Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Conspiracy

On June 10, the sixth year of Longqing (1572), the first wave of attacks began. On this day, just as Feng Bao, the eunuch who was in charge of the seal, received a memorial to the emperor, the author was Gao Gong. He immediately opened it and read it, but was stunned. The general content of the memorial is: the eunuch is just a servant, but has been involved in politics. I really can't see it, Gao Gong, and I propose to His Majesty the emperor to take back the power of the supervisor of ceremonies, and severely punish those who dare to join in the fun . Feng Bao was stunned, but not because of fear, but because he couldn't figure out why Gao Gong made such a low-level mistake!

Feng Bao had been mentally prepared for the suggestion in this memorandum. Brother Gao Gong was sharpening his knife every day, and it would be a matter of time before he started to do it, but it was really incredible to play directly in this way. Because although the memorials of the ministers were directly submitted to the emperor, it was already the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. As the emperor became more and more lazy, many documents were forwarded by eunuchs, and the emperor often threw them to the cabinet without reading them. Let the cabinet vote to deal with the opinions, and then transfer them to the supervisor of ceremonies for approval and stamping, and the matter will be closed.

This is strange, you Gao Gong clearly knew that the emperor was young, no matter what happened, the documents were all stamped by me, how could you still post such a thing, do you expect me to be insane and slap myself? Feng Bao thought about it and didn't understand what was going on, but this matter had to be resolved, so he withheld the memorial and did not hand it over to the cabinet. Instead, he wrote six characters on it instead of the emperor, and then stamped it with red , also gave Gao Gong. These six words are: "Understood, follow the ancestral system". This is another legendary nonsense, what kind of ancestral system, how to abide by it?

However, Gao Gong was not angry, because this was already in his expectation. Gao Gong knew that these six words came from Feng Bao's pen, but he just sneered, and said this sentence to Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi who were also in the cabinet: How can a ten-year-old prince rule the world? Gao Yi shook her head, and Zhang Juzheng smiled. Feng Bao, just make trouble, you will soon know how powerful I am. Gao Gong didn't stop there, but sent the memorial again, and specifically explained that the emperor is busy with official duties, so I don't bother you to review it in person, just send my memorial to the cabinet, and the cabinet is in charge.

Who cares?Isn't it just a high arch? The meaning of Mr. Gao is very simple. The translation is: Comrade Feng Bao, I know that last time you became the emperor and signed my memorial. That is, leave it to me, and I will sign it myself. Seeing this guy started making trouble again, Feng Bao felt dizzy. If he wanted to keep the documents privately, he might be in trouble. Anyway, this memorial is just for a title, so I will give it to you! On a whim, he handed over the memorial to the cabinet. It was a decision that nearly cost him his life. Gao Gong is Gao Gong, who is much more educated than Feng Bao. When it was his turn to be the emperor, he swiped a big pen and wrote nineteen characters on his memorial. The general meaning is:

"I read your memorial. It is very useful for current affairs and shows your loyalty. Just do as you say!" Gao Gong praised Gao Gong, which can be regarded as having character. The document was sent back to Feng Bao. After reading Gao Gong's reply, he couldn't laugh or cry: Is it interesting to play with yourself?But in desperation, he still stamped it. Don't you want a title? Can you still turn the world upside down?Here you go. All I want is a title, Gao Gong smiled triumphantly, Feng Bao, you are still too young. This day was June 12th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572). The plan was successfully completed and the second wave of attacks was about to begin.

On June 13th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Feng Bao's darkest day came. Early in the morning, the Ministry of Industry sent a letter to Chengwen, impeaching the eunuch Feng Bao, the chief inspector of ceremonies, for a heinous crime that should be punished. The main crimes are excerpted as follows: As a eunuch, he actually sent the medicine for evil dryness (aphrodisiac) to the late emperor (Emperor Longqing), which caused the late emperor's death.In addition, he also falsely preached the imperial decree in order to realize his ambition to take power. In a word, treacherous people are unforgivable sins!

According to Brother Cheng Wen, not only Feng Bao's official position was obtained by reforming the imperial decree, but he was also responsible for the death of the emperor, which is to punish people to death. On the same day, both the Ministry of Rites wrote to Shi Zhonglu Shude, and the Ministry of Officials wrote to Shi Zhong Luo Qiu, impeaching Feng Bao for stealing power and making corrections, and he should be arrested and interrogated. This is still obvious, you know, Cheng Wen, Lu Shude, and Luo Qiu are all in charge, that is, the so-called section chiefs, and there are a large number of staff in charge under them, and the section chief will naturally not be idle , Connecting with each other everywhere, pulling relationships and causing trouble, the capital is full of voices and murderous, and it is not over if Feng Bao is not hacked into pieces.

