Chapter 109 Section 6 A Special Group in the Ming Empire

The twenty families that Zhu Yuanzhang met when he returned home later became a special group in the Ming Empire. They were established as mausoleum households by Zhu Yuanzhang, so they don't have to work in the fields, enjoy state subsidies, and are hereditary from descendants. After Zhu Yuanzhang formulated the etiquette system for all classes in the world, he also specially stipulated that the red used by officials can be used for the construction of houses for these 20 mausoleum households.The so-called "Whether there is rich or poor, all Zhuhu will be given back to their families."Several generations later, some mausoleum households were dilapidated and lived in "thatched huts and chaifei", but "the Shang still Shizhu" (Shen Shiqian's "Mingliang Lulue").

In the second year of Hongwu, Fengyang built the imperial mausoleum on a large scale. Because of the large scale of the project, the cemetery surrounded the ancestral graves of many villagers.According to the regulations of previous dynasties, these ordinary tombs should be moved out of the imperial mausoleum for burial separately, and should not be mixed with the imperial mausoleum.Zhu Yuanzhang specifically approved that they do not need to move, and allowed them to enter the imperial mausoleum at will: "This tomb is all my old neighbors, so there is no need to move out. During the Spring and Autumn Festival, I can't help but listen to it." ("Zhu Yuanzhang and Fengyang") When he heard that some of the villagers were living in poverty, Zhu Yuanzhang would also give them money and land.According to the records, in February of the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, he "given Wang Lun, the order of the Imperial Mausoleum Temple Sacrifice Department (Wang Wen had passed away at this time, and Wang Lun took over) and seventy-seven households who guarded the tomb. First, the mountain mausoleum Therefore, I ordered to give Lun and other fields to give priority to his relatives."

Zhu Yuanzhang has always been straightforward when speaking to fellow villagers, just like chatting with his own family members.Once, Wang Wenhui reported that he wanted to have more officials in his office, so that the children of the villagers could have good jobs.Zhu Yuanzhang did not agree, and specially issued an imperial edict saying: Yesterday, Wang Shu ordered to play against the officials, and I will not go with him.Officials make more troubles and harm people.If the descendants of good people become officials, they will harm the people.From among your mausoleums, just choose those who can read a few words and get their names.What's the big deal in your mausoleum?One year of sacrifices, once the wheel is stopped, the pigs are sacrificed and the pigs are eaten, and the sheep are sacrificed and the sheep are eaten, and so on.