Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2044 Zheng Guoben ([-]) The small controls the big, the big bullies the small

There is no doubt that Xiao Daheng is an official of the Real School, and he is also a veteran of the Real School - after all, he was born in Jiajing in the 11th year, and he is already sixty-eight years old this year.If nothing unexpected happens, there are only two or three years of official career left.

In the officialdom of later generations, there is often a saying that "the right to use it is not valid, and it becomes invalid when it expires", so the so-called "May [-]th phenomenon" appeared, which means that some officials have degenerate thinking before retiring, and give up the originally good conduct to make a lot of money.

Of course, there were similar phenomena in the Ming Dynasty, but it is very interesting that this situation is not so common at least compared with later generations.why?It may be because officials in this era care more about posthumous fame the closer they are to retirement.

In later generations, the good reputation of the parents can only be said to be somewhat beneficial to the younger generations, but generally it is not obvious, but it is different in an era like Daming. The good reputation of the parents and grandparents is simply a huge wealth for the younger generations, and Not to mention that the imperial court already had a system such as grace, even if it did not, the social benefits would be difficult to measure.

This kind of social atmosphere has caused many officials to worry that they will not be safe at the end of the year. The closer they are to retirement, the more cautious they are as officials, and they dare not make jokes about their official reputation.

Xiao Daheng is also such a veteran.Originally, his background was not very good, but he was listed as a Jinshi, similar to Shen Yiguan, and he was at the bottom of the list of high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

The grades are determined after the exam, and there is no way to change it. Therefore, if you want a good reputation, you can only accumulate a little bit of reputation in your career as an official.Xiao Daheng spent most of his life for this, and finally became the chief constitution from a poor background, and became one of the seven ministers of the imperial court. He is not only proud of this, but also satisfied.

[Note: Qiqing is a saying, that is, the Zuodu Yushi and the six ministers of the Metropolitan Procuratorate can be regarded as the collective name of the top leaders of the seven real power functional departments of the Ming Dynasty. ]
As the majestic censor of Zuodu, Xiao Daheng knew about the emperor coughing up blood, and he also received some care from Nanning Houfu.

Therefore, the day after Zhao Zhigao returned home to discuss with Zhong Zhaodou, when Xiao Daheng heard that Zhong Zhaodou Shangshu suggested that the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dongchang should jointly supervise the investigation of the Yikun Palace, he was not too surprised.

According to the news sent by Gao Yushi, Zhong Zhaodou's melody is just a prelude, and there will be other performances later, and he doesn't need to express his position for the time being, just wait and see the changes.

Sure enough, Zhong Zhaodou's memorabilia was just the unveiling, and soon there were six or seven other officials' memoirs who also raised this issue.Xiao Daheng briefly looked at the names of these people, and found that they were all the officials of the Xinxue school, and almost all of them were related to Zhao Zhigao—either disciples, or the township party, and the worst thing was that they had received Zhao Zhigao's favor.

Xiao Daheng just passively received some news from the Nanning Hou Mansion, but he didn't know what kind of doorway there was in this matter.However, since Zhao Zhigao's people began to suggest that the Metropolitan Procuratorate should play a more role in this matter, it seems that he and Mr. Gao Ge reached some kind of agreement, at least some kind of tacit understanding?

Xiao Daheng had some speculations in his mind, but he still stood still and did not express his opinion on it.Not long after that, he received news from the cabinet that the emperor had sent a eunuch, a supervisor of etiquette, to ask the cabinet what it thought.Therefore, the cabinet held a meeting to discuss, and the result need not be mentioned, "unanimously approved" the decision to support Zhong Zhaodou and others' proposal.

Daheng Xiao didn't really believe the news—it wasn't that he didn't believe in the resolution, but that he thought the "unanimous vote" was suspicious.

Although Gao Pragmatic's previous message was somewhat vague, the general meaning was nothing more than to predict that Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan might have disagreements.

