Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said: "Mr. Zhang, listen to me first. First of all, Liu Haojia has done a lot of things for me and given me a lot of ideas. Everyone knows this. But I have never rewarded him. , so I feel a little guilty."
Zhang Juzheng and others felt that Liu Haojia had already reached the test hundred households, so why was it not considered a reward? But then they thought about it, he helped Emperor Wanli make so much money and came up with so many ideas, and it was really impossible for a hundred households to come up with it, so they didn't say anything to express their acquiescence.
Zhang Han cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, you must know that thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness! I don't think he will care about it!"
After hearing this, Emperor Wanli thought to himself, if I don't promote you, let's see if you will care! But he knew that he couldn't fool these people, so he continued: "One more thing, Liu Haojia invented cowpox this time. It can be said that there are countless living people and great merits! With cowpox, I, the Ming Dynasty, can step by step in various fields. If it is promoted everywhere, in the long run, it may be possible for the Ming Dynasty to fundamentally eliminate smallpox and never reoccur! From a close perspective, those who die from variolation every year will not have to die! In this way, the Ming Dynasty will be given every year How much population will be added? This is nothing compared to the great contribution of opening up the territory! So I want to reward him heavily, and this time I came up with the idea of giving him a fief!"
Zhang Siwei said eagerly: "Your Majesty, there are many ways for you to reward your ministers. The court can give him gold, silver, wealth, beautiful maids, or even grant him a title, but the precedent of fiefdom is really not good. Open it!"
Emperor Wanli raised his hand to stop Zhang Siwei and said: "I have also thought of this, so I told him that his fief is only given to him alone and cannot be hereditary. It will be taken back by the court after his death!"
After Emperor Wanli finished speaking, he looked at the elders with pride, waiting for their judgment. And Zhang Juzheng and others were also stunned! They didn't expect that Emperor Wanli had such a back-up plan! And when they thought about it carefully, if this was the case, it would be almost harmless to Daming, so they didn't know what to say for a while. They all fell silent!
At this time, Emperor Wanli said leisurely: "And I'm thinking that this fief is given to Liu Hao's family, and his family has a lot of money, so he might gather the refugees to build a village or something! If the court takes back the fief when he passes away, Maybe there will be a small town in this open space!"
Zhang Juzheng and others felt dizzy when they heard this! They never thought that Emperor Wanli had such a plan! Is this a preparation for nothing?
But when they thought about it carefully, they felt that Emperor Wanli's idea made sense! Anyone who has a fief in his family will always need to build something! Even if it’s just to save face, we should build a small village! If it was as he thought, Liu Haojia could really build a village, and at least one or two thousand refugees would be accommodated. Wouldn't this reduce the burden on the local government? If this method is popularized...
Fortunately, Zhang Juzheng was the winner in the end. Among the elders, he was the first to wake up! He thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, what should I do if he continues to seize land and abuse the people?"
Emperor Wanli smiled and said: "Let's not talk about anything else. If he gathers the refugees and then knocks their bones and sucks out their marrow, won't you run away as a refugee? You are more than ten miles away, and you can't escape? And I made it clear to him, Everything he does on the fief must be in accordance with the law. If there is any mistake, I will punish him according to the law and even directly take back his fief!"
Zhang Juzheng and others were speechless again after hearing this! They didn't expect that Emperor Wanli had already applied the patch very firmly! But this does not prevent them from spreading their minds! Sure enough, I heard Zhang Han whisper: "There are still many poor and poor places in the Ming Dynasty. It is better to seal off all the nobles and wait until there are villages and towns one by one in a few decades!"
However, before Zhang Juzheng and others could speak, Emperor Wanli had already said righteously: "This must not be done! I gave Liu Haojia the fiefdom just as an experiment, in which we can observe the pros and cons. Therefore, if there is no clear discovery of the effectiveness of this method, If it is flawless, it must not be promoted!"
Zhang Juzheng was very happy after hearing this and felt that the emperor had grown up all of a sudden! And he is inclined towards reform, so it is easier for him to take over and hear the explanation. So he nodded and said: "What your Majesty thinks is the real plan for the country!"
After hearing this, Emperor Wanli continued proudly: "And if the enfeoffment can be relaxed in the future, I will not enfeoff the nobles in the country, but outside the borders! It depends on how much land they can take. It’s time to do something!”
Zhang Siwei said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible! If they are allowed to station troops outside the country, and one day they become fully fledged, wouldn't that be inviting wolves into the house! And it will easily lead to border provocations!"
Emperor Wanli said: "This is just my idea. We can slowly discuss and improve it in the future. It does not mean that we need to promote it now."
After everyone got the explanation, they felt a lot more relaxed. But then they felt uncomfortable again! Compared to them, they don't like such drastic changes, or any changes at all, and they prefer to control it in their own hands!
Especially for Liu Haojia, including Zhang Juzheng, they are very wary! So Zhang Juzheng planned to work hard again, preparing to cut off Liu Haojia's fiefdom, or let Emperor Wanli know that he was the one in control of everything!
So he thought for a while and said: "Bian Chao, there is not a word in the imperial edict about what you just said! Your approach made me feel that you probably did not intend to implement your idea just now, so I felt that, The matter of granting land to Liu Haojia needs to be discussed again!"
Emperor Wanli stood up with a cold look on his face and said, "I did it on purpose!"
After speaking, he picked up an imperial edict from the table and handed it to Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng and others saw this imperial edict when they came in, but they didn't think it was important and ignored it. Now it seems that what is written in this imperial edict is the most critical!
Zhang Juzheng took the imperial edict and looked at it. The first half of the imperial edict was exactly the same as the one that awarded Liu Haojia a reward, except that a lot of words were added to the second half. What was written on it was similar to what Emperor Wanli just said, or even more detailed. And it also has the approval of the Supervisor of Ceremonies!
Seeing this criticism, Zhang Juzheng suddenly remembered that the current eunuch Bingbi was still Feng Bao. Normally, he would definitely have to communicate with himself if such a big thing happened. Why did he quietly criticize it? ?
