Chapter 260 Fear

Royal family!

After Jiao Fang's reminder, Yang Tinghe finally reacted.

The chessboard is the Ming Dynasty, and these grains of rice are the royal family!

After figuring this out, Yang Tinghe's expression suddenly became solemn.

He looked at his colleagues behind him, and then instantly took a breath of cold air.

"Your Majesty, I understand."

"The so-called chessboard rice is actually a simulation. The imperial court has been using the court's finances to support these royal family members. If this continues, the Ming Dynasty's finances will be dragged down by these royal family members!"

As soon as this was said, the ministers immediately talked about it.

"Prime Minister, aren't you a little...worrying?"

"Yes, there are only so many members of the royal family. Can't the Ming Dynasty afford to support them?"

"Using the court's finances to support the royal family is the ancestral precept of Emperor Taizong Wen. The ancestral laws cannot be easily changed!"

Seeing that these people didn't understand yet and were still biting on the ancestral laws, Yang Tinghe went straight forward and dumped all the rice grains on the chessboard!

"Yes, the number of royal family members seems small!"

"But after a hundred years, two hundred years, how many will they be?"

"If the number of royal family members continues to grow at such a terrifying speed, until they finally occupy the entire chessboard!"

"It's not doubling in one generation, it's growing dozens of times in one generation, hundreds of times in several generations, and the Ming Dynasty's finances will not be able to bear it within a hundred years!"

Everyone looked at the rice grains on the chessboard, and their hearts were immediately shocked!

In fact, they didn't pay attention to this problem and didn't consider the number of royal family members.

Because there are not many princes, only about twenty in total. If their descendants are included, how much can they expand? There are only a few hundred or a thousand people, and the court can definitely afford it!

Moreover, Emperor Taizu Gao had already planned it out, and formulated a detailed system for the salary and title of the members of the Ming royal family.

The title is downgraded every generation. Except for the legitimate son, the sons of the prince are the princes of the county, and then the prince of the county is inherited by the legitimate eldest son. The rest of the sons are generals of the state, and then they are generals of the state, generals of the state, generals of the state, and so on until they reach the lieutenant of the state, and then they will not be downgraded.

In other words, Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Taizong Wen have already solved the problem of calculating the salary of the royal family for their descendants. Now their descendants only need to follow the rules and do not need to change anything.

After all, "the law established by the ancestors" is "the law established by the ancestors", which cannot be easily changed.

However, until this moment, everyone finally understood that the speed of the expansion of the royal family members seemed to be too alarming.

If the number of members of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty will increase exponentially as Yang Tinghe said, it will be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty!

"Prime Minister, I have a question."

Minister of Personnel Wang Ao asked solemnly.

"Why is the growth rate of royal family members so fast?"

Yang Tinghe sighed and was about to give an explanation.

But Tang Hao took the lead and told these important officials in the court the bloody truth.

"Because they have no pressure and no motivation."

"Members of the royal family are born with luxurious clothes and delicious food, and they will have luxurious clothes and delicious food all their lives. Moreover, they do not work and cannot participate in the four people's occupations. In this case, what else can these royal family members do?"

"Eat, drink, play, have wives and concubines, enjoy all the glory and wealth, that's all."

He said this very politely. After all, His Majesty the Emperor was in front of him, and these people were all members of the royal family, the blood of the old Zhu family, and the descendants of Emperor Taizu Gao.

But how could everyone not understand his hidden meaning.

These princes lost their military power and were not allowed to participate in the work of the four people. What else could they do?

They could only eat, drink, play, sleep with women, and be useless people who just eat and wait for death!

In this case, the growth rate of the number of royal family members can be imagined!

Let alone dozens of generations, when it reproduces to about eight or nine generations, the number of royal family members of the Zhu family will probably soar to hundreds of thousands or even millions. These parasites alone can drag down the finances of the Ming Dynasty!

"Moreover, in view of the royal family salary system established by the court, the court needs to provide rice for all matters such as marriage and funeral of royal family members, which has led to a reproductive competition among these royal family members. The more they give birth, the more salary they can ask for from the court!"

