Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 35: Bugs in the Ming Dynasty Royal Family System
[How many feudal lords were there in the late Ming Dynasty? #History#Ming Dynasty]

[Let’s not talk about the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the early days of the Wanli Dynasty, Shi Yingyue, a member of the Ministry of Rites, reported:]

[The Holy Ancestor established many kings, and there were 40,000 kings recorded in the Imperial Books, and only 30,000 of them are still alive. The annual salary and grain they should have was 9 million shi.]

[That is to say, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the number of long-term meal ticket holders of the Zhu family had reached 3]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened, his face turned pale, and he said in disbelief: "How can there be so many?"

"How could the royal family population expand to this extent in just two hundred years?"

The royal family system had just been established, and he was most clear about the treatment of each level of nobility. The highest rank, prince, was originally planned to have an annual salary of more than 200 dan of rice, and the lowest rank, lieutenant of Fengguo, was planned to have an annual salary of dan of rice.

If there were 30,000 royal family members during the Wanli period, the burden on the court would be unimaginable. What about another 20 years later?

"Impossible!" Zhu Yuanzhang's hands were shaking as he clenched his fists, but he appeared to be calm on the surface.

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

"Hiss!" A minister gasped. How could there be so many? Are the titles of Ming royal family members hereditary?
The annual grain salary was 900 million shi, and the Ming royal family probably also had land and fiefdoms. The taxation rights of the fiefdoms generally belonged to the princes. It can be seen that the financial pressure on the Ming court was very heavy.

Many officials calculated privately that even if a prince only had 3-4 sons, within a few decades, the population of the royal family would swell to an extremely terrifying level.

It’s so irritating that people are so different from each other!
Some people have no worries about food and clothing since birth, while others have to get up before dawn to attend the early morning court.

[However, among these people, some of them are not all surnamed Zhu, because the court pays maintenance money based on the number of people. The more people there are, the more money you get.]

[Then the princes under him must have tried to take advantage of the situation to falsify the number of people. For example, some members of the royal family counted the children born to their concubines as those born to their principal wives.]

[In this way, both legitimate and illegitimate children have become legitimate children. After all, there is a big difference between the two, so the salary is also different.]

[If you all become legitimate children, your income will double immediately]

[After all, in the Ming Dynasty, even the practice of eating empty salaries in the military camp was openly practiced, so it was normal for the princes to eat empty salaries.]

[Later, during Zhang Juzheng's reforms, in order to find out how many members of the Zhu family were supported in the world, Zhang carefully counted them.]

[According to the historical records of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, in the seventh year of the Wanli reign, Master Zhang wrote a letter saying:]

[The most difficult issue facing the country today is the royal family. The national revenue is limited, but the royal family population is endless. The number of royal family members who are still preserved in the imperial edicts is no less than 15,000.]

Even if we collect all the taxes from the whole country to support them, it still cannot be met, not to mention the expenses of the imperial court and the military pay for the nine frontiers.

[Your Zhu family's 15,000 people are almost eating up all the food in the country, and the soldiers from the nine borders can't even get a sip of soup?]

[Last time, the Ministry of Rites said that there were 3 registered clan members, how come it has so quickly become 1, a 5% reduction? ]

[That’s because Lao Zhang really did a thorough cleanup and removed all the empty balances, clearing out half of the fake list in one go.]

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became extremely ugly as the video continued.

They are all really good, they have all learned how to eat empty salaries!!
There are even troops who dare to collect empty salaries!

All deserve to die!

"Dad, you don't have to worry too much!" Zhu Biao couldn't help but persuade him.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry and felt his blood rushing up. His head seemed to be hit and he almost lost his balance.

Just as he turned around and was about to scold her, he heard Zhu Biao say.

"Now that the title system has just been established, the great disaster has not yet occurred. The warning from the sky curtain can eliminate a hidden danger for the Ming Dynasty. This is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty and the people!"

Hu Weiyong and the others looked at each other and flattered him, saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise!" Wang Guangyang also followed suit to flatter him, acting as if he was following Hu Weiyong's lead.

"Your Highness is right. The warning from the sky is a blessing for our Ming Dynasty and for the people!"

"Makes sense!"

As the saying goes, flattery never wears out.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment and ignored the flattery of his ministers. After careful thought, he turned his worry into joy and patted Zhu Biao's shoulder with relief.

It's because we care too much that we get confused!

Always keeping calm when facing big events is a reflection of our youth!

Nanjun in the late Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei and others were not pedantic people, and they naturally knew about the many dirty things going on within the empire, but they did not expect that the problem of Ming royal family members drawing empty salaries was so serious.