Feng Bao collapsed, and only then did he know how powerful Gao Gong was, but he was helpless, and Gao Gong still had the memorial approving the removal of the power of the supervisor of ceremonies, so it was useless to ask the emperor to reason, and the eunuch Feng was completely desperate. Things are going very well, now only the last step is left, the world will be in my hands! On June 14th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572), the final preparations were made. Gao Gong went to visit two people - Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi.Although he has always regarded these two people as decorations, they are cabinet colleagues after all. If he wants to completely solve Feng Bao, he must win their support.

But Gao Gong's attitude made Gao Gong very disappointed. No matter what Gao Gong said, the old classmate and honest person just nodded and didn't speak, so after a few pleasantries, Gao Gong left. Zhang Juzheng was completely different. He greeted Gao Gong very warmly and honored him as a guest. Gao Gong felt the warmth of a comrade, and then informed Zhang Juzheng of his overall plan to solve Feng Bao. Of course, he finally asked: "There is no problem with Gaoyi, how are you?" Zhang Juzheng replied without hesitation: "Observe your orders!" To express his determination, he added:

"It's easy to get rid of Feng Bao!" Gao Gong left satisfied, and he was still busy contacting other people. Zhang Juzheng is also very busy, he is busy looking for Feng Bao. At this point, Feng Bao finally knew all of Gao Gong's plans. However, after extreme panic and anger, he realized that he had no choice. , It's just a secondary assistant, it doesn't help. Feng Bao was in a hurry, but Zhang Juzheng remained calm. He calmly told Feng Bao: There is one person who can get rid of Gao Gong. "Who?" "emperor." Feng Bao suddenly realized that he was so busy during this time that he wrote the imperial decree by himself, so he even forgot about this big brother. Although he is only ten years old, he is the emperor after all. As long as he orders Gao Gong to be dealt with, it will be fine. up. But the emperor has no conflict with Gao Gong, so why should he support us? Facing Feng Bao's question, Zhang Juzheng fell into deep thought. Soon, he remembered one thing: "It only takes one sentence to get rid of Gao Gong." There was a bright smile on Zhang Juzheng's face: "However, this sentence still needs to be changed." Longqing six years (1572) June 15th. Feng Bao found the emperor early in the morning and reported to him an extremely important situation: After his own careful investigation, he discovered Gao Gong's conspiracy. Since it was a conspiracy, since it was an attempt to do something wrong, it was natural to listen to it, so the ten-year-old Emperor Wanli raised his head curiously to listen to the story, and Li Guifei, who was extremely nervous, stood beside him. Of course, Feng Bao has evidence of a crime, and the evidence is conclusive. Specifically, it is a sentence: "How can a ten-year-old boy be the emperor!" From "a ten-year-old prince, how to rule the world" to "a ten-year-old boy, how to be an emperor", only a few words have been changed, and the complaint has turned into rebellion. The profoundness of Chinese culture is really amazing. Although Zhang Juzheng engaged in literary inquisition, played double-faced, and was extremely cunning and insidious, but he still made a mistake - the one who can really solve Gao Gong is not the emperor, but the emperor's mother. The emperor's mother is Concubine Li Gui, commonly known as Widow Li. There is absolutely no disrespect in using this title, but she is indeed a widow, and she has a lot of right and wrong. When I was giving lectures in other places, I talked about Zhang Juzheng several times. After the lecture, I handed over a note to ask questions. There was always such a question: It is said that Empress Dowager Li (that is, Li Guifei) had an affair with Zhang Juzheng. I don’t know if it is true. In this situation, I always answer the serious seeker very seriously: I don’t know. I really don’t know, because even if there is winter melon tofu between the two of them, the history books will not write it. As for the unofficial history, Master Zhang and Widow Li even have children. But these rumors fully show that Concubine Li Gui is an unusual woman.She is not a lady from a famous family, she is just a palace maid, but it is said that she is very beautiful, she is the number one beauty in the palace, and she is scheming, the city is deep, and she is a piece of political material. So at that time, it was not Wanli, who was not comfortable in clothes, but the widow Li who really made up her mind. So Widow Li became angry, the emperor had just passed away, and you Gao Gong came here to bully our orphans and widows! In order to complete the show and make it bigger, it is said that Zhang Juzheng also performed