Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 144: The Method of Change! Give Lao Zhu a World Map!

Immediately, Lao Zhu shook his head: "Impossible!"

"Did you see it wrong?"

"Or maybe Secretary Shi is wrong."

"After I became the emperor, I searched for all the descendants of the Zhu family's ancestors hundreds of years ago and recorded them in the family tree, but there weren't that many people!"

Of course, the emperor's family has to compile a family tree, and Zhu Yuanzhang is no exception.

At the beginning, some ministers even hinted to Zhu that he could recognize the Neo-Confucian master Zhu Xi as his ancestor in order to elevate the Zhu family's status.

It’s just like Li Yuan recognized Laozi Li Er as his ancestor.

But Lao Zhu thought, how can we recognize ancestors randomly?

The proposal was firmly rejected.

Therefore, all the ancestors of the Zhu family in the family tree were poor peasants.

The Zhu family had been poor for more than eight generations. When they were about to become extinct, Zhu Yuanzhang appeared and actually turned the tide to become the emperor.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang formulated the relevant clan system, he did not consider at all that the Zhu family would have hundreds of thousands of descendants hundreds of years later.

This is certainly not because Old Zhu doesn't even understand simple arithmetic.

Old Zhu is an excellent accountant, how could he not know these things?

But it is very easy for people to fall into empiricism and thus deny the calculated results.

The world's population has been passed down from generation to generation, and after so many years, the population has not exploded!
From the Qin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, so many years have passed, but isn't the population still the same?

Even if it increases several times, it won’t matter.

According to the Zhu family genealogy, the Zhu family's population has not increased at all!
The same is certainly true for future generations.

Even if it increases slightly, ten or twenty times, it is still within the tolerable range.

More importantly, Lao Zhu had read the royal family information of the Tang and Song dynasties, which were relatively close to the Ming Dynasty.

It is confirmed that the population of their royal family is only a few thousand.

As for the even older Han Dynasty, due to its long history, no official books have been passed down, and it can only be verified through other historical materials.

After all, Lao Zhu was not a learned scholar, and he did not have enough energy to look up information from the vast historical materials.

Besides, the historical records from the Tang and Song dynasties are enough to confirm this.

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "Grandpa Emperor, the history books will not be wrong."

"Because it is recorded in more than one history book, and there are many historical documents that can confirm this."

"It's impossible that all historical records are wrong."

He spoke in a decisive tone, paused and said, "In the past, the Zhu family has never been prosperous, that's because the Zhu family is poor."

"Poor people don't have enough food to eat, they can't afford to see a doctor when they are sick, and even if they give birth to a child, it is difficult for them to survive."

"Besides, there are many poor people who can't even get married, so they won't leave any offspring."

"But now our Zhu family is the royal family, the imperial family."

"The emperor and the kings all have many concubines, so naturally they have many children."

"If people can eat enough, see doctors when they are sick, and raise their children, their population will grow from generation to generation."

"If the Ming Dynasty can truly last for thousands of years, then the imperial court will definitely not be able to support it in the future."

Unexpectedly, Lao Zhu just shook his head and sighed.

"For thousands of years?"

"Is there any dynasty in the world that can last for thousands of years?"

"Since ancient times, dynasties have had their destiny. Once their destiny is exhausted, it is the time of their demise."

"We have set a twenty-four-character generation system for the descendants of the Zhu family. If the descendants of the Zhu family can rule the country for twenty-four generations, it will be a blessing from heaven."

"For a longer period of time, we dare not even think about it."

Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but be stunned.

Old Zhu is really a little different.

For example, most other emperors liked to pursue immortality. Even Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Taizong of Tang, who were famous emperors in history, were no exception.

Seek immortality and ask for longevity.

But Lao Zhu believed that the emperor's achievements were recorded in history books and his reputation would be passed down to later generations. If he could be revered for all eternity and be remembered forever, he would be immortal!
As for his own continued survival, he always believed that it was nonsense and unrealistic, and that an emperor should not ask for it rashly.

