There was not a single civil official in the Ming Dynasty who was granted the title of duke or lord. For this reason, there is a saying in later generations that when talking about the civil servants' ennoblement system in the Ming Dynasty, it means that the title of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty ended with Bo and ended with Dukes.
The examples are clear. Among the three people who were knighted by civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Ji was Jingyuanbo, Wang Yue was Weiningbo, and Wang Shouren was Xinjianbo. Apart from these three, no other civil servants were awarded titles.
However, this statement is actually not correct. If you look through the "Da Ming Code", you will find that there is such a provision: All civil servants who have not made great contributions to the country, but who are invited to be granted the title of Duke and Marquis by the Secretary, shall be regarded as the official and the recipient of the title. Everyone was killed. Those who served as generals or prime ministers during their lifetimes, were able to eliminate serious troubles, and served the country with all their loyalty, will be integrated with the founding of the country, and will be granted the posthumous title of Duke, regardless of this rule.
According to this law, we can find that it does not generally mean that civil servants of the dynasty cannot be granted the title of Duke.
This law refers to the fact that both the person who canonizes the duke and marquis in the "Mongwu memorial" and the person who is canonized by the memorial will be beheaded. This means that if someone rashly petitioned the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to approve the canonization of a certain civil servant as a prince without a clear reason, then not only the person who petitioned and the person who was petitioned to be canonized could not Being canonized may lead to death.
However, this is only the first half of this rule, and there is more to the second half. The following is: If the civil official who was canonized as a duke made a special contribution to the current dynasty, the petition to the Ming Emperor to make him a duke would not only not be beheaded, but would also be approved.
What is a special contribution? This of course means that according to the above-mentioned regulations, it can be clearly understood that the "special contribution" is the following three items: first, being a general and becoming a prime minister; second, being able to eliminate serious troubles; third, being loyal to the country.
If these three items are met, then it is acceptable for a civil official to be granted the title of Duke. It should be regarded as one with the founding meritorious service and has a transcendent status. Regardless of whether he is a civil official or not, he should be canonized as a Duke. If latecomers want to be canonized as princes, they can imitate several founding heroes.
Look, in fact, the "Da Ming Code" makes it clear enough that both civilian officials and military generals can be granted the title of Duke. It's just that the restrictions on being granted the title of Duke are a bit tricky.
What happened? Except for the third article "to serve the country with devotion" which is relatively vague, the two articles of being a general and becoming a prime minister and being able to eliminate serious troubles have basically blocked the hope of 99.99999% of officials to be granted the title of Duke.
It is already difficult to get out of generals and into phases.
Being a general means that this civil servant has served as a governor and has commanded the army with a very dazzling record during his tenure; becoming a prime minister means that this civil servant has at least a very reliable "academic qualification".
In the Ming Dynasty, non-Jinshi were not allowed to enter the Hanlin, and non-Hanlin officials were inferior to the cabinet. If you want to "enter the prime minister", even if you are not yet old enough to become an official, and you may not be in the cabinet for the time being, you must first be at least a person who is at the top of the Jinshi list and has entered the Hanlin Academy, right? If you fail to meet even this basic standard, it means that you have no chance of becoming a cabinet minister. What else is there to talk about "becoming a prime minister"?
If you look at the phrase "going out and entering the general" in isolation, it's actually pretty good. There are still many people who can meet the standard. But the problem here is that it doesn't look alone!
"Out of general and into phase" means that you have to "come out of general" and "into phase" at the same time.
That's the end of it, because there aren't any.
Wang Ji became an official with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War, Wang Yue became an official with the title of Yushi of Zuodu, and Wang Shouren became an official with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War of Nanjing and Yushi of Zuodu of Nanjing (he voluntarily resigned without approval). In other words, although these three civil servants who were closest to civil officials and dukes met the criteria for "general", none of them met the criteria for "becoming prime minister" - of course, all three of them were Jinshi, and their qualifications were sufficient. .
If there is no need to create a duke, but only an earl, then the previous standard of "Three Kings" is enough. Gao Pragmatic is already very close to meeting this standard - if you have to say that it is still a little short of it, it is probably This is due to Sou Namie's strategizing in this battle.
What surprised Zhu Yingzhen was that after hearing what he said, Gao Yingshi first thought about it, and then his face became serious. There was no sign of being overjoyed at all.
After all, the young Duke Cheng Guo was not as calm as Gao Qingshi. He couldn't help but ask: "Seeking truth, why can't you be happy and joyful when you are facing the joy of eternity?"
Gao pragmatic pondered for a moment, shook his head slightly, and asked: "My lord, it is not a blessing to be virtuous. Besides, in terms of my merits, do you really think that I can rival the three kings?"
