Chapter 135: Unraveling the Mystery of the World

There are three important aspects of being an official in the Ming Dynasty.

The third class is for Jinshi graduates. Those who excel in education will become officials. Being a Jinshi graduate is naturally very important, but it is listed as the third class because it is not that important.

For example, Yan Shifan, who was just a student of the Imperial Academy, was able to become the vice-minister of six ministries.

Or maybe Luo Fengxiang today, who is just a juren, could, relying on Yang Bo's connections, become the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple together with Chen Dong, who was a third place winner of the first place.

Therefore, the second most important thing is to support party members.

Of course, having a noble person to help you in your official career is something that you can only encounter by chance. Most people don’t have the same relationships as Yan Song and Yang Bo, because they have their own nephews and sons-in-law.

You can’t achieve a good background through hard work.

Therefore, the most important thing is to be able to rely on yourself.

That is, fame!

Although there was no such thing as selecting filial and honest people or outstanding talents in the Ming Dynasty, the role of reputation now has new manifestations.

It was precisely because Wang Shizhen was extremely famous in the literary world that the late emperor gave face to Wang Shizhen, who had been a commoner for seven years, and pardoned his father's crime.

Similarly, Lu Shusheng resigned from office repeatedly, and his reputation became more and more famous. Now he can occupy the position of Minister of Personnel. Even if he does not come to take up the post, no court officials will say a word against him.

In history, he was highly respected by scholars because "he had been in office for less than a decade until the 64th year."

Of course, there are also positive examples, that is Hai Rui.

He would offend his superiors at every turn and advise the emperor and his father. He almost became the embodiment of morality, and no one in the court could match his edge.

These people have accumulated considerable reputations in different ways and through different channels, intentionally or unintentionally, and have thus gained influence in officialdom far beyond their official positions.

Even if these prestigious people disappeared for a while, there would always be court officials who would remember them and they would appear on the emperor's desk when recommending outstanding talents.

Therefore, this is also the direction that most officials who want to make further progress are working towards nowadays.

For example, there was the Inspector General Wang Daokun, who also organized literary gatherings and loved to form associations.

Or it could be Tu Xiying, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, who said, "One can give up one's official position in a day, but one cannot stop learning for a day."

Of course, these are too complicated for most people to play.

Therefore, the more common way is to please colleagues and use the emperor and ministers to improve one's reputation.

Wang Shizhen ridiculed Yan Song and Hai Rui spoke out against his superiors. They were able to gain reputation because of the foundation.

Beating in the court and stripping of official titles shook the world and was almost a standard procedure for court officials in this era.

Only those who can commit crimes are true heroes!

Those who had some abilities offended court officials, such as Tan Lun, Wang Guoguang, and Zhao Zhenji.

The emperor dared to attend the banquet when he was sick, dared to cough due to lung disease during the court meeting, and dozed off while sitting on the job. Don’t worry about how small the matter is, just scold him first.

Those who are very capable offend the cabinet, such as Yan Song, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng.

Corruption, power grabbing, and monopolizing power, no matter whether there are such things or not, report them! Regardless of whether the power grab was deliberately given by the emperor, check for loopholes and fill in the gaps!
I am criticizing your cabinet! The seven deadly sins, the ten deadly sins, just list them out and you have your reputation.

And the best and most capable ones would naturally offend the emperor.

Then there is a lot to say.

Sejong was a ruthless person. In order to avoid such things, he would just beat the person to death so that he would have some peace of mind.

The previous emperor was different, he had a soft personality.

Therefore, in order to receive a beating from Emperor Muzong in the court, the court officials cursed him extremely harshly, and they were almost about to say, "You better be careful not to die on a woman's belly."

Path dependence cannot be changed in a short time.

As long as committing a crime can gain recognition and approval from colleagues, there will always be people doing this.

Naturally, during the Wanli Dynasty, there were people who came to test the waters.

For Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing, who are kneeling outside the Wenhua Hall today, it is time to work hard for their reputation.

It is precisely because Zhu Yijun is very clear about the twists and turns.

So he did not rely on the power of his bloodline to drive the court stick, but instead was considerate enough to add a piece of clothing to the person.

Not only that, when Zhu Yijun appeared outside the Wenhua Hall, he was able to get into the play faster than the people outside the hall.

More than a dozen scholars lined up in a row, with Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing leading the way. They knelt at the steps of the Wenhua Palace and bowed their heads to ask for permission.

Finally hearing that the emperor would come forward, they all started to get restless and were ready to make a fuss.

Zhu Yijun walked down the stairs.

"His Majesty."

"His Majesty."

There was grief and indignation, sobbing, and sincerity, and everyone bowed.

