Cannon Fodder Is King [Transmigration]

"Uncle Huang, how are you, have you seen Master Lu?"

Seeing Lao Fu King coming in, King Rui, King Hui, King Zhao and several other clan members immediately greeted him.

Lao Fu Wang is the direct brother of Emperor Taizu.

King Rui, King Hui, and King Zhao were all heirs of Emperor Guangde, and they were preserved because they did not get involved in the battle for seizure.

Emperor Guangde left a decree and ordered Emperor Ning Wu to arrange them as soon as possible. However, it has been almost four months since Emperor Ning Wu ascended the throne, but there has been no news from the court. They handed over them, and Emperor Ning Wu did not see them either. .

Even the kinsmen who rushed over from the fief to congratulate Emperor Guangde on his birthday were detained in the capital.

They didn't think that Emperor Ning Wu would simply want to keep them in the capital for the New Year.

As for the Lord Lu they said, it was the current Hubu Shangshu, Wenhuadian University Fellow, and the close friend of Emperor Ning Wu, Mr. Lu Zengxiang.

Lao Fu frowned and sighed and said: "I have seen people, and I have said everything that should be said. I asked Lu Zengxiang when we can leave Beijing. Instead, Lu Zengxiang asked me about the Seven Kings Rebellion in the Han Dynasty and the Eight Kingdoms of the Jin Dynasty. What do you think about Wang Zhiluan?"

"Seven Kings' Rebellion?" King Rui muttered to himself, and then sat back on the chair with a thump, with a gray expression on his face: "It seems that Long live really wants to cut the domain."

After the establishment of the Dayang Dynasty, Emperor Taizu and his civil and military officials summed up the historical experience of the rise and fall of chaos and agreed that an important reason for the demise of the Song and Yuan dynasties was that the ruler was weak and the court was strong, and the imperial court could not get the clan screen. , So taking history as a mirror, decided to establish a vassal.

In accordance with the rules set by the Emperor Taizu, apart from the entitlement of the kings from generation to generation (the emperor’s sons are all granted the title of the prince, the prince’s eldest son is hereditary prince, and the rest of the princes, regardless of the concubine's concubine, become the county king...), every year Fifty thousand stones (one stone is about 125 kilograms), twenty thousand silver, three thousand pieces of silk and satin fabrics of various colors, two hundred yuan of salt... In addition to the generous treatment, it also has the right to raise guards ranging from six thousand to ten thousand. The princes can even intervene in local military affairs.

The more heirs, the more treatment they are given. Because of this, the enfeoffed vassal prince is not just stubborn enough to give birth to children. In the Ming Dynasty, which also implemented the enfeoffment system, not to mention Zhu Di, the first vassal king who succeeded in rebellion. Just say that during the Apocalypse years, the total amount of taxes and grains across the country could not fill the mouths of 600,000 families.

But it shows that the dynasty was eaten up by the feudal king.

Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall, and Meng Zezhi is of course more willing to suppress the danger in the bud.

"How dare Gu Wu, this is the rule set by the ancestors!" Zhao Wang looked unwilling, seeing the glory and wealth at his fingertips. At this last juncture before expecting it, Emperor Ning Wu beat them back to their original form with a single thought.

"Sixth, be careful." Wang Hui shouted, he has always been timid and fearful.

"Four brothers, our three brothers have not been fighting or grabbing for so many years. Isn't it just this day? The result is—" Zhao Wang said angrily, "How can you make me reconciled?"

"What can you do if you are not reconciled?" Old Fu Wang said angrily: "Rebellion? Think about the fate of King Tang."

That's a ruthless person who can kill even his brothers!

Wang Zhao opened his mouth and fell silent for a moment.

"Man was killed by a knife, and I was a fish." As he said, Old Fu Wang looked slumped, and the whole figure seemed to be more than five years old. How could he be reconciled.

"Uncle Huang, what do you think we should do?" Rui Wang asked with a wry smile.

"What else can I do?" Old Fu Wang said in a depressed tone: "Tomorrow, I will write a letter and ask myself to cut the feudal clan. I only hope that Long live can see my peace and security in this life and treat me two points better."

"Uncle Emperor?" Zhao Wang's face was green.

"Let's do it." King Rui took a deep breath: "This is the end of the matter, do we still have to choose!"

"Oh." All the clan members were downcast.

Seeing everyone confessed their fate, Wang Zhao opened his mouth and sighed fiercely. He couldn't speak any more.

