Chapter 288: Favor
Zhou Heng waited a while, and seeing that he still didn't speak, he added, "There's one more thing. With the hereditary nobility and emoluments abolished, shouldn't we prevent other 'noble' or 'emolument' titles from reappearing?"
His finger touched the last line of text on the folded document, which read: "Abolish the hereditary system of official appointments by hereditary families, and the system of granting imperial favors." The two characters for "granting imperial favors" were written in the largest and thickest ink.
"The primogeniture system is the foundation for the continuation of aristocratic families. The eldest son of the legitimate wife receives the lion's share, while the other sons of concubines and those from collateral branches receive a smaller share. The legitimate line always suppresses the collateral line, and the collateral line always depends on the legitimate line."
The family line continues to grow, generation after generation, ensuring the prosperity of the clan and the flourishing of the direct line. But what if the eldest son's share were divided among all the sons?
His eyes shone astonishingly bright in the candlelight, like two burning embers covered with a thin layer of ash, their surface glowing with scorching heat, almost bursting forth. "The eldest son takes a share, the second son takes a share, and the youngest son takes a share. As it's divided, the family fortune dissipates, and the family power weakens. By the third or fourth generation, what difference is there between them and ordinary people?"
After listening, Xiao Jue remained silent for a long time.
"Okay." Xiao Jue's voice was not loud, but it was deep.
On the morning of the tenth day of the second month, Xiao Jue did not have Zhou Heng read the memorial aloud himself, but instead had an eunuch read it aloud in front of everyone.
The eunuch's shrill voice echoed through the hall, each word like a stone thrown forcefully, striking the ears of the officials and their nerves, which had been stretched too thin for too long.
Silence fell upon the hall once more.
Xiao Jue sat on the throne, waited for a while, and then uttered a single word: "Discuss."
"Discussion" means to discuss. But no one spoke.
They can't stay in one place for more than a few years before leaving, and they can't establish any real foothold there.
He doesn't have military power, financial power, or judicial oversight power; he has no say in anything.
Is this still an official? But can he say such a thing? No. Because His Majesty said it was for "mutual checks and balances to prevent excessive power." To oppose it is to approve of excessive power; to approve of excessive power is to want excessive power for oneself. There's no escaping this logic.
Xiao Jue waited for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then waited for the time it takes to drink another cup of tea.
The sunlight outside the main hall shone on the golden bricks, slowly moving inward from the entrance, inch by inch, like an invisible hand measuring the thickness of this silent space.
No one stepped forward, no one spoke, and even the coughs were deliberately kept to a minimum.
Xiao Jue nodded and said one word: "Approved."
The decree was drafted that afternoon and sent directly from the Qianqing Palace to the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and other departments throughout the country, without going through the cabinet.
The resistance to reform quickly shifted from the imperial court to the local level.
It wasn't that the people in the court didn't want to oppose it, but that they didn't dare. The blood of the aristocratic families hadn't dried yet, the houses of the Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Shen families were still sealed off, and those who were exiled to Lingnan, Guizhou, and Yunnan were still on their way. Some of them hadn't even reached their destination before dying on the way due to illness, injury, or acclimatization problems in foreign lands.
To jump out and oppose at this time would be tantamount to telling His Majesty, "I am the next Cui Yin," wouldn't it? Nobody is that stupid.
But things are different in other places.
Those who served as officials in prefectures, counties, and districts for many years included some from collateral branches of aristocratic families, others who, though not from aristocratic families, had formed intricate connections of interest with aristocratic families through long-term local governance, and still others who were recommended, cultivated, and promoted by aristocratic families.
The downfall of the powerful families was an earthquake for them, but that earthquake only destroyed the roofs and killed others. They hid in the corner, covered in dust and dirt, but at least they were still alive.
Now the decree is to demolish the foundation, to uproot the entire house, and to dig out the corners, leaving them nowhere to hide.
The responses from other states were largely similar.
Some cursed, some smashed cups, some slammed tables, and some cursed Zhou Heng's ancestors for eighteen generations behind his back. But the decree had arrived, and the power to demolish what should be demolished still had to be demolished, the power to divide what should be divided still had to be divided, the seals to be handed over still had to be handed over, and the people to be replaced still had to be replaced.
Those officials who had been in local positions for many years, had deep roots and many followers, were either transferred to other places, promoted in name but demoted in reality, or forced to retire.