Li Er of the Tang Dynasty: Ancestor Xie is here!

Chapter 161 Not alive? No one named Zhu is alive!
  Seeing that Lao Zhu's mood was about to collapse, Li Qing quickly spoke to comfort him.

"Brother Chongba, I know you are in a hurry, but please don't be anxious yet."

Li Shimin: Why do I seem to have heard this somewhere? Yes, I remember when we... bah bah bah, we were led astray by him, Lao Zhu. I remember when my brother Xian and I first met, I put the sword on his neck, and that was what he said.

"You can't look at it this way. Although the lower-level clan members have no food to eat, as the saying goes, as long as their thinking does not slip, there are always more solutions than difficulties. This is not... Our Ming Dynasty has a rule that if a clan member makes a mistake, he will be thrown into the Fengyang pen. ." Li Qing began to look for real examples from history: "Many clan members who had no food would often choose to commit minor problems that would not lead to death in order to make ends meet, so that they could be sent to Fengyang to eat in prison."

"Never underestimate the flexibility of a hungry person. For example, Zhu Qintie, the grandson of the fifth Zhuji, because the imperial court owed him money, he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet and wrote a memorial directly to the then Emperor Jiajing. What he said didn’t sound very nice anyway, but it was just a well-founded and convincing scolding for Jiajing.”

"Of course he thought better. Emperor Jiajing changed this memorandum, so it won't be a loss; if you get angry and throw me into the high wall of Fengyang, we will still have food to eat. No matter what, it will be a sure-profit business - Of course, he got what he wanted, after Jiajing read it, he stuffed it into Fengyangli without saying a word."

"He went in and got an iron rice bowl, but his son Zhu Chaogao was nowhere to be found. He was so poor that he was so poor that he wanted to pay for it in installments even if he wanted to buy a loincloth. With no other choice, he finally thought about it. My father also wrote a memorial to Jiajing, and Emperor Jiajing didn’t think much about it and threw him in. The father and son reunited and enjoyed the days of being supported and supported in prison."

"In Fengyang High Wall, we don't have to worry about wind or rain, nor the coming and going of cold or summer, nor do we have to worry about food and clothing. The father and son live quite comfortably and don't want to go out at all."

Speaking of this, Li Qing was really a day student - he couldn't help but laugh. He had fun for a long time, and even made Li Shimin laugh together.

I have to say that my clan in the Ming Dynasty is indeed active. In the abstract, I can't find such a group of ruthless people even if I look at it for thousands of years.

Not alive? No one named Zhu is alive...

After laughing for a while, he wiped his tears and asked, "Brother Chongba, Xiaobiao, guess what?"

"What?" they both asked in unison.

"After a few years of waiting, Jiajing... died~! After the new emperor ascended the throne, he granted amnesty to the world, and he was released by the father and son!"

Li Qing could even imagine how Zhu Qinzi and his son felt at that time - our food! ! !

"This, this, this...our children and grandchildren are living too hard..." Zhu Yuanzhang felt his heart twitching, but he believed that men should not shed tears easily, so he did not have as developed tear ducts as Li Shimin.

He no longer dared to think about what kind of life the descendants of future generations would live, and it made him feel heartbroken just thinking about it.

In fact, this feeling is understandable. After all, what Li Qing just talked about was just the clan members who were not doing well.

"Hey, this is quite legal. They can't help it. After talking about the hungry man, let's talk about the evil man." Li Qing said with a smile: "The one I gave birth to just two months ago. That Zhu Gui...well, he should be the acting king. His sixth-generation grandson Zhu Chongzhuo relied on his clan status to gather a group of lawless people to bully the market in Datong. They committed all kinds of evil in the fish and meat village, and even dared to rob the prefect of Datong..."

*Rage value +5000 from Zhu Yuanzhang
  "What?! How dare he behave like this!" Lao Zhu's blood pressure suddenly rose.

Li Qing did not answer, but continued to tell Lao Zhu about Zhu Chongzhuo's great lack of virtue.

"The then acting king Zhu Chongyao was very happy to have such a younger brother. I have been blessed with blood for eight lifetimes to have a younger brother like you. He was so moved that he and the governor of Datong teamed up to report Zhu Chongzhuo to the court."

"Emperor Jiajing immediately fined Zhu Chongzhuo and others for one year as a warning. But for them, the Lumi given by the court was the foundation of their lives. This cut off their life roots, which would be fatal. .”

"So, Zhu Chongzhuo gathered a group of clan members who were also owed salaries by the imperial court and decided to ask for salary from the imperial armed forces. They planned to collude with the White Lotus Sect internally and the Tatars externally. The plan was quite good, but the messenger was arrested as soon as he left Datong. Caught him red-handed."

"In this way, Zhu Chongzhuo's armed salary demand plan went bankrupt ahead of schedule. Jiajing was furious when he learned about this. If you dare to disturb me, I will physically send you to the ground. After a trial, Zhu Chongzhuo Others were ordered to commit suicide and burn their bodies."

