Chapter 380 The Cold Arrival in the Northern Desert
After all the kings came to the capital, they were actually no strangers to entering the palace.
Every year on major festivals, it is customary to go to the palace to worship.
Cui Yuan, the Marquis of Jingshan and the Prince Consort of the Princess, has now relieved himself of the burden of participating in national policies on behalf of his ministers, at least part of the burden, after the military affairs meeting.
But he took on another burden: the clan order.
Today is a banquet. Not only the kings are coming, but Cui Yuan, Yu Chengye, Lu Bing and others are also coming.
The three of them arrived early and waited outside the Meridian Gate.
At present, construction is still underway under the wall of Yanchi Tower outside the Meridian Gate. In the two areas designated by the Forest of Yingjie Steles, the stone steles hewn from outside the city will be sent here and erected. From last year to now, the Ministry of Rites
Together with the State Council, we decided on the heroes of the Ming Dynasty who were qualified to leave their names here.
Not to mention the people before the Jiajing Dynasty, ten years have passed since the Jiajing Dynasty, and there are currently only three people who are qualified to leave their names here: Yang Tinghe, Yang Yiqing, and Li Jin.
But Li Jin is only qualified to leave a monument under Yanchi Tower, and cannot leave a statue in the Yingjie Hall in the middle like Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing - where is the exclusive honor for those who enter the temple.
According to this standard, there are currently only nineteen people in the Yingjie Hall, and apart from the twelve people who accompanied Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the four people who accompanied Emperor Zhu Di, from then on, among all the Ming emperors, only Zhu Qiyu had
Yu Qian accompanied the worshiper.
Renzong, Xuanzong, Yingzong, Xianzong, Xiaozong, Ruizong, none of them.
This is why after the gates of the Imperial Ancestral Temple were reopened, so many ministers were looking forward to receiving this honor, so they chose to stand firmly on the side of the emperor.
Today, the vassal kings who arrived one after another thought of this after seeing these monuments and looking up at the Hall of Heroes.
The founding of the country by Taizu, the peace of Emperor Taizong, and the defense of the country by Emperor Ruizong were all extremely important turning points in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Now, His Majesty has ordered the Minister of Humerus to accompany the sacrifice, and he obviously believes that the Ming Dynasty is in a new turning point.
In fact, this is the case. Otherwise, how could these vassal kings change the old system and all enter the capital?
In the afternoon, shortly after the clock tower chimed three times, the counselors came out of the Meridian Gate, and then they began to enter the palace.
There are five inner Jinshui Bridges.
The bridge in the middle and the main entrance of the Meridian Gate are called Yulu Bridge, so this bridge is called Yulu Bridge.
Apart from the emperor, there is only one person who can walk on this road into the Forbidden City once in his life, that is when the queen enters the palace on her wedding. There are three people who can walk out on this road once in their life, and that is the exam for each subject.
The number one scholar, the second in the ranking, when leaving the palace after the Tanhua Chuanlu ceremony.
Now, the feudal kings and the relatives of the country each go his own way and step on his own bridge.
A lot has changed in the Ming Dynasty, but some rules have remained the same.
Among the kings, King Rui is the youngest.
The status of the kings is not high or low, so they are only sorted by age, with King Rui at the end.
There was a festive atmosphere in the palace, but all the kings were in a very uneasy mood.
At this moment, they, the vassal kings, came in from the front court, and their princesses and Prince Rui's mother and queen entered the palace from the back court.
When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they knew that the Kunning Palace behind them should have been "busy" for a long time, but the Qianqing Palace was very orderly. Except for Cui Yuan and He Qin who started to organize some things, the rest was quiet and depressing.
A stage was set up in the courtyard in front of the main hall of Qianqing Palace. Tables and chairs were also set up on the cloud platform in front of the main entrance. At night, the emperor and empress, their second concubines, concubines, queen mother, princess, consort, plus the princes, The princess and others will gather here to have a meal, admire the moon, and listen to the opera.
Let’s talk about the friendship first, and then enjoy the joy of being close.
Or in other words: declare your power first, then show your favor.
Everyone knows that this year's battle will be bigger than last year's because of what happened at the big venue not long ago.
Zhu Houcong set out from the Yangxin Hall and entered the Qianqing Palace through the Yuehua Gate. In front of him were two groups of people kneeling to see him.
"Everyone, please get up and take a seat in the palace."
Zhu Houcong, accompanied by Huang Jin, climbed up the stairs, entered the Qianqing Palace and sat on the throne.
After they sat down one by one, Zhu Houcong smiled and asked Zhu Rangxu: "The King of Shu was the first to enter the capital. After entering the capital, have you still gotten used to it in the past two years?"
