"Those who hold salary for others should not be frozen to death in the wind and snow; those who open mountains for others should not be trapped in thorns and die."
Gao Pingshi did not specify the target of his words, but all the colleagues of the Pragmatic School who received the reply were convinced that the "salary-earner" and "pioneer" were all Hai Rui.
Although Hai Rui is not a member of the Practical School, what he is doing now is to help the Practical School get paid. Gao Pragmatic's meaning is simple and clear: We cannot give up on Hai Rui and let him face the "snow" and "thorns" alone. We must save him.
Hai Rui has always been a maverick in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty, and his career as an official started out quite unconventionally. He was not born in Jinban, but started as a county magistrate as a judge, and worked at the "grassroots level" for several years before gradually rising to the top. Later, he became famous all over the world for offending the strict party and appearing in "Public Security Shu". He eventually became a high-ranking official and became a special symbol of the times.
But his "symbol" is not easy to make. Unlike Gao Gong, who has also become a symbol of the times, if Gao Gong's symbol is "reform", then Hai Rui's symbol is "morality."
Hai Rui is a moral model. Regarding moral issues, Hai Rui's style can no longer be described as "strict", but at least needs to be described as "harsh". In some ways, from a highly pragmatic point of view, it even verges on a kind of paranoia that goes too far.
For example, Yao Shuxiang's "Jianzhibian" in the Ming Dynasty mentioned: Hai Rui's family had always been poor. One day when he saw his five-year-old daughter eating a cake, he asked who gave the cake. When he learned that it was a servant, At that time, Hai Rui was furious, saying how could a good woman accept things from men casually? Only if you starve to death can you be my daughter, Hai Rui!
His daughter was so frightened that she cried and refused to eat or drink. No matter how much the family tried to coax her, it was of no use. She finally died of starvation after seven days.
Regarding this matter, Zhou Lianggong of the Qing Dynasty also mentioned it in his book "Book Shadow", but it was not recorded in official histories such as "Ming Shilu", "Ming History", and "Guoyan".
Of course, the style of official history in China throughout the ages has always been as meticulous as gold, so it is understandable not to record such gossip-like gossip. However, from this story that cannot be confirmed to be true, we can at least see what bystanders of this era knew about Hai Rui: that he was an almost paranoid moral fanatic.
The word fanaticism is directly linked to danger in a highly pragmatic understanding. Even the most righteous fanaticism, such as patriotic fanaticism, is very likely to do bad things with good intentions, and the same is true for moral fanaticism.
Gao Pragmatic believed this, and so did most officials and scholars of this era, so everyone regarded Hai Rui as a dangerous person.
What’s even more troublesome is that it’s hard to blame him for being dangerous. For example, Xu Jie once commented on Hai Rui during the Songjiang land withdrawal case, saying: “Our hometown has been troubled by the New Deal recently, but Gangfeng’s original intention has also failed. For the sake of the people, he only got involved in some partiality, and the unscrupulous people then took advantage of it and made false claims, falsely asserted their authority, incited the ignorant, and insulted the counties. At first, they still made false accusations, and then carried them away, occupied the fields and huts, and robbed them openly. , the discipline and ethics are gone. Not only are the people unable to survive, but Gangfeng has also lost its reputation because of it, which is a shame!"
As a result, more people at that time still believed that Xu Jie said this just to excuse himself and deliberately find trouble with Hai Rui. But in fact, although Xu Jie must have said such words out of this mentality, his words themselves were not without purpose. Hai Rui Rui's actions did indeed lead to these phenomena, but they only amplified the negative consequences when Xu Jie said it.
Hai Rui, a moral pacesetter, insists that "morality is the basis and principles are always the first priority" even when he is trying a case. He does not pay attention to absolute discernment in deciding the case, and he predicts events like a god. For those suspicious cases, he did not investigate carefully and rely on facts, but "rather than wronging his elder brother, he would rather wrong his brother; than wronging his uncle, he would rather wrong his nephew; than wronging the poor, he would rather wrong the rich; than wronging the stupid, he would rather wrong the stubborn" .
In the case of fighting over property, Hai Rui insisted that "it is better to wrong the local officials than to wrong the common people." In the case of disputes over appearance, he insisted that "it is better to wrong the common people than to wrong the local officials."
It is obviously not in line with Gao Pragmatic's understanding to not be based on facts but on moral principles. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic also mentioned Gao Gong's evaluation of Hai Rui in his last letter to Hai Rui: "Qiongshan It is appropriate to be in charge of elegance and customs, not to worry about civil affairs, to be honest and upright, and to be in charge of ethics and discipline." Gao Pragmatic himself added after that: "Now that I have obtained this position, the world is very lucky."
The heretic scholar Li Zhi also commented that "there are honest people in the world who can be proud of the frost and snow but cannot serve as pillars", also referring to Hai Rui.