Not only was it difficult to support the royal family, but there was also the problem of the army being idle.

Strong branches and weak trunks may cause many problems. The Rebellion of the Seven Kings is a lesson for us.

In addition, the military is in disrepair. If there happens to be a foreign enemy lurking, the country will probably be destroyed soon.

[But even this half of them bothered him enough, so this brings up another question: how could 15 people stump the wise Master Zhang?]

【Then we have to look at the salary level of the royal family in the Ming Dynasty. The standard salary of the royal family is 1 dan of rice for the prince, 2 dan of rice for the prince, 000 dan of rice for the general guarding the country, 1 dan of rice for the general supporting the country, 000 dan of rice for the lieutenant guarding the country, 600 dan of rice for the lieutenant supporting the country, and 400 dan of rice for the lieutenant serving the country】

[Princess and her husband's wife: 2 shi, and the salary decreases gradually for princesses and below]

[He also stipulated that the salaries of the royal family must be in kind, either silver or grain. Things like treasure notes, silver bills, antique calligraphy and paintings, which are easy to be inflated, cannot be given to the royal family. Family members never cheat their own family members. If they want to cheat, they will cheat others in the market.]

[According to the compilation and research of the Wanli accounting records of the Ming Dynasty, the national fiscal expenditure in the early Wanli period was approximately 18 taels, of which the salary paid to these vassals reached 544 taels, accounting for 545.37% of the annual income]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

All the ministers had a rough idea in their minds, but they were still shocked when they heard the number reported by Tianmu.

What the hell?
Nearly one-third of the court's expenditure was used to support the royal family.
Not only were the ministers silent, but all the students and teachers at the Imperial College in Jinling City were also speechless.

Many people who do business were secretly shocked. It was really exaggerated. Just imagine that one-third of the money you earned from business was thrown into the water. You would be heartbroken.

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin was also shocked. The court was already burdened with such a heavy burden. If there were more disasters or foreign invasions, how would it end?

"I wonder how the Ming Dynasty finally solved this problem?" someone said.

Li Shimin also simulated this environment in his mind. If he were Wanli, how would he deal with this situation?

Xianyang Palace of Qin State.

Ying Zheng couldn't help but sneer. This dynasty had made no progress after a thousand years.

Wang Wan was like this, and so were the others. Recently, there have been voices advocating for enfeoffment of the kings.

[As members of the imperial family, the imperial clan is naturally the first echelon to be maintained by the imperial power. In addition to the princes, there are also non-royal clan titles such as duke, marquis, earl, and viscount.]

[The ancestors of these people followed the founding emperor to conquer the world, and only then did they get a permanent meal ticket. These hereditary titles, together with the royal family, became a vested interest group of the dynasty.]

[At the same time, I also regard this country as my own cake. As long as I can maintain my own dining table, everything else is trivial.]

[But actually think about the ancestors of these people. Weren’t they also a group of leeks who were exploited by others at will? It was only because they were exploited too harshly that they took up hoes and started a revolution?]

[So the tragedy of history is that although you clearly know the cause-and-effect relationship between the two, human nature never makes any progress when it comes to interests.]

[The final result is nothing more than making future generations mourn for future generations] These last few sentences were very explicit and rude, so the people in the Jinling Palace were outraged and cursed.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not stop it. After all, it was a slap in the face of the imperial court and a denial of the legitimacy of its rule.

He leaned back on the dragon chair and rubbed his brows. Ever since the sky curtain appeared, he felt more tired than ever before.

The Ming Dynasty certainly benefited greatly from the appearance of Tianmu, but it also made him scratch his head. Every time Tianmu involved the Ming Dynasty, it always brought him surprises.

His original intention was just to make the descendants of the Zhu family live a prosperous life, so he carefully designed such a clan system. Who would have thought that there would be such a big loophole, which would lay such far-reaching disasters.

It can be imagined that in order to obtain support from the imperial court, the royal family would have been desperately trying to give birth to children after two or three generations.

The title is hereditary, and the eldest son of a prince is still a prince. At the same time, the new emperor will register and confer a title of prince. Other titles will not be downgraded after they are reduced to the lieutenant of Fengguo. This brings terrible supply pressure to the court, and only then will the court be really in a dilemma.

If it weren't for Tianmu's warning, the disaster would have happened, and it would have been difficult for the strong branches and weak trunks to avoid repeating the Rebellion of the Seven Kings.

He looked up, knowing that the young man in the future would definitely click on the comment section, and the first comment made him break down again.

