Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 219 Scholarship and Values
The reason why we attach so much importance to the grievances of the Donglin Party members is because it is related to the hearts of the soldiers.

Two hundred and sixty years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it can be said that there were many abuses, and dissatisfaction among scholars, farmers, industry, and merchants, and all strata of society was accumulated.

Among them, scholars were the most powerful and influential. Zhu You also needs them to govern the country and win the hearts of the people.

The eunuchs' cruelty to the scholars gave him the opportunity. As long as those eunuchs who harmed the scholars are dealt with, we can win over the hearts of the scholars.

The reason why Emperor Chongzhen in history was sympathized by many people after the fall of the country was that the eradication of the eunuchs gave him a lot of points. It was precisely because he eradicated the eunuchs and cleared the way for the murdered scholars that many scholars remained loyal to him until death and still missed him after the country was overthrown.

Now, Zhu Youjian was touched by Wu Shangmo's words and realized that his efforts in dealing with the eunuchs were not enough, and his speed in showing justice to scholars was too slow. Immediately, he summoned the officials of the Hanlin Academy who were also serving as daily assistants and drafted three decrees:
The first is to withdraw all the guard eunuchs sent by Wei Zhongxian and replace them with supervisory eunuchs. They only have supervisory duties and have no right to interfere in affairs.

Many ministers have mentioned this matter, and even the king's ministers, who are among the eunuchs, proposed to abolish the guarding eunuchs. But Zhu Youjian regarded the eunuch as his eyes and ears and never let go.

Now he has realized that eunuchs are completely unpopular in the local area, and keeping them will only cause resentment.

Since these people are regarded as the eyes and ears, they should be clearly changed to supervise the eunuchs and not allow them to interfere in local affairs and act recklessly in the local area relying on the power granted by the emperor.

Second, the weaving eunuchs in Suhang were abolished and replaced by the weaving workshops under the supervision of the inner government for market-oriented operations.

The previously appointed weaving eunuch Wang Guotai was actually appointed as the eunuch of the Nanjing Co-Garrison and the eunuch of the Nanjing Internal Affairs Bureau, and the weaving organization was changed into a workshop.

This position was also criticized by many ministers. Suhang weaving eunuchs were not only responsible for weaving, but also had tax duties. Sun Long, a weaving eunuch during the Wanli period, once provoked a civil uprising in Suzhou, killed several of his followers, and fled to Hangzhou for refuge.

Li Shi, the former weaving eunuch, was also involved in the Seven Gentlemen case by many people. Zhu Youjian ordered his arrest and handed him over to Dali Temple for trial.

But someone has to be responsible for taxation. Zhu Youjian has planned to set up a special taxation agency in the imperial court at the expense of abolishing tax collection eunuchs in various places.

The third is to prohibit private castration as eunuchs to prevent the emergence of the next Wei Zhongxian.

Now there are too many eunuchs in the inner court, Zhu Youjian, and they don't want to keep so many people. Therefore, he followed the wishes of the scholars and reiterated the "Da Ming Huidian" prohibition on self-castration in the palace, prohibiting private castration.

These three points are all restrictions on eunuchs. In addition, they must also be used to educate scholars.

In response to this point, Zhu Youjian made three more edicts:

The first is to praise and express sympathy for the ministers who died in the disaster, and all cases decided by the eunuch party will be retried, so as to bring justice to the officials who died.

Cases involving human lives such as Six Gentlemen, Seven Gentlemen, Liu Duo, and Xiong Tingbi must all be retried with emphasis. As long as these victims have no other problems, they will be enshrined in Zhaozhong Temple.

The second is to lift the ban on the party, clearly abolish the "Donglin Party Member List", "Donglin Point General Record" and other lists concocted by the Eunuch Party, and reinstate those who were deregistered by the Eunuch Party because of their affiliation.

Although there are not so many official positions in the imperial court, they all have the treatment they deserve for becoming an official, and they must be re-awarded honors based on their previous grades and meritorious service.

When there are vacancies in the imperial court in the future, these people can be included as candidates.

The third is to hold the eunuchs accountable, set up a trial committee for reverse cases, and appoint officials to try them. Han Xu, the academician, Cheng Jiming, the censor of the right capital, Liu Zongzhou, the censor of the capital, Dong Qichang, the right minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Kong Zhenyun, the right minister of the Ministry of punishment, and Yao Shishen, the left Shaoqing of Dali Temple, were appointed to judge them.

These six people were all officials from the Donglin Party or close to Donglin. They were used to judge the eunuchs and give an explanation to the dead scholars.

The six consecutive edicts were all directed at what Wu Shangmo said. This made the Hanlin Academy officials who prepared the decree very excited.

At this time, they all felt that the current emperor was a wise king and valued the opinions of his ministers. After Wu Shangmo advised him, he immediately responded.

Wen Anzhi of the Hanlin Academy, who was arranged by Zhu Youjian to see Wu Shangmo off tomorrow, even planned to tell Wu Shangmo these things. Wu Shangmo must know that his hard work was not in vain. Yuhuang, the number one scholar in the fifth year of Tianqi's reign, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, and a living minister, once participated in the compilation of "Three Dynasties Essential Codes" and was close to the eunuch party. But at this moment, he also strongly agreed with the emperor's will.

