Shen Shixing was only 70% surprised and 30% confused, but Wang Xijue couldn't help but asked a question, and then he laughed and said: "I don't know that Mr. Zhang has such a sharp tongue and can persuade Concubine Zheng to support the emperor."
The eldest son is enthroned in the East Palace? It’s so impressive, disrespectful, disrespectful.”
There is no doubt that Wang Xijue is not really "disrespectful", because his tone is still sarcastic, and these words are obviously sarcastic.
As expected, Zhang Cheng's smile froze and his face darkened slightly: "Mr. Wangge, we are sincere in saying this. With all due respect, can the imperial concubine send the third son of the emperor to the East Palace?
Does the glory and wealth in this life have any influence? Even if the third prince himself cannot be the prince in the future, he will at least be the king of a country, not much worse."
"But, what can the two cabinet elders do to suppress Gao Situ and even the practical school? Although our family doesn't study much, we also know that this officialdom is like a battlefield. Either you die or I die. Since mental learning cannot suppress practical learning, then
Inevitably, only practical learning will prevail over mental learning... When the time comes, many mental learning officials in the world will look back and wonder why my mental learning has fallen into this state, and who will be held responsible in the end?"
Zhang Cheng's words are really very good. After all, no matter how he settles the account, it is impossible to blame him. In the end, the Xinxue officials will only scold Shen Shixing for being too smart, and Wang Xijue for being incompetent. He will definitely not be there.
What is Zhang Bingbi's responsibility?
At this time, Shen Shixing actually frowned a little when he heard this, but Wang Xijue's expression remained as usual and he said calmly: "I have good intentions, and even though I died nine times, I still have no regrets."
Zhang Cheng really didn't expect Wang Xijue's reaction, and he was a little stunned at the moment.
Speaking of which, Zhang Cheng's understanding of politics is still too superficial, and he does not understand that different cabinet ministers actually have different considerations when facing these matters. Zhang Cheng has not thought about these issues, but Gao Pragmatic has long ago
He has thought carefully about it, and those thoughts are also the basis for his current official style.
Gao Pragmatic once thought that since the mid-Ming Dynasty, there have been many situations where ministers and the emperor had serious political differences, such as Wuzong's southern tour, the Great Rites Conference, the national dispute, etc. Cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Yang Tinghe, and Wang Jiaping led the ministers to violate Yan
Their integrity was highly praised by many scholars at that time, and later generations of commentators also praised them generously.
While paying attention to those cabinet ministers who fought fiercely with the monarch, he also noticed Li Dongyang, a contemporary of Liu Jian, Fei Hong, Yang Yiqing, a contemporary of Yang Tinghe, Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and others who were contemporary of Wang Jiaping.
Generally speaking, although these people have some remonstrances, their attitudes are relatively gentle and they focus on care.
At that time, Gao Pragmatic carefully considered: In what sense did the behavioral orientation of Li Dongyang and others differ from Liu Jian, or from the more intense resistance behavior of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty? Is there any principle in this? What about the people of the Ming Dynasty?
When evaluating the behavioral orientation of cabinet ministers, how do cabinet ministers explain the rationality of their behaviors to themselves and others? Even if this behavioral orientation is examined in the context of the political experience of the Ming Dynasty, is there any political role level?
Special meaning?
As early as when he was the prince's companion, he felt it was necessary to clarify these issues, because this would not only help to re-understand the connotation of Li Dongyang's behavioral orientation, but also provide a more profound understanding of the complexity of the political ecology of the Ming Dynasty.
Understand. And this is also the basis for his "future" survival in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
In the conflicts between the emperor and his ministers during the Ming Dynasty, such as the great ceremony and the dispute over the country, the scholar-bureaucrats often went to court repeatedly, asking the emperor to adopt suggestions, and put pressure on the emperor in various ways such as "begging for leave" and "fuque".
In contrast, the emperor often used the imperial staff, demotion and other methods to suppress the resistance of his ministers, and the conflict between the emperor and his ministers became intense.
