I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 390 I Don’t Have Moral Obsession

Xu Wei broke out in a cold sweat on his back, but he knew that now that things had come to this, he had to keep going.

He continued speaking despite his tingling scalp.

"Your Highness, the new law for the royal families of various vassal states has been promulgated. The royal families of various vassal states will be summoned to the capital in turn and examined one by one. Those who are innocent will be granted new titles in accordance with the new law for the enfeoffment of royal families."

On his way back to Beijing, Xu Wei read the "Law of Enfeoffment of the Various Vassal States and Royal Family in the Third Year of Longqing" published in the "Huang Ming Dynasty Newspaper" and spent some time studying it.

The new law of enfeoffment of royal family members was drafted by Zhao Zhenji, the Zhongcheng of the Censorate, approved by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and promulgated throughout the country for full implementation.

The core content is that each fiefdom just needs to preserve the prince's lineage, and have descendants burn incense and serve cold pork to these ancestors during festivals to show that the incense continues.

The rest of the descendants of the princes of the various vassal states were all demoted to the rank of General Guarding the Country, and began to be demoted to zero, one rank for each generation, from General Guarding the Country to General Auxiliary Country, and then to General Serving the Country.

After three generations, congratulations, you have become a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. You can study, join the army, do business, and become a craftsman, and contribute to the construction of the new Ming Dynasty.

According to the new law, the current non-legitimate princes of the various vassal states and royal families will be demoted to generals guarding the country, the generals guarding the country will be demoted to generals supporting the country, and the generals supporting the country will be demoted to generals serving the country, and the counting will be reset to zero for three generations.

All the generals of Fengguo and below, as well as the lieutenants of Zhenguo, Fuguo and Fengguo, were cleared out and turned into commoners.

This knife is so cruel!

The reincarnation advantages that tens of thousands of princes and royal family members had accumulated over ten lifetimes were wiped out in one day, which must have made the people very angry.

The new law also stated that in order for tens of thousands of royal family members to be able to support their families, all royal family members who were demoted and cleared of their rank would be given an additional three months' salary of rice, which would be converted into silver dollars.

During these three months, the imperial court provided the royal family with many ways to achieve new life.

Those who claim to be talented can take part in the "recruitment examination" jointly held by the Guanglu Temple, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites. It is similar to the joint examination but different, and is divided into three subjects: politics, law and mathematics.

The exam only lasts one day, and all three subjects require an eight-part essay and a poem. Then the regular subject requires a policy essay, the law subject requires two case analyses, and the mathematics subject requires five practical application questions.

The papers were copied with names covered, and then the Imperial College organized teaching assistants and doctors of Chinese studies, law, and mathematics to uniformly correct the papers, conduct preliminary corrections, preliminary reviews, and cross-examinations.

Finally, the scores will be counted and the list of qualified candidates will be announced.

Congratulations to those who are qualified. You can be demoted three ranks from your current title and serve as a local official.

The General Fengguo was demoted to the sixth rank and could be appointed as the Tongpan of various prefectures or the Tongzhi of various prefectures; the Lieutenant Zhenguo was demoted to the seventh rank and could be appointed as the Tuiguan of various prefectures, the Judge of various prefectures and the Magistrate of various counties; the Lieutenant Fuguo was demoted to the eighth rank and could be appointed as the Experiencer of various prefectures and the County Magistrate of various counties.

The Fengguo Lieutenant was demoted quite severely, from the ninth rank, the lowest salary, and could only serve as a local minor official.

However, this method is most popular among royal family members. They can exchange an empty title of viscount for a local official, and still get the salary and real power. Why not do it?

The court also compassionately announced that this recruitment examination would be moved to autumn and held together with the recruitment examinations of the Imperial Colleges in the north and south.

Tens of thousands of royal family members who were proud of their talents signed up enthusiastically, imagining a bright future with great confidence.

However, Xu Wei knew that this path required real talent and hard work, and the admission rate would probably be very low, almost the same as that of passing the imperial examination.

Rather than taking this risk, it is better to honestly choose the second path arranged by the court and participate in the accounting, trading, transport and craftsman training courses arranged by the court. The classes are free, and the teaching is guaranteed to be successful, and jobs will be arranged.

Xu Wei felt that ordinary members of the royal family would be better off taking this opportunity to learn a skill. With the current initiative to promote industry and commerce, they would surely be able to ensure that their families would have enough food and clothing and lead a well-off life.

However, most of the royal family members would rather take part in the autumn recruitment examination first, and entering a training class is an alternative option after failing.

Xu Wei knew very well that all this was based on the premise that the various vassal states and royal families could pass the review of the joint review group.

The joint review group was composed of the Censorate, the Imperial Clan Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of Justice, the Eastern Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He guessed that the higher the rank, the lower the probability of passing the examination; the lower the rank, the higher the probability of passing the examination. Among the more than 20 princes, many must have failed the examination and were punished and expelled from their country.

The prince was captured and Guofan was eliminated, and the royal family of this vassal was also demoted to commoners, saving a lot of money and grain.

