At the same time that Gao Shishi and Liu Xin were discussing world events, there were also guests from Shen Shixing's bachelor's mansion.

This guest was none other than Zhang Cheng, one of the eunuchs who was the master of ceremonies.

Shen Shixing and Zhang Cheng sat as guests and hosts, and there were high-quality fragrant tea on the coffee table next to them, which was obviously full of tea, but it couldn't arouse the interest of the two.

"There was no hero at the time, so the shaft became famous." I don't know how long it took for Zhang Cheng to break the silence: "Yuanfu, our family said a long time ago, don't let Gao Pragmatic win the battle again, why don't you listen?" It's good now, and let him make such a big contribution, and some people even let out the wind from the palace, saying that the emperor wants to knight him...... Motosuke, aren't you in a hurry? ”

Shen Shixing was silent for a while, and said in a deep voice: "It is his own ability to win the battle in a real battle, and it is not because of my help, how can I say whether I listen or not?" ”

Zhang Cheng sighed: "It's all at this time, Yuanfu is still such an old god, which really makes our family admire." It's just what Yuan Fu said, but our family can't understand it - the fault is not Yuan Fu's recommendation, how can Gao Pragmatic lead the troops to the west this time? ”

Shen Shixing forcibly endured his dissatisfaction and said calmly: "Gao Shixing's westward expedition led less than 40,000 soldiers, but what kind of opponent did he have to face?" Sixty thousand, fifty thousand, and Boshoketu, although he did not do his best, also had forty or fifty thousand elites, and the sum of these three parties was at least more than 150,000 troops.

I also said openly and secretly before setting out on the expedition that this battle must be resolved quickly, and any more delay may lead to the Tumen taking the opportunity to invade the west. It's just that once Gao Qiuzhen can't quickly determine the northwest, this one by one will be turned into a noose around his neck, and the myth of his invincibility will be shattered. In this way, Bingbi still blames today's events for originating from my previous recommendation? ”

Zhang Cheng pondered for a moment and said, "Since Yuanfu didn't mean to connive, why didn't he do anything after Gao Shishi sent troops to ensure that he couldn't complete these tasks?" ”

"Do something?" Shen Shixing's tone was a little cold: "I am the chief assistant of the imperial court, in order to restrict a certain person, I have vainly cared about the success or failure of tens of thousands of troops, and in order to restrict a certain faction, I have vainly cared about the safety of three provinces and four towns. This is the culprit! ”

"Huh?" Zhang Cheng also sneered: "The success or failure of tens of thousands of troops, the safety of three provinces and four towns, can we only hope for Gao Pragmatic alone?" Yuansuke, you should know that this is exactly what we must avoid—we must not let the emperor think that the prosperity of the world depends on this son alone! Otherwise...... What is the benefit of the Cabinet? ”

Shen Shixing's eyelids jumped, and he took a deep breath: "The cabinet is capable and strategic, what does it mean to exist?" ”

Zhang Cheng waved his hand and said: "If only Gao Pragmatic can be used, wouldn't the so-called virtuous and capable person be a joke?" As for strategizing, we don't know that Gao pragmatic won this battle because he listened to which suggestion and order of the cabinet? ”

Shen Shixing was speechless for a while, and only after a while did he say: "No matter what, the turmoil in the northwest is a big matter, and it is inconvenient for Shi Xing to take the initiative to help, at least he can't fall into the well and set up obstacles for high pragmatism." ”

"Hehe, what a selfless man with a wide heart, Yuan Fuzhi's mind is really admirable, but it's just ......" Zhang Cheng obviously didn't really want to praise Shen Shixing, and said mockingly: "It's just that now Gao Pragmatic has made great achievements, and even has made the palace have the meaning of knighthood, if this matter is done, if Yuanfu wants to move him in the future, it will be a hundred times more difficult than now." ”

Zhang Cheng's words are not untargeted, as we all know, the rulers of all dynasties will take the title of official and knight as an important political means to win the hearts of the people in their reign. There is a big difference between a knighthood and an official title, where an official position represents the actual power in the hands of an official, while a knighthood represents status and treatment. According to the regulations, the title often transcends the official system, that is, it is higher than the ordinary official position, and the same is true of the lord system adopted by the Ming Dynasty.

The title system of the Ming Dynasty has been relatively procedural, institutionalized, and legalized, and the title system of the Ming Dynasty has both the similarities of the past dynasties, and has formed many of its own characteristics, and the reasons for the formation of these characteristics are greatly related to the unique social conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

For example, during the Ming Dynasty, the knighthood system adopted two systems: the clan knighthood system and the meritorious relatives system. The separation of the prince from the duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male five-rank system is a major feature of the Ming Dynasty's knighthood system that distinguishes it from the past.