"How can you call your reputation and status unworthy of your virtue?" Zhu Yingzhen frowned and said, "As for your merits, I think you have greater merits than the three kings."
He did not wait for a pragmatic rebuttal, and continued on his own: "When you were in Guangxi, you made Annan annexed, and Annan has not been in chaos so far, and we have settled the southern border of the Ming Dynasty. Is this better than Wang Zhongyi Gong (Wang Ji, posthumous name Zhongyi)? ) Three expeditions to Luchuan are still more prominent?
You commanded the Monan War as a full-power imperial envoy and defeated Chahar. Are you more distinguished than Wang Xiangmin Gong (Wang Yue, posthumous name Xiangmin) who went straight to Helan?
As for how you put down the rebellion in the northwest this time, that’s even more exciting! Quickly seize the Hetao and plan to seize Ningxia. More than 100,000 rebels and Mongolian troops surrendered and were even used by me. How difficult is it to be inferior to Wang Wencheng and Zhu Chenhao's rebellion? "
Well...if you want to say that, it is indeed correct.
After Zhu Yingzhen finished speaking, he was still not satisfied, and added: "I especially want to talk about the Battle of Monan. Your Battle of Monan was far more beautiful than Wang Xiangmin's direct attack on Helan Mountain. Only that battle of his How much harvest? No more than forty-two heads were beheaded, and two hundred and forty-one horses and camels, and thousands of cattle, sheep, and weapons were captured. Do you still want me to credit you for your contribution to the Monan War?"
Well... if you want to compare like this, then it is true that my superior fought better in the Battle of Monan, at least the results achieved were obviously many times greater.
However, when you should be humble, you still have to be humble. Gao pragmatically said: "This time, that time, this place, that place. Helan Mountain is far away, while Monan is close. If it is far, it is difficult to attack, but if it is close..."
"It's useless to say this." Zhu Yingzhen waved his hand: "When Li Guang sent troops and got lost, his military exploits were not as good as those of Wei Huo. Can this be called a 'non-war crime'? Gong is merit. What the court wants to see is the result, not anything else. that is!"
He sighed softly and said with some regret: "It's a pity that you were not the governor during the two battles between Annan and Dingbei. Such two great achievements cannot be counted as the 'general'. Otherwise, you wouldn't have to do this this time." It’s time to discuss whether we should be knighted, but whether we should be knighted.”
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "The Duke is joking, but the earl doesn't dare to accept it, so how can we talk about making him a marquis?"
"Hey, let me tell you, why are you still saying that?" Zhu Yingzhen became anxious, looked around cautiously, and saw no one around, then lowered his voice and said: "You think the emperor won't come to see you today? Really?" Just because the Empress Dowager Cisheng is slightly ill? How is that possible!"
Gao Pragmatic was stunned and asked in surprise: "Is it still related to the issue of ennoblement?"
"Of course it's relevant!" Zhu Yingzhen's eyes widened: "The emperor summoned me into the palace yesterday just to say hello to you. Although there are many opinions and noises from the outer court this time, the emperor has decided I’m going to knight you! He has been your classmate for ten years. He knows you very well. He was afraid that you would not accept it, so I asked you to find an opportunity to talk to you. Don’t let the emperor down. Hard work, do you understand?”
Gao pragmatic took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and asked, "What did the emperor say?"
"What did the emperor say? Didn't I just say it?" Zhu Yingzhen was stunned this time.
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said, "I'm asking for the emperor's true words."
"Exact words..." Zhu Yingzhen thought for a while and said slowly: "The emperor said: 'Although seeking truth is a thousand good things, there is one thing that is really not good. He is a man who values reputation too much. Things like being awarded a title, If he wants to follow his own ideas, he can only accept it after his achievements are so great that no one in the world can say anything against it. But you also know the virtues of some people in the outer court, and you can pick them out from an egg. Come with two taels of bones, how many years and months will it take until they stop talking nonsense! Go and talk to Qiu Zhen and tell him to ignore those gossips and just accept this letter first!'"
Gao Pingshi was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly at Zhu Yingzhen who looked at him without blinking: "This... my parents are the ones who gave birth to me, and the emperor is the one who knows me. My lord, the emperor is right, I really don't want to be like this." Being knighted at a critical moment."
"Aren't you?" Zhu Yingzhen opened his eyes wide and said with some dissatisfaction: "The emperor has already said this, and you still want to refuse? Is reputation really more important than anything else?"
