After listening to Zheng Youyuan's words, Bi Ziyan looked out of the window, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, this is sweeping away some obstacles to the 'New Deal', the Donglin Party is, the clan is, and so is the honorable nobles, so there is no need to be surprised." ”

Zheng Youyuan was stunned, but still said, "Is it just like this?" ”

Bi Ziyan groaned slightly, and said: "It was the imperial examination before, it was the Donglin Party just now, and now it is the clan noble, the emperor is acting for a purpose......

Zheng Youyuan thought for a while, and said with an understanding, "I see, it seems that the emperor intends to 'reconcile'." ”

Bi Ziyan chuckled, looked at him and said, "It's not so much 'reconciliation' as 'good beginnings and good ends', the emperor is now in power and has a solid foundation, and these people are no longer a threat." ”

Zheng Youyuan understood, nodded and said, "Then my lord, do we want to do something in the cabinet?" ”

Bi Ziyan only now discovered Zhu Xu's purpose, thought for a while, and said: "It won't be long before the emperor's will reach the cabinet, so let's do it, about the imperial examination, you draft an edict, and the Donglin Party also writes a copy, ready to send it out...... Then I ordered the head of the household department to come to the cabinet to see me. ”

Zheng Youyuan knew that Bi Ziyan was going to cooperate with the emperor, so he raised his hand and said, "Yes." ”

Bi Ziyan knew that Zhu Xu was clearing some obstacles, and he also planned to use a two-pronged approach to reduce the resistance of the 'New Deal' in power and government affairs.

The Imperial Study.

Zhu Shouhong, King of Lu, Zhu Qiugui, King of Jin, Zhu Changshu, King of Lu, Zhang Weixian, Duke Zhang Zhiji, Duke Xu Yunzhen and others were neatly dressed, standing in front of Zhu Xu's table very strictly, and saluted: "The ministers see the emperor." ”

Zhu Xu sat on the dragon chair, looked at the six people, smiled and waved his hand, and said, "All are exempt, come here, give a seat." ”

A group of internal eunuchs came in with chairs, and King Lu, the British Duke and others sat down quite cautiously, everyone was almost respectful, in fact, it was equivalent to a blank face.

Zhu Xu took a sip of hot tea, looked at a few people, tapped his fingers on the table, and said, "You should all know about the succession law, right?" ”

This matter was drafted by King Lu and later discussed in the cabinet, so it is no longer a secret.

King Lu, King Jin, King Lu, etc. did not speak, although this 'succession law' is an extension of the Ming ancestral system' has a grandson, no grandson, brother and brother and', clear, but the Ming ancestral system emphasizes the 'eldest son' inheritance system, in short, it is the inheritance right of 'eldest son, eldest son', and everyone else is excluded by default, and only in special circumstances will there be inheritance rights. The emperor's clear list of those who can inherit the throne will undoubtedly increase the internal strife and internal friction within the royal family, which will cause instability in the royal family and even shake the country!

King Jin glanced at King Lu, his face was pale, he coughed from time to time, got up and said to Zhu Xu: "Your Majesty, the ministers still need to be cautious about this 'succession law', if it causes a 'national capital dispute' again, I am afraid that it will have an adverse impact on the 'new policy'." "Since this winter, King Jin has not been in good health, and he is weak. But the extraneous voice is very clear that if this 'succession law' is announced, it will definitely be an uproar and cause shock in the government and the opposition.

Zhu Xu was not surprised, looked at King Lu and said, "King Lu, what do you think?" ”

This one has a relatively high seniority, and he is the younger brother of Shenzong and Zhu Xu's grandfather.

King Lu has been very low-key recently, for fear of arousing Zhu Xu's dissatisfaction again, so he hurriedly stood up and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the law of the ancestors is the 'eldest son' inheritance system, in order to prevent internal friction in the clan, cannibalism, and ministers...... Think again. ”

No matter what these princes are thinking, they will not agree with this 'succession system' on the surface.

Zhu Xu smiled and said, "I know your concerns, but I have made up my mind, so I don't need to discuss it anymore." The purpose of calling you here today is to prepare you mentally for the fact that the Cabinet intends to promulgate it after next year's general meeting. ”

The three kings are now the representatives of the clan, and when they heard that their lips moved, no one dared to argue with Zhu Xu, and they all acquiesced stiffly.

Zhu Xu looked at the three people, nodded slightly, his fingers tapped slowly on the table, and after a while, his eyes turned to King Lu, and said, "King Lu, how is the population of the clan?" How much is it? ”

King Lu also stood up and said, "Back to the emperor, after more than a year of combing and statistics, the current registered clan population is 358,500 people, and the number of years is ...... That's about 5 million stones. ”

Zhu Xu looked at the three kings, snorted lightly, and said, "Five million, do you know how much my tax grain is in the Ming Dynasty?" Last year it was 18 million, and this year it may be reduced to about 16 million, and the number of years in the clan will increase to 6 million, accounting for more than one-third, and I still have hundreds of officials in the world and millions of troops to support. ”

The three kings were all slightly shocked when they heard this, and looked up at Zhu Xu in amazement.

Five million may be a lot now, but compared to what they used to be, that's a drop in the bucket! What's more, their acres and industries have been confiscated, and the losses are huge, so why can't the emperor cut their salaries again?

In this way, how can they live!?

