Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 138: Each feudal lord has his own plans for changing the title

Afterwards.

Zhu Di went to Wenyuan Pavilion and summoned seven people including Fang Xiaoru, Xie Jin, Huang Huai, Yang Shiqi, Hu Guang, Jin Youzi, and Yang Rong, and started a three-hour meeting.

In order to improve the efficiency of the proceedings, he ordered the eunuchs to prepare eight meals and accompanied seven cabinet advisers to have lunch in Wenyuan Pavilion.

The consultants were deeply aware of Zhu Di's intentions. After lunch, they all cheered up and read the "Ancestors of the Emperor Ming Dynasty" and other Ming Dynasty regulations.

As for Prince Zhu Gaoxu, he also found someone to discuss various issues that may be involved in the change of feudal vassals, and discussed solutions or ideas for these issues.

Unlike Zhu Di, he did not look for his staff and advisers, but unexpectedly left the palace and went to Jinling Changke Academy.

Zhu Gaoxu summoned more than a dozen outstanding students, such as Yu Yanzhao, Wang Ji, Hu Hui, Zhou Chen (chén), Zeng Qi (qǐ), etc., to discuss matters in the back hall of the Zhengxin Hall of the academy.

There is a huge blackboard behind the podium in the back hall of Zhengshin Hall.

At this time, from right to left on the blackboard, "Where is the feudal state", "The size of the feudal state", "The power of the feudal king", "The responsibilities of the feudal king", "How to manage the feudal king", and " "Inheriting the royal title system" and more than a dozen issues.

Zhu Gaoxu sat alone in the right seat of the first row, listening to Wang Ji's speech on the podium.

Zhao Junchen, Wei Xian and others stood guard outside the palace, while Kang Ping stood beside Zhu Gaoxu and leaned against the wall.

Yu Yanzhao and a dozen other students sat in the second row, third row, and fourth row.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's request, all students must speak in turn and provide suggestions.

Among them, Yu Yanzhao, who was the first to speak, was also responsible for recording various suggestions that Zhu Gaoxu thought had merit at this meeting and forming meeting minutes.

Since the topics were too many and involved a wide range of topics, all the students spoke one after another and discussed until noon, but the meeting was still not over.

In order to show his honor, Zhu Gaoxu specially had lunch with other students in the back hall, carrying a food box provided by the academy cafeteria.

Although he ate the same food as the other students, for the sake of personal safety, he still nodded and agreed to Kang Ping's poison test.

The meeting hosted by Zhu Gaoxu, like the cabinet meeting held by Zhu Di in Wenyuan Pavilion, lasted three hours and barely ended at the eleventh hour.

The results of the discussions among the students basically did not exceed Zhu Gaoxu's expectations. When dealing with the vassal states established overseas, they generally provided suggestions based on the feudal system of Zong Zhou.

The kings enjoyed hereditary rule within their fiefdoms, had the right to manage the residents within their fiefdoms, and had the right to subdivide their fiefdoms and residents to their relatives.

Just like the ruler of an independent kingdom, he could implement various systems such as taxation and military systems that were different from those of the imperial court without the consent of the Ming Emperor.

However, in order to maintain the rule and status of the imperial court and prevent the kings from becoming powerful, the kings must obey the orders of the Ming Emperor, not abandon their feudal lands, fight with the imperial court, pay tribute regularly, and make pilgrimages to report on their duties.

At the same time, the kings must implement the system of re-enfessing in their feudal countries.

That is, the kings allocate land to their sons or ministers with military merit. These two types of people are named Qing Dafu according to Zhou rites. The Qing Dafu then allocates the land to their sons or people with military merit. These two types of people are named according to Zhou rites. According to Zhou rites, he was named a scholar.

Doctors and scholars also have to undertake combat and other obligations to the higher level.

All the students agreed that in order to prevent the strong countries from annexing the weak ones among the kings and vassals, the court should formulate laws to prohibit the Ming vassals from waging war against each other.

If a vassal state disobeys the court's prohibition and privately sends troops to attack another vassal state, the Ming Emperor has the right to send troops to prevent such incidents from happening, and in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, demote the leader of the vassal state who sends troops privately to a commoner.

As a time traveler, Zhu Gaoxu certainly knew the drawbacks and loopholes of copying Zongzhou's feudal system.

Not to mention anything else, whether to grant the vassal state the right to mint money is a seemingly insignificant decision, but in fact it is a major decision related to the finances of the Ming Dynasty and even the life and death of the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu left the palace to come to the academy to discuss with Yu Yanzhao and other students was not to find a strategy to solve the problem of vassal reform.

