My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 371 Magnificent Picture Scroll

However, when these Haixi tribal chiefs pointed to the long population of captives behind them, they expressed to the Ming court officials that they had enough prisoners.

Even the obedient slaves behind him find it difficult to feed them all.

Not to mention that these people in front of him had just killed their parents and brothers, and the two sides were already complete enemies.

It is even less possible for him to distribute some of his own tribe's insufficient food to the children of these enemies.

"So, those young scholars who were overflowing with sympathy spent their own money to buy all these Jurchen slaves back home?"

Although Liu Zhen had heard about the Jurchen war, his knowledge of it was limited to those Tieling guards who were recruited to guard the border and then returned to Tieling to continue guarding.

Hearing this, Liu Zhen said in a half-joking tone.

However, his expression remained serious.

Obviously, the answer that the scholars' sympathy was overwhelming did not satisfy Liu Zhen.

As a censor under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Metropolitan Procuratorate, he was only responsible for recording the merits and demerits of the Tieling garrison soldiers.

Confucian ethics allowed him to still consciously assume the responsibility of supervising officials and assisting the king.

"of course not--"

The young master of the Zhao family next to him also realized that Liu Zhen was not that easy to fool.

He said with a wry smile, trying to dispel the vigilance of the censor in front of him.

He made a second joke.

Successfully made Liu Zhen's expression relax.

"How many of the scholars admitted since the Jiajing period can afford the expenses of hundreds of Jurchen slaves?"

Speaking of this, Mr. Zhao looked helpless.

Indeed, if these soldiers accompanying the army paid for the slaves, whether they were fostered with the Haixi Jurchens or brought back to the Ming court to settle down.

That's not a bad thing.

In the end, it was impossible for these Jurchen prisoners to fall into the hands of the wealthy Liaodong families.

They also have to bear certain risks.

However, since the emperor raised the status of the Qintian Prison and opened up the martial arts examinations, most of the children of wealthy families in the world have either joined the Qintian Prison or entered the martial arts examinations.

The number of children from wealthy families who chose to take the imperial examination to become officials plummeted.

The number of children from poor families admitted has skyrocketed.

It has even reached the point where none of the fifty people admitted are from a big landowner family with thousands of hectares of farmland at home.

After all, the number of people admitted to the imperial examination over the years has been limited.

Since many of these wealthy families have inheritances, it is obviously not appropriate to spend a lot of time memorizing the essence of the sages.

After all, in this world, wealth and strength are almost equal.

This wealth of course refers to more than just money.

Land, population, and even control of the clan are all types of wealth.

In this dangerous world, you can possess these things without being invaded by evil spirits or taken away by heretics.

The strength of this family in the local area is evident.

Although there is a high probability that they would not dare to directly disobey the government's orders and invite conquest from the court.

But there is a high probability that public security in a place can be maintained on its own.

If local officials want to accomplish something and achieve some political achievements, they must reach an agreement with them.

And although the children of wealthy families have family inheritance.

However, most of these inheritances are the most practical self-protection techniques, and few inheritances of any family are related to the imperial examination.

Therefore, when taking the imperial examination, there is not much advantage compared with those children from poor families.

After all, everyone is reading Confucian classics, and except for a few geniuses, no one is better than anyone else.

When it comes to writing articles, except for those "my dad is the chief minister" and those who can cheat openly, they have great hands and eyes.

There is a high probability that you will still have to wait for the imperial court to release the results, and then prepare to go to Beijing for a re-examination next time.

Moreover, the imperial examinations are not held every year, and if emergencies occur, such as the sudden death of Emperor Zhengde, Jurchen/Mongolian/Japanese pirates, etc. harassing the capital, the imperial examinations will be postponed.

They have only practiced a few self-defense skills, but they are not immortal.

On the contrary, most magic relies on the power of ghosts, gods and evil spirits, and has some unspeakable side effects on the body.

Not only may your life span not be extended, but you may also lose a lot of your life span. Compared with the imperial examination, which is full of unknowns... On the contrary, the path to Qin Tianjian or joining the Forbidden Army or the Border Army through military examination looks brighter.

