nucmednet Chapter 312 The Doctrine of the Mean
Chapter 312 The Doctrine of the Mean
Chapter 312 The Doctrine of the Mean
Although Wang Buli made it very clear, Zhu Yuanzhang refused to admit it.
Zhu Yuanzhang never thought that there was anything wrong with his policies. He felt that the problem lay in the lack of awareness among his “subjects.”
No matter if you are a scholar, an official, a clerk or any other identity, as long as you do not follow his policies, you are not aware enough!
When Wang Buli was a minor official in the county government outside the city, he was crazy about fishing.
Busy all day long, but doing nothing!
This was the monthly salary that Zhu Yuanzhang gave to official clerks. It was all an act of revenge for forcing them to spend money instead of earning it.
The imperial court believed that the work of clerks should be undertaken by the people, so they were not given any salary or any privileges. They were just so-called common people's officials.
Clerks were recruited from ordinary job applicants. If you ask people why they would enthusiastically apply for unpaid positions, there is only one answer, that is, they can make money from their work.
When handling the payment of materials and litigation matters, clerks naturally have to accept some benefits.
In fact, in almost all matters, they are expected to accept bribes.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang still expected a group of people who worked for nothing and had nothing to lose every day to be "loyal and obedient" to build the Ming Dynasty for him. This was simply wishful thinking.
How is it possible that everything in the world develops according to his wishes?
Even though he worked his way up from being a beggar to owning the whole world, it was wishful thinking for him to expect everyone in the world and his future generations to act according to his will.
The saying "When a leader dies, his regime collapses" is very destructive.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment.
He didn't know how to refute Wang Buli.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang knew this was the truth. He had seen his descendants ruling the country in the fairyland, and it was not just the end of the government, it was a huge step backwards.
The power that he had worked so hard to gather was given away one by one by these individuals, which really made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry.
Then the scene became silent again.
“As long as the imperial court insists on regarding the work of clerks as labor that the people should bear, rather than administrative costs that the government should bear, and insists on shifting this administrative cost onto the people, it will be difficult for clerks to transform into regular employees with a fixed monthly salary.
The lack of a fixed monthly salary means that clerks, regardless of their moral character, will extort money from the people in their daily work.
Without a formal organization, the higher-level government has no way of knowing how many clerks the lower-level government has, and even the government itself doesn’t know how many clerks it has.”
"Dad, what my brother-in-law said makes sense. There are many clerks involved, and bad money is driving out good money.
By then, they won’t even be able to support themselves, and the county government will be full of clerks who accept bribes. Those clerks who keep themselves out of trouble will either starve to death or be squeezed out.”
“Without personnel files, we can’t even figure out the exact number of people, so there’s naturally no performance appraisal or accountability for the clerks, and it’s impossible to establish a formal clerk supervision mechanism.
Without a formal supervision mechanism, corruption among clerks cannot be alleviated.”
Wang Buli took over the conversation: "It seems that the court has avoided the cost of supporting at least hundreds of thousands of clerks, so it has made a profit.
But the price is that the people have to endure the harm of clerks everywhere. This was the case in the Song Dynasty and will continue to be the case in the future. "
Zhu Yuanzhang was actually aware of this matter, otherwise he would not have paid the clerks a monthly salary.
The dietary standard for Ming civilians and craftsmen was "one liter of corn per person per day";
The dietary standard for farmhands was "five stone and five dou of rice" a year, which was about 1.53 liters of rice a day.
The salary of a clerk, even taking into account the fact that the elderly and children eat less, is barely enough to keep a family of five from starving, and there will be no surplus.
The monthly salary of a non-local clerk in a prefecture, state or county was five dou, which was not enough to support a family of five.
Zhu Yuanzhang probably thought that these outsiders would not bring their entire families to their workplace.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang despised clerks very much. When he opened the imperial examination in the fourth year of Hongwu, the Secretariat suggested that "students from prefectures, counties, talented young men from the public, and school officials and clerks preparing for the imperial examinations" should all be allowed to take the examination.
Zhu Yuanzhang specifically instructed: "Only the clerks have corrupted minds and are not allowed to take the exam."
Because in his opinion, the profession of clerk is a profession that naturally creates bad people.
Even though many of his subordinates were former clerks, including his most valued son-in-law, it did not change his opinion of this group in the slightest.
There is a need for clerks in every government office in the world, but once a son of a good family becomes a clerk, his morals and character are beyond redemption, and there are very few who do not bring harm to the people.
In a few years, Old Zhu will classify clerks as lowly people.
"I want to change the current problem of clerks." Zhu Yuanzhang still looked at the map:
"But I don't have much money, but I can give some food to the clerks and runners for the time being, and ask them to register and count them first. I will ask Hu Weiyong to do this."
Wang Buli did not say anything. To be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang felt sorry for the money he spent.
Now facing the problem, he chooses to give it again, just to make his rule better.
So at the grassroots level, it is difficult for me to help you if you don’t have money, but this is very applicable to the Ming Dynasty.
It’s not that Zhu Yuanzhang didn’t understand, he just didn’t want to give it according to the inertia of the previous dynasty.
"In fact, I am somewhat disappointed with the officials. Could it be that in the future, instead of taking the imperial examinations, the officials of the Ming Dynasty will be tested on collecting taxes, conscripting labor, and being familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, it's not impossible to test like this."
