Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 306 Daming Has Changed
Zhu Youxiao had never been a father, so he didn't feel much about the concept of having children, and he didn't even think that he would become someone else's father one day.

Of course, it was even more unexpected that he would become a father in the Ming Dynasty. However, when he saw the croaking and rosy baby on the bed, his heart seemed to be hit by someone, as if his whole heart melted into it. In those deep black and crystal clear eyes.

This is my child?

Zhu Youxiao asked himself this question more than once. At some point, he found that Xu Fu, who was also wrapped in a turban and whose skin was as white as snow, seemed to have added a bit more mature charm than before.

"You are tired," Zhu Youxiao sat beside Xu Fu involuntarily, holding her limp and powerless hand, and said.

The queen Zhang Yan at the side still had a smile on her face, hugging the little prince fondly.

At this moment, it seems more like an ordinary wealthy family, without the so-called vigilance and grudge among concubines.

Xu Fu also smiled like a flower, and shook his head at Zhu Youxiao, meaning that she was not tired. For her, it was the first time she saw such a gentle gaze from His Majesty today. The pain is worth it, she would rather just stare at Zhu Youxiao like this.

"Your Majesty, let's choose a name," Empress Zhang Yan interrupted at this time and said with a smile.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and was about to take advantage of the excitement to name a little life, but encountered a difficulty, because Emperor Taizu Gao had already given the format, except that the surname was Zhu, and the seniority had already been arranged. I belong to the lineage of King Yan, but in my current generation, the next generation is kind and compassionate, and the last word is the rule of gold, wood, water, fire and earth. It is fire as a side.

But for a while, Zhu Youxiao couldn't think of a few words with fire next to it. After thinking for a long time, he finally decided: "The name is Zhu Cijiong."

His Majesty the Emperor's confirmation of the name means that he officially recognized his child's status as a prince. Xu Fu couldn't help getting up to salute Zhu Youxiao, but Zhu Youxiao pushed her back and asked Wang Chengen to assist the Queen in handling the matter. .

The news that His Majesty the Ming Emperor had the eldest son Zhu Cijiong spread like wildfire across the country. For a Chinese dynasty that relied on etiquette to establish a ruling system, this not only meant that the Zhu dynasty would transition smoothly in the following political life, It also means that the people of the world will have a more peaceful life for a period of time.

Because this means that the dynasty's rule has continued and passed on.

The ministers consciously put up their congratulatory forms, and the common people spontaneously ran around telling each other. In the two capitals, Suzhou and Hangzhou and other big cities, even literati and ordinary people spontaneously organized celebration parades.

Because several cabinet ministers advised His Majesty to use this matter to amnesty the world, Zhu Youxiao also had to agree with them that, except for a few heinous crimes, prisoners on death row should be sentenced to imprisonment and should be exiled to remote areas for reform.

At the same time, as the emperor's brother-in-law, Prince Consort Gong Yonggu, the general manager of the Royal Industrial Company, and one of the richest businessmen in Ming Dynasty, he directly distributed bonuses for three months to his employees, just to celebrate The appearance of the eldest son of the emperor.

Gong Yonggu did this, and the Royal Bank was not far behind. It began to mint a batch of commemorative coins and commemorative gold bars for limited sale, and many people above the middle class came to buy them.

The Ordnance Department and the Royal Court also gave out bonuses. Huo Weihua simply gave the workers of the Ministry of Industry a day off and subsidized them with five silver dollars a day to spend.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to distribute bonuses to civil and military officials, and ordered the governors and chief ministers of each province to give additional bonuses to their subordinate officials. The amount and amount of bonuses could be reported to the central government for reimbursement.

Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch in charge of Nanjing, also went to Guanyin Temple to repay his vow, and immediately donated [-] silver dollars.

Even Ma Shiying also exempted individual industrial and commercial households in the prefectures and counties of Fengyang for three days. Since then, although millions of silver dollars have been lost in tax revenue, it has greatly stimulated the development of the small commodity economy.

Since then, a rule has been formed. On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, there will be a three-day tax-free period. Farmers and residents in the suburbs around the town have begun to develop the habit of coming to the town on this day to sell agricultural products and buy new year's goods at the same time.

Because of the tax exemption on this day, in order to maximize profits, many merchants will cut prices and promote sales on this day. For many ordinary people, they can buy products that are usually out of reach on this day.