once, and even sang a double reed with Feng Bao, saying that Gao Gong was going to abolish Wanli and set up another vassal king, and he spoke clearly and clearly. Now even the ten-year-old Wanli couldn't hold back anymore. The lies of Mr. Zhang and Eunuch Feng deeply hurt his young heart. When Gao Gong died, he didn't even approve a funeral ceremony. deep. Not to mention Concubine Li Gui, that skinny old man Gao Gong is not a good person at first glance, Zhang Juzheng is naturally different, not only talented, but also handsome, if you don't believe him, who else can you trust? Ok, deal! On June 16th in the sixth year of Longqing (1572), success or failure depends on today. Gao Gong was very excited, because early in the morning, news came from the palace that the leaders of the six cabinets and other agencies were ordered to enter the palace for a meeting. In his opinion, impeachment must have played a role, and the emperor was about to express his position. Thinking that the plan for many days was about to come true, Gao Gong couldn't hold back the joy in his heart, uncharacteristically, he sent someone to find Zhang Juzheng to go with Gao Yi, and he wanted everyone to witness his victory with their own eyes. However, what he didn't expect was that Gao Yi, who was still alive and kicking a few days ago, fell ill, and was seriously ill. He didn't know what the illness was, but he couldn't walk anyway. It can be seen that although honest people are honest, they are not necessarily not smart. Zhang Juzheng was even more funny, and his answer was very simple: "I suffered from heat stroke a few days ago, so I won't go." This lie is obviously not well made up, not to say that you are paralyzed by a stroke, at least it is easier to say that you are limping, and heat stroke can't kill anyone, the worst thing is to carry you. So Gao Gong urged Zhang Juzheng again and again, and said something that looked ridiculous later, to encourage Zhang Juzheng: "I entered the palace today to talk about it. If I offend the emperor, I will resign and quit. You will be the chief assistant!" Zhang Juzheng quickly waved his hands and said loudly: "Where, where, don't make such a joke!" As the chief assistant, I want to be the chief assistant, but you don't need to let me. Unable to restrain Gao Gong's enthusiasm, Zhang Juzheng started on the road, but he said that he was not feeling well, so he had to walk slowly, Mr. Gao, you go first, and I will be there later. From this point of view, Zhang Juzheng is still a kind person - at least he doesn't want to see people suffer. Gao Gong happily walked towards the Promise Hall, where he was heading early, but unexpectedly found that a person holding an imperial decree was already standing in the middle of the road, so he knelt down, ready to receive the good news: "On the day when the first emperor was in Bintian, he summoned his cabinet ministers and said that the crown prince was young and wanted you to assist the government. However, Gao Gong, a senior scholar, is domineering and despises the emperor. I don't know what you want to do?" After scolding, here is the result of the processing: "Gao Gong returns to his hometown to stay idle, don't stay!" Gao Gong fell into a semi-comatose state from the moment he heard the words "authoritarian and domineering": He obviously found someone to hack Feng Bao, so how could he be counterattacked?This decades-old veteran has completely collapsed, from spirit to body. According to historical records, this brother's performance at that time was ashen-faced, sweating profusely, lying on the ground for a long time without moving. But after all, this is the royal road in the palace, so it’s not a problem if you keep occupying it like this. Mr. Gao felt a pair of strong hands help him up before his grief was over. Gao Gong looked behind him with grateful eyes. He cast an affectionate glance, but saw Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng did not break his promise, he still came, the time was just right, and he hadn't left yet after the imperial decree was read.It seemed that he had just learned the news, with a pained expression on his face. When he first saw Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong almost had an illusion, obviously he was dismissed from office, why is this dear friend more uncomfortable than me, like a dead father? But Zhang Juzheng didn't let him think for too long, he immediately called two followers and helped Bachelor Gao out. This is the end of Gao Gong's fate. He is extremely smart. He has gone through three dynasties, judged the situation, survived the storm, survived Yan Song, drove away Zhao Zhenji, Yin Shidan and everyone who dared to stand in the way, even Xu Jie. It was taken down by him in one fell swoop, but in the end it was defeated by this man, this comrade and comrade-in-arms whom he once trusted so much. Don't say anything, this is life. Gao Gong who left