Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven Wendou
When he was relegated to the magistrate of Guiyang Prefecture, Gu Xiancheng said that Liu Zongyuan, Su Shi, and Zhuang Chang had all lived in Guiyang, and his own moral knowledge still had a lot to learn from the sages, but they were all relegated to Guiyang. Therefore, I named my residence "Xianxuan" to always remind myself to work harder in my studies, and not to let unsatisfactory circumstances affect my mood and my ambitions, ambitions and ideals.
Therefore, in such a mood, his powers of observation and thinking are more acute and mature than before. From the country's politics, economy, society, academic thought, down to folk customs, people's mentality, he calmly and carefully After investigating, and thinking about many ways to improve...
However, it was not until he was transferred back to Beijing to serve as an official that he realized that the biggest difficulty he faced was that these thoughts after deep thought had no chance to be used in the current chaotic situation; everything could only exist in his In my mind, it's all just "talking on paper".
After returning to Beijing, he took up the post of Chief Examination Officer of the Ministry of Officials, Yuanwailang. Apart from playing a little role in the "Three Kings Conferment" incident, he never got any chance to display his ambitions. of.
However, he was neither discouraged nor disappointed. He insisted on the principle of "doing his best" and strived for it even if he had no chance; reduce.
This "persistence" spirit became the greatest force supporting his will, and gradually moved some friends around him, who gradually got closer to him because of admiration for his spirit, and finally received his love one by one. Influence and Inspiration——After returning to Beijing, his student Gao Panlong went back to his hometown because of Ding You, while his younger brother Yuncheng returned to Beijing after several twists and turns, and became the head of the Ministry of Rites; a few friends who got along together There are Zhao Nanxing, a doctor of meritorious service in the Ministry of Officials, Shi Menglin in Duge, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, Yu Kongjian, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, Chen Tailai, a foreigner, Wu Jiong, the head of the Qiu Department, and Xue Fu, his childhood friend and grandson of Xue Fangshan, a professional teacher. Waiting for others; several people of similar age and like-mindedness often gather together to learn about knowledge and talk about current affairs.
On this day, several people got together again; however, the purpose of this gathering was not to build knowledge and discuss current affairs.
The initiator of the party was Zhao Nanxing—he was from Gaoyi, named Mengbai, a Jinshi in the second year of Wanli, and he was upright and outspoken; Emperor Wanli made a list of "Chen Tianxia's Four Great Harms"; in the book, Wu Shilai and others who were jealous of the prestige of the Minister of the Ministry of Household Song Xun bluntly said that they used improper means to crowd out Song Xun, and Huang Hongxian and others who were jealous of Zhao Yongxian, the servant of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, even more. He slandered Zhao Yongxian, and said that there are four evils in the country's politics: interference, danger, state, county, and township officials.However, as soon as this statement was made, not only did Emperor Wanli fail to accept his opinion and vigorously rectify the administration of officials, but it also aroused the small crowd of treacherous and sycophants in the court to attack. , But after all, he was exhausted physically and mentally, so he had to report illness and return home.
After his recovery, he served as a doctor in the Ministry of Officials, his personality and principles of dealing with the world have not changed, and his honesty and integrity remain the same.His main purpose of this gathering is to discuss with his friends a matter of great importance, that is, this year's "Jingcha" - the Beijing Cha, which is held every six years, has come again, and the official minister he served as Kao Gonglang Zhongzheng is one of the positions responsible for assessing the performance and character of officials.
After the guests were seated, Zhao Nanxing made a straight-forward speech: "My younger brother has always believed that there are many reasons for today's corrupt political style and unclear governance. The supervision system has become a tool for political struggle, especially one of them; When officials meet their loved ones, they will cover up and follow their own interests, and when they meet evil people, they will use the system to squeeze out and frame them. Therefore, the gentleman is removed from the position and the villain is in power. Ren, although the official is humble and the position is small, he must do his best to clarify the administration of officials, so as to clarify black and white—"
His words, Gu Xiancheng was full of emotions when he heard them; he not only felt the same about these words, but also had a deeper understanding than others because he was involved in the "Beijing-challenge dispute" six years ago. Therefore, he took the lead in speaking: "Scholars of my generation, since they are officials in the court, should serve the country and the people, and be loyal to the country and the people. The unclear governance of officials is indeed one of the big coins today; brother Mengbai's responsibility lies in his own responsibility." Afraid of power, vigorously rectify; if there is something that is equivalent to my life, I will never dare to evade or evade it!"
The rest of the people also followed up with one voice: "Brother Mengbai, feel free to do it, I will fully support it!"
