I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 81: Prime Minister Zhang is at the peak of his career, and Editor Shen is impeached again

"The Shen family is a family of noble character and noble talents, and a family of noble character and noble talent."

These words are like dandelions blooming on the hillsides outside Beijing in May, blown by the wind to all directions of the Ming Dynasty.

This made many young officials jealous.

Even if someone does not admit that Shen Nian is more talented than themselves, they have to admit that Shen Nian is luckier than themselves.

The father invited the genius doctor Li Shizhen to treat his son, and he also cured the little emperor who was sick during the suburban sacrifice; while walking along the Jinshui River, he saved the Minister of Revenue Yin Zhengmao who jumped into the river to remonstrate with the emperor.

This kind of incredible luck is no less than the lightning that struck the Duanmen Gate in front of the imperial city last year.

Of course, there are also those who criticize Shen Nian.

Some people say that he is good at getting along with everyone, and he is opportunistic and mysterious in his lectures. He always likes to find new ways and is too sharp.

Shen Nian ignored the rumor completely.

……

The third day of June.

Minister Yin, who is more aggressive and less afraid of being scolded than Shen Nian, showed up again.

Based on the "Wanli Accounting Records" by Wang Guoguang, the former Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Yin Zhengmao compiled a set of annual income data for the Taicang warehouse from the sixth year of Longqing to the third year of Wanli.

According to the data:

As of June of the sixth year of the Longqing reign, the annual income of the Taicang Warehouse was 2,525,616 taels of silver.

It continued to rise after that.

As of June of the third year of the Wanli reign, the annual income of the Taicang Warehouse was 5,043,000 taels of silver.

Almost doubled.

The time point chosen by Yin Zhengmao is very special.

The sixth year of Longqing was the year when Zhang Juzheng served as the chief minister.

Money doesn't lie.

It is obvious who made the greatest contribution.

He used real data to tell everyone: Since the implementation of the new policy, the results have been obvious, and Prime Minister Zhang has made great contributions.

He also quoted a sentence from Zhang Juzheng's report when the late emperor demanded silver from the Ministry of Revenue in the third year of the Longqing reign, as a comparison.

"The annual revenue is only a little over 2.5 million taels, but the annual expenditure is over 4 million taels. There is still a shortage of more than 1.5 million taels of silver every year, and we have no idea what to do."

This shows that the Ming Dynasty was on the rise.

After reading this memorial, young Wanli felt a sense of confidence that "the son will be stronger than the father."

He immediately ordered the Ministry of Public Administration to copy the memorial to all government offices, and generously rewarded the three great cabinet ministers and a number of officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

……

Hanlin Academy and Editing Office.

After reading this memorial, Shen Nian couldn't help but sigh at Yin Zhengmao's shrewdness.

Wang Guoguang could also organize such data, but he would never organize it in this way.

Because too many officials reject the new policy!

But Yin Zhengmao was fearless and made it clear that he stood with Zhang Juzheng and was willing to go through fire and water for the new policy.

Shen Nian was very clear about the value of this memorial.

This will silence countless opponents and will help implement the new policy more effectively.

recently.

Shen Nian has basically fully understood Zhang Juzheng's series of financial management measures.

In a nutshell: increase revenue and reduce expenditure, a two-pronged approach.

Open source.

That is, the land surveying method being implemented by the imperial court in many places and the one-whip method being tried out in some places.

throttling.

That is, punishing corrupt officials, curbing the wealthy and powerful from defaulting on taxes, curbing palace spending, reducing the number of officials, curbing the proliferation of vassal states, and saving banquet expenses.

The most effective means to increase revenue and reduce expenditure is the performance evaluation method.

Zhang Juzheng once said with great confidence: If we can carry out the examination successfully for several years, we can use the money we have for the government without increasing taxes.

He has said more than once: To consolidate the country, we must first ensure the safety of the people.

If we want to keep the people safe, we have to make the officials suffer.

