Inside the palace gate, a group of vassal princes walked out of the Wenhua Palace, but their expressions were a bit complicated.
As they walked, King Yin finally couldn't hold it back, stopped and asked.
"Everyone, do you feel that there is a hidden mystery in His Majesty's last words?"
Whether it is a matter of half push or half done, or whether it is done in accordance with the trend of the times.
But in the end, with the statement of King Zhou, other vassal kings also followed suit. As long as the imperial court can pass the court meeting and issue an order, and these vassal princes cooperate to take the lead, then all places will spread.
, it shouldn’t be that difficult.
In fact, if we put aside the possibility of causing the imperial court to be wary, many feudal kings would still be happy to see this happen.
Being able to get some money back is one reason, but more importantly, they don't want to spend all day eating, drinking and having fun in the mansion. Although, according to the final regulations, they can't get involved in the operation of Huangzhuang, but what can they do?
Things are always good.
This is especially true for some relatively young vassal kings. After hearing King Yin's question, King Ning said.
"Uncle Yin Wang, are you too worried? There is no old tradition in the design of the Imperial Mansion. Everything needs to be explored. Your Majesty has always cared about the people. We are about to leave the capital, so it is natural that we should give you some instructions."
Then, King Zheng also spoke.
"I think His Majesty is worried that we will profit too much and ignore the tenants' livelihood, so he warned us in advance. However, this is also the right thing to do."
"After all, the Imperial Store controls the mutual market, and there must be no shortage of money in the inner treasury. His Majesty established the Imperial Store to appease the refugees. As for the rest, it is just incidental."
"However, I must say that your Majesty's worries are somewhat unnecessary. If any of us don't have a few Zhuangzi at our disposal, we can't make the most of it. How can we still not understand?"
After the words fell, King Qin also followed suit.
"It's true. If these tenants are all forced to death, we can't just go to the fields to plow the fields ourselves. We are not those local officials who work in the local area for a few years, make a fortune and leave, and then leave the land.
It is ours, so we should take good care of it and not treat the people too harshly."
"Uncle Yin Wang, what do you think?"
These words were quite teasing, and King Yin couldn't help but feel annoyed.
The implication of King Qin's words was that when the emperor said these words, it was King Yin who warned him, and everyone else just followed suit.
How can this make him not angry?
However, despite being annoyed, he really had nothing to say, because among these feudal kings, he was usually the most ridiculous.
In the past, he was the biggest in the fiefdom, and no one dared to discuss it in front of him, so that was that.
But when he arrived in the capital, he faced everyone with the same status as the vassal kings, and he basically didn't have much scruples when speaking. He often felt that he had no face, but it was difficult to refute, which was really annoying!
King Yin had a dark face and did not answer, but the other vassal kings laughed. Seeing this situation, King Zhou coughed lightly and said.
"Although there were twists and turns in this matter, it was finally resolved satisfactorily. Since there is a matter of the imperial village, your majesty will not mention the reform of the vassal vassal again. Speaking of this matter, I would also like to thank King Yin. If he had not entered the palace today,
Chen Qing, I think your Majesty may not be willing to give you this opportunity."
"We and the vassal kings are in the same spirit. Now that your majesty is willing to rely on us, we should work together to share the country's worries and do our jobs well. What your majesty just said cannot be taken lightly. You must remember it. Don't leave it to the end.
Just because I made a joke out of petty profit, I will let those ministers in the DPRK look down on me again."
These words were a step down for King Yin. Although King Ning and others were a little skeptical about the idea that it was King Yin who came to the palace to make an invitation that led to the proposal of Huangzhuang, but after all, it seems that this is indeed the case.
Moreover, when King Zhou opened his mouth, these juniors naturally did not dare to neglect him, and they all held their hands in front of him.
"It's natural."
So, someone quickly changed the topic. King Xiang on the side didn't know what he thought of. He looked back at the palace door and said.
"Of course we are doing our best to serve His Majesty. Uncle Wang, don't worry. However, His Majesty asked me to leave the palace, but left King Min and King Dai alone. I don't know what they were talking about?"
After hearing this, King Yin became interested and said.
"I heard that the king has been in Beijing during this period and has always wanted to move to the mainland. His Majesty has never let go of this matter. Now he is left alone, maybe it is because of this matter?"
"Move the feudal vassal?"
All the vassal kings present blinked their eyes. They were a little surprised at first, but soon they felt that it was reasonable.
The new acting king Zhu Shixi, who had only been in office for three or four years, had always disliked Datong City.