"Ok?"
Zhu Yuanzhang just said it casually, but he didn't expect that he would get Wang Buli's approval.
Wang Buli stood up and walked to Zhu Yuanzhang's side, pointing at the map and saying:
"Your Majesty, the reason you suspended the imperial examinations is because you don't want all the future court officials to be controlled by the Jiangnan faction, right?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. This was actually what he thought.
None of the literati in Jiangnan are good people. Do you really think that I don’t know why they wanted to curry favor with me in the first place?
As long as I'm here, none of you can succeed!
But Wang Buli's words that a regime will cease to exist when a leader dies were like pouring cold water on Zhu's head.
The debate with Wang Buli in the county government only strengthened his determination to stop the imperial examination immediately, but he never found a good solution.
Sending a large number of students from the Imperial College to the north for training was also an attempt by Zhu Yuanzhang to mass-produce officials.
Otherwise, he would not have done what Wang Buli suggested. After all, he had never heard of such a method before, and he could not find any precedent in history books.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was very nervous and attached great importance to these students who went north.
"When it comes to the interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics, the entire Ming Dynasty combined cannot compare to this area." Wang Buli pointed to Jiangnan and other places and said, "After all, most of the examiners are from here.
We can add new subjects such as Ming Dynasty Law and mathematics to the examination content in order to avoid cultivating officials who are only good at talking about various subjects but know nothing about government affairs.
Similarly, the Four Books and Five Classics do not account for the main points.
The two textbooks of Ming Dynasty Law and Mathematics are all learned from scratch, which can eventually bring back some of the advantages of the Jiangnan region and distribute them to students from other places."
Reduce the proportion of the Four Books and Five Classics in the imperial examinations?
Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Wang Buli's words and nodded: "I still need to ask the Secretariat and the Ministry of Rites to discuss this matter before making a final decision."
Old Zhu is a pragmatic person, otherwise he would not be so disappointed with these officials who came from the imperial examination system!
"Dad, I'm afraid those officials will not agree." Zhu Biao knew his teachers well.
When his father wanted to get rid of Confucius and Mencius, it caused a huge uproar.
Now the imperial examinations include testing other things besides the Four Books and the Five Classics. Who can easily agree to that!
"disagree?"
Wang Buli nodded slightly: "Then call them over and tell them that they are very disappointed with the imperial examination and will not hold the imperial examination in the future.
When they advised the emperor, the prince took the opportunity to say that if the imperial examination was to be held, other subjects would have to be added according to the emperor's wishes.
I remember that Confucianists were very adaptable, and they would take the initiative to find excuses to tell the students. "
Zhu Biao still didn't fully understand Wang Buli's nature of wanting to open a window by poking a hole in the roof first.
"Is this okay?"
"Let's give it a try." Zhu Yuanzhang answered for Wang Buli. It is a solution after all.
Either choose one or choose two, there is no other choice.
In fact, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's meaning, do you think I asked you to come here for a real discussion?
You have to do it according to my wishes.
There was no need for Wang Buli's theory of moderation, he just forced it through.
So Hu Weiyong, Tu Jie, Chen Ning, Lu Ben and other senior officials were called over.
They have seen the situation in the hall more than once or twice.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the emperor's throne, while Zhu Biao sat on the side. However, a chair was added opposite Zhu Biao for Wang Buli to sit on.
Even the prime minister has to stand!
They all knew that Wang Buli was being trained to be the new emperor's partner and prime minister.
Hu Weiyong eventually let go of his resentment.
He is the emperor's son-in-law. He has performed very well and is quite capable in handling government affairs. It is obviously normal for him to be highly valued by the emperor.
Tu Jie felt very jealous. How could someone so young be so respected?
The Minister of Rites, Lu Ben, was all smiles because her daughter had given birth to an imperial grandson.
Wang Buli is a very sensible person. When the prince ascends the throne in the future, it is possible that he will be asked to take care of his grandson.
They are all princelings and natural allies.
As for Chen Ning, his face was expressionless and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"I have decided not to hold the imperial examination. The talents selected are all trash, not a single one is capable.
I called you here today to discuss how to issue policies and how to select talents. We cannot just limit ourselves to the recommendation system."
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, the whole room fell silent.
Hu Weiyong and others did not expect that the news about the imperial examination would be so earth-shattering.
The postponement of the imperial examination had already caused many complaints from scholars all over the world, and they were all looking forward to having a special examination this year.
As a result, His Majesty not only does not intend to continue the imperial examinations, but also plans to abolish the imperial examination system directly!
So much so that no one dared to speak first.
The imperial examination has been carried out for many years, even in the Yuan Dynasty.
"If you don't say anything, then you think there's nothing wrong?"
"Your Majesty, this matter still needs to be considered carefully." Minister of Rites Lü Ben was the first to raise an objection: "The imperial examination system cannot be abolished so easily!"
If this matter was issued by the Ministry of Rites, the first ones to cause trouble would be the students of the Imperial College.
"What do you think?" Zhu Yuanzhang said bluntly:
"I had high hopes for these scholars, but they don't know how to handle government affairs and push everything to the clerks. The entire county government is controlled by the clerks.