Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 118 Zongzheng Temple

After showing his kindness to the clan, Zhu Youjian temporarily put aside the matter.

He knew that the clan's problem was very troublesome and difficult to deal with, so he could only continue to put it off.

After all, no matter how poor the clan is, there is little chance of rebellion. If the border army's payment arrears are not resolved, it will become a major problem that may lead to rebellion.

There was really no way to solve Shaanxi's salary arrears, so Zhu Youjian still made his decision from the feudal king. But it’s not those vassal kings with many clans, but the new lords who have been granted the title in recent years and don’t have many clans:
King Rui, King Hui, and King Gui have just become vassals and cannot borrow money from them.

King Fu has been in power for fourteen years. He doesn't have many sons, so he should be able to lend some.

There is also King Lu, who has only been passed down to the second generation. There is only one county king, and it is impossible to cause trouble in the clan, and he can also borrow money.

The most recent of the other vassal kings is also the son of Emperor Xianzong Chenghua. They are deeply entrenched and may mobilize the lower-level clans to demand the owed salary and silver, so they cannot borrow money from them.

The Ming Dynasty canonized many princes, but not many of them can be passed down forever.

The most numerous are the princes of the Taizu lineage, and those passed down to the present include King Qin, King Jin, King Zhou, King Chu, King Lu, King Shu, King Dai, King Su, King Qing, King Min, King Han, King Shen, and King Tang , a total of thirteen princes. In addition to those from the Jue Si Kingdom, King Ning, King Liao, and King Yi were deposed for various reasons. Although there were branches of prefectures and kings, there were no princes.

Emperor Chengzu Yongle passed down to King Zhao, and King Han rebelled and eliminated the country; Emperor Renzong and Hongxi passed down King Zheng, King Xiang, King Jing, and King Huai; Emperor Yingzong passed down King De, King Chong, and King Ji, and King Hui was captured during Jiajing Deposed; Emperor Xianzong of Chenghua passed down to King Yi, King Heng and King Rong.

In addition, King Lu was passed down by Emperor Mu Zong Longqing; King Fu, King Rui, King Hui and King Gui were passed down by Emperor Shenzong Wanli.

There are twenty-nine princes in existence, and there is also a special King Jingjiang.

Of these thirty vassal kings, Zhu Youjian could only move the last five, especially King Lu and King Fu. They had been vassal for a while and did not have many clans, so they could squeeze out some money. So Zhu Youjian said to the ministers:

"How about borrowing money from King Fu and King Lu?"

"How much can the two palaces lend?"

The ministers immediately understood what the emperor meant and knew that these two princes were indeed easy to manipulate and that no lower-level clan could cause trouble.

In addition, they had a bad impression of King Fu and King Lu, and the two princes received generous rewards when they became feudal lords. Guo Yunhou said:
"Prince Fu is in Luoyang, and Prince Lu is in Weihui, both in Henan, which is close to Shaanxi."

"Borrowing money from them can be shipped in time, but it's hard to say how much we can lend."

He affirmed the emperor's idea, but expressed difficulty.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said:

"Concubine Zheng is still in the palace. She is already sixty this year. How about sending her to Luoyang to reunite with Prince Fu?"

"I plan to add Zuo Zong to Prince Fu's clan, and let him set an example for the clan and become a shareholder in the clan bank."

The ministers were speechless again. Unexpectedly, the emperor even picked up the Zuo Zong people who had not canonized him for a long time.

The Zongren Mansion has five first-grade official positions, Zongren Ling, Zuo Zongzheng, and Zuo Zongren, but they were not awarded after the Hongwu period. He only appointed ministers to hold the seal, and all matters were handed over to the Ministry of Rites.

The emperor appointed King Fu as a member of the Zuo clan, which seemed to have the intention of reestablishing the clan mansion. But Prince Fu was not summoned to Beijing, which made people confused.

The Minister of Rites came to Zongdao and asked:
"His Majesty appointed Prince Fu as a member of the Zuo clan. Will he be recalled to Beijing to serve?" "Is this a false title?"

Zhu Youjian didn't think much about it. He just thought that King Fu should pay for it and give him a false official position.

At this time, when he heard Lai Zongdao's inquiry, he felt that the Zongren Mansion really needed to be reset. The ministers in the outer court generally did not take the clan seriously. They did not mention the arrears of money and food, and blamed themselves as the emperor when something went wrong. There were no specialized institutions and the clan was poorly managed.

