And we can trace the time back to when the news of the great victory in the two battles was sent back to the capital. At that time, good news of the military situation was sent back to the capital in a hurry. Since such good news of a great victory would be shouted along the way, the people in the capital actually knew about it earlier than the palace.
When the news was learned by various ministries, cabinets, and even the Supervisor of Ceremonies, newspapers such as Beijing Times and Shixue Dynasty had already begun to prepare articles, and the people were singing and laughing, and many people spontaneously began to celebrate.
Different from the folk celebrations, officials are much more "reserved" about this. Many people just talk about the situation, saying a few words about the destruction of the old enemy and the victory of the Ming Dynasty. However, most of them have a lot of gloominess between their eyebrows. .
As Liu Xin expected, not only the Xin School officials almost felt like mourning after learning the details of the great victory, but even many neutral school Old Neo-Confucian officials also looked gloomy. It was not as if they were rejoicing in the country's rejuvenation, but as if there was no one left after the storm had fallen. Generally salvageable.
Even if the trees are beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy them. Twenty years ago, they implemented a small plan to surrender Tumut. One or two years ago, they defeated Ordos with lightning speed. Now they have destroyed the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in one battle and forced the Chahar tribe to break their arms and flee to the Western Regions.
As a result, Gao Pragmatic's military exploits have gone too far, and considering that he is now established at a young age, who else in the court will be able to check and balance him in the long run?
The reaction in the palace further aggravated the concerns of all parties - the emperor soon issued an edict: Tomorrow, the officials and the people of the capital will celebrate together!
Although there is no news about how the emperor plans to reward Gao Jingjing, but since he wants to celebrate and even has to quit the court for it, it obviously means that the emperor thinks this is a great achievement! As for the fact that there is no mention of rewards, it is not easy to explain. People with high-level management skills are still Tumote!
Besides, although Tumen and the others ran away, it is still unclear where they are now. It is also unclear whether Gao Jinglue intends to continue the pursuit. Of course, at this time, we cannot rush to award rewards first.
However, for non-practical school officials, this is rare good news. It means that there is still a certain window period, and they can find ways to make good use of it to avoid the situation becoming completely irreversible in the future.
Maybe it was because the news came too suddenly. The enemy had been nowhere to be found some time ago, but suddenly the situation changed drastically. There was a double kill all of a sudden, so that the reaction of the officials in the capital was a bit chaotic.
Officials from all walks of life who had no time to discuss in detail came to the meeting one after another on the second day. This "group discussion" was really full of all kinds of things, and the focus of the discussion was also different.
Some officials directly denied Gao Pragmatic's military exploits and believed that there was a lot of water in them, especially this time: "The army of 600,000 marched out of the fortress and cost millions. However, the number of people fighting against the Tatars was only more than 100,000, and they failed to annihilate them all." The Tartar slaves can be said to be greedy for merit and incompetent!"
Some officials are more biased. For example, some people said that Gao Pragmatic's battle was very expensive, saying, "The country has accumulated 20 years of accumulation and exhausted it in one day. If something happens to the world, how can the court respond?"
Some people said: "At this time, everything in the south is in chaos. Bozhou is not at peace but the Cao rebellion is happening again. The imperial court is using troops in many places, like fighting with two fists against four hands. But if one or two things go wrong, the whole thing may be ruined. Now the Tatar slaves have Escape, how can I eat the wind and drink the dew while pursuing the poor bandits? I heard that the barbarians in Bozhou are united in a vertical and horizontal alliance, but there are Han rebels who are offering advice. This is really a serious problem for the court. It is better to stop the troops in the north and pacify the south bandits first. I wish you to do so. Quickly summon the ministers back to Beijing to hand over..."
Another person was extremely upright and bluntly stated that the authority of Gao Pragmatism was too great: "The ministers of the classics were Gao Pragmatism. In one place, he cut off flower speculation and other industries. With his wisdom, he became the capital and became richest in the world. With his ability, he made bonds and helped to establish Burma... All these achievements are truly glorious.
