Daming, originally wanted to destroy it, but the system came

Chapter 454: Rewards for merit and canonization of ministers

This time the army returned triumphantly and made great achievements.

But because of this, when it comes time to reward according to merit, it will be troublesome.

Because there are so many things that need to be rewarded, including countless gold, silver and jewelry.

The amount of silver spent even exceeded Zhu Zhen's enthronement ceremony and marriage ceremony, with millions of taels of silver spent.

After all, there are half a million soldiers in the entire army.

This doesn't even count the Mongolian grassland soldiers, but there are no rewards there.

Especially Feng Sheng and Fu Youde, they are already dukes, their titles are over, and if they are promoted to the level of kings with different surnames, they will be.

Zhu Zhen had promised the kings and Zhu Yuanzhang that there would never be a king with a different surname unless he was granted the title after his death.

It is absolutely impossible for a living king with a different surname to appear in his Yongchang dynasty.

It is equivalent to saying that those granted to Feng Sheng are hereditary and irreplaceable.

Zhu Zhen promised that the title of the Hongwu Dynasty would not be downgraded, and would still be hereditary.

So Zhu Zhen is very thief.

Just kidding, it’s impossible to give him the salary and salary of a king instead of giving him a title, right?

Now, taking advantage of this great achievement, he has been granted a public title?

Zhu Xinxin said, Dad, just be a human being.

Then there were Guo Ying and Geng Bingwen.

Feng Guoyong died in the army. Because Feng Cheng was young, Feng Sheng inherited Feng Guoyong's position and army.

In addition to his eldest son Fu Zhong, Fu Youde also has three sons, which is not bad.

Anyway, since my reign in Yongchang, there has been a system of downgrading to nobility. Now I am an earl, and the next generation will be just a viscount. Within three generations, there will only be a baron left. What is there to worry about? Block it as you like.

Although I can't give you a king with a different surname, I can give you a princess.

Doesn’t Feng Cheng have a daughter? Let his daughter marry a certain prince and become a princess.

As soon as this was said, everyone was confused. What did it mean?
"To put it simply, Feng Sheng's dukedom of the Song Dynasty will be passed on to the eldest son in the future. And now I promise to give the Song family an additional title. With this achievement, I will create an earl, and the Duke of Song will Appointed personally and conferred by the imperial court."

"If Song Guogong continues his efforts and makes outstanding achievements, the Feng family will become one family and two Dukes. That is not impossible."

So Zhu Ming's reward for Feng Sheng was changed to: "For public service, you can't refuse to reward, and you have to give it. But Song Guogong is already a very popular minister, and there is no title and no reward. I can't give it to you. If you are a king with a different surname, you will not be granted a vassal status. In this case, the Feng family can establish another title."

Zhu Zhen is also a bit sinister, which he inherited from Zhu Yuanzhang.

What else can the second prince say, except to thank the Holy Grace.

And with Feng Sheng as an inducement, it was much easier when it came to Fu Youde. He was also given the title of earl and assigned by Fu Youde himself.

This is his guarantee to the kings that he will not use the kings' marriage as a political bargaining chip.

"Sangong has made countless contributions in his early years, which is my contribution to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. He has been working hard for so many years, and has never slacked off or violated any law or discipline. This time he has made great contributions, so I decided to confer Guo Ying as the Duke of the State of Jin Dynasty. , Geng Bingwen is the Duke of Xingguo, and Song Sheng is the Duke of Ningguo. Moreover, I have said that the meritorious relatives of the Hongwu Dynasty are hereditary and will not be replaced. "

As for peace and prosperity.

The eldest son inherits the dukedom of Yingguo and can also give other sons the title of nobility. Isn't this a model for a whole family of aristocrats?
Feng Sheng also thought about it again and again, and secretly decided that it would be better to give this title to his nephew Feng Cheng.

The three of them were not young yet, but they were so excited that they almost burst into tears. They quickly knelt down and thanked the emperor for his great kindness.

Wasn't it that Zhu Chu's extraordinary achievements were divided and helped his biological mother be promoted from an ordinary concubine to an imperial concubine?

"Sheng Yong, you have reached the command of the capital, and now that you have made great achievements, you can be made a count."

But Zhu Ming couldn't cheat his younger brother, mainly because he once said, "My Ming Dynasty does not make friends with each other, pay tribute, do not claim vassal status, do not tear apart the soil, do not cede land, do not compromise, and there is no need for marriage."

Now it can be regarded as compensation for the eldest brother's lineage.

