Chapter 30: A glass of wine releases military power
The key to releasing military power over a glass of wine is not the glass of wine, but the various benefits and money behind the glass of wine.
Essentially exchanging power for money.
But Tang He knew that the Ming Dynasty did not have so much money. But here, He Xi found so much money out of thin air. Tang He's mind changed. He will definitely give some special treatment to some old brothers and let them have glory and wealth, and they will be satisfied and peaceful.
Tang He really didn't want to see his old brother end badly.
It's just that Tang He forgot one thing.
The main reason for releasing the military power over a glass of wine was that the emperor nodded in agreement. Will Zhu Yuanzhang nod and agree to this matter?
The conversation between Tang He and He Xi came to an abrupt end at this point.
Because the nature of this matter is no longer something He Xi can decide. It has already involved the deep game at the top of Ming Dynasty’s power. Needless to say, it would be difficult for He Xi to intervene. Even Tang He can only play the drum and can't do anything else.
The more you do, the more mistakes you make.
He Xi and Tang He played separately. It was not far from Ningbo to Nanjing, and it was soon in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang understood what it meant after comparing the two memorials.
Neither He Xi nor Tang He would explain such a thing clearly. He Xi merely put forward his strategy for managing the sea. It means opening the sea with restrictions. Support maritime merchants and grant them the privilege of operating at sea. The policy for small maritime traders remains the same as before.
Of course, the advantage of doing this is that some of the dirty work will be passed on to these maritime merchants. Sharing maritime interests through privileges, tariffs, imperial court or inner court shares, etc. also facilitates control of the maritime trade situation.
The disadvantage is that this actually distributes maritime benefits to certain groups of people. At the same time, the expansion of maritime armed forces must also be allowed.
Under today's strong suppression, piracy cannot become a thing. But if we adopt this policy. Maybe pirates won't bother the place anymore. The imperial court could also get a share of maritime trade. But the Ming court would also create its own potential threats.
There are privileges at sea, and it is allowed to be armed. Almost a prince on the sea. The imperial court may be able to provide checks and balances. But once something changes, this force will be a much greater threat than the previous pirates.
Tang He's private message first reminisced about old times, and then condemned some old brothers for forgetting their roots. Not obeying the court's laws makes me feel regretful and angry at the same time. Then he hinted that many of their old brothers were roughnecks. Don't understand any big reason. I am absolutely loyal to His Majesty, but I have some bad habits that I really can’t change. If you don't have good looks, just let them go overseas.
Zhu Yuanzhang threw the two secret letters on the table and said, "Tang He is still so naughty."
In fact, Tang He was right.
Huaixi Group and Zhu Yuanzhang have conflicts of one kind or another. But if we say that these veterans of the Huaixi Group are disloyal to Zhu Yuanzhang, it is absolutely slander. But if we say that these old brothers have no complaints, it is even more insulting.
Zhu Yuanzhang himself was austere and strict in his laws. When he was conquering the world, he was so harsh that he killed the son of General Hu Dahai and made Hu Dahai extinct for the sake of his own family's laws. Waiting for something.
It can be said that there are many cases of killing meritorious officials and generals for the sake of law.
At that time, everyone was trying to conquer the world. If one fails, all heads will be moved. Although it is harsh, everyone can tolerate it. But today there is peace. Although the swords and guns have not yet been put into storage, the horses are released to Nanshan. However, at least the Ming Dynasty has not been overturned.
Shouldn't they, the veterans who conquered the world, enjoy it?
Not so much, just dozens or even hundreds of hectares of land. There would be hundreds or even thousands of servants in the household. This is actually quite a few, as everyone came here from the time before the Yuan Dynasty. What were the former Yuan officials and nobles like at that time? Now what we want is actually very little. There is no way to compare with those powerful people.
This is not satisfying at all, it is a bit too much.
But everything Zhu Yuanzhang is based on is average. Equality is both, the first is the equality of the land. Through migration, land reclamation. Major cases and so on. In the Yuan Dynasty, the situation in which the rich had land across prefectures and counties, while the poor had no place to stand, was reversed. In the entire Ming Dynasty, there were only more than 3,000 landlords with more than two hectares of land, and they were on Zhu Yuanzhang's desk.
