Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 189 They want to harm the Kong family!

In addition to the governor-general and the provincial governor, the two capitals' censorates had a total of 140 censors in each province.

Among them, 110 were sent by the Beijing Censorate and 30 were sent by the Nanjing Censorate.

Wen Chun reported: "The censors are responsible for investigating and correcting the corruption of officials in the hundreds of departments inside and outside the court. They are divided into internal and external assignments. Internal assignments include reviewing papers in the two capitals, inspecting the capital camp, supervising the provincial examinations, the metropolitan examinations, and the military examinations, inspecting the Guanglu Temple, the warehouses, the inner treasury, the imperial city, and the five cities; external assignments include inspecting the imperial court, the Qing army, the schools, the salt administration, the tea administration, the horse administration, the banknote customs, the grain transport, and the military farms..."

Although Zhu Changluo already knew it, he still listened to him finish speaking first.

Today, in order to deal with possible situations this year, we are making some arrangements through the Censorate system.

This included confirming the special censors that Wen Chun had requested to be sent to various places to persuade officials and gentry to examine the implementation of their own preferential and exemption regulations.

Among so many censors, they are privately divided into major, medium and minor censors according to the complexity and severity of the matters.

The major appointments were mainly to the Censors of Education in the Two Zhili Provinces and the Inspectors of the Two Zhili Provinces and other provinces.

The central envoys were the inspectors of Liaodong, Xuanda and Gansu, as well as the local censors who inspected salt, warehouses, customs, transportation and tea.

The minor officials were responsible for inspecting the four gates of the imperial city and the stables, the ten warehouses, etc.

"I have discussed this mission with other colleagues in the Censorate for a long time, and now there are three solutions. One is to send more envoys to the various provincial inspectors, one is to appoint special envoys to inspect taxes in the southern provinces, and one is to simply appoint assistants in each prefecture and county and send them out from the Censorate in Beijing as minor envoys."

After he finished speaking he looked up to see the Emperor's reaction.

Zhu Changluo understood that it was mainly about the division of powers, as well as the consideration of the influence and interests of the Censorate.

It would be most economical for the court to directly let the inspectors take charge.

Appointing a special person to inspect taxation would be equivalent to adding only fifteen censors who are slightly inferior to the inspectors.

If each prefecture and state has a dedicated assistant official, then more than a hundred official positions will have to be added at one time.

Apart from some vassal prefectures and counties, the Ming Dynasty now has one person in each of the next-level prefectures and provincial counties under the provincial administrative regions. These people are all sent from Beijing. Of course, the Censorate can hold greater supervisory power.

Zhu Changluo shook his head and said, "There is no need to appoint assistant officials in each prefecture. Officials in office will naturally be impeached, and gentry in opposition also have their own merits. It is the responsibility of the provincial education commissioner to take care of this. Shouldn't the provincial education commissioners set up offices and assign assistant officials? Let the provincial education commissioners also serve as assistant censors, and assign an academic supervisory censor to the office of the superintendent of education."

"...The Censor of Academic Affairs?" Wen Chun did not expect that the emperor would propose a fourth option.

"Whether you are an official or a gentry, as long as you have meritorious service, your origin will be recorded in the books." Zhu Changluo said calmly, "Officials in the court are examined every three years, so how can gentry in the opposition enjoy such grace? The Imperial Censor of Academic Records inspects all the people in the province who are both registered and in opposition. Except for retired old officials, all others are examined every three years. Only those with excellent moral character and knowledge, and who have made contributions to educating the people in their hometown, can have meritorious service."

Wen Chun was shocked: "Your Majesty, this..."

"I have treated the gentry with favors. The court has granted them the grace of tax exemption. If the gentry do not serve the country as officials, they should be the arm of the court and the local areas. Otherwise, why should this grace be given? All officials have to face the accusation of the imperial court, so is it better not to serve as officials? Starting this year, the deputy envoys of each province will appoint the censors of academic records to examine the scholars of each province. They will not only examine their knowledge of the classics, but also their merits in education."

Wen Chun hesitated, "Your Majesty, should we discuss this with the elders and other ministers?"

"It's natural to discuss it." Zhu Changluo looked at him, "Now I will discuss it with you first. Wen Zongxian and Shen Gelao are in charge of the culture and education of the whole country. The Censorate will draft a memorial and we will naturally start the discussion."

Wen Chun understood, but this question was very difficult to draft for the Censorate.

It was the Censorate that first came up with this strategy, so naturally the Censorate took the lead in standing on the other side of the gentry.

Who wants to be monitored?

His previous suggestion was to send someone down to "advise", but now the emperor is preparing to send someone directly down to "supervise".

The provincial education commissioners did have the power to remove the official titles of local scholars, but such cases were rare. Usually, only when a scholar with official titles committed a serious crime would they be expelled to serve as a warning to others.

But now the emperor obviously wants to make this a system. With an examination every three years, will there be people demoted or expelled every three years?

"Is this topic difficult to write?" Zhu Changluo asked him.

Wen Chun felt a chill on his back and quickly replied, "I would like to ask for some more details..."

He remembered that the emperor had stripped some scholars of their titles for talking nonsense and had even castrated a few.

It's not surprising to have such an idea.

Wen Chun and other important officials of the Censorate simply did not dare to think so extremely before.

The next day, the question from the Censorate was sent to the Cabinet.

Shen Yikuan looked at the contents as if they were a hot potato. He was very relieved and looked at Shen Shixing with a bit of gloating.

The Grand Secretary of Taichang is in charge of culture and education, and this question is originally about culture and education.

How to draft a ticket?

