Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 535 Ci'an and Heshen

"Have you ever read a book?"

"I read some books with my father, so I'm not very educated."

"Can you do the math?"

"I can do a little calculation."

In Linqu county yamen, Zhu Laosan answered honestly the questions asked by Da Zong Ling Deng Wang Zhu Yujian.

Zhu Yujian is quite satisfied with this man who looks very embarrassed. He has checked the clan's jade spy just now. Although Zhu Laosan did not ask for a name, his grandfather and father both wrote letters to the emperor and were punished for imprisonment. Yes, and later a special decree was given to him.

Zhu Laosan did not give a name, but his birth was recorded, and it was also recorded when the new emperor ascended the throne and amnesty, there is evidence to rely on.

Zhu Laosan's grandfather and father are both gone, but he is right to be able to explain his own situation clearly.

"You have worked hard these years. The country was in turmoil in those years, internal and external troubles, and the sons and daughters of the vassals did not take care of them. Don't complain in your heart. The whole world is like this, not my royal family. Fortunately, the Holy Son of Heaven is in power now. Everything is improving."

Zhu Laosan listened carefully. He also liked this great-uncle very much. He didn't have the slightest airs, and he shed tears when he could say a few words.

"Come on, take me to your hut to have a look at our new royal girl." Zhu Yujian was silent for a while after hearing about Zhu's current situation, and then got up.

He also recruited followers and told him to prepare some things immediately.

"Mothers who have just given birth must be nutritious. Get two old hens and see if you can buy fish, preferably crucian carp, and then see if you can get some pig's trotters and mutton."

King Deng has the highest status in the current royal family. He is known as the virtuous king, he is also in charge of the clan mansion, and he is also the minister of the prime minister's office. This virtuous uncle is not only famous, but the emperor also let him be in charge of the royal family affairs, including the vassal reform and other matters .

For all royal families, Zhu Yujian is the most dignified elder of the family.

A group of people went to the shack.

Zhu Laosan was terrified, all this was like a dream.

Originally, the county magistrate proposed that he send someone to pick him up, but Deng Wang insisted on going to see him in person.

The small city of Linqu is also very lively.

A group of people came outside the city and saw the shack.

The county magistrate explained that Linqu has also set up several refugee resettlement sites, but there are still many refugees who keep coming, and those who are not resettled in time, they temporarily settle in various places outside the city, and he will verify and resettle these refugees as soon as possible.

"Immediately arrange for people to set up a few more porridge stations here, to verify and register these are the necessary procedures, but we can't make everyone hungry, put porridge first."

The arrival of a prince wearing a python robe made the women, children and old people in this shack a little uneasy.

Most of the young and strong people have gone to work, using work as relief, while working to earn some rations while waiting to enter the refugee camp, the conditions there are much better.

This shack is very simple, built randomly, and even the sewage is flowing, and the garbage is everywhere. Zhu Yujian looked left and right and accidentally stepped on the shit on the sole of his shoe.

The county magistrate was very panicked, but Zhu Yujian just waved his hands and smiled, very calm.

This King Deng has suffered a lot, and a piece of feces on the sole of a shoe is nothing at all.

Zhu Yujian went into the shack to look carefully, chatted with the third daughter-in-law Wang Shi, and even hugged the child. When he came out, he held one of the third child's children, and couldn't help but have red eyes.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the old Zhu's family also suffered from national disasters, and the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed.

When we arrived in Chongzhen, the Ming clan had to have at least 20 people, but in recent years, too many people have been invaded by the army, sacrificed to thieves, bandits from various places, and slaughtered by the Qing army.

There are also many low-level clans like Lao San who, like many ordinary people, died of cold and starvation in this war and famine.

Zhu Yujian has been in charge of the registration, resettlement, and management of the clan since Zhu Yihai granted him the grand order. Many clan vassals have successfully gone south and been resettled. Killed, still stranded in the north.

Now there are only [-] clan members registered in the Clan Mansion.

Ten is not one.

"The conditions here are indeed too bad. First take the person to the county town, so that the pregnant woman has to rest well, not here."

Zhu Yujian also heard that the third daughter was born yesterday, but the second son drowned, and even after his death, he was exchanged for the body with a bucket of millet.

He wasn't shocked. It's not uncommon to change children while eating in troubled times.

It just goes to show that things are still bad.

Even if the imperial court tried its best to relieve the victims, it gave away porridge, garrisoned the fields, moved southward, and provided work relief, etc., but many of the refugees who kept coming could only get a little porridge.

Life is not easy.

Even a one-and-a-half-year-old dead child will not be wasted by them.

Pick people up.

