Chapter 261: New System of Suzerainty and Vassalage

The Ming clan has always been like this.

Especially after Yongle, the clan was severely restricted.

Zhu Houzhao watched the ministers discussing and refuting Tang Hao's views fiercely. He didn't know what to say for a while.

He just felt sad and ridiculous.

I am afraid that even Taizu Emperor Gao would not have thought that one day most of his descendants, Zhu Yuanzhang, would be reduced to trash waiting to die, lying on the Ming Dynasty sucking blood and eating meat, and being raised like pigs!

It shouldn't be like this!

Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath and secretly made up his mind.

"Tang Hou, is there any way to solve these hidden dangers?"

When His Majesty the Emperor spoke, all the officials suddenly fell silent.

However, most of them disagree with this. No matter what they do, they can never lift the ban on the clan lord!

After all, no one wants to see the Ming Dynasty fight another battle!

Tang Hao ignored the strange looks from these courtiers and spoke on his own.

"The simplest way is to lift the ban on the lord not leaving the fiefdom..."

As soon as these words came out, someone immediately jumped out to object. It was Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

"According to the ancestral law... When the vassal king goes out of the city to visit the tomb, he will ask for permission. The two kings are not allowed to meet each other..."

"If you change the ancestral laws at will, I'm afraid it will cause unrest in people's hearts and make the world uneasy!"

The reason why Yang Tinghe opposed lifting the ban on the vassal king was simply because he was worried that the bad situation of fighting for power between the royal family and the clan vassal princes would reappear.

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty has long been declining and can barely survive. If the clan kings are allowed to cause chaos at this time, it will be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Houzhao looked at the Marquis of Zhongshan with a serious expression.

"Tang Hou, this move may not be appropriate, right?"

If it weren't for the presence of these "outsiders", Zhu Houzhao would have pointed at Tang Hao's nose and cursed.

If we let go of the prohibitions imposed by these clans and vassals, then they are still not allowed to go around causing harm to the world?

What the hell is this idea?

However, Tang Hao's next words made everyone froze in place.

"The imperial court's goal is to save the clan's salary expenses!"

"Then why not lift the ban on these feudal princes and let them fight to death?"

"Whether it's oppressing the people or robbing the women of the people, as long as they make a mistake, the court can justifiably take action and abolish their feudal state. This is the simplest and most brutal method!"

"Otherwise, we can change our thinking. Your Majesty can summon a few vassal princes to the capital as soon as possible. At that time, it will not be a matter of your Majesty's life and death. If you don't like whoever you like, you can find a way to make some mistakes for him, and then abolish them. Fengguo!”

"Abolition of the vassal and feudal state is equivalent to cutting off a large branch, and even a large vassal faction is gone. This is naturally the simplest and most effective way!"

Zhu Houzhao froze in place after hearing this.

The officials present, including Yang Tinghe, all had shocked faces.

The Marquis of Zhongshan in the Ming Dynasty was really ruthless and ruthless, and he would do whatever it took!

It seems that in his eyes, these Ming Dynasty clan kings are just like pigs and dogs who can be slaughtered at will. Is this what a minister should say?

"Marquis Tang's plan...is inappropriate!"

Yang Tinghe directly objected. He needed to look at the matter from the perspective of both the emperor and the civil servants.

"If you really act like this, Your Majesty will probably bear the reputation of "slaughtering your clan members"!"

Killing the clan members is a nicer way of saying it.

To put it more unpleasantly, it means that he is ruthless and unscrupulous, and even his blood relatives cannot tolerate him. This is pure notoriety.

Zhu Houzhao also shook his head. He didn't want to bear such infamy.

Tang Hao was not angry when he saw this, but said with a smile.

"Secondly, there is only a compromise. On the surface, the clan salary will be increased, and then the clan level will be reduced, so as to shorten the imperial court's clan salary expenditure in disguise!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao and Yang Tinghe's eyes lit up, and all the officials also looked at Tang Hao.

To be honest, after the so-called game just now, these smart old foxes here all understood one thing, that is, this clan salary issue must be solved!

If not, I'm afraid it won't take more than a few decades for the Ming Dynasty's finances to be brought down by these clan kings who only know how to drink, eat and play with women!

Furthermore, in fact, civil servants and gentry have always had deep opinions on the imperial government's financial support for the clan.

Wouldn't it be great if this money and food could be used to develop people's livelihood and build water conservancy projects?

It must be used to support these pig-like Ming Dynasty clan, and instead of having any sense of gratitude and shame, the latter is trying every means to have children in order to ask for more Lumi from the court!

If the Marquis of Zhongshan really had any reasonable solution, all the ministers present would spare no effort to support him.

To put it bluntly, it makes people gnash their teeth with hatred when these money, food and rice fall into the hands of the clan king.

"Reducing the clan title level is only the first step."

Tang Hao said in a deep voice, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"And this first step must be done. The clan title level must be reduced, because at the end of the development, the real bulk of the imperial government's finances are these Lieutenants of the Fuguo and Fengguo, so they must be eliminated in advance."

In fact, the number of princes is not that large. The truly numerous members of the royal family derived from these princes are the ones who are numerous from generation to generation.

If we only consider the number of princes, the court can fully afford to support them, but with the addition of those numerous royal family members, with the huge base number, this mess is naturally not enough.

"You all know that the remaining princes and dukes have their own positions, and with some appropriate control policies, no matter how many there are, they will not be too many. The court finances can fully support them."

Hearing Tang Hao's words, everyone nodded subconsciously.

This truth is not difficult to understand. In the later period of the Ming Dynasty, the one with the most royal family members must be the lowest-level Fengguo Lieutenant.

Because other titles such as princes and dukes are hereditary from generation to generation, the titles of the remaining bastards and young sons will all decrease step by step, until the last one is the Fengguo Lieutenant.

If the eight levels of clan titles are directly reduced to five or six levels, it seems that only two or three levels have been reduced, but in fact, it can reduce the future Ming Dynasty's salary expenditure by millions of stones!

This is the most important part, reducing the clan level!

Tang Hao did not rush to speak, but let the ministers and His Majesty discuss it.

However, the difficulty lies in what name should the court take?

This is a serious ancestral law, and it has been used for so many years. How can it be changed just by saying it can be changed?

There is no doubt that the vassal king will definitely be dissatisfied, and it may cause unrest in the world at that time!

Zhu Houzhao discussed with Yang Tinghe and others for a long time, and they really couldn't come up with any solution.

In the end, Yang Tinghe had to look at Tang Hao again and asked proactively.

"May I ask Lord Tang, do you have any good ideas?"

Tang Hao nodded.

"It can be carried out in conjunction with the second step to set up reward and punishment measures!"

Reward and punishment measures?

What does this mean?

Everyone looked at each other, with a confused look on their faces.

"The first step is to control the population and implement family planning..."