With the support of so many people, Zhao Nanxing's spiritual strength has increased by several points, and he also expressed the very specific thoughts in his mind: "This year's Jingcha, the younger brother is only listed, and actually presides over the big plan. The most important one is Mr. Sun Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials - Mr. Sun has always been upright, upright and impartial, and is admired by my younger brother; therefore, my younger brother would like to speak to Mr. Sun together with all brothers. In this year's Beijing inspection, the court will All the scum in the world will be expelled, and I will have a clear and bright court!"
Sun Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, is already the "senator of the three dynasties" of this dynasty - he was a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing. He started as a small official such as the head of the arsenal and the military selection doctor. He has held various positions and has a very complete experience.He has an upright personality and a clean and honest official. As early as the Jiajing period, he repeatedly advised Emperor Sejong Jiajing because he was obsessed with Taoism, neglected political affairs, and did not go to court for many years. Although Emperor Jiajing did not accept the advice, he caused him illness Self-guided, but also won the respect of decent people.
In the first year of Longqing, he returned to Nanjing Wenxuan Langzhong. In the early years of Wanli, he moved to Guangluqing. A competent foreign official was attacked by villains, dismissed from office and resigned, and there was a vacancy for the Minister of the Ministry of Officials.
However, as soon as he took office, he had fierce conflicts with those in power in the DPRK. The main reason was the power struggle between the cabinet and the six ministries.
This problem is derived from the unreasonable political system of the dynasty, and it has existed for a long time, depending on the ability of the person in charge. All of them are in the hands; Zhang Juzheng, who was followed by Zhang Juzheng, took over the power even more out of blue, forming a "dictatorship" situation, but because he is a "super strong man", no one can do anything about him.
But when Zhang Juzheng died, the situation changed again; Shen Shixing's ability was much worse than that of Zhang Juzheng, and the six ministries regained some real power; After Song Xun's death, Lu Guangzu succeeded as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and he also upheld the same principle to fight to maintain the power and responsibility of the Ministry of Officials. When Shen Shixing resigned, the two sides had fierce conflicts again.
The point of conflict lies in Shen Shixing's selfishness of "dead but not dead".
It turns out that according to the system formulated according to the principle of "justice", the cabinet ministers are produced by "delaying". Those who are selected as cabinet bachelors must have considerable knowledge, morality, political experience and prestige before they can be elected by courtiers. Entered the cabinet, but when Shen Shixing was about to resign, he recommended Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei as the first and second assistants, but they did not go through the "court recommendation" at all.
This is against the system, so Lu Guangzu immediately went to the public to protest; unexpectedly, Emperor Wanli was more selfish than Shen Shixing; "Ting Tui" selected a few capable people who could become "the reincarnation of Zhang Juzheng", and in turn controlled himself to death; therefore, he insisted on Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei, two incompetent people, so as not to overwhelm the power of the prime minister his kingship.
Now, the upright Lu Guangzu went to Yidunmeng, planning to deal with the disputes among foreign officials for a lifetime. He became even more desperate for the entire court, and automatically begged for a rest. .
So, Sun Yu took office amidst the flames of war, and lived in the midst of fierce battles since the first day he took office...
Zhao Nanxing and Gu Xiancheng are officials in the Ministry of Officials. No matter their name or reality, they are Sun Yu's subordinates. They are also very close to Sun Yu in terms of political ideas and personalities. Therefore, it is natural that they all stand on the same front and work together for It is a sacred war to maintain the system of this dynasty.
Now, with the Beijing Chase again, the war will of course be more intense...
"In charge of supervision, one must first be impartial and selfless; therefore, even though Lv Yinchang, a member of the literary selection committee, is the nephew of Lord Sun, and even though Wang Sanyu is a relative of the younger brother, they are all excluded—"
Taking one's own people first is of course an excellent way to deal with personnel affairs. It not only shows his selfless attitude, but also blocks the mouths of many people, so he is in an invincible position first.
However, this is just Zhao Nanxing's way of doing things, not the ultimate goal; then, he continued eloquently: "However, in terms of the political situation, the removal of Lu Yinchang and Wang Sanyu is nothing more than It's just a few flies, and the real cannibal tiger is still barking its teeth and claws in its place; therefore, what I have to insist on is not just to beat off a few incompetent flies, but also to beat the leader of the harm. The tiger—even if you can't kill the tiger, at least you have to pull out a few tiger's whiskers, and use it as a commandment for officials!"
Although his words were expressed in a metaphorical way, he did not directly say who the "chief of harm" tiger is, but since all the people present were his friends who were officials in the court, how could they not understand what he was referring to? who?
Zhao Zhigao's acting as the chief assistant was originally something that everyone insisted on opposing; although no one could change this fact under the insistence of Emperor Wanli, the opposition in his heart never stopped; but Zhao Zhigao Since he took office, he has not only had no political achievements at all, but has even shown himself to be extremely incompetent-of course, the chief assistant is not included in the "Beijing Supervision" at all. No matter how incompetent Zhao Zhigao is, this supervision system will take him There is no way; however, it is different for Zhao Zhigao's younger brother.
