Chapter 1459 Noble title reform - downgrade to nobility
Yunxi comforted him for a while, then hugged Qin and said: "Husband, I don't want any other concubines. Wen Yao is also my husband's son. My husband also likes Wen Yao very much, so he will arrange it properly. There is only one thing I want from my husband: He
Since they are about to get married, they should be given the title and should be officially crowned as prince. I ask my husband to give him a better title and a more grand ceremony. After all, Wenyao is my husband's eldest son."
After hearing Yunxi tell her that she was going to send Wen Yao to fight in India, Baoqin immediately judged that she couldn't change the matter. After crying in despair all night, Baoqin had regained her sanity the next day.
.But she remembered Yunxi's slightly embarrassed look, how could she accept it so quickly? Of course she would have to wait a few days to fully express her sadness and let Yunxi feel guilty for a few more days. She wanted more for herself and Wenyao.
benefit.
Of course, we can't delay it too long, and it won't work if we delay it for too long. Baoqin thought about it over and over, and even sent his servants to pretend to be casual and ask Yunxi how he was feeling. Finally, he decided to express his acceptance to Yunxi today and proposed
She thought her request was not excessive.
Her decision was not wrong at all, and Yunxi still felt guilty towards her and Wen Yao; her request was not too much, and Yunxi should agree. However, "Hold Qin," Yunxi said after considering, "This is
My husband has his own considerations when it comes to matters, and now is not the time to seal him."
"Husband, Wen Yao is about to get married, so he will be granted the title. Now is not the time to grant the title. When will it be?" Baoqin said with a hint of complaint: "Could it be that the time to grant the title is after he seizes the fief?"
She was just complaining at first, but she didn't want to. Yunxi nodded and said, "This is exactly what my husband wants."
"Husband, what do you mean?" Baoqin asked in confusion.
Yunxi hesitated for a moment, as if he was wondering whether to tell Baoqin now. But he finally said: "Well, you will know sooner or later, so I will tell you first. But don't tell others, even Wen Yao can't
Tell me. Of course, you don’t need to keep it secret for a long time. My husband will make it public in two months at most."
"I will definitely not tell anyone else." Baoqin nodded in agreement, thinking to himself: "My husband means this, even the queen doesn't know about it. In other words, I am the first person to know about this. There is another thing."
Things take precedence over the queen.'
"Have you ever thought about what's wrong with the rules for sealing clans set by your grandfather?" Yunxi said.
"How dare I arbitrarily discuss the rules set by my grandfather?" Baoqin said immediately without any hesitation.
"You don't have to be like this." Yunxi said: "Although my grandfather was a great man of his generation, if he was not a great man, how could he become the emperor as a commoner? But he would also make mistakes, and not everything he did was necessarily right. If you think
If there is something wrong, feel free to say it, and your husband will not blame you. Of course, you cannot say this outside." Even if everyone knows that Zhu Yuanzhang will make mistakes, it is okay to raise it before his death, and it can be said
It is a violation of Yan's direct remonstrance, but it cannot be done after death.
"I think the rules set by my grandfather are very appropriate." Baoqin added. Even if Yunxi said this, she did not dare to make any suggestions.
Yunxi shook his head, but said nothing more. He just said: "The rules set by my grandfather at the beginning were that the children of the clan were not allowed to do business, work, farm, take part in the imperial examination, enter the Imperial College, or study in the martial arts hall. They could only be pastors and guardians.
To command the army and govern the people. Moreover, my grandfather appointed eight levels of titles including prince, county prince, general of the state, general of the auxiliary state, general of Fengguo, lieutenant of Zhenguo, lieutenant of auxiliary state, and lieutenant of Fengguo, and the salary was set for each level."
"Husband, isn't this good? My grandfather took all the clan members eight generations later into consideration and reserved salaries and titles for them, so that everyone in the clan would not have to worry about food and drink, and would be able to take care of themselves in old age and receive medical treatment for their illnesses. Isn't that a good thing?
Baoqin thought for a while and continued: "Although the burden on the court will not be light after a few generations, but my husband has not sent many vassal kings overseas, including Wenyao, the burden on the court will not be too big. And if you change it rashly, it will be
If it causes dissatisfaction in the clan, husband, please be careful."
Of course, Baoqin immediately heard the implication of Yunxi's words and couldn't help but persuade him. The clan was a very important bargaining chip, or faction, of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they would not be officials in the court, they would not appear in the capital too much.
Now, because most of Yunxi's actions are very good to the clan, the clan all support Yunxi. This is one of the reasons why Yunxi can successfully implement various reforms.
But if the interests of the clan are touched, they will definitely object and cancel their support for Yunxi; the civil servants who have suffered losses due to Yunxi's reforms may also take the opportunity to counterattack. If Yunxi cannot hold on, various ongoing projects
Reform will only fail, and there will be no need to think about reform in the future.
