The emperor personally marched for more than a year, quelling the rebellion of Yunnan chieftains, and implemented the restoration of native land throughout the territory; he conquered Dongwu, adding an additional province to the Ming Dynasty; on the way back, he took advantage of the situation and destroyed Annan, making Annan truly the Ming Dynasty again. territory.
Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen returned to Beijing, he was naturally warmly welcomed again. All civil and military officials, royal relatives and nobles, no one dared not go out of the capital to greet him. It can be said that Emperor Chongzhen's prestige has been greatly improved again with these victories.
If in the past, the people in the capital might have felt that Emperor Chongzhen's prestige was not as good as that of Taizu Chengzu, now basically no one thinks that he is inferior to Taizu Chengzu. The territory of the Ming Dynasty has far exceeded that of the founding of the country.
The chiefs of the three tribes in Mobei were also among the welcoming crowd. Seeing the majestic and triumphant Imperial Forest Army, and listening to the surrounding crowd's admiration for the emperor, Shuolei and others secretly rejoiced.
If Babu hadn't been sent to find out the truth and knew that the Ming Dynasty was far stronger than the Jianlu, he might not be willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and take a confrontation. If that really happened, with the Ming Emperor's current martial arts, he would really be defeated by the Ming Dynasty. It was destroyed.
At this time, Shuolei also had to sigh with emotion. Emperor Ming's tone was so tough back then, so he was confident. If they really didn't have the strength, they would be extremely happy if a Mongolian tribe professed their vassalage to the Ming Dynasty. How could they say that they must submit to the Ming Dynasty!
Although he cannot be called the Great Khan or the Emperor of the Earth now, he has managed to retain his glory and wealth!
Just as they were thinking this, Emperor Chongzhen had already returned to the palace.
As Emperor Chongzhen expected, that night, Queen Zhou hurriedly mentioned the marriage between the prince and Princess Changping to Emperor Chongzhen. He said that they were too old and they had to arrange a marriage quickly. He even eagerly told Emperor Chongzhen about several candidates for concubines and consorts.
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, women who marry into the royal family cannot be after meritorious service. They are usually from well-off families, that is, ordinary people. And once a princess marries someone and becomes a prince-in-law, she has no hope of an official career and can only enjoy wealth and wealth while waiting to die.
This kind of rule can effectively prevent relatives from getting rich.
After listening to Empress Zhou's chatter, Emperor Chongzhen did not express his position. Until the family banquet the next day, Emperor Chongzhen said directly to the prince: "Your concubine, I will let your queen mother worry about it, and I won't care about it."
After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Princess Changping and said, "How about I make the decision on your marriage?"
Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Princess Changping, even the prince.
Princess Changping's face turned slightly red after hearing this. She was already eighteen years old, an extremely old girl. It is impossible to say that she has never thought about this male-female thing. Of course, I will think about who my future husband will be, whether he is handsome or not, whether he is talented or learned, etc.
At this time, Princess Changping lowered her head and replied in a low voice: "Let Father make the decision!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said, "How about I choose a prince-in-law for you among the candidates taking the natural science course?"
"Ah?" Princess Changping couldn't help being surprised when she heard this. She didn't even care about being shy and looked up at Emperor Chongzhen.
Others, including the prince and the queen, were also surprised.
Among them, Queen Zhou quickly reminded Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, consorts cannot serve in official positions. Those candidates may not be willing to become consorts."
"Yes, Your Majesty, forceful melons are not sweet." Concubine Tian also tried to persuade her, "If you are rejected by the examinee, it will bring disgrace to the royal family!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen just smiled faintly and said, "Then I want to change the rules so that the consort can be an official?"
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!" When Queen Zhou heard this, she was shocked and quickly advised, "This is the ancestral teaching. You must not violate it, otherwise it will damage your Majesty's reputation!"
She couldn't say anything about her relatives' involvement in politics, so she could only advise her from another angle.
Emperor Chongzhen heard this, but he didn't take it seriously. He immediately said calmly: "The times have changed, and the ancestral precepts are not unchangeable. I ask you, were there other miscellaneous subjects or natural subjects in the past?"
This natural discipline was founded by Emperor Chongzhen, and of course it did not exist before.
After hearing what he said, Queen Zhou wanted to persuade her again, but she didn't know how to persuade her appropriately.
However, Emperor Chongzhen ignored her and looked at Princess Changping and said, "I ask you, are you willing?"
Because of Emperor Chongzhen's intentional guidance, not only the prince devoted himself to the study and practice of natural knowledge, but also the princesses. After all, it was his father who encouraged him.
Therefore, Princess Changping can say that in this Ming Dynasty, no, in this era, her natural knowledge is definitely above average. She heard that her future husband could be a leader in this field, so of course she would like him.
