Where is King Lu?
Qi Jiguang's first reaction when he heard the word "King Lu" was, "What kind of evil has happened to Prince Lu again?"
Gao Jingshi could tell what he was thinking from his face, but this time Qi Jiguang misunderstood.
"It's not that King Lu did anything this time." Gao Pingshi smiled and shook his head, saying: "It was an official from the Ministry of Rites who came to the throne. He mentioned that King Lu should have left the country long ago, but he still stayed in the capital, and he was not exempt from courtesy. No. Therefore, I asked the emperor about the specific time of the Kingdom of King Lu."
Qi Jiguang asked: "Then what is the emperor's reply?"
Gao pragmatic raised his eyebrows slightly: "Of course the emperor did not reply immediately, but as far as I know, the emperor took the memorial from the Ministry of Rites to ask the Empress Dowager Cisheng for instructions."
"What does the Queen Mother mean?" Qi Jiguang asked again.
"What does the Queen Mother mean?" Gao Pragmatic shook his head: "Of course she wishes that Prince Lu would just stop leaving..."
Qi Jiguang frowned: "I'm afraid this won't work, right?"
"Of course it won't happen. The ancestral system of the country is here. How can it be reasonable for a vassal king to grow up and not leave the country? How did Zhu Gaoxu's disaster happen in the past? Even if the Queen Mother doesn't know, doesn't the Emperor know?"
However, Qi Jiguang was silent for a while, and then sighed: "The emperor may know, but before King Lu's wedding, the emperor spent 3869 taels of gold of various colors, more than 8700 green rubies, and 2 coral pearls. More than 14,000 pieces, 100,000 taels of silver... a total of more than 900,000 taels of silver were spent, and you know these things, Mr. Sima."
Gao pragmatically closed his eyes gently, but did not answer.
Qi Jiguang sighed again and said: "The palace of Prince Lu is almost completed now. It is said that it cost more than five or six hundred thousand taels just to repair the house? This does not count the land. After all, the land is given... The last general is I’m worried that if King Lu refuses to declare the kingdom a vassal state, then his palace will probably continue to be built like this, and how much money will it cost?”
Gao Pragmatic still had his eyes closed, but he replied: "The budget of Prince Lu's Mansion is more than 670,000 taels of silver, but this amount is definitely unaffordable. Even if the people below control the repair, the final completion will definitely cost more than 700,000 taels." If we can stop at 10,000 taels...700,000, that's not bad, but I'm afraid that the emperor's bottom line may be more than 700,000, and maybe another 100,000 will be added."
Qi Jiguang clenched his fists and suppressed his breath: "We didn't spend 800,000 taels on this war between Yunnan and Burma, right?"
That's certainly not the case. Under the highly pragmatic operation, the court actually only spent some temporary money to fight this war, and even made a lot of surplus in the long run.
Moreover, even the temporary expenditure did not exceed 800,000 taels - the military pay prepared was almost the same amount. However, since Liu Wei and Deng Zilong's troops only advanced to the vicinity of Ava City, the main battles in the south and central part were caused by The Annan Expedition led by Huang Zhiting was completed, so the money was far from spent.
Gao Jingshi said calmly: "The part spent on the Eight Classics was only about 370,000 taels. Later, I spent some more on rewards and so on, so the total is 400,000 taels."
Qi Jiguang's mouth twitched and he sighed: "Such a war to destroy the country only cost 400,000 taels, but Prince Lu's palace would cost 700,000 to 800,000 taels. This... well, the general always seems to have some feelings in his heart. I want to say something, but I think about it carefully but I can’t say it.”
Of course Gao pragmatic knew what Qi Jiguang wanted to say. If the court uses this money to raise and train troops, this year... Oh, not this year, it is already winter, and it is not suitable for fighting in the fortress - but with this money after the spring of next year, I'm afraid It’s enough to march into Chahanhot.
"Nantang Gong, there are some things that you and I both know the crux of the problem, but knowing the crux of the problem may not be able to prescribe the right medicine. It's like I am a doctor and I know that someone is sick, but if that person refuses to ask me to treat him, Or maybe you think I'm just being alarmist, I can't just rush over, tie him up, and then forcibly treat him, do you think so?"
