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Chapter 158 To untie the bell, one must tie it

The descendants of the Zhu family defeated the Ming Dynasty. Although Chongzhen did not agree, he felt that it was somewhat reasonable.

Indeed, according to incomplete statistics, there are now millions of descendants of the Zhu family.

Due to the ancestral precepts left by Taizu, every descendant of the Zhu family needs support from the court.

Taizu probably never imagined that the descendants of the Zhu family would be so good at giving birth to children and already regarded them as a means of making a living.

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's finances were already tight, and they had to provide for millions of Zhu family descendants. Now they are unable to make ends meet.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the annual expenses for the descendants of the Zhu family have caught up with military expenses.

You know, there is now a rising peasant army within the Ming Dynasty, and there is the Hou Jin from outside who is eyeing it.

In order to cope with this situation, the imperial court's annual military expenditures were astonishingly high.

The cost of supporting the descendants of the Zhu family has caught up with the military expenditure. It can be seen that the problem of supporting the descendants of the Zhu family has become a heavy burden for the Ming Dynasty.

He was already aware of this problem when he came to the throne.

He also wanted to solve a serious problem that plagued the Ming Dynasty's finances, but there was a huge resistance in front of him, and that was the ancestral precepts left by Taizu.

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he naturally had to abide by the ancestral precepts left by his ancestors.

For blatantly violating the laws of the ancestors, not only the officials of the Ming Dynasty will jointly oppose him, but even the millions of descendants of the Zhu family will denounce him.

The situation at home and abroad in the Ming Dynasty was already turbulent. If it were to attract opposition from all officials and all descendants of the Zhu family,

I'm afraid that by then, he will really be alone, and the situation he will face will be a hundred times worse than now.

Therefore, even though he was determined to solve the problem of supporting the descendants of the Zhu family.

But out of pure willpower, they could only let millions of descendants of the Zhu family lie on the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty sucking blood.

But now, the anchor has openly stated that the descendants of the Zhu family were an important reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Then, there is an opportunity to completely solve the financial problems of millions of Zhu family descendants.

After all, not only he himself could hear what the anchor said, but Emperor Taizu could also hear it.

As the saying goes, to untie a bell, you must tie the bell.

The best way to solve this problem is for Emperor Taizu to take action.

After all, the Imperial Ancestral Instructions were formulated by Taizu, and now only Emperor Taizu can modify them.

And he believed that Emperor Taizu would definitely be willing. The anchor had already informed the Zhu family of the harm caused by too many descendants. Emperor Taizu could not remain indifferent.

No matter how much Taizu dotes on the descendants of the Zhu family, once the existence of the descendants of the Zhu family seriously harms the Ming Dynasty, he believes that Emperor Taizu will not sit idly by.

He had no choice but to leave it to Emperor Taizu to deal with the millions of Zhu family members.

Thinking of this, he organized his words and decided to ask Emperor Taizu for help.

Chongzhen: @朱元璋, Taizu, I want every Zhu family member to live a life of glory and wealth, but now the Ming Dynasty’s treasury is in urgent need. I am troubled now and don’t know what to do. I would like to ask Taizu to point out a clear way.

As soon as these words came out, the descendants of the Zhu family during the Chongzhen period couldn't help cursing.

The anchor just said that they ruined the Ming Dynasty's finances. Now that you, the emperor, say such things, what would Taizu think after hearing this? Can you still enjoy their good fruits?
  Not only the Zhu family members during the Chongzhen period, but also the descendants of the Zhu family in other periods of the Ming Dynasty also scolded Chongzhen for being shameless.

He actually complained to Emperor Taizu. I have never seen such dirty methods.

At this moment, they were extremely nervous, fearing that Taizu would make a bad decision.

The millions of descendants of the Zhu family during the Chongzhen period were an important reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but this had nothing to do with them!

In the period they lived in, there were only a few Zhu clan members, not even one hundred thousand.

If Emperor Taizu only targeted the millions of descendants of the Zhu family during the Chongzhen period, it would be easy to say that they would have no objection.

But if Emperor Taizu directly changes Huang Ming's ancestral precepts and affects their interests, then they will cry without tears.

Zhu Yuanzhang: @Chongzhen, we did not think carefully when we formulated the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty. We originally wanted to let the descendants of the Zhu family enjoy eternal prosperity and wealth, but unexpectedly, we became an important accomplice in the destruction of the Ming Dynasty. We must revise this Huang Ming ancestral precept. As for how to revise it, let us think about it.

Thinking about it now, he still looked helpless and sighed deeply.

The ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming Dynasty were originally formulated to continue the Zhu family, but they did not expect that it would eventually lead to the extinction of the descendants of the Zhu family.

Although the anchor did not say what happened to millions of descendants of the Zhu family after the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

But through the peasant army, King Fu was cooked into a pot of porridge. One can imagine how miserable the fate of other descendants of the Zhu family was.

In order to continue the Ming Dynasty and to avoid the disastrous consequences of being driven out and exterminated by the descendants of the Zhu family, the original ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty can no longer be used and must be changed.

But how to change it so that the Ming Dynasty can be continued and the descendants of the Zhu family can enjoy prosperity and wealth is not an easy task.

He still needs to think carefully about how to strike a balance between the Ming Dynasty and the descendants of the Zhu family.

