Chapter 605

"The old prime minister is the head of Zhuo's family. He is famous in his family. Why did he say that? What is the old Prime Minister worried about? " Yu Chuqing asked with a smile.

"Why do you ask the eldest princess clearly? If you didn't foresee the troubles of the aristocratic family, how could the eldest princess make great efforts?" Zhuo Xianran gave a bitter smile and said, "a family is a family handed down from generation to generation. If you want to be an immortal family, you can't do without the contacts of the court, the fame, the land, the wealth, and the servants of Zhuangding. But if you want to do so, there must be countless exchange of interests, saying that you can't bully the king and humiliate the Li and Shu, which is not allowed by the law. "

At this point, Zhuo Xianran looked back and forth on Emperor Yu Yuanxu and Princess Yu Chuqing for a while, sighed and said, "if Princess Chang hadn't been missing for 12 years, Da Qian might not have been like this. Your Majesty's heart is still a little too kind."

Although Zhuo Xianran was born in an aristocratic family, when he was young, the Zhuo family in Changzhi was just a broken family in Changzhi County, which could not rank in the top ten in the small Changzhi county. It was not until he was promoted continuously that the Zhuo family improved slightly. Compared with those large and medium-sized families, it was still slightly unstable and lack of foundation.

Zhuo Xianran knew very well that there would be no problem with the Zhuo family when he was alive, but when he died, if there were no rare people in the Zhuo family, the decline would be inevitable. Even the families that are friendly with the Zhuo family in Changzhi county now would take part in the decline of the Zhuo family.

This is also the survival law of most aristocratic families in Daqian, that is, there is no other law except the family. They don't pay attention to the laws of Daqian, the country and the people. What they really care about is the survival and prosperity of the family. Such a family was the family of Shilu and Dingshi in the heyday. But if you are born in troubled times, with the family's reputation and relationship, you can become a local vassal. What happened when the great Xuan empire collapsed will be repeated in the hands of these aristocratic families.

Hongxi paid little attention to taxes and commerce, which made the local aristocratic family become more and more powerful in the past ten or twenty years. If we don't curb it, when Daqian's prosperity and decline, these families like tarsal maggots will become the pioneers of overthrowing Daqian, and even the grave diggers themselves.

Therefore, Zhuo Xianran was not surprised that the emperor and the eldest princess wanted to suppress the aristocratic family, because he knew that as long as the emperor was not stupid, such things would happen sooner or later. And even if the aristocratic families are well behaved and their children are as honest as sheep, this kind of thing will happen. Because the root of the problem is not the unworthy children, but if the aristocratic family is allowed to continue to develop, it will affect the imperial power of the local rule, which is not tolerated by any emperor.

As a member of the aristocratic family, Zhuo Xianran naturally knows a lot about the means of the aristocratic family. Just like the previous rebellion of the Qingquan aristocratic family, it was just a kind of test of Daqian by the southern Xinjiang aristocratic family. If the Qingquan rebellion had not been quickly pacified by Princess Yu Chuxin of Tianyang and Marquis Bai Yi of Wu'an, and the beast tide had not been annihilated in zhennanguan, then the land of Daqian north of Changqing river would have been covered with flames.

What Zhuo Xianran just said is also true. If Princess Yu Chuqing and Duke Lu Chun had not been missing for 12 years, the family of Da Qian would never have developed to its present scale. Compared with Yu Yuanxu, the emperor of Qian Dynasty, the eldest princess Yu Chuqing has a stronger personality. She also has a husband who is famous for her military achievements. If the eldest princess is in the court, all the families should curl up in her shadow and be careful.

Although he had retired before the disappearance of Princess Yu Chuqing, he was aware of the changes in the situation in the court. It was because of the sudden disappearance of Yu Chuqing and Lu Chun that Emperor Yu Yuanxu had to compromise with his family and balance the situation in the court.

Since then, the rise of the poor students led by the three heroes of the poor family in chaotang has been ended, and the family officials who had been suppressed have gained the upper hand again. Most of the poor family officials turn to the military for development. With Ji Zhiheng's resignation, the balance among xungui, aristocratic family and poor family in the imperial court was broken. Except for the current foreign minister min Wensheng, most of the poor family officials in the imperial court were wandering in four to six grades, and no one could enter the main cabinet. If it were not for the prime minister Zhuge Xingzhi's mature and staunch attitude, and the second prime minister Liu no doubt took the side of the emperor, the aristocratic family would have more influence in the court.

