Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 11: Officials Flattering the Emperor

On the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang recalled the question Zhu Biao had just asked and immediately asked:

"Biao'er, what you said is true!"

"I dare to guarantee that it is true!"

After hearing his son's guarantee, Zhu Yuanzhang was sure that this must be a big problem, so he let Zhu Biao continue.

Zhu Biao also nodded and began to elaborate on the big issue of supporting clan relatives.

"Your Majesty, according to the imperial precepts of the Ming Dynasty, every prince who obtains a fiefdom can obtain a certain amount of silver from the national treasury.

Every year, each prince could get nearly 70,000 taels of silver, and the prince's title was hereditary and could be passed down from generation to generation.

The prince's descendants would be demoted to a duke, and these dukes would also be passed down according to the rule of hereditary succession. Generally speaking, there were eight titles that could be inherited.

It can be said that it is endless. As long as the Ming Dynasty exists, they can obtain money and silver from the national treasury.

But Your Majesty, I discovered today that there is a big loophole in this ancestral precept.

The number of the first generation of princes and dukes may not be large, and the court only needs to spend a few million taels of silver every year to support them.

But Your Majesty, once time passes for a long time, when the next emperor ascends the throne in the future, his son will also be a prince and will also receive the same rewards.

The same applies to future emperors who ascend the throne, and the title will be passed down.

Within ten generations, the number of princes and dukes in the Ming Dynasty will skyrocket to nearly ten thousand!

Everyone can take money from the court with nothing, so where does the Ming Dynasty’s treasury get so much tax?
If, a hundred years from now, more than half of the Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue is used to support royal family members, the Ming Dynasty may be left with no money at all!"

Ever since Yang Chen pointed out this matter in public last night, Zhu Biao returned to the East Palace to do the calculations himself.

This time we didn't do mental arithmetic, but used pen and paper.

By the time he counted the tenth generation, the number of princes and dukes had reached a number that could not be contained on a single piece of paper.

With such a large number of people, even if each person only took a small amount of silver, the Ming Dynasty's treasury would not be able to support it.

Not to mention that these people have extraordinary identities. During festivals, there are activities like repairing tombs, which will cost even more money.

No imperial court could bear it.

For a moment, all the ministers were shocked. They did not expect that Zhu Biao could actually detect this loophole.

Hu Weiyong, who was the head of the civil service, frowned even more.

He was originally a small trader, but later he met Li Shanchang by chance and began to slowly embark on a career in officialdom.

As a businessman, his ability in mathematics is naturally needless to say.

After Zhu Biao's reminder just now, he explored further according to the other party's words and found that it was just as the other party expected.

Perhaps in the past the Ming Dynasty still had the ability to support these princes and dukes, but after the next few decades or a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty had gone through several generations of emperors.

The cumulative number of people has already exceeded a terrifying number.

If the Ming treasury had no room for improvement, it would definitely not be able to support the expenditure of supporting the prince.

Sitting on the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang heard the discussion among his ministers, and most of the voices supported Zhu Biao. He immediately realized his mistake.

"Biao'er! I didn't expect you to be so attentive and aware of the problem.

Left Prime Minister, you have heard what the prince said, what do you have to say?"

Looking at where Hu Weiyong was, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were sharp, wanting to see if the left prime minister could come up with any solution.

Faced with the question, Hu Weiyong remained calm, as if the question came to him easily.

“Your Majesty, after discussing with other ministers, I found that the questions raised by the Crown Prince do have a big loophole.

If it is not resolved in time, I am afraid that after many years, the cost of supporting the prince alone will be enough to bankrupt the Ming Dynasty's treasury and make the government unstable, and the people will inevitably cry out in grief.

However, this is a rule set in our ancestral teachings. It would be extremely difficult to come up with a solution in a short period of time. Your Majesty, please give me some time. By then, I will surely be able to find a way to fill the loophole."

Although they all acknowledged Zhu Biao's problem, who would dare to discuss the ancestral precepts that were personally formulated by the current emperor?

The only person present who could speak ill of the other party was Zhu Biao, who was on the second level.

Not getting the answer he wanted, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately showed disdain.

It turns out that the Left Prime Minister is not as useful as before.

If that's the case, there's no need to keep it.

This was his inner thought at the moment. Then he looked at his son, and the coldness on his face instantly changed into an attitude.

"Biao'er, since you said that there is a problem with the ancestral precepts we formulated earlier, do you have any solution?"

When Zhu Biao heard his father asking him if he had any solution, he looked embarrassed.

Only then did he realize that although Yang Chen had told him about the clan issue, he had not told him how to solve it.

My idea from yesterday until now has been very simple, which is to mention this matter to my father and discuss it together.

As for how to solve it, he had no idea at all.

Helpless, he could only shake his head.

"Your Majesty, I have only discovered the problem for now. As for how to solve it, I have not yet considered a solution."

After hearing what was said, Zhu Yuanzhang did not show any disappointment on his face.

Instead, he praised the other party generously in front of his ministers.

"It's okay, it's not your fault.

Look, during the morning court sessions on weekdays, you are asked to talk more, but you dare not say a word. In the future, learn more from the prince and report any important events immediately.

Otherwise, if we wait until a disaster that cannot be solved occurs in the future, it will be too late to fix the problem. "

Faced with the blame from the ministers, everyone lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

After the other party finished speaking, they began to agree with him one after another, and at the same time praised the prince.

"We are so ashamed of our duty, Your Majesty! We will definitely take the Crown Prince as our role model in the future!"

"The prince was able to discover the danger of the country's destruction in time, he is truly a god!"

"The current crown prince looks very similar to your majesty! When he inherits the throne in the future, he will definitely become the next ruler of a prosperous dynasty!"

If these words of praise had been used in other dynasties, the emperor would have been suspicious of the prince long ago, and the prince would have ended up with a tragic ending.

But it was different during the Hongwu period.

The more Zhu Yuanzhang listened, the more pleasant it sounded to his ears, and his mood involuntarily improved.

He had only one evaluation of these ministers, which was that they had good vision.

But Zhu Biao was in a heavy mood. He shouldn't have rashly spoken out about this matter before thinking of a solution.

"By the way, Biao'er, just now Father heard you say there were two things. This is only the first one. I wonder what the second one is?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice brought Zhu Biao, who was blaming himself, back to his senses and he thought about it.

So he decided to talk it out together.

After all, there are some leaders involved in this matter.

(End of this chapter)