"Yes! The princess I married is still mute, and I don't know how the Ministry of Rites chose her at that time."
"It's better now. After Your Majesty ascended the throne, the government has been very good. In the past few years, if we didn't give money to the civil servants in the Ministry of Rites, the men in the distant clan would have to be bachelors for the rest of their lives, and the women would have to marry sick people. Or those who are lazy and ugly but want to pretend to be honored guests and get their annual salary! When the late king was still alive, he lent a lot of money to those distant clans and asked them to take care of the civil servants in the court. The late king said that he was Why do you want to make money? Obviously the imperial court has provided enough food and clothing, but it’s not because those imperial officials are greedy and want to give their family members a good home!"
"Think it's good to stay in the capital. If something like this happens, you can file a complaint. If you stay in the fiefdom, you can't even file a complaint. The memorial will be intercepted before it arrives, or it won't be delivered to the emperor. Some even get slapped with a blackmail for offending a local magistrate and have nowhere to redress their grievances.”
The feudal kings started discussing and complaining bitterly.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao deeply agreed with this.
He also knew that the children of the clans of the Ming Dynasty, except for some close clans who were really like a royal family because of their close relationship with the emperor, most of the clans were actually not living a satisfactory life. They were no different from being under house arrest. They had been bullied by the civil servants for a long time. .
It is common to select sick and ugly concubines for the royal family members. It is also common to select some prostitutes and sick women as concubines for the royal family members.
Because most of the clans had no chance to leave the fiefdom or complain, and the Ming Dynasty only selected civilians for royal clan marriages, so the civil servants in charge of these matters could make up nonsense about the selected people, saying that they were virtuous. Generous and dignified in appearance.
The emperor lived deep in the palace and could not worry about this matter in detail, so he naturally didn't know about it.
"The advice given by Zhu Yujian, the grandson of the Prince of Tang Dynasty, is good! Household affairs such as marriage should be handled by family members. Don't worry. If it is left to foreign ministers, it will be turned into a transaction. The officials of the Ministry of Rites caused problems in the marriage of the clan due to corruption. I I have heard something, Wang Chengen, please take note of it and restore the functions of the clan office in the future. All matters involving the clan will be returned to the clan mansion and will no longer be handed over to the Ministry of Rites!"
As Zhu Youxiao spoke, he asked Zhu Yujian again: "When did your sister get married?"
"Thirty-seven years of Wanli."
Zhu Yujian replied.
"Pass an order! Immediately find out the relevant official of the Ministry of Rites who was responsible for this matter in the 37th year of Wanli. He actually caused the daughter of the clan to hang herself because of this. It is really an unforgivable crime. Skin her and make her own grass, and ransack her home! Order to spread the word to the world. If a guest of honor or a concubine is ugly or sick when they get married, they can report it immediately and ask for a divorce, or ask the court to choose a good match for them, all will be accepted! And the officials of the Ministry of Rites at that time will be held accountable!"
Zhu Youxiao continued.
"yes!"
Wang Chengen replied.
"In addition, as for what Zhu Yujian just said, you have encountered the problem of not reporting it to the police. I have to issue another decree today. Wang Cheng'en, pass the decree to the cabinet, and immediately issue an order to the world to establish a system of special records for the clan, regardless of the clan's sons or sons. All the daughters of the clan can report to me in secret. They do not need to go through the General Affairs Department and the cabinet, but can be submitted directly to me by the clan office. Whether it is trivial matters at home or encountering injustice or even injustice outside, they can report it to me! I will not He will be punished for his words."
Zhu Youxiao said and added: "In this case, you will be able to supervise the civil and military officials and even the internal ministers for me in the future. However, if the civil and military officials and internal ministers find out that you have violated the law and report it to me, I will not be lenient! Understand?"
"yes!"
The vassal princes laughed and felt relieved. They also knew that if this happened, they would no longer have to be angry with the court officials and officials, and they began to have a good impression of the emperor.
