During the morning court meeting, Wang Su was at the front of the class, because the Prince Consort, the Commander-in-Chief, was one rank higher than the Cong. During the court meeting, he stood behind the Commander-in-Chief and in front of the Commander-in-Chief.
On the civil service side, the shifts are even more chaotic.
The leader of the class is Wang Qiong, who was promoted to the title of Prince Taibao.
Wang Yuan ranked second and was promoted to Prince Shaobao.
In the court meeting, the first discussion is about promotion of official positions, with the three nobles and the three orphans in front.
The rest is about rank, regardless of official position or rank, and those with higher grades should go first.
Mao Ji, the most senior cabinet minister, was not promoted to an official position because he did not like the emperor, and his rank was not high.
He is a dignified deputy minister of the cabinet. In the early dynasty, he was actually ranked after the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Husbandry, and the Ministry of War. The reason for his ranking is that he is also the Minister of the Ministry of Rites (honorary position). The Ministry of Li, the Ministry of Rites, and the Minister of Rites should be in front of the Ministry of War.
, but Li Chengxun, Minister of War, had a higher rank than Mao Ji.
From the ministers' promotions and ranks, we know that this is a "young" court, leaving enough room for rewards for the new emperor.
Wang Su came to Danbi on crutches, put down his crutches, followed other military attaches, and limped into Fengtian Hall.
Doing this will attract everyone's attention.
After waiting for a while, the emperor ascended to the palace and all the ministers congratulated him.
The first thing announced today is to upgrade the second assistant Mao Ji to the rank of San and grant him the title of first-grade honorary official.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Mao Ji was very happy. He immediately adjusted his shift and finally stood in front of the Minister of War.
Mao Ji was even worse in history. Although he was a cabinet minister, he was always ranked below the Six Ministers. This shows how much Zhu Houzhao disliked him.
Zhao Huang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, came out to report: "Your Majesty, the renovation of the Nanjing Imperial Ancestral Temple has been completed. Wei Guogong Xu Pengju, Yongkang Marquis Xu Yuan, Nanhe Bo Fang Shouxiang; eunuchs Yan Hong and Li Hui; young eunuch Deng Hui; Nanjing Ministry of Industry Shangshu He Zhao, in charge
Chen Mo and others have all made great contributions in supervising the construction. Please give me a reward if there is any difference..."
Zhu Zaiyi said: "Let him raise the reward."
Zhao Huang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, also said: "The construction of the Moon River in Cangzhou has been completed..."
Zhu Zaiyi said: "Let him raise the reward."
Yan Song, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came out and said: "The four prefectures of Lu (prefecture), Feng (Yang), Huai (An) and Yang (prefecture), Xuzhou, Chuzhou, and Hezhou are all affected by floods, droughts and locusts. Please reduce the supply of grain by 30,000 shi."
Zhu Zaiyi said: "Let him reduce the amount."
Although the tax in kind was changed to monetary tax, some states and counties on both sides of the Yangtze River and canal still had to pay grain to be transported to Beijing.
In the last year of Zhu Houzhao's reign, the weather was good, and the new emperor ascended the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to "Shaofeng", just to keep such a good harvest.
Unfortunately, in the first year of Shaofeng, there was a great disaster in southern Zhili, and there were also floods, droughts, and locust plagues.
Announcing several political matters that had been handled by the cabinet for a long time, the consort Cui Yuan came out and said: "Your Majesty, the case of Princess Fuqing (Zhu Xuanzhen) has been completed. It was all caused by the female official embezzling the money from the princess's wedding..."
Zhu Zaiyi said: "The clan will handle it on its own."
"Yes." Cui Yuan immediately stood back.
Wang Su limped forward and said: "Your Majesty, please allow the princess to live in the consort's place."
Zhu Zaiyi couldn't help crying or laughing. He couldn't help but sit a little crookedly and asked: "Did your leg get beaten by a female official?"
Wang Su said: "There are also eunuchs. I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child. Three or five people couldn't get close to me, but there were more than ten of them at that time. I couldn't fight with four hands with two fists, so I lost my life due to hatred. This is not a fault of war."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The ministers burst into laughter. Some people covered their mouths to suppress Wang Yuan's face, causing his face to turn red.
The majestic prince-in-law went to fight with the female official, and when he lost, he said he was defeated because of his hatred.
Alas, the father of a tiger and the son of a dog are a useless person, so no wonder he wants to be a prince-in-law.
