Zhu Yijun finally understood why Zhang Juzheng was able to successfully implement reforms in history.
It turns out that Zhang Juzheng never thought that a reform could be carried out only with the support of the emperor, but he knew clearly that for a reform to proceed smoothly, the entire bureaucracy needed to be willing.
The so-called enlightenment of the people.
In essence, it is necessary to start from the bottom up and form the momentum to carry out certain reforms.
Of course, the bottom-up "down" here only refers to the lower-level bureaucrats among the bureaucracy. According to the understanding of this era, they are people-friendly officials at the state and county level.
Zhang Juzheng's so-called enlightenment of the people also refers to the awareness of the entire bureaucratic class to implement a certain reform.
The people here do not refer to ordinary people.
This thought originated from Wang Yangming's philosophy, which gave Zhang Juzheng the idea that reforms could not be successfully implemented solely with the support of the emperor.
At this time, after Zhang Juzheng said this, neither Hai Rui nor Zhao Zhenji said anything.
Zhao Zhenji even said bluntly to Zhu Yijun: "I am ashamed to be a disciple of Wang Xue, and my understanding is not as thorough as that of Yuan Fu. Therefore, I ask your majesty to allow me to take back what I have said before. The regulations on the privileges and exemptions of officials and gentry are cancelled, and the clan does not use land supply and other policies. Indeed, it cannot be changed before the ministers understand its disadvantages."
Hai Rui also said at this time: "Your Majesty, I would like to take back what I just said. What Yuan Fu said is indeed reasonable. In local administration, I need to rectify the subordinate officials before implementing it. And when the imperial court implements major policies throughout the country, it is also necessary to implement them." We need to wait for the bureaucracy in the world to be rectified first. I ignored this point and did not treat officials the same as officials. I forgot that in fact, no matter how evil the officials are, they will be just as bad; The officials will be as honest as they are; as the officials are cunning, the officials will be as cunning as they are."
When Hai Rui said this, except for Zhang Juzheng who was quite calm, all the ministers and ministers present looked a little worried.
Zhu Yijun couldn't help laughing.
He had to admit that there was a reason why Hai Rui was not liked by the entire bureaucracy, and he did not know how to learn from Zhang Juzheng.
Although Zhang Juzheng thinks so in his heart, he believes that officials will not do their best when their own interests are affected. They are as cunning as officials and care more about their own interests. However, he will not say it directly, but will say that it is necessary. Bureaucrats cooperate and form a consensus.
Hai Rui was the only one who directly tore off the fig leaf of the bureaucrats, completely destroying the image of being upright and loving the people that the bureaucrats tried so hard to maintain in front of the officials.
As a result, as soon as Hai Rui said these words, the entire Xinan Pavilion became extremely quiet, and no one spoke anymore.
Zhu Yijun had no choice but to break the deadlock at this moment and asked Lu Tiaoyang, Zhang Siwei, Wang Guoguang, and Tan Lun: "Where are you?"
Lu Tiaoyang, Zhang Siwei, and Wang Guoguang all stood up at this time and said: "I second the proposal."
Zhu Yijun only looked at Tan Lun.
Tan Lun coughed violently for a while, then stood up and cupped his hands to Zhu Yijun and said, "I also second my opinion."
Zhu Yijun nodded: "That's according to what Mr. Yuanfu Zhang said."
Hai Rui glanced at Tan Lun because of Tan Lun's cough. After Zhu Yijun said this, he immediately stood up again and said:
"Your Majesty! Although the new policy proposed by the minister and Elder Zhao is not suitable for implementation at the moment, we cannot do nothing this year."
"I would like to ask your Majesty to transfer me to the southeast, preferably to the southeast. I would like to urge local officials to strictly implement the new examination policy for your Majesty, so as to achieve what Yuan Fu wants to see, and let local officials realize as soon as possible that it will be difficult to complete the examination if they are not clear. If it succeeds, it will further benefit the official career and enable the imperial court to select a group of capable ministers who can effectively implement the new policies and be considerate of the people's sentiments as soon as possible!"
Zhang Juzheng raised his lips slightly at this time, and immediately raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think what Hai Gong said is very appropriate! Not everything can be done this year, so it is indeed the best idea to have Hai Gong come out of the capital to supervise."
Zhu Yijun nodded: "Since Mr. Zhang also holds this proposal, I will definitely play it!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Hai Rui then said, "Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report."
Zhu Yijun said: "Please tell me."