"In this way, even if it is a bit exaggerated to describe the growth rate of the royal family in terms of square numbers, it is not far off."

Tang Hao looked at the Minister of Personnel Jiao Fang and asked with a smile: "Does Minister Jiao know the current number of royal family members?"

"The registered royal family population exceeds 100,000, and the current population exceeds 60,000!"

Jiao Fang is a smart man after all. He knows very well that the reason why he has been promoted to the position of Minister is not because of his outstanding ability, but because His Majesty the Emperor needs others to control the Ministry of Revenue for him!

So after Jiao Fang took office, he immediately began to take charge of the Ministry of Revenue and did his best to do the job of Minister of Revenue. He naturally knew the things he should know, especially the big head of royal family salary.

But when he accurately reported this number, everyone present gasped.

How much?

The registered royal family population exceeded 100,000?

Oh my God!

How is this possible?

During the Hongwu period, the registered royal family population was only 58 people!

Why the hell are there more than 100,000 people now?

This growth rate is indeed almost as fast as this number!

Then in another twenty or thirty years, the population of this clan will not exceed one million?

This is not a million pigs, but a million clan members!

The imperial court needs to allocate money and food to support these millions of clans!

According to the rules set by Emperor Taizu Gao, there are eight levels of royal family members in the Ming Dynasty. The annual salary of the prince is 10,000 shi, the prince of the county is 2,000 shi, the general of the country is 1,000 shi, the general of the auxiliary country is 800 shi, and the general of the country is 600 shi. Stone, the lieutenant of Zhenguo has 400 shi, the lieutenant of auxiliary state has 300 shi, and the lieutenant of Fengguo has 200 shi.

In addition, the emperor's daughter, that is, the princess of the imperial court, although she has not received a title, can still enjoy the same salary as the county prince, that is, an annual salary of two thousand dan. The princess, the daughter of the county prince, enjoys the same salary as the general of the auxiliary country. The annual salary is eight hundred stone.

To sum it up in one sentence, the court must support all the male and female heirs of the old Zhu family, and they must support them until their death!

Tang Hao looked at the ugly-looking ministers and dealt a heavy blow again.

"The annual salary of the vassal vassal is borne jointly by the central and local finances. However, the annual salary of the vassal's members, that is, those members of the clan who are no longer so close to the central government, including their officials and servants, is borne by the local government. take full charge of."

"However, everyone knows that relying on the status of Tianhuang nobles, these sects have been secretly annexing local fields. For example, Prince Lu's Mansion in Yanzhou Prefecture occupies 60% of the fields in Yanzhou Prefecture, and another 20% is owned by the Kong family. The remaining 1 and a half percent of the land is occupied by the gentry, etc., but less than half of the land that finally falls into the hands of the common people can be collected in taxes. "

"However, the Yanzhou Prefecture still has to bear the annual salary of the Lu Prince's Prefecture. This is equivalent to the clan princes secretly seeking profits by annexing fields and plundering the people's wealth, and also frantically asking for money, food and rice from the imperial court through continuous reproduction of offspring. Under such circumstances, the imperial court If we can't collect taxes but still have to bear the increasingly huge expenses of the clan, how can the government provide supplies? "

"You all know that the poor people in the world are running out of money, but you never think about why the Ming Dynasty has reached this point!"

According to Tang Hao's usual temper, he would always scold these civil servants and gentry after he finished speaking, but this time the main target was not them, but the clan kings who wanted to suck the blood of the Ming Empire!

After his straightforward description, everyone present fell silent.

A picture appeared in their minds at the same time.

The clan members of Lao Zhu's family, all fat and big-eared, like pigs, are reaching out to ask for money and food from the court!

But behind the imperial court, there were successive years of disasters, the people were displaced, and there were countless hungry people. In the end, these Ming people who were forced to have no way out, brazenly gathered in crowds to cause rebellion... The Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and finally collapsed!

Zhu Houzhao was suddenly startled, and then shook his head wildly to dispel the terrible scene in his mind.

"Tanghou, how should we solve it?"