If Mr. Gao Ge's guess is true, then Zhao Zhigao's faction's proposal should be opposed by Shen Yiguan. How could it be "unanimously approved"?It doesn't make sense.

But not long after, Daheng Xiao came to his senses again after thinking about it.That's right, the simultaneous supervision of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the East Factory means that the foreign court has more right to speak at this time, so the cabinet, as the representative of the foreign court, should inherently support it.

That is to say, Wang Jiaping, as the chief assistant, must agree.In this way, Zhao Zhigao proposed, Wang Jiaping agreed, and Gao Yushi must also agree, so Liang Menglong and Zhou Yong naturally agreed, and the six elders already had five votes.At this moment, Shen always knew that it was useless to oppose it, so he might as well just agree with it—after all, this was the political correctness of the foreign court.

When the matter reached this stage, Xiao Daheng had to express his opinion.However, it was already past the time to go to the shuffle, so he could only write a report and hand it to the cabinet, expressing that he was very happy to play an active role in this investigation and so on.

The report was sent to the cabinet, and there was a reply soon.The cabinet arranged for Qian Menggao and Zhong Zhaodou from the criminal department to come to visit together, saying that they came to discuss with Mr. Xiao about the investigation of Yikun Palace jointly supervised by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dongchang.

Daheng Xiao was somewhat surprised that these two came here at the same time.The key is that Gao Yushi said before that Zhao Zhigao and Shen have always had disagreements.Since their teachers and ministers disagree, why did the two section chiefs come hand in hand?

Of course, Daheng Xiao also knew that the two section chiefs had always had a good friendship in the past.In the beginning, whether it was to show the unity of the Heart School or for other reasons, the two had always been very close in the previous year or two, and even seemed to be inseparable from Meng and Meng.

But then was then, and now is now.At the beginning, Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan were no more than newcomers to the cabinet, and their status was very unstable, so they needed to show the appearance of working together; now it is Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan who have conflicts in their judgment of the general situation, so what about their disciples? Can they still appear together?

It was in this doubt that Xiao Daheng ordered his staff to welcome the two of them into the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

At this time, let's turn back the time and talk about how Qian Menggao and Zhong Zhaodou came together.It turned out that when Shen Yiguan found himself isolated at the meeting, he already felt that something was wrong, and after a little thought, he knew what Zhao Zhigao was up to.

Naturally, Shen Yiguan refused to sit still, and at the same time he was furious at Zhao Zhigao's sudden reversal.However, after all, he is not a man without a heart, and he will not jump out and say some stupid things that will only hurt relatives and enemies.

Shen Yiguan immediately stated that there is no separation between the department and the law. Since the cabinet has decided that the Metropolitan Procuratorate should intervene in this matter and jointly supervise it with the Dongchang, and everyone has discussed before that Qian Menggao, the chief of the criminal department, should be allowed to play his part. For some functions, if it is related that the person who proposed the intervention of the Metropolitan Procuratorate today is also another section chief, it is better for both of them to go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate together, so that Ke Dao can join hands in this grand event.

In fact, Shen Yiguan's statement is both reasonable and unreasonable.In particular, he said that "science and Taoism are integrated". In fact, this statement is very problematic. Although officials of science and Taoism are collectively referred to as officials, science and Taoism are not actually "one body".

Branches and Taoism are of course supervisory institutions, but how exactly did the Six Branches and Thirteen Taoists of the Ming Dynasty exercise their supervisory powers?From the point of view of the system, the Ming Dynasty was based on "the censor as the platform and the six departments as the wall".

This is a bit abstract, so I have to explain it.At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the central government set up the "Three Great Mansions" of the Zhongshu Province, the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and the Yushitai.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang made a summary of the relationship between the "Three Great Mansions": "The country is newly established, but the three great mansions are in charge of the affairs of the world. The foundation of Zhongshu government, the Dudu Mansion is in charge of the military, and the Yushitai pickets the hundred divisions. The imperial court records are all tied to this."

