The vassal kings in the late Ming Dynasty were long been raised as pigs. They had no other skills except greed, and they could easily deal with them, regardless of the bandits or the Jiannu.

When they encounter threats from bandits, they will secretly give some benefits to ensure safety.

But they didn't care much about the Ming Dynasty royal family. As long as they were not too much, the court would not attack them as clan relatives. This is also the reason why some senior old princes feel good about themselves.

Who is Zhu Cilang? He is not as good as he wants. As long as he doesn't feel happy, he will deal with you. As a time traveler, he has no blood relationship with these princes.

Today, Emperor Shenwu's performance greatly shocked these vassal kings. They found that Emperor Shenwu was really as famous as the legend, and turned against each other faster than flirting with books, and they beat them as soon as they say they were.

Compared to Chongzhen's indecisiveness, Emperor Shenwu was extremely cruel and decisive. The vassal kings had no choice but to surrender, and they secretly hoped that the emperor would not do too extreme.

Zhu Cilang looked at the dejected vassal kings and said in a heavy tone:

"From the time of Emperor Hongwu, the clans have developed very rapidly, and the number has even reached as many as 300,000, which has become a huge burden for the Ming Dynasty.

For the stability of the Ming Dynasty and the long-term existence of the Ming Dynasty, the reform of the royal family is imperative. As the current Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I must not let the royal family become an existence that threatens the dynasty.

While reforming the land, I decided to reform the royal family and powerful system. For the sake of the country and country of Ming Dynasty, I am not afraid of being criticized for the eternal insult."

"I have decided that the prince and title will no longer be inherited in the future, and each generation will be demoted to the title. The relatives of the foreign countries have no military merits, and my descendants are no exception. The same is true.

The royal family of the Ming Dynasty was demoted from princes in sequence until they were demoted to Lieutenant of Fengguo. The title of Ming Dynasty was demoted from Duke in sequence until they were barons.

Of course, I will lift multiple restrictions on you. The prince can recruit two thousand princes, one thousand princes, and about five hundred others. The next level does not exceed five hundred people, and it can be determined according to your own ability.

Your descendants can walk freely, enter the army, conduct scientific research, be an official, do business, etc. You descendants can do what normal people can do.

But remember that a prince commits a crime with the common people and must restrain himself and his descendants from abiding by the law. If someone finds that he is relying on his clan's identity to do something wrong, the clan's house will definitely punish him severely."

Zhu Cixuan's words made the vassal kings present instantly boil. What a joke? Isn't it a land reform? Why did the prince suddenly start to be reduced? The prince will no longer be hereditary in the future.

After the land was handed over, it was demoted one after another. Would their descendants who had reproduced in large quantities starve to death? Almost all the princes stopped doing it and stood up to protest.

The butts of the three princes who were shot by the court just now were still very painful. They did not dare to stand up, but just whispered below, and even the three kings of Lu, Zhou, and Tang, who supported Zhu Cilang, expressed their opposition.

Zhu Cixuan's decision was like stabbing a hornet's nest, and completely touched the vassal kings. None of the vassal kings present supported him, and even Hu Bao and Yue Yang's faces changed.

In Chinese history, it is very common to grant officials and titles. Through this practice, emperors can unite people's hearts.

However, titles are very different from official positions. Official positions are more representative of real power, while titles are status and treatment.

Moreover, in regulations, titles often belong to the super level, that is, they are higher than the level stipulated by the general official system.

The same was true for the Ming Dynasty. Before the founding of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang began to grant titles to everyone.

Under such circumstances, appropriate titles could help Zhu Yuanzhang lead his team to continue to overcome difficulties.

Although the system of title enthronement implemented in the Ming Dynasty later underwent various adjustments, it started with this place and established its own set of regulations.

Within this set of regulations, there are extremely limited places for those who have the opportunity to be granted titles.

To be precise, only those with three identities: royal family, heroes, and relatives of the outside world can get the opportunity to be granted titles.

Among these three different types of titles, the royal family is the highest-paid family, that is, the royal family. The royal family has a high treatment, and it was first established since the Zhu Yuanzhang period.

Before Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he had a very miserable life. His parents and brothers died early and there were not many relatives who could rely on, which led to Zhu Yuanzhang's later kindness to the royal family.

Of course, another point is because in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, the improvement of the status of the royal family will help consolidate the world of the Zhu family.

For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang also left many family laws and regulations, such as the "Instructions of the Emperor's Ming Ancestors" and other plain regulations, telling later emperors to treat the royal family well.

The titles of the royal family in the Ming Dynasty were divided into eight levels. Except for the prince who was appointed as crown prince, the other princes were all granted the title. The eldest son of the prince could also inherit the title. The other concubines were granted the titles.

