The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 214 "I feel sorry for my grandchildren whom I have never met"

The old emperor listened to Zhu Jianxuan's muttering and couldn't help but remind him again:
"It would be best if you could really do it and just scrap the project that invested in the prince, instead of scrapping the prince himself."

Zhu Jianxuan actually laughed this time:

“It’s easy to simply kill the prince, just learn from Osman.

"Before they succeeded to the throne, they were all locked up in a courtyard and not allowed to contact any outsiders, so naturally they could not form a faction.

“But when they themselves take the throne, they will know nothing about the power struggle.

“On the contrary, it is easy to be controlled by old-fashioned officials.

"We can't lock them up directly, nor can we let them have direct contact with important officials of the imperial court, so we can only release them to the local authorities.

“At least it’s temporarily put in place.

"Before the princes come of age, they are gathered together for special education, and after they come of age, they are sent to local places to serve as officials for training.

"Starting from the lowest level of officials in towns and villages, like ordinary officials, you will be promoted according to your level and change your place of work at the same time.

"The prince himself is not in the capital, but is a minor official at the local level. He has no way of gaining extra cohesion through his status as a prince.

“There is no way for him to use his cohesiveness to form a party centered on him in the central court.

“If an official wants to invest in the prince under such circumstances, it is a pure investment, and the short-term return is basically zero.

“At the same time, the princes should be allowed to serve in different types of places, such as coastal and inland areas, wealthy and poor areas, plains and mountainous areas, and islands, to gain experience.

“At the same time, we should choose places overseas to establish vassal states without fixed monarchs, or choose existing vassal states that are more controllable.

“The positions of monarch or prime minister of these vassal states will be regarded as part of the training process for the princes.

“However, the promotion time of the prince is staggered with the normal official assessment system. For example, officials are assessed every three years, while the prince is promoted every two or four years.

“For local officials, the prince may train in his own jurisdiction for two years and then be transferred to someone else’s jurisdiction soon, and he will have no way to chase after him to support him.

“We can also impose restrictions that the prince’s colleagues and superiors during his training period cannot be transferred to the capital to serve before the next emperor ascends the throne.

"Avoid officials who have worked with the prince in the past, so that they can work together with the prince who will return to the capital in the future after they are promoted to the capital."

The old emperor listened to this very seriously and couldn't help but raise his own question:

"You said officials can't chase after the prince for support, but what if someone wants to chase after him for support? What if they want to make long-term investments?

“For example, if the ministers and assistant ministers of the imperial court were to support a prince who was serving in a local position, it should be easy for them no matter where the prince was serving, right?
"A local big businessman can also follow a prince to invest, right? Wherever the prince goes to gain experience, he can invest directly there?

"Looking at it the other way around, if a higher-level official wanted to deliberately attack a prince for the sake of the prince he supports, it would actually be very easy, right?"

“How do you find this extra support, and how do you avoid being attacked in this way?”

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and said:
"Father, this is a one-sided investment without seeking returns, and the actual harm is not obvious.

“And if the person involved does it a little crudely, it will be easily discovered.

“If the prince is doing things normally using his abilities, then his performance on most of his resume should be relatively even.

“If you perform exceptionally well at one stage, but perform exceptionally poorly at another place or stage, then there is probably something wrong with your resume.

"Officials who can follow the clues to investigate the problem.

“When the performance is particularly bad, are they persecuted and attacked? When the performance is particularly good, are they given extra care?

“If a minister in the court wants to make an ordinary prince perform exceptionally well through extra help, then he needs to make sure that the prince performs better than other princes throughout the entire training process.

"Then he would have to start from the grassroots villages and towns, and make arrangements for this prince all the way up to the provincial and vassal states, and also throughout the entire Ming Dynasty.

“Merchants do have the freedom to choose to follow and invest in a prince.

"When the prince takes up a post in a place, they will actually invest in that place to increase the local population, factories, and construction, but it must last at least ten years.

"Then we have to wait for an indeterminate number of years until the prince finally succeeds to the throne before we can reward them.

“How big is the investment? How long is the cycle? Can businessmen do this?
“If there are really businessmen willing to do it, then let them do it. It is equivalent to helping the court with construction. It is worthwhile to be awarded a title after the success.

