Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 186: The defense of the literati is broken, and the upright officials are about to fall!
The next day.

The cabinet then issued an edict to reform the imperial examination.

The system of selecting scholars based on north and south was changed to selecting scholars based on provinces.

Let the Ministry of Rites allocate a fixed quota to each province based on the proportion of candidates admitted in previous imperial examinations and the number of candidates admitted in recent years.

Appropriate care should be given to areas where culture and education are not well developed, ensuring that there are Jinshi candidates from each province in every session, and public quotas should be reserved so that more talents can be sent to the court from areas where culture and education are well developed.

The edict also clearly stated that a temporary adjustment would be made to the number of candidates for the imperial examination in the second year of the Jiajing reign, with half of the quota given to Nanzhi and half to other provinces, and ten additional quotas given to Henan, in order to commend Liu Jian, the prime minister of two dynasties, for his contribution in assisting the previous emperors and his virtue in congratulating the emperor with a ceremony.

After the decree was issued, Liu Jian submitted a letter of thanks.

The ministers and officials all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Liu Jian thank him.

Because this means that Liu Jian will not forcefully stop the emperor, and at the same time, they can let Liu Jian share the resentment of the people of Nanzhi all over the world.

"Why is this happening?!"

"Did Lord Huian not intend to persuade the emperor to show mercy to the Jiangnan nobles who had committed crimes, but instead used this opportunity to seek favor for his hometown?!"

When the newly crowned third place winner Xu Jie learned about this, he was shocked.

Then...

He hurriedly left the Hanlin Academy with his fellow townsman, Hanlin lecturer Cui Tong, to pay a visit to Wu Yipeng, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was now the leader of Nanzhi.

Wu Yipeng had also learned about this by this time, and when Xu Jie and Cui Tong arrived, he said with a sullen face:

"This is the consequence of not having people from Wu among the nine ministers in the cabinet!"

"If we had anyone among the ministers, we wouldn't let such an order be issued so easily!"

"At least I will fight to the death to advise you!"

"We will not let the imperial court save the world at the cost of our Nanzhi easily!"

"Besides, if we are not among the cabinet ministers, we will know many things much later than others. In many cases, failures are caused by knowing them a day or two later."

Wu Yipeng became angry as he spoke.

Xu Jie said: "But we can also make strong appeals now?"

Wu Yipeng smiled bitterly and said, "It's useless now. The king's order has been issued, and even Lord Huian has submitted a letter of thanks. Who dares to refute it?"

After hearing this, Xu Jie and Cui Tong both clenched their fists.

Wu Yipeng stood up and patted their shoulders: "Be patient! Be good officials and show your talents and virtues to the emperor. We must let someone from Nanzhi enter the cabinet as soon as possible, or at least become one of the Nine Ministers."

Both of them nodded solemnly.

However, Xu Jie took the initiative to say to Wu Yipeng: "But even if we are lucky enough to be favored by the emperor in the future, it will be many years later. The key is that right now, someone from Nanzhi must become one of the nine ministers in the cabinet. If no one is among the nine ministers now, it will be difficult for us young people to make progress!"

"Zi Sheng is right!"

After hearing what Xu Jie said, Wu Yipeng couldn't help but glance at Xu Jie, then nodded in response.

then.

Wu Yipeng added: "At present, not only should there be someone from Nanzhi among the nine ministers, but there should also be someone who is prestigious enough to influence the emperor!"

"Mr. Wu, do you mean that Mr. Zhenze can be reinstated?"

Xu Jie asked at this time.

Wu Yipeng nodded.

Cui Tong also said: "That's great!"

Xu Jie also laughed and said, "That's good, but the key is how to make the emperor willing to reinstate Mr. Zhenze."

"That's a story for later."

"The key now is how to make Mr. Zhenze want to return to the court."

Wu Yipeng said.

Xu Jie said: "Then we can only ask the villagers to persuade us."

Wu Yipeng nodded and said to Xu Jie, "You write a letter to your grandfather, Mr. Gu, to report this matter, and then say that it was my idea. I hope he can persuade Mr. Zhenze to come back to the court to speak for the villagers! As long as Mr. Zhenze is willing, I will take care of the affairs in the court."

