Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 329: The eternal conspiracy, the children of Yongling!
The imperial edict was passed down to the cabinet.

The whole room was silent.

Government Hall.

Li Chunfang's body was shaking uncontrollably, and it was obvious that he was unable to suppress the raging anger in his heart.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Hai Rui, and Zhu Heng all had different expressions.

The limit was 30,000 taels of silver. Those who exceeded the limit would be buried in the Yongling Mausoleum, and the court would compensate them with 2,000 taels of silver.

For the cabinet ministers and the ministers of the six ministries and nine departments, regardless of their family background, as long as they have been in office for a long time, it is not difficult to achieve this just by salary.

There are seven cabinet ministers now. In addition to the five cabinet ministers in Beijing, there are two other cabinet ministers, Chen Yiqin and Wang Chonggu. The families of these two cabinet ministers are even more important and are naturally among those who will be "moved to the tomb".

It can be said that in the entire cabinet, only Hai Rui has not reached the limit yet, and the other six cabinet ministers are definitely on the first batch of "tomb relocation" list.

However, after Hai Rui came to Beijing, he moved his family to the capital. It actually made no difference whether the mausoleum was moved or not.

The same thing happened to Wang Chonggu. Before his father, son and grandson were granted the title of Duke, three generations of his family had already settled in the capital. It was just a matter of convenience for the rest of the family to move to the tomb.

Zhu Heng didn't care. Although the Zhu family was considered one of the best in Jiangxi, Nan'an and Nankang, the family name was nothing compared to the status of a minister.

As long as all the clansmen are there, whether it is Nankang or Yongling, wherever my heart is, that is my hometown.

Hu Zongxian was not much different. The reckless actions of the Huizhou merchants when they came to an end caused the ruin of Huizhou Prefecture. The various shameful behaviors of his family afterwards often worried him, so he moved to the suburbs of Beijing so that it would be easier to take care of them in the future.

As for Chen Yiqin, although he is not in the cabinet, everyone knows that the Chen family doesn't care where they end up. They are the only aristocratic family in the world and have the tenacious vitality to grow anywhere.

Of course, the Chen family was not very willing to move. There were simply too many things. Moving once would probably take as long as moving a large army.

However, since the imperial edict is above all else, the Chen family must be one of the supporters.

It is very embarrassing that there are some ministers who said "it doesn't matter" and the remaining ministers who said "it does matter".

The eyes of Hu Zongxian, Hai Rui and Zhu Heng moved over Gao Gong and Li Chunfang.

Gao Gong's ancestral home was Hongdong, Shanxi Province. His ancestors moved to Gaolaozhuang, Xinzheng to avoid the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

The Gao family has been operating in Xinzheng for three hundred years, and more than a dozen generations have put in countless efforts and hard work.

Especially after Gao Gong took the position of the chief minister of the cabinet, he specially selected officials from Kaifeng Prefecture and even the Henan Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office in order to help the family become more stable in Gao Laozhuang and facilitate better "intensive cultivation" in the future.

Once the mausoleum is moved, all the efforts and hard work of Gao Gong and the Gao family will be in vain.

The same is true for the Xinghua Li family. After hundreds of years of family inheritance, it was not until the generation of Li Chunfang that he won the first place in the palace examination in the 26th year of Jiajing and became the top scholar of the Dingwei year, surpassing the former chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng.

Li Chunfang entered the cabinet at the end of Yan Song's cabinet, and the Xinghua Li family began to flourish from then on. So far, it has only been about three years.

As the ancients said, "If you don't return home wearing fine clothes, it's like walking in the night wearing fine clothes."

Li Chunfang really did what the King of Chu said. The Li family had been prosperous and glorious for three years in Yangzhou Prefecture and Xinghua County, and now they were going to move to Yongling?
All the powerful people in the world will gather in Yongling. By then, the name of the elder's family alone will not be enough.

It is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. This is the real thought of this old man Gancao.

Moreover, the Li family of Xinghua were good at writing books of strange stories, mocking the government and personnel affairs. The reason why so many of them had not been attacked was because of their business in their hometown.

Once they arrive at Yongling, there will be so many powerful and wealthy families there. Not only will it be easy for family members to be exposed and criticized for writing strange stories in the future, but it is also very likely that old accounts will be dug up.

Then the Li family would really have no way to survive.

They wanted to trip up the emperor by emphasizing military power over culture, but the emperor first issued an edict to get rid of these insects that were sucking blood from the people.

"Okay!"

Hai Rui met Gao and Li's murderous gazes and clapped his hands, saying, "When His Majesty was in power, I accompanied him. Although I know that I caused more trouble than other times, it was still lively.

When His Majesty arrives there, we can all accompany him and have some fun."

It's lively when alive, and it's lively even when dead. It's lively following the emperor. The Gao family of Xinzheng and the Li family of Xinghua admit that they can't afford to liven up the excitement.