Those people in the shack looked at the third child's family with envy.

The royal family.

Sure enough, there is no Bai surnamed Zhu.

However, when Zhu Yujian announced that there would be an additional porridge place here, and that he would send people to organize a new refugee camp, level it out, build toilets, etc., the refugees still burst into cheers and thanked the emperor loudly.

The third child and his family were resettled into the city.

Hot water bath, clean clothes, and even delicious food. Although the three children had their hair cut because there were too many lice in their hair, they were still sitting there excitedly eating after putting on clean clothes.

While laughing excitedly.

The third daughter-in-law, Wang Shi, even enjoyed moxa water to wipe her body, and Deng Wang even helped her find two ewes with milk, so that the newborn babies can eat goat milk.

It's all like a dream.

The third child also went to change and clean up and then came to thank Deng Wang.

"Your name, as well as the names of your wife and children, I have already made a book for you, and they are all recorded in the jade spy and included in the genealogy."

"But the imperial court can't give you the title and salary of Lieutenant Feng Guo."

The third child sat quietly. He hadn't been so quiet for a long time, and even had such a full stomach. At this moment, he felt as if he had arrived in Paradise.

"Your Majesty issued the Clan Law not long ago, re-enacting the Da Ming suzerain-vassal system, which is very different from the previous one."

"I obey His Majesty's will," said the youngest.

The new clan law is quite different from the original one.

The previous ones were fine-tuning at best, but this time it was a big change.

One of the most core ones is that Junzi Zhize was killed by the fifth generation. In the past, the suzerainty system of the Ming Dynasty actually learned from the Song Dynasty, that is, the scope of the royal clan was almost unlimited. After Zhu Yuanzhang, it was all clans, even his own. His nephews, such as King Jingjiang, are also hereditary princes.

The prince is named the prince, the prince's eldest son is named the son, who will inherit the prince in the future, and the rest of the princes are named county kings.The eldest son of the king of the county will be named the son of the prince, and will inherit the king of the county in the future, and the rest of the sons will be named generals of the town.

Under it are General Zhen Guo, General Fu Guo, General Feng Guo, then Lieutenant Zhen Guo, Lieutenant Fu Guo, Lieutenant Feng Guo, and finally Lieutenant Feng En.

Its biggest feature is that the titles grow fissionally. Not to mention all the titles are hereditary, the sons born to him and the eldest son will not descend hereditaryly, and the rest will be awarded new titles, and then continue to spread like this.

When Lieutenant Feng En was under the sixth generation, he would never change and be different from the people forever.

Therefore, there were only a few dozen people in Zhu Yuanzhang's clan, but in the middle of Jiajing period, there were more than 5000 people, and in Longqing period, there were more than 8000 people. At that time, there were still more than 50 years before the Ming Dynasty fell. According to the Ming Dynasty's own calculation of the growth rate, There were about [-] in Chongzhen.

The further you go, the greater the number of growth, because the base is getting bigger and bigger.

And everyone has a title and a salary, which is naturally overwhelmed for the imperial court. There were only more than 1 clans in Jiajing, and the imperial court's finances were in short supply. Happening.

Although it is said that there are not many high-ranking vassals in the Ming Dynasty, there are those lieutenants worth hundreds of thousands.

From the Ming Dynasty to Chongzhen, there were sixteen emperors in the seventeenth term, and one hundred and four princes were born together. Eleven of them passed away without succeeding to the throne, and 67 were named princes. Xianzong, Ruizong, Muzong, Sizong, and the rest inherited the throne or passed away without being sealed.

By the time of Chongzhen, there were 32 princes and princes who were still there, and the rest were either eliminated from the country without sons, or the rebellion was abolished, etc.

Among the relatives and vassals, there were a total of 550 county kings, and there were more than [-] in the Chongzhen Dynasty.

However, even though the vassal clan suffered great losses in the turmoil, on the other hand, there are still tens of thousands of people in the clan clan, and there are still many who have not yet been confirmed and have not gone south.

And if you count the seniority seriously, the clans of the old Zhu family, counting from Zhu Yuanzhang, have been multiplying quickly for twelve or thirteen generations, and there are nine or ten generations for the slow ones.

The folks also pay attention to the five clothes, and the five clothes are not considered close.

The royal family in the Tang Dynasty was counted according to the five suits. Those within the five suits were counted as the clan, and those outside the five suits were called royal relatives. The royals outside the five suits were not awarded titles and salaries. They were ordinary people, and there were no imperial examinations to serve as soldiers. restrictions on doing business, etc.

So this time Zhu Yihai promulgated the new "Clan Law", the most important foundation is the five clothes.

