Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 238 The Fear of Being Dominated by Taizu
Chu Fan had to hand over his men, but he didn't have to hand over so many people.

If all the relatives of the Chu clan who participated in the robbery and the attack on the governor's office were arrested, it would be better to just get rid of the Chu clan.

The emperor has now determined the nature of this incident. Someone is using the Chu vassal state as a weapon and taking advantage of the Chu Zong case and the reform of Zong Lu to cause chaos, which is intended to rebel.

Hou Gongchen just wanted to hear the names of these "dear relatives and friends" from the mouths of Chu clan relatives, which meant "confession and identification of criminals."

From this point on, the case was first "tried" by the Ministry of Clan Affairs.

But the number of people involved this time was indeed too large. The most serious incident, of course, was the beating to death of Zhao Kehuai and the serious injury to the deputy envoy of military preparation and several others.

Among these people, there were five leaders, and another seventy-eight people were unable to escape - after all, they were all well-known figures in Wuchang City, and there were too many people who recognized them after seeing such big chaos.

There were five main offenders and twenty-three accomplices who were actually to be removed directly from the clan list in the clan affairs office.

"As for the rest, I will report to His Majesty how to deal with them!" Hou Gongchen looked at the twenty-eight people. "According to the rules, His Majesty will issue an order and the Ministry of Clan Affairs will make the decision. In the end, it will be the same. But in order to thoroughly investigate this case, you must first go to the governor's office for trial. If there are any outsiders who persuaded you to make such a big mistake, you must confess and sign, and it will be included in the file!"

After that, Chen Lin brought the brothers Zhu Huakui and Zhu Huabi, the still-living Queen Mother of Chu, his brother Wang Ruyan and others, as well as Zhu Huaqian who had jointly impeached Zhu Huakui, Zhu Huazeng, Prince of Wugang, and 29 other relatives of the Chu vassal state, and boarded a boat to Beijing.

Hou Gongchen and Wang Bing stayed in Wuchang Prefecture. On the one hand, they had to find out the grievances and asset accounts of the Chu clan over the years, and on the other hand, they had to try the Chu clan relatives involved in the case together with local officials such as Liang Yunlong.

With the confessions of the captured scholars in the capital and the relatives of the Chu clan in Wuchang Prefecture, the emperor personally reviewed the Beijing camp in the south of Beijing on the first day of October, and then the three armies marched south. The entire Ming Dynasty fell into great fear.

The officials and gentry recalled the fear of being dominated by Taizu, which was passed down from their ancestors and recorded in folk writings.

In the capital city, the candidates who passed the special examination first faced soul-searching in front of the Huangji Gate.

Zhu Changluo sat on the throne under the Huangji Gate, looking at the tribute scholars with different expressions.

He set the questions for the palace examination.

"Guoyu" says: "The people have a ruler to govern them with righteousness. Righteousness brings benefits, and benefits enrich the people."

Confucius said, "The gentleman is concerned with righteousness, while the mean man is concerned with profit," and "When a gentleman studies the Way, he loves others, while when a mean man studies the Way, he is easy to lead." Xunzi's Zhenglun chapter says: If you cannot control profit with righteousness, and cannot disguise your nature with falsehood, then you should serve the people as well.

The Ming Dynasty’s national policy of exempting officials and gentry from official duties has been increasing over the dynasties. Exempting officials and gentry from official duties is for the sake of governing justice, honoring and benefiting them, so as to make culture and education flourish and the country governed. Now that the emperor is strictly enforcing exemptions, is he putting justice first or benefit first? How should the officials and gentry of the world be treated?
Zuo Guangdou felt a chill all over his back.

Since Confucius, the debate on righteousness and profit has been discussed countless times.

There are many concepts here: who exactly are the gentlemen, villains, and people? They are not adjectives, but refer to a certain type of people in a special context.

The sentences that are not mentioned in the question, such as “righteousness brings profit, profit enriches the people”, “a villain is easy to control if he learns the Tao”, and “if you cannot control profit with righteousness, and cannot disguise your nature, then you should serve the people as well”, are they just put there to count as words?
The last two questions are even more difficult.

Can a mere scholar discuss whether the emperor's will puts righteousness first or profit first? Even if you have an opinion, you must have reasons and evidence to support or refute it.

Of course, you can also take shortcuts. After all, you are a member of the officials and gentry, and you can talk about how to deal with it from your own perspective.

So this can be seen as a statement of opinion.

But that's not possible. After all, the palace examination is to select talents for the country. It's to test their ability to govern in the future. We have to put forward some of our own opinions from the perspective of specific things.

To put it bluntly, the question is how to implement the strict implementation of preferential treatment and exemption without causing disasters like the recent Chu-Fan Rebellion.

After all, one could have added another sentence to the question: A gentleman with courage but no righteousness will cause chaos.

He glanced at the emperor who was sitting motionless from a distance, and after thinking it over again, he picked up his pen and wrote:
【As for the two words righteousness and profit, I follow Xiangshan. What people understand is determined by what they are used to; what they are used to is determined by what they aspire to. So we should give preferential treatment to officials and gentry, so that they can aspire to righteousness. By giving them wealth and honor, they will forget about profit, and then they will perform their duties, work diligently, care about the country and the people, and not think about themselves. The strict implementation of preferential treatment and exemption is to put righteousness first...】

Zuo Guangdou felt that since the emperor asked whether the emperor put righteousness or profit first in the strict implementation of preferential treatment, this was naturally a question of direction.

This question actually has a standard answer. After all, if one values ​​righteousness above all else, righteousness will prevail over profit, and if one values ​​profit above all else, profit will prevail over righteousness.

In times of chaos, people are greedy for profit, live without restraint in their health, despise propriety and morality and value courage and strength, the poor become thieves and the rich become robbers.