"I understand what you said, but change is inevitable. My grandfather considered the clan after eight generations, but what about the clan after nine generations? What about the clan after ten or even more generations? Even if many vassal kings were granted the title
Overseas, there are always princes, princes, etc. in the Central Plains who are unwilling to be granted the title. These people will continue to pass on their descendants. Sooner or later, the court will be overwhelmed. Granting vassal kings overseas can only delay the arrival of this day.
, but cannot be exempted." Yunxi said. At the same time, he recalled the tragic situation of many clans in the late Ming Dynasty that they had seen in the late Ming Dynasty. Some people starved to death, and some became bandits. Due to their special characteristics,
Even if the local officials arrested them, they would not dare to torture them, let alone decapitate them. They would only release them after a few days of detention, and ordered the princes in this department to discipline them strictly. But how could the princes listen to the local officials and discipline them? Let alone Guan Guan.
They had to feed themselves in the mansion, and they were let out after showing off. In the end, in some places, the clan became a local cancer.
"Of course, my husband also knows that what you said makes sense. So I don't plan to make many changes. There are only three changes: First, starting from my husband's sons, they will no longer be crowned princes before marriage, but lower-level ones.
The hereditary title can only be promoted after making meritorious service to the Ming Dynasty."
"Secondly, the clans below the hereditary prince without the title of prince are allowed to work and work as farmers, participate in the imperial examination, enter the Imperial Academy, study in the martial arts hall, and later become court officials."
"Thirdly, regardless of the princes who have been granted the title, the princes, or the clans who have been granted overseas titles, starting from this year, the titles of the knights conferred by all the clans that have granted hereditary titles will no longer be hereditary, but will decrease from generation to generation. The prince's son can only
If he can inherit the title of county king, his other sons can only be demoted one level further."
Yunxi believes that with these three things, it can basically prevent the clan from expanding too much. As fewer and fewer people are crowned princes, even a few will be downgraded and the financial burden will not increase quickly, which is enough to maintain
There is no need to worry about raising salaries for the clan within three hundred years. As for three hundred years later, if the system of Yunxi's reform can be maintained, it will be time for capitalism to carry out more drastic reforms; if it cannot be maintained, then the Ming Dynasty will
It's time to finish.
In addition, the second point is that Yunxi did not allow the clan to engage in business. He was worried that the clan would use its special status to build up "clan capital" and destroy the current industrial and commercial system. At the same time, he also wanted to prevent the vassal kings who were granted overseas status from sending their own low-ranking lords.
Their descendants came to the Central Plains to do business and illegally obtained money to subsidize the vassal state.
"Husband, these three points can indeed ensure that the imperial court will not be overwhelmed. But the first two points are enough, and the clan will not object; the third point is a little difficult. Moreover, my husband wants to send troops to India, and it is not appropriate to go to war at this time."
Qin commented.
The first point only involves the descendants of Yunxi and Yunxi, who had the instinct to be crowned a prince but has not yet been crowned, and has nothing to do with other people; the second point is actually a good thing. Historically, the emperor in the late Ming Dynasty planned to implement it, but was blocked by civil servants. They opposed it.
Most of them turn a blind eye to the work and business of some clans without hereditary titles, but they are completely open to opposition. The reason is probably "competing with the people for profit".
But the third point is difficult to implement. Don’t worry about the royal families who have been granted overseas titles. The imperial court has stopped paying them salaries. After the prince was granted the title overseas, Yunxi combined the prince’s salary with the support funds for the vassal state.
, and later when the support funds were stopped, the payment of salaries was also stopped - they would never care about their titles; but those princes who stayed in the capital would be worried that their descendants would be implemented in a few years, and they would definitely oppose it. Moreover, this matter is related to
The overseas vassal kings have nothing to do with it, and there are also some who have good relations with the princes in the capital, so they will not openly support Yunxi.
Of course, the vassal kings who stayed in the capital were all unambitious, basically incompetent, and could not make any big waves. Yunxi could force the implementation. But as Baoqin said, at this time, we were preparing to attack India, and it was not appropriate to go to war.
"It is better to wait until India is basically pacified before carrying out reforms." Baoqin said again.
Yunxi shook his head. "No, now there are people who will succeed the generals of the country. If they don't reform within the next two years, they will have to confer hereditary titles. As more people are conferred the title of Spyge, the more people want to reform,
The more difficult it is, it must be done this year."
Baoqin stopped talking. This matter had little to do with her, and there was no need to offend anyone. She turned to say: "Husband, this matter is not in a hurry. You don't have to worry. I think that Wen Yao will be able to help others in the future."
The vassal king of Bengal will not care about the title he is conferring, but if the wedding ceremony is of a lower level because of the lower title, Wen Yao may be a little upset."
"Don't worry about it. My husband needs to make a wedding ceremony for a prince, which is slightly lower than that of a prince and slightly higher than that of a county prince." Yunxi said.
"My husband, what title do you plan to give Wen Yao? Prince of the county, or general of the country? It can't be any lower." Baoqin said again.
"The county king is a bit high. But as my husband, I won't make him a general of the country. I plan to make him a duke for my husband's sake. A duke who is not hereditary will not be replaced." Yunxi said. (To be continued)