Chapter 44 Section 6 Zheng Xiaoxunzi Ci

Zheng Xiao, courtesy name Yanfu, was born in Haiyan, Zhejiang Province in the Ming Dynasty. Yushi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials in Nanjing, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, etc.The history said that he: "Have a good knowledge of Confucian classics, learn national allusions, and look forward to it. He was suppressed by the powerful and powerful, and his aspirations were endless." ("History of Ming Dynasty·Zheng Xiao Biography") The famous thinker Li Zhi affirmed Zheng Xiao's world-use learning, It is believed that his distinction between righteousness and benefit can analyze the subtleties and see the mystery directly.

In April of the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing, Zheng Xiaosu was dismissed from office for the people because of his discord with Yan Song, the traitor, who offended the powerful and powerful, and was framed.Not long after he returned to his hometown, his son Zheng Luchun won the Juren examination, and the next year he won the Jinshi examination in Beijing, and was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Punishment. It is a great joy for a son to become an official in the ancient Shilin family.Relatives and friends all came to congratulate. Because Zheng Xiao has been an official in the court for 40 years, the Zheng family is highly respected and naturally has a wide range of popularity.

It stands to reason that this incident is a rare comfort for Zheng Xiao, so he should be happy.However, this old man who has experienced hardships in the officialdom is not as simple as his family thinks, but he is more worried about whether his son can be a good official.In front of the guests, he wore a horn scarf on his head and was dressed in common clothes. No one could tell that he was once the Minister of the Dynasty.While receiving the guests warmly, he sincerely asked the guests to teach his son more, especially for those experienced old friends, and he expected them to give his son some advice on how to be an official.

Zheng Xiao's sincerity is entirely out of concern for the country and concern for his son.Zheng Luchun also understood his father's good intentions very well. He didn't feel complacent. Instead, he followed his father's teachings and eagerly asked others for advice on how to be an official. Therefore, he received a lot of education before he became an official.In the winter of the following year, Zheng Luchun went to his post. On the eve of leaving his hometown, he came to his father's study and begged the old man to give him some advice. Zheng Xiao said to his son: "I have been an official for my father for thirty or seven years, and I have nothing to save, and I don't have any savings to give you. However, the old man has been thinking about it recently, and I have a chance to write it here. Let it be a gift for my son. "

His son Lu Chun respectfully took over his father's handwriting, opened it up for a closer look, and found that it was a precept neatly written in regular script: The courage is big, the heart is small, the ambition is round, and the action is square.Great ambitions cannot be achieved without talents, and great talents cannot be achieved without learning.Learning is not about reciting the clouds, you should study the reason why it happened, melt it into your mind, as if you were practicing it yourself.As soon as Nanyang emerges, he will become a prime minister, and as soon as Huaiyin emerges, he will become a great talent in the world, all of which are learned in ordinary times.People with lofty ideals should know this when they read books.Otherwise, there are most people in the world who can read and write, but are not good at being officials and people.

There are only a few words in this passage, which not only talks about the principles of being an official, but also the principles of being a human being. "Bold", "mindful", "aspirational" and "walking", these eight characters contain his life experience and philosophy in dealing with people.Zheng Xiao himself was like this, and people at the time called him profound in knowledge, profound in economics, upright but not circumspect, strict but not harsh, rigid but not aggressive, high-spirited but not overbearing.In the officialdom, he is open and aboveboard, daring to act boldly, not afraid of the powerful, and doing things that benefit the people of the country, regardless of personal gain or loss, honor or disgrace, he goes forward.

Zheng Luchun read this precept again and again, and when he was parting, he told his father that he must follow his father's precept. At that time, when the officials were unclear and politically corrupt, Zheng Luchun had a good reputation as an upright official.In addition, he was taught by his father's worldly learning by precept and example, so he was extremely capable in handling affairs.As a result, he was quickly respected by his colleagues.In the early years of Longqing, he wrote to the court to rehabilitate his father and restore his reputation.At this time, Yan Song had already fallen, and the new emperor wanted to cheer up and vindicated a number of unjust, false and wrong cases. Therefore, although Zheng Xiao had passed away long ago, the unjust cases were cleared up, and he was posthumously awarded to the prince Taibao, posthumously named Jian Gong.

In the third year of Longqing (1569 A.D.), Zheng Luchun hoped that the emperor could change the current situation and rectify the government guidelines so as to promote the revival of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, regardless of his own wealth and life, he spoke bluntly and boldly pointed out the current political abuses. His words were sincere and worried. , a feeling of patriotism and loyalty to the emperor is beyond words.However, the Emperor Mu Zong was a mediocre person. He did not dare to do anything big after only redressing a few injustices. The official said that the lover was saved from death.After being released from prison, he was dismissed as a civilian, and his fate was almost the same as that of his father.

Zheng Luchun kept his father's precepts in mind, no matter whether his official career was successful or not, his ambition to be a great talent in the world was unwavering.After returning home, he devoted himself to studying economics and researching strategies for reforming bad governance.Three years later, Mu Zong died and Shen Zong ascended the throne. Zhang Juzheng, the representative of the reformers, was appointed as Zaifu to carry out top-down political and economic reforms.Soon, Zheng Luchun was appointed by the imperial court as Guanglu Shaoqing, participated in Zhang Juzheng's reform movement, and became a reformist figure with real talents and learning.

With Zheng Luchun's ups and downs, people began to have a strong interest in his father Zheng Xiao's precepts.This precept was recognized as "the most famous saying" by the people at that time.As a result, it was called "Zheng Duanjian Gongxun Ziyu" and spread all over the world, extolled by the world.