The truth is of course this truth, and Qi Jiguang also understands it, so he just shook his head slightly: "If Young Sima can't even start, then it seems that this matter is really hopeless."
"A gentleman cannot think beyond his position." Gao Pingshi said: "After all, I am just the minister of the Ministry of War. What I can contribute now is to try my best to handle the affairs of the Imperial Guard. When the imperial court can launch a thunderous strike, the Imperial Guard will The army can also go beyond the fortress and show its power on the grassland."
Qi Jiguang nodded and said: "The general should try his best to train his troops so that he can live up to the expectations of the young commander."
Gao pragmatically said: "This is not my wish alone, but the wish of everyone in the government and the public." Then he paused: "Where did you just say it?"
Qi Jiguang replied: "It's time for the emperor to ask the Empress Dowager Cisheng for instructions."
"Oh, yes." Gao Pingshi nodded and suddenly laughed: "Nantang Gong might as well guess what the Empress Dowager Cisheng said."
Qi Jiguang shook his head and said: "Young Sima, this junior general doesn't dare to make random guesses."
Gao pragmatic chuckled and said, "Okay, let me tell you the truth - the Empress Dowager Cisheng said: 'Although there is no age limit in the country of vassal kings, it is usually after the wedding. The Ai family understands this. However, Although the country's vassalage is an ancestral system, the emperor previously said that King Jing's property would be transferred to King Lu. I wonder if King Lu has got it now? If he has, then the Ai family has nothing to say, and of course they agree to King Lu's vassalage. But If you didn't get it...Emperor, you wouldn't watch your brother go to Wei Hui to drink the northwest wind, right?"
When Qi Jiguang heard this, his expression immediately changed, and he said in a deep voice: "Prince Jing's property is still in the hands of the imperial court? How did the general hear about it..."
Gao Jingshi said calmly: "King Jing's property has been gone for a long time, and it has all been returned to the local people."
Qi Jiguang was stunned and said hesitantly: "Does the Empress Dowager know about this?"
"If she doesn't know, why would she ask this?" Gao Jingshi curled his lips and said, "If what I expected is correct, someone may be giving the Queen Mother advice on this matter behind her back. As for the reasons, one is to delay the Kingdom of King Lu. , Secondly, even if it cannot be delayed, it can still make King Lu rich and happy to join the feudal clan."
Qi Jiguang was stunned for a while, sighed, but said no more.
In fact, Gao pragmatically recalled carefully how many rewards and properties King Lu received in history. He even took the whole matter seriously several times.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there were very few additional rewards of property to the princes. Everything was done in accordance with the standards set by Zhu Yuanzhang. However, in the early Ming Dynasty, petitions and land rewards gradually began to be given, but the amount was small and not yet Become customized.
After Xuande, due to the experience and lessons of the Jingnan Campaign and Gao Xu's Rebellion, the imperial court's preventive policy against the clan became more and more strict. The guards and military power of each vassal were successively deprived of them. Politically, they basically "sit in vain". "Excessive and generous salary".
The princes and princes could not and did not dare to do anything politically, so they turned to the direction of amassing wealth and expanding their estates by any means.
During this period, the imperial court was also willing to give generous salaries to various princes, thereby depriving them of their political rights. Therefore, petitions became more popular and the amount of land rewarded gradually increased.
Under such a situation, early feudal princes took advantage of their privileges to annex large amounts of land through petitions, donations, expropriation and other means. The later kings followed the early feudal princes in terms of property, and tried to catch up with or surpass the early feudal princes before and after joining the vassal state.
During the Chenghua period, the amount of land requested and approved by the kings of De, Chong, Ji, and Hui from the vassal vassal reached thousands of hectares, and the pace of annexation of land by the princes was greatly accelerated.
In the Jiajing Dynasty, Zhu Zaizhen, King Jinggong (the one who competed with Longqing in the Yuwang period), used Shizong's favor and took advantage of the opportunity of the country to obtain 40,000 hectares of land and a large amount of rent, mining and salt taxes through petition.
No matter how much the courtiers at the time objected to the boycott, Jiajing ignored it, so King Jing still set a precedent for large-scale land acquisition through petitions.