Therefore, after hearing that the imperial court had relaxed its restrictions, most wealthy families had no scruples in recruiting a large number of strangers to serve in the capital.

A large number of children from wealthy families resolutely chose to give up the imperial examination and start directly from Qin Tianjian, preparing to overtake in corners.

Zhu Houcong's policies directly and greatly enhanced the strength of the central court. As for since the effect was so good, why didn't the previous Ming emperors do this?

First of all, the Qintian Prison was set up in the capital, gathering a group of the most capable people in the world here. The previous Ming court suffered from the failure of foreign wars and cruel internal political struggles.

The strength is greatly damaged.

Not only the noble disciples who were responsible for defending the capital were directly destroyed in the civil fort.

The empire's central army suffered a devastating blow.

In the end, the Mongols were defeated only by relying on local armed forces from various places to come to the capital to rescue them.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty may not be sure that he can suppress these armies of capable people from different forces.

Moreover, these people received salaries from the imperial court, and it was not money given directly to them by the emperor. If other forces in the capital contributed funds——

Such forces as the queen mother, the prince, the vassal king, the cabinet, the mother clan of the harem and concubines, etc., promised huge profits.

Their loyalty to the emperor was also unguaranteed.

After all, seeing that you are unhappy, we can just change our allegiance to another emperor.

Shivering! Anyway, we are all working for the Ming Emperor. Who dares to say that we who welcome the new emperor and follow the dragon's merits are not considered loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty?

That is to say, Zhu Houcong did not put these representatives of local powerful people in the eyes of all the forces in the capital, so extraordinary creatures dared to play like this.

Under this system, the empire does not need to consider any checks and balances, the balance of central and local forces.

There is no need to waste resources on the endless internal friction in the world.

Can easily mobilize the country's resources to carry out wars or various operations.

Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious.

That is, as long as Zhu Forbidden City shows the slightest sign of weakness.

Representatives from various forces in the world can depose and establish a new king anytime and anywhere. They only need to climb over the high palace wall, knock out a few forbidden soldiers, and draft the abdication edict for the young emperor in the morning. They can announce the change of dynasty in the afternoon.

There is no need to even engage in large-scale wars that were brutal in the past to compete for the world.

There is no need, as in the past, to first destroy the administrative organizations at the state and county level in the empire, and then defeat the militias of various state governments. After completing the integration of resources, accept the surrender of the capital garrison.

A peaceful transfer of supreme power can be completed.

The civil servants of the empire obviously also saw the crisis inherent in this system.

Maybe it's because these old fritters can't see it anymore.

Wang Qiong has publicly expressed concerns about Qin Tianjian's growing strength more than once.

After all, thousands of the most powerful men with special skills from all over the world gathered in the capital. Once they went crazy, the empire's army could not even guarantee that they could be suppressed quickly.

Liang Chu also hinted many times that the responsibilities of the Qin Tianjian should be transferred to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, and its power and authority should be split, and its scale should also be reduced to a certain extent.

in order to achieve mutual checks and balances.

But Zhu Houcong didn't care about the cabinet's concerns.

After all, Qin Tian Jian might cause rebellion? That is all a matter for future generations.

Zhu Houcong did not feel that they dared to openly challenge his authority.

Although Zhu Houcong does not consider himself an idealist.

He only cares about whether the empire's military and administrative machinery can complete the tasks assigned by him.

As for whether the descendants of the Zhu family can keep their rights in the future, whether they will abdicate in favor of talents or be forced to establish a constitutional monarchy, or even the whole family will be driven out of the capital, and finally they will be reduced to the point where they can't even get a household registration in the capital.

That has nothing to do with him.

The world does not need an incompetent emperor——

There is no need for incompetent but authoritarian mediocre people to fight for their own rights and drag everyone into destruction.

Zhu Houcong was convinced that only when his authority accompanied the empire spread all over the world.

The demons dispersed and all barbarians surrendered.

Only then can the magnificent age of peace and prosperity truly come to this world.

Back to its rightful place——

(End of this chapter)