jdhmnovel Chapter 1099 Zhu Biao: I feel offended, thank you.
Chapter 1099 Zhu Biao: I feel offended, thank you.
There were many people in the capital who were in a worse situation than Emperor Zhu.
Li Shanchang felt like cursing whenever he saw a memorial that read, "I respectfully request that the teaching model be changed to promote the popularization of education."
Yang, who has always been ruthless and lacks any sense of martial ethics, made a lot of proposals and demands, but only left behind a memorial about reforming the teaching system before disappearing.
The Zhu Emperor, who was entrenched on the dragon throne, also lacked martial virtue and simply handed over his good son-in-law's memorial to the cabinet for processing.
What kind of tireless, all-around workhorses are you two, father-in-law and son-in-law, when you're in the cabinet?
Liu Bowen, the head of the Censorate, was so angry that he lost his hair.
Does the Cabinet and the Censorate share the three powers of security, prosecution, and justice?
Come, you, Yang the Madman, tell me, should I take more power from the Censorate or give more to the Cabinet?
It's unbearable for this old man to try to seize power in the Censorate.
Would that old scoundrel Li Shanchang agree to give more power to the cabinet?
Therefore, advancing is difficult, retreating is difficult, when can one find peace and happiness?
They would surely say: Yang the madman is not fit to be a human being!
The reason why Li Shanchang hadn't started cursing and Liu Bowen hadn't hanged himself at the entrance of the驸马府 (the mansion of the imperial son-in-law) was because there were people in the capital who were even more distressed than they were.
Having completed the tribute process, Mosiha and Manlaha eagerly awaited someone to take them to the border market, but the Court of State Ceremonies and the Ministry of Rites seemed to have forgotten about them, and no officials came to take care of them.
King Jeon of Goryeo was in a terrible predicament – the prince consort had promised to send people to accompany those two bastards, Chen Li and Ming Sheng, back to Goryeo and forbid them from causing trouble, but where were the people the prince consort had arranged?
Other envoys, such as Park Sung-sung and Do Soon-chin, were also eagerly waiting to be summoned by "Commissioner Yang."
After all, with the addition of an envoy from the Timurid Khanate to the border market, there would be more Timurid Khanate merchants in the future.
Most importantly, there are also the quotas for merchants from various vassal states at the border markets. These all need to be decided by "Commissioner Yang Mi".
……
The officials and envoys in the capital were having a hard time, and Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao, who had once again traveled to Yangzhou Prefecture, were having an equally hard time.
"Who do you think came up with the idea of adopting sons as gods?"
Yang Shaofeng waved the secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard in his hand, then turned his gaze to the household registration book on the table, and said in a sarcastic tone, "If we don't let them keep slaves, they'll adopt sons."
"So, if an adopted son isn't considered a son and isn't on the same household register, he can avoid the maximum tax rate for a family's 100 acres of land, right?"
"The key question is, what are these idiots thinking?"
"They're not even on the same household register, and there's no indenture or anything like that, so why are they so determined to become this adopted son?"
"Wouldn't it be better to just sign up to go to Dengzhou or Liaodong?"
Zhu Biao felt offended.
After all, in the early years, the most enthusiastic person about adopting a godson was one's own unreliable father.
Zhu Biao said with a dark and sour face, "The practice of adopting sons has existed since ancient times, and it is not a recent phenomenon."
"Liu Bei had adopted a son during the Three Kingdoms period."
"Besides, isn't the root of their so-called adoption of a godson still you, brother-in-law?"
Zhu Biao felt more and more justified as he spoke: "Think about it, those officials and gentry originally kept servants openly and legitimately, right?"
"It's because you, brother-in-law, produced the household registration book and proposed abolishing the status of the lowest class that my father and Prime Minister Li banned the private keeping of slaves. Isn't that right?"
"So, taking in an adopted son was originally a normal adoption, but the matter of disguised slavery was caused by you, brother-in-law."
"..."
Zhu Biao kept trying to pin the blame on Yang Shaofeng.
Yang Shaofeng was also a little confused for a moment.
It seems, probably, that's really the case?
Old Deng adopted a large number of sons, and the key point is that when Old Deng adopted them, he really treated them as godsons.
Needless to say, those who rose to prominence, like Mu Ying and Lan Yu, all became officers, including commanders, chiliarchs, and centurions.
Why did the army under the command of the fourth prince's nephew suffer repeated defeats when the prince marched south to quell the rebellion?
Because most of the officers under Zhu Yunwen were his sworn brothers.
Unfortunately, Zhu Yunwen, that idiot, was originally born out of wedlock and only became the eldest legitimate son after being promoted to the position. After taking power, he couldn't figure out who his enemies were and who his friends were. He focused on associating with Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, and Qi Tai, while openly and secretly distancing himself from the military commanders, captains, and centurions.
Putting aside other matters, the famous war god Li Jinglong was awarded the titles of Fengtian Fuyun Tuicheng Xuanli Wuchen, Tejin Guanglu Dafu, Zuo Zhuguo, and was further granted the title of Crown Prince Grand Tutor because of his "meritorious service in silently observing events".
To put it bluntly, if it were the fourth prince who wanted to rebel against the Black Sesame Dumplings, let alone march all the way into Nanjing, he probably wouldn't even be able to leave the gates of Beiping.
Yang Shaofeng was pondering these random thoughts in his mind, then pointed to the household registration book on the table and changed the subject: "We can talk about adopted sons later, the key is what to do now?"
Feeling that he had finally turned the tables, Zhu Biao was secretly pleased with himself when he heard this. He rolled his eyes and said, "It's my brother-in-law who's coming to Yangzhou, and it's also my brother-in-law who's going to the coast to investigate thoroughly. I'm just going along to broaden my horizons."
So?
Yang Shaofeng glanced at the black sesame dumplings.
So, you black sesame dumpling, are you deliberately trying to make a fool of me?
Just as Yang Shaofeng was pondering how to get revenge on Heizhi Tangyuan, Zhu Biao suddenly raised his head, looked at Yang Shaofeng, and said, "I actually have an idea."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, but Zhu Biao said with a forced smile, "As the saying goes, the Milky Way is also a river, and an adopted son is also a son."
"Why don't you petition the court, brother-in-law, and say that since there is a widespread phenomenon of adopting sons among the people, the court should guarantee the rights of these adopted sons—that they have the same right to inherit family property as biological sons?"
"In contrast, adopted sons are also included in the nine clans, and are ranked alongside biological sons within the three clans."
"As long as you catch one of the officials or gentry in a bad way, all their adopted sons will suffer along with them."
Even if we can't find fault with them, we still have to annoy them.
"Don't those officials and gentry like to use benefits to adopt sons? Then let's help them take it a step further and make their relationship with their adopted sons even better."
At this point, Zhu Biao's eyes lit up again, and he said, "Also, brother-in-law, you must petition the court to stipulate that in the future, the inheritance of family property should not be passed on to only one person. Regardless of the amount, all children other than the eldest son should receive a share, and the same applies to adopted sons."
"I'd like to see whether those officials and gentry value their servants more or their property."
As Zhu Biao finished speaking, even Yang Shaofeng, who had read many miscellaneous books, couldn't help but gasp.
If officials and gentry wanted to keep servants, they had to give away a portion of their property.
If you want to preserve your family property, you can no longer use the guise of adopting a godson to keep servants.
Even if officials and gentry wanted both, and were even willing to raise a flag of rebellion, they still had to consider the "adopted sons" they had taken in.
If there weren't enough benefits, who would willingly go and recognize someone else as their godfather?