On the second day of the seventh month in the sixth year of Wanli, a tragic event occurred in Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Juzheng, the former Wenhua Palace scholar, died in depression in his hometown in Jiangling in early June of this year. His eldest son Zhang Jingxiu came to pray for the posthumous title.
When he arrived at the cabinet, the first assistant, Gao Gong, saw the article and cried bitterly until he fell asleep. The cabinet officials were frightened and sent word that the imperial doctor had arrived, but Yuan Fu had passed away.
The emperor and Guanzheng Gao pragmatically were giving lectures in the Wenhua Hall. After hearing the news, they rushed to the cabinet and saw that Yuan Fu's case was full of documents, which were several feet high.
The emperor was in great mourning and couldn't hold back his tears. He said pragmatically: "In the past, when the emperor passed away, he asked Yuan Fu to ask him, 'The world is tired of you.'
Extremely! I don’t know what I will do in the future.”
Not long after, the emperor wanted to issue an order to suspend court for three days. Guan Zheng Gao Shi immediately advised him, saying: In this dynasty, the funeral of civil servants only lasts for one day, but Rongguo Gong (Yao Guangxiao) enjoys the two-day suspension of court ceremony, which is inappropriate.
Abandoned. Please stop.
The emperor replied: "In this case, I will stay out of court for two days and I will not be able to give you any more advice."
So the court stayed away from court for two days because of Gao Gong's death.
On the third day, the emperor issued an edict: "...the great scholar has a high profile, a sharp ambition, and a great talent. When he returns to Jiting, he will shoulder the great responsibility without giving up. He will be humble in his plans, but he will be loyal to the country.
It seems to be a roundabout way, and the strategy of elegantly embracing the palace and the state. The curtain painting has the key points of Qiang and Hu, and the opportunity of using chopsticks to raise holes and frontier fortresses. Turn the vertebrae knot into a crown and garment, and the soft dogs and sheep will be in compliance. It will benefit Wei Jiang and eliminate the deep worries of Huaxia;
Compared with Zhongyan, he has the chance to win against the Rong army...
Broad and precise, profound and profound, great economic achievements, a famous minister of the country...generous and promising, loyal to the public. He has a strategy of inner peace, and a great honor of foreign imperialism. The mountain range is south of Yunnan, and the atmosphere is pure and long.
Seal the pig; the barbarians from the east and the barbarians from the west disappear; the heron and the heron disappear; Xun is called the Weiwu scripture; he is worthy of being an emperor's minister and king's assistant.
If you have an unparalleled strategy, you can achieve an unparalleled feat; however, if you have extraordinary people, you can accomplish extraordinary things.
...as a gift to Shangzhu Kingdom, with the posthumous title Wenzheng. It was announced to China and abroad, and the Xian envoys heard about it and admired it."
As soon as the imperial edict came out, the whole court was filled with envy, and Gao's disciples praised him one after another.
Wen Zheng!
Since Sima Guang proposed that "Wen Zheng's posthumous title is extremely beautiful and cannot be more beautiful", civil servants in all dynasties have dreamed of posthumous honors and extremely beautiful posthumous titles!
How important is the word "wenzheng"? Just explain the dynasty, and there is an example to prove it.
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the great scholar Li Dongyang was dying. The great scholar Yang Yiqing came to see him. Seeing that Li Dongyang was worried about his posthumous title, Yang Yiqing told him that the imperial court would give him the posthumous title of Wenzheng. After hearing this, the dying Li Dongyang kowtowed to Yang Yiqing on the bed.
From the beginning, we can see the position of the posthumous title "Wenzheng" in the hearts of scholars.
Zhang Juzheng died, and it was said that he died in depression, but this is understandable.
Gao Gong also died, but I don't know whether it was due to exhaustion or an accident caused by the excitement of thinking about the grievances with Zhang Juzheng for many years.
Many people were saddened by Gao Gong's death, but the one who was most saddened was probably Gao Pragmatic.
He felt that Gao Gong would most likely die from overwork. This old man, who was over sixty years old, worked day and night with the late emperor's mission in mind. Even when Gao Pragmatic advised him to take more rest countless times, he always replied: "
It’s just the old and the young who sleep.”
Li Shizhen, who was "poached" by Gao Jingshi and came to the capital last year, and who just compiled the "Compendium of Materia Medica" this year, also mentioned to Gao Jingshi several times that Yuan Fu was overworked and might not last long.
Unfortunately, no one could persuade him.
