Chapter 321 Clan Reform
Zhu Houzhao has always been worried about the emergence of some drugs that can easily lead to physical and mental decline of the Chinese people as the country opens up.
At this time, it was obvious that the elixir recommended by King Hui was the so-called opium.
In the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, this should be called Fushou Ointment, but why it has appeared now? Zhu Houzhao didn't know the specific reason, but he could guess that it should be related to the fact that the Ming Dynasty had opened the sea, which caused some overseas drugs to start Flowed into the Ming Dynasty.
It's just that in this era, this kind of Fu Shou Ointment is still used as medicine, and people are not aware of the poisonous nature of Fu Shou Ointment.
However, Zhu Houzhao could see that Hui King Zhu Houjuan knew the harm of Fu Shou Ointment, otherwise he would not use various reasons to explain why he could not take Fu Shou Ointment.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao wanted King Hui to take this medicine. He wanted people in the Ming Dynasty to know that this so-called medicine that can make people immortal and energetic is toxic.
King Hui stepped forward with some uneasiness. Of course he knew what the elixir of life he offered was and what the consequences would be, but now that Emperor Zhu Houzhao had ordered him to take it, he had to take it. He held the elixir in his hand. I pinched the ointment again and again, wishing it could be crushed into powder and disappear.
"Wait!"
Zhu Houzhao suddenly shouted again at this time.
King Hui couldn't help but feel overjoyed, thinking that the emperor was reluctant to let him take this medicine, or had other ideas, but in any case, as long as he was not allowed to take this medicine, it would be a good thing.
Zhu Houzhao did not speak to King Hui, but asked Gu Dayong: "Have all the clan members entered Beijing?"
"Your Majesty, all the clan members have arrived in Beijing," Gu Dayong replied.
"Immediately announced the decree, and all the clan members and civil and military officials went to the palace to reward the medicine. They said that King Hui had the elixir of immortality that he wanted to offer to me. Since it is a magical medicine, I cannot reward it alone. All the ministers should also have good eyesight and appoint other attendants. The office will send a report immediately to let all the people know!”
Zhu Houzhao planned to make this matter even bigger. It was best to let everyone in the Ming Dynasty know what this so-called elixir of life was and how toxic it was.
King Hui understood Zhu Houzhao's intention. He knew that he could only be at the mercy of Zhu Houzhao now, and he also knew that Emperor Zhu Houzhao must have known the effect of this elixir of life.
But what he didn't understand was that since Emperor Zhu Houzhao already knew the poisonous nature of this elixir, why he didn't want to use this medicine to control others, but wanted everyone to know that this medicine was harmful.
"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, what are you trying to do, and why do you want this medicine to be known to the world?"
King Hui couldn't help but asked with doubts in his heart.
Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly: "Although I am a king, I do not regard the people as trivial. You are just a vassal king, but you only have my position in your eyes. Naturally, you cannot see all living beings. If one day, you sit in my position, After being condescending, you will find that you are closely related to all living beings below. ”
After speaking, Zhu Houzhao asked Gu Dayong to send people to temporarily guard King Hui.
At that time, the clan and civil and military officials entered the palace one after another.
The news that King Hui offered the elixir of longevity to the emperor was also published by Huangming Daily and other newspapers under the instruction of Zhu Houzhao.
A few days later, nearly ten million people in the entire capital knew about Fu Shou Ointment.
Xia Yan, the second assistant to the cabinet, said to Zhang Cong with some worry: "The king of Hui offered the elixir of immortality to your majesty. This may not be a good thing. Since ancient times, wise kings have all pursued the art of immortality, which suddenly brought the prosperous era of ZTE to an end. Causing chaos. ”
"I also have this worry. After all, Your Majesty is only a human being, and a human being has the worries of life and death. However, pursuing the art of immortality is an act of neglect. Now that Your Majesty has summoned us to the palace to reward this elixir of immortality, we still have to advise him. Your Majesty is the best," Zhang Cong replied.
"That's exactly what he said." Wang Shouren also agreed.
The courtiers were very worried that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would be obsessed with the way to immortality, which would lead to the ruin of the government.
