Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 196 Shaoxing Advisor, Heretic in the Wild

In fact, all the smart officials have already understood the current situation.

At least at the moment, the emperor's determination was frighteningly firm. After several measures such as increasing official positions and salaries, holding examinations every three years for the gentry, strictly enforcing preferential treatment, and allowing local governments to set up public banks, the emperor made one thing clear: Don't think you can live in peace by just resigning.

If you don't hold an official post, you will become a gentry under investigation. If you hold an official post, you can still hope that the emperor will improve your treatment in the future so that you can continue to be comfortable.

The Zhejiang Censorate had many deputy censors, including deputy censors for education, deputy censors for military preparation, deputy censors for coastal defense, deputy censors for post stations, and so on.

Chen Jingji was the deputy envoy of the post station, in charge of post station transportation in Zhejiang.

The news that Changxing County Magistrate Shu Baiqing had gone "crazy" and that Huzhou Prefecture Magistrate Chen Youxue had written to various counties and states to encourage criminal justice were both passed on to him through many people, along with requests for help.

For example, the request for help from Mao Kun’s second son.

"Did Supervisor Xie go to Huzhou?" he asked his master.

"That's right." The lawyer was in a nervous mood. "Mr. Dong, I heard that the Education Office sent letters to all prefectures to summon the gentry back to their hometowns to take the exam. I..."

He was a scholar from Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, so naturally he was among those who were recalled.

Chen Jingji looked unhappy.

There are so many people working as legal advisors in the government in Shaoxing alone. Will they all return to their hometowns to take the exam?
Did Wang Keshou take this into consideration when he sent down the document?

There was a saying in the early Ming Dynasty: Half of the legal advisors in the world come from Shaoxing.

Today, it is even more than before. We cannot say that most of them come from Shaoxing, but in the rich areas of Jiangnan, there are indeed many people engaged in this profession. In places where many officials have been born, generations have accumulated experience, and many unspoken rules and tips have been passed down. The rich areas of Jiangnan have a huge advantage in this regard.

Of course, one does not need to have a high degree of honor to be a legal advisor. It is enough to understand the key points of officialdom and have a good brain. However, having the status of a student is certainly more suitable for officialdom.

What's more, in Jiangnan, it is not particularly difficult to pass the examination to become a student or simply donate money.

Now that this official document has been sent out from the Zhejiang Provincial Education Office, how many officials' teachers across the country will have to return to their hometowns to wait for examinations?
At the literary meeting that evening, Chen Jingji asked this question to Wang Keshou.

"Zhejiang is unusual," Chen Jingji said. "Brother Yixu, the news has not yet spread to other provinces. I am in charge of the post and may be able to stop it. Do you really want to let these letters from home spread to other provinces? This year is unusual. There are heavy things to do in various places. How many colleagues will rely on you to do things?"

Wang Keshou had never thought about this problem before.

Although he is self-disciplined, his talents are not top-notch.

After hearing Chen Jingji's reminder, Wang Keshou's expression was also noticed by Chen Jingji and others.

They looked at each other, feeling somewhat happy.

If I do him a favor, I will gain something in return.

Wang Keshou felt that Xie Tingzan might have set him up, but the official document had already been issued...

"This is the first time to inspect the gentry." Wang Keshou thought for a moment and shook his head. "If my colleagues think this is not right, they can submit a report. I'm sure the court will set more detailed rules, and it will be easier next time."

Of course, he might be criticized by his colleagues because of this, but for Wang Keshou, it was his first time doing this and it was normal for some problems to cause inconvenience.

Anyway, he was just following the imperial orders and decrees of the court.

Chen Jingji's expression froze, and he reminded him again earnestly: "Correspondence is not an easy thing. Take Shaoxing Prefecture as an example. Some people are even working as staff members far away in the border areas. How can they rush back in a hurry? If you can't go back to your hometown to wait for the exam in person, should you be classified as inferior?"

"How to examine the gentry is the rule put forward by the Censorate and the Ministry of Rites." Wang Keshou said, "You have all read the edict and the written document. The examination focuses only on whether it violates the national law and the reputation of the people in the village. In addition, it tests the knowledge of the gentry."

He paused and said, "It is said that only academic examinations should be conducted in person. Otherwise, if we only ask you to present the scriptures and articles through correspondence, it may be suspected of ghostwriting. This point... that's it. I will present this question tonight and ask for your judgment."

