Han Shizu

The repercussions caused by Ding Wei's impeachment in the court can be described as a stone's throw that caused thousands of waves. In the past few years, there have been countless attacks and criticisms on the prime minister, but this kind of naming, tearing off the face, and naked attacks on the people in charge. This is the first time in more than 20 years that the situation of the Prime Minister and the Heavenly Officials has happened.

Zhi Zhi Gao Ding said that the Tanhua held in the autumn of the first year of Yongxi's reign was famous for a while. In addition, Zeng Hui, who had previously served as the prefect and governor of Haidong Province, Sun He who was promoted to a bachelor of Jixian Palace and supervised the compilation of "National History" and "Taizong Shilu", and Yu Xianke who was transferred to the deputy envoy of Liaodong Province, The second year of Pingkang seems to have become the year when the current Jinshi collective broke out in the "Autumn Examination of the First Year".

Immediately after Ding Wei, Emperor Liu Wenpeng returned to the palace from Shangyang Palace and held an imperial meeting in Chui Gong Hall to discuss "Ding Wei's impeachment of Lu Mengzheng". Emperor, this can be considered a "blockbuster".

In response to this matter, everyone in the imperial court took action upon hearing the news. There was a fierce debate in front of the imperial court alone. Zhang Qixian, Li Hang, and Kou Zhun firmly defended Lu Mengzheng, while Ding Wei could only be regarded as a pawn. The real charge was the Imperial Inspector Wang Xuanzhen and the Minister of Justice. Xu Shilian, one of these two people is a die-hard loyal to Taizong, and the other is a lonely minister and is labeled as an "eagle dog".

The two of them criticized Lu Mengzheng, of course, not out of personal grudges. In essence, they opposed his "abolition of the Imperial City Division" for the purpose of safeguarding imperial power. Especially Wang Xuanzhen, because of his background, he was almost incompatible with the Manchu ministers and prime ministers, and his position could not be completely on the side of "prime minister power".

When he was still a martial arts envoy, he fought with the Imperial City Division and once hoped that the Imperial City Division would disappear. However, it was only after the "Trouble over the King" caused by Zhang Xun and Lu Mengzheng in Shizu's later years that Wang Xuanzhen truly realized Only after seeing the reason why the two divisions of Imperial City and Wude are in opposition to each other and achieve each other, can we truly understand the value and positioning of the two divisions to the emperor and imperial power.

As a Wu Deshi who had been in power for many years, he was not tolerated by all ministers, and his position on issues involving the Second Division, especially the Wu De Division, was bound to be biased. Although Lu Mengzheng is still targeting the Imperial City Division, if the Imperial City Division is banned and abolished, what about the Wude Secretary, the former Wude Envoy?

Compared with Wang Xuan who really had no choice, Xu Shilian took the initiative to attack and had political conflicts with Naqian's ministers, especially Li Hang and Lu Mengzheng. As a "guilty" scholar, he endured more than ten years of hardships on the northern frontier, and then re-emerged as a member of Taizong and an important minister. Xu Shilian was the most solid practitioner of the "Shizu-Taizong" policy concept and maintainer.

On this point, he is more determined than the hard-working prime minister Zhang Qixian, who also came from the local area and has experienced many trials and tribulations. Zhang Qixian is the minister after all and needs to consider everything and take the overall situation into consideration.

In comparison, although Li Hang and Lu Mengzheng were quite talented in governing the country and followed the same style as Liu Sui Kaibao and Yong Xi in terms of political style, they still had their persistence in ideological concepts and their belief in "Confucianism as the We still have the idea of ​​​​"the rule of benevolence", "the rule of benevolence and the rule of the country". To put it simply, we want to take the "turn back".

We can get a glimpse of the situation of recruiting scholars in the spring of the second year of Pingkang. Compared with the previous examinations, this time with Li Hang as the director, there were obvious changes in the proportion of scholars. The most significant point is that there are 33 people in the "Ming Jing Ke", which is the first time in decades. At the same time, the number of people in medicine, engineering, and agriculture has almost returned to the level of the middle Kaibao period.

What is less obvious is the change in the content of the examination. While retaining the existing basic examination items such as law, arithmetic, practice, and policy theory, many Confucian classics and teachings of sages have been added. The increased part is precisely the reason why the current academic level is even (number). Under the influence of the scientific examination environment of the Han Dynasty in the past few decades, there are always some candidates who have "weak foundation" question.

Therefore, the scientific examination in the second year of Pingkang has become the most controversial in decades. It is comparable to the original emperor Shizu who proposed the "Pragmatic Theory" and put subjects such as agriculture, medicine, and engineering on the scientific examination hall. .