Xu Jie bowed and agreed.

then.

Wu Yipeng then said to Cui Tong: "Write a letter to your maternal uncle, Mr. Qin, to report this matter and also say that it was my idea. Ask him to persuade Mr. Zhenze to come back to the court!"

Cui Tong also nodded in agreement.

Wu Yipeng and other Nanzhijing officials also fully realized that it would be a disadvantage if they did not have their fellow townsmen serving as high-ranking officials in the court.

This made them choose not to submit petitions of opposition, but to forbearance, and secretly began to work to have the people with high prestige on their side return to the court as officials as soon as possible, and not choose to live in leisure in the countryside because of resistance to the new policy.

It is obvious that the literati are beginning to split gradually. From the beginning, they were divided into the faction of discussing rituals and the faction of protecting rituals, and there is a tendency that they are beginning to further split into groups based on their place of origin.

It was no longer possible for the literati and officials from all provinces to unite as they did during the Hongzhi period.

And this is the general trend.

It does not depend on human will.

Even Emperor Zhu Houcong could not stop it from happening.

This is essentially because the scholar-official group has grown stronger, and domestic resources have not increased much, which has led to more intense competition for resources. It is impossible to work together regardless of one's hometown as before.

and……

According to historical trends, even if Zhu Houcong later gave up reform, by the Longwan period, because the competition for resources would be more intense, there would be more scholars and officials who wanted to reform their own class. After all, the struggle would be more intense. By the end of the Wanli period, after the reform failed, various local factions would emerge because the competition for resources would become more intense.

But Zhu Houcong hoped that he could improve the situation in the future so that the competition for internal resources would not be so fierce and would become more moderate.

After all, he intends to actively develop new resources externally.

Many scholars and officials did not know what Zhu Houcong was thinking. They only saw that the scholar-official class was rapidly degenerating, which made them more anxious than the emperor.

Even Liu Jian himself, after seeing the performance of the cabinet ministers and nine officials, began to feel that the scholar-officials were rapidly degenerating.

of course.

During the Zhengde reign, he had already been angry about the uneven quality of his own scholar-officials because of Li Dongyang's betrayal and Jiao Fang's behavior.

Now, the performance of the cabinet ministers and nine ministers only strengthened his view. To the extent that he himself simply stopped adhering to the so-called scholar-official expediency and decided to only plan for his own children and grandchildren.

The same goes for Yang Tinghe.

When he learned that Liu Jian did not stop the emperor from punishing the rebellious nobles in the south of the Yangtze River in order to obtain a large amount of silver, but instead wrote a letter to thank the emperor for taking care of Henan, he was naturally very upset.

"How could Liu Luoyang be like this?"

"Isn't he always selfless?!"

boom!
Yang Tinghe smashed the teacup again and was so angry that his breathing became heavy.

Followed by.

Yang Tinghe collapsed on his chair and said to his fourth brother Yang Tingyi in frustration: "Now, no one can stop the emperor from controlling the world's financial power."

"Yes, what happened in the Six Dynasties? It just became a private scheme of the family."

"Liu Luoyang is no exception. Brother shouldn't have any expectations of him."

Yang Tingyi followed up.

Yang Tinghe sighed: "Well, perhaps only when Your Majesty reforms until you want to give up on your own initiative, will we be able to return to the Hongzhi period."

Yang Tingyi nodded.

Let’s talk.

Wang Ao was also extremely surprised when he learned from Gu Qing and Qin Jin that Liu Jian did not stop the emperor from wantonly punishing the Nanzhi gentry, and even thanked the emperor by giving Henan ten more tribute candidates. He also sighed, "It is destined that the world will be saved at the cost of my Nanzhi gentry!"

"Your Majesty's methods are far more brilliant than we could have imagined. Now we really can no longer think that we can save the world by simply restraining the emperor as we did before."

"We need to support the emperor and try to avoid becoming the price the emperor pays to restore the country."

Gu Qing spoke at this time.

Qin Jin followed up and said, "That's right. If you want to support the emperor, you must first be able to contact the emperor. The reason why Nanzhi suffered such a big loss this time is that there are no one from our cabinet among the nine ministers!"

