I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 338: Inappropriate Ancestral Rules

Wang Lin paced back and forth in the study like a donkey pulling a mill.

Zhang Siwei was annoyed watching from the side.

"Brother Jijin, stop spinning. It makes me dizzy."

"Brother Feng Pan, are we just going to watch Brother Yude and his entire family being executed at Caishikou?"

I won't just stand there and watch. I'll close my eyes for a while.

But Zhang Siwei didn't dare to say it out loud, because he knew that if he said that, Wang Lin, who was on the verge of going berserk, would pounce on him and bite him to death.

Looking at Wang Lin's red eyes, Zhang Siwei felt that he couldn't get away with it without saying something, so he hesitated for a moment and answered.

"How about we go to Caishikou to give Yu Changde a ride?"

Wang Lin stopped walking, trembling all over, staring at Zhang Siwei for three or four minutes, and finally collapsed on the chair, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Brother Feng Pan, this is not a joke! If this continues, the Holy Church will no longer exist, and there will be no place for us to stay."

Zhang Siwei remained silent.

I have no control over whether the Holy Religion exists or not, but there must be a place for people like me.

Seeing Wang Lin's distressed expression, he couldn't help but ask, "Even with irrefutable evidence, you still don't believe what Yu Changde did?"

"If you want to accuse someone of something, you can always find a pretext. They have connections everywhere. They can forge any evidence. Under Sanmu, they can get any testimony!

How could Lord Yude, who is such a noble man, do such a cruel thing for those things? "

Zhang Siwei felt that Wang Lin was a little crazy.

Yu Changde had long felt that something was wrong. He came from an ordinary family, but he lived a more affluent life than himself, living in a large mansion, with a beautiful wife and concubines serving him, and he was never tired of eating fine food.

My family is from a wealthy family. We own thousands of acres of fertile land and dozens of shops, which support our good life. Before Yu Changde passed the test, his family was a poor family. How did they suddenly become rich?
Anyone with a discerning eye would know that he must have resorted to some tricks, just as Xu Yuanfu had done.

But Xu Yuanfu was very smart. After getting the money and land, he stayed away from all other evils.

Yu Changde is not like that. He doesn't know how to take the right path. When he can't make money, he takes risks and uses his power and reputation to abuse his power for personal gain and commit corruption.

Looking at the indignant Wang Lin, Zhang Siwei suddenly remembered a popular saying recently, "You can never wake up a person who pretends to be asleep."

"Brother Ji Jin, are you going to save Yu Changde? He has been tried and convicted by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

He was the principal offender, and his three sons, the steward, and more than 160 students and former officials were all executed. Ji Jin, Yu Changde's case is a rare major case of cheating in the imperial examinations in the country. How can you and I save it? Can we save it?"

Zhang Siwei said in a serious tone: "Brother Ji Jin, everyone has a hard time. You don't have to sacrifice yourself for a dying person. It's not worth it!"

Wang Lin looked depressed, and kept muttering: "The sky is bright, the sky is bright!"

Zhang Siwei curled his lips. It was all clear in public. If it was the Second Emperor, all nine clans would be implicated, and neither you nor I would be able to escape responsibility.

In all previous dynasties, only nine generations of a clan could be punished, but in our Ming Dynasty, ten generations of a clan can be punished. Old Wang, take it easy!
Zhang Siwei came today to hold Wang Lin back, fearing that this close friend would go and speak up for Yu Changde in a fit of rage. This is already an ironclad case, recognized by the world, and indignant in the literati community. Why are you joining in the fun?

They actually exchanged the titles of scholar, juren, and other honors as well as the places in the Imperial Academy for money. This made many scholars who had a hard time passing the imperial examinations grit their teeth!
No wonder we didn’t do well in the imperial examinations. It turns out it’s all because of you corrupt officials who are selling your fame!

Severe punishment must be imposed to uphold the law!

If this is really connected to the Yu Changde case, it doesn't matter if you, Wang Lin, are ruined, but you must not implicate me. If the things we did in private are exposed, we will all die!

However, Zhang Siwei knew Wang Lin well. Seeing him like this, he knew that he would not put himself in danger.

hehe! !
I've seen through you a long time ago!
When Yang Jisheng was killed, you were the first to go and collect his remains, and then spread the word about how loyal and noble you were. Yang Jisheng was not a traitor or a heinous criminal, so the court could not help but collect his remains, but you rushed to do it first, which surprised Yang Gong's family.

If you are truly a loyal and noble person, you should follow Mr. Yang and submit a memorial to the emperor, admonishing him to death and impeaching Yan Song and his gang!

Wang Lin slowly regained his composure and said with a gloomy face: "The Imperial College has been taken over by Li Zhi, did you know that?"

