Wanli Youming

Chapter 38

On December [-]th of the first year of Wanli, the snow stopped for the first time and the sun was shining brightly.

The monarchs and ministers in the Wenhua Palace have just finished a lecture on Confucian classics.

The lecturers were still unsatisfied.

Emperor Zhu Yijun couldn't wait to start discussing with Zhang Juzheng about the situation of the New Deal.

"I've already read the exam papers. However, there are more than fifty incompetent officials! Is the administration really so bad, sir?"

Zhu Yijun asked this question directly before and after Zhang Juzheng came to Yuqian.

Zhang Juzheng cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Qi Zuo. Although it is bad, it is not irreparable. At least His Majesty can still know that the government is bad. This shows that the caresses at the bottom can be loyal to the imperial court, and they know how to report truthfully and not hide anything. do not excuse;"

"And if you don't even want to report it, or make a false report to whitewash the peace, then it's time to die!"

"Therefore, Your Majesty does not need to be disappointed with his officials. Although they may be lazy or even mediocre, at least they are loyal and not obsequious."

"What's more, this time the examination is based on the standards that Hai Rui expects. It is difficult to be honest and capable without being too swayed by the rich and powerful. Unless the emperor is in power, it is impossible to make all the virtuous and talented people in the world reach this level."

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Seeing that Zhu Yijun listened, Zhang Juzheng continued: "Besides, this also shows that they believe that the imperial court will deal with it fairly, and will give them a convincing decision. , have a tolerant and considerate heart, and will understand their difficulties, but not to the point of disharmony and mutual suspicion."

"Sir, what you mean by this is that Huang Ming is still relatively clean and upright at the moment. Although the government is very bad, it is not yet the time when the country is in danger of subjugation, but if it goes on like this, I'm afraid it will be completely different in a few decades, right? "

Zhu Yijun asked.

Zhang Juzheng nodded: "What your Majesty said is true, so we should treat it now while it is possible! It cannot be said that in the future, every time the palace makes a policy, no matter whether it is good or evil, all opinions will be opposed, and scholars will gather together to resist, but what the opinions advocate , the palace will definitely oppose it, so that the party will be imprisoned and the king will be disturbed by it."

Hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Zhu Yijun suddenly thought of the struggle for the foundation of the country in the late Wanli period in history. When the matter went down, no matter what the king's chief assistant said, the subordinates would oppose it, and the emperor would not follow what the subordinates proposed; in the end, although Zhu Changluo ascended the throne, although there was a so-called "all positive and prosperous dynasty", it intensified the dispute between the party and the party. Hong Wan kept arguing about these matters, and even in Nanming, they even set up a fake prince case, which was endlessly debated.

Compared with this, the so-called bad governance of officials in the early Wanli period is indeed not serious. At least these powerful officials who patrol and patrol in various places are willing to truthfully explain to the court the situation of their completion of government affairs, instead of questioning the correctness of the ruler's doing so, and choose Disobedience or obedience.

Of course, Zhu Yijun knew that this did not rule out the fact that Zhang Juzheng had communicated with the leaders of scholars like Xu Jie in advance, and the reason for the arrangement for many years was that the governors and inspectors were still willing to give him Zhang Juzheng's face and cooperate with him in reforming the system. Be honest about your problems.

"So, I can't be too harsh on them?"

Zhu Yijun also asked Zhang Juzheng about this.

Zhang Juzheng cupped his hands: "Your Majesty is holy! Your Majesty's reform of the examination system is not to make enemies of thousands of officials in the world, but to guide their public and private affairs, and to manage their yin and yang. The so-called king is like a father, and ministers are like sons. It is not right for your majesty to use power over his ministers." Killing them, but making them talented, can benefit the country and the people. They are all disciples of the Son of Heaven, and they are the medicine stones for His Majesty to deal with the world's ills, not the bandits you want to get rid of."

Zhu Yijun smiled slightly.

