The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 441 Is he worthy?

Make someone unconscious without causing any harm to the body?
Hearing this, Chen Jingke was very surprised. Is this something Zhu Biao could say?
But he immediately understood the reason.

It seems that the impact of Zhu Chong's incident on him was much greater than he imagined.

But he could only say that he was powerless to do anything about this request.

There are many ways to make a person unconscious, but it is difficult to do so without causing harm to the body.

Not to mention now, it would have been difficult to do even in the previous life.

Zhu Yuanzhang standing aside was also very helpless. Naturally, he did not want anything to happen to his children.

But he didn't want Zhu Biao to bear more psychological burden because of his other sons.

The boss’s body can’t take it.

Choose the lesser of two evils. If someone must suffer injustice, let Zhu Gui bear it.

Thinking of this, he asked sternly, "Why did you let him fall into a coma?"

"Face? Face is something you earn yourself. Does he deserve it?"

"He failed the assessment and is not suitable to be the ruler of a country. This is the reason for suspending the enfeoffment."

"Put this reason out in the open and present it to everyone, and let the world see the court's determination."

These words made Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke very excited.

"Dad/Grandpa Emperor/Your Majesty is wise."

The examination papers were quickly graded, and all the nobles except Zhu Gui passed the assessment.

In fact, the imperial examination papers were not difficult, and they contained the most basic knowledge taught in class.

As long as there is no problem with your thinking, you can pass.

The difference is that some people have administrative capabilities and can lead national construction themselves.

Some people are simply reckless men, and the administration of the country should be handed over to the Prime Minister's Office.

But no matter which one he was, he was a prince under the Ming Dynasty's vassal system and possessed a transcendent status.

As for the selection of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it went very smoothly and the best candidates were selected.

Those who are eliminated this time don’t have to worry about their future, as there will be plenty of opportunities in the subsequent major divisions.

Moreover, those who are selected to become the reserve force of the upper echelons of a sealed country are themselves people of outstanding abilities.

Even if he didn't become a fiefdom, he would still be a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why they signed up to serve in the sealed states was that they lacked some support within the court, and it would be very difficult to make further progress.

Go to a closed country and work there for a few years, and when you come back you will have everything.

Even if he didn't come back, he would still be a big figure in the closed country, enough to leave his name in history.

It is much better than wasting the rest of your life in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, some also want to go to the closed country to prove their abilities.

Middle and lower-level officials were mostly selected from lower-level officials and scholars.

Among the more than six million scholars in the Ming Dynasty, only a few were able to become officials, but there was no shortage of people willing to seek an official position in a fiefdom.

This is the advantage accumulated by Chinese ancestors from generation to generation.

If other countries of the same period wanted to carry out large-scale feudalization, they would not even have enough manpower.

"But if the imperial court cannot provide a way out for these more than six million scholars,

"It will also become the biggest burden for the Ming Dynasty."

"They have a certain level of knowledge and can easily form groups among the people."

"Then a huge group of gentry will be formed..."

This is what Chen Jingke said to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao when he was deducing the formation and harm of the gentry group.

This kind of thing was very common in previous lives.

After gaining independence, many countries blindly invested large amounts of money in education.

The final result is that a large number of young people who have received higher education cannot find jobs.

These young people who are knowledgeable, insightful and idealistic are extremely dissatisfied with the current social situation, and they only need a spark to blow up a country.

The Ming Dynasty did not have to worry about scholars rebelling.

But so many scholars have no other way out and can only work hard on their own in this small piece of land.

The consequences are also very terrifying.

The huge size of the gentry group in the Ming Dynasty is directly related to this.

The feudal system was not only a great expansion of Chinese culture, but also helped the Ming Dynasty absorb the excess scholars.

Of course, enfeoffment alone cannot fundamentally solve this problem.

We still have to take the path of industrialization.
-
After the final candidate was confirmed, Zhu Biao did not hesitate any longer and announced it directly at the morning court.

One can imagine how shocked the officials were when they learned about Zhu Gui's affairs.

As for the training of princes and heirs, in fact, no one took it too seriously.

After all, even if someone fails the assessment, can you still take back the country from them?

Now everyone finally understands that the court is serious.

If you fail to meet the standards, the country will really be taken back.

The group that was most shocked was the noble group.

Among them, many people were thinking of going there to enjoy themselves.

What training? What about being a qualified monarch? Just enjoy yourself first.

Things have changed now.

Even the fiefdom of Prince Zhu Gui was gone, let alone others?
No one dared to look down on that academy anymore.

Of course, there were people who advised against the cancellation of Zhu Gui's fiefdom.

But Zhu Biao's attitude was very firm.

