Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Li Banghua and others hurriedly seconded the motion.

The issue of royal family is sensitive. Since you, the emperor, agree, how could they disagree?

There is no need to bear the cost of weddings and funerals for all clan members, and only basic food is provided for their basic needs, which is not a burden on the finances.

"What about the princes?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.

The changes just mentioned are all about the royal family members at or below the rank of general. Although there are many members in these royal family members, their branches are very far away.

Emperor Chongzhen was already very satisfied that he could provide food for the royal family members who originally could not afford food.

"The changes made by the princes are huge. I have only expressed my opinion. Regardless of whether Your Majesty agrees or not, please do not get angry." Zhang Shikang felt that the vaccination was not enough, so he gave another shot.

This made Li Banghua, Hai Zhongqi and other cabinet ministers even more curious. They all knew that the current emperor almost obeyed Zhang Shikang's words and the relationship between them was extremely good.

What outrageous words would Zhang Shikang say this time? He had to appease the emperor twice, so he was even more looking forward to what Zhang Shikang would say next.

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen remained silent, Zhang Shikang continued:

"First, except for the princes who were personally appointed by Emperor Taizu, all other existing princely titles will be changed from hereditary to inherited."

Zhang Shikang said this calmly, but the weight of his words immediately made the atmosphere in the hall much heavier.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have always been vassal kings. As long as they are vassal kings, their sons are also kings. Kings give birth to kings, who give birth to kings again, and their descendants are endless.

The most outrageous thing is that there was a King of Jin who had nothing to do so he slept with women and had children. In his lifetime, he gave birth to 102 princes.

But this is not only an ancestral precept, it is also the most important one among the Ming Dynasty ancestral precepts promulgated by Emperor Taizu!

According to Zhang Shikang, except for the title of king conferred by Zhu Yuanzhang on his own son, all the titles of king conferred by emperors of all dynasties on their brothers were changed from hereditary to inherited by lowered ranks.

When the prince dies, his son becomes a duke, and when the duke dies, his son becomes a general who protects the country...

Emperor Chongzhen's brows were furrowed into knots.

This is a shame to his ancestors. If one day he were to go down and meet his ancestors, he would not know how to respond.

But with Zhang Shikang's two shots of prevention, Emperor Chongzhen did not get angry after all, but just said:

"You go on."

“Secondly, in each generation of princes, the imperial court only gives five titles of county prince, and the rest can only be generals guarding the country, and they have to take care of their own weddings and funerals.

Of course, the construction of the residence of the newly-appointed prince will still be paid for by the Ministry of Works, but the specifications should be strictly limited and should not exceed 50,000 taels.

Third, the salaries of vassal kings were changed from rice to silver, the annual salary of a prince was changed from 8,000 dan to 10,000 liang, and the annual salary of a county king was changed from 4,000 dan to 4,000 liang.

Fourth, all members of the royal family can engage in business, and the business taxes collected are the same as those of ordinary merchants. "

Seeing that Brother Chongzhen did not get angry, Zhang Shikang spoke out all his thoughts in one breath.

Of these three points, the first two are naturally aimed at reducing the expenses of the royal family.

The treatment of royal family members in the Ming Dynasty was initially set at 20,000 dan of annual salary for princes. Later, as the number of princes increased and the finances could no longer afford it, Emperor Jiajing reduced it once, and Emperor Wanli reduced it again, until it was reduced to 8,000 dan.

But even at the current grain price in the Ming Dynasty, eight thousand dan was worth thirty thousand taels, and Zhang Shikang simply killed him with his knees.

In addition, Zhang Shikang also took back all the land of the vassal kings, which was extremely painful for them.

But Zhang Shikang also had his own opinion. Ten thousand taels of silver was really a lot of money. As long as the prince did not waste it, it would be enough for his family to live a decent life.

Not to mention that Zhang Shikang also opened a way for them to do business, which gave them hope.

"If we do this, Lord Hai, as the Minister of Revenue, should be able to roughly calculate how much we can save, right?" Zhang Shikang asked Xiang Haizhong.

"At least 80% of the current savings can be achieved." Hai Zhongqi said after a little thought.

If the emperor can agree, the cabinet ministers will certainly support this change wholeheartedly. That’s great!

"Shikang, isn't this... too harsh on the princes?" Emperor Chongzhen said with reluctance.

Although a loophole was left for doing business, all other benefits were cut, and the title of inheritance was reduced, which almost changed the Ming Dynasty ancestral precepts set by Emperor Taizu beyond recognition.

"Have you, Your Majesty, forgotten the difficulties faced by the court?

The court was in such a difficult situation at the time. As your majesty's blood relatives, how many princes would be generous enough to donate?

They must be crying and complaining to you about their poverty, right?

You should know how much grain I forced them to give out, right?

I now even regret not taking away their wealth. Maybe the court could have had tens of millions more taels of silver!"

Zhang Shikang's words were more heartbreaking than the last.

He understood this brother too well. It was completely understandable that he was kind and soft-hearted towards his relatives. However, as long as he mentioned the situation before the Ming Dynasty and combined it with the behavior of the princes in various places, he didn't believe that this brother would not be chilled.

You eat coarse food in the palace, while others enjoy music and dance every night in the prince's mansion.

Your country is about to be destroyed, and they are unwilling to use their family property to help you, but you still feel sorry for them. Are you a timid person?

Sure enough, after hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen’s brows no longer furrowed.

Emperor Chongzhen hesitated for three breaths before making up his mind:

"As you say, Elder Cai and Elder Hai, this matter will be left to you two to handle."

Since the matter concerned the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue, Emperor Chongzhen gave a direct order.

Cai Guoyong and Hai Zhongqi both stood up to accept the order.

"Your Majesty, I understand that you are in a difficult situation, but I have said before that since Confucianism was the only doctrine in China, China has been in conflict with Korea for more than 300 years.

Our Ming Dynasty has been in existence for 272 years now, and the accumulated problems are too numerous to count.

I have said before that reform will always strike at the heads of vested interests. I can kill corrupt officials and get rid of the Donglin Party, but I cannot put Your Majesty in an unjust position.

For the royal family, this is already good enough. They must learn to be content. If they dare to cause trouble, at worst I will go find His Royal Highness Prince Fu and ask him to run around."

As the person with the closest blood relationship to the emperor in the Ming Dynasty, Prince Fu couldn't be more obedient after being taken for a walk by Zhang Shikang.

In fact, during the entire process of suppressing the rebellion, Zhang Shikang did have the intention to kill the princes, and his brother Chongzhen also agreed at the time.

But in the end, he did not kill any vassal king. Even though Prince Fu was so powerful at the beginning, Zhang Shikang did not kill him and even helped him lose weight.

Actually, it was all for Brother Chongzhen.

No matter what, members of the royal family can survive, and as long as they work a little harder, they can live better than ordinary people.

"Since I have made my decision, I don't need you to comfort me. I have said before that as long as it can help revive the Ming Dynasty, I can bear any price."

After being comforted by Zhang Shikang, Emperor Chongzhen became even more determined. Zhang Shikang couldn't help but give his brother a thumbs up in his heart.

Zhang Shikang turned another page of the document in his hand, frowned and looked at it for a long time before saying:

"Now that we have discussed the treatment of the royal family, let's discuss the treatment of officials."

……