As for the fate of the dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang could accept it calmly, knowing that the Ming Dynasty would perish in the next few hundred years and be replaced by a new dynasty.

Of course, even though he accepted it, Old Zhu still tried his best, hoping that the Zhu family could maintain its throne for a few more years.

"It won't take thousands of years, just a hundred years or so, and the court will be overwhelmed."

Zhu Yunhuan said sternly: "The royal family of the Tang Dynasty did not prosper because after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the royal family had formed a habit of killing each other."

"There are countless fathers, sons, and brothers who have killed each other."

"Most of the royal family members died in battles, so naturally there aren't many of them."

"As for the Song Dynasty, it was because of the strict restrictions on the royal family and the low treatment they received, that the number of their descendants was not fast."

"Many members of the royal family have become poor, and the population of the royal family is no longer expanding rapidly."

"But according to the preferential treatment regulations set by Grandfather Emperor, the royal family of our Ming Dynasty will surely flourish and prosper."

“After five or six generations, the court could no longer bear it.”

"If you don't believe me, Grandpa Huang can calculate it for you."

"Now Grandpa Huang has more than twenty sons and more than fifty grandchildren."

"The sons are still growing up and having new grandchildren."

"In the future, Grandpa Huang will have at least a hundred grandchildren... and four or five hundred great-grandchildren."

"The next generation will have more than 2,000, and further down, there will be more than 10,000!"

……

Old Zhu listened to him calculating and started counting along with him, counting on his fingers.

Soon, his expression changed drastically.

"If that's true!" Old Zhu murmured, "How will future generations solve this problem?"

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head and said, "It can't be solved. No one can solve it."

"This is the rule set by Grandfather Emperor. Anyone who changes it is an unfilial descendant."

"The royal family members will surely rise up and rebel."

"People all over the world will curse at you."

"No king can bear such a responsibility."

"If we must talk about a solution, there is only one, which is to delay paying the salaries of the royal family members."

"The court has no money, so there is no way to give it."

“But this brings two disadvantages.”

"First, the royal family members who depend on salaries for their living will become impoverished and find it difficult to make a living."

"After all, according to the rules set by Grandfather Emperor, they are not allowed to do many jobs to earn a living."

"Secondly, once the court has surplus silver, it will have to pay some of it. It can't keep delaying the payment."

"The Ming court has since become a 'poor man' burdened with huge debts." "It is struggling to survive in the endless and never-ending 'debt'."

"Until he died from the burden."

"Except for a few people, the royal family members will not have a good life."

"Grandpa Emperor originally wanted to treat them well, but the end result was that they had to live a hard life."

"Then in your opinion, what should we do about this matter?" Old Zhu sighed, "No matter what, they are all our descendants, and we can't treat them too badly."

Zhu Yunhuan felt a chill in his heart.

Zhu's deep-rooted peasant mentality was the root cause of the extremely outrageous royal family system of the Ming Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty knew that restrictions should be placed on the royal family. How could the ministers of the Ming Dynasty not know this?
Everyone in the court is a smart person. How could they not understand such a simple and easy-to-understand truth?
But even though we understand it, who can defeat Old Zhu?
This emperor was willing to wield the butcher's knife at any time.

What's more, the issue of the royal family does not involve the personal interests of the ministers.

The royal family received salaries from the court, not their own money.

Why should they risk their lives to stop it?

Furthermore, the issue of the royal family is a huge hidden danger for future generations.

But for the current Ming Dynasty court, this is not a problem at all.

People are short-sighted.

What happens decades or hundreds of years later will be the concern of future generations.

Their energy is focused on solving the problems at hand.

In fact, the same is true for Zhu Yunhuan.

The Ming Dynasty’s royal family problem was serious, but not urgent.

There is absolutely no need for him to bring this up to Lao Zhu right now.

But Zhu Yunhuan was "Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong". He used the name of reforming the royal family system to persuade Zhuge Liang to agree to the major reforms he was about to carry out.

"Of course we will treat them well, but we can't let them all become useless."