It was a matter of her own life, and she could be considered a woman of the new era. Of course, it might also be because Emperor Chongzhen had a kind attitude, so she bravely looked at Emperor Chongzhen, nodded and said, "Yes!"
"Okay!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded happily after hearing this, "I want to make new rules regarding the clan and royal family, starting with my daughter."
It is true that Emperor Chongzhen came up with too many new things, including things, sayings, ideas, etc. Therefore, his concubines and children were not surprised when they heard this, but they were very concerned about what new rules the emperor would enact this time. They all looked at Emperor Chongzhen curiously, wanting to hear what he had to say.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at everyone and said seriously: "There are so-called specializations in the arts, so the reason why I have opened miscellaneous subjects since this year is because of this. From now on, it will be stipulated that those who are from any discipline can only be officials in that field. . Instead of being born as a Jinshi, he becomes an official of his parents and leads the military and political power."
No one interrupted, they all listened quietly. Occasionally I saw them frowning, but they all looked like they were deep in thought.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't care and continued: "Those with a background in natural sciences can only hold official positions in natural sciences and are not related to military affairs. Selecting a prince-in-law from among them does not violate the ancestral system. In addition, the vassal clan can also take the natural science exam. Subjects are treated the same as ordinary candidates. If you have the ability, you can be an official."
In the past, Emperor Chongzhen actually cut the vassal king's clan with a knife, avoiding death and replacement, but achieving diminishing titles; now he has been compensated and can serve as an official. Although he is not the chief official who commands military and political power, at least he is an official.
When Concubine Tian and others heard this, they were all delighted. Because Emperor Chongzhen’s previous regulations started with his own sons and daughters as examples. Now that there are benefits, their biological sons and daughters can also enjoy them.
Although their children do not have to worry about food and drink, if they can become officials, who would be afraid of being burdened with more officials!
Emperor Chongzhen explained his thoughts to them in detail, and after slightly revising his statement based on their reactions, he announced it to the ministers during the court meeting the next day.
First, in the Ming Dynasty, both men and women must be over 18 years old before they can get married. The reason is that they can learn more while they are young. In addition, it is also conducive to smooth childbirth and the safety of mother and child.
Second, encourage more children, regardless of gender, with more than two children. For every child born, one person in the family will be exempted from five years of hard labor and can raise the children at home;
Third, starting from the 20th year of the Ming Dynasty, miscellaneous subjects became the norm. If you have the ability, you can take exams in all subjects. The imperial court saw that He was appointed and dismissed from official positions because of his imperial examination background, and he had a strategy to specialize in his profession.
Fourth, the feudal clan can also take part in miscellaneous subject examinations, and as long as they can be admitted, they can be held in corresponding official positions. In this way, the miscellaneous prince-in-law doesn’t need to explain anything in particular, so he can just let it take its course and there will be no problem.
This change is so great that it can be said that it has never happened before in all dynasties. At least in the Ming Dynasty, it was a huge change.
However, this change can benefit most people. Although there are too many scientific examinations, at the same time, official positions will also be greatly increased. The vassal princes and clans can serve as officials, but they cannot serve as military and political officials. This is the bottom line that Ming officials can accept.
As for marriage, the emperor directly stated the reason, which was to allow young people to learn more knowledge and to allow pregnant women to give birth smoothly. There was also data provided by the factory guard, which showed that being too young would be detrimental to childbirth. This is for the benefit of everyone. Although some people disagree, no one dares to object.
Of course, one of the most important reasons why no one opposed this innovation is that the prestige of Emperor Chongzhen is so high that he already keeps his word. In addition, repeated facts prove that Emperor Chongzhen's decisions were ultimately correct.
As a result, Emperor Chongzhen started to talk, and the officials below began to be busy as dogs.
The cabinet, six ministries and other yamen began to discuss the specific implementation details of Emperor Chongzhen's decree and how to implement it. They would then submit it to Emperor Chongzhen for approval. After it was passed, it would be implemented. If it failed to pass, it would be discussed and modified again. until passed.
At this time, they suddenly discovered that the emperor was really foresight.
You must know that the official positions in Ming Dynasty are actually very limited.
Locally, a county has levels, namely the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief bookkeeper and the history officer. The others are all officials, which are actually a kind of labor service. In theory, they do not receive salary remuneration.
Even if the population in ancient times was not that large, it would not be able to manage the affairs of a county at all. Nowadays, by increasing various scientific examinations to increase official positions, this unreasonable situation in the Ming Dynasty can be effectively improved.
There are specialties in the art, and each official performs his own duties. No matter what, you can always take a breather, right?
This kind of innovation cannot be completed in a short time, but it is impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to focus all his energy on this aspect.
It can be said that Emperor Chongzhen spent two months on his way back to Beijing from the south. By observing the local people in the Ming Dynasty, the most important point after comprehensive consideration was actually not this innovation, because there are still More urgent matters have to wait for him to solve.
