Chapter two hundred and seventieth: the first step in the reform of the suzerainty
Hearing this, Shu Liang continued to speak.
"According to King Guangtong, the reason why this thing disappeared was actually because King Lao Min was afraid that the matter would implicate him, so he secretly sent someone to intervene."
"He first used money to seal the mouths of those who attended the banquet that day, and then sent people to steal the poems. After the court officials arrived, he used some tricks to fool the matter."
Zhu Qiyu's heart moved, as if he thought of something, and he thought about it.
"This poem is so crucial. Zhu Huiyan must have watched it closely and even carried it close to his body. This matter also involves the safety of Prince Min's palace, and the news must not be leaked."
"So, the person who takes action must first be reliable and not leak secrets. Secondly, he must have a certain status in Prince Min's Palace, and at least be able to approach Zhu Huiyan at any time."
Shu Liang nodded and said.
"Your Majesty is wise. The person who stole the poem was none other than the Su family who was in charge of the affairs in the backyard of Prince Min's Mansion at that time. She was also the biological mother of the two Princes of Guangtong."
So that's it. After saying this, Zhu Qiyu completely understood what happened back then.
King Lao Min was worried that the fight between his two sons would implicate him, so he had to stop it, so he asked Su to steal the key evidence poem.
Su Shi may have the idea of killing two birds with one stone, or he may simply want to keep this thing to threaten Zhu Huixun.
In short, after she stole it, she did not give the real poems to King Lao Min, but secretly hid them herself.
This can also explain why Zhu Huixun always targeted his concubine, and even forced her to death in the end.
I'm afraid that Zhu Huixuan discovered something.
Or maybe Su wanted to get some benefit from him, but instead he was preempted.
And this thing, after Su's death, naturally fell into the hands of King Guangtong.
However, with Zhu Huiyan's lessons learned, they did not dare to take this thing out rashly.
Now that Zhu Qiyu summoned the clan to Beijing, King Guangtong felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and was ready to take this opportunity to bring down King Zhennan and avenge his mother.
This twists and turns and bizarre plot cannot be compiled in any folk script.
After thinking about this, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but sneered and said.
"It's really a big show! The imperial court provides such a huge salary every year to support these clans, but they do these messy things day by day!"
Seeing that the emperor was not in a good mood, Shu Liang became more cautious and asked.
"Your Majesty, now that the matter has been cleared up, Prince Guangtong and his two brothers are going to cause trouble tomorrow. Do you want to do something to stop them?"
After hearing Shu Liang's question, Zhu Qiyu pondered for a moment, shook his head and said calmly.
"No, there is no need to do anything. If they want to make trouble, let them make trouble. Let the King of Zhennan know that my sword is not so easy to borrow."
These brothers in Prince Min's Mansion each have their own evil intentions.
King Guangtong and King Yangzong plotted to overthrow King Zhennan because of their hatred of their biological mothers.
King Jiangchuan seemed cowardly and incompetent and stayed out of the matter, but if King Zhennan fell, the throne of the crown prince would eventually go to him, the third son of a concubine.
As for the King of Zhennan, he holds the power of the Min Palace, but he wants to use the help of Dongchang to deal with King Guangtong and King Yangzong.
All of them had good calculations. They simply regarded the capital as a dojo for them to fight, and they didn't take him as the emperor to heart at all.
In this case, let them suffer a lot!
Don't you want to make a fuss? Then let's make a fuss. The bigger the fuss, the better.
When the clan came to Beijing this time, ministers from other dynasties felt that it was Zhu Qiyu who wanted to establish his orthodox status in the clan.
But only Zhu Qiyu knew that this was not his main purpose. His real plan was to open a way out for the clans that had been restricted by various imperial edicts of several generations of emperors.
A large part of the reason why Ming Dynasty was eventually brought down was that Zong Lu occupied a considerable part of the national tax revenue.
Taizu's positioning of the clan was originally to entrust and protect the country, so he gave the clan great power and high treatment.
But after the Jingnan incident, Emperor Taizong himself was the vassal king and raised troops, so he naturally wanted to prevent other clans from repeating the same tactics.
Therefore, he cut off the military power and political power of each clan, and even restricted the ability to go out for hunting out of the city.
As a result, the power of the clan was reduced to the minimum, and the obligations that needed to be fulfilled were also reduced to the minimum. Only high salaries were retained, which became a huge drag on the country.
It must be said that it is not that no courtiers saw the harm to the country's finances, but it was very troublesome to solve it.
The emperors Taizong, Renzong, and Xuanzong had strict restrictions on the clan.
As the saying goes, one must not predict the fortunes of the four peoples. Officials will never be able to do so, and farmers and merchants will not be able to communicate with each other.
To put it clearly, no business, no imperial examination, no work, no farming are allowed.
In short, in one sentence, most of the ways that can support one's own livelihood are not allowed to be pursued.
Well, since the imperial court does not allow them to do anything, they must spend money to support them. We cannot let the descendants of the Zhu family starve to death.
You know, from a national perspective, the emperor is the king.
But from a clan point of view, the emperor is the patriarch of the Zhu family and is responsible for the Zhu family members.
So this is actually a dilemma!
To solve the problem of the clan, one must do what Emperor Taizu did to the founding fathers, with one word: cut!
This was also the method used by Emperor Jianwen. He found a crime and sent a bunch of clan members to Fengyang High Wall, which was quick and effective.
But the result...
In addition, if you want to solve the clan's problems, you must first loosen the shackles around their necks.
They must be allowed to have a way to make a living on their own, and not to mention reducing the clan salary. Otherwise, simply restricting the clan's salary will only follow the old path of Emperor Jianwen.
So in fact, Zhu Qiyu summoned the clan to Beijing this time, which can be regarded as a good intention. He intended to loosen the shackles on the heads of the clan, especially the lower-level clan members.
This is also the reason why he summoned so many low-level clans into the capital.
But it should be noted that any reform is not that simple to implement.
To break this shackles, apart from the disputes at court, the biggest obstacle is actually the vassal kings everywhere!
In fact, it would be difficult for Zhu Qiyu to believe it if he had not personally seen the reform measures for vassal kings in the late Ming Dynasty.
The people who were most opposed to opening up the clan to engage in other industries, or even to participate in the imperial examinations, were actually none other than the princes within the clan.
There is never a shortage of smart people in this world.
For these princes and princes, it doesn't matter whether they can engage in other industries.
You know, although Emperor Taizong gave various restrictions to the clan, they still had privileges.
In addition to the extremely high salary, the clan also has extremely high privileges above the prison.
First of all, the Ming Law does not apply to the clan.
This point is clearly written into the ancestral precepts of Emperor Ming Dynasty.
When the clan commits a crime, the local officials have no right to interrogate, arrest, or impose punishment. They can only report to the imperial court, and the imperial court will summon the clan to the capital for trial by the Third Division.
If it is determined that he is guilty, the three divisions have no power to impose punishment and can only give their opinions, which will be judged by the emperor himself.
Not only that, the Ming Dynasty had the system of "Eight Discussions", among which "Yiyi Qin" refers to the relatives of the emperor and the country.
Therefore, when it comes to oppressing the common people and doing evil things, the clans basically do it unscrupulously.
The only things that can really do anything to the clan are the so-called unforgivable "ten evils" and serious violations of ethics and morals.
With high royal salary support and extremely high immunity from criminal laws, many high-ranking clans actually lived a very happy life in the local area.
Especially the princes and princes from all over the country, they cheered each other up when they went out, and they had lovable wives and concubines when they came in. They had no intention to change the clan policy at all.
Those who really need a way to make a living are those low-level clans who are large in number but have little say.
This point, in fact, has already begun to take shape at this time.
Taizu first conferred several vassal states, including the King of Jin, the King of Chu, the King of Zhou, and the King of Lu. Because they were established early, they have now extended to the sixth or even seventh generation, and the number is very large.
The salaries of clans in various places are not allocated by the court, but are directly provided by local taxes.
The local government must not only ensure the tax revenue for the court, but also provide the clan's salary, which is bound to be stretched.
As a result, with the tacit approval of the imperial court, the local government began to quietly reduce the supply to the clan.
They did not dare to offend high-level clans such as princes and princes, and at most they would use other things as bribes. But for lower-level clans, they were blatant and "owed" them first.
This resulted in the lower-level clans being restricted by the imperial court and unable to make a living on their own. At the same time, they could not get their due salary, and their lives were quite poor.
Therefore, they are the most urgent, hoping that the imperial court can relax the restrictions on the clan, but unfortunately, they have no say in the imperial court.
As for those high-level clans with the right to speak, not only do they not want to let go of this restriction, but they are trying their best to maintain it.
Because they knew clearly that once the imperial court opened the way for clan members to make a living on their own, what would follow would inevitably be a reduction in clan salaries.
Therefore, they would rather maintain the local government's secretive salary reduction, and when they are forced to do so, they would report to the court to accuse the local officials, rather than cooperate with the court's reforms.
Regarding the reform of the clan, the earlier the better, because the longer it is delayed, the more vassal kings will be added.
More importantly, the further the dynasty developed, the more severely the emperor was restricted by the ancestral precepts.
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu actually had his own plan for the clan issue.
First of all, there is no need to rush. If the clan salary is reduced and the few remaining privileges of the clan are abolished, fierce opposition will definitely arise.
These clan members are not good at anything, but they are good at making trouble.
Not to mention, Zhu Qiyu's position is actually not that stable now.
There is an empress dowager in the palace, an empress dowager in Yibei, and an eldest nephew who is waiting to succeed to the throne.
Therefore, this matter must be done step by step.
When summoning the clan to Beijing this time, Zhu Qiyu actually planned to do two things.
The first thing is to relax the restrictions on lower-level clans taking imperial examinations, which can be regarded as a small opening.
Then, restrictions on their participation in other industries will be gradually relaxed.
In this way, these low-level clan members who do not receive much salary can find a way to make a living.
Another thing is to establish specialized religious studies for high-level clans.
If the liberalization of imperial examination restrictions was copied by Zhu Qiyu based on the reforms of the late Ming Dynasty, then Zongxue was a new measure he further developed and tried based on the reforms of the late Ming Dynasty.
During the Jiajing period, there was a major reform of the clan, and the establishment of clan schools was one of the measures.
However, this sect appears to be too conservative, and it is just because the clan members are too domineering that it has had a serious impact on local security.
Therefore, it was established to teach the clan members to be loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and self-satisfied.
In Zhu Qiyu's view, religious studies can play a greater role.
His plan was to establish the religious school in the capital.
Those who enroll are divided into two categories. One category is the legitimate sons and concubines of the princes' palaces and the crown princes of the county princes' palace.
In the future, these people will eventually have the position of county king, for the sake of local stability.
From the age of ten to the age of fifteen, they must receive at least five years of religious education. The content is to inculcate the concept of serving the country and the people, being loyal to the monarch and structuring the country, so that they can accept the next reforms as much as possible.
At the same time, put them in the capital for a period of time to cultivate their character and lay the foundation for the stability of the place in the future.
This is also the original role of religion.
However, following the lessons learned from the Jiajing Dynasty, Zhu Qiyu decided this time to link Zongxue with the imperial conferment on them.
To put it simply, when students graduate from Zongxue, a comprehensive assessment will be conducted on their performance and academic performance during their stay in Beijing.
If they fail to pass the exam, the imperial court will not cancel their title, but will only allow them to continue studying in religious schools until they pass the exam.
On the other hand, Zongxue will also accept the admission of children from Fuchu who are above the rank of General Fuguo.
This is the highlight.
The purpose of enrolling these people is, more importantly, to cultivate their talents. After graduation, if any of them have outstanding talents, they can be allowed to enter the court and serve as officials.
Of course, once they entered the court and became officials, they lost their status as clan members and could only receive official salaries.
The clans below the level of the county king and above the auxiliary general can only be regarded as middle-level clans.
Although their salaries are not low, they are often cut off by local officials. When they cannot engage in other industries, most of the time they have to look at the local officials' faces.
Therefore, if there is such a way to get promoted, one can get rid of these many shackles, even if the salary is not as high as before.
Some of them will also be willing to give up their clan status.
Such a two-pronged approach can be regarded as the first step to liberalize the clan's entry into official positions, and only then can there be subsequent restrictive measures regarding the clan.
Otherwise, there will be policies but no implementation, and they will end up being empty talk.
But even this first step is not so easy to implement.
The reason why Zhu Qiyu attaches so much importance to King Min is because, among all the existing clans, he is the leader of all the kings.
Even though I did a lot of ridiculous things in my early years, I still have the capital to survive to this day.
At least among the current Zhu family, there is no one older than him.
If you want to promote the reform of the clan, it will definitely be much smoother with his help.
However, to put it bluntly, this matter is actually against most of the feudal kings, especially the examination of religious studies.
Although it does not touch their real interests, it can be regarded as adding a layer of conditions to the subsequent attack.
Therefore, King Lao Min may not be willing to come forward to do this.
Zhu Qiyu's original confidence was actually based on the ancestral teachings of Huang Ming.
As we all know, the old King Min was a stubborn and face-saving guy. Emperor Taizong was relatively calm at the time. After Emperor Taizong passed away, he often used the teachings of Emperor Ming's ancestors to talk about things and took away many privileges from the court.
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The ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming Dynasty actually stated that members of the clan below the general level could serve as officials in the dynasty.
However, this standard is very vague and simply refers to "those with outstanding talents".
The real rule prohibiting clan members from entering the court as officials was set by Emperor Taizong.
But this has changed somewhat.
However, based on this alone, the certainty is not great. Zhu Qiyu originally prepared other means, but now it seems that they are no longer needed.
With this thought in mind, Xing'an came in to report.
"Your Majesty, Luan Jia is ready. Eunuch Cheng has just sent news that several elders have arrived outside the palace. It will take at least half a cup of tea before they can enter the palace."
So Zhu Qiyu calmed down his thoughts and gave instructions.