Since the death of Xu Jie in the eleventh year of Wanli, no one in the Xin School can compare with Shen Shixing. Even with a reputation as a scholar like Wang Xijue, after all, his official status is far inferior to Shen Shixing, who has been a cabinet minister for more than ten years. Although Wang Xijue finally joined the cabinet this time, he was also strongly recommended by Shen Shixing, which further confirmed Shen Shixing's position as the number one leader in Xinxing.
As a leading figure of the Xin School, Shen Shixing was slightly less enthusiastic about lecturing than Xu Jie, but his official methods are now probably on par with those of Xu Huating in the past.
Not to mention anything else, his vote today is enough to prove his method.
"What I have discussed in advance is pragmatic. The matter is serious. You Cao is eager to maintain the ancestral system, and his feelings are pitiable. However, his sudden slander of the emperor is actually alarmist. I will not listen to it." There are four sentences in this draft.
The first sentence first qualifies the cause of the whole incident: "Be pragmatic and avoid discussing beforehand, because the matter is huge."
How did this happen? This is what Gao Pragmatic talked about. How to define this matter? Shen Shixing was extremely cautious and only used "the matter is huge" to describe it.
"The matter is serious" itself is not a definition, but as the chief minister of the cabinet, Shin Shih-hsing's "not giving a definition" is also a definition in itself, that is, he thinks the matter is serious and should be cautious.
Since the emperor had not yet defined it, Shen Shixing did this, which not only gave the emperor face, but also expressed his position of "cautious opposition", and this opposition attitude would not be excessive. In this way, if it conflicts with the emperor's definition in the future, you can adjust it in time, so as not to get stuck in a certain position and not be able to come back, which directly conflicts with the holy will.
The second sentence is a definition of the phenomenon of officials accusing Gao pragmatism of slandering the emperor. This definition is different from the previous one and appears to be very decisive: it is pitiful to be eager to maintain the ancestral system.
It stands to reason that "eager to safeguard the ancestral system" is already a very precise definition, and it means a clear approval of their actions - after all, "maintaining the ancestral system" was considered "politically correct" in the Ming Dynasty, while "eager to safeguard the ancestral system" "The ancestral system" further shows that these officials have a high level of consciousness and become extremely anxious when they see someone trying to shake the ancestral system.
However, why did Shen Shixing add the sentence "his feelings are pitiable"? Note that this word is generally used before forgiving a person who has made a mistake. How can you affirm their performance and at the same time imply that they have made a mistake?
The reason lies in the third sentence, "However, the sudden slander of the king is actually alarmist."
This sentence is very subtle. First of all, the beauty lies in the "hurry" - this word must be connected with the "rush" in the previous sentence. The meaning is that these officials are highly aware and anxious about things that shake the ancestral system. Therefore, when considering problems, they are a little anxious and will inevitably think poorly. Look, it is another clever way to explain away the crime.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Shixing expressed his position very clearly: You are "alarmist."
"Alarmist" is also a good word. Using this word means that being highly pragmatic is indeed scary. However, you are still too impatient, and I think the matter has not reached that point yet.
You see, it not only expresses the right concerns, but also believes that the situation is not as serious as the officials said, and the matter is still controllable. If you think about it in an extended way, Shen Shixing's words mean that the whole matter is still "not settled" and can be undone - so this is also a hint to the emperor.
At the same time, "alarmism" is also the ultimate definition of the officials' "slanderous remarks": the crime is not serious, which means that it is a bit exaggerated - the implication is that their motives are not problematic, and even the direction of their thinking is not problematic. Yes, it was just a misjudgment of the degree of danger.
Although Shen Shixing has never studied physics, it seems that there is a truth that he knows very well: mistakes can be avoided, and errors are inevitable. What he said here means that the officials' remarks about being pragmatic and slandering the emperor are not "errors" in nature, but can only be regarded as an "error", so they are excusable.
Okay, all the truths are clearly explained in these thirty-four words that seem simple and plain but are actually exquisite. Next, as the chief assistant, he will give "handling opinions" .
"Don't listen to it" is Shen Shixing's opinion on handling these impeachments.
What is "not hearing"? The simplest way to put it: just pretend you didn’t hear it.
I "didn't hear it", so naturally I can neither agree with you nor hold you accountable for it.
You want to ask why? I have made it very clear before!
At this point, under normal circumstances, the emperor, the cabinet, Gao Pragmatic, and the officials have all been repositioned in positions where they can advance or retreat by Shen Shixing's four sentences. No matter which aspect or direction, there will be no immediate outbreak. conflict.
