Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 78 The first sword ashore

The country had just been settled, and the people had not yet completely submitted. Whether it was the power of the nobles or the power of some officials and local gentry left over from the Yuan Dynasty, they all needed to be restricted.

Governing a country is not an easy task, and the power vacuum left by the change of dynasties will also give some people opportunities.

Just like the current Ming Dynasty is constantly rectifying its administration of officials, but even if Zhu Yuanzhang has strict laws and harsh punishments, there will still be many people who ignore it.

The corruption was so rampant that it was impossible to reverse it. Zhu Yuanzhang was now in power, but he needed officials to govern the local areas, many of whom were officials left over from the Yuan Dynasty.

Curbing the unhealthy trend of corruption is not only a challenge to Zhu Yuanzhang, but also to Zhu Yunhuan.

It doesn't matter if we let the royal family do some things now. It is definitely not just for our own family members to use, but more importantly, although the princes seem to have a high status and enormous power, it can be taken back at any time.

This was because the princes of the Ming Dynasty were granted fiefs but not land, given titles but not overseeing the people, received salaries but did not govern affairs, and were not allowed to participate in the work of the four classes of people.

Zhu Yunhuan returned to the East Palace and thought to himself, "In a few years, we will have to consider reducing the benefits of the royal family. This is a big problem."

Many people say that the Ming Dynasty was dragged down by the royal family, but Zhu Yunhuan thinks this is a bit exaggerated.

The treatment of the royal family was indeed good, but it was relatively limited and did not lead to the collapse of the country. Especially in the history of the royal family, in the middle and late periods, they could not fully receive adequate supplies.

"The salary should be reduced, otherwise it is too high." Zhu Yunhuan murmured to himself, feeling a little stressed. "Let Yunwen be the bad guy. My grandfather also wants to be the bad guy. I am still the good guy."

So the question is, given Zhu Yuanzhang's character of caring about family affection, if Zhu Yunhuan proposed some "radical" changes, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely not be able to accept them.

"But it's not so bad now. Historically, the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was treated too well and had too heavy a burden. My grandfather and fourth uncle have to take the blame."

The tone set by Zhu Yuanzhang at the beginning was too high, and Zhu Di, who came to power illegitimately, further raised the treatment of royal family members, which made the treatment of royal family members further a burden on the court.

"We have to think of a way. First, we have to change the title of Lieutenant of Fengguo for all grandchildren below the sixth generation." Zhu Yunhuan thought about it and said, "The grace of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations. It's impossible for the great-grandson's great-grandson to receive a salary."

As long as you are a member of the royal family, you will receive a salary. This is definitely not acceptable. It is okay to downgrade and inherit the title, but there must be a limit.

In this case, some changes need to be considered. We cannot allow the situation in history where the children of the imperial family and the side branches of the Ming dynasty are not allowed to engage in the four occupations.

The side branches that are too distant have to find ways to make a living on their own. They cannot expect the imperial court to take care of everything from birth, old age, sickness, death, marriage and funerals.

At present, the treatment of royal family members is not a burden to the court, but conflicts will gradually emerge in the future.

"And the treasure notes. This is a big deal." Zhu Yunhuan suddenly had a headache. "It seems that in history, when the royal family was given salaries, a lot of them were in the form of treasure notes."

Baochao, this is a big problem. Because Zhu Yuanzhang printed money without limit, Baochao was not recognized by the people and gradually became almost like waste paper, losing its liquidity and authority.

These two major events alone are enough to give Zhu Yunhuan a headache and may also anger Zhu Yuanzhang.

But there is no way, we still have to do what we have to do, and of course we have to correct some shortcomings when we know about them.

Although he became the crown prince, Zhu Yunhuan's most important task at the moment was to study. He did not immediately go to the court to observe government affairs and seemed to be quite relaxed, but this was also relative.

Needless to say, as for power, although he doesn't seem to be in charge of some things directly, he is exposed to more and more information, and if he wants to know something, Lao Zhu basically will not stop him.

This completely widened the gap between him and other imperial grandchildren, especially Zhu Yunwen who was summoned to Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Yunwen looked very respectful and said, "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Yunxun smiled kindly and approachably, "We are all brothers, there is no need to be so polite."

Zhu Yunwen's expression became even more respectful. The prince could say these words, but they couldn't be taken seriously. Even though they grew up together, after the fight for the throne some time ago, it was impossible for the two of them to be close.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Zhu Yunwen and said, "You will be assigned to a fiefdom in a few days, so you should prepare to submit your memorial."

Zhu Yunwen asked in confusion, "Your Highness, I don't understand."

Zhu Yunxun became serious, "I told you some time ago that before you go to the vassal state, you should submit a petition to reduce your salary and expenses."

Without waiting for Zhu Yunwen to speak, Zhu Yunhuan continued, "The prince has allocated 50,000 dan of rice and 25,000 guan of banknotes, not counting other brocade, cloth, salt, etc. The county prince has also allocated 6,000 dan of rice and 2,800 guan of banknotes."

Zhu Yunwen must be unhappy. He was about to go to the feudal lord and was short of money. "Your Highness, this is a custom made by the Emperor's grandfather. I can't report it."

Zhu Yunwen was going to be a vassal, so of course he didn't want the treatment of the royal family to be reduced. Zhu Yunwen was not angry, and smiled and said, "The salary and supplies given by the court before were too much, far exceeding the Tang and Song dynasties. You ask to reduce the rice to 2,000 dan, understand?"

