Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

News of Zhu Yujian's trip to India to establish a new fiefdom spread quickly, but it wasn't a hot topic in the capital.

For the people of the capital, India, located in the West, was far too distant; they were more concerned with Japan.

By the sixth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the campaign against Japan had officially begun.

Nobles who intended to establish domains in Japan recruited talented individuals and brought them to Korea.

When Wang Chaopin arrived in the capital, this was the scene he saw. He said to his sons and nephews:
"His Majesty has implemented the enfeoffment system, and nobles have been expanding their borders."

"You two are both very talented, and I'm sure you won't be like your father who has no opportunity to use your skills."

"If you are unable to pass the imperial examination in the future, you may accept the offer of a feudal lord."

Wang Fuzhi is still young. He became a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination) at the age of fourteen last year and has not yet experienced the difficulties of passing the provincial-level imperial examination.

But his elder brother, Wang Jiezhi, has already experienced it. At twenty-eight years old, he is still a scholar.

Thinking of his father's wasted life, finally encountering a wise ruler, only to be unable to be selected for officialdom because he was over sixty, he said:

"Father's teachings are correct!"

"If I fail the provincial examination again this year, I plan to accept a job and go overseas to seek wealth and status."

"I'll leave the matter of taking care of my parents to my two younger brothers."

He bowed to his second brother, Wang Canzhi, and his third brother, Wang Fuzhi, and explained his plans.

The two younger brothers hurriedly returned the greeting. Wang Chaopin felt both gratified and sighed, saying:

"It's a pity that our Wang family's hereditary titles are gone."

"Otherwise, the hereditary position of Commander-in-Chief could be converted into a viscount title."

“A viscount’s fiefdom of two hundred li is comparable to a state.”

"Why should we compromise and take up an official post in the territory of another lord?"

This is something he deeply regrets.

The Wang family ancestors were also military households, and their positions as commanders were hereditary.

However, his branch was a side branch, which separated early on.

When the main branch of the family line dies out, the collateral branches are too distant to inherit the line.

The Wang family's hereditary titles are gone; now they are just commoners.

Previously, due to the pride of scholars, Wang Chaopin did not care much about such hereditary military positions.

However, after the current emperor converted hereditary titles into hereditary peerages and implemented the enfeoffment system, he couldn't help but feel regret:

How could such a perfectly good professional career be gone?

If the hereditary titles were retained, talented members of the royal family could all be appointed to positions in their fiefdoms.

I wonder if the court's permission for noble descendants to establish their own fiefdoms and inherit ancestral titles can be applied to hereditary official positions.

With this in mind, he sought out Zhang Liang, a good friend he had made while studying at the Imperial Academy, to inquire about the relevant regulations.
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Zhang Liang was from Songjiang. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, he and Wang Chaopin entered the Imperial Academy together. They were both famous figures among the commoners who were known for their integrity.

During the Tianqi era, they secluded themselves to study and never participated in gatherings of eunuch faction scholars.

During the Chongzhen era, such people, even if they weren't given important positions, would certainly have no problem obtaining a minor official post.

Unlike Wang Chaopin, who was over sixty and unable to take office, he was now an official in the Ministry of Rites, serving as a seventh-rank inspector.

It was at his repeated invitation that Wang Chaopin brought his sons and nephews to the capital to participate in the Datong Academy selection examination.

This was organized by the emperor to recruit talented individuals with shared aspirations, and he even issued an edict seeking talent for this purpose.

Wang Chaopin was recommended to the position because he was a virtuous man from the countryside.

Upon hearing Wang Chaopin inquire about his ancestral official positions, Zhang Liang asked with interest:

"I never imagined that my brother's family had a hereditary official position."

"The imperial court has not announced any policy on this matter, and I, your humble brother, do not know whether I can inherit it."

"But given His Majesty's style, as long as someone in my brother's family is willing to go overseas to establish a fiefdom, he can most likely obtain a noble title and a noble birth."

Wang Chaopin's family doesn't even have any officials now, only a few poor scholars. Of course, they wouldn't mind taking up positions overseas, otherwise they wouldn't have asked about this matter.

He said, quite tempted:
"How to say?"

"Would the Emperor allow us to inherit the throne through a collateral branch?"

Zhang Liang stroked his beard and said:
"Dude, you're underestimating the World Professional status!"

"Whom does His Majesty rely on most now?"

"It's a garrison!"

"Anyone from a military garrison would receive preferential treatment when they became an official."

"If the court cannot decide, use officials from hereditary official backgrounds." "In official promotions, hereditary officials are given priority."

“Look how old Sun Chuanting is this year, he has already served as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions and the Minister of Border Defense.”

"If Shi Kefa hadn't come from a family of hereditary officials, could he have been chosen as the third-ranked scholar?"