But in this case, how to award a reward?
If we follow Lao Zhu's evil intentions, we might as well let Feng Sheng's nephew, Feng Guoyong's son Feng Cheng, get the reward.

Not only do you want to transfer Feng Shengli's credit to Feng Cheng, but you also want to marry someone else's daughter?

Since the road above is blocked and Feng Sheng's title can no longer be promoted, why not think about it below?

Who takes advantage?
However, historically, Feng Cheng’s daughter was indeed the concubine of King Zhu Song of Han.

Moreover, having an additional earl is much better than having a duke gain the title of Jin.

Guo Ying was the Marquis of Wuding, Geng Bingwen was the Marquis of Changxing, and Song Sheng was the Marquis of Xining, all of whom already had titles.

Zhu Zhen was even more generous. He simply promoted the three of them to dukes with a wave of his hand.

Duke Bozinan, the five major title classes, they are already in the second queue.

They have been marquises for so many years and have never had the opportunity to go further.

But then I thought again.

"Ping'an, your father sacrificed his life for the country in his early years. Later, you inherited his father's position. He followed my father in the north and south and made a lot of achievements. At the same time, he is my father's adopted son. You also have a great contribution to this great victory. I will grant you the title of Marquis of An Ding.”

Now that Zhu Chu has also tried this trick, I can't make you a king with a different surname, but I can give your family another title.

Guo Ying, Geng Bingwen and Song Sheng were naturally overjoyed.

It is said that Feng Sheng's Duke actually inherited it from his eldest brother.

The main reason is that Sheng Yong's reputation is really not good. First of all, he did not follow Zhu Yuanzhang in his early years to conquer the world and made great contributions to the founding of the country. Secondly, both Sheng Yong and Ping'an gained their reputation during the Jingnan Campaign in history.

It is said that throughout the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di fought against the Southern Army many times and was invincible. He was defeated only when he faced Ping An and Sheng Yong.

Especially Ping An, as the adopted son of Zhu Yuanzhang, he really showed no mercy when facing the 'fourth brother'.

Not only did Pingan repeatedly defeat the Yan army, he killed the Yan army's brave general Wang Zhen and several others, defeated seven Yan generals including Fang Kuan, Chen Heng, Xue Lu, and Li Bin, and captured Xue Lu. He even almost stabbed Zhu Di to death twice. .

Therefore, Zhu Di also held grudges later, and the final fate of Ping An and Sheng Yong was to commit suicide.

But now, they are all in Zhu Ming's hands, capable generals who are good at fighting.

After these 'veterans' were sealed, it was time for a new generation of generals.

"This battle involves a wide range of areas. The battlefields range from the southwest to the Western Regions and then to the Saibei Grassland. It can be said that I have fought most of the way around the country."

"Now the good news has spread all over the world, and the news about Tibet and the Western Regions is also known to everyone."

"Nowadays, when rewards are given based on merit, naturally every meritorious official will not be missed."

"The commander of the capital, Wang Fu, is the Duke of Fu. He is my lucky general."

"The Marquis of Xiping, Muchun Jin, was granted the title of Duke of Guizhou."

"The commander-in-chief Mu Sheng was made the commander-in-chief of the capital, and he was granted the title of viscount."

"Choose Zhao Kuo as an earl."

"Feng Qu can be an earl."

"Female Pengyue and Niu Sheng as earls."

"Feng Cen Hua and Hou Dagou as commanders, and confer the title of Viscount."

"Feng Mu family chieftain officer Mu Chu is the uncle of the state."

"Confess Cao Guogong Li Jinglong as the commander of the capital."

"In addition, when I was still the king of Dian, I served as the imperial envoy to inspect the world on behalf of the emperor. During this process, many things happened and I met many people."

"Among them, Li Cunzhao had meritorious service in resisting the Japanese pirates, and was granted the title of commander by the Jin Dynasty."

"Xie Yujin was granted the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Capital."

"Hua Rong, son of Hua Mao, is the commander."

"There are two other people, Gu Wen and Qian Gui, who are quite talented, so I promoted them as a special case. Qian Gui is the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Gu Wen is the Minister of the Ministry of War."

"When I was in Yunnan, I saw Li Shuran, the prefect of Dali, who was loyal to the emperor and patriotic. He dared to risk his life for the country and gave advice. He could be the minister of the Ministry of Rites." "Yan Shitai, the prefect of Yongchang Prefecture, was upright and unafraid of power. He could be the censor of Zuodu."

In addition to the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Industry, Zhu Ming was undergoing a major purge this time.