As they looked at each other, Wang Keshou said, "Since there are talented students here today, I will also test their knowledge. If there are any outstanding talents, I will not hesitate to recommend them to Supervisor Xie. Of course, the power of favor lies with the Imperial Censor, and it also depends on whether their knowledge and articles can catch the eye of Supervisor Xie."

Wang Keshou gave this shortcut to Xie Tingzan, which was to imply that he would not be biased in the regular examination.

Chen Jingji and the others were not familiar with Xie Tingzan at all, but this guy was running around when he came to Zhejiang for sightseeing, and he is running around even more now.

Fortunately, Wang Keshou was not completely unkind, so they could only accept the next best thing and continue to agree with him and start this special literary gathering.

Since the official document from the Education Office had already reached their ears, Shaoxing Prefecture, which was not far from Hangzhou Prefecture, had naturally also received the document.

When the Shaoxing prefect saw the contents of the document, his head immediately began to buzz.

How many gentry in Shaoxing are registered and enjoy preferential treatment but serve as staff outside?

"... Your Excellency, I'm afraid it will be too noisy."

"…What on earth is the Education Office trying to do?"

"Is it to make all officials in the world afraid? To stop obstructing the new policies?"

"...No, I have to go to the governor immediately to ask for instructions."

The Shaoxing prefect became more and more frightened the more he thought about it.

Now the Censor of Academic Affairs has not come to Shaoxing Prefecture yet, but if he uncovers many cases in Shaoxing Prefecture after he comes, it will be a huge explosion.

Once someone is questioned for violating national laws or bullying his fellow villagers, is there any case that is not handled by relying on the official position of "Dong Weng" and the private network of advisors of these Shaoxing advisors?

Shaoxing legal advisors are actually a network. Officials invite Shaoxing legal advisors because they value their professionalism and want to use this network to contact other officials more quickly.

If it spreads from them to their Dong Weng, it will almost affect the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom - not every official will hire a legal advisor, but how many levels of barriers are there from one official to another?

The prefect of Shaoxing was very afraid that the emperor wanted to use the investigation of the gentry as an opportunity to carry out a large-scale rectification of the officialdom.

Xie Tingzan actually didn't expect that the official document he drafted according to the needs and Wang Keshou's negligence would cause such a huge wave. Chen Jingji did not hesitate and then asked the provincial governor about his concerns about this matter.

The Zhejiang Provincial Governor and the Zhejiang Governor soon found out about it and realized that this could cause a huge trouble.

The memorials and reports were quickly drafted. Some asked the court to formulate a strategy specifically for gentry of this status, while others directly impeached Xie Tingzan and Wang Keshou for their lack of consideration, which caused a lot of controversy.

They didn't know that at this time, three impeachments were also submitted to the emperor.

One was from the Nanjing Minister of Rites, who impeached some incumbent officials in Nanjing for forming a poetry and prose society, and many of their poems and prose contained irresponsible comments on state affairs. He also presented two volumes of "Jinling Society Collection" published last year and this year respectively.

The second one was that Niu Yingyuan, the governor of Yingtian, impeached Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others for giving lectures at the Donglin Academy, holding meetings every month to discuss state affairs and criticize court officials.

The last one was written by Zhang Wenda, a member of the Beijing Ministry of Rites, who impeached Li Zhi, who lived in Tongzhou, for "daring to advocate heresy, misleading the world and slandering the people."

These are all memorials. The cabinet's opinion is: at this time when the policy of preferential treatment and exemption is strictly enforced, it is not appropriate to punish scholars for commenting on state affairs. Too much is as bad as too little.

Zhu Changluo looked at the drafters: Shen Yikuan and Shen Shixing.

"Mr. Wang didn't sign his name?" he asked Tian Yi.

Tian Yi replied, "In the past, Zhang Jiangling had done his best to ban the academy and scholars from discussing government affairs. Now that Wang Ge Lao is in charge of the new policy, he naturally thinks that he should be severely punished. His secret report has just been sent to the Yangxin Palace, and there is no record yet."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "Gu Xiancheng... Li Zhi is in Tongzhou..."

Zhu Changluo was of course aware of the famous Donglin Academy and Li Zhi.

