eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 649 Material determines spirit
In the fifth year of Zhengde's reign, the emperor transferred Fei Hong to the position of governor of Fengyang, but he was not particularly outstanding. Three years later, he entered Beijing and became the minister of the Ministry of official affairs.

Originally Han Wen was destined to be an official, but Fei Hong was born in the imperial examination and served two terms as governor, so he should be qualified for the position of Minister of Household Affairs. Historically, he had already entered the cabinet at this time.

But the emperor did not 'fall in love' with him.

Fei Hong was good at everything. He was excellent in both studies and conduct. He was very talented and promising. He was dedicated to the country and upholding his dignity. He could be regarded as a veteran and important minister. He had also followed the emperor for many years. Zhu Houzhao knew Fei Hong when he was still in the Prince's Mansion. .

But he occasionally made Zhu Houzhao feel that he was more than prudent, but not enough in character.

It's a bit like Cao Shen behind Xiao He, and Shen Shixing behind Zhang Juzheng, but Zhu Houzhao wanted Xiao Gui and Cao to follow, not Cao who wanted Xiao Gui and Cao to follow.

There is also a difference between the current Zhengde era and the historical period.
In history, many ministers stayed away from the court because of Wu Zong's idleness. In the tenth year of Zhengde, Yang Tinghe was already the chief minister of the cabinet.

But it's different now. Yang Yiqing is still there, and even Liu Jian is still active. After them, Wang Shouren, Wang Qiong, Wang Tingxiang, Wang Hao, Zhang Cong, Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Peng Ze, Mao Ji... are all here.

Zhu Houzhao himself also trained and promoted some ministers.

With so many capable ministers in the same court, it would be very difficult for Fei Hong to join the cabinet again.

Therefore, he served as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel for two years, and this year he was transferred to the Minister of Rites. In addition, he was also appointed to take charge of the Academy and the Imperial College. He was still an important but easily replaced role.

However, Fei Hong himself had no major flaws, so Zhu Houzhao never thought of replacing him.

It was good for him to go to the Ministry of Rites. When he was in Zhan Shifu, his boss was Wang Hua. Now, nearly 20 years later, the two of them are reunited.

Let's go back to the Governor of Fengyang.

Eight years after Zhengde, the emperor transferred another person, Song Heng, who was originally the chief envoy in Zhejiang, to patrol Fengyang.

Having been on the throne for ten years, it is inevitable and should be that a new generation of ministers with more open minds and more active ideas gradually take up important positions.

When Zhu Houzhao ordered Wang Hao to disseminate practical theories of worldly affairs in the academies and improve the style of writing and officialdom, Song Heng was the representative among the officials who came out.

In addition, there are Zhang Li, Chen Ji, Zhang Chi, etc.

Fengyang Governor's Yamen is in Huai'an.

On this day, Yang Shen, an attendant in the attendant's office, came to visit. He took out a note from his sleeve, "Song Zhongcheng, the imperial driver has set off from Jinan. When setting off, His Majesty strictly ordered the prefectures, prefectures, and counties on the road not to obstruct the people from stopping the sedan chair to express their grievances." , For this reason, Your Majesty has already arrested a person in Jinan. I paid a special visit today to inform him of this matter. I also hope that Song Zhongcheng will control his subordinates well so as not to anger the Holy One and bring harm to himself."

"How dare you disobey His Majesty's imperial edict?" Song Heng did not dare to be careless after hearing this, "I will pass it on right now. Attendant Yang, besides these, does Your Majesty have any other instructions?"

"There are salt merchants who have strongly requested for the palace, and your Majesty has already agreed, so Song Zhongcheng does not have to worry too much. Your Majesty's southern tour is to check the public sentiment in various places. Huai'an is the junction of the Huaihe River, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yellow River. Your Majesty has made it clear We need to inspect the river affairs. I know what Song Zhongcheng wants to ask, but who can control His Majesty’s will? Therefore, it is possible to inspect any section of the river embankment."

Governor Fengyang was also the governor of the river.

He couldn't escape any of this.

Song Heng thought to himself that fortunately he never joked about important matters like the river embankment, so now he could feel at peace, "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for reminding me."

After Yang Shen left, Song Heng immediately ordered his troops to set off.

Before the emperor wanted to see the river embankment, he had to look at it first.

There is a bottom line, but you can't lie down and sleep in the yamen, otherwise your attitude will be wrong.

Unless you are absolutely sure, no matter where the emperor looks, that's fine.To be honest, any normal person would choose to be more conservative and go and see for themselves first.

In ancient times, ministers always tried their best to prevent the emperor from leaving the palace.

