I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Zhang Weixian was shocked when he heard this and secretly thought how could this be done? The ministers in the DPRK would definitely not agree.

But after thinking about it, he felt calm. After all, the emperor had spoken shocking words so many times that he was already a little numb.

As the leader of the nobles, he naturally understands the current situation of the nobles and understands the emperor's intentions.

The status of nobles in the Ming Dynasty is very high, but their number is very small. There are many nobles since Taizu and Chengzu who have no heirs.In addition, after the Yingzong Tumu Fort Incident, many nobles also died in battle. Since then, the strength of the nobles has been greatly reduced, and they have been suppressed by civil servants. They usually appear during the emperor's succession and court ceremonial ceremonies. Brush your face.

It can be said that although Xungui has a high status now, he is only a foil in the Ming court, not the protagonist.

Zhang Weixian is also a smart man. Now after listening to the emperor's words, he can clearly feel the emperor's support for the nobles since he ascended the throne.

Although there was a farce of turmoil in the Beijing camp at the beginning, many nobles were implicated.However, he selected many noble sons to re-enter the capital camp to serve.At the same time, he reused himself, from his previous empty post to the military minister who handled major military and national affairs. Zhang Weixian relied on the reform of the Beijing camp to take charge of the Beijing camp and send troops to fight.

This was something that the nobles had never dared to think about before, but the emperor was able to push this matter forward.

Now, based on this, the emperor wants to further reform the honorary system and canonize a large number of new honorable persons.

Only then did Zhang Weixian, who had calmed down, understand the reason why the emperor recruited him. He undoubtedly wanted to seek his support in this matter.

Thinking of this, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, and he kept weighing the pros and cons in his mind.After a while, he slowly made up his mind and said to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, the matter of reforming the Lord is of great importance. Naturally, I have no objection. However, I am afraid that if this matter comes out, others will be dissatisfied and opposed."

Zhu Youxiao can naturally understand who the "others" Zhang Weixian refers to.

They are nothing more than civil servants of the imperial court. After all, the power cake in the imperial court is so big, and if there are more people, there will be less share of the cake.

The old nobles have been severely suppressed. Except for a few nobles who can hold real power, the others just enjoy wealth and rank and are of no great use to the court. Civil servants live a very comfortable life.

Now that the new nobles are enthroned, it naturally does not just allow them to enjoy wealth and honor.At that time, I am afraid that the power of civil servants in the court will be eroded, so as soon as my proposal is made, there will be a large number of people who oppose it.

However, Zhu Youxiao has also made preparations for this. Otherwise, why would he let Ye Xianggao be the chief minister? Why hasn't he expanded the cabinet now? Isn't it just to make it easier to pass this matter.

But I am afraid that this matter will make Zhang Weixian and Ye Xianggao cry, and let them bear the infamy.

"The so-called reward of merit with titles. Isn't it normal for the imperial court to confer meritorious officers and give titles to them now? But Ai Qing is right. There will definitely be many people who will object to this matter, but the more this happens, the less they will do it. ?"

After Zhu Youxiao said this, he slowly stood up and looked at Zhang Weixian, and said to him seriously:
"Zhang Aiqing, you are also a noble. Naturally, you know how many years it has been since Ming Dynasty to confer a new noble. Now there are frequent wars. After wiping out the Jianlu, we will soon use troops against Mongolia. At the same time, there are red-haired barbarians in Nanyang who have repeatedly invaded the border. , there will be more places to use troops in the future. If we don’t grant titles to reward merit, how can we grant titles to so many generals? Do they still have to be suppressed?

Therefore, this matter must be done. You go back and discuss this matter with Ye Xianggao. Now that the reward is imminent, you cannot drag your feet. The system must be finalized before the Liaodong army breaks Hetuala and returns to the court for the reward ceremony. Don't delay. "

Seeing that the emperor was so confident, Zhang Weixian did not insist anymore. He immediately nodded in agreement and kept the matter in mind.

So Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything else, and immediately told Zhang Weixian some of his thoughts on the Lord System, and Zhang Weixian quickly went to do it.

After Zhang Weixian returned to the military aircraft office in accordance with the emperor's instructions, he felt extremely uneasy. He knew that this matter was very difficult to handle, and there were many people who could not impeach him.

Therefore, in the Military Aircraft Department, he just thought about it for a while and then got up and went to Wenyuan Pavilion to present the matter to Ye Xianggao.

Ye Xianggao also knew that Zhang Weixian had discussed the reward list with the emperor, thinking that the emperor would just raise objections to some people's arrangements.But when Zhang Weixian found him and told Zhu Youxiao's intentions, he was also shocked.

He never expected that the emperor would actually want to reform the honors system and change the original three levels to the current six levels. This was obviously to expand the number of honors.

Thinking of this, Ye Xianggao immediately stood up and prepared to go to Qianqing Palace to see Zhu Youxiao.But Zhu Youxiao's attitude was the same as before, there was no difference.The annihilation of Jianlu greatly increased the majesty of our Ming Dynasty, which is comparable to the war of annihilation of the country.

It is absolutely unreasonable not to confer the title of general officer. Now it has been expanded to the sixth level. Not only those who have made great contributions can be conferred, but others can also receive the title.