There are many reasons in between. On the one hand, because the old king Zhu Gui spoiled his concubines and killed his wives, he treated Zhu Shixi very harshly. When Zhu Gui was alive, Zhu Shixi, as the descendant of the vassal, had no servants to serve him, and even had to pay for food and clothing.
He planned his own plans and worked in the fields. He was still illiterate at the age of fourteen and was bullied by people in the palace.
Therefore, Datong City is not a place with good memories for Zhu Shiyi.
On the other hand, the new acting prince has a cowardly character, and the other vassal princes are more or less aware of the affairs of the acting vassal. However, because Zhu Gui was still there, it was difficult for them to interfere.
Logically speaking, after Zhu Gui died, Zhu Shixi was the one who made the decision on behalf of the palace. He must have wanted to take revenge for all the insults he had suffered before.
However, the fact is exactly the opposite. Zhu Shixi not only did not retaliate against Zhu Gui's concubine Xu, who had bullied and made things difficult for Zhu Shixi several times before relying on Zhu Gui's favor, and even almost killed him, Zhu Shixi not only did not seek revenge from the imperial court, but also asked the imperial court for the appointment of a concubine.
.
In addition, Zhu Shixi was very polite to the civil servants and generals in Datong City, as if he was not a vassal king but an ordinary clan member.
This kind of temperament made other lords criticize him all the time, feeling that he had lost the lord's face.
But, again, the vassals are not allowed to make private friendships with each other, let alone interfere in the affairs of other vassals. Therefore, they just look down on the king and cannot take any other action.
It was no secret that Zhu Shixi always wanted to move to the mainland because of his miserable childhood and the fact that Datong City was close to the border and often fought wars.
But the problem is that Qing Fan has already taken the lead in rectifying the military garrison this time, and has already submitted a petition to move inland, and the emperor has approved it, so it will be much more difficult for Dai Fan to move inland.
According to the rules of the court, in addition to the throne, the hereditary vassal king also has the fief, so the fief cannot be changed easily.
The Qing vassal was in a special situation. Both generations of Qing kings disliked the fiefdom very much. It was no longer a matter of a year or two to make plans to move the vassal. This time, the timing was right, and the emperor was able to do it.
Moreover, King Qing had always been unwilling to accept the vassal status. He did not even want to build the palace of Qingyang City in his vassal territory. He stayed in the palace of Weizhou all day long. Therefore, although the imperial fiefdom had not been changed, in fact
, the foundation of Qingfan is no longer in Qingyang.
Therefore, the approval this time is just a matter of going through the process and it is not a big deal.
But Dai Fan is different. You must know that Dai Fan originally existed as the king of Sei. In addition to the responsibility of the vassal screen, it also had the responsibility of resisting foreign enemies.
Furthermore, Dai Fan has taken root in Datong City from the very beginning. Even if we don’t mention the management over the years, if we want to move the vassal, together with Zhu Gui’s sons, there are now seven or eight counties in Dai Fan.
The king will also move to the feudal vassal.
None of this group of people is a good person, and if they really make trouble, they will be no less than those of King Guangtong, so this is not a matter that Zhu Shixi can decide alone.
Of course, if the Dai Wang has the ability and can make the emperor directly issue an order to force Dai Fan to transfer the title, then no matter how powerful these princes are, they can only bow their heads obediently.
But the question is, does King Dai... have this ability?
"Whether it can be done or not, we will know in a few days?"
King Xiang was interested in this matter, but several other vassal kings were not interested.
Whether the vassal can be transferred or not, it has nothing to do with them. Anyway, they will never touch their fiefdom.
On the contrary, if the fiefdom near you has a vassal king who is easy to bully like Dai Wang, it would be a good choice.
A few people chatted and laughed, then each got on the carriage and headed towards the Tenth Prince's Mansion one after another.
However, only King Zhou and King Lu invariably slowed down their pace when they were about to leave the palace, and finally stopped in front of the palace gate.
After all the kings had said their goodbyes and left, the two old princes turned around and looked in the direction of the palace, thoughtfully, paused for a moment, and said to King Lu.
"What did you see?"
King Zhou pondered, then nodded slightly and said.
"What King Yin said is right. His Majesty's last words are indeed a bit strange. I think Brother Lu also felt it, right?"
"Your Majesty is still young and a little impatient..."
King Lu sighed and lowered his voice.
"Originally, His Majesty's repeated advice made me put my guard down, but those last words reminded me of the problem at the beginning..."
After saying this, King Lu turned around and looked at King Zhou and said.
"What happened today originated from King Yin. Without this incident, the vassal reform would probably have been unstoppable. Therefore, the Huangzhuang system is thought to be used to replace the vassal reform."
