As Gao Pragmatic's achievements become bigger and bigger, his personal prestige has risen to a level that even the opposition dare not face up to. Therefore, Zhao Zhigao, one of the two current talkers of the Xinxue School, has completely lost the courage to confront him head-on, while Shen Yiguan, who was originally far away from the central core and was temporarily elected to replace Wang Xijue's vacancy, obviously still harbors some illusions.
However, although Zhao Zhigao usually seems to be sickly and has no independent opinions, this time the plan has been decided and he is very determined. No matter what, he refuses to have a head-on confrontation with the pragmatic school headed by Gao Pragmatism.
In fact, Zhao Zhigao's somewhat capitulationist attitude is not just his personal attitude. During the thirty years of conflict between the Practical School and the Heart School, the Heart School as a whole suffered defeats one after another.
From Xu Jie's response before he stepped down from the stage, to the moment when Gao Pragmatic sneezes, people can't help but wonder if there is any metaphor behind the sneeze. It is true that the sea has changed and the times have changed.
Many practitioners of psychology can’t help but reflect, what is the cause of all this?
Many people initially believed that this was mainly because the three chief ministers Gao Gong, Guo Pu, and Zhang Siwei were all the chief ministers of the Real School. They "occupied" the emperor's entire growth period, making the ideas of the Real School influence the emperor. Too big. When the emperor takes full control of the government, and with the emperor's influence, the real school will naturally be invincible.
But some people think that things are not that simple. They believe that in addition to the influence of the three chief assistants in the early years of Wanli, Gao Pragmatic's own abilities and performance must not be ignored.
As the emperor's only "classmate", or perhaps his childhood playmate, Gao Pragmatic himself may have had a greater influence on the emperor than the three chief assistants combined, and this is what Gao Pragmatic later did. One of the key factors in its rise.
Of course, Gao Pragmatic's current achievements and prestige are obviously not just based on the Holy Scroll. In history, there are not many close ministers who have more sacred scrolls than Gao Jingshi - many years ago, some people said that Gao Jingshi was the "Dong Xian" of the Ming Dynasty.
However, later Gao Pragmatic relied on a series of military exploits to nail those who said these words to the pillar of shame of a gossip, and then this phenomenon stopped.
Of course, there was another reason why these people were crucified, which was related to the comparison between Gao Pragmatic and Dong Xian.
Dong Xian was a favored minister of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty. He was favored by Emperor Ai at first because of his extraordinary appearance. He was promoted to Huangmenlang at the first meeting, and he began to be favored by him. When Emperor Ai asked that his father was Dong Gong, the Marquis of Yunzhong, he was recruited as the magistrate of Baling County that day and promoted to doctor Guanglu.
Dong Xian was favored more and more, and he served as the Prince Consort, Captain, and Attendant. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty accompanied him on his carriage when he went out, and stayed with him when he came in. Within one month, he received a total reward of ten million yuan, and his wealth shocked the court.
Emperor Ai thought that it was difficult for Dong Xian to return home as his personal attendant, so he issued an edict to allow Dong Xian's wife to enter the palace directly and live in Dong Xian's residence in the palace, just like the wives of long-term officials could live in official residences. He also summoned Dong Xian's sister and made her Zhaoyi, whose status was second only to the queen. She also renamed her residence Jiao Feng to match the queen's Jiao Fang.
How exaggerated was Emperor Ai's love for Dong Xian? In addition to giving it to himself, Emperor Ai also promoted Dong Xian's father, Dong Gong, to the post of Shaofu, gave him the title of Marquis of Guannei to collect his taxes, and later moved to serve as a guard.
Emperor Ai also appointed Dong Xian's father-in-law as the chief craftsman, and Dong Xian's brother-in-law as the chief craftsman. He also ordered a master craftsman to build a large house for Dong Xian under the North Tower. It has front and back halls and the doors face each other. The building is extremely exquisite and gorgeous.
Servants from Dong Xian down to Dong Xian's house were rewarded by Emperor Ai, including weapons from the arsenal and treasures from above. Dong Xian was responsible for choosing the best things for use, and the clothes he wore while traveling were second only to the emperor. Even the coffin, the beaded jacket made of gold sewn with jewels, and the jade coffin made of gold sewn with jade pieces, were ready to be given to Dong Xian. Nothing was missing.
Emperor Ai even asked a general to build a tomb for Dong Xian next to the Yiling Mausoleum. There was a small chamber inside made of strong cypresses. There are countless screens set up.
In addition, Emperor Ai often used various means to improve Dong Xian's status. On the second day of May in the second year of Yuanshou (1 BC), the Han Dynasty formally determined the official names of the three officials and their respective divisions of labor. Dong Xian was appointed as Grand Sima; Prime Minister Kong Guang was appointed as Grand Situ; Peng Xuan was appointed as Grand Sikong and was granted the title of Marquis of Changping.
