eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 842: Reorganization of vassalage

The so-called Shitang Port is actually a triangular area on both sides of the Pasig River Estuary. It is about the size of a town in the Central Plains, with four or five streets and hundreds of buildings, all built around the port.

So far, there is not even a decent city wall.

Because the issue of war was not considered at first, and Luzon was a vassal state, and the people of the vassal state and the people of Ming Dynasty all lived in this area.

Furthermore, the people of Ming Dynasty all knew very well that they couldn’t just build such a small city, right?

From here, if you take a boat along the Pasig River, in less than two hours, you will actually be in a dense forest.

Especially on such tropical islands, before humans got big machines, the outside was dominated by trees.

The local indigenous tribes live on the flat land near the water source and have formed villages of various sizes. Along the Bei Lake, there are dozens of such tribes.

There are no official roads here and transportation is inconvenient.

Needless to say, the huge cavalry would not be able to cross the ocean, but even for infantry, the most advanced artillery of the Ming Dynasty still weighed thousands of kilograms. It was too slow to transport it on such road conditions.

In the end, several generals of the Ming army discussed and decided to take a boat directly to Bei Lake.

This makes it possible to take advantage of the naval guns on warships.

The naval guns first blasted all the tribes near the shore, and then the ground troops moved in to clean up the battlefield. If there was still soup left, let everyone drink according to their ability.

To put it simply, it means advancing on both land and water.

Considering the prince's safety, Zhu Feng asked Zaiyao to board the ship and sail up the Pasig River.

The Ming Dynasty's treasure ship was bigger than the largest building on this broken island, and the local indigenous people did not have any firearms. With the spears and swords in their hands, even if they stood on the shore and threw them to him, they couldn't throw them into the ship.

So it was completely Ming warships that bombarded them.

"Telescope!"

Zai Yao stretched out his hand.

When he first entered the battlefield, he was still very excited. He put the mirror on his eyes and observed carefully.

Suddenly, there were two more shirtless people running in the dense forest in his field of vision. "Are those the clothes of local people? Why are they so strange?"

"anyone there?"

Zhang Jing then raised his telescope.

"According to what Duke Cheng Guo said, those wearing brown clothes with two arms exposed are rebels. Judging from their appearance, they should be out to inquire for information."

"It would be impossible to hide such a large warship even if we wanted to."

Soon after, they identified a rebel tribe based on previous intelligence and their judgment of the scene.

Nothing else, just shoot.

After several booming booms, hundreds of birds and beasts flew out of the dense forest.

With long hands and short hands, there are no tactics or tactics. He can completely suppress the enemy with just his weapons.

But anyone who has experienced this kind of scene, who dares to doubt the importance of firearms?

Zai Yao was overjoyed and said: "My father had the foresight and tried every means to improve the performance of the muskets and artillery. I'm afraid this is the first time in history that a war has been fought like this."

"Yes, and this is also the first time that people from the Central Plains have fought so far!"

"This lake is a good place for fishing, enjoying the scenery, and training sailors. If they don't know how to use it well, then leave it to us!"

The troops on land were personally led by Chengguo Gong Zhu Feng.

In the end, it was true that there was no communication with Suleiman II, and the Ming army found a quiet early morning to suddenly attack the rebels.

As for Shitang Port, there was also an explosion. The rebellion here has been going on for some time, and the people have been guessing how the government and army are going to deal with it.

When they suddenly heard the news, they were naturally shocked.

Now the Ming army has also implemented what Zhu Houzhao said about the importance of propaganda war. When the soldiers were dispatched, a banner was hung high in front of the Governor's Mansion: The traitor Abe hurt our people. The Ming Luzon garrison is here to serve. The purpose is to seek return!

Shopkeepers, business travelers traveling all over the world... As soon as the people of Ming Dynasty saw this scene, they understood: The Ming army was here to protect them!

People from other countries in Nanyang will sigh when they see it: Ming people have their own soldiers to protect them, so they can only be more careful on their own?

Because it has entered a state of military action,

Therefore, patrols have been strengthened in Shitang Port. Groups of soldiers are riding horses and wandering around the streets. It has been 20 years of Zhengde. The youngest soldiers have grown up to adulthood, and this kind of education of the 'Han nation' is indispensable in their experiences.

Which ones are from the own race and which are from the foreign race are treated completely differently.

……

……

Rehe, summer palace.

The emperor summoned his ministers to discuss matters under the shade of the willow tree.

The clan issue discussed earlier on the carriage was brought up again.

Zhu Houzhao listened and listened, and basically all the ministers understood their thoughts.