He had to admit that Zhang Juzheng taught himself that he had obviously never intended to make the emperor treat the bureaucracy as an enemy, but was trying his best to convince himself that the emperor believed in the bureaucrats of Ming Dynasty and made good use of them.

Zhu Yijun understood this.

After all, Zhang Juzheng is also one of them. Even if he is a politician who is determined to reform, he is also one of them. It is impossible to really encourage him, the emperor, to trample on the bones of the world's public officials, and would rather believe in domestic slaves than Confucian scholars.

"Since you said so, why are you still willing to use Zhao Zhenji in the end?"

Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

Because Zhu Yijun already knew through the factory guards that as soon as Zhao Zhenji entered Beijing, he threatened to depose all incompetent officials and transfer all incompetent officials from the six departments to foreign officials.

In this era, being transferred to a foreign official is a heavy punishment for the six subjects, which basically means that the quality of official career will be greatly reduced.

Even the end of most people's official career can only reach below the third rank.

Undoubtedly, Zhao Zhenji is more ruthless than Zhang Juzheng.

That's why Zhu Yijun asked about Zhang Juzheng.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Mr. Zhao Ge is not a man of light and dust, so I recommend him to use him, in a word of sincerity."

"As a minister, you should be honest in everything, since there is no room for sincerity, so you would rather disobey than deceive. Although Mr. Zhao Ge is inconsiderate, he can be a good minister for your majesty; although the officials are afraid of him, they are also because of his sincerity. There will be no resentment, using him is beneficial to His Majesty's benevolence and kindness to the world, and it will not lose the wisdom of using people."

Zhang Juzheng replied.

"I understand. Thank you sir for your advice."

Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Zhang Juzheng immediately cupped his hands and bowed: "The minister is terrified!"

Wanli took the initiative to ask and was willing to listen, which made Zhang Juzheng a little bit excited, and opened his mouth to speak again.

At this time, Zhu Yijun turned his head and asked Shen Li who was behind him: "Do you remember? You can't miss Mr. Today's words in the daily notes."

Shen Li cupped his hands and replied: "Return to Your Majesty, I have remembered it, and nothing has been missed."

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng grinned slightly, but didn't say anything else.

Zhu Yijun continued to say at this time: "I have benefited a lot from listening to Mr. Wang today. I know that I need to be a wise king myself before I can guide the ministers to be virtuous and capable ministers that meet the requirements of the examination."

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Zhang Juzheng replied.

Ask the canal how clear it is, because there is a source of flowing water.

Zhu Yijun knew that the historical Wanli Dynasty was able to rejuvenate in the early days. The main reason was that the emperor Wanli himself had a desire to govern at this time, whether it was due to the innocence of his youth, or because his youthful vigor was still there, or because he was really taught by Zhang Juzheng. Infection, in short, the Wanli New Deal is not only related to the chief assistant being Zhang Juzheng, but also related to the emperor Wanli at this time.

As for why the later Emperor Wanli changed, it was naturally due to Wanli himself, Zhang Juzheng, and the degeneration of the entire landlord class.

"My lord, after the property of the Feng Baohe family was confiscated, all of them have been sorted out, including the one-year Haili of the Xu family, which has also been transported to Beijing and registered in the warehouse. The total value is more than 350 million taels of silver."

After Zhu Yijun returned to the palace, Zhang Hong reported to him the final verification results of the confiscation of Feng Bao's property.

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun thought of what Zhang Juzheng said to him in the morning, and knew that the emperor himself was full of official grievances by a group of reformers under him, so that he, the emperor, had no room to sing bad faces, so he could only mediate his grievances with kindness. In order not to aggravate the internal conflicts among the bureaucrats because of the restructuring, he first asked Zhang Hong: "I remember that the eunuchs of the 24 yamen in the inner court and the ladies in the palace haven't paid their full salary for a long time?"

(End of this chapter)