Zhang Weixian, Zhang Zhiji, and Xu Yunzhen, who were sitting on the other side, also showed surprise on their faces, the emperor's words were simply too straightforward - it made their hearts tremble!

Zhu Xu did not discuss this matter with King Lu first, and at this moment, King Lu was also shocked in his heart, raised his hand, and said, "Dare to ask the emperor what this means?" ”

Zhu Xu looked at King Lu and said with an unmoving expression: "I just asked casually, what do you think?" ”

How could the emperor ask casually for no reason, this clearly meant something.

King Lu, King Jin, and King Lu looked at each other in pairs, still frightened and uneasy, King Jin coughed, raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the clan is evenly divided, and each person is only more than ten stones, so it will not starve to death, and it can not be reduced anymore." ”

King Lu is used to enjoying it, he can't stand the suffering, and now it's a hard day, but he can't work hard, and hurriedly said, "The minister seconded the proposal, and the clan can't be reduced anymore." ”

Zhu Xu nodded, picked up the teacup in his hand, and said: "I know this, that's why I came to you to find a way, now the disaster is like fire, and the tax and grain are decreasing, if it is a few years later, let alone the clan, even the hundred officials' Yulu I can't send it, if I don't think of a way early, I, the emperor, will not be able to sit still." ”

When it comes to the current situation, everyone knows it well, and they are a little more sober than in history, but when it comes to these, they have nothing to think about.

The clan has no livelihood, no acres of land, and they have no source of livelihood except for the court's Yulu, what else can they want?

Zhu Xu looked at the expressions of the three people, looked at the three of them, and said with an impassive expression, "Someone gave me a notebook, saying that the title of the clan should be continuously reduced from generation to generation, and after five generations, it will be a concubine, no different from ordinary people, which can not only reduce the expenditure of the imperial court, but also allow these clans to make a difference, instead of being like pigs and sheep, captive to old age, and waste the treasury, what do you think?" ”

King Lu, King Jin, and King Lu all changed their faces, their eyes were shocked, and King Lu said directly: "Your Majesty, this person's heart can be punished!" We are all descendants of Taizu, how can we become concubines! ”

"Your Majesty, you must not listen to this statement, otherwise the clan will be unstable, the world will not accept it, and there will be endless disasters, please think twice!" King Jin turned pale and coughed loudly.

King Lu was also shocked, and said with a solemn look that he had never had: "Your Majesty, the ministers are against it!" This move is a big violation of the ancestral system, and it is a malicious word, please ask the emperor to kill this person and deter the world! ”

On the other side, Zhang Weixian, Zhang Zhiji, and Xu Yunzhen were also shocked, and they looked at each other without speaking. These are too sensitive for them to interject.

Zhu Xu's fingers tapped slowly on the table, and said lightly: "I all know this, the problem now is that the clan's Suilu occupies more than one-third of the imperial court's taxes, the imperial court cannot make ends meet, and the government and the opposition are full of criticism, you have to think of a way for me to calm down this kind of remarks, and don't let the people of the world treat my Daming clan as a bloodsucker attached to the imperial court......"

King Lu and the three frowned, the emperor's words were not good, and it also indicated that he wanted to 'solve' the problem of the clan's excessive age, but this method was too terrible, they didn't dare, and they couldn't accept it.

The three of them were silent for a long time, they didn't have a rut, and they didn't dare to have a rut.

Zhu Xu's eyes wandered on the faces of the three for a while, and then he suddenly turned to the British Duke Zhang Weixian and said, "How many honorable ministers are there now?" How is the year? ”

In fact, these are also under the control of the Zongren government, but the British Duke is the leader of these noble ministers, and he also knows some of them, so he stood up and raised himself a little nervously, and said in a deep voice: "Back to the emperor, the number of honorable ministers is currently about 160,000, and the age is more than 2 million. ”

Zhu Xu was a little surprised, and said: "That is to say, the clan and the honorable ministers' years together have already been half of the taxes paid by the imperial court, and if you count the others, I am afraid it has exceeded ......."

Zhang Weixian's expression did not move, and his heart was slightly sunk. In the past, he had noticed this, but no one mentioned it, but now that the emperor took the initiative to ask, he also found that this age was too heavy, and the court could not afford it.

"What do you think, is there any way?" Zhu Xu tapped his fingers on the tabletop and said in a slow tone.

Six people, some of their faces were as heavy as water, some were expressionless, some of their faces were changing, each with their own thoughts, and none of them spoke.

The clan, the identity of the noble minister is too special, and there must be some restrictions, and this 'restriction' has caused these people to not be able to enter the government, not to do business, and not to have other livelihoods, but can only be rich and noble idlers who are confined in the mansion. If this 'wealth' is gone, then they will only be left with 'idleness', and they will starve to death!

The corners of Zhu Xu's mouth turned up slightly, and then he said as usual on his face, "If you don't speak, I won't be able to send out your money in a few years, and no matter how you look for me at that time, it will be no problem." Let's talk about it, come up with a way, you can't wait until the imperial court is completely out of money and food to think of a way. ”

King Lu and the British Duke glanced at each other, both of them frowned, and their faces sank like water.

The clan, the noble ministers have experienced the previous blows, and they have long been injured, and they can no longer withstand the toss, if the emperor reduces their years, it will really be difficult for them to continue to survive. But according to what the emperor said, it is even more difficult for them to accept the demotion!

The eyes of the six people twinkled, and their hearts churned.

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