"Today's discussion is about resolving this year's deficit. Although I have asked myself to go to the southeast to supervise the administration, it is not about resolving the deficit. Therefore, today's discussion is still fruitless."
"In addition, it is true that the deficit cannot be solved, especially this year's problems such as the escape of Jiliao soldiers, the lack of troops, and the failure to repair the border wall."
"What's more, the border affairs have been stagnant, which can be said to be a serious danger to the country. Ever since Yang Taizai (Yang Bo) was our soldier, he has been interested in rectifying the border preparations, and now our soldier Tan Gong also has this idea."
"Yang Dazai has returned home seriously ill, and Mr. Tan is also suffering from injuries and illnesses. The opportunity to strengthen border defense with capable ministers is too late, Your Majesty!"
"I believe that even if the matter of clearing the husband's land needs to wait, the matter of rectifying the border cannot wait. At least while Tan Gong can still do it, we must completely solve the problem of soldiers fleeing in large numbers due to lack of food and pay in Jiliao area."
Hai Rui started talking eloquently at this time.
Tan Lun couldn't help but look at Hai Rui with gratitude.
Zhu Yijun nodded: "That makes sense!"
At this time, Hai Rui took out a memorial from his sleeve: "Therefore, since it is not possible to clear the land for the time being, I would like to request that the property of Wei Xuezeng, the former censor of Youdu in Nanjing, be confiscated, and that he be punished for his corruption and lack of food and salary during his tenure as governor of Liaodong. Sin! Another request was made to the censor of the right Qiandu, the governor of all prefectures to protect Sun Piyang's family property. Therefore, the grain merchants were intercepted from the customs for fattening. As a result, the price of grain in the border town has not been reduced due to the great harvest in the customs in the first year of Wanli, and has even been restored. It’s increased a lot.”
After saying that, Hai Rui said: "This is all what I learned from the secret investigation of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The young Sima Wang Gong, Xi'an Tongjian Cheng Ce, Cheng Wen and Sun Gong's stepson provided evidence to prove it."
Zhang Hong took Hai Rui's memorial and handed it to Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun opened it and looked at it.
He knew that Feng Bao was not the only one in his court who was corrupt and took bribes. According to the information provided by Dongchang, the outer court was not clean either.
Not even mentioning that Zhang Juzheng, the deputy minister of the Yuan Dynasty, accepted the gift. Among all the ministers and ministers in the court, Hai Rui was probably the only one who was absolutely clean.
However, many of these ministers and ministers in the early Longqing and Wanli dynasties were greedy but still worked hard, and many were even capable ministers.
For example, he is willing to open the sea like a high arch. According to the "Wanli Yehuobian", there was a record in history that his two stepsons sued in court over the millions of family assets he left behind.
But Zhu Yijun did not expect that Hai Rui would impeach the two giants for corruption at this time. He made it clear that he was already prepared. If the father-in-law's land was not cleared, he would continue to let the court solve the shortfall by eating away at the big households.
"Your Majesty! I believe that Wei Gong and Sun Gong are both ministers with military exploits. Although they have made mistakes, they should not be investigated deeply, and they have no intention of being capable ministers."
At this time, Wang Guoguang couldn't help but stand up and speak up for Wei Xuezeng and Sun Piyang. After all, Hai Rui had indeed gone too far.
You must know that there is an unspoken rule among the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty. Unless the person is too evil and has offended the bureaucracy too deeply, no one will take the initiative to impeach someone for being corrupt. Because no one is cleaner than anyone else, so they can't do it without exposing it. expose.
"Da Si Nong Da can intercede for him, but he must not ignore the matter of stealing grain!"
Hai Rui said.
Then, Hai Rui said: "What's more, we can't implement the land clearing this year, and it's even more impossible for the officials and gentry to pay the grain together. So what should we do with this year's deficit?"
"At least the things that are floating around should be curbed. A few greedy people should copy it to make up for the shortfall. Is it worse to just sit back and watch things happen?"
"Moreover, I am not saying that I want to punish him with death. I just propose to confiscate his property first, make up for the shortfall caused by the loss of food and salary, and eliminate the border troubles caused by the loss of food roads! As for what specific crimes he will be convicted of in the future. , it is entirely possible to discuss meritorious deeds first and then convict him leniently.”
"Your Majesty! I second the motion!"
Tan Lun stood up and replied.
He knew that Hai Rui did this because of him, and by not directly impeaching Xu Jie, he was already taking a step back to take care of his and Zhang Juzheng's reputation. At this time, it was necessary for him to agree.
