Chapter four hundred and sixty-four between the innocent and corrupt officials
Ding Yunyi suddenly thought of something while listening:
"Incorruptible people are the most admirable, but there is only one who has a bad temper. He always feels that the world is full of villains, and he is the only one who is a gentleman. This idea is the most harmful, and it has caused countless harm to the world's major events...
...Corrupt officials are hateful, and everyone knows it; honest officials are especially hateful, and many people don't know it. Corrupt officials know that they are sick, and dare not openly do wrong; honest officials think that they don't need money, so there is nothing they can do, and they are self-willed.
It will harm the country."
Although this statement is a bit extreme, it is not necessarily unreasonable.
In such an era, honest and corrupt officials actually have their own hateful qualities!
Ye Yuan no longer worried about anything: "Ouyang Xiu, a contemporary of Bao Zheng, criticized the blind self-confidence of upright officials. In Renzong's "On Bao Zheng's Letter to Eliminate Three Secretaries", he criticized Bao Zheng as a man of integrity.
The Xianguan dismissed the practice of replacing two ministers after impeaching them, believing that doing so would make "the ministers who speak and speak well will be coveted and learned from each other". Bao Zheng defended that he had no intention of doing so, and Ouyang Xiu
Said: "My heart is hidden in the heart, but no one can see it; the traces are shown outside, and the world can see them. Now the governor wants to be confident in his invisible heart, and hide the traces from the world. This is like exploring things with his hands and speaking with his mouth."
If you don't want to, no one will believe it. This minister's so-called suspicion is unavoidable.' He also criticized Bao Zheng's sense of moral superiority very pointedly: 'If a husband does not take something, he is honest, and if he does not do something, he is honest.
It is called shame. The behavior of close ministers and the etiquette of others. If the governor does not take something at this time and does not do it, he can lead the world to show his integrity and shame.'..."
Ding Yunyi never expected that his brother-in-law would actually talk about Bao Zheng. He listened carefully to what Ye Yuan said:
"Ouyang Xiu's views represent the attitude of a considerable number of scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty. They undoubtedly admired Bao Zheng's integrity. However, political affairs have their own characteristics and cannot be equated with personal cultivation. Bao Zheng only valued moral integrity.
, but neglected the impact of his behavior on the atmosphere of the government. Such a willful act based only on moral self-confidence, "may not think about the affairs of the court", "do not think carefully, behave badly". And I, Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty, also incurred the same consequences
Hai Rui was criticized by scholar-bureaucrats, even more so than Bao Zheng, to the point where he was almost no longer tolerated in the world. Hai Rui was honest and upright throughout his life. He mainly learned about uprightness and called himself Gangfeng. He took the world as his own responsibility, but his destiny was many.
Wrong, the way is not feasible. Several times I started my official career with great vigor, but ended sadly. What is the willingness in it?"
He sighed and said: "The reason is, of course, not just because 'Everything in the world is dirty, but I am the only one who is pure.' Emperor Wanli's conclusion to him was, 'Although the authorities are doing things, they may not be the best, but they are used to suppress elegance and customs and encourage decadence.
"Wind, nothing can help". On the surface, it affirmed Hai Rui's strengths, but in fact it was a kind of denial. Emperor Wanli had no doubt about Hai Rui's integrity, but he believed that this honest and loyal minister only had an example in terms of moral integrity.
It cannot make any contribution to the national economy and people's livelihood."
Speaking of this, he gradually increased his tone: "Integrity officials must throw away their moral superiority, they must not be too harsh on people, and their governance must not rely solely on paranoid toughness. This is certainly not to encourage corruption, but to prevent corruption.
It is a situation where there are no fish in the most pure and there are no disciples in the people. If this is the case, the country will not be able to operate normally."
Ding Yunyi fell into deep thought. A leader will be responsible for the operation of the entire group. The difference in the evaluation of honest officials between ordinary people and social elites is intriguing.
The criticism of upright officials by scholar-bureaucrats and even emperors focused on the word "Ke". This word "Ke" has a wide meaning, including harsh usage, harsh criticism of subordinates and people, and paranoia and toughness in governance.
unreasonable.
Integrity officials are generally morally perfect people who are obsessive about morality and are too harsh on others. If others cannot meet their standards, they will be dismissed as pigs, mangy dogs, and filthy villains. This mentality leads to their use of idioms in governance.
Strict, and this is precisely the reason why people respect honest officials.
The common people have only three expectations for honest officials: to restrain the powerful and powerful who oppress the common people; to attack the rogues in the fish and meat villages; and to punish corrupt officials who take bribes and bend the law. The more severe the officials punish these people, the more they "love the people".
For example, in the later film "The Surprise", Liang Taishou saw Wang Xi, a scoundrel who abducted women and killed others, and was only sentenced to be sent to the army, so he became furious and said, "I was punished with sixty bans and died immediately."
This kind of murderous behavior was affirmed by people who called him extremely righteous.
The scholar-bureaucrat class is very disgusted with this kind of "impression" of upright officials. In addition to the value factor of loyalty and forgiveness, the more important reason is considering the reality of governing the country. "One should only seek to get the middle of things". Political affairs are different from personal cultivation.