However, he is the richest man in the world but keeps private soldiers, conquers the south and fights in the north and commands the generals, praises the party leader when he succeeds in his career, connects with the inside and outside to consolidate the holy family... If not controlled, I fear that the people of the world will only know that they are high-minded and pragmatic, but they will not know that they are high-minded and pragmatic. The Holy Emperor! "
Of course, there are also moderate ones, saying: "Since the third generation, sages have promoted officials with virtue and rewarded them with merit, so there has been a practice of getting officials for virtue and rewards for merit. Today, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty's economics and the Ministry of Household Affairs are pragmatic and pragmatic. Wealth is accumulated, military exploits are shining brightly, virtues spread throughout the country, and benefit all over the world. Is there any reason not to reward merit with a title?
Meng Yuan is our old enemy. Now, by covering it up, it can comfort the two ancestors and calm down the people of the country. The minister is highly pragmatic and dedicated to his merits. How could your Majesty be stingy with the country's rewards? I should not speculate on absurdity, but I should repay it as a public servant..."
This one is just as Liu Xin had worried before. It seems to be praising Gao Pragmatism, but in fact it hides a murderous intention. In order to reward Gao Pragmatism, Gao Pragmatism was knighted, but his career was ruined.
Of course, in addition to these memorials, which were either overtly or covertly intended to attack Gao Pragmatism, there were also officials from the Pragmatic School who discussed the matter, but... well, it was also a bit confusing.
The discussions among officials from the Practical School are generally based on the principle of being pragmatic and pragmatic, but they are generally divided into two groups depending on the degree of praise.
One of them is a fierce boaster, praising Gao Pragmatic from his birth to his achievements, and then saying that Gao Pragmatic has both political integrity and talent, and it is simply unreasonable not to join the cabinet. In short, the purpose of this group of people is to promote pragmatic pragmatism to the cabinet. Some even said that the emperor should now summon the nine ministers to promote him.
The other group boasted in a controlled manner. They did not mention Gao Jingshi's background and his experience as the emperor's companion. Instead, they emphasized Gao Jingshi's achievements after becoming an official.
Their purpose is actually to push Gao Jingshi to join the cabinet. However, these people may have a far-reaching view, or they may have heard something last night, so they specifically pointed out: As a civil servant, Gao Jingshi's contribution to civil affairs is actually more than Martial arts, so there should be some emphasis on pragmatic rewards for high-level people. We should not give him military ministers and knighthoods just because he seems to have more outstanding military exploits.
In a word, within the category of "civilian ministers", His Majesty the Emperor can grant you high and pragmatic rewards, but you must not use the method of ennobling military ministers. What's more, some people think that even if Gao Pragmatic is to be knighted, it must be done according to Li Shanchang's model.
As for what it means to "do it according to Li Shanchang's model", it naturally means to ennoble Gao pragmatically according to the method that Li Shanchang used to ennoble civil servants: Li Shanchang was the founding Duke of Korea (originally Duke Xuan). Well, as for why the Korean Duke was later removed from his title, that is another matter. In short, it is all blamed on the Hu Weiyong case.
To be honest, this proposal is a "first step", because when Zhu Yuanzhang conferred the title of Li Shanchang, he did not say that only military merit could be knighted in the future.
China's title system emerged very early. Since the Zhou Dynasty, there have been five titles: duke, marquis, uncle, son and male. The Han Dynasty changed the fifth-class titles into two types: king and marquis. Those who could get this honor were the emperor's family members, relatives and meritorious ministers. Later, people who held the position of prime minister were granted the title of marquis. Since the Han Dynasty, especially during the Five Husties, the title of nobility has become extremely confusing. Basically, anyone who serves in the imperial court can obtain the fifth-class title.
In the Ming Dynasty, the form changed. When Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, the titles given to heroes and dead soldiers were also fifth-class titles. However, after Zhu Yuanzhang settled down in the world, he felt that the titles were too excessive and did not seem to show his nobility, so he changed the fifth-class titles to the third-class titles, that is, only dukes, marquises, and uncles, and stipulated that civil servants were not allowed to be granted titles. As a duke, you can only be granted the title of earl at most, and the prerequisite is that you must have achieved military merit.