"...Your Majesty, I would like to thank you for your concern. I am very used to it. The prosperity and livability of the capital city are far from being comparable to that of Chengdu. Your Majesty allows me to enter the palace and go to the Fengxian Hall to worship my ancestors on memorial days. This is a favor that I did not dare to ask for before. It is used in the mansion. Du, your majesty has great grace and full salary. This is also a grace that has never been seen before. The royal family of Shu allows both business and education. The descendants of the future generations all praise your majesty for your wisdom."
Zhu Rangxu was very well-behaved. He only talked about good things and there seemed to be no harm in doing so.
Zhu Houcong said sternly: "Mao Ren, last year's grain storage account, in addition to the clan stipends, each prince's palace should receive profit allowances. Is it settled now?"
Cui Yuan immediately replied: "Your Majesty, everything has been calculated. After being stored and transferred to various warehouses as usual, it has been shipped to Beijing. I am waiting for it to be sent to the princes' palaces in September."
"How was last year's harvest?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the grain storage number is owned by the Agricultural College and Jinke Fertilizer Factory. On average, the yield per mu is 30% higher than that of ordinary fertile land. Because of the responsibility of storing grain to meet military needs, Huang Mingji transferred it to the River Transportation Bureau We don't dare to neglect, and we try our best to control the losses in transportation. The farmers who hired us paid the grain, paid the land tax, dug out the fertilizer, repaired the ditch, and spent about 17% more on transportation and grain storage than the previous year."
Cui Yuan introduced the numbers endlessly.
Based on the imperial land and land granted by the clan, plus some official land bought and sold over the years, the Grain Reserve Company owned a total of 231,257 hectares and 75 acres of land throughout the Ming Dynasty.
There is no doubt that Liangchuhao is already the largest single “landowner” in the Ming Dynasty, but it operates in a corporate manner.
The crops grown in these fields are different in different places. Liangchuhao owns the rights to the fields, and they hire or rent local farmers for farming. But unlike ordinary farmers, Liangchuhao has technical support from the Agricultural College of Huangming University , and also supplied fertilizers from the Jinke Fertilizer Factory, which allowed them to concentrate on continuously improving farm tools and improving the water conservancy facilities in their fields.
The average yield of paddy fields per mu reaches more than three stones and two buckets, exceeding the average yield of two stones and six buckets in the south.
Drylands are also higher than normal.
This is not surprising. In the past, the land given by kings was always a good position.
Now Cui Yuan is reporting the figures, and all the kings know that this is for their ears.
The land granted by each royal palace was handed over to the grain storage account for unified management. The emperor promised two things.
First, the royal family’s salary is fully provided.
Second, after paying the land tax, deducting the costs, and deducting the clan salary and grain, half of the remaining "profit" portion of grain was deposited in each warehouse to meet military needs, and the other half was distributed as a profit subsidy based on the proportion of each prince's land.
After Cui Yuan finished his report, Zhu Houcong said with a smile: "If you do the math, the basic salary plus the profit is no less than the net profit you made in the past when you managed the land yourself, right?"
"...Your Majesty is kind and wise, and I admire him greatly." King De was the first to praise him, fearing that the emperor would cause trouble for him.
"I also know that we can't just calculate it like this. For example, for other princes and other counties now, you no longer have to apply for and distribute the salary and food. Just talking about the money and food in your hands, it is still incomparable to the past."
"Your Majesty has ordered the imperial family to handle this matter. I have saved myself a lot of trouble. It's not too late to be happy!" Another vassal king who was sitting in the grand arena immediately said hurriedly.
From now on, the relatives of each vassal king will not look at the face of the vassal king, and all the kindness comes from His Majesty. The land granted by each vassal has nothing to do with them. They only know that they can receive their full salary in time.
In terms of happiness, the feudal clans below the county prince are really happy, but the feudal king himself is not happy.
Zhu Houcong said again: "The grain reserve is based on the imperial land and the land granted by each vassal. Half of the income from farming is reserved for military needs, in order to protect the foundation of the Ming Dynasty from loss. This is a good thing for the descendants of the clan for generations to come. This is true.
You can understand it, right?"
"Your Majesty's move was far-sighted, and I understood it at the time. If not for Your Majesty's kindness, I would still be receiving a stipend."
Zhu Houcong sighed: "I am trying every possible means to seek long-term benefits for the clan. Even if I am demoted to a higher rank, there is nothing I can do. Just imagine, if the Ming Dynasty flourishes for another hundred or two hundred years, how many people will there be in the clan? Can I bear to bear with the Zhu family?
Will my descendants have to worry about having enough food every day in the future? The kings in Shaanxi and Shanxi know this kind of thing best, right? There are people in the clan who have to beg. How can I bear it?"
The king of Dai was originally sealed in Shanxi. He hurriedly testified and wiped his tears to express his fear of poverty.