There is also the equalization of taxes and servitude, so that everyone in the world must bear taxes and servitude. One has less to bear.
But what the hero group wanted was completely hostile to Zhu Yuanzhang's politics.
One person needs hundreds of hectares of land. There are hundreds of Huaixi Group generals who can be ranked high. This is all the case, not to mention how much tax the Ming court lost. Just speaking of this leading role, it has positive consequences. They have done this, why don’t they follow their example?
Once a trend forms. Even Zhu Yuanzhang may not be able to control it.
Not to mention, Zhu Yuanzhang agreed. These people can stop.
What does it mean to push beyond the limits? What is insatiable?
Zhu Yuanzhang had a clear grasp of human nature. Once admitted, these heroes will have special privileges because of their merit. Give concessions. Many times, it will not satisfy them, but instead feed their appetite. They have made great contributions to conquering the world and deserve glory and wealth. They conquered this world. Shouldn't we listen to them? Why should we listen to those in turbans? With economic privileges, shouldn't there be political privileges?
In short, one sentence.
The biggest difference between the two sides is that Zhu Yuanzhang feels that this world belongs to me, Old Zhu. Many people in Huaixi Group think so. This world belongs to the Zhu family, but it was also conquered by us. You Zhu Yuanzhang eats the big head, can't we eat the small head?
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give these nobles any privileges. Otherwise, how did they get the titles on their heads? The title itself carries economic and political privileges. However, these people are not as content as Tang He. Most are dissatisfied.
Of course, in fact, from Tang He's point of view, the most important thing is the relationship with the emperor, not those that are available or not. Other things, more or less, it doesn't matter. As long as you have a good relationship with the emperor, there is nothing.
However, although many people in the Huaixi Group have a good relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang, they are not that good. That’s why they want something more affordable.
Of course, there is still a little problem. That is that Zhu Yuanzhang is a bit stingy by nature. What Zhu Yuanzhang thinks is enough is not what others think.
Just like the Ming Dynasty salary. Zhu Yuanzhang established a salary for the Ming Dynasty, although it was small. But Zhu Yuanzhang did not owe any salary, and he also received bonuses during holidays. It’s all enough. Therefore, the official salaries during the Hongwu period were not bad. But it's just passable. During the Yongle period, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty used all kinds of messy things as salary, and even issued treasure notes. The court officials suddenly couldn't survive. After that, it was even more of a wait.
And the treatment given to these nobles is the same.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave his son an annual salary of tens of thousands of stone. Later, I felt it was too much, so I changed it to Wan Shi. But among the nobles, Xu Da, the most meritorious one, had an annual salary of only 5,000 dan. Li Shan is four thousand stones long. Dukes are probably in the range of more than 2,000 dan and less than 5,000 dan. Most of the Hou family members are in the range of more than one thousand stone, and below two thousand stone, maybe a little more, above two thousand stone. It won't exceed three thousand stones. As for the earl, it is less than a thousand stones. Liu Bowen only had two hundred and forty stones.
Maybe some people think it's a lot. But it's actually not much, let alone compared to the prince. Even compared with the Han Dynasty, it is not much.
A small county in the Ming Dynasty generally has a tax of around 10,000 shi. Counties with less than 10,000 shi are almost all due to their extremely important terrain, otherwise they would not have separate counties. In other words, even Xu Da. Not as good as the so-called Wanhuhou in the Han Dynasty. Because in Shangxian County in the Han Dynasty, there were only ten thousand households.
Xu Da didn't say much, it was meaningless. Is it mainly the hero below? Work hard, go through life and death. Just a few hundred stone salary.
There are also various restrictions, such as no interference with Yousi, no annexation of land, no private service of soldiers, etc. This is not allowed, that is not allowed. It would be strange for these proud and powerful generals to be satisfied.
But Zhu Yuanzhang felt that these people were all idiots at first. For example, Lu Zhongheng’s family was ruined. He was half-clothed and hiding in the grass. Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to follow him. Just survived. Nowadays, with titles and titles, almost everything is available. What else do you want?