If the festive event of the appearance of the eldest son of the emperor was put in front of it, it would naturally be the filial piety of the lower ones, but this year it was changed, and the filial piety was given to the lower ones from the top.

It seems that unintentionally, people will find that the whole society has been changing, and the former order of superiority and inferiority is gradually being eliminated.

Zhu Youxiao himself didn't realize this. As a country living in a country without a clear hierarchy, he thought these things were perfectly normal, but what really surprised him was that he really changed history more and more. It's getting different, because according to normal history, Emperor Zhu Youxiao shouldn't have any heirs.

However, having the eldest son of the emperor does not mean that Ming's political arena will be smooth sailing from now on.

The emergence of new things often means the beginning of new events and new struggles.

Liu Zongzhou and Shi Kefa, who were the special envoys stationed in the Qing Dynasty in the prosperous capital of the Qing Dynasty, also learned that the current emperor had the eldest son of the emperor. They delivered the good news.

Although for Huang Taiji and other Manchu nobles, this is not good news, or even bad news, because it means that the cohesion of Ming Dynasty will be strengthened, but he also has to congratulate on the surface.

However, Liu Zongzhou and Shi Kefa, perhaps for the sake of the continuation of the dynasty, made a memorial to admonish His Majesty to immediately establish the eldest son of the emperor as the prince.

This memorial was also supported by Liaodong Jinglue Wang Zaijin and University scholar Lu Xiangsheng and General Military Officer Mao Wenlong. In short, the powerful figures of the entire Liaodong system chose to jointly write a letter, admonishing His Majesty to establish the crown prince of the eldest son of the emperor.

The civil and military officials in the court also actively responded to the establishment of the prince as soon as possible.

But Zhu Youxiao felt a huge and invisible pressure because of this. This scene seemed to have happened again in the Wanli Dynasty. He couldn't help worrying whether the government would start to fall into chaos because of the prince again.

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to establish the crown prince so hastily. With the advent of the steam age, the improvement of productivity, and the disintegration of the natural economy, the changes in Ming Dynasty will develop even more in the future, especially after a hundred years. In the future, I will face a more severe reality than what I am facing now.

"As for the matter of establishing the crown prince, I understand the thoughts of all dear ministers, but the establishment of the crown prince of a country is a major event for the country, and it should not be hasty. How many times in the Ming Dynasty have the country's power been damaged because of this, and now the eldest son of the emperor has just been born. Whether his character is good or bad, whether he is stupid or smart, what talents he has, I don't know yet, and I'm afraid you don't know either. It would be too much to entrust the destiny of my country for a hundred years after the Ming Dynasty to the shoulders of this young child who has not even weaned his milk. It’s rash, so don’t mention this matter again!”

Above the court, Zhu Youxiao directly rejected the courtiers in this way, and the courtiers did not dare to disobey the king's intention, but at this time, an official from the Ministry of Rites stood up and asked: "Your Majesty Qizuo, since you don't establish the emperor early Prince, why not make him a prince as soon as possible, so as to be prepared when the prince is selected in the future."

Qian Qianyi, Li Mingrui and others all nodded because of this, and secretly praised what this person said was a wise move. Since the current emperor is unwilling to establish a crown prince in advance, as a minister, he can't and dare not press hard, but if It is feasible to confer the eldest son of the emperor as the prince in advance, and if something happens in the future, the position of the crown prince can be directly established.

But Zhu Youxiao didn't think so. He could not bear to cut down more than half of the world's vassal kings, recovered one-third of the land under his control, and greatly reduced his salary and support. Now he re-appointed a prince But what to do, it is difficult to give him tens of thousands of acres of land and a high salary.

"Of course it is possible to seal the king, but from my point of view, in order to prevent the embezzlement of the people's land and property by the nobles, there is no need to divide the land. Adding a constraint, and in order to prevent my descendants from being idle and lazy because they are of royal blood, I have decided not to give them any princes or kings easily, regardless of their order of seniority, everything is based on talent and virtue. After he leaves the cabinet at the age of 15, we will discuss what kind of title he should confer."

After Zhu Youxiao said this, the officials couldn't say anything more, but Li Mingrui stood up at this time and said: "Your Majesty's concern is indeed a farsighted concern, but the eldest son of the emperor, as your majesty's son, is also the future of my Ming Dynasty. It is still one of the guarantees of peace and prosperity, since he is not established as the crown prince, but because he has the false title of prince like Xin Wang Zhu Youxiao, this is also for the sake of the long-term plan of the country."