"I have studied the new law of enfeoffment of the various vassal clans promulgated by Your Highness. From now on, the various vassal clans and princes will be settled in the capital, and generals below the rank of general will be settled in the counties around the capital. Why don't you continue to contribute to the Ming Dynasty?
They are all descendants of Emperor Taizu, royal family nobles, and intermarriage with the wing masters and thousand households in the south and north of the desert can be regarded as a means of control. At the same time, the court can also use means to encourage the garrisons in the south and north of the desert to marry local noblewomen.

The conscription system of our Ming border troops is listed in the new "Military Service Law". If the recruited officers and soldiers of the border troops are injured or retire after ten years, they can be resettled in their hometowns according to their accumulated military merits. At that time, they can return to their hometowns with their families and become citizens of the Ming Dynasty forever. "

Xu Wei raised his head, looked at Zhu Yijun's face, and continued: "In addition, the court will provide money and food, and issue orders to recruit young and strong warriors from all wings in the south and north of the desert to fight in all directions.

The imperial court can gain territory and trade, and the warriors of the various wings can gain spoils and rewards. But the sword has no eyes, and there will always be casualties in war.

We can recruit young warriors once or twice a year, let them sacrifice their lives to enrich their families, and the court will have fewer hidden dangers, and everyone will be happy. "

If royal nobles and military academies marry "noble ladies" from all over the desert, then won't these horse-latching men have to remain single?
Don't worry, the court has made arrangements for you. Respond to the call enthusiastically, join the expeditions in all directions, rob money and women, won't this solve the problem?

Zhu Yijun laughed, "Mr. Wenchang, you are changing the method of reducing the population periodically by putting a sheepskin on it and making some changes to it.

Changing it to "driven by profit" is not so blatant. "

After hearing what the Crown Prince said, Xu Wei stopped trying to hide his mistake and admitted it readily.

"Your Highness is wise. I dare not speak out. In fact, these actions are considered to be unkind, immoral, tyrannical and arrogant in the eyes of the great scholars of morality."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and disagreed.

I don't have any moral quirks.

The Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty had long lost the great talent and strategy of governing the country of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the brilliant talent and eloquence of the Song Dynasty who had the ambition to conquer the world. All that was left was a stubborn mouth and the so-called moral cleanliness.

They take pride in abiding by the rules and are strict with others but lenient with themselves.

At the end of the century, the world was in chaos, the country was broken and the mountains and rivers were shattered. Only a small number of Confucian scholars learned from their mistakes and reflected on themselves.

The vast majority of Confucian scholars who were stubborn and had a moral obsession with cleanliness, some of them "talked about character with their hands folded in normal times, but were willing to die for the king when the time came", while some of them "felt the water was too cold" and simply slid down on their knees and defected to a new master.

"Mr. Wenchang, don't worry. You have been in Xiyuan for some time, and you know my rules. As long as it is beneficial to Ming Dynasty and the common people, no matter what you say, it will not violate the rules."

"Your Highness is magnanimous and open-minded, and he embraces all things."

Zhu Yijun smiled.

Old Xu, the actions you mentioned were also taken by the Qing Dynasty in another life.

The Ten-Perfect Old Man sent troops to pacify the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, entered Tibet to quell the rebellion, fought in the Jinchuan Islands, and pacified Burma, and he mobilized many young and strong warriors from the Mongolian tribes in the south and north of the desert.

Basically, the goal of the imperial court spending money and grain and Mongolia spending young and strong people was achieved.

To be honest, Xu Wei's measures to control the tribes in the south and north of the desert are very similar to those implemented by the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun didn't like these guys from the bottom of his heart. After he came to power, he would deal with these Jurchens as soon as he had the chance.

However, it must be said that these Jurchens were really good at learning, and were also good at summarizing the gains and losses of governing the country throughout the dynasties, including the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty inherited the Single Whip System, further implemented the equalization of land-based taxation and the unified payment of taxes by officials and gentry, which changed the financial difficulties of the previous Ming Dynasty and allowed the country to expand its territory and accomplish the Ten Military Achievements.

It promoted the ties between Manchus and Mongols and became the second dynasty without border threats in the north. It then had the spare capacity to expand westward, and large tracts of Xinjiang and Tibet were reintegrated into the territory of the Central Plains dynasty.

From ancient times to the present, both in China and abroad, we should treat the bad as experience and lessons, and absorb and learn from the good.

Whether it be the Western Barbarians or the Tang, Song, or Qing dynasties, I will learn from them as long as their actions and knowledge can help the Ming Dynasty progress.

The sea embraces all rivers and reforms the old to establish the new.

If one has a moral obsession, refusing to learn this and despising that, how is he different from the conservative and arrogant Qing Dynasty in its late years?
"Mr. Wenchang, please write a memorial about the measures you mentioned and submit it secretly."

"As you command."

"Let's go to Qinzheng Hall. Don't let Duke Yingguo and Duke Dongcun wait anxiously."

(End of this chapter)