Look at the pile of apology and resignation notes on the imperial case, and then look at Qin Dewei who was pardoned and reinstated in front of the throne by the emperor himself. The contrast is so stark.
No matter how slow the minister is, he has come to his senses. Theoretically speaking, in the imperial court at this moment, only Qin Dewei is in office among the fourth-rank civil servants and above.
This situation was something that no one had expected before.
I originally thought it was a very ordinary formal court meeting, but suddenly Yan Lao and Qin Dewei had an electric fight for several rounds.
Before anyone could react, the result had already appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
Qin Dewei created a temporary situation where one person is under one person but ten thousand people are over. What on earth does he want to do?
Emperor Jiajing himself also regretted it a little, but Jun Wu Jingyan and Jingshou Yuyan did not immediately regret it.
The person who regrets it more is Mr. Yan. It is clear that the main target at the moment should be Zhai Luan, the first assistant, so why can't he hold back and attack Qin Dewei?
Isn’t it because my son was beaten again? Isn’t it because I can’t save face? Isn’t it because I am afraid that others will think that I am cowardly towards Qin Dewei?
Before Mr. Yan could think about what to do next, in full view of everyone, Qin Dewei said to Emperor Jiajing:
"If pardoning the minister is not guilty, then what crime should Lao Yan deserve for slandering the minister for nothing and deliberately alienating the emperor and his ministers?
Although I was previously willing to plead guilty to beating someone to death, that is my own problem! And if the Three Laws Division did not distinguish between true and false, dereliction of duty and wrongful conviction, what crime should I be guilty of?"
What Qin Dewei said was actually expected by others. If he didn't reverse it, he wouldn't be Qin Dewei!
Then I heard Qin Dewei continue to say: "All this is enough to show that when Yan Song and his party faced the celestial disaster, they still had no thoughts on government affairs, and they still only thought about how to frame dissidents and eliminate them!"
Everyone couldn't help but sigh, they have finally seen what double standards mean today. Isn't that what you, Qin Dewei, are like?
If you, Qin Dewei, are purely focused on affairs, how did this situation come about today?
Later, Qin Dewei said in a shocking voice: "This is why I impeached Yan Song's corpse and harmed the country! There are 18 crimes listed, one of them."
"Wait a minute!" Yan Song suddenly interrupted and told Emperor Jiajing: "I haven't heard of the powerful ministers who are currently in office, and impeach the idlers who have already begged to resign!"
Qin Dewei: "."
This theory was so reasonable that Qin Dewei couldn't refute it for a while.
From the perspective of officialdom theory, the purpose of impeaching someone is usually to force him to resign. But Mr. Yan has just taken the lead in apologizing and resigning, so how can he continue to be impeached?
For a big boss on stage to impeach a political opponent who is "out of power" is against the official ethics of the Ming Dynasty. This is called political pursuit.
Qin Dewei couldn't help but turned his head and objected: "Mr. Yan, are you sure of your identity?"
Yan Song answered without any flaws: "Only Your Majesty can be sure."
Emperor Jiajing was also impatient. Now he had no intention of watching the ministers criticizing each other. He just wanted to go back to the palace for a while, so he stood up and said: "Dismiss the court!"
When everyone was about to disperse, suddenly Zhang Zuo, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, shouted: "Qin Dewei, what do you want to do?"
Everyone followed the sound and saw that Qin Dewei had walked to the imperial cabinet and was about to reach out to pick up the resignation letter of the ministers, which was more than one foot tall.
Then he saw Qin Dewei asked in surprise: "All the other ministers have resigned, and I am the only one left in the central committee. If I can't draft the memorial, who can I give it to?"
Is it possible that such a trivial matter should disturb His Majesty Xuanxiu, and His Majesty should personally approve it?"
Zhang Zuo: "."
Weird things happen every year, especially this year!
"No!" Several people shouted in surprise at the same time.
Although it sounds fine, and there is no one else in the room, it seems logical that Du Miao University scholar drafted a few comments on his behalf.
But we have to look at who this Du Miao is! Dozens of resignation memorials have fallen into the hands of people like Qin Dewei. It’s scary to think about it! What should I do if the lie becomes true?
Resigning is just a formality, no one wants to have any twists and turns! No one wants to make fun of their black hat
Eunuch Zhang looked at Emperor Jiajing again, no one could decide on this matter, it was up to the emperor to decide.
Emperor Jiajing turned around and stared at Qin Dewei, and asked meaningfully: "What do you want to do with these memorials?"
Is it possible that you, Qin Dewei, still want to take this opportunity to "make the fake come true"? If you have this intention, eighty sticks are waiting for you outside the Meridian Gate.
Qin Dewei replied: "Your Majesty has been trying hard to rule for twenty years, but there are still celestial disasters and warnings. All ministers are guilty, so I have to apologize!"
The words "striving to govern for twenty years" made Emperor Jiajing a little worried.
