Chapter 399: Reform

After all, every family has descendants, and having one noble title bestowed through imperial grace is still better than having nothing at all.

Under the current rules of the Great Ming, quite a few family members receive such bestowed titles, and the posts of generals who have rendered military merit are usually hereditary as well—this is directly related to the Great Ming's system.

This is precisely what Zhu Youxiao wants to change. Outright abolition would instead breed resentment and could even provoke a huge backlash within the military. That is not what Zhu Youxiao wants to see.

Zhu Youxiao's reforms, though not yet in deep waters or touching fundamental interests, are no longer shallow either.

Stability is very important; one cannot cause too great a disturbance.

Under the Great Ming's system, soldiers with military merit are usually made hereditary members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or even hereditary local commanders. Such things are hardly rare in the Great Ming—even Qi Jiguang's own family were hereditary military households.

For low-ranking military households, this system is not a good one; it makes their lives very difficult and leaves them heavily oppressed.

But for military officers, this hereditary system can guarantee them genuine wealth and honor. Although Great Ming soldiers are also looked down upon by civil officials, compared to the Song dynasty, it is far better; compared to the lives of ordinary commoners, it is better still.

These people will naturally not easily let go of the interests they hold in their hands. If you want to touch their interests, you must compensate them from other aspects. There is no way around it.

If you want people to work, you always have to give them some benefit. Noble titles are the treasure Zhu Youxiao has taken out.

Hereditary official posts still come with salaries and real power—that is absolutely not what Zhu Youxiao wants to see.

On the contrary, empty noble titles are more attractive to military officers, and for Zhu Youxiao they merely cost a single salary.

What Zhu Youxiao wants to do is separate substantive posts from honorary titles.

You cannot have your family inherit an official post just because you rendered merit—that is absolutely impermissible, and it is absolutely of no benefit to the state.

Rewarding you with an honorary title is much easier to handle. When the time comes to revoke it, there are plenty of ways.

Back in the Han dynasty, the system of ennoblement for military merit was ruined by Emperor Wu of Han; Han titles became worthless, scattered all over the streets. Never mind dealing with a few nobles—even dealing with a dozen or so would be no problem.

"Don't all stay silent." Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Weixian and the others, and said with a smile: "I called you here today precisely to discuss governance. So-called discussion means consultation. Since it is consultation, you must speak. I simply want to hear your views—otherwise, why would I consult you at all?"

Zhu Youxiao's tone was very gentle, and his attitude very calm, making people feel at once that he was sincere.

In fact, in this regard, Zhu Youxiao had always maintained a good reputation. That is, when discussing matters, even if a minister spoke too strongly, Zhu Youxiao would not get angry or pursue the matter. This is a consensus reached among the court ministers.

However, this Emperor also has his forceful moments—namely, once he has made a decision, he absolutely will not allow anyone to comply in name only while defying him in practice.

Before His Majesty has made a decision, everyone can still speak freely. So Zhang Weixian and the others did believe Zhu Youxiao's words.

Thereupon Zhang Weixian spoke first: "Your Majesty, I think this is a good thing."

"Then speak on it." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"Everyone in the military knows that whether common soldiers or generals, they all yearn greatly for noble titles."

"However, our Great Ming has always imposed strict restrictions on noble titles; obtaining one is no easy matter. There are many reasons for this, the chief one being that the rank of Great Ming titles is set too high."

"They start from the rank of earl. Many people can never reach such merit, and so they lose that ambition and simply muddle through their days."

"But if there were viscounts and barons, it would be different—it would make those below more devoted and more ambitious. One could say it is a rare and excellent idea for improving the army's fighting strength."

The moment Zhang Weixian finished speaking, the Duke of Cheng on the side also spoke up.

With a smile on his face, he said: "Your Majesty, I believe the Duke of Ying is right—this is absolutely an idea with a hundred benefits and not a single harm."

Yuan Keli looked at Zhang Weixian and the other man, then glanced at Zhu Youxiao, feeling somewhat helpless inside.

As a civil official of the Staff Office, Yuan Keli naturally understood the significance of this matter, and also knew why these two men were endorsing it with all their might.

Is there any harm in it?

Of course there is. Once noble titles multiply, the meritorious aristocrats multiply as well, and the strength of these people will be enhanced. This is a good thing for the aristocrats, but not such a good thing for civil officials.

