Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 263: The Young Emperor Becomes the Teacher of His Old Officials

Shen Li's life was smooth sailing in the early stages.

In the 44th year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing, he passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy as a scholar-official, and was granted the title of reviewer. He had a fellow townsman, Gao Gong, who was also a cabinet minister and was one of Zhu Yijun's lecturers when he was young.

After Zhu Yijun succeeded to the throne, Zhang Juzheng taught Shen Li strictly, but Shen Li was very dignified and polite. In contrast, Shen Li was very favored by Zhu Yijun.

Later, Shen Li temporarily left the court because his parents passed away one after another and returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period. Zhu Yijun asked Shen Li many times whether he had finished mourning, so in the ninth year of Wanli, Shen Li returned to the court and was promoted quickly this time.

From a clean official in the Hanlin Academy, he was directly promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the tenth year of Wanli, and became the Minister of Rites in the twelfth year of Wanli.

In the first half of his life, he advocated etiquette and morality, but after becoming the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan with the emperor's favor and trust, he finally had to face the power struggle in the court.

Under the manipulation of Shen Shixing and Shen Yiquan, Shen Li began a rough second half of his life. Since he was forced out of the imperial court in the 16th year of Wanli, the more than ten years in his hometown changed him. Now he wants to realize his ambitions with the Inspection Office, and the emperor thinks he has gone from one extreme to another.

In the final analysis, from being defeated in the power struggle to returning to the court and directly serving as the Grand Secretary of the Censorate and the Minister of the Chief Censorate, judging from his official career alone, Shen Li was still a smooth person and still had not become a person with real power.

This time, when he recommended the Minister of Personnel in the court, could his approach be considered as skillful?
"In addition to inspecting the officials, Yu Tai should spend more time on family affairs. Although Yu Tai is honest and poor, the Shen family is known as the leader of the eight major families in Shangqiu, which will sooner or later become Yu Tai's weakness." Zhu Changluo reminded him meaningfully, "The prosperity of the Shen family is all due to Yu Tai. If Yu Tai cannot have the final say in family affairs, I am afraid that in the future, people will inevitably say that if the family is not in order, how can you dare to claim to govern the country and bring peace to the world."

Shen Li's face turned pale, feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

As one of the five prime ministers, if his ability is so low, why does Your Majesty want to keep him?

But Zhu Changluo said, "Unless the Imperial Censor is really unable to take charge of the affairs, I intend to let you be the Chief Imperial Censor. When the Imperial Censor is in office, the precedent that the head of the Censorate must be an honest official will be established. The Censorate will not abuse its power, but only conduct impeachment impartially; it will not cause trouble, but only follow the laws and regulations when encountering cases. If the Imperial Censor can think it through and put his life's ambition on this matter, the foundation of the Censorate will be laid by him."

"…Your Majesty's admonition, I am ashamed to accept it…"

First, I considered his bloodline, and then I told him clearly that I would use him as long as he lived.

If this is not the unwavering divine favor, what is it?
Shen Li had mixed feelings and felt a little confused.

He was the teacher of Jin Shang's father, but now Jin Shang seems to be his teacher.

"Power, power. In the court, between the emperor and his subjects, the word power has been talked about in every dynasty. How about we, the emperor and his subjects, talk about power while we have tea and chat tonight?"

The generation and exercise of power, the restriction and balance, Zhu Changluo received a different education and had good experience, and he also gained personal insights after so many years as an emperor.

There was no in-depth communication with Shen Li before this, because Zhu Changluo wanted him to do it first, to run into obstacles, encounter problems, and start thinking first.

Now that he has begun to think that the Ministry of Justice should also be under the jurisdiction of the Inspectorate, it means that the time is ripe.

The transcendent royal power, the sensitive military power, the important personnel power, the legal power of checks and balances, the financial power that makes people love and hate it... In such a large imperial country, there are too many types of power, and they are so complicated.

On the upper level, there is the power structure artificially divided and broken up by the emperor in order to consolidate his royal power; and on the lower level, there is the actual power structure reorganized by officials based on their official positions, relationships, and policy positions.

It couldn't be clarified, so Shen Li thought about influencing the candidates for some important positions.

The boundaries of power are becoming increasingly blurred.

This night talk was very in-depth. Zhu Changluo said a lot of his inner thoughts, which shocked Shen Li.

He had always thought that the emperor had set up a prime minister and divided it into five, but it was still a division and control. He did not expect that this was the first step, and the emperor was really prepared to trust these prime ministers in the future. "After the establishment of one house and four courtyards, the government offices were all under the jurisdiction of each other. Now it is just a transitional stage, and there are many unreasonable places. But it conforms to the general rules of the past, connecting the upper and the lower, and disputes will naturally arise in the actual operation process. Only when there are disputes can there be discussions and compromises. In the end, the boundaries will become clearer and clearer. When we reach that step, we can talk about clarifying it properly."

