Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2353: Fortunately in Nanjing (Twenty) God's Gift

Expanding the selection and appointment of officials from the group of candidates who passed the imperial examinations has been a consistent goal of the Practical Learning School since the time of Emperor Gao Gong, and has been promoted for many years. To some extent, the reason why the Practical Learning School has been able to gain momentum today is also related to its consistent adherence to this policy.

This is not to say that many of the top leaders of the Practical Learning School came from the Juren class. This is unlikely. After all, the Ming Dynasty's tradition was there, as were policy inertia and individual and group interests - only Jinshi could enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin could enter the cabinet.

You should know that the formation of this "unwritten rule", which later became almost an "explicit rule", was not because the emperor believed that only Jinshi had the ability to become Hanlin, and only Hanlin had the ability to become an assistant minister. It was not like that.

In essence, this so-called "rule" is just a "public opinion threshold" created by Jinshi and Hanlin in order to protect their own interests and to exclude more competitors.

As a result, after years of word of mouth or various overt and covert public opinion influences, officials who are not Jinshi or Hanlin graduates will psychologically belittle themselves and even feel that they are not good enough and are not qualified to compete with Jinshi and Hanlin for higher positions.

Over time, the Jinshi group and Hanlin group consciously or unconsciously formed a small circle, or interest group. Even if Gao Youshi is as powerful as he is today, he cannot suddenly stand up and say without any preconditions: Hey, I think that Juren is a great talent, I recommend him to join the cabinet to assist in government affairs - this will not only incur public anger, but even the "Juren" he mentioned may even refuse to accept such a recommendation, and even think that Gao Youshi is mocking him, and then be so ashamed that he simply commits suicide to avoid humiliation.

This is of course an extreme description and assumption, but the meaning is that: when social consensus has been reached, it is generally impossible to change it easily unless contradictions intensify and cause huge turmoil.

So, how did the Practical School rely on "expanding the appointment of juren" to expand its faction and eventually gain increasing prestige? This can be divided into two stages: Gao Gong and Gao Youshi.

Let's talk about the "Gao Gong period" first. This period actually did not only involve Gao Gong, but started from Gao Gong and ended with Guo Pu and Zhang Siwei, who followed the Xiao rules of Cao. Since the latter two basically continued Gao Gong's policies, we will only talk about Gao Gong here.

Soon after Gao Gong took office, he established a strict official inspection system in the Ministry of Personnel: "Give each department a register to record whether the officials are virtuous or not, and record the names of the officials." Once a month, the registers were submitted to the Ministry of Personnel for Gao Gong to review personally. At the end of the year, all the registers were submitted to the Ministry of Personnel as the basis for the promotion and demotion of officials.

In order to ensure peace and prosperity under the heavens, talents must be recruited widely. Gao Gong saw that the imperial examinations (referring to Juren) accounted for 70% of the candidates in the country, while the special examinations (referring to Jinshi) accounted for only 3%. However, the imperial court attached more importance to special examinations than to imperial examinations. He thought that "promoting the three and abandoning the seven" was a mistake, and that both Jinshi and Juren should be used, and only the merits should be considered and recruited based on their abilities.

However, when selecting candidates, he advocated that "those who are fifty or above should be appointed to miscellaneous official posts and should not be appointed as heads of prefectures or counties", because heads of prefectures or counties are the parents of the local area and have heavy responsibilities, which can only be undertaken by those with strong energy.

He also believed that the country must accumulate talents. It would be too late to look for qualified people when they are needed. So he proposed the idea of ​​preparing talents: "Now, for important positions, select talents who are suitable for these positions in advance, and place three or two people in nearby positions as reserve. Once there is a vacancy, there will be people, so there will be no shortage."

He also publicly recruited talents and issued a clear order to the Selection Department: "All vacancies should be posted outside the gate for everyone to see," and each department could recommend candidates.

This approach was clearly targeted, because in the past, the promotion of officials by the Ministry of Personnel was a secret affair involving only a few people. Gao Gong did the opposite, saying, "There are assistant ministers in the hall and deputy ministers in the office, whose names are all listed in the memorials but whose affairs are not heard. Why do they stay here? They just want to pursue their own interests. I will change it." So he asked someone to bring the slips to the back hall and ordered them to unveil the slips in public, "even if the prime minister wanted to do something, he couldn't do it." As for the officials who were dismissed, Gao Gong would personally "tell them the reason", and those who were dismissed "would all be intimidated."