On the surface, this seemed to be the case, but his real intention was to find out the understanding of the scholars of this era about the resumption of enfeoffment.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu asked Yu Yanzhao to record all the reasonable suggestions provided by the students, but did not express any approval or objection on the spot.

The views of Yu Yanzhao and other students basically represented the views of the vast majority of scholars in the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Zhu Gaoxu cannot say that the views put forward by the students are wrong, because after all, the students are not time travellers, and have their own historical limitations.

Of course, Yu Yanzhao and others still provided some more insightful suggestions, such as requiring the vassal states to speak Chinese, use Chinese characters, abide by Ming laws and regulations, as well as Han etiquette and customs, and not to violate the laws and forget their ancestors.

All students believe that what Qin Shihuang finally unified cannot allow Chinese culture to fall apart and return to chaos because of the Ming Dynasty's restart of enfeoffment.

Yu Yanzhao and others had differences regarding the old system that Emperor Taizu Gao stipulated that the children of the Ming Dynasty clan should not participate in the business of the four people.

The "general faction" represented by Hu Hui believed that since Emperor Taizu Gao decided to transfer the kings to overseas, then the old system would naturally be abolished.

After all, overseas vassal states did not implement this old system. Even if the imperial court sent a censor to go to sea to conduct on-site inspections, and the censor did not encounter or avoid sea storms and successfully arrived at the vassal state, how could he ensure that what he saw when he arrived was true?
The imperial court wanted to manage overseas vassal states like it managed Zhili prefectures and counties, but it was really beyond its reach.

Instead of working hard and doing useless work, it is better to let go and let the vassal states do something boldly.

The "conservatives" represented by Yu Yanzhao believed that the starting point for Emperor Taizu Gao to stipulate that the descendants of the clan should not participate in the business of the four people was to maintain the dignity of the clan.

There are also situations where clan members are prevented from participating in the military and government, thereby influencing the country.

Overseas vassal kings are descendants of Taizu, and it is natural and right to abide by the rules set by Taizu. If you dare to violate them, you will be violating the rules and forgetting your ancestors, and being treasonous.

Hu Hui and others refuted this view. They used the allusion that "the beauty of a gentleman will be killed in five generations" as an example of the Ming vassal kings overseas.

Although Taizu imitated the feudalism of Zongzhou, he did not say that he would copy Shiqing Shilu and deny the opportunity for the lower class people to rise.

Therefore, they believe that the salary set by the old system for the kings must be changed, and the salary of the lower-level clans must also be changed or even cancelled.

In addition to having the name of a clan member, low-level clans are no different from ordinary Ming people in terms of rights, and are even worse than ordinary people.

Because ordinary people can do business and trade, and can also study and take the imperial examination and become officials, but according to the old system, low-level clan members are not allowed to engage in the four people's industries even if they starve to death.

For the lower-level clans, under the old system, they had simply lost their basic rights as citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Yu Yanzhao and others felt that Hu Hui and others' views had some validity, they still insisted on their original opinions.

Zhu Gaoxu had no intention of starting a fight, nor did he stop the debate between the two sides. Instead, after listening to the debate between the two sides for half an hour, he announced the end of the meeting and then went back to the palace.

On this day, after the ministers of civil and military affairs who participated in today's morning dynasty retired from work as usual, some people continued to gather together in private to discuss the issue of changing the feudal vassals.

Yu Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Sun Xian, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, were busy leading officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry to prepare supplies and build sea ships for Zheng He, so they did not gather together for discussion immediately after leaving work.

After leaving work, the two of them went to Hubu Bank and Longjiang Shipyard respectively, one to track the issuance of national bonds, and the other to inspect the construction progress of seagoing ships.

It was not until nightfall that the two men summoned the officials under their jurisdiction to discuss the issues that needed to be considered in the matter of changing the feudal vassals at the home of Sun Xian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry.

They discussed until midnight and came up with seven more pragmatic suggestions for the descendants of the clan after the kings changed their titles overseas and established their country.

First, the elimination of the privileges of overseas clans that are different from civilians, ministers and even relatives makes it no longer an empty statement that "princes who break the law are guilty of the same crimes as the common people".

Second, the system is still the same. As long as you are a member of the clan, you can be awarded a title. However, except for the princes and princes who are hereditary, the descendants of the princes and princes or concubines must be demoted to the title. After five generations, they can be directly transferred to the title. Canceled clan status and became common people.

Third, establish a religious school. Princes, princes, princes, princes, and eldest sons of county princes who are over six years old and under 14 years old must study in the imperial religious school in the capital, and allow the children of the clan to study and cultivate themselves, and are allowed to participate in the imperial examination for selection. There are no useful talents for the imperial court to use.

