Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 267 Zhang Juzheng's Ambition ([-])

Zhang Juzheng picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and said: "Lao Liu, how many people in the world have the courage to sacrifice their lives for righteousness like Yang Lian. Not only you don't, but I don't either. By the way, you mentioned Hu Zongxian just now. I think of Hu Zongxian's close friend , Li Shizhen, a famous doctor in the world."

He Liudao: "Mr. Li is now traveling all over the world, looking for various herbs for the compilation of that unparalleled medical book "Compendium of Materia Medica"."

Zhang Juzheng put down the teacup, and said: "Mr. Li is a genius doctor. It's a pity that he went to the doctor to treat the sick, Chinese medicine to treat people, and went to the doctor to treat the country. Even if Hua Tuo and Bian Que are reborn, they can only be Chinese medicine practitioners."

He Liudao: "Zhang Butang, I don't understand this. Can a country get sick like people?"

Zhang Juzheng said sternly: "It's natural! My Ming Dynasty is now terminally ill! Sixth, you should know what the court has been like these years. The government is struggling and the treasury is stretched. To put it lightly, the people's livelihood is difficult. To put it more seriously, the people are in dire straits!" "

Speaking of this, Zhang Juzheng stood up, clung to He Liu's ear, and said in a low voice: "Lao Liu, the Ming Dynasty is already dying! Don't you hear that the people say that Jiajing, Jiajing, every house is clean?!"

He Liu's expression changed upon hearing this.Although I have descended to Nanjing Jinyiwei, Nanjing Jinyiwei is also regarded as the emperor's domestic slave.The majestic Minister of the Household Department actually said the outrageous words "Jiajing Jiajing's family is clean" in front of the emperor's servants?
Maybe it's because Zhang Juzheng has regarded He Liu as one of his own?

Zhang Juzheng sat back on the chair and said, "Lao Liu, do you know where the root of the disease of the Ming Dynasty lies?"

He Liu thought for a while, and replied: "Yang Lian, the loyal and straight father, once said to me that the country's affairs are in such a state of decline, all because the strict party dominates power, and Yan Song rules the world with his greedy party feathers."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head: "Now the Yan Party has fallen. All the four major officials have resigned. Yan Song and his son are far away in Fenyi, Jiangxi, and they have become dead tigers. Has the government changed? Is the life of the common people better? Probably not! Yang Lian is a loyal minister with courage. But his vision is limited, and he still hasn't seen the real root of the disease."

He Liu cupped his hands: "Then dare to ask Zhang Butang, where do you think the root of our Ming's disease is?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed: "Treat the country like a family, and rule by one person alone. Playing with the courtiers, treating the people of Li as a number that can be more or less. For his own selfish desires, trusting the alchemists of the divine Han Dynasty, seeking immortals and asking questions, wasting the country's money. The traitorous ministers, the virtuous ministers far away. Maybe this is the root of the disease of the Ming Dynasty!"

He Liu was shocked!Zhang Juzheng actually said that the current emperor is the root cause of Daming's terminal illness?

He Liudao: "Zhