prosperous age

"The matter of Zonglu is too great to be unprecedented in our time."

Wei Guangde murmured to himself, but then a thought struck him.

Zhang Juzheng never mentioned it earlier or later, so it's only now that he's bringing up the matter of the imperial clan alone; he must have some ulterior motives.

With the imperial court's revenue secured, could he be planning to use this opportunity to finalize the Zonglu system?

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhang Juzheng and said with a wry smile, "Uncle, I have no ideas, but I wonder if you do?"

"Hehe, since the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns, it has been revealed that local provinces are unable to pay the stipends of the imperial princes, and this was especially true during the Jiajing reign."

I remember that Hanlin Academician Huo Tao once submitted a memorial saying that tax revenue was limited, but the demand for official stipends was endless. How could this be sustained in a few decades?

Afterwards, Guan Huaili, the supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Ouyang Duo, the vice minister of the Ministry of Works, and Lin Run, the censor, all submitted memorials one after another, which led to Li Gongxiu's compilation of the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan".

However, I remember that when Li Gong was revising the manuscript, he lamented that if the imperial edict Lin's advice to restrict the Zonglu (a system of official salary and benefits) was not followed, things could get out of control.

While Zhang Juzheng was reminiscing about the past, Wei Guangde noticed that Zhang Juzheng said Lin Run had mentioned restricting Zonglu.

There is one thing that many people in later generations may not know: the problem of the imperial edicts in the Ming Dynasty actually originated in the Jiajing period.

Although local governments sought assistance from the imperial court during the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns due to their inability to pay imperial stipends, this was still an occasional and isolated phenomenon at the time.

The real outbreak of the nationwide problem of imperial stipends originated in the Jiajing reign, when most provinces with princely residences were found to be unable to pay their stipends and began to try every means to delay payment.

Wei Guangde had roughly guessed Zhang Juzheng's plan. With taxes expected to increase significantly next year, if a solution to the issue of stipends for the imperial princes was not found soon, a large amount of tax revenue would be taken away by the princes in various regions.

Well, officials in the Ming Dynasty were actually naturally indifferent to the disgraced princes.

Although I feel sorry for some of them who have no means of livelihood, I would never use government funds to support them.

Lin Run's proposal to limit Zong Lu was probably Zhang Juzheng's idea.

Based on the imperial stipends that the court should have paid in the past two years, with no increase or decrease, the stipends will be distributed within this total amount, no matter how many members of the imperial clan there are in the future.

However, since Zhang Juzheng did not make it clear, Wei Guangde could not interject.

Sure enough, Zhang Juzheng then began to explain his ideas.

Following Lin Run's suggestion, the previous year's imperial stipend was used as a benchmark, and the stipend was converted into rice and distributed as a permanent amount. This stipend would remain unchanged regardless of any increase or decrease in the imperial clan's population, thus completely resolving the issue of the imperial stipend and allowing each branch of the imperial clan to distribute it as they saw fit.

As Wei Guangde listened to Zhang Juzheng's eloquent speech, he merely glanced at him casually.

Was Zhang Juzheng's method good?

This was certainly good for the Ming Dynasty court, but its implementation was another matter entirely.

What good is setting a total amount if the local area has no money, or if the money is used for agricultural purposes and there is no money left to pay? What can the royal family do?
The problem of absolutely failing to pay the royal family's stipends was a major obstacle.

The root cause of this phenomenon can be summed up in one sentence: the royal family has no power.

Under a unified dynastic system, power ultimately determines the allocation of social resources.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang established a very generous salary system for the imperial clan, he did not give them much power.

Or perhaps they were granted some power, but Zhu Di took it away from them.

Especially after Zhu Di reduced the power of the princes, the imperial clansmen neither controlled the military nor the government and finances. Why should they expect the government, which was controlled by civil officials, to allocate large sums of money to the imperial clansmen's stipends every year?
During the Ming Dynasty, the stipends of members of the imperial family were not directly distributed by the central government, but were instead distributed by the various provinces.

The Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue was divided into "transported funds" and "retained funds." "Transported funds" were sent to the central government, while "retained funds" were the portion that remained in local areas.

The imperial stipends were always paid from the "reserved" portion. Whether members of the imperial clan could receive their stipends, and how much they could receive, depended on the attitude of local officials.

In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, even the emperor's tax officials dared to default on large amounts of payments, let alone the salaries of the emperor's relatives.

When Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he granted a general amnesty and issued an edict appointing the crown prince, which included the exemption of previous taxes.

Local officials colluded with gentry and powerful clans to delay tax payments under various pretexts, failing to pay taxes to the imperial court on time. They would wait for a major event to occur in the court, when an imperial decree would be issued granting exemptions, thus clearing up the debts.

Local authorities dare not do this now, unless they don't want to keep their official positions, because Zhang Juzheng has put a tight rein on them, namely the performance evaluation system.

Officials who fail to remit tax silver on time are all judged as incompetent, meaning they are assessed as inferior. Such officials are lucky if they are demoted and reappointed; most are simply dismissed from office.

In fact, according to Zhang Juzheng's method, as long as the arrears of official salaries were included in the performance evaluation system, all the problems would be solved.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of the bureaucratic system can understand that anything with regulations but no performance evaluation will inevitably be abandoned very quickly.

If the stipends of members of the imperial clan are not included in performance evaluations, then they will inevitably become worthless and undesirable.

Wei Guangde was unsure whether Zhang Juzheng had considered this issue when establishing the performance evaluation system, or whether he had deliberately overlooked it. In any case, Wei Guangde could sense that Zhang Juzheng's motives were impure.

That makes sense, the imperial court is already struggling, why should it spend money to support these parasites?

"What does Shan Dai think of drastically revising the 'Regulations for the Imperial Clan'?"

Meanwhile, Zhang Juzheng had already said everything he wanted to say, and before the court's taxes increased significantly, he revised the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan" to include the stipends for the imperial clan, thereby eliminating any subsequent impact on the court's finances.

“Uncle, this matter is feasible, but the current rice stipends are actually a heavy burden on the imperial court. Based on the current situation, some provinces still cannot afford it and need to transfer funds from other provinces.”

Wei Guangde sighed.

"Ugh"

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said with a wry smile, "How could I not know what you're saying? Is there any way to stop it? Unless we pay tribute again, but Zonglu has already paid tribute enough, we can't pay tribute again."

"I remember that when Li Gong was alive, he also said that when he was revising the 'Regulations on the Imperial Clan,' he had already discovered many problems. However, this matter was of great importance, and because the late emperor was too old to manage affairs, the task could not be completed."

If my elder brother truly intends to overhaul the regulations, these problems left over from the past will likely all need to be resolved. In doing so, it's inevitable that some benefits will be gained for the imperial clan; otherwise, chaos will ensue.

Wei Guangde was reminding us not to suppress the imperial clansmen indiscriminately. Things are different now than at the beginning of the dynasty, especially after the case of Prince Ning. Which of the imperial clansmen in the country still has the thought or ability to rebel?

Of course, everyone has their own interests, and there might be some hot-headed vassal kings who want to rebel, but they will only be a minority.

Most of the feudal lords have already been raised like pigs, and there is no need to continue suppressing them.

If they are not suppressed, they will naturally be released. In Wei Guangde's view, it would be a good idea to separate ambitious people from the imperial clan by revising the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan".

In fact, the Jiajing Emperor had already opened the door to allow members of the imperial family to participate in the imperial examinations, but so far no one has registered.

It wasn't that there were no scholars among the imperial family, but rather that although the court allowed the imperial examinations, it failed to provide detailed conditions. In essence, it was just a statement without implementation rules, making it mere empty talk that never truly took root.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde continued, "Whenever you think about why the late emperor formulated these 'Regulations on the Imperial Clan,' have you ever considered it, Uncle?"

"Ok?"

Zhang Juzheng looked up at Wei Guangde and said in a low voice, "It's to restrict the imperial clansmen."

"That's right, but by the Jiajing era, the power of the imperial clans had already greatly weakened. The late emperor certainly did not commission Li Gong to revise the regulations in order to further weaken them."

Ultimately, it was about thinking about the future of the royal family and finding ways to solve the problems within the royal family.

However, by then, the late emperor was already dying, which is why Li Gong said he had not yet fulfilled his duty.

Wei Guangde continued, "I think the details of the openings can be described in detail during this major overhaul."

"Oh, what aspects does Shandai think need to be changed?"

Zhang Juzheng's expression remained unchanged as he asked the question.

"Firstly, allowing members of the imperial clan to serve in official positions or to form separate branches of the clan are both feasible methods."

The imperial clan members were allowed to participate in the imperial examinations and become officials, or they could separate from the imperial clan and become commoners. The court would then allocate official land and residences to them according to their titles to settle the matter.

Secondly, the rule that marriages among members of the imperial clan were limited to those from nearby areas and that they could not marry officials in the capital, which was changed to apply only to the individuals themselves and did not involve their family members, was also revised.

Wei Guangde began to list out many unfair regulations against the imperial clan, many of which had been raised by officials in the court before, especially regarding marriage.

Ultimately, many of the imperial clan's daughters were also outstanding. As the saying goes, a beautiful and virtuous woman is sought after by gentlemen, and naturally, the sons of scholarly families also had their own ideas.

However, starting with Emperor Xuanzong, although he ordered members of the imperial family to marry into respectable families, he prohibited relatives of the imperial family from holding official positions. In other words, officials could not marry members of the imperial family unless they were willing to resign from their posts.

In this way, while the plot to strengthen the power of the imperial family and officials through marriage was cut off, the possibility of marriage between scholarly families and the imperial family was also completely blocked.

Marrying into the imperial family meant that one's own family would be barred from taking the imperial examinations, and one can imagine how serious the consequences would be.

Since the Hongzhi reign, officials have repeatedly submitted memorials arguing that this practice was outdated and cut off opportunities for talented individuals to enter the court.

They proposed revising Emperor Xuanzong's policy so that only the person who married into the family could not hold an official position, while other sons and relatives would not be subject to the restriction.

However, the court never approved this well-intentioned suggestion for amendment, and it was not changed even when Li Chunfang compiled the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan".

Otherwise, he wouldn't have said before that the marriage partners of imperial princes were mostly "bad people" from the local areas. How could a good family possibly marry into a princely family? That would be ruining their future.

Wei Guangde focused on stimulating members of the imperial clan to voluntarily withdraw from the clan and reclaim their imperial genealogy, so he talked a lot about how to attract members of the imperial clan to withdraw.

The Ming Dynasty's imperial family title system was a hierarchical system established by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It was centered on the title of prince to the emperor's sons, and was further divided into titles such as prince of the second rank, general of the state, and lieutenant of the state, based on blood relations.

Male members of the imperial clan inherited their titles, while female members of the imperial clan were granted titles such as princess, county princess, and county lady according to their seniority, and their spouses enjoyed corresponding titles such as consort and imperial attendant.

The titles of nobility were strictly correlated with the rank of stipends. A prince's stipend was 10,000 shi of grain per year, a duke's stipend was 2,000 shi, and the lowest stipend was 200 shi for a lieutenant in charge of the state. The stipends of female members of the imperial clan decreased according to their rank.

In fact, the Manchu Qing dynasty, which replaced the Ming dynasty, also had a system of hereditary titles for members of the imperial clan, and Wei Guangde had actually paid attention to it back then.

While I wouldn't presume to say I know everything in detail, this information can still serve as a reference.

In Wei Guangde's view, although the Qing Dynasty's system of hereditary titles was not perfect, it was still more advanced than the Ming Dynasty's system. However, due to differences in national conditions, adjustments were necessary.

For example, the Ming Dynasty restricted the power of the imperial clan, but the Qing Dynasty did not have such requirements. Many members of the imperial clan held real power and even led troops in the field.

The Qing Dynasty continued to implement the system of titles of king, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron, and also followed the system of the Jin Dynasty where princes held official positions in the capital.

A vassal king who does not reside in a vassal state does not have a title or land.

The Qing Dynasty's noble titles were divided into titles for members of the imperial family, titles for meritorious officials of different surnames, and titles for Mongolians.

The titles of nobility for members of the imperial family were divided into twelve ranks, with several levels in each rank.

The twelve ranks can be roughly divided into super-grade and grade: super-grade: Prince, Prince of the Second Rank, Beile, Beizi, Duke, General.

The imperial clan titles were divided into twelve ranks, which were only granted to the descendants of Aisin Gioro. They were: Prince of the First Rank, Prince of the Second Rank, Prince of the Third Rank, Prince of the Fourth Rank, Prince of the Fifth Rank, Prince of the Sixth Rank, Duke of the Fourth Rank, Duke of the Fifth Rank, Duke of the Sixth Rank, General of the State, General of the State, General of the State, and General of the State.

What caught Wei Guangde's attention the most was that the titles of the imperial family members would automatically be reduced by one rank with each generation. For example, if a prince died, his son would be reduced to a county prince, and his grandson would be reduced to a beile, and so on.

Those below the rank of Feng'en General are called idle members of the imperial clan, treated as fourth-rank officials. However, princes who are granted titles due to their military merits during the founding of the dynasty or due to special favor can inherit their titles indefinitely. Those who retain their princely titles for generations are called "Iron-Cap Princes".

During the Qing Dynasty, there were a total of twelve hereditary princes: Prince Li, Prince Rui, Prince Yu, Prince Guan, Prince Zhuang, Prince Su, Prince Yi, Prince Gong, Prince Chun, Prince Qing, and two princes, Prince Shuncheng and Prince Keqin.

From the very beginning, the Ming Dynasty established the titles of princes and nobles, which could be passed down through generations. This meant that no matter how the system was changed, the Ming imperial family would always have more princely titles, and the entire imperial family would be established based on this.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, apart from the hereditary princes, there were no princes of the imperial clan.

After all, the title is passed down from generation to generation. Even if the previous generation is a prince, the next generation will only have the title of a county prince, and the next generation will be a beile, until they are reduced to the lowest rank.

Wei Guangde spoke in a thoughtful tone, explaining his idea of ​​demoting members of the imperial clan to the lowest rank of Fengguo Lieutenant. Zhang Juzheng's face first showed surprise, then he gently shook his head.

“The method of lending is good, but it is no longer appropriate.”

After saying this, Zhang Juzheng sighed deeply and said, "If things were like this at the beginning of the dynasty, reforms could still be implemented, but what about today?"

After a long silence, Zhang Juzheng spoke again: "Besides, His Majesty also has his own selfish motives. Who wouldn't want their son to have a higher title?"

Wei Guangde didn't mention any "iron-capped princes." The Ming Dynasty prohibited members of the imperial family from commanding troops, so there was no way they could accumulate military merits to become an iron-capped prince. The only opportunity was during the early years of the dynasty.

"To demote the title of nobility, alas, if it had been a hundred years earlier, perhaps it could have been changed."

"You're destroying the foundation of the Prince's mansion; it will only bring disaster. Never again speak such words."

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and continued, "You previously suggested compensating the imperial clan members and encouraging them to voluntarily separate from the clan, which is feasible. You could also allocate them land, transfer them to civilian status, or have them participate in the imperial examinations or engage in business. I think some of them would be willing to do so."

There's also the matter of removing restrictions on the career paths of relatives by marriage within the royal family; limiting it to just one person would be worth trying, but it mainly requires the approval of the inner court.

Zhang Juzheng was well aware of the shady dealings involved; even lower-ranking members of the imperial clan faced difficulties in finding husbands, let alone marrying off their daughters.

Among them, the Ministry of Rites and the eunuchs of the inner court wielded immense power.

It's quite a spectacle that someone born into wealth and privilege could only marry a commoner who could afford to pay the price. (End of Chapter)