On the surface, it seems that Zhu Yuanzhang is harsh and reluctant to give up titles and rewards. After all, a civil servant generally does not have the opportunity to achieve military exploits. On the one hand, this policy is indeed Zhu Yuanzhang's preference for military generals, because as long as military generals have a title, even if their official position is not as high as that of civilian officials, their respect and status in the court will be much higher than that of civilian officials, to a certain extent. It suppressed the power of civil servants.
Unfortunately, this system did not persist in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the general soldier belonged to the first rank of Wu. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, there was a situation that overly belittled the military personnel such as "there is no county magistrate under the general soldier's account, and the county magistrate has the general soldier personally accompanying him." In order to encourage civil servants to be awarded titles for their meritorious service, in the official schools of the Ming Dynasty, it was customary to offer military preparation courses. On the one hand, students learned the words of saints and the way of governing the country, and on the other hand, they also learned the art of war and horse archery - of course. The system is a system, whether you learn it or not is another matter. This system was initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang, so most of the civil servants in the early Ming Dynasty were both civil and military.
However, the founding emperor was not a god. In fact, in the 277 years of the original Ming Dynasty, there were only nine civil servants with titles, only one with the title of duke, and the remaining eight were all counts.
The only Duke of Korea is Lee Shan-chang, the Duke of South Korea. Li Shanchang was Zhu Yuanzhang's Xiao He. He followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the early days of his rebellion. Although he did not read much, he was full of tricks and made great contributions to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang regarded him as his own Xiao He.
Not long after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shanchang was granted the title of Duke of Korea, with a salary of four thousand dan, an iron bond for hereditary succession, and was spared two deaths for himself and one death for his son. But even so, Li Shanchang was not spared death in the end. Because he was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, more than 70 people in his family were killed. Compared with others, Zhu Yuanzhang was "interested enough" to him. He gave Li Shanchang the whole body and spared Li Shanchang's eldest son from death because Li Shanchang's son was the consort.
Then among the eight earls, the one at the top was Chengyi Bo Liu Ji, also known as Liu Bowen.
Whether it is myth or reality, Liu Bowen's ability is indeed comparable to Zhang Liang of the Han Dynasty. Although Liu Bowen looked down on Zhu Yuanzhang before, since he took refuge with Zhu Yuanzhang, he came up with all kinds of tricks and made immortal contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang's founding of the Ming Dynasty. In November of the third year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang made a great official, and Liu Ji was made a sincere uncle, with an annual salary of 240 shi. Even if Liu Bowen himself didn't care, his annual salary was indeed pitiful. However, there is also a saying that Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that the reward would be too generous to protect Liu Ji, which would arouse the jealousy of others. It depends on how to understand this.
Then there is Wang Guangyang, Zhongqin Bo. Wang Guangyang's position in the early Ming Dynasty was higher than that of Liu Ji. Because Liu Ji said that he could not be prime minister, Wang Guangyang was named the right prime minister. This man has been cautious all his life, seeking no merit but no fault. In the third year of Hongwu, he was named Zhongqinbo, with an annual salary of 360 shi.
Next is the loyal Boru Chang. Both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di spoke highly of Ru Chang, but their actions did not dare to be praised. The reason is that as a civil servant, the reason why he was made an earl was not for his military merits, but for his persuasion to advance.
After Zhu Di invaded Nanjing, Ru Chang first persuaded Zhu Di to ascend the throne. As a veteran minister, when faced with the usurpation of the throne, instead of rising up to fight against the enemy, he did not dare to say anything when negotiating with Zhu Di as a negotiator. But when Zhu Di entered Nanjing, he was the first to persuade him to enter.
Of course Zhu Di was overjoyed. Wouldn't it be better for a minister from the enemy to persuade him to proclaim himself emperor than from his own side? So Ru Chang was granted the title of Loyalty Bo for her work in persuading people to enter, and was given a salary of one thousand dan per year. Moreover, Zhu Di also praised it greatly: "It is majestic, profound, and elegant, making it outstanding and popular all over the world." Not only that, Zhu Di also wrote a poem to praise him: "There are many loyal and good men in ancient and modern times, but few have great public honors." It's so simple.