Because it is an art of compromise and a chess game in which the interests of all parties are played; if you want to make a difference in governance, you cannot just be morally condescending and blindly paranoid and tough. Sima Guang's "Sushui Jiwen" records: "
Bao Xiren knew about Luzhou, which is in his hometown... If his uncle broke the law, Xiren killed him. Since then, all the relatives and friends hold their breath."
This "good story" about killing relatives for justice always makes people have other thoughts: If the uncle has a death penalty, he can be killed; if the crime is not a death penalty, Bao Zheng will punish him severely in order to show that he is selfless and kill him to gain revenge.
To put it bluntly, this kind of behavior of "killing his wife to seek a general" will undoubtedly greatly reduce people's respect for him.
Bao Zheng is like this, Hai Rui is even worse. His family tragedy is a perfect footnote for his character: his first two wives were divorced, his third wife died violently, and a concubine committed suicide, so he had to go back and forth.
He was married for the ninth time. And his daughter was forced to go on a hunger strike and died because she ate a piece of bread given by a servant. This shows his harsh temperament.
In addition, Hai Rui was also an admirer of harsh punishments. He remembered Zhu Yuanzhang's cruel measures to punish corruption in the early Ming Dynasty, and suggested restoring the ancestral system of "severe punishments for trespassers."
His suggestion not only shocked the officialdom, but even Emperor Wanli thought it was too much.
According to the Chronicle of Hai Zhongjie Gong, after Hai Rui was appointed as the governor of Yingtian, "he became furious, the county officials were stern and gave orders, and the corrupt people looked at the wind and saw the seals and ribbons and went away. The powerful officials held their breath and held their traces.
Move them to other places and avoid them." This kind of murderous intention that makes corrupt officials and powerful people flee is naturally the result of Hai Rui's daily actions.
However, his subordinates begged to leave. The large-scale escape also prevented Hai Rui's plan to benefit the people from being implemented, and it ended in disgrace.
Honest officials are the moral models promoted by the whole society, but in reality they are not tolerated in the officialdom. This really puzzles the honest officials: they can ignore the hatred and hatred of corrupt officials, but the criticism of famous officials and scholars does not matter to them.
It was like a bolt from the blue.
What they value most, as they cherish their feathers, is Qingyi's praise for themselves, and this kind of criticism is undoubtedly a sign that the social elite disapproves of what they guard.
Is it really the case that "everyone in the world is filthy but I am pure, everyone in the world is greedy and I am alone in integrity"?
Cleanliness cannot be forgotten. Cleanliness is only one end of the treatment. It is not enough to solve all the problems in reality. Moral obsession, extreme personality and tough tactics are the root causes of his inability to be tolerated in today's world and his inability to contribute to the national economy and people's livelihood.
"There were two big figures in the Song Dynasty, one was Yue Fei and the other was Qin Hui." Ye Yuanxian said slowly: "Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty did have good words and deeds to oppose and punish corruption. He said, 'Only for the crime of stealing. "Loan, use stolen goods to cause harm to the public, must not be left unpunished". "Please be kind, bribe the public, you have been playing for a long time, it is appropriate to punish", and so on. Zou Hao, a famous minister during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty His son, Zou Xuzhi, was in the state and had stolen stolen goods. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty frowned for a long time and said, "'Yuanyou has claimed that his son is Na'er.' "The above records alone seem to indicate that Song Gaozong was serious about punishing corrupt officials. However, Yue Fei, whom Song Gaozong was extremely suspicious of and eventually killed, was undoubtedly very honest..."
Ye Yuan sneered:
"Yue Wumu is also someone I respect. He once said to the emperor, 'Civil officials do not love money, military officials do not care about their lives, and the world will be at peace.' With his abundant income, Yue Fei will live a luxurious life without any hesitation. It was not difficult at all. But not only did he not keep any money for himself, he often used his private wealth to subsidize the military. Later, when Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty decided to give Yue Fei a posthumous title, the officials who discussed the posthumous title said: 'Although the emperor has given me a huge amount of money, I don't think it is selfish at all.' They couldn't help but sigh and said, "Wow! There are many people who look at and avoid the generals, protect their wealth, and support the bandits in order to enrich themselves. This is not the case for an independent government. He lives a clean and honest life and does not cultivate goods. Although he is given gold and salary, he does not spend it sparingly." , then you don’t know that you have a home.' Yue Fei's outstanding conduct in the face of national crisis actually reflected Yue Fei's ambition in the eyes of the emperor. Song Gaozong favored only mediocre generals and greedy men like Zhang Jun, who lost their ambition with things. On the contrary, it made the emperor feel more at ease. In his view, greed means no ambition. Zhang Jun was probably the richest man in the early Southern Song Dynasty. He liked to buy land. Therefore, the annual rent in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was only one million dan. Before his death, Zhuzi Enter ninety thousand taels of gold.