One of the reasons is that as it is now, once the emperor goes out, most officials everywhere will be in a state of panic.Since Song Heng, the governor of the river, officials from all over the country have asked him to mobilize.Because he didn’t know which section of the river embankment the emperor would be looking at, he could only check them one by one.

This is the purpose of leadership inspections.

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to go all the way to arrest people, so he told them clearly that he was going to inspect the river embankment.In fact, they are asked to check for omissions and fill in the gaps and get the job done quickly.

As an emperor, the ultimate goal is to get things done, rather than to catch a few corrupt officials to vent their emotions. He has watched it for ten years in his previous life, and has been an emperor for another ten years in this life. He has long understood that corrupt officials in the world are the killers. Endless, if you are limited to this every day, then who will do it in the end?
Therefore, the ancient sages also said that if the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if people are careful, there will be no disciples.

The emperor was basically half-lying in his wide carriage, and the body of the carriage was shaking slightly, but he had gradually gotten used to this feeling of no shock absorption.

While resting on the roadside.

Jin Gui and Gu Zuo, who rushed back, reported what they saw to the emperor.

The situation in Shandong is indeed much better. With sweet potatoes, most people can still eat enough. This is a good thing.

On the bad side, the number of evil-minded squires in various places has not decreased because of the prosperous times, so they can also hear about some specific cases where a certain member's wife has a very bad reputation.

Zhu Houzhao stretched his waist and said: "While you were not here, I also heard that there was a banditry in Shandong. In my opinion, it will be very difficult to put an end to this kind of bullying."

Even in the era he lived in, these were unavoidable.

"Is that why Your Majesty is observing the ceremony with local officials?"

"That's not the case." Zhu Houzhao's eyes fell on Yang Tinghe aside, "You should discuss this matter with Jiefu when you have time. Oh, by the way, that Guan Yanqing..."

Wang Bing stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, I have carefully learned about this Guan Yan, and I would like to say that it is not too much to give him the name of a bold madman."

"Think of it, whoever dares to criticize me is not a coward." Zhu Houzhao chuckled, "Tell me, why is he so bold?"

"Yes." Wang Bing narrowed his eyes, "This man was an official. His father came to Henan to study, so he read poetry and books since he was a child, and he often made surprising remarks. Later, he became a Jinshi and went to the Ministry of War to observe politics. One year, he has been the county magistrate of Linqu for two years, and his official career has only been three years. He said that the imperial court valued material things and ignored ethics. This was not the first time or the first day. There were actually two other sentences in this sentence, the first The first is that the literati emphasize Confucius and Mencius over uncanny skills, and the second is that the warriors emphasize the northwest and undervalue the southeast. In other words, the court, civil and military officials have all asked him to comment, is this considered audacious?"

"Haha." Faced with such rebellious words, the emperor laughed.

The reality of the Ming Dynasty has been greatly changed, and this reality will come back to influence people's thinking.This is the 'matter-determined spiritual theory' in materialist philosophy.

The world is always connected, and the substances that do exist will affect the human spirit.

It can be said that the literati valued Confucius and Mencius over strange skills, probably because he saw that the development of the real world, such as cross-sea trade, indeed required shipbuilding, navigation and even gunpowder skills.

As long as he is really knowledgeable and dares to think, he will naturally feel that, well, relying solely on Confucius and Mencius is not enough.Confucius and Mencius did not have any theory that could guide future generations on how to develop navigation skills.

This is very bold, and it was quite bold when there were no such changes in reality. But when matter exists, one or two weirdos will appear among the millions of people.

Therefore, this Guan Yanqing seems to be accidental, but in fact it is inevitable.

It's just that Yang Ting and these old traditions were all 'scared' when they heard it. The emperor asked him to take charge of this matter, but don't bring someone like Guan Yanqing to him, so he said: "Your Majesty, this man's words are shocking to the world. I think that even if you want to use it, you should use it with caution."

"Ah... this is indeed a bit embarrassing." Zhu Houzhao pretended to have a headache, and he thought carefully, "Although he is indeed a bit deviant, I praised him when I was in Jinan the day before yesterday, and Liu Xixian also said that he is still acceptable as an official. . So sudden changes at this time always seem to be contradictory, and the people have also lost a good parent official, and I can't bear it. From my point of view, there is no need to worry too much. He is only a few grades and can't make any waves. Let's do this, promote him How about a Hangzhou prefect? ​​Ah, that’s it.”

Once the emperor has made his decision, there is nothing more to say.

When Zhu Houzhao turned around to get into the carriage, his expression became serious again. He whispered very seriously to You Zhi who was bowing his head in front of the carriage: "Please note this person for me, and we will see how well he acts as a prefect in a year. Send someone to report to me then."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)