My father is Jiajing

Chapter 380 Heifer Takes a Plane
Li Chunfang, who was in high spirits because of good things happening, received another special promotion not long after he was promoted to the position of Shaoqing of Taichang.

Even though Li Chunfang had studied hard for many years and thought he could be as calm and unperturbed as the ancient sages, he couldn't help but get excited about this promotion.

Moreover, his promotion this time made Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Zhao Zhenji and others so jealous that they almost dropped their eyes.

Because this time Li Chunfang was specially promoted by Emperor Jiajing to be the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and Hanlin Academician, and was also in charge of the Western Garden.

This is like a cow riding a plane - so awesome!

Therefore, when this decree spread, even a blind person could see that Li Chunfang was about to take off!

He already had one foot in the cabinet, which was something many people dreamed of but could never achieve in their entire lives. However, it only took Li Zhuangyuan a few years to rise to the top and be at the top of the world.

Of course, the reason why Emperor Jiajing promoted Li Chunfang so enthusiastically was not only because Li Chunfang's Qingci were to his taste, but more importantly, Emperor Jiajing valued Li Chunfang's youth.

Sometimes being young is really an indescribable advantage, especially the sharpness of young people and their courage to be the first in the world, which is incomparable to older people.

So since Li Chunfang has been given such great favor, then in return, Li Chunfang must also bite the hardest bone in order to repay Emperor Jiajing.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be unworthy of Emperor Jiajing's kindness?
Therefore, not long after promoting Li Chunfang to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Emperor Jiajing put Li Chunfang in charge of royal family affairs.

When Li Chunfang heard what Emperor Jiajing said, he immediately understood and quickly wrote a memorial titled "Request for Consideration of the Maritime Enfeoffment" and presented it to Emperor Jiajing.

After reading Li Chunfang's memorial "Requesting for Discussion on the Regime of Vassal Titles", Emperor Jiajing highly praised it and directly ordered Li Chunfang to be in charge of revising the new "Regulations on the Reign of the Ming Dynasty"!
Li Chunfang did not disappoint Emperor Jiajing and dropped a bombshell right at the start!
Regarding the issue of succession to the royal family, Li Chunfang directly submitted a memorial saying, "The legitimate son who has no children can be granted the title of king, and the legitimate sons and illegitimate sons can only be granted the same official title as usual."

What does this sentence mean?

That is, except for the eldest son of a vassal king who can inherit the royal title of his father and grandfather, the other legitimate sons or illegitimate sons will not be given any more titles.

When this depth bomb was released, the entire government and the public were excited.

No one expected that this newly appointed Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites would be so brave that he even dared to fire directly at the royal family!
You have to know that the issue of royal family is a politically correct issue in the Ming Dynasty that can only be understood but not expressed in words. Whoever dares to raise these issues will be attacked by a group of royal family princes, who will accuse them of bringing harm to the country and the people, alienating clan members, attempting to ruin the emperor's holy name, and carrying out Jianwen's evil policies!
Therefore, even before Emperor Jiajing, there were emperors who made some minor reforms to the royal family, but most of those reforms were just minor ones that did not cause any harm.

For example, limiting the number of concubines that princes could take to prevent them from having too many sons, and increasing the proportion of treasure notes in the royal family's salaries.

To put it bluntly, these measures were just attempts to smooth things over, and they were completely unable to restrict the princes from continuing to abuse their power, annex land, and enslave the people.

Therefore, the royal family reforms before the Jiajing Dynasty were, in general, just a lot of noise but little action, and had no restraining effect at all.

But Li Chunfang is so powerful now. He is really a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger. He threw such a powerful bomb right at the beginning, directly limiting the number of heirs to the title of king.

Isn't this just digging up the roots of the vassal states?
The reason why the clans were so powerful was that for every son they had, apart from the legitimate son who was named the Crown Prince, the remaining sons, regardless of their closeness, could also get the title of a prince. And these princes were all vassals of the clans, and their salaries were almost all allocated by the clans.

Therefore, the great princes were very keen on having children, because for them, having children was almost like printing money.

But now Li Chunfang actually submitted a memorial saying that except for the legitimate son who could be granted the title of king, the rest of the legitimate and illegitimate sons could no longer be granted titles. Isn't that tantamount to abolishing the money printing press of the princes and vassals?
Therefore, in the foreseeable future, Li Chunfang will inevitably be criticized by a large number of royal family princes!
But this matter will definitely not be that simple.

First of all, after Zhu Zaigui learned about Li Chunfang’s ultimate move, he almost shouted out in excitement.

No wonder in the original history, Li Chunfang was able to serve as the Prime Minister for two years between Xu Jie and Gao Gong. It turned out that he was really courageous and capable.

Now that Li Chunfang has stepped forward, Zhu Zaigui, as Li Chunfang's "old master", naturally cannot just watch Li Chunfang fight alone.

Therefore, under the instruction of Zhu Zaigui, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui and others also began to express their opinions on the issue of royal family, which formed a wave of discussion.

Under this form of discussion, anyone with a bit of common sense would think about the seriousness and urgency of the current problem of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, under such public opinion, the princes and vassals who had originally wanted to jump out to counterattack and accuse Li Chunfang of spreading false rumors and misleading the people in an attempt to undermine the ancestral law also quietly stopped their anger and dared not to be the first to speak out at this time.

Emperor Jiajing watched the rise of public opinion and knew that it was Zhu Zaigui who was fanning the flames behind the scenes, and he was very pleased about it.

Because in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Zaigui has grown up and knows how to cherish money.

After all, who wouldn't feel sad to see so much money that should have remained in the court and in the hands of the emperor being thrown in large quantities to these relatives who had never even seen them?
What's more, these princes and relatives did not give any benefits to the emperor and the court.

So in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, these royal relatives and princes were actually no different from the robbers who robbed him of his silver.

Now that my money is safe, I will definitely feel happy.

Therefore, at the suggestion of Li Chunfang, Emperor Jiajing ordered the publication of the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan and Vassal States" revised by Li Chunfang throughout the country, making it the new code of conduct for the imperial clan.

Although this "Regulations on the Imperial Clan and Vassal States" did not actually abolish the important privileges of the imperial clan and vassal states, it at least restricted many of their behaviors, making it impossible for them to act as recklessly as before by enjoying the annual tribute from the imperial clan while encroaching on land, seizing property, and enslaving the people.

It can also be regarded as a relief for the common people in places where there are many kings and fiefdoms.

However, in Zhu Zaigui's view, the "Regulations on the Imperial Clan and Vassal States" was just a beginning. When the big move he had concocted was actually released, that would be the real reform underway!
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Asking for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)