However, as we all know, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister shortly thereafter, and the national system also undergoes major adjustments: the six ministers of officials, households, rites, soldiers, punishments, and workers, and the capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are also called "Seven Ministers" , directly responsible to the emperor, the six departments are in charge of state administrative affairs, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate replaced Yushitai as the highest supervisory organ of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the Metropolitan Procuratorate is not a simple central organization, it is actually a huge system that can compete with the six ministries.

"History of the Ming Dynasty Official Records" contains that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is "the emperor's eyes, ears and discipline". Anyone who is treacherous and disorderly governs, forms a party for personal gain, acts arbitrarily, as well as those who do nothing, are greedy and shameless, are academically dishonest, and seek official careers. All are impeachable.

That is to say, but if a senior official of the second grade of Du Yushi Yizheng fully implements this series of "impeachments", he will inevitably be suspected of "fighting", and he will not be a minister. This is one of them.

Second, due to the high position and weight, once the imperial censor is impeached by mistake, there will be no room for maneuver, which will damage the prestige of the imperial procuratorate.Thirdly, to be able to be the censor of the capital of the second rank, and the deputy censor of the third rank, should have lived in the officialdom for a long time, and had served inside and outside, so it was inevitable that officials would protect each other because of affection.

So in this way, this series of "impeachment" should naturally be done by supervisory officials with low status, low qualifications, younger age, and fewer scruples. ".

That's what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used to inspect the county guard of two thousand shi with a governor of [-] shi.Moreover, these officials also need to be relatively independent. If they act excessively and impeach them improperly, they don't need to be held accountable by the chief of the Procuratorate.

Based on this principle, the Ming Dynasty gradually formed a set of supervision system called "Ke Dao".The so-called "ke dao" refers to the six departments of officials, households, rites, soldiers, punishment, and engineering, and the thirteen supervisory censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Although the two have different affiliations, their status and responsibilities are similar, so they are collectively called "Ke Dao", also known as "Taiyuan". The two intersecting defense lines of public affairs and violation of law and discipline, and because they work in "suggestions" or even "rumors and rumors", are collectively referred to as "speakers".

Speaking of this, it seems that science and Taoism are indeed one, why is it wrong?Don't worry, it's not nonsense to say that it's wrong. Although they are similar, they do have differences, so we have to look at them in detail.

The name "Geishizhong" appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it was named after "Geishibanzhong". It was set up in subsequent generations, but the responsibilities changed repeatedly.From Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunqi to Chengzu Zhu Di, after several twists and turns, the Ming Dynasty’s government affairs became a relatively independent system, with 65 people, including 58 in Beijing and seven in Nanjing, divided into officials, households, and ceremonies. The six departments of military, criminal, and engineering correspond to the affairs of the six departments of inspectors, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and engineering.

The six ministers are the second rank, the left and right servants are the third rank, and the chief and deputy officials Lang Zhong and Yuanwai Lang of each of the six departments are respectively the fifth rank and the fifth rank. It is enough to be the seventh grade, and it is enough to follow the seventh grade and use the small to control the big.

The Wanli edition of "Ming Hui Dian" compiled by Gao Yushi as the main author summarizes the responsibilities in the matter into four words: "seal, refute, rectify and impeach".

The so-called "seal and refute", that is, seal and refute, has two contents:

First, the edicts issued in the name of the emperor are classified according to the content and distributed to relevant departments for deliberation.Routine affairs are signed and issued by all departments; important matters are sealed and repeated, and issued after confirmation.If the edict violates the "ancestral system" or has other problems, each department will seal it back and propose amendments—that is, "refutation".

These functions were the responsibilities of the Menxia Province in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but the chief servants of the Sui and Tang Menxia Provinces were called prime ministers together with the Zhongshu Ling of the Zhongshu Province and the left and right servants of the Shangshu Province, while the Shizhong of the Ming Dynasty , are all seventh-rank officials.

Second, the memorials submitted by the central and local yamen are reported, copied out by six divisions, refuted and corrected the mistakes, put forward suggestions for handling, and then distributed to each department for processing.

