The emperor was asking about King Zhou and King Lu, so naturally there was no room for other vassal kings to intervene.
However, in the eyes of Prince Ning, Prince Zheng and others, what he said just now is already a very mature charter.
The specific method is not important. What is important is that since such a charter can be produced, it shows that the emperor has indeed considered this matter for a long time.
Again, if these fields are really returned to their own hands, it will be a long-term stable sum of money, and they don't have to worry about anything going wrong.
It is hard not to be moved by this for the vassal kings who have been hit hard by the reorganization of the army.
Therefore, after hearing what the emperor said, they looked at the two kings of Zhou with eager eyes.
The emperor's attitude has been made clear. Now, as long as the two eldest feudal princes relent, the rest of the people can naturally agree.
However, what surprised them was that the two kings of Zhou looked at each other, but still hesitated and did not answer.
Standing in the position of King Zhou and feeling the gazes of several vassal kings next to him, he certainly knew what these people were thinking.
However, even among the feudal kings, they are different after all.
Compared with the vassal kings such as King Zheng, King Ning, and King Yin who suffered heavy losses in the reorganization of the army, Zhou Fan and Lu Fan also suffered losses, but because Yu Qian had not had time to go there in person, he was carried back by the emperor. The capital, therefore, has limited losses.
Because of this, they were calmer. In addition, the other vassal kings, except King Yin, even King Min, who was senior enough, were actually not too old.
This leads to the fact that many of these people do not have enough experience.
He had not experienced the precarious situation during the Jianwen period, walking on thin ice, nor had he experienced all kinds of overt praise and covert criticism during the Yongle period, and was pressing every step of the way.
Therefore, it is natural that they would not understand how fearful and defensive the imperial court was towards the vassal king.
Although the emperor's attitude is now very sincere and seems to be very thoughtful, for the king of Zhou and others, they still feel that it is prudent not to do these things that may easily lead to taboos.
Therefore, after pondering for a long time, King Zhou finally spoke.
"What your Majesty said is indeed feasible, but I have so little talent and virtue, how can I dare to take on such a big responsibility?"
"Furthermore, the ministers and other officials in the mansion are just some guards and servants. There are no people who are proficient in civil affairs, and there are no guards to protect the safety of the farm."
"It would be fine if I own my own farm and suffer losses due to poor management. However, the official land is the property of the imperial court. If something goes wrong, I will not be able to see your majesty."
After the words fell, the Wenhua Palace became quiet.
It should be said that King Zhou was a little helpless in the face of the emperor's fanning again and again, especially when he could see that all the vassal kings below were already tempted. If he still did not give the powerful medicine, then he was afraid that he would have to Be the one who stands in the way of everyone's interests.
In this case, there are two evils, so he can only risk violating taboos and speak openly.
In fact, even now, King Zhou and others still doubted whether the emperor's actions were testing them.
It is good that the imperial village is profitable, but there are many things involved, especially when it comes to official land. So, how to manage tenants, appease the people, collect taxes, and even communicate with the government are all problems. .
If you want to solve these problems, you must have people who are knowledgeable in civil affairs to deal with them. In order to prevent tenants from stealing cattle and at the same time to prevent unscrupulous people from destroying the farm, there must be enough guards patrolling day and night.
The former represents taxation and civil administration, and the latter represents guard armaments. If they, the vassal kings, can solve both problems, then what does it mean?
Of course, strictly speaking, regular officers and soldiers may not be required to guard the farm. The servants and thugs maintained by the lord himself can generally do the job.
However, this kind of issue involving military strength must be cautious and careful. What should not be said. If they change places and consider it from the court's standpoint, who knows whether the feudal princes will borrow the farm. In the name of a guard, is it actually a matter of raising private soldiers?
Even if this is not a test by the emperor, the existence of this hidden danger is a thunder that can destroy his family at any time. Therefore, it is better not to take this risk than to be greedy for this benefit.
When these words came out, the few vassal kings below were a little disappointed in the first half of the sentence. However, after King Zhou almost made the words clear, they also fell silent.
Zhu Qiyu didn't speak, and slowly frowned, as if he had just realized this problem.
After a moment, Zhu Qiyu nodded slightly and said.
"I understand what my uncle meant."
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Wenhua Hall was a little gloomy.
