A few days later, the northern inspection of Dinghai's Beijing inspection was completed first. Yang Wei, Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, submitted the report as chief inspector and attached the results of Chen Bei's inspection for the emperor's reference.
Putting aside the lengthy discussion on the significance of the Beijing inspection, Yang Wei deposed and reprimanded a total of forty-seven officials of fourth rank and below during the Beijing inspection, including five who were dismissed from their posts as candidates for inspection, six who returned to their hometowns to live idle, and those who were crowned idle Eleven people live there, 12 people are demoted and transferred to other places, and 13 people are transferred to other places.
The above items are listed according to the degree of punishment.
The most serious one is, of course, dismissal pending investigation, which roughly means "removal from office and transferred to judicial authorities." What happens next depends on the outcome of the investigation.
The seriousness of returning to one's hometown to live idle follows closely behind, which is equivalent to being dismissed from office and forced to return to one's hometown. Generally speaking, it also means that he is not allowed to go to other places at will, which is similar to a kind of indefinite bail.
The crown belt idle life is slightly better. It can be roughly compared to being dismissed from the job but retaining the level of treatment. For example, if you are a fifth-rank official "living idle", then your position will definitely be gone. However, at the "fifth-rank" level, the court still recognizes that although you have no power or position after returning to your hometown, the county official will still recognize you when he sees you. You also have to bow down to your subordinates.
The meaning of being demoted to a foreign position is a punishment that even high-ranking pragmatists have experienced. The meaning is easy to understand. It is divided into two parts: the first is to be demoted. If you were originally promoted to the fifth rank, the next position will not be higher than the fifth rank at most; the second is to be demoted. Transferring to a foreign position means transferring from a Beijing official to a foreign official.
Since Beijing officials themselves are much more respected than foreign officials, the punishment for being demoted to a foreign official is actually not light. Of course, in the past, Gao Pragmatic, who was demoted from a false position to a foreign official, was instead given a position with great power. The situation is completely special and can almost be said to be unique.
The last one has been mentioned above, so there is no need to repeat it again.
In general, the intensity of the Beijing inspection this time was relatively light, and the most severe punishment was only five dismissals.
There are two of them from the Criminal Department, one is a doctor from the Zhejiang Qing Officials Division of the Criminal Ministry, and the other is a doctor from the Shandong Qing Officials Division of the Criminal Ministry. They were both dismissed for accepting bribes when reviewing cases and shielding important criminals.
The Ministry of Industry also occupied two positions. One was a doctor from the Ministry of Industry's Camp and Renovation Department. The reason for his dismissal was that he embezzled more than 9,000 taels of silver from the project funds for the construction of Prince Lu's Mansion, and then awarded part of the project to a cousin of his at a high price. , so that the court spent nearly 20,000 taels more; the other was Wai Lang, a member of the Dushui Cleaning Department of the Ministry of Industry. He appointed a private person to preside over the Yongding River irrigation project to benefit the people, and used the method of digging ancestral graves to intimidate the people and accept valuable gifts. The total amount was more than 7,000 taels, and seven people committed suicide or self-mutilation.
There was another person who shocked everyone, he actually came from the Ministry of Household Affairs. However, when the emperor found out that this person was a doctor from the Guangxi Qing Li Division of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and was charged with extorting the Zhao and Chen chieftains of Guangxi, he changed the tax rate without authorization, so that these two chieftains would be taxed on the timber trade within two years. After the foreigner paid more than 13,200 taels in extra taxes as revenge, the emperor couldn't help but sneered.
Guangxi? The commercial tax rate in Guangxi is set based on Qiu Zhen. How much commercial tax each chieftain should pay is probably no one knows better than Qiu Zhen. You are actually playing tricks on this. You really deserve to be dismissed from your post. .
From being dismissed pending investigation, from returning home to live idle to being transferred to another country, the reasons for this inspection in Beijing were all stated. Moreover, there is another difference from the past, that is, there is no more ambiguity about "being an official without due care" and "not having enough talent".
There are cases where an official is careless and there is a lack of ability, but the facts are all cited to explain how the official was careless and how he was not up to the task. The emperor could clearly see this carelessness and lack of time.
Without any explanation from the officials, Zhu Yijun could tell at a glance that this change was due to Gao Pragmatic's request or suggestion, because he knew Gao Pragmatic very well. This is Gao Pragmatic's style: public punishment should try to avoid unclear reasons and unconfirmed evidence. .
In fact, this is a habitual thinking brought by high pragmatism from later generations, but Zhu Yijun admires it very much and believes that this is a very responsible attitude and can avoid wrangling afterwards to a large extent.
Because of this, Zhu Yijun was quite satisfied with the results of this Beijing inspection. Although he vaguely felt that the number of people deposed was too small and the intensity of the treatment was slightly lighter, the evidence for each treatment was conclusive and it seemed very comfortable. Therefore, Zhu Pi, who was very happy, agreed.
What surprised Zhu Yijun even more was that not only was there a new atmosphere in the Northern Cha, but there were also some changes in the Southern Cha. The first and most obvious change is efficiency.
