Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 130 The fantasy of a moral gentleman

After working in Tongzhou all afternoon, before sunset, Wang Daoqiu got the surveying map of this [-] mu plain from those surveying and mapping experts.After wandering around this afternoon, he figured out the terrain and rivers in this area, and then he went back.

When I returned home on horseback, I saw the concierge Fan Er standing at the door, looking embarrassed.When Fan Eryi saw Wang Daoqiu and the others came back, he was very discerning this time and hurriedly ran up to help Wang Daoqiu lead the horse so that Wang Daoqiu could dismount.

Seeing that the old man Fan Er finally had some of the concierge's discernment, Wang Daoqiu was very happy. As soon as he got on the horse, he asked: "Uncle Fan, is there nothing going on at home today?"

"Oh sir, it's really weird today! Since this afternoon, for some reason, there have always been people who look like housekeepers of wealthy families, trying to get close to the young man and give him money."

A man who looks like a housekeeper from a wealthy family gets close to his own concierge and even gives him money.Wang Daoqiu went through what Fan Er said in his mind, and he immediately understood that this should be the news that the imperial court was about to start inspections of the capital next month.

This time, the Beijing Procuratorate for officials below the fourth rank will be jointly presided over by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Personnel.And I happen to be the current first deputy minister of the Ministry of Officials, so it is natural for those officials to put on their own idea of ​​being the left servant of the Ministry of Officials for their own black hats.

After understanding this, Wang Daoqiu asked Fan Er: "Uncle Fan, have you accepted those people's money?"

"Hey, sir, why do people give me money for such a bad old man? Let alone free money, it's just a few copper coins. I don't dare to accept it even if it's given for free! So those people are looking for The little old man said, as long as they pay for it, the little old man couldn't shirk it, so the little old man ran back to the concierge. There are two brocade guards with knives standing here at the door of our house, and those people dare not approach. "

hehe!There are two Jinyi guards at the door, which actually have the effect of warding off evil spirits!Hearing Fan Er say that he could not shirk the offer of money, he hid back in the concierge, but when he saw the guards in royal robes at the door of his house, he did not dare to approach.Wang Daoqiu sighed in his heart about the wonderful use of Jin Yiwei.

After sighing, Wang Daoqiu said to Fan Er again: "Uncle Fan, since you work as a concierge here, I also treat you as one of my own, so I will tell you the truth about some things. The court will start next month. The so-called Beijing inspection is to assess whether the officials in Beijing are competent. If they are not, they will be dismissed. To be honest, Uncle Fan, the imperial court will lay off thousands of people this time! This is He said that after this inspection of the capital, thousands of officials in the capital would lose their official duties. The people responsible for the inspection of the capital this time are the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Personnel, and I am the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, that is, One of the few people who can have the final say in this Beijing investigation."

"Oh, that's it! Master, I understand. It turns out that those people this afternoon are all working for their master and want to come to master's door! Fortunately, okay, those people this afternoon Man, I didn’t even confiscate a single copper from them. Otherwise, wouldn’t that have harmed you, sir? It’s okay, okay.”

After all, they are natives of the capital, and they are well-informed about official affairs.As soon as Wang Daoqiu explained the matter, Fan Er immediately understood what it was.Wang Daoqiu was once again very pleased to see that his concierge, although a bit dull and lacking in vision, was not confused about big things.

So he went on to say to Fan Er: "This Beijing inspection will take three months, which means that what happened this afternoon will not be less in the next three months. In this way, Uncle Fan, you go to the street to buy a ticket tomorrow. The big red paper is almost the kind of big red paper that is posted on the wall of the tribute courtyard when the results of scientific examinations are released. Then you put this big red paper on the wall in front of our house, and prepare pen and ink under the paper. If someone comes over next time to follow If you get close to him and stuff him with money, you tell him that as long as he brings over his master's official certificate, then write his master's name, his current position, and the amount of money he plans to bribe us on the big red card. On paper, our family will accept the bribe from his master."