Isn't the strict implementation of preferential treatment and exemption a warning to those "traitors" who evade taxes? Isn't this the theme of "righteousness brings profit, and profit brings prosperity to the people"?
If the policy of preferential treatment and exemption is not strictly implemented, then profit is the first priority. Then, since the emperor values ​​profit, why should officials and gentry "control profit with righteousness and disguise their nature"?
The final question actually points to a very simple implication: if one has such a big opinion on strict preferential treatment, then one cannot use righteousness to control profit and disguise nature. Such officials and gentry should not be gentlemen who govern the country, but should be villains who are easily manipulated.

To put it bluntly, we must not only eliminate officials and gentry from the sequence of "gentlemen" who rule the population, but also stop pretending to be "common people" ourselves. We must become the "villains" who are truly ruled in the context of the pre-Qin period, and the "common people" of today.

Strictly enforcing preferential treatment and exemption does not mean competing with the people for profit. It only means competing with the "gentlemen" for profit. It requires the gentlemen to pursue righteousness rather than compete for profit.

This of course puts righteousness first.

Zhu Changluo just sat here and watched the candidates answer the questions in the palace examination.

He looked at Shen Shixing who was also here with him. Zhu Changluo had already accepted Shen Shixing's resignation, but there was one last request: to complete this special examination.

As an "old party" that gave hope to the gentry of the world during the transition period, he wanted to contribute his last bit of light and heat.

The rankings of the palace examination selected under his leadership made all the gentry in the world confirm that an era had indeed passed.

This time, Zhu Changluo wanted to use the palace examination topic to explain in detail the issues of righteousness and profit in the preferential treatment of officials and gentry.

The days when officials and gentry across the country could enjoy both the benefits of preferential treatment and exemption are gone forever.

The emperor should not question the officials and gentry about their privileges and exemptions, which should not represent the righteousness of the ruling order and moral rules. It is merely a bargaining chip used by the emperor to exchange for the officials and gentry to obey the guidance of righteousness.

This is the bargaining chip in the emperor's hand.

If you can increase the chips, why can’t you reduce them?
If you don’t give it to me, you’ll fight, make a fuss, or even try to snatch it?
Moreover, it has not decreased. It is already the end of the third year of Taichang, and it is just a strict exemption!

The three armies of the Beijing Camp were all on the road. Wherever they went, they were only familiar with the marching routes in various directions and the terrain of some places suitable for setting up camps that had been planned in advance by the staff of the Military Strategy Hall of the Privy Council based on the geographical maps of the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty.

But after Shen Li expressed his position in the Yangxin Palace, the Censorate had already sent letters to governors-general, provincial inspectors, and censors in various places, and began a formal investigation into the process of collecting autumn grain in the third year of Taichang.

Who are still eating more free food?

There are some people who pass the burden of strict preferential treatment on to the common people who rent their land, so that they can't make ends meet. Whenever they encounter birth, old age, sickness or death, they have to sell their land, children and daughters.

Who were directly involved in the malicious spread of rumors about the Chu clan and even directly instigated the Chu clan riot?
Don’t think that it doesn’t matter if you are not from Huguang. Li Cai, who is far away in Zhenhaiwei, Suzhou, and Ding Weining, who lives in Shandong, have already sent people to bring it back to the capital.

At the Wang family in Taicang County, Suzhou Prefecture, many people came before Wang Dingjue, and many of them bowed repeatedly.

"As the Prime Minister, can't he speak out for the gentry of the world and say a few words of injustice?"

Wang Dingjue looked at the elder of the Song family who had canceled the engagement of his eldest granddaughter with an indifferent expression.

"What injustice have you suffered that requires my brother to appeal to His Majesty?"

"There are rumors among the people, but they are just for gossip. How can we say that they are plotting a rebellion?"

"Brother Song, are you also discussing this a lot? Since you know it's just a rumor, Brother Song has always been known for his wisdom, so why are you discussing this so much?"

"…It's not just…"

"Then I don't understand." Wang Dingjue looked at the others, "Not you guys either?"

Everyone looked embarrassed.

"If anyone has grievances, he should go to the government office to seek redress. My humble abode is not a government office. I am an old man living in seclusion in my hometown. Do you think I can comment on the government? My brother has been an official for many years. How he handles things is not for me to influence. Since you are not involved in this matter, you can rest in peace. Please go back."

"Friendship between fellow townsmen should always be..."

"Our fellow townsman's friendship shouldn't put my brother in an unjust position." Wang Dingjue said solemnly, "My brother is in charge of the Government Affairs Council. If he protects someone who intends to rebel because of our fellow townsman's friendship, how is he different from the mastermind?"

He sneered in his heart.

Isn’t it because there is no sign of the strict exemption being withdrawn?
I dare to do it, but I don’t dare to take responsibility for it.

Even someone like Li Cai who was only keen on teaching got involved, not to mention the families of his students. Some families in the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changjiang, Jiaxing and Huzhou took advantage of the situation and added fuel to the fire.

How could they have imagined that the emperor would directly put the hat of treason on the head of Chu Fan, who stormed the governor's office and killed the governor of Huguang, but put the hat on the heads of some people who were hiding behind the scenes and fanning the flames.

The crime of treason will result in the execution of the entire family.

Now people are afraid and know how to protest their injustice. The excitement of the past few months is gone.

Many people left unwillingly and angrily, but the elder of the Song family stayed.

"He Shigong, at that time, it was only because of the public opinion in the literati circle that the Song family had to..." He smiled flatteringly, "Now that the two children have grown up, I wonder when they will set a date?"

Wang Dingjue looked at him strangely, then said quietly, "The Wang family is too high to marry. My granddaughter has been promised to a primary school student at the Imperial College by my brother and His Majesty."

(End of this chapter)