What is eight-faced exquisiteness? This is the eight-sided exquisiteness.
What does it mean to turn big things into small things? This is how big things are turned into small things.
I made my attitude clear; I downplayed the issues that needed to be downplayed; I also protected the people that needed to be protected.
When it comes to Tai Chi, Shen Shixing can be called a great master.
There were a total of twenty-seven memorials to impeach Gao Pragmatic for "slandering the emperor". They were all affixed by Shen Shixing with the same ticket and submitted to the Supervisor of Ceremonies together with other memorials and tickets.
The section that the ceremonial supervisor could "approval as a rule" never included such bullets for impeachment of important ministers. Therefore, Huang Mengyu could not deal with it after seeing it. He could only forward the original copy to the emperor for judgment. However, while Huang Mengyu was shocked by the strong reaction of the school, he also had to marvel at Shen Yuanfu's Tai Chi master.
Damn it, can you get back the "slander case"? Yuansuke is awesome!
"Studying is still useful!" Huang Da Zhangyin personally held a stack of memorials and went to Qianqing Palace, murmuring to himself: "In the war between these two champions, even if the blunderbuss does not go off, the horse will not neigh, but I Lao Huang is just a hair away from not being able to understand."
Although Huang Mengyu was not a direct descendant of Zhu Yijun, he was not bad for the emperor. No matter how "powerful" the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were, they could only rely on the emperor to survive, unlike the eunuchs of the late Tang Dynasty who had complete control over divine strategies. The central forbidden army of the army can act recklessly and abolish it at will.
As the chief eunuch who has served for more than ten years, Huang Mengyu can be close to superiors and pragmatic, but in the final analysis, he is still the emperor's confidant, otherwise how can he hold a stable position?
Because he was a close confidant, as soon as Huang Mengyu entered the West Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yijun, who was sitting in front of the imperial cabinet and reading a book while holding a copper jute, glanced at him and took the initiative to ask: "How about it, bullets are like snow, right?"
Huang Mengyu had a smile on his face: "Nothing can be hidden from the emperor's discernment. It's like bullets flying like snow - it's the same as in the twelfth lunar month."
Zhu Yijun was so amused by what he said that he couldn't help but laugh, and said: "It doesn't matter, auspicious snow heralds a good year, and heavier snow is not necessarily a bad thing."
As he spoke, Zhu Yijun had already put down his wine glass, threw a volume of books back on the table, waved to Huang Mengyu, and asked at the same time: "What did you say? Are you scolding the truth-seeking and tyranny, or are you scolding Is he fighting for profit with the people? Or...are you scolding him for wanting to follow the example of the fight between Niu and Li?"
Huang Mengyu stepped forward while holding the memorial and the draft, and replied with a slight breath: "These are all there, and there are some explanations that the emperor did not mention."
These words seemed to be slightly beyond Zhu Yijun's expectations. He was surprised, rolled his eyes, and asked, "Oh? What else is there?"
Huang Mengyu carefully placed the memorial on the imperial case, and at the same time replied: "There are twenty-seven memorials to impeach the great minister for slandering the emperor."
Zhu Yijun was stunned, frowned slightly, and asked thoughtfully: "Slandering you? How can you slander you? What did they say?"
As the Chief of Ceremony, Huang Mengyu had naturally read these memorials, but he refused to answer. Instead, he smiled bitterly and said: "Although I have read it, it... is a bit difficult to understand. How about the emperor read it in person?" I really don’t dare to speak nonsense.”
Huang Mengyu's words also have some wisdom. When he read the bullets, he was a dignified supervisor of rituals and found it "somewhat difficult to understand." The implication was that the claims in these bullets were completely unreasonable. The so-called "dare not speak nonsense" is just because as a eunuch, he cannot make random comments before the emperor has a definition.
Not only did they abide by the rules, but they also laid an ambush, giving the emperor a psychological hint in advance, making him preconceivedly doubt the fairness and rationality of these bullets.
Although Huang Mengyu did not study much, his skills were not bad. Otherwise, how could he have worked in such a prestigious position as the Chief of Ceremonies for more than ten years?
As expected, the emperor's brows furrowed even deeper. Without saying a word, he reached for a memorial and read it.
This memorial was written by Shen Shixing. It is not a piece of commentary, but a discussion. It is the one in which Shen Shixing "discussed the matter based on the facts" and opposed Gao Pragmatism.
