Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

After the wheel of history rolled over Annan like a worm, it seemed that at the end of the first year of Yongle, it paused for a moment before continuing to drive towards the unknown front.

Before that, a new round of internal rectification began.

This time it's Jiang Xinghuo's turn.

"See Your Majesty."

As the whole city celebrated, Jiang Xinghuo came to the palace.

The idea of ​​"combining the examination method with the Beijing inspection" certainly did not arise suddenly. In fact, the examination method was proposed and brewed in the 35th year of Hongwu, and it came into effect after the official pilot implementation in the first half of the first year of Yongle. , began to be promoted nationwide, and was also an important measure of the Yongle New Deal to refresh the administration of officials.

However, in the early stages of the implementation of the New Deal, due to various reasons, the Kao Cheng Law was not publicized in a high-profile manner. It only required the government to implement it from top to bottom, and even some places did not pay much attention to its existence.

After all, for the vast majority of grassroots officials, they just do the things that have not changed for decades, and then they can enjoy life. As for the so-called official assessment by the court, those things are really far away from them and have nothing to do with their own. Livelihoods are completely irrelevant.

To put it bluntly, we are all living people.

In the eyes of people these days, the imperial examination is nothing more than the whim of the emperor.

There are three fires when a new official takes office. Zhu Di, the new emperor, will naturally have to make such fires several times. It is normal.

And as time goes by, when the emperor loses his freshness, he will eventually return to normal.

After all, the Hongwu Dynasty was the most severely burned. At that time, tens of thousands of officials were punished. But to put it bluntly, shouldn't the grassroots just do what they should do?

But this time, it was obviously completely different.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Beijing inspection was still a normal thing, and even the Jianwen Dynasty changed the period of Beijing inspection to ten years. This fully shows that officials of all sizes in the central government were not happy with Beijing inspection.

But anyone who has read the history of the Ming Dynasty should know that the Jingcha will become the main node of the entire temple struggle in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Every time there is a party struggle in the Jingcha, it will inevitably be bloody.

Jiang Xinghuo doesn't know what kind of monster will appear after he opens Pandora's box of "Jingcha".

But now that he has decided to go on the road of seeking dynasty change, in order that all his efforts will not be restored by the gentry and civil servants in the future, and in order that he will not end up like Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng in the end, he can only open this box.

"The Imperial Master is here, tell me what you think."

Zhu Di did not summon Jiang Xinghuo elsewhere, but on the city wall.

And this city wall is where Zhu Di and others stood when Jiang Xinghuo stopped the Imperial College students from knocking on the door.

The only difference from before is that there is a fixed large-magnification telescope here.

Yes, when the emperor had nothing to do and didn't want to leave the palace, he would observe the daily life of the people across Taiping Street here.

There were not many ministers around, including Ru Yun, the Minister of War, Jian Yi, the Minister of Personnel, and Jin Zhong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who had been silent.

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said: "I have told His Majesty before that the ideal operation of the country is to carry out strict comprehensive assessment of yamen at all levels, conduct serious inspections of officials at all levels, and ensure that all officials from the central government to Any local government office, in theory, performs its functions and exercises its powers and responsibilities under supervision and control."

"Yes, I have heard something. This is what the administrative management taught by the Imperial Master at the Ming Dynasty School of Administration advocates."

Obviously Zhu Di did not pay less attention to Jiang Xinghuo's daily actions, and several ministers also listened. This was all noble and royal, and there was nothing to question.

"The purpose of the examination law is to ensure that any official's official activities must have records to rely on, political achievements can be tested, and the merits and demerits can be verified, and they can be inspected accordingly. People have special duties, cases have special responsibilities, and things have special duties. The timeliness, clear start and end, clear processing process and results will make everything operate within the scope of the rules and regulations. This way, there will not be a situation where various yamen kick the ball against each other, perfunctory and delay, and once no one checks, ultimately The result must be nothing."

Well, if we use a vivid metaphor, Daming is a machine, then the way to pass the exam is to regularly inspect and add oil to the machine.

In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, it was through the implementation of the Kao Cheng Law that Zhang Juzheng's reforms ensured that the rusty state machine of the Ming Dynasty returned to normal operation. It played a strong role in various reforms that lasted for ten years in the early Wanli period. promotion and guarantee.

