The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

Seeing that Empress Dowager Li finally began to ask him about the solution, Zhang Juzheng thought about it, and said: "If you go back to the Queen Mother, Wei Chen already has a solution, but Wei Chen wants to understand what is wrong now before saying it. ,"

"Didn't Zhang Qing's family say this just now?" said Empress Dowager Li, "Just now what Qing's family said is that the imperial court's inspection of officials is a ancestral system. Let people know and prepare it to deceive the court,"

"That's right, what the Queen Mother said is right," Zhang Juzheng said, "this is the first thing I said that needs to be changed. What's more, these officials are encouraged to take the risk of corruption and pervert the law even if they don't hesitate to take orders from the court. The reason why I put myself in danger is that the court's rewards and punishments for these officials are not clear. If there are credits, the small ones are just words, and the big ones are promotions; But it's also the same. Even if the small things are found out, they are just verbal scolding, and the big things are either demotion or dismissal. Because of this, many officials are afraid, and some officials even It's not because they have committed a crime or want to be promoted, but because they may have made some small mistakes, they are afraid that their official position will be lost, so they act like this. Some of their original intentions are not to deceive the court or cover up The wrong things I have done are only because I was afraid."

Hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, not only Queen Mother Li, but other people present also thought about it, even Zhang Fan and Feng Bao, who had already discussed this matter with Zhang Juzheng, did the same.

In the final analysis, rewards and punishments are still unclear, which is actually a problem common to feudal dynasties. After all, this era is the era of imperial power. It is not a group of people who hold power and speak, but a certain person, and the biggest one is the emperor. Of course, I am the queen mother for the time being, and it is precisely for this reason that this system has affected the entire country and era. Outside the palace, in the court, it is not a group of people who keep their word, but one or a few people. The very few small groups are the same when they go down, even when they go to the people, just like a family, there is always a certain person in charge.

In this way, one can imagine what will happen. From top to bottom, if the person who is in charge is a capable person, then under his governance, the scene under his control will prosper Get up, but if the person is mediocre, of course, mediocrity cannot obtain such power. Their superiority depends entirely on other factors. things, but also be confused by other factors, so as to make wrong judgments.

Another point is that when these dominant people make judgments against their subordinates, since he is the only one, there will be more subjective factors in his judgment. For a person who is married, what kind of reward he wants to give is entirely up to him. Maybe that person just did some small things, helping people run errands, delivering letters, etc., or even they don’t even have a gift at all. I haven't done anything right, but it's just because the person who made the decision is in a good mood, so I rewarded him with many things; similarly, for a person who has made great achievements, it's only because the person who made the decision is in a bad mood , so there are no words, no rewards, not even a word of appreciation. In this way, the rewards and punishments are not clear, how can the people under his command work hard for him, all they think about is how to please others up.

The same thing is also the same thing in reverse. The servants made a small mistake, but it was because the master was in a bad mood and he committed a felony, and received a punishment that did not correspond to it; The person who made a big mistake is because the master is in a good mood, or he is more favored by the master, so the punishment he receives is minimal, or even doesn't matter at all.

If things go on like this, a family is not a family, and a country is not a country. These may sound alarmist, but everyone knows the truth that the dike of a thousand miles is destroyed by ant nests.

"The Qing family means..." Although Queen Mother Li understood what Zhang Juzheng wanted to express, she still didn't understand what Zhang Juzheng wanted to say, or she still didn't know how Zhang Juzheng planned to solve this problem.

"Wei Chen has come up with some solutions," Zhang Juzheng said, "First of all, the court's inspection of officials cannot be stopped, but it must not be the same as in the past, and as in the past, not only will the officials not be able to obey the law, but it will make them They become more lawless,"

"The Ai family is somewhat interested now," said Empress Dowager Li with a smile, "Please tell me about the Qing family. Your Majesty is here now, so I can take a closer look at it."

"In the future, the imperial court will still conduct inspections on officials, but the 'Jingcha' and 'Daji' cannot be done on time every six or three years as before," Zhang Juzheng said, "This time should not be determined. It's not even good if we can't make a decision early and let the officials know.

