I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 368: This is how to discipline the royal family!

Gao Gong's eyebrows jumped, and he asked first: "Zhao Zhongcheng, what do you mean? The princes of the various vassal states committed crimes, can we blame the local officials?

Could it be that they condoned it?"

Zhu Yijun glanced at him, put his hands into his sleeves, and leaned back slightly.

Zhang Juzheng, who was very familiar with him, narrowed his eyes slightly, as if realizing something.

Zhao Zhenji smiled faintly: "Minister Gao, please be patient!
I am just discussing the matter at hand. As the Minister of the Censorate, I have the responsibility of supervision, so of course I am thinking about supervision. According to the ancestral system and national law, local officials are responsible for supervising the various vassal clans who are enfeoffed in the local area.

Not only the inspectors, but also the prefectures, counties and provincial governments have this responsibility. Why are the princes and royal families committing so many serious mistakes, and the local officials who are close to them are unaware of it? At least my Censorate has not received any similar reports.

It would be fine if it was just one vassal state, but it would be intriguing if all the more than 20 vassal states in the Ming Dynasty were like this.

Do they really not know, or are they pretending not to know?"

Gao Gong looked at him, his beard twitching, but he couldn't find any words to refute him and just sat there in silence.

Everyone in the hall also understood the meaning behind Zhao Zhenji's words. They all remained silent, waiting for Zhu Yijun's reaction.

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and walked slowly in the hall. He turned to look at the silent crowd and said to Zhao Zhenji, "Mr. Zhao, please continue."

Zhao Zhenji said, "Yes, Your Highness! I think that even if the princes and clans have made mistakes, the local officials have no mistakes? The court has no mistakes?

Just as His Highness said at the Beijing Officials' Conference on Correcting Conduct and Improving Discipline, we must conduct self-criticism and criticism, identify our own shortcomings and problems, and make continuous improvements in order to achieve fairness, integrity, efficiency and order. This is our ultimate goal in correcting conduct and improving discipline.

We cannot just criticize others without criticizing ourselves. The central government and local officials should carry out in-depth self-criticism like the Liao, Zhou, Chu, and Tang vassals, and have the courage to recognize and expose their own problems. "

Zhu Yijun nodded, "Mr. Zhao said it very well. A leaf covers our eyes, and we don't know what's wrong with us. We only see other people's problems, but it's hard to see our own problems.

The Censorate investigates other people's problems, and they are very thorough, but when it comes to investigating their own problems, they are reluctant to treat their own problems. How can this achieve our goal of rectifying the work style and rectifying the discipline? Our goal of rectifying the work style and rectifying the discipline is to cure the disease and save people, not to dig a hole and bury the person just because he is seriously ill. "

Seeing the two of them talking and answering each other, it was like a double act.

Everyone in the hall was secretly muttering in their hearts, you two have such a good understanding!

Why are you performing here?

Gao Gong, in particular, was furious.

He hated these parasites from the various vassal states and royal families.

When he was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he was impeached by various princes and royal family members every day because of the failure to distribute the rice salary to the princes and royal family in a timely manner, which made him very upset.

At that time, he was driven crazy by the traps set by the Ministry of Revenue, and the princes and royal family stabbed him in the back at this time. How could he not hate them!
Now that he had seized this opportunity, he wished he could demote all these princes and royal family members to commoners and make them all self-reliant.

In addition to venting their anger, the more important reason is that these parasites are a huge burden on the Ming Dynasty's finances. Getting rid of these bastards can save a lot of money.

With 8.53 million shi of grain, how many political achievements could Gao Gong achieve?

Therefore, his attitude towards the various vassal states and royal families was to eradicate all evil, and when he discussed with his allies, his views coincided with those of Gao Yi and others.

Gao Yi and others did not think as deeply about finance as Gao Gong. They adhered to the ideas of the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty and were determined not to allow royal family members to participate in politics.

The court is already very crowded, how can it accommodate another group of royal family members?
Besides, they have innate advantages and are naturally close to the royal family, so they are more likely to be reused, so they should not be allowed in.

It's just that Gao Gong was in a sensitive period as he was about to enter the cabinet, so he valued stability and didn't want to take the lead in anything. So Gao Yi made his attitude clear and Gao Gong just had to agree.

But he didn't expect Zhao Zhenji to jump out and divert the conflict, which left a lot of room for maneuver for the princes. Gao Gong was impatient and couldn't help but jump out and argue with Zhao Zhenji for a few words, but he didn't win.

