As Zhu Yijun finished speaking, the auditorium burst into cheers. Except for a few princes whom Zhu Yijun wanted to get close to who knew the news in advance, the other princes and princes couldn't believe their ears when they heard the news.
In order to prevent a recurrence of the Jing disaster, after Chengzu won the throne, he continued Jianwen's policy of reducing vassals, and went even further. In addition to depriving the kings of all the guards Taizu had assigned to him, he was also strictly prohibited from interfering in local administration, marrying nobles, meeting the two kings, coming to Beijing to perform affairs or even leaving the city, and prohibiting clan members from taking official positions in the imperial examinations. It even prohibits "the business of connecting the four peoples" and so on. The most exaggerated thing is that when kings go out of the city to visit tombs, they must first request an order and then act under the supervision of local officials.
Now, what does the emperor mean by his words? Does he allow the clan to lead troops? After all the kings looked at each other, the king of Luyang County stood up and said: "Your Majesty, does this allow the clan to control the army?"
Zhu Yijun heard this and said with a smile: "No. The clan's prohibitions are too harsh. I intend to unify the prohibitions on the four people's careers, the prohibitions on imperial examinations and official duties, the prohibitions on movement restrictions, etc. The rest are not allowed to interfere with local administration, marriages between nobles, and prohibitions." Increase the number of guards, etc., and do not let them go. This is also a way to protect everyone - there are some things that the clan cannot do."
These words were reasonable and reasonable. The kings who had been imprisoned for nearly two hundred years only felt that the emperor's kindness was great, and they did not feel at all aggrieved by not being trusted. Moreover, Zhu Yijun spoke frankly and honestly. Everyone only felt that the emperor was sincere and had no other inappropriate thoughts.
Zhu Yijun further explained: "Mercenaries are recruited from the people who are willing to die and are willing to use their lives to gain wealth. Of course, they need to be educated in military orders. But their soldiers only need one word - money!"
"After the army is formed, the imperial court will allocate land that can be developed. You can send people to explore the mineral deposits and calculate the costs and profits. Then, you can hire them to capture and hold the territory. Everything on this territory The mineral deposits belong to the employer."
After hearing Zhu Yijun's arrangement, the kings were all moved and discussed the possibilities in whispers. Seeing their interest, Zhu Yijun returned to the table and sat down.
The strategy of colonial plunder implemented by Zhu Yijun was incompatible with the mainstream thinking in the world at this time. As Chinese civilization developed to the end of the Ming Dynasty, the genes of aggression and plunder had been castrated by Song Confucianism, and when it came to involution, it was unparalleled.
These words were released at this time, on the one hand, to use imperial power to arouse the wildness of the nation that has been hidden for thousands of years; on the other hand, as a solution to the clan problem, it can also gain the understanding of the people who "have no choice but to do it". The most important thing is that Zhu Yijun wants to use the savings of these princes for more than a hundred years to partially support the imperial army.
Although Zhu Yijun's new army was unparalleled in power, it was too expensive. He holds the largest industrial and commercial conglomerate in the world. In an agricultural society with limited consumption capacity, it is the limit to raise 200,000 elite soldiers - given the size of the world, what can these 200,000 new troops do?
It is better to use the clan's money to raise soldiers. These soldiers are still in the hands of the court, and the power of war and defense is also controlled by the court. The clan is equivalent to spending military expenditures to obtain the mining rights of mineral resources in the colony. As long as the war can be won, a fatal problem for agricultural societies will be solved - wars are loss-making businesses.
Although Zhu Yijun's strategy allowed the clan to obtain huge financial resources, as long as its military production capacity was restricted and the New Army, which relied heavily on logistics, would not be able to rebel no matter how far away from China it was. As for the clan's occupation of mineral deposits, which is not conducive to the later development and rule of the colony, it is not a problem for Zhu Yijun - it can be adjusted through policy.
For the clan members present here, the policy mentioned by Zhu Yijun is also a huge stimulus. Although these princes are uneducated and incompetent, their greed for wealth and land is the highest in the Ming Dynasty. With the example of Burma's treasure well and the stimulation of plates of gems, Zhu Yijun is not afraid that they will not fall for it.
For Zhu Yijun and the court, diverting the clan's troubles from outside was a good way to solve the stubborn problems of the Ming clan. Because the clan and their daughters were marrying too many honored guests, Zong Lu could still consume more than one-third of the entire Ming Dynasty's finances even though he issued a large number of treasures.
The gradual implementation of Chengzu's measures to reduce vassal status eliminated the possibility of a repeat of the "Battle of Jingnan" and consolidated imperial power. But judging from the actual effect, it is actually a typical political and economic "involution."
Forbidding clan members to "connect the four people's business" means that all clan clans can only rely on taxes to "support" them. As the number of clan members increased, the clan's wealth increased exponentially. The feudal king could not do anything, almost all his energy was spent on his lower body, he had many wives and concubines, and he had no children. Taking the Jin Palace and Zhou Palace as examples, after two hundred years of reproduction, the population of Zonglu has now reached 1,851; the Zhou Palace has reached 1,440 people.