"Yes, the imperial edict of Xiyuan scolded Yu Changde and the Imperial College, saying that it was originally a national institution of learning and a place for the court to train talented people, but it was a place where filth and corruption were hidden. Then Li Zhi was ordered to take over the Imperial College as the Minister of Rites and the chief priest of the Imperial College, and to reform it to make it look brand new."

Wang Lin asked: "Have the new regulations been released?"

"It's out. The Imperial College is divided into four branches: Chinese Studies, Law, Mathematics, and Physics."

"It's neither fish nor fowl. Guoxue is the holy religion of Confucianism?"

"Correct."

"Xiyuan is giving a sweet reward after a blow. They secretly deprive the sacred learning of its exclusive status, and publicly regard it as the national learning and the national university! Haha.

Law, mathematics, such muddy and miscellaneous subjects are allowed to enter the Imperial College openly, how ridiculous! What the hell is this physics?"

"The study of the investigation of things."

"The study of the investigation of things? They are truly the filial and virtuous descendants of Yangming's philosophy of mind! They even took the opportunity to move the study of the investigation of things to the Imperial Academy, and it has become a prominent school of thought!
Then, the next step is, should Li Zhi's unorthodox theories also be admitted to the Imperial Academy and become a prominent school of thought? "

Zhang Siwei glanced at him and asked, "Is there any need to say this?"
Everyone knows what Xiyuan is planning!

Li Zhi's new learning had been dormant, cautiously and slowly expanding its influence. He fired the first shot by banning foot binding, which made Yu Changde angry and refused to give in.

As a result, not only did he get himself into trouble, but he also gave Xiyuan a perfect excuse to let Li Zhi take over the Imperial College.

Li Zhi became the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, so the new learning became a prominent discipline!
In the debate on foot-binding, Yu Changde was the loudest voice, but he was only one of the factions. Xiyuan used him as a sacrifice, not only to scare the monkeys, but also to take a fancy to the Imperial College under his control.

Well, what else can we say?

Zhang Siwei revealed another piece of information, "The Guanglu Temple and the Ministry of Personnel have issued new regulations."

"What new regulations?"

"The regulations for recruiting civil servants state that after the three-year supplementary recruitment period is over, new civil servants will be recruited from the Imperial College first. Now the Imperial College is preparing to send personnel to various provincial governments to directly recruit students. After two years of study, they will be recruited as civil servants and assigned to various places."

The three-year supplementary recruitment is to examine all the clerks in various counties who were previously civilians and recruit them as non-official or ninth-rank officials.

According to the quota of Guanglu Temple, these additional clerks only accounted for a very small part of the officials at all levels, and still needed to be "increased and optimized". The subsequent recruitment was scheduled to be hosted by the provincial governments and held in accordance with the provincial examinations.

However, Yu Changde stood up and ruined the reputation of the provincial examination. Xiyuan seized the opportunity to call the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy and gave them a good scolding. He also took the opportunity to announce that the provincial and metropolitan examinations would no longer be controlled by the Ministry of Rites, and that the examiners would only be selected from the Hanlin Academy.

The rules must be changed!
How to change it?
I don’t know yet, I just know that we will start with the recruitment of civil servants.

"Imperial College students are given priority to be recruited as civil servants?" Wang Lin touched his chin and quickly recalled a previous case in his mind. "When Emperor Taizu first founded the country, he recruited many people from the Imperial College, and then selected the Imperial College students to serve as county magistrates in various places. He then measured the land, registered the households, and made a yellow book. The land and population of the world were all under the control of the court."

Wang Lin and Zhang Siwei looked at each other and saw the panic in each other's eyes.

The local wealthy and powerful families feared the most that the imperial court knew the details of local land and population.

Once the imperial court knew these data, the wealthy and powerful families could no longer hide taxes and population, and were therefore controlled by the emperor and the imperial court.

Most of the court officials have powerful families behind them, or are simply one of them, and they certainly don't want the court to know their true identities.

However, the huge expenses to maintain the operation of the country all come from taxes. They evade taxes, and the shortfall is finally passed on to ordinary people, but they don't bother to care!
No matter how hard it is, it is the people who are suffering. What does it have to do with us?
Only some officials, who truly care about the country and the people, support finding out the details so that they can pay taxes and grain according to the register and reduce the burden on the people.

Wang Lin said angrily: "This is tyranny, a harsh policy that competes with the people for profit! We must make a petition to stop it."

Zhang Siwei said quietly: "Ji Jin, this is the ancestral rule!"

Wang Lin was stunned for a moment, but still said righteously: "Such an outdated ancestral rule cannot be followed."

Zhang Siwei was too lazy to say anything more and talked about another matter.

(End of this chapter)