The purpose of a group of people in power, represented by Li Hang, in making such changes was obviously to cater to or even bribe those "traditional literati."

It is true that the ideological and academic circles of the Han Empire have undergone great changes after decades of revisions by Emperor Shizu and more than ten years of persistence by Emperor Taizong. As a result, various new ideas and new ideas have been born. theory.

A large number of "new schools" such as Hunan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Suiyang, Qilu, Yandai, Guanlong, etc. have appeared in the local area. These new schools more or less cater to the will of the rulers, among which the most typical The most famous is the Xiangjiang School.

But it is undeniable that there are still not a few scholars who believe in traditional thinking and adhere to old learning. They are a huge number, and they still occupy a very important say in their thoughts and the right to interpret knowledge. Moreover, a large number of them Some people belong to poor families and common people.

Li Hang, for example, has been very popular since the time of Emperor Shizu, and his official career has been smooth and he has been promoted all the way. His own quality is naturally sufficient. If someone can be valued by the two generations of emperors Shizu and Taizong, and even become a posthumous minister, his knowledge and ability must be recognized. He can never be the kind of person who is incorrigible and clings to the weak.

The most fundamental reason why he began to disturb the system and principles of the imperial recruitment system that had been implemented for decades was that he had long discovered an extremely serious and increasingly serious problem in the current military recruitment system, which was the Children from poor families and lower-class scholars are becoming more and more unfriendly. Those subjects and topics that focus on experience and practical application are too demanding and are becoming more and more demanding. They are simply beyond the reach of ordinary scholars.

In the early years, the empire was short of talent, and it did need a group of pragmatic talents to do things. Even inexperienced scholars could easily get a job as an "official" from local government offices, get some training, and gain some experience. After that, taking the scientific examination will be a matter of course.

However, this situation has changed today, decades later, because it is not so easy for officials to do it. Gradually, many scholars have discovered that in today's Han Empire, although there are still many channels for advancement, they are only for the children of powerful and wealthy families, while for ordinary scholars, the room for advancement is actually limited. .

For ordinary scholars who want to get ahead, except for those who are talented and born with knowledge, who can pass the imperial examination, and once they reach the sky, the upper limit for many people is only to be an official in the government. You also need to work hard to make breakthroughs, and if you want to continue to make progress, you have to rely on the powerful, which many people do.

One can only imagine what will happen if things continue like this, or have already evolved. The Han Dynasty, in fact, has become an empire dominated by "powerful people".

In addition to the heroes, landlords and bureaucrats since the founding of the People's Republic of China, this group of dignitaries also includes some newly-rising academics and wealthy businessmen. They are either powerful, famous, or rich, and have their children and students as backers. Can it be compared to ordinary scholars?

In contrast, for scholars all over the world, only the classic teachings of saints are the fairest and lowest cost.

This is also the fundamental reason why Shizu was able to successfully implement his method of "reviving the country through practical means" even though he was criticized by scholars. After all, there was a large number of "silent" powerful people who silently and firmly supported it.

The rapid solidification of classes in the empire was formed as early as the Shizu period. Of course Emperor Shizu had seen it a long time ago, but he didn't want to slap himself in the face, and secondly, he believed more in elite education than those scholars who dropped their bags. talents, which is conducive to the rule of the empire.

At the same time, under the system of the Han Empire, it was impossible for the clans to appear like those in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. After all, the cultural soil had changed. At the same time, family background was very important, but it was not just family background. The core of the policy of examinations was still retained. And carry it forward.

But no matter what, the various contradictions and negative impacts that class solidification will bring to this country will still exist. If they accumulate to a certain extent, problems will inevitably break out.

If Shizu didn't care about it, Taizong didn't have time to do it. After all, throughout his entire reign, he was busy fixing leaks for Shizu and patching up the empire. Of course, Emperor Taizong did not do nothing in the imperial examination. He made stricter and more comprehensive strengthening of the system, especially in expanding the content and direction of the examination, and strictly preventing and punishing fraud and favoritism.

At the same time, the great increase in the proportion of candidates in subjects such as law, arithmetic, agriculture, industry, and medicine in the imperial examinations of the Han Dynasty only really appeared during the Taizong period. Especially the subject of law experienced an expansionary development because Taizong Resolutely adhere to the concept of "ruling the country by law". On this path, in addition to various rule of law policies and implementation, the most important measure is to cultivate and promote a large number of officials who know the law, understand the law and can use it.

