"I have read some books with my father, but I am not very educated."
"Can you do math and accounting?"
"I know how to do a little calculation."
In the Linqu County Yamen, Zhu Laosan honestly answered the questions asked by Zhu Yujian, Prince of Deng, the great minister.
Zhu Yujian was quite satisfied with this embarrassed-looking man. He had just checked the clan jade spies. Although Zhu Laosan did not ask for a title, his grandfather and father had both written letters to the emperor and were punished and served in prison.
Yes, he was later specially given a name and title.
Zhu Laosan was not given a name, but his birth was recorded, and it was added when the new emperor ascended the throne and granted amnesty, so there is evidence to rely on.
Zhu Laosan's grandfather and father are both gone, but he was able to explain his family's situation clearly and everything was correct.
"I have worked hard on you these years. The country has been in turmoil in those years, with internal and external troubles, and the disciples of the sect and vassal have not been able to take care of them. Don't have any complaints in your heart. The same is true for the whole world, not for my royal family. Fortunately, the Holy Emperor is here now.
Everything is looking up.”
Zhu Laosan listened attentively. He also liked this great-uncle very much. He had no airs about him and could only say a few words that made him cry.
"Come, take me to your shack to see the new girl in our royal family." After Zhu Yujian heard about Zhu Laosan's current situation, he was silent for a while, and then got up.
He also summoned his followers and asked him to prepare something immediately.
"A mother who has just given birth needs to be nutritious. Get two old hens, and then see if we can buy fish, preferably crucian carp, and then see if we can get some pig's trotters, mutton, or something like that."
Prince Deng has the highest status among the royal family today. He is known as the wise king. He is also in charge of the family mansion and the minister of the Prime Minister's Office. This wise uncle is not only famous, the emperor also puts him in charge of royal family affairs, including the reform of vassals and other affairs.
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For all the royal families, Zhu Yujian is the most dignified family elder.
The group of people went to the shack.
Zhu Laosan was terrified, all this seemed like a dream.
Originally, the county magistrate suggested that he send someone to pick him up, but King Deng insisted on visiting in person.
The small Linqu City is also very lively.
A group of people came outside the city and saw the shacks.
The county magistrate explained that Linqu has also set up several refugee resettlement sites, but there are still many refugees coming. Some of them have no time to resettle, so they have temporarily settled in various places outside the city. He will verify and resettle these refugees as soon as possible.
"Immediately arrange for people to add several porridge stations here, and verify and register that these are the required procedures. However, we cannot let everyone go hungry and put the porridge first."
The arrival of a prince in a python robe made the women, children and elderly people in this shack a little uneasy.
Most of the young people went to work, working as a substitute for relief. They worked to earn some rations while waiting to enter the refugee camps, where conditions were much better.
This shack was very crude and haphazardly built. There was even sewage flowing across the street and garbage everywhere. Zhu Yujian looked left and right and accidentally stepped on the feces on the sole of his shoe.
The county magistrate was very panicked, but Zhu Yujian just waved his hand and smiled, very calm.
This Prince Deng has suffered a lot, and the shit on the sole of his shoe is nothing.
Zhu Yujian went into the shack and took a closer look. He chatted with his third daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wang, for a while and hugged the child. When he came out, he held one of the third's children in one hand and couldn't help but his eyes were red.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Lao Zhu's family also encountered national calamity, and the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed.
By the time Chongzhen arrived, the Ming Dynasty clan had to have at least 200,000 people, but in recent years too many had been invaded by invaders, sacrificed to thieves, bandits from all over the country, and massacred by the Qing army.
There are also many lower-level clans like Laosan who, like many ordinary people, died of cold and starvation in this war and famine.
Since Zhu Yujian was granted the title of Grand Order by Zhu Yihai, he has been responsible for the registration, placement, management and other affairs of the clan. Many clans successfully moved south and were resettled. Many others died in battles, and some were surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
Those who were killed are still stranded in the north.
Currently, there are only 20,000 members of the clan registered in the clan mansion.
There is not one out of ten.
"The conditions here are really too bad. We need to take the people to the county first. The pregnant women need to take a good rest. We can't do that here."
Zhu Yujian also heard about the fact that yesterday the youngest daughter of the third child was born, but the second son drowned, and even after his death, someone gave him a bucket of millet in exchange for his body.
He was not shocked. In troubled times, it was not uncommon for people to exchange children for food.
This only shows that the situation is still very bad.
Even if the imperial court tried its best to provide relief to the victims, including porridge, farming, relocation to the south, and work-for-relief, many of the refugees who kept coming could still only get a little porridge.
Life is not easy.
Even a dead child of one and a half years old will not be wasted by them.
