"Mr. Qiongshan Haigong Gangfeng's table review:
The student has been regretting that he has admired his reputation for a long time but has not yet met him. Although the students are late in learning, they always know that Mr. Zhi has a loyal and bright heart, and he has a strong sense of integrity, which is believed by the world. However, most of Mr. Yikao's policies were not fully understood, and they were really aggressive and strange. In the past, my uncle Xinzheng Gaowen Zhenggong once said privately: "Qiongshan is a place where people should be in charge of civilized affairs and should not worry about civil affairs. In order to be honest and upright, they should be in charge of the affairs of society." Now that I have achieved this position, the world is very lucky.
Mr. Wen took charge of the southern investigation, and the upright people in the court were encouraged by this. Although students send private letters, they dare not say anything private.
Today the northwest is peaceful but the world is troubled. The various vassals waited and watched, doubting the imperial court's intention to open the vassal; various localities hesitated and resisted taxation by taking advantage of the private interests of wealthy merchants.
A student of the former said in a nutshell: It is a tax, which is neither owned by the imperial court nor your Majesty. This money is taken from the people and used for the people.
Students are stupid and think that the world is divided into north and south, regardless of household registration, and every household has the responsibility to pay taxes. If you look at the poor, you may receive less and less; if you look at the rich, you will receive more. This does not violate the principle of getting more for those who are capable, but it can also equalize the huge differences between the rich and the poor. Isn't it something that the ancient sages never forgot?
Sir, you should know that students have gained a lot by practicing practical knowledge of the world, so over the years, they have asked themselves to pay taxes several times, which is more than ten times that of others. However, among the officials in the imperial court today, how many of them are involved in business in their families, but how many of them are willing to pay this business tax?
In the northern provinces, students are lured by the pressure of Beijing, and now more than eighty-nine out of ten are willing to pay business taxes. In all the provinces south of the Yangtze River, students are beyond the reach of the whip. They cannot be ordered to do anything, but they are slandered and slandered. They are imprisoned several times. It is really regrettable.
Students Su Xin: To be an official, one should not only be honored by being distinguished, but should be proud of contribution; to be a scholar, one should not only be proud of knowledge, but should be proud of virtue.
Today, since Mr. Nan is the master of inspection, he only hopes to be cautious about his actions. He should not only examine whether he is greedy or not, diligent or not diligent, capable or incompetent, but also whether he is virtuous or immoral.
The plan has become a constitution, and there is no room for discussion. However, although the legislation is good, there may not be enough people who follow the law. Sir, your voice has been heard throughout the country. In this important plan, I must work hard to prevent the honest and traitorous people from escaping the national law, and not to allow the diligent and virtuous people to be deposed from the awards. Although the students are thousands of miles away, they should immediately bow their heads and pay homage to Mr. Huo Guo for his virtues.
I remember this with sincerity and fear. I cried over the book and didn't know what to say.
Gengchen, who is a junior in school, is on the list of Xinzheng. I would like to express my sincere pragmatism to you. "
This private letter written by Gao Jingshi to Hai Rui was delivered to Nanjing at an extremely fast speed. Not only was it fast, but the delivery time was extremely accurate - Hai Rui had just learned that he was going to be in charge of the Nanjing investigation, and Gao Jingshi's private letter followed. Then he sent it in.
Even though Hai Rui was famous for his integrity, he knew that this letter was anything but ordinary. This means that Gao Pragmatic not only has a transportation channel that is as fast as the transfer of court documents, but also knows exactly when and where every official letter whose location he wants to know will arrive.
However, Hai Rui didn't care about this.
Gao Pragmatic, a young junior, generally has a relatively positive image in Hai Rui's eyes. Although Hai Rui sometimes goes to extremes when evaluating a person's quality, he can usually stick to the "dichotomy".
Hai Rui is indifferent to the fact that his "study achievements" are highly pragmatic and he is the best in the world; his military achievements are highly pragmatic and he is the best in the world, but Hai Rui remains unmoved. Of course, high pragmatism is often vilified as "using wisdom for personal gain" and "relying on divine grace to strive for the interests of the people." Hai Rui is equally dismissive.
The reason is not complicated: Although the pragmatic Jinghua is rich in the world, Hai Rui has never heard of him engaging in any swindling and plundering. He has always done business in a disciplined manner. What's even more valuable is that, as he said in this private letter: "I have asked myself to pay taxes several times over the years, more than ten times as much as others."
Hai Rui knew that Gao Pragmatic's words were not exaggerated in the slightest, and even a little modest. Based on what Hai Rui had learned from his inspections of private ports in Southern Zhili in the past few years, Gao Pragmatic was really a "blackmail" His wisdom is to focus on private interests" and "to rely on divine grace to fight for the interests of the people". He can at least pay nearly 178,000 taels less in taxes a year.