Zhu Changluo sighed and said, "There is a difference between the monarch and his subjects. Being promoted to the prime minister is the highest position for a minister. Power is of course too tempting, and there are always people who are not satisfied. We cannot replace the monarch with a subject, but there are always ways to expand real power through personnel, cliques, and the Ministry of Justice. If we spend more time on power struggles, we naturally have less energy to spend on state affairs. If I can make the Ming Dynasty have a center that can work together and spend more time on state affairs, and everyone no longer takes huge risks to seek greater power but truly performs their duties, it will be an unprecedented achievement."

"...I have always prided myself on being selfless, but I couldn't help but fall into it."

The atmosphere of the conversation reached this point, and even if the emperor said something like "the minister will replace the king", Shen Li was not frightened or uneasy.

"In the final analysis, although the important officials all come from the Confucian school, they cannot be called comrades in arms. Their life ambitions are not the same, and they vary in size. They all have their own temperaments and habits of thinking and making decisions." Zhu Changluo spread his hands helplessly, "Didn't the Minister of Rites think carefully about the profound meaning of the theory of investigating things and the theory of seeking knowledge that I have gained in the past few years? I have given the power of personnel to the Jinxian Academy, and he has been caught up in the power struggle, losing sight of the main point and pursuing the trivial."

Shen Li seemed to be thinking about something.

"In fact, this is what the Imperial Court sought in the early years." Zhu Changluo did not hide the fact, "It is easy to select someone, but it is difficult to ensure that the selected people have good ambitions, principles, and methods of doing things. I set up the Tongzheng Academy under the Imperial Study, and now it is just a formality. But after all, there must be a beginning. How should we teach before taking office, what should we pay attention to and what can we tolerate when selecting officials, how should we quickly familiarize ourselves with the new position and make achievements after selecting people, and how should we inspect and supervise after taking office. It is more important than anything else to study these issues clearly."

"…In terms of official administration, I should only focus on how to inspect and supervise."

"Yes." Zhu Changluo nodded and smiled, "Don't you think that this is exactly what you wanted to do in the past to compile a new set of rules and regulations, so that everything will be in order from now on? However, this time I am here, and we need to consider it more carefully and comprehensively, gather the wisdom of the monarch and his subjects, and take one or two generations to do it."

"I will gladly accept your advice!" Shen Li's morale suddenly grew stronger. After all, the ideals he had held since his youth were finally affirmed, although the method was different.

Zhu Changluo stood up and bowed: "The Master said, 'When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher.' Although I have the intention, I have to rely on wise ministers to discuss with me. In this way, the Ming Dynasty will not lose its foundation for a hundred generations. If the government can be harmonious and the people can be happy, the people will be very happy. Act with a public heart, even if the method has some problems, I can be tolerant and understanding. I am not afraid of disputes or difficulties. I am only afraid that the imperial court will retreat in difficulties and become discouraged. Living in a turbid world but looking forward to the light, this is a real man. I entrust the power of the censorate to you, my dear."

His mood had been up and down throughout the day. At this moment, watching the emperor bow, Shen Li stood up, carefully straightened his clothes, put on his official hat again, and then performed the official salute seriously.

"My family is a mess, and the court is an even bigger mess. I am 77 years old, and today I have the opportunity to listen to your teachings. I understand your majesty's broad mind and ambition, and I know that I am too ambitious. Guide has been focusing on water conservancy for more than ten years, which is the only thing in my life that has lived up to the grace of heaven and the people." He looked at the emperor with moist eyes, "I am ashamed to be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility, how dare I not die for him?"

At this moment, he finally crushed, suppressed, and lowered his lifelong lofty ambitions. He no longer felt that he could bring peace to the world by doing what he wanted.

Being able to make a small achievement is already a great merit that will be passed down through the ages.

The emperor and his ministers bowed to each other in the Yangxin Palace, and finally Liu Ruoyu escorted Shen Li out of the palace.

Compared with the daytime, Liu Ruoyu felt that Shen Li's steps seemed to have become much lighter.

Although I am already seventy-seven, is it too late?

As long as you start, it’s never too late.

Shen Li was very excited along the way. After returning home, the first thing he said was to his old servant and housekeeper.

"Early tomorrow morning, you will go back to Guide in person and ask the clan leaders and elders to come to the capital to see me."

"...all of them?" The housekeeper was shocked. "They are all..."

Shen Li just frowned: "Older than me?"

The emperor was right.

If he can't even handle his household affairs properly, what ambitions does he have?
(End of this chapter)