This is exactly why more and more people are cursing and hating Zhang Juzheng.

In the minds of many officials, the performance evaluation system is a policy that "let the horse run without eating grass" and harms the country and officials.

On these policies, Shen Nian strongly supported Zhang Juzheng.

If the Ming Dynasty did not control land annexation and punish corrupt officials, the country would be doomed.

……

Just as many officials in the capital were celebrating Yin Zhengmao's memorial that proved that the Ming Dynasty was becoming increasingly powerful.

Zhang Juzheng was impeached again.

The person who impeached Zhang Juzheng this time is of great importance.

He and Zhang Juzheng were both successful candidates in the same imperial examination, and their ages differed by only one year.

He was born into a family of scholars and officials. His ancestors were prominent and his father was a famous official during the Jiajing period.

He was famous in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty and was known as the most talented man in the Ming Dynasty (this is questionable).

He is Wang Shizhen, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and the current Governor-General of Yunyang.

In his memorial, Wang Shizhen stated that Zhang Juzheng's brother-in-law, Wang Huashi, a student at Jiangling Prefecture School, had colluded with hundreds of people to cause trouble in the county government office over a land measurement issue and bullied Jiangling County Magistrate Li Yingchen.

He implied that Zhang Juzheng failed to discipline his children properly, which allowed his relatives to bully others by taking advantage of their power.

Actually, it’s not a big deal.

If Wang Shizhen had not submitted a memorial to the emperor, the matter might not have reached the capital.

But Wang Shizhen's words made the matter a big deal.

Because of his great reputation, he holds a very high status in the hearts of scholars all over the world.

Last May, Wang Shizhen criticized Zhang Juzheng.

When earthquakes struck several parts of Hunan, he submitted a memorial on earthquakes, citing oracle inscriptions and claiming that the earthquakes were caused by excessive power among officials, leading to unrest on the earth. This was an allusion to Zhang Juzheng, but Zhang Juzheng ignored him.

When Shen Nian saw Wang Shizhen's memorial, he immediately laughed.

He had an impression of Wang Shizhen.

He is the Wang Shizhen who is suspected to be Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, the author of Jin Ping Mei. He is also the Wang Shizhen who stayed at home in his later years to compile the national history in the form of chronicles and cursed Zhang Juzheng.

Shen Nian originally thought that an official would immediately follow up on this memorial to impeach Zhang Juzheng.

Unexpectedly, no one responded to Wang Shizhen.

at the same time.

Soon, a censor impeached Wang Shizhen for excessive recommendation, and then he was directly investigated by the Ministry of Personnel and had his salary taken away. He was soon transferred to the position of Chief Justice of the Nanjing Dali Temple.

Although the Nanjing Dali Temple Minister and the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate were both third-rank officials, the former was a sinecure.

Judging from his appointment as Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and the fact that Zhang Juzheng wrote him many letters to encourage him to be diligent in his government affairs, Zhang Juzheng had intended to push him towards a ministry position, but he did not care and continued to do his own thing.

The change of a real position into a vacant position was most likely the result of Zhang Juzheng's secret manipulation.

But Shen Nian felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

At present, Wang Shizhen’s official reputation and performance evaluation are not very good.

During his one year as governor of Yunyang, he made no achievements in government affairs and spent most of his time traveling. All the poems and essays he wrote were sold to the capital.

Judging from the content and quantity of his poems and essays.

He visited many places, drank many glasses of wine, tasted many cups of tea, and enjoyed countless delicious foods.

This is also the main reason for poor performance appraisal.

His impeachment was like a dud, not causing any splash in the capital.

This would have been impossible last year.

After this incident, Shen Nian felt that Zhang Juzheng's power had reached its peak.

This year will surely be the year when Zhang Juzheng's power will be at its peak.

……

June 18th.

Something happened that shook the entire Hanlin Academy.

Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, submitted a memorial requesting the revision of the "Da Ming Hui Dian".