In August of the first year of Zhengde, the cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang admonished Wuzong to kill Ma Yong and others, and persuaded Wuzong to manage the government, but Wuzong refused to listen. Han Wen, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, led the ministers "Fu Que" to cry and remonstrate, Wuzong
Borrowing the imperial staff from the old court, "Fu Que" ministers. Liu Jian, Xie moved to beg for leave, but Emperor Wu refused to stay. He also "removed the Korean civil service because of his affairs, and the staff asked to stay in Jian. Those who moved were given to Lu Chong, Liu Fan and Nanjing.
Dai Xian and other six people were involved in the incident, and Yushi Bo Yanhui and other fifteen people were involved."
Under this situation, although Li Dongyang also spoke sparingly and begged for leave, Wu Zong refused, so he remained as the chief assistant. After Wu Zong's death, Sejong was succeeded by a foreign vassal. Sejong wanted to respect his biological father, King Xingxian, as the emperor, so he changed his name to Xiaozong as the emperor's uncle.
According to the test, most of the officials in the court, led by cabinet ministers Yang Tinghe, Mao Ji, Jiang Mian and others, believed that this move would disrupt the imperial system and was inconsistent with etiquette. They repeatedly raised objections, but Shizong refused to listen.
On July 15, the third year of Jiajing's reign, all the ministers "led the ministers to the left and knelt down at the gate, or shouted 'Emperor Taizu Gao' or 'Emperor Xiaozong', and the sound was heard throughout the room... At noon, he ordered to record all
The names of the ministers, the academician Fengxi who was in charge, were given to the minister Zhang Chong, the censor Yu Ao, the doctor Yu Kuan, Huang Shixian, Tao Zi, Xiang Shifang, the temple was upright and not virtuous, and eight people were ordered to go to prison.
So he compiled Yang Shen to review Wang Yuanzheng, who shook the door and burst into tears. All the ministers cried and the sound shocked the court. The superior was furious and ordered the arrest of 134 people including Ma Li, a member of the fifth rank and below, and ordered them to be tortured in prison.
The court heard that officials of the fourth rank and above, as well as ministers and other officials, were ordered to be punished."
The situation at the "Great Ceremony Conference" was tense. Yang Tinghe, Mao Ji, and Jiang Mian successively resigned due to disputes over the Great Ceremony, and Fei Hong succeeded him as the chief minister.
In the middle period of Wanli in the original history, ministers from both the government and the public asked Shenzong to determine the "national foundation" early and appoint the eldest son of the emperor Zhu Changluo as the crown prince. At that time, "there were many petitioners, and everyone from all over the world was attracted by them." Zhu Yijun was strong
Suppressing the officials, "I spoke to the officials to persuade him to teach in Yu, and I was demoted and punished, which saved me a lot of time and space."
Wang Xijue also remonstrated with Zhu Yijun as early as the 19th year of Wanli, requesting that the eldest son of the emperor should be established as the prince. Zhu Yijun also refused to listen, so Wang Xijue left Beijing in the name of visiting relatives.
In the 20th year of Wanli's reign, Li Xianke, the Minister of Rites, spoke sparingly about "national affairs", and Zhu Yijun demoted Xianke to serve as a foreign minister. Wang Jiaping, then the chief minister of the cabinet, was also very tough, and he was granted the title of imperial critic to save the official.
He left the throne to express his ambition, but Zhu Yijun did not stay. Then Wang Xijue was recalled and succeeded as the chief assistant.
From this moment, we can see the fierce conflict between emperors and ministers in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, many officials took the end of their official careers as the price for persisting in their political opinions.
Liu Jian and Xie Qian said they "begged for leave" and were allowed to retire. In just a few months of the third year of Jiajing, the three chief assistants Yang Tinghe, Mao Ji and Jiang Mian successively resigned because of competing with Shizong for "big gifts". Qiao Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs
, Yang Dan, Wang Jun, Minister of Rites, also returned to his hometown as an official.
Several cabinet ministers in the Wanli Dynasty, such as Wang Jiaping, were disobedient to the emperor because of the "national foundation" issue and asked to leave. Zhu Yijun did not stay. From this, Gao Pragmatic can see that the active resistance of the scholar-bureaucrats group indeed exerted huge political influence on the emperor.
pressure, but in the process, the relationship between monarch and ministers inevitably tended to deteriorate.
Yang Tinghe once said back then: "When discussing a great gift, it is better to throw fish into water than to be separated from water by charcoal."