"The Ming dynasty divided the states into vassal states for the benefit of the world, not to satisfy the selfish desires of a few individuals."

"No one will be allowed to exist without qualification."

Someone found Lao Zhu and wanted him to come out and persuade them.

It is well known that Lao Zhu attaches the most importance to family ties.

Even if I was angry for a moment, I would not really hit my son to death with a stick.

After everyone persuaded him, he finally gave in.

However, everyone soon discovered that things were completely different from what they had imagined.

Old Zhu severely reprimanded those who came to advise him, and made it clear that the decision was made by him.

The emperor was simply carrying out his will.

"We just want to tell the world that the imperial court will never allow wicked people to harm the people."

"Even our own son is no exception. If others make mistakes and have their qualifications revoked, don't come to us to complain."

"Don't even complain about the injustice of the court."

These righteous words convinced all the ministers.

It also made the noble group completely give up their small ideas, and they really began to think about how to be a qualified leader.

Many people who think they are qualified to be enfeoffed have taken the initiative to find relevant teaching materials and learn the corresponding knowledge.

Even those who are not qualified for fiefdom for the time being have begun to learn how to become a qualified noble.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were both very pleased with this result.

After all, using the prince as a warning to others is somewhat contrary to their cognition.

Fortunately the result was good.

The one who felt the most uncomfortable was Zhu Gui. He had just heard that his fiefdom was cancelled, and one can imagine how angry he was.

All the fragile items in the house were replaced several times, and many servants were punished for no reason.

He even went to the palace to cry and make a fuss, trying to get it all back.

However, even his biological mother, Concubine Guo Huifei, did not stand on his side.

Zhu Yuanzhang even issued an order to strip him of his princely title, demote him to a commoner, and send him to Fengyang to guard his grave.

This shocked everyone. This punishment was indeed too much.

Although Zhu Gui had a bad temper, he had been studying in Fengyang and Luoyang over the years and had no chance to do evil.

It's not necessary to demote him to a commoner just because of this.

Everyone tried to persuade her, and Concubine Guo Hui wiped her tears silently.

Zhu Gui finally became scared. Zhu Chong was imprisoned for several years, and the seventh son Zhu Yu was forced to death.

All this shows that although Mr. Zhu values ​​family ties, he will not let his own son go if he really wants to.

He didn't want to be demoted to a commoner.

Besides, he had seen the life of the Fengyang mausoleum keeper. It couldn't be said to be very miserable, but it was also very hard.

He doesn't want to live that kind of life for even a day.

But Old Zhu was obviously very angry and no one could persuade him.

Fortunately, Empress Ma stepped in in time to stop it.

Old Zhu originally wanted to scare Zhu Gui, so he just took advantage of the situation.

Instead, he was deprived of his princely honors and sent to the Imperial Academy to study. His honors would be restored when the changes were made.

In other words, Zhu Gui is now just a prince without any other assets.

But compared to being demoted to a commoner, this result is much better.

The matter did not end there. Mr. Zhu then gave special training to several other sons who had committed evil deeds.

For example, Zhu Yun, Prince of Min, and Zhu Gui's half-brother, Zhu Tan, Prince of Gu, were both cruel and would often whip their servants.

Although there have been no major evil deeds for the time being, there are already signs of it.

Old Zhu compressed all their princely ceremonial guards and conducted special training.

We don't ask them to change their nature, but at least they should know how to restrain their character and not act recklessly.

Chen Jingke was naturally very satisfied with this result.

What he was most worried about during the Great Fenfeng was Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, and there were so many weirdos among them.

Now that Mr. Zhu is personally taking charge of the rectification, the situation will improve a lot.

Why do Mr. Zhu's sons do so many weird things?

To put it bluntly, they are still fearless.

I am a prince, so what if I made a mistake? Can my father kill me?
Now that Zhu is serious about this, they naturally become timid.

However, he also encountered some frustrations regarding this matter.

After the incident with Zhu Gui, Concubine Guo Hui found him through Empress Ma and said many polite words.

The general idea is that for Zhu Chun's sake, please take better care of the other two sons.

Speaking of which, Concubine Guo Hui was also helpless.

She gave birth to three sons in total, Zhu Chun, King of Shu, Zhu Gui, King of Dai, and Zhu Tan, King of Gu.

These three sons were all very smart and talented, but their personalities were very different.

Zhu Chun is a loyal person without ambition. He joined Zhu Xiongying's small circle since he was young, and now he holds a high position of power in Liaodong.

Zhu Gui and Zhu Tan are completely opposite, and each has a more surly temperament than the other.

As a mother, Concubine Guo Huifei was also very helpless.