However, Zhu Youxiao poured cold water on these vassal kings at this time: "I have now reformed the vassal system so that you no longer need to be controlled by civil servants. However, this does not mean that you will no longer be controlled by civil servants." Bullying, you need to be strong to strike the iron. I am not only your emperor, but also the emperor of the civil servants, and the emperor of the entire world! Therefore, if you want to make the Ming Dynasty not only have the final say by the civil servants, but also you yourself Have strong abilities.”
Then, Principal Zhu You said: "I will also help you, and the way to help you is to provide you with a good education, so that you all have the opportunity to study and be sensible. Anyone who does not strive for progress, does not study seriously, and only knows how to have fun Even if he causes trouble, I don’t care who he is, for the sake of the royal family’s face, I will punish him severely!”
Not long after, Zhu Youxiao officially issued an edict to reform the sectarian and vassal system.
According to Zhu Youxiao's request, from now on, the vassal territories within the pass will no longer be divided among the vassal kings. All vassal kings will stay in the capital and will not leave the capital unless there is an order. They will be allowed to engage in the business of the four people, and the functions of the clan mansion will be restored. The purpose was to first conduct an examination on the vassal kings who were over 16 years old to determine who could serve as officials of the vassal government and manage the vassal vassal for the imperial court.
In addition, Zhu Youxiao also decreed the establishment of palace schools to manage the education of the princes; Zongxue to manage the education of the vassal's children; and Weixue to manage the education of the children of the honorary relatives and the emperor's personal guards such as Jinyiwei and Yulinwei.
It is equivalent to the Ming Dynasty nobles from princes to royal families to nobles. During Zhu Youxiao's era, they all had to receive official education.
Fang Congzhe and other court officials are now Zhu Youxiao's absolute confidants, and they have no objections.
Although they knew that the emperor wanted to strengthen the power of the vassals to check and balance them, they now actively contributed to the strengthening of the monarch's power because of their interests, so that the emperor now controlled absolute military and financial power.
Therefore, they can only accept it now. As long as the emperor is willing to lead them to continue to compete for more interests, they will not impulsively break with the emperor because of this matter.
However, Fang Congzhe was fortunate that he knew the emperor Zhu Youxiao well enough to know that although he looked young, he was actually an extraordinary monarch, so he did not dare to look down upon him. Therefore, while he was in power, he gave Zongfan When choosing his concubines and guests of honor, he did not let his civil servants mess around, and he did not give the emperor the impression of being a mean sectarian.
But Shi Fenglai, who had been transferred to Nanjing to serve as the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was not so lucky. He had to pay the price for the tampering he had done when he was an official in the Ministry of Rites before and was responsible for selecting honorable guests for the clan girls.
…
"Shi Lang, when you were a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, you were suspected of being corrupt and extorting bribes, which caused a daughter of the royal family of the Tang Dynasty to hang herself, a princess of the Chu prince's palace to be widowed, and several county princesses to be married to ugly and sick people. This is an unforgivable crime, and we are hereby ordered to arrest you. You went to Beijing to be tortured, and His Majesty's decree is to skin you and confiscate your home! But our people have already gone to your home first, and it's too late for you to transfer your property, so accept your fate!"
After Liang Heng, the leader of the Dongchang clan, came to Shi Feng with the imperial edict, he shouted loudly: "Take it away!"
Shi Fenglai was shocked after hearing this. When he was being taken away, he couldn't help but struggle: "No, this is all an old thing from the temple dynasty. How could I have known that this would happen! Before this dynasty, Fan was responsible for choosing the beauties for the clan girls. Isn’t this what all the etiquette officials of the guest do? Why are they suddenly being investigated for this matter now?"
"Are you serious? His Majesty has decreed that anyone who ignores the dignity of the royal family and causes humiliation to the clan will be held accountable. So, you just said that all the officials of the Ministry of Rites before you did this?"
Liang Heng asked hurriedly.
"No! I made a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue!"
Shi Fenglai hurriedly denied it, and then cried: "Your Majesty, please spare my life! I don't dare to do this anymore! I will never dare to treat the clan affairs like this again in the future! Ouch!"
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