The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 563: No One Available, What to Do
Wanli dug such a pit that the upright people who submitted memorials to advise him really didn't know how to climb out.

If they don't reply, they are deceiving the emperor; if they reply truthfully, they are plotting something bad; if they don't reply truthfully, they are deceiving the emperor again!
This statement must be responded to, because it would be absurd to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor by refusing to respond.

The question is, how do we respond to this?

If it was a cowardly and incompetent emperor, they might not have to worry about these things.

So what if I was bullied by the cowardly and incompetent emperor?

They are bullying the king, so what?

The problem is that the current emperor is not a cowardly and incompetent emperor. On the contrary, he is a warmongering emperor.

The current emperor has millions of troops at his command!

Moreover, the current emperor is notoriously cruel and will chop people down at will.

If they dare to deceive the emperor, their entire family will be executed!
This pit is really deep. How can they climb out?

Wanli also wanted to see how these guys would respond.

If these guys dare not answer, he will really execute a few of their entire family to serve as a warning to others.

He even decided who to kill.

Anyone who dares not to reply and continues to complain will be executed!
He couldn't cut off all the petitions at the moment, but it was okay to cut off a few of the ones that stood out.

Around noon on the third day, he was even a little impatient and carried little Zhu Changxun to the imperial study, waiting for Qingliu's reply.

As a result, Shen Li came in with a strange look on his face and a small stack of memorials.

Obviously, there are not many people who respond.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli couldn't help but ask, "Zhonghua, what's wrong? What's with that expression?"

Alas, you finally met Qingliu.

How do you say this?

Shen Li bowed and presented the memorial, with a strange look on his face, saying, "Your Majesty, Qingliu seems to be frightened."

Isn’t it good that Qingliu was frightened?
What's that expression on your face?
Wanli took the memorial and opened the copies. Sure enough, the Qingliu were so scared that they started to reply.

These upright people actually quoted scriptures and said that they were working for the country and the people, for the Ming Dynasty, and for the common people.

Obviously, this is bullshit.

However, these upright people no longer dared to "admonish" others. After talking about serving the country and the people, they ended the conversation hastily and did not talk about any rules afterwards.

This means giving in, begging for mercy, and not playing anymore.

Wanli glanced at the petitions for mercy and said calmly, "It doesn't seem to scare many people."

Alas, do you really want to start a killing spree?

These are all truly clean people. They have not taken bribes or committed crimes. They are all models of law-abidingness.

There are really not many officials like this in the court now.

Shen Li hesitated for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that we are currently punishing corrupt officials.

If the punishment continues like this, there will not be many officials left in the court, and most of them are honest officials.

I believe that although the Qingliu officials sometimes like to criticize current social ills, they are still good officials. At least they do not take bribes or commit crimes. Such officials are rare in the court."

You still tend to be a bit biased towards the Qingliu. Do you think the Qingliu are the same as Lu Kun and Zeng Tongheng?
Lu Kun and Zeng Tongheng were actually considered to be upright people, but they came to power to do practical things, not to go against the emperor.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then said solemnly: "Zhonghua, the clear stream you are talking about are people like Lu Kun and Zeng Tongheng.

They are indeed good officials, at least they can get practical work done, and they never mess around with other upright officials or even go against me.

These upright people are different. They just like to make trouble. They always think that I am wrong in this or that aspect, and I must listen to them.

They are mentally ill, you know?
I have to cure their brains. If they can't be cured, I will chop off their sick brains!"

Alas, these guys are really crazy.

Since you know that they are mentally ill, why bother to argue with them?
If you have a mental illness, chop them off!

This isn't the way to treat illness, is it?
Forget it, I’d better not try to persuade him anymore.

His Majesty doesn't like to hear this.

There is no need for me to make His Majesty unhappy for those mentally ill upright people.

Upon hearing this, Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand."

I'm glad you understand.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and then waved his hand.

Shen Li quickly bowed and took his leave.

Seeing this, little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, is Qingliu really frightened?"

It’s hard to say.

Wanli shook his head slightly, then patiently explained: "Those among the upright who still have some brains should be frightened, but those brainless youngsters may not be frightened.

They've only submitted a few memorials today, probably testing the waters to see if the Emperor will take drastic action. "Are these guys testing us?"

No wonder there are so few memorials today.

Little Zhu Changxun thought for a moment, then asked, "Father, what should we do next?"

Wanli picked up his pen and said solemnly, "Of course, we must tell them that we will not show any mercy."

