The six-dimensional pictures of emperors of all dynasties were exposed, and the ancestors panicked

Chapter 602: The “Face” of the Celestial Empire

[The basic idea of ​​the "Zongfan Regulations" is still intuitive and simple]

[First, directly reduce the treatment of the royal family, such as increasing the ratio of banknotes, exempting royal family members other than princes from ceremonial subsidies such as wedding and funeral expenses, etc.]

【Secondly, reduce the duration and amount of benefits granted to clan members. For example, stipulate that a prince can only request to confer a concubine's son as the crown prince when he is fifty years old, thereby reducing the crown prince's salary, greatly reduce the treatment of illegitimate children, restrict and obstruct clan members' marriage leave to reduce population growth, and increase the age and duration of succession to the title, etc.】

【Finally, the imperial clan members who violated the ban were severely punished, especially by adding many measures to reduce their titles.】

[In addition, it emphasizes the Ministry of Rites’ approval authority in matters such as the succession of titles and requests for titles by royal family members, so that the approval time can be extended and expenses can be saved by means of nitpicking.]

……

Eastern Jin Dynasty and Emperor Ming Dynasty
Sima Shao was writing with a pen in hand.

These regulations may be useful in the future, and in any case they are a policy solution.

Only one thing.

"People have evil thoughts..."

He put down his pen and looked at the ink on the paper.

Looking only at the Ming Dynasty at that time, the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan's Vassalage" did, to a certain extent, alleviate the pressure of the imperial clan's expenses on the Ming Dynasty's finances.

But in the long run, the effect is very limited.

Because the population base of the Zhu family is too large.

In the absence of external influences, the growth rate will naturally remain high, thus putting increasing pressure on the fiscal budget.

The key thing is...

"The initial treatment for the royal family was too high."

……

Southern Qi.

Xiao Daocheng put his hands behind his back and looked at the sky.

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality."

"The princes of the world don't think about the finances of the Ming Dynasty. They only think about why they don't have the wealth of their fathers."

"Civil officials, military commanders, and now even the princes have turned away from the emperor... You..."

Xiao Daocheng didn't dare to imagine how miserable the Ming Dynasty would be if it really reached its end.

Xiao Ze pointed out the root cause:

“This system shouldn’t have existed in the first place.”

……

【However, in the later reforms of Zhang Juzheng, Zhu Houcong also left some institutional seeds. 】

[For example, the Zheng Yi method, the Yi Tiao Bian method, the Yi Chuan Ling method, the Shi Duan Jin method, the Gang Yin method, etc., which were first piloted by Zhang Cong and Gui E.]

[Although these pilot projects have not been implemented nationwide and have not been formally established, they have been piloted in the southeast and accumulated a lot of experience. ]

[Evaluation B+, 3.5 points]

……

Tang Xuanzong Period
Li Longji crossed his legs and hooked the wine jug with his fingers.

"It seems that these methods are very important."

Li Mi flicked his whisk, his long white beard resting on his elbow, and said without any sadness or joy:

"Perhaps, he cultivated immortality and then promoted various policies."

Li Longji sneered and was about to retort, but suddenly remembered something.

Zhu Houcong truly believed in immortality.

He is different from those emperors who were ambitious and brilliant at the beginning but then frantically sought immortality in the later period.

He believed from the beginning.

……

[Diplomatic Strategy: Zhu Houcong's attitude towards diplomacy was very tough. ]

[In the second year of Jiajing, a "tribute dispute" broke out in the southeast region. ]

[The so-called dispute over tribute refers to the fact that there were two Japanese daimyo, one of whom was specially allowed to pay tribute by the Ming Dynasty, and the other paid tribute without permission.]

[Because after paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the emperor would reward them with gifts in return, which was a good opportunity to make a fortune. And it just so happened that the two daimyo had an old grudge, and when the enemies met, they fought.]

[Not only did they burn down the guesthouse of the Maritime Customs, the Jiabin Hall, but they also attacked the weapons depot, causing harm to the people along the way.]