Prince Zheng and Prince Ning sighed silently in their hearts, not knowing what they were feeling.
Originally, they had accepted the reality, but the road to Huangzhuang gave them hope of getting these fields back.
Although it is definitely not as good as before, it can still be regained.
As a result, their buttocks were not yet warm, so King Zhou's words were like a cold water pouring down their heads, making them wake up completely.
"Your Majesty, I also thought..."
It was King Yin who spoke. He, King Zheng, and King Ning looked at each other and they all felt that the inheritance of their own fiefdom was more important than profit. Therefore, they were about to echo what King Zhou said, I wanted to give the emperor a step down and let Hu handle this matter, but I never thought that at this time, the emperor also spoke at the same time.
"That being the case..."
Hearing this voice, King Yin immediately stopped talking, and everyone's eyes also focused on the emperor.
The emperor frowned slightly and said slowly, thinking.
"It is true that I have not considered this matter carefully. My uncle, King Zhou, is worried about it. However, it would not be appropriate if the imperial court handles this matter."
"On the one hand, the national treasury is now empty and cannot afford so much silver to purchase cattle utensils. On the other hand, officials in various places are inherently exorbitant in imposing excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. They have repeatedly banned the matter. This matter is all left to the Ministry of Household Affairs. In the end, it will fall to the local government." Among the yamen, I am not very relieved."
"In my opinion, we might as well make some slight changes. The newly closed fields in various places will still be reorganized into imperial villages. I will find a few eunuchs from the palace who will still be appointed as the mining tax supervisors to be responsible for this matter, farming cattle, and planting crops. Grain, utensils, etc. were purchased by each feudal prince with money. If assistance from local officials, officers and soldiers was needed, the mining tax envoy would be the central coordinator, and the collection and payment of land rent and taxes would also be the responsibility of the mining tax envoy."
"At the same time, the kings sent royal officials to participate in the process for supervision. If the mining tax envoys and local officials oppressed the people and engaged in malpractice for personal gains, after investigation and understanding, they can report to the court for impeachment. After each year's harvest, the kings' income will be based on 30% of the income. How about between 40% and 40%, decreasing with age?"
Speaking of which, this is actually Zhu Qiyu's real purpose.
King Zhou and others were worried about being jealous of the imperial court, so why didn't Zhu Qiyu worry about the expansion of the vassal king's power and threatening the imperial court?
Therefore, the Imperial Village is going to be opened, but it cannot be controlled by the vassal king. This is certain. Of course, as he just said, it cannot be controlled by the Ministry of Revenue or local officials. Otherwise, the first floor If it is suppressed layer by layer, it will only become a harsh government in the end.
After much deliberation, it is safest for the Zhongguan to be in charge. However, Zhongguan also has a disadvantage, that is, except for the emperor, he is basically not controlled by any yamen or forces.
The civil servants in the court looked down upon eunuchs, but the local eunuchs also looked down upon those local officials.
Even though Zhu Qiyu now has a group of capable eunuchs under his command, and he seems to favor and indulge his confidants like Shu Liang, Cheng Jing, and Huai En, but in fact, no one knows the nature of eunuchs better than Zhu Qiyu.
Eunuchs like Huai En and Cheng Jing who studied at a young age and had righteous thoughts were fine. People like Shu Liang who climbed up from the bottom need to be more vigilant.
Of course, Zhu Qiyu did not doubt Shu Liang's loyalty, but he knew very well that it was precisely because Shu Liang was so loyal.
Therefore, he will do things for himself in various ways, but he doesn't care about the means or the consequences.
In fact, most eunuchs behave in this way, but they have different courage and abilities. Shu Liang went to an extreme. Zhu Qiyu believed that if one day, he ordered Shu Liang to go to Nangong and strangle Zhu Qi to death Town, he would do it without hesitation.
However, this is an advantage as well as a disadvantage.
The advantage is that it is easy to use, but the disadvantage is that it can only be kept with you and cannot be released.
To put it bluntly, Zhu Qiyu is actually the only person in the government and the public who can suppress Shu Liang. Once he is given a local official position such as a guard eunuch, it will inevitably lead to disaster.
There are too few eunuchs like Huai'en and Cheng Jing, so if we want to use them, we still have to put a layer of shackles on the eunuchs in these places.