"Ah! Master, isn't this good? In this way, everyone in the capital will know. Are you taking bribes?"

"No need to say much, just do it."

"Yes, sir."

After explaining to Fan Er, Wang Daoqiu strode towards the mansion. At this time, Fan Er helped Wang Daoqiu lead the horse to the mansion and loudly told Wang Daoqiu that Mr. Gao had brought back a guest today and was in the mansion. Waiting for the master to have dinner together.

The Master Gao that Fan Er mentioned was Gao Yi, and Wang Daoqiu knew this.And Grohe takes guests home?Gao Yi, who is so cautious and polite, can bring someone into his house, and it's still today.It should be today that together with Gao Yi, we got Gao Gong, one of the five most lucrative positions in the world!Wang Daoqiu entered the hospital with this thought.After walking through the front yard and entering the middle yard, Wang Daoqiu saw Gao Yi and Gao Gong drinking tea together under the grape trellis in the yard.Those two people heard footsteps, looked at the gate of the courtyard, saw that Wang Daoqiu had come back, they hurriedly got up and came to salute Wang Daoqiu.

Today, Wang Daoqiu helped them make recommendations to the first assistant, Yan Song, and then to the Minister of Civil Affairs, Yu Maojian, and to Emperor Jiajing and three other cabinet scholars in front of the emperor.The edicts that promoted them to the position of doctor of the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel and the doctor of the Examination and Examination Department of the Ministry of Personnel were spread to the Hanlin Academy.

So this afternoon, Gao Gong and Gao Yi went to the palace together to express their gratitude, and then went to the cabinet to pay homage to Yu Maojian and Li Xiang. After expressing their loyalty, Gao Gong followed Gao Yi to Wang Daoqiu's place, wanting to follow him. Wang Daoqiu had a meal together to express his gratitude.

Gao Yi and Wang Daoqiu have lived in the same courtyard for several months. He and Wang Daoqiu are quite familiar with each other.Moreover, Wang Daoqiu had already told him that he would be recommended to head one of the Civil Affairs Department's Selected Works Department or the Civil Service Examination Department, so now he was extremely happy because he could get the Civil Service Examination Department, one of the five most lucrative positions in the world. , but on the surface he can still remain reserved.

With such a low-level official in the world, Gao Yi could still remain reserved in front of Wang Daoqiu, but Gao Gong could not.Today, the young eunuch came to the Hanlin Academy to announce that he, Gao Gong, would serve as the doctor of the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, responsible for the promotion and transfer of civil servants all over the world.At that time, Gao Gong was hooded, and he knelt there to listen to the edict. At that time, he was asking three questions in his soul. It was really hard for him to believe how the most beautiful job in the world could fall to someone like him, who had no background. Officialdom is transparent.

It wasn't until his colleagues from the Hanlin Academy came over to congratulate him with forced smiles one by one, and news came from the palace that Wang Daoqiu, his protégé during the imperial examination, recommended him to the emperor, did he believe that he was really Good luck.So this afternoon, Gao Gong's heart felt like a volcano erupting, and the raging heat in his heart was really uncontrollable!
What's more, this afternoon, Gao Gong had to suppress the ecstasy in his heart and pretend to be a grandson in front of the big bosses when he went to visit the pier with Emperor Jiajing and the big shots.So now, in front of Wang Daoqiu, who is his protégé by name, Gao Gong's enthusiasm is completely released. Standing there, his voice is loud and fast, and his tail almost goes up to the sky with such complacency.

Although Wang Daoqiu and Gao Gong had a very empty status as room master and disciple because of a joint examination.But Wang Daoqiu is now the second-rank official, and after Gao Gong joined the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he was still a subordinate of Wang Daoqiu, the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. What's more, Gao Gong's promotion this time was recommended by Wang Daoqiu.

But now Gao Gong is so cocky in front of Wang Daoqiu, which makes Gao Yi on the side feel very embarrassed and regrets that he brought Gao Gong today.So in order to resolve the embarrassment, Gaoyi first forced Gao Gong back to his seat and asked him to sit down and stop being so condescending.Then Gao Yi changed the subject and asked Wang Daoqiu what standards they should use to select officials for the country in the future.