Zhao Zhigao's younger brother's official position is still below the fourth rank, which belongs to the scope of Jingcha; and this person's official voice, ability, and character are extremely poor, and he often pretends to be a tiger to take advantage of Zhao Zhigao's position——The upright Zhao Nanxing Of course I can't stand it, so I have to depose him.
This is the saying that "although a tiger cannot be killed, a few of its whiskers must be pulled out".
At the same time, Zhao Nanxing also expressed his sincerity to his friends: "Scholars of my generation should put the well-being of the country and the people first. What should be done must be done without hesitation, without hesitation, and never back down because of power. This time in Jingchao, since my younger brother has made up his mind to clarify the political style, he will not change it for any reason; I will bear it without complaint or regret!"
When it came to the next few sentences, his voice was naturally tragic and very provocative; thus, Gu Xiancheng was the first to stand up from his seat, and spoke loudly to everyone present. People said: "Brother Zhao's great ideas and practices, my younger brother agrees very much; this time in Beijing, my younger brother is willing to follow Brother Zhao and work together to clarify the political style!"
In fact, other people also share the same feeling with him and are willing to contribute; some people are unable to do anything in the matter of "Jingcha" because of their positions, but they are willing to assist behind the scenes. As for like-minded friends, because of this incident, they are solidified more tightly and firmly, and the strength formed is more impressive than before.
After some careful planning, everyone surrounded Zhao Nanxing to visit the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Sun Yu, to make the matter more feasible.
It's just that no one thought that such an idealistic action aimed at saving the increasingly corrupt political atmosphere and ethics would have the opposite effect...
Wang Xijuefu returned to Beijing from his hometown, and took back the position of chief assistant; he certainly had a "favor" in his heart for Zhao Zhigao, who took the position of "guardian" when he left Beijing, and was willing to obediently hand over his seat after he arrived in Beijing. For Zhao Zhigao's younger brother, he also wanted to protect Zhao Zhigao's younger brother; it was a pity that he was a step late-he had just arrived in the capital, and the "chashu" submitted by the chief prosecutor had already been submitted, and the list of dismissed officials had been finalized.
As a result, he was of course very unhappy; the people on his and Zhao Zhigao's side also began to collect the "Sun Cheng Group"'s pigtails like a blanket, preparing to launch a major counterattack—so, another round A literary battle was fiercely launched in the court.
In the end, it was Wang Xijue who won the victory. The reason was that his official position was higher, but the attitude of Emperor Wanli was the real force that affected the proportion.
In Emperor Wanli's philosophy of "being an emperor", the way of employing people is to choose villains rather than gentlemen. Talented people always have a much more arrogant attitude and speak much louder. If a gentleman is reused as an official, he will soon climb to the top of his head to be aggressive and control everything; Respectful, and poor in ability, no matter how long you have been the chief assistant, the power you hold will never exceed the power of the monarch.
Although he is addicted to drugs, wine, sex and wealth, his mind is not confused, and the complete imperial education he received when he was a child still has some remnants. He has his own way of how to control the courtiers——Zhao Zhigao is here In this case, it was reused by him - how could he let the upright and decent "gentlemen" such as Sun Wei and Zhao Nanxing form an influential trend in the court?How could he be so stupid that a second Zhang Juzheng appeared in the court to control him?
Therefore, the "Sun Yu Group" is undefeated and also defeated...
As a result, Emperor Wanli decreed that Sun Yu would take away his salary, and Zhao Nanxing would be demoted.
Of course, this punishment was dissatisfied, so Sun Yu simply resigned from office, and Zhao Nanxing's friends Wang Ruxun, Wei Yunzhen, Zeng Qianheng, Yu Kongjian, Chen Tailai, Gu Yuncheng, Xue Fujiao and many others repeatedly sent Zhao Nanxing's resignation. Justification; Gu Xiancheng even went up to the Shu and said that he was also an official in charge of "Jingcha". If Zhao Nanxing had done something wrong, he would not be able to escape the responsibility. Therefore, he was willing to fight with Zhao Nanxing.
However, after these evasions went up, not only did not help the matter, but it became even more implicated. In a rage, Emperor Wanli simply ordered Zhao Nanxing to be deposed as a citizen, and Yu Kongjian, Chen Dailai and others were all demoted. Then it was changed to Wenxuan doctor.
A "Jingcha" literary battle has finally come to an end, and what follows is the beginning of a wave of discussion about this matter - in the real political arena, the villain defeated the gentleman, but in the evaluation of public opinion, it is the gentleman The villain was defeated; however, regardless of victory or defeat, the price the Ming Dynasty paid for this literary battle was an irreparable loss, that is, there were fewer and fewer good people in the court.
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