But in fact, Emperor Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty is now widely advertising the elixir of immortality offered by King Hui. It just so happens that he wants people in the world not to believe in the elixir of immortality but to believe in science, and at the same time to expose the poisonous nature of the elixir of immortality, namely Fushou Ointment. .
However, Zhu Houzhao's behavior also made everyone in the world know that King Hui was a sycophant, which made King Hui the most notorious person in the world.
After the descendants of the clan and the civil and military officials entered the Royal West Garden, they saw a vassal king sitting on the roof next to Guanyue Pond, holding a pipe in one hand. He seemed to be very favored by His Majesty, otherwise he would not be able to sit in this Royal Garden. Taanan Shen.
Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet, could not help but frown and asked Gu Dayong, the chief minister of etiquette: "May I ask the internal minister, who is His Highness sitting on the couch?"
"Hui King Zhu Houjuan", Gu Dayong replied with a smile.
"Is this the King Hui who presented the elixir of life to His Majesty?" Wang Shouren came over and asked at this time.
"Exactly, His Majesty was very interested in the medicine he presented, and even gave him Zhang Tao," Gu Dayong said with a smile.
Zhang Cong couldn't help but wave his sleeves angrily.
Other officials also showed anger, and they all despised King Hui's behavior of offering the elixir of life to invite favors.
"Your Majesty is here!"
At this time, the sound of whips sounded, and Zhu Houzhao came in a chariot. After a while, after the clan and ministers saluted, he sat down on the throne and said: "Recently, King Hui has offered the elixir of immortality to me, and I have named it." Fushou Ointment, I invite you all to come here now, just to show you the efficacy of this Fushou Ointment!”
As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Zhang Cong wanted to step forward to advise the emperor Zhu Houzhao not to be too obsessed with pursuing the art of immortality, and even summoned ministers for this purpose. However, at this time, Xia Yan pulled Zhang Cong. Take it: "First of all, please be patient. Your Majesty is not taking it himself. Maybe he has some ulterior motives."
Zhang Cong was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it carefully, he understood and did not stand up.
At that time, the courtiers inside and outside all looked at King Hui with smiles on their faces.
King Hui sat on the couch holding the pipe, his heart as cold as snow. When he saw countless pairs of cold eyes looking at him, he felt the cold in his bones. It was so cold that the hand holding the pipe was cold. All shaking.
"Your Highness, it's time for you to take it." A eunuch lit the pipe for King Hui. King Hui nodded and started to smoke. He choked after just one puff, but after a while, he unknowingly Another puff.
King Hui found that the more he drank, the more refreshed he felt. He felt as comfortable as flying on the clouds, light and airy.
"It is difficult to see the effect of this medicine for a while. Within a month, all the ministers and I will come here to see King Hui and see how effective the medicine of King Hui's longevity ointment is." Zhu Houzhao said and ordered people to take the medicine given by King Hui. Part of the blessing and longevity ointment presented was shown to the clan and ministers, and the decree was given to Shuiyunxie to stay with King Hui temporarily! ”
A few days later, Zhu Houzhao brought the clan members and civil and military officials to see King Hui. However, King Hui was already like a zombie, only smoking in the house, and gradually losing weight.
The clan members and civil and military officials were all surprised when they saw this.
Zhu Houzhao didn't feel too surprised, he just ordered: "Stop supplying medicine to King Hui!"
then.
King Hui was stopped from supplying longevity drugs.
Not long after King Hui was stopped from supplying Fushou ointment, Zhu Houzhao brought his clan members and civil and military officials to see King Hui.
At this time, King Hui was already as skinny as a stick, clutching the railing of the waterside pavilion like a ghost zombie: "Give me medicine, please give me medicine! Your Majesty, I beg you, please give me medicine!"
The descendants of the clan and civil and military officials were naturally even more surprised when they saw this. They were surprised that the so-called elixir of longevity, Fushou Ointment, would make people's bodies become so bad after taking it, as if they were suffering from a serious illness, and seemed to be addicted and difficult to control.