At that time, the horse and salt administrations were considered idle affairs, and the court ignored them, so people were lost and things were abandoned, and "good administrations were unknown". Gao Gong understood the situation of the people and knew that the horse and salt officials were in remote, poor and cold places, and it was difficult for them. So he proposed to change the positions to honest and talented people in the province, and reduce the amount of money they should pay. If they were outstanding, they would be promoted to higher positions. The positions were important, and the horse and salt administrations should be improved by themselves, which would benefit the country.

Gao Gong also formulated and adopted many systems and measures aimed at strengthening the examination and selection of talents. He "opened the precedent of internal transfers of royal relatives, restored the rule of first-class reading, rectified the differences in impeachment by governors and governors, verified the actual results of the examinations for officials in the capital, held meetings for Jinshi to lecture on the law, determined the rules for promotion of officials, and discussed the standards for officials to catch thieves."

These measures were approved by Emperor Longqing and implemented, which led to a new atmosphere of excitement among officials at all levels of the court.

According to the old Ming Dynasty rules, if a cabinet minister also took charge of the selection, he would be a real prime minister, which violated the strict prohibition of Emperor Gaozu. However, Gao Gong first served as a cabinet minister and then as the chief prime minister for three years. Although he violated the taboo and was criticized, he achieved remarkable results and benefited the country. Later generations only knew Zhang Juzheng but not Gao Gong, so I really don't know how to evaluate him.

Guo Pu and Zhang Siwei followed Gao Gong's measures, but after Zhang Siwei, the court entered the era of Shen Shixing, and the School of Mind took control of the power of the Prime Minister. Although Shen Shixing lacked authority and often found it difficult to gain the upper hand in his battles with the School of Practical Learning, he still had the power that the Prime Minister should have.

Even though the Ministry of Personnel was controlled by the Practical School most of the time, Shen Shixing was still able to grasp the general situation of the court from the major policies, which led to a low period for the Practical School in appointing Juren as officials. However, due to his own knowledge, Shen Shixing did not restrict some seemingly unimportant but actually very influential positions. Therefore, the Practical School still added many Juren with outstanding abilities to these positions during this period - such as the horse policy mentioned above, which Gao Gong attached great importance to.

Generally speaking, the horse policy of the Ming Dynasty was already in a mess when Gao Gong took over. Even though Gao Gong selected many young and capable candidates to join the horse policy system, he could only improve the poor horse policy to a barely usable level. However, due to the smooth progress of Altan Khan's tribute and the involvement of Gao Gongshi's Jinghua Commercial Company, the horse policy of the Ming Dynasty began to reverse its decline rapidly.

Horse politics, horse politics, first of all, we need horses, then we can implement the politics. Originally, horse politics was difficult to handle. On the one hand, of course, the team responsible for horse politics was lame, but the more important reason was that there were really no horses.

After Altan Khan paid tribute, although the Tumed were very willing to trade with the Ming Dynasty, they were not stupid and were not willing to sell their best horse breeds to the Ming Dynasty, neither stallions nor mares. They were often only willing to sell geldings.

Later, through Gao Youshi's "economic impact plan", the Tumed people, from the upper class to the lower class, became increasingly dependent on the trade of various daily necessities in the Ming Dynasty, and eventually developed to the point where they did not have enough money to trade.

The reason they said they didn't have enough money was actually that they didn't have enough goods. Therefore, Gao Youshi launched the second phase of the plan and began to persuade Tumote to sell the mining rights of mines, salt lakes and other resources, as well as various other "non-war horse" horses, including male and female breeds.

At this time, Gao Youshi had already served as the Minister of Liaodong Yuanma Temple and Jin Fuhaigai Military Preparations, so under Gao Youshi's operation, the court began to revitalize the horse policy, first of all in Liaodong. Since Gao Youshi quickly won the battle of southern Liaoning, recovered the Liaohe Hetao area and was promoted to the governor of Liaodong, this work went very smoothly.

The revitalization of the Liaodong Horse Farm began in the Liaohe Hetao area which had just been recovered. Gao Youshi occupied at least half of the original Chaohua tribe's grassland there and established a new Liaodong Horse Farm. In the beginning, he used the horse breeds bought from Tumed to breed draft horses and other non-war horses. Later, he used the war horse stallions captured from the Chaohua tribe to breed war horses - of course, he also had private means to obtain war horse stallions from Tumed, Nenkorchin and even the Yehe tribe.