This is already the case in the Southern Zhili region, and Gao pragmatism is famous for paying high taxes nationwide, and even sets its own special tax (one in Guangxi), which is enough to prove Gao pragmatism's "distinctiveness" "Yes.
Therefore, Hai Rui basically believes that Gao Pragmatic practices the principle stated in his letter: "If you look out for those who are poor, you may pay less and don't pay; if you check for those who are rich, you will pay more".
This is in sharp contrast to Xu Jie back then, and he can naturally gain Hai Rui's favor.
But Hai Rui was well aware of his reputation after all, and every move he made could cause huge waves in the government and the opposition, so he was very cautious about Gao Pragmatic's letters.
He knew that such a major event as Nancha was extraordinary for the imperial court, especially for the princes of the dynasty, it had a huge impact. To put it simply, whoever’s plans are discussed will definitely have an impact on the situation between North Korea and China.
Of course, Hai Rui himself didn't care about this. He was a man who insisted that "a gentleman should not be a party member." Although he had been an official for many years, he had neither backers nor helpers. This was also the reason for the ups and downs in his career in his early years.
No matter how the situation between the DPRK and China changes, what does it have to do with our Haigang Peak?
What he is really cautious about is that he is worried about being taken advantage of by Gao Pragmatic.
Everyone says that Gao pragmatism can be where he is today, firstly, because of the political shadow left by Gao Gong, secondly, because of the emperor's unlimited trust in him, and thirdly, because he did really well in the exams back then. As for side effects and so on, they are just the icing on the cake.
But Hai Rui never saw it that way. No matter how good the political resources Gao Pragmatic obtained were not used effectively, they would all be in vain. No matter how much the emperor's trust was, it would all be lost if things were not handled well. As for the examination, there are so many champions in the world, who can win the prize? Has his career been so smooth?
Back then, Yang Shen was the son of Yang Tinghe. He had high political resources and was pragmatic, and he was also the number one scholar. So what? It's not like he was demoted to Yunnan and ended up in the border area.
However, after Hai Ruizai carefully read the letter three times, he finally relaxed his frown that had been furrowed for a long time.
There does not seem to be any hint in Gao Pingshi's letter. Everything he said seems to be for the consideration of the court. He just hopes that Mr. Hai, who presides over the Southern Investigation, can be stricter and consider more about morality.
Hai Rui completely agrees with this statement of paying attention to virtue. After all, he is a person who pays great attention to virtue.
However, Hai Rui also knew that Gao Pragmatic's suggestion seemed to be somewhat troublesome in terms of the system.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were detailed rules for punishing officials, including the so-called "Eight Eyes" and "Four Subjects".
The so-called "eight eyes" refer to the names for dismissal of incompetent officials: "greedy, cruel, impetuous, inadequate, old, sick, useless, and careless."
The "Four Subjects" are divided into categories based on the content drawn up by the "Eight Eyes": "Greedy, cruel, and serving the people; careless, weak, and idle life; old age, illness, and becoming an official; talent Not as good as, impetuous and shallow (i.e. shallow, probably a pseudonym), downgraded to foreign duties."
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There is no accurate record for reference as to when the "Eight Eyes" under investigation began; however, it was finally formed in February of the first year of Hongzhi.
In the 22nd year of Chenghua, before Li Yu was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ming Dynasty investigation did not have the name "Eight Eyes", but included it with "Four Eyes". Historical records: "There are four stories to investigate: old illness, softness, greed and cruelty, and carelessness. (Li) Yu said that people have different qualities, paranoia is like coolness, slowness is like softness, and those who seek to establish talents are not as good as one road. , with the intention of cherishing talents, and the emperor was kind to them, so he wrote it as an order."
It is not difficult to see from here that the so-called "four eyes" are actually the predecessor of the "eight eyes". The "eight eyes" only subdivide each of the "four eyes" and rename "disease" to "disease". And the two categories of "inadequate talent" and "impetuous and superficial" have been added.
The item "incompetent" was set in the thirteen months between October 22, the 22nd year of Chenghua, and November 23, the 23rd year of Chenghua, when Li Yu was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs; and the item "impetuous and shallow" was set in the During the Beijing inspection in February of the first year of Hongzhi, Wu Tai, then the censor of Henan Province in Nanjing, and others reported the request. Wang Shu, then the official minister, reported to Xiaozong for approval, and implemented it immediately during the inspection in Beijing that year, and deposed him. Li Shen, the minister of Taichang Temple.
Regarding the general principles for the use of "Eight Eyes" and "Four Sections", Shen Defu once said: "Common officials below the fifth rank in Beijing are old and sick, weak and inactive, careless in behavior, impetuous and superficial, and incompetent. , all five things; and also look at the officials below the fifth rank, they are old, careless, and impetuous." This is also recorded with application examples in various articles related to Jingcha in "Ming Shilu".
