Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian had not anticipated that the meritorious officials of the Restoration would set their sights on Korea and Japan.

It also made him realize:

Tigers and wolves eat meat!
However, he would not allow meritorious officials to hijack the court's policies, so he ordered Huang Lijie to preside over a council of nobles:

"There are already many nobles in the capital."

"The election process for the Noble Council and who will hold seats in the council must be decided as soon as possible."

"Any disputes must be resolved through the council of nobles, and any requests must also be submitted through the council."

"You are the regent, the head of the Court of Colonial Affairs, and also hold the title of viscount. You must do this well."

Huang Lijie nodded in agreement, also believing that a noble council should be convened as soon as possible.

Although he could also be called a meritorious official of the restoration and was awarded the title of viscount.

However, he was different from the meritorious officials of Liaodong, and their styles were completely different.

He was quite wary of those who were seizing power in the Privy Council and the Five Military Commissions.

I am very worried that these people will do the same thing in the Court of Colonial Affairs and seize his power.

Therefore, he welcomed the emperor's method of convening a council of nobles to bring them into order, and said:

"The King of Joseon was a nobleman of Suncheon and had a seat in the Noble Council."

"I believe it should be made clear that his fiefdom should not be seized."

“Even if the King of Joseon is at fault, the punishment measures still need to be voted on by the Noble Council.”

Zhu Youjian's policy toward North Korea was primarily focused on stability, with the aim of weakening its power.

He nodded in agreement, confirming:
"exactly!"

"Korea was an internal vassal state, and its king was a nobleman of the Ming Dynasty. This is an internal conflict that should be resolved internally."

"No one is allowed to covet the fiefdoms of other nobles. Any disputes should be decided by the council of nobles."

"If they were truly capable, they could go and fight Japan."

Those people are allowed to seize fiefdoms in Japan, but not in Korea.

Huang Lijie agreed with the emperor's decision and then said to the emperor:

"The land for the meritorious official's residence has been decided, but the construction will require funding from the imperial court."

"Some meritorious officials were dissatisfied with only having empty land and did not want their mansions to be outside the city. They wanted to have a residence inside the city."

"Some meritorious officials also want land in the capital, and have many disputes with the old nobles."

"I believe that this matter should be resolved as soon as possible to bridge their dispute."

Zhu Youjian was also somewhat troubled by this, because he had issued an edict to allocate residential land and corresponding sacrificial fields in the capital to the meritorious officials of the restoration.

But more than two hundred years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, where would they find any land around the capital?
Furthermore, the residences of meritorious officials could not be simply allocated land without construction, unlike the land granted to members of the imperial family. The houses on these lands also needed to be built.

Thinking of the money that the Ministry of Revenue had allocated from Liaodong, he said:

"Let the Ministry of Revenue allocate some of the revenue from the Liaohetao land to build mansions for meritorious officials."

"However, they are only responsible for building the most basic structures. If there are other needs, they will have to pay for them themselves."

"Within the city, they are allowed to purchase a house as a gift without paying property tax."

Give meritorious officials basic rewards and allow them to spend money to obtain more rewards.

He knew that these meritorious officials had captured a great deal of spoils during the pacification of Liaodong.

The imperial court turned a blind eye to their private distribution of the spoils of war, but they were required to use the captured money.

Huang Lijie felt this was somewhat harsh and asked again:
"What about the fields?"

How many acres did each meritorious official own?

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment and said:

"The rule of limiting farmland to 1,000 mu is something that all members of the imperial clan must follow."

“Heroes who contributed to the restoration of the dynasty were granted fiefdoms, but in the interior they could only have a thousand acres of sacrificial land.”

Huang Lijie was somewhat embarrassed:

"This matter is probably a bit troublesome." "As far as I know, the meritorious officials of the restoration and the original nobles have been frequently clashing recently because of the struggle for land."

"Some meritorious officials felt that the court had treated them too harshly."

Zhu Youjian was actually aware of this, because the land surrounding the Ming Dynasty was not exactly good.

In particular, land reclamation takes time, and many of the heroes lacked patience.

They coveted land in Korea and Japan, let alone land in the capital.

The value of land in Beijing is ten or even a hundred times that of land overseas.

They naturally envied the old nobles who owned thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land.

Now, these people are having a dispute.

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but recall a plan he had long ago developed.

He asked Huang Liji:

"Could we allow all nobles to establish their own fiefdoms, with only one thousand acres of farmland in the interior designated as sacrificial lands?"

"Anything exceeding this limit will be confiscated by the imperial court and forcibly purchased back."

Huang Liji's eyes widened, and he hurriedly advised the emperor:

"Your Majesty, there are still many nobles in the capital who are unwilling to open up their fiefdoms."

“They don’t have fiefdoms; their income comes from their estates.”

“They will not be willing to have their land forcibly purchased.”

Zhu Youjian had tolerated these people for a long time, and he did not want the Ming Dynasty to suffer from disasters everywhere while still having to support a group of incompetent nobles.

Forcing nobles to open their own fiefdoms was his consistent strategy, he said to Huang Liji:
"If these people's estates are not confiscated, how will the imperial court have enough land to reward meritorious officials?"

"The land around the capital is not even enough to cover the garrison troops, let alone reward meritorious officials."

"I intend to treat all nobles equally and send them all to establish their own fiefdoms."

“Each family shall retain one thousand mu of sacrificial land, and the rest shall be purchased by the court and bestowed upon newly appointed nobles.”

This is good for the newly rich, but it's like tearing flesh from the old aristocracy.

Huang Lijie knew how risky this was, and once again advised the emperor.

Zhu Youjian also knew that this matter was risky, and that a rebellion might break out.

However, now that he has the support of the meritorious officials who helped restore the dynasty, he wants to probe the background of the old nobles, and said:
"I've even expelled members of the imperial clan and relatives of the empress, so why should they remain in the capital?"

"Summon all the nobles in the capital to the Noble Council to discuss one matter:"

"For nobles without fiefs, their titles are limited to lifelong status."

The plan is to designate all hereditary nobles of the Ming Dynasty as fiefdom nobles, with those without fiefdoms ceasing their status for life.

This was a major change to the aristocratic system, and Huang Lijie knew that nobles who were unwilling to open up their fiefdoms would certainly disagree.

But the emperor had already made up his mind, and there was nothing he could do but ask the emperor:

"Shouldn't this clause be written into the code of conduct and submitted to Congress for discussion?"

After some thought, Zhu Youjian understood Huang Lijie's meaning: to have civil officials suppress the nobles.

After careful consideration, he said:
"First, spread the word to the outside world, compile a list of nobles who are willing to open their fiefdoms, and contact the Privy Council to help them."

"If the nobles respond positively, let the Council of Nobles draft the bill first, and then submit it to the Parliament for a vote."

"If those people persist in their resistance, Congress shall draft the provisions."

"Laws concerning nobles shall also be handed over to Parliament."

The decision was made to give the nobles a chance to make their own laws.

However, if those people are shameless, Zhu Youjian will have civil officials enact laws for them in the name of the National Assembly.

He believed that civil officials would want to restrict the nobility, and that the laws governing the nobility at that time would be very unfavorable to them.

Huang Lijie, being both a civil official and a nobleman, was deeply worried about the matter, wondering what decision the noble council would make. (End of Chapter)