The two left the celebrant and went to the Qianqing Palace, where Zhu Youxiao was busy doing carpentry work as usual.

Zhu Youxiao's body often feels weak recently, doing it for a while, resting for a while, doing carpentry is not a heavy physical work, but sweating.

"Master, take a break, see how tired the master is." As soon as Wei Zhongxian came in, he flattered.

Wei Zhongxian came to the emperor, there was no need to pass it on, and he could come at any time if he wanted to.

Ke Baba also hurriedly said softly: "Your Majesty, take a rest first, Gonggong Wei and Gonggong Wang are here." ”

Zhu Youxiao's eyes left the carpentry work in his hand, glanced at Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian, and then looked at the carpentry device, "Big companion and Wang Gonggong, what's the matter?"

"Long live the master, there is good news for the slaves and maids, Wei Bao has achieved a great victory outside Shenyang, killing 50,000 or 60,000 Jiannu, and there are more than 8,000 heads that have been transported into the capital alone." Wei Zhongxian smiled: "Old slave, congratulations to the master, our Ming Dynasty has achieved such a big victory against the barbarians outside the Guanwai, and His Majesty's merits have surpassed those of the ancestors." Even in the hands of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, they have never achieved such a great victory. ”

Ke Baba hurriedly smiled and said: "Such a big happy event, then I really have to congratulate Your Majesty, it is true that even the ancestors and ancestors have not achieved such a victory, this is all the credit of Your Majesty." ’

Zhu Youxiao was interested, and finally put down the carpentry device in his hand, and said with great interest: "Hit Shenyang City?" Wasn't Shenyang City occupied by Jiannu a long time ago? Last time I checked the map, there were rivers on all sides, and it should have been used as a nest by Jiannu, right? Is there any way for Wei Bao to hit the hinterland of Jiannu? Wei Bao took down Shenyang City? He killed so many people at once? This is indeed a great credit, indeed a great credit! ”

As soon as people were happy, their voices were inevitably loud, which caused Zhu Youxiao to cough violently, and the eunuchs and palace maids hurriedly served tea and poured water.

Kebaba stroked Zhu Youxiao's back vigorously, "Your Majesty, happy to be happy, don't laugh too much, since Your Majesty ascended to Dabao, the good things of Daming are one after another, and there will be more good things in the future." ”

Zhu Youxiao's anger calmed down a little, and said with a smile: "It should be said that since I reused Wei Aiqing, good things have come one after another, it seems that this Wei Bao is indeed a talent, big companion, what did I ask you just now, Wei Bao Aiqing knocked Shenyang City down?" Killed tens of thousands of slaves? ”

"Shenyang City has not been defeated, and it is genuine to kill more than 60,000 Jiannu! There are more than 8,000 Jiannu heads transported into Beijing alone, and our Ming Dynasty has never achieved such a great victory against the barbarians outside the Guanxi! The most exciting thing is that less than 100 people have died on our side! Jiliao, Liaoxi, Liaodong and Sun Chengzong all went to the book of the Annunciation, and everyone asked for a reward for Wei Bao. Wei Zhongxian said with a smile.

Then Wei Zhongxian was like a storyteller, and all good things went to Wei Bao's head, saying how Wei Bao was brave, how to skillfully break the enemy, and it was a fire attack, and a series of schemes, one by one, in fact, Wei Zhongxian also roughly listened to Wei Bao and Sun Chengzong's recital, and only knew a rough idea of the battle situation, most of which were his ready-made play.

Anyway, whatever Wei Zhongxian said was what it was, and Wei Zhongxian knew that the emperor would not pursue it.

Kebaba and Wang Chengen listened a little funny on the sidelines, the two of them were standard five-star audiences, cheering for Wei Bao from time to time, and Wei Zhongxian was like a storytelling cross talk.

