Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly froze.

Wang Zhi, Hu Ying, and the others looked up at Zhang Lun.

Zhu Qiyu nodded slightly, signaling Zhang Lun to continue.

Zhang Lun continued, "According to the current system, the eldest son of a prince inherits the title of prince, while the other sons are granted the title of prince of the second rank."

The eldest son of the Prince of the County inherited the title of Prince of the County, while the other sons were granted the title of General Who Guards the State.

Below the rank of General Zhenguo, each generation is demoted by one rank, down to Lieutenant of Fengguo.

The son of the Lieutenant of Fengguo shall also be granted the title of Lieutenant of Fengguo, and this title shall continue in his family line.

Your subject has three strategies to reform the system of the imperial clan.

Firstly, the son of the Lieutenant of Fengguo will no longer be granted a title.

He lived like the common people, making a living on his own.

Secondly, Xu, a member of the imperial clan, requested to have his title revoked.

Those who do not wish to receive the salary may submit a memorial requesting its removal.

Thirdly, it opened up the path for members of the imperial clan to take the imperial examinations.

Those who are stripped of their titles and reduced to commoners are permitted to take the civil service examinations and be sent to the academy.

Those who pass the examination will be selected alongside scholars from across the land.

After speaking, Zhang Lun knelt on the ground: "Your subject is foolish and dares to risk death to present this memorial."

If these three things are implemented, the imperial court will save no less than a million taels of silver annually after ten years.

This is not my personal opinion, but a proposal that the Ministry of Rites has been working on for ten years without resolution.

An uproar erupted in the hall.

Zhang Lun said everything that many people dared not say.

It's not a reduction in salary, it's the removal of rank.

It's not saving 320,000, it's saving 1 million.

It's not a change in the salary system, it's a change in the clan system.

Zhu Qiyu looked at Zhang Lun with admiration and couldn't help but praise, "Excellent!"

This was precisely the clan reform that Zhu Qiyu was preparing to implement.

Unexpectedly, this person was just as I had thought.

The imperial court cannot allow its relatives to leech off the court without restraint.

But even after losing their title, they still need to find a way to survive.

Since they are commoners, let's do it the way commoners do.

You can enter officialdom, go into business, farm, or even join the military!

Zhu Qiyu just had one more thing on his mind than Zhang Lun.

That is, the highest rank a person can attain within three generations of entering officialdom or joining the military cannot exceed that of Assistant Commandant of the State.

Otherwise, those high-ranking relatives would all be related by blood, making it very easy for them to form small cliques.

Suddenly, Wang Zhi stepped forward. He did not bow, but knelt down directly:

"Your Majesty, your subject Wang Zhi, Minister of Personnel, has a memorial to present."

Zhu Qiyu looked at him and said, "Minister Wang, please speak."

Wang Zhi did not rise: "I have heard that Your Majesty intends to implement the three deliberations on imperial edicts."

I dare not comment on the appropriateness of these three proposals.

Just over a month after His Majesty ascended the throne, the Oirat army withdrew, and the nation was initially at peace.

If the system for the imperial clan is changed now, and the stipend of one million is reduced, what will the imperial clan members of the world say about Your Majesty?

What will the people of the world say of Your Majesty?

What will future historians say about Your Majesty?

Your Majesty is old and cannot comply with such harsh policies.

"I request to retire."

The hall was deathly silent as the Minister of Personnel requested to resign.

The two magic weapons of civil officials: kneeling to remonstrate and resigning.

This is the last stand of the civil service group.

He was gambling with his career, reputation, and the rest of his life, betting that the emperor wouldn't dare accept the offer.

Zhu Qiyu did not speak, but simply looked quietly at Wang Zhi kneeling on the ground.

This veteran official served as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel from the seventh year of the Xuande reign to the eighth year of the Zhengtong reign.

He served in the Ministry of Personnel for nineteen years.

Over the course of nineteen years, he selected thousands of officials.

His students and former officials are all over the world.

He represents not only himself, but the entire civil service selection system.

When he said "please retire," he wasn't really asking to leave, but rather trying to force the emperor to resign.

If you implement this policy, I will quit.

If even the Minister of Personnel resigns, what will the other officials in the country think?

Then Zhu Qiyu slowly began to speak:

"Minister Wang, I grant your permission."

Wang Zhi suddenly looked up.

A gasp of surprise rang out from inside the hall.

Zhu Qiyu said calmly: "Minister Wang is over seventy years old, has served four emperors, and has been loyal and diligent in his duties to the country, making great contributions."