Zhu Houzhao saw that the eyes of these clan members and civil and military officials were all wide open, and they couldn't wait to learn about Fushou Ointment, so he pretended not to know and asked King Hui: "King Hui, what medicine are you asking me to give you? ”
"The elixir of life! It is the elixir of life that your Majesty named Fushou Pao. Please give me Fushou Pao!"
King Hui looked mournful at this time and begged Zhu Houzhao. Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao continued to ask: "Why do you want me to give you the longevity ointment? Where did you get the longevity ointment?"
"Without the blessing and longevity ointment, I, I can't live now. I dare not deceive your majesty. This, this blessing and longevity ointment was obtained from the Taixi people. It was given to me by a man named Wan Li. I beg your majesty to give me some blessings and longevity." Is the ointment good? ”
King Hui huddled in the railing of the waterside pavilion, stretched out his hands, and begged Zhu Houzhao like a beggar.
"It's actually a Western novel." Zhu Houzhao smiled secretly in his heart, then waved his hand and ordered: "Give King Hui the longevity ointment!"
then.
The eunuchs threw a whole piece of longevity ointment to King Hui, and King Hui hurriedly picked it up from the ground and started sucking it.
Seeing King Hui enjoying himself, the clan members and civil and military officials were all sighing, and they all truly felt the power of the longevity ointment.
Zhang Cong glanced at Xia Yan without saying anything. He naturally understood that His Majesty did not mean to pursue the elixir of life. His Majesty meant to let all the powerful people in the dynasty understand the essence of the elixir of longevity.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, has really taken great pains! It's a pity that King Hui thought he could rely on this medicine to invite favors. Unexpectedly, the Holy Emperor's eyes were as bright as a torch. How could an ordinary person be bewitched?" Fenglin King Zhu Taihan also said with emotion at this time.
King Hui died within a few days due to an overdose of Fu Shou Ointment and some other means. When the world heard about it, everyone was amazed. However, because of this, everyone in the world knew that Fu Shou Ointment was not a medicine to save people, but a medicine to kill people.
At this time, the imperial censor Wang Shike also impeached King Hui for conspiring to assassinate and even instructing people in the government to manipulate the market during his lifetime. Zhu Houzhao also dismissed the titles of King Hui's lineage, and the perpetrators also asked the Ministry of Punishment to kill him. Custody execution.
"I don't want to say anything more about King Hui's matter. You all must have understood what this Fushou Ointment is by now. The cabinet should order all provincial and municipal departments to strictly prohibit Fushou Ointment from entering our territory, including our Ming Dynasty, as soon as possible. Controlled areas, and the people of the Ming Dynasty are prohibited from taking fushou ointment. Once they are found to be taking it, they will be forcibly detained by the government and given up smoking.”
"Jin Yiwei, please immediately send someone to escort the foreigner with ten thousand deeds who King Hui confessed to the capital. I will deal with this person severely!"
Zhu Houzhao said this, and all the cabinet ministers and Guo Rong came forward to receive the order.
Immediately, Zhu Houzhao said again: "The matter of Fushou Ointment needs to be dealt with, and right now, I am calling you clan members for another matter, which is the reform of the clan."
"Now the number of people in the clan is increasing. Since the first year of Zhengde alone, the number has increased by nearly a thousand. You clan members are also very fertile. As far as I know, the late Duanshun King Zhu Qizhen, Guang's son There are a hundred of them, not counting the number of daughters, so that during festive gatherings, there are actually relatives and children who don’t know each other.”
After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he asked: "Zhu Qizhen's descendants have all arrived in the capital. Stand up and let me see them."
Most of the clan members present smiled sheepishly, and not long after Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, a group of people wearing purple clothes and jade belts stood up one after another on a long row of nanmu chairs on the right side of the Qinzheng Hall. Among the clan's children, there are white-haired old men and young boys who are not as tall as a weak crown.
At this time, the white-haired old man came out: "I have seen your Majesty, King Gongyu Zhu Biaoluan."
Next, a series of auxiliary generals began to introduce themselves.
"Are you all the sons of King Duanshun Zhu Qizhen?" Zhu Houzhao asked again after these people introduced themselves.
These people all replied: "Yes!"
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh. Although everyone else present already knew that Zhu Qizhen had many heirs, they were still horrified at this time.