Zhu Yijun swept over all the scholars.

I can't help but sigh, the court is full of righteousness, the court is full of righteousness!

There is no need to talk about Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing. In history, they were characters who used their own teacher Zhang Juzheng to boost their reputation.

As a student, he directly criticized Zhang Juzheng for violating ethical principles - not observing filial piety is against ethical principles, and a student scolding his teacher is naturally an expedient measure.

The two were also known as "men who dared to give advice."

Just now at the imperial lecture, he might have been giving Zhang Juzheng a shot of prevention.

Neither the king nor the father is easy to use. You, old man, should not take the identity of the chief teacher too seriously, lest you get angry.

Huang Hongxian who came later is also an old acquaintance, but his methods of raising popularity are much more classic than those of the previous two.

When a comet passed by last year, this guy read a book called "Be Careful in Relationships to Respond to Heaven's Will", which made him reflect and correct his past mistakes.

Although I didn't know what past I had since I was only eleven years old, this guy still gave me a lot of reputation.

I heard that the memorial was printed a while ago and distributed everywhere.

In addition to this person, there is also Li Shengchun, who was kneeling next to Huang Hongxian, and he is also a hero.

Although there are no signs of this now, it is a pity that it has not passed the test of history.

Historically, when Emperor Wanli wanted to collect commercial taxes, Li Shengchun, then governor of Baoding, submitted a memorial to the emperor, asking him not to compete with the people for profits.

Later, it was discovered by the censor that this guy was setting up checkpoints and secretly collecting commercial taxes in the local area.

These people were now kneeling outside the Wenhua Hall. The more Zhu Yijun looked at them, the happier he felt.

I'm afraid they hit it off and came here to improve their reputation.

Zhu Yijun took a quick look, without looking away, and said with deep emotion: "He is upright and righteous. He always speaks out the truth about everything that concerns the emperor and the country. He will speak out against anything he thinks is unacceptable, even if he is noble and prominent."

"This is the character that a Jinshi in our dynasty should have."

Everyone said they didn't dare.

Shen Shixing glanced at the emperor. He thought, would he allow himself to be impeached?
After Zhu Yijun said this, he stretched out his hands, one on the left and one on the right, and personally helped Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing up.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Wu, please get up quickly. I will give Xiong Dunpu justice later."

"You two ministers dared to speak out against me. Your integrity is unyielding. I am very pleased with you."

"Come to the West Garden tomorrow and be appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone showed joy. Zhao and Wu looked at each other, their eyes full of excitement.

This result is not bad either. If you speak frankly to your superiors and have them humbly accept your advice, you can also improve your reputation.

Moreover, the current Zhongshu Sheren is different from before.

Previously, these positions were held by students of the Imperial Academy, officials with imperial privileges, and juren, who did dull clerical work and had low status, which was totally inconsistent with the status of a jinshi.

But since the current emperor moved to the West Garden, his status has been very different since he was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat to take charge of the Wanshou Palace and the Wenhua Hall!

Regardless of other things, the treatment of "being regarded as a student in the Hanlin Academy" alone immediately made the Zhongshu Sheren's position rise.

Being able to serve the emperor, hold certain powers, and not delay the qualification review in the Hanlin Academy, where can you find such a good thing?
And the promotion speed has obviously accelerated.

Deng Yizan, who ranked third in the first class, was promoted to Zuo Zhongyun of Zuo Chunfang after serving for one year.

Zheng Zongxue, who ranked 105th in the third class, is now also appointed as a reviewer in the Hanlin Academy.

The position of Zhongshu Sheren inexplicably rose in status.

Now it has been awarded to me!

The bet was right!

Zhao and Wu were delighted and thanked him quickly and were about to say something.

The emperor had let go of himself and walked towards Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian.

When he walked in front of Li and Huang, Zhu Yijun's smiling face suddenly fell and looked extremely ugly.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Wu and other Imperial Academy editors are sincere and loyal. They have no place to report to the emperor, but I can understand their intentions."

"You, Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian, are officials in the civil service and criminal justice departments respectively, and yet you are here to bow down!"

"Why? Is it because the Ministry of Public Administration is closed and the memorials cannot be delivered?"

The younger ones among the Jinshi, generally in their twenties or thirties, were carefully selected to become Shujishi.

Then he studied in the Hanlin Academy for two to three years.

Those with the best performance will remain in the Hanlin Academy for further review, those in the second class will be appointed as editors, and those in the third class will be appointed as reviewers.

Those who performed slightly better became Jieshi Zhong and Yushi.

Only very ordinary Shujishi would be sent out to serve as officials in prefectures and counties.

