"Have you ever read a book?"

"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.

.

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.
To be continued...