Fortunately, as someone who has lived through the war years, she is not lacking in the ability to weigh things.

She knew very well that she had to save Zhu Chun first.

Zhu Chun is the guarantee of her status in the palace, and only when she has a say can she protect her other two sons.

Therefore, after Zhu Gui made a mistake, she did not plead for mercy, but stood on Zhu Yuanzhang's side.

The purpose is to avoid implicating Zhu Chun.

After saving Zhu Gui, she found Chen Jingke and played the emotional card.

She knew very well that when Lao Zhu was alive, she didn't have to worry about many things.

After Zhu Yuanzhang was gone, Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying would no longer tolerate the princes' mistakes as they did before.

Zhu Xiongying, in particular, would not allow his uncles to act recklessly.

And Chen Jingke is the person who can most influence the will of the emperor and the prince.

Only by building a good relationship with him can we gain more opportunities for our two sons.

Of course, the probability of the worst possible scenario happening is not high, but as a mother, she has to prepare for it.

Facing Concubine Guo Huifei, Chen Jingke was also very helpless.

Not to mention her identity, just based on his relationship with Zhu Chun, he couldn't help but care about her feelings.

If she comes across as very tough from the start, you can just say no.

Now that she has lowered her stance, things have become more difficult.

This is what it means to be in the world and have no choice.

What else could Chen Jingke say? He could only say that he would find a way to guide the two princes onto the right path.
-
While Zhu Yuanzhang was busy educating his son, the imperial court was busy with the issue of enfeoffment.

It can be said that the most important thing in the first half of this year is the great division.

The entire court was revolving around this matter.

Collect various materials, migrate population, coordinate ships for transportation, deploy various talents, etc.

The people in Nanyang were not idle either. Fu An mobilized all the resources he could and built some houses in various feudal states.

We can't let all the newly relocated people live in the wilderness.

Fortunately, the first batch of immigrants was not large.

Each fiefdom has about a thousand households, which can be accommodated in a large town.

Otherwise he would be too busy to handle it even if he died of exhaustion.

As for the subsequent construction, it was carried out by each feudal state itself.

During this period, a major event happened: Yinshu once again had a bumper harvest.

In terms of yield, previous speculation was confirmed that large-scale planting could not be carefully cared for, and the yield decreased.

Even so, the yield per mu is about 1,400 to 1,500 kilograms.

A yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu was a foregone conclusion, and the last bit of worry among the ministers disappeared.

If there are too many sweet potatoes, you can naturally take out some of them for consumption.

Originally, Chen Jingke wanted to show off his skills, and then the top chef of the Ming Dynasty would tell him what professionalism was.

Every method he could think of was directly implemented by others.

There are all kinds of Yin potato chips, Yin potato flour, roasted Yin potatoes, Yin potato porridge, and Yin potato meatballs.

There are many ways to eat it that he has never thought of.

However, its disadvantages have also been confirmed, and you really can’t eat too much of it.

However, half grain and half potato tastes very good and does not have those side effects.

It is a perfect supplementary food.

With these Yin potato seedlings, plus the seedlings and vines reserved in the first half of the year, it is estimated that more than 2,000 acres of Yin potatoes can be planted in the autumn.

Old Zhu said excitedly: "Next year, Yinshu can be planted on a large scale among the people."

"The people of our Ming Dynasty will have fewer people starving to death."

However, as the number of Yinshu increased, another shortcoming also became apparent.

store.

This stuff contains too much water and is difficult to store.

This also means that it cannot be used to pay taxes.

However, there is always a compromise, and a fixed tax is levied on land across the country.

Taxes were levied on three types of land: upper, medium and lower, with a fixed amount of money and grain required for each acre of land.

No matter what you grow or how much income you earn, the court will only collect the prescribed tax amount.

You can pay money or pay food, whichever is more convenient.

That way everything is settled.

Time unknowingly entered July, and the work of enfeoffment was finally completed. All the princes set out for their own fiefdoms.

Now we just have to wait for the various vassal states to gain a foothold, and the court will continue to send the required resources to them.

The workload has been reduced by more than 70% to 80%.

The ministers could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

For some, however, a tougher job lies ahead.

This year marks the fifth year since the founding of the chapter, and the first plan is coming to an end.

The court needs to summarize the plans of previous years and formulate the next plan.

You can imagine how much workload it is.

Chen Jingke had no choice but to slack off. Before he could even catch his breath, he had to throw himself into new work again.

He was extremely busy that day and finally found some time to go to Empress Ma to slack off.

Not long after I sat down, I saw a eunuch trotting in and shouting happily:

"My queen, my queen, good news..."

"News just came from Anping Marquis's Mansion that the princess is pregnant."

(End of this chapter)