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Chongzhen breathe a sigh of relief, but made descendants of the Zhu family in various periods of the Ming Dynasty put their hearts in their throats.

Especially the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty in various periods were uneasy and worried that Taizu would revise the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty and impose great restrictions on them for the sake of the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, the various vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty greeted Chongzhen countless times in their hearts.

If they weren't worried about Emperor Taizu, they would really want to send a barrage of curses at Chongzhen.

Wanli was happy to see this happen, but he was also deeply troubled by the number of descendants of the Zhu family.

By his time, the Zhu family had 160,000 relatives.

Every year, the Zhu family's expenses alone accounted for one-third of the imperial government's finances, and he was often troubled by this.

He also thought about changing all this to reduce the financial burden on the court.

But every time he spoke tentatively, he was always met with strong resistance from ministers and Zhu family members.

And the excuse they used is also very powerful, that is, the ancestral precepts formulated by Taizu.

Well now, things have finally turned around.

Emperor Taizu personally promised to revise the ancestral precepts of Emperor Ming. Now let’s see what those opponents have to say.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, but couldn't think of any good solution.

Zhu Yuanzhang: Anchor, we would like to ask, do you have any good way to avoid this situation?

In desperation, he had no choice but to seek help from the anchor.

After all, the anchor comes from a later generation and knows a lot, so he might have some good suggestions.

Su Chen really has a way, and he can give it to Zhu Yuanzhang for reference.

In the nearly three hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, the issue of royal clans was handled very well, so much so that no prince in the Qing Dynasty ever raised an army to rebel.

The Qing Dynasty was the pinnacle of China's feudal society. In the past dynasties, clan rebellions, eunuchs' monopoly power, relatives' interference in politics, and officials' suppression of imperial power were all well resolved in the Qing Dynasty.

"The anchor suggested that His Majesty Hongwu refer to the methods of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty perfectly solved the problem of royal family members."

The emperors of various dynasties in the Qing Dynasty were extremely proud when they heard this and couldn't help but feel proud.

This is the first time that Qing Dynasty has been praised since Tianmu appeared. There was not a single good word about Qing Dynasty before.

But it is true that the Qing Dynasty actively learned the lessons of previous dynasties, and then came up with a perfect way to solve the problem of dealing with royal clan members.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, wasn't the Qing a barbarian? When did the barbarians become so smart?
  He was really surprised that a problem that had not been solved in the past dynasties was actually solved by the savage tribe outside the pass.

Zhu Yuanzhang: I don’t know how the Manchu and Qing Dynasties solved it. Please let the anchor know.

"The anchor knows that His Majesty Hongwu's original intention in formulating the Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions was to enjoy eternal prosperity and wealth as long as the prince does not rebel."

"So the anchor will first talk about how the Manchu Qing Dynasty prevented the princes from rebelling, and then how to prevent the royal family members from overthrowing the Ming Dynasty."

"The Manchu Qing Dynasty was worried that princes would rebel, and specially stipulated that all princes must live at the feet of the emperor. Once they went more than 60 kilometers beyond the capital, they would be convicted of rebellion and executed directly."

"Confining all the princes in the capital, this way, the court can monitor them at any time, and there is no fear of the princes having any ulterior motives."

"The Qing Dynasty explicitly prohibited private communication between the prince and the ministers. If found, he would be killed. Therefore, the prince did not know most of the affairs of the government. Without the support of the ministers, no matter how much you waste, it will be just a small waste."

"In fact, during the Yongle Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, there was also a practice of monitoring princes, but Zhu Di extended the scope to the entire country. How can such a large circle be monitored carefully? After all, it is impossible to extend his minions to all parts of the country."

Zhu Yuanzhang: It is true that the prince can avoid rebellion under his nose, but who can guard the Ming Dynasty?

When he assigned so many princes to various parts of the country, he hoped that the descendants of the Zhu family could protect the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty had just been established and the world was not yet stable, so the Zhu family was needed to guard the world.

After all, he would really not be at ease if others were to be stationed across the country.

However, the enfeoffment system he adopted had both advantages and disadvantages. Although the descendants of the Zhu family were allowed to hold on to the Ming Dynasty, they could easily rebel.

He also needs to think carefully about how to balance the relationship between the two.

"The key reason why the Manchu and Qing dynasties did not see the proliferation of Ming clan clans was that the princes of the Qing Dynasty did not implement hereditary substitution, but demotion from generation to generation."

"The Qing Dynasty stipulated that as long as the throne was passed down to one generation, it would be demoted one level. If the throne was passed down for five or six generations, its status would almost become that of ordinary people, no different from ordinary people."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up when he heard that the method of passing down one level from one generation to the next seemed to be a good idea.

As long as one son inherits the throne, the other sons will be crowned princes and then demoted generation after generation.

In this way, it can not only ensure the continuation of the Zhu family dynasty, but also prevent the descendants of the Zhu family from overthrowing the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang: @Chongzhen, you don’t have to worry now. We will announce the new ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming after we convene the ministers to discuss the detailed plan.

Chongzhen: With Taizu’s words, I feel relieved.

Chongzhen finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the burden on his body suddenly lightened.

Now, he is more confident to revive the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)