Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 339: The Grand Secretary overturned the table for the Emperor! A loyal minister appeared!
Zhu Houcong knew Shuangyu Island because it would become an island famous both in China and abroad in the future.

That's why Zhu Houcong asked Zhu Wan to investigate the island.

Although destroying the smugglers' lair would intensify the conflict between the imperial court and the wealthy families along the coast, and even with foreigners.

But as long as the sea ban remains a national policy, this place will still be a gathering point for illegal armed organizations and a concentration place for bandits.

If the imperial court wants to maintain its authority, it should wipe out this place.

It is the so-called unbreakable.

Unless these smugglers and the big coastal companies behind them are dealt a heavy blow, opening the sea will never become a consensus among the government and the opposition.

What's more, Zhu Houcong has now established the imperial merchant system and is also going to inspect the East. He has also added an inspection team before that and strengthened local security. Naturally, he is not afraid that sending troops to Shuangyu Island will affect the overall stability of the southeast.

Since the lost standard musket was recovered, there has been no disturbing major case in the capital.

However, the murder of the two censors Liang Shibiao and Chen Zhen in a busy city did make the civil servants in the court who had the same temperament as Guo Nan, who tried their best to protect the rights of scholars and who also understood that this was a show of defiance by the emperor, even more indignant.

After all, they were already angry about the emperor's actions of overturning the table to deal with Xiong Yiqi, Jia Yong and others, and also hitting Guo Nan to death, but they were also full of sympathy for Guo Nan. Now the two censors were killed tragically.

Therefore, a civil servant like the Censor Wang Mao brazenly requested at the court meeting that Guo Nan be buried with honor, saying that Guo Nan seemed rebellious but was actually loyal, and his fate was due to the support of the people, so he requested a generous pension to win the hearts of the people and call for loyalty. Some said that the untimely deaths of the two censors undermined the dignity of the court, so he requested severe punishment for the officials and dismissal of Shi Bao, an official of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But as soon as Wang Mao made this request, Wang Ao stepped out and said bluntly:
"His Majesty!"

"The Censor Wang Mao's conduct is not upright, so his words are even more unrighteous!"

"Guo Nan coerced the emperor to death. If he is buried with great ceremony, wouldn't that encourage ministers to coerce the emperor? He also said that because the two censors died in an accident, the officials should be severely punished. But in fact, when the murder was discovered, the officials responded quickly. Not only are they not guilty, but they are quite responsible. He is confusing right and wrong!"

Wang Mao was shocked when he heard this.

The other court officials also looked at Wang Ao in astonishment.

Wang Ao continued, "In addition, I remember that the censor Wang Mao offered me five thousand silver dollars to write a birthday calligraphy. It was obviously an attempt to bribe me, but I declined and only warned him to correct his mistakes and be a clean person; don't learn these evil practices in the officialdom!"

"And now, I have heard that his words are quite unrighteous, so I know that he has not changed. It can be said that his conduct is still unrighteous, and in order to gain fame, he does not hesitate to confuse right and wrong and confuse the public. Therefore, I ask that you severely punish him and expel him from the ranks of the imperial court!"

Zhu Houcong looked at Wang Mao and asked, "Is what the elder said true?"

Wang Maoze's forehead was covered with sweat, and he knelt on the ground: "It's true!"

Zhu Houcong also frowned after hearing this: "Since this is the case, I will approve Wang Ge Lao's request and submit his petition to the Ministry of Personnel, ordering him to be transferred to a miscellaneous position in the extreme border areas to make him repent."

The Minister of Personnel Zhao Huang hurriedly bowed and said yes.

Wang Mao stood up and retreated into the court, only glancing at Wang Ao with hatred.

Wang Mao couldn't understand why it was common in official circles to curry favor with the nobles by paying them money in the name of asking for calligraphy. Often, the superiors could choose not to accept the money, but the subordinates had to give it during festivals and ceremonies. At the same time, the superiors would not expose the subordinates.

But today, Wang Ao treated him like this, taking the initiative to report in the court something that was already considered normal in official circles, and even said it was a bribe to him!
This is obviously a violation of official rules and it is like turning the table over.

After all, how can the courtesy of scholars towards each other be considered bribery?