Due to the distance, the results of the southern inspection in previous years would be at least one month later than the northern inspection. Unexpectedly, after the end of the northern inspection this time, the results of the southern inspection were rushed from Nanjing to the capital just five days later.
Compared with the razor-like "slightly lighter force" of the Northern Cha, the chief inspector of the Southern Cha, Haigang Feng, had to sacrifice a pig-killing knife if not a dragon-slaying knife.
In the entire Nancha, Nanjing Sixth Department, Duchayuan, Hanlin Academy, Imperial College and other yamen, a total of 169 people were written down by Haigangfeng. That's not all. Mr. Hai Rui, who has a sword that never grows old, also went to court alone to impeach seven Nanjing officials who were higher than the fourth rank, including third-rank officials such as Zhong Zhenji, the left minister of the Nanjing Household Department, and Zhong Zhenji, the Nanjing Ministry of Works official. Zhu Tianqiu, the assistant minister on the left, was included.
Most of Hai Rui's impeachments were justified, but Zhu Yijun was surprised by the impeachments of Zhong Zhenji and Zhu Tianqiu.
Why are you surprised? Because these two ministers are both well-known figures.
Zhong Zhenji was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing reign. He is as famous as his fellow Jiangxi fellows Chen Daoheng and Deng Yizan, and they are also known as the "Jiangyou Sanqing" - of course not the Sanqing Taoist ancestors in the Sanqing Palace, but three famous upright officials the meaning of. Zhong Zhenji once served as the prefect of Songjiang and the governor of Henan. At the beginning of last year, he was appointed as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing. His clear name remains the same.
Zhu Tianqiu was even more powerful. He was promoted to Jinshi in the 29th year of Jiajing and was awarded the title of director of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry. In October of the 34th year of Jiajing's reign, when he had been in office for six years, he went to Beijing to evaluate his performance. He happened to meet Yang Jisheng, a member of the Ministry of War, to impeach Yan Song for his "ten major crimes". He was framed by Yan Song and was executed in the West City.
At that time, few people dared to express sympathy for Yang Jisheng, but Zhu Tianqiu was so indignant that he invited Xue Tianhua, Dong Chuance and Yang Yusun, who were also serving in Beijing, to come to Xishi to weep and mourn in person. They were called the "Four Gentlemen" by people at the time. Later, Wang Shizhen, who was also a doctor in the Ministry of Punishment, buried Yang Jisheng's body and took care of his funeral.
After Zhu Tianqiu's performance appraisal, he was transferred to the head of the Nanjing Ministry of War and subsequently promoted to doctor in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. Soon after, Huguang was promoted to the Chasi Qianshi and was assigned to guard Hunan Road. Due to the death of his mother, after returning home to mourn, he took charge of the salt settlement in Guangdong and moved to supervise the academic administration of Guangxi. Soon after, he was promoted to be the governor of the East Zhejiang Province, and he also oversaw the academic affairs of Shandong. He established the Four Corners Society in Shandong and formulated lecture articles and promulgated articles such as "Family Rites" and "Compendium of the Book of Changes" to eliminate glitz and uphold elegance and integrity.
At the end of Jiajing period, he was promoted to Shaoqing of Taipu Temple in Nanjing. In the first year of Longqing, Mu Zong ascended the throne, and Zhu Tianqiu came to Beijing to congratulate him. In the first month of the following year, Shi Xing criticized Mu Zong and was deposed as a civilian. Regardless of his personal safety, Zhu Tianqiu asked Shangshu to forgive Shi Xing's crime, and his words were fierce and sincere.
The courtiers discussed among themselves: "Zhu Jun was riding on the tiger's tail before (referring to the grand event of venturing to the execution ground to mourn Yang Ji), but now he is criticizing the dragon. If he is not a loyal husband, how dare he do this?" Therefore, Zhu Tianqiu was transferred to foreign affairs. If he becomes an official, he will resign and return to his hometown.
In the ninth year of Wanli, the second assistant Shen Shixing thought that Zhu Tianqiu was a veteran of three dynasties, and proposed to appoint him as the deputy envoy of Guangdong. He was immediately transferred internally and promoted to Nanjing Taichang Temple Shaoqing. He served successively as Nanjing Taipu, Dali Second Temple Minister, and the Right Minister of the Southern Punishment Department. Assistant Minister, he was transferred to the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry and has been serving him ever since.
How come these two honest officials were impeached by Hai Rui? It stands to reason that Hai Rui usually has a better attitude towards honest officials. Could it be that he has changed his temper this time?
Zhu Yijun couldn't help but read it carefully, and only after reading it did he know the reason.
Hai Rui is not impeaching the two of them for being greedy, but for inaction.
Why haven't you done anything? One of them is the No. 2 person in the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, and the other is the No. 2 person in the Nanjing Ministry of Industry. They happened to be "in charge" of the Wusong River embankment renovation project last year.
The Wusong River embankment renovation project caused as big a stir as before. This time, Hai Rui determined that as many as 65 relevant officials should be dismissed. This is obviously the biggest case in Nanjing in recent times. However, the two of them had no knowledge of such a big incident and had not taken any precautionary measures beforehand. This made Hai Rui angrily express in his impeachment memorial that the two of them were just plain old people and were not worthy of important responsibilities at all!