"One hundred sons means that in addition to the eldest son being granted the title of county king, the imperial court will also grant ninety-nine auxiliary generals. Every year just to the Duanshun Prince's Palace, they will be given a salary of more than 100,000 shi of food." .
After Zhu Houzhao calculated it, he called out Wang Tingxiang, who was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs: "Wang Qing, if these King Gongyu have another hundred sons, or if all the princes and princes in the world continue to have like this, will the court be able to support me like Ming Dynasty?" Children of many clans.”
"Your Majesty, although the treasury is now full, the imperial court cannot afford such consumption. In the ten years since Zhengde, the expenditure on clan salaries and silver rewards has increased ten times compared to the first year of Zhengde. There are nearly 10,000 clans, and the annual expenditure on food reaches millions of dan. , If this continues, ten generations later, even if the income of the imperial court does not decrease, it will be difficult to maintain it.”
On the contrary, Wang Tingxiang, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has repeatedly proposed that the court reform the clan management. After all, as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he knows best how much pressure these clans who do not pay taxes or engage in farming or business have put on the court's financial expenditure. Therefore, now Zhu Houzhao As soon as he talked about it, he actively raised the seriousness of the problem.
Zhu Houzhao also knew that the reform of the clan was imperative, but reforming the clan was the most difficult, because the pressure to reform the clan did not come from the court or the vassal king itself, but from the pressure of the ancestral system.
The ancestral system can be broken, but the purpose of the ancestral system that restricts a series of freedoms of the clan is to prevent the clan from plotting rebellion. Now that Zhu Houzhao wants to break these ancestral systems, it may naturally cause a series of political struggles between clans.
But changes still have to be made, even if the clan will be resentful because of this, and even if some scoundrels will take this opportunity to take advantage of the clan's dissatisfaction to rebel, what should be changed must be changed. After all, clan reform is necessary based on the interests of the country and the people. .
Moreover, Zhu Houzhao and the officials holding important positions in the government are now reformists, so it is the best time to reform the clan.
It stands to reason that if Zhu Houzhao wants to carry out clan reform, there is no need to summon these clan children. However, Zhu Houzhao feels that since it involves clan reform, it is necessary to involve these clan children, at least to let them understand that their interests in the imperial reform are not real. It's just that the court can't keep it up like this.
Moreover, Zhu Houzhao originally intended that these vassal kings would not have to leave the capital after entering the capital. According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang at that time enfeoffed the kings with the intention of enfeoffing the kings and allowing the clan to guard the territory for the imperial court. The world is regarded as the property of the Zhu family.
But in fact, these clans were scattered throughout the local area. After Zhu Di's reforms reduced military power and restricted freedom, they had no other benefits except harming the local area.
Moreover, the vassal kings who want to rebel will still rebel. The cases of King Anhua and King Ning are right in front of us.
Rather than letting these vassal kings harm the local area, increase the cost of the imperial conquest once they rebel, and prevent them from colluding with local forces, it is better to encircle them in the capital, which can not only better monitor these vassal kings, but also prevent these vassal kings from being in the local area. annex land and seize people's property.
Moreover, these feudal princes and clans can also learn more about the most cutting-edge information of the Ming Dynasty when they stay in the capital, so as not to really become a pig in a pen. In addition to harming people during the day and creating people at night, in case of the Ming Dynasty There will still be chaos in the world in the future, but there won't be even a reliable clan left.
As for the worry that the vassal princes who stayed in the capital might gain power because of their close relationship with the emperor, and then seek power and usurp the throne, Zhu Houzhao also considered it, but instead of worrying about the instability of the throne of his descendants, he was more worried about the entire future. The Chinese nation declined because of the selfishness of its own emperor.
In fact, when history progressed to the era of the Industrial Revolution, as an emperor, the decision he made was selfishly to maintain the dominance of his family, or was he willing to risk his family's status to prevent the nation from being caught up by latecomers? The selfless decision to make major changes even if the risk is not guaranteed will affect the changes in history.