Officials who were worried about the Wang family usurping power suddenly became extremely vigilant when they saw Wang Su's behavior.
Zhu Zaiyi said: "The princess lives in the consort's house, which is against the rules."
Wang Su argued: "It's not against the rules. In the dynasties of Taizu and Emperor Taizong, the princesses all lived in the consort's house. What's more, it is normal for men to love women and it is common in the world for husbands and wives to live apart. It is contrary to human relations and unethical. Confucianism believes that
The world is governed by etiquette, how can there be any rule that violates etiquette? Your Majesty, I can only see the princess a few times in a month, and I have to suffer from those evil slaves. Can you bear the eldest princess to stay alone in the empty room? "
The officials were so amused that they actually went to the court and talked about male and female love affairs, while they stayed alone in the empty room.
Even those traditional scholars did not stand up to criticize him. As long as Wang Su did not take bribes and bend the law, the more unreliable he behaved, the more relieved the civil and military officials would be.
Zhu Zaijun thought for a while and said: "Then let the princess live in the consort's place."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wang Su was overjoyed and danced with joy.
Zhu Zaijun held his forehead helplessly, not wanting to see his friend pretending to be crazy. Even now, he still suspected that Wang Su was his half-brother, and he was troubled when he thought of brother and sister getting married.
Cui Yuan quickly asked: "Your Majesty, is this a special case or a custom-made one?"
Yes, there is another one here who is playing in the autumn wind.
Zhu Zaiyi looked at his great-uncle and sighed: "Let's make it custom-made."
Cui Yuan was so happy that he almost cried. After more than 20 years of hard work, he was finally able to live with the princess.
Such arbitrary changes to the system, no one stood up to oppose it, not even the stupid young people in the Sixth Section said anything. It was just because the princess's consort was suppressed so miserably that he had completely lost his sense of existence. The princess just changed his residence and no one was too lazy to go.
Be a bad person. If you offend Wang Yuan for nothing because of this matter, it is purely out of your mind.
There are many things that no one dares to mention, and if they do, they won't attract criticism.
This is not the early Ming Dynasty. The princes-in-law at that time were more powerful than the other, how could they be compared?
Let's talk about a less brilliant one. During the Battle of Jingnan, the prince-in-law Mei Yin held an army of 400,000 to guard important areas. Zhu Di wanted to use a way to pass by, but Mei Yin refused. Zhu Di took a detour, but Mei Yin did not pursue him. Zhu Di surrounded Nanjing, but Mei Yin did not pursue him. Zhu Di surrounded Nanjing, but Mei Yin did not pursue him.
Yin failed to save him; Zhu Di succeeded in usurping the throne, and Mei Yin mourned.
The consort Mei Yin was able to decide who the emperor was at that time. If 400,000 elite soldiers stabbed Zhu Di's chrysanthemum, he could hold him down outside Nanjing and make him want to die.
After Zhu Di became emperor, how could he dare to let his consort take real power again?
Just when all the ministers thought that the court meeting was about to end, Wang Yuan suddenly came out and said: "Your Majesty, since the princess can live in the consort's place, please allow the descendants of the clan to participate in the imperial examination."
"No!"
At the same time, many people opposed it, and several scientific officials stood up to fight for it.
Even Hu Shining, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a die-hard reformist who wholeheartedly supported Wang Yuan, firmly opposed it: "For the sake of the country, the clan cannot be allowed to take the imperial examination for officials."
Hu Shining, historically he died last year, but he is still alive and kicking now.
This man was also a member of the Qing Dynasty. He could barely be counted as a member of Yang Tinghe's party, and he was also a truly upright official. He once risked his life to report King Ning's rebellion, and was framed and imprisoned by King Ning. He was imprisoned three times in a row and was almost tortured to death because of this.
Yang Dangcheng Qichong saved him from death and was exiled to Liaodong to serve as a soldier for several years.
The two Yang factions, Hu Shining and Cheng Qichong, had gradually broken with Yang Tinghe before Zhu Houzhao died.
But they were still from the Yang Party, and the King's Party would naturally squeeze them out, making both parties unhappy, and their promotions have been very slow.
Some time ago, the two of them went to Shu to advocate reform, and were finally accepted by Wang Yuan. Hu Shining was promoted to the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Cheng Qichong was promoted to the censor of the right capital.
