The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Master, the cabinet received an impeachment today."

"Hmm? Who is it impeaching?"

"The Prime Minister."

Wei Guangde was relieved to hear that it was still impeaching Zhang Juzheng. It was good that it was not him.

When he came in, he felt that the Zhongshu outside was behaving strangely, so when he heard that there was an impeachment memorial, he thought it was against him.

Now he is relieved, it is an impeachment memorial against Zhang Juzheng.

"Hmm? That's not right, who submitted the memorial?"

Wei Guangde thought it was nothing and had nothing to do with him, but the next second he felt that this matter was strange.

Impeaching Zhang Juzheng, who doesn't know Zhang Juzheng's current status.

I am the Prime Minister, and I have the support of the inner court. Who is so bold to impeach him?

Also, it seems that this impeachment is very unusual, otherwise everyone would not react like this.

"Liu Tai."

Lu Bu replied in a low voice.

"Liu Tai?"

He sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember which yamen he worked for, so he continued to ask, "Which yamen, what position?"

"Master, you forgot that Liu Tai is the Liaodong Tour Inspector."

Lu Bu said hurriedly.

"It's him, how could he impeach his teacher?"

Wei Guangde stopped talking as soon as he spoke, and didn't continue.

At this time, he understood why other people reacted like this.

This matter is actually not a big deal. Every month, the court will have impeachment memorials, either impeaching Zhang San or targeting Li Si, which is normal.

But students impeaching teachers

In Wei Guangde's memory, it seems that there has never been such a thing.

However, now is not the time for Wei Guangde to eat melons. Don't think that Liu Tai's impeachment of Zhang Juzheng has nothing to do with him, Wei Guangde. There is a deep connection here, and Wei Guangde can't help but think about it.

"Pah."

The next moment, Wei Guangde slammed the desk fiercely.

The anger on Wei Guangde's face at this time was not fake, and he was not defending Zhang Juzheng, but there were some disputes behind him that were related to him.

"What is the reason for the impeachment? Where is the memorial?"

Wei Guangde asked hurriedly.

Now Wei Guangde was eager to see the original text of the impeachment memorial. This matter was of great importance. If Zhang Juzheng was irritated, the consequences would be unpredictable.

Speaking of which, this was not the first time. Before this, another minister had also submitted a memorial. Although it was not an impeachment memorial, it was a memorial to persuade the emperor, but this matter caused a big storm.

Just three or four months ago, the court received a memorial from Fu Yingzhen, the censor of the Censorate. He had a lot of opinions about the performance evaluation system promoted by Zhang Juzheng, which required local officials at all levels to collect rent and taxes in full, not only the current year, but also the previous years.

Fu Yingzhen believed that it was good enough for the people to have a year's expenditure with the current year's harvest. If they had to collect the arrears of the previous year, the people would not be able to survive.

Therefore, he wrote to Emperor Wanli to request the abolition of the performance evaluation system, open up the channels for public opinion, and reinstate those officials who were dismissed for giving advice.

This memorial was the first official to publicly stand up and oppose the performance evaluation system since the court implemented it. Zhang Juzheng would naturally not hold back, even if this person was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing and was considered his student, he would still kill him.

Soon Fu Yingzhen was imprisoned, and his accomplices were also investigated.

Zhang Juzheng could ignore his nominal student, but Wei Guangde could not ignore his fellow villager.

Yes, Fu Yingzhen was from Anfu, Jiangxi, and could have had a very good future. He had the "master" of the current prime minister and Wei Guangde, the second assistant, as his fellow villager. He would not be like a fish in water in the court, but he would have lived a very comfortable life.

But he chose to be the first to jump out and oppose the performance evaluation system.

Perhaps he thought that his background was strong enough, and he was a little arrogant, and was used by others without knowing it.

Anyway, Wei Guangde finally demoted Fu Yingzhen after discussing with Zhang Juzheng.

Originally, Zhang Juzheng wanted to deprive him of his official position and sentence him to exile to the border, but Wei Guangde pleaded for mercy and saved his official position.

However, after this incident, his career was almost over.

Zhang Juzheng's reaction was so strong that he not only wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, but also Fu Yingzhen's memorials were full of taboos, comparing Zhang Juzheng to Wang Anshi, which was the source of Zhang Juzheng's anger.

Wang Anshi's reforms are also very famous in Chinese history, and are even listed as one of the four major reforms in China.

The four major reforms in Chinese history include Shang Yang's reforms, Emperor Xiaowen's reforms in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Qingli New Deal in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Wang Anshi's reforms.

Shang Yang's Reforms were the most widely spread. They took place in the Qin State during the Warring States Period. The reforms led by Shang Yang aimed to abolish the old feudal system and promote a centralized political system. Through policies that emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, unified weights and measures, and implemented a system of military merits and titles, the national strength of Qin was greatly enhanced, laying the foundation for its subsequent war of unification.