The Peasant's Thought

History Always Repeats Itself

"Historical events cannot be repeated 100%, but historical laws always repeat themselves."

"Zhu Yuanzhang was such a smart man, why didn't he think of the disadvantages of the vassal kings? I still can't figure it out."

"The imperial power is to protect its own interests. What do you think? How could it possibly harm its own interests?"

"No wonder there is a book called Returning to the Ming Dynasty to Become a Prince, It's Great"

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had no mercy on killing Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants

"Killing is fun, the more you kill, the more money you get [covering your face]"

《And the reputation is good》

Nanjun in the late Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei remained silent, this is the people's will.

The people's will can still be felt after thousands of years.

We can roughly piece together some truth from the few words in the comment section, and we can also see that later generations applauded the Ming Dynasty's demise.

There are also people who discuss the Ming and Qing dynasties together, and they always get into arguments.

If the Han Dynasty were to fall, it would probably be the same as it had lost the support of the people.

The sky screen switched again.

[Let me see whose little ears are not perked up to listen to gossip! #八卦#爆裂#字速记#快乐学习]

[How shocking can the gossip in the life-saving village be? Netizens submitted a post about a well-known secret in their village]

[There used to be a notoriously evil grandmother in the village. One year, she suddenly changed her personality and became taciturn.]

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Ok? ? ?
Chun Man Ting now officially closes on the 18th of every month, because everyone in the world knows that the skylight will be lit on this day, so there are few customers, so later the madams simply changed this day to closed.

The girls smelled the aroma of the big melon, crowded to the window, and took some melon seeds to chat while cracking them.

"Tui, finally a better-looking video, what was it talking about in the beginning?"

"That's right, the handsome young man from Tianmu is too boring!"

"Of course not, it's bright and clear every day."

They are not concerned about national affairs, but are more interested in such interesting anecdotes, and the music of later generations is also good.

Not only them, but the people of Chang'an City were all stretching their necks to wait for what would happen next. Would gossip about the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also be spread in later generations?
I’m afraid that people in later generations would never have thought that such a little gossip could have been passed on to the Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago, and many people laughed while eating melons.

[It turned out that their family was very poor back then. They emptied their savings to find a wife for their son, but after seven or eight years of marriage, they still don’t have a grandson.]

[He couldn't hide his resentment and beat the chickens and scolded the dogs at home every day, yelling that his daughter-in-law was useless and couldn't bring more people to the family]

[The villagers advised him to take his son and daughter-in-law to the hospital for a check-up, but he refused. After the check-up, they found that there was nothing wrong with his daughter-in-law, but his son was born infertile.]

[The old lady was lying on the floor of the hospital throwing a tantrum, and passers-by couldn't stand it anymore and gave her an idea]

Oh ~
What's your idea? Come on!

At this moment, the sky suddenly stopped, and then several small balls of different colors appeared and jumped around.

"Oh, how damn bad it is! Why did it stop?" Miss Qingsha said anxiously, stretching out her hand to reach the transparent skylight in the air.

"Is it broken?" said the red cotton girl with a chuckle.

"Shut your crow mouth!"

Faced with the threatening gazes of the girls, the red cotton girl rolled her eyes and shook her hair, but still kept her mouth shut obediently.

Fortunately, the sky curtain only paused for a moment.

[So the old couple in their 50s got pregnant again and gave birth to the child to their son to raise]

[After this incident, she became very quiet, but everyone in the village knew that although her family had a new member, it was her mother-in-law who gave birth to the child.]

[po pu la tion, mother-in-law in the next life]

【Population, population, remember? 】

???

Gan Tang laughed out of anger, and for a moment he couldn't find words to vent his anger.

No, you just show us this?
"Mother-in-law's next life? That sounds like nonsense!" Miss Qingsha frowned and said, her delicate and smooth face, her mouth pouting so much that Gan Tang wanted to pinch it.

"It was grandma who strangled the bamboo shoots," Hongmian corrected carelessly, again attracting threatening glances from everyone.

It’s not important, so this is actually the method used by later generations to learn the foreign language?

《In order to teach English, let’s make up a rumor first》

"In-House QJ-Like Knowledge"

《There is a feeling of powerlessness as if the brain has been tainted [Smile]》

Mendacity is hypocritical, I can’t forget it

Teach me quickly, I am eager for new knowledge

Men, big, city, men, city, hypocrisy: men become hypocritical when they go to big cities

"The Despicable Outsider"

Gan Tang, Qingsha and others silently gave a thumbs up in their hearts, it was really despicable.

(End of this chapter)