"In my humble opinion, there should be no fixed time for the 'Beijing inspection' and the 'big plan' in the future. If the Queen Mother or Your Majesty feel that it is time, or if there is any doubt in the court, they should immediately issue an order to start checking the officials. And the imperial decree will be implemented immediately, don't make any preparations for those corrupt officials, "

"Well, that's a way." This time, Zhu Yijun, who had been sitting by the side without speaking, said, "But I have a question here."

"Excuse me, Your Majesty," Zhang Juzheng didn't show any displeasure when he saw Zhu Yijun speak, but was rather happy.

"When I was the prince, no matter whether it was the gentleman in the court or the Taifu who taught me, they all mentioned one point to me," Zhu Yijun said, "That is the way of being a person, an official, and a king. These are the ways of sages In other words, there is no mistake in thinking about it. In short, no matter whether you are a person, an official or a king, you must have the sincerity in your heart, and it is not enough to show it on the surface.

"But now, as Mr. Zhang said, if the imperial court acts in this way, the time for inspecting officials is uncertain, or every one month, or three to five years apart, which can indeed make those corrupt officials vigilant. There is no way of knowing when the imperial court will come to check them. Then, they can indeed pretend to be loyal to the monarch and the country and love the people like sons on the surface, but in the end, they still want to be promoted and make a fortune in their hearts , If this happens, wouldn’t it be the court forcing them to deceive people? Isn’t this against the way of saints?”

When Zhu Yijun asked such a question, everyone present turned their eyes to him. Empress Dowager Li was smiling, and she couldn't see what she was thinking at the moment, but it shouldn't mean to blame.

Feng Bao and Zhang Fan looked playful, obviously they were very interested in Zhu Yijun's words.

But Zhang Juzheng didn't. To be honest, Zhang Juzheng had thought of this question, but he never thought that someone would ask it. Of course, he understood Queen Mother Li and knew that she would not ask such a question, but he did not think of it. Zhu Yijun will ask.

Now Zhu Yijun asked this question, but Zhang Juzheng didn't know how to answer him for a while. In his opinion, this kind of thing was not a problem at all, and he had never prepared for it.

"Your Majesty, please let me answer this question," Zhang Fan stood up at this time and said to Zhu Yijun.

"Teacher, please tell me." Of course, Zhu Yijun didn't want to embarrass anyone, he just wanted to understand this issue, and now that Zhang Fan had stood up, he naturally had no reason to stop him.

"Your Majesty just said that I can't refute it," Zhang Fan said, "Whether you are a person, an official or a king, you should naturally have a clear heart and not be disturbed by external things. That is the right way, but as your majesty is saying now Seeing this, there are really very few people in this world who can do this. Even if there are a few, they are considered rigid and do not know how to adapt.

"Now, Mr. Zhang has used such a method to make the court force them to do good deeds. Although it can't change the original intentions of those corrupt officials, it also makes them do the same as good people. Just now Zhang Your Majesty has also seen the memorial presented by your lord. Presumably, your Majesty also knows that the court is not as peaceful as it seems. These are all helpless actions.

"There is another point, in fact, in my opinion, it is not important what makes these corrupt officials do good deeds, what is important is that they did good deeds, and if His Majesty can agree with Mr. Zhang's method, and let the court continue If this is the case, those officials will never know when the court will check them. In this way, they can't take risks, and they can only do good things all the time, in case the court suddenly changes their minds. There is still the thought of wanting to be corrupt and break the law, but in the eyes of Wei Chen, it is nothing. After all, they only dare to think about it, but they dare not do it. This is enough for the common people ,"

To be honest, Zhang Fan's words are typical pragmatists' words. In the feudal era, especially in this era, although everyone can understand it, it is absolutely impossible to bring it out to the public. of.

But Zhang Fan dared to say these words at this moment because he knew in his heart that now that Zhang Juzheng had already told the Queen Mother Li so much, including the current status of the court and the harm it would cause in the long run, Zhang Fan really couldn't imagine it. No, there is nothing more to say about these words,