Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 380 Xu Jie Scolds the Censor

"Send a message to ask Hai Rui what happened. Inform all the government offices in the capital and tell them not to pay any attention. Otherwise, I will ask the Eastern Depot to investigate him as a traitor!"

Zhu Houzhao immediately replied to Emperor Zhu Zaile.

Zhu Houzhao was accustomed to students making trouble, marching on buses, and writing letters on the bus.

In Zhu Houzhao's view, this is a way for the middle class, or the gentry, to express their political demands. It has good sides, such as petitions on public buses in the late Qing Dynasty, but also bad sides, such as interfering with the judiciary or even refusing the judiciary and forcing the court to act according to their will, such as the current strong demand for Hai Rui to step down.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know how Hai Rui had angered these Nanzhili students, but he knew that the court could not violate the administrative system and dismiss Hai Rui from his post just because these Nanzhili students were unhappy, even if Hai Rui voluntarily resigned.

Emperor Zhu Zaile followed the instructions of Emperor Retired Emperor Zhu Houzhao and ignored these students from the capital, and ordered all government offices not to pay any attention to them.

But it is impossible for the civil servants to ignore it, after all, they are also part of the gentry class.

At this time, the Cabinet Chief Minister Xu Jie could not help but say to Emperor Zhu Zailei: "Your Majesty, the people are in turmoil. Although the emperor told us not to pay attention to it, we can't really sit back and do nothing. After all, these students are also the people of our Ming Dynasty. If they go on a hunger strike, something bad will happen. I'm afraid it will cause trouble!"

"The emperor has issued a strict order. What can I do? Now that the emperor is no longer in power, the people's lives are becoming more and more prosperous. Coupled with the open-mindedness, the trend of liberalism in Jiangnan is really getting stronger. They want equality on the surface, but they don't want to abide by the rules. How can they have the final say on the dismissal of court officials?"

As the emperor, Zhu Zailei was naturally dissatisfied with this phenomenon.

Xu Jie didn't know what to say after seeing this. He naturally hoped that these students could force the court to make concessions, but he also knew that the current emperor and the emperor emeritus were not weak people.

Therefore, Xu Jie could only persuade Emperor Zhu Zailei with a mentality of caring about the health of these students.

Emperor Zhu Zailei did indeed care about the lives of these students. After all, the education he received taught him that the lives of others, especially the lives of compatriots, should be respected.

The so-called equality is not just talk, but real respect for life.

Therefore, Emperor Zhu Zailei sighed and said, "Come with me to see the emperor. He is experienced and knows what to do."

In fact.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know what to do. In his memory, since ancient times, even in the 21st century, and even in some highly developed and high-welfare countries in later generations, the middle class would cause trouble and threaten the government.

In fact, the more financially developed a region is, the more proud it is of this.

Therefore, in Zhu Houzhao's view, if we are compatriots and do not want to destroy the peace and do not use violent bloody suppression, then you can do your thing and I can do mine. As long as you do not violate the law, you deserve to starve to death! But once you violate the law, don't blame me for being rude.

"You have to get used to this phenomenon. We need to care about public opinion, but that doesn't mean we should just follow it blindly, because public opinion has never been unified. The Ming Dynasty now has hundreds of millions of citizens, who all have enough food to eat, warm clothes to wear, and have learned a variety of ideas. Naturally, they have several doctrines and political demands. Today you see students demanding the removal of Hai Rui, and tomorrow you'll know someone is demanding that Hai Rui stay in office."

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Emperor Zhu Zaile and Xu Jie both nodded.

Xu Jie also knew that he could not play any tricks in front of Zhu Houzhao, but he still had to say: "Grand Emperor, Your Majesty, life is precious. We cannot turn a blind eye to the suicides of our own people. I dare to advise that the court should still consider these Nanzhili students who have traveled thousands of miles to cause trouble in the capital."

"Yes, father, Xu Jie is right. I was disobedient before, but you still tried to persuade me with kindness and good words. Now these students are just like ignorant children. We can't just abandon them!"

Zhu Zailei also said this.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but look at Zhu Zailei: "Do you mean you want to control these people?"

Zhu Zailei nodded.

"How are you going to handle this? Promise them and remove Hai Rui from office?"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, he looked at Xu Jie. Xu Jie's eyes lit up, and then he noticed Zhu Houzhao looking at him, and he couldn't help but lower his head.

"Of course not. Hai Rui was appointed as the governor of Yingtian by me. The document issued by the Ministry of Personnel is in accordance with the constitution. How can I dismiss him because of public opinion? If so, every time I appoint an official, if he does not meet the wishes of the local students, he will be dismissed. Am I the emperor, or are they the emperor?"