Zhu Yunxun said: "My grandson believes that the court should encourage the descendants of the Zhu family to work hard and make a career, rather than just lying down and waiting for the court's salary to support them and then eating up all the money they have left."

"For the children of the royal family, we should conduct special assessments like the children of meritorious ministers to determine the treatment they can enjoy."

"The court's titles can be divided into two types. One is the iron hat, which is hereditary."

"A hereditary title will never be removed unless one commits a serious crime such as treason."

"But this title is only awarded to those who have made great contributions."

"If the prince has made great contributions, his title can be inherited by his descendants."

"If not, the eldest son of the next generation will be demoted to a lower rank and become a prince!"

"The second son will be demoted to a lower rank, and become a general guarding the country."

"If they fail the assessment, they will be demoted to a lower rank. The eldest son of the prince will be demoted to a general guarding the country, and the second son will be demoted to a general supporting the country, and the ranks will be lowered again for the next generations."

"And so on, all the way down to the lowest rank, Lieutenant Fengguo."

"After that, the court will pay a sum of money, and from then on, they will lose their titles and be left to fend for themselves."

"The imperial court can allocate a sum of money to provide relief to the extremely poor royal family members, but it should only be used to provide them with food and clothing, and never to support idle and useless people."

“We need to help them become self-reliant.”

"Of course, if a member of the royal family can make great contributions to the court, his title will not only not be reduced, but can be promoted."

"For example, if a general who defends the country has made great contributions to the court, he can be promoted to a prince, or even a hereditary prince with an iron hat."

"This is also a title that belongs exclusively to the descendants of the Zhu family. No one other than the Zhu family can be crowned king."

After listening to him, Old Zhu murmured for a while and said, "Your method certainly sounds good."

"But when we make our own sons vassal kings, they can cause a lot of trouble in their fiefdoms and do a lot of lawless things."

“It is difficult for officials to control their behavior.”

“If we let the royal family members do their work, they can earn their living and make contributions to the court.”

"I'm afraid they are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything."

"On the contrary, it will rob the meritorious officials of their achievements, take away the people's jobs, and harm the people of the world, which will cause endless troubles!"

Zhu Yunhuan smiled slightly.

Doesn’t Old Zhu know that the royal family system he established is no different from raising pigs, and will only make all the royal family members useless?
With Mr. Zhu's intelligence, how could he not understand this?

But, choose the lesser of two evils!

Rather than letting the royal family members go out to work and let them harm the people, it is better to keep them and not allow them to do anything.

For example, if the children of royal families were allowed to engage in business, those merchants who came from poor families would no longer have a way to make a living.

The children of royal families have ten thousand ways to use their power, identity, and status to seize the property of other merchants and take all their businesses into their own hands.

They will monopolize the market, raise prices, and make the people suffer.

This question has almost no answer.

Even in modern society, once the second and third generations do something, others will be frightened and try to avoid them.

How can ordinary people fight them?

What else can you fight with?

Therefore, later generations imposed strict restrictions on officials' children doing business.

Compared with the children of royal families, the children of officials are nothing.

The children of officials can cause great harm, so one can imagine what the children of royal families can do.

Keeping them under control and not allowing them to do anything turned out to be the best solution.

Old Zhu was still alive, and he felt exhausted from managing several vassal kings.

How could the emperors of later generations possibly manage so many royal family members?

What's more, the royal family members are all descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang, so Zhu Yuanzhang has no scruples in managing them.

But to later emperors, many members of the royal family were still his elders.

Due to filial piety and clan relations, it is even more difficult to manage them.

"Of course we can't leave them in Ming!"

"They will be lawless and unruly."

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "But what if we let them out?"

"Let him go?" Old Zhu asked back, obviously not understanding what he meant.

"Yes!" Zhu Yunxun said, "Just like the Zhou royal family divided the princes, release them all."

"Let them go out there and create something new and start a career."

As he spoke, he took out from his pocket the world map that he had spent many days drawing.

With a "whoosh" sound.

The map unfolded.

Old Zhu's dragon eyes suddenly widened!
……

(End of this chapter)