"Okay, okay, I really didn't see it, Wei Bao is still a handsome talent, so good at fighting! It's a good reward! "Zhu Youxiao doesn't really care about how the battle was fought, "It's a pity that I didn't take Shenyang City down and killed all the Jiannu, so I was even more happy!" Tell me how to reward Wei Bao? ”

"This old slave hasn't thought about it, Princess, what do you think?" Wei Zhongxian kicked the ball to Wang Tiqian.

Wang Tiqian said according to what he had discussed with Wei Zhongxian before: "Your Majesty, Wei Bao is now the fourth grade, and the fourth rank is promoted to the third grade. If you are not convinced, you can let these people go to Liaodong to find Jiannu and give it a try. This time, Lord Wei sent troops, using the soldiers and horses of Shanhaiguan, Wu Xiang successively served as Shanhaiguan, and Wu Xiang was promoted to the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan also said in the past, Wu Xiang was originally a native of Liaoxi, and the local generals were promoted, and outsiders would not ask more, which was not difficult. As for the title, the slave maid felt that she could give proper consideration to giving an earl to Wei Bao, and she also said it in the past. I heard that Wei Bao is going to marry a concubine recently, if His Majesty is willing to marry in person, it will be a great honor for Wei Bao, and His Majesty can recognize Wei Bao's concubine as the imperial sister. In this way, no one in Jiliao will dare to dislike his qualifications, and if he looks down on Wei Bao, he will look down on His Majesty. ”

Hearing this, Ke Baba looked at Wang Tiqian, Wei Zhongxian had already discussed with Ke Baba before, of course Ke Baba knew that what Wang Tiqian said now must have been discussed with Wei Zhongxian, but he didn't expect Wei Zhongxian to be so generous to Wei Bao this time, and actually put forward all four of them to the emperor.

The emperor really didn't think about it, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, it's still the prince who thinks about it thoroughly, quasi-playing, I'm all right, what do you say?" I was thinking about walking around, I hadn't seen Wei Aiqing for a while, and I was panicked, Wei Aiqing can always make something interesting for me to see, this kind of self-running boat I made was taught by Wei Aiqing, I want someone to take Liaodong to show Wei Aiqing my craftsmanship. ”

"Very good, the old slave thinks His Majesty's idea is very good." Wei Zhongxian said with joy on his face: "Right now, Jiannu has just been defeated, and it is peaceful outside the border, Your Majesty will go to Shanhaiguan on the occasion of this great victory, first, to show your favor to Lord Wei, and secondly, you can take the military parade by the way, so that the border soldiers can feel Your Majesty's care for them." ”

"Good! That's it! Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that Wei Zhongxian also supported his idea, every time he left the palace, he could only walk around the royal hunting grounds around the capital, and the several hunting grounds managed by Shanglin Yuan were too small.

"Then congratulations to Your Majesty, Your Majesty hasn't been out of the palace for a few days, this time is just right, although it's a little cold, but it hasn't snowed yet, if it snows, you won't be able to go there." Kebaba is the icing on the cake.

Kebaba's intention to help Wei Bao was actually stronger than Wang Tiqian's.

Kebaba also received 100,000 taels of silver, but Kebaba didn't have anything to watch out for, and she wasn't afraid that people would know that Wei Bao bribed her, anyway, Kebaba and Wei Zhongxian were tied to the emperor.

Unlike Wang Tiqian, he had to think about leaving a way out for himself, and he didn't want to show that he was too close to Wei Zhongxian, especially in front of foreign ministers.

So in Wei Zhongxian's opinion, Wei Bao's relationship with him is actually closer than Wang Tiqian's relationship with him, if Wang Tiqian desperately says good things about Wei Bao, Wei Zhongxian is even more vigilant.

Therefore, Kebaba has no worries when he helps Wei Bao.

"To knight Wei Bao, you can't just be an earl, at least a marquis. And it has to be a hereditary knight! Such a big victory is in the hands of Taizu, and it deserves this honor! Zhu Youxiao suddenly remembered something and added.

Wei Zhongxian, Ke Baba and Wang Tiqian were all a little surprised, how could the little emperor, who had always been too lazy to worry about anything, be so concerned about Wei Bao's affairs.

actually thought about it so carefully, what kind of title did you think of giving Wei Bao?