When the conflict between emperor and ministers first broke out, the cabinet ministers were in the center, close to the leaders of the officials. It was difficult for them to stay out of the matter. In fact, Liu Jian, Yang Tinghe and others led the ministers at that time to resist the emperor.
When the relationship between the monarch and his ministers becomes tense due to conflict, it is difficult for the cabinet ministers to stay out of the matter. They are bound to make a political choice: Should they continue to resist the monarch directly? Or must they submit to the monarch with humiliation?
If a cabinet minister took the straight path and strongly remonstrated, or even left to clarify his ambition, this kind of behavior was obvious and made the emperor feel his adherence to political principles. However, such decisiveness also meant that the scholar-bureaucrat had no regard for self-worth to a certain extent.
The negation is not only related to personal official position, fame and fortune, but also means that the parties involved have lost the conventional way to exert sustained political influence in the already anxious situation.
If cabinet ministers remain silent until they submit to the emperor, this will help the person involved gain the emperor's trust, and then take possible measures to ease the tense atmosphere. However, in a political atmosphere where people with strong opinions are forced to remonstrate, they will inevitably have to bear the consequences.
Public accusations about the loss of reputation and the accompanying psychological anxiety.
In general, large-scale conflicts between monarchs and ministers are not only political events, but also constitute a political situation in which the relationship between monarchs and ministers is tense. Cabinet ministers have important positions, and they cannot avoid expressing their opinions. After large-scale protests, it is
Continuously resisting the emperor directly, or submissively obeying the emperor, both behavioral orientations have their rational presuppositions, and both have limitations. This constitutes a dilemma for the political situation of cabinet ministers.
In this political situation, cabinet ministers such as Liu Jian followed "straight", while others like Li Dongyang followed "qu".
Gao Pragmatic felt that it was not very good to be completely straight, especially since he was someone who knew the political direction of the Ming Dynasty. Assuming that "in the future" he would also take "straight" and be dismissed from office, then the Ming Dynasty would almost be declared "ineffective in saving the country".
”. Therefore, although Gao Pragmatic personally created the “Southern Xinjiang retreat”, he psychologically did not want the day when this retreat would be activated.
So, what are the characteristics of the political practice of cabinet ministers who established the dynasty in a submissive way? Adjectives such as "moderate" are just a simplified description of a style of conduct.
Gao Pragmatic summed up three behavioral characteristics in his internal political practice.
One is to obey the emperor's advice. In the first year of Zhengde, Li Dongyang accompanied Liu Jian and Xie Qian to ask the emperor to kill the eunuchs who used them. From August of the first year of Zhengde to the seventh year of Zhengde, Li Dongyang served as the chief assistant of the cabinet. During his tenure, he had social interactions with Liu Jin.
It can be seen from the "Records of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty" that before Liu Jin was convicted, Li Dongyang's memorial to impeach the eunuch was never seen again.
In the early years of Jiajing, Fei Hong accompanied Yang Tinghe and other cabinet ministers to compete with Emperor Shizong for "big gifts" and "signed the official letter, but it was not a special admonishment." Fei Hong served as the chief assistant of the cabinet from the fifth year to the sixth year of Jiajing, and served as the "Record of the Emperor"
President Guan. According to the "Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty", the cabinet minister Shi Yun continued to discuss etiquette after the "Fu Que" incident of the Zuoshunmen ministers crying and admonishing. From May of the third year of Jiajing to February of the sixth year of Jiajing,
Fei Hong never publicly criticized Sejong's move of respecting his own parents.
Wang Xijue was recalled as the chief assistant in the 21st year of Wanli. After that, he once supported Zhu Yijun's proposal of "consolidating the title of three kings". Zhu Yijun asked Wang Xijue in a letter whether the proposal of "consolidating the title of three kings" was feasible. Wang Xijue said to him: "
Speaking with emotion and reason, it seems that everything is feasible." Later, Wang Xijue said in his memorial: "If it is established, it will be a family matter for your majesty."
All three of these three people once publicly agreed with the protesting opinions of the scholar-bureaucrats. However, when the remonstrance methods such as "Fu Que" and "Refutation" failed to move the emperor's heart, Li Dongyang and Fei Hong remained in office, and Wang Xijue returned to office.