So, Wang Mao couldn’t understand.

But Wang Ao himself knew very well why he did this.

Because, when the emperor insisted on letting Wang Bangqi secretly kill the two censors in order to retaliate, he said that if anyone wanted to overturn the table, he should be the one to do it, so as to prevent the bureaucracy from feeling dissatisfied with the emperor in addition to fear.

However, Zhu Houcong believed that the murder of his close minister Zhang Tong had already happened, and he needed to show his power in person to his old close ministers, so he rejected Wang Ao's kindness and only let him come out and overturn the table for him if he encountered something like Guo Nan.

So when Wang Mao was about to show off, Wang Ao chose to overturn the table before Wang Mao angered the emperor, and put Wang Mao in an embarrassing position in a way that was not in line with official rules.

That's right!

What Wang Ao did was indeed against the rules.

This will prevent lower-level officials from casually offering bribes to senior officials in the future.

Because Wang Ao started the practice, people inevitably started to think that bribery in an elegant way was also bribery, and it could easily be used as a sacrifice by superiors to consolidate the emperor's favor.

The senior officials would also blame Wang Ao for this, after all, this would be equivalent to cutting off his income.

Generally speaking, whenever local officials came to Beijing to pay homage or to assess officials, it was the time when high-ranking and powerful officials in Beijing would accept bribes on a large scale, and they euphemistically called it "opening the market."

But now, if Wang Ao does this, won’t it affect the scale of the “market opening”?

More importantly, this will greatly reduce the number of honest officials who dare to give advice.

Because these days, the atmosphere in officialdom has become extremely corrupt. In addition, the ills caused by the Ming Dynasty's low-salary system for officials for hundreds of years are still having a lasting impact. Therefore, there are very few officials who are truly clean and honest. If one is to be both honest and hold a high position, it is very difficult.

In this way, if the standards for honest officials are really strictly defined, then few officials would dare to directly confront the imperial power by claiming to be honest, loyal, and morally upright gentlemen.

Just as Yan Song was corrupt in history, and Xu Jie, the leader of the Qingliu, was not much better, Hai Rui, who was truly honest and loyal, was particularly rare.

Although Wang Ao's actions violated official rules, he was actually protecting those who wanted to learn from Guo Nan. Therefore, he would rather bear the infamy of demoting a loyal and honest minister than give him the opportunity to directly rebel against the imperial power.

After all, if he, as an assistant minister, really sits back and does nothing, then the emperor will have to deal with it directly, which will naturally exacerbate the conflict between the emperor and his ministers.

Zhu Houcong approved Wang Ao's request because he knew what he was thinking.

then.

Wang Mao was then exiled to Guizhou to serve as a prefect.

And after him, no civil servant dared to speak of these things again.

However, after the court was dismissed, many people looked at Wang Ao with suspicion, and even took the initiative to keep their distance from him, and began to criticize Wang Ao in secret.

"No wonder he was able to return to the cabinet and enter the imperial study. Now it seems that he is indeed able to please the emperor!"

"Bah! You are such a hypocritical and cunning person. Although you are not greedy for money, you are actually greedy for power. You pretend to be noble!"

"Such despicable and shameless people will sooner or later bully the gentry!"

Wang Ao just couldn't hear anything. He just found that no one was walking with him. Even his fellow villagers didn't come to greet him. The Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng and others stayed away from him.

For a while.

Wang Ao's mood was as gloomy as the rainy day.

However, he did not regret it. He just sighed slightly, saying that this was how officialdom was. If one was truly loyal to the country, he would have no friends. Even those who admired him would not dare to approach him.

However, Yan Song, who was the envoy of observing customs and rectifying social practices in the capital, stood behind Wang Ao and thought for a while. He felt that the biggest reason why he did not make as much progress as his students was that he cared too much about other people's opinions before. He did not know that in order to make faster progress, he needed to work hard and understand the emperor's thoughts, and should not care about other people's opinions. As long as the emperor favored him, laughter and scolding would not have any effect.

Therefore, Yan Song gritted his teeth and ran to Wang Ao from behind, supported Wang Ao, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhenze, I will support you. After all, it is a rainy day and the ground is slippery."

Yan Song believed that if he did this, the emperor would see it.

(End of this chapter)