The titles of the Ming Dynasty are divided into clan titles, relatives titles, and some hereditary counts of founding heroes.

Chengyi Bo, Dongguan Bo, Xing'an Bo, Wu Kangbo, Xiangcheng Bo, Xinning Bo, Yingcheng Bo, these are all hereditary counts.

"But Wei Bao is too young, only fifteen years old." Wei Zhongxian said.

"How old was I when I ascended the throne, and what happened to fifteen?" Zhu Youxiao said unhappily.

"But Wei Bao only killed tens of thousands of people, and didn't capture important towns." Wei Zhongxian said cautiously.

"So give a marquis first, if Wei Bao lays down a major town this time, he will give it directly to the duke!" Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, looking at the world.

was so frightened that Wei Zhongxian didn't dare to persuade anymore.

As a more procedural, institutionalized and legalized knighthood system in ancient China's feudal society, the Ming Dynasty knighthood system has the same features as the knighthood system of previous dynasties, but also has many unique points.

The Ming Dynasty's knighthood system was divided into two systems: clan and meritorious relatives, and the separation of the king from the prince and the prince was a major feature of the previous dynasties. And to give the lord only the title and food, and no longer have a fiefdom, duke, marquis and other titles will also be given iron coupons, to show their outstanding merits, the emperor's grace.

In terms of the clan knighthood system, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the prince of the liejue, the prince of the county, the general of the Zhenguo, the general of the auxiliary state, the general of Fengguo, the lieutenant of Zhenguo, the lieutenant of the auxiliary state, and the lieutenant of Fengguo were eight to seal the royal family. His food Lu also made corresponding provisions: the first prince's year was set at 50,000 stones, and the later prince's years were reduced to 10,000 stones, the county king was 2,000 stones, the Zhenguo general was 1,000 stones, the auxiliary general was 800 stones, the Fengguo general was 600 stones, the Zhenguo lieutenant was 400 stones, the auxiliary lieutenant was 300 stones, and the Fengguo lieutenant was 200 stones.

In terms of the system of knighthood of meritorious relatives, the Ming Dynasty also read the system of the previous dynasty, and listed the fifth rank to seal the relatives of meritorious officials, and issued an edict in June of the third year of Hongwu: "Set the fifth-class lord." Jue is a first-grade national duke, a county duke, from the first rank of the county marquis, is from the second grade of the county, is from the third grade of the county, is from the fourth grade of the county, is from the fifth grade of the county male. "After the leather and the male, only the duke, the hou, the uncle, etc., are subdivided into seven grades.

This change in the title of the Ming Dynasty has been clearly summarized in the "Wanli Huidian": "At the beginning of the country, due to the system of the previous generation, the rank of the fifth rank was listed. "It is also clearly stipulated in the knighthood of the relatives of the meritorious heroes. And in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, it was stipulated: "Gong, 5,000 stone to 2,500 stone; Hou, 1,500 stone to 1,000 stone; Uncle, 1,000 stone to 500 stone. ”

At the same time, it was also customized: "All lords who are not social and military merits cannot be sealed, and titles cannot be given unless they are specially purposed." "There are two kinds of knighthoods, one is only granted for life, not hereditary.

Second, it can be hereditary, hereditary or not, depending on the size of the military merits, all of which are given coupons.

The formation of the "clan meritorious heroes knighthood two systems, only the title of the knight is not fiefdomed" The cause of the characteristics of the formation is the result of the high degree of strengthening of the supremacy of imperial power. The influence of the Confucian idea of strict hierarchy of kings and ministers. The need for rulers to consolidate their rule is related to personal factors. Reducing the privileges of lords, such as land, prevented their power from expanding and posing a threat to imperial power. The development of the agricultural economy and the commodity economy provides its material basis.

To a certain extent, in order to maintain their rule, the ruler must not only rely on these meritorious heroes, but also reflect the noble status of his royal family, which eventually made the Ming Dynasty feudal system appear two sets of systems coexist, and the economic treatment is good, but no longer give fiefdoms.

