Chapter 42 Section Four Wang Ao Admonishes His Descendants

During the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Ao, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was a generation of famous ministers in the history of the Ming Dynasty. . The Minister of the Ministry of Officials is an important state minister in charge of the selection, promotion, and honor of officials from all over the world. He not only inspects the current officials, but also is responsible for the selection of new reserve officials through imperial examinations, appointments, etc., every three years. The right to decide the final admission of Jinshi in the general examination, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials must be at least half of the family.Wang Ao is in the key department of selecting hundreds of officials, and he is extremely honored, and all civil and military officials will not please him.However, this incorruptible and upright minister of power only wanted to select talents for the country, and never did any dishonorable things in the selection of officials.

Wang Ao has a beloved daughter who is married to Jia Jie who is an official in the suburbs of Beijing.Mrs. Wang loves her daughter very much and misses her all the time, but because of the long distance and inconvenient transportation, she often sends people to Jia Jie's mansion to welcome her daughter back home to visit relatives.There are endless conversations between mother and daughter, and sometimes they stay for several days or more than ten days, and then ask someone to pick them up.The young couple loves each other, and it is quite troublesome to pick up and drop off each time. When the husband and wife or mother and daughter part, it is always difficult to separate.Once when his wife returned to her natal family, Jia Jie was reluctant to part with him, and half complained and half pleaded to his wife, saying: "Your father is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. It is easy to transfer me to the capital. Why do you need to be so troublesome?" The wife went back to her natal home to ask the old man for mercy.Knowing her father's character, the daughter couldn't say it face to face, so she had to tell her mother tactfully. The mother also felt that there was some truth in it, but she was also afraid that the stubborn old man would not show affection, so she had to wait for the opportunity to say it.

One day, Mrs. Wang prepared delicious food and wine. During the banquet, Mrs. Wang took advantage of Wang Ao's joy of drinking, and tactfully proposed to transfer her son-in-law to the capital.Unexpectedly, Wang Ao was furious before his wife had finished speaking, and he raised his eyebrows and raised his eyebrows to teach his wife a lesson. The lady simply opened up her words. When the old man heard this, he added fuel to the fire, and even took the things on the case and injured his wife's face. It was very unpleasant.From then on, no one in the family dared to mention this matter again, and Jia Jie was never transferred to the capital.

Wang Ao had a grandson who entered the Taixue because of his kindness.According to the regulations of the official system of the Ming Dynasty, students of Enyin Guozi School can be directly awarded officials without passing the imperial examination.One year in the autumn exam, this talented grandson also wanted to try the examination room and be named on the gold list, so as not to make people feel that he is an uneducated person when he becomes an official in the future.So he took the examination qualification certificate issued by the relevant department to report to his grandfather. Wang Ao was very happy to see that his beloved grandson had the ambition to be self-reliant and self-improving.However, he insisted on not allowing his grandson to take the imperial examination.The grandson didn't understand what he meant, so he repeatedly asked his grandfather for permission.Wang Ao said earnestly: "I have seen a lot of talented people in the world, but they came from poor families, and their parents endured all kinds of hardships to train them to become talents. What they think about day and day is the three-year scientific examination. The country also It all depends on the imperial examination to select people with real talents and real learning as officials. Only in this way, scholars in the world have the opportunity to display their talents. If you want to be listed on the gold list based on your talent, someone will definitely give you a hard time secretly, because today There are many cases of cheating in the examination room. In fact, you asked me to cheat for you in the exam. Can I bear to do such a shameful thing? If you are wrongly selected, it will hinder the career of a poor man. Besides, you have the rank of being an official, why do you force yourself to do what you shouldn't do? That's why you have such unreasonable thoughts!"

Wang Ao knew very well that the phenomenon of fraud in the examination room at that time could not be eliminated, and secret joints often happened.As the grandson of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, even though Wang Ao himself did not come forward to do anything, it was natural that someone would seize this opportunity to curry favor with him.Therefore, as long as his grandson participates in the imperial examination, he is certain that he will be named on the gold list.In the Ming Dynasty, ministers and ministers were all selected by the imperial examination. Officials who were born in the imperial examination had a higher status than Enyin, and had more opportunities to advance.However, Wang Ao did not take advantage of his power to benefit the future of his own children and grandchildren. On the contrary, he seriously taught his children and grandchildren that this was an unreasonable idea.In China's feudal society, it is indeed very valuable for him to strictly demand his family members and educate his children and grandchildren with upright and clean official ethics.