"However, the vassal reform is to restrain the vassal king for the sake of restraint, but Huangzhuang..."
"Huangzhuang wants us to profit. There must be something in this that I didn't expect. Could it be that you have figured out what you just warned me about?"
After the words fell, King Zhou fell silent.
However, the silence at this time can actually explain the problem.
In the end, King Lu failed to get an answer. King Zhou looked up at King Lu and said.
"To be honest, Brother Wang, I do have some guesses, but they are not accurate. What's more, His Majesty's attitude is now clear. Whether you are willing or not, we all need to cooperate."
"If we can take advantage of the situation, it may be an opportunity to change the current situation of the vassal king, but..."
"Just what?"
King Lu frowned and asked.
However, King Zhou did not continue speaking, he just said.
"Brother Wang will know about it in the future, but now, if I speak out and cause trouble, I will be punished by His Majesty, so I ask for your forgiveness, Brother Wang."
"However, if Brother Wang believes in me, he will try his best to cooperate with the court after returning. If possible, several nearby vassal kings will also write to persuade him. Your Majesty is a relative of ours after all. What's more, the move of Huangzhuang,
It is also a move that is beneficial to the country."
"Your Majesty is right, the state of Sheji belongs to the Zhu family, so naturally we, the Zhu family, must protect it..."
These words were said without any beginning or end, which made King Lu unhappy for a while.
But there was no other way. After King Zhou finished saying this, he bowed his hands, turned around, got on the carriage, and left, leaving King Lu alone at the gate of the palace. He didn't know what he was thinking...
At the same time, in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qiyu was changing his clothes while thinking about his temporary changes to the imperial palace.
King Yin's visit to the palace was indeed unexpected. If not for King Yin's visit, he actually planned to ask Hu Hui to send these vassal kings away from the capital first, and then implement the vassal reform.
However, Zhu Yi did not persuade King Yin, so there were some minor mistakes in the original plan. In addition, Zhu Qiyu had a new understanding of the vassal king, so he changed his original idea.
Just as King Zhou Lu and others felt, the imperial village system seemed to be good for the vassal kings, but it actually had a pit in it.
This pit is neither big nor small, you have to get through it before you can enjoy the benefits.
The Huangzhuang system, to put it bluntly, is actually to gather scattered farmland, and then provide high-quality cattle, grain, and farm tools, supplemented by annual reductions in land rent, so that tenants can work hard to increase production.
Under this management method, the court provided the land, the feudal king contributed money, and the tenants contributed their efforts. The three parties worked together. After the harvest was harvested, the court collected taxes, the feudal king took a cut, and the tenants could also save part of the grain. Everyone was happy.
,mutual benefit.
However, this is only an ideal situation, and problems will definitely occur during actual operation.
Because of this, Zhu Qiyu put the eunuchs in charge of the imperial village, forming a system of mutual checks and balances among the vassal king, eunuchs, and local officials to ensure that no one would engage in malpractice for personal gain.
However, one of the most critical issues was deliberately hidden by Zhu Qiyu, or in other words, the vassal kings were led astray by him.
That is, everything Zhu Qiyu said is based on a good harvest.
With the account books of Huangzhuang for the past two years, coupled with the concrete and feasible regulations and methods, it is easy to think that this premise is naturally established.
However, the problem is that whether the harvest is good or not depends not only on whether the tenants work well and whether they have all the grain, farm tools, and cattle they use, but the most important thing is whether God is willing to give him face.
The only disadvantage of Huangzhuang is that you need to invest a lot of money in the early stage to purchase cattle, farm tools and grow grain, and then through land rent, you can slowly recover the capital and then make money.
During this process, if a natural disaster causes a bad harvest, then at least the rent for that year will definitely not be collected.
Of course, the court will suffer losses, but in the event of natural disasters, it is the right thing to exempt local taxes. The tenants don't care. They have to contribute their efforts. If the harvest fails, at most it will be in vain. At least the court will provide disaster relief.
What you eat and plow is official land, and you can just continue to work next year.
The worst thing is that these feudal princes have invested so much money, but if the harvest fails, not only they will lose everything, but at least the recovery period will be delayed for several years.
Of course, natural disasters often happen, and it is not a rare thing. Natural disasters every year or two will only result in less rent, which is not a big deal. Some people who originally had land will lose their land and some refugees will appear.
.
This is actually a good thing for Huangzhuang.
But the problem is that Zhu Qiyu knows very well that the upcoming natural disaster will not be a year or two, nor will it be one or two places, but various disasters lasting at least five years...