But Hai Rui had no intention of letting them go, and said murderously: "Yuan Fu, you are also in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of the national household registration and financial affairs. You can follow the emperor's orders and draft a letter to order all provinces, prefectures, and counties to re-investigate the household registration. All wealthy families with assets of more than 30,000 taels of silver must move to Yongling within a certain period of time. Those who fail to move within the time limit will be fined and their property will be confiscated by the government in accordance with the emperor's will. Zi Shi, you will urge the Ministry of Justice to act in accordance with the law."

It is very interesting to have a cabinet that holds multiple positions.

Gao Gong, the prime minister, led the Ministry of Revenue.

The second prime minister, Hu Zongxian, led the Ministry of Personnel.

Hai Rui, the elder of the cabinet, led the Ministry of Rites.

The cabinet minister Zhu Heng led the Ministry of Works.

Since the separation of military and political affairs, the Ministry of War has had more symbolic significance than practical one in the court. If there are any problems, Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu will inform the military.

The Ministry of Justice is perhaps the only "flexible" office among the six ministries. Considering the harmony within the cabinet, the affairs of the Ministry of Justice are currently under the charge of Li Chunfang.

In the new policy of relocating the mausoleums, the two cabinet ministers who were most "injured" actually played a very important role in the new policy. Gao Gong and Li Chunfang were now more disgusted than if they had eaten a fly.

“It’s not like there’s no solution.”

Zhu Heng, the elder who had failed in Li Chunfang's previous scheme of emphasizing military power over culture, also made an effort. He looked at Gao Gong and Li Chunfang and said with a smile: "The imperial edict stipulates that the limit is 30,000 taels of silver. If it is not equal to or higher than that, there is no need to move the mausoleum.

Let me give you an example. Yuanfu and Zishi, please don't take it seriously. I'm just saying it for the time being and you two can listen. With the wealth of the Gao and Li families, if not tens of millions of taels of silver, there are at least several million taels of silver.

It’s not enough to divide the family, we have to divide the clan.

The Gao family and the Li family both have hundreds of people. If each person gets one clan member and gets a few taels of silver, there would be no need to go through the trouble of moving the mausoleum."

Hearing this, Gao Gong and Li Chunfang's eyes were about to burst into flames. Listen, is this human language?
One person forms a clan, and the clan property is divided equally.

This is just like when Emperor Wu of Han implemented the "Enfeoffment Order". Which family can withstand the complete division of power?

Property is similar to power. If it is distributed among specific people, everyone will have money and their own ideas. How can such a large family be managed? Who will contribute to the family?
Not to mention being divided into hundreds of clans, even if it were divided into dozens of clans, the family would be broken up.

Gao Gong and Li Chunfang would rather their entire family die in Yongling than see the family fall apart in their hands.

"So-called family."

Hu Zongxian looked at Gao Gong and Li Chunfang and said leisurely, "It seems that they are just blood relatives, but on the one hand, they gather together to die, and on the other hand, they are in cahoots with each other, so they often do not distinguish right from wrong, cover up each other, become people outside the law, exercise power in the state, dominate the local area, and cause great harm. Although the law of Emperor Wu of Han is a bit harmful, it does not prevent it from being a good trick. There is no difference between ancient and modern people. There was no solution in the Han Dynasty, and there is no solution now. Yuan Fu and Zi Shi, don't say that I didn't warn you, or repeat the old story of Guo Jie!"

The lifestyles of ancient and modern people may have changed, but their wisdom and abilities are basically the same.

Smart people are smart people in any age, and stupid people are stupid people in any age.

Emperor Wu of Han is a template for emperors of ancient and modern times, combining the kingly way with the hegemonic way.

Many of the "Moving Order to Maoling" and "Enfeoffment Order", as well as other laws and decrees of Emperor Wu of Han, were open conspiracies.

Conspiracies have traces and flaws, but conspiracy follows the trend and follows the trend, and has no traces. It is much more clever than a conspiracy, and it is also more difficult to implement.

It's not to say that it's completely unsolvable. Emperor Wu of Han's "Order of Moving to Maoling" and the current emperor's "Order of Moving to Yongling" both relied on the autocratic and self-centered imperial power.

Without the overthrow of imperial power, open conspiracy will no longer exist.

rebel?

As soon as the thought flashed through everyone's mind, it disappeared without a trace. The emperor's rule was even more stable than that of Emperor Wu of Han. Unless they were tired of living, they could not even think about it.

Since they could not overthrow the imperial power, nor defy the imperial decree, and did not want to move the mausoleum, the only possibility was a conspiracy of "pretending to obey but actually disobeying".

Find a way to avoid this tomb relocation.

Skillful.

Two thousand years ago in the Han Dynasty, someone also thought this way. That person was Guo Jie, a world-famous knight during the Yuanshuo period.

He entered the "Records of the Grand Historian" as a commoner.

In order to help Guo Jie avoid disaster, there was a huge discussion both locally and in the Han court. Even Wei Qing, the great general of the Han Dynasty, came forward to plead for him.

But Emperor Wu of Han said one sentence that left all the subjects, including Wei Qing, speechless. "If a great general can come out to plead for mercy, then who else can be considered a powerful person?"