At this time, Emperor Ai intended to let Dong Xian secretly surpass Kong Guang. Kong Guang was extremely respectful and knew that Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty wanted Dong Xian to be respected and favored by others. When he heard that Dong Xian was coming soon, Kong Guang put on his clothes and hat and went out to wait. When he saw Dong Xian's car in the distance, he stepped back.
When Dong Xian arrived at the middle gate, Kong Guang entered the small room next to the gate again. After Dong Xian got off the car, Kong Guang came out to greet him. He was very cautious in greeting him and did not dare to receive him with the etiquette of receiving a person of the same status.
As a result, after Dong Xian returned, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was very happy when he heard about it, and immediately promoted the sons of Kong Guang's two elder brothers to serve as regular attendants of the admonishment officials. In one case, Dong Xian's power was almost equal to that of the emperor.
However, the most shocking thing was yet to come.
One day, Emperor Ai held a banquet in the Linqi Hall, where he had a banquet with Dong Xian, his father, his son, and their relatives. Brothers Wang Hong, the minister, and the chief minister were all waiting on him. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, feeling a little drunk at the time, calmly looked at Dong Xian, smiled, and said, "I want to imitate Yao and become Shun, how about that?"
Before Dong Xian could say anything, Wang Hong's expression changed greatly and he said: "The world belongs to Emperor Gao, not to His Majesty. Your Majesty inherits the imperial line and should pass on the throne to his descendants until infinity. Important matters passed down from generation to generation are of vital importance. Please Your Majesty, don’t talk nonsense!”
It stands to reason that such a warning is indeed an act of loyalty and justice, but Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was very unhappy after hearing this, and his face was so ugly that everyone around him was very scared. The final result was that Wang Hong was kicked out and was no longer allowed to serve at banquets.
At first, those people compared Gao Pragmatic to Dong Xian. This was the main reason that later aroused Zhu Yijun's anger. Zhu Yijun asked himself that Gao Pragmatic was both an emperor and a close friend, and he regarded their cooperation as a model of wise emperors and virtuous ministers since ancient times. How could he tolerate someone treating them as Emperor Ai and Dong Xian?
When Zhu Yijun learned the news from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, his lungs were about to explode. In addition to being good-looking, Dong Xian serves Emperor Ai all day long. How can he be a wise minister of the country? He is just like the eunuchs in the harem. How can he be compared with the pragmatism that I regard as the pillar of the country?
Let’s talk about Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty. What kind of bullshit emperor is he? Are you comparing him to me?
However, one thing to note here is that Zhu Yijun's anger in this matter was not just due to the fact that Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty favored Dong Xian and came up with the origin of the idiom "the habit of cutting sleeves". As an emperor, he was more sensitive to the fact that Emperor Ai's political actions were similar to him at that time.
What are the similarities? There are two points: the first point is that they are all young; the second point is that they like reform.
Let’s talk about youth first. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was only twenty-five years old when he died and reigned for only six years. Although he was already an adult king when he ascended the throne, his reign was roughly the same age as Zhu Yijun, who was already in charge.
Besides, I like reform. Politically, after Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, in the second year of Jianping (5 BC), he accepted the petition of the great Sikong Zhubo, canceled the official reform during the Suihe period of Emperor Cheng, and restored the two-government system of prime minister and imperial censor. At the same time, the state pastoral ministry was also abolished and the governorship was restored.
However, in May of the second year of Yuanshou (1 BC), Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty restored the three-gong system, but changed the name of the imperial censor to "Da Sikong" and the prime minister to "Da Situ", and elevated the status of Da Sima to make He is the head of the three princes. After the new changes in the three offices, Dong Xian, Kong Guang, and Peng Xuan were appointed as Da Sima, Da Situ, and Da Sikong respectively. Emperor Ai also wanted to reform Sizhi and Sili, and add the post of Sikou, but the matter collapsed before it was decided.
During the reign of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, there were already many palaces, gardens, and treasuries. Although the wealth of the people was not as good as that of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, the population reached its peak, the largest since the beginning of the Han Dynasty. So Emperor Ai I also want to reform the economy.
In the early days of Emperor Ai's accession to the throne, General Shi Dan of the Zuo replaced Wang Mang as Grand Sima Fu of the Zuo Dynasty. As soon as Shi Dan took office, he proposed to Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty the restriction of land and slaves, in an attempt to save the Han family from their bad luck.
After discussions among the ministers, Prime Minister Kong Guang, Grand Sikong Hewu and others formulated specific regulations: the land occupied by princes, princes, princesses, and officials should not exceed thirty hectares; the number of slaves and maidservants of princes and kings was limited to 200, and the number of maids and servants of princes and princes was limited to 200. There are one hundred princesses and thirty officials and civilians; merchants are not allowed to own land or be officials. Those who exceed the above limit will be confiscated from the land and slaves.
This could have been said to be a reform with certain compromises, but it was still opposed by the powerful people who controlled the government. First of all, he was opposed by the relatives of Ding and Fu. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty had no actual support for this edict, especially when he later rewarded Dong Xian with two thousand hectares of land, which was nearly seventy times the maximum amount of land restricted, so the order to restrict land and slaves became A piece of paper.