He even has a candidate for the Ministry of Industry, and Shen Rong is a perfect fit.

It's just that Shen Rong is a businessman after all, and his father is Shen Wansan.

It's not easy to announce it yet. It won't be too late until the slave and humble status are completely abolished.

All in all, this time, rewards based on merit can be said to have been canonized a large number of nobles and positions.

Moreover, Zhu Zhen is not a person who likes the new and hates the old. There are both new rich and old people from Yunnan.

Even many low-level soldiers also receive rewards.

At the same time, Zhu Chu also left Mu Sheng and the 50,000 troops behind. They were the foundation of Zhu Chu's headquarters, so they naturally had to stay in the capital to protect his safety.

All of a sudden, the whole court was shouting "The Emperor's grace is mighty".

However, Zhu Ming waved his hand and said proactively: "Don't be too happy too early. Since I came to the throne, I have also issued several reform policies. Among them is the system of demotion and demotion. In other words, Wang Fu, the Duke, and These newly created nobles of yours will all be demoted to the next level when they ascend to the rank of baron in the future, and this will continue until they reach the lowest level of baron."

"But this is not a bad thing. Since I came to the throne, I have been promoting the idea that establishing a virtuous person is more enlightened than establishing a direct descendant. So if you want to make your family's glory last forever, you must cultivate your descendants well. Maybe they will be outstanding. Instead, we can benefit our ancestors. Our ancestors were earls, but our descendants can be promoted to dukes?"

"But if you think you can rest on your merits for the rest of your life, then you're sorry. The most I can do is give you a hereditary and irreplaceable baron. It's okay to feed the whole family, but you want to be arrogant? Then Forget it."

"You are my heroes, my confidants, and my beloved generals, so I will not hesitate to share the glory and wealth with you. However, if your descendants also want to be reused and receive these honors, let them also learn from You go and fight."

"I am a hero and my son is a good man. This is a benign inheritance."

"Retreat."

This concludes the ceremony.

And this time after the merit-based rewards were given, there were five more dukes alone, namely Ying Guo Gong, Xing Guo Gong, Ning Guo Gong, Fu Guo Gong and Qian Guo Gong.

Wang Fu, who was far away in the Western Regions, didn't know that he was now the Duke of the country and could be said to be a very popular minister.

What's more, Wang Fu's status in Zhu Chu's heart is no less than that of Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang.

At the same time, Zhu Zhen also had a lot of calculations before giving this 'answer sheet', and it was by no means a random canonization.

The first is Mu Chun. The Mu family has been governing Yunnan for generations, guarding the borders and defending the country. Moreover, it was already the title of Marquis of Xiping, so it is natural for Jin to be granted the title of Duke.

As for Mu Sheng, although he had merit and his contribution was not small, he led his troops to the rear of Timur's army and killed Timur in one fell swoop, causing Timur's army to collapse and end the war.

But you can't dote on the Mu family too much, otherwise what should others do?

Then Zhu Zhen made Zhao Kuo an earl, suppressing the subsequent rewards.

This is just like when Zhu Yuanzhang made Tang He a marquis. In addition to holding grudges, the most important thing was to restrain the people behind him.

Even Tang He is a marquis, let alone you?

In addition, although a lot of nobles and nobles have been awarded, there is no need to worry about the Ming Dynasty being poor and ruined because of the downgrade system.

Zhu Ming also said, I will give you, the first generation, glory and wealth, but if your descendants also want it, then let them do a great job, otherwise don’t blame me for being unkind. The best that future generations can do is He's a baron.

At the same time, Zhu Ming also officially canonized Cen Hua as a female general officially recognized by the Ming Dynasty. As a commander, she was also a viscount.

This is truly the first of its kind.

Although there have not been many women serving as officials since ancient times, there are some examples.

For example, when Wu Zetian was emperor, Shangguan Wan'er participated in government affairs.

However, being conferred by the emperor like Zhu Zhen not only granted him the title of a genuine commander and general, he even granted him a noble title. This was the first time that he had been granted a title.

If there hadn't been too much news and Zhu Chu ran too fast, I'm afraid the courtiers would have started talking about it, right?

But there is a reason for this. After all, when Zhu Min was in the grassland, he had many grassland female soldiers under his command, and there were even several female leaders who went into battle in person and fought bravely to kill the enemy.

He has also seen Cen Hua's ability and force.

Since they are all meritorious officials, why should they be treated differently?

In the future, women may even be allowed to take part in the imperial examination and become officials in the court.