Because he knew that what the emperor did was in line with the aspirations of scholars.

It can even be said that everyone in the world will agree with this.

When Zhou Shunchang was arrested, the popular uprising in Suzhou fully demonstrated the support of the people -

At this moment, the Donglin Party is what people want. The entire Ming Dynasty sympathized with them.

The reason why the Donglin Party has such great influence is inseparable from its origin.

The origins of the Donglin Party were first gathered when Gu Xiancheng, Zhao Nanxing and others were serving in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and secondly, when Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others were lecturing at Donglin Academy.

It can be said that in addition to the political color, the Donglin Party initially had a stronger academic color. It can even be said that they used Confucianism as a political philosophy to bring together people from different places.

As the headquarters of the Donglin Party, Donglin Academy was the lecture venue for Yang Shi, a great scholar of the Song Dynasty. Yang Shi was a disciple of Er Cheng and an important figure in the development of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Gu Xiancheng and others restored Donglin Academy, so they were naturally known as the orthodox successors of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. I want to put the power of interpretation of Neo-Confucianism in their hands.

After gathering scholars from all over the world, these people sharpened their knowledge and praised each other, and their reputation became more and more prosperous, and their influence became more and more important.

Under the Ming Dynasty's tradition of court promotion, this kind of influence could easily affect politics. All kinds of people with political purposes naturally gathered here.

As the number of people increased, the Donglin Party became more complex, its academic color became lighter and its political color became stronger. He was deeply involved in political disputes and was then attacked by the eunuchs.

But even so, its academic color has not completely disappeared. It can even be said that its influence in various places is mainly based on academics.

Confucianism is a science of self-cultivation, and its purpose is to cultivate gentlemen. The integrity shown by the Six Gentlemen and the Seven Gentlemen when they were persecuted by the Eunuch Party made the Donglin Party more prestigious and made people sympathize with them.

The reason why centrists such as Yuan Keli and Kong Zhenyun leaned towards the Donglin Party. Just because their knowledge is of the same origin, they naturally have a preference for the gentleman from Donglin.

Even Zeng Chuqing, Jiang Fengyuan, Yu Huang, Hua Qifang and other people who participated in the compilation of "Three Dynasties Essential Codes" actually agreed with them in their hearts.

It can be said that the thoughts of the Donglin Party are the mainstream thoughts of Confucianism and the mainstream values ​​of society. It is not without reason that some historians in later generations called them the “crusaders for moral reconstruction.”

Because of this, Zhu Youjian looked forward to Liu Zongzhou's arrival. Because Liu Zongzhou was highly knowledgeable and had lectured at Donglin Academy, he had great influence.

Zhu Youjian wanted to strengthen the academic color of the Donglin Party and gradually downplay the party politically. In the future, we will promote the development of other Confucian theories, untie the Donglin Party from Confucianism, and destroy the Donglin Party from its foundation.

　"Little Knowledge of the Lie Huang":
　　The Ministry of War was ordered to: "All the internal officers guarding all the places should be withdrawn. All the officials should be restrained according to the situation. If there is nothing to repair, if there is something to defeat the enemy, they should all be at the discretion of the governor. There is no need to appoint someone who is not professional, and the decency is overridden to take advantage of it. Mouth. The governors and ministers of every town, as well as the generals, must raise their spirits and pay tribute to Jing Zhonghua to serve my purpose!"

　　An order was sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs: "There are many things happening in the border area, and it is very troublesome to conquer and lose, so I have special sympathy. Susong and other places are weaving, and I can't bear to use the work of embroidering clothes and quilts to reuse the people of this area. They can't go out until the day when the southeast is determined." Open it to say that I respect heaven and care for the people!"

　　An order was sent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs: "Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu have been punished by heaven, and the anger of the subjects has subsided a little. However, the souls wandering in the imperial prison are still depressed, and their grievances have not been redressed. The nine ministers of the ministry have gone forward to reprimand the ministers. Discuss according to the public's discretion and adopt official comments.

　　If someone is illegally imprisoned and the situation is the most pitiable, he will be rewarded if he deserves praise, and he will be compensated if he deserves help. If he is implicated in deprivation, he will be reinstated if he should be reinstated, and he will be used if he should be put to use. If he dies, It is difficult to seize stolen goods, and those imprisoned who are troubled by their families should be released as soon as possible. Don't cause people to drown, which will hurt my desire to live a good life! "

　　The Ministry of Rites was ordered to read: "I have read the section "Regulations on Forbidden Periods from the Palace" in "Huidian": "If there are more than four or five sons among the people, they are allowed to report one son to the official at the time of death, and the official will make a book and send it to the ministry to collect and select the day. Dare to have private affairs? Those who seek self-purification will have themselves and their henchmen beheaded, their whole family will be exiled to the army in the smoky ground, and those who leave their homes without neighbors will be punished.'...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)