Zhu Youxiao understands what Li Mingrui means. Now that Zhu Youjian can hold the title of King Xin, the eldest son of the emperor can also hold the title of Prince. Find excuses by inspection.

And Zhu Youxiao originally planned to let the princes participate in specific government affairs in the future, so that's fine, the prince's salary can be set very low because of the false title, after all, it is symbolic, and the grade of the specific positions of the princes depends It depends on its ability.

"What Aiqing said is very true. If this is the case, the eldest son of the emperor will be named King Zhao, and the gifts will be of the same rank, and the salary will be the same rank as an official," Zhu Youxiao said.

In this way, the eldest son of the emperor won the title of King Zhao, but he was still living peacefully in the Forbidden City like an ordinary baby after he was born.

Compared with the first year of Chongzhen in the original history, there was no large-scale peasant uprising broke out in the eighth year of Tianqi, also in [-] in the Western calendar, because of the sweeping of royal capital and the huge supply of Fengyang commercial tax. The filling of the national treasury made it possible for Jizhou and Guyuan to reissue the military salaries owed for many years in the Nine Frontiers, and therefore there was no major mutiny.

It can be said that the Eight Years of Apocalypse, which should have started from this point and became more turbulent, did not show signs of turmoil due to the increasingly cold climate, but was more stable than the Seven Years of Apocalypse.

The problem of refugees has not only been resolved, but there is even a shortage of refugees. In the eight years of the apocalypse when the industrial economy began to impact the natural economy, many people still prefer to stick to the land and harvest the one-third of an acre of land food and lead a self-sufficient life.

However, due to the large-scale use of steam power and the acquiescence and support of the imperial court, workshops and factories of all walks of life sprung up like mushrooms after rain, but there was also a labor shortage.

The factory owners had to increase wages but tempted these people to leave their hometowns to work in cities and towns.

With the temptation of wealth, by the end of the eighth year of the apocalypse, many people have begun to come to big cities and towns to dedicate their labor in exchange for wealth, and in a metropolis like the capital, it is even more inseparable from the services of these migrants.

From the most basic public health treatment to the creation of various cultures and arts, as well as the inheritance and innovation of various skills, these skilled craftsmen gathered from all over the Ming Dynasty play their important roles in the capital.

Now the soldiers of the Wucheng Bingma Division are getting more and more lazy, because the national treasury is full, and the Wucheng Bingma Division has also allocated city management funds.

However, the officials of the Wucheng Bingma Division and the soldiers who have a formal establishment in the Ministry of War are lazier than before. They are not even willing to do extortion and extortion of small vendors, let alone other municipal services. They are just like factory employers. Many landless refugees were employed as temporary workers to be responsible for the maintenance of order in the capital, the handling of urban cleaning, and fire protection.

When Zhu Youxiao was walking in the capital in micro-clothes, he could see many people wearing Bingmasi's special costumes sweeping the snow on the street for a few cents a day, while Bingmasi's officials sat leisurely. Have tea on the side.

And there are also these ordinary people made up of temporary workers who are shouting and drinking to some beggars and illegal street vendors on the street.

But at the same time, it can also be seen that they will desperately carry the steam-powered water pump to the fire accident point, and desperately save the lives of people, and even risk their lives to put out the fire.

Daming has really changed, and they almost don't know each other anymore.

Officials from the cabinet ministers, the ministers of the six ministers, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the supervisory institutes of various temples couldn't help sighing when they saw all kinds of novelties in the capital before entering the Forbidden City.

Not only the glass windows that can be seen everywhere in front of them, the wooden mannequins in ready-to-wear, and all kinds of unheard of products such as soaps and perfumes shocked them, but also made them sigh because of the year-end report in their hands. Almost everyone has tens of thousands of characters in the five-inch-thick memorabilia.

This is the task given to them by His Majesty today, that is, to make a year-end summary, and Zhu Youxiao has released the news that the quality of the year-end will directly affect the scale of rewards ranging from tens of thousands of silver dollars to thousands of silver dollars.

For this reason, these important ministers who hold the core power of the central court are very serious while studying and summarizing, but what they did not expect is that after their summarization, they found from the data that Daming has also undergone such a big change .

(End of this chapter)