The vassal king is different from the local officials. He has a distinguished status and is considered a member of the royal family. Like an ordinary eunuch, he can definitely be controlled.
After all, the eunuchs rely on people who belong to the inner palace and are close to the emperor. However, no matter how close the eunuchs are, they are still slaves, but the vassal king is actually a relative of the emperor and a closer person.
In today's patriarchal society, this is a fundamental difference.
No matter how the outside world talks about the vassal king, Zhu Qiyu knows very well that as a member of the Zhu family, they are loyal to the Zhu family.
With this as a foundation, as long as they are given a chance, I believe that most of them will watch over Huangzhuang and prevent these eunuchs from overly bullying the tenants and causing too much trouble.
After all, their interests are involved. In this way, the royal officials are backed by the vassal prince, the eunuchs are supported by the emperor, and the local officials are backed by the court. With the three parties checking and balancing each other, everything should be safe.
Moreover, the greatest characteristic of the vassal king, in addition to his respected status, is that he is rich!
Zhu Qiyu's words just now were true. If these imperial mansions were to be renovated now, the national treasury would definitely not be able to come up with such huge expenses.
Even if Zhu Qiyu uses the money from the inner treasury to do it, it is not enough. Even if it is enough, it is not worth it for him to empty out all the family wealth for just one thing.
Therefore, the feudal lords are just right!
What he said was serious. After he finished speaking, Zhu Qiyu glanced at the vassal kings below and saw that their faces were a little tangled.
Therefore, his eyes finally fell on King Zhou and King Lu. Among the vassal kings present, they were the oldest in terms of seniority and age.
When it comes to clan affairs, in fact, they have to be handled according to the clan system. Within the clan system, seniority and age have the greatest say.
However, even though Zhu Qiyu had already said this, King Zhou and others were still hesitant...
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu sighed and said.
"Well, I just have this idea. I haven't discussed it with the ministers in the court yet. I just thought that this matter involves the vassal king, so I want to ask everyone for your opinion first. If my uncle is not willing, there is no harm in giving up. Maybe The ministers in the court may have a better way.”
If the soft one doesn't work, the only choice is the hard one.
As expected, upon hearing this, the expressions of all the feudal kings present changed slightly.
Especially King Zhou and King Lu both showed a wry smile.
How could they not hear it? The emperor was reminding them that if they couldn't accept Huangzhuang's method, then the court would have no choice but to find another plan.
What can be discussed with the court officials?
Why don't you ask? Why don't you just leave the memorial of the Ministry of Rites there? The eldest uncle Hu Hu personally submitted it. If this person can't represent the opinions of the court ministers, then no one else can.
Do you want to agree?
King Zhou glanced at King Lu, but saw that the other party was also a little difficult to make a decision.
Sighing, King Zhou stood up and cupped his hands.
"Your Majesty, the ministers and other members of the clan should do their best for the country. Since your Majesty has called you, the ministers will naturally respond. If there is a decree, the ministers should obey it."
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu squinted his eyes and sighed inwardly.
As expected, the older generation of feudal lords were very cautious.
The implication of these words is that if they want them to contribute, the court must issue a clear edict. The most they will do is to cooperate after the edict is issued. However, if they are required to step forward and take risks to do it themselves, then it will definitely not work. of.
In other words, Zhu Qiyu has to solve the problem on the court's side.
If Zhu Qiyu can solve the problem of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites and other court ministers, and carry out this policy, it means that he is not testing the vassal king, but sincerely wants to promote this matter, then the vassal king will naturally be happy to see him. become.
If it can't be solved, then it's not their fault.
Sure enough, ginger is still spicy!
However, this is enough.
Zhu Qiyu turned his attention to the other vassal kings. Sure enough, after King Zhou expressed his stance, the other kings arrived one after another without much hesitation.
"I will obey the Holy Will."
"Um……"
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu finally nodded with satisfaction and said.
"That's good. The purpose of setting up the Imperial Palace is to appease the refugees and send taxes to the court. If the clans can profit from it, it will be a good thing."
"However, I hope you can also remember that all the people in the world are the foundation of the country. If all the people are in chaos and the situation is precarious, then the whole world of our Zhu family will be overturned. Neither I nor the other clans will be spared. Therefore, everything will We should put the people first, and we should not act arbitrarily or covet temporary gains, do you understand?"