“When this prince finally completes his training and returns to the capital, he will not immediately take the throne, nor will he be able to directly cooperate with court officials.

"Instead, we need to centralize management again. We can demarcate an area next to the imperial palace, enclose it with a wall, and build a special palace for the king.

“Let the princes and their family members live together in this area. They are not allowed to go out at will, and they are not allowed to have direct contact with foreign officials.

"Establish a special institution, such as the Senate of the Ming Dynasty, and let the princes who have returned from training serve as senators.

"The councillors do not participate in the decision-making of court affairs, nor will they be assigned to be directly responsible for any affairs. They are only responsible for the supervision and auditing of court institutions and personnel.

"Usually, he would find fault with all court institutions and personnel, and make suggestions and comments on government affairs at any time according to the emperor's requirements.

"Until the emperor decides who to choose as his successor, the other princes can end their life as advisors.

“While the prince is observing government affairs in the capital, he cannot participate in decision-making, which means he cannot provide visible returns to his investors.

"The key is to take on the most hated supervisory position, and to gain political achievements by finding trouble for officials and standing on the opposite side of ordinary officials, otherwise you may be eliminated.

“For a prince like this, there is no short-term benefit, the investment costs are huge, the profit cycle is extremely long, and the risk is still very high.

“By the time a prince who has been invested in actually succeeds to the throne, the old ministers and merchants who invested in him may have already retired.

“Even if the old minister’s children are able to receive the care of the prince now, as the younger generation they cannot directly influence the prince.

"Why would normal ministers and chancellors take such a big risk and spend so much energy to do such a thing?
“On the other hand, if investment and support are unnecessary, then dedicated attacks and slander are also unnecessary.

“How can they guarantee that the prince they slandered will never have a chance to succeed to the throne in the future?
“Moreover, the princes can write reports directly to the emperor. If someone deliberately attacks or slanders, the person concerned will easily notice the abnormality.

“In fact, under such complex rules, to push a prince to the front alone and suppress all his competitors at the same time, it may require the joint efforts of all central and local officials.

“Since he can do this, then this prince is the popular choice and should be the future heir.

"Because officials themselves have their own factions. When they can really unite as one, the court itself will have big problems, and there is no need to consider the problem of the prince."

After listening to this, the old emperor thought about it seriously:
“Considering this, the best solution for everyone seems to be to establish a good relationship, which is equivalent to the smallest investment for all the princes.

“This may result in all the princes having similar performances in the end. Unless each prince’s abilities are truly amazing, there will definitely not be a big gap between most of them.

"After the princes arrive in the capital, if they are not allowed to make decisions on their own, how will the emperor choose his successor in the end?"

Zhu Jianxuan went on to explain: “In order for this system of selecting the crown prince to function properly, a complete set of planning, implementation, evaluation, supervision and review systems should be established.

“In the entire process from learning to experience to observing politics, there must be a variety of qualitative rather than quantitative evaluations and assessments.

“We only look at whether the prince meets the most basic standards, not his specific grades.

“When you are studying, you pass the most typical exams, and then you eliminate those who are obviously not very smart, and send those with normal levels to the training stage.

"During the training phase, weed out those with physical problems and those who cannot grasp basic administrative logic.

“The princes who have returned to the capital after training are actually basically qualified to be crown princes, and should be at least above average.

"In the final stage of participating in politics, the princes will be responsible for finding problems with institutions and officials, which will allow them to demonstrate their true abilities.

“The emperor can also set questions himself at any time, observe the princes’ analysis and suggestions on specific government affairs, and determine their actual level of cognition.

“There is no grade for this kind of daily assessment. It is simply to see which prince’s style of doing things best suits the emperor’s wishes.

"This stage can actually be made public, saying that the final selection of the crown prince is only for those who are 'suitable for the emperor', and no other conditions will be considered.

“Who is chosen in the end depends entirely on the emperor’s preference.

"Only by avoiding interference from other forces in the succession to the throne, or by making large-scale interference meaningless, can the emperor's power be truly independent."