Preferential treatment is impossible. Who makes Meng Zezhi the one sitting on the throne now? For these apparent relatives who had only seen him a few times, he wouldn't even care if it wasn't for the purpose of showing them to the world.

This is not the first step, the old Fu Wang made a fold, and the back foot Meng Zezhi agreed. Not only that, he also completely overturned the rules left by Emperor Taizu.

The new "Clan Law" stipulates that the ranks are not divided into vassals (the titles are given but not the fiefs), and the clan relatives are not allowed to leave the capital without edict.

Four ways to nominate titles were also set, and at the same time, the titles were changed from generation to generation to be subdued. Only when the prince has merit can he be named prince, this is merit. The highest reactive power of the prince can only be the prefecture king, which is an entitlement. After the prince’s death, his elder son descends and inherits the prefecture. This is an entitlement. When the remaining princes reach the age of 20, when the total number exceeds ten, the emperor will send a designated royal minister to try his six arts of gentleman, and the highest award is given to the qualified ones. General Fengguo (the fifth among the eighth-class titles of clan relatives.)

In cutting off the rights of clan members to maintain and protect the army, and at the same time reduce their treatment, taking the prince as an example, only one thousand taels of silver and ten thousand stones are given every year. As for salt, tea, silk, etc., they are not given.

In this regard, the civil and military officials will naturally not object, after all, no one wants to raise a group of mediocrities for nothing.

The clan relatives who received the imperial decree were like bereavement concubines, but it was a pity that they had to bow their heads under the eaves. They had no choice but to hand over their military power honestly.

When the dust settled, the treasury was empty again.

At the moment when money is short, the provinces in the southeast coast ask for money for fort repairs, and Enke asks for money for exams. (According to the case, if anyone goes to the exam, the official pays twenty taels of travel expenses. Since Guangde 12 years later, every time you go to the meeting In the trial year, the number of survivors in Beijing has never been less than four thousand, and Enke is even worse. In addition to other miscellaneous expenses, at least two hundred thousand taels of silver will be prepared), and the spring flood will be coming again soon. Zhihe also needs money...

Meng Ze knows his sorrow.

"Since this is the case, we will first allocate 700,000 taels of silver from the domestic bank for an emergency."

This is not a long-term strategy. The amount of money left by Emperor Guangde is actually not much, less than two million taels of silver, most of which are obtained when the family is ransacked and the civil and military officials celebrate their birthdays. It is very shabby.

After Meng Zezhi succeeded to the throne, Xiao Clan gave all the shares of her own workshops to Meng Zezhi, and her partners turned over some of their shares after seeing this. Now Meng Zezhi accounts for 80% of these workshops, and can earn more than 200,000 taels of silver each month.

But don't forget, he still has to raise the two gold swallowing beasts, the shipyard and the firearms bureau.

Recalling Emperor Guangde's reign, there was no money during the Tatar fight, just as the imperial examination fraud case broke out, the Grand Prince was copied, and both the military pay and the silver for the re-examination were all available. In the twenty-two years of Qingzhou's drought, most of the Eighth Princes were copied, and this hole was barely filled. In the twenty-four years, the Yellow River decided to mention it, the Second Princes Party was gone, and the treasury became full.

Arrived at him--

Meng Zezhi glanced at the hundreds of civil and military officials standing in the hall. These people either had real talents and learned, or were heroes who held him at the top, and they really couldn't help.

Thinking of this, Meng Zezhi couldn't help sighing.

He can only hope that the Haimao fleet will return sooner.

The ministers were numbed by the scalp he saw, and knelt down and shouted: "Long live wise."

Not long after I didn't expect to go to court, I heard Tao An come in and announce: "Long live, He Qingyun, Lord He sees you."

He Qingyun was the one who stood up and suggested that Meng Zezhi replace the Xiao Clan's staff with a dragon robe when Xiao Clan beat the Deng Wen Drum last time.

Because of this incident, Meng Zezhi promoted him two consecutive levels.

"He Qingyun?" Meng Zezhi raised his head from a pile of memorials: "Xuan."

Tao An immediately yelled: "Xuan He Qingyun and Lord He saw him."

As soon as he entered the hall, He Qingyun knelt down to see the salute: "Chen He Qingyun, kowtow to see my emperor, long live long live long live long live."

"He Aiqing is flat."

With that said, Meng Zezhi put down the Zhubi in his hand: "Why did He Aiqing come?"