After saying that, he wrote in red on the memorial: This will not happen again. If it happens again, you will be executed without mercy.

There were indeed not many memorials today, so there was no need for him to call Tian Yi, Sun Hai and Ke Yong over.

He straightened little Zhu Changxun up, then put the pen in his hand and said solemnly, "You will have to review memorials sooner or later. You can copy the remaining ones."

Oh, can I review memorials too?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun immediately started copying with great interest.

Wanli looked at the words written by the little guy and nodded slightly. The little guy was very hardworking and his handwriting was not bad, at least it was very neat.

Little Zhu Changxun finished copying it with great interest, and still felt a little unsatisfied when he said, "Father, this trick seems very good. Should we use this trick to deal with Qingliu in the future?"

Do you think Qingliu is a fool?

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Qingliu is not stupid, they will not jump into the same pit.

This trick is actually nothing. If you pay more attention, you won't fall into the trap. Next time, no matter what I ask, they will definitely answer first and then continue to persuade me. "

Uh, this trick can only be used once?

Little Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, then asked, "Father, will they let it go this time?"

Will Han Yu and Li Sancai miss this opportunity?

Wanli pondered and said, “It’s hard to say.

This is probably the only chance for Han Yu and Li Sancai to rally the Qingliu against us, and they won't let it go easily."

Sure enough, early in the morning at around noon on the fourth day, Shen Li still did not send many memorials.

This proves that many upright people are still hesitating whether to give in, beg for mercy, and stop playing.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Shen Li even said solemnly, "Your Majesty, Zhao Nanxing, a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, has submitted a report that the court is almost out of staff."

Zhao Nanxing?
Did this guy report it?

Wanli put the memorial of surrender and begging for mercy aside, took out Zhao Nanxing's memorial and took a look at it, and couldn't help but sneer.

This guy openly said that there was no one available in the court, but in fact he was implicitly threatening him that the Qingliu could not be moved, otherwise there would be no one available.

He pondered for a while, then asked, "Is the court really out of options?"

This is not a lie.

Shen Li nodded slowly and explained carefully, "Your Majesty, Li Qing has already investigated all corrupt officials of the fifth rank and above.

Now he has started to investigate the sixth-rank officials and seventh-rank county magistrates. We have almost used up all the Jinshi who are not corrupt, and even recruited many of those who are over 60 years old and retired.

The problem is, it’s still not enough. Now that the county magistrate has been found to be corrupt, we can only replace him with a juren.

Not many Juren were able to become officials, because most of them were in their prime and still wanted to take the imperial examination to obtain the title of Jinshi, while the rest were mostly old and weak.

If we continue to investigate at this rate, we will probably run out of juren. By then, the local prefectural and county magistrates, judges, county magistrates, and even the imperial court offices, such as the experience, promotion, and review offices, will all be recruited from scholars."

This means that if the investigation continues, all the scholars will be selected to become official officials of the eighth or even seventh rank?
There are reasons why a scholar fails to pass the imperial examination and most of the reasons are because he is not good enough and cannot study as well as others.

If you can’t even study, how can you be an official?
It’s hard to say, it may work or it may not.

In other words, appointing a scholar as an eighth-rank or even seventh-rank official is purely a gamble on luck.

For example, if a scholar is appointed as a seventh-rank county magistrate, and if he is lucky and capable, the people of the county can still live a decent life.

If you are unlucky and the scholar you appoint is not good enough, then the people of this county will be in trouble.

He couldn't gamble his luck with common people. It would be better not to give important tasks to scholars who obviously failed to pass the imperial examination due to lack of ability.

The problem is, if we don’t use the scholar, there will be no one available. What should we do?

Are they going to stop here and not continue investigating?

Or should we wait a few years until there are enough Juren and Jinshi?
This won't work either. The first attempt will lead to decline and exhaustion. This time we must investigate thoroughly.

Wanli frowned and thought for a while, then asked, "The provincial examination will have to wait for two years, right?"

Is there any need to ask this?

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the provincial examination will take another two years, and the imperial examination will take another three years."

The provincial examination is called the Autumn Examination and is usually held in August of the year before the metropolitan examination.

It’s not even July yet, there’s still time.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Then let's hold the special examinations. This year, we'll hold the provincial examinations, and triple the number of candidates selected from the two capitals and thirteen provinces. Next year, we'll hold the special examinations for the joint and palace examinations."

what?
The provincial examination also has special examinations!

(End of this chapter)