In order to consolidate the political power and recruit meritorious heroes, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty created the most complete system of knighthood and vouchers in Chinese history.

Ming Taizu stipulated that "all lords are not awarded for military merits that are not in the community", "all princes are worshipped, and iron coupons are given", and the merit of military merit and the award of iron coupons are organically combined into one, which has become an important canon system in the Ming Dynasty.

With the continuous strengthening of imperial power, this system has undergone various changes in the course of development, but as a political need, it has continued until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, which is of far-reaching significance.

The combination and institutionalization of knighthood and coupons has a tortuous historical process of development and continuous improvement.

During the Taizu period of the Ming Dynasty, the knighthood and the coupons were combined, "Hongwu three years, the great edict Wucheng, on meritorious deeds, ten dukes, twenty marquises, iron coupons, oaths of white water, rivers and mountains, and Miao descendants"; In terms of the system, some regulations have been made that "those who are not meritorious to the society and military are not allowed to be knighted", "the prince and the uncle are to be sealed, and all are given iron coupons", and so on, when there were some meritorious heroes who disrupted the social order with iron coupons, Zhu Yuanzhang made a provision of "making iron coupons to limit iron coupons", and wrote in the fourth volume of Xia Xie's "Ming Tongjian" that "it is illegal to use meritorious heroes to rely on iron coupons, and slaves and murderers are not heard. "The knighthood coupon began to be institutionalized, but it was destroyed by the late reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and the wanton killing of heroes.

From the Yongle period to the Jiajing period, this system continued to develop and improve in twists and turns, and completed the establishment process of the system of "meritorious knighthood and marquis coupons". After the establishment of the regime by Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, he was knighted on merit, "On the merits of Jingjing, Qiu Fu was named the Duke of Qi, Zhu Neng was the Duke of Chengguo, Zhang Wu and other marquis were thirteen, and Xu Xiang and other uncles were eleven." On the merits attached to the paragraph, Wang Ning, the commander of the horse, was the marquis, Ru Yu, Chen Ying and the governor of the same city, Wang Zuo, etc., were all uncles, and the coupons were basically carried out according to the criteria of "meritorious knighthood, and the marquis gave coupons"; But there are also some people who were not knighted by virtue of their outstanding merits, such as Xu Cheng, the new uncle of Yongle in the Yongle period, who dealt with the death of the concubine Mei Yin and resolved the conflict between Chengzu and Princess Ningguo's brothers and sisters.

In the period of Ming Wuzong, the system of knighthood and coupons was basically formed.

For example, in the thirteenth year of Zhengde, Ming Wuzong went out on a parade, so he surrendered himself as the prince of Zhenguo, and the imperial court could only fake the drama and do it, and gave iron coupons to give "longevity without borders" the number of times he avoided death. This reflects that the system of knighthood and coupons has become a system.

Since the Jiajing period, although there has been a flood of knighthoods and it is difficult for military attaches to be sealed, during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, strict restrictions were made on whether the children of the Emperor of the Emperor could be crowned, whether the titles of relatives were hereditary, and the standards for knighthoods and coupons.

This made it very difficult to obtain the privilege of iron coupons, so during this period, the system of knighthood and coupons was very complete and finalized.

Although knighthood and coupons have been institutionalized in the Ming Dynasty, there are still some unique features in itself and internally, such as the clan and relatives do not give iron coupons, only give letters, and the standards for knighthood are not very strict, even if some rulers such as Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang have made restrictions on foreign relatives to add knights, but still do Teen knighthood; There is also a privilege given to the lord in the Ming Dynasty knighthood voucher system, which gradually became an honor, and the requirements became more and more stringent, but there are always many exceptions.

The combination of knighthood and coupons and the increasing institutionalization are the inevitable results of the development and continuous improvement of the knighthood system in ancient China, but there are also reasons for the uniqueness of its times.

The ruler compensated the meritorious heroes and consolidated the need to rule, and the knighthood was given as the highest meritorious treatment.

