Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 137: The Great Ming Wise King Part (Part )

A new day began. After exercising, Zhu Yunhuan changed his clothes and walked slowly to Wenhua Hall.

Just after approving a few memorials, Zhang Fusheng said, "Your Highness, it's time to leave the court."

Zhu Yunhuan put down the memorial and walked towards the Wuying Palace.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan, Old Zhu smiled and said, "You're here before I even have a sip of water. What's the matter?"

"When I think of our descendants, I get worried!" Zhu Yunhuan said with a look of deep hatred, "I'm waiting for my grandfather to leave the court, so I hurried over here."

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan suspiciously and asked, "You don't have anything to fart about! Just say it, if you have to fart, just let it out!"

Zhu Yunhuan became serious and asked, "Grandfather, should the custom of granting the title of Lieutenant of Fengguo to the descendants of the sixth generation be changed?"

Old Zhu immediately became serious and very unhappy, "Zhu Yunhuan, they are our descendants, and also your descendants!"

"I know!" Zhu Yunhuan took out the memorial from his hand, "Your Majesty, I asked someone to sort out the royal family's expenditures over the years, and roughly calculated the expenditures to be granted in the future. Please review it, Your Majesty!"

In an instant, the atmosphere in Wuying Hall froze, the maids and eunuchs were all trembling with fear, and the emperor and the grandson started arguing again. This time they really quarreled, and they were very worried that the fire at the city gate would affect innocent people.

Old Zhu was not in a position to submit a petition, so he simply asked, "The annual allowance for the lieutenant of Fengguo is only 200 shi, and you are reluctant to give it up?"

"Let's not talk about the sixth generation grandson, whether those lieutenants of Fengguo are near or far." Zhu Yunhuan argued, not giving in, "Just look at these years, how many people are there in our royal family now? Now there are more than a hundred people, and the annual supply and salary of rice is more than 500,000 dan!"

Old Zhu started subconsciously, thinking back to when they were conquering the world, the Old Zhu family only had him and his nephew Zhu Wenzheng. Now, they have truly branched out, not to mention the Jingjiang Prince's side, his side has more than a hundred people.

There are more than twenty sons and more than ten daughters, nearly forty people in total.

Not to mention the daughters, there are still more than ten sons who are not married. However, most of those sons who have married are quite capable. Two or three sons are considered few. It is normal to have more than five sons and several daughters.

So, Mr. Zhu has no idea how many grandchildren he has. He doesn't need to mention his granddaughters, but his grandchildren are much easier to remember. You can tell which family and generation they are from by looking at the generation characters in their names.

Especially now that the grandchildren are starting to get married, we may be able to see our great-grandchildren in the next few years.

"With more than twenty princes, within a few years, the court will soon have hundreds of county princes, and by then there will be more than a thousand generals!" Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "Grandfather, will one million shi of rice be enough by then?"

When Old Zhu heard this, he also began to frown. The general who guards the country was his great-grandson, and his salary was 1,000 dan of rice.

Without going into other details, in twenty years or so, there may be not just a thousand generals defending the country, but even thousands of generals defending the country.

Because it was clear that there would be hundreds of princes in the Ming Dynasty, and this was based on the assumption that a prince had only five sons. If they really met someone who could give birth, having more than a dozen was not a luxury.

Apart from anything else, the sixth son, Prince of Chu Zhu Zhen, now has nine sons. The eldest son inherits the title of Prince of Chu, and the other eight are all princes.

Old Zhu fell silent for a long time before he said, "The royal family's allowance was reduced two years ago, and now it is reduced again. This is unreasonable."

Zhu Yunhuan said quickly, "I'm not saying that we should reduce the royal family's supply, but that the sixth-generation grandson and his descendants can't be lieutenants of the state for generations. Otherwise, grandfather, do you believe it, in a hundred years, the number of lieutenants of the state of the Ming Dynasty will exceed ten thousand?"

Old Zhu subconsciously looked at the list, which still had some numerical estimates on it. Old Zhu was delighted but also a little frightened.

If there are 10,000 Fengguo lieutenants, that would be a bit scary, as that would be two million shi of rice.

If the Ming Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years, it would be possible that there would be hundreds of thousands of Fengguo lieutenants, because there would be no downgrades, and the number would only increase, not decrease. By that time, it would be really scary.

Although he attached great importance to family affection and did think about his descendants, Zhu was the emperor after all, and there were some things he had to consider. The sixth generation grandson was a little far away.

"Stand up." Old Zhu raised his hand and said, "I'll remember this. When it comes to the Lieutenant of Fengguo, the title will no longer be passed down from generation to generation. Only the eldest son can inherit it."

Old Zhu felt depressed when he thought about his sixth-generation grandson having to return to civilian status again, but he had no choice but to do so.

Zhu Yunhuan also breathed a sigh of relief. The big hole of the royal family was finally filled by more than half, which was a good thing. "Grandfather, I'm not being mean to future generations, it's just that the hereditary system is a bit too much." Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said to Old Zhu, "This way, it won't be bad for them."

