Due to the birth of "Talking about the Past and the Present", many scholars also participated in the controversy of political affairs, and Meng Zhao was an active member of it. In addition to the disadvantages, with the release of the expenditure data of the clan Lu rice by Yu Shi Lin Run, the ills of the clan Lu rice have become one of the hottest topics in recent years.

Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, not only generous to his son, but also to his children and grandchildren, adhering to the fine tradition of "parents love their sons, and they have far-reaching plans".

In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, the imperial court re-established the standard of giving Lu rice every year, and the specific treatment of the clan was: the prince gave Lu Mi ten thousand stones, the county king two thousand stones, the Zhenguo general one thousand stones, the auxiliary general eight hundred stones, the Fengguo general six hundred stones, the Zhenguo lieutenant four hundred stones, the auxiliary lieutenant three hundred stones, and the Fengguo lieutenant two hundred stones.

Generally speaking, the eldest son of the prince inherits the title of prince, and the sons are crowned princes. The eldest son of the king of the county inherits the title of the king of the county, and the other sons are awarded the general of Zhenguo, the grandson of the auxiliary general, the great-grandson of the general, the fourth grandson of the Zhenguo lieutenant, the fifth grandson of the auxiliary state, and the sixth grandson and below are all awarded the lieutenant of Fengguo.

In other words, as long as they are the descendants of the Zhu family, in addition to the hereditary throne, the rest of them can also obtain the title of lieutenant of Fengguo at the most, and receive 200 stone of rice every year.

But not all of them are like Hongzhi Zhengde, and in the end, they can only find their cousin Jiajing from the side line to inherit the throne, in fact, many princes have strong fertility, and some princes even reproduce nearly a thousand people.

Taking King Qingcheng of Shanxi Province as an example during the Hongzhi period, he gave birth to a total of 94 children, 163 grandchildren, and 510 great-grandchildren, and these 510 great-grandchildren will definitely continue to reproduce in the future.

It is precisely like this, Liang Cai, the head of the household department of this dynasty, once said: At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, if you needed 10,000 stone of grain to feed the vassal king of a mansion, then now the same palace needs at least 130,000 stone.

If it is only a vassal king, but the emperors of the past dynasties will also have younger brothers, such as King Yu's younger brother King Jing will also occupy a place, and the number of people will only increase.

In addition, the imperial court also had to build palaces, marriages, tombs, and provide retinue officials, servants, and other benefits for the children of the clan, which was also an astronomical amount.

The most illustrative of the Yushi Lin Run's recital, there is a passage in the recital: the world supplies the grain to the capital, four million stone per year, but the royal palaces consume the country's grain, but there are eight million stone per year. Shanxi Province stores 1.9 million stone of grain every year, and the local royal government consumes more than 3 million stone of grain; Henan Province stored 940,000 stone of grain, and the local vassal king consumed more than 1.9 million stone of grain.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the rice of the twenty-six feudal kings was 260,000 stones, but now it is more than ten times, not including the expenses of the clan to build palaces, weddings, funerals, and servants.

Even if the Jiajing Dynasty had already begun to play the old tricks, it deducted the Lu rice of the vassal kings in various places. It's just that it's impossible not to give at all, at most a part of it will be deducted, but it's still a considerable amount of expenditure.

The opinions of the scholars and officials in the capital were surprisingly unanimous, hoping that the imperial court would reduce the amount of rice in the clan, or that the descendants of the side branches would leave the clan and be directly incorporated into the civil register, and would no longer enjoy the support of the imperial court.

It's just that the voices of the scholars and low-level officials are very loud, but the movement of the upper echelons of the court is very small, and even Lin Runshang has been neglected for a year now, but the court seems to be about to forget this matter.

It is no wonder that when the first assistant of the court, Xu Jie, received more and more criticism, I thought that the traitor Yan Song would step down, and the court would become different, but the essence was still the same bureaucratic style as before.

Meng Zhao was a very intelligent person, and when Lin Haoran expressed his desire to propose that the imperial court reduce the amount of rice transported, even if he guessed that he was going to cut the amount of rice in the clan.

Lin Haoran was slightly stunned at first, and then laughed dumbly.

He found that his disciple's brain was indeed more flexible than others, and if he wanted to propose a reduction in the amount of rice transported, he would naturally have to ask the imperial court to reduce the amount of rice in the sect.

Lin Haoran looked at the gradually opening river, but he didn't intend to tell the whole plan in his heart, and said helplessly: "Now the situation in the capital is unclear, and being a teacher is also taking a step by step, and the matter of Zong Fan Lumi may or may not be done." The teacher is now only the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and there is Li Butang above, and then there is Lord Zaifu above. ”

Although he has now entered the sixth department of the imperial court, he is not Yan Shifan after all, in many things, in addition to the secret competition between all parties, it is Xu Jie or Jiajing who can really make the decision.

Zong Mu Lu Mi involves the core interests of the clan, and Jiajing is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle. He not only has to come up with a feasible plan, but also needs to reach a consensus with all parties to persuade Jiajing to reduce the clan relatives Lumi to have the possibility of success.

"The disciple knows that this kind of thing is difficult, but he still hopes to see the teacher rectify the sect and the Lu rice for the benefit of the people of the Ming Dynasty!" Meng Zhao earnestly bowed his hand and expressed his long-cherished wish.

Wang Shiju also thought the same, looking expectantly at this teacher who could always strategize.

The official ship had already passed through that section of the silt area, and the river in front of it had become open, and a white wave rolled up on the bow of the boat, and the whole official ship was rippling in the clear water.

Lin Haoran faced the cold wind blowing, but he sent out an invitation: "There is still some time before the year of Dabi, after the two of you return to Beijing, you will move to the north of the city, and the division will arrange accommodation for you, or help the teacher run errands and do some things!" ”

After this trip to the south, he knew that both of them were manufacturable materials, so he decided to continue cultivating. In this imperial court, it is not easy to find a shrewd, capable and loyal official.

"The student obeys!"

Meng Zhao and Wang Shiju excitedly exchanged glances, and immediately bowed respectfully.

Shandong's rivers are not easy to walk, but Lin Fu is a person who can get things done. When encountering a shallow river belt, he ran down to pull the fiber with the slender man, and all aspects of affairs were very thoughtful.

Due to the signboard and silver dot of the official ship, the official ship passed through the Shandong boundary smoothly, passed through Cangzhou, Hebei, and arrived at Tongzhou downstream.

It has been the middle of November since the fourth day of October, and it has finally reached the northernmost point of the Grand Canal after more than a month.

It's just that things are often so dramatic, everyone is about to go ashore and return to Beijing, but the Tongzhou wharf in front of them is in chaos, and the ships going north and south are even more at a standoff.

"Something big has happened?"

When he saw this scene, Lin Haoran's heart immediately chuckled.

Chen Jing caught a ship that had just come out of the Tongzhou wharf to inquire, and soon came back with a gloomy face, and spit out six words bitterly: "The Tartars have invaded again."