Hu Shining has a very stubborn character. He was promoted by Wang Yuan because he supported reforms, and now he has come out to openly oppose Wang Yuan.
Wang Yuan actually likes this kind of person who talks about things.
Wang Yuan had already made preparations and asked, "Can Minister Hu study actuarial science?"
Hu Shining said: "I have studied Wang Xiang's "New Arithmetic" by myself and know a little bit about it."
Wang Yuan asked again: "Can Sir Hu know the sequence? This is arithmetic knowledge newly developed by the school of physics."
Hu Shining shook his head: "I haven't learned anything yet."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Then I will ask a question, let 2 keep doubling, and ask Mr. Hu to solve it."
Hu Shining said a few words casually: "2, 4, 8, 16, 32... What does Prime Minister Wang mean by this question?"
Wang Yuan said: "Use 2 as the base number, double it 20 times, and the result will be over one million. In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were only more than 50 royal families including princes, princes, generals, and princesses. By the Yongle period, those with titles of general and above were
The number of clans has grown to 70, which is due to many deaths due to the Jingnan and the reduction of vassalage. As of three years ago, there were more than 8,000 registered clans, including 32 princes, 203 county princes, 6 princes, and 41 eldest sons.
, there are more than 400 generals who govern the country, more than a thousand generals who support the country, and more than a thousand generals who serve the country... In the past 150 years, the clan's population has increased nearly 200 times, and this does not include those who concealed their status and were not naturalized!"
Hu Shining was immediately speechless.
Wang Yuan added: "According to data from the past century, the population of the registered clan will double every thirty years. Moreover, the doubling time is getting shorter and shorter, because the management of the clan government is getting weaker and weaker. There is no need for it.
In one hundred years, the number of registered clan members will exceed 1 million!"
"What does one million clan members mean? It means one million people who do not work, but are just waiting for support from the court! During the Zhengde period, only the Jin kings in Shanxi needed a salary of 900,000 shi from the court every year. Every year, rice was brought to Beijing.
4 million shi, but the annual income of the clans across the country is 8 million shi! A hundred years from now, there will be 1 million registered clans, do you know how much food the imperial court should provide to support them?"
"The imperial court can still afford it now, but can't the Ming Dynasty last for more than a hundred years? How will we support millions of clans in a hundred years! If you want to carry out reforms, you should start from the clans!"
The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty were dumbfounded. These data were so frightening that millions of clan members were frightened just thinking about it.
In fact, as early as his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang was already worried about supporting the clan. At first, the prince's annual salary was 50,000 dan. Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was a trivial matter and more than enough for the court to support. Later, he ordered it to be reduced to 10,000 dan.
[Benefits for Book Friends] You can get cash or coins by reading books, and iPhone12 and Switch are waiting for you! Follow the vx official account [Book Friends Base Camp] to get it!
During the Zhengde period, the imperial court felt that the population of the clan was exploding, so it promulgated laws to implement "family planning" for the clan, strictly stipulating the number of wives and concubines of each level of the clan, and those random illegitimate children were not allowed to be naturalized. However, the law is dead, but people live. Some
All the children born to prostitutes were placed on the head of the head wife. Just looking at the records of the clan house, one would have thought that the princesses were all sows and could give birth to several of them in a year.
It is estimated that there were so many births that the feudal kings themselves were too embarrassed to report them, so there were a large number of unregistered clans. These unregistered clans also did not produce because it was illegal for them to rely on themselves.
The imperial court wants to raise the clan like pigs, and is not allowed to farm, do business, work, or take imperial examinations!
Wang Yuan continued: "Two years ago, in the Sichuan salt case, the Three Laws Division thoroughly investigated the king of Shu. Colleagues, half of the fertile land around Chengdu belongs to the Shu prince's palace (nearly 70% in the late Ming Dynasty)! The vassal kings from all over the country occupied people's fields.
Private banknotes are set up to feed the common people. At the same time, the middle and lower-level clans are extremely poor and are like beggars. If Taizu is resurrected and sees his descendants, some will become worms who are unable to produce, and some will become beggars who cannot survive.
Son, what would Taizu think?"
The middle and lower-level clans in the Ming Dynasty were really miserable, just like the lower-class Manchus in the late Qing Dynasty. It was difficult for them to have enough to eat. Because they had no power and power, the law did not allow them to work, and the imperial court's annual rice was deducted at every level.
There is very little left after being distributed to these people.