So why is Jiang Xinghuo coming to mention it again now?

The reason here is that the first stage of the reform is to fight for the "name". If the name is not correct, the words will not be consistent, and the name of "should the reform be reformed" has been debated; the second stage is to fight for the "real" , in the court, it is about whether the reform can enrich the country and strengthen the army, and whether it can bring money to the national treasury; the third stage is the comprehensive and in-depth advancement of the reform.

When any reform policy is implemented on the ground, it will be implemented by people. Therefore, whether it is for the needs of the goal or to prepare for the three stages, it is necessary to arrange personnel struggles in advance.

"But I believe that this year's examination method may not be as effective as expected, and the country and the dynasty will be unified."

Jiang Xinghuo changed the topic and began to sing bad words, which made Zhu Di find it interesting.

When things go wrong, there must be monsters. Jiang Xinghuo proposed the test method, but now it has another twists and turns. I guess there is some conspiracy behind it.

But Jian Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, also stood up at this time and said: "I also have something to say."

"speak."

Jian Yi saluted and said: "I think it is a good idea to pass the exam, but I may not be able to stick to it."

"Oh? What do you mean by this? Do the heavenly officials think that the examination method cannot be implemented?"

If Zhu Di was just a little surprised by Jiang Xinghuo's audience just now, then Jian Yi's addition at this time made Zhu Di completely take it seriously.

After all, as a representative of conservatives, there was no reason for Jian Yi to reach an agreement with Jiang Xinghuo, and Jin Yiwei had always paid attention to important ministers in the court, and had not found any intersection between the two in private.

Since it was not a pre-planned and agreed-upon action, it meant that Jian Yi really believed that the examination method had some drawbacks.

But this is obviously not in the interest of Jian Yi, because Jian Yi is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and the imperial examination is actually a great strengthening of the power of the Ministry of Personnel. Even if Jian Yi really thinks there are any disadvantages, he should not speak out. , otherwise it will affect their own power, and the power in their hands is undoubtedly the foundation of these officials.

"The Blank Seal Case."

Jian Yi's face was very serious, and his expression was a little solemn, as if he was caught in a brief recollection of the past.

The Blank Seal Case is one of the four major cases in Hongwu. The reason is that due to time cost and other practical circumstances, officials directly stamped their seals on blank official documents in order to be lazy, and then filled in the specific content later. There is a practical need, but it is undoubtedly After Lao Zhu found out about the fraud, Lao Zhu took it very seriously and became furious, and then came the stage where the heads were rolling.

"It can be seen from the situation from the Kongyin case to the present that official laziness and passive confrontation with the censorship system are unavoidable. This started from the 'Shangji' system in the Qin and Han Dynasties. This cannot be solved by killing people. The problem."

After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the imperial examination was changed to once every ten years. The lethality of the Kao Cheng method is much greater than that of the imperial examination, and the backlash must be greater.

Currently, in the perception of many officials, the only way to achieve success is when the emperor just ascends the throne and wants to rectify his administration. As long as he passively resists, it will automatically die out within a few years.

And if this year, not only does the imperial examination give a heavy blow to the officials all over the world, but the Beijing Chaos also conducts another round of survival of the fittest in each central government office, the officials will soon wake up from their illusions, and everyone will be in danger. resistance will become a general consensus.

What Jian Yi said next was rather ugly. It could even be said that he was attacking Jiang Xinghuo in front of the emperor.

"The veteran believes that the affairs of the world are not difficult to legislate, but difficult to implement. It is not difficult to listen to words, but difficult to ensure that words are effective."

"In the six months since the National Master's proposal to carry out the examination, there have been many records and memorials. It seems that all the yamen have spent all their time and are quite diligent. However, although the memorials are diligent, the actual effect is still unknown."

"It is said that although those who are supervising and supervising are earnest, but those who listen below are always disdainful, it is about this. Therefore, the effectiveness of the test of the law is very small, so please do not have too high expectations in return."

Regardless of whether Jian Yi was loyal to the country and dared to tell the truth, or whether he was taking advantage of the imperial examination to exercise power and wanted to be a good boy here to attack Jiang Xinghuo, Zhu Di felt a little dissatisfied.

