Chapter 87 Section 5 Great Family and Great Business

Whether Jin Zhangzong's understanding of loyalty and filial piety is right or wrong, we cannot use today's value standards to measure and judge.But one thing is certain is that Jin Zhangzong was the emperor with the highest cultural level in the Jin Dynasty and Han Dynasty. He governed the country with benevolence, which made the politics of the Jin country clear and clean, and the officials were clean.So, how did Jin Zhangzong select officials? Zhang Zong especially emphasized the integrity of officials, paying attention to etiquette, justice, integrity and shame.Emperor Zhangzong once said that there is a very bad phenomenon in the selection of officials now, that is, the lack of shame, and the selected officials are shameless.Why is there a lack of shame?Because "all the investigations today are talent first and then virtue. Although clever and cunning people are dirty, once they are used, they are still capable officials, and this shame is lost" ("Jin Shi Zhang Zong Ben Ji II").Nowadays, officials are selected for their talents before their virtues, because the imperial examinations really test talents, not virtues, so many cunning people, although wicked, have talents, and pass the exam as soon as they take the exam.Once he is an official, he is a very capable official.When a person with no virtue and talent becomes an official, everyone feels that this virtue is useless, and it will cause officials to be dishonest and shameless.Can you say that He Shen is a trash official?He is so capable, but he is immoral, so he is the biggest corrupt criminal in Chinese history.Zhang Zong hated this very much. After decree, in the selection of officials, those who are talented but not virtuous cannot be used. "When inspecting officials, we must be cautious about hypocrisy, so that those who are talented but not capable cannot covet, and those who seek advancement in the wrong way will be impeached."Those who seek progress in non-roads are those who did not pass the imperial examination to become officials. As long as they become officials, I will impeach and report him, and let him go where he came from.

During Zhang Zong's reign, he inherited the characteristics of the government in his grandfather's time, and the officials were clear and bright.When he was in power, he followed some basic principles of his grandfather's rule of the country, advised farming and mulberry, appeased refugees, and released slaves. The slavery system of the Jin Dynasty was completely abolished in Zhang Zong's era.It turned out that the royal family and nobles of the Jin Dynasty could keep slaves. As soon as Zhang Zong succeeded to the throne, he sent his great-grandfather (Wanyan Zongfu, who pursued Emperor Ruizong), grandfather (Emperor Sejong), and his father (Wanyan Yungong, who pursued Xianzong) All the slaves in the palace were released, and the royal family no longer kept slaves.In the future, it will be illegal for all the clan ministers to keep slaves.In this way, a large amount of labor force is liberated, and production naturally develops.Moreover, Zhang Zong ordered to cancel the hereditary rights of Meng'an Mouke, which used to be hereditary from each family, but now they are appointed by the state, with official ranks, to strengthen the central government's control over them.The emperor told the officials: "Don't prohibit the farmer on the side of the palace and the hunter." ("Golden History Zhangzong Benji II") In the future, there will be people around the palace where the emperor goes out, and around the hunting ground where the emperor hunts. Don't stop him from reclaiming wasteland. , can increase national fiscal revenue.In ancient China, every plant and tree in the palace hunting house and the emperor's mausoleum was sacred.Cutting down the trees in the imperial mausoleum is a serious crime of extermination, just like digging the emperor's grave.

During Zhang Zong's reign, figures show that Daxing Mansion, the central capital, had 220,000 households and one million people. In 1949, there were so many people in Peiping, and seven hundred years ago, the population reached one million.The prosperity of silk weaving industry and commerce in Daxing Prefecture is the best in the world.The entire Golden Kingdom has a household registration of 8 million and a population of 50 million.Coupled with the population of 60 million in the Southern Song Dynasty, China's population at that time exceeded 100 million.The population is large, and the reserves of food and money are also large.According to Zhang Zong's statistics in the second year of Mingchang (1191), the national gold inventory was 1,200 ingots, and the silver inventory was 52,000 ingots.Ancient official treasures are generally fifty taels of ingots, which are not available in private hands. Common people generally only spend copper coins, and farmers rarely see silver.Even the silver that circulates in the city's market wells is probably some scattered silver, and if it is more than ten taels, it will be given a silver ticket.In ancient times, one tael was 312 grams, and ten taels of silver was more than three hundred grams.This is enough to show that Zhang Zong not only inherited Sejong's family business, but also carried it forward.

Although during Zhang Zong's reign, at the beginning, the politics was clear, the economy was prosperous, and the national strength was strong.However, it was during the Zhangzong Dynasty that the Kingdom of Jin began to turn from prosperity to decline, and inevitably slipped into the abyss of decline.Because he is facing one internal and one external trouble, what is this internal and external trouble?