This was indeed the case. Although Guo Jie was a member of a wealthy family, he acted recklessly and killed countless people. He kept assassins, minted counterfeit coins, dug up graves, and distributed taxes and labor... and, after being forced to move the tomb, he angrily killed the county officials who reported his name to the local authorities.

However, such people and families could not be tolerated by the imperial power, and Guo Jie and his entire family were eventually executed.

It is a shame to say that the current cabinet ministers may have more power than Guo Jie, but their influence in the court and in the local areas is not even as good as Guo Jie.

Even Guo Jie died without a burial place. If you want to avoid moving the tomb, you have to think carefully about whether your own fate can be better than Guo Jie's.

As the saying goes, "Using copper as a mirror, one can adjust one's attire; using the past as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of things; using people as a mirror, one can understand gains and losses."

Hu Zongxian spoke out in advance, reminding Gao Gong and Li Chunfang as colleagues not to try to do anything behind their backs. If they didn't listen, they wouldn't be blamed for not caring about their fellow cabinet members if something went wrong in the future.

Hear the words.

Gao Gong's expression straightened up. Family was important, but not as important as the position of prime minister. Moreover, it was not necessarily a bad thing for the Gao family to move into Yongling. As the chief minister of the cabinet, people would give him some face no matter where his family was.

move!
Must move!
Gao Gong glanced at Li Chunfang and immediately began to draft a letter, ordering the provincial and county governments to count and report the powerful families within their jurisdiction and move them to Yongling. Those who violated the rules, rebelled, fled, or avoided would be punished severely, strictly, quickly, and cruelly. The main offender would be killed, the rest would be exiled, and all their property would be confiscated.

In addition, Gao Gong reminded the provincial and county governments to purchase all the houses and shops that the wealthy and powerful could not take with them when they moved their tombs at low prices.

As for how much lower it should be, Gao Gong also set a standard, which was "two thousand taels of silver."

In other words, the money that the imperial court compensated the powerful for moving their tombs had to be recovered from the powerful, and it could only be more, not less.

After local government offices acquired houses and shops, they were not allowed to sell them to prevent secret collusion and causing losses to the court. They were only allowed to rent them out.

The powerful families had large gates and courtyards with dozens or even hundreds of rooms. The imperial court allowed them to be rented out to the people who had no or few houses at extremely low prices.

Anyone who embezzles the imperial property or rents more houses will be punished with eighty strokes of the cane.

The bright red word "eighty" was stained with blood. Gao Gong was rushing to take the lives of those greedy and greedy people.

No matter how skilled the local yamen runners are at "beating tofu", after eighty beatings, the person will be crippled if not killed.

Severe punishments must be used in times of chaos and in times of prosperity. Human greed is endless, and if it is not severely punished, it will cause endless disasters.

As for shops, they were rented out at market prices, and the imperial court did not impose any restrictions for the time being.

The cabinet letter is completed.

Gao Gong asked the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Gao Youshi to show it to the other cabinet ministers. Hu Zongxian, Hai Rui and Zhu Heng had no objection. When it came to the court's property, the "tight-fisted" prime minister's methods were always impeccable.

When Li Chunfang saw the letter, the corners of his mouth could not help but twitch. The relocation of the mausoleum had not yet taken place, but the cabinet had already figured out how to divide up the property of the powerful families.

It is the case that the person appears to be still alive, but has actually been gone for a while.

Li Chunfang wanted to object, saying that this was "competing with the people for profit", but the cabinet was not a one-man show, and his ideas were no longer important in the majority opinion.

To oppose openly would only bring humiliation upon oneself.

For this reason, Li Chunfang chose to remain silent.

In this case, Gao Gong asked Gao Youshi to deliver the imperial edict "The Order to Move Yongling" to the cabinet official letter. This edict and this letter were to be conveyed to the two capitals and 15 provinces, no... it should be the two capitals and 18 provinces.

The annexed Ryukyu Kingdoms, including the Big and Small Ryukyu States and the Penghu Island, were allowed to establish a province, namely, the Ryukyu Province.

As millions of Tatars, Koreans, Malacca people and others migrated to Lingnan, after careful consideration by the cabinet, the government reported to Yuxi Palace for approval and allowed the offshore Nan Island to separate from Guangdong Province and become Lingnan Province.

Similarly, the recovered Malacca State was also approved and the Malacca Province was established.

As a result, five more provinces were added to the traditional two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, namely Beiyuan Province, Goryeo Province, Ryukyu Province, Lingnan Province, and Malacca Province, making the territory of the two capitals and eighteen provinces.

After the province was established, the cabinet also set up counties under its jurisdiction and sent officials, craftsmen and other personnel to govern and build the province.

Once under the king's rule, imperial edicts and official letters will be among those that will be demoted.

The fact is done and there is no way to change it.

Li Chunfang temporarily put aside his government affairs and sent a message to his family, asking them to sell all the houses and shops in Yangzhou Prefecture, Xinghua County and other places at high or low prices as soon as possible before the "mausoleum relocation" became known to the world. This would prevent the news from spreading, causing prices to plummet and being bought up by outsiders and local government offices.

The elder's advantage continues to show...

(End of this chapter)