Gao Jingshi's "now he has obtained his position" has two meanings: First, Hai Rui's current job is the Youdu Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate (there is no Zuodu Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he is the top leader of the South Campus) , it is what Gao Gong calls "the department of integrity and discipline"; the second is Hai Rui, who is in charge of Nancha and is also responsible for official evaluation.
Gao Gong and Gao Jingshi had the same view on the appointment of Hai Rui. They both believed that he could not manage civil affairs and could only supervise officials. However, officials who supervise officials will naturally offend people the most if they are as harsh as Hai Rui. This also leads to Hai Rui being almost alone in the officialdom and having no friends at all.
Just like Qu Dajun said about Hai Rui, "Gong's school is mainly about rigidity. When he was in court, he was rocky and rigid, and his officials were very angry and resentful. There was nothing to talk about."
Most of his colleagues hate him and even refuse to say a word to him. This can be said to be a typical example of a person who doesn't even talk to him.
Therefore, it was okay if nothing happened to him, but if something happened he would have to fight alone. Even if Gao Wuzhen wanted to help him now, he would have to find a convincing reason. Therefore, Gao pragmatically described him as "a person who holds salary for the public" and "a person who builds mountains for the public", hoping that there would be no opposition within the pragmatic school.
I don't know whether this statement finally impressed the ministers of the Practical School, or whether Gao Pragmatic's face was good enough. The day after he clearly expressed his intention to support Hai Rui, the officials of the Practical School in Beijing began to take action.
Someone wrote in a book: "Every time a big plan is revealed privately and impeachment is launched, it is just a pretense of guilty conscience. This is not the fault of Haigangfeng, but the shamelessness of those who actually impeach."
Someone else wrote in the book: "When I look at those who impeach me, I mostly accuse Hai Rui of being biased. However, what he said is an old matter. Right and wrong have been distinguished for a long time, and justice has been known for a long time. Why talk about it today?"
Someone else said: "Hai Rui, the imperial censor of Nanjing's right capital, was originally appointed by the Holy One to lead the Southern Inspection Service. I am not presumptuous, thinking that the Holy One is just trying to use Hai Rui's uprightness. I have considered the great plans over the years. The more strict the inspection is, the more likely it is to be impeached." More, the more lenient the supervisor is, the less he will be impeached, and the evil trend will lead to this..."
Someone else was more direct, saying: "Hai Rui's lord Nancha, the people are impeaching him before the matter is finished. Is it because Hai Rui lost the public opinion early? I don't think so. It's just that Hai Rui's lord is responsible for making the traitors look good and loyal." The person has nowhere to hide, so in order to avoid being held accountable, he intends to remove Hai Rui's position first, and then there will be no official to oversee the big plan, so that this person can sit back and relax and get away with it."
Although the various statements are not the same, they generally express similar meanings: No matter how many problems you think Hai Rui has, and whether these problems are true or false, at least at this time, you have jumped out to impeach him as the chief officer of the Southern Procuratorate. What could a ghost be?
Although these memorials do not analyze specific matters in detail, their positions are very clear: Whether Hai Rui is biased or not is not the main issue now. At present, the results of the Southern Investigation have not yet come out, but you suddenly think of the things that Hai Rui was said to have done in the past. It has been an "old problem" for more than ten or twenty years, and this itself is the biggest problem! You are guilty!
This is the prerogative of the speaker. I don’t need any bullshit evidence. I just need to say that your starting point is problematic, you are problematic, and the questions you raise are not problems.
Yesterday, when Nanjing officials impeached Hai Rui, the cabinet only voted for a few indifferent nonsense, which is equivalent to no vote. After it was submitted to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, the emperor did not give any approval.
Today, the same is true for the officials of the Practical School. There is no clear intention from the cabinet, and almost all the original documents are presented directly. After arriving at the ceremonial supervisor, it was all muddled, and the emperor still did not make any statement.
As far as the cabinet is concerned, this reaction is somewhat abnormal, because the impeachment of the chief prosecutor does not involve internal affairs of the Tian family, nor does it involve violations of taboos, etc. In theory, the cabinet has the obligation and responsibility to propose opinions on the vote. .
As for the emperor's lack of immediate approval, this is not unusual. The emperor, firstly, has a relatively flexible workload, and secondly, he may need to think carefully before making a decision on some major matters. There is even a third possibility, that is, the emperor sometimes deliberately lets things ferment for a period of time. Let's see. The subsequent response from the foreign court will determine how to answer.
Everyone has different understandings of the abnormality of the cabinet. The more mainstream view or guess is that several senior ministers in the cabinet were arguing. Shen Yuanfu was not a particularly tough person, so after a stalemate, they simply fought. Careless and vague, just say a few nonsense words to get rid of the problem.
Everyone knows the characteristics of this kind of nonsense, that is, the truth is absolutely correct, but saying it must mean that it is not saying it - well, it actually requires a certain level of proficiency.
