"So, you just talked about this matter so carelessly with so many officials on the spot before discussing it with the emperor?"
In Gao Jingshi's study in Rixin Building, Nanning Marquis Mansion, Liu Xin looked at Gao Jingshi in surprise and asked about the above paragraph.
Gao Pragmatic spread his hands and said: "Yes, at that time, I saw that the situation was hot enough, so I naturally said it, and in hindsight, the response was not bad."
"No, I'm not concerned about the repercussions." Liu Xin frowned and said, "You don't discuss it with the emperor in advance and just throw out such a big thing. Is there really no problem?"
"Such a big thing? How big a thing?" Gao Pingshi laughed and said, "Isn't the big thing you're talking about the 'third-class foreign knighthood'?"
"What else?"
"This is a trivial matter." Gao Pingshi shook his head and said, "If you really mean it's a big deal, I only said '100 officials account for 30%' for the money from selling this third-class foreign title. This is a big deal."
"What do you mean? Why didn't I understand?" Liu Xin felt as if she and Gao Pragmatic were not on the same channel.
Gao pragmatic touched his chin and said: "Well, let me ask you, do you think that I have belittled the famous imperial utensils by offering such a third-class title for public sale, and I didn't even mention it to the emperor before. Not to mention asking for his consent in advance, so the emperor will be very angry?"
"Yes, that's what I mean, don't you think?"
"Alas..." Gao Pragmatic sighed, shook his head and said, "This shows that you neither understand our emperor nor how China's titles developed to what they are today."
"Oh?" Liu Xin became interested. She pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Gao Pingshi, saying, "Thank you, Teacher Gao, for teaching me and solving my doubts."
The only person who talks to Gao pragmatically in this tone is probably Liu Xin now. Gao pragmatically shook his head helplessly and said: "The first question is easy to explain. Our emperor... in his eyes, the famous imperial weapons are far less practical than silver - especially a lot of silver."
Liu Xin was doubtful and said: "That's not true, isn't it that there are no rules at all? He is the emperor, shouldn't he pay the most attention to rules, just like Zhu Yuanzhang."
"He may also value rules, but in the final analysis, rules are no more valuable than money in his eyes." Gao pragmatically said: "I only need to give you an example and you will understand. In the original time and space, because of the general recommendation of the Ministry of Household Affairs during the three major campaigns, He said he couldn't get the money, but in the end the emperor took a lot of money from the internal funds, and then he plundered it everywhere. I told you this, right?"
"Yes, but isn't that a lack of money?" Liu Xin said.
"Don't worry." Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and said: "People in the Ming Dynasty have restrictions on the color of their clothes. You know this. Although the rules are not so strict now, there are some colors that you can't wear casually. For example, you If a common man walks down the street wearing bright red, he will definitely be arrested by the censor and put in jail, right?"
"That's natural, but as long as it's not bright red...oh, and bright yellow, the other rules basically exist on paper."
"However, something like this happened: someone obeyed Zhu and was imprisoned. The emperor knew about the incident, and the ministers demanded severe punishment. As a result, the emperor said: It is not impossible to obey Zhu, but you have to set a tax and pay Just wear whatever you want if you can afford it. Don’t convince Zhu, so what if you wear yellow clothes?”
Liu Xin was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said: "The emperors of the Ming Dynasty are really unconventional." After a pause, he continued: "But you said that I don't understand Chinese titles. What do you mean? ? Isn’t he just the Duke of Dukes? Then there are only Dukes of the Ming Dynasty, why don’t I understand this? "
Gao Pragmatic sighed and said, "Do you still remember the official letter that King Philip II of Spain wrote to me a few years ago?"
"You mean the letter in which Spain and we negotiated a cooperation agreement related to Southeast Asian trade? Of course I remember that."
"Very good, then do you remember the long list of titles before Philip II's signature?"
"It's too long. I only remember the first few, the King of Castile, the King of Aragon, the King of Portugal... and so on. I forgot the rest."
Gao Pragmatic laughed and said: "The time has come to test my skills in playing strategic games. Listen carefully, his full title is: Felipe, blessed by God, King of Castile, King of Aragon and all of Spain." King of the People, King of Portugal, King of Sicily, King of Naples, King of Sardinia and Corsica, King of Jerusalem, King of the East and West Indies, Duke of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant, Duke of Lorraine, Duke of Fort, Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Gelderland, Count of Alsace, Marquis of Namur, Count of Flanders, Count of Delos, Count of Barcelona, Count of Charolais, Count of Avato, Burgundy-Pfalz The Counts of Zetz, Hainault, Holland, Zutphen, and Roussillon, the Grand Master of the Knights of the Golden Fleece.”