the palace didn't have the heart to think about it, he had to leave immediately.Because the imperial decree's order is "not allowed to stay", just get out of the way, no matter what. This is a very severe treatment. General officials who are dismissed can receive a pass. With the certificate, they can receive horses for free and stay in official guest houses (posts) on the road. After all, they have worked for the court for so many years and have no credit. There is also hard work, and it is not too much to give personal treatment. However, Gao Gong didn't do anything at all, he only waited until a group of soldiers with swords urged him to leave quickly, so this big brother who once ruled the world had no choice but to find a few mules and leave the city, and the people behind him still refused. Rao, it's really cruel to drive him twenty miles away before returning to Beijing. After leaving the capital, just taking a breath, they met a person who had been waiting for them for a long time. Unlike the soldiers, this person was holding something that Gao Gong urgently needed - a post station use pass. However, Gao Gong did not accept it, because the brother declared his family name: Master Zhang sent me here. Zhang Juzheng is really considerate. He directed the birth of the imperial decree, so he naturally knew Gao Gong's treatment, so he sent someone to wait here, as a retirement gift for Gao Gong. He must be the number one benefactor in the court. belongs to. What is a good person? If you do good deeds, you should not leave your name, and if you do bad deeds, you have to wipe your ass. This is called a good person. Gao Gong was angry, he was not an idiot, after a little thought, he realized that he had been fooled, this so-called comrade-in-arms was actually a traitor and scum, but it was too late. You were the one who drove me away, and you were the one who gave me my pass, offering incense and demolishing the temple, what kind of grandson are you pretending to be? So he protested in the only way he had left - not to accept. Furious, Gao Gong turned his head and left. In the following years, he immersed himself in academic research, and occasionally scolded Zhang Juzheng. To show his contempt for this person, he gave this former colleague a resounding title—— Jingren (Zhang Juzheng is from Jingzhou, Huguang). When the person is gone, the matter should be over, this is Gao Gong's idea. However, the facts have proved that he really overestimated Zhang Juzheng's moral level, and the trick of playing a dead man is still to come. At this time, Zhang Juzheng was the most proud. He skillfully took advantage of the conflict between Feng Bao and Gao Gong, and with only a few ideas, he overthrew this seasoned politician. The death game of the year has come to an end. Since the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing, under Jiajing's wise sabotage, the six most outstanding geniuses of the Ming Dynasty began to compete. Except for Yang Bo who was watching the fun, everyone went into battle shirtless and fought hand-to-hand. Xu Jie waited for death Lu Lu Bing, got rid of Yan Shifan and took control of the government, but was overthrown by Gao Gong, his family was ruined, and then Gao Gong came to power with infinite glory. However, the victory ultimately belonged to Zhang Juzheng, who had always kept a low profile. He waited until the end and survived until the end. He killed Gao Gong with a black gun in the dark and became the terminator of the game. Yan Song lost to Xu Jie, not because justice defeated evil, but because he was not as cunning as Xu Jie, and Xu Jie lost to Gao Gong, not because Gao Gong was more upright, but because he was more shrewd. Now, I got rid of Gao Gong.So it turns out that I am the most cunning and brilliant genius in this empire. Goodbye, my former friend, goodbye, my former colleague, your ambitions will be realized by me. In fact, we are the same kind of people, with the same aspirations and ambitions, and I don't want to cheat you, but unfortunately, the position is too crowded. The minister is my chess piece, the emperor is my puppet, the world is in my hands, and no one in the world is my opponent. Alright, so let's start my project, now is the time. Generally speaking, it is enough for Zhang Juzheng to be a part of his faculties. Gao Gong was gone, and he was the only one left in the cabinet. He would give instructions and opinions on any matters.He can do whatever he wants. And Comrade Emperor is basically negligible, this man is just ten years old, it is not bad if he can read comic books, and the Emperor's mother is quite ambiguous to him, all orphans and widows rely on him, and the ministers of the court are also ruled by him In a word, from the moment Gao Gong left, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty changed his surname to Zhang. But now, Emperor Zhang intends to do something that Emperor Zhu cannot do. Throughout