There is a little trick worth mentioning here: when any memorials are sent from the Supervisor of Liturgy to the emperor, they are not arranged in the order of the time of presentation of the memorials. Instead, the Supervisor of Liturgy decides the order of these memorials and who arranges them. Who is in the first, who is in the second, and so on.
Don't underestimate this seemingly dispensable power. In fact, the power of this "little" power is not small at all, and sometimes it can even have a huge impact.
Assume that today's memorial contains a happy event and a bad event. The official who reported the happy event was not favored by the chief seal official, but the official who reported the bad event had a very good relationship with the official in charge of the ceremony. Then, the eunuch of the palm seal can make some adjustments and put memorials of happy events in the front and memorials of bad events in the back.
In this way, when the emperor first sees the good things and feels happy, and then looks at the bad things, he will feel that the bad things are not so bad, and will hint in his heart that he should not be disappointed by it. In this way, the official who reported the bad event took advantage of the official who reported the happy event to resolve his own danger - at least the most dangerous level, such as the original big mistake that might have caused him to lose his official position. The emperor only fined him half a year's salary and so on.
The same goes for the opposite. Among the two officials, the one who reports happy events is the "friend" of the eunuch who reports bad things, while the official who reports bad things has a bad relationship with the eunuch. In this way, the eunuch can put the bad things first and the happy ones first. behind.
The effect of doing so was completely different: the first memorial the emperor received on this day was a bad thing, which was very disappointing, and he might be severely punished in anger. Immediately after receiving the memorandum of the happy event, he turned from anger to joy, and naturally praised him greatly. He thought that the official was able to do his job well, and of course he should be rewarded heavily.
This is why in official circles it is always said that "people around leaders should treat themselves as leaders." With just a little trivial move, if I take care of you, you can skyrocket to ninety thousand miles away; if I take care of you, you can make you feel as if you are falling in the Milky Way.
Four taels is worth a thousand pounds!
Although the ordering of Huang Mengyu's memorials today is not so direct, it is still very particular.
The memorial of the first assistant was placed first, and the emperor would definitely not be suspicious after reading it, so Zhu Yijun seemed very calm.
Although Shen Shixing's memorial was not very powerful in criticizing Gao Pragmatism, it did not say that he wanted to impose a harsh government, nor did it question his desire to compete with the people for profit, and certainly did not accuse him of trying to emulate the Niu-Li controversy. However, Shen Shixing However, he very rigorously and seriously questioned whether the method mentioned in it was feasible.
According to Shen Shixing, Gao Pragmatic’s method requires at least “nearly a thousand additional officials.” As a result, not only will there be a huge shortage of officials, but it will also lead to a serious redundancy of officials. Not only will it increase the burden on the court, it may also lead to "hostility between financial officers and treasury officers."
Not only that, once these two types of officials collude with each other, such additions will become even more meaningless and full of disadvantages.
Shen Shixing also put forward the hypothesis that since the imperial court has comprehensively levied commercial taxes, the money, food and materials handled by these officials may increase significantly. Under the temptation of such huge interests, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no "morally weak people" who will be complicit. This is It has even increased the burden on the people, "This must be something that a benevolent king cannot tolerate."
In addition, Shen Shixing also questioned many details very pointedly. Zhu Yijun read them one by one, frowning. Although Huang Mengyu seemed calm next to him, his palms were actually sweaty and he didn't even dare to breathe.
After a while, Zhu Yijun put aside Shen Shixing's memorial. Huang Mengyu noticed that the place where he placed Shen Shixing's memorials was not where Zhu Pi's completed memorials were usually placed, but was placed alone.
Huang Mengyu knew very well that this action meant that the emperor was temporarily unable to make a decision, so he left it alone for now and would think about it later before reasoning.
Huang Mengyu was obviously relieved and much calmer. Although he didn't even shake, he silently wiped the sweat from his palms on the hem of the python robe - he had been given the python robe for a long time. This is not uncommon in the palm seals of the Chief of Ceremonies, but it is not the sitting python robe like Gao Pingshi's body, but the walking python robe like Qi Jiguang.
Zhu Yijun picked up the second memorial, glanced at Shen Shixing's ticket on the surface of the memorial, and immediately narrowed his eyes.
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Ye Luoshang Feng", "Yu Jianfei Peng Chonglou", "First Landing", "yl1992", "Jiuyou Shuanghan", "Book Friends 161124165711962", "Book Friends 20200327214150713", "Qin Chao Xiao Thank you for your monthly ticket support!
PS: I didn’t even notice. It turns out that today is the 31st, and it’s the end of the month...
