Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 102 Loyal ministers and traitorous ministers

After breakfast, Lu Bing and Tao Zhongwen accompanied Taoist Jiajing to practice Taoism.Wang Daoqiu, on the other hand, continued the process of onboarding new employees.

When Wang Daoqiu left the Longevity Palace, he was led by the young eunuch to the duty house of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to receive his official appointment letter and the fourth-grade official uniform.As soon as he arrived at the official duty house, Wang Daoqiu first asked the young eunuch to take him to Xu Jie's duty house (office).After all, Xu Jie is a bit shady, but he is still very talkative in person.

When they arrived at Xu Jie's duty hut, the young eunuch who was on duty here said that Xu Jie had gone to the duty hut of Shangshu Xiong Jin and asked Wang Daoqiu to go there to find Xu Jie.

With no other choice, Wang Daoqiu could only be frightened, and asked the little eunuch to take him to Shangshu Xiongjia's residence.

Why would Wang Daoqiu be afraid when he went to the office of Xiong Ban, the Minister of Civil Affairs?That's because by reading the history of the Jiajing Dynasty in the library, Wang Daoqiu knew that the current Minister of Civil Affairs, Xiong Ban, was also an old-school Chinese scholar-official who was extremely upright, extremely iron-headed, and extremely conservative.

Xiong Bao, named Yuezhi, was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi. He was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Zhengde. He was awarded the rites department and was the first person to report that King Ning might rebel.After Jiajing succeeded to the throne, he served as the censor of Youdu, the minister of the Ministry of Rites of Nanjing, the minister of the Ministry of War, and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel just the year before last.Later, he was deprived of his position to serve the people because he disobeyed the emperor by admonishing Emperor Jiajing not to believe in Ji Xian.

Xiong Bin is a very upright and honest person. Zhang Tingyu, the famous Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty, commented on him: Xiong Bin has little integrity, is strict with himself, and especially cares for talents. Therefore, he went to the official department and thought more about good people.

To put it bluntly, this person's moral integrity is very good, but his mind is a typical deadhead, blindly upright, and does not know how to "save the country through curves."He is almost the same type of person as his current subordinate, Li Mo, the right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.It's just that he has a slightly bigger picture than Li Mo, and is more public-minded especially when it comes to promoting and mobilizing talents.

However, no matter how public-minded Xiong Pei is, at heart, he is still a typical old-school Chinese scholar-bureaucrat.In the eyes of such people, people like Wang Daoqiu who flattered the emperor all day long and were very close to the imperial guards and the Taoist priests who cheated people to make a living.It is a disgrace to scholars and a scum that should be eliminated quickly.What's more, there is still a grudge between Wang Daoqiu and Li Mo, the official minister.

Thinking of going to the office of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he would not give him a good face, Wang Daoqiu bit his bullet and went to the door of Xiong Jia's office.

After being informed by the little eunuch on duty at the door, Wang Daoqiu entered Xiong Bin's office.As soon as he came in, Xiong Yan stared at him with a displeased look on his face, and he made no secret of his dislike.

Throughout the history of Chinese dynasties, those who hold personnel power and can decide the future of officials are the most powerful in the officialdom.It was the same in the Ming Dynasty. The Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was in charge of the appointment, dismissal and transfer of officials. He was the head of the six ministers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and was commonly known as the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. His status was equal to that of the Prime Minister.Therefore, there was an unwritten rule in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. Under normal circumstances, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel did not concurrently serve as a cabinet scholar, and a minister could not have both administrative power and personnel power in his hands.

It is precisely because the Minister of Civil Affairs is so awesome that even now Xiong Ban has his dislike for Wang Daoqiu clearly etched on his face.Wang Daoqiu still didn't want to offend him, so everyone made do with it.So Wang Daoqiu stepped forward like his grandson, saluted respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty, Wang Daoqiu, has met the Lord of the Ministry and Minister Xu."

"I heard from Mr. Xie that you just went to see the driver?" Xiong Ban really disliked Wang Daoqiu, so much so that when Wang Daoqiu saluted him, he didn't even say "no courtesy", and just used a kind of interrogation method. The prisoner's tone began to interrogate Wang Daoqiu.

Regarding Xiong Jia's rudeness, Wang Daoqiu was also a little angry at this time, but still in the mentality of trying to make do with the other party, he still replied respectfully: "Yes, my lord, the official just came from Wanshou Come out of the palace."

"I heard that you have many contacts with the Jinyiwei and the inner court, and there are even rumors that you and the gang of Xiao Xiaoxiao in Baiyun Temple are the same. Is there such a thing?"