Because in Zhu Di's opinion, there are ten thousand reasons, but none of them are as comfortable as rectifying this group of gentry and civil servants.

Zhu Di did not speak, but the emperor's mouth spoke for Jin Zhong.

"If you have ambition, you won't be able to stop it, but if you don't have enough power, you won't be able to reach it. If you have ambition and power, but you won't be lazy, you won't be able to reach it even if it's dark and confusing and there's nothing to show it. But if you have enough power, you won't be able to reach it. You can ridicule others, but you have regrets for yourself. If you try your best and fail to achieve your goal, you can have no regrets, but who can ridicule you?"

This is a passage from Wang Anshi's "A Journey to Bao Chan Mountain", and the meaning is very obvious.

——Do it first and then say whether it can be done.

Jian Yi was naturally not able to say anything after being rebutted like this, so the focus returned to Jiang Xinghuo.

But Jiang Xinghuo admitted generously: "What Jian Shangshu said is right. You really shouldn't expect any immediate results in the first year of passing the law. There will definitely be great resistance in the future. But that's why we have to Re-shorten and activate the Beijing inspection, and combine the Beijing inspection with the Kao Chengfa and Yushi inspection systems. Only in this way can we form a multi-level and all-round administrative rectification from the central government to the local government, from three years to every year and every quarter."

Hearing this, a suspicion flashed through Zhu Di's mind. Zhu Di and Jiang Xinghuo certainly had the same position on the management of officials, but what they didn't agree on was whose hands would hold this power.

If it is the law, then the power must lie with the Ministry of Personnel.

According to the old system of the Hongwu Dynasty, the power of the Jingchao was also in the hands of the Ministry of Personnel.

There is a set of officials above the fifth rank, and the decision-making power mainly lies in the hands of the emperor. The Ministry of Personnel is actually responsible for the officials below the fifth rank, including the Hanlin Academy, the Sixth Section to Shizhong, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Thirteenth Supervisory Censor, For officials of various ministries and temples, the main procedures include written examinations and interviews.

The written examination means that after these officials' Beijing inspection materials are submitted to the Ministry of Personnel, the Examination Department of the Ministry of Personnel will close the door to check all the information, and then hold an internal meeting. After the meeting is completed and the evaluation is completed, the doors will be opened.

The interview means that the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the chief officials of the relevant ministries and temples conduct a face-to-face inspection of the Beijing inspection officials. All the personnel under inspection gather in the lobby of the Ministry of Personnel. In order, they go to the hall one by one and roll their names. After the interview is completed, the inspection is completed, and then according to the The different interview and evaluation grades were registered and handed over to the emperor. The emperor read them correctly, and the Ministry of Personnel published the list according to the order.

So, what exactly does Jiang Xinghuo think?

If Jiang Xinghuo wants to transfer the power of the Beijing Police to the president's reform affairs yamen, it will definitely be against the rules. The Ministry of Civil Affairs holds the imperial examination and the Beijing Police. Although it is reasonable, it also makes Zhu Di feel that the power is too great. Therefore, Zhu Di had previously I have not considered restarting Jingcha immediately.

But Jiang Xinghuo's actions today once again exceeded Zhu Di's expectations.

"I believe that we can follow the example of the joint review of the three law departments. For matters involving Beijing inspection, the fifth rank and above are automatically the Holy Judgment, while for officials below the fifth rank, it is jointly agreed by the Ministry of Personnel, the Cabinet, and the President's Reform Affairs Office. Among them, the Ministry of Personnel is the first adjudicator, and the Cabinet For the purpose of supervision, the President's Reform Affairs Office will review the matter, and if there is any dispute, it will still be handed over to His Majesty for adjudication."

"This is an interesting suggestion."

Zhu Di's eyes lit up. The power of the Beijing Police was very great. He was worried about handing it over to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He was also worried about expanding Jiang Xinghuo's power. But if the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Cabinet, and the President's Reform Affairs Office could be restrained from each other, then This matter is much better than the one-man-powerful Li Bu family.

The stability and effectiveness of the three-judicial joint trial model have been verified over the past thirty years.