Chinese history, a child from a common people’s family, as a civil servant, can even stand aside from the emperor, which can be said to be the pinnacle of perfection. If you want to change someone, domineering, hugging, and live a life comfortably, by the way Some political achievements, great blessings in front of you, and nicknames behind you, that's all. However, the facts tell us that Zhang Juzheng is not a small celebrity, but a big celebrity, so big that almost everyone has heard of him wherever Chinese is spoken, as long as it is not an illiterate village. The reason why he has such achievements is because he has done one thing - reform. What is reform?The popular explanation is that when a machine is not working smoothly, you think about it, go up and tinker with a wrench and screwdriver, knock here and there, and fix the thing, this is called reform. It looks good, but if you really do it, it will be troublesome, because history has proved that anyone who does this basically has no good end. The representative is Comrade Wang Anshi, who has worked hard for decades, is not afraid of changes in the sky, and is not afraid of people's grievances. In the end, he stepped down in embarrassment and ended hastily. The other is more serious. After the reform, he was revolutionized. The representative is Wang Mang. Gone. It can be seen from this that reform is really a risky thing. In the final analysis, it is because of two words-interest.You have to understand that although the old machine is broken, everyone depends on it for food. If you go up and knock it out, knock out any part, you may lose someone's job. If you have a good personality, you will beg for food. If you have a bad personality, I ran to your house with the explosive bag in my arms.In short, if you don't make trouble, you will never give up. If you compare the world to a machine, it will be too big. If you move it casually, it may be the jobs of thousands of people. If there is a riot, it is normal for your whole family to be chopped off. So normal people don't touch this thing, and people who do it are not very normal. However, Zhang Juzheng moved, knowing that there was pressure and danger, he still moved. Because he has seen corrupt princes, starving people, and shameless officials, because he knows that there has never been any savior, and he cannot rely on immortal emperors.Because he believes that the poor are human beings and have the right to survive. Because after more than 30 years of intrigue and ups and downs in the officialdom, he still maintains one thing-ideal. When I was young, when I mentioned Zhang Juzheng, I would immediately think of pulling a cart. Thanks to years of nonsense education, in my impression, this man is the number one bitter person in Tianzi, honest and honest, He worked hard and was very flattering. He was punished by rape all day long, and he made a reform, but it didn't succeed. You can't wait to go up and help him. It was not until more than ten years later that I realized that I had been fooled. This Brother Zhang was neither honest nor honest. All the villains were chased away by him, who do you think is the most villainous. What's even more funny is that no matter how I look left or right, I don't think his reform has failed. He has done all the work to be done, and done all the things to be done. How can it be considered a failure? So what I am going to tell is a story that is neither tragic nor gloomy, but a success story. Before Zhang Juzheng, the most famous reform should be Wang Anshi's reform. Of course, everyone knows that he failed. Why did it fail? For this topic that can write a 200,000-word essay, I will not join in the fun. Simply put: The reason why Wang Anshi failed was because he thought he was smart, and the reason why Zhang Juzheng succeeded was because he thought he was stupid. In this world, everything that exists must have its rationality, otherwise it would never be born.But Wang Anshi didn't quite understand this truth. He hated the old system, hated a large group of idlers in the Northern Song Dynasty, but what he didn't know was that the old system might be stubborn or unreasonable, but it was also the crystallization of the great wisdom of countless predecessors The people who make the system and implement the system are all unparalleled smart people, much smarter than all the people who think they are smart, rigid or cumbersome, but they can be used. So this old man was ambitious, and he was very happy with the young crop method, and he was in full swing, but he couldn't use it in the end, so it was useless. But Zhang Juzheng is different, he is very down-to-earth. You know, Wang Anshi was born at a good time, and the leader at that time, Song Shenzong, was a very restless person. Every day he dreamed of crossing the Yellow River and liberating the whole of China. Reform requires people and money. In comparison, Jiajing is surprisingly