"Since they have to be demoted, they will eventually return to the common people after several generations. Even though I have mentioned the five services, I cannot bear to see them living without any foundation. In any case, they still have a substantial and sufficient salary, which is better than that of ordinary people.
People are better off. Therefore, I have allowed those below the prince level in the clan to study, engage in business, and even serve as officials. In this way, with the efforts of two, three, or even four or five generations, it may not be impossible to establish a family business."
"This is the foundation of sincerity for eternity!" King Shu once again took the lead in expressing his stance.
Zhu Houcong said happily: "I feel relieved to see that everyone understands my painstaking efforts. In the future, my descendants will be the same. The Ming Dynasty is not what it used to be, and there are many places to employ people. Many systems and laws are also constantly evolving.
Perfect. No matter what, the clan members are still better at doing things than ordinary people, don’t you think?"
"Your Majesty is so graceful, and your ministers must be loyal to you and obey the law!"
The one who spoke this time was King De.
After that, he left the table and knelt down, kowtowed and said: "Although my unfilial son has been favored by Your Majesty and is allowed to do business, he had previously obtained permission to set up handicaps at the competition venue, but unexpectedly he boldly violated the law and committed fraud. I have apologized.
Three Ways, today I ask your Majesty to convict you, take away his throne, and demote him to the rank of commoner."
After saying this, five more feudal princes came out and knelt down to apologize, all saying the same thing.
Zhu Houcong waved his hand: "Why is this so? Young people are actively trying, which is a good thing. If they commit some crimes, they will be fined silver and shut down for rectification. I don't blame them so harshly, I just teach them better. How about it?
Business is also a science. I allow the clan members to study and practice business. If they rely on their clan status to engage in fraud, the world will rise up to attack them, which is not good. This time, everyone should learn from it."
"I thank you for your kindness! Long live your Majesty! Long live! Long live your Majesty!"
"Today is a good day for reunion." Zhu Houcong asked them to return to their seats. "If Taizu can create the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, how can there be no more talented people in the descendants of the clan? If it were not for some mistake, I would also be the vassal king.
Even if you have great abilities, is it not a life of depression? Now that I have opened up a bright road for the children of the clan, the children of the clan must also walk on it in an upright manner. I can give you a favor today."
While everyone was waiting quietly, Zhu Houcong paused and then said: "If a vassal produces a Jinshi or an academician of the Hanlin Academy, it will still be a prince, and the next generation will not be demoted; if it is a prince or below, the next generation will not be demoted.
.If there are two people from that domain, they can be promoted to the next level, and so on."
The hearts of all the vassal kings were shocked.
After the rules of being demoted to a higher rank were established, ministers could still think of ways to perform meritorious service, but the clan had no choice but to continue to be demoted from generation to generation.
Now, the emperor has given them new hope.
Even though those who belong to the clan can only serve as civil servants, and the ceiling for promotion is obvious, but this requires the kings to do a good job as the head of the family with higher salary and better business opportunities. Just like the poets and calligraphers
It is the same as jinshi who are trained from generation to generation. Whichever branch cultivates talents, the head of the family will make a profit.
Even if you are demoted to a county king, if you train two Jinshi, will you become a prince again?
Zhu Houcong smiled and looked at them to thank them.
Jinshi, as the most high-end "Seventh Grade Examination", will definitely become more and more difficult in the future. After all, the general "civil service" exams will only be the national exam, nicknamed the Eighth Grade Examination, and the provincial exam, the Ninth Grade Examination.
Being from a clan, it is naturally impossible for them to be exposed to military affairs. They will naturally ask the emperor's opinion when it comes to official selection and promotion. But for the bottom of the clan, it is a way out, and the clan heads of each vassal will also do so for the sake of their own rank.
Choose to fund training.
If a Jinshi can really emerge from the clan, he must be someone with extraordinary intelligence.
There are bound to be few such people, so the total burden on the clan is still controllable.
In any case, Zhu Houcong must try his best to change the bad environment that they can do business by relying on their clan status, and naturally he must give guidance separately.
In the matter of the Grand Arena, the princes and brothers engaged in business fraud, and the fines were closed.
Compared with the punishments meted out to Yan Shifan and Zhang Rong, the punishment for the clan was much lighter. But only Cui Yuan knew that this case would be published in Ming Pao to alert the middle and low-level clan members who did not need to follow the vassal king to Beijing. .
Prince Rui in the Palace of Qianqing was silent the whole time, watching the emperor calmly beat and win over the vassal king's heart.
His mood was complicated. He knew that the queen mother had some deep-seated resentment towards the emperor, and she still vaguely hoped for certain possibilities. Originally, she would not have thought so. But after experiencing the emperor using their mother and son as bait , after experiencing the fear during that period of rebellion, she began to think this way.
It's just that Prince Rui now knows very well that there is no chance as long as this imperial uncle is still in power.