In short, the "new horse policy" started from here, and the Ming Dynasty began to have its own horse breeding bases of various types. This requires a large number of manpower, and not only limited to professionals in horse breeding, but also a large number of managers. Professionals are actually easier to deal with. As long as the Ming Dynasty is willing to spend money, there are many Mongolians who are not doing well and are willing to raise horses for the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention raising horses, there are many cavalry officers who defected to the Ming Dynasty. Who doesn't have a few "Da Bing" (originally meant Tartar soldiers, but written as Da Bing to make it less ugly)?

What a joke! Whether it was Li Chengliang, Ma Fang, or even Wu Sangui in the original history, all the powerful border commanders had an elite cavalry and retainer troop filled with a large number of Mongolians.

In later generations, there are always people who like to exaggerate and bring up ethnic conflicts at every turn. In fact, there was no concept of "nation-state" at that time, so why were there so many ethnic conflicts? When the Ming Dynasty did not do well in domestic affairs, a large number of Han people would "depart to the north"; when the grasslands suffered serious disasters and people were starving to death, a large number of Mongolians would "depart to the south".

It was so difficult to survive, what kind of barrier was there between people of different nationalities? Not to mention that everyone who knew Gao Youshi’s habits knew: pay me enough and I’ll follow you.

As a result, the thriving Liaonan Horse Farm became one of the good places for the practical school to send a large number of scholars to take turns to gain experience and qualifications...

Since it is "one of them", of course there is more than one such good place. Here are a few examples: When Gao Youshi promoted the privatization of military industry, he had a less "capitalist" approach, which was to ask the court to appoint supervisors to these private military enterprises, first to monitor the flow of military products, and second to monitor the financial affairs of the enterprises, of course, this was mainly to supervise taxation.

In short, the more reforms Gao Youshi carried out, the more places the court needed to recruit people. However, these places often did not require an official with a Jinshi degree to take up the post. Therefore, the Practical Learning School began to use Juren in large numbers.

Juren were also scholars, and were even considered outstanding ones, and most of them had powerful families behind them. Therefore, the Practical Learning School not only became a strong backer of the Juren class in officialdom, but also invisibly won over a large number of local forces.

The School of Mind was increasingly unable to cope with the competition from the School of Practical Learning. This was not only due to the suppression of Gao Youshi's personal status and authority, but also due to its overall defeat in the grassroots bureaucracy.

  Until now, the core base of the School of Mind is still the Jiangnan literati, but they are really hopeless in "floating on the surface". They have not even discovered that the power they can rely on does not actually cover the entire Jiangnan literati, but only the top level of Jiangnan literati, that is, those scholars who have passed the imperial examination or feel that they will pass the imperial examination sooner or later!

Excessive elitism has made the Xinxue School in the officialdom narrow its path and completely separated from the grassroots - not only the grassroots people, but even the grassroots scholars. At this time, if it doesn't decline, who will?

But Gao Youshi still felt that it was not declining fast enough, so he launched a new offensive in conjunction with the Nanjing Imperial Palace renovation project, which was this "Petition to employ a large number of candidates to consolidate the Western Regions."

Even though Gao Youshi limited the framework to "Western Regions", there were actually many discerning people in the court, and they were all very familiar with Gao Youshi's operations - the Western Regions was definitely just a pilot project, and once the pilot project in the Western Regions was successful and they found that this approach was indeed effective, it would be promoted nationwide sooner or later.

Just imagine, under Gao Youshi's operation, the Practical Learning School completely became the backer of the Juren, and Juren accounted for 70% of those who were qualified to be officials. Once this policy was rolled out across the country, would the Practical Learning School have any rivals in the court?

However, Zhu Yijun, who was now doing well in everything, did not look that far ahead. Or, as an emperor who had become a sage ruler of the Ming Dynasty, he did not care much about these things. Now, he just wanted to see the problem in the Western Regions solved quickly, and not to make it bigger or turn it into a rotten sore that continued to bleed the Ming Dynasty. So when he saw this memorial, he was very happy and felt that Gao Youshi was Gao Youshi, and he was always the loyal minister who specialized in helping him solve problems.

Therefore, he immediately summoned Gao Youshi to meet him and asked him in detail about the use of this method. Gao Youshi was also very clear and explained the relevant situation to the emperor seriously and from beginning to end.