lazy. Anyway, the whole country is unified, and he has no desire to conquer the earth. His greatest interest is to make the people below fight.Zhang Juzheng grew up in such an environment. He has experienced hardships and seen the world since he was a young scholar, and he has survived in the cracks for decades. So at the very beginning of the reform, he set a principle—to let himself live and let others live. Be less greedy, each eats his own food, without interfering with each other. Reform without reform is for reform. It seems that God also wanted to make Zhang Juzheng perfect. He had just taken over as the Chief Assistant, and not long after he took power, he learned another good news-Gao Yi died. Comrade Gao Yi deserves to be the most honest person in the world. Since Gao Gong was driven away, he began to sleep and eat restlessly. He vomited blood and died, and went to the King of Hades to continue to be an honest person. Zhang Juzheng didn't feel any grief for Gao Yi's death, because fundamentally speaking, he was the same type of person as Gao Gong, but even more authoritarian than Gao Gong. He felt uncomfortable when he saw someone dangling in front of his eyes. Whether you were honest or not, Dead pull down. In fact, Zhang Juzheng is not to be blamed for this, because in Chinese history, most of the people who started a business together could not escape the ending of the "Four Sames"—to help each other in the same boat—to share the same bed with different dreams—to fight in the same room—to die together. So since Jiajing ascended the throne, after more than 50 years of long struggle, Zhang Juzheng finally ruled the world, supported by the emperor's mother, supported by countless ministers, his cronies Qi Jiguang guarded the border outside, and his best friend Feng kept the official seal inside. Completely ignored, he can do whatever he wants, he is more emperor than the real emperor, he responds to all calls, and truly realizes unity. Conquer all those who disobey you, and destroy them if they dare to speak out, and everyone will recognize you as the boss. This is called achieving unity. After being united, Zhang Juzheng could finally realize his ideal. This is the "Zhang Juzheng Reform" that was later featured in countless history books. Speaking of reform, there are always a lot of times, places, characters, backgrounds, meanings, etc., etc. I was deeply hurt by it back then. In other words, Zhang Juzheng did two things. The first thing is called a whip method.This name is very inconspicuous, but this matter is extremely important. In today's words, it has cross-age significance. Because this cross-age whip law changed the tax system that had lasted for more than 800 years since the Tang Dynasty, and it was a milestone change in the history of taxation in China. I used the above passage in my historical paper, so don’t be surprised if you get dizzy after reading it. After all, you can’t do it without saying it. After explaining the great significance, let’s be honest and make sure everyone can understand it: Since ancient times, it has been a matter of course for the state to collect taxes and for the common people to pay taxes. After all, Zhu Chongba and others are not philanthropists. How to collect taxes is different in each dynasty and generation, but basically the types of taxes are relatively fixed, mainly divided into three parts: One is the land tax. The emperor desperately scrambled to grab the land. If you planted the emperor's land, you would naturally have to pay. The second is the poll tax. The whole world is not the land of the king. All the people in the world are the emperor's subjects (all of which are his resources). It is an obligation for several people to pay a few shares. The third is corvee labor. To put it bluntly, it is a coolie tax. The so-called rich pays for money and has the ability to contribute. When it comes to repairing projects and hosting receptions, the state not only requires you to contribute money, but sometimes also requires you to contribute.Grasp with both hands, one cannot be missing. Some people may say, what if there are mountains everywhere and no land?Or if I have a field but don’t grow food, what should I do?You don't have to worry about this, the country has already thought about it for you, you don't have to enjoy the rights, but you can't escape the obligations. Simply put, you pay what you have. If you grow mushrooms in the mountains, you pay mushrooms. If you grow wood in the mountains, you pay wood. If you want apples in the fields, you pay apples. The warehouse, anyway, will not be broken for a while. A "trickster" might ask: What if I were a fisherman, and you don't have a refrigerator, so the fish can't be left to stink, right? Hehe, don't worry, the imperial court has a way to make it into salted fish, isn't it the same?Can't run away from you boy. The common people in China have been carrying these three