Chapter 262 Reward and Punishment Measures

Control population?

Hearing Tang Hao's words, everyone wanted to spit in his face.

Especially Emperor Zhu Houzhao, his expression suddenly became strange.

You should know that the Chinese people all pay attention to inheritance and succession, and the incense is endless. There are three unfilial acts, and the worst is to have no descendants.

Whether it is the emperor or the prince, the most important task is to expand and continue the royal bloodline!

As a result, now you, Tang Hao, directly proposed that the Ming royal family control the population. Who gave you the courage?

How many heads do you have to chop off, the Marquis of Zhongshan?

If they really do this, they will all be infamous for "bewitching the emperor".

Yang Tinghe coughed lightly and reminded in a low voice: "Marquis Tang, as the saying goes, there are three unfilial acts, and the worst is to have no descendants. Expanding and expanding is human nature, and it is also a practice that human ethics and customs have always supported!"

"Anyway, this strategy is simply not feasible and cannot be implemented at all."

Hearing this, Tang Hao smiled and shook his head.

"What I mean is that the court does not need to issue relevant policies, but relies on the princes' own consciousness!"

The princes themselves...consciously?

If they are conscious, will they still desperately give birth to children and ask the court for money and food?

The ministers looked at Tang Hao with suspicion, not knowing what the Zhongshan Marquis was selling.

"In fact, the reason is very simple. That is the reward and punishment system."

"The reward and punishment system is not only applicable to the army, but also to any place, such as official administration, such as clan management!"

Tang Hao directly stated the strategy.

"The first step is to reduce the level of clan titles. The original eight levels will be cut down by three levels. After reaching the fifth level of Fengguo General, the next three levels will be cut down. The three titles of lieutenant are no longer needed. The clan members who reach the level of lieutenant will automatically remove their clan identity just like the daughter of the clan, and the court will no longer provide them with salaries."

When this was said, everyone was shocked.

The so-called daughter of a princess and her husband, a daughter born to a royal family, has no salary to receive and the court will not care about her. The word "out" determines her life.

But the Marquis of Zhongshan wants to cut three lieutenant ranks at once, and those princes and royal families will definitely be in an uproar and will never obey or compromise!

This is the problem!

So, what is the Marquis of Zhongshan's opinion?

"Of course, if the first step is implemented, the princes and royal family will definitely be dissatisfied, because this will damage their interests. To put it bluntly, it will cut off their financial resources and reduce a large amount of their money and grain in disguise. No one will agree to it!"

"So, if the court wants to satisfy the princes and royal family, it must find a way to make up for this part of the interests from other places. This requires the reward and punishment system that Fang Caichen mentioned!"

"The second step is to set up open and transparent reward and punishment measures. No matter which lineage in the fiefdom, it must be based on the prince's lineage. The other branches will also be managed by the prince. When these princes' main lines come to the royal family, they will become branches again, with the royal family as the main one!"

"Then the problem is simple. Your Majesty does not need to increase the royal family's salary, but can set up a royal family year-end bonus, that is, add up the annual salary of the last three levels of royal family as a bonus to all royal family members."

Royal family... year-end bonus?

What kind of strange thing is this?

Yang Tinghe and other court officials were at a loss.

Zhu Houzhao seemed to be thinking about something.

Under the long-term influence of Tang Hao's vernacular novels, the Ming Zhengde Emperor was gradually making rapid progress in an unknown and uncontrollable direction!

"Ye... That Lord Tang, please tell me in detail."

"The principle is very simple, that is, to take out a sum of money and grain that is not necessary, which is ostensibly the salary of the three-level lieutenant clan that has been cut, and then wait until the end of the year to distribute it uniformly, and each vassal king will get such an extra reward."

"However, how much and how to distribute the clan year-end bonus, which princes and dukes should be paid, and which generals should not be paid, is it not decided by the court? The final right of interpretation of the clan year-end bonus belongs to the court, and the basis for distribution is the performance of the clan in the past year!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up immediately, and his eyes were filled with a fiery light.

Cut off three levels, confiscate the salary, and turn it into a "clan year-end bonus"?

How much to distribute, how to distribute, who to distribute to, who not to distribute to... all are decided by the court!

And the basis for distributing the year-end bonus is based on the performance of the princes and royal family throughout the year!

There is so much room for maneuver in this!

Yang Tinghe, Wang Ao and other important officials in the court also reacted and were secretly amazed.

The idea of ​​Zhongshan Hou is really... very clever!

This year-end bonus is simply a stroke of genius!

The more I think about it, the more I think it is very interesting.

Yang Tinghe couldn't help looking at Tang Hao, and subconsciously asked: "Tang Hou, do you have any good suggestions on how to distribute it specifically?"

Tang Hao took a sip of tea and casually gave a few examples.

"For example, regarding the fertility rate we just mentioned, the imperial court does not need to issue a special policy. It only needs to set an upper limit. For example, a royal family member can have a maximum of three children. Once this upper limit is exceeded, the fertility rate will be evaluated as poor. Alternatively, the Zongzheng Temple will only register these five children and not recognize the rest. Wouldn't this achieve population control?"

"Even if there are princes who accidentally have children, they will have to support their own children. The court will not recognize them as members of the royal family, let alone pay them salaries. The difference between being supported by the court and supporting themselves is huge. Even a fool knows that the more children they have, the greater the financial burden will be. They will control it themselves."

"This is to make the royal family and princes take the initiative, otherwise they will pay the price for their actions, instead of the current situation where they only have children and the court is responsible for supporting them. How can there be such a good thing in the world? Do you really think that the court has no majesty?"

A word awakened the dreamer!

Yang Tinghe, Wang Ao and others looked at each other. They had never thought that solving the problem of royal family having children would be so simple.

Just by changing the idea, the court went from passive to active.

Whether to have a child or not is a matter for the royal family members to decide, but who will support the child after it is born has become a standard. With this standard in place, these royal family members naturally dare not use such dirty means to ask the court for money and food.

And in a sense, this slight change to the ancestral law does not seem to be a big problem.

After all, the court did support the children of the royal family, but not completely.

This one alone can greatly reduce the court's financial expenditure!

For a time, the ministers began a heated discussion, hoping to implement this strategy.

After all, as long as the royal family's salary can be reduced, it will be a great joy for the country!