Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 137 Overseas Chengtian title
Allowing princes to establish ancestral temples was one of Zhu Youjian's methods.

He knew that overseas titles had little appeal to the people of the Ming Dynasty. This can be seen from the fact that he easily obtained the leadership of overseas affairs from the ministers——

The Ming Dynasty generally believed that those outside the country were barbarians, and its border policy was basically a passive response, with no enterprising spirit at all.

This can be seen from the fact that after Hongwu and Yongle, Ming Dynasty continued to lose land in its corners.

A civilian-dominated regime instinctively rejects military force. It is a blessing that the Ming Dynasty did not weaken like the previous Song Dynasty.

Hereditary officers such as Yu Long, Qi Hu, and Dong Li and Xima made more than superficial contributions to the Ming Dynasty. It was these people who kept Ming's military power at a lower limit.

However, this lower limit has become lower and lower, and now it can no longer cope with the Northeast Houjin Jianlu.

This made Zhu Youjian determined to change the health system.

However, the guard system has lasted for more than 200 years. In the court, there are five military governors' offices, royal guards, and noble relatives. In the local areas, there are guard offices, military and civilian offices, and military and civilian departments. Even 20 to 30% of Jinshi came from the guard office. Change it. The difficulty can be imagined.

Zhu Youjian didn't even dare to reveal this idea. He only dared to try it overseas first to see if the overseas titles he launched could be more attractive than Shiguan.

The world has entered the Age of Discovery. If managed well, coastal areas will be more profitable.

Zheng He said more than 200 years ago: "If a country wants to be rich and powerful, it cannot ignore the sea. Wealth comes from the sea, and danger also comes from the sea."

If overseas nobles can become richer, it will naturally attract guards officers to become overseas nobles.

Let them go overseas to open up territories and become a barrier to the Ming Dynasty!

Based on this idea, Zhu Youjian introduced the ancestral temple system, allowing princes to build five temples and worship their ancestors in them.

This system may not matter to some people, but to those who value their ancestors, they will work hard to get it.

There are also eunuchs like Wang Tiqian who have no descendants. If they can enter the ancestral temple after death, those who obtain the title are actually their heirs. This is naturally very attractive to them.

However, in the final analysis, the ancestral temple still has a false reputation. What Zhu Youjian introduced next is naturally practical:
"The Book of Rites: The King's System says: The king's system is Lujue, and the duke's uncle, his son, and his son are all five grades. The emperor's field is a thousand miles wide, the duke's field is a hundred miles, and his uncle is seventy miles wide, and his son is fifty miles wide."

"The Rites of Zhou says: The land of the princes has a border area of ​​five hundred miles. The land of the princes has a border area of ​​400 miles. The land of the princes has a border area of ​​300 miles. The land of the princes has a border area of ​​200 miles. The land of all men is a hundred miles away."

"The overseas land is vast, I will take the number from "Zhou Rites", and the Viscount will be granted a seal of two hundred miles."

"This li is not the current li, but one 80,000th of the meridian circle. It is similar to the current li in the Ming Dynasty, but the length is more fixed."

There are many kinds of rulers in the Ming Dynasty, some are longer and some are shorter than those of later generations. One mile is not one hundred and fifty feet, but three hundred and sixty steps, one thousand eight hundred feet, which is approximately equivalent to five or six hundred meters in later generations.

In order to avoid controversy, Zhu Youji thought of the sentence "sitting on the ground and traveling eighty thousand miles in a day" and remembered that the circumference of the meridian circle and the equator were almost the same, both around 80,000 miles. Use the li of later generations to determine the size of the territory, so that it can be divided into latitude and longitude lines on the map later.

Wang Tiqian didn't pay attention to this, he was completely frightened at this time.

Because he finally realized that the emperor was not conferring simple titles, but conferring titles on princes——

He is still the kind of prince who has territory and people and can be called a lord.

This made him fully understand why the emperor allowed the establishment of the ancestral temple:

The Five Temples of the Princes are the real Five Temples of the Princes.

When an overseas official is changed to a title, he is actually conferring a title on a prince!
Knowing how much criticism this would cause, Wang Tiqian even had the idea of ​​retreating. Because he knew that the ministers of the foreign court would not all agree to grant princes overseas.

Especially since he was just a eunuch, in the eyes of the minister, he was not worthy of a title at all.

However, looking at the emperor's eyes, Wang Tiqian's thoughts of shrinking were not expressed. First, he really wanted to wear the viscount hairpin and was reluctant to part with such a princely title.

Second, he realized that the emperor was playing a big game, and if he ruined the emperor's affairs, the consequences would be disastrous.

Think about it, as an internal official, all your power comes from the emperor, and only the emperor can deal with you. Wang Tigan gritted his teeth and decided to agree——

No matter how bad it is, everyone is calling for death like Wei Zhongxian, but besides the current emperor, who else can kill him?
As a eunuch, pleasing the emperor is the first priority. Everything else is unimportant and is all trivial matters.

So after Wang Tiqian heard about the title and land, he immediately knelt down and thanked the emperor:

"Your Majesty rewards you so generously, I will die to repay you."

"My lord, King Tiqian, thank God for his grace!"

He had no objection at all and did not even dare to discuss specific terms with the emperor.

Zhu Youjian was used to discussing terms back and forth with civil officials, so Zhu Youjian was a little unaccustomed to Wang Ti's direct and submissive behavior.

But he soon burst out laughing, enjoying the feeling.

This feeling of being able to confirm things directly with one word is really wonderful.

So much so that Zhu Youjian hoped that the outer court would be like this.

It was a pity that the civil servants of the outer court would not be so obedient, and he did not dare.

He really didn't dare to let Zhu Youjian make decisions directly in the outer court.

Many decisions made by the outer court are related to all people in the world.

Zhu Youjian has no practical experience in governance and knows very little about the people of the world. Therefore, he would rather discuss with the ministers one by one than make arbitrary decisions directly.

But there was no need for it in the inner court. After Zhu Youjian understood his status in the inner court, he had no idea of ​​​​discussing and decided directly:
"For the titles of meritorious officials from overseas nobles, the titles of Chengtian Yiyun Tuicheng and Chengtian Yiwei Tuicheng are used."

"Chengtian Yiyun is sincerely given to the princes and princes, so that they can have vassal nobles."

"Chengtian Yiwei offers his sincerity to Sir Zinan. They cannot have vassals, but can rely on princes and uncles."

"The viscount you obtained is Chengtian Yiwei Tuicheng, and you can be called the Chengtian noble from now on."

"The nobles of Chengtian and the nobles of Shuntian have the same rank and salary, and they also have territories and people."

After confirming the power of the overseas Chengtian nobles, Zhu Youjian continued:

"Three years after the Chengtian nobles opened their territory, the tribute they turned in must not be lower than the title, otherwise the title would be downgraded."

"After ten years, at least one-tenth of the territory's income will be handed over as tribute and directly included in the internal treasury."

"The title and salary will be distributed by the inner treasury for the time being. If the outer court is willing to bear the responsibility in the future, the outer court will then distribute it."

This provision made Wang Tiqian resentful. Knowing that the emperor actually only paid a salary for three years, the tribute paid by the Chengtian nobles after three years could not be lower than the salary.

In other words, the emperor used the title of a title and three years of salary in exchange for the continuous tribute paid by the nobles of Chengtian.

The current emperor is really trying every means to collect money. He took the initiative to hand over the family property before, which was indeed a wise decision.

(End of this chapter)