He has never understood why he was still unsatisfied after working hard for more than ten years, so he might as well go to cultivate immortality!
I also heard Qin Dewei say: "I am afraid that the ministers have some omissions and will not be able to confess their sins to heaven, so I just want to make some additions!"
Emperor Jiajing's curiosity was aroused and he asked: "What do you want to add?"
Qin Dewei replied: "The celestial warning is not caused by one person or one thing, but because of the lack of discipline in the court and the corruption of morals. There are three more and three less!
If you can't recognize this, it's probably useless to apologize to God, and these resignation memoranda are just superficial."
Emperor Jiajing asked again: "What are three more and three less?"
Qin Dewei replied: "First, there are too many discussions and too few things to do! I have seen that in recent years, there have been too many discussions among the imperial court. One thing may be approved but another is not, or it may be changed in the morning and changed overnight. There are many changes in government affairs and nothing.
statistics!
There are also situations where the Quanbu criticizes the military and political affairs, punishes Zang and criticizes financial planning, etc. He does not focus on his duties, writes a lot of lies and rarely does anything!"
All the ministers admitted in their hearts that the ills mentioned by Qin Dewei did indeed exist objectively, and the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty in recent years was indeed like this.
But no matter what, don’t you, Qin Dewei, feel ashamed when you criticize this trend of rampant discussion?
Who in the court doesn't know that you, Qin Dewei, are the one who criticizes and talks the most about other people's work!
From the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of War, from the Department of Rites and Education to the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, which department have you not intervened in? But you are not even a bachelor of mechanical engineering!
I have seen double standards, but never such a double standard!
But Qin Dewei didn't name him, so others just pretended to be confused. No one came out to cause trouble, so it was left to Qin Dewei to continue. "Secondly, there is more communication and less implementation! Although each Yamen chapter has many questions and answers, it has very little actual effect!
For example, if the Yanguan proposes a law and the court approves it, it will be delivered by post and communicated to all directions. The Yanguan's duty will be considered completed, and there will no longer be any question whether it will be implemented;
A minister suggested that a certain evil should be abolished. The imperial court said yes and sent a letter to all parties. Even if the minister's responsibility was fulfilled, there was no further inquiry as to whether it had actually been abolished!
Although I was lucky enough to accomplish a few things, such as the restructuring of Liaodong and the restoration of Kaizhong law, I did it personally with the help of people who share the same path. I had no choice but to do things based on people!"
When Tu Qiao, the censor of Zuodu, heard this, he was very unconvinced. After working as an official for decades, this was the first time he heard "gathering gangs" explained in such a fresh and refined way!
Leaving other people alone is a sign of being united and opposed by different parties, but you, Qin Dewei, are just forced to "make things happen based on people"?
Not to mention anything else, in his hometown of Tuqiao, the prefect of Ningbo, the censor of the patrol, and the shipping department were all placed by your Qin Dewei. Could the gangs be more obvious?
Qin Dewei is still saying: "Third, there is more delay and less accountability! A certain crime should be questioned, something should be investigated, or if it is hindered by entrustment, it will be postponed for personal reasons, often without results for months and months!"
Everyone admits that this problem exists. Procrastination in order to avoid responsibilities is almost an unspoken rule in officialdom.
There is no big data these days, so many things have been delayed for several years, and official documents have been forgotten in the pile of old papers. Qin Dewei concluded: "In recent years, the court has been filled with a perfunctory culture, and the lack of discipline among officials has arisen from this!
Eventually, the habits become more and more harsh, and there are many people who are sharp-minded to exploit loopholes and hunt for fame and wealth by any means! They also form cliques for personal gain, exclude dissidents, and regard flattery and flattery as a shortcut!"
Finally, Qin Dewei made a strong transition: "So during Yan Song's reign, he took the lead in corrupting the public morals, and his body position harmed the country. This is a huge crime! Shouldn't we be afraid of the celestial phenomena as a warning?"
Double standards, double standards again, blatant double standards without concealment! Everyone remained silent and continued to watch Qin Dewei's performance.
We know from life experience that anyone with double standards will never end well if they don’t know how to restrain themselves. Can you, Qin Dewei, be an exception?
But he heard Qin Dewei sigh: "Although your Majesty has great ambitions, he is restrained by his sinful ministers! God has repeatedly warned, but many people still persist in their stubbornness!"
With the influence of this trend, even an innocent heart like this one is contaminated, and sometimes he behaves badly, not to mention other people! If it is not corrected, I am afraid that the accumulated habits will lead to disadvantages, depression, and eventually it will be difficult to turn back."
Then he pointed to the memorials on the imperial case: "Your Majesty, please think twice! How can you sincerely repent based on these superficial articles? You may be able to deceive people, but you can deceive heaven."
The word "Deception" made Emperor Jiajing a little sensitive, and he asked: "What do you think we should do?" This kind of question was actually a kind of subtle trust.
