All the ministers looked at each other. The emperor really thought of something and said it. The key is that he still wanted to implement it.
It's a shame that the emperor could think of such a thing as suspending the annual salary. When the sects and vassals knew about it, they had to submit a collective letter to cause trouble.
"Your Majesty, I think it's inappropriate!"
Song Yingxing has always been a man of few words. Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to speak on this vassal matter today. It is really rare.
Zhu Youxiao's interest was also aroused. He smiled and raised his hand, indicating for him to continue.
After receiving the emperor's approval, Song Yingxing was fearless and said immediately:
"I beg your pardon for having the guts to say something contradictory. As the saying goes, cutting off someone's wealth is like killing one's parents. If Your Majesty really decrees that the annual salary of the feudal princes be suspended, it will definitely cause an uproar!"
"The vassal kings across the country will unite together to oppose His Majesty's decree, and they will even make the matter worse and incite more people to accuse Your Majesty!"
"They will say that Your Majesty does not care about the blood ties of the clan, violates the system of Taizu, and wants to put the clan to death!"
"Then it will be an unprecedented blow to your majesty's imperial authority, and your majesty's prestige will also plummet. It will be extremely detrimental to your majesty. Please think twice!"
What Song Yingxing said is not unreasonable. No one would think they have too much money.
Even if these sects and vassals have endless money to spend and mountains of food, they will not let go of the imperial court.
They deserve their annual salary. As long as the imperial court is still there and members of the Zhu family sit on the throne, they must be paid according to Taizu's system.
In this matter, Zhu Youxiao is completely unreasonable. Without a righteous name, the chance of success will be greatly reduced.
Even though the vassal kings had no soldiers and no power, and could not even leave the city, if they wanted to cause trouble, the noise would not be light, and it would be much bigger than that of the gentry and wealthy families.
Moreover, this is still an internal fight among the royal family, and conflicts between the same members of the family. No matter whether they are ordinary people or officials and gentry, no one will get involved in it. They are all happy to watch the jokes of your Zhu family.
But Zhu Youxiao had already thought of a countermeasure. He could issue this decree, but he would not be the one to take the blame.
He still has in his hand the donation certificates from Qin, Jin and Shu. The Crown Prince of Qin and the Crown Prince of Jin are also in the capital at the moment.
Zhu Youxiao only needed a few operations to attract the focus of attention to San Francisco.
A smile appeared on the corner of Zhu Youxiao's mouth, and he said with a mysterious look:
"Don't worry about these things. I have already thought of countermeasures that will convince all the sects. They will not and dare not cause trouble!"
The emperor didn't want to say anything, and several ministers didn't ask. It would be better for them to know less about royal matters.
Then several other ministers reported on some recent events.
In Zhu Youxiao's view, fighting was nothing more than a trivial matter and he didn't take it to heart at all.
After they finished reporting, it was finally time for Zhu Youxiao to speak.
He dropped a bombshell as soon as he opened his mouth. After hearing this, Wang Xiangqian felt dizzy. The eighty-year-old man almost lost his balance and fell down.
Have you wiped out all Shanxi merchants? Your Majesty really dares to do it.
So many merchant families were actually able to accomplish their set goals in just a few days and carry out comprehensive arrests.
The most important thing is, how did His Majesty complete such a large-scale operation without their knowledge?
After so many days, they haven't heard anything about it, and Shanxi officials haven't reported it.
Seeing the doubts on their faces, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to answer.
It seems that my painstaking arrangements were not in vain.
The biggest problem with the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was that he had no sense of mystery or majesty at all. Officials knew every move of the emperor.
Therefore, when they fought against the emperor, they could often gain the upper hand, leaving the emperor speechless.
There were only a handful of emperors in the Ming Dynasty who could suppress them.
I won’t mention people like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di who are ruthless and don’t talk much. Emperor Xianzong saw through the temperament of civil servants, so he was able to make a difference during his reign.
The rest of the emperors, including Renzong, Xuanzong, Jingtai, etc., were all typical emperors who were suppressed by civilian officials.
Especially Emperor Chongzhen, he had no privacy at all in front of officials. He knew exactly where he slept at night and how long he slept.
It is a very terrible thing for others to know the emperor's whereabouts, just as terrible as guessing the emperor's thoughts.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang is deeply feared by civil servants and gentry all over the world is because he doesn't play by the rules at all.
His inscrutable tactics and heart as cold as ice completely eluded these experts who are proficient in internal fighting.
Emperor Zhongzong Xuan once said that when an emperor governs the country, he must use both hegemony and kingship. The Confucian approach is not necessary at all.
Throughout the dynasties, all emperors who followed the rules, paid attention to the so-called moral reputation in everything, and had strong Confucian ideas were basically the playthings of their subordinates.
If Zhu Youxiao wants to outplay them and save his own life, he must learn their methods and make himself unfathomable, so that he will not fall into the water.
"Your Majesty, didn't you say that this matter has been put on hold for the time being? How come there is no warning?"
When Wang Xiangqian was an official in Jiubian, he knew about the secret smuggling of domestic merchants.
But the power network behind them was too huge, so he chose to conceal it and not report it.
If the emperor hadn't taken the initiative to mention this matter some time ago, he would have almost forgotten about it now.
Zhu Youxiao came from later generations and dare not say that he has opened his eyes from the perspective of God, but he still knows a little about some people's thoughts.
He snorted coldly and said noncommittally:
"The country has such a scumbag, how can we just put it on hold? The reason why I stopped last time was because the situation in the southwest was urgent and I was too busy to do anything."
"Now that I have my hands free, if I don't move now, when will I wait?"
"The sooner we dismantle them, the better days for the common people will come sooner. Are you going to defend them?"
For a person of Wang Xiangqian's age, the four dimensions of his thinking have been completely solidified.
Although he can be considered a royalist now, he was forced to become one after all, and he is not as "clean" as Song Yingxing and others.
His perspective of thinking was often not from the emperor's standpoint.
It's about how to stabilize and develop, and slowly figure it out.
Reforming the new system and clearing away old customs were such a big thing that a person with his fixed ideas was naturally not suitable for it.
The most important thing is that Zhu Youxiao only needs a cabinet that is completely obedient to him. This is very critical.
If the ministers in the cabinet only know how to oppose the emperor all day long, Zhu Youxiao doesn't know how much energy he will have to expend to smooth things over.