However, because the regulations on the "Eight Eyes" are extremely simple, there is a certain degree of arbitrariness and ambiguity in determining the "Eight Eyes", and there are even some inconsistencies between the name and reality.
For example, "Be greedy, cool, and serve the people." Corruption can be determined based on the facts of official corruption. However, in the Ming Dynasty, the punishment of corruption was relatively strong. Although it is stipulated that "corruption is for the people", in fact, those who have committed major corruption acts are often punished more severely, so this purpose is aimed at Only relatively small amounts of corruption were committed by officials. In addition, once corruption is discovered, it is often not necessary to wait for Beijing to investigate, but to deal with it immediately. However, "cool" behavior itself is difficult to determine. If someone is "cool" for official reasons, the punishment will be lighter; if someone is "cool" for personal reasons, the punishment will be heavier.
Speaking of which, Hai Rui himself was impeached many times because he was "cool." However, "cool" does not fit well with the emphasis in Gao's pragmatic letters.
As for "old age, illness, and becoming an official". Aging and illness are the two categories for which it is easier to determine the standard, because both have accurate standards for measurement, and they have nothing to do with the main point of the Gao pragmatic letter, so it is okay not to mention them.
Next is "Be careless, stop being soft, and live in peace and quiet". To be weak usually refers to an official who has done little or has a slightly bad character during his reign, such as "So-and-so, the prefect of Kuizhou Prefecture in Sichuan, served as a county shepherd for two times, and rarely received the title of Haize. The so-called person who has been weak and has done nothing, is this person." ” means that he does nothing while in office;
Another example: "Mr. (Zhang Mao) said: The ancients established their dynasties with integrity, but a certain person was too weak." This means that the character is defective. Compared with the previous number "number", it is more difficult to characterize the imprudence. Although the Ming court has some characterizations of the imprudence: "Those who have the power to ask for entrustment will be dismissed for being imprudent", but in fact " The scope covered by the word "careless" can be greatly extended.
It can be due to carelessness in official conduct or carelessness in the administrative process. Therefore, this title sometimes exerts its normal function to punish officials who are careless in words and deeds; sometimes it is used as a means to attack political opponents.
For example, "Illustrated Dictionary of the Gengxu Examination. Tang Binyin, the official of the branch school, wanted to have a personal relationship with Han Jing, but he was in conflict with Wu Daonan, who was a high-ranking official in the imperial examination. ... and after investigation, it was noted that Bin Yin was not careful." The note here is not careful, but it is based on reality. A branch official shielding his disciples is already a dishonest person; in addition, slandering the superior officer is even more disrespectful in his words and deeds. From this point of view, it is justified.
Another example is Xu Dahua, who "began to serve as an official in the capital, but he rose again and again, until he was in charge of the Ministry of Industry. Sun Pi was promoted to the capital inspector, but he was carelessly dismissed from his post." According to the common sense of the imperial police, once deposed, they will no longer be used again. Xu Dahua's ability to be demoted and resurrected is obviously the result of Ba Fu's strong support. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to be careless.
However, there are also situations where dissidents are attacked in the name of being careless. Take Ding Yuanjian (Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli) as an example. Ding "used the official in March of 1911, when the capital was in charge of Fujun, and the Grand Prime Minister Sun Fuping (Sun Piyang) was the backlash." When someone criticizes him, his party harmonizes with him, and the whole court is in a state of uproar. If he can't solve the problem, he will rise up and resist... He stayed in the middle and did not retaliate. Yi Mao returned to the book and wrote many exciting words, but he did not retaliate. Ding Si Jingchao , so he was demoted due to carelessness."
Ding Yuan's imprudent recommendation was not due to any fault in character, but because he offended the powerful. Moreover, the punishment of demotion is more serious than "residing idle". This shows that "eight eyes" and "four subjects" are not closely related, and can still be different according to the wishes of those in power.
Hai Rui thought about this carefully and felt that it could be related to virtue, so he couldn't help but make a secret note in his heart.
As for "lack of talent, impetuousness and superficiality, and being demoted to other places". Like "careless", "inadequate talent" and "impetuous and superficial" are also easy to be exploited by those in power because of their vague meanings.
Regarding the subject of "lack of talent and ability", Feng Qi said: "I have always observed that there are two ends of the spectrum of incompetence. Those who are short of talent cannot be allowed to rush into things, and those who are weak cannot shoulder the responsibility. This is also true of those who have talents that are beyond the capabilities. There are also actions. His nature is frivolous, his mind seeks speed, he is not proficient in doing things, and he is involved in all things. This is not because he is really talented, but because he has talent but does not use his ears well."
