They have been passed down for more than two hundred years. How many branches and leaves have they spread out?
The land of an entire province might not even be enough to support a line of vassal kings. In the more famous Shuzhong region, the Shu kings actually occupied nearly 70% of the land there. Remember, that's the vast, fertile Chengdu Plain.
All the people are tenants of the King of Shu and his family. The King of Shu and his family live an extravagant life by exploiting the people.
During the Ming Dynasty, there were more than sixty princes and nearly one thousand dukes.
The Zhou Palace had the most, with seventy-two princes; the Lu Palace had not as many, with only twenty-three princes.
These princes continued to have children, each of whom would form a large family. By today, the descendants of the Zhu family in the Ming Dynasty numbered over one million.
Zhu Youxiao still remembers the expression on his face and the feeling in his heart when he saw this number.
After seeing the annual expenses of these people, Zhu Youxiao didn't know what to say. This is thanks to Emperor Wanli and Zhang Juzheng's reforms.
During the Wanli reign, due to the excessive growth of the imperial clan, annual salaries were reduced and inheritance was restricted. The privilege of inheriting the throne through a collateral branch of the royal family was abolished.
For those who were originally county princes, except for the eldest son, the remaining sons would still inherit the title of General Guarding the Nation and could not be promoted to county prince. If a General Guarding the Nation succeeded to the throne, the remaining sons would still inherit the title of General Auxiliary to the Nation. In addition, the practice of re-inheriting the original county title for those who succeeded to the throne as a county prince was also abolished.
If it weren't for this policy, the Ming Dynasty would have collapsed long ago.
Now that Zhang Shun mentioned Prince Lu, although Zhu Youxiao was trying to scare Zhang Shun, he knew in his heart that this was actually the truth.
In Shandong, there is a Qufu and a Prince Lu's Palace. You can imagine what kind of life the people of Shandong live. It can be said that they live in dire straits.
You have to know that the Kong family is not much worse than the Prince of Lu's Palace. Although the title of Yansheng Duke does not bring much salary, his status is high and he has also embezzled a lot of land, which is no different from the Prince of Lu's Palace.
The Kong family has many branches and members, and everyone wants to live a luxurious life. Under such circumstances, it is strange that the people of Shandong can have an easy life.
Zhu Youxiao really didn't know what to say. He needed to find a way to solve this problem. However, this problem was too big and too difficult. He was so confused that he couldn't think of a solution.
Emperor Taizu has more than one million descendants. What should be done with these one million descendants?
We can't send them all to Liaodong, right?
Or should they all be dismissed, investigated, punished, and executed? No!
You have to know that these people are different from Prince Fu. Although Prince Fu is a high-ranking official, his family has not yet developed. After all, the time is short and the family has few people.
Unlike the princes of various places, some of them were handed down from the time of Emperor Taizu. How many generations and years have they been passed down? Today, it is really difficult to deal with it.
Besides, this is just the prince, what about the princess?
According to the Ming Dynasty regulations, the emperor's aunt was called the Grand Princess, the emperor's sister was called the Princess, and the emperor's daughter was called the Princess. They were all granted a golden book, a salary of 2,000 stones, and their husbands-in-law were called the Prince Consort.
The daughter of a prince is called a princess, the daughter of a prince of a county is called a county princess, the granddaughter is called a county lady, the great-granddaughter is called a county lady, the great-great-granddaughter is called a county lady, and the husband is called a county lady. All sons-in-law are ceremonial guests.
These people all want to receive salaries, and after the division of the family, they will oppress the good people and seize the land.
In the entire Ming Dynasty, how much land is in the hands of the royal family?
Add to that the gentry who occupied the land, like those in Qufu or Xu Jie, how much land do the common people in this world have?
It is no exaggeration to say that there is no place to stand.
However, I still have to meet King Lu first. This matter still needs to be dealt with. At least let King Lu take out some money and food to help the people of Shandong.
As for how to deal with King Lu, we will have to wait until we meet him.
Xu Xianchun certainly didn't know how complicated Zhu Youxiao's feelings were. Since he had asked Prince Lu to come to see him, he quickly said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will send someone to pick up His Highness Prince Lu right away."
"Go ahead." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.
After Xu Xianchun left, Zhu Youxiao slowly stood up, glanced at Zhang Shun who was kneeling on the ground, and said coldly, "Take him away."
Zhu Youxiao really had no interest in Zhang Shun. He was just a prefect, so there was really no need for him to waste his energy or do anything to him.
He is the emperor, and it is too embarrassing to argue with a prefect.
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