Liu Xin was stunned for a long time and wondered: "You actually want to remember this, what's the use?"
"It's not that I have the intention to remember this, but I have played it in the game before and played it for a long time, so I am already familiar with these territories."
Gao Pragmatic waved his hand: "But now I am not talking about how familiar I am with European geography, but I want to ask you one thing: Do you know why the titles of these European monarchs are so long, and this This situation does not exist in China?"
"Hey, don't tell me, I've always been curious about this, but I have no place to ask." Liu Xin said puzzledly: "Look at how simple our emperor's title is - Emperor, just two words and it's all done .
Looking at the Europeans, take Philip II as an example. You just said that his title was preceded by 'King of Castile and King of Aragon'. Aren't these two lands added up to Spain, so why not? And add 'King of all Spain'? Should the land and people be counted separately?
There is also the long list of earls at the back. Although I can't remember them all, I feel that he should at least have calculated the entire Netherlands separately. But the question is why is this necessary? You might as well make a 'Netherlands' Isn't that the end of the matter for the King? So why is this, just to look more majestic? "
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "Let me give you an example. For example, I gave you a lake in Huzhou City, then I gave you a mansion in Dingna City, and I also gave you a courtyard in the capital, and finally I gave you I will give you a manor in Thang Long City, etc... Finally, now you have to count the properties. Can you summarize the above real estate properties in one sentence? "
"That's definitely not possible. This mess is everywhere. How can I summarize it? I can only list them one by one." Liu Xin was stunned for a moment when she said this, and said thoughtfully: "Oh, you mean... Are these titles of European monarchs more like property than titles?”
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "Smart, that's right."
"But it's wrong. As I just asked, Castile plus Aragon is Spain. He said that he can only say "King of Spain". Why should he divide it into two kings and then add "All Spaniards"? king?"
Gao Pragmatic said: "Because the 'King of Spain' does not exist legally. What exists legally is the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon. However, these two countries have formed a commonwealth since the time of his great-grandfather and great-grandmother. It is a monarchy, and now the concept of 'Spaniards' has been created, so he can only clearly state the two kings and then add a 'King of all Spaniards'... This is a legal issue of ownership."
"It's still wrong. For example, since the King of Aragon has already said it, why do lords under Aragon like the Count of Barcelona and Roussillon have to say it again?
Isn't this nonsense? You are already the king of Aragon. What's the point of repeating the territory you rule? If we follow this approach, will the Ming Emperor want to put all the two capitals, thirteen provinces, or even hundreds of prefectures into his title? "
"There is a saying you should have heard: My vassals are not my vassals, right?" Gao pragmatically asked.
Liu Xin nodded first and then shook her head, saying: "I have heard this sentence before, but does it have anything to do with the issue we are talking about now?"
"It does matter, it matters a lot." Gao pragmatically said: "It is precisely because of the relationship between a vassal and a vassal that 'my vassal is not my vassal', so... well, for example, this King of Aragon, whose name is There must be not only the Count of Barcelona and the Count of Roussillon, but also the Count of Zaragoza and the Count of Tortosa.
Then, some of these counts were not held by Philip II himself, so he had to distinguish these people individually. The way to distinguish them was to express the counts they held in their titles. Otherwise, if he doesn't do this, the other earls may protest against him for ignoring their legal territory and even their glory. "
"Oh, that's it, I understand... I'm really sick."
Gao Pragmatic laughed and reiterated: "In short, you just need to understand that the reason why they list such a long list of titles is that those expressions are equivalent to indicating their own property... What Europeans value is property ownership, do you understand?"
"I understand, I understand, what is the situation in China? Doesn't the title in China represent ownership? Also, there are many kings, dukes, and marquises under the emperor of China, but I have never seen the emperor saying that he cares about These people’s property ownership makes them unable to call themselves emperors of the country.”
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "That's the question - do Chinese titles really express property ownership?"
"Uh..." Liu Xin frowned and pondered for a while, and finally said helplessly: "I'm confused, why don't you just say it?"
"What is jue?" Gao Pingshi said seriously: "Let me ask more clearly: what does the word jue originally mean?"
"Jue means a title... uh, wait a minute." Liu Xin frowned and said, "Are you asking about the original meaning of this word? Then... jue means a wine vessel."
Gao Pragmatic praised: "Look, that's right - Jue itself is a kind of wine vessel. So, how did it later become the so-called 'title'? Why does the word title come from a kind of wine? Tool?"