The reforms of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty took place in the Northern Wei Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. They were mainly centered on the Hanization reform, including changing to wearing Hanfu, speaking Chinese, and moving the capital to Luoyang. These reforms promoted ethnic integration and cultural unification, and had a profound impact on the subsequent Chinese history.

The Qingli New Deal and Wang Anshi's Reforms both took place in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The former was mainly led by Fan Zhongyan and aimed to solve the social and economic problems of the time, including rectifying the bureaucracy, reducing the burden on farmers, and strengthening centralization. Although it ultimately failed due to opposition from conservative forces, many of the reform concepts it proposed had an impact on the later Wang Anshi's Reforms.

The latter was led by Wang Anshi, who tried to solve financial difficulties, strengthen centralization and promote economic development through a series of economic and political reform measures, such as the Qingmiao Law, the Shiyi Law, and the Fangtianjun Tax Law. Although these reforms alleviated the financial crisis of the Northern Song Dynasty to a certain extent, they also aroused strong opposition from conservatives.

Wang Anshi's reform failed, and because of the political disagreement between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, it directly evolved into a party struggle.

Fu Yingzhen compared him to Wang Anshi, how could Zhang Juzheng not be angry?

This is not a curse for his reform failure, or something else.

Fortunately, Fu Yingzhen did not catch Zhang Juzheng and fire, but advised the emperor, leaving some face.

Now Liu Tai directly impeached Zhang Juzheng, which is another matter. The student sued the teacher, which is a rare story in the history of the ages and will definitely be recorded in history.

Wei Guangde didn't care about Liu Tai's life or death, but was worried that Zhang Juzheng would reopen the old account and drag Fu Yingzhen out to sacrifice the flag again.

It is enough to have Liu Tai, there is no need to involve others.

"Go and copy Liu Tai's memorial and send it here, right away."

Wei Guangde did not want to take this hot potato, it was difficult to handle.

However, he also had to see the content of Liu Tai's impeachment before he could deal with it.

When Lu Bu went out to work, Wei Guangde took a sip of tea and sighed in his heart that fortunately he did not have the chief examiner for the examination in the fifth year of Longqing, otherwise Zhang Juzheng would not think that he had done it privately.

Indeed, in ancient times, when such things happened, they would generally not think that the students acted on their own initiative, but would be associated with their teachers, and would think that they were instructed by others.

After all, it is normal that they cannot withstand the fooling of others after only entering the officialdom for a few years.

What do small officials of the sixth and seventh ranks know, and why do they think they can impeach the prime minister.

If there is no one behind the scenes to instruct, they will definitely not do such an egg hitting a stone.

But it's also funny. Zhang Juzheng is not only Fu Yingzhen's teacher, but also Liu Tai's teacher. Fu Yingzhen still gave his teacher face and didn't directly say that it was Zhang Juzheng's fault, but Liu Tai was too bad and directly sued his teacher.

In fact, at this time, Wei Guangde didn't take Liu Tai's impeachment of Zhang Juzheng too seriously. He thought it was just because after the implementation of the performance evaluation law in the local area, the inspector censor asked the court to suspend this law based on some things done by local officials to collect taxes and labor service.

Wei Guangde heard a lot of tragic stories of local officials forcing families to be broken up in order to complete the task, and as for those who were displaced, it was too numerous to mention.

There are too many, I'm numb and don't want to hear it.

In the past, when the court didn't urge, the head of the village and the head of the village would discuss with the clerks and owe them first when they saw that they were really in trouble.

Of course, this is not without benefits for the clerks. Everyone knows the system of the Ming Dynasty. It's hard to say when an imperial decree will come down and these arrears will be forgiven.

By then, these arrears will be gone.

With the performance evaluation system, such a situation will naturally not happen.

Officials can't even wear their hats steadily, and the clerks below are also at a loss, and they may fire themselves.

After all, according to the standards of later generations, although clerks are workers needed for a long time in the government, they can only be regarded as temporary workers without a regular job.

Only a very few lucky people have the opportunity to be recommended and get a grade and become regular staff.

However, that was only in the founding years of the Ming Dynasty when there were few scholars and officials.

Now, it has become very difficult for clerks to stand out, and they have to be on guard against being dragged out by officials to sacrifice the flag.

However, when Lu Bu brought the copied memorials of Liu Tai to his eyes, Wei Guangde only glanced at it, and even in the cold winter, he couldn't help but sweat on his back.

This was the worst result he could think of, and it couldn't be any worse.

The imperial censor Fu Yingzhen reported to the young Emperor Wanli that Zhang Juzheng was another Wang Anshi. The reason why the Song Dynasty was finally consumed by internal consumption was Wang Anshi's reform. If he continued to implement the new policy, our Ming Dynasty would follow the old path of the Song Dynasty.