Pick people up.
The people in the shack looked at Lao San and his family with envy.
The royal family.
Sure enough, there is no Zhu with the surname Bai.
However, when Zhu Yujian announced that a porridge station would be added here and that people would be sent to organize a new refugee camp, which would be leveled and toilets built, the refugees still burst into cheers and thanked the emperor loudly for his kindness.
Arrange the third son and his family into the city.
Hot water for bathing, clean clothes, and even delicious food. Although the three children had their hair cut because there were too many lice in their hair, they still sat there excitedly eating after putting on clean clothes.
While bursting into excited laughter.
The third daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wang, even enjoyed moxa water to clean her body. Prince Deng even helped her find two milking ewes so that her newborn baby could drink goat's milk.
All this is like a dream.
The third child also went to change and clean himself and then came to thank King Deng.
"I have already made a list of your name, as well as the names of your wife and children, and recorded them all in the Jade Spy family tree."
"But the imperial court cannot give you the title and salary of Lieutenant Fengguo."
The third child sat quietly. He had not been so quiet for a long time, and even felt so full. At this moment, he felt as if he had reached paradise.
"His Majesty recently issued the clan law and re-established the clan system of the Ming Dynasty, which is very different from the previous one."
"I obey your Majesty's will." The third child said.
The new clan law is very different from the original adjustment.
The previous ones were just fine-tuning at best, but this time it was a major change.
The most important one is that the emperor of the country was killed after the fifth generation. In the past, the vassal system of the Ming Dynasty actually learned from the Song Dynasty, that is, the scope of the royal clan was almost unlimited. After Zhu Yuanzhang, all clans were clans, and even he
His nephews, such as King Jingjiang, are also hereditary vassal kings.
The prince is granted the title of prince, the eldest son of the prince is granted the title of crown prince, who will succeed the prince in the future, and the other sons are crowned the princes of the county. The eldest son of the prince is crowned the crown prince, who will succeed the prince in the future, and the remaining sons are crowned the generals of the country.
Under him are the generals of Zhenguo, generals of auxiliary states, and generals of Fengguo, then lieutenants of Zhenguo, lieutenants of auxiliary states, lieutenants of Fengguo, and finally lieutenants of Fengen.
Its biggest feature is that the title is a fission-type growth. All the titles are hereditary, and the sons he gave birth to are the eldest son and are not hereditary. The rest are reduced to one level and granted new titles, and then they continue to spread like this.
When he becomes a lieutenant in the sixth generation or below, he will never change and will always be different from the people.
Therefore, there were only a few dozen people in the clan at the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, but by the middle of Jiajing there were more than 15,000 people, and during the Longqing period there were more than 28,000. At that time, there were still more than 50 years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty. According to the Ming Dynasty's own calculations
The growth rate reached over 200,000 by the time of Chongzhen.
The further you go, the greater the number of increases, because the base is getting larger and larger.
And everyone has a title and a salary, which is naturally an overwhelming burden for the court. During the Jiajing period, there were more than 10,000 clans, and the court's finances were in short supply and could not afford it. It is conceivable that the number would increase more than ten times later.
Condition.
Although there were not many high-ranking vassals in the Ming Dynasty, they couldn't stand the lieutenants with hundreds of thousands of records.
From the Ming Dynasty to Chongzhen, there were 17 emperors and 16 emperors, and 104 princes were born. Among them, 11 princes died before succeeding to the throne, and 67 princes were named. Six of them later became the real dragon emperors and became ancestors.
Daizong, Xianzong, Ruizong, Mu Zong, Sizong, and the rest succeeded to the throne or died without title.
By the time Chongzhen arrived, there were thirty-two princely vassals still in existence, and the rest were either childless or had been abolished due to rebellion.
All the vassals had a total of 551 princes, and during the Chongzhen Dynasty there were still about 200.
However, although the clan suffered heavy losses in the turmoil, on the other hand, there are still tens of thousands of people in the clan, and there are still many who have not yet been confirmed and who have not gone south.
If we take the generation seriously, counting the clan members of Lao Zhu's family, starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, some of them have reproduced very quickly, and they are already 12 or 3 generations old, while some of them have reproduced slowly, as many as 9 or 10 generations.
Folks also pay attention to the fifth level of service. If you go out of the fifth level, you are not considered a relative.
The royal family of the Tang Dynasty was counted according to the Five Servers. Those within the Five Servers were considered clan members, and those outside the Five Servers were called royal relatives. Royals outside the Five Servers were not given titles or salaries. They were ordinary people, and they did not have any imperial examinations to serve as soldiers.
Restrictions on doing business, etc.
So this time Zhu Yihai promulgated a new clan law, the most important foundation is the five services.
