Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 477 Gao Wen Zhenggong (Part [-])
The sky flies, and it has been years.

On the second day of July in the sixth year of Wanli, a tragic event happened in Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng, a former scholar of Wenhuadian University, died in depression in his hometown in Jiangling in early June this year. His eldest son, Zhang Jingxiu, begged for a posthumous posthumous posthumous title.

Sparse to the cabinet, the first assistant Gao Gong saw the text, wept bitterly, and fell into a coma.

At that time, the emperor and Guanzheng Gao Wushi were giving lectures in the Wenhua Hall. Hearing the news, they rushed to the cabinet and saw that the Yuanfu case was full of documents, which were several feet high.

The emperor mourned greatly, weeping uncontrollably, and said practically: "In the past, when the emperor was about to die, he asked Gu Yuanfu to say, "Mr. the world is tired." Extremely! I don’t know what to do in the future?”

Not long after, the emperor wanted to decree that he should stay out of court for three days, and he immediately advised him with a high level of pragmatism, saying: "The funeral ceremony for civil officials in this dynasty only lasts for one day, but Rong Guogong (Yao Guangxiao) enjoys the ceremony for two days, which is not acceptable." waste.Please stop.

The emperor replied: "So, if you change the court for two days, you will not be able to remonstrate."

So the court stopped for two days because of Gao Gong's death.

On the third day, the emperor issued an edict: "...the university scholar Gao Gong, when he was sharp and determined, Hongcai praised him. When he re-entered the court, he shouldered the great responsibility without flinching. It is true that he is loyal to the country if he is close to him. It seems to be roundabout, elegantly embraces the strategy of the palace. The curtain painting captures the essentials of the Qiang and Hu, and the chopsticks raise the opportunity of the frontier fortress. The vertebrae are knotted into a crown, and the dogs and sheep are soft and soft. The benefits are the same as Wei Jiang, Du Huaxia’s deep worry; strategy Compared with Zhongyan, hold the odds of winning the battle...

Broad and detailed, deep and profound, economical and great achievements, famous ministers of the country. ...generous and promising, public and loyal.It is the strategy of internal peace, and the honor of Yihong's external imperialism.The ridge represents southern Yunnan, where the atmosphere is clean and the long snake seals the hog; the barbarians in the east and the captives in the west, the smoke disappears and the egrets and crows.Xun called the Weiwu scriptures, worthy of the emperor Wang Zuo.

If you have a strategy that is not worldly, you can build great honors that are not worldly; but for extraordinary people, you can help extraordinary things.

... as a gift to Shangzhu Kingdom, with the posthumous posthumous title of Wenzheng.Announce it at home and abroad, and the salty envoys will hear it.This is it. "

As soon as the imperial order came out, the whole court admired it, and Gao's disciples praised it one after another.

Wenzheng!

Since Sima Guang proposed that "Wenzheng's posthumous posthumous title is extremely beautiful and cannot be added", the posthumous honor that civil servants of all dynasties have dreamed of is the most beautiful posthumous posthumous honor!

How important is the word Wenzheng?There is an example to prove it only by explaining the dynasty.

At the time of Emperor Wuzong, Li Dongyang, a great scholar, was dying. Yang Yiqing, a great scholar, came to see him. Seeing that Li Dongyang was worried about his posthumous title, Yang Yiqing told him that the imperial court would give him the posthumous title of Wenzheng.After hearing this, the dying Li Dongyang kowtowed to Yang Yiqing on the bed.It can be seen that the posthumous title of "Wenzheng" has the status in the hearts of scholars.

Zhang Juzheng died, it is said that he died in depression, but this is understandable.

Gao Gong also died, but he didn't know whether it was from exhaustion, or from an accident caused by his emotional turmoil when he thought of the grievances with Zhang Juzheng for many years.

There are many people who are sad about Gao Gong's death, but the worst among them is probably Gao Pragmatism.

He felt that Gao Gong would most likely die from overwork. This old man over [-] years old was obsessed with the entrustment of the late emperor and worked day and night. Even when Gao Yushi urged him to take more rest countless times, he often replied: " It's just old and young sleeping."

Li Shizhen, who was "poached" by Gao Yushi last year and came to the capital, and who just compiled the "Compendium of Materia Medica" this year, also mentioned to Gao Yushi several times that Yuanfu was overworked and might not last.