Ming Taizu once had the original intention of "monarchs and ministers can travel well and live in their days".

It is protected by the supreme law, the Da Ming Law.

The ruler attaches great importance to the protection and the voice of the court lords, and many court lords want to obtain the "reassurance" of iron coupons, and the rulers also need this method to encircle and stabilize them in order to maintain their rule.

Since the "change of seizing the door", the objects of the imperial court knighthood began to tilt towards non-military personnel, eunuchs, civil officials, etc.

Cao Jixiang, Shi Heng, Xu Youzhen and others in the "change of seizing the door" were successively knighted and given coupons, Xu Youzhen wrote to request the knighthood, and Ming Yingzong was happy to be awarded the title of martial arts uncle, "Lu Qian 100 stones, the commander of the world brocade clothes, give the coupons".

The criterion that "those who are not social and military merits shall not be sealed" has disappeared. With the establishment of a system that emphasizes civil affairs over military force and the factors of the ruler's personal character and ability, the civil officials of the imperial court colluded to suppress the military generals, making it more and more difficult for the military attache to be knighted.

From the first year of Jiajing, until the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, 1643, these more than 100 years, the ministers were knighted for military merits, and only Li Chengliang, the general soldier of Liaodong, was named Ning Yuanbo.

Li Chengliang's military merits are crowned in the world, but he is also "instilled in the power gate, accepted the courtiers, Chinese and foreign dignitaries, and all of them are full of his heavy burden, and they are left and right." ”

So much so that Wang Shizhen, a literary historian in the Jiajing period, said in "Huangming Classics IV": "The ancestors of the Emperor Dynasty have all supervised labor, and they would rather seal the Liubo than add a protector, and the canonical system has changed." ”

In addition to some defects when it was first established, the founding monarch of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, had a narrow personal understanding and a contempt for the merits of civil servants, and did not have a good grasp of the criteria for distinguishing the size of civil and military merits. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Huaixi group was strong and had outstanding feats, and most of them were military generals who had established outstanding military exploits, forming a situation in which martial artists were dominant. The rulers of the Ming Dynasty established and continuously improved the system of emphasizing civil affairs over military force, which led to the increasingly low status of military attachés and the difficulty of being knighted. The imperial court imposed greater restrictions on the titles of lords and the personal factors of the ruler.

With the four periods of Hongwu, Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande, a series of measures were taken to strengthen the centralized and autocratic imperial power, making the emperor a dictator of power.

In the Ming Dynasty's knighthood system, although the lords of the clan enjoyed many privileges, and there were clear provisions and guarantees of the law, but when the privileges conflicted with the imperial rule, everything was often implemented according to the emperor's will in terms of adding titles to knights, cutting down knights, punishing and killing, etc., and the law seemed to lose all its effect at this time, and even the personal safety of the meritorious heroes who enjoyed the privilege of avoiding death was not guaranteed.

In addition, in order to maintain their rule, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty often had significantly reduced or even failed to have privileges such as exemption from death and rewards compared with previous dynasties, such as fiefdoms, and in the later period, the hereditary titles of meritorious heroes, clans, and relatives were strictly restricted.

The legal system of imperial power has been the embodiment of the supremacy of imperial power since ancient times.

Ming Taizu is the initiator of the knighthood coupon system, but also its destroyer, has raised Hu Weiyong, Lan Yu party case, wantonly killed heroes, those who have the oath of mountains and rivers, were promised the glory of the heroes, and enjoy the privilege of avoiding death The iron coupon laws and regulations are regarded as dung and disappear.

Li Shanchang, known as the "Xiao He of the Han Dynasty", as the "first minister" who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to lay down the Ming Dynasty, was given iron coupons with many privileges, but always because of Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicion, he was actually punished by more than 70 people from his wife, children, brothers and nephews. ”

At this time, he was in his eighties.