In this world, apart from men, there are women, and due to the war, I am afraid there are more women than men.

Naturally, Zhu Zhen will not suppress women because of their gender. Anyway, he is not afraid of the rise of the so-called female boxers. At worst, women will just do the same things as men.

If there are male soldiers, there can also be female soldiers.

If a man can do something, a woman can do it too.

Focus on fairness.

After the discussion of merit and rewards, there was a period of calm.

But soon, Zhu Zhen became restless again, and one morning he issued an edict to the emperor.

"The vassal titles of Qi King Zhu Zhu and Xiang King Zhu Bai were abolished. The two kings will lead an army of 500,000 people outside the city. They will rush to the southwest from now on and lead the generals to prepare for the war in Southeast Asian countries."

"The small country of Annan has always had ulterior motives. Countries such as Siam, Nanzhang, Ava and Bago are also eyeing it. The army went to suppress the rebellion and recover the countries, so as to stabilize our southwest border."

The two kings and generals who had already received the news were naturally not at all surprised.

But someone in the court shouted: "Your Majesty, we have been fighting continuously since the year before last, and this year you also want to fight against the Goryeo rebel Li Chenggui, and conquer the three Jurchen tribes. This, this, this. It is too frequent, you Aren’t you afraid that the people will have a hard time?”

The person who spoke was none other than Liu Sanwu.

"That's wrong." Before Zhu Ming could speak, Qian Gui, who had been promoted to the Minister of Justice and stood in the court, slowly said, "First of all, although His Majesty has repeatedly launched campaigns, he has never wasted people and money. It would be better to say, With the trophies brought back from the grassland a few days ago, those war horses can make up for the shortage of horses in the Central Plains. The cattle and sheep can be sold to aristocratic families and landowners. Even the rewards based on merit can fill the gap, and even make a lot of money. "

"And from now on, there will be no more wars at the northern border, and the people can truly live and work in peace and contentment. This is a great good, and a great contribution to the country and the people. But what about the people in the southwest? But they still have to endure the threat of foreign nations."

"Since the war will not waste people and money, but it will still make money. And now our Ming Dynasty is at the peak of its national power. If we don't fight now, when will we wait? Do we have to wait until the generals who are good at conquering have turned gray, and until the soldiers are slack? We no longer have the strength to fight, can we let foreigners bully us again?”

"Think about how Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin led his troops to end the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms at the beginning, and resisted foreign enemies. However, in the later stages, the Song Dynasty became deeply weak and was eventually destroyed by the Mongolian Tatars."

“Today we have the ability, but we don’t do it. How will future generations evaluate our inaction?”

Qian Gui was born into a noble family and was the head of the Qian family. Whether it was his words or the meaning of his identity and status, all the officials in the court chose to remain silent.

Liu Sanwu also fell into deep thought. Is what he said right?
But Liu Sanwu always felt that something was wrong with what he had learned all along.

How can the so-called country of gentlemen invade other countries with such barbarity?
This is the blind arrogance of the Central Plains dynasty and the complacency of Confucianism.

It should be noted that in the early Ming Dynasty, both national power and technology were leading the world.

Not to mention, the toothbrush was invented by the Ming Dynasty, and there were many reforms in firearms. Zhu Di even established a separate Shenji Battalion, a force that specialized in firearms.

There was also Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas, two centuries earlier than the Age of Discovery.

The results of it?
Confucianism regards science and technology as miraculous skills. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was overtaken by the West.

When the West entered the era of industrialization, the Qing Dynasty was closing itself off.

If you always think that you are the center of the world, isn't it arrogant?

Qian Gui sighed and said: "Your Majesty, my lord, has a strategy that knows the world and the earth, and he has a grand plan to achieve hegemony that will benefit thousands of generations with the efforts of one generation. Your vision is too short-sighted."

After all, he has seen the world map and knows that once the Southeast Asian countries are defeated, there will be almost no hidden dangers from foreign enemies in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The same is true for Korea Island and the current sphere of influence of the three Jurchen tribes.

Zhu Zhen's current idea is very simple. I will first conquer the entire Eurasian continent and use the entire Eurasian continent as the territory of the Ming Dynasty. There will be only one country, the Ming Dynasty.

And then continue to expand globally.

First, deal with the surrounding threats and make the entire continent one.

With such a momentum, who in the world can resist it?

But then again, with the current world situation, even the Australian continent and the American continent have not been discovered yet. It can almost be thought that once the Eurasian continent is flattened, it will almost be the hegemon of the world, or even the leader of the global village. ?
(End of this chapter)