Unfortunately, no one can persuade him.

In history, Gao Gong died in the sixth year of Wanli, and now he still died in this year, when?Fate?
But apart from this point, Gao Yushi has more emotions, because Zhang Juzheng also died, even before Gao Gong.

The original history has changed the most because of his highly pragmatic arrival.

Is it a good change?Gao Pragmatically thinks so.To some extent, he always believed that Zhang Juzheng was not a real reformer, only Gao Gong was.

Gao Yushi believes that Zhang Juzheng should be a rectifier.

In the original history, Zhang Juzheng's administration was basically based on rectification.His standpoint is not reform, but to rectify discipline and restore the vitality of the ancestral system.

Reform is the innovation of the system, and rectification is the restoration of the ancestral system.

In the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi's reform was a real reform that broke through the ancestral system and created a new law; while many contents of Zhang Juzheng's implementation of the Wanli New Deal were the restoration and rectification of the ancestral system and should not be included in the scope of reform.

The only two new ones are the test method and the whip method.The Kaocheng method expanded and strengthened the power of the cabinet and improved the efficiency of administrative management, but it eliminated the supervisory function of the bureaucrats over the government and destroyed the principle of checks and balances in the ancestral system.

However, Gao Gong also introduced the "examination method", and even in this life, due to the influence of Gao Gong's pragmatic thinking of "quantifying political achievements", Gao Gong's examination method has gone further and has deeper intentions. [Wufeng Note: It is described in the first volume of this book. ]
"One whip method" is not Zhang Juzheng's invention.When Zhang Juzheng was a five-year-old boy, it was initiated by Gui E and promoted by Fu Hanchen and others.In Longqing and Wanli periods, some local officials such as Pang Shangpeng, Wang Zongmu, Liu Guangji, Hai Rui and many others implemented it in their jurisdictions and even in the whole province, and the one-whip method gradually became popular.

It can be seen from this that Zhang Juzheng only contributed to the promotion, but not to the creation, so he cannot be called a reformer.

In fact, some scholars in later generations believed that "Gao Gong's character, integrity, courage and ability, and reform awareness are all beyond the reach of Zhang Juzheng." Water transport, sea transport and other all-round reforms.

He not only had the policy program of "Eight Disadvantages", but also broke the policy of banning the sea, building ships, shipping by sea, and "practicing foreign trade".Gao Gong also "attached special importance to the development of industry and commerce": "Personally went to the market to investigate and study" and "understand the facts".He also vigorously supported and promoted the reform of the taxation and service system of Zhangtian equal grain and one whip.

However, Zhang Juzheng "did not fully inherit Gao Gong's reform direction" during his ten years in power.In particular, he "secretly resisted Gao Gong's idea of ​​opening up the sea and opening up foreign trade", restored the sea ban, and implemented the basic national policy of closing the country to the outside world.

Therefore, the evaluation of these scholars is: "Gao Gong is a politician, thinker and reformer, Zhang Juzheng is a bureaucrat, a politician, and a practical conservative", "Gao Gong is a real reformer, and Zhang Juzheng is basically a rectifier." .

As for the effect of the reform, take economic reform as an example. Historically, in the fifth year of Longqing (1571, only the fifth year of Longqing was counted because he was dismissed in the sixth year of Longqing) before Gao Gong was dismissed from office, the annual income of the Taicang Bank was 310 million taels. , the annual output is 320 million taels, and the annual loss is only 10 taels, which is a decrease of 1567 million taels compared with the average annual loss of 1570 million taels from the first year to the fourth year of Longqing (206.6-196.6). ).This laid a good foundation for the treasury surplus during Zhang Juzheng's administration.

After Zhang Juzheng came to power, he inherited Gao Gong's peacekeeping situation with Alta, which has his merits and contributions. "However, the peace 'dividend' he enjoys exceeds his contribution."What Zhang Juzheng took over was not a "mess", but "sitting and enjoying the 'dividend' of peace left by Gao Gong".

But in this life without Zhang Juzheng taking over, what did Gao Gong do that made Wanli so sad about his death and gave him the posthumous title of "Wenzheng"?

(End of this chapter)