"You underestimate this status. Nowadays, who doesn't envy hereditary officials? Who doesn't want to become a hereditary official?"

"The ministers in the court work so hard just to secure more hereditary official positions for their descendants!"

The text details the current situation in the imperial court, highlighting the preferential treatment given to officials from hereditary official backgrounds.

It is said that the current emperor believes these people are more loyal and will not easily gamble their centuries-old wealth on something that has no future.

Therefore, the proportion of high-ranking officials from hereditary official backgrounds increased significantly during the Chongzhen reign.

Even among the palace eunuchs, there were officials from hereditary families, such as Liu Ruoyu, who served as a scribe.

In this situation, the hereditary officials were naturally grateful, and even though the emperor reorganized the garrisons and lowered the initial rank for entry-level positions, no major chaos occurred.

Wang Chaopin was far removed from the court and unaware of these things, but Zhang Liang was well aware of them.

Upon learning that his friend's family had held the hereditary position of Commander-in-Chief, he immediately began working to persuade the imperial court to introduce policies that would provide preferential treatment to the descendants of these individuals.
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Zhu Youjian always cared a lot about the garrisons, regarding them as the basic base of the Qing Dynasty's Eight Banners.

Upon seeing Zhang Liang's memorial, he immediately realized that this was a good opportunity to win people's hearts.

The policy of reviving the extinct and continuing the interrupted should not only be applied to high-ranking nobles, but should also benefit lower-ranking nobles and hereditary officials.

He said to Liu Zunxian, the Minister of War:

"Let's count how many hereditary officials have died without an heir."

“If there is a collateral branch that has military registration in the garrison and has been serving the country, they may be allowed to open up fiefdoms and inherit their ancestors’ hereditary positions and be granted titles.”

"If someone does not have military status in the garrison and has not served the country for a long time, then their family tree needs to be thoroughly investigated to determine if they are a descendant of a hereditary official. Once it is confirmed, they can only inherit the hereditary knighthood and be converted according to the new knighthood rank."

What are the new jazz ratings?

There are four levels: junior high, senior high, and special, with fiefdoms of 10 square li, 20 square li, 30 square li, and 40 square li respectively.

There is also a special type of knighthood, which is limited to territories within a radius of one hundred square miles.

This system of knighthood actually had five ranks, and Zhu Youjian planned to convert all hereditary officials into knights in the future.

Liu Zunxian, aware of this plan, inquired:
"Now, hereditary commanders can be promoted to baronies, and hereditary chiliarchs can be promoted to barons."

"According to the five-rank system of knighthood, apart from hereditary commanders who can obtain the title of viscount, other hereditary officials can only be converted into knights."

"Isn't such a drastic reduction a bit harsh?"

Zhu Youjian countered with a question:
"What mistreatment?"

"I have repeatedly stated that establishing vassal states overseas can be done according to the current policy."

"However, there are still not many hereditary officials who go to establish their own fiefdoms; many are still waiting."

"Now is the time to help them make up their minds and let them know that the imperial court is serious."

"If they remain inactive, their hereditary titles will be converted to lower ranks."

“You should draw up a five-year plan and declare to all hereditary officials that if they do not change their titles as soon as possible, their titles will be even lower in five years.”

"Some people just need to be pushed; otherwise, they won't make up their minds."

He used both kindness and severity to treat hereditary officials, intending to further reform them and integrate them into the feudal system.

In the future enfeoffment system, these hereditary officials who became minor nobles will form the core of the loyal base to the Ming Dynasty.

A vassal state established by a high-ranking noble might harbor disloyal intentions, but a territory established by a low-ranking noble is not entitled to do so.

The transformation of the eight hundred feudal lords of the Zhou Dynasty into the seven powerful states of the Warring States period is a fact known to all scholars.

The minor nobles absolutely did not believe that they would become one of the seven great powers after the collapse of the feudal system.

Therefore, the territories established by these people would uphold the Ming Dynasty's enfeoffment system.

Even after hereditary officials become nobles, they will still be the core of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian hoped to accelerate the transformation and get them to make a decision as soon as possible.

Ideally, they should all leave within these five years and take enough immigrants with them.

As a result, the Wang Chaopin family received preferential treatment; having retained their military status, they were allowed, under this policy, to establish fiefdoms overseas and inherit their ancestral hereditary position as commander-in-chief.

This position was converted into a peerage, and he is still a viscount, with the maximum authority to open up a territory of two hundred square miles.

The Wang family rose from an insignificant family of scholars to a noble family, and gained the gratitude of many aristocratic families:
Without Wang Chaopin's efforts, the imperial court might not even have remembered them!
Anyone who obtains a title under this policy must remember the royal family's kindness.

A large number of garrison families began to open up their own fiefdoms according to this policy, which stirred the hearts of many garrison families.

They began to consider whether they should also go out. (End of Chapter)