Wang Ao understood what the two men meant, so he couldn't help but ask, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"Sir, we and Mr. Wu, the Junior Minister who is still in the capital, all believe that only if you are reinstated can we maintain the reputation of Nanzhi!"

Gu Qing spoke frankly at this time.

Qin Jin echoed, "Yes, Lord, only if you return to the cabinet after Liang Shunde retires can we avoid Nanzhi continuing to become the price paid by your majesty in restoring the Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Ao waved his hand and said, "I have long given up on a career in politics! Besides, the emperor advocates enriching the country and strengthening the army, which is different from my idea of ​​reducing taxes and levies."

"Lord, are these still important?"

"If you don't recover, we in Nanzhi don't know how much more sacrifice we will have to bear in the future!"

"Who knows, in the future there will be very few of our children who can enter the court and become ministers!"

Qin Jinyan said.

Gu Qing followed up, "Yes, without power, there is no influence. The richer the place, the more it will be exploited. Just like in the early days of the country, you know how much we suffered because we did not support Taizu."

"But even if I am willing to enter the government, Your Majesty must be willing to reinstate me!"

Wang Ao then relaxed.

Gu Qing said: "As long as the elder is willing to please the emperor and send congratulations and greetings, His Majesty will naturally have a deeper impression of you and then be willing to reinstate you."

"I'm afraid that's not enough!"

"I think that after the emperor's wedding, there will be many more beauties in the palace, and a large amount of silver will be brought into the capital. Maybe he will enjoy peace and hope for auspicious signs! We should offer auspicious signs to your majesty to meet your majesty's vision of a well-governed world. The elders should also take this opportunity to congratulate the emperor for his virtue and good governance."

Qin Jinyan said.

Bang!
Wang Ao slammed the table, stood up angrily and said, "You actually want me to flatter the emperor?!"

"Lord, this is not flattering the emperor, it is just being loyal to the emperor and father, and making peace with the emperor and father on behalf of the hometown! If not, how can we please the emperor and father, and how can we make the villagers peaceful?"

"This is just like the colorful costumes in the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars. As a minister, you need to act funny and weird in front of the emperor when necessary, in order to make the emperor happy, so that the people of the world will be blessed!"

Gu Qing tried to persuade him.

Qin Jin also said: "Yes, to be filial, one must please one's parents, and to be loyal, one must also please one's ruler and father!"

"There are no parents who are not right, and there are no rulers who are not right!"

"The reason why Nanzhi suffered such a great loss right now is that he misunderstood the sage's intentions before and reduced his respect and love for his emperor and father. This violated the laws of nature and led to the consequences today."

"Hey!"

Wang Ao sighed and said, "Maybe."

then.

Wang Ao added: "But we should be cautious when offering auspicious signs. The emperor may not really like this."

"We thought, let's let the local officials in Nanzhi give it a try first and see how the emperor reacts. After all, demoting a local civil servant won't have much impact on us in Nanzhi."

Gu Qing replied.

Wang Ao nodded.

Then he waved his hand and asked Gu Qing and Qin Jin to retreat.

Because he wants to be alone now.

The main thing was that he had not expected that these people who claimed to be upright would one day think about flattering the emperor for the sake of their hometown and prepare auspicious signs for the emperor, and they even hoped that the emperor would become corrupt and complacent.

This made him feel mixed emotions.

In Wang Ao's opinion, it was better in the past when the emperor loved leisure and hated work or was rebellious and loved pleasure. In this way, the literati could continue to be great and upright officials and people while blaming the emperor for the decline of the world. There was no need to be so contradictory and hypocritical as it is now.

Let’s talk.

The Jiangnan gentry and their relatives who were suspected of treason were anxious and trying to find a way out. Many officials in their families even took the initiative to submit petitions to plead guilty and seek mercy.

But what these people didn't expect was that the first thing they received was an imperial decree strictly ordering them not to destroy their own property, otherwise all nine generations of their clan would be exterminated and their bones would be crushed to dust.

Ouyang Gun, the former Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department and the father of Ouyang Yu, could not help but tremble with his hands after seeing this decree through the "Dibao".

(End of this chapter)