And the lord only has a title and a knighthood, and no longer has a fief of other dynasties, but the emperor will give the "Danshu Iron Coupon" to show his merits and show the emperor's favor. In addition to symbolism, the "Danshu Iron Coupon" also enjoys the privilege of exoneration.

The clan title system in these two systems was formulated in the early Hongwu period, and the main titles established in the system were prince, county king, Zhenguo general, auxiliary general, and other eighth-class titles. These titles are divided into royal relatives and nobles.

Different titles enjoy different salaries, for example, the prince's annual salary is 50,000 stones, which was later reduced to 10,000 stones. However, the salaries of these royal relatives and nobles are still much higher than those of knighted officials under the meritorious foreign relatives system.

In addition, it is the system of meritorious relatives. In order to encircle the relatives of meritorious heroes, and in order to prevent the situation of king with a different surname dominating and threatening the rule, the Ming Dynasty royal family set up the five-waiting system outside the Zong's knighthood system. In June of the third year of Hongwu, an edict was issued, stipulating the main titles of the fifth-class marquis and the number of lulu they enjoyed.

According to the regulations: the first product is the national prince and the county prince, and the first product is the county marquis. Zheng, from the second rank to the county uncle, etc. - these titles do not have fiefs, and no matter how the merit is calculated, one thing is certain: those who have no military merit shall not be divided.

In terms of the salary, the duke's salary ranged from 2,005 to 5,000 stones, and the marquis's main salary was 1,000 to 1,500 stones.

These titles are divided into two kinds, one is lifelong, that is, it cannot be inherited, and the title is cut off when I die, this category is called Liujue; The other is hereditary, with endless children and grandchildren, and does not engage in "tuien", but maintains it forever, which is the Shijue, which is commonly known as "resting with the country". As for which one to give, there is no doubt that it also depends on the size of the military merits.

It is not a lie that the "Danshu Iron Coupon" system of the Ming Dynasty has its particularity, and this system is indeed different from that of previous dynasties.

In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded meritorious deeds, divided ten dukes, and twenty marquis gave "Danshu iron coupons". In terms of the system, it is stipulated that "those who are not military meritorious society members shall not be knighted". However, gradually there were some heroes, holding "Danshu iron coupons" as an excuse to destroy the phenomenon of social order, coupled with Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicion in his later years, he wantonly slaughtered heroes, so the knighthood system was destroyed.

During the Yongle and Jiajing periods, the two emperors renovated the system, but the general pattern remained unchanged. After Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, seized power, he rewarded meritorious deeds according to the "change of Jingjing". But at this time, there were also a very few people who did not rely on military merits to be knighted, such as Yongxin Bo Xu Chengcheng, who dealt with the death of the concubine and resolved the enmity between Ming Chengzu and the brother and sister of Princess Ningguo - of course, this is an exception and is not universal.

Time advanced to the Jiajing period, when due to the willfulness of the previous Emperor Zhengde, the imperial court began to have a situation of proliferation of knighthoods and military attachés. In order to solve this problem, Emperor Jiajing made strict restrictions on the criteria for separation, on the one hand, reiterating that "those who are not military meritorious society members shall not be knighted", and on the other hand, re-emphasizing the privilege of "Danshu Iron Coupon".

At this point, the knighthood system of the Ming Dynasty was basically qualitative. Just go and listen to the book

Although Emperor Jiajing became a "Daojun Emperor" in the later period, it is undeniable that he was still relatively intelligent in the early stage of his reign, and to some extent, he was somewhat similar to Tang Xuanzong Li Longji. If you have to say a different point, it is probably that Xuanzong of the late Tang Dynasty was more famous for his infinite favor for Yang Guifei, while Sejong Jiajing was obsessed with Taoism.

So, why did Jiajing reiterate again in his early years that "those who are not military meritorious society members shall not be knighted", and once again emphasized the privilege of "Danshu Iron Coupons"?

Emperor Jiajing was most recognized by later generations for his scheming, and the above two things are actually also conspiracy.

"Those who are not military meritorious society members are not allowed to be knighted", this seems to be just a reiteration of the ancestral system, and there is nothing special about it, the great thing is to wipe the ass of the Zhengde Dynasty and "set things right".

Not really.

"Those who are not military meritorious members shall not be knighted", fundamentally speaking, it is to suppress the civilian clique that has achieved absolute superiority in the imperial court and put shackles on the civilian clique. This is to use a seemingly fair and honest reason to basically shackle the civilian bureaucracy outside the lord system, so that they cannot continue to expand their "sphere of influence" and completely overwhelm the lord line.