Xiong Yan really disliked Wang Daoqiu to the extreme. Talking to Wang Daoqiu was completely like interrogating a prisoner.Xiong Yan's continuous rudeness made Wang Daoqiu, who originally wanted to make do with him, the anger in his heart turned into a raging fire.Anyway, we are destined to be different from each other, so if you fall out, just fall out!
So Wang Daoqiu, who had never thought about entering the Qing Dynasty, faced Xiong Fan's aggressive tone. He straightened up, pulled a straight face, and replied in a cold tone: "Xiaoguan has many interactions with the inner court and Jinyiwei. They were all doing errands assigned by the emperor, and the emperor knew this. Moreover, the minister also went with him to the Nanjianhe Steel Plant yesterday, so he should know what errands he was doing. As for the Nanjianhe Iron and Steel Plant, the emperor was responsible for it. It is managed by the Supervisor of Rituals, so the lower officials and the inner court are in agreement."

"As for what Lord Buntang said, Xianguan is close to the Taoist sect. Let's not talk about your various prejudices against the Taoist sect, Lord Bundang, but let's talk about the fact that Xianguan believes in Daoism. Xianguan feels that it is just Xiaguan's personal religious belief, and I The regulations of the court did not prohibit officials from believing in Buddhism and Taoism. Therefore, it does not violate the king's law for a subordinate to believe in Buddhism, and to believe in Buddhism with a public official. If you believe in Buddhism with a private official, what does it have to do with you, the master of the ministry? Therefore, the master of the ministry has I blame this official, because I think you talk too much, Mr. Bu Tang."

You talk too much!Damn it!A newcomer to the officialdom actually dared to criticize his dignified official minister like this, and he said it so rudely without saving any face. This made Xiong Ban very angry.Even Xu Jie, who was standing aside, was astonished at Wang Daoqiu's toughness.

According to common sense, Xu Jie should jump out and angrily rebuke Wang Daoqiu at this moment in order to maintain the sacred and inviolable dignity of his official department.But facing Wang Daoqiu's tough look and considering Wang Daoqiu's profound background.Xu Jie, an old official in the officialdom who was no longer a young man, now rationally chose to stay there and not speak rashly.

For his own benefit, Xu Jie chose to pretend that his grandson would not help him.As for the person involved, Xiong Jin, the dignified Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was actually criticized in front of a newcomer in the officialdom. His old face couldn't stand it, and his heart was filled with raging anger.

But as a well-established and well-educated traditional scholar, Xiong Bin couldn't lose face like Li Mo, who directly fell in love with a newcomer like Wang Daoqiu.So in the face of Wang Daoqiu's shamelessness, Xiong Ban handed an official ultimatum in his hand to Xu Jie, and said coldly: "This official has signed and sealed this ultimatum. You take him with you Go fill out the paperwork, keep it in a file, and give him his fourth-grade official uniform."

"Yes, my lord."

When Xiong Jia handed over Wang Daoqiu's entry procedures, his tone was very cold, and he didn't dare to say anything more except for the steps, it was just a routine promise to accept the job.

After Xu Jie took over the personnel promotion and transfer document about Wang Daoqiu from his hands.Xiong Yan suppressed his anger again and said to Wang Daoqiu coldly: "Master Wang, you have misbehaved. Not only have you hooked up with the servants, you have also been in a den with a charlatan and a charlatan. You are even more disrespectful to the superior officer. I want to join you."

"Budang-sama wants to join the official, and he can say it openly and openly in advance, which is considered upright, and I admire him! But I have a clear conscience about what I have done, and I am not afraid of the Butang-sama making things up out of nothing." Sir, please help yourself. I will take my leave." Faced with Xiong Bin's threat, Wang Daoqiu still refused to show any mercy and responded forcefully, then turned around and left Xiong Bin's office.

The relationship was so troubled that Xu Jie, as the Minister of Civil Affairs, did not dare to say anything more at this time.So after Wang Daoqiu left, he handed over to Xiong Fan and left to go on errands.

After leaving Xiong Jia's office, Xu Jie took Wang Daoqiu through the process again, that is, he treated Wang Daoqiu as "unknown" throughout the whole process, and he no longer had the affinity of Master Xu.

Xu Jie wants to draw a clear line with himself and keep a distance, which can be seen at a glance.So when going through the process, Wang Daoqiu is also very knowledgeable, everyone is a stranger.

After completing the procedures at the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Daoqiu first went to the General Affairs Department to report, thinking that after completing the procedures here, he would go to meet the four cabinet bachelors according to official rules.

Still led by the young eunuch, Wang Daoqiu went to the general affairs envoy Si Zhi Lu in Xiyuan.The General Affairs Office of the Ming Dynasty was only a third-level yamen, but because of its job content, it was responsible for reviewing memorials.Therefore, Emperor Jiajing gave special permission to allocate duty houses to the general affairs envoys in Xiyuan.

The current political envoy of the Ming Dynasty is Zhao Wenhua, the famous traitor in history and the backbone of the strict party.