After the prince, except for the eldest son who continues to inherit the title, the titles of the other sons will be reduced in turn.

The order of reduction is reduced by the order of General Zhenguo, General Supplementary State, General Fengguo, Lieutenant Zhenguo, Lieutenant Supplementary State, and Lieutenant Fengguo in the order of order, and is reduced from generation to generation.

The Ming Dynasty treated the royal family very highly. In the early days, the princes could not only obtain fiefdoms, but also gain military power. Although they did not care about local political affairs, they could command the troops near the fiefdoms.

Although the power of the vassal kings was reduced after Zhu Yuanzhang and they no longer held military power. However, they still held the fiefdom.

In the fiefdom, the princes have a very high status, so they can build luxurious palaces. There are special officials, guards and palace servants in the palace, and there are a large number of them.

The Ming Dynasty regulations prohibited the royal family from engaging in the industries of soldiers, farmers, workers, and merchants. They were not bound by the law and were only under the jurisdiction of the royal palace.

Even if they commit crimes, they will only be given up their titles and become commoners. However, these people can still get food distributed by the court.

Below the royal family, the meritorious officials are treated better. Because meritorious officials can basically obtain important positions after obtaining titles. However, during the Ming Dynasty, the feudal of meritorious officials was not actually considered preferential.

Especially civil officials, the Ming Dynasty laid the foundation with force. In the early days of the founding of the country, they highly advocated martial arts. Zhu Yuanzhang ranked the titles of meritorious officials at the fifth rank, namely Duke, Bozinan.

Only if the military achievements are great can one be granted the title of Duke and Marquis. When the feudal is divided, military generals will be granted the title of Marquis at least because of the existence of the inheritance system, which is convenient for hereditary purposes.

It is extremely difficult for civil servants to obtain high-level titles because of their military merits. Only a few people have the chance to obtain titles from Duke and Marquis.

Viscount and baron were vacant for a long time and were gradually abolished. Therefore, the titles of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty formed a situation where the coexistence of the titles of Duke, Marquis and Boss coexisted.

However, by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to the improvement of the earl's specifications, most military generals were only granted earls. The titles of civil servants were basically as long as those of earls.

In addition to royal families and meritorious officials, relatives can also be awarded titles, and relatives are the family of the emperor's mother or wife.

During the Ming Dynasty, most of the queens and concubines were selected from common people's families. Therefore, most of the status of foreign relatives at that time was not high and there were no titles. The emperor often promoted the status of foreign relatives by enthroning them to show favor.

...

However, now Emperor Shenwu not only bans the prince's hereditary, but even the prince and title cannot continue to be hereditary, and even the relatives of the foreign country cannot be awarded titles in the future.

Although the title of title for foreign relatives and the inability to be inherited by the meritorious officials has nothing to do with the fact that the vassal kings violated the ancestral system, these practices that violated the ancestral system have become reasons for the vassal kings to criticize Emperor Shenwu.

Although Emperor Shenwu banned various restrictions and completely returned freedom to them, it was more important for the princes present to reduce the vassal states.

Compared to being an official, joining the army, doing business, etc., there is no way they can enjoy eating and waiting to die in the Prince’s Mansion...

Several old vassal kings were so angry that their faces turned pale and their bodies were trembling. In their hearts, the little emperor was really cruel and ruthless, and he was not suitable to be an emperor at all...

In fact, all this was expected by Zhu Cilang. Any reform of any dynasty in history would be under tremendous pressure, and few reformers would have a good ending.

But Zhu Cilang is not afraid. All reforms of the Ming Dynasty must be completed. Whoever dares to accept it will die. Unless you have the ability to kill him, Zhu Cilang in advance, the reform will definitely continue.

Seeing that the vassal kings were endless, Zhu Cilang was furious and shouted coldly:

"Stop it, this is not to discuss with you. I have decided that anyone dares to resist the order. I will ban his fiefdom and all the people in the family will be exiled to Liaodong to farm. Those with serious nature will be killed without mercy!"

"suck……"

Zhu Cilang shouted loudly, and the scene became quiet again. Don’t look at them chattering, once the emperor got angry, they could only breathe in and calm down.

"I decided that the vassal kings hand over all the occupied lands, and their salary would be paid only 10% of the previous ones.

Your original land must be paid in the future, and you cannot pay less than a penny.

Don’t tell me that you can’t eat enough, your fiefdom is enough to support your entire clan, and you still have 10% of your salary.

If you feel that your income has decreased too much, your family can do business, have surplus labor, and you can also go to local farms to work and earn money to support yourself.

As long as you have the ability, your family can pass the exam and become a military and serve the country.

You can also rebel, but if you are discovered, all one ethnic group will be killed.