Therefore, Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian, as officials of the Imperial Secretariat, were different from Wu and Zhao. However, these words were too harsh, and calling someone by their name was no different from cursing them.

The emperor had just treated Zhao and Wu with courtesy and appointed them as secretaries of the Secretariat, but now he suddenly turned hostile.

Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian were stunned by the different treatments.

Huang Hongxian subconsciously defended himself: "Your Majesty, please understand! My previous memorial was ignored by the two palaces and rejected by the cabinet. I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure!"

This is also nonsense.

He simply wanted to seek justice for Xiong Dunpu, and no one stopped him.

But this guy took the opportunity to say that the Ministry of Personnel was unfair and impeached Shen Shixing and the Ministry of Personnel, demanding that the performance evaluation law be suspended. It would be strange if the cabinet did not reject it.

Huang Hongxian's move was to deliberately use Shen Shixing to boost his reputation and to cater to court officials who were dissatisfied with the Kaocheng System.

Zhu Yijun frowned and said in a cold voice: "Then we should go to the West Garden, outside the Qianguang Palace or the Yuanxi Yannian Palace, and find the two palaces hiding in the palace."

Putting aside the facts, he has not yet taken power.

Just as one should look for two palaces when submitting memorials, one should also look for two palaces when submitting tributes.

Why are you making so much noise outside the Wenhua Hall?
After saying this, he looked at Li Shengchun again, and said with disgust: "It's fine for Wu Qing and Zhao Qing to seek justice for Xiong Dunpu, but how can you, Li Shengchun, be so shameless as a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel?"

"There is a dispute over promotions and demotions in the Ministry of Personnel. You did not investigate and fill the gaps when it happened, but remained silent. Now you have the audacity to come and pay your respects to the emperor!"

"And impeach the Minister of Personnel Shen Qing!"

"If you, Li Shengchun, have any sense of shame, you should first dismiss yourself from your position as the Li Ke Jie Shi Zhong!"

"How can we allow you to use the sincere hearts of Mr. Wu and Mr. Zhao to gain fame and reputation? "

The more Zhu Yijun spoke, the more intense his words became and the more excited his expression became.

At the end of his speech, without waiting for Li Shengchun to defend himself, he snorted coldly, turned around and turned away.

Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian received a lesson from this.

His face was filled with panic and fear.

No, they all came to bow down to the palace together. Why should the leader be promoted to the position of Zhongshu Sheren because he was sincere in heart? They are just seeking fame and reputation, so they should be scolded! ?

Your words are so serious! You can forget about keeping your official position!

It’s fine if I lose my official position, but the problem is that I didn’t gain any reputation!

The basic condition for increasing reputation by committing crimes is to have a villain.

Whether it is a tyrannical prime minister or a foolish emperor, he can be the villain.

What's going on with them now?

The emperor listened to the advice and rewarded Wu and Zhao, creating a scene of harmony between the monarch and his subjects. But then he turned around and scolded them!
This is completely different from the emperor refusing to listen to advice and dismissing officials from office in court!
Only after being beaten with a stick in the court by the stubborn emperor did he gain a reputation for being upright.

If you are scolded by an emperor who is willing to accept advice, you will only gain a bad reputation.

If someone were to say that the emperor was stubborn, Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian would probably be the first to disagree!

To speak out frankly and restore the reputation of the emperor and his subjects is no worse than being beaten with a stick in the court!
All the good reputation went to Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian, and I became the villain who took advantage of them!
Zhu Yijun doesn't care what these people think.

This is the effect you want.

When he walked in front of Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian, who looked a little unnatural, he seemed to have calmed down.

He said in a gentle voice: "Mr. Wu, Mr. Zhao, all the Hanlin scholars, please follow me into the palace to discuss Xiong Dunpu's matter."

"You should confront the Song Confucian scholars first, and let me distinguish right from wrong, and then we can discuss the rest."

After saying this, he gave everyone a light push and asked them to stand up.

His expression is kind, making people feel like spring breeze.

Shen Shixing watched the emperor's actions from the side with a strange expression on his face.

He turned around and followed the emperor, and when no one was watching, he looked at the emperor's back and curled his lips.

The little emperor learned bad things through both fighting and defense.

Then Shen Shixing quickly caught up with the emperor.

Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing are in their thirties after all, so they are quite shrewd.

Although the emperor's behavior was somewhat unexpected, the two of them naturally would not show it immediately.

Wu Zhongxing had deeper thoughts, and even walked up to Li and Huang, and after comforting them a little, he followed Zhao Yongxian and followed behind the emperor.

Li Shengchun and Huang Hongxian looked at the scholars who came with them, and they all passed them and entered the Wenhua Hall.

His face was ashen.