Counting from the current emperor, the emperor's five clothes are called the clan, and those outside the five clothes are called the royal relatives.

So this time the entire original Zhu Ming imperial clan was rearranged.

Now there are 23 princes in the imperial court, more than 100 county kings, and more than 3 generals and lieutenants.

According to Zhu Yihai's request, it should be sorted out according to the five serving methods.

In this case, that is the Lu royal family, and it has to be the Lu Fan clan passed down from Zhu Yihai's great-grandfather to be regarded as the Ming clan, and the rest are only called royal relatives.

The imperial relatives no longer confer titles and salaries, but only the clan.

Those outside the five servers will all be awarded the title.

The new clan titles are divided into ten ranks, Prince, Heir King, County King, Zhen Guogong, Fuguo County Duke, Fengguo County Duke, Huguohou, Wei Guobo, Baoguozi, and Anguonan.

According to the emperor's decree, the 23 princes who are enfeoffed are all reduced to county kings, and they are all descended to the first class in the world.

Of the more than 100 county kings in the past, only the eight county kings who were entrusted by Lu Fan were retained. These eight county kings are actually outside the fifth service, but because there are no princes in the fifth service, the eight county kings still retain the county. Wang Jue is also the first class in the world.

All other titles, from the king of the county to the lieutenant of Fengguo, were all cut off.

Only 31 county kings remain, all of whom are first-class nobles.

Their titles can be inherited by the eldest son in the future. After the eldest son inherits the title, other sons can inherit the title, but they need to descend to the fourth class to inherit.That is, the son of the prince of the county descended to the first class to attack the Duke of Zhenguo, while the rest of the princes descended to the second class to attack the marquis of the country.

It has been downgraded to the Baron of An Guo, and then it is a commoner.

There are more than 3 clans, and now only 31 county kings remain, and none of the other titles are left.

This is quite an astonishing move.

Also because there is no close branch, Zhu Yihai's grandfather, two uncles, and his third elder brother all attacked the King of Lu with the succession of the county king, and it was all because the previous king had no heirs.

Both his uncle and elder brother were the eldest sons, and they both died before taking over the title, without any heirs.

Zhu Yihai's second brother died early, and several other younger brothers died when the Qing army broke the city. The elder brother Lu Wang Yipai had several sons, but they were also killed or taken away along with his other uncles, nephews and his sons.

Coupled with the war and famine, the result was that the emperor's fifth server could not find a male clan relative.

We can only wait for the two princes of Zhu Yihai to find them, or to wait for the next prince to flourish.

In the future, except for the crown prince, the rest of the princes will be crowned princes.

The brothers and sons of the emperor are all named princes of the country; the sons of the crown prince are the princes of the county; .

For Zhu Yihai's sons, the eldest son was crowned prince, and the rest were crowned princes.

The son of the prince, the eldest son will be the heir king, and the rest will be the county dukes.

For the sons of the heir king, the eldest son is demoted to the county king, and the rest of the sons are the county princes of Fengguo.

For the sons of the county king, the eldest son is the Duke of Zhen Guo, and the rest of the sons are the Marquis Protectors.

For the sons of the Duke of Zhen, the eldest son is the Duke of Fu, and the rest are uncles of Wei.

For the sons of the Duke of Fu, the eldest son is the Duke of Fengguo, and the rest are the Viscounts of Baoguo.

For the sons of the County Duke of Fengguo, the eldest son is the Marquis of the Protecting Kingdom, and the rest are the Barons of Anguo.

Going down, the son of the Marquis of Huguo, the eldest son is Wei Guobo, and the rest of the princes have no titles to be named, and they are directly civilians.

Zhu Yihai's direct descendants can be passed on for ten generations, but if they are not direct descendants, they can only be enshrined for seven generations at most.

The hereditary replacement was canceled, which minimized the proliferation of clan titles, and the descendants of the first line were downgraded to one rank, and the rest of the sons were downgraded to four ranks, which further restricted the expansion of the clan's senior titles.

For example, the number one vassal in the world, now there is Zhu Cunji, the younger brother of Zhu Cunji, the former king of Qin. Zhu Cunji was first captured by the Chuang army, and then surrendered to the Qing army. Zhu Cunfu was supported by Sun Shoufa and other rebels in Guanzhong to set up Jianguo. Later, he voluntarily abdicated and returned to the vassal, and was conferred by Zhu Yihai as the No.16 King of Qin.

Now he is going to be reduced to Chang'an County King.

The Qin Fan sealed off sixteen counties and kingdoms in total, and now only Yongshou King is left in the Shaotian Dynasty. This time, the Fan was cut directly.