Fourth, we must strictly guard against redundant positions and eliminate redundant positions, and put an end to the imitation and abuse of clan titles, which will leave the clan with nothing to do but a simple meal, so that the impoverished clan members from far away are transformed into common people, allowing them to support themselves.

Fifth, part of the tax revenue from overseas vassals must be handed over to the court. If they refuse to pay taxes, the court has the right to cancel the annual salary of overseas clans and all other rewards stipulated in the old system.

Sixth, in addition to paying taxes, overseas vassals must also pay tribute regularly. If the tribute is delayed, it will be regarded as disrespectful and the tax will be doubled.

Seventh, vassal states are not allowed to mint coins privately. Violators will be punished with treason. They are allowed to trade minerals, products and other special products within the vassal state with the imperial court, and exchange them for Tongbao or treasure notes from the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty.Most of these suggestions were based on the functions of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works, and were intended to save the court money.

The royal family's annual salary must be paid from the national treasury, and the construction of royal residences must be funded from the national treasury.

All these are issues that the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works could not avoid and could not avoid in the past.

Now taking this opportunity, Yu Xin and Sun Xian maintained an attitude of thinking for the court. After discussing with the officials of the hall, they listed all such problems and provided corresponding solutions.

As a heavenly official, Zhang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, naturally had to shoulder heavy responsibilities. After resigning, he sent people to invite the Minister of War, Jin Zhong, the Minister of Rites, Zheng Ci (formerly the Minister of Rites, Zheng Yi, returned to his hometown), and the Minister of Punishment, Mo Lin (formerly, the Minister of Justice, Xia Shu, returned to his hometown). Returning home) discussed suggestions and ideas at his home.

Since there were many church officials who took the initiative to pay a visit, by evening, the three main halls and six side halls of Zhang Yan's home were all full of people.

They discussed until late at night and came up with twelve suggestions for the kings after they changed their titles to overseas countries and established kingdoms.

First, abolish the royal family privileges, and the princes will be guilty of the same crimes as the common people.

Second, the descendants of princes and princes who have passed down the line for five generations or who have passed away from the clan will be converted into common people. Except that they cannot participate in the imperial examination or join the army, there are no restrictions on other careers.

Third, during the national mourning period, all princes of vassals and adult princes must return to Beijing to pay their respects.

Fourth, the eldest son of each vassal prince and the eldest son of the county prince must return to Beijing regularly to report on his duties, and also go to Fengyang, the central capital, and the Xiaoling Tomb on Zhongshan to worship.

Fifth, all vassal kings in their feudal states must pay homage to Taizu Emperor Gao on three festivals every year.

Sixth, vassal kings cannot claim to be emperor, otherwise they will be regarded as committing rebellion and treason.

Seventh, vassal states are not allowed to conquer each other. If they encounter foreign enemies, they must unite as one and unite in dealing with the outside world.

Eighth, vassals must not abandon or abuse their descendants who are mentally retarded or disabled, otherwise it will be regarded as disrespectful.

Ninth, each vassal state is not allowed to mint coins privately, and must use Tongbao and Baobao issued by the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty.

Tenth, each vassal state used the Ming calendar, followed and used the imperial era name, and regarded the Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo.

No. 11, the imperial court dispatched troops to garrison in each vassal state. The garrison troops were only sent to fight against the enemy when the vassal state was attacked by foreign enemies, and a rotation system was implemented.

No. 12, the imperial court dispatched censors to inspect the vassal country, spread enlightenment, and monitor illegal activities within the vassal state, but they did not interfere in the internal affairs of the vassal state and returned to Beijing regularly to report on their duties.

As for the kings, not to mention, after the dispersion of the dynasty, they were mainly divided into seven factions, each of which gathered together to discuss matters.

There is only one person in the first faction, King Zhou Zhu.

He used the excuse of being caught by the cold to return home first after the dynasty, and did not meet privately with any officials or princes afterwards.

The second faction was originally composed of Chu King Zhu Zhen, Shu King Zhu Chun, and Jin King Zhu Bai (formerly King of Xiang).

They first gathered at the Chu King's Pavilion, and then the 22-year-old Qin King Zhu Shangbing (second term) and the 13-year-old Lu King Zhu Zhaohui (second term) also joined this faction for seeking advice.

The third faction was originally composed of four people: King Zhu Gui of Dai, King Zhu Kai (yang) of Su, King Zhu Zhi of Liao, and King Zhu Zhu (zhan) of Qing.

They first gathered at the King of Liao's residence to discuss matters, but later the Dai Wang and the three later kings had differences and voluntarily left the residence and went to King Ning's residence instead.