If the Jingchao is allowed to follow this model, it will obviously be the most beneficial power structure for the "referee" of imperial power.

Ru Yu didn't say anything at the side because it was none of his business, but according to his understanding of the emperor, he would definitely be happy to see it happen without even thinking about it.

Jian Yi, on the other hand, frowned slightly unnoticeably. He just wanted to express some dissatisfaction with the reform, and also wanted to use this method of complaining to gain greater power for the officials. The crying child has milk to feed. Well.

But who would have imagined, now it actually backfired. The model proposed by Jiang Xinghuo, which was similar to the three-law bureau's joint trial to conduct Beijing inspections, directly took away the power of the official department.

Yes, although no one paid much attention to the once-a-decade Beijing Inspection in the past, and the officials themselves thought it was just a formality, once the Beijing Inspection is shortened and restarted, it will immediately become the core of the power struggle. This is inevitable Doubtful.

Therefore, Jingcha was naturally regarded as "his own power" by Jian Yi, the official minister.

Jin Zhong, the mouthpiece, spoke again: "The joint trial of the Three Law Divisions is effective. If the Jingchao also conducts it in this way, it is not surprising that it is not fair and just."

As the de facto head of the six ministers, Jian Yi naturally wanted to protect the interests of his department at this time, rather than being submissive and afraid to speak.

"I think it's inappropriate."

Jian Yi argued with reason: "Beijing inspection has always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel. It is different from the joint trial of the Three Laws Division. The punishment and naming may not be fair enough, but the Ministry of Personnel is supposed to carry out official evaluation, rewards and punishments. If you don't believe the officials If the ministry can do justice, who should we trust?”

At this time, Jian Yi's old friend Ru Ru also came out to help. Although Ru Ru would not go against the emperor's will, since the emperor had not spoken, he might as well express his opinion.

Ru Jin said: "What Jian Shangshu said is true. The assessment of officials is the authority of the imperial court. How can it be easily divided?"

Zhu Di snorted and asked, "What does Jian Shangshu think?"

Jian Yi said: "Of course we should do it according to the law!"

Jian Yi's attitude is very clear. For other reforms that do not touch the bottom line, he usually chooses to turn a blind eye. However, Jingcha must follow the rules and this cannot be done casually.

In fact, whether the Ministry of Personnel presides over the Beijing Inspection, or whether the cabinet or the president's reform affairs office participates, both have their own advantages.

What Jian Yi said is correct. The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of personnel assessment. This is why the Minister of Personnel can be called the "Heavenly Official". However, from the emperor's point of view, the Ministry of Personnel originally held the responsibility of There are tens of thousands of officials in the world who have the power to appoint and dismiss. It is no exaggeration to say that just one word from Jian Yi can determine the fate of an official, and it is an order that must be obeyed.

The examination into law further aggravates this authority.

The emperor didn't like to see any of the six departments not completely obeying him, or saying that they had too much power.

Why was the Ministry of Punishment so heavily slashed? Isn’t it because of the strong clique within the Sanfa Department system?

To put it bluntly, as for the cabinet and the presidential reform affairs yamen, they are actually two knives in the emperor's hands. They are newly established departments less than a year old. Even if they participate, they do not have much autonomy.

As for the censor's inspection that Jiang Xinghuo just mentioned, the Metropolitan Procuratorate is responsible for rectifying the world's officialdom and maintaining the stability of the court. However, it cannot directly interfere with the administration of officials like the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore, although they have general officials such as "hearing and reporting" It is an unattainable privilege, but it is not considered to be at the top level in the temple. Even if there is a cruel official like Chen Ying in charge, at this time, as long as it does not cause too much anger and resentment, and the emperor still trusts it, it is enough to make people fear but dare not How's it going?

"Your Majesty, I think you can give it a try. After all, this is also a guarantee of order in the court."

Jin Zhong suddenly said that he was not speaking for Jiang Xinghuo, but for Zhu Di.

Jin Zhong's attitude was firm, but looking at Jian Yi, he was really unwilling.

"Master, what do you think?" Zhu Di asked.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I still stick to my previous opinion."

