to set up some 'clan vassals'."

Family missing?
Yan Song was puzzled, "Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

"It means that only members of the clan are allowed to occupy official vacancies, and no one else is allowed. It is considered a privilege for the clan."

This……

It seems to have a deep meaning.

"May I ask Your Majesty, what kind of patriarch is lacking?"

"Hahaha." Zhu Houzhao became happy, "You are a slippery fellow, you are really tricky."

"Your Majesty is criticizing the minister."

"No, you still understand what I mean."

Yan Song was relieved, it seemed that the emperor was not confused, not only not confused, but also very tricky.

What clan lacks, what privileges.They all have good names, but the key is to see where these gaps are located.

If it is the chief soldier of the town, it is called lack of clan members, but if it is some unimportant and idle official positions, only the clan members hold them. It seems to be a privilege, but in fact it also limits their power to a controllable range.

Doing something is the same as not doing anything.

To have this effect.

The emperor is worthy of being an emperor after all.

"Weizhong,"

"The minister is here."

"I will leave this matter to you."

"Your Majesty, please don't worry about the decree. When the time is right, something big will happen."

"It's good to have a big event. The bigger the event, the bigger the change." The emperor turned and left the Nuan Pavilion, his voice gradually disappeared from near to far, "After the event is completed, you will have to be wronged for a while."

Yan Song shouted, "Serve His Majesty, I have never been wronged!"

Emperor Zhengde was a protector.

From protecting Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe at the beginning, to protecting Gu Zuo later.Those who sincerely serve the emperor, who is at a loss?

Let’s just talk about Wang Hua, who has been away to Nanjing for several years because of the Zhejiang affairs. This is not the limelight, and now he has returned to the capital to serve as a minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Outsiders said that Emperor Zhengde had a deep mind, but Yan Song didn't think so. The foolish emperor acted like a fool. He didn't reward what should be rewarded, and didn't punish what should be punished.

Ming Jun is very simple, if you do meritorious service, I will reward you, and if you don't like you, I will reward you, isn't that simple?

After leaving the palace, Yan Song returned to the office of the auction house, just in time to see the deputy Situ Hao coming in from the outside.

"How is Huiyanji's situation?"

Situ Hao replied, "We've already talked about it, and Dong You's family is willing to give up some shares, [-]%."

"Sixty percent?" Yan Song laughed, "Sixty percent, we will become bandits who rob houses."

"If it's too low, she won't do it."

"This is a smart man." Yan Song put his hands on his cuffs, and said to the point, "If it is lower, we don't care about the money, she is actually a lot of trouble. If it is higher, the government will think it is the emperor's money and cannot be called When people are bullied, they will do more. Alas, it's a pity that she is a woman, otherwise I'm afraid I won't let Yu Ping Haibo."

Situ Hao frowned and thought for a while, and soon realized the truth, and he admired You Sanchun even more in his heart.

"Yan Suo, what should we do then?"

Yan Song thought that if something happened, he wouldn't be able to stay in this position, and he didn't know when he would come back, so he couldn't make a mess of Situ Hao.Otherwise, it would be troublesome for him to come back.

"Find a time, and I will meet this man."

"Yes, the subordinate understands."

Yan Song didn't say anything else, he was thinking about the conversation with the emperor just now, so he went to find a piece of paper, folded it...and then discovered the magic.

"Come here!"

"exist!"

Yan Song called everyone like Situ Hao over, "Find a piece of paper and try, is there any that can be folded in half more than seven times?"

Others had the same reaction as him, from ridiculing to joining...

"Hey! What a wonder!"

(End of this chapter)