Of course, this is from the standpoint of a civil official.

If one considers the public interest, such rewards would add a great deal of expenditure to the court.

However, as an official of the Staff Office, Yuan Keli's thinking is different. The so-called "the rear end decides the head" describes exactly this moment.

From the Staff Office's standpoint, this is a fine opportunity to seize power. Once the reopening of noble titles comes under the Staff Office's control, that means the Staff Office has gained the ability to restrain military officers.

Though this is only a small step, what follows may well be the verification of military merit. One need not even think to know this.

This time, the verification of military merit in Liaodong is still done by the Grand Secretariat, but the noble titles are to be decided by the Staff Office. Yet by next time, even the verification of military merit will probably have to be handed to the Staff Office. This is absolutely a great power.

To grasp a power, there are nothing more than two points: personnel and money.

First, personnel refers to the power of appointment. In plain terms, it is the promotion of officials. And in the military, the verification of military merit is directly linked to the promotion of officials.

Whoever holds the power to verify military merit holds the power of appointment.

This used to be the business of the Ministry of War and the Grand Secretariat. Now, His Majesty clearly intends to transfer this power to the Staff Office—and this is only the beginning.

Second is money. Whoever has money is the boss—everyone knows this. Whether in the court or among the people, this logic holds. Whenever something involves money, it involves power.

If the Staff Office takes away the personnel power, the next step will certainly be money. In plain terms, it is how much to spend on which army.

This matter is currently decided by the Grand Secretariat as well. The Grand Secretariat communicates with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, deciding how much silver to send where and how much equipment to send where—all of this is up to them.

Once these things are also transferred to the Staff Office, that means the Staff Office has obtained both personnel and financial power, and the Great Ming's army will be completely under the Staff Office.

If the power to review the military is then stripped out as well—so that officers who commit offenses cannot be tried locally but are handed directly to the Military Discipline Department under the Staff Office—then the military will be completely separated from the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of War, and transferred under the Staff Office's name.

If it truly reaches that point, the status of soldiers will certainly be elevated. When soldiers are no longer governed by civil officials, they naturally need not show deference to civil officials—this has always been so.

For civil officials to once again try to lord over soldiers would then be an impossibility.

Only at that time would the Staff Office be considered fully established.

Ever since he came to the Staff Office, Yuan Keli had been pondering this matter.

His Majesty also transferring civil officials into the Staff Office made Yuan Keli understand another thing: His Majesty is deliberately blurring the line between civil and military. In plain terms, he wants people who are purely one or the other.

If you serve in the military office, then you are a military man; if you serve among the court's civil officials, then you are a civil man. Yuan Keli could see through these things, and he believed others could see through them too.

In the court, there are always clever people. Even if they react somewhat slowly, once the military merit matter is pushed out, these people should be able to catch on.

And within the Staff Office itself, there is probably nothing that can obstruct this matter. Yuan Keli, being a man of the Staff Office, dares not oppose it.

If Yuan Keli opposed it, he would have no place to stand in the Staff Office and would likely be heavily ostracized.

The reason is also simple: this is the Staff Office as a whole grabbing for power, yet you are opposing it—what are you thinking?

Are you not of one mind with the Staff Office?

If you are not of one mind with the Staff Office, do you think the people of the Staff Office would accept you?

So there was simply no need for Your Majesty to consult the staff office on this matter—no one in the staff office would ever oppose it. Even Yuan Keli was no exception; there was simply no way he could object.

Thereupon Yuan Keli said, "Your Majesty, your minister believes this plan is feasible."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Weixian and the others, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Since all of you esteemed ministers believe it feasible, then produce a set of regulations and properly review and fix the peerage ranks of our Great Ming."

"Your Majesty, this reviewing and fixing of peerage ranks..." Zhang Weixian said with some hesitation.

"Yes, fixing the peerage ranks." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron—the five ranks will not change. But within each rank, corresponding grades also need to be established."

"For example, Duke can be divided into District Duke, Commandery Duke, and State Duke; Baron can likewise be divided into District Baron, Commandery Baron, and State Baron."

Upon hearing these words, the expressions on Zhang Weixian and the others' faces turned serious.

This was no simple matter of creating a new peerage rank—His Majesty was about to make a move against the hereditary nobles at court.