It was impossible to follow in with a thick face, as the emperor's intention to exile him was already very clear.

This time, I really ended up losing more than I gained.

Thinking of this, Huang Hongxian's waist suddenly softened and he fell directly to the ground.

Li Shengchun watched the emperor lead a group of scholars into the Wenhua Hall. His back completely disappeared, and he muttered something inaudible.

……

"Your Majesty, it is right to question Li and Huang, the two secretaries. Although they have selfish motives, their feelings are sympathetic."

Zhao Yongxian followed behind the emperor and pleaded for the two men.

When it comes to seeking fame, it is best not to step on people in the same industry to get to the top. Otherwise, you will easily be accused of being too scheming, which will damage your good reputation.

Zhu Yijun turned around and glanced at Zhao Yongxian.

This guy really has no self-awareness.

Why were you and Wu Zhongxing pushed to the leading position? Isn't it because Zhang Juzheng was your teacher, and students can criticize their teachers more effectively! ?
If Zhu Yijun was not afraid of affecting Zhang Juzheng, even if his faction was divided and disintegrated, these two people would not benefit from it.

After this is over, I'll have to find an excuse to send him to Fujian to go fishing.

Even he was thinking about the reckoning later, but Zhao Yongxian was still here pleading for others.

What a big heart.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but shook his head.

This is where knowing history comes in handy.

Which one is better and which one is worse is clear at a glance.

Who to promote, who to demote, who to attack, or even who to divide and disintegrate, all of these can be done with precision.

It was because Sejong lacked this golden finger that he could only be killed with a stick, which lost the subtlety.

I didn't have this ability in my previous life, and I was inevitably plotted against.

Now that he has this advantage, he naturally has to use a scalpel to unravel the mystery.

He ignored Zhao Yongxian and looked at Shen Shixing instead, and ordered: "Send Huang Hongxian and Li Shengchun to other posts, and recommend replacements from among the Shujishi who are here to serve in the imperial court."

Shen Shixing seemed to want to say something but hesitated, but finally bowed and responded.

The emperor was talking about transfer, not promotion, so it means he has to be transferred at the same level.

As a local official of the seventh rank, the demotion was extremely severe.

Old Shen was still expressing regret, and the several scholars behind him looked at each other and smiled.

Instead, Wu Zhongxing looked at the emperor frequently.

They used the Xiong Dunpu incident to impeach Shen Shixing.

Now the emperor was showing favors while demoting him, and in front of everyone, he asked Shen Shixing to recommend him to the Censor-in-Chief later.

Doesn't this clearly state that Shen Shixing might be the sponsor of everyone present?
It is impossible for all the scholars present to remain indifferent - there are not enough people like Wu Zhongxing who can regard the support of their teacher as dirt and a step to promotion.

After the little emperor launched a series of combined punches, the Fuque, who had united to put pressure on the emperor, became obedient in an instant.

What a scheming emperor!
Wu Zhongxing was trying to figure out the emperor's thoughts along the way.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the side hall.

There was only one person in the hall, standing quietly with his head bowed, waiting.

At this time, the emperor came in from outside the palace with a large group of people. The people inside the palace hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "I am Song Ru, the head of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Food, and I am here to see Your Majesty."

kindness?
When Zhu Yijun saw Song Ru's face, he was stunned on the spot.

no……

He looked at the scholar and said hesitantly, "Are you Song Chunfu, the scholar of Song Dynasty? Scholar?"

Song Ru was performing a formal ceremony when he heard the little emperor's question and felt puzzled.

After thinking for a while, he bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I am a mere Confucian scholar from the Song Dynasty. I ranked 212th in the third class of the fifth year of Longqing, and was selected as a scholar on June 24th of the fifth year of Longqing."

Zhu Yijun nodded and suddenly looked at Shen Shixing: "Mr. Shen, you were the Zuo Chunfang Zuo Yude and the Imperial Academy Attendant at that time, in charge of the Imperial Academy, right?"

Shen Shixing didn't understand what was going on, so he replied, "Your Majesty, I was in charge of the Hanlin Academy at that time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yijun suddenly became furious.

He ignored his manners and yelled at Shen Shixing: "Shen Shixing! Open your eyes and tell me how old this guy is!?"

"Who the hell gave him this way?!"

"More than 200 people in the third class! He is old enough to be buried! On what basis were they selected as Shujishi!?"

"How much did Song Ru bribe you to vote?"

Zhu Yijun pointed with trembling fingers at the thin and short old man who looked nearly 70 years old and energetic. His face turned red and saliva flew, obviously he was furious.

It was the first time he had seen a seventy-year-old third-class scholar!
Can vote buying be so blatant?
(End of this chapter)