"The reason why I want to decline is really not just because of my reputation." Gao pragmatically said seriously: "Brother Yingzhen, there are no outsiders here, and I won't hide it anymore. I will tell you what is in my heart today. "
The relationship between Gao Yingshi and Zhu Yingzhen is indeed very close. The two have been friends for more than ten years, and they have cooperated a lot in business. Now they are even involved in some issues in the Beijing camp. It is really like you have me, and I have you. , a situation where both gain and lose, so once he replaced "Gong Cheng" with "Brother Yingzhen", Zhu Yingzhen knew that the drama was coming.
"Since Qiuzhen has said so, Brother Yu is of course willing to listen attentively. If you have any concerns, just ask." Zhu Yingzhen also rarely put away his smile and said seriously.
Gao Pingshi let out a long breath and said slowly: "Looking at the court today, the two parties of practical learning and spiritual learning are the mainstays. Brother Yingzhen, you won't deny this, right?"
This is something everyone knows. Of course, Zhu Yingzhen will not deny it and nods in approval.
Gao pragmatically said: "Although Shen Yuanfu is in charge of the government now, he lacks helpers; our school has more cabinet ministers, but without the position of chief assistant, it is inconvenient to issue orders. I don't think this situation will happen for the time being. There will be big changes, Brother Ying Zhen, do you think so?"
This question is a little more difficult. Zhu Yingzhen thought about it for a while, then nodded slowly and said: "As long as there are no big mistakes between the two of you, I think what you said is probably right."
"Okay." Gao pragmatic nodded and said, "Why are we opening the vassal ban now?"
Zhu Yingzhen was stunned and said subconsciously: "Raising money... Oh, I mean, raising money to fight those thieves in Tumen."
"Exactly." Gao Pragmatic ignored Zhu Yingzhen's words and continued to ask: "At this moment, is it best not to have any signs of intensifying party disputes in the DPRK and China, so that the DPRK situation remains stable, at least until the Tumen are completely defeated? , Destroy the remaining Yuan?"
"Well..." Zhu Yingzhen obviously had not considered such a far-reaching issue before, scratched his head and said: "It seems so, but the intensification of party strife you mentioned - I mean the degree of intensification, I am a little unsure. did you mean."
Gao Pragmatic snorted softly: "The meaning of intensifying party strife is that whatever the I-Practice School stands for, the other Xin School will oppose. For example, if I want to lift the vassal ban, the Xin School is acquiescing to it now, but if the party struggle is completely intensified, then They may not care about the consequences at all and oppose everything.
For example, if something happens to the vassal king or the clan in a certain place, they will go out and talk about the disadvantages of opening the vassal ban. Regardless of whether there are any, they will talk about the opening of the vassal ban as if it has disrupted the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. ——Don’t think they can’t do it. I can find reasons and make sense, and so can they. Do you think that if this happens, will the emperor be annoyed and what should we do? "
Zhu Yingzhen said in surprise: "I don't know whether the emperor is annoyed or not, but the emperor is definitely on your side - when has he not been on your side? What do you have to be afraid of?"
You...you Zhu Yingzhen must be a prince. If you were a eunuch, he would be someone like Wang Zhen or Liu Jin. As long as you have the favor of the emperor, you will dare to do anything? My friend, if everyone in the world is shouting at you to kill you, sooner or later the emperor will be too lazy to protect you!
Gao pragmatic had no choice but to change his method of persuasion, and sighed: "I am dedicated to serving the public good, so I am not afraid of nature. But brother Yingzhen, you have to know that although the senior officials of the Xin School may be less than our Shi School, their base is There are more schools than the Real School, and nine out of ten scholars in the Nanbang School are either from the Xin School, or have some connection with the Xin School.
If their school of thought is really determined to oppose us, no matter what resolution we make in the government, when they implement it at the local level-especially in the south-I'm afraid they will turn into crooked monks and read crooked scriptures. . By then, the vassal ban could have gone well, but I'm afraid it will cause a big mess. What do you think we should do? "
Zhu Yingzhen was stunned for a long time, then hesitantly said: "Isn't that true?"
Gao pragmatically spread his hands: "You know the partisan struggle between Niu and Li in the Tang Dynasty, why didn't it happen?"
Zhu Yingzhen took a breath: "I understand, you are afraid that because of this you will be knighted, and then Shen Yuanfu... Oh, I mean the Xin School can't swallow this breath, and they have to say goodbye to you. There are signs, and then it ruins such a major event as opening the vassal ban or even destroying the residual Yuan, so you refuse to accept it?"
Seeing that he understood, Gao Pingshi nodded: "Exactly."
Zhu Yingzhen let out a long sigh: "I thought I had accepted a good errand, so I patted my chest and made a sure deal with the emperor. This is great... OK, I understand what you mean. My face is worthless. , I will go into the palace later and tell the emperor what you said. As for you... let’s see the emperor die."
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