Then we arrived at Jingyuan Bo Wangji. Wang Ji was a civil servant trained under Zhu Yuanzhang's education system that cultivated both civil and military skills. He was also the first civil servant in the Ming Dynasty to be awarded a title based on military merit in the true sense.
During the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Ji had military exploits in the campaign against Lichuan Xuanwei Chieftain Si Renfa and Vimalakia Chieftain Wei Langluo. He was named Jingyuan Bo, with an annual salary of 1,200 shi, which was later increased. The annual salary is three hundred stones.
It should be said that Wang Ji is very capable, but this person cares about Li Lu very much. The first earl he was granted was not hereditary, but after his repeated requests, the court felt that he was an old minister and should be given some respect, so he was granted hereditary qualifications.
Later, when Ming Yingzong was restored, he also participated a little bit, but he was not present when the rewards were given. This old gentleman once again wrote a letter asking for rewards. What was the reason?
It turns out that during the restoration of Yingzong, his son Wang Xiang did participate. However, he was hit by some soldiers in the chaos and was almost trampled to death. He had no glorious deeds, so when the reward was given, no one remembered it. Since such a person was also involved, there was no declaration. Wang Ji was not happy and wrote a letter to express his merit. Yingzong probably did not expect that this man was so shameless and only wanted benefits, so he pinched his nose and sealed Wang Xiang as the commander.
Then there is Yang Shan, Xingji Bo. In fact, Yang Shan's title of earl had nothing to do with military merit. He was a hero of the Yingzong's "Seize the Gate". In the first month of the first year of Tianshun, he was granted the title of Xingji Bo, with an annual salary of 1,200 shi, and he was given a hereditary title. qualifications.
Similar to him is the martial arts master Xu Youzhen. Xu Youzhen, like Yang Shan, was also a hero of Yingzong's "Change of Seizing the Gate" and was awarded the title of Wugong Bo in March of the first year of Tianshun.
After that, we arrived at Weiningbo Wangyue. While Wang Ji achieved military merit by conquering the southern chieftains, Wang Yue achieved military merit by conquering the northern Tatars. As mentioned before, the Ming Dynasty used troops in the north and south because the strength was very different, so the south frequently beheaded tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but what about the north? Beheading a few hundred people would be a great victory.
Because Wang Yue led his army to behead 350 people in the war, he was named Wei Ningbo and received an annual salary of 1,200 shi. Later, he beheaded 120 people in the war, which increased his annual salary by 400 dan. Later, he made a small contribution, which increased his annual salary by 50 dan.
But Wang Yue was not satisfied. He expected to be granted the title of prince, but the system of the Ming Dynasty was there, and it was impossible for civil servants to be granted the title of prince. So it was good that the king could no longer work as a civil servant and asked himself to serve as a military officer. This was quite rare at the time. Because he had already reached the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the status of military generals was far inferior to that in the early days. However, Wang Yue could not control so much in order to become a prince, so he wore the seal of "General Ping Hu" and served as the chief military officer. As fate would have it, in the end there was no title of marquis in this mansion.
The last one is Prince Xinjian Shouren. I have mentioned this twice before, so there is no need to say it again.
In short, there were only nine civil servants in the Ming Dynasty who were knighted. Only Li Shanchang was actually knighted for his ability in civil administration. Although Liu Bowen was a civil servant, he offered war strategies. The other three were knighted for their meritorious service in persuading or participating in the restoration. The rest were knighted for their martial arts. .
In other words, the Pragmatic School also saw the possibility of Gao Jingshi being knighted for martial arts, so they thought of using Li Shanchang's method to try to get Gao Jingshi to be "kongzhi knighted" - Li Shanchang became the Prime Minister of Zuo after being knighted as the Duke of Korea. Yes, then if Gao Pragmatic can take care of things in order, it will not affect his ability to continue to assist the government.
Although the idea is good, can it be achieved?
----------
Thanks to book friends "Yilu Seyou", "Cao Mianzi", "Book Friends 141216122515977", and "klauszx" for their monthly support, thank you!