Zhu Zailei said.

"That's the point. This is where the contradiction lies. You can't do anything about it unless you give in, relinquish your power of appointment and dismissal, and let them govern."

Zhu Houzhao then said: "I heard that there are already some ideas of self-determination now. Lei'er, if you want, you can accept the ideas of self-determination and become an emperor with only a symbol of etiquette and the country. Anyway, I have already passed the country to you!"

Xu Jie looked at Zhu Zailei. As the representative of the interests of the scholar-official class, he hoped that Zhu Zailei would accept the idea of ​​Shangzhu and accept that the emperor and the scholar-officials would rule the world together. Of course, the fundamental idea was still that the scholar-officials would rule the world.

"My son is unwilling to do so unless the workers can dismiss their boss, the villagers can dismiss their chief and ask the court to guarantee their right to vote in the village!"

Zhu Zaile thought for a while, then looked up and replied.

After the internal reforms during the reign of Zhang Cong in the Ming Dynasty, the local grassroots basically required that villages below the rural level implement villagers' self-governance, while towns and cities required that each block implement block self-governance. Both village heads and block heads were elected by villagers and block residents. This system has even been written into the constitutional outline.

However, over the years, neither the villagers nor the residents have been interested in this election. Some powerful gentry usurped their power and even made the village chief and the neighborhood chief "hereditary", and many villagers and residents did not object.

Zhu Zailei also talked with Zhu Houzhao about why the villagers and residents did not attach much importance to their own power. Zhu Houzhao could only explain that the people's wisdom was not yet fully developed, so they did not care. But Zhu Zailei said at this time: "My son now believes that most common people do not need a government or power, because they do not have the ability to manage anyone, but need others to manage them and lead them. They need leaders, but these students are different. They have no worries about food and clothing. They do not need to be managed by others. What they need is freedom and a court that listens to them."

Xu Jie didn't expect that the current emperor would have such thoughts, but he also admitted that it seemed that it was not as His Majesty the Emperor said. The common people of the world had no ambition to dominate the world, and they were even willing to be dominated by others, but they themselves did not want to be enslaved by others. He could not help but look at Zhu Houzhao and sighed secretly:
"Who made the Emperor abandon Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and belittle Confucianism? Otherwise, how could I want freedom today? Naturally, I only have the emperor and father in my eyes, then my parents and family, and finally myself."

Zhu Houzhao noticed the way Xu Jie looked at him, and couldn't help asking, "Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, what do you think of the emperor's point of view?"

Xu Jie bowed deeply to Zhu Houzhao. In any case, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao did bring unprecedented prosperity to the Ming Dynasty. He still respected him in his heart, but he also replied truthfully: "I think that Neo-Confucianism should not be completely abolished. The court should rebuild Confucian ethics! Forbid people in the world to talk about state affairs!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile after hearing this. He knew that Xu Jie spoke from the bottom of his heart and had no secrets, otherwise he wouldn't have risked angering him by saying this. After all, he had always despised Confucianism from the beginning.

"You, Lord Xu, are the elder of the Xu family. Even if you have retired, you are still the head of the family. Naturally, you don't mind the restrictions of Confucianism. You can ask your son whether he is willing to obey you in everything, even to marry a wife, and even to listen to your arrangements on what subject to study and what kind of thoughts to follow."

Zhu Houzhao said this and then asked Zhu Zailei, "I heard that the son of Liu Siwen, the censor of Yunnan, jumped into the river to resist an arranged marriage. Before he committed suicide, he won the provincial examination and became a big news. Is this true?"

"To your Majesty, this kind of thing is not new in recent years. There are many cases of fathers and sons turning against each other. There are even censors who have protested against the laws that often pardon fathers for killing their sons and demanded that the court revise it," Zhu Zaile replied.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie knew that the retired emperor did not agree with his suggestion to rebuild the Confucian order, so he could only remain silent.

This discussion between the three top figures in the empire did not produce any results in the end, but it seemed that each of them gained a lot.

"I didn't expect that even though I'm almost eighty years old, I'd still be confused when encountering some things!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say this at last.

Zhu Zailei also returned to his Forbidden City. In fact, he did not really want to be a slave owner who could decide the life and death of others, so he did not care about the loss of power, but he really could not accept letting a group of students outside decide the court politics.

