I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 372 I'd Rather Raise Them Like Pigs Again

In Gao Gong's study, Gao Gong and Ge Shouli were still arguing.

"Mr. Su, why be so radical? Show mercy where you can! Why do you want to wipe out all the royal families of the various vassal states? His Royal Highness's intention is very clear. Most of them should be made commoners and be self-reliant. It would be good for the various vassal states to retain a small number of people to worship the ancestral temple and pay homage to their ancestors, isn't that good?"

"Bullshit!" When Gao Gong started to quarrel, he used vulgar language, his hair and beard stood up, and he was furious, as if he was going to swing his fist at the next moment. He would not talk to you about reason, but about physics.

Ge Shouli was his old friend and knew his temper well. He had argued with him countless times over the years, but he didn't take it seriously.

"These princes and royal families are just a bunch of parasites. More than eight million dan of grain every year! All fed to pigs. What useful things did they do with this grain?
Yes, there is. The only good thing I can think of is that they ate the food, turned into shit and were excreted by farmers and used as fertilizer in the fields. That’s the only good thing they did!”

Gao Gong waved his hands as he walked, "More than eight million dan of grain, every year, Brother Yu Li, I will give you eight million dan of grain every year for ten or twenty years, which is enough for you to build a dam around the Yellow River.

However, the Ming Dynasty wasted these 8 million shi of grain for 200 years every year. This was enough for us to accomplish so many great achievements!

Brother Yuli, do you think that this will solve the problem? It is useless. This is only a temporary solution. In less than ten or twenty years, the number of vassal clans will be astonishing. These bastards have nothing to do every day and can only sleep with women. They have sons and grandsons. We earn more money and food than they give birth to!"

Ge Shouli looked at Gao Gong, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He found an opportunity to persuade him, "Mr. Su, the Crown Prince has made up his mind now. It is useless for us to persuade him."

Gao Gong also felt a toothache when he heard this, and sat on the chair angrily, "Our prince is resolute and courageous, and cannot be persuaded. But we, the ministers who want to do great things, have to persuade him even if we can't persuade him!
Everything goes in the direction he points to. What are we? A donkey pulling a millstone? A mule driving a cart? We must fight for what is right! "

Ge Shouli said: "Su Qing, that is, the Crown Prince is magnanimous. As long as you are fair-minded and argue with reason, he will not care. If it were the late emperor, do you think you would dare to argue?"

Gao Gong glared at him and said, "Isn't that nonsense? I don't want to die before I succeed."

Gao Yi hurried in, "Su Qing, Yu Li, there is news from the palace."

"what news?"

"In the palace, Liang Zhaoyi and Wang Jieyu happened to give birth one after another, but they were in critical condition due to difficult labor. The emperor was at a loss and sent someone to invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The prince made an immediate decision and summoned the midwife and medical staff from the Imperial Physician's Nursery. He remained calm and gave orders calmly, and finally brought Liang Zhaoyi, Wang Jieyu and their three children to safety.

Liang Zhaoyi gave birth to a princess, and Wang Jieyu gave birth to a prince. "

Ge Shouli let out a long sigh: "May God bless you!

The emperor originally had three sons and three daughters, and now he has a fourth son and fourth daughter. Excluding the young second son, Prince Jingdao, the eldest daughter, Princess Penglai, and the second daughter, Princess Taihe, there are now the crown prince, the third son, the fourth son, the third daughter, and the fourth daughter, three sons and two daughters, which is considered a prosperous family. "

Gao Gong didn't care whether the emperor had many children or not. One crown prince was equivalent to many princes.

He turned to Gao Yi and asked in confusion.

"Zi Xiang, when did it happen?"

"It's today. The Taiji Palace held a meeting today. The prince hurried into the palace because of this matter."

Gao Gong continued, "Ever since the crown prince took office, the palace and the Western Garden have been surrounded by eighteen high walls, and not a single word of news can be heard. Zixiang, how did you receive this news?"

Gao Yi spread his hands, "What do you think?"

Gao Gong and Ge Shouli looked at each other.

Well, we all know that this was approved by the Crown Prince, and someone with ulterior motives secretly leaked the news.

After listening to Gao Yi's details, Gao Gong felt depressed for a moment. He slapped the armrest, stood up and walked back and forth.

"Su Qing, what's wrong with you?"

"Alas, I don't know how the late emperor taught His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He is so brave and responsible despite his young age. Alas, I should have paid more attention to the emperor."

But when I thought about the emperor's nature, I couldn't help but shake my head. I was still a little fanciful and too demanding.

Ge Shouli continued to advise: "Su Qing, you also know the prince's temper from what Zixiang said, don't be too stubborn."

Gao Gong fell into deep thought and remained silent.

Gao Yi asked curiously, "What happened?"

Ge Shouli briefly recounted the dispute between the two, and Gao Yi jumped up immediately after hearing it: "Su Qing, you must persevere to the end!
This hole must not be opened, or it will cause harm for a hundred years!"

What! I just tried to persuade him, and you're here to stir up trouble again?
Ge Shouli stared at Gao Yi, not knowing what to say.

Gao Gong asked, "Zi Xiang, why do you say that?"

"Su Qing, you only see the issue of money and grain, but I see the other side." "Which side?"

