I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Although Zhu Youxiao's words were sincere, British Duke Zhang Weixian still expressed his concerns that not everyone in the clan was so bad.

Zhu Youxiao also agreed with what he said, but now there is no time to distinguish them one by one, otherwise the cucumbers and vegetables will be cold.

"The British Lord's words were timely, but because of this, it is even more important to rectify the black sheep in the clan and prevent them from ruining the reputation of our Ming Dynasty clan."

After answering Zhang Weixian's question, he then looked at Ye Xianggao, wanting to hear Ye Xianggao's true attitude.Seeing this, Ye Xianggao knew that he could no longer hold back and wanted to express his stance, so he handed over his hand and said:
"I think what your Majesty said is true. The lessons of the common people of Qi are right in front of us, and the court cannot turn a deaf ear. The purpose of rectifying the clan is to get rid of the bad apples, which is better for the clan."

"Well said, that's the truth."

Seeing what Ye Xianggao said, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction.British Duke Zhang Weixian felt relieved when the emperor said this, and immediately nodded in agreement.

After the attitude is expressed, the next step is how to reform and rectify.

This is also the purpose why Zhu Youxiao called the two of them here. One of them is a civilian leader and the other is a distinguished leader.Their support and advice are crucial.

"The two beloved ministers, do you have any ideas about reorganizing the clan?"

Zhu Youxiao first looked at Zhang Weixian. He is now in charge of the affairs of the clan and knows the clan affairs best.Therefore, he has the most say in this matter.

"Your Majesty, after I took charge of the clan's office in May, I sorted out the clan genealogy. It was found that the number of clan members currently recorded in the clan genealogy is about 18.

Among these 18 people, 83 people were named princes since Taizu, and 33 were deposed due to excommunication, rebellion, crimes, etc., so there are currently more than [-] vassal kings.In addition to the vassal kings, there are countless others who have been granted the titles of county princes and Fengguo. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are the main force of the clan.

Therefore, the current clan problem is not that there are too many vassal kings, but that there are too many people below the vassal king. These people are not as rich as the vassal king, but they have clan status. Therefore, they use their clan status to sell officials and titles, enrich their own pockets, and run rampant in the countryside. Therefore, to rectify the clan, we must start from the bottom of the clan. "

Zhang Weixian was indeed in charge of the clan's mansion, and he immediately stated that the focus of the clan rectification this time was to start from the bottom clan clan.

Zhu Youxiao can naturally understand this truth. The current influence of the lower-level clan, which has no less than [-], is too bad.If he doesn't take care of it, not only will the number of people in the lower-level clan grow exponentially, increasing the cost of the court, but the status of the clan will also be used as a disaster, which is something he never wants to see.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help complaining about Zhu Yuanzhang again.

I really don’t know what he was thinking at the time. He was too kind to his descendants.It was stipulated that the royal family's expenses would be paid by the court, and it was also stipulated that all titles in the clan were hereditary and non-replaceable.

This means that the legitimate son of the clan will inherit the title without downgrading, and the other sons will inherit the title by downgrading.

Take a prince as an example. A prince's son is the crown prince. He can directly inherit the prince's title and be a prince forever from generation to generation. The other sons of each generation of princes are all named county princes.In the same way, one son of the county king was also passed down from generation to generation as the county king forever, and the other sons were granted the title of general of the country (zhengyipin).

Such a hereditary and neglectful system, coupled with the fact that these vassal kings were not living a good life, could not leave the fiefdom at will and could only create people at home.

It is common for a vassal king to have dozens of sons. In this way, the number of clans at the bottom of the imperial court has completely developed at a fission level.No wonder Zhang Weixian just said that the focus of rectifying the clan is not the vassal kings. There are not many vassal kings, but the lower-level clans in various places.

"What Aiqing said is that the excessive number of people in the lower-level clan is a big problem. If it is not controlled, there will be endless troubles. I have been thinking about this problem. But after thinking about it, I came up with a few ways. Listen The views of my two beloved ladies.”

"I would like to hear the details."

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao gathered his thoughts for a while, and then slowly spoke out his long-hidden thoughts.

"The first is to strictly investigate the illegal activities of the clan. The clan is guilty of the same crime as the common people. Our Ming clan has been favored by the emperor for generations. If we rely on the status of the clan, it will be lawless and will be harmful to the court and the Ming clan without any benefit.

I see that both the "Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" and the "Regulations of the Suspensions and Vassals" were too generous with regard to the criminal laws of the clans of the Ming Dynasty. They ranged from punishment to imprisonment in the high walls of Fengyang. All these made some unscrupulous clans unscrupulous. I will never allow you to act recklessly in the future. "

Since Zhu Youxiao wants to change, he must change it thoroughly.The reason why these clans can be so unscrupulous is that Zhu Yuanzhang protected them very well when he first established the rules.

It stipulates that as long as the clan violates the law, the power of arrest, interrogation and judgment in the judicial process belongs only to the emperor.No one else, including the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc., can ask questions without authorization.