The Ming Dynasty Code is a historical book that specifically describes the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty. It was first written in the tenth year of the Hongzhi reign and was supplemented twice during the Jiajing period.

As the saying goes: It is in prosperous times that classics are compiled.

The revision of the code at this time meant that Zhang Juzheng wanted to extend a series of reform measures to the Dianshi.

Little Wanli readily agreed.

Compiling history and classics is the main business of the Hanlin Academy, and the main force is the compilation, editing and review of historians.

This revision of the code will most likely last for more than ten years.

Some of the compilers, editors, and reviewers in the Hanlin Academy were very happy, while others frowned.

I am happy because I have the opportunity to participate in such a major event, which is indeed an honor for a historian.

The reason for frowning is that once the revision of the code begins, the daily workload will at least double.

As long as you hold a position in the Hanlin Academy, you must make revising the classics your first responsibility.

Shen Nian neither likes nor dislikes this.

He has always been very efficient in his work, and since his official position is low, he does not have to bear too much responsibility. Besides, the difference between revising the classics and writing the daily records is actually not that big.

But he absolutely doesn't want to work night shifts every day.

Because Gu Yue'er is going to give birth in about a month, he has to put his family first.

When Zhang Juzheng, Ma Ziqiang, Shen Shixing and others were designating the editors.

The officials of the Hanlin Academy have become busy, trying to finish the important tasks at hand and then devote themselves to the revision of the classics.

As for Shen Nian, he still went to and from the yamen as usual, never being late or leaving early, just like before.

……

On June 24, the list of people who would revise the "Da Ming Hui Dian" was finalized.

Zhang Juzheng served as the chief editor, Ma Ziqiang, Wang Tong, Lin Shizhang, Shen Shixing, and Wang Xijue served as deputy chief editors, and a number of editors, reviewers, etc. served as editors. In addition, officials from the Ministry of Rites, Dali Temple, Shuntian Prefecture, Honglu Temple and other government offices served as urging officials, supervising officials, transcribers, etc., involving hundreds of officials (as shown in the picture).

Shen Nian was naturally among them, serving as an editor.

Just when Shen Nian was about to readjust his daily official schedule.

Yao Bin, the Imperial Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, suddenly impeached Shen Nian!
The reason is——

"Hanlin Academy editor Shen Nian is lazy and indolent, returning home before dusk, leaving the candle on his desk dusty. He treats official duties like a wart, unnecessarily eating up the emperor's salary."

To put it bluntly: He thought Shen Nian went home before dinner time and did not even use the candles on the table, which made him a lazy official.

This Yao Jieshizhong was very rigorous and meticulous.

He ordered people to guard the gate of the Hanlin Academy for several days and obtained evidence that Shen Nian was always the last one to go to the court and the first one to leave.

In the editing room, Shen Nian had not touched a single candle that month, while the editors in the same room had used more than 20 candles, which was irrefutable evidence.

At last.

He also criticized Shen Nian by citing Zhang Juzheng's words when he submitted a memorial requesting the revision of the "Da Ming Hui Dian" to warn historians that they should "work hard to earn a living."

It can be said that the investigation was thorough and the physical evidence was sufficient, and Shen Nian was almost beaten to death.

soon.

Then two more censors echoed the sentiment, saying that Shen Nian left office too early and was lazy and negligent in his duties.

After seeing this impeachment memorial, Shen Nian could only smile bitterly. He went to and from the office on time, and had never been late or left early, yet he still made mistakes.

These guys are really good at finding angles!
This is the consequence of Shen Nian's aggressive behavior. A group of people want to see him get into trouble and go downhill.

In the Ming Dynasty, under the current performance evaluation system, the punishment for dereliction of duty was sometimes more severe than that for corruption.

Shen Nian thought about it and decided not to follow the usual practice and submit an explanation.

This time, he plans to try a different approach.

Let all the officials in the various government offices in the capital understand: what is a diligent official, what is a lazy official, and how difficult it is to mess with Shen Nian.

(End of this chapter)