Historically, Fengguo general Zhu Cong from the royal family of Huairen Palace in Shanxi came to the capital, knelt down in front of Emperor Wanli and cried loudly, saying that he had not received rice for 21 years. He said that everyone above the level of a county king was so fat that they were so fat.
oil; those below the county king had difficulty eating, and the young and old in the family were crying for survival. Some clan members even returned to the Zhu family's old business, regained their ancestral business, and became beggars for food. They were called clan members, but they were actually worse than slaves.
Wang Yuan pointed at the wat board and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please reform the clan system. First, check the vassal kings' acres of land, confiscate the land of those who have seized the land of the people, and order the governors of various places to allocate the refugees for cultivation; second, no more feudal clans can be divided among the princes and below.
The children should also be civilian households, which can make them self-reliant; thirdly, the ban on clan members, farmers, industry and commerce is lifted, and those below the county prince can choose their own careers and travel outside the city; fourthly, those below the county prince can take the imperial examination
Official, but not a Beijing official."
When these words came out, Manchao was shocked.
In fact, the cabinet has already discussed it thoroughly and they all sincerely agree with Wang Yuan's suggestion.
Allowing clan members to serve as officials through imperial examinations may seem crazy, but it is actually harmless.
Historically, the young King of Zheng, Zhu Zaiyu, and Wanli not only agreed with the proposal, but also encouraged the children of clans from all over the country to actively study and become officials, but only allowed clan imperial examinations for those below the rank of lieutenant. Later, Li Tingji, the Minister of Rites, suggested that since he agreed to the clan imperial examination,
Then we should treat them the same as ordinary scholars, don't worry about the title, just let them take the exam if they want.
Unexpectedly, it was actually the Minister of Rites who suggested that all clans should be given the qualifications to become officials.
Emperor Wanli agreed. As long as he was not a prince, even if he was a county prince, he could take the exam to become an official, but he could not be a capital official.
It's a pity that the examination was conducted by the clan, that is, the clan members were allowed to take the examination independently.
Emperor Wanli was negligent in his administration. More than half of the officials in the six cabinet ministries were vacant. Even the daily affairs of the country could not be run. How could he still have the energy to open a clan branch alone? The clan's children still could not take the exam to become officials, but at least they had a breakthrough in the legal system.
During the Tianqi period, Zongke was finally opened, and clan members were allowed to serve as officials in the capital. There was a Jinshi from the clan who was retained as a member of Zhongshushe, and worked in the cabinet to help ministers.
During the Chongzhen period, there were actually clan concubines!
Wang Yuan's suggestion was not to engage in any Zongke exams, and let the clan take the exams together with ordinary scholars, but princes and princes could not take the exams.
Zhu Zaiyi was stunned when he heard this, and looked at the civil and military officials of the imperial court, wanting to hear what the courtiers had to say.
But no one spoke, they were all probably dumbfounded and didn't know how to refute for a while.
Hu Shining, who had previously opposed Wang Yuan, after carefully thinking about the pros and cons, suddenly said: "I agree with the proposal of the king. The clan system must be changed!"
"I second the proposal!"
Mao Ji, Wang Qiong, Wang Jun, Liao Ji, Wang Xian, and Wang Hong all agreed. They were all cabinet ministers and had already discussed it.
Even if anyone had objections, how could Wang Yuan speak out against it since Wang Yuan was so powerful?
Wang Yuan controls the six ministries, controls the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and suppresses the six departments. Once any cabinet minister sings the opposite tune at a critical moment, he will definitely be benched in the cabinet!
There is no need to exclude or dismiss from office, just sitting on the bench, leaving you in the cabinet but unable to handle political affairs.
Seeing that the seven cabinet ministers had reached a consensus, many civil servants hesitated to speak.
Because Wang Yuan's reform proposal was very strange, he allowed the middle and lower-level clans to find their own way out and gave these clans the freedom to take the imperial examinations and serve as officials. At the same time, he restricted the princes and below from enfeoffment. At the same time, he inspected the land properties of princes and princes, and severely cracked down on high-level clans.
.
Why are you objecting?
Everyone is responsible for attacking the clan, and the civil servants applaud.
It would be risky to allow clan officials to take imperial examinations without setting up a separate clan examination. Out of a thousand clan members, only one would study seriously, and he might not be able to pass the examination. How can he compete with ordinary scholars at this level?
?
This reform did not pose any threat to the civil servants, but instead hit the vassals everywhere.