"Yes. This is what I think. The clan members who want to ask for Zonglu come to see me. They just want me to give you a message and find a way to ask the court to make up for their lumi, or five hundred shi, or three. Baishi is not scary after all.”
"Isn't it scary?" Zhu Houzhao immediately raised his voice, "If you start this way, do you know what will happen next? The clan entered the capital without the order and successfully appealed. There are thousands of clans behind them, and they all imitate them. You call me What words will you use to respond then?"
Yan Song cupped his hands and bent down again, "If you can't deal with it, there should be a solution."
Zhu Houzhao's expression changed, and then he laughed, "You are going to make these people anxious."
"Exactly. If Your Majesty wants to solve the problem of the imperial sects and vassals, he can only do it through necessity, but how can he have to solve it? This account must be settled by others, and this trouble can be caused by others. I am willing to do this for Your Majesty. People. When the time comes and the court cannot solve this problem according to the old system, then Your Majesty will have to change the old system. Besides, if they are anxious, they will not stop Your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao nodded, "Yes. Each royal court has to give Lumi 10,000 shi every year. There are dozens of princes in the Ming Dynasty, which is hundreds of thousands of shi. Plus the county princes, generals who govern the country, generals who support the country... Zong There are nearly 3,000 clans currently recorded in the Renmin government. Even if the remaining clans have less lumi, they still need an average of 500 shi per person, which is 1.5 million shi. Together, the imperial court must give 2 lumis per year. One million shi. There are two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty. How many provinces can produce two million shi in a year?
The annual tax revenue from the treasury seems to be maintained at a high level, but it consumes a lot of money, including military pay, disaster relief, and official salaries. Money is needed everywhere, and I am reluctant to renovate a palace. If I really want to be able to save two million dan a year, I will save it for ten years and get 20 million dan of food for my generals. "
With 20 million shi of food, and if he opens a few more horse farms and raises some horses, he will dare to call out the Ming Dynasty version of "300,000 Northern Liang Iron Cavalry". But it doesn’t have so much food left every year. There are still hungry people all over the world, and there is nothing we can do to save them.
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true. It is almost the end of the year, and the next year's autumn grain has not yet been delivered to the treasury. The previous year's grain has been basically consumed, leaving only some emergency supplies. If the clans from all over the world come to ask for Lumi , the Ministry of Household Affairs must be in a hurry. Moreover, even if the Ministry of Household Affairs has millions of dan of grain and rice, they will feel distressed if they take it out. They will definitely say that according to the old system, there is no need to give it all."
Zhu Houzhao put a smile on Yan Song's face, "But if you do this, they will hate you even more."
"I eat the emperor's salary to relieve His Majesty's worries. I read the sages' books to be a loyal minister. As for the length of it, let others decide."
"Yeah. However, it's not like the imperial court can't afford two million shi of food a year. Your account needs to be more thrilling for them." The emperor said this with some meaning.
"What does your Majesty mean?"
"Someone has to tell everyone a story."
"what story?"
The emperor held his waist and walked up the steps. "A piece of paper can never be folded in half seven times."
This is what Yan Song can't understand, "Why can't a piece of paper be folded in half seven times?"
"Of course it's not absolute, but it's impossible to find paper that can be folded seven times here." Zhu Houzhao pointed at him with one finger, "You can ask the Institute of Gewu in the academy for help with this matter. Give it a try and see what I say Is it true? I won’t tell you the truth, and you won’t understand it even if I tell you.
But the key to this problem is to 'spread the branches and spread the leaves'. You can do the math. When Emperor Taizu was emperor, there were only about twenty clans. By my time, it was only over a hundred years old. How many people should there be in another hundred years? How much food should it be? If you do this calculation, you will find that if this system is not changed, our Ming Dynasty will not be able to survive even three hundred years, not to mention its eternal foundation. If Emperor Taizu knew that the Ming Dynasty was worse than the weak Song Dynasty, do you think he would blame us, the unfilial descendants of future generations? "
"Then, how does Your Majesty want to change it?"
Yan Song dared to ask this question, he had the confidence.
Zhu Houzhao also felt that this boy was very talented as a traitor, so he sat down with him and said slowly, "We must limit the wealth of the vassal king and remove the illegal wealth. This is one of them. In fact, I don't want to kill anyone. They are all my own family members." , killing him would be a joke to outsiders. Secondly, when a vassal inherits a title, no matter whether he is the eldest son or not, he must be demoted to the title."
The second point is the real killer move.
This is what the Qing Dynasty did.
As for the Qing Dynasty, although there were various problems, the ruling technology during the feudal dynasty stage did reach its peak, and it solved the problems that the previous dynasties had not been able to solve.
The prince is a typical example.
In the Qing Dynasty, if your father is a prince, you have to be demoted one level. After being demoted several levels in a row, there will be nothing left after several generations.
So later on, there were quite a few people in Beijing with the surname Aixinjueluo shining their shoes on the roadside.
A prince earns 10,000 dan a year. After one generation, he becomes a county king. A county prince only earns 2,000 dan a year. After another year, it becomes a thousand dan. Double it and the price will drop.