Old Zhu rolled his eyes at Zhu Yunhuan and said angrily, "How can it be good for them? Two hundred dan of rice a year can at least help them start a family, marry and have children. Without these two hundred dan, they will have to make a living on their own. Without the title of Lieutenant General of Fengguo, the court will not care about their marriages and funerals in the future!"

This is another pitfall of being a hereditary lieutenant of the Fengguo clan. The imperial court doesn’t just provide salary and rice, it also takes care of birth, aging, sickness and death!

The atmosphere in Wuying Palace seemed to ease at this time, and the maids and eunuchs could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "This is also to seek some benefits for them. Considering the current situation of the court, when Uncle Sixteen was enfeoffed, we knew that Ningxia Qingyang could not afford Uncle Sixteen's support. If he really arrives in the future, I'm afraid the burden will be even heavier."

Seeing that Old Zhu was silent, Zhu Yunhuan also said, "Besides, now the court not only gives food, but also gives treasure notes. If there is not enough food in the future, we will be in trouble if we convert it into treasure notes."

Old Zhu immediately glared at Zhu Yunxun, "How dare you!"

"Why not? We can just convert it into banknotes and let the royal palace and royal family members buy the goods themselves." Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "When the time comes, the rice allowance will be reduced by half, and the rest will be replaced by banknotes. This is not impossible."

Old Zhu also fell silent. He knew that such a possibility could not be ruled out.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Even with the current use of treasure notes, it won't take many years for them to be no different from waste paper. What will happen to the royal family by then? The imperial court will issue treasure notes indiscriminately, and the royal family will have no use for them."

Old Zhu suddenly felt a headache. It seemed that his grandson was not only talking about the royal family, but was also talking about the precious banknotes.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little chilled when he thought about the scene described by Zhu Yunhuan. His original intention was for his descendants to enjoy the good life.

However, if the imperial court issues too much treasure notes indiscriminately and cannot afford the expenditure, its descendants may suffer misfortune.

It’s not a big deal for those princes and dukes, but the lieutenants of the auxiliary state and the serving state who are farther away will really be in trouble.

"Now, those people can make a living on their own. At least they don't have to worry about losing their jobs and having to wait for the court to provide them with supplies." Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Grandfather, I know that there should be some restrictions on the royal family. But I think that whether they are civil officials or nobles, they are still outsiders after all. There is no reason to be on guard against the people who are our own family."

Old Zhu immediately glared. He knew what Zhu Yunhuan meant. "You also said that they are members of the royal family. It will be difficult to deal with them if they take power!"

"My second uncle and third uncle are helping me with my work now, so my brothers won't be any worse off in the future." Zhu Yunhuan argued, "Of course I know that the princes of the royal family cannot hold great power, but what if they are the fourth and fifth generation grandchildren? You can't forbid them from doing anything and just let them eat and drink, right?"

Historically, it was Zhu Yuanzhang who laid the foundation. After Zhu Di came to power, on the one hand, he improved the treatment of royal family members, and on the other hand, he restricted royal family members from holding official positions, doing business, etc., which became the so-called "raising them like pigs."

"During the Han Dynasty, the royal family was very useful. During the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, the royal family could also check and balance the court." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Princes and vassal kings are definitely not suitable, but generals guarding the country and generals assisting the country may be able to help. Besides, the sixth-generation grandson can make a living on his own in the future, so other royal family members should not be prohibited from doing things."

Old Zhu was silent for a long time. He was shocked by some of the possibilities that Zhu Yunhuan had mentioned earlier.

But Lao Zhu was a little hesitant about immediately changing some of the rules he had set before.

Old Zhu said, "We also need to be on guard against the royal family. It's easy for them to gain power, and there will be people who flatter them. If we really let them go and make their own living, they can accomplish many things by relying on their status. Do you believe it?"

Zhu Yunhuan certainly believed this. Some people were born at the top of the pyramid and had countless resources. It was the same hundreds of years later. Tobacco, banking, water and electricity were simply hereditary.

It is the same in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. The children of some great figures and successful people are born to succeed easily. It is naive to really believe their boastful self-made success.

"So I said that the princes and dukes must not be used indiscriminately, lest they have thoughts that they shouldn't have." Zhu Yunhuan also said, "Let's discuss it again, what the royal family can do and what they can't do, so we can have a clear idea in mind, right?"

Old Zhu was looking at the memorial that Zhu Yunwen had submitted earlier, and was suddenly stunned, because the signature was Zhu Yunwen!
Pointing at Zhu Yunhuan, Old Zhu gnashed his teeth and said, "You are not only cruel to your descendants, you are also really cruel to Yunwen! You wish all the Zhu family members in the world would scold him, right?"

Zhu Yunhuan refused to admit it and said, "My second brother is concerned about the country and the people. How can you say that as if I am harming him?"

Looking at this shameless grandson, Old Zhu said, "Have him submit a memorial later. It was his idea to appoint the sixth-generation grandson Bu Shi as the lieutenant of Fengguo. It has nothing to do with you. Let him think about how to make the royal family willing to give up some power and use it so that he can do something."

Zhu Yunhuan silently shed tears of sympathy for his second brother. Even if the King of Wulin was not a wise king, it would have been unacceptable.

Because not only the Crown Prince has such expectations for him, the Emperor does too!
(End of this chapter)