The fourth faction was originally composed of Ning Wang Zhu Quan, Min Wang Zhu Pian (pian), and Gu Wang Zhu Su.

They first held talks at Prince Ning's residence, and were later joined by King Zhu Gui, so the four of them continued to discuss the issue of changing the seal overseas.

The fifth faction is composed of King Zhu Song of Han and King Zhu Mo of Shen.

Because they were relatively close to the prince Zhu Gaoxu, they made an appointment to go to Chunhe Hall to see Zhu Gaoxu after the court was over, but were told that the prince had left the palace and gone to Jinling Changke Academy.

The two had no choice but to change their route and go to the academy to find Zhu Gaoxu.

Although the two of them had quarreled and even fought before, they were young and energetic after all, and did not get hung up on trivial matters, and they had already reconciled.

After the two people went to the main entrance of the academy to declare their intention, Cao Hu, who was on duty at the gate, told them that the prince Zhu Gaoxu was convening students to discuss a topic. If they wanted to see the prince, they had to wait until the meeting was finished inside.

The matter of changing the seal was of great importance. In order to see Zhu Gaoxu, the two of them had no choice but to sit down in a side room of the reception room of the academy.

But after waiting for two full hours, they still didn't see Zhu Gaoxu finish the meeting, so they had to go back home.

The sixth faction is composed of the younger An Wang Zhu Ying, Tang Wang Zhu Huan (jing), Ying Wang Zhu Dong, and Yi Wang Zhu (yi).

The eldest among them is An Wang Zhu Ying, who is 19 years old, and the youngest is Yi Wang Zhu Shi, who is 14 years old.

Because they are young, most of the issues they consider are related to their immediate interests.

The four of them gathered in Prince An's residence in Zongwangfang and discussed until late at night.

As for the princes, princes, princes, and princes in Beijing, they are not very old and there are not many in number. They are the sons of Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao, King Min of Qin Zhu Chong, King Zhu Ji of Zhou, and King Zhu Zhen of Chu.

Except for Zhu Biao's son, these princes, princes, and county princes only obeyed the orders of their father or eldest brother. They did not dare to run around and stayed at home honestly.

The seventh faction, the most special, is composed of Zhu Gaochi, King of Han, and Zhu Yunxu, King of Wu Commandery.

Prince Zhu Yunxu of Wu County was the son of Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao, so he received special care from Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, who sent people to build a Wu Palace for him in the capital.

At court this morning, Zhu Di asked the princes and ministers to report the change of titles to the kings, although on the surface it seemed to be about the change of titles to the princes.

But the 17-year-old King of Wu Commandery, Zhu Yunxuan, was not stupid. Although he was the Commander-in-Chief, he enjoyed the treatment of a prince. Strictly speaking, the change of vassal titles was closely related to him.

It was a pity that due to his status, no prince or king dared to visit him.

If Zhu Gaochi, the king of Han Dynasty, dared to come, it was because he was ordered by Zhu Di to come to him to discuss the matter of changing the feudal vassals.

King Zhao Zhu Gaosui was in Quanzhou and not in the capital, so Zhu Gaochi was the only one who came to visit Zhu Yunxu this time.

Many feudal princes talked a lot with each other, and their requests to the court were roughly summarized as follows.

First, within five years of the founding of the vassal state, the court must provide manpower and materials to help the vassal king build its internal affairs.

Second, the vassal states established in the early stage of enfeoffment should provide free assistance to the new vassal states that were enfeoffed in the later stage.

Third, the court must allow trade between vassals.

Fourth, the imperial court should provide necessary military support to each vassal state.

Fifth, the prince is allowed to recruit troops and establish an army after the founding of the country. The highest military merit can be a marquis, followed by an earl, and then a viscount.

Sixth, the vassal states are allowed to establish an army with the same uniforms as the imperial court. However, in order to distinguish them from the imperial army, each vassal state can be distinguished by "tattooing" armbands on the shoulders and matching them with different colors.

Seventh, the prince is allowed to establish Liucao after the founding of the country. The status is equivalent to the Liubu of the imperial court, but the rank is equivalent to that of the Liubu Minister, and the costumes are the same as those of the Liubu Minister of the imperial court.

Eighth, each vassal state is allowed to independently mint coins, collect taxes, and mine minerals independently.

Ninth, each vassal state was allowed to conduct foreign campaigns, expand its territory, and once again enfeoff its heroes and descendants.

Tenth, each vassal state was allowed to implement military systems, tax systems and other systems that were different from those of the imperial court.

PS: Human nature is selfish. It is said that it is difficult to agree with others. Small countries can be democratic, but big countries still need to be dictatorial.

(End of this chapter)