Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 92: Selfishness and Double Standards

"Your Majesty, I respectfully listen to your questions!"

Hou Xianchun strengthened his will and did not believe that the ministers would be indifferent to such obvious signals of rehabilitating Zhang Juzheng and even implementing new policies.

The duke is conferring titles and training the Beijing camp, and the blade is pointed here!

Zhu Changluo looked at Hou Xianchun.

It was him who jumped out, and Zhu Changluo was not surprised.

After doing so much research and asking Chen Ju so many questions about his past, Zhu Changluo naturally knew this person, but he had never matched this person with his appearance before.

One of Hou Xianchun's previous famous events was related to Zhang Juzheng.

At the beginning of the tenth year of Wanli, the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng was seriously ill and difficult to recover. All the civil and military officials in the court pooled money to hold a grand ceremony of fasting and praying to God to bless Zhang Juzheng to recover soon.

Everyone is sincere? Of course it is impossible.

That year was more like a kind of flattery: all the ministers in the court, from the six ministers to the idle minor officials, fasted and prayed for him. They gave up their duties and went to various Buddhist temples to pray for Zhang Juzheng, and also sent petitions of blessing to Zhang's house.

This action even spread to other provinces, and local officials followed suit. The whole country was in a frenzy for a while.

Even when the emperor was sick there wasn't such a grand prayer ceremony.

The thing that made Hou Xianchun famous was during this process.

Someone organized a joint prayer book, which they would burn to pray to the gods during fasting and prayer ceremonies.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, only three people did not sign their names on it.

Two fellow Wuxi natives, and both were Jinshi in the eighth year of Wanli: Gu Xiancheng and Hou Xianchun, who have now been demoted to civilians and are preparing to rebuild Donglin Academy.

The other is Wei Yunzhong, who was named one of the "Five Last Sons" by Wang Shizhen, who dominated the Ming Dynasty literary world for twenty years. This man has died.

So what is the relationship between Wang Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng?
It is no exaggeration to say that he hated Zhang Juzheng to the core and deliberately smeared and belittled him.

A book titled "Biographies of the Chief Ministers of the Cabinet since the Jiajing Period" portrays Zhang Juzheng as a corrupt, lustful person who abused his power for personal gain and used his power to settle personal grudges.

In this book, he also wrote about Shen Shixing, and it is the longest chapter with over ten thousand words.

But in the longest passage, only about 200 words are devoted to Shen Shixing himself. After the sentence "Since he entered the cabinet, he and the four ministers have become close to Juzheng", the rest is all about Zhang Juzheng.

Wang Shizhen, who dominated the Ming Dynasty literary world for twenty years, used his brilliant literary talent and writing style to hide countless scandals.

Among them were Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang: Tan Lun, then the Minister of War, was in cahoots with Jiguang because of his wealth. Lun was good at using women and had quite a crush on Juzheng. Juzheng tested him and found him to be successful, so he treated Lun even better to show his favor. Jiguang would often buy concubines worth thousands of gold as gifts.

When Zhang Juzheng was seriously ill in the tenth year of Wanli, Hou Xianchun, Gu Xiancheng and Wei Yunzhong, who were "unique" in not participating in "praying" for Zhang Juzheng, had already "hated" Zhang Juzheng to the point that they were unwilling to even participate in his flattery.

Looking at Hou Xianchun, Zhu Changluo asked the first question: "Why do the generals and soldiers feel resentful because of the little favor they received? You just said that the emperor has given great favors to the foreign race. The most important affairs of the country are sacrifice and military affairs. My first question is: rewarding loyalty with titles, respecting and employing people, is not only the importance of etiquette, but also the importance of military affairs. Do you agree with this?"

"That's true! So you must be extremely cautious!"

"According to your opinion, the people who are awarded the title must have both great merits and virtues, as well as a good family background, and even more so luck. If one lacks virtue, one will not be awarded; if one lacks a good family background, one will not be awarded; if one dies at a later time, one will not be awarded. Fu Qiangbo was not a Han general either, and there was a precedent for posthumous titles, but you were not in the court at that time. My second question is: you are in charge of military affairs, and you can inspect and advise on military affairs. Can military generals be awarded titles? Is this the standard? Is it true or not?"

"…To avoid endless gossip, this is the way to go. Otherwise, why, except for the beginning of the country and major changes, there has never been a letter to several people?"

Zhu Changluo actually smiled: "Let me remind you, there is no need to say so much. To the first question, you answered yes. To the second question, you answered yes. Is it or is it not?"

Seeing this smile, Hou Xianchun felt extremely angry.

Lord Potian was exerting pressure on him. Was he interrogating him?
He gritted his teeth and said stiffly, "Yes!"

Zhu Changluo put away his smile and said indifferently, "Military officials are promoted for their merits, and civil officials are selected for their posts. In the ordinary examination of the Ministry of Personnel, every year when the imperial examination is held, the Ministry recommends the officials, except for those with poor moral character. Naturally, those with low moral character cannot be promoted. Those with low family background and low reputation do not need to be promoted too much. Being too old and in poor health is also a criterion for consideration. My third question is, what is your opinion on the selection and promotion of civil officials? Is this what I said?"

"Yes!" Hou Xianchun said with a straight face, "I am upright in my conduct and loyal in my criticism. Heaven and earth will testify to this!"

Zhu Changluo ignored his preference for adding drama.