At present, King Lu is Zhu Yijun's only half-brother. The government and the public call him "the head of all vassals" and "the vassal watcher". In terms of favor and favor, he is even better than King Jinggong Zhu Zaizhen.
Gao Pingshi remembered that in the original history, King Lu did not become a vassal now. He only officially became a vassal in the seventeenth year of Wanli. At the same time, he used his special status to follow King Jing's precedent and petition King Jing for his legacy.
Zhu Yijun always responded to King Lu's petitions, and of course he did so this time. He also ordered the relevant courts, divisions, roads, and governments to copy the original amount of Jingfu Zhuangtian from the Ministry of Household Affairs and transfer it to each county, survey and determine the boundaries, and discuss The amount of money and food that should be paid.
The problem was that during the reign of King Jing, due to the confusion and dedication of traitors, a false name was created, and the emptiness of the property under his name was already very large. Hong Qidao, who was the magistrate of Huangpi County at the time, said: "In previous years, when the Jingfu government petitioned, many traitorous people donated their money, and some of their land was hidden."
Moreover, twenty-four years have passed since the removal of Jing Fan Kingdom to the Kingdom of King Lu. The real number of people who originally belonged to King Jing will definitely decrease, not increase. "History of the Ming Dynasty" records: "The vassal of King Jing has passed away, and he has died of illness. He seized tens of thousands of hectares of Pitian owned by Jingfu and returned it to the people. The people of Chu were very happy."
Jingfu's imaginary amount was originally 40,000 hectares, and after the country was conquered, Xu Jie "took tens of thousands hectares and returned them to the people," indicating that basically all - or at least most of them - were returned to the original owners. , or those whose fields are farmed by tenants will pay the taxes and serve as errands.
For example, in Huangpi County, after the death of King Jing, "the land returned to the people". In the ninth year of Wanli in history, after the land was measured, it was "recorded in the book". It shows that the land of the original Jingfan has been included in the national register, and the land belongs to the private sector for tax purposes.
Therefore, when King Lu complained about King Jing's legacy, "the departments of the courtyard, the department, the road, and the government's household department copied out the numbers of Jingfu's village land and so on, and transferred them to the county to survey and determine the boundaries." And the county "is close to Sheyuan Township." Zhumuling checked the amount of the land and harvested and rented 607 hectares of land." The rent was collected according to the original Jingfu rent collection dragon ticket.
Therefore, the work of allocating the village land of Prince Lu's Mansion was actually to seize the original empty quota of Jing Mansion. According to the records of the Ministry of Household Records, private property was forcibly taken away from the original county of Jing Mansion's village land out of thin air! This move aroused strong resistance from both the government and the opposition.
The villagers, however, "changed their expressions after hearing this" and gathered at a meeting of the gentry to petition the government and county, requesting for reassignment or reduction of duties. The government and county magistrates jointly petitioned a minister to handle the matter, and the minister repeatedly petitioned the court to resist.
In August of the 16th year of Wanli, the Ministry of Household Affairs pointed out in a reply to Shangshu: If the land originally owned by the Jingfu government and originally owned by private tenant farmers was to be returned to the Luwangfu, it would be a loss to the state and harm to the people's livelihood. "Required that "the Huguang lake land, rivers, and state pits that were originally civilian properties should still be returned to their owners."
However, for the sake of this "viewing of the vassals", Zhu Yijun ignored the objections of local officials and ministers and issued an edict: "Zhuangtian shall be granted, and the boundaries shall be established with the officials and abbots so that they can be observed forever." He also asked "to check the corresponding land again, You may wish to give me some more, as my friendship and sympathy are with you."
In the specific survey work, it is not easy to convert decades of imaginary amounts into real numbers. Although there is a clear purpose, it is still not easy. There are still great difficulties and resistance, and it cannot be carried out smoothly.
Wanli was furious because of this and Long Yan seized the salaries of officials below the level of prison and secretary, which also affected officials in relevant prefectures and counties. "For example, Chief Secretary Zuo, Chief Secretary Wang Yingqian, Zhao Qintang, who was in charge of Wuchang Dao Zuo and participated in politics, etc." and related officials were all suspended. Get a salary.