After understanding the hidden dangers of this vassal system, the next step is naturally to find a way to solve it!

Zhu Houzhao was not a fool. He watched helplessly as Tang Hao summoned the court officials to play such a game, and he immediately understood Tang Hao's true purpose.

Tang Hao was not in a hurry to answer, but spoke to himself.

"Let's do a simple calculation. Emperor Taizu Gao had twenty-six sons in total, and twenty-four of them were feudal lords. Excluding the feudal kings, there were fifty-eight members of the clan at that time. These fifty-eight people are now There must be hundreds of clan members in total, right?"

"Then the generation of Emperor Taizongwen came. Renzong inherited Dabao, and the other two were named vassal kings and went to their own kingdoms to become vassal. Several branches were opened in this breath!"

"Then the same is true for the next generation of emperors. His majesty Renzong has ten sons. Except for Xuanzong, who inherited the great treasure, the remaining nine princes have all been canonized as vassal princes. That means nine more branches!"

"The first generation of these branches are princes. By the same token, in the second generation there will be a large number of county princes, and then in the next generation there will be a large number of generals who govern the country. No matter which clan gives birth to sons or daughters, the court will have to Grant titles and pay salaries on time according to the system!”

"This is like the Ming Dynasty royal family is a towering tree. The longer it grows, the more leafy and leafy it will be, and the more branches it will bear. However, it requires land and nutrients to support this towering tree. The land is naturally the Ming Dynasty. Okay, so where does this nutrition come from?”

Everyone felt their scalps numb and frightened when they heard it!

The example given by Zhongshan Hou is easy to understand.

He compared the royal family of the Ming Dynasty to a tree, and the other feudal states are branches. And these branches are still spreading branches and leaves, and constantly producing new branches. So how many branches will this big tree have in the end?

The branches are flourishing!

Densely packed!

But where does nutrition come from?

Where else could it come from?

Naturally, it sucks the blood of the people of the Ming Dynasty!

Just thinking of that dense scene, everyone couldn't help but feel chills, and the last trace of luck in their hearts completely disappeared!

You know, the big tree of Lao Zhu's family is rooted in the country of the Ming Dynasty. It sucks the blood of the common people!

"This is not the most troublesome..."

When everyone heard this, they all looked at Tang Hao.

Yang Tinghe couldn't help but asked: "May I ask Tang Hou, what is the most troublesome thing?"

Tang Hao chuckled and said: "The most troublesome thing is that once the vassal king becomes a vassal, the feudal kingdom will always exist. Unless there is no son or rebellion, the feudal kingdom will be abolished by the court!"

"This also means that most of those branches will always exist, and they will continue to produce new branches, and emperors from generation to generation will continue to give birth to princes and produce more branches, so that generation after generation will continue to reproduce. , the towering trees with lush branches will lie on the Ming Dynasty, sucking the blood of the common people, eating the flesh of the common people, and they will continue to bloom..."

"That's enough!" Zhu Houzhao's face was gloomy, "Stop talking!"

After all, he is a member of the old Zhu family, not some blood-sucking insect.

This damn savage, these words are too heartbreaking.

If his metaphor were publicized, I wonder how the gentry and common people in the world would still be hostile to the old Zhu family!

The ministers also looked at Tang Hao with strange expressions, secretly speechless.

The Marquis of Zhongshan really dares to say that!

After all, he is Tianhuang nobleman, Taizu Xueyin, and you kid actually compared him to a blood-sucking insect!

Well, the lawless Zhongshan Hou is really a real hammer!

Zhu Houzhao's face was very ugly.

As long as he thinks of that terrible scene and those towering trees, he will shudder!

Zhu Houzhao never thought that one day the old Zhu family would give birth to a child, which would bring down the Ming Dynasty!

"I just don't understand why they are so capable of giving birth?"

His Majesty the Emperor complained.

You have nothing to do but play with women?

After all, he is also a nobleman from the old Zhu family, so why not show some face?

Can't you learn from me that in addition to playing with women, you can also play with men?

After hearing this, Tang Hao suddenly laughed again.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rude."

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand impatiently.

What are you pretending to be, you savage?