mountains on their backs for thousands of years, and they have been suffering bitterly. To be honest, in the history of China, the rulers of the unified dynasty, except for some people who were insane or eager to spend money, still attached great importance to the burden of the people, and the ratio of land tax was basically twenty to one ( Five percent), or ten to one (ten percent), if you can receive five to one (twenty percent), it is considered a heavy tax. Judging from this figure, the life of ordinary people can still live on theoretically. Unfortunately, only in theory. That's what it sounds like, but it's all messed up when it's operated. Because in actual implementation, officials at all levels quickly discovered that there are too many loopholes that can take advantage of loopholes to make money: for example, if you hand over an apple, he can pick and choose, pick up one, say that it is small, and count it as half. That one has worm eyes, so it can't be counted.If you hand over the cotton, he can say that the quality of the cotton is not good, and half of it is worth it, so you can only go home and pull it away. This is still light, and the biggest trouble is corvee.Because the land tax and poll tax can still see things, the county magistrate can’t afford it, and corvee is hard to say. Repairing river embankments, working as errands for post stations, and repairing roads are all corvee. So who will judge whether you have completed the task? ——The county grandfather. This is the so-called weasel watching the chicken. When he meets a good conscience, he can still record it truthfully. When he meets a dishonest one, he will get some benefits. ?I have the final say on this matter, if you say you didn't do it, then you didn't do it, what can you do? Facts have proved that at that time, except for a small number of people with good morals, most court officials were still dishonest and untrustworthy. They did not exploit loopholes and did not make money. This requirement was a bit high.In short, it is a sentence, you don't discuss playing. Countless ordinary people have been crippled in this way, and the imperial court has no benefit, and they are all taken over by the local government. In addition, this tax collection system still has a lot of troubles, because what is collected is all things, and there are many kinds of them, and they are inconvenient to call. For example, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have collected a lot of grain, but the capital can’t eat it, and the locals don’t have a shortage. I heard that there is a shortage of grain in the northwest, so why not transport it there?After all, the food price is not enough for the transportation fee.Then don't bother, put it in the granary to feed the mice. What's even more troublesome is that although a lot of things have been handed in from various places, in addition to food, there are various local products, Chinese medicinal materials, etc., but there is not much silver. These things take up space in the capital and require warehouse management fees. In the war, you can't let the soldiers eat cotton, and provide a few taels of medicinal materials for the army's salary. And some ministers who were full of food came up with a bad idea when they were bored, saying that since there are so many things, if you are idle, you might as well use them to pay the officials in the capital. According to regulations, how much salary should you get, but when the money is distributed, I will tell you that the country does not have enough cash, so we can only send you part of the money and food, and the rest will be paid for with cotton, but don’t worry, we have estimated in the market, If it is exchanged at equal value, there will be no loss in taking these cottons. Grandma's, I've worked so hard to get home with these sacks of cotton?What do wives and children eat? It must be explained that this is definitely not a joke. Since Zhu Yuanzhang, officials in the Ming Dynasty have been paid in this way. Sometimes it is food, sometimes it is medicinal materials. Some emperors who lack great virtue return banknotes (the ones printed indiscriminately are worthless) and receive wages in the morning. There are not a few people who go to the bazaars to sell part-time small vendors when they go down. The country has suffered, the people have suffered, and the gangsters in the middle have benefited. So Zhang Juzheng decided to change this situation. He drew on local experience and introduced a whipping method. There are many contents in the One Whip Law, but the most important thing is to promulgate a unified regulation, and the national taxation will be changed from a tax in kind to a currency tax. This is a seemingly simple order, but it has a very simple historical significance. Because from now on, whether it is land tax, corvee or poll tax, there will be a unified standard. It is not the officials who have the final