This topic is very practical, and Gao Gong also wants to know what aspect Wang Daoqiu focuses on when choosing officials, whether it is virtue or talent.

Faced with the problem of Gao Yi, Wang Daoqiu, who is familiar with history, knew that Gao Yi and Gao Gong were both very pragmatic people in history, not the kind of defenders whose minds were occupied by moral ideals.

So Wang Daoqiu decided not to play tricks in front of these two people, but to give them some useful information.After clearing up the thoughts in his mind, Wang Daoqiu said calmly: "For thousands of years, those scholars who have read the books of Confucius and Mencius have more or less unrealistic moral impulses. They hope that everyone in the world Be selfless and have no desires, abide by the law. Officials must fulfill their duties and be selfless. The emperor must be open-minded and accept advice and be concerned about the world. In short, they hope that everyone in the world can follow the moral standards set by the saints and sages. Be a human being and do things. You will never violate benevolence, and you will do what you do wrong, and you will do what you do if you go wrong! These moral standards are very beautiful, but in the thousands of years since he proposed them, has any dynasty or generation ever achieved them? "

"So this kind of moral ideal is actually very desirable. But when it comes to the real society, it seems very naive. In the past thousands of years, China has had waves of moral gentlemen. , they tried to achieve their aspirations of harmonizing the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world through righteousness, sincerity, and self-cultivation, but in the end they all failed without exception. Why is this? In fact, the reason is not complicated, because they can control The power of this world is never about morality but about interests. The motivation that drives people to work hard for one thing is that only a few people do it out of their own ideals and ambitions, while the vast majority of people do it out of self-interest and other interests. Desire. This is a very unpleasant thing to say, but if a teacher in the school hears it, he will definitely know how to use a ruler. But this is human nature, and it is the true image of the world we live in. "

"So, for thousands of years, the desire of moral gentlemen to transform the world by transforming human nature is actually unrealistic and unrealistic. The reason for the bloodshed in the real society. Therefore, I think that if we want to make the world better, what we have to do is not to advocate morality hoarsely and try to change the human nature of the world. Instead, we should admit And respect people have selfish desires, and on this premise, to formulate a set of practical and rational social rules, so that everyone in society can have a perfect compromise between selfish desires and public interests. Only in this way, people's private rights Only by doing this can there be no sharp confrontation with the public interests of society.”

"To be honest, Master Gao, brother Zixiang, I don't advocate too much public power, because if the public power is too large, those who hold power in their hands will use their power to infringe on the interests of ordinary people in society. It is unavoidable. Don’t expect the morality of officials. From ancient times to the present, no matter in the past, present, or future, when officials are faced with the temptation of money and beauty, those who can remain clean have always been selected one in a hundred, or even selected in case. One is absolutely rare, and corrupt officials are the vast majority. Therefore, if a court allows too strong public power to exist, it is only a matter of time before it changes. To put it bluntly, one day the greed of officials will exceed Society’s ability to bear it, and whether people are willing to tolerate them any longer.”

"Master Gao, Brother Zixiang, what I said today is too deviant. If these words spread, I, Wang Liangzhen, will definitely not tolerate it in my Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I hope you will not spread what I said today. In addition, I declare , if these words are spread in the future, and if others ask, I, Wang Liangzhen, will not admit that I have said these words. The reason why I want to say these words to you today is that I hope that you will serve the country well in the future. When selecting officials, don’t just look at the conduct of those officials. You should also consider the actual abilities of the officials. In addition, for those officials who only have character but no ability, and are too idealistic, I hope you can transfer them to the judiciary and education. We should go to the three systems of finance and finance, and don’t let them govern the local area.”

Wang Daoqiu said a lot of things that were definitely heretical in this time and space. Both Gao Gong and Gao Yi were dumbfounded.For a moment, both of them were stunned there, unable to react.

(End of this chapter)