I was reluctant to let you leave.

Since you insist, it would be against the duty between ruler and subject if I were to force you to stay.

Wang Zhi, the Minister of Personnel, was granted the privilege of retiring.

He was granted the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, his annual salary remained unchanged, and he was allowed to return home by express courier!

Wang Zhi knelt on the ground for a long time without getting up.

He hadn't expected His Majesty to actually grant his request.

He hadn't expected Zhu Qiyu to be so decisive.

No attempts to retain them, no attempts to comfort them, no compromises.

He said it was accurate, and it was.

Wang Zhi knew he had lost his bet.

It wasn't because of logic or eloquence that we lost.

He lost to the person on the other side.

This person beat the drum on the Deshengmen city tower.

He personally killed enemies under the walls of Zhangyi Gate.

He had seen blood, defended cities, and stood in a hail of arrows all night.

Wang Zhi thought back to a month ago when they were the ones who put Zhu Qiyu on the throne.

They all thought Zhu Qiyu would be a moderately successful ruler.

It now seems everyone was wrong.

He didn't know if their choice was right.

The last person to ignore the advice of his ministers was Zhu Qizhen, who is now in Oirat.

He didn't know what kind of impact this would have.

All he knew was that the Ming Dynasty was about to change.

He could tell that Zhu Qiyu had great ambitions.

The reform of the clan system is only the first step.

Wang Zhi seemed to age ten years in an instant. He slowly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I... thank you."

Wang Zhi then got up and retreated into the train, saying nothing more.

Hu Ying immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I, Hu Ying, Minister of Rites, have a memorial to present."

The veteran minister served as the Minister of Rites for twenty-one years.

Now I am frail and sickly, and I fear I can no longer serve Your Majesty.

This old minister requests to retire from officialdom and return to a secluded life to live out his remaining years.

Zhu Qiyu looked at this old minister with white hair and beard.

He served five dynasties and is seventy-four years old this year.

He is a living encyclopedia of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Zhi was the Minister of Personnel. After Zhu Qiyu reformed the imperial examination system and selected talents, conflicts with the Ministry of Personnel were bound to arise.

Letting him go now saves a lot of trouble.

The Ministry of Rites is different. There will probably only be one conflict between Zhu Qiyu's future policies and the Ministry of Rites: changing the crown prince.

However, that's a few years from now; the timing isn't right yet.

Moreover, as the saying goes, "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure."

Zhu Qiyu wouldn't let this "old treasure" off so easily.

Then Zhu Qiyu slowly spoke: "Minister Hu."

Hu Ying bowed his head: "This old minister is here."

Zhu Qiyu: "I forbid it."

Hu Ying was taken aback.

Zhu Qiyu looked at him: "The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the rites and regulations of the whole country."

The system for the imperial clan could not be determined without the Ministry of Rites.

I cannot change the clan system without Minister Hu.

I know that Minister Hu is not one to cling to his official position.

Minister Hu adhered to the rules of etiquette and law.

"I request Minister Hu to uphold a new ceremony for the Ming Dynasty and for all its people."

Hu Ying looked at Zhu Qiyu, but did not answer for a moment.

He understood that if the issue of the imperial clan was not resolved, the Ming Dynasty would be in danger.

However, his duties as Minister of Rites prevented him from agreeing to amend the ancestral system.

After a moment of silence, Hu Ying replied, "This old minister... obeys the decree."

Yu Qian then spoke up: "I second Zhang Langzhong's suggestion."

The Ministry of War did not concern itself with members of the imperial family; it only managed the border regions.

Xuanfu, Datong, Liaodong, Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, Jizhou, and Guyuan are nine important border towns.

The annual border defense pay was 2.4 million taels, but the pay was in arrears for many years.

The reconstruction of the Beijing garrison also requires hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Soldiers will collapse if they are not paid, and will flee if they are not paid enough.

When the nine border regions are abandoned and the ancestral temples are overthrown.

How can you gentlemen face the founding emperor in the afterlife?!

Yu Qian was not unaware of how difficult this discussion about the imperial clan would be.

He knew it all along, but he still had to say it.

Because he had seen soldiers who died of cold and hunger at the border.

He had seen the mangled corpses on the city walls.

He knew that every tael of silver saved could potentially save the life of another soldier.

Every bushel of grain saved could potentially save an inch of territory.

Zhu Qiyu also knew that he wasn't speaking for himself as emperor.

He is speaking for those who cannot speak.

Zhu Qiyu looked towards the hall: "What do you all think of Zhang Langzhong's three proposals?"