And what about Qin Hui? At least he was one of the most corrupt bureaucrats in the early Southern Song Dynasty. Song Gaozong was not unaware of his corruption, but he kept it to himself. After Qin Hui's death, the emperor made up his mind to eliminate the Qin Party from the court, but issued an edict to punish Qin Hui. Qin Hui, Qin Xi and his son were exempted from prosecution for corruption crimes. Others, such as the eunuchs Feng Yi, Chen Yongxi, Kang Xu, Zhang Quwei and others favored by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, were also treated in the same way. Therefore, their hypocrisy in punishing corrupt officials was also It goes without saying. At the time of Jianyan and Shaoxing, the biggest protection against corruption and political corruption was the imperial power of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. Tang Pengju, the magistrate of Jiangzhou, paid 30,000 guan to return the empress dowager to the palace. This was after the peace talks in Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty The birth mother Wei Shi was released by the Jin people, which was an episode in the so-called Empress Dowager's return ceremony. The so-called aid when the people's power was very poor." Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty actually issued an edict to reward him, saying, "You have managed the county well and are rich and wealthy. Return the rest of your savings with the courtesy of the prime minister. If you know this, everything will be safe! Be careful to see the sincerity and praise the good deeds. Of course, this is to reward the officials with the large amount of copper coins they looted, and directly bribe the emperor."
"Song Gaozong is not the same thing!" Ding Yunyi said disdainfully.
"Perhaps Song Gaozong is indeed not a thing, but a good emperor is not. Is that true? Song Taizu is the best emperor in the Song Dynasty anyway. He severely punished many corrupt officials, but he also protected the big corrupt official Wang Quanbin and others." Ye Yuan smiled and said
:
"The national fiscal revenue is limited, and it has been impossible to provide generous official salaries to low-level officials in the past dynasties. In ancient times, there were countless discussions and measures on maintaining integrity. Wang Anshi, the famous Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, was a person who advocated high salaries and maintaining integrity. He admitted that the honest officials at that time were
"One hundred but not eleven", less than one percent. But after he implemented the reform, as quoted by Li Xinzhi, there were still "eleven honest officials and nineteen corrupt officials". As the Jurchen Wugu Sunze of the Yuan Dynasty often said
As the saying goes, "If a scholar is not thrifty, he cannot cultivate integrity; if he is not honest, he cannot cultivate virtue." He has been wearing a cloth robe for several years, and his wife is simple and unpretentious. The key to maintaining integrity lies in the word "frugality". If you are not thrifty, no matter how generous your salary is, you will pay it back in the end.
It’s not about being greedy.”
He let out a heavy sigh: "Integrity officials not only have to endure the hardships of life, but most of them are depressed in the officialdom. The official selection rules of the hierarchical conferment system often mean that gold sinks and dung rises. Being favored by the boss can win the favor of the boss.
Those who are pushed out of the same ranks and float up are dung, and are disliked by their superiors; those who are squeezed out by their peers and sink down are gold. There is a saying called "forming cliques for personal gain", which indeed has a lot of connotation. In the officialdom, if you want to work for personal gain, you must form cliques and not form cliques.
The party is not good enough for personal gain. Those who are squeezed out by many corrupt officials are honest officials. In the officialdom, those who gain profits by using various crooked ways and rise to the top are corrupt officials. Chen Mi of the Song Dynasty said, "The ministers are used by ministers, who are not relatives or relatives, and are in power."
Choosing people who can change the system, using prudent people in admonishment, and being in charge of the central government are nothing more than intimacy. Corrupt officials are unsuccessful, and honest people are especially prone to resentment. This is the normal state of officialdom..."
When he said this, he completely let go:
"Zongze, the famous anti-Jin general in the Song Dynasty, was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Yuanyou, while Wang Fu, the treacherous prime minister and corrupt official, was a Jinshi in the second year of Chongning. Zongze was an upright and honest official with little self-respect, but because of his refusal to execute
Song Huizong's erroneous government decrees led to repeated demotions and punishments, and he was subordinated to his subordinates. Until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, he was just a magistrate of Cizhou. However, Wang Fu, a Jinshi in the 12th year of the Song Dynasty, was favored by Song Huizong and paid homage to him in the first year of Xuanhe.
Te Jin, Shaozai. He was promoted to the eighth level by Tongyi Dafu, and the fortune-telling in the Song Dynasty was unprecedented. In the same year, it was known that Zongze of Dengzhou was not pious by building the Shenxiao Palace, so he was removed from the list and ordered to take charge. Zongze resisted Song Huizong's indulgence.
Taoists were severely punished for wasting money and wasting money by building temples such as the Shenxiao Palace. Zongze was nearly seventy years old, and he came to prominence when the country was in crisis. Less than two years before his death, his life was full of splendor, but it was
It is a very sad brilliance, otherwise, he would definitely be unknown in the annals of history. Wouldn’t the prosperity and decline of the two people form a very sharp contrast.”
When Ding Yunyi heard this, he suddenly raised his voice:
"There must be perfect laws. Countries with relatively clear politics use perfect systems and strict law enforcement to maintain social fairness and justice and promote national progress. So we still need clean officials? How can corrupt officials continue to survive!
”(To be continued Piaotian Literature registered members recommend this work