The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 519 Civil Service Classification
Be obsessed with Tao, and virtue will naturally arise?
A pure heart is a blessing to the family and the country!
Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun was completely bewildered.

What does this mean?

What Wanli was actually talking about was a true scholar, that is, the scholar that "The Great Learning" wanted to teach.

This type of scholar is generally obsessed with a certain field.

Once they enter a field they are obsessed with, or devote themselves to research in this field, they will be like this, eager to work and even forget to eat and sleep.

This is what it means to be obsessed with Tao.

In other words, they are obsessed with studying things to gain knowledge, and obsessed with exploring and studying the principles of certain fields.

The reason why these people are remembered in history is not because of their achievements in officialdom, but because they have achieved extraordinary achievements in a certain field.

Throughout history, both in China and abroad, for thousands of years, there have not been many such people. It is considered good if there are a few of them in each dynasty or country.

The Ming Dynasty was lucky, as many fields produced geniuses who were worthy of being recorded in history.

Unfortunately, these people in history were all unfortunate.

They were all born at the wrong time, and because of the decline of the Ming Dynasty, they had no chance to display their talents.

Now it’s different, their chance has come.

History has been rewritten, the Ming Dynasty is booming, and they have arrived at the right time.

The current Ming Dynasty needs such talents.

As for their slightly weird behavior, that's a good thing.

This is enough to prove how obsessed they are with the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things.

If they were not so obsessed, they would not have achieved achievements in a certain field that would go down in history.

A pure heart is a blessing to the family and the country.

They are all real scholars, or pure scholars.

Only these people can study things to gain knowledge and thus comprehend the truth in certain areas.

If they comprehend the Dao in certain areas, they will possess the personal moral cultivation required by the Great Learning.

If these people possess true personal moral cultivation, they can make great contributions to their country and the world.

The Great Learning is really profound.

Wanli was sighing inwardly, but little Zhu Changxun couldn't help asking, "Father, what are you saying? I don't understand."

This is still difficult for you to understand now.

Father, please don't waste time explaining.

Wanli thought for a moment, then smiled slightly and said, "Xun'er, you're asking them why they're so anxious, right?
Then the Emperor asks you, is there anything you particularly like to do?"

How do you say this?

Little Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "Father, I just like to play, especially with my brothers and sisters."

This is normal. It is abnormal if children don’t like to play.

Wanli continued, "Think about it, if your sister asked you to go play with your brothers and sisters, would you run over like Zijin and the others?"

That’s for sure.

Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, when my sister calls me, I feel full of energy and just want to run off and play."

That's right.

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "You like playing so much because you are still young, and children like playing so much.

Zi Jin and the others are adults now, and they cannot like playing as much as children. They like to grow fruits and vegetables, study various instruments, and develop muskets and cannons.

For them, it's like their older sister telling them to go play with their younger siblings. When they do something they love, they're full of energy and just want to run over and do it."

Oh, that's what happened.

The question is, what tricks can they come up with by playing like this?
Little Zhu Changxun thought for a moment and then asked, "Father, is this all right?"

So what else do you want?
Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Yes, that's all. Let them get busy."

So simple?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun was still puzzled and asked, "Will this increase the production of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and even wheat and rice?
Also, what about the steamships, the continuous-firing muskets, and the cannons you mentioned? Can Wang Zheng and Bi Maokang really build them?"

What's going on in your little head?

Father's arms are sore from holding you and spinning around for so long.

Wanli simply picked up the little guy, put him on the high chair next to the long table, and then sat down in the main seat. Then he asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

I don’t know about that.

Little Zhu Changxun thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Father, it seems like you didn't arrange things this way before. It seemed like you always had to tell people what to do."

You think your father is a god and knows everything.

Father only has a few hundred years of experience. What he could teach before was something that was even more unknown to him.

These ones are different. They are all geniuses in their respective fields. My father, a half-baked one, can't compare with them at all.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "Father had no other choice before. There were no talents in these areas before, so Father could only bite the bullet and do it himself.

Now that there are talents in this area, all you have to do is tell them your requirements.

You have to remember that it is impossible for one person to know everything.

As emperors, we can't know everything. The most important thing for us emperors is to know how to identify and employ people. If you don't understand something, leave it to those who do. You only need to state your requirements or ideas, and don't give blind orders.

This seems to make sense.

Question: Why do I always feel like something is wrong?
Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, then suddenly said: "Father, didn't you say that the muskets, cannons and machines in those workshops are confidential and cannot be known to outsiders, especially those civil servants.

Why are you asking Grandpa to teach those civil servants how to develop muskets, cannons, and machines now?"

This civil servant is not that civil servant.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently taught: "Xu'er, there are many types of civil servants, and there are also many ways to classify them.

