Born with a silver spoon!

In the empire, in addition to members of the chaebol families, there is also a group of people called the imperial aristocracy.

As an empire, the existence of aristocrats is normal. Most of the empire's aristocrats were born during the prosperous years, because of the ancestral law of the Ming Empire - no one can be conferred a title without military merit.

Not only that, Emperor Shengde even established a ancestral rule that "those who speak of political merit and are granted titles will be stripped of their nationality and expelled from the country", so for many years, no official or citizen dared to advocate this taboo. Even the Prime Minister and the Assistant Minister could only be granted the title of "Qingshi" at most.

This also directly led to the fact that even until now, the House of Lords is still the Imperial House of Lords, and the nobles are still the nobles of the prosperous years. These nobles who rose and fell with the country still hold their power and status.

To the outside world, they are a group of people born with a silver spoon in their mouth, destined to have everything from the day they were born.

Wealth that ordinary people cannot reach, and of course political status. Whether it is a noble title or a seat in the Senate, all of these are things that ordinary people can never get.

Almost every imperial noble had his own manor. The Versailles Manor, located in the southwest of Zhongdu, belonged to the Count of Versailles. As we all know, the Count of Versailles won the title by bombing the Palace of Versailles. After him, there was no more Palace of Versailles in the world. No, there was another Palace of Versailles, in Daming, in Zhongdu, in the Versailles Manor.

The Versailles Manor, which is less than 50 kilometers away from Hongwu Square in the city center, covers an area of ​​more than 20 square kilometers. The manor not only has a gorgeous Versailles-style palace building, but also forests, lakes and many small villas. It has to be said that the long period of peace in the world has allowed the empire's nobles to be very good at enjoying life.

Of course, what is more important is that these aristocratic manors built in the heyday are themselves symbols of wealth. Perhaps a hundred years ago, these manors were all located in the far suburbs, but now, after a hundred years of development, Zhongdu has long since developed into the largest city in the world. It not only has a population of 28 million, but the rapidly expanding city has also expanded to the vicinity of the aristocratic manors, which has also caused the land prices of the manors to rise to astronomical figures.

A small twin-engine business jet slowly turned left from the northeast of Zhongdu, then began to lower its altitude. As the plane headed for the airport, Zhu Xianhai saw the long-surrounded Zhongdu through the window. The Zhongdu on the ground had both a modern and an ancient side. There were more towering skyscrapers in the commercial district, but the government district centered on Hongwu Square had not changed much.

"Five thousand dollars."

Li Jie Lin, who was sitting on the plane, suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"The Count of Versailles's estate."

Li Jie Lin's eyes were full of envy.

"Its land price is 5,000 yuan per square meter, and the market value of this manor is over 10 billion!"

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at the boss.

"This is a fortune that many people cannot obtain in their entire lives!"

"It can't be sold,"

Different from Li Jielin's emotion, Zhu Xianhai spoke directly.

"Back then... when the Emperor Taizu was building a manor for a meritorious official, he issued an edict. In view of the meritorious official's contribution to the country, in order to benefit his descendants, the land tax on his manor was exempted. If the manor is sold in the future, after paying the corresponding taxes, 30% of the land price will go to the meritorious official's descendants, and 70% will be turned over to the national treasury..."

When talking about the laws formulated back then, Zhu Xianhai couldn't help feeling a little proud. Those lands were indeed worthless back then, just like the Versailles Manor. The land purchase fee at the time was probably only a few tens of thousands of yuan. But everyone knew that those lands would definitely appreciate in value in the future. After all, they were lands around the imperial capital.

So this method was proposed, and the ministers did not resist it. After all, the emperor's permission for them to purchase a large amount of land was already an extraordinary favor. Besides... 30% was not a small amount.

As soon as Zhu Xianhai finished speaking, Ma Bangde said

"It can't be sold, but it can be rented out. You can build a shopping mall, office buildings, and apartments around the manor and rent them out. And they're also exempt from property taxes..."

What?

There is actually this BUG!

Zhu Xianhai was stunned and smiled helplessly.

"If the water is too clear, there will be no fish!"

"In fact, the reason why Emperor Taizu left this loophole was ostensibly to allow the nobles to exploit it, but in fact, it was to allow the descendants of the nobles to make a living and not compete with the people for profit. The reason why the nobles of the empire have not had any scandals in recent years is that their ancestral property is large enough, so they cherish their ancestral reputation. After all, although the nobility of the empire will not be abolished, it can be replaced! No one wants to transfer the title from themselves or their son to their nephew, or even to a nephew who is not related to them at all, because of a personal mistake."

"That's true. To be honest, the foresight of Emperor Taizu is definitely beyond the reach of ordinary people. In previous dynasties, meritorious officials were often abolished after three generations, but after Emperor Taizu, our Ming Empire has had outstanding meritorious officials from generation to generation. In the final analysis, it is the Meritorious Officials Law formulated by Emperor Taizu. If a meritorious official and his heirs commit a serious crime, their titles will be revoked and handed over to their descendants and nephews."

"Yes, that law is the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the imperial nobles. No noble dared to indulge their children. That's why the imperial nobles valued the family reputation. This is also the reason why there are so many heroes in the past generations."

How does it feel to hear others praise you?

Of course I am happy!

In fact, when conferring titles on meritorious officials, what was Zhu Xianhai most worried about? It was the damage to the interests of the people by this privileged class. Meritorious officials in all dynasties would be passed down for two or three generations at most, and then they would become waste that bullied the people. Even if they were not waste, they would definitely bully the people.

It was for this reason that Zhu Xianhai took a lot of thought to formulate the "Meritorious Officials Law", which stipulated in the form of decrees how meritorious officials should be punished for breaking the law. The most fatal move was that after the title was stripped, the title was passed on to the first-in-line nephew instead of his son.

"Nothing else, it's just human nature!"

Zhu Xianhai said casually.

"After all, no one is willing to pass the title to a nephew! If you pass it to a son, it's still yours after all. If your son inherits the title, he will be no different from you. But your nephew...he has a father, it's impossible for him to recognize another father!"

Zhu Xianhai's words caused laughter in the cabin.

"That's why I said that the foresight of the Emperor is definitely beyond the reach of ordinary people!"

While speaking, Ma Bangde felt the plane descending and said:

"We've arrived,"

Looking out the window, I saw the plane slowly landing on a runway in the forest. Who would dare to imagine that there was an airport in the manor...