Everything happened, and they all obeyed the emperor on the focus of the conflict between the emperor and his ministers.
The second was to oppose the strong remonstrance of his colleagues. When the Jiajing Dynasty's "Great Rites Conference" was in full swing, many ministers resigned due to the disagreement between the emperor and his ministers, and the Zuo Shunmen incident caused tragic disasters to the scholar-bureaucrats. All these factors made Fei Hong inevitably suspicious.
The effectiveness of the fierce resistance measures taken by the ministers.
Fei Hong said: "If it is not beneficial to the world, but only wants to be honest, it will be difficult for oneself, and it will cause poison to spread among the Jin gentry, such as Chen Fan, Dou Wu, Li Xun, Zheng Zhu, and Bingyin's hasty actions.
You can't, and you don't dare." In fact, this point of view is very understandable and pragmatic, and even his own point of view is very similar to it.
After Wang Xijue became the chief minister of the cabinet for the second time, he paid great attention to the strategic nature of his words and deeds. He said in a letter to his colleagues: "I am afraid that if the pleasure is aroused, the public's retreat will be blocked. In this way, we must first express our sincerity and then express our sincerity."
I secretly advise you not to wait for outsiders to come in, and then use them to protect you. Come and teach me what it means to be moved by loyalty and mediate, and you have to win my heart first."
Li Dongyang, Fei Hong, and Wang Xijue began to be cautious in saying that the emperor was wrong, but this did not mean that their political values had undergone fundamental changes due to the strong monarchy. For example, Wang Xijue's original intention of striving to make Zhu Yijun determine the "national foundation" was always the same, and it is self-evident.
His thoughts clouded: "After Buxiao was sent to Guazhou, he entered the capital on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. The most urgent thing was to save things."
Li Dongyang said: "As long as a minister serves the king, he must exert all his strength in life and death, and he should especially be careful about advancing and retreating."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Although Fei Hong presided over it, he also said: "Advocating moral integrity to boost morale is indispensable in prosperous times."
The above remarks actually show that Li Dongyang and others have indeed changed their political attitude from personally participating in remonstrance to opposing the forced remonstrance of their colleagues, but this change is only a strategic adjustment.
As for the third one, they actively rescued officials who were offended due to remonstrance. Under the strong suppression of the emperor, Li Dongyang and others adjusted their remonstrance strategies. However, when they reluctantly obeyed the emperor, they also actively rescued officials who were offended due to conflicts between the emperor and his ministers.
"Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Liu Daxia, Yang Yiqing and Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong all encountered dangers and disasters, but they all relied on Dongyang to solve them."
Wang Xijue took it as his own duty to recommend officials who had previously resigned due to their suggestions. "First, on the day after he returned to the court, he secretly worked with the emperor to recommend a plan to restore all the gentlemen."
Although Fei Hong was forced by the monarch to adopt a more prudent political attitude towards "great gifts", this idea could not be completely transferred to the management of relationships with Zhang Cong and others. "Cong (Zhang Cong), Calyx (Gui Calyx)
From Lang's office to the Hanlin, he suddenly came to Zhan Shi, and he was punished by the court. Every time Hong showed restraint, Cong and Calyx were also furious."
When Wang Bangqi attacked Yang Tinghe and implicated Fei Hong, Fei Hong found it difficult to explain himself and was unwilling to accuse others to secure his position, so he left to clarify his ambition.
Through the analysis of the words and deeds of these cabinet ministers, Gao Pragmatic came to the conclusion that the behavioral characteristics of Li Dongyang's people were the way to serve the emperor as Fei Hong said, "Being willing to accept the humiliation and obey will be the best way to defeat the emperor."
The so-called "compromise and submission" means that although Li Dongyang and others agreed with the opinions of the scholar-bureaucrats, they took many helpless and expedient measures in the situation of conflict between the emperor and his ministers, which were specifically manifested in obeying the emperor's opinions and softening the attitude of remonstrance;
The so-called "naike has help" is actually the purpose of "bearing the humiliation and obeying". What is the help? In current affairs and caring about the world, it is difficult to make a definite conclusion, but it is definitely not a simple path to flatter the emperor. Li Dongyang and others
There is a principled bottom line for doing things, which can be clearly seen from his unwillingness to obey the emperor's will and pursue the crime of admonishing ministers.