But it made him very angry!
I, tall and bearded, had never lost in any argument in the court, but I never expected that I would be killed in one fight by Zhao Zhenji, who was usually quiet and gentle.

Dissatisfied!
But as soon as Zhu Yijun said this, Gao Gong's anger disappeared. On the surface, these words seemed to echo Zhao Zhenji's words, but in fact they had already set the tone for the treatment of the various vassal clans.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to give the royal family and local officials fifty lashes each, and then let the local officials go leniently. As for the royal family, don't you also want to show some leniency and not kill them with one blow? Just follow his plan.

Otherwise, the royal family and the local officials would be tied together and doomed together, and the civil officials would definitely not agree. How could they bear to let them be buried with the royal family, as they had so many students and former officials and so many hopes in the local officials.

Besides, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very good at following clues. If there is something wrong with the royal family, he can trace it back to the central government through local officials. Who can withstand his repeated investigations and retrospective investigations?

After figuring this out, most of the people in the hall secretly changed their stance, except Gao Gong, who remained silent for a while and then spoke with his head held high.

"Your Highness, guarding against the royal family is an ancestral rule established by Emperor Chengzu."

In a moment of desperation, he directly pointed out the original intention of Emperor Chengzu to strictly guard against the various vassal states and royal families, and he was worried about the next person to lead the Fengtian Jingnan Rebellion.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "If you point it out, I will tell you too."

"The royal families of the various vassal states have been passed down for two hundred years, for seven to twelve generations, and now they can only be considered as the same clan. Can such royal families obey the will of heaven and quell the rebellion?"

Zhu Yijun's words silenced everyone.

It was so blunt that we were afraid to listen.

Come to think of it, with a great god like you sitting in the court, even if Chengzu was reincarnated and became your uncle, he would still stay in the vassal state obediently.

Zhang Juzheng broke the silence and asked, "Your Highness, please make a decision on the affairs of the various vassal clans as soon as possible."

Several others also echoed, "Your Highness, please make a decision as soon as possible."

"No hurry," Zhu Yijun said slowly, "Mr. Zhao, tell everyone about your draft."

“Yes, Your Highness.

My draft is that all the sons of the princes of the vassal states, except the crown prince, shall be granted the title of General Guarding the Country. The legitimate son of the current prince of a county shall be granted the title of General Guarding the Country, and the rest shall be granted the title of General Auxiliary to the Country.

The son of the general who guards the country is demoted to a lower rank and inherits the title of general who assists the country. The other sons are made generals who serve the country. The son of the general who assists the country is demoted to a lower rank and inherits the title of general who assists the country. The other sons are made commoners, and so on.

The rest of the lieutenants below the rank of national defenders have now all been changed to commoners. They can take the imperial examinations, join the army, and engage in business, just like ordinary people. They can make a living on their own!"

Zhao Zhenji's method was even more cruel. He directly changed four-fifths of the royal family into commoners.

Zhu Yijun said: "The lack of supervision by local officials is one of the reasons why the various vassal clans have developed to this point, and central supervision is also a big problem. The clan office established by Emperor Taizu is in name only and has watched the various vassal clans break the law.

Therefore, I want the clan affairs office to take up the responsibility. To rectify the affairs of the various vassal clans, we must not only conduct self-examination and self-correction, but also rectify discipline. Now we have to make major changes to the ancestral system, which concerns the future generations. Therefore, I decided to invite all the princes and dukes of the various vassal states to the capital to discuss this matter together! "

Zhu Yijun's voice resounded in the Taiji Hall. Everyone was listening quietly. Suddenly, a hurried sound of footsteps came from the hall door. An eunuch hurriedly knelt down on the ground at the hall door, panting and saying, "Your Highness, Your Highness, the Crown Prince! There is something going on in the palace, something important. Tell, tell the Crown Prince to come to the palace."

Everyone's face changed and they all looked at Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun frowned slightly, turned around and said to the ministers: "Let's stop here for today. Mr. Zhao, please organize the resolution we just discussed on the rectification of the various vassal clans and draft a list of items to present."

"Yes!"

"I will respectfully send you off to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Everyone saluted and watched Zhu Yijun leave the Taiji Hall.

After he left, everyone looked at each other, wondering what had happened in the Forbidden City.

(End of this chapter)