My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 96 Three Strategies (5th Update)
Su Ze said: "I believe that the Dai vassal has long been violating the patriarchal law! Killing clan members is against human ethics, exploiting border residents has lost the people's support, and encroaching on military settlements has undermined the foundation of the country. They should be investigated and punished!"

When Su Ze said this, the emperor and all the cabinet ministers nodded.

In fact, the emperor and the cabinet knew very well what the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were like.

There is no need to send Wang Yongji. Zhu Juntang's complaint to the emperor has already made the problem clear.

Sending Wang Yongji to Datong was just a matter of setting things straight and going through the motions.

Su Ze continued:

"The imperial court provides generous salaries to support the royal family, yet every year there are still relatives who starve to death. The royal family of Dai has suffered for a long time!"

"The King of Dai has been removed for his crimes. To provide for the livelihood of his clan members, we should follow the ancient system and grant official land to clan members according to their rank, so that they can farm and study and pass on the legacy to their family."

"After the land is granted, the court will no longer grant rice as a salary, and will allow the vassal to personally perform the four occupations of the people."

After Su Ze finished speaking, Emperor Longqing looked at him and asked:
"Granting land once, but no more rice as stipend?"

Su Ze nodded. If only the King of Dai was deposed, these royal family members of Dai would still need support from the court.

In fact, the middle and low-level royal family members in Shanxi are no different from the common people.

The nominal rice allowance was often withheld, and there were prohibitions against engaging in the four occupations of the people. Their lives were even worse than those of some rich peasants.

For example, Zhu Juntang clearly had the ability to take the imperial examination, but his father had to bribe the manager of the Dai Wang Mansion before he was "graciously allowed" to take the examination.

He was then persecuted by King Dai and deprived of his qualification to take the imperial examination.

The solution proposed by Su Ze was to grant them corresponding "official land", but the court would no longer pay them rice as salary, which was equivalent to "buying out seniority" in later generations.

Emperor Longqing looked at his cabinet ministers and asked:
"Do you think this is feasible?"

It was Zhang Juzheng who stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, there are thousands of relatives of the vassal king, both near and far. If we grant them an average of fifty mu of land, and the royal palace property of the Hongzhi era is 20,000 hectares, we can provide generous benefits to the royal family."

Zhang Juzheng was speaking on behalf of Su Ze. The Dai Wangfu had 20,000 hectares of legal land during the Hongzhi period. It was more than enough to distribute land to these poor royal family members, with 50 mu per household.

You should know that among ordinary farmers in the north today, if one has 15 acres of land, he is considered to be relatively wealthy.

Granting a clan member 50 mu of land and letting them manage it themselves or rent it out to tenant farmers is better than the current rice salary system that is almost starving people to death.

Zhao Zhenji asked:
"How will the new royal family members of Datong be counted in the future?"

Su Ze smiled and said:

"How ordinary people's families are counted when they have children? For royal families who have been granted land, the same thing applies: the son inherits the land after the father dies."

Zhao Zhenji stopped talking. Emperor Longqing completely understood Su Ze's meaning, which was to buy out the clan members in one go and lift the ban on the Datong clan in the name of "opening the clan ban", but he would no longer give them clan privileges.

For a moment, the emperor hesitated again. He decided to pick a less sensitive topic and asked:

"What about Fubiantun?"

"Recovering the border settlements means clearing out the military settlements occupied by the Dai Wangfu and other local nobles, and returning them to the garrisons."

This is a commonplace topic. This is exactly what the Qing army did when they cleared the fields. Emperor Longqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, Su Ze said:
"The border guards are exhausted. Datong Garrison currently has 7,000 registered soldiers, but fewer than 3,000 active men. I suggest that we recruit refugees to fill the garrison, then organize them into villages of hundreds or thousands of households, distribute land to each household, and use them as military settlements."

Dividing the land again?

This time, the four elders all frowned.

Zhao Zhenji, who was most familiar with military affairs, asked:

"How is it different from the Nine Side Guards?"

Su Ze said:

"The military rations produced by the military guards are used exclusively for the frontier troops, and the amount collected is greater than that of the civilians." "However, the rations produced by Datong are used exclusively for Datong, and there is no need to transport them."

"After the southern troops marched north, no one in the Datong Guard left the border, nor did they garrison far away. They were only called up once in the autumn to defend the city."

Now the emperor and the cabinet understood.

My goodness, after destroying Taizu’s clan system, Su Ze is now trying to overthrow Taizu’s garrison system!

Su Ze’s approach was actually the “Production and Construction Corps” of later generations.

The Datong Guard was transformed into a construction corps specializing in production and farming, but the shackles of their garrisoning Datong were removed, and they became a militia that would only be assembled when Datong was attacked.

In Su Ze's vision, Datong Guard would be responsible for logistics production, while the Qi family army heading north would be responsible for Datong's defense and attacking the grassland. Professionals would do professional things.

It was Zhao Zhenji who said:
"Aren't these the commandery and state soldiers and the Yulin Army of the Eastern Han Dynasty?"

Su Ze bowed his head and said:

"What Lord Zhao said is absolutely right."

The emperor looked at his ministers again, and Zhang Juzheng, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, stood up first and said:

"I think it's appropriate. It doesn't change the ancestral system of the garrisons, it benefits the border troops, and it can also save the court the cost of transporting troops to the nine border areas. This is a good idea!"

Now even the licorice prime minister Li Chunfang would roll his eyes.

Is this called not changing the ancestral laws of the garrison?

What are you talking about, Zhang Juzheng? Zuling can't even contain it!

Apart from the fact that it is still called a garrison, what does this have to do with the laws of our ancestors?
But Su Ze's proposal is indeed very tempting.

The consumption in the Nine Borders is huge, and the loss of transporting food to the Nine Borders is even greater.

It might take ten dan of grain to transport one dan of grain to Datong.

If Su Ze's method could really be followed, even if the Datong military settlement could not be self-sufficient, even if only the grain supply to Datong was reduced, it would save the court a lot of money.

If it were in the past, Su Ze’s idea would naturally be a fantasy.

But if the King of Dai is really deposed and the land of the King of Dai's Palace is confiscated, Su Ze's idea can really be realized.

Even Zhao Zhenji, who was the most conservative in military affairs, was moved by what Su Ze said.

Emperor Longqing was also interested.

With the reduction of expenditures in the nine frontiers, the cabinet will not be able to continue crying poor if it wants to organize a Lantern Festival in the future.

Prime Minister Li Chunfang saw everything and sighed slightly. It seemed that King Dai was doomed this time.

When the emperor and the ministers want you dead, King Dai has no way to survive.

What's more, the King of Dai himself is not clean.

Li Chunfang looked at Su Ze. Since Su Ze entered the officialdom, he had killed a former prime minister and countless officials. If a vassal king was added to the list, this record would be too terrifying!

Thinking of this, Li Chunfang thought again and felt relieved that she did not seem to have suppressed Su Ze.

Emperor Longqing was already tempted, but he thought about the reactions of other members of the royal family and could not make up his mind. He could only say:
"Let's wait until Wang Yongji goes to Datong and investigates thoroughly before we discuss this."

Su Ze didn't expect that even after he had drawn such a big pie, the emperor still didn't eat it.

As the history books say, the oppressive life as the crown prince during the Jiajing period made Emperor Longqing develop a cautious character, and he was indecisive when making decisions.

It seems that we still need to use the system.

(End of this chapter)