By promoting the development of "specialized subjects" such as law, arithmetic, agriculture, medicine, and engineering, Emperor Taizong was also a way to alleviate the solidification of the imperial class. First, the empire actually needed these talents in various aspects. At the same time, for the majority of scholars, It is said that as long as you are willing to lower your eyes and bend down, you can always learn something. No matter how difficult it is, can you still be embarrassed by the obscure and difficult teachings of the sages?

However, this method has its upper limit after all. The ideological concepts and cultural traditions inherited from thousands of years of development cannot be truly reversed in just a few decades. Despite the rapid development of the "specialty examination system", those scholars who showed great enthusiasm were mostly just to cater to the rulers. Their purpose was to become officials and enjoy power, and to realize their personal aspirations of "cultivating themselves, regulating their families, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world." and adopted a contingency approach.

Once the ideas of those in power change and their policies change, it is not difficult for scholars to abandon their identity and change their stance.

At the same time, neither Shizu nor Taizong could really give up on the traditional scholar-official style. At least ideologically, it was extremely consistent with the Liu family's rule of the world.

Therefore, from the selection of candidates for the imperial examination, to the policy of governing the country, to the imperial system and even ideological concepts, the empire has always been involved, especially in the cultural, educational and political circles. However, in the past, there were strong emperors like Shizu and Taizong. , enough to control the situation and suppress conflicts. When the era of peace and prosperity comes, the situation will be different. A group of civil servants, represented by Li Hang and Lu Mengzheng, launched an attack on the current system of selecting officials. It was precisely because of the background of institutional contradictions in the empire and the situation in which all the assistants ruled the country that they had the conditions for instigation.

From an objective point of view, even Lu Mengzheng, who was born in a poor family, belongs to the "powerful people" and is the ruling class that has truly achieved class crossing. Their ideological concepts and policy propositions are actually a challenge to a large number of powerful people with vested interests, and can even be said to be an act of betraying their own class.

It is precisely because of this that Li and Lu can be treated differently from ordinary bureaucrats and ministers who compete for power and profit. They have their own political opinions and basically work for the country with a public heart.

In the political affairs hall, Zhang Qixian is the minister, and his biggest responsibility is to maintain the stability of the court and maintain the operation of the government. He is an old minister of Taizong, and Yongxi's administration also embodies a lot of his efforts, so Zhang Qixian devotes more to the court. Regarding the continuation and maintenance of Taizong's various policies, in terms of personal ambitions, he did not have as many opinions as when he was a young adult.

In contrast, Li and Lu are both firm "reformers" and close political allies. Therefore, when Lu Meng was being criticized, Li Hang defended him most firmly.

Similarly, the force of the "Destroying Lu Sect" is equally powerful. There are Wang Xuanzhen and Xu Shilian in the chief minister's office, and outside the court, there is Liu Jichang, the chief envoy of the capital. Of course, Liu Jichang's main purpose is to consider his own power and position. After all, the former was Lu Meng who was overpowering him and ascending to the heavenly official position.

At the same time, Lu Wang Liu Ai was also very ambiguous in his attitude on this matter. The main reason was that the political alliance between Li Hang and Lu Mengzheng had too much influence in the court, not just the two of them. Fame, as well as bonuses from the two powerful positions of Finance Envoy and Officials.

One is in charge of money bags, and the other is in charge of official hats. The two are still on the same side. They have shown great power in a short period of time. If time goes by, will the court not be able to have the final say by these two? Therefore, the "Li-Lu Alliance" must be dismantled. Just like the emperor Liu Wenpeng's considerations, Liu Ming also felt that it would be easier to deal with Lu Mengzheng without the halo of his assistant.

From the emperor to the clan, to the prime ministers and ministers, one by one, our own forces stepped aside and participated in the "defeat Lu" operation. In such a situation, no matter how honest Lu Mengzheng is, or how powerful the "Li-Lu Alliance" is, they will not be able to withstand this situation. pressurized.

The result is also foreseeable. It has been doomed almost since Ding said he was impeached.

However, there is almost no moral flaw in Lu Mengzheng. His personal words and deeds have always highlighted the "right way". He is full of righteousness, tolerant and fair-minded, and he has always controlled family members and relatives who are prone to problems. .

Therefore, it is very difficult to find faults with Lu Mengzheng himself. However, "Nothing is difficult in the world, only those who are willing" can pick out the bones in an egg if necessary, let alone find faults with a few of Lu Mengzheng.

The most offensive thing is the point that Ding Wei grasped. Using people for personal gain can also be extended to the charge of "bullying the emperor".

The key lies in Lu Mengzheng's reinstatement of the "Twenty-eight Ministers". Almost twenty years have passed. Among the "Twenty-Eight Gentlemen" who were demoted, there are seven other people who survived, at least all of them. Promoted to the state level.