Now he saw these three impeachment memorials and was pondering in his mind.

Was Ye Xianggao's behavior, which offended the officials and gentry in Jiangnan, due to his desire to advance himself and show his loyalty, or was it a hidden intention to intensify the conflict?

Geng Dingli pointed out in front of Zhu Changluo the details of the major case in Jiangnan last year: "There were more than three conspirators, so why only these three were prosecuted?" Zhu Changluo also knew from Xiao Daheng's secret report that Ye Xianggao was involved.

It was just that he invested first, which made it much easier for Mr. Xiao to do things later.

As the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, Ye Xianggao was not far from entering the cabinet. Zhu Changluo felt that Ye Xianggao mainly wanted to make progress.

It was quite reasonable for Governor Niu Yingyuan to dislike Donglin Academy. He was just worried that he could not intensify the conflict and handle more cases to make it easier to survey the land in several prefectures of Southern Zhili in the second half of the year.

But Li Zhi...

"Geng Dingli... is Li Zhi's student, right?"

"Not really. We are all from the same hometown. Li Zhi and Geng Dingli's second brother Geng Dingli were both teachers and friends. In the past, they were in Huangzhou Prefecture in Huguang..."

Li Zhi was a celebrity who had caused a lot of trouble in the court and the country over the years, so Tian Yi still knew him.

As a "heretic", it is not surprising that he is now impeached again.

All Zhu Changluo was thinking about was why he was impeached at this time for "daring to advocate heresy, misleading the world and deceiving the people."

Listening to Tian Yi's comments on Li Zhi, he said that one should not "take Confucius's right and wrong as right and wrong", "he is called a hermit, but his heart is like a merchant, he talks about morality, but his ambition is to steal", "he studies to get a high position, he holds an official position to seek honor and prominence", "he never makes plans for others", "the tiger hid in the grass in the past, but sits in the government office today. The big ones swallow people and animals, and the small ones even fish and shrimps."

Zhu Changluo finally understood why he had been repeatedly attacked and his works had been burned several times over the years.

"You've said a lot with all your heart." Zhu Changluo looked at Tian Yi.

"I know this matter is of great importance." Tian Yi just lowered his head.

"Yes, this is to make me express my attitude." Zhu Changluo nodded, "If I punish Li Zhi severely, it means that I will give more face to the officials and gentry of the world. If I forgive him, it means that I am really disappointed with the officials and gentry of the world and even the current Neo-Confucianism and culture."

Tian Yi didn't say anything.

"Jinling Poetry Society, Donglin Academy, Li Zhi..." Zhu Changluo showed a playful smile, "They are all different. I order the Jinling Poetry Society and Donglin Academy to select two people each, all of whom are in the opposition. In addition, Li Zhi, bring them all to the capital. I should listen to the opinions of the court and the opposition. It is better to listen to them in person and then make a decision on how to deal with them."

Tian Yi opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something but stopped.

"what happened?"

"...I just think that it will be lively."

"It's better to have some fun." Zhu Changluo sneered, "Keep an eye on Zhang Wenda and see what he does after the decree is passed on."

Some people have stirred up this matter. Faced with the emperor's attitude of neither directly approving nor firmly opposing it, are they afraid that Li Zhi will really go before the emperor and criticize the current court officials and culture and education?
That guy is really brave.

Zhu Changluo enjoyed watching the fun.

Isn't it because there is something wrong with the thinking of the Ming Dynasty officials and gentry that they have to go through so much trouble and effort to do so many things?
The Donglin Party members who prided themselves on their noble character, the masters of poetry and prose who were conceited about their talent, and Li Zhi, who was "stubborn" throughout his life, all came to the imperial court to show off their talents.

Zhu Changluo expressed his expectation.

He didn't know that memorials and impeachments from Zhejiang were coming in like snowflakes, and that Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner Wang Keshou was Li Zhi's real student.

Xie Tingzan had already arrived in Huzhou, and came in front of Mao Wei with eagerness rubbing his hands. The smiling eyes, as if he was looking at prey, were extremely terrifying.

Xiong Tingbi was in charge of supervising the academic records in Nanzhili, and in front of him was the largest group of gentry in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Even Xiao Daheng was a little scared: "Fei Bai, you have to learn the method!"

Xiong Tingbi nodded: "I have roughly understood the method."

(End of this chapter)