Zhu Yunwen certainly wanted to refute, but it would be strange if he was willing to do so when his rice allowance was suddenly reduced by more than half!

But when he met Zhu Yunwen's eyes, he felt guilty. Although he seemed to be smiling, it was more like a fake smile, more like a smiling tiger.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "The lowest rank of the royal family, the Lieutenant of Fengguo, is two hundred dan. In a year with a good harvest, eighty families can support you. You have two thousand dan of rice. Just think about how many families can support you! This does not include treasures, cloth, birth, old age, sickness and death!"

Zhu Yunwen was really about to cry. His royal grandfather had clearly decided on six thousand shi, but how come it seemed like it was decided to be two thousand shi?
Now he could only swallow his anger, and he was more and more certain that his grandfather and all his uncles had been deceived. It was said that Yun Hun was kind to the royal family and filial, but when it came to his own family, he was not soft-hearted at all!
Zhu Yunhuan continued, "You will definitely be a prince in the future, and your salary will be 10,000 dan of rice. If you give birth to ten sons, the eldest son will inherit the title of prince. The remaining nine sons will all be princes of counties. If your ten sons are combined, the court will have to give at least 28,000 dan of rice as salary, and nearly 50,000 strings of banknotes."

"You are a wise king, so you must have thought of your grandsons. They are also generals who protect the country and have a salary of 1,000 dan of rice." Zhu Yunhuan said with a worried look, "By then, to support your family, let alone 800 households, 8,000 or 80,000 households will not be enough!"

Zhu Yunwen really didn't want to be a wise king because he knew that once he submitted the petition, he would be cutting himself off from the royal family.

But he did not dare to refute. Looking at the Crown Prince's confident words about the ten thousand and one thousand shi, it was obvious that he had made a plan in his mind and had already cut the rice salary set by his grandfather by most of the time.

It is only a matter of time before the treatment of royal family members is reduced, and it should start with him!
Revenge, this must be revenge!
Zhu Yunwen's expression kept changing, and after a long time he said, "I understand."

The situation is stronger than the person. He has no choice but to bow his head now because he has no choice.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded in satisfaction, his smile becoming much more friendly. "After you go to Hangzhou, you can indulge in the beauty of the mountains and rivers or devote yourself to studying. It's up to you. Don't worry about the affairs in the capital. I will naturally take good care of my brothers."

Zhu Yunwen bowed with grievance, "I understand."

Zhu Yunhuan said earnestly, "Grandfather also intends to reduce the royal family's allowances. Previously, the court gave too much, which was a bit stressful. We, the younger generation, must share the burden and fulfill our filial duties."

Zhu Yunwen wanted to cry even more. If his royal grandfather really wanted to reduce the benefits of the royal family, he could just issue an order himself. Would anyone dare to object?

But now, when he, a newly crowned Prince of Wulin, goes to submit a petition, not to mention his uncles, even his other brothers will scold him.

Even if he was fulfilling his filial duty and sharing the burden, he would not get any benefits now. Even if he was sharing the burden on the surface, the actual benefits were all given to Zhu Yunhuan!

Although his liver ached and his heart was chilled, Zhu Yunwen was very strong and did not show any dissatisfaction on his face.

Zhu Yunwen left with a sad face, feeling pain in his liver. He had to go back and write a memorial carefully. Now he could only hope that his grandfather would not approve it, otherwise he would really be cut off from the royal family.

As soon as Zhu Yunwen left, Zhu Yunhuan was called to Wuying Palace.

Old Zhu snorted coldly and said, "Is that how you treat Yun Wen?"

Zhu Yunhuan knew that he could not hide his actions from Old Zhu, "I am telling the truth. The treatment is too generous now. Grandfather must have noticed it."

Of course Old Zhu noticed this. He now has more than 20 sons. According to the current supply and expenditure, the sons alone need to be given more than one million dan of rice as salary every year, not to mention the grandchildren.

This does not include daughters and sons-in-law, who also have to be supported by the court, and there are more than a dozen daughters and sons-in-law.

According to the current taxation of the Ming Dynasty, the total amount of grain from summer and autumn taxes is only more than 20 million dan. Even if other additional taxes and miscellaneous taxes are added, it is still not enough.

After all, in agricultural civilization, grain tax is the real and absolute main source of fiscal revenue.

Old Zhu was silent for a long time before he said, "It's a good thing that you can see this. Yun Wen submitted a petition and it was approved."

This time it was Zhu Yunhuan's turn to be stunned, because according to history, the treatment of royal family members would be reduced after three or four years.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan meaningfully, and Zhu Yunhuan also reacted.

It seems that my second brother will not only be a wise king, but also be hated by all the clan members. But it doesn't matter, the other clan members won't go to Hangzhou anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Seeing that Old Zhu agreed readily, Zhu Yunhuan wanted to go a step further, "Grandfather, I will give you the treatment of a royal family member."

"Don't mention it again." Old Zhu interrupted directly and said, "The prince will get 10,000 dan, the county prince 2,000 dan, and the others will be discussed later. Yun Hun, they are your family after all, and they have our blood in their bones!"

Zhu Yunhuan had nothing to say. Although he made some compromises and concessions, some of Zhu's ideas remained essentially unchanged.

Changing the treatment of royal family members is a long way to go, and Zhu Yunhuan still has a lot of things to do.

I didn't expect that the first sword I swung after getting ashore would be directed at my own family!
(End of this chapter)