If, combined with the historical trend of later generations, the fall of the Ming Empire was really related to Zhang Juzheng's reform.

It can be said that Xiao He made him successful and Xiao He made him fail. Although Zhang Juzheng's reform filled the treasury of the Ming court in the short term, it also left many troubles, especially after the failure of the reform, the behavior of local officials became more and more serious, and the budding of parties formed as a result.

Before that, there were more rural parties in the court, but Zhang Juzheng was too powerful, and his policies greatly restricted the privileges of gentry and nobles. Therefore, behind his power invasion of the court and the country, the opposition gradually formed a big network.

Being in the officialdom is like sailing against the current. Unless you are willing to be mediocre, as long as you want to make progress, you must always pay attention to other people around you, seize their flaws, and defeat one less competitor.

This is also the reason why officials like to form parties later, so that they can take care of each other.

If a high-ranking official is born in the court, the younger disciples will inevitably stick to him, hoping to get protection.

Liu Tai's memorial was extremely fierce. This memorial from Liaodong listed six major crimes of Zhang Juzheng.

One is that Zhang Juzheng "deceived the world and stole the name". He impeached Zhang Juzheng under the slogan of ancestral law, but he did things that violated the ancestral law.

The second is that Zhang Juzheng changed the role of the supervision system. Zhang Juzheng used the performance evaluation method to replace the pillars. The six ministries were responsible to the six departments, and the six departments were responsible to the cabinet. In this way, the independence of the supervision system did not exist.

The third is that Zhang Juzheng formed a party for personal gain, and the appointment of officials was subject to certain regulations. Zhang Juzheng used nepotism and did not follow the official appointment procedures.

The fourth is that Zhang Juzheng used power for himself, used the cabinet to control the administrative and supervisory systems, and regarded himself as prime minister.

The fifth is that Zhang Juzheng's tyrannical rule was as fierce as a tiger. In order to collect taxes, he issued death orders to officials in various places to collect taxes, which made the people miserable.

Sixth, it is said that Zhang Juzheng lived a corrupt life and was corrupt. Since Zhang Juzheng became the chief minister, the Zhang family was a wealthy businessman named Jingchu.

At the end of the memorial, it is said that "the Emperor Gao learned from the mistakes of the previous generation and did not have a prime minister. All matters were returned to the ministry, and the power was not matched, and the position was easy to title."

Emperor Wen began to set up a cabinet and participated in aircraft maintenance. At that time, the official rank was not high, and there was no ambition to be exclusive.

In the past two hundred years, there have been those who are good at doing power and fortune, but they still shy away from the name of prime minister and dare not live here, because of the ancestral law.

It was Zhang Juzheng, a great scholar, who had been expelled from Gaogong for three or four years. "

But what really shocked Wei Guangde was the last sentence of Liu Tai's memorial, "I ask you to rectify it with the ancestral law."

This is completely the rhythm of fighting Zhang Juzheng to death and punishing Zhang Juzheng with the ancestral method.

Perhaps, as the second assistant, he should celebrate when he saw such a memorial to impeach the first assistant, but Wei Guangde was not happy at all.

As a result of this memorial, Wei Guangde fell out with Zhang Juzheng and began to fight internally. Wei Guangde did not think that he could convince the two empress dowagers and the young emperor in the inner court, which meant that he was not sure of persuading them to support him.

The person with the greatest influence on the harem is undoubtedly Feng Bao, but he will never cooperate with her.

Obviously, in the end, they are likely to choose to support Zhang Juzheng.

However, this is not what Wei Guangde is most worried about. He actually lacks confidence in ruling the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng's great ability in governing the country has been verified by history, but what happened to Zhang Juzheng's reform in the end? At least when he was alive, the Ming Dynasty was a prosperous scene.

And what does Wei Guangde know?

Do you want to create a system for future generations?

Speaking out, I am afraid that those under his wings will rebel, because those things are too shocking to the Ming Dynasty today.

Just look at the most famous reform in later generations, or the closest reform event in later generations - the Reform Movement of 1898. You can know that new laws were introduced in the country during the late Qing Dynasty, and finally directly deposed Emperor Guangxu.

Why?

It’s not that it’s difficult for Western systems to fit in with the domestic situation in the late Qing Dynasty. As for why the republic was introduced later, you can probably tell by looking at what happened during the Republic of China.

The Republic of China, which replaced the late Qing Dynasty, was actually a four-dimensional state.

Because there was no thorough liquidation like during previous dynasty changes, the Republic of China was full of chaos and did not look like a new country at all.

This is also the reason why the country is still in a mess decades after the Republic of China replaced the Manchu Qing Dynasty.