In history, Kangxi, a wise emperor who was highly praised by later generations, refused to improve firearms in order to maintain his superiority in cavalry and archery among the Manchu nobles, which caused the country to lag far behind the West in equipment manufacturing. Peter the Great of Tsarist Russia boldly Innovation enabled Tsarist Russia to become one of the great powers in modern times even though it had a serfdom system.
Zhu Houzhao knew that he was also faced with such a choice now. If he was more selfish and conciliatory, and tried not to cause any changes in order to maintain his throne, he would not need to reform, and preserving the Ming Dynasty's national destiny for a hundred years would not be a problem.
But Zhu Houzhao is a modern man, a man who has received the national ideological education of later generations. He does not want the empire to continue to be in a state of self-improvement because of his timidity and selfishness.
"The times are changing. There are more and more bourgeoisie and craftsmen. With the popularization of education and the improvement of literacy rate, ideological liberation, the idea of limiting monarchy and refusing to be ruled by dictatorship will appear sooner or later. If you want to be a dictatorial emperor, it is It’s getting harder and harder. Even if you are selfish, you can’t guarantee your own safety. If your descendants will be emperors for eternity, in the future, you will either be forced to change by others opening the door, or you will be pushed to the guillotine by the people of your own country. Instead of doing this, it is better to change a little bit now, at least not to let the emerging class change its understanding of politics. The dissatisfaction comes down to the dictatorship of the monarch!”
Zhu Houzhao thought about it and then looked at the clan children and civil and military officials present: "As Wang Qing of the Ministry of Household Affairs said, the imperial court is about to be unable to support us royal relatives. It seems that the reform of the clan is really necessary. Everyone, My fellow clan members, if you have any opinions on this, you can speak freely. You can express your opinions. I don’t want to change things when the time comes. You say that I am unreasonable. Since we are a family, let’s sit down and talk about how to prevent our royal family from becoming a burden to the world and instead become a dynasty. The leader of prosperity, the pioneer! ”
Among the clan members present, there were those who were eager to try, some who looked embarrassed, and some who were so indifferent that they just slept soundly. There were even more perverted ones who looked at some of the courtiers smiling coquettishly. After all, they had good looks to be selected as officials in the imperial court. It's not low, especially for some young people in the sixth subject.
Naturally, those who are eager to try are the clans who are worried about the world. At this time, Zhu Taihan stood up first. When he learned that the imperial court ordered the clan to come to Beijing, he guessed that the imperial court might reform the clan. People who are considerate of the world have always realized that the clan must be reformed through observation of life in their own palaces.
Therefore, Zhu Taihan said: "Your Majesty, I think what Wang Butang said is true. The number of clans has been expanded too much, and the burden on the court is getting heavier and heavier. If this continues, it will indeed be detrimental to the country. Therefore, I think we can limit the number of clan heirs. ;
For example, the prince can only have five sons, and the prince can only have three sons. By analogy, the title will be reduced in descending order. Anyone who exceeds the prescribed number will not be given a title, but will only be given a crown and honor to make him self-reliant! ”
Zhu Houzhao smiled and nodded. As a member of the clan, Zhu Taihan was able to take the initiative to stand up and demand reforms for his own class. Regardless of whether the reform proposal was thorough or incomplete, it was commendable.
However, at this time, Meng Chun, the Minister of Personnel, had a dark face. Zhu Taihan's active suggestions made him think not that this vassal king was valuable, but that this vassal king was ambitious and ambitious. He might become a trouble for the court in the future, and even deliberately Show off your talents to attract the attention of His Majesty the Emperor, and rule the world for His Majesty on behalf of the civil service group.
Not only Meng Chun thought so, but Zheng Yue, the minister of Dali Temple, also felt deeply uneasy at this time. Zhu Taihan's positive response made him feel that Zhu Taihan must have had bad intentions in doing so, but he could also see at this time that His Majesty was acting with a smile on his face. The smile was obviously very satisfied with Zhu Taihan's behavior, so he stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, according to the ancestral system, the vassal kings cannot participate in politics. Therefore, I believe that the royal family reform can be discussed by the imperial court. There is no need to mobilize troops and crowds like this. According to the ancestral system, the vassal kings and clans cannot stay in the capital for a long time, so they should return to the vassal area as soon as possible. .”
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(End of chapter)