The emperor's righteous words made Ye Xianggao fear that too many titles would lead to the misuse of famous weapons, and he would refute the idea that future titles would not be noble.But Zhu Youxiao had long expected what Ye Xianggao said, and immediately reiterated the statement that those who did not make great contributions would not be rewarded.This is actually a principle reiterated by Zhu Youxiao in order to prevent the title from being abused.In his opinion, even the titles of Duke, Marquis, Uncle, Zi, Nan and Wei were six.Every title is not simply canonized, not even the lowest lieutenant.

For the first three, that is, the three titles of Duke, Marquis and Earl, only those who have made great contributions to the country or destroyed a country can be canonized.As for the three titles of Zinanwei, only those who have made great contributions to the court or on the battlefield are eligible for canonization.Apart from this, no one can be ennobled with a title, not even Zhu Youxiao.

This is a dead rule set by Zhu Youxiao. As the so-called rare thing is valuable, quality is more important than quantity. He does not want the current situation where the future lord will travel everywhere and the emperor can reward his favorite ministers with titles at will.

When Ye Xianggao heard the emperor's explanation, he suddenly felt relieved.

He is most afraid that the emperor will grant titles indiscriminately, which will not only destroy the ecology of the title, but also make the title less and less valuable.Now that the emperor has said this, he can explain it to the others.

In addition, in order to get Ye Xianggao to support his actions, he further explained some of his ideas for formulating the new Lord system while Ye Xianggao was present.

The most important thing is to abolish the practice of hereditary replacement of Ming Dynasty noble titles that Zhu Youxiao hated deeply in the new noble system.

According to the Ming Dynasty system, whether it is a duke, a marquis or an earl, and whether it is a meritorious official or a relative, the titles awarded are divided into "Spider" and "Flower".

The so-called "Speylord" refers to a hereditary and non-replaceable title, which means that this title can be inherited from generation to generation, retired with the country, and this title will not be reduced. Whatever the title is, the descendants will inherit it. title.The "Liujue" is completely different. It is closer to a special official position that cannot be passed on to descendants and will be removed after death.

Logically speaking, these two title systems should exist at the same time.

However, according to Zhu Youxiao's understanding, except for the brother of Empress Xiaozong Zhang, Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling and Jianchang Bo Zhang Yanling, who were granted the title of Liujue, all other titles were Spyker.

In other words, in fact, the dukes, counts and marquises of the Ming Dynasty were all hereditary.Some people will even be awarded a higher title after their death. A duke will be awarded to a county king, a marquis will be awarded to a duke, and an earl will be awarded to a marquis.

This is completely different from the previous practice of hereditary demotion. Therefore, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be the happiest nobles in history.

Basically, except for the few cases where the Hu Weiyong case, the Lan Yu case, the Battle of Jingnan, and the Tumubao Incident were taken away, as well as a very small number of children and grandchildren who committed suicide and were expelled from the title, most of them in history lasted until the end of the Ming Dynasty. , it can be said that we have truly rested with our country.

However, it was this approach that also led to the complete corruption of the nobles, which not only cost the court money and food, but also caused the children and grandchildren to be uneducated, domineering, and arrogant.

Therefore, since Zhu Youxiao wants to implement the new Lord system, he will never continue to implement the hereditary system.

In the new noble system he wants to implement, each level of honors is divided into three levels.

The first is the best, but also the most difficult to obtain, that is, a rank that can be hereditary and replaceable without downgrade. This level is no different from now;
The second type is a knighthood that can be hereditary, but will be demoted every time it is hereditary. In this way, every time it is inherited, it will be demoted once, and the descendants will be expelled as soon as they reach the rank of captain.

The third type is the lowest, that is, "liquid nobility", which can only be awarded to oneself and cannot be passed on to descendants. The nobility will be removed after death.

These three types of nobles are also rewarded by the court in order. The third type of nobles are rewarded first. If they make further contributions, the second type will be rewarded and the hereditary and downgraded titles will be given.As for the first type, it is the most difficult. You must have truly made great contributions to the country and made great contributions to destroying the country before you will be rewarded. Otherwise, you will not be rewarded.

In addition, the number of benevolent heirs, the amount of tax exemptions and other benefits also need to be reformed, and they will definitely not be as generous as before.Zhu Youxiao focuses on the problem of honors and increasing the competitiveness and value of honors.You can't think that everything will be fine and you'll be fine once you become a noble.

Ye Xianggao originally had some objections to the new lord system, but now that he heard the emperor's thoughts, he suddenly understood that the emperor was not just for rewards, but for reforming the lords.

Now this is much better than before, so the resistance is much less.But hearing what the emperor said made him have other thoughts.

"Your Majesty, since this is the case for the new honorary system, does the past honorary system also need to be reformed in this way?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao glanced at Ye Xianggao angrily, although in his heart, establishing a new Lord system was only the first step.With this starting point, it will be much easier in the future whether it is to reform the old nobles or to rectify the same hereditary and neglectful clan.

But he doesn't want to take a big leap just yet. After all, water has to be drank one bite at a time and rice has to be eaten one bite at a time. (End of chapter)