Yan Song knew the emperor's true intention at this moment, but there would be a problem.
"Your Majesty, the clan has been demoted to the rank of nobility, and there will be no money to receive in a few generations. So how can the clan make a living?"
It's actually not difficult to be demoted to a nobility. Once the imperial edict is issued, it's finalized. What's more, can they still come to the capital to get food?
But what Yan Song asked was the key.
In order to solve the problem of the rebellion of the feudal lords, the Ming Dynasty almost treated the princes as trash and could not do anything. This way of living can only be done if you are a prince. If you are not a prince, you have to find something to do to support yourself.
But in this case, some ancestral systems had to be changed, and some things had to be done by the prince.
Moreover, you cannot say that generals can do this, but kings cannot do it. That would be ridiculous and difficult to supervise.
Therefore, once this prohibition is solved, it is fully solved.
"You're smart." Zhu Houzhao praised, "I've thought about this. Demoting to a noble rank means going down. If you go down, you have to go up. How to go up? So I have to add another meritorious one. Promotion."
Yan Song knelt down when he heard this, "Your Majesty is an eternal wise king, but this matter needs long-term consideration. The reason why Emperor Taizong set such rules is to prevent unbearable disasters."
"I understand what Emperor Taizong means, but times have changed. If we stick to the old ways, the court cannot support so many sects. Furthermore, in order to appease the clan, I have decided to set up some 'clan vacancies'."
A lack of clan members?
Yan Song was puzzled and said, "Your Majesty, please enlighten me."
"It is an official position that is only allowed to be filled by members of the clan. No one else is allowed to fill it. It is considered a privilege given to the clan."
this……
It seems to have deep meaning.
"May I ask Your Majesty, what kind of sect member shortage is this?"
"Hahaha." Zhu Houzhao became happy, "You are a slippery guy with a really tricky mouth."
"Your Majesty is criticizing the minister."
"No, you still understand what I mean."
Yan Song was relieved. It seemed that the emperor was not confused. Not only was he not confused, he was also very cunning.
What kind of people are missing, what kind of privileges. They all have nice names, but the key is to see where they are located.
If it is the town's general soldier, it is called a lack of clan members, but if it is some unimportant and idle official positions, only clan members can hold them, which seems to be a privilege, but in fact it limits their power within the scope of their control.
Doing something is the same as not doing anything.
To have this effect.
The emperor is worthy of being an emperor after all.
"Wei Zhong,"
"I'm here."
"I will leave this matter to you."
"I accept the decree, please rest assured, Your Majesty, something big will happen at the right time."
"It's good if a big thing happens. The bigger the thing is, the bigger the change will be." The emperor turned and left Nuange, his voice gradually disappeared from near and far, "After it happens, you will have to suffer for a while."
Yan Song shouted, "Serving Your Majesty, I have no grievances!"
Emperor Zhengde was a protective man.
From first protecting Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe to later protecting Gu Zuo. If you sincerely serve the emperor, who will lose?
Let's talk about Wang Hua. He was sent to Nanjing for several years because of the affairs in Zhejiang. After the limelight passed, he returned to the capital to serve as the Minister of Rites.
Outsiders say that Emperor Zhengde has a deep mind, but Yan Song doesn't think so. It's the foolish emperor who acts randomly. He doesn't reward those who deserve to be rewarded and punishes those who deserve to be punished. It's all based on preference and mood, which is impossible to figure out.
Mingjun is very simple. I will reward you for your merits, and I will reward you even if I don't like you. Isn't this simple?
After leaving the palace, Yan Song returned to the auction house and happened to see the deputy Situ Hao coming in from the outside.
"How is Huiyanji's situation?"
Situ Hao reported back, "We've already discussed it. The Youdong family is willing to give up some shares, 60%."
"Sixty percent?" Yan Song smiled, "At sixty percent, we become bandits who rob homes and homes."
"She won't do it if she's too low."
"This is a smart person." Yan Song put his hands in his sleeves and said the key point, "If it is lower, we don't care about the money, she is actually in a lot of trouble. If it is higher, the government will think that this is the emperor's money and cannot be called When people are bullied, they will work harder. Alas, it's a pity that she is a woman, otherwise I might not let Yu Ping Haibo."
Situ Hao frowned and thought for a moment, and soon understood the truth, and he admired You Sanchun even more in his heart.
"Yan Suo, what should we do?"
Yan Song thought that if something happened, he wouldn't be able to stay in this position anymore. He didn't know when he would come back, but he couldn't make a mess for Situ Hao. Otherwise, it will be troublesome for him to come back.
"Find a time for me to meet this person."
"Yes, I understand."
Yan Song didn't say anything else. He was thinking about the conversation he had just had with the emperor, so he went to find a piece of paper, folded it... and then discovered the magic.
"Here comes someone!"
"exist!"
Yan Song called everyone like Situ Hao over, "Let's find a piece of paper and try it. Is there any that can be folded in half more than seven times?"
Others had the same reaction as him, from ridiculing to joining in...
"Hey! This is really a strange thing!"
(End of chapter)