In the conflict situation between the monarch and his ministers, Li Dongyang and others served the emperor with the principle of "compromising and obeying", and adjusted the current situation in specific political practice. They retreated from the conflict between the emperor and his ministers, and could calmly rescue the officials who had disputes with the emperor.
However, this kind of behavior by scholar-bureaucrats was ultimately based on compromise, and it involved personal honor and favor, and was related to the concepts of integrity, fame and wealth in traditional political culture, which caused mixed public opinion.
In the conflict situation between monarch and ministers, both Li Dongyang and Fei Hong failed to do so because of the emperor's efforts to retain them. Wang Xijue was summoned to the cabinet, and his remonstrative attitude was much gentler than that of his predecessor Wang Jiaping, and he once supported Zhu Yijun's "three kings conferring the same title"
" proposal, all three were criticized by public opinion for their "out" and "out" issues.
In fact, public opinion has a mixed evaluation of Li Dongyang and others. The derogatory comments blame him for not being able to leave his position to show the integrity of the ministers. Li Dongyang and others are also worried about integrity; the praise focuses on his ability to stay in office to protect the current situation. Li Dongyang and others
The interpretation of the rationality of one's own behavior also points to matters of reconciliation.
In fact, when evaluating this kind of behavioral orientation, according to the pragmatic and consistent dichotomy, we still need to fully consider the complex texture of traditional political culture and avoid being extreme on one side.
If the praise is too high, it will be overly focused on merit, and it will not avoid being shameless, but close to utilitarianism; if the praise is too high, it will simply focus on temperance, and it will not avoid being agitated, but will be arrogant.
It is traditional political culture that provides a variety of rational pathways for judging practical behaviors. They integrate and restrict each other, and are ultimately mapped into the behavioral orientation of scholar-bureaucrats like Li Dongyang in the complex political ecology.
After all, because of the existence of this behavioral orientation, scholar-bureaucrat politics within the imperial framework gained necessary flexibility. In this sense, what Li Dongyang and others did was reasonable to a certain extent.
Of course, it is also necessary to note that Li Dongyang and others have to sacrifice some principles to serve the emperor. If cabinet ministers do this, they will lose the confidence to restrain their fellow officials. If Jiao Fang's stream becomes popular for a while, Li Dongyang will have no choice but to leave.
Its to blame.
The reason why Gao pragmatic cares about reputation and cherishes feathers before is also due to this reason. Originally, the cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty were not "real prime ministers". If they blindly used the emperor's favor and trust to dominate their colleagues, they did not lead by example and left others speechless.
, it is inevitable that there will be people who work in both positive and negative ways, and even opponents will continue to emerge.
Isn't this what Yan Song was like in the past? When Emperor Shizong was most favored and trusted, he was always an anti-Yen sect. It's just that Xu Jie was a secretly anti-Yen sect, and Gao Gong was an overtly anti-Yen sect (note: remember Gao Gong used Han Yu'
The big chicken comes with pride and the little chicken waits in terror. Is this a saying that ridicules the gatherings of the strict party? I remember I wrote about it in the previous article.) That’s all. In short, the strict party has never stopped.
Of course, if Gao Pragmatic had to make a choice, his consistent view is that "whether it's tough or soft, it all depends on whether the goal is achieved."
However, at the moment, Wang Xijue has not yet experienced the setbacks caused by the officials' strong remonstrances, so he has an obviously tough personality and does not attach much importance to Zhang Cheng's "sincerity". That's why he reacted like this and directly used "Yu Xin's good intentions".
"Hey, even though he died nine times, he still has no regrets" to respond.
Seeing that the conversation between Zhang Cheng and Wang Xijue was about to break up, it was Shen Shixing, the chief minister who was known for his all-around skills, who knew how to "close the gap" better and intervened at the right time.
Shen Yuanfu didn't seem to notice any smell of gunpowder, and said with a smile: "If Mr. Zhang comes here with the sincerity of Concubine Zheng, Shi Xing, as a minister, should always listen." Then Shi Shiran said.
He stretched out his hand to make a "please" gesture: "Please invite Zhang Gongdao to come."
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