However, although the emperor made a compromise to the aristocratic family for the sake of the court situation, he was a Ming monarch after all. Da Qian's military was always controlled by xungui, who was inclined to the emperor, and the commander of the poor family who rose in the era of the three heroes. No aristocratic son in the army could have access to the supreme power of the first army.

Moreover, Zhuo Xianran knew that the timing chosen by Princess Yu Chuqing was not as inappropriate as he had just said. At this time, although it seems that the twelve main armies of Da Qian were either guarding the northern border or under the command of Lu que, commander in chief of the southern border, they went to the south to leave. The military strength of the Middle Kingdom was the lowest since the founding of Da Qian. However, this is not the case. Among Daqian's aristocratic families, the most powerful one is the southern Xinjiang aristocratic family except the imperial capital aristocratic family. Before, in order to avoid the beast tide, all the people in the southern Xinjiang border counties migrated, which greatly damaged the strength of the southern Xinjiang aristocratic family. Now it's the easiest time to suppress them.

As for the northern border aristocratic family, the strength of the northern border aristocratic family is no longer what it used to be because the Qingyang Empire went south at that time. The family of more than ten years is just enough for them to recover. Because of the existence of maritime trade routes and Shahai trade routes in the East and West, the aristocratic families in these places paid more attention to the accumulation of wealth and had no way to compare with the aristocratic families in the north and south. However, because of this, the relationship between the eastern and Western aristocratic families and the northern and southern aristocratic families has always been discordant. If the eldest princess Yu Chuqing really wants to suppress the northern and southern aristocratic families, most of the eastern and Western aristocratic families will be happy to see their success, or even add fuel to the flames.

However, Zhuo Xianran still felt a little pity, because after he felt that the eldest princess Yu Chuqing was going to make trouble for his family, he had been thinking about it. In his opinion, the most suitable person to do it was not the eldest princess himself, but his son Lu que.

Because Lu is the most special and suitable person in Zhuo Xianran's eyes. First of all, he is the son of Princess Yu Chuqing, who has half the royal blood. Her aunt is queen Lu Qin, who can be said to be the most trusted person of the emperor besides the royal family.

Secondly, his father was Lu Chun, the Duke of Wei. You should know that most of the generals and commanders of Daqian now came from the Tianhuo army in those days. Even if they were not from the Tianhuo army, they also came from the army that participated in the northern Xinjiang war and the battle of destroying Qingyang. It can be said that these people are not Lu Chun's old friends, they are his old troops. Because of this relationship, as long as the Emperor gave Lu Qi power, he would naturally get the support of these old generals.

Moreover, Lu Chunnai was the leader of the three poor scholars in those years. Although it is obvious that the era of the three poor scholars has passed with the death of Bai Lijia and the resignation of Ji Zhiheng, the new generation of poor scholars chose Lu que as the leader of the new generation of poor scholars after he entered the Academy.

In addition, Lu que also had a strong influence in xungui and the top ten aristocratic families. Among the top xungui, Gu Qingcheng of Dingguo mansion was his fiancee, Zhuge Yan, Shaoguo Duke of Fuguo mansion was his best friend in the Academy, yunxiansi, the son of Zhenguo cloud family, and Suduo, the son of Huguo Su family, all made good friends with him, and Bai Xuguang, the new generation of proud son of Bai family, was the best friend in the Academy, Zhixingnan, the only successor of Zhijia, also keeps a good relationship with him.

Among the top ten aristocratic families, Le miao'er from Tianyin aristocratic family, Qu Xinran from Shenqu aristocratic family, Wu yunshang from Shengwu aristocratic family, and Yan from Jingye Yanjia family went south with the army when Lu que led the army to leave Beijing, which shows their relationship with Lu que. Among the older generation, Mu Zhuo from organ aristocratic family, Shi Kuan from Dajiang aristocratic family, and Feng Yu from Bailian aristocratic family are also very close to Lu que.

As for the other three families, they all had some kind of relationship with Lu que. For example, the Duanmu family of Hanhai, who was originally the spokesperson for the royal family, would stand behind Lu que as long as the emperor instructed. Yao Yi'an, the Yao family's old master, is one of Lu Que's teachers in the Academy. His good friend Lin Qingyu is Yao Yi'an's son. As for ou family, she has a good relationship with the eldest princess Yu Chuqing. The armor of the eldest princess Yu Chuqing was all made by Ou family.

Although Zhuo Xianran lives in his hometown of Changzhi, he has heard a lot about Lu Que's temperament, and he can't help but lament the wonder of the world. A man who has no desire for power, he just gathers his fortune together. If Lu que leads this matter, no matter what he does, he will get twice the result with half the effort.