At this stage, if he takes away some of the privileges and interests of some clans, it will not have any impact on the entire country.

The biggest impact is actually the bad appearance.

Whoever said it before was right. The common people would not drive away their own people easily. It is not good for the royal family to do this...

Furthermore, the emperor himself would also suffer from bad reputation.

But Zhu Houzhao didn't care about this.

He calmly explained to himself, the elders and ministers, "I think the memorial of Lou Tianying, the censor of the Imperial Palace, has some truth. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty also said that you should not work hard on the people to support the emperor's clan. Of course I I understand that the relationship between relatives must be taken care of, and I also understand that these are the blood of Taizu, but I believe that even if Emperor Taizu was alive, he would feel intolerable to the people when he saw the size of the clan today.

I previously inspected the land in the world just to reduce the burden on the people. It's the same this time. Our Lao Zhu family has too many people. Even you, the smartest and most talented people, can’t recognize everyone in the royal family, right? Don't talk about you, King Zhou himself can't even remember how many people there are in the palace of King Zhou. Yes, if he can give birth to more than a hundred sons, I won’t want to make him a prince of more than a hundred sons, right? Sooner or later, if this continues, people all over the world will hate our Lao Zhu family to death. Is this what Emperor Taizu wanted to see? "

All the ministers lowered their heads and listened silently.

In fact, when Zhang Cong first came forward, there were only a few objections in the court.

Because over the years, people have understood that the emperor 'listened' to Zhang Cong.

Zhang Cong's position is very stable now. If you oppose him too fiercely at this time, the emperor may not do anything to you.

But afterwards, Zhang Cong will definitely find an opportunity to retaliate against you.

Therefore, it is necessary to keep a useful body for waiting for good times.

Especially supporters of Zaihe, such as Jiang Yong, think this way. Although the clan matter is big, they still have bigger things in their hearts and cannot get too involved at this time.

Of course there is another point that is also very important. The emperor himself did not care about his posthumous reputation, he wanted to save money for the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue.

What are you doing when you are a minister?

In particular, many vassal kings in various places were guilty of lawlessness, and the people themselves also complained.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty." Zhang Cong patted the horse and said, "I and others have also discussed that for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the matter of the vassal salary should be settled sooner rather than later. Why not take this opportunity to do it?" Yes. I believe that there are two main measures. The first is to cancel the original saying that 'all people under the sixth generation will be awarded the rank of lieutenant and will no longer be demoted'."

In fact, the clan of the Ming Dynasty also had a system of downgrading to noble rank, but it was only partial, that is, "one son inherited the title, and the remaining sons were demoted."

As for the prince, he is a prince.

The prince's legitimate son is a prince, and the rest are county princes.

The following grandsons are the generals who govern the country and the generals who assist the country... After the sixth generation, they are all lieutenants of the country.

In other words, no matter how distant your blood relationship is, as long as you can be found in the family tree, you will have the title of lieutenant and receive a salary of 200 shi per year.

Before Zhu Houzhao increased the salary of those officials, the annual salary of a fifth-grade official was almost 200 dan.

Not only that, because of Zhu Di's rebellion, the old Zhu family would not let these "Tianlong people" do anything.

However, 200 shi may be enough for a serious meal, but the money is indeed not much.

However, the court stipulates that no one is allowed to do anything. If you want to make money, there is the easiest way - to have children.

Ask the court for money based on head count.

There are economic considerations behind this, which is why the number of Ming Dynasty sects has grown like a rocket.

Therefore, in fact, the difficulty in eliminating the five generations is not downgrading. This has always been there. Even if Zhu Houzhao wants to expand the scale, it is only a matter of words.

The real difficulty lies in removing the cover.

And since Lieutenant Feng Guo, who was the one who kept the secret, has been eliminated, the second problem will arise - you have to allow people to make a living on their own.

The second point mentioned by Zhang Cong is naturally this one.

When these words came out, there were some whispers among the ministers.

Zhu Houching understood that they were talking about the Jingnan Campaign, but he didn't pay much attention to it, "As for allowing the clan to do business and serve as officials, after thinking about it for the past two days, I may be bolder than all of you. Take Lieutenant Fengguo as an example. He has a salary of two hundred dan per year. Because he receives the imperial salary, he cannot do business or serve as an official. Who will abide by such rules? He does it secretly, or in the name of his son. If we do it, how will the court supervise it? Even if the supervision is achieved, what's the point? A family has finally made a living, and the court will destroy it? There is no such reason in the world.

