Chapter 1023 1018 [The prince becomes the governor of Luoyang]
Luoyang, the imperial city.
Zhu Guoxiang's family lived here for more than a year, and then returned to Wangchuan Valley in Lantian after the beginning of spring.
Prince Zhu Yang said goodbye to his grandfather on behalf of the emperor. He had just returned to the East Palace and was summoned by his father for a talk.
Since there were no foreign ministers present, Zhu Yang's etiquette was more casual. He just bowed and said: "Father is well."
"Sit down," Zhu Ming asked, "What did you gain from studying with your grandfather last year?"
Zhu Yang replied: "Materialist dialectics is really the knowledge of heaven and man. Learning this method can investigate the root of all things."
Ju Ming asked again: "Have you finished the homework I assigned you?"
"It's done." Zhu Yang said.
Ju Ming smiled and said: "Then hand in your homework."
Zhu Yang temporarily resigned, returned to his east palace, and brought a paper bag.
There is a line written on the surface of the paper bag: Research on the system of Western Liao and Black Khanate.
Ever since Yelu Dashi allowed Ming merchants to trade freely, the Ming Dynasty merchants among the merchants have been sending back all kinds of information, involving officials, cities, geography, climate, crops, industry and commerce, agriculture and animal husbandry, etc.
This information was complicated and unsystematic, and even contained contradictions. Zhu Ming asked his son to sort it out with his companion in the East Palace.
Not long after, Zhu Yang sat in front of his father again.
Because there were too many words, he did not read them all, but extracted the main contents:
"The Western Liao and Black Khanate are different from what we had guessed before. They are not a true feudal system, but more similar to the transition from a feudal system to a county system..."
"In the Hezhong and Qihe areas, there are two methods of animal husbandry and farming. At the beginning of the establishment of the Black Khanate, nomadic pastoralism gradually transformed into fixed pastoralism or semi-nomadic pastoralism, and more and more people were farming."
"In the beginning, the land was controlled by the clan leaders. As the central court centralized power to collect the land, the clan leaders chose to resist and resist. When outsiders invaded, the clan leaders cooperated and overthrew the original monarch, and the Black Khanate was established."
"The leaders of these clans were called 'Dihang', which has basically disappeared now, and 'Dihang' has become a general term for farmers."
"The earliest dihangs, that is, clan leaders, were transformed into milkks in the Black Khanate. Some milkks owned fiefs or a lot of land, and their children called them landowner milkks. More milkks did not have fiefs, and their lands were also destroyed.
When it came to annexation, the children called him Yeoman Milk."
"The land owned by Milk is private land on the Ming side."
“In addition to private land, Xiliao and the Black Khanate also had official land, which was called ‘Diwan’. ‘Diwan’ official land came from two sources, one was war plunder, and the other was criminal confiscation.”
"There are also temple fields and academic fields. This kind of land is called 'wakfu'."
"In terms of land tax, official land, school land, and temple land are often exempt from tax, or a small amount of symbolic tax is paid. However, the tax on private land is extremely heavy, accounting for one-third of the grain harvest!"
"Those local nobles who were enfeoffed were called Mukta. They were similar to the princes, scholars, and officials of the Pre-Qin Dynasty, but they were different from the princes of the Pre-Qin Dynasty and different from the princes of any time in China."
"Take a certain governor as an example. He has a title, official position, army and financial power. But the people in the area under his jurisdiction are not his personal subjects, but citizens of the entire country. This governor cannot treat the local people
No matter what he takes or takes, he also needs to abide by the laws of the country."
"But in the past hundred years, this system has not been stable."
"The main reason is that the feudal nobles have a hereditary trend. Although they are still nominally appointed by the monarch, more and more feudal nobles are occupying one side. They continue to obey the monarch's orders and regularly send taxes to the monarch, but they often defy the monarch, and
Arbitrarily raising taxes within the jurisdiction.”
"In the Western Liao Dynasty established by Yelu Dashi, the areas directly under the imperial court have improved. All officials were appointed by Yelu Dashi. But outside the direct areas, the feudal nobles still made the decision."
"In addition to the areas directly under Yelu Dashi, it also has relatively strong control over some areas. Those areas have to pay taxes to the Western Liao court, but each household only pays one silver coin to the Western Liao court every year, and all the remaining taxes go to the localities.
Feudal lords dominate.”
"In the Western Liao established by Yelu Dashi, the only areas that the imperial court could fully control were Gaochang, the Seven Rivers, and the land in the middle of the river. Moreover, he could only control the core areas of the land in the middle of the river..."
After listening to his son's homework, Ju Ming was relatively satisfied, and then asked: "Why did the Mukta feudal system of the Black Khanate collapse step by step?"
Zhu Yang replied:
"Because there is no imperial examination in the Black Khanate, nor is there a strict promotion system. Who is selected as a local official and which local official is promoted depends entirely on the monarch's preference. No... the monarch is also controlled by local forces. The aristocracy of the Black Khanate is
As outsiders, the reason why they were able to establish a country in the first place was with the help of the leader of the Dihang clan."
"When the Black Khanate granted officials, it had to take care of not only its own heroes, but also the leaders of the Dihang clan. This country has never really controlled the place from the beginning."
"With the passage of time, the heroes of the clan and the clan leaders gradually merged into an emerging local force. Then colluding with the local religious leaders, and the impact of foreign wars, they entrenched themselves in the local area and were almost separatist. They became no longer princes.