From the perspective of ordinary people, civil servants can be divided into two types: one is the corrupt officials who take bribes and abuse their power, and the other is the good officials who are honest and upright and serve the country and the people.

If we look at it from the perspective of the civil servants themselves, there are three types of civil servants. One type has a good relationship with them, or is in the same camp as them. Another type has a bad relationship with them, or is in the hostile camp. The third type does not choose sides and has nothing to do with them.

If we look at it from the perspective of an emperor, civil servants can be divided into two categories: obedient and disobedient.

You are talking about the disobedient kind, so of course we cannot let them know our secrets.

Zixian and Meng Hou are obedient, so there's no need for us to keep it secret from them, you know?"

Is this how civil servants are classified?

Zhu Changxun pondered for a long time, still somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Father, aren't civil servants divided according to good and evil, loyalty and treachery?"

There is no pure good or evil, loyalty or treachery these days.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, “What you said about good and evil, loyalty and treachery is just superficial.

Good and evil, loyalty and treachery are also viewed differently by different people. It can be said that each type of person has different views on good and evil, loyalty and treachery.

For example, Qingliu. From the perspective of ordinary people, Qingliu is good and kind.

There are truly honest and upright people among the clean stream. Even those who are corrupt and commit crimes pretend to be honest and upright on the surface.

On the surface, they all seem to be very clean, and they also help the common people to deal with corrupt officials. For the common people, this is good and kind.

However, most of the Qingliu people do not listen to us. They always think that being an emperor is wrong in this way or that way, making it seem as if we have to listen to them.

Think about it, is such a clear stream good and loyal to our royal family?

For example, many Zhejiang Party officials come from wealthy families, and many of them became wealthy by engaging in illegal overseas business.

They supported pirates, colluded with Japanese pirates, took bribes and perverted the law, and even attempted to control the court.

For us as emperors, isn’t this kind of person a wicked and treacherous person?

However, this is not the case for coastal merchants, because their overseas business can make coastal merchants rich.

In fact, they are still good people to many ordinary people in coastal areas, because when they have money, they will build bridges and roads in their hometowns, and when natural disasters occur in coastal areas, they will donate money and manpower to disaster relief.

For example, your uncle apparently embezzled more than 10 million taels of lamp oil, and we pretended not to know that he was still embezzling more.

He was so greedy that those corrupt officials who embezzled tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels seemed nothing compared to him.

However, he is so greedy not because he is greedy by nature, but because he is being used by others. As long as we give the order, he will definitely not continue to be greedy.

Think about it again, do you think your uncle is evil, is he treacherous?"

Having said that, it is really hard to tell the difference between good and evil, loyalty and treachery.

When little Zhu Changxun heard this, he was a little confused.

This was all a bit too complicated for his little brain.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Father, Li Zhizao, Wang Xiangjin, and Bi Maokang are all newly minted Jinshi, right? They have never served in officialdom. How do you know they are obedient?"

How do you say this?

Wanli pondered for a while, then patiently explained: "There are actually many types of obedient officials.

For example, your grandfather and uncle, including Zhang Guozhang, Bangping, Liangyu and others, are all our relatives and are one family with us.

Their obedience is motivated by affection, and a big part of the reason we trust them is because of blood ties.

For example, Li Tingji and Zhu Guozuo, disciples of the former Prime Minister Yu Youcai, were purely obedient and did whatever we told them to do.

In addition, Wang Xiangjin, Bi Maokang and others, including the chief minister of the cabinet Shen Li, the minister of works Zeng Tongheng, the minister of rites Lu Kun, etc., were obedient and abided by the law and did not deceive the emperor.

If we ask them to do something bad, they may not necessarily do it, but if we ask them to do something within their duties and capabilities, they will definitely do it."

There are so many different types of obedient officials.

Little Zhu Changxun carefully experienced it and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Father, what about disobedient officials? Are there many different types?"

This is natural.

Wanli nodded slightly, then patiently explained: "Those disobedient officials are indeed divided into many categories.

For example, the three major families in Puzhou and the Zhejiang Party were the kind of people who would even sell out the Ming Dynasty for their own interests. Their disobedience was considered treason.

For example, Donglin, they are the kind of people who want to undermine the imperial power and control the entire court. They want to turn us into useless puppets.

For example, the Qingliu people think that we are not good enough, but they are, so we must listen to them and tell them that we cannot do this or that.

There are also corrupt officials, who are the kind who, for their own benefit, don't care about the lives of the people or the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty. They only want to enjoy wealth and luxury, even to the point of extravagance."

These disobedient civil servants are actually this kind of people!
Upon hearing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but frown slightly.

(End of this chapter)