Historically, Gao Gong died in the sixth year of Wanli. Now he still died in this year. Shi Ye? Ming Ye?
But apart from this, Gao Pragmatic had more emotions, because Zhang Juzheng also died, even before Gao Gong.
The original history has undergone the biggest change due to his highly pragmatic arrival.
Is it a good change? Gao Pragmatic thinks so. To a certain extent, he has always believed that Zhang Juzheng is not a real reformer, only Gao Gong is.
Gao Pragmatic believed that Zhang Juzheng should be a rectificationist.
Historically, Zhang Juzheng's governance was basically based on rectification. His focus was not on reform, but on rectifying discipline and restoring the vitality of the ancestral system.
Reform is the innovation of the system, and rectification is the restoration of the ancestral system.
Wang Anshi's reform in the Song Dynasty was a real reform that broke through the ancestral system and created new laws; while many of the contents of the Wanli New Deal implemented by Zhang Juzheng were the restoration and rectification of the ancestral system and should not be included in the scope of reform.
The only two new ideas are the Kao Cheng Law and the Article Whip Law. The Kao Cheng Law expands and strengthens the power of the cabinet and improves the efficiency of administrative management, but it eliminates the supervisory function of the government officials on the government and destroys the ancestral system of small and large universities.
The principle of checks and balances.
However, Gao Gong also introduced the "teaching method". Even in this life, due to the influence of Gao Gong's pragmatic "political performance quantification" thinking, Gao Gong's teaching method went further and had a deeper purpose. [Wufeng's Note: This book
It is described in the first volume.]
The "One Whip Method" was not invented by Zhang Juzheng. When Zhang Juzheng was still a five-year-old child, it was founded by Gui E and implemented by Fu Hanchen and others. During the Longqing and Wanli periods, some local officials such as Pang Shangpeng, Wang Zongmu, Liu Guangji, Hai
Rui and many others implemented it in the areas under their jurisdiction and even throughout the province, and the whip method gradually became popular.
It can be seen from this that Zhang Juzheng only contributed to promotion and had no initiating contribution, so he cannot be called a reformer.
In fact, some scholars in later generations believed that "Zhang Juzheng's high moral integrity, courage, talent, and reform consciousness were all inferior to Zhang Juzheng's." During his two and a half years in power, he initiated the implementation of civil administration, justice, military system, border defense, water conservancy, etc.
All-round reform of water transportation, maritime transportation, etc.
Not only did he have the policy program of "Eliminating Eight Abuses", but he also broke the no-sea policy, built ships, launched shipping, and "implemented foreign trade." Gao Gong also "paid special attention to the development of industry and commerce": "Personally went to the market to conduct research and research."
, "understand the real situation." He also strongly supported and promoted the reform of the tax and labor system of equalizing grain between husband and wife and the one-whip method.
During Zhang Juzheng's ten years in power, he "did not fully inherit Gao Gong's reform direction." In particular, he "secretly resisted Gao Gong's proposals for opening up sea transportation and opening up foreign trade," reinstating the maritime ban and pursuing the basic national policy of isolation.
Therefore, the evaluation of these scholars is: "Gao Gong is a politician, thinker and reformer, Zhang Juzheng is a bureaucrat, politician, and practical conservative", "Gao Gong is a true reformist, and Zhang Juzheng basically belongs to the rectification group."
.
As for the effect of reform, take economic reform as an example. Historically, in the fifth year of Longqing before Gao Gong was dismissed from office (in 1571, only the fifth year of Longqing was counted because he dismissed office in the sixth year of Longqing), the annual income of Taicang Bank was 3.1 million taels.
, the annual income was 3.2 million taels, and the annual loss was only 100,000 taels. Compared with the average annual loss of 2.066 million taels from the first to the fourth year of Longqing (1567-1570), it was a decrease of 1.966 million taels (Wufeng Note: See Fan Shuzhi's "Wanli Biography"
). This laid a good foundation for the treasury surplus during Zhang Juzheng's administration.
After Zhang Juzheng came to power, he inherited Gao Gong's peacekeeping situation with Anda, and he had his merits and contributions. "However, the peace 'dividends' he enjoyed exceeded his contribution." What Zhang Juzheng inherited was not a "mess", but a "mess".
"Sit back and enjoy the peace 'dividend' left by Gao Gong."
And without Zhang Juzheng taking over in this life, what did Gao Gong do that made Wanli so sad about his death and gave him the posthumous title "Wenzheng"?