Redrawing the peerage ranks meant some could rise and some could fall. Even if one's rank did not drop, one might still be reclassified within the rank. You are currently an Earl, and then they give you a lower-grade Earl—can you stomach that?

After being classified as a lower-grade Earl, wouldn't you want to rise up?

His Majesty intended to restore the military merit system and completely overturn the peerage established by the Founding Emperor.

The Founding Emperor had kept the peerage tightly suppressed back in his day, and now His Majesty had dug it all back up.

"Your Majesty, your minister feels that aside from Duke, using State, Commandery, and District designations is not quite appropriate." Zhang Weixian said after thinking for a moment.

Hearing Zhang Weixian's words, Yuan Keli turned his head to look over, his expression quite complicated.

He had not expected Zhang Weixian to be so utterly devoid of principles.

After His Majesty raised this matter, Zhang Weixian did not even show the slightest intention of opposing it—he simply started offering suggestions right away?

Clearly he was prepared to skip the stage of debate and move straight to implementation.

Yuan Keli also understood that given Zhang Weixian's current status and position, the Duke of Ying's household was certainly untouchable.

Whether in terms of capability or character, Zhang Weixian was top-notch, and His Majesty relied on him considerably. Even with the peerage redrawn, Zhang Weixian's family would certainly still be State Dukes.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Weixian naturally would approve. But for the other hereditary nobles, this was probably not good news.

Was Zhang Weixian not afraid of offending people?

He truly had a thick face and a heart without any bottom line.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Weixian and nodded with satisfaction. This was exactly the kind of minister he wanted.

Having been in contact with him for so long, if he could not even figure out such a small intention of his, then such a person could no longer be used.

Zhang Weixian had clearly already discerned his intentions and knew what needed to be done.

"Oh? Then what thoughts does the Duke of Ying have?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Weixian and said with a smile.

"Why not use Lower Baron, Middle Baron, and Upper Baron?" Zhang Weixian said after thinking it over.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao furrowed his brow.

The designation was not actually the key point—the designation of a peerage rank corresponded to a fief. But after so many years, one should not even dream of fiefs, so they had essentially degenerated into mere titles.

However, for Zhu Youxiao, the matter of fiefs was something he genuinely wanted to try—it was just that they could not possibly be enfeoffed within Great Ming's borders.

Reopening the peerage was preparation for future expansion; Great Ming's territory would only grow larger and larger. After expanding outward, enfeoffment would be the best method—let those who are enfeoffed go develop the frontier, for people will only manage their own territory with genuine care.

As for how large the enfeoffment could be, that would certainly correspond to the rank—the higher the office, the larger the fief.

Zhu Youxiao also wanted to combine this enfeoffment with colonization, but for now it was only a thought.

But if the names were changed, it might be troublesome to act later. So for now, the names should not be changed—precisely so that everything would be justified and legitimate.

Thereupon Zhu Youxiao said, "There's no need to change the names—after all, they are just titles."

Seeing that Zhu Youxiao had pondered for quite a while before saying such words, Zhang Weixian understood in his heart that His Majesty had other ideas. So he smiled and said, "Your Majesty speaks truly; this matter should indeed be handled this way."

Yuan Keli, watching from the side, truly did not know what to say about Zhang Weixian.

This man's flattery truly knew no bounds.

But Yuan Keli also understood that His Majesty wanted to use this opportunity to rein in those hereditary nobles and make them nervous.

Don't think that just because you hold a peerage you can coast through life—when it truly comes time to act, this His Majesty of ours will not show any softness.

"In that case, let this matter be settled then." Zhu Youxiao said, "After you return, produce a set of regulations as soon as possible and submit it; if there are any issues, we can discuss them further."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Weixian respectfully acknowledged, then stood up and said, "If Your Majesty has no other instructions, your ministers will take their leave."

"Go ahead." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

Zhang Weixian and the others stood up, bowed respectfully, turned around, and walked out.

Watching the backs of the departing men, Zhu Youxiao began to ponder inwardly—the staff office still needed more people transferred in; the current personnel was still a bit thin.

After Sun Chuanting stepped down, a position had just opened up. But who would be suitable for this position, Zhu Youxiao had not yet decided.

Speaking of it, the staff office seemed to be lacking a military general. Which military general of Great Ming was highly respected and had truly earned his reputation through actual military achievements?