Regarding the phenomenon of imperial power dominating the legal system, Gu Yingtai commented on the Hu Lan Party case: "When I went to the League Mansion, I was in a car at night, and the blood in my mouth was not dry, so the book was drafted. ”

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the object of the knighthood and coupons was no longer strictly positioned according to the standard of "those who are not merit in the society and military merit are not allowed to be awarded", and it was often determined by the personal will of the ruler and influenced by the ministers.

During the Zhengde period, the eunuch Liu Jin controlled the government, and the governor Shenying did not have the merit of opening up the territory and expanding the territory, but bribed Liu Jin heavily, and Liu Jin ordered the matter of sealing Shenying "under the court discussion, and the courtier Xi Jin pointed out that all those who should be sealed, so they were sealed Jingyang Bo and given the world bonds. ”

Xu Youzhen's "change of seizing the door" has merit in writing to ask for a knighthood, and Ming Yingzong was happy to award him the title of martial arts uncle, "Lu Qian 100 stones, the commander of the world brocade clothes, and give the coupons".

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the meritorious heroes, clans, and relatives of knights were all systematics corresponding to the level of the title and the size of the official position, and many princes and lords held great power.

However, since the Jingnan Change, starting from Ming Chengzu, the power of the clan has been reduced, and the situation of the high lord has gradually formed a situation of dereliction of office.

In the Xuande period, Ming Xuanzong rebelled against the Han king Zhu Gaoxu, and the meritorious officials were dismissed in order to avoid suspicion, so it was stipulated that the lords only served as commissioners, so that the situation of the title and the official position was over.

Although there were a few exceptions in the later period, the trend of separating the title and the right to the title has become a stereotype.

The separation of titles and titles has gone through a long process.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu was too suspicious and suspicious of his sons, so he implemented the system of feudal division in the clan; In terms of knighthood, at first the knighthood corresponded, and important tasks were entrusted.

But later, due to the Hu Lan Party case, the knighthood of the meritorious hero began to separate. From the Jianwen period to the Xuande period, due to events such as the "Jingyan Change" and the "Han King Rebellion", the rulers increased their control over the royal family and ministers, and some meritorious officials also resigned from their official positions with real power for fear of being implicated, gradually forming a situation in which the high lords were vacant and the titles were separated.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the title became an honorary title above the official rank of deacon, although there were some special circumstances, but most of them developed along the general trend of separation of knighthood.

"I'm afraid that the cabinet doesn't know what to say, and I'm afraid the courtiers will talk a lot about this." Wei Zhongxian said at the right time.

Zhu Youxiao snorted and stood up, showing a rare imperial spirit! "What do they dare to say? In this matter, there is no need to issue a cabinet vote! Tomorrow I will go to the court in person, let's go to the court and talk about it, whoever dares to say a word of nonsense, I will send whoever to the front line in Liaodong to fight Jiannu! Even Sun Ge Lao, my mentor, something that such a great talent can't do, Wei Aiqing can do it as soon as he goes, such a talent is not rewarded, who should be rewarded? Wang Tiqian, draw up your will just now, and read it out in person tomorrow morning when you come to court. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Tiqian hurriedly said.

Wei Zhongxian probably guessed that he said to the emperor that this was the scene, but he didn't expect that the emperor would be more happy than he imagined.

This couldn't help but make Wei Zhongxian eat Wei Bao's vinegar very much, and after finishing speaking, Wei Zhongxian felt a little empty in his heart.

The emperor actually gave Wei Bao a marquis as soon as he came up?

That's too much, right?

I want Wei Bao's silver to want Wei Bao's silver, but Wei Zhongxian has never let down his guard against Wei Bao, let alone see Wei Bao's power expand violently, after all, it is not his own relatives, Wei Bao's power is expanding too fast, and it is also a huge threat to himself.

"Master, according to the old slave, wouldn't it be best to invite a few scholars from the cabinet to discuss it first? Let's talk about it first? Otherwise, if you quarrel in front of the palace, you don't know how long you will quarrel. Wei Zhongxian said.

When Wang Tiqian and Ke Baba heard this, they looked at Wei Zhongxian at the same time, and neither of them understood what Wei Zhongxian meant.

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