Jiang Xinghuo said respectfully: "As for adhering to the law, whether the laws stipulated by the Jingcha are still up to date will be judged by the Shenfa Temple. If they are not up to date, they will naturally have to be revised. Moreover, the Jingcha happened at the feet of the emperor. The imperial inspection of officials of fifth grade and above also needs to be handled by Your Majesty personally. It is not controlled by the Ministry of Personnel. Since there is a model of joint review of the three law departments, this work can be divided among the Ministry of Personnel, the Cabinet, and the President's reform affairs. The yamen will handle it together, so that His Majesty can better balance the situation."

"Huh?" Zhu Di's eyes became serious, "Is the Imperial Master asking for power for himself?"

Zhu Di's words were undisguised, and Jiang Xinghuo was also frightened at this moment.

This was his turn to take the initiative, but since he wanted to take away the power from the staff, he naturally couldn't say it too openly. But now that the emperor pointed it out directly, it would definitely not work for him to simply admit it.

Jiang Xinghuo's expression was slightly condensed, and he lowered his head and said: "I just feel that the power of the world is always heavy at the top and light at the bottom, so it is easy to move. What the law does today is always due to humbleness; the resistance to power is always due to The crowd is strong. The six tribes and monasteries below are holding the crowd together, and they are so powerful that they are afraid of the superiors. The superiors are afraid of seeing the opinions, and are afraid of the inferiors. Such a trend is gradually developing. How can your majesty use your fingers like an arm?"

This is a warning to Zhu Di, to be careful of the officials below working together to defeat him.

When Zhu Di heard this, he couldn't help but become interested: "So, the Imperial Master is trying to break this situation?"

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head: "I dare not speak nonsense."

Jian Yi's expression became heavy, and Jiang Xinghuo directly scratched Zhu Di's itch with just a few words.

The emperor's thoughts are sometimes similar to those of women, like needles in the sea.

But one thing is the same, that is, reasoning is often useless. What is useful is what the other party cares about.

You tell the emperor about shortcomings and traditions, but these are meaningless. What the emperor really cares about is his own imperial power.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Zhu Di laughed, his eyes full of admiration.

Although Jiang Xinghuo's words sounded like he was being fictitious, they suited him just right - Zhu Di had usurped power through rebellion, so he always felt that his position was unfair and was afraid of the people below. Start to blind him.

This kind of deception is not something that Zhu Di can solve through Jin Yiwei, but a psychological problem.

Even if his power is stable, even if he sits firmly on the throne, he will still be afraid.

The method proposed by Jiang Xinghuo to divide the capital and the police into three parts is obviously in line with Zhu Di's technique of checks and balances. As long as Jiang Xinghuo can find a theoretical basis for him, what can others do? Who dares to question?

"Okay, I have made up my mind to restart the Beijing inspection at the end of this year."

Zhu Di looked at Jian Yi and Jiang Xinghuo: "Then, you guys, go back and prepare well. Remember, time is running out. It lasts for half a month. Do the preliminary preparations first. I will come to see it in person!"

"According to the order."

Jiang Xinghuo breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed. Although he knew when he came, the final result would definitely be that Zhu Di agreed to his suggestion, because this matter itself was in Zhu Di's interests, but now he really got what he wanted. Wish he had really gained more power through this trial, he just felt relieved.

"Okay, today the Imperial Master has to go to the Ming Dynasty Administrative School, right? Don't waste time."

Zhu Di waved his hand, indicating that they could leave.

Then, after Jiang Xinghuo, Jian Yi, and Ru Yu retreated, the expression on Zhu Di's face slowly faded, and he murmured in a low voice: "This Imperial Master is very courageous! He actually dares to play tricks in front of me!"

Jin Zhong stood nearby, not daring to speak at all.

"However, this saves me the trouble..."

A sneer appeared at the corner of Zhu Di's lips: "It happens to be an opportunity."

As he spoke, he picked up the letter paper on the table next to him, scrawled a secret edict and handed it to the eunuch: "Go and give this secret edict to Ji Gang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards."

"Here."

The eunuch took the order and left. Zhu Di stood up and stretched: "These days, I can finally relax a little. Haha, officials in Beijing, your suffering has just begun!"