say. Of course, according to the law that officials must be greedy, Zhang Juzheng also left a way out for everyone, because various items such as food, fruits, medicinal materials, and silk are converted into silver taels and handed over according to regulations. There are naturally special circumstances in the locality, and it seems normal to take proper care of them and make a fortune from them. So everyone was happy, what the court got was vain money, and the common people didn't have to let the officials fool them, whether they were greedy or robbed, as long as they agreed to kill them, they would at least have a better life.Officials have less benefits, but they are still living well, so that's it. So it turns out that the more complex the policy, the more loopholes it will have and the more difficult it is to implement. Wang Anshi is generally like this. Although a whip seems simple, it is the crystallization of the highest wisdom, just as the old saying goes: It is skill to make complex problems simple. Zhang Juzheng and his whipping method have been left in history and have been used for a long time, and the three mountains have not moved. During the Yongzheng period, it was implemented that the apportionment was divided into mu, and the head tax was included in the land tax, so it was considered as two ( In fact, it has not been reduced at all, just another way of saying it), corvee was not officially abolished until after liberation, and the land tax with the longest history, the so-called agricultural tax, was officially suspended a few years ago. Socialism is good, this is a truth. The second thing Zhang Juzheng did was actually caused by a letter. In the first year of Wanli (1573), Zhang Juzheng wrote a letter to the emperor. Of course, he actually wrote a letter to himself. In this letter to himself, he wrote such a sentence: "There are exams in the month, and audits in the year, so the voice must be true, and things can be done." A famous policy in history was born, and its name is the first and last two words of this sentence - test. This is the second major measure of Zhang Juzheng's reform - the examination method. If you don’t know how to pass the test, that’s normal, but if you haven’t passed the test, it’s not normal, because in a sense, this test is roughly equivalent to today’s attendance. Zhang Juzheng has come up with a whole set of systems, but he knows very well that the system is secondary and the execution is the main one. It is impossible to expect these lazy people under him to suddenly have a conscience attack and work hard. So after repeated thinking, Master Zhang came up with this wonderful solution. Zhang Juzheng's method is to keep accounts.For example, a magistrate lists all the tasks to be completed at the beginning of each year, transcribes them into a book, keeps a copy for himself, keeps a copy for Zhang Juzheng, and makes a pair at the end of the year. If you find that you haven’t done anything, then congratulations You, pack your things and prepare to go to the county seat. If this is still the case when you arrive at the county seat, so will your punishment, until you tie the quilt and leave. 该法令适用范围近似于无穷大，从中央六部到边远山区，如不照办，一概都照章处理。 按照以往规律，新官上任三把火，雄心勃勃一回，烧完之后该干嘛就干嘛，所有有些官兄也不在意，以为咬牙挺一挺就过去了，可他们把牙咬碎，也没等到完事的那一天。 张居正这次是动真格的，真格到了有点恶心人的地步，比如万历三年（1576），有人反映，赋税实在太难收，你说收十万就十万，遇到欠收你让我去哪淘银子？ 事实证明，张学士还是很民主的，很快，他就颁布规定，从今以后地方赋税，只要收到一定数量，就算没收全，也可以不处分。 但指标下来了，大家都高兴不起来，因为这个“一定数量”是九成。 这明摆着是把大家涮着玩，我能收到九成，还用叫苦吗？然而张先生用行动告诉大家，收不收得到，那是你的事，处不处分你，那是我的事。 第一个当火锅底料的，是山东的一群难兄难弟，运气实在不好，死收活收就是没收全，更可笑的是，其中有位仁兄，赋税收到了八成八，还是被咔嚓一刀，全部集体降级。 于是从此以后，官员们一改往日作风认真干活，兢兢业业，只求年底弄个考核合格，那就菩萨保佑了，工作效率也得以大幅度提高。 当然了，考成法能够实施，那还要靠张居正，要知道这位兄弟当年也是一路混过来的，朝廷里那些歪门邪道，贪污伎俩，他都清清楚楚，想当初他老人家捞钱的时候，下面这帮小年轻还在啃烧饼。如今最滑的老滑头当权，谁敢跟他玩花样。 以上就是考成法的主要内容，但并非全部内容，因为事实上，张居正相当狡猾，在那封信中，他还偷偷夹杂了一句极为重要的话，以实现他的个人目的，这句话很不起眼，却是他死后被人清算的真正原因。 这事留到后面讲，因为光荣事迹还没说完。 在张居正的严厉督促下，官员们勤勤恳恳，努力工作，国家财政收入不断上升，自正德以来走下坡路的明朝，又开始爬坡了。 内政蒸蒸日上的同时，明军的实力也得到了进一步的加强——因为几位猛人的存在。 戚继光自然是头把交椅，虽说他只是个总兵，职务比谭纶和王崇古要低，但大家心里都清楚，这个人的后台太硬，哪怕是兵部尚书，每次到蓟州视察，对戚总兵都是客客气气的。 而事实也是如此，张居正对戚继光实在是好得过了头，下属不听话了，换！副手不听话了，换！上司不听话了，换！ 这么一搞，就把戚继光搞成了个无人敢碰的角色，大家都对他尊敬有加，偏偏这位戚大哥还很会来事，每次京城有领导来参观，他都要亲自作陪，请吃请喝请娱乐，完事还要送土特产，据说都是用车拉回去的，如此猛料的人物，谁惹？ 在戚继光之前，十七年间，蓟州总兵换了十个人，平均任期1.7年，没办法，这个鬼地方，天天有蒙古人来转悠，守这里不是被打跑，就是被打死，运气好的被抓回去追究责任，实在没法呆。 但戚继光就不同了，他到这里之后，只打过几个小仗，之后一直镇守边界十六年，竟然没人敢来。 究其原因，还是他守得太好，刚到边界不久，他就大力推广修建烽火台，把城墙连成一片，形成了稳固的防御体系，此外，他还大力发展火器，基本上是人手一杆枪。原先在浙江打日本人，好歹还用个鸳鸯阵，现在索性就不搭理人了，蒙古骑兵每次来，还没等挨着城墙，就被一阵乱枪扫射，等你在城外跑累了，再派兵出去打落水狗，这么个折腾法，蒙古人实在受不了，长此以往，大家就都不来了。 由于戚继光这边密不透风，蒙古部落就跑到辽东去混饭吃，希望有条生路。 可惜的是，镇守辽东的，恰恰是李成梁，这位李总兵堪称当时第一号横人，他所管辖的地方，既不修城墙，也不搞火器，防务看似十分松懈，所以很多蒙古人慕名而来，想抢一把，可是事实告诉他们，李总兵虽然不砌墙头，却擅长扔砖头。 他之所以不守，只是因为他喜欢进攻。 别人都怕骑兵，唯独李成梁不怕，因为他是当时明朝最为优秀的骑兵将领，手下有一支精锐的骑兵，人称“辽东铁骑”。 这支部队战斗力极强，在他镇守期间，出战三十余次，战无不胜，经常追着蒙古人到处跑，让人闻风丧胆，是后来天下第一强军“关宁铁骑”的前身。 当然，这位兄台因为打仗太多，杀人太狠，也有点混，还惹了个大祸，这些都是后来的事情，到时再讲。 蓟州和辽东有这两人守着，宣大那边也不打了，大家正忙着做生意，没有功夫打仗，于是困扰了明朝几百年的边界问题终于得以缓解。 国库充裕，边界安宁，大明王朝已经建立了两百年，混到这时候竟然还有如此局面，不能不说是个奇迹，而这一切的缔造者，正是张居正。