He is a man who has already caught up with Taizu Taizong in both civil and martial arts.
Prince Rui was worried about his mother's performance in Kunning Palace. With such an identity and experience, the young Prince Rui was actually much more mature than his mother.
The atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace became more and more harmonious, and the emperor and the kings chatted with each other. When chatting with the young Prince Rui, he asked about his recent studies.
"Reporting to your Majesty, your Majesty has given me the homework that my nephew has been doing diligently." Zhu Zaiyan replied respectfully.
In the complicated eyes of other kings, Zhu Houcong nodded: "Zai Yan, you, like the prince and the king of Yue, were taught by me personally. I hope you study hard. If you pass the imperial examination in the future, I will issue an edict to pardon you. My biological father’s family conspired to commit treason in the past.”
The young man Zhu Zaiyan's mind finally moved, and his eyes were slightly red: "My nephew, thank you for your kindness! My nephew will definitely study hard."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, his biological father and mother were still imprisoned within the high wall, and he was the stepson of the late emperor. He had a resentful mother and queen, but he also had an emperor-teacher who really regarded him as his student over the years.
Zhu Zaiyan, who was caught in so many multiple identities, was not cheerful, and his feelings for the emperor were very complicated.
Zhu Houcong knew that their feelings towards him were very complicated, and there must be many rights and wrongs in the past and in the future.
But his eyes and gaze will not stay suspicious of these trivial aspects for a long time. For him, just do what he thinks is right.
At night, Qianqing Palace is brightly lit and bustling.
Zhu Houcong caught a glimpse of the loneliness in Lin Qingping's eyes and comforted him softly: "After the New Year, Zai'an will return to Beijing."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, she, as a mother, misses her son who is far away in Yunnan.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is not just a Han Chinese festival on the grassland.
Now, he was just looking at the richer information that he had collected from Tibet over the past six months.
In ten months, Ming Dynasty's powerful southern expedition defeated the armies of the three divisions.
There are more powerful cannons and more cannons that can be mounted on vehicles.
These are all fine, as the Han people’s firearms are inherently powerful.
What makes Anda feel cold is how the Han people prepared food, grass, military supplies and other logistics by surprise in the dangerous mountains and rivers.
During the Mongolian Yuan Expedition to the South in the past, he still remembered the records handed down from his clan. He knew how difficult it was.
It is not that the chieftains in Yunnan have no contact with the outside world. The chieftains in outer Yunnan should definitely know about the preparations of the Han people. But this time, were they insufficiently prepared and defeated by a sneak attack, or were they actually well-prepared and were really overwhelmed?
defeated?
In the border market on the other side of Duoyan, the Khan Court was even closer. When the Tumote tribe passed by, they always said that it had been bought by the Khan Court.
Do you want the Tumote tribe to rob the Khan's cavalry now and intensify the conflict?
In the past three years, apart from helping Gunbilik conquer Qinghai, Anda has only been wiping out the remaining small Oara tribe in the northwest of Tumote and training the combat power of his generals.
Gunbilik no longer had any ambition to make progress. Although he played and sang every night, his body was still able to endure it.
"Is Hua Dang really dead?" Ida asked.
"He is indeed dead. Now in the Duoyan tribe, it is his grandson Gramtai who is in charge."
Ida nodded: "After three years, Duoyan Department should have become a lot richer. This year, let's go to Daning!"
"Khan, the Khan Court and the Ming people..."
"We can't just wait like this. After Tang Shunzhi went to Shaanxi, Gunbilik was not willing to plunder easily. He only dared to force Turpan and the old Wala tribe in the west. He went to Daning to rob the Duoyan tribe. Ruona San
The whole country was completely annexed by the Han people, and the Khan Court and Yongshebu bordered them."
I made up my mind: "Let Man Shou Bald, who pretends to be Chahar, pretend better. Give him all the flags and attire left by the people who rescued Chahar!"
This operation does not require too many people, just looting.
The grassland is vast and Daning is among the mountains. There are opportunities if you calculate with your heart but not with care.
Huadang had just died, Gramtai was young, and his attention was within the tribe.
The rural examinations of the Ming Dynasty have begun, and the governors of the provinces and the envoy Zuo are preparing to leave for Beijing. Their three-year major national policy meeting is also a special period for the handover of many prominent positions, and it is probably difficult to take care of the outside world in time.
Wang Zhi got on the sea ship to Malacca, while Yan Shifan was still on the way.
The young Gramtai did not know that a sneak attack was brewing against his Duoyan department. He was preparing for the last two trips to Dabian before winter. When winter comes, the mountains will be closed by heavy snow, and money will be reduced.
Every family hopes that he, the leader of the tribe, will benefit them.
North of the border wall, I am preparing.
The southern wind has just begun to blow, and the cold in the northern desert has arrived again.