It was the autumn of the fourteenth year of Wanli, and the wind blowing into the hall began to bring a chill.
Stimulated by the cool breeze, Zhu Yijun's expression became much more sober, and he looked at Jiang Zhongxiao, the doctor from the household department, down the stairs.
The political atmosphere of the Wanli Dynasty has always been relatively serious.
Especially after Zhu Yijun took office, not many ministers dared to impeach ministers in front of the emperor so directly.
However, in recent years, Zhu Yijun supported the implementation of new etiquette that placed more emphasis on benevolence. The atmosphere in the court gradually became more lively from seriousness, and some ministers began to dare to offend Yan Zhijian.
This is inevitable.
Because your emperor wants to be respected by the people of the world for his own personality, he implements new etiquette. He wants the people of the world to treat him as a human being, and then makes the people of the world regard himself as an emperor as a human being, rather than just a puppet who meets the standards of a Confucian saint. , then you must first treat the minister as a human being and allow him to speak.
Ministers like this kind of atmosphere very much. This kind of atmosphere where ministers dare to impeach ministers and other powerful officials to the emperor.
If the country has dissatisfied officials, the country will not be destroyed; if the family has dissatisfied sons, the family will not be destroyed.
This sentence is deeply rooted in people's hearts.
"You really dare to admonish a gentleman!"
Yu Shenxing, the Minister of Rites, looked at Jiang Zhongxiao who was lying on the ground with great admiration, and sighed in his heart.
He also looked at Zhu Yijun with great expectancy, hoping to see the emperor be overjoyed because he had gained an official who dared to rebuke his critics.
Shu Hua, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, had excitement in his eyes. He looked at Jiang Zhongxiao with admiration and thought to himself: "After all, there are such loyal and upright ministers."
Tears flashed in Zhao Nanxing's eyes as he looked at Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun also noticed the looks of many ministers looking at Jiang Zhongxiao.
He knew that most of the ministers had a heart of "everyone is equal above me", and he hoped that he would respect them and treat them equally regardless of their rank.
But Zhu Yijun is more willing to admit that people in this era have hierarchical needs for superiority and inferiority.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun did not really obey the ministers because they liked this kind of "everyone is equal above me", but asked at this time:
"Jiang Zhongxiao, a doctor in the household department, talks nonsense about the way of heaven and confuses the people with his evil words. What punishment do the ministers think he should be punished for?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Shen Yiguan, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, hurriedly stepped out of the queue and echoed, and then loudly said: "I believe that he should be sentenced to death by splitting his chariot into pieces!"
Jiang Zhongxiao froze on the spot and looked at Shen Yiguan.
The other ministers were also stunned and looked at Shen Yiguan.
"Your Majesty! I am not lying about the law of heaven. Frequent natural disasters are indeed a thing. The clerk's office has the records of disaster reports from various places for you to check!"
"In addition, Zhang Budang, who was responsible for the governor's recruitment, did mention in his memorial that Shen Shixing wanted to embezzle the recruitment bank."
"But your Majesty, please tell me clearly."
Jiang Zhongxiao spoke with a trembling voice.
Zhu Yijun glanced at Shen Shixing at this moment.
Shen Shixing was very quiet, and there was no wave on his face.
Zhu Yijun looked at Jiang Zhongxiao again: "Let me ask you, you said that frequent disasters are a warning from God. How benevolent is God?"
Jiang Zhongxiao replied: "God naturally advocates benevolence."
"That being the case, if there really is a female minister who brings disaster to the country and the people, why doesn't God directly ask the King of Hell to take the life of this female minister? Even if he wants to warn me, why not just ask me directly! Why should he let the people suffer and let the innocent people suffer from natural disasters? The family is ruined?"
"So, where is Ren in Heaven?"
"If every disaster is a warning from God, then why does God have to let the people bear the cost of this warning?"
Zhu Yijun looked at Jiang Zhongxiao after asking.
Jiang Zhongxiao didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Answer me!"
Zhu Yijun said in a deep voice.
"My lord, my lord."
Jiang Zhongxiao's forehead suddenly rose
Khan came and had to say: "Your Majesty, why do you need to ask so many questions? These are the words of the sage. As the saying goes, heaven and man are in harmony with each other, and yin and yang are in harmony!"
"You mean the saint was wrong?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
"I don't have it!"
Jiang Zhongxiao hurriedly denied it.
"Then why does God warn us to be unkind to the people?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Jiang Zhongxiao became silent again.
"Answer me! Is it the saint who is wrong, or are you lying about the way of heaven and misunderstanding the saint's intention?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
At this time, Shu Hua saw that the emperor began to question the theory of "influence between heaven and man" proposed in "Shangshu", so he quickly stood up and replied:
"Your Majesty, it's not that the saint is wrong, nor is it that Jiang Yushi is talking about the way of heaven. It's just that he himself is not well-educated and cannot answer your Majesty's questions."
"The way of heaven is always in order. Regardless of whether you are loyal or a female minister, you are ultimately a disciple of the emperor. You must respond to the stars in the sky. Therefore, heaven cannot kill you without authorization. You must first blame the common people to warn the emperor."
"Then it seems that the saying "the people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important" is wrong? "
Zhu Yijun looked at Shu Hua and asked.
Shu Hua was stunned for a moment, and regretted standing up, but it was impossible for him not to answer Zhu Yijun's words at this time, so he had to say: "Your Majesty, scholars are the first of the four people, and the people should be valued first before the common people."
"In that case, I am the one with the lowest status?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Shu Hua suddenly turned pale and hurriedly knelt on the ground: "That's not what I meant!"
"What do you mean by that?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Shu Hua replied: "Back to Your Majesty, there is also a saying in "Shang Shu" that the people are the foundation of a country, and the foundation is the foundation of the country. This saying originally means that if you want to consolidate the country forever, you must first stabilize the people, then stabilize the country, and finally stabilize the king. Father! You are not saying that the status of the king and father is inferior to that of the people. Since your majesty has been taught by the grand master, why do you ask this question?!"
"Because sir didn't teach me this way. What he said should be based on reality."
Zhu Yijun said at this time.
After hearing this, Shu Hua wanted to resurrect Zhang Juzheng and ask him why he taught the emperor this way.
But Zhang Juzheng naturally cannot be resurrected.
Otherwise, Zhu Yijun would not be able to put any words on Zhang Juzheng's head, nor would he be able to speak out the principles he learned from later generations in the name of Zhang Juzheng.
At this time, Shu Hua had no choice but to argue: "Your Majesty, in reality, peace of mind for the people is indeed the first priority!"
"You said that scholars are the leaders of the four peoples?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Shu Hua said: "Your Majesty, this is not what I said. I am just speaking on behalf of the saint."
"Okay, I'll believe you for the time being. Does that mean that according to the sage's saying, the first thing to do is to bring peace to the people? No matter how wronged you are, no one can wrong the scholar-officials, right?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
"Your Majesty, of course not!"
"What Great Sikou said is simply a misinterpretation of the saint's theory!"
"The sage said: "The people are the most valuable, the country is second, and the king is the least important." It is true that it is not based on status, but only on the importance to the foundation of the country. In this case, the people here should not have a hierarchical status. point! "
"What's more, scholars are no longer considered citizens, but are the sons of the king. They should rather submit to themselves than to the common people and the country in order to fulfill the virtues of the king and father!"
Hai Rui couldn't stand it anymore, so he stood up and said Shu Hua, and then said to Zhu Yijun:
"Your Majesty, the chief minister has deceived the emperor, wants to disrupt the country, and has evil plans. He should be punished!"