Starting from the contemporary emperor, those within the emperor's five realms are called clan members, and those outside the emperor's five realms are called royal relatives.
So this time the entire original Zhu Ming royal family was reorganized.
There are currently twenty-three princes in the imperial court, more than one hundred county princes, and more than thirty thousand generals and lieutenants.
Zhu Yihai requested that it be organized according to the five taking methods.
In this case, the Lu royal family must be the Lu vassal family passed down from Zhu Yihai's great-grandfather to the Ming Dynasty family, and the rest are just called royal relatives.
Royal relatives no longer confer titles and salaries, only royal family members confer titles and salaries.
Those outside the five servers will all be crowned.
The new clan titles are divided into ten levels: Prince, Successor King, County King, Zhenguo Duke, Fuguo County Duke, Fengguo County Duke, Protector Marquis, Wei Guobo, Bao Guozi, An Guonan.
According to the emperor's special decree, all the twenty-three princes in the title were demoted to the rank of county princes, and they were the first in the world.
Of the original more than one hundred princes, only the eight princes granted by Lu Fan were retained. These eight princes were actually outside the fifth server. However, because there were no kings in the fifth server, the eight princes were still retained.
The title of county prince is also the highest in the world.
All other titles, from county prince to lieutenant of Fengguo, were all eliminated.
There are only thirty-one county princes left, all of whom are first-class nobles.
Their title can be inherited by the crown prince in the future. After the prince ascends to the title, other sons can ascend the title, but they need to descend to the fourth grade to inherit. That is, the crown prince of the county descends to the first grade to inherit the Duke of Zhen, while the other sons descend to the second grade.
Assault on the Marquis who protects the country.
He was demoted to the rank of Baron Anguo, and then he became a commoner.
There are more than 30,000 clans, but now only 31 county princes are retained, and none of the other titles are gone.
This is quite an astonishing move.
Because there were really no close relatives, Zhu Yihai's grandfather, two uncles, and his third brother all attacked King Lu with the title of county prince, all because the late king had no heirs.
His uncle and eldest brother were both heirs, but they both died without heirs before they ascended the throne.
Zhu Yihai's second brother died early, and several other brothers died when the Qing army destroyed the city. His elder brother, King Lu Yipai, had several sons, but he, his other uncles, nephews, and his son were also killed or kidnapped.
Coupled with war and famine, the Emperor's fifth server could not find a single male clan relative.
We can only wait for Zhu Yihai's two princes to be found, or for the new princes to flourish.
In the future, except for the crown prince, all other princes will be granted the title of prince.
The emperor's brothers and princes are all granted the title of prince; the crown prince's son is the county king; the prince's son, who is the direct heir, is the heir king, and all the sons are the county princes.
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Among Zhu Yihai's sons, the eldest son was granted the title of prince, and the rest were granted the title of prince.
The prince's son is granted the title of heir apparent by his eldest son, and the rest are granted the title of county prince.
Of the sons of the heir king, the eldest son was demoted to the rank of county king, and the remaining sons were the county dukes of Fengguo.
Among the sons of the county king, the eldest son is the duke of the country, and the other sons are the princes who protect the country.
Among the sons of the Duke of Zhen, the eldest son is the Duke of Fu, and the other sons are the uncles of Wei.
Among the sons of Duke Fuguo, the eldest son is the Duke of Fengguo County, and the other sons are Viscount Baoguo.
Among the sons of Fengguo County Duke, the eldest son is the Protector of the Country, and the other sons are the Barons of Anguo.
Further down, the eldest son of the Marquis of Protector is the Duke of Wei, and the other sons have no titles and are directly civilians.
Zhu Yihai's direct descendants can be passed down to ten generations, but if they are not direct descendants, they can only be granted the title for seven generations at most.
Hereditary substitution was cancelled, which avoided the proliferation of clan titles to the greatest extent. The first line of the direct descendants was reduced to one level, and the remaining sons were reduced to four levels, which further restricted the expansion of senior clan titles.
For example, the first vassal in the world is Zhu Cunfu, the younger brother of the former Qin King Zhu Cunji. Zhu Cunji was first captured by the Chuang army, and then surrendered to the Qing army. Later, the Qing army made excuses and executed him together with the other Ming kings.
Zhu Cunfu was supported by Sun Shoufa and other rebels in Guanzhong to oversee the country. Later, he voluntarily abdicated the throne and returned to the vassal, and was named the 16th King of Qin by Zhu Yihai.
Now he will be demoted to the title of Prince of Chang'an County.
The Qin vassal had granted vassal status to a total of sixteen prefectures and kingdoms, but now only King Yongshou was left in the Shaotian Dynasty, and this time he directly cut off the vassal.