Thinking of the plan to rebuild the Nine Temples, Zhu Youjian immediately said:

"The Zong Renfu Zong Ren Ling and the left and right Zong Zheng and the left and right Zong Ren are in vain. Let the meritorious prince take the position in vain."

"Zongzheng Temple is located under the Zongren Mansion. Following the example of Taichang Temple, there are official positions such as Zongzheng Temple Minister of the third rank and Zongzheng Temple Shaoqing of the fourth rank to specialize in the management of clan affairs."

"From now on, the list of jade certificates of the clan, as well as requests for names, titles, marriages, etc. will be handed over to Zongzheng Temple."

"The money and food that should be allocated to the clan are first transferred to the clan's bank account and then distributed to the clan."

"Cases involving the clan are submitted to the noble court by Somasaji."

"If something happens to the clan, let them go to Zongzheng Temple to resolve it."

"Zongxue, clan tombs, sacrifices, etc. are all the responsibility of Zongzheng Temple."

Leaving all matters related to the clan to Zongzheng Temple, Zhu Youjian did not want to worry about the clan affairs all the time.

I have become somewhat accustomed to the emperor's establishment of institutions, and I also feel that the clan needs specialized officials to manage it. The ministers discussed it and quickly approved the matter. Leave troublesome matters related to the clan to the management of Zongzheng Temple.

Because the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Husbandry were deprived of their power over the clan, Zhu Youjian asked the two ministries and the Ministry of Personnel to nominate You Shaoqing, who was actually responsible for the affairs of Zongzheng Temple. As for Zongzheng Temple Minister and Zuo Shaoqing, they are held by Minister Xun Qi.

The current palm seal of the Zongren Mansion is Hou Gongchen, the Prince Consort Duwei, and Zhu Youjian appointed him as Minister of Zongzheng Temple. The first order given to Zongzheng Temple was to rebuild the clan roster and completely count the clan population. The number of titles such as county king, general, lieutenant, etc. must also be calculated to facilitate future management.

The affairs of Zongzheng Temple were generally confirmed, and the ministers had no objections to Prince Fu's empty position as Zuozongren. No one objected to sending Concubine Zheng to Luoyang to reunite with Prince Fu. After all, Concubine Zheng is already sixty years old and is not expected to live long. It is in line with filial piety to reunite mother and son.

When Concubine Zheng arrived in Luoyang, Prince Fu wanted to pay some money for this matter. After King Fu paid the money, he could be conferred an official position in King Lu's clan as usual and asked him to also pay some money. Maybe it can attract other vassal kings and get them to pay for official positions in the clan mansion!
Therefore, Zhu Youjian placed Wan Wei, the Prince Consort, in charge of sending Concubine Zheng to Luoyang and canonizing Prince Fu, and gave him the official position of Shaoqing of Zongzheng Temple. At the same time, He Wuzu, the minister of Hanlin Academy, was sent to actually preside over this matter as the head of Zongzheng Temple.

It is not yet certain how much money King Fu can provide. However, the two families of Baoding Marquis Liang Shixun and Wuqing Marquis Li Chengming, who were judged by Zhu You to be in the fifth level of treason and needed to have their property confiscated, were able to pay a lot of money in fines.

Some courtiers suggested that if Chu King Zhu Huaxuan donated a thousand taels to the Huguang Sheng Temple, the money could be confiscated.

When Li Chengzuo, Marquis of Fengcheng, won victory in Ningjin, he quoted the story of Xu Da from his previous dynasty and asked Wei Zhongxian to be granted the title of Duke. The behavior is particularly bad and can be designated as the main culprit.

Zhu Youjian ordered Li Chengzuo to be taken into custody, and the crime would be determined later. He also issued an order to warn the King of Chu to pay a fine. Jiang Dejing, editor of the Hanlin Academy, was promoted to minister and took charge of this matter as the head of Zongzheng Temple.

This seemed like a trivial matter to him, but to Chu Fan, who had experienced major cases one after another during the Wanli years, it was like lighting a powder keg. Someone else raised the case of the fake King of Chu and questioned Zhu Huaxuan's life experience.

The affairs of the Ming Dynasty clan gave Zhu Youjian a headache.

(End of this chapter)