"Your Majesty, Hai Rui's telegram has arrived. According to Hai Rui, a student from Yingtian Prefecture named Lu Fang killed five villagers for organizing them to cause trouble, and he is suspected of intentional homicide. So he asked the local police department to arrest Lu Fang and let the Ancha Branch Office file a case. The Yingtian Prefecture Criminal Court has already sentenced him to immediate execution! The verdict has been sent to the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple! But because of this, the students spread rumors that Hai Rui framed student Lu Fang! But I didn't expect these students to come directly to the capital."

At this time, Li Fang came over and handed the telegram from Nanjing to Zhu Zailei.

"I was almost deceived by these scholars. Since they violated the law, they should be punished. How dare these people come to the capital to make trouble! What are they doing? Are they trying to blackmail the court and interfere with the judiciary?"

Zhu Zailei threw the telegram to Li Fang: "Reply to Hai Rui, I have already known it."

The cabinet chief Xu Jie had just returned home when his housekeeper came to report, "Sir, Henan Province Supervisory Censor Chen Lianfang sent a letter today asking for an audience."

"Let him come to the study."

Xu Jie said something, and soon after, Chen Lianfang came over.

Chen Lianfang said hurriedly, "Prime Minister, Hai Rui has implemented harsh laws in Jiangnan, caring only about the common people and not the gentry, causing public resentment. Otherwise, these students from Nanzhili would not have come to the capital to demand Hai Rui's removal. The will of the people cannot be violated!"

"I know this very well. I have not only spoken to His Majesty today, but also to the Emperor Emeritus. However, the court has its own laws. How can we dismiss a provincial governor just because of a student's disturbance?"

Xu Jie said.

"I understand what the Prime Minister meant. Ultimately, this matter has to be handled by the officials in the court. I have already drafted a memorial impeaching Hai Rui and asking the court to dismiss him, but now the court no longer allows censors to submit memorials directly to the emperor, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Yang Lin is a stubborn military official. He said that my memorial was a groundless accusation without any evidence, and he refused to present it to the emperor! So I really have no choice now."

Chen Lianfang said, "According to your humble opinion, I can only ask you to present the memorial directly to Your Majesty. I also ask you to let the emperor know the aspirations of the scholars in the world for the sake of the thousands of scholars in Jiangnan!"

"Do you think it will work, Censor Chen? Besides, His Majesty has issued a strict decree that any court official who cares about these students will be investigated as the mastermind or accomplice behind the scenes!"

After Xu Jie said this, Chen Lianfang was stunned for a moment. After a while, he finally spoke: "The villagers killed by Lu Shengyuan were the fallen people in the past. They were extremely lowly. It's better to kill them. Moreover, these lowly people threatened Lu Shengyuan first, and Lu Shengyuan did not do it himself. The punishment is not for the doctor, so why should he pay with his life! Now this is all caused by the emperor. What is the equality of all people in the world? Because of this equality, the court has no warmth! In this case, how can the scholars of the world love this country!"

"Bastard!"

Xu Jie slammed the table and pointed at Chen Lianfang, "You are treasonous! Ignorant! Arrogant! Childish! You, Chen Lianfang, were born in a Jiangnan family. You have been living a life of luxury since childhood, with hundreds of servants. The villagers are all in awe of you. Now even a three-year-old child doesn't have to kowtow to you. You are not used to it, right? You are not used to this equality, right? You blame the emperor, right? Let me tell you, this has nothing to do with the emperor, this is the general trend! The decline of Confucianism is also the general trend. Even if it is not declining in my dynasty, it will still be declining in a hundred years, several thousand years or a thousand years. The common people do not need to rely on your land and can be self-reliant. How can you let them bow down to you like before! Besides, who can't read a few words nowadays? Why make yourself so noble!"

After Xu Jie scolded Chen Lianfang, he asked his housekeeper to drive Chen Lianfang out.

Zhu Houzhao learned about this through Zhu Zailei at this time, and asked with a smile: "Did Xu Jie really curse like this?"

"According to people from the Western Factory, that's indeed what he said. Chen Lianfang even wrote an article criticizing Xu Jie for only having eyes for the emperor," Zhu Zaile replied.

"It seems that Xu Jie is cursing for me to hear. However, this also shows that there are still many sensible people in the court. Regardless of these trivial matters, destroying the Japanese is the top priority at the moment." Zhu Houzhao said, and Zhu Zaile also nodded. The father and son couldn't help but look at the Nanzhili students under the tower. Zhu Zaile asked first: "Father, will there be more and more people who make demands on the court or even threaten the court in the future?"

"Yes! But this is a good thing. Maybe in the future, the common people who only care about making money will also be able to do this, instead of being silent or indifferent. However, if they dare to evade taxes and break the law, they will still not be forgiven!"

Zhu Houzhao said.

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(End of this chapter)