So what I mean is that some bans should be lifted. The scope of those who are not allowed to do business should be narrowed and only implemented among princes and princes. This is not to restrict them, but to prevent them from taking advantage of their status to do business. After the county king, and under the generals who govern the country, their salaries are not high. They should be allowed to do business, pass the imperial examinations, and even serve in the navy and army. If he can make meritorious deeds, the court can also issue an edict to elevate him to a higher rank. Wouldn't it be better to have rewards and punishments like this? this is one. "

Then Zhu Houzhao stood up and said, "The second point is that the scope of demotion and nobility needs to be expanded. In the past, a prince would be succeeded by his legitimate son, and the other sons would succeed as princes. This is not good. After this improvement, , his legitimate son will be demoted to the rank of King of the County, and the other sons will be demoted to two ranks and inherit the title of general of the country. Starting with my grandson."

We are all smart people. In this case,

A serious prince might not even have a title within a few generations.

In ancient times, people's lives were more prone to accidents. Some people might die after a good cold, so the title was reduced very quickly.

Unlike before, such as those sons of Zhu Yuanzhang, the kings of Zhou, Liao, Chu and Dai still exist today.

"This is also the reason why I deliberately want several sons to go out to the capital to do business. If they perform meritorious service, they will naturally be crowned princes. If they are ridiculous and excessive, or even make big mistakes, they will be my sons, and there will only be one county prince for them! "

This is very powerful.

Zhang Cong was also a little stunned, but he quickly reacted, "Your Majesty has such determination, which is a blessing to the country. My minister Zhang Cong obeyed the order. After this discussion, he drafted an imperial edict, listed the details, and submitted it to the emperor for approval. hair."

"Yeah. Does anyone else have any objections?"

When this question was asked, most of the people present were silent.

The emperor saw that he was well-prepared, so most of them did not dare to push forward. It was not that they were greedy for life and afraid of death, but mainly because it was not worth it.

Twenty years have passed, and things decided by the emperor cannot be changed. No matter how stupid you are, you should understand.

"If that's the case, then that's it." Zhu Houzhao now has Zhang Cong in his hands. He is willing to do such offending things, so there is no need to be polite. "One more thing, I want to say a few words. After this restructuring, the people of the clan will When doing things in the world, there may be some who have made meritorious deeds on the battlefield. In short, for those who have made great achievements, their titles cannot be defined, but they must be demoted to the next level. For example... these of mine One of the sons will inherit the throne, and among the remaining ones there will be princes who will not be demoted."

In fact, he was the Iron Hat King of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty's management of the people in the clan was successful to a certain extent. It did not make these people a burden to the court, and no prince could threaten the imperial power. To a certain extent, it also used talented people among them.

This is indeed not easy.

Since there is such a long-standing example, Zhu Houzhao naturally used doctrine.

Wang Tingxiang praised and said: "Your Majesty's approach is to have orderly hierarchy and clear rewards and punishments. It is a good strategy."

"It's hard to talk about a prince who won't be demoted." Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment, "It's better to call him a first-class prince. The one who is demoted to a higher rank is called a second-class prince. There are only two classes. Remember it all. .”

"Yes!"

Although this matter was big, in the Zhengde dynasty where major events happened frequently, it was not ranked high.

There were only some discussions in the court, but there was no serious confrontation between those who supported and those who opposed.

The main reason is that the clan group that has been passive this time has little power after hundreds of years of continuous attacks.

There are no royal guards.

In the past twenty years, even some palaces and fields have disappeared.

As for the status of this clan, doesn't it just depend on the emperor's attitude towards you? If he has a good attitude towards you, he will cover it up for you when he makes a mistake. If he has a bad attitude towards you, then there is no need to talk about it.

When it comes to blood relationships, Zhu Houzhao is the strongest.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao treated them businesslikely.

Over the years, whenever something went wrong, he would let the ministers deal with it according to the actual situation, and do whatever they wanted. This would not mean that he was not the emperor. After all, this was how the court regulations stipulated.

However, if this bunch of wastes who eat food but do nothing do not have the favoritism brought by their status, how can they say the word "official business"?

So there have been quite a few unlucky clans over the years.

Now that they have no power, they can naturally be manipulated at will.

The second reason is that many officials from the traditional ethics group have been driven away. Now that Zhang Cong is in power, the people he uses are very practical.

Wait until the deliberation is over,

The ministers began to talk among themselves.

Since the emperor issued such an imperial edict, from now on, the first-class prince and the second-class prince are in the same heaven and the same place, and the prince and the county prince are also in the same heaven and one place.

In this way, this title will be extremely valuable.

So, who will be the first prince?