After listening to this, the old emperor fell into deep thought again:
“This sounds feasible, but it’s better to explore it slowly.

“You shouldn’t make these things clear right away, you should implement them first and see how they go, then make adjustments based on the actual situation.

"Of course, the most crucial issue is that you need to have a range for your screening, which means you need to have enough offspring.

"So you should quickly take in concubines, and follow the traditional rules to take in ten concubines.

"And you should calculate the pregnancy cycle before having sex, rather than just making a decision on impulse. It's best to add another group of people as soon as you get pregnant.

"Can you bear this kind of life?
"Even if you can bear it, do you think your own son can bear it?"

Zhu Jianxuan thought for a moment and said:
“I think capital will influence people.

“Even if a person has almost unlimited money, money is just a number.

“Even though their life needs that can be achieved through money have been fully met, they will continue to pursue more money and the continued appreciation of money.

“Power is the same, and it has inertia.

"This method can further centralize the decision-making power of the world. After abolishing the prime minister, the queen and the crown prince will be abolished again, eliminating almost all interference factors that can affect the imperial power.

“No one who has obtained these will give up, and the method of not giving up and continuing is basically fixed, they have no choice.

“Those who ultimately gain supreme power in this way should also spontaneously safeguard this way of power inheritance.

“That’s where their legitimacy for power comes from.

"This program is like a machine. Once it starts running, it is difficult to stop."

The old emperor reminded again earnestly:

“But machines break down, and you have to think about backup plans, emergency plans.

“For example, the emperor dies suddenly when the princes are not yet adults or are still training in other places.

"And there were only a few princes in total, all of them were unqualified or assassinated.

"And the situation where the emperor simply couldn't give birth to a son..."

Zhu Jianxuan said without thinking:
"The close relatives of the imperial family should also be included in the scope of education, training, and participation in politics to avoid the situation where the emperor has no heir or the situation where the emperor has no heir accidentally.

“At the same time, when the emperor ascends the throne, he must immediately choose a successor and write a secret will and seal it for safekeeping.

“If you have a son, choose your son, regardless of whether he has reached adulthood or completed his training.

"The emperor himself has no son, so he chooses brothers and nephews who have completed the training.

"When the emperor has a son, or when his son has completed his training, and the emperor has chosen his final successor, he can change the will himself.

“If the emperor dies during this period, the children, brothers, or nephews mentioned in his will will succeed to the throne.

"At the same time, fertility is also included in the assessment scope. Only those who can give birth normally can enter the final screening."

The old emperor listened and nodded slightly without comment:

“The plans you are considering seem to be quite comprehensive at the moment, and if there are any problems in the future, they can be adjusted and repaired later.

“But politics has inertia. If you want to break the existing inertia and establish the political inertia of your own design, the key is to lead by example for a long time.

"Be prepared to practice what you preach and persist for decades, starting with taking concubines and having children in large numbers..."

Zhu Jianxuan said without much concern:

"I'm actually ready. If I want my child to be as smart as possible, I have to choose a mother who is as smart as possible.

“When the Wu court and scientific research institutions move back, I will arrange for them to select a group of maids to enter the palace.

"According to the tradition of our Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent external relatives from interfering in government affairs, the harem can only be selected from the families of civil and military officials of the fifth rank or below.

“But for a craftsman’s family, the job level should be limited instead of the salary level. A craftsman with a high level of talent will most likely not be low.

"As long as the craftsman does not directly manage affairs, the daughter and granddaughter of a first-rank craftsman can also..."

The old emperor suddenly had a sense of déjà vu:

"How are you going to choose a smart mother for the child? Are you going to test her in math like you did when you chose your disciples?"

Zhu Jianxuan said as a matter of course:

"Yes, it's a math test, or rather a math learning ability test, just like when I recruited students.

"A person who is good at math will definitely have a good brain. If the mother has a good brain, the probability that the child will be a genius will be higher."

The old emperor suddenly sighed when he heard this:
“In fact, I don’t feel sorry for you anymore, because I know you work just like a machine.

"I am mainly worried about my grandchildren whom I have never met. How much suffering will they have to endure in the future because of you..."

(End of this chapter)