However, this speculation is completely untrue, because there was no dispute at all among the cabinet. Several big guys from the Heart School and the Real School have their own considerations, and they are unwilling to take the initiative to express their opinions, so as not to let the other party guess their trump cards. What's more, the controversy in the outer court has not reached its peak now, and the big bosses can't afford to end it personally so early.
As a result, the cabinet did not actually deliberate on the situation at all. Xu Guo, Zhang Xueyan, and Wu Dui didn't ask, and Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue didn't explain. On the contrary, Wang Jiaping seemed to have thought of something and said: "A few days ago, Gao Longwen returned in triumph, and his three disciples went to visit him at his house. They talked about a recent book called "Journey to the West", have you ever read it?"
This book has become quite famous recently, and everyone has said that they have read it, or have read part of it. Wang Jiaping then smiled and said: "I heard that Li Shilu wrote it after he returned to his hometown. I don't know whether it is true or not, but that's not what I want to say."
He paused and said thoughtfully: "At that time, Gao Longwen once said intentionally or unintentionally: 'The golden monkey rises up with a mighty stick, and the jade moon clarifies thousands of miles.'"
When the elders heard this, they couldn't help but feel moved in their hearts. Gao Pragmatic's words clearly refer to the Monkey King in "Journey to the West", but upon closer inspection, they don't seem to look alike.
Sun Wukong is of course famous for his ability to slay demons in "Journey to the West", but to be honest, he is most impressive for causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace. Gao Pragmatic's statement here is rather strange. He believes that Sun Wukong raised up the Thousand Crusaders in order to "Yu Yu clarify Wanli Ai."
Comparatively speaking, this should refer to his characteristic of subduing demons and slaying demons, but you all understand that Sun Wukong's ability to subdue demons and slay demons is actually somewhat mysterious.
Most people won't notice it when they first read "Journey to the West", but they will realize after thinking about it carefully: Sun Wukong in the early stage conquers demons and eliminates them with force, and basically kills those who can be killed with one stick, but in the later stage, he rarely does this. Either he was "unbeatable" and had to go to the Bodhisattva, or he learned the opponent's origin during the surrender process and went to fetch reinforcements without saying a word.
The final result is that the Monkey King, who was in a hurry in the early stage, seems to be getting worse in the later stage. All kinds of fairy mounts cannot be subdued, and their masters must be found to solve it. Moreover, the Monkey King also has another hobby. He often lets the gods who help him accept monsters and work under his sect.
If we only look at "cleaning up" the monsters on the way to learn the scriptures, "Yuyu Clears Wanliai" seems to have indeed achieved it, but the purpose and style of "Golden Monkey Rising Up with a Thousand Crusaders" seem to have undergone huge changes: Monkey Sun was really "Recruiting".
Wang Jiaping just mentioned it casually, but the elders did not dare to understand Gao pragmatically's words so simply, and they could not help but secretly think about Gao pragmatically's intentions.
Not only did Gao Pragmatic think about what he meant when he mentioned this, the elders also thought about Wang Jiaping's intention when he said this: Could he be referring to Hai Rui? If Hai Rui is this monkey, then what is the "Yuyu clarifies thousands of miles" he wants?
Also, was he also recruited? If so, who recruited him? Is it the imperial court, or is it pragmatism?
The elders did not talk much about this, and no one knew how they understood it in the end.
At this time, the palace still has no statement on the current situation, and the outer court also has its own speculations about this. There are more speculations about the emperor's intentions.
Some people think that the emperor is waiting for Hai Rui's self-defense. Only after reading the self-defense will he decide how to answer.
Some people think that the emperor must be dissatisfied with these impeachments, because Hai Rui had already done what they impeached and had been impeached before. The late emperor Mu Zong did not think that Hai Rui was guilty, so now that he has proved his pure filial piety, he will naturally not deny the "judgment" of the late emperor.
Some people think that the emperor is waiting for the two important ministers to express their opinions, such as Shen Shixing and Gao Pragmatic. Before they reveal their trump cards, Jinshang will not and does not need to express his intentions prematurely to avoid unexpected embarrassment - whether it is It may not be what the emperor wants to embarrass himself, or to embarrass Shen Shixing and Gao Pragmatic.
However, while there were divergent opinions in the outer court, an edict suddenly came out from the Inner Court's Chief of Ceremonies, which was said to be an oral order from the emperor, ordering the Ministry of War to match the merits of the First World War in Northern Liaoning as soon as possible, and to discuss with the Ministry of Household Affairs to determine the reward.
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Thanks to book friends "Jiahui", "Dingyong", "Dongguan Bald King", "o Shangshu Ling", and "Cao Mianzi" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: This chapter is a normal update. I will try my best to write the additional chapter as quickly as possible, but my coding is quite slow. It may take more than 12 o'clock to finish writing. You may not have to wait. It will be the same when I read it tomorrow.