If it had been someone else who had repeatedly "pricked his heart" in front of the emperor, he would have been pushed out and beaten. But Emperor Jiajing believed that Qin Dewei could tell something true, so he gave him a chance to speak.
Sure enough, Qin Dewei said with confidence: "It is not difficult to legislate the affairs of the world, but it is difficult to implement the law; it is not difficult to listen to what is said, but it is difficult to ensure that the words are effective.
I don’t think about ignorance, I think about it day and night, and I will formulate a method to pass the exam based on what is appropriate at the moment!"
Examination method? For everyone, this is a new term, but they don’t know what the specific meaning is.
Without asking, Qin Dewei explained on his own: "All the princes in the palace are officials of various yamen. Please set a time limit for completion of all current yamen matters according to the distance and priority!
Then make a register and register it, and make three copies! One volume will be sent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Inspectorate for keeping records, one volume will be sent to the six subjects for investigation, and one volume will be sent to the Central Committee for review!
Those who hand in the register of matters are truly sincere in their intention to apologize and repent, and the resignation letter can be dismissed and reinstated!
From now on, each yamen will cancel the matter according to the time limit by the Sixth Section! The Sixth Section will then send it to the Central Committee for review on a monthly basis!"
Afraid that everyone still didn't understand, Qin Dewei pointed at Wang Tingxiang and said: "Take the affairs of the Ministry of War as an example!
For example, he urged the construction of additional walls along the border of Datong, with a time limit of five years; the construction of the Hunyuan Youwei Castle, with a time limit of three years; and the repairs of Guangling, Weiyuan, etc., with a time limit of two years.
All these matters are registered in a register and handed over to the Sixth Section and the Central Committee. If they are not completed by the time limit, they will be held accountable according to the register!" The method proposed by Qin Dewei was so sudden that everyone was not mentally prepared and was carefully studying it in their hearts.
I also heard Qin Dewei telling Emperor Jiajing: "In this way, you can ask questions and test your words, verify things with words, and verify merits with deeds! The first thing you can do is to test people to the end when appointing people, to seek the right ones when appointing people, and to promote and demote everything.
Actual merit shall prevail.
Second, reverse the trend of living in peace, living together, and procrastinating! You can make orders and prohibitions, and hold people accountable for their actions!" At this point, Qin Dewei finally stopped and let everyone in the hall digest it.
This examination method was actually proposed by Zhang Juzheng decades later. It is one of the cores of Zhang Juzheng's reform and the classical version of the target responsibility system.
In terms of effectiveness, it is indeed effective. It can force officials to do things, which is consistent with Qin Dewei's always boasted "practical" political views.
Any courtier who has some knowledge and conscience knows the benefits of passing the law.
Mr. Yan did not think about the benefits that the Kao Cheng Law could bring to the country. He was very sensitive to the "centralization" effect that the Kao Cheng Law could bring.
Taking exams in six subjects can be used to monitor the ministries, and the center can strengthen the centralization of power over the ministries by controlling the six subjects!
So here comes the core question, who is in charge of the examination in the center? If the chief minister holds the examination, he is almost the prime minister, but will Qin Dewei agree?
If the examination method falls into the hands of some miscellaneous organization like the Military Aircraft Department, then who will the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs listen to in the future?
So Mr. Yan finally discovered that this was Qin Dewei's final conspiracy! Recently, I have been unclear about Qin Dewei's intentions during this period, so it turned out to be this!
Thinking of this, Yan Song felt that he really couldn't bear it this time! If he endured it any longer, he would be overshadowed and become a marginalized institution!
So he started to discuss: "The test law that Qin Dewei said will only make the yamen annoyed and tired of coping with the test. What's more, strict government will be harsh, and the secret of the law will be disturbing. This law violates the ancestral constitution and can easily deviate from the original intention.
I think the affairs of each yamen are already very complicated, so there is no need to add strict rules and regulations."
Yan Song's words immediately won the secret support of many ministers, and no one wanted to add a tightening curse to themselves.
Qin Dewei directly accused without hesitation: "Mr. Yan, you are using state affairs to win people's hearts and undermine the government!"
Yan Song wanted to say something else, but Qin Dewei pointed to the memorials on the imperial case and said: "Mr. Yan, the ink on your resignation memorial is still here before it is dry!
Nowadays, you should be living behind closed doors, not a university scholar. You just said that you are an idler, so what qualifications do you have to speak and participate in government affairs!"
Yan Song: "."
When he was impeached just now, his status as an idler was indeed very good, and he perfectly avoided Qin Dewei's pursuit, but now he is no longer so good.
The impact of passing the law test is also huge. Many people were eager to speak out.
But when I heard Qin Dewei scolding Yan Song, I realized that I was just like Mr. Yan, but now I am nothing! The court is really talking about it!
Even though Qin Zhongtang’s rank is a bit high and Mr. Yan only indulges in teasing people, Qin Zhongtang keeps making trouble in the system design! Who can stop Qin Zhongtang?