Lu Fan successively enfeoffed eighteen counties and kingdoms, and now there are only eight left.

The 31 county kings specially reserved are all royal relatives outside Zhu Yihai's five uniforms, not the clan.

Therefore, the title, like the meritorious officials, can only be inherited in one line, that is, only the eldest son can descend to inherit it, and the other sons will no longer be awarded the title.

Deng Wang Zhu Yujian and his brother Tang Wang Zhu Yukai will also be demoted to the county king, Zhu Yujian will be demoted to Nanyang County King, and Yukai will be demoted to Xiangyang King.

The title has been lowered, and the salary has also been changed.

Even the previous clan management system, such as asking for names, seals, marriages, and salary, has also been changed. In the future, although these royal relatives will still be managed by the clan government, and birth, old age, sickness and death must be reported and registered, but the name and marriage are left to them. Regardless of the imperial examination or business, each has his own way.

The royal family does not have any special privileges. Of course, the emperor and the clan will pay a sum of money to buy land and property, and collect rent for interest. If you are over [-], you can still receive a ration.

Even when I become rich in the future, I will give subsidies for studying and serious illnesses.

In short, in the future, the low-level clan like Zhu Laosan will be completely liberated, and will not be restricted in every possible way in the future, but they will not be raised. Everything depends on themselves, although their family has not been raised by the court for several generations. .

"The Clan Law will be formally promulgated soon, so even if you enter the genealogy, you don't have to wait for the imperial court to give you a name in the future. What are your plans?" Zhu Yujian asked.

For the emperor's clan law, he is actually very supportive. It is impossible for the imperial court to truly support the entire royal family as before. Even if the population of the clan has dropped sharply now, once the war is over, it will soon multiply again. This is always a problem.

Moreover, he has seen the misery at the bottom of the clan, saying that the world supports Zhu, but these people at the bottom are starving to death, so they must change.

Just like the original Taizu's guard house that raised millions of soldiers without spending a single penny, and was eventually abolished by Zhu Yihai, he also supported the complete change of the clan system.

It is good for the emperor to have a direction, that is, to take away the property such as the land originally given to the prince and the vassal, and even money, etc., and then set up a special thing like a righteous field, which will be managed by the Clan House or the House of Internal Affairs to purchase the land. Shops, etc., the money earned from business operations, etc., are used to support the orphans, widows, and disabled in the clan and royal relatives, and even establish Zongxue, Zongtou, etc.

In fact, many large clans in the folk have always had such a tradition, using money to buy land and properties, build schools, ancestral cemeteries, etc., to fund education for promising children in the family, to provide relief to poor widows, and even to provide funds for business people in the clan. Borrowing, etc., give full play to the role of the clan to help and unite.

It turned out that there were several 10 people in the clan, but those big feudal clans lived a good life. Some were worth millions of silver taels, and they were very comfortable, but more low-level clans didn't even have names, and some even died of starvation.

I would rather scold the emperor and go to jail, just to be able to eat in prison, so as not to starve to death.

There is a big problem with the system and it must be changed.

In Zhu Yujian's view, abolishing hereditary titles, abolishing Shilu, and even letting go of management must be done. If you don't do it, you will have big problems sooner or later.

"I heard that Dengzhou is very safe. I want to go to Dengzhou, but there's nothing I can do. I just go to the wharf there to carry my bags. I can support my wife and children." Zhu Laosan said calmly.

Zhu Yujian was a little surprised to see this man who was his nephew and great-grandson.

"It's good that you can be so pragmatic, but you don't want to be reduced to this. Since you have studied, it's good. The clan's family now has a lot of property and needs manpower. As long as you are willing to study hard, it's better than the dock. Carrying bags is much stronger."

"After entering the royal family tree, the clan government can give you five taels of silver to settle down first. In addition, your situation is also in line with the clan assistance regulations, and other subsidies will be issued to you. In short, you are going home. .”

"Welcome home!"

Zhu Yujian patted the third child on the shoulder, "Now, I suggest you choose a name for yourself first, and your children's."

"Great-uncle please give us a name!"

"You are from the Sifang branch. Since you are the descendant of Sun Ci, the twelfth generation of Taizu, my great-uncle will name you Ci'an. I hope you can live your life in peace and stability. Wealthy and rich, but please be safe and secure.”

"Thank you great-uncle."

"Your child is the thirteenth grandson of the Taizu, and the generation of He Zi. The child in your family is quite stable, so he should be called He Gentleman. Gentleman, the big belt worn by the ancient scholar-bureaucrats, I hope that the child can be cultivated well, and he will become a gentleman in the future. A royal talent."

(End of this chapter)