Under this pressure, the relevant ministers and workers who had been deprived of their salaries had to "respect the Emperor's friendship and close relatives" and "work extremely hard on the investigation". Next, the imaginary number of Jingfu was finally changed into the real number of Lufu.
In the 21st year of Wanli, the Ministry of Household Affairs wrote: "The Lu Mansion has reported to the Jing Mansion to discuss the legacy of the Jing Mansion. It is clear that the Tao and the government have inspected and distributed the rent. Please open the official salary. From this." It can be seen from this that the survey work was finally completed. After satisfying King Lu and the emperor, the officials whose salaries were suspended were resumed.
In this way, from the beginning of King Lu's petition in August of the 16th year of Wanli to the end of the exploration work in October of the 21st year of Wanli, it took a total of five years. King Lu finally obtained 40,000 hectares of land and a large amount of rent, mines, salt Tax.
In fact, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the trend of dedication has become more and more popular. In the early years of King Jing's kingdom, the amount of donations was already astonishing.
During the Wanli period, the trend of donating became even more intense, so much so that in the 34th year of the Wanli period, the "Edict on the Ceremony of the Holy Mother's Emblem to Responsible for the World" specifically stated: "The common people, tired from the service, donated their land to the prince's palace to express hope... ...The common people are not allowed to sell their property privately to the prince, except for those who purchase it in advance, and they are under the supervision of their family members. If the previous abuses continue, the common people will be punished by the officials, and the clan chief, King Shi Qi, will give them a warning." This shows that the dedication has been a serious concern for the court. issues of concern.
The main target of donations is the privileged palace. The Lu Mansion, which was the head of the vassals at that time, received many gifts. In addition, there is a long history of the seizure and occupation of people's property by various princes, and it is common in the places where the princes and villages are located.
It is also stated in the "Edict on the Ceremony of the Holy Mother's Emblem to Responsible for the World": "There are some violent and powerful clans who often leave the closed city without authorization and seize property in various states and counties, without any officials knowing about it."
The farmland in Lufu is widely distributed, intertwined with civilian fields, and connected with treacherous roads. Seizures, purchases, and occupations of civilian fields often occur.
Hu Zhonglan took Sheyuan Township in Huangpi County as an example in "Wangzhuangyi" and said: Lu Mansion petitioned King Jing's inheritance and obtained 607 hectares of fields within 70 miles of the township, but "the tenants (of Lu Mansion) suffered from The rent is heavy, and the disputed territory is seventy miles away. It is not considered that within seventy miles there are tens of acres of civilian land. The original land of Jingfu is only a hundred and seven acres, how can it be as much as seventy miles? With so many tenants, they want to increase their land. To reduce the rent, the people do not want to cede land with heavy differences. In the past few years, this has been difficult to decide."
The tenants of Lu Mansion are still fighting for their property in the name of Seventy Miles, let alone Prince Lu's Mansion? Without the support of Prince Lu's Mansion, how could Yousi have been unable to resolve the issue for several years due to the disputes among the tenants? It's just that Hu Zhonglan only dared to talk about the tenants and didn't dare to talk about the Lu Mansion.
It can be seen from this that there are not a few cases of Lu Mansion seizing and occupying people's property. Wang Yuquan said, "There are only a few ways for princes to obtain Zhuangtian in the Ming Dynasty: imperial gift, petition, donation, seizure, and direct occupation." Looking at the reasons and processes for the formation of Zhuangtian in Prince Lu's Mansion, there are only a few ways. Among them, the main part is the 40,000 hectares of land that King Lu petitioned and approved by Zhu Yijun, followed by a certain amount of donations and occupations.
There are so many twists and turns in this. How could Empress Dowager Li, a woman who has been serving in the palace since she was a child, know so clearly? That's why Gao Jingshi said that someone was giving Queen Mother Li advice behind her back.
The two of them were silent for a while. Qi Jiguang finally couldn't help it anymore and asked: "Is the person behind the Queen Mother Li Wenjin?"
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi", "Zhou Yanyy", and "book friend 160205225421459" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: In the early days of this book, a friend asked King Lu how much money he spent on the Ming Dynasty. I said at the time that I would write about it later...well, this chapter is the basic answer.