"Why does the Censorate..." Shen Shixing's voice was dry. After looking at Shen Yikuan and Wang Xijue, he understood.

Of course, the Censorate could not be so bold, so this was naturally the emperor's intention.

It's not like they haven't communicated with the Censorate before, and they know those three methods.

Wang Xijue coughed and said, "Rumo, what the Censorate said makes sense. The gentry have listened to the teachings of the sages and have been blessed by Your Majesty. They have been exempted from honorable positions and are responsible for education. It is also a righteous thing for them to be examined by the court." How could Shen Shixing not understand?

Generally speaking, this method is understandable.

But what time is now?
He just felt that it was difficult to lift the pen to draft the ticket.

There was silence in the cabinet, and after a while, a not-so-loud thunder suddenly sounded.

Shen Shixing's beard trembled, and he whispered, "Ah, Jingzhe..."

It was still a bit cold in Beijing in early February. Shen Shixing looked at them and said, "This is a serious matter. Should we ask His Majesty to hold a meeting of the Yan Dynasty to discuss it?"

"Rumo is in charge of culture and education, so naturally it is Rumo who will make the decision on this matter." Shen Yi Guan didn't care.

Wang Xijue said, "When we get to the Imperial Palace, His Majesty will certainly ask for Rumo's opinion. If there is anything wrong, why don't we three discuss it first?"

Shen Shixing choked again.

Although the Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites was very happy, after taking office, he planned to set up the Imperial College and spread fame and grace to the world. At the same time, he suddenly gave a heavy blow to the existing students and candidates. This was really too exciting.

Everyone understood that he wanted to dissuade this plan. After all, once it was implemented, the pressure would be extremely great.

But how to dissuade him? On what grounds?
After thinking it over, Shen Shixing could only say: "I'm afraid the world will be in turmoil..."

Shen Yikuan kept silent: The emperor has said many times that the world is in turmoil, but it is of no use.

Didn't the eunuchs explain why the world was in turmoil? Saying that the world was in turmoil only proved that it was urgent to do so.

Wang Xijue really said: "If you are upright, you have nothing to fear. If you are honest and open, why should you fear investigation? If there is uneasiness, it means there is a problem."

"Brother Yuan Yu, there are quite a few young and strong tenants among our servants who have surrendered." Shen Shixing did not preach to him, but only told him the truth, "We strictly enforce preferential treatment and exemption, and survey the land. If it harms the people, we will reduce preferential treatment and exemption... Don't you worry about a big mess?"

"I only know that there will be more positions and salaries, and more honors will be granted." Wang Xijue disagreed, "To be upright is what the gentry should do. Your silence is tantamount to telling Your Majesty on behalf of the gentry of the world that they are indeed disloyal, or at least not completely loyal. You can only show mercy and appease them, not admonish them at all."

Shen Shixing was in a dilemma.

Wang Xijue laughed again, and his laugh was very teasing: "If Rumo is in trouble, why not go with Wen Zongxian to visit the Duke of Yansheng. If the Censorate and the Duke of Yansheng submit a petition together, Rumo won't have to be so embarrassed."

Shen Yikuan almost couldn't hold it in: You are such a sinister guy.

Shen Shixing thought that this was the emperor's intention. According to their current understanding of the emperor's skills, if he were to appear before the emperor, the emperor's eloquence and attack power would be much better than Wang Xijue.

After all, the emperor sometimes spoke too bluntly, and he couldn't really bear the many big hats such as loyalty and righteousness.

"... can only try to make the gentry of the world more concerned?"

"Rumo is in charge of culture and education." Shen Yikuan said it was none of his business.

Shen Shixing looked at him: But this is the cabinet's proposal after all!

"Since the Imperial College has been established, Rumo will be the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy. Your reputation will be in the new rather than the old." Wang Xijue was much more sincere. "Your Majesty wants to revive the spirit of scholars. This trend cannot be disobeyed. It is also a matter of loyalty and righteousness."

President Shen Shixing sighed, stood up and bowed to him: "Thank you, Brother Yuan Yu."

After saying that, he picked up the question book and went out.

When they arrived at the Confucius Temple, he and Wen Chun first went to the Dacheng Hall to worship the statue of Confucius.

Shen Shixing stood up and looked up at the great sage and teacher, with mixed feelings in his heart.

Confucianism has existed for thousands of years, and the great Confucian scholars of all generations have continuously innovated. To this day, the call for "eliminating human desires" from the Song Dynasty to the present has never been fruitless, and even Wang Shouren's philosophy of mind has been misinterpreted by many people to indulge their own desires.

It is precisely because Shen Shixing knew that his arguments would not stand up to the emperor that Wang Xijue’s proposal was indeed a good idea.

He was considering it based on the actual reaction, but the emperor might be waiting for a landmark incident of disloyalty among the scholars.

Although the imperial court is facing financial difficulties, if someone really rebels, won't they grit their teeth and suppress the rebellion?
Kong Shangxian was extremely frightened and broke out in cold sweat as he looked at the question book in his hand.

"This this……"

He now regrets coming to the capital.

When they came here, they specifically asked the emperor for permission to stay in the capital, so naturally they had to report to the emperor when they left.

But how can he sneak back now? Is he unwilling to support the emperor?

Shen Shixing gave Kong Shangxian a great kowtow and said: "The reputation of culture and education, the morale of the scholar community, can only be encouraged and admonished by the vigorous call of Duke Yansheng!"

Kong Shangxian looked at Shen Shixing and Wen Chun who were bowing to him together, at a loss as to what to do.

They want to harm the Kong family. They want to harm the Kong family!

(End of this chapter)