But it's obvious that Princess Yu Chuqing doesn't want this matter to fall on her son, and doesn't want him to bear the reputation of suppressing the aristocratic family. She can't help sighing in her heart. However, from this point, Zhuo Xianran can see that in this world, the only one who can make the eldest princess Yu Chuqing desperate to maintain is her son Lu que.

"Your Majesty, your royal highness, what should the old minister do?" After thinking for a long time, Zhuo Xianran asked.

"The old prime minister has worked hard for state affairs for half of his life. Naturally, my elder sister and I will not let the old Prime Minister do anything harmful to his reputation in the future. Does the old Prime Minister remember a memorial written after the case of Xiao Yu Yuanxu said with a flash of light in his eyes.

"After Xiao's case?" Zhuo Xianran stroked his beard and frowned. Although he was in good health, he was old after all. He still needed time to recall what happened decades ago.

Yu Yuanxu, the emperor of Qian Dynasty, and Yu Chuqing, the eldest princess, were obviously not worried. They were waiting for Zhuo Xianran while tasting tea.

After a spell of incense, Zhuo suddenly saw her eyes, and looked at the eyes of the emperor and Yu Chu Ching, and even a little excited. With a slight trembling voice, he said, "your majesty and your royal highness, do you want to reform?"

The case of Xiao family in those years not only let Zhuo Xianran see the powerful influence of a famous family with many famous officials, but also let him see how dirty and shameless things the aristocratic family could do in order to cater to the king and eliminate the dissidents. After that, he wrote a thick Memorial, detailing the troubles of his family, and presented it directly to the emperor. It's just that his memorial didn't make a ripple. Emperor Xuan didn't give any reply to it, as if it had never appeared.

Later, Zhuo Xianran carefully recalled the contents of his memorial, and he knew Emperor Xuan's mind that it was impossible to eliminate the aristocratic family, but if he wanted to weaken the influence of the aristocratic family in the local area and the influence on the court situation, the first thing was to reform the political system, take back the land that the aristocratic family depended on, and then restrict it in other ways. Only in this way can the aristocratic family be eliminated.

However, it's not so easy to reform. Let's not say that the law of Daqian was set by the founder of the country. Let's say that the contents gradually improved by emperors in past dynasties can't be easily changed by anyone, because these are the basis of Daqian's strength today. If we change it rashly, it is likely to shake the foundation of the country.

Looking at the two most powerful people in front of Daqian, Zhuo Xianran realized that the emperor and the eldest princess did not attach importance to him completely when they brought him out of his hometown. What was more important was his memorial. That is to say, the ultimate goal of these two people was not to suppress the aristocratic family, but to change Daqian's law, So as to limit the development of aristocratic family once and for all.

Yu Chuqing nodded and said, "since Nanli can reform, why can't I do it. As the saying goes, if a country is strong, the people will be safe. As long as it can strengthen the country, nothing can be changed. But how to change, how to change, and where to start, your majesty and our palace still need the help of the old Prime Minister. After all, the old prime minister is the first person who wants to change the political system in Da Qian's 100 years. I think the old prime minister must have a lot of detailed rules for the reform that he has been thinking about for a long time. "

"Your Majesty." Zhuo Xianran looks at Yu Yuanxu with inquiring eyes.

Yu Yuanxu nodded his head and said, "old prime minister, since I ascended the throne, I have treated my people with light corvee and light taxes. Daqian is also rich and prosperous. However, with the development of Daqian, the local aristocratic family has also developed rapidly. Now I am here with my elder sister, and the court is loyal. I don't have to worry about it for a short time. But in the future, I'm really worried. That's how I asked the old prime minister to come and help me solve my doubts. "

"Your Majesty, your royal highness." Zhuo Xianran arched his hand and said, "the root of a family lies in fame. The root of a family lies in land. Without land, it's like duckweed floating in the water. Without fame, it can't be handed down."

"These I and elder sister all know, does the old prime minister have any concrete method?" Yu Yuanxu asked again.

"In fact, Taizu has already given the answer. The law of Daqian was originally set by the founding of the state. It was Taizu's national policy to let the tillers have their own land by spreading the land into the mu." Zhuo Xianran said with deep meaning.

"What does the old Prime Minister mean by re measuring the land of the aristocratic family? Then thoroughly investigate the source of more land? " Yu Yuanxu's eyes flashed a trace of clarity and asked.

Zhuo Xianran nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this policy is gentle and peaceful. It's most suitable for the moment. It's enough to convict the aristocratic family. In the future, it's most secure to have the southern army come back to discuss it again."