After Wang Daoqiu met Zhao Wenhua, for the purpose of lurking for a long time, he did not disclose to Zhao Wenhua that he was also a member of the Yan Party.Instead, he followed the official rules for subordinates to meet their immediate superiors and treated Zhao Wenhua in a purely official manner.Then when saying goodbye, everyone tacitly understood each other, and he placed a piece of Hetian jade carving that Emperor Jiajing had given him after the last Qionglin banquet, next to the tea cup.

Saying goodbye to Zhao Wenhua, Wang Daoqiu walked out of Zhao Wenhua's office.Sure enough, as recorded in history books, Zhao Wenhua was greedy for money.He had clearly seen Wang Daoqiu place the jade carving next to the tea cup "without leaving a trace", but he didn't say a word until Wang Daoqiu said goodbye and walked out of his office.Such character!

Zhao Wenhua's character, a piece of Hetian jade carving, was tested by Wang Daoqiu.But for various film and television dramas and folk operas, Zhao Wenhua is described as stupid as a pig, who only does bad things and mindless things all his life, and ordinary people still believe this.This Wang Daoqiu can only be ashamed, the IQ of his own race.

As for whether Zhao Wenhua is stupid or not, to be honest, any normal person with an IQ of over [-] would not think that Zhao Wenhua is stupid.

First of all, Zhao Wenhua's family was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Jiajing. However, Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty was only released once every three years, and there were only about [-] in each class.According to the calculation of later generations, [-] Jinshi will be produced in three years. If this is divided equally, it will be [-] Jinshi in one year, and then divided into more than [-] administrative districts.Then using the algorithm of later generations, if you want to be a Jinshi, you have to take the college entrance examination in your province and get into the top three in the province to have any hope.

A person who can get into the top three in the province in the college entrance examination, will his IQ be above the line?These people are all genuine geniuses. In future generations, they will all be able to enter the junior class of the University of Science and Technology of China, okay?
If nothing else, just say that he, Zhao Wenhua, was able to worship Yan Song as his adoptive father and join the Yan Party decisively when Yan Song was just an Imperial College minister. This is a sign of his foresight.

And in history, the biggest stain on Zhao Wenhua was that when he was an imperial envoy to inspect the prevention of Japanese aggression in the southeast, he so-called falsely accused Zhang Jing, the governor of the southeast, and Li Tianchong, the governor of Zhejiang, resulting in the murder of two loyal ministers.

Brainless history noobs will usually gnash their teeth and curse Zhao Wenhua when they see this paragraph in a history book.But as long as you have the ability to think independently and are willing to take the time to study this history carefully.You will find that Zhao Wenhua not only did nothing wrong in this matter, but also made great contributions.

It can be said that it was Zhao Wenhua's accurate control of the situation and his decisive decision to ask the court to replace Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong that prevented the so-called Japanese rebellion in the southeast from developing into a large-scale peasant uprising like that of Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty.

Regarding this point, if you read the history books and look at the policies of Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong at the time, as well as Zhao Wenhua's instructions to Emperor Jiajing on how to correctly handle the Japanese rebellion in the southeast, you will understand who is right and who is right.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Jing's policy at that time was the same trick that the Qing Dynasty used against the Zheng family in Taiwan.The movement order banned the sea, and no sails were allowed to enter the sea. All overseas trade was designated as foreign trade, and the non-cooperation of the coastal people was brutally suppressed.

In his memorial to Emperor Jiajing, Zhao Wenhua pointed out that places along the coast of Zhejiang, such as Taizhou and Wenzhou, are mostly mountainous areas with very little cultivated land.Moreover, these coastal areas are subject to several typhoons every year, which threaten to flood the coastal areas with seawater, soaking the coastal land and forming saline-alkali land that is unsuitable for farming.Therefore, the main way of survival for people along the coast of Zhejiang is fishing, cooking salt and conducting overseas trade.

Now that Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong have implemented a sea ban, people are not allowed to live in coastal areas, and people are not allowed to go to sea to fish and do business. Then how can you let the millions of people along the coast of Zhejiang live?As a result, the government forced the people to rebel, and the people of Zhejiang continued to resist the government. They even went to sea in groups to surrender to the pirates and Japanese pirates.If things go on like this, how can this happen?

So as long as you have a brain, if you compare the policies of Zhang Jing and Zhao Wenhua, is it not obvious who is right?Moreover, after Zhao Wenhua killed Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong, he recommended the real great talent Hu Zongxian to the court.Later, when he was governor of the Jiangnan and Zhejiang military affairs as the prince Taibao and the right deputy capital censor, he successively dismissed a group of mediocre and old-fashioned people such as Governor Zhou Song and Yang Yi. The rise of the young and middle-aged faction has cleared the obstacles.

It can be said that Zhao Wenhua's selection of generals in Zhejiang and Southeast China is as precise and original as when he decisively joined the strict party.

So when it comes to Zhao Wenhua, he is like those plutocrats in the Bangzi Kingdom in later generations. You can question his character, but you must not question his ability and vision.

(End of this chapter)