Liu Xin rolled her eyes and said angrily: "Hey, hey, this question is over the top. I'm not studying these things... Could you please Teacher Gao just announce the answer? I guess I'm tired."
"It's still a little short of that." Gao pragmatically said, "I have to tell you one thing first before I can make this issue clear."
"Oh... ok, then you say it."
"After Shang Yang's reform, the Qin Dynasty rewarded military merit and divided it into twenty ranks of nobility. Do you know this?"
"I know, what next?"
"This is what we learned before. It is said that as long as a soldier of the Qin State captures the head of an enemy 'Jiashi', he can obtain a first-class title, that is, a public servant, and then get a hectare of land, a house, and a servant. That's right. wrong?"
"I forgot, maybe, so what?"
"The problem is big." Gao pragmatically said: "How many battles did the Qin State fight after the reform? They won a lot of battles, but how old is the Qin State? Does it have so many houses and servants to provide? Especially this 'field', you If one head is exchanged for one hundred acres of land, Qin has already won many battles in Guanzhong, does the King of Qin have enough land to reward it?"
Liu Xin was stunned. She had never thought about this problem, but she was shocked after thinking about it casually: "It seems impossible. Let's talk about the Battle of Changping. Hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops were destroyed. These heads are no longer in the sea. Gone? One person has one hundred acres, and I don’t know if there is enough land in the whole of China!”
"So, this is what I want to say. The 'a hectare of farmland, a house and a servant' mentioned in Shang Yang's reform were not given to you by the State of Qin or the King of Qin."
Liu Xin was even more puzzled: "No reward? What did Shang Yang say?"
Gao Pragmatic laughed and said: "I won't reward you, but I will give you a target."
"What is this? Indicators?"
"Yes, it's an indicator. It means... now that you have made a meritorious service and become a first-class knight, that is, a public servant, then you can legally own one hundred acres of land, a house and a servant." Gao pragmatically said this. He said in a stronger tone: "But how you get these, King Qin doesn't care."
"Is this useless?" Liu Xin's eyes widened: "It's like I didn't even get a hair on my head?"
"Why didn't you get it? You got the quota... If you don't have this quota, but you are very rich, then you will be in trouble, because no matter how much money you have, you can't buy more than one hundred acres of land. Use servants, otherwise it is illegal...
Then, even if our Qin court can turn a blind eye, we will not rule out arresting you at any time for questioning. So, if you are a rich man, are you also very anxious, and then think that you must do some meritorious service and get some titles to ensure that you can legally own these properties? "
"Can you still be so shameless?" Liu Xin's eyes widened: "This is simply a huge profit... No, this is a business without capital!"
Gao Pragmatic snorted twice before saying: "In the early Han Dynasty, Huang Lao governed the world. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came up, he came up with the 'Shu Min', which required everyone in the world to declare their personal property, and those who exceeded the personal standard had to pay a certain percentage of tax... ...This incident is actually a restoration of the old system of Zhou rites to a certain extent. That is to say, as mentioned in Qin just now, your property cannot exceed a certain regulation, and this regulation is related to your status.
Precisely because what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did was a kind of restoration of the old system, Sima Qian only briefly stated it when recording it, saying that the world was ruined because of it, but he did not criticize Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty like he did for many other things.
This shows that even after the Han Dynasty was established for so long, this custom or old system is still taken for granted among the people... So you say that Qin is shameless in doing this, but you are actually asking from today's point of view The ancients of Qin. "
"Okay, now I understand what 'jue' means." Liu Xin said: "A jue is a vessel for holding wine. Its size can limit how much wine can be filled, but where does this wine come from? At least you You can't expect this 'jue' to conjure wine on his own.
Therefore, the meaning of title also evolved from the meaning of 'jue', which means I will give you this upper limit, but whether you can reach this upper limit is your own business. "
Gao Pragmatic clapped his hands and said: "Congratulations, you now know what the title is. Then think about it again, is the so-called 'third-class foreign title' I gave also originated from this?" significance?"
"I understand, I really understand now." Liu Xin sighed: "You just gave a third-class quota, which is essentially the same as the twentieth-class noble in the Qin Dynasty. It is a business without capital... and the emperor only wants money. , he will definitely like this method, so you are not worried at all that he will not agree."
Gao pragmatic smiled and nodded: "Of course."
——
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to the book friend "Old West of Altay" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: A little late, but still done. In addition, although there is no time to carefully polish the words of this chapter, I am personally very satisfied with the content.
(End of chapter)