*Rage value +10000 from Zhu Yuanzhang
  "Beast! Beast!" Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. He never expected that his descendants would give him such a big thumbs up.

"There are quite a few people like Zhu Chongzhuo. In addition to those who conspired to rebel, there were also those who went out on the streets to beat, smash, loot and burn, and some who beat up local officials. In short, they were led in by a master and shot individually. Everyone has his own purpose. Regarding the criminal law, except for the cover of your "Da Ming Code", all the descendants of the clan have violated it."

Li Qing spread his hands and said where did he go?

"Of course, we can't say that all the clans have lived like this. This is just the suffering of the small vassals. The lives of the big vassals are better than anyone else. For example, in the big vassals such as Qin and Jin, their descendants annexed the land and plundered the people's fields. , living better than anyone else."

"Uncle, does he have the best of both worlds?" Zhu Biao asked immediately.

"You are the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and your father is the emperor. You should think about this kind of thing. I can only give you a little insight." Li Qing spread his hands, "So I still suggest that it is better to change it from the root. It is better to change the title. Those who have made great contributions to the country can be hereditary and not replaced. As the saying goes, a gentleman's glory can be cut off after five generations, so let's cut it off."

"That's right, you see, there is no clan problem in the Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin interjected from the side.

Zhu Yuanzhang curled his lips: "You don't have it in the Tang Dynasty, because all your clan members in the Tang Dynasty were killed by Wu Zetian!"

Li Shimin covered his heart, it hurt, it hurt too much...

"Actually, when the Ming Dynasty fell, these vassal kings actually made little contribution to the court..." Li Qing said this, preparing to talk about those vassal kings who lived extravagantly.

Lao Zhu was not shocked or angry at Li Qing's words "the Ming Dynasty was destroyed". After all, how could there be an eternal dynasty in this world?

"In the [-]th year of Wanli, Emperor Wanli's son, Prince Fu, came to the vassal. Concubine Zheng asked for [-] hectares of land. The ministers argued with each other, but in the end they had no choice but to change it to [-] hectares, and made a bunch of demands."

"First, the [-] hectares of Zhuang farmland were reduced by half, and [-] hectares are still needed. The fertile land in Zhongzhou is insufficient, so we need to use the fertile land in Shandong and Huguang to make up for it; second, Zhang Juzheng's property was lost, and the remaining official properties were transferred to Fufu; third, , from Yangzhou to Anhui Taiping, various miscellaneous taxes along the river are allocated to Fufu; fourth, part of the income from Sichuan salt wells is allocated to Fufu; fifth, please pay [-] yuan for Huaiyan salt."

Hearing this, Lao Zhu's hair stood on end.

*Rage value +10000 from Zhu Yuanzhang
  "Excessive and extravagant! Absolutely extravagant and extravagant!" He cursed angrily: "This Wanli Dog Emperor actually dotes on King Fu like this?"

"This is not the end yet," Li Qing glanced at Lao Zhu with pity: "After the peasant uprising broke out in the late Ming Dynasty, conscripts from all directions passed through Luoyang. The soldiers all expressed their indignation. Luoyang was rich in palaces, and Shenzong was consuming the world's wealth. How unfair it is to enrich King Fu, but let us go to war on an empty stomach and die at the hands of thieves!" "Lu Weiqi, the Minister of War in Nanjing who retired at home, advised King Fu many times that even if he only planned for himself, he should open the treasury and collect money. He gave some money to help the people. However, King Fu refused to listen. After the rebel army captured Luoyang, all his wealth enriched the rebel army..."

"Of course he's not the only one. The descendants of your son, King Shu, are just like him...It's hard to describe in a word, but they are like an iron cock who will not pluck a hair from his head, and they want money rather than their lives."

*Rage value +20000 from Zhu Yuanzhang
  "Reform! We must reform! These are these wolf-hearted white-eyed wolves!!!" Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely heartbroken.

"It's okay. There's no rush for this kind of thing. There will always be a way anyway, so don't rush for a while." Li Qing comforted Lao Zhu's mood: "After talking about the vassal king's problem, we have to talk about the prime minister's problem."

Zhu Yuanzhang's mood also changed. He immediately turned away from his grief and anger towards future generations and looked like he was listening attentively.

"In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong conspired to rebel. After the incident was revealed, he was executed." Li Qing continued: "After killing Hu Weiyong, Brother Chongba never established a prime minister again, and completely abolished this official position. .”

Regarding the case of Hu Weiyong's rebellion, there are different opinions. Some people say that Lao Zhu only killed Hu Weiyong in order to remove him as prime minister - but in fact, Hu Weiyong did deserve to die. His death was not only very popular, but at least it was celebrated by the whole world.

"Since then, the prime minister's power has been dispersed to six ministries, and the imperial power has been unprecedentedly strengthened."