【After the tribute dispute broke out, Zhu Houcong cut off all the tribute requests from Japanese daimyo, which is known in history as "breaking tribute". 】【After that, Japan repeatedly requested to resume tribute, but Emperor Jiajing refused. 】

[After the tribute dispute, the Ming Dynasty's legal trade with Japan was cut off, and illegal armed smuggling at sea began to run rampant, which then developed into plundering along the coast.]

[In the 1539th year of Jiajing (1547) and the th year of Jiajing (), Japan sent diplomatic missions twice to try to improve relations with the Ming court and resume trade, but ultimately to no avail.]

[After the Japanese daimyo lords lost their way to making profits, they began to support ronin from all over the country to join forces with Chinese sea merchants (pirates) to engage in maritime plunder and harass the Chinese coast.]

……

{At that time, Japan had an ample supply of silver due to the use of the soot-blowing silver refining technology.}
{Chinese merchants engaged in overseas trade were in urgent need of silver.}
{The Japanese lords also had a strong need for Chinese goods and happened to have a large amount of silver, so they rushed to trade with China.}
{It can be said that all kinds of consumption in Japan are inseparable from Chinese products, and Chinese goods can be sold at high prices when shipped to Japan.}
{…Made in China, it has been around since ancient times, right…}
{A large iron pot was worth one tael of silver in Japan, which was a little over three shi of rice! At that time, one shi in the Ming Dynasty was about 120 jin, so a large iron pot could sell for the equivalent of 400 jin of rice!}
{China has goods, Japan has silver, and the profits are staggering. You, the emperor, want to stop the smuggling trade between the two sides with empty words? Do you really think that the whole world will obey you once you open your mouth?}
{It is quite courageous, but the military is lame and there is no back-up plan.}
{For a moment I couldn’t tell whether this trade should be terminated or not…}
{After all, these are also one of the reasons why the Ming Dynasty’s finances are not good.}
……

Ming Dynasty Yongle Period
Zhu Di looked at the sky and suddenly said:

"Boss, do you think Jiajing did the right thing?"

Zhu Gaochi pursed his lips and lowered his head and said:

"Dad, no one can see ahead and behind, and can't see things that far ahead."

Zhu Di was silent.

Yes, no one can foresee the future.

But if Zhu Houcong knew the consequences, would he definitely not give in?
In other words, is it true that this opening cannot be opened?
The sky curtain said that Zhu Houcong cut off trade.

But the idea of ​​maritime ban has never been discontinued.

Did Jiajing really have this in mind?

Zhu Di looked at the sky and sighed.

"The majesty of the emperor and the intrigue of the court."

"The Ming Dynasty...is the glorious day that drove out the barbarians..."

He vaguely remembered that time in Nanjing.

The pride on my father’s face when he mentioned the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Gaochi said silently:

"The sun...will eventually set..."

Zhu Di fell silent again.

He looked at the setting sun.

"..."

So is it the fault of the predecessors or the fault of the later generations?

……

[Coincidentally, when Altan Khan had just unified Mongolia, he wrote to Zhu Houcong, hoping to "pay tribute" to the Ming Dynasty. ]

[That is, to restore the Sino-Mongolian trade that had been interrupted since the late period of Emperor Hongzhi.]

[He also proposed that once tribute was allowed, "the border people would cultivate the land in the frontier, and the barbarians would herd horses outside the frontier, and they would never offend each other, and they would drink blood as an oath."]

【Zhu Houcong rejected Altan Khan's request for tribute. 】

[They also killed Kenche, the envoy sent by Altan Khan to the Ming Dynasty, and offered a high reward for Altan Khan's head.]

[Anyone who can kill Altan Khan will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be made a governor.]

[Upon hearing the news, Altan led his troops southward and plundered the three passes before leaving.]

[Evaluation: D level, one point]

……

Southern Song Dynasty Xiaozong period
"As expected of a Mongolian envoy."

Zhao Shen twirled the end of his beard and sighed:

"Never leave in vain, you must save your life."

"You can ignore it, or you can politely refuse it."

"If he doesn't choose either, he will kill the envoys and refuse to pay tribute."

Yue Fei said bluntly:
"They only care about appearances and ignore the reality."

"Hai Rui is right."

"Jiajing is far inferior to Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty."

……

(End of this chapter)