"Long live back." He Qingyun sullen his face: "The minister is here to help your majesty solve problems."

"How do you say?" Meng Zezhi regained his spirit.

He Qingyun immediately took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Tao An: "Long live the Royal View, please."

Meng Zezhi took the folded paper presented by Tao An and opened it.

He Qingyun explained: "Since Guangde three years ago, Tatar was offended by the border, and after the first emperor was rescued by Huihe Zen master, Buddhism was greatly admired and Buddhism flourished. In 20 years, the Buddhists built more than 3,200 temples. Lan Ruo (private monk residence) has as many as 20,000, costing more than tens of millions. What is ridiculous is that the Emperor Xian was diligent and thrifty throughout his life, and the Forbidden City had never been overhauled once."

"First, because temples are exempt from taxes, there is a clear stipulation in the Buddhist precepts that disciples under the clergy must not farm land, buy or sell land, or be a matchmaker. Therefore, the temple does not produce food and only relies on pilgrims for charity, so naturally there is no need to pay taxes. Because of this, Almost all temples will use the pilgrims' incense money to buy land on a large scale, hire people to farm, and some people to evade taxes, take their fields and attach to the temples. According to ministerial statistics, there are no less than 80 fields under the name of temples in the country. Ten thousand ares."

Meng Zezhi furrowed his brows, more than 800,000 hectares, and the arable land surveyed across the country is only 7 million hectares.

"Secondly, the proliferation and preaching of Buddhism has caused many young people to escape into Buddhism and do not produce. As of last year, there were more than 150,000 monks and nuns in the country, and more than 300,000 people were dedicated to monasteries as servants. ."

"Third, the Buddhist believes in putting down the butcher knife and becoming a Buddha on the ground. Therefore, temples are often taken advantage of by criminals who fear crime and become a place to hide dirt..."

Speaking of this person, Meng Zezhi remembered one thing, and he asked: "I remember that He Aiqing was the second-class biography of Enke in the first year of Guangde."

He Qingyun said with a calm face: "Exactly, the minister had already been an official to Hubu Youshilang. He was disgusted by the first emperor only because he wrote a letter asking to contain the Buddha in the 16th year of Guangde. He was demoted to the county magistrate of Pengze. Long live Hou Meng. Abandon, make an exceptional promotion to the Imperial History of the Imperial Capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Meng Zezhi asked again: "You, believe?"

The four movements of exterminating Buddhism in history are mostly Confucian and Taoist.

He Qingyun replied: "My mother worships Buddhism. For this matter, I have also cried and quarreled with the minister."

His words have two meanings. One is to show that he is wholehearted and selfless. Secondly, it is alluding to the Xiao family who also believes in Buddhism.

It doesn't make sense for him to be a courtier who would not hesitate to disobey and be filial for the people of the world. When he came to the emperor, he could not become indecisive instead.

"He Aiqing is forcing me." Meng Zezhi said.

"Weichen dare not."

Since Meng Ze knows that he is not angry, it means that he has listened to the matter. Thinking of this, He Qingyun couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This is not a gamble. Last time, he lost a mess. Fortunately, this time he won the bet.

"Okay, I see, the memorial is left, you go back first, let me think about it again."

"Yes, Weichen retires."

This is probably the fastest way to get money.

Meng Zezhi sank and made up his mind in an instant, and shouted: "Tao An, place the mansion in the Saint Madam's house."

Meng Zezhi was clear in his heart that the Xiao family would naturally not object to what he was going to do, but he still had to go through the cutscenes.

Twenty-four years of Guangde has passed like this.

On New Year's Day of the first year of Ningwu, the emperor wrote, and his first decree was to denounce Buddhism, and his words were particularly intense.

"In ancient times, three people ate one farmer, but now we add monks and nuns. One farmer is fed by five people. Among them, our people are especially trapped by the Buddha..."

"Bad law harms people, no more than this. And if a husband does not land, there are those who are hungry; if a woman does not silkworms, there are those who suffer from the cold. Today, there are countless monks and nuns. "Siyu’s invitation to mention, I don’t know Jiji, they are all decorated with clouds, and they are arrogant palace dwellings."

He also said: "If annihilation of the Buddha can bring the blessings of the people to the world, I will not hesitate to suffer from hell."

When the imperial edict came out, the world was shocked.