And these people, twenty years ago, were the guilty officials appointed by Emperor Shizu and were demoted and exiled. By doing this, Lu Meng was betraying the "ambition of Shizu". Isn't this bullying the emperor?

Of course, this statement is not so tenable, and the accusation is a bit far-fetched, but these are not important. Shizu's will at the time is not important, and Taizong's re-promotion and appointment of Lu Mengzheng is not worth mentioning. The key is that there are so many people and powerful forces trying to suppress Lu Mengzheng.

So, after twenty years, a generation of famous minister Lu Mengzheng was once again overthrown because of "deposing the Imperial City Division". He did not fight to the end, but was demoted to Taiping Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River as the magistrate. He still maintained a bit of basic dignity. However, Lu Mengzheng's age (sixty-four) and his unhealthy body almost announced his complete demise. Even though he still had the position of governor, his political future had completely withered.

The "defeat Lu faction" who had achieved great victory did not give up. Some people pointed the finger at Li Hang and accused him of "forming a party for personal gain". In this way, the situation would be based on the "Lü Meng case". A level more serious. After all, Li Hang was a prime minister who was ranked among the top four in Guangzheng Hall and was ordered by Taizong.

As soon as this proposal came out, the shock was naturally greater. However, when the signs were revealed, Shangshu Ling took action. He resolutely defended Li Hang, or in other words, he resolutely defended Taizong's decree and Yongxi's government. With the strong intervention of Shangshu Ling, this dispute was not escalated and Li Hang was involved.

However, the defeat of one of the most important political allies was the biggest blow to Li Han and the group of civil servants led by him.

The "defeat of Lu" that occurred in the winter of the second year of Pingkang had a significant and far-reaching impact on the Han Empire.

From a personal point of view, first of all, Emperor Liu Wenpeng made his own voice for the first time. Imperial power began to recover, and the "dusty" emperor gradually awakened. After all, he killed a prime minister with one strike.

At the same time, from Liu Wenpeng's perspective, he seemed to imagine that the prime ministers and assistants were too powerful, not to mention the conflicts and discord between them. More importantly, the emperor discovered a problem. He wanted to leverage the situation between the DPRK and China, and it seemed that he only needed an edict.

Even though those auxiliary ministers appointed by Taizong should not act rashly, what about the others? At this point, Emperor Liu Wenpeng really began to realize what the word "emperor" actually meant and what the power given to him by the imperial system was.

For Wang Xuanzhen and Xu Shilian, they saved the Imperial City, maintained the system, and guarded the imperial power.

Liu Jichang, the chief envoy of the capital, finally came to pay homage to the prime minister and was promoted to the official position of official. This time, no one stood in his way.

There are also Zhizhi Gaodingwei, who released the feudal government and became a judge in Tokyo, controlling the judicial power of the capital with a population of nearly two million.

Of course, for Ding Wei, the greatest significance is to reach heaven to listen, and at the same time once again see what the fierce struggle at the top of the palace is like. For Ding Wei, who could only sit cautiously and watch the big bosses fight in the later period, while realizing his humbleness, he was also full of infinite yearning for higher power.

If we look at the "defeat of Lu" from a macro perspective, it has had a severe impact on the political structure of the Han Dynasty that lasted for almost two years. The original structure, with the passage of time and people's dissatisfaction, has become more and more serious. It's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

At the same time, the struggle between political ideas and power among the upper echelons of the empire became increasingly complex and intense.

On the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Pingkang, Wang Xuanzhen, the imperial envoy, was expelled from the slaughterhouse. It was Li Hang who took action, and Zhang Qixian, the minister who facilitated it, on the grounds that Mobei was uneasy (it was the conflict between the Man tribe and Mobei Khitan). As the situation worsened and attacks became more frequent), important ministers were required to go to Shanyang to take charge of the situation.

Wang Xuanzhen was assigned the position of governor of Shanyang and pacifier of Mobei. At least in the local area, his real power was very heavy.

But at the same time, Wang Xuanzhen's departure to the court also meant the abnormal departure of the imperial ministers, which was the most significant manifestation of the changes in the political situation.

What followed closely was the fight between various forces for the important position of the Imperial Envoy. The entire Yongxi era was an era of great expansion of the imperial supervisory system. By the end of Yongxi's reign, it was already the second-largest yamen in the Department of Government Affairs, second only to the Department of Personnel and the Department of Finance.

For this position, various forces fought fiercely, and even reached the point where even the combined forces of Lu Wang Liu Ai and Shangshu Ling Zhang Qixian could not suppress him.