Officials of the court's judicial department were excluded from the clan's judicial proceedings. The judicial department could only file memorials and report them, but was not allowed to question them without authorization.Even the most powerful court officials are not allowed to report the faults of the kings casually, otherwise it will be regarded as alienating the relatives.Throughout the Ming Dynasty, only the emperor supervised and managed the kings.But the emperor was so busy, and the clan was his kin, so he couldn't take care of it, or he didn't want to.

When the two of them heard this, they immediately took a breath of cold air. They never expected that the emperor would make a big fuss as soon as he came up and directly said that the "Emperor Ming Ancestor Instructions" promulgated by Taizu were too kind to the clan. , it will be changed in the future.

"Your Majesty, is this too harsh?"

When Ye Xianggao heard this, he immediately felt that the emperor was taking too big a step by doing this.But Zhu Youxiao disagreed. If he didn't act harshly now, Li Zicheng and others would be even more ruthless.

"Why is it so harsh? The clan is guilty of breaking the law and the common people are guilty. Although this move is not good for the clan, it will benefit the people of the world. I have made up my mind. From now on, the clan government and the Ministry of Rites will strictly investigate the clan and its servants starting from the 45th year of Wanli. If the evidence of illegal activities is conclusive, it will be reported to the clan government and the Ministry of Rites for verification. In the lightest case, the person will be demoted, his title will be demoted and he will be demoted to a commoner, and in the most serious case, it will be handed over to the competent department for handling."

Listening to the emperor's harsh measures, the two of them could even imagine the shock of the Ming Dynasty clan after hearing the news.

However, it is quite appropriate for the emperor to do this. The 45th year of Wanli is only eight years away from now. This time is neither more nor less, and many people can still be found.But Ye Xianggao still had another doubt.

"Your Majesty, according to the "Huangming Ancestor Instructions" and "Zongfan Regulations", this clan crime must be dealt with by the clan government, and the final decision is made by Your Majesty. If the Ministry of Rites intervenes now, you may even be convicted. I'm afraid It’s not in line with the ancestral system.”

Zhu Youxiao had already thought of this point that Ye Xianggao was worried about.

The so-called teacher has a reputation, and his work has credentials.The clan had been so indulgent before, so they only relied on the protection brought to them by the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions", "Zong Fan Regulations", etc., so they were so unscrupulous.

And since he wants to rectify the clan, he must break this protective umbrella.

"Of course I know about this. This is the second thing I want to do. The Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion will take the lead and invite Zongzheng of the vassal princes from all over the country to come to the capital to revise the "Zongfan Regulations" again.

I have to think carefully about how to revise it. There are three main aspects of reform. One is to reduce the preferential treatment for clan crimes. clan crimes are the same as common people. It is stipulated that clan crimes below the level of the county king should be handed over to the Three Justice Department for handling, and then reported to the clan. The government and the Ministry of Rites decide.

The second is to manage the clan inheritance and title system. The hereditary system prescribed by Taizu before was now so flawed that it could no longer be done without reform.Therefore, the current succession of titles must be conducted through examination. "

Ye Xianggao and others have become numb, even in the eyes of outsiders, the emperor is really cruel to his own people.Doing this clearly means severely rectifying the clan. Once this news is released, the Ming clan will probably explode.

It's just that Zhang Weixian didn't quite understand what the emperor said about the need for a title to be passed on, so he immediately asked.

"Your Majesty, our clan is hereditary. The legitimate son inherits the title, and the concubine is demoted to the first rank. Now you say that you want to change it to a title test. I don't understand what a title test is?"

Zhu Youxiao quickly explained that this was actually the practice of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties that he learned from later generations.

"The so-called test title means that the clan will not simply be knighted in the future. Below the Ming Dynasty vassal king, except for the legitimate son who inherits or is demoted to inherit the title of his father, the other sons can be knighted until they are 20 years old. Every year, the clan government collects questions and takes exams Those who are excellent in literature, arithmetic, martial arts, footwork and archery will be awarded the title of nobility.

If two are excellent and one is equal, the grade will be reduced to one grade; if one is excellent and two are equal, if two are excellent and one is inferior, the grade will be reduced to second; if there are three equals, one is excellent, one is equal and one is inferior, the grade will be reduced to three; if one is excellent and two are inferior, two are equal and one is inferior, one is equal and two are inferior. Those that are inferior or completely inferior will be discontinued.

Those who are suspended due to taking exams will not be allowed to take the exam again in the next semester.Those who should be demoted but cannot be demoted will have their salary suspended, and will later become common people. "

This system is a new clan inheritance system formulated by the Manchu Qing Dynasty after learning from the Ming Dynasty's experience with the large number of clan clans.This kind of title can only be inherited by one of his sons.

The fact that other sons need to pass exams to obtain titles will undoubtedly stimulate the clan's sense of crisis and raise the threshold for clan titles, so that the feudal princes and heirs will not be idle every day and harm one party.

And even if you pass the exam, you can only inherit by downgrading, which will lead to smaller titles as you inherit them, reducing the burden on the court.

When Zhang Weixian heard this, he immediately asked, "How could the 18 members of the Ming Dynasty's clan agree to what the emperor did? They would definitely get together to make trouble, and it would be very difficult for the court to control him."

When he thought about this, he immediately regretted it. He shouldn't have accepted this errand from the clan at that time, and now he probably couldn't push it away even if he wanted to. (End of chapter)