The princes and monarchs can remove those local officials, but if they are not done satisfactorily, local rebellions may be triggered at any time."
Ju Ming asked again: "Do you think Xiliao can last long?"
Zhu Yang shook his head and said: "Innate deficiencies. In a few decades, if there is no strong monarch, Xiliao will inevitably become the second Black Khanate. By that time, the emperor of Xiliao will be nothing more than the emperor of Zhou, and he can only be called the co-lord of the princes.
Rule a corner."
Ju Ming asked: "What do you think is the most important thing for a king of a country?"
Zhu Yang related the history of China and the Black Khanate, and after thinking carefully, he answered: "People and wealth. People are officials and generals, and wealth is money, food and taxes. With people and wealth, we can manage the army and the people, so they must be controlled by the monarch."
In your hands. And this kind of control must have a system, otherwise it will be lost..."
At this point, Zhu Yang suddenly laughed and said: "My child finally understands what etiquette is. Etiquette is a system, a law, and a great righteousness. Imperial examinations are etiquette, criminal laws are etiquette, and benevolent government and caring for the people are also etiquette. Etiquette is a set of rules.
Rules that are recognized by the king, his subjects, and all the people. It is disrespectful for a king to be tyrannical, to be disrespectful to govern an official, to be disrespectful to armament, to be disrespectful to people, and to be disrespectful to reduce taxes. Each corresponds to different administrative errors. But officials, soldiers, and civilians each have their own demands.
, each has its own interests, and it is very difficult to reconcile the rituals. If we can achieve a state of perfect harmony, it may be called the mean."
"Hahahaha!" Zhu Ming laughed endlessly.
Although this prince is still very immature, he has connected all kinds of knowledge imparted by his grandfather, father, Huan Guo and other teachers.
Putting away his laughter, Ju Ming said: "From now on, you will be the governor of Luoyang. You must come to attend every imperial meeting unless you are sick."
"My child obeys the order!" Zhu Yang was overjoyed.
The cultivation of princes has always been a big issue in all dynasties.
The Eastern Palace system of the Tang Dynasty was so terrifying that it could almost be called a small imperial court.
Let's put it this way, even if the emperor and officials of the Tang Dynasty suddenly died collectively, the prince could take over the country immediately with the officials of the Eastern Palace.
The prince and the East Palace official can take over the power at any time, but they are actually unable to take over. Will anyone want to go further?
Therefore, by the Song Dynasty, the East Palace was completely gone.
Although the official positions in Zuochunfang (i.e. East Palace) are still there, most of them are empty titles and are held concurrently by important officials of the imperial court. Even the dedicated East Palace is too lazy to be built. If a prince is established as a prince, his original palace
It was changed to the East Palace.
There are only two responsibilities left for the prince: study hard and greet his parents.
The Northern Song Dynasty also asked the prince to be the governor of Kaifeng, but his power was so limited that he could not even fully control the governor of Kaifeng!
The princes of the Tang Dynasty had too much power, and the princes of the Song Dynasty had too much power.
Ju Ming's idea was to compromise the Eastern Palace system of the Tang and Song Dynasties. At least when the prince was the governor of Luoyang, he had to hand over the complete power of the Luoyang mansion to the prince. At the same time, the prince was allowed to participate in the imperial meeting and have the power to participate in political affairs.
The reason why the prince was appointed as the prefect of Luoyang was to familiarize himself with the local office procedures.
The purpose of letting the prince attend the imperial meeting was to familiarize himself with the contents of the central office.
There is also a front-end institution, the Prince Academy, which includes Zishantang (cultural knowledge) and Wubeitang (military knowledge). Before the prince reaches adulthood, he must learn basic cultural and military knowledge, and then observe the politics of various institutions in the imperial city.
A few years later, he will probably serve as the governor of Luoyang until he is around twenty-five years old - the specific age can be brought forward.
The assistant officer of Luoyang Mansion must be selected with good character and excellent political performance to assist the prince in handling various affairs of Luoyang Mansion.
The governor of Luoyang cannot stay in office for too long, and the prince can be allowed to serve for up to six years.
After the prince retires as the governor of Luoyang, he can continue to participate in government affairs, or he can be thrown into the position of governor of Kaifeng. At critical times, he can also let the prince supervise the country. The specific appointment method depends on the arrangement of the emperor at that time.
In fact, there are very few emperors with long standby times.
Under normal circumstances, a few years after the prince resigned from Luoyang Prefecture, the old emperor would almost die of illness.
Zhu Yang happily accepted the order and left, but Ju Ming looked at a secret message sent from the Hexi Corridor.
Yelu Dashi is very likely to be critically ill!
Yelu Dashi suffered from all kinds of old wounds during his lifetime of fighting. In the Battle of Katwan two or three years ago, although the Xiliao army won a great victory, it suffered extremely heavy casualties. Yelu Dashi himself was also beaten to a bloody man.
Since then, Yelu Dashi's health has been getting weaker and weaker.
Da Mingxing, who was among the merchants, sent a secret message this spring, saying that Yelu Dashi had not appeared in public for more than half a year, and even the hunting activities last autumn were suddenly cancelled.
This is not in line with Yelu Dashi's character. He would lead troops to hunt feudal lords every year, and would often go to inspect places in person.
After not showing up for more than half a year, there is only one possibility: the body is extremely weak.
"Your Majesty, the lord of the old Goryeo Kingdom, the royal family, and the royal family have arrived in Beijing. The Ministry of Rites would like to ask when your Majesty will arrange to receive them."