Why? If other merits other than military merits can also be knighted, then the civil official group in charge of the imperial court has all kinds of reasons to find civil servants who can be knighted, and let these civil servants become lords, not to mention that over time the lords will be flooded, and the vast majority of lords will be awarded by civil ministers.

You must know that no matter how the military ministers and nobles decline, the system of the imperial court also stipulates that the Tianxia Guards need them to be named. In other words: the allegiance of the military nobles means that the military power in the world is always in the hands of the emperor, and he is always a strong supporter of the imperial power.

So once Xungui also becomes one of the strongholds of the civil official group, how much imperial power is left of the emperor?

Emperor Jiajing saw through this essence very keenly, so he reaffirmed the ancestral system of "those who are not military meritorious society members shall not be knighted", which is actually one of the specific manifestations of his imperial power.

As for the reason for the knighthood, there are two main points.

The first is to compensate the meritorious heroes. In the feudal dynasty, knighthood was the highest treatment, and the main reason for the emperor to do so was to support the meritorious heroes to consolidate his ruling needs. As long as officials use knighthood as an unusually honorable incentive, such a measure must have greatly boosted their political motivation.

The second is to calm people's hearts. For the officials in the court, the "Danshu Iron Coupon" is equivalent to a "heart pill", because obtaining it can be exempted, and the emperor needs to use this method to entrap important officials in order to maintain his rule.

On the whole, however, the Lord's privileges have been slowly decreasing.

For example, in the Hongwu Dynasty, the nobles and heroes of the clan at that time, although they enjoyed many privileges, but when they clashed with the imperial rule, they were often swayed by the will of the emperor, and the law lost its original effect in the past at this time.

Later, especially before Emperor Jiajing reaffirmed that "those who are not military meritorious society members shall not be knighted", the knighthood system is no longer in accordance with the previous standards, but is often directly determined by the emperor's will, and even affected by the power ministers and eunuchs - such as Liu Jin controlled the government during the Zhengde period, although the governor Shenying did not have the credit of opening up the territory, but because he had bribed Liu Jin and had a good relationship with Liu Jin, he was directly named a martial arts uncle.

In addition, there is also a reduction in the privilege of avoiding death, especially after Jiajing, the emperor issued the "Danshu Iron Coupon" at the same time, compared with the beginning of the country, greatly reduced the number of death-free, and although he was exempted from crime, he was also inevitably punished - exempt from death in some cases is really just a death-free.

But no matter what, the "Danshu Iron Coupon" is still the "Danshu Iron Coupon", and its effectiveness is still huge.

It doesn't matter if the military general holds this thing in his hand, at most, he will take it out when he is defeated, or take it out after the incident of corruption, plunder, etc., to ensure that his head will not move, and there is no other big use.

But if it was a civilian official who had this thing in his hands, it would be very different. Some privileges are generally directly written on the Danshu iron coupon, such as "except for conspiracy against you, if you commit any other crimes, you will be exempted from it once and you will be rewarded for your merits."

Most of the crimes committed by military generals are defeated in battle, and they usually have little to do with the change of power in the imperial court, but what major crimes can Wenchen commit and need to take Danshu iron coupons to exonerate him? It was almost nothing more than a change of power caused by political disputes.

In other words, if Gao Shixing gets a piece of Danshu iron coupons, it means that even if Shen Shixing finds a chance to get him down directly, this opportunity will be almost in vain - hand over the Danshu iron coupons.

It is already difficult to find a chance for Gao Shixing, Shen Shixing has not seen a shadow yet, and he still expects to find him two chances to die? Therefore, Zhang Cheng said, "If Yuanfu wants to move him in the future, it will be a hundred times more difficult than now", which is by no means alarmist.

In the final analysis, it is because the military generals are not in power, and the Danshu iron coupon is in their hands; And the civil official is in power, and holding the Danshu iron coupon is basically equivalent to an extra life, which is too difficult to do. (The above refers specifically to the Jiajing Dynasty after reaffirming the privilege of the Danshu Iron Coupon.) )

It is precisely because of Jiajing's reiteration that when it came to the Apocalypse Dynasty, the nine-thousand-year-old Wei Zhongxian, who covered the sky with one hand, could only stare dryly when he looked at the uncooperation of people such as the British Duke and others, which was a clear proof of the power of the Danshu Iron Coupon after Jiajing.

Because its role is not only to avoid death, but also to become a unique symbol of power, so that "rest with the country" has truly become a kind of thinking that everyone agrees with, forming a convention, and having inertia, not just a slogan.

In the face of Zhang Cheng's straightforward words, Shen Shixing was silent for a moment, and finally made up his mind, and said: "This rebellion in the northwest has become a fact and cannot be reversed. I don't know if Bingbi has a clever plan to teach me? ”

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