The so-called "rectification and impeachment", "Official Records" made this explanation: "The main virtue is violated, the government loses, all the officials are virtuous, and each subject is either single-handedly specialized, or public officials jointly signed memorials."

Whether it is the emperor's fault, or the lack of government affairs, as well as the morality and performance of civil and military officials, they are all within the scope of "impeachment" in the six subjects. The method of "impeachment" can be carried out by a certain person in a certain department alone, and major matters can be led by a counterpart department such as the official department or the household department, and the joint "impeachment" of multiple departments will cause harm to relevant officials and even the emperor. strong pressure.

Looking at the thirteen supervisory censors, they belong to the Metropolitan Procuratorate.The so-called "Thirteen Ways" correspond to the thirteen chief secretaries or provinces in the country: Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou.After several adjustments, the number of censors in the thirteen departments is 110 in Beijing and 30 in Nanjing, a total of 140, and their ranks are all seven.

The thirteen censors supervised the officials and various affairs of the corresponding chief secretaries and yamen in Beijing (including the yamen of civil officials, military officials and eunuchs), and participated in the "court discussion" hosted by the Ministry of Rites.

The thirteen censors in Beijing and Nanjing respectively worked in the yamen of the two capitals, and the censors patrolled the provinces and the two Zhili in the south and north. It must be approved by the inspector censor and jointly signed with the governor capital censor (that is, the governor)-this has been very clear during Gao Yushi's tenure in Guangxi, so I will not describe it in detail.

This enumeration is very clear and intuitive. If the six divisions focus more on administrative supervision, then the supervision of the censor is more like "discipline inspection and supervision", and its main duty is to "check and correct the evil of officials inside and outside the hundred divisions". Specialize in monitoring the violations of laws, disciplines and regulations by officials at all levels and in various affairs.

From the top to the cabinet bachelor, six ministers, down to officials at all levels of inspections such as county magistrates and county magistrates; from the formulation of national policies, the decision-making of military and state affairs, to the small imperial examinations, school education, tax collection, salt administration and horse administration The various details of farmland storage, customs and folk customs are all within the supervision of the thirteen censors.

For the impeachment of officials, it can be impeached secretly or publicly, and it can expose the facts or "gossip".Sometimes even the response from the north and the south, and the joint impeachment of science and Taoism, are even more powerful. More than 360 speeches were sparse, and he insisted on asking for his illness on the grounds that he was seriously ill. This is the power of momentum.

In short, the six divisions are biased towards the process of picket administration, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is biased towards the main body of picket actors, and they belong to different institutions. It cannot be said that "one body" is just because the divisions are all officials.

Gao Wushi is the chief author of the current version of "Da Ming Hui Dian", and he is very clear about the conceptual fallacies in Shen Yiguan's words. If he has to argue with Shen Yiguan, then Shen Yiguan must only admit his own mistakes.

However, when the rest of the elders, including Zhao Zhigao, were waiting for Gao Pragmatic's objection, Gao Pragmatically did not object.Not only did he not object, but he also nodded in agreement, saying: "Ke Dao joined hands to supervise the handling of this case, Dongchang should be more cautious and foolishly think it is very good."

As soon as he made a statement, the matter had to be settled.

So here comes the question, why did Gao Wushi agree to Shen Yiguan's proposal?Couldn't he see that Shen Yiguan simply made such a move of mixing sand into it because he couldn't refuse the proposal?
Zhao Zhigao also frowned at the beginning, until Xiao Daheng's statement was sent to the cabinet, Gao Yushi dispelled his doubts with a word.

Gao Wushi said: "Since the General Constitution personally supervises the implementation, the Yuyi cabinet can issue a written document ordering the two section chiefs to act according to the General Constitution's order, as an assistance."

So that's the case, you want to use Daheng Xiao to keep Qian Menggao in check!
Zhao Zhigao suddenly realized, and glanced at Shen Yiguan, whose face was so gloomy that water dripped out.
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(End of this chapter)