It seemed unfair to be scolded for one thing, but if you really think about it, Hai Rui's scolding could not be said to be unreasonable.
There were dozens of officials involved in the Wusong River Embankment Renovation Project, and it turned into a carnival to some extent. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for any news to leak out, at least as officials of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs and the Nanjing Ministry of Industry were responsible for the project. The officials in charge, Zhong Zhenji and Zhu Tianqiu, couldn't understand why.
"I'm afraid that they don't know, and they know but dare not speak out." - I think it's not that they don't know, it's just that they don't dare to speak out after they know.
I don't know, this can be said to be a momentary oversight. Although it deserves punishment, it is still forgivable after all. Knowing it but not daring to say it, there is nothing that can be changed in theory. After all, the nature has changed. You don’t dare to take care of your own boss. If you’re not a corpse, what are you doing?
However, Hai Rui's impeachment made Zhu Yijun feel a little troublesome. Yes, logically speaking, as the officials in charge of the project, the two of them are responsible for such a big mistake in the project. In the words of Gao Pragmatic back then, "At least there must be leadership responsibility." You are incapable of leading!
However, Zhu Yijun is no longer an emperor at the level of the novice village. Dozens of officials involved in this incident can be found out, which shows that it has reached the level of "the law does not punish the public" in general.
In such a situation, to be honest, it is quite rare that the two of them were not involved in the case. It is too much to expect that everyone is like Hai Rui, and to dare to point at the government and the public and scold all the nobles, "You are all not men."
Therefore, there is no problem with Hai Rui's accusation, and the impeachment is not unfounded, but it is not easy to handle. Even the emperor has to consider the feasibility.
Taking care of the feasibility does not mean that it cannot be dealt with. Of course the emperor can say that you two deserve to be punished. Presumably they will not complain if you continue to punish them, but this will cause problems with the image of the emperor. He is harsh on his ministers and unkind. I'm afraid it will be difficult to take off the hat.
During the impeachment, Hai Rui suggested that the two of them should live in peace. This was definitely not something Zhu Yijun could agree to, but after much thought, he realized that since the matter had reached this stage, it made no sense to pretend to be deaf and dumb. In the end, Zhu Yijun had no choice but to issue an edict to severely reprimand him, but after a serious criticism, he only gave him a punishment decision of "several months of punishment and encouragement to serve."
Who says you can do whatever you want as an emperor? Although the emperor's power is almost unlimited, there are many aspects that the emperor has to consider, especially regarding reputation.
An emperor who received orthodox Confucian education from a young age faced the biggest obstacle at many times and in many things, which was that he could not pass his own level.
After the problem of the two ministers in charge was resolved, the remaining officials involved in the case would be easier to deal with. Zhu Yijun did not have much kindness to say to them. After seeing the evidence of his involvement in the case one by one, he basically agreed with Hai Rui's conclusion to the Nancha investigation. allow.
He looked at the cabinet's vote and found that the cabinet did not raise too many questions. It only made some slight adjustments to the punishments of individual prisoners. For example, some of the prisoners who were concluded by Hai Rui should return to their hometowns to live idle. When it came to the cabinet's suggestions, This place became Guandei Xianzhu; it used to be Guandei Xianzhu, and the cabinet recommended that the officials be demoted to foreign posts - compared to other places, Nanjing officials are also considered officials in the capital.
All of these, to name a few, are mostly attempts to "reduce a big deal into a small matter" of Hai Rui's suggestions, but they do not "turn a small matter into a trivial matter."
Zhu Yijun's heart moved, and he asked Chen Ju to sort out the birthplaces and resumes of the deposed criminals in Nancha. He found that, as he expected, most of them were from Nanbang, and they usually tended to learn from the mind - —Being an official of Xinxue or an official of practical studies does not necessarily depend entirely on the place of origin, and "tendency" is not a seal of approval. It cannot be seen at a glance. In many cases, it depends on the officer's behavior. In some cases, positions expressed on major events.
After reading the files compiled by Chen Ju, Zhu Yijun was convinced that Xinxue officials had obviously "suffered a loss" during this southern inspection.
He did not doubt that Hai Rui was intentionally biased. After all, this old man never cared about other people's attitudes when doing things, and he was not interested in money. He was not someone who was easily corrupted. So this meant that Nanjing's Xin School officials were really a bit shaky. Collective depravity.
Taking a closer look, Zhu Yijun discovered that among the Nanjing officials who had been deposed and reprimanded, the Ministry of Household Affairs was the most involved in the case, followed closely by the Ministry of Works. Together, the two departments accounted for a full 40% of the officials dismissed in this southern inspection.
The emperor's mood suddenly fell to the bottom: The Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry still have a certain degree of strength, but now they have actually become corrupted to this extent. What's going to happen if we don't reverse it?
He closed his eyes to calm down, then opened his eyes suddenly, picked up his imperial pen and wrote a big "but" on Hai Rui's Nancha Concluding Memorial.
In the fifteenth year of Wanli's reign, Dinghai's inspection of the capital came to a successful conclusion.
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