What he meant was that his moral character could stand the test, and the emperor should not think that such a subtle threat could make him change his mind.

So he is a mean man with a small vision. Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Yikuan: "For the sake of the great affairs of the country and the military, since the nobility should take into account virtue, family background, and fortune, then the selection of vacancies for civil officials and the promotion of those in office should be treated equally, right? What do you think, Lord Shen?"

Shen Yi Guan glanced at Hou Xianchun coldly, only to see his face turn pale and he looked at the emperor in disbelief.

Just because of the results of these three questions, do we need to investigate all civil servants in the world?

Regardless of whether one's moral character is good or not, should the unspoken rules such as the ceiling for becoming a juren and the threshold for becoming a cabinet official be fixed from now on and divided into different levels?

In addition, Yu Jideng died suddenly of illness, so should age also be considered when determining whether a person is in good health? How do we define whether a person is in good health?

As everyone knows, in another month Shen Yikuan will be 71 years old.

Shen Yiguan hated Hou Xianchun so much that he still jumped out and said, "You have the intention of redressing Zhang Juzheng. Didn't you see anything from the abdication edict of the emperor? Do you have to use the title issue to express your opinion?"

But it hasn’t started yet! After all, there is no explicit mention of Zhang Juzheng, let alone the New Deal of the past.

Now the emperor is already trying to raise the performance evaluation system! Do you think the year-end hard work salary is just to buy people's hearts?

If we really make it clear at this court meeting, how could Shen Yikuan, as the Prime Minister, have any room for maneuver?
"...I think that although civil and military officials should be selected in this way, no one is perfect, and we should not abandon a flawless jade because of a minor flaw." Shen Yi Guan said, "The Marquis of the Military Affairs Department expressed his feelings about the military affairs, which also shows his sincere desire to serve the country. Yuanfu, the Grand Marshal has taken very thorough considerations, so you should not worry too much."

Yuanfu persuaded Yuanfu, and the scene was funny.

Hou Xianchun looked at him in surprise, and then his eyes turned cold, as if he was looking at a traitor.

Are you frightened by the so-called abuse of imperial power?

"Since Lord Shen said that I have expressed my feelings about military affairs, I should speak frankly. If this proposal to confer honors and titles is announced to the world, it will cause endless harm!"

"Who are the people who will cause harm?" Zhu Changluo laughed again, "Hou Xianchun, it's good to speak your mind directly. Just say it clearly."

Shen Yikuan decided to keep quiet, as it was no use trying to persuade a ghost to die.

Hou Xianchun argued confidently: "Your Majesty can issue an edict to inform the world that 'rest the people and do not talk about war lightly', but how can we not fight when the border is warned? How can we not suppress the occasional bandits? Valiant generals who hope for titles will be more greedy and start wars! Do not talk about war lightly, but often have to fight! In this way, how can we rest the people? I am honored to be the chief military official, and I must give honest advice!"

Zhu Changluo nodded: "You mean, the Ming generals and soldiers will become a disaster? Then, shouldn't the Beijing camp be reorganized?"

"The Beijing Army has been overly occupied by soldiers, and I have requested more than once to rectify the situation. The generals and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are loyal and brave, and I am not saying that they will cause trouble. But if a few titles are conferred, people's desire for advancement must be noticed. Once this precedent is set, how can the imperial decree stop the generals and soldiers from thirsting for war? Then, things like nurturing the enemy, killing innocent people for credit, and provoking conflicts will surely happen one after another. Your Majesty, please understand!"

How many fools are there among those who can make it through the imperial examination?
What Hou Xianchun said is certainly possible, but his biggest problem is the word "possibly".

Quoting classics, generalizing from a single case, and using extremes to judge the ordinary are the most basic means.

However, would rewarding merit and promoting officials to higher positions without increasing their titles encourage military commanders to be greedy for merit and start wars?

He will also have his own excuses, but they will be much milder. How can they be compared with a title?
In short, the standards are in the hands of people like them.

But Zhu Changluo was not fooled. "Well said! This reminds me of something. I heard that because the edict of ascension did not mention pardons, there was a lot of discussion in the capital three days before. People of insight were all worried that the world would be in turmoil. This is similar to what you said about the endless disasters. The edict of ascension did not mention pardons, so why is the world in turmoil? Hou Xianchun, speak your mind and explain it to me."

"His Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue left the class immediately. Shen Yikuan's face changed and he had to kneel down together.

Kong Shangxian, who was at the head of the group of civil officials, began to panic.

"I'm asking him!" Zhu Changluo raised his hand and stared at the three of them. "Hou Xianchun, you go ahead."

"Your Majesty! The most important thing has been made clear to us yesterday after the banquet granted by Your Majesty. There is no need to ask again." Shen Shixing was so stubborn that he refused to obey the order. He turned around and shouted angrily, "Hou Xianchun, stop talking nonsense!"

"Are you trying to block the way for speech, Lord? I am only asking one person now, the rest of you keep silent!" Zhu Changluo glanced at Shen Shixing coldly, "Hou Xianchun, I have no mercy on you and will not pardon you. Why is the world in turmoil? You must speak your mind and clear up my confusion."

Hou Xianchun hesitated this time, his face turning blue and red.

Zhu Changluo's condescending appreciation is famous for his double standards: he can talk about the hearts of military generals very clearly, but it is really difficult to talk about the hearts of officials and gentry.

Cheap or not?

(End of this chapter)