Also, you can stay in the capital at will. There was no ban on summoning the ban that you cannot enter the capital and leave the fiefdom at will. It will be cancelled from today.

You should have heard of the name Royal Group. The group's industries are spread all over the Ming Dynasty, with an annual income of tens of millions of taels of silver. Today I will tell you clearly that Royal Group is my industry.

In order to make up for your losses and for your future life, I decided to let you invest in the Royal Group, and you will be able to pay dividends from the Royal Group every year.

The royal group has a great energy. The dividends of a royal mansion should be enough for your royal mansion to spend and live. If the Ming Dynasty does not perish, dividends will always exist.

Of course, there is a prerequisite here. You must invest in shares before you can distribute dividends. If you spend 100,000 yuan, you will get a guaranteed minimum of 30,000 yuan per year, and if you spend 200,000 taels of silver, you will get a guaranteed minimum of 60,000 taels of silver every year.

You can make a good calculation and see if you are willing to invest in the Royal Group. I will not force you. If you think it through and voluntarily invest in the Royal Group, I will sign a contract with you in person..."

Zhu Cixuan finally played his trump card. He showed off the royal group and allowed the vassal kings to invest in the shares. These vassal kings are not short of money, and it is very easy for each person to take out hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

The Ming Dynasty's sea ban will be completely relaxed in the future. At that time, the Royal Group will definitely go around the world. The Ming Dynasty's porcelain, tea, silk and other products are very popular among Western countries.

For them, the products of the Ming Dynasty were like luxury jewelry that developed countries entered China in later generations, and the popularity was imaginable.

In the future, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably go out to colonize. As a powerful weapon for the Ming Dynasty's colonial rule, the Royal Group will definitely make a big profit. It is absolutely a great thing for the vassal kings to invest in it.

When they heard that the royal group was the property of Emperor Shenwu, a group of vassal kings were shocked again. Of course, they had heard of the royal group. Now the most profitable business in the Ming Dynasty was involved.

None of the vassal kings were fools. They all knew very well that the royal group was backed by Emperor Shenwu, and it was difficult not to make money.

A 100,000 taels of silver is divided into 30,000 taels of silver every year, and you can basically get the capital back in three years, and you can still get 30,000 taels of silver every year.

What if you invest in 500,000 taels of silver? You can get 150,000 taels of silver every year and 1.5 million taels of dividends in ten years. The descendants do nothing and are still rich...

Emperor Shenwu personally signed a contract with them, which was the greatest guarantee for the vassal kings.

If the emperors who were in power at the back did not pay dividends, they would violate the ancestral system. No emperor treats violating the ancestral system as a family like Emperor Shenwu!

King Lu was best at changing his responsibilities and had known for a long time that Emperor Shenwu should reform the system of the vassal kings, but at that time Zhu Cixuan did not propose to invest in the royal group.

When he heard that he could invest in the Royal Group, Lu Wang immediately smiled. If he invested in one million taels of silver, he would pay 300,000 taels of dividends a year.

The land and shops of the royal mansion are not counted. As long as you add tens of thousands of princes’ salary, the Lu Wang Mansion can live well by dividends. So he stood up and bowed to Zhu Cilang:

"I am willing to invest in the Royal Group with one million taels of silver. This million taels of silver is almost the entire wealth of the Lu Wang Mansion. I hope the emperor will supervise the Royal Group to distribute dividends in a timely manner!"

Zhu Cilang nodded:

"Don't worry, since I proposed to reorganize the vassal kings, I will never be untrustworthy. I will definitely pay dividends in time every year. Let Princess Kunxing come here later and I will sign a contract with her."

Although Lu Wang Zhu Changqing did not understand what Emperor Shenwu said, he did not continue to ask and hurriedly bowed to thank him:

"Thank you, your Majesty, the life of the Lu Wang Mansion will depend on the Royal Group in the future..."

Zhu Cilang turned around and said to Hu Bao:

"Hu Daban, go and report the eldest princess to come."

The eldest princess is Princess Kunxing, and Princess Zhaoren is still very young now.

Zhu Cilang had long discovered that Princess Kunxing had outstanding computing power, and growing up in the palace and waiting for her to get married was a waste of talent.

Princess Baiyun Li Yun grew up very quickly in the Royal Group and has now become Chen Qianwan’s right-hand assistant.

Princess Kunxing couldn't become an official, so she simply let her join the Royal Group and assisted Chen Qianwan in managing the Royal Group with Li Yun.

After Lu Wang, the wealthy King of Zhou in Kaifeng expressed his willingness to pay 2 million taels of silver to invest in the Royal Group. If Zhu Cilang said, he would be able to pay a dividend of 600,000 taels a year.
Chapter completed!