"Hey, that's what we were thinking of doing." Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel happy: "It's just that after deposing the prime minister, Hu Weiyong, who was originally the prime minister, had no place to put him, so he never moved this position."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have the Prime Minister help share the government affairs?" Li Shimin suddenly said from the side, "The emperor's energy is also limited, and it is impossible to handle all the government affairs by himself."

"This is the problem of different governing ideas. Each generation has its own ideas." Li Qing smiled and said to Li Shimin: "A considerable part of the countless experiences summed up by future generations are learned from you, Datang. "

Li Shimin took a deep breath.

"However, the cabinet created by later generations is also quite good. It is equivalent to assuming the obligations of the prime minister, but does not have the power of the prime minister." Li Qing continued.

"Cabinet?" Lao Zhu was immediately interested. Although he was a workaholic and a controlling person, he also wanted to do something that could save him troubles without dividing the power in his hands.

“During the Taizong period of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor selected Hanlin Academy officials as palace bachelors to serve in the Wenyuan Pavilion in the palace, accompany the emperor, and began to participate in the decision-making of confidential affairs. This is how the “cabinet” emerged.”

When Li Qing said this, Lao Zhu looked very interested, and then Li Qing changed the subject.

"Later, the status of the cabinet increased day by day, and its power gradually expanded. The academicians had the power to draft memorials for the emperor to respond to ministers, and the chief assistant who presided over cabinet affairs had more power than all ministers. When Xia Yan and Yan Song were the chief assistants, "He was the real prime minister and suppressed the six ministers." When Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister, all power was vested in the cabinet, and the six ministries almost became subordinate agencies of the cabinet."

"There are actually many reasons for the expansion of cabinet power, but the biggest reason may be the emperor's intentional indulgence." Li Qing spread his hands as he spoke.

In fact, this is also the case. During the Chenghua period, the cabinet was still "paper-made and three pavilions old", but during the Ming Xiaozong period, it began to intend to improve the status of the cabinet. Many people mistakenly believe that the cabinet has a high status from the beginning. In fact, this is not the case. The original status of the cabinet was lower than that of the six ministries. At the beginning of the formation of the cabinet, the cabinet ministers all came from other imperial agencies, and of course they were mainly the backbone and confidants of the "Six Ministries". During the Renxuan period, the auxiliary ministers represented by "San Yang" directly entered the cabinet, and the power of the cabinet increased rapidly.

After there was no prime minister, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was in charge of personnel appointments, became a "heavenly official", whose rank was higher than that of the cabinet ministers. During the Hongxi period, the great scholar Yang Shiqi was given the title of Sangu and Shangshu. However, when he was assigned the title, he was still under Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji, the Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel.

In the fourth year of Hongzhi, Wang Shu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was still ranked above Qiu Jun, who had joined the cabinet at that time as the Minister of Rites. However, in the sixth year of Hongzhi, Zhu Youtang changed his position to Qiu Jun and ranked him above Wang Shu. From this time on, the people who entered the cabinet from the minister and Zhan Shi were all listed in the six ministers.

If you really want to say that the cabinet has completed the last step of evolution, then you have to look at me, Zhu, the old Taoist priest, the big fluttering moth, my money, and Houcong.

"Isn't it true that he has the reality of being a prime minister but does not have the position of a prime minister?" Lao Zhu said fiercely.

It seems that the prime minister was abolished in vain. Although the prime minister was not re-established in future generations, isn't the chief minister of the cabinet just the prime minister?
  "In the final analysis, the gradual expansion of the power of the cabinet is mainly due to the efforts of successive emperors." Li Qing spread his hands and expressed his helplessness: "There is no problem with the cabinet itself, the problem lies with your descendants."

"We understand!" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao fiercely.

A bad premonition suddenly arose in Zhu Biao's heart, and then something unknown came as expected, and he got kicked on the butt.

"Asshole! Look what your descendants have done!"

Lao Zhu roared like thunder.

Li Qing opened his mouth and decided not to say anything.

It's not his fault... It's you, Zhu Yuanzhang, who acted too quickly, Xiao Biao. If I'm to blame, it's your father who beats people indiscriminately.

Zhu Biao had a grimace on his face and passively endured his father's flying kicks of love.

Forget it, just kick it twice. If future generations fail to live up to expectations, then you will have to suffer.

Li Shimin looked at Li Qing with a joking look. Now he finally understood why the wise brother was always so happy day by day.

Hey, this fun is not in vain, it does make people happy.

But Lao Zhu is obviously different from Li Shimin, and he is really reluctant to let go of this great boy. If he hadn't been so angry just now, he wouldn't have kicked him.

After two kicks, Lao Zhu began to feel distressed. He put down his feet, patted his boots as if nothing was wrong and continued to ask Li Qing.

"What about after Hu Weiyong? Are there any bigger things?"

(End of this chapter)