In Zhu Yijun's view, how could Gao Pragmatic be the "Dong Xian" among those people? Apart from anything else, when Gao Pragmatic said that the imperial court should collect commercial taxes, he asked Jinghua to take the initiative to pay the relevant taxes when there was no such tax in order to set the trend.
Not to mention whether there is a reward or not. After all, Zhu Yijun was embarrassed to speak out about the money he had given to Gao Jingshi over the years. Gao Jingshi had brought all kinds of great victories, and the emperor's rewards were nothing more than a few bolts of red silk, a hundred taels of silver, etc., which were all based on the past. Let’s compare examples.
The "rewards" that Gao Pragmatic really received were probably nothing more than some gifts of words and poems from the emperor, which were mostly honorary and had no actual wealth. Of course, being highly pragmatic doesn't seem to require financial rewards.
In addition, although Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty also carried out reforms, he was not only unable to be strict with others, but more importantly, he was unable to be strict with himself. If you can't do it yourself, how can others be convinced?
He and Gao Jingshi were different, or they became different because of Gao Jingshi's persistence. Let’s talk about the issue of imperial estates near the capital. Originally, there were many imperial estates around the capital. How many are left now? Didn't Gao Pragmatic persuade him to return it to the villagers for self-cultivation?
And Gao Pragmatic himself was not idle either, using a lot of financial means that were much more advanced and humane than this era to promote it. These means can facilitate this matter very well without putting excessive financial pressure on the people who redeem their fields. Among them, Jinghua is responsible for the advance loan.
Each one of them is doing practical things for the people. It is precisely for this reason that although Gao Jingshi has many industries and servants around the capital, there has never been a group conflict between the local people and the Gao family servants. Incidents - such conflicts were not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty at this time.
This shows that Gao Pragmatic indeed has high prestige among the people. He has an outstanding reputation and the people think he is a good official. In the same way, if one can trust such a good official, then of course the emperor is also a sage.
Finally, Zhu Yijun's anger also comes from the fact that Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty died early - are you traitors cursing me for my early death?
This is not a small problem. It was a fatal problem in the era of imperial power. Therefore, based on all the above, the group of people who accused Gao Pragmatism of being Dong Xian were naturally in bad luck.
Over the years, Gao Pragmatic has gained more and more credit, so much so that many people are even a little numb, and then they develop a mentality: It is unrealistic to expect Gao Pragmatic to mess things up on his own. Instead of doing useless work, If you want to fight with him, it's better to just sit back and watch.
This idea is actually quite Chinese. It is said in "Book of Changes Qian": "On the ninth day of the lunar month, there will be regrets for the dragon."
The dragon is the king, and being overbearing is the highest. If you are in the most respected position, you should be overbearing as a warning, otherwise you will be in trouble.
In the view of some people in these schools of thought, it is impossible to suppress the current Gao Pragmatism with frontal containment methods. They can only let him go through the current "flying dragon in the sky" and enter the "excessive dragon has regrets" period on his own. The situation is what follows the way of heaven.
The word "Tiandao" is mysterious and mysterious, but since Wang Yangming himself, the Xin School has quickly entered the realm of Xuanchan and falsehood. It is not the purpose that Wang Yangming originally wanted to promote. Now that they are facing an invincible opponent, these methods Is it any wonder that the disciples of later generations who went astray chose to use the mysterious and mysterious "way of heaven" to escape reality?
Zhao Zhigao also holds this attitude to a certain extent, which is why he and Shen Yiyi have this dialogue. Shen Yiguan was finally convinced by Zhao Zhigao - that's how he expressed it, but no one knew whether he was convinced or not.
Gao pragmatic returned to the capital under such circumstances, so the first surprise he faced when he returned to the capital was that he, Liu Wei, Dong Yiyuan and more than a thousand servants had just walked to Yongding Gate in the south of the city to enter the city, and they suddenly discovered that The cabinet ministers have already led the ministers to wait outside the city to greet him.
When Liu Wei and Dong Yiyuan saw this, they felt as comfortable as Zhu Bajie after eating ginseng fruit. They straightened their waists in unison. Gao Pangshi, who was guarded by them on the left and right, suddenly stiffened and looked at him quickly. After a while, a deep concentration immediately appeared in his eyes.
The people who came to greet him included cabinet ministers, officials from the six ministries, as well as officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Hanlin Academy, ministers from various temples, and Shaoqing, etc., but none of them saw the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
"Master Hou, all the princes in the court are here to greet you!" Liu Wei excitedly turned to Gao Pragmatic and said: "Master Hou is really..."
He didn't dare to continue saying this, because he had already noticed something was wrong with Gao Pragmatic's expression, and subconsciously swallowed the next words.
"What is it really?" Gao Pingshi glanced at him and said expressionlessly: "It's really dangerous."
Liu Wei and Dong Yiyuan looked at each other in astonishment. Both of them were confused and dumbfounded.
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