Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 222: Flatterers and Selfish Ministers

Tree edge of the village together, Aoyama Guo oblique.

A cement road stretching to the end of the sky looked like a white mark on the earth, causing the returning geese to cry in surprise.

At this time, Zhang Cong was sitting in a horse-drawn carriage on the cement road from Datong to the capital.

This road has not been completed yet, but the line from Zijing Pass to the capital is already open to traffic.

After several years outside the Great Wall, it was the first time that Zhang Cong rode a four-wheel-drive carriage on this cement road back to the Central Plains.

He has resigned from the post of Hetao Governor. As the first Hetao Governor, he felt more or less regretful, but he was also excited when he thought about going to Beijing to see His Majesty the Emperor again after several years. He knew that everything before him had changed because of the appearance of His Majesty the Emperor.

The stable, spacious and comfortable carriage, the flat cement road that would not become muddy or difficult to travel due to rain or snow, the barbed wire separating the pasture from the fields, the merchants traveling from north to south, the school children in brightly dressed clothes reciting "four or five smoke-filled villages, six or seven pavilions", and the people heading north with dreams of wealth, all made him feel fresh and happy.

In a prosperous era, there is no hunger and starvation, and reading is everywhere. This is what Zhang Cong felt on his way back to Beijing. He had to say to his staff: "Since the current emperor took office, he has strictly governed the officials, managed all industries, relieved the people's difficulties, opened up businesses, and promoted education, so that the people are prosperous and the country is rich, and this is the reason why there is such a scene!"

"Your Excellency is right, but you should be careful when you go to the capital. The capital is full of good and bad people, unlike the border towns, where you can focus on your work. Your Majesty intends to establish a National School of Administration and let all officials study there, and you will teach them. This is tantamount to humiliating all officials. In the eyes of many officials, you are just a miscellaneous student who graduated from the top three. If you were not valued by Your Majesty, you would not be where you are today. Now that Your Majesty wants you to be their teacher, how can they tolerate it!"

Zhang Cong's trusted aides expressed their concerns without hesitation.

"You are right. In the eyes of all the officials, I am just a sycophantic official. But I am loyal to my father and the emperor, and I care about the people. How can I be inferior to those people who only know the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period?
Your Majesty asked me to come to the capital this time. I must follow your Majesty's wishes and be a good teacher to all officials. All officials must listen to me whether they want to or not, unless they can let your Majesty kill me!"

As Zhang Cong spoke, he waved his long sleeves. Having lived in the border town for many years, he already had a hint of firmness in his awe-inspiring manner.

……

In Beijing, the discussion about the National School of Administration is indeed very lively.

The first thing that the civil servants could not accept was that the purpose of His Majesty setting up the National School of Administration was to educate them, and to educate these middle and senior civil servants!

The civil servants can understand the training of the newly-passed Jinshi scholars, such as the Hanlin Academy, and even regard the Hanlin officials as the prime ministers, after all, the Hanlin officials teach the lower-level officials of the empire. Now the emperor wants to set up the National Academy of Administration to educate these middle and high-level civil servants, which means that it is not enough to give them a cabinet chief in politics, but also to arrange a teacher for them.

The civil servants were very proud and indeed did not want to continue studying and improving themselves after passing the imperial examination and becoming officials. People are lazy. In their view, they have studied hard for ten years and have become pillars of the country with a wealth of knowledge. It is time for them to be valued by the court and realize their ambitions. They should educate the emperor and princes themselves, while the emperor and princes should let others educate them.

However, the civil servants could not come up with a reason why the National School of Administration could not be established. Due to face and humility, they could not directly tell His Majesty the Emperor that we civil servants were the reincarnation of Zhuge Kongming and did not need to learn. Therefore, they could only accept it.

However, what the civil servants could not accept was that the person in charge of the daily teaching affairs of the National School of Administration was Zhang Cong, who was a graduate of the third class, but not a Hanlin scholar, and who had only served in local positions and associated with military men!

"How could the Prime Minister recommend Zhang Cong to take up such an important position as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel? Why did no one among the ministers and nine officials oppose it?"

"Zhang Cong is nothing but a sycophant! He is no different from the eunuchs in the inner court. He only knows how to curry favor with Your Majesty. He is ignorant and incompetent. How can he teach the officials?"

Huang Fang, the editor of the Imperial Academy, and Shen Tao, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, were discussing Zhang Cong's appointment as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel to manage the National Academy of Administration. Li Shi, a scholar of the Imperial Academy who lost to Gui E in the competition for the post of governor of Hetao, could not help but sigh: "Zhang Cong is the favorite of the emperor. The Prime Minister recommended Zhang Cong, which was naturally from the emperor's will. How can the emperor's will be violated? How dare the cabinet ministers and the nine ministers refute it? It is impossible to stop this matter openly. Without solid evidence to prove Zhang Cong's treachery, Your Majesty will not abandon him!"

Li Shi sighed as he spoke. He didn't mind letting Zhang Cong be in charge of the training work of the National School of Administration. Deep down, he also wanted to know how Zhang Cong had gained the emperor's favor.

But what really bothered him was that with the rise of border trade and the expansion of border towns, coupled with the court's immigration to the border, which resulted in a large number of southern tenants moving north, gentry like him had no one to use. Because a large number of tenants fled, gentry landlords like him suffered heavy losses and could not guarantee sufficient rental income.

But Li Shi didn't know how to prevent this from happening. He knew that the most effective way was to let His Majesty abandon Hetao and close the country. In this way, there would be no need to immigrate to the border, and the interests of himself and the gentry would not be harmed. But he knew he could not stop it. He could only wait until His Majesty died a hundred years later, and then he could find a way to make the new emperor abandon Hetao, give up his ambition of external expansion, and protect the country.

What Li Xian could not accept now was that some civil officials also followed His Majesty in advocating the benefits of expanding territory. The most typical example was Zhang Cong!
"It was Zhang Cong who established the first county in Hetao. It was also Zhang Cong who used the benefits of land, commerce and industry to attract people to migrate north. He caused the Central Plains to be exhausted, so that the fields were barren and the scholars had no intention of studying. If this continues, the country will be in trouble and the people will be exhausted! But Li Xueshi is right. Zhang Cong is deeply favored by the emperor. If there is no conclusive evidence to prove Zhang Cong's treachery, Your Majesty will not abandon him. However, it happened that Xue got a painting of "Refugees". This painting was painted by Cui Zhe, the Imperial Censor of Records of Merits. It depicts the tragic situation of his people being forced to leave their homes by Zhang Cong! Xue believes that if I present this painting to Your Majesty, Your Majesty will be moved!"

At this time, the censor Xue Fengming stood up and said something, then he unfolded the scroll and let the other officials look at it.

"If this picture can really move your majesty's heart, it can be an opportunity to overthrow Zhang Cong. After all, your majesty has always loved the people and will never ignore the people's grievances because of Zhang Cong!"

Hanlin scholar Li Shi said this, and the other civil servants nodded.

(End of this chapter)