"If I were a vassal king, he would need money, status, and women, but the court would not allow me to engage in the fields of scholars, agriculture, industry, and commerce. In addition to eating, drinking, having fun, and playing with women, Your Majesty would feel that I What else can be done?”

Zhu Houzhao was startled when he heard this and froze on the spot.

It seems... indeed... that's the truth.

You want money, you want status, but you can't engage in the business of the four peoples, so what else can you do besides eating, drinking, having fun, and playing with women?

"Taking a step back, even if I have noble aspirations, I like to recite poems and compose poems, and I like to play the piano and listen to music, but this is even more lethal to those women. They are nobles, and they are full of food. If you are talented and educated, you have to rush into your arms. Once you have this kind of thing often, you will get used to it. Children are not born one after another. Anyway, the court helps to raise them, and they don’t have to pay anything..."

"And the court system is here. The more children you give birth to, the more salary you can ask for from the court. So for the clan kings, this is actually a good thing. Anyway, the court is responsible for the children you give birth to. Even if they are a bit of a beast and deduct some of their salary, it will be another way to make money..."

In fact, most of the clan vassals did this. After all, for the other branch clans, they were the major clans, so the imperial salary was distributed by these clans. As for the amount of distribution, it all depends on their mood. Anyway, these branches Don't dare to cause trouble.

If you offend the main sect, the life of the branch will be even more difficult!

"You bastard!" Zhu Houzhao was furious.

Although Tang Hao's words were too harsh, he had to admit that nowadays, these descendants of the old Zhu family seem to really only be able to indulge in wine and sex.

In a sense, this is what the imperial court forced them to do, forcing them to be a bunch of losers who only know how to eat, drink, have fun and play with women!

You're not good at drinking or sex, so what's the point?

Okay, oil?

The will of the imperial court!

This is the real reason for the fall of the Zhu Ming clan!

After all the words were said, Tang Hao finally came to his conclusion.

"Ten thousand steps back, even if some members of the clan are born extraordinary and have great ambitions, what can they do? What can they dare to do?"

"I'm afraid that if I get a better reputation, the imperial court will order an investigation and suppress it. For example, Zhu Dangqi, the Guishan King of the Lu clan, the seventh grandson of Emperor Taizu Gao, likes to dance with guns since he was a child. He is a stick, brave and good at fighting. When I was attacking Qufu County, Zhu Dangqi's cavalry shot unparalleled flying arrows and killed a large number of rebels. However, just because of his status as a member of the clan, he was not allowed to be rewarded by the court, but instead caused a lot of criticism..."

"I would like to ask Your Majesty, are you still clinging to this so-called ancestral law at this time?"

As soon as these words came out, the whole court was in an uproar.

All the officials were talking about it.

To be honest, the reason why the clan was so drunken and dreamy was indeed intentional by the imperial court.

Not because of anything else, but because of Emperor Taizong Wen.

He himself raised troops to conquer the world, so the royal family was naturally very wary of the clan kings.

Correct your status, little brother!

You, a member of the vassal clan, can't eat, drink and have fun in peace and contentment, and are just a waste waiting to die. What do you want to be famous for?

Why do you also want to imitate Emperor Yongle and engage in a vigorous battle of appeasement?

The imperial court is the court of Emperor Yongle, and the imperial family is the descendant of Emperor Yongle. I am definitely familiar with this matter!

Therefore, the princes of the royal family after Yongle can only choose to be a waste, even if it is to defile themselves, they must be drunkards and women!

The intrigues and depravity in this cannot be explained in just one or two sentences.

Even if Zhu Danglu, the Prince of Guishan of the Nalu vassal mentioned by Zhongshan Marquis at this moment, is brave and good at fighting, so what, even if he has made many military achievements, so what?

At most, he will accept some rewards of gold and silver, that's all!

Could it be that the court dares to let this prince of the royal family, Prince of Guishan, lead the army and hold military power?

Impossible!

Once this ban is lifted, it will sow endless troubles for the country!

The royal family is not allowed to be in power, this is the ancestral law of the Ming Dynasty!