The Lu vassal had successively sealed eighteen counties and kingdoms, but now there are only eight left.
The thirty-one county princes specially reserved are all royal relatives of Zhu Yihai except for the five emperors, and are no longer members of the clan.
Deng Wang Zhu Yujian and his brother Tang Wang Zhu Yuyan will also be demoted to county kings. Zhu Yujian will be demoted to Nanyang Jun Wang, and Yu Yan will be demoted to Xiangyang King.
The title was reduced, and the salary and so on were also changed.
Even the previous clan management system, such as naming, granting, marriage, and salary, has also been changed. In the future, although these royal relatives will still be managed separately by the clan government, and births, old age, illness and death must be reported, but they can be free to choose names, get married, etc.
Regardless of whether they were in the imperial examination or doing business, everyone had his own intention.
There are no special privileges for the royal family. Of course, the emperor and the clan will all contribute a sum of money to buy land and property, collect rent and interest, and use it to provide relief and subsidies for the children and grandchildren of the royal family, such as the young, old, sick, orphans, and widows, under the age of six.
, anyone over sixty can still receive a ration.
Even if you become rich in the future, you will be able to receive subsidies for studying, serious illness, etc.
In short, in the future, the lower-level clans such as Zhu Laosan will be completely liberated. They will no longer be restricted in every way, but they will not be raised. They have to rely on themselves for everything, although their family has not been raised by the court for several generations.
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"The clan law will be officially promulgated soon, so even if you enter the genealogy, you don't have to wait for the court to give you a name or a title. What are your plans?" Zhu Yujian asked.
He was actually very supportive of the emperor's clan law. It was impossible for the imperial court to truly support the entire royal family as before. Even if the clan population dropped sharply now, once the war was over, it would soon multiply and increase.
This is always a problem.
Moreover, he saw the misery at the bottom of the clan and said that the world was supporting Zhu, but the people at the bottom were starving to death, so changes had to be made.
Just like how Taizu used to support a million troops without spending any money, but eventually became corrupted and was completely dismissed by Zhu Yihai, he also supported the complete change of the clan system.
It is good for the emperor to have a direction, which is to use the land and other properties, and even money, etc. that were originally allocated to the princes and vassals, to set up something like a righteous field in the future, which will be managed by the clan office or the internal affairs office to purchase the land.
Shops, etc., the money earned from operating the business earns interest, etc., and is used to support the orphans, widows and disabled members of the clan, and even to establish religious schools, clan tombs, etc.
In fact, many large clans in the folk have always had this tradition. They use money to buy land and real estate, build schools, ancestral cemeteries, etc., subsidize the education of promising children in the family, provide relief to poor orphans, and even provide funds to people in the clan who do business.
Loans, etc., give full play to the role of the clan and help and unite.
It turns out that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the clan, but it turns out that the big clans are living a good life, some have a million dollars of silver and are very comfortable, but many of the lower-level clan members don't even have names, and some even starve to death.
He would rather scold the emperor and go to jail, just to eat prison food and avoid starving to death.
There is a big problem with the system and it must be changed.
In Zhu Yujian's view, abolishing hereditary and irreplaceable titles, abolishing Shilu, and even deregulating management is something that must be done. If not done, big problems will occur sooner or later.
"I heard that Dengzhou is very safe. I want to go to Dengzhou. I can't do anything. I just go to the pier over there to carry my bags. I can always support my wife and children." Chen Laosan said calmly.
Zhu Yujian looked at this man who was his great-nephew and grandson with some surprise.
"It's good that you can be so pragmatic, but you won't end up like this. Since you have studied, it's good. There are many industries under the clan and they are in need of manpower. As long as you are willing to study hard, it will be better than the dock.
It’s much better to carry a bag.”
"After the royal family genealogy is entered, the clan government can first pay you a settlement allowance of five taels of silver. In addition, your situation also complies with the clan rescue regulations, and other subsidies will be given to you. In short, you are going home.
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"Welcome home!"
Zhu Yujian patted the third child on the shoulder, "Now, I suggest you give yourself a good name first, and your children's."
"Please great-uncle give us a name!"
"You are from the Sifang branch. When you are the descendant of Sun Ci, the twelfth generation of Taizu, I, my great-uncle, will name you Ci'an. I hope you can live your life peacefully without asking for anything.
I am rich and powerful, but I want peace and stability.”
"Thank you great uncle."
"Your baby is the thirteenth generation grandson of Taizu, who is named He. The wife in your family is very stable, so let's call him He Shen. Gentleman is the big belt worn by scholar-bureaucrats in ancient times. I hope you can train your baby well and become a good person in the future.