Gao Youshi explained to the emperor that the necessity of expanding the selection of officials in the Western Regions, which he emphasized in his memorial, was actually aimed at the current reality of the uneven distribution of talents under the imperial examination system and the lack of talents in border areas. Focusing on this core issue, Gao Youshi made a detailed analysis for the emperor:

First, the number of Jinshi candidates was insufficient: Although the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty selected a large number of talents for the country, the number of Jinshi candidates was still insufficient compared to the vast territory and the numerous official positions required. Especially in remote areas such as the Western Regions, there were even fewer Jinshi candidates that could be assigned, resulting in vacancies in local official positions and limited governance capabilities.

Second, the Jinshi were unwilling to go to the border areas: even those who passed the imperial examinations were often unwilling to go there to serve because the Western Regions were located in the border areas, the conditions were difficult, and they were far away from the center. This contradiction between personal subjective wishes and the court's demand for talents in border areas made the Western Regions inevitably face the problem of talent shortage.

Third, opportunities and challenges for Juren: Although Juren performed well in the imperial examinations compared to Jinshi, they often found it difficult to obtain official positions in the interior due to fierce competition. Therefore, they were more willing to accept appointments in frontier areas, hoping to demonstrate their talents in the governance practice of the Western Regions in order to be valued and promoted by the court.

Fourth, the initiative and adaptability of the Juren: Since it is difficult for Juren to be an official in the inland areas, they are often more enthusiastic and proactive about being appointed to the Western Regions. In this way, they are more willing to go deep into the grassroots, understand the local people's sentiments, and use their knowledge and abilities to solve practical problems. At the same time, because of their relatively low political status, Juren are more able to put down their status and establish good relations with the local people, which plays a positive role in maintaining border stability and promoting local development.

Fifth, the governance ability of Juren: Juren have demonstrated high cultural literacy and governance ability in the imperial examinations, but because they have Jinshi and even Hanlin as references, they are unlikely to be too conceited and feel that they do not need to continue studying. Therefore, in a special environment like the Western Regions, they are more likely to use their expertise to solve problems unique to border areas, such as ethnic relations, border security, and economic development, through innovative governance methods and strategies.

Sixth, the court's encouragement and reuse: By expanding the selection and appointment of officials in the Western Regions, the court can provide a stage for these aspiring people to show themselves. At the same time, the court can pay more attention to and promote those who have performed well in the frontier areas, thereby encouraging more talents to devote themselves to the construction of the frontier areas.

Gao Youshi concluded that his memorial was actually a call for the court to face up to the problem of talent shortage in border areas. By expanding the selection and appointment of officials by Juren, it not only solved the urgent problem of talent shortage in the Western Regions, but also provided development opportunities for those Juren who found it difficult to be officials in the interior. This strategy can not only improve the governance level of border areas, but also stimulate the enthusiasm of Juren, and cultivate and reserve more sufficient talents for the long-term development of the country.

When Zhu Yijun saw the memorial, he thought it was a good idea. After listening to Gao Youshi's detailed analysis and explanation, he was overjoyed. He stood up and walked to Gao Youshi, patted him on the shoulder and said "good" repeatedly.

"God has granted me the power to improve myself day by day, God has granted me the power to improve myself day by day!" Zhu Yijun patted Gao Youshi's shoulder vigorously, but turned his head to the other side and said to Chen Ju: "Chen Ju, take this to the Imperial Household Department for approval, and all the requests from the Prime Minister will be approved!"

Chen Ju received the order and left with a pile of memorials. As soon as he left, Zhu Yijun stopped smiling a little, walked back to the throne and sat down, frowning and asking Gao Youshi: "What is the current situation in Japan?"

This question was a bit too sudden. Gao Fusi was stunned for a moment and asked in surprise: "Why does the emperor ask this?"

  Zhu Yijun himself was also puzzled, and said, "The Japanese envoy submitted a petition today, saying that the Japanese King Minamoto Ieyasu wants to send an envoy to study in our Ming Dynasty. If it's just ordinary study, then it's fine, and giving them a few places in the Imperial Academy is not a big deal. The problem is that he clearly stated in his petition that he hopes to allow Japanese students to study in the Ming Dynasty Military Academy... Have you heard them mention this?"
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Thanks to book friend "Mila Orange" for the monthly ticket support, thank you!

PS: A little slower, but also a little more.