"According to the prince's idea, he might select a group of talents from among the various vassal clans and appoint them to official positions and sort out the regions."

"Ah, is this possible?" Ge Shouli was stunned.

"How is this impossible? These princes of various vassal states are at least lieutenants of the state. If the court wants to dismiss them as commoners, they should at least give them some comfort. They can't drive all these nearly 100,000 princes to a dead end.

"The lieutenant of the state is also from the sixth rank, and he is promoted to the seventh rank county magistrate or the eighth rank county magistrate. Do you want to do that? The lieutenant of the state is also from the fourth rank, and he is promoted to the fifth rank prefecture or the sixth rank associate magistrate. Do you want to do that?"

My grandson doesn't want to!

The positions of Zhenguo Lieutenant and Fengguo Lieutenant are only useful when receiving salary rice. If they want to bully the common people, they have to queue up and wait until the generals in front of them have bullied them before it is their turn.

Wouldn't you like to change the powerful official to another one?

The brain was kicked by a donkey.

Ge Shouli was speechless for a moment, "Zi Xiang, is this... is this possible?"

Gao Yi asked in return, "Why not? Are the titles and ranks set by Emperor Taizu in the imperial edict and ancestral system worthless?"

Ge Shouli stroked his beard and said slowly: "In this way, the prince can not only appease the various vassal clans, but also check and balance those of us who are on the right track in the imperial examinations."

Gao Gong raised his head to the sky and sighed, "I don't want to mention this matter. Once this matter is revealed, our position with the crown prince will be in jeopardy."

"Mr. Su, what's wrong with that? We have to go through the imperial examinations and go through a lot of hardships to pass three consecutive examinations and become officials. Before that, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made a supplementary recruitment of clerks, allowing these cunning clerks to sneak into the official list of the Ministry of Personnel, so that's fine.

Later, following the case of Yu Changde, he took over the Imperial College and handed it over to Li Zhuowu, who specialized in educating people who believed in the so-called new learning and heresy. He then assigned them to various places as officials and allowed them to infiltrate the officialdom.

Now, under the pretext of rectifying the royal families of the various vassal states, a large number of royal families have been transferred to serve as officials in the local areas. Su Qing, if this continues, there will be no place for those of us who are taking the imperial examinations to stand."

Gao Gong remained silent.

The three of them knew that after two hundred years of unremitting efforts, scholars and Confucian scholars had secretly controlled the court's recruitment of talents through imperial examinations and also controlled the source of civil servants for the Ming Dynasty.

Nowadays, the vast majority of civil servants are from the imperial examination system, with Shuji and Hanlin being the most prestigious.

Now the prince wants to add sand in the matter to check and balance the civil servants who take the imperial examinations. This problem can be a big one or a small one.

Gao Gong said, "Zi Xiang, do you think Li Zishi (Li Chunfang), Zhang Shuda, Chen Yifu (Chen Yiqin), and Zhao Mengjing (Zhao Zhenji) can't see it?"

Gao Yi said emotionally: "They are only concerned about their own future, but forget the future of hundreds of thousands of Confucian scholars of the Holy Church. If they don't speak, we must speak.

If we don’t speak out, then later on, Su Qing and Yu Li, I’m afraid no one will be able to speak for us.”

Gao Gong remained silent.

Gao Yi wanted to speak again, but Ge Shouli advised him, "Zi Xiang! Why do you have to force Su Qing? Now that Xu Shaohu has left the cabinet, it is the best time for Su Qing to join the cabinet. If you miss it again, you may never have another chance.

Zixiang, haven't you also been looking forward to Su Qing joining the cabinet?"

Grohe had an epiphany.

Gao Gong actually understood the intricacies of the situation and wanted to stop the royal family from participating in politics, but it was related to his own entry into the cabinet. He was in a dilemma and simply took a risky move. Under the banner of serving the country and the people, he demanded the complete abolition of the royal family for the sake of justice.

This was the specialty of the civil servants in the past, forcing the master to do something extreme. The master knew it was impossible, so he finally gave in and achieved the real purpose of the civil servants.

But Gao Yi was not prepared for this. We were working for the benefit of the civil servants, but we acted like thieves and even got stabbed in the back by our own people.

No, it can't be like this!
Gao Yi sat down and was silent for a while. He raised his head and said to Gao Gong and Ge Shouli, "Okay, since Su Qing is not in a position to intervene in this matter, I will sacrifice my life to stop this."

Gao Gong's eyes flickered, and he bowed his hands and said solemnly: "Zi Xiang, I will help you secretly. In fact, we can make two preparations. It may be difficult to completely abolish the various vassal clans, so we can secretly help those who adhere to the ancestral system."

Gao Yi asked in surprise, "Continue the ancestral system and keep the royal family in captivity?"

"Yes, if the prince wants the royal family to participate in politics, we would rather raise them like pigs again!"

Gao Yi was overjoyed: "Okay, it's settled! Su Qing, you should remain unchanged in the face of all changes. Yu Li, you should continue to compromise in dealing with the various vassal clans and agree with the prince's proposal. This can also be regarded as leaving a way out for Su Qing.

As for the secret obstruction, I will take care of it!"

(End of this chapter)