"The officials thought that we should follow the example of Tang Wuzong, destroy the temples in the world and privately set up monks under the name of "Lan Ruo", order only one Buddhist temple in each residence, and the number of monks to stay in varies from ten to thirty, and the rest of the monks and nuns will be forced to return to the secular. The wood is used to repair the shantang and the community, the gold and silver Buddha statues are handed over to the national treasury, the iron Buddha statues are smelted to make farm tools, and the bronze statues, bells, chimes and other objects are melted and made into coins, and the temple’s good land and the poor people are confiscated." Shang Shu Lu Zengxiang said.

"The ministers thought it was wrong. The people of the Buddha and the Yidi were not inherent in China. They did not speak the words of the ancestors, did not obey the laws of the ancestors, did not know the righteousness of the princes, and the love of fathers and sons. Buddhism has been extinct repeatedly throughout the ages, The people suffered greatly from this, because the three martial arts and one sect were not thorough enough to destroy Buddhism. The officials thought that we should completely eradicate Buddhism to have the prosperity of my prosperity." It was Xiao Deren, the current minister of rituals, who spoke.

A group of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy immediately echoed: "The minister thinks what Mr. Xiao said is quite true."

They are all upright Confucian disciples.

Suddenly, more than half of the hundreds of civil and military officials agreed to eradicate Buddhism, and there were few objections.

As expected, those who stand on top of the court now are either Meng Zezhi's cronies, and they are naturally bowed to Meng Zezhi. Either they were not reused by Emperor Guangde and suffered a lot, because those who were reused by Emperor Guangde were exiled because they were involved in the controversy for seizure of the protagonist. These people will inevitably have complaints against Emperor Guangde, Emperor Guangde. The respected Buddhism is naturally not in their eyes.

At this moment, Tao An, who did not know when to retreat, folded back again. There was a letter in his hand. He bowed and said, "Long live, the abbot of Huguo Temple sent someone to report the funeral. Zen Master Huihe sat there last night. It’s gone. Before he left, he left you a letter."

"Huh?" Meng Zezhi recovered, his eyes fell on the letter in his hand, and he took it and opened it.

Inside was a yellowed silver note worth one hundred thousand taels.

But it was not the one hundred thousand liang given by the Xiao family to invite Huihe and Zen Master to approve him.

Had it not been for this silver ticket, Meng Zezhi would have forgotten that there was one more thing.

Speaking of which, he can become the emperor, also thanks to Huihe Zen master.

Regardless of why the Zen Master Huihe wanted to help the Xiao family back then, whether he was uncomfortable with the Gu Yang imperial family or serving the country for the people... In short, Meng Ze knew he had to admit this kind of grace.

Thinking of this, Meng Ze knew that he had a deal in his heart.

He said: "I know what all Aiqing mean. In my opinion, the Tathagata teaches mainly with compassion, and it should be the original heart. Why do you want to work to save it? So now In the chaos of the Buddhist school, the sin lies with the innocent monks and nuns, not the Buddha."

Seeing Meng Zezhi's words, after looking at each other, the ministers can only call out from the mountain: "Long live the sage."

"In that case, let the matter be handled as Lu Aiqing said." Meng Zezhi said.

"Yes."

"That's right," Meng Zezhi said again, as if remembering something: "Add another monk to record the records of the monks and nuns, to take care of the monks and nuns, the temple repairs and the monk officials to make up for it. From then on, no more merit boxes can be set up in the monastery, monks. Don’t beg the world. Give each monk another 20 acres of fertile land, so that he can be self-sufficient."

That's good. This Buddhism is prospered because of Huihe Zen master, and it should also be good because of him.

As soon as this matter was over, the originally empty treasury was immediately filled with a lot, and even more than a dozen imperial estates under the name of Meng Ze.

With money, hundreds of civil and military officials finally dared to ask Ningwu Emperor to recruit talented women to fill the harem.

For these zhezi, Meng Zezhi stayed in the middle of nowhere. When Lu Li heard the news, he was overwhelmed with grief, and he hooked Meng Zezhi to the big fish and meat he had eaten for several days.

Until the uncomfortable Xiao Deren publicly mentioned the matter above the court.

Meng Zezhi picked up the tea cup and moistened his throat: "Actually, I had this intention a long time ago."

Without waiting for the ministers to react, he continued: "Forget the draft, it will cost the people and money. The money from the national treasury is not easy to come by, mainly the queen's candidate. What do all Aiqing think is the commander of Jinwei?"