Taking ten thousand shi for the prince, two thousand shi for the county prince, one thousand shi for the Zhenguo general, 1,000 shi for the auxiliary general, and 200 shi for the Zhenguo lieutenant, only one hundred and ninety thousand shi will be distributed to the royal family of the King of Zhou alone in the fifth year of Wanli.
On the other hand, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty all violated the ancestral motto of "conferring vassal states without breaking the soil" and generously granted land and wealth to their brothers and close relatives. By the fifth year of Wanli, half of the land in Henan was owned by the princes. Only six princes, including the King of Zhou, the King of Jin, and the King of Qin, occupied an area of 320,000 hectares - a poor man really had no place to stand.
Regarding Zhu Yijun's reform strategy to promote industrial and commercial development, the clan still has a major obstacle: they rely on their own status to buy and sell by force, disrupting the market order. There was a town in Jingzhou called "Shashi" where commerce was concentrated. During the Jiajing period, King Jing asked for taxes to be used to make up for the arrears of Lumi. "Records of Emperor Shizong" records: "All the citizens rushed away."
In view of the current population situation in the world, Zhu Yijun judged that the development of industry did not need to follow the old path of "sheep eating people" in Britain in the original time and space. Instead, he asked the clan to take out the land and the money hidden in the treasury, so that agriculture and industry could develop hand in hand. Therefore, the plan he proposed for the "colonial company" of the clan trading company was a win-win situation for the court, the kings and the people.
Seeing that everyone was discussing about the same topic, Zhang Jing knocked on the wooden board with a wooden stick, attracting the attention of the kings. Then he faced the kings and smiled and said: "Yes. If anyone is unwilling to invest in mercenaries and take risks to get the high profits. The emperor still has big profits for all the princes——"
The kings were knocked unconscious by the big pies dropped from the sky by Zhu Yijun and Zhang Jing. When they heard that there were benefits, they raised their heads to listen to Zhang Jing's words.
Zhang Jing said with a smile: "You princes all have large or small shops in their homes. Are there any people who weave, spin, or raise silkworms and spin silk?"
Several princes heard his question and raised their hands and said, "I have it at home! Why, what kind of hair is there?"
Zhang Jing said with a smile: "In addition to Rishenglong, the emperor's business also has Tianji Pavilion, which all princes have probably heard of. In the past few years, Tianji Pavilion has researched and developed many good things and also acquired some exquisite technologies. .For example, the vertical spindle spinning machine had been invented before the promulgation of the Reform Edict—my lords, this kind of thing can allow a female worker to spin ten times the amount of yarn."
After saying this, more than half of the princes were confused and had no idea what he was talking about, but the few who raised their hands just now and the other princes who knew how to make cotton cloth all shook their heads in disbelief. King Jingjiang shouted loudly: "Is this true?!"
Zhang Jing smiled and said: "My lord, in front of the emperor, who dares to lie to you? The slave has not finished speaking. In the weaving factory, the slave uses water to drive the spinning machine. A well-trained female worker can take care of thirty spindles. That means she can spin thirty times as much yarn.”
After saying that, Zhang Jing touched in his sleeve and took out an oval wooden product with two pointed ends and a hollowed out middle. He continued: "My lords, there is too much yarn and it is too late to spin. This little thing is called The flying shuttle looks simple, but it can increase the speed of spinning ten times."
All the kings were dumbfounded when they heard his description. Zhang Jing continued: "Following the emperor's instructions, I organized skilled craftsmen and invented a hydraulic spinning machine. One person can operate it better than fifty people in the past - this is the power of invention."
"My princes, I will take you tomorrow to the Emperor's Tianji Pavilion Research Institute - there are many inventions like this. If you princes are not willing to invest in trading company mercenaries, you can bid them at the auction that will be held later. For the next invention, go home and set up a factory to produce it. I can guarantee that you will count your money until your bones are weak and your muscles are numb!"
...
The sect-vassal meeting that had been noisy for a day was over, and Zhu Yijun and the kings all got on their carriages and returned. Wang Guoguang, who was dazzled by Zhu Yijun's several erotic moves at the vassal meeting, was full of praise and wanted to tell Zhu Yijun, and took the initiative to ask for a ride. Zhang Juzheng smiled at the side, ignored him, and walked away.
Zhu Yijun also liked this old pervert, so he nodded in agreement. Wang Guoguang suppressed his excitement and expressed his infinite admiration to Zhu Yijun along the way. Zhu Yijun couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this.
When he finally reached the palace gate, Zhu Yijun sighed: "Oh, you don't have to flatter me anymore. I released a tiger in Nanyuan today, and we will have to fight it in the future."
Wang Guoguang was confused after hearing this and said: "Is the emperor worried that the clan will not be able to survive in the future? I thought——"
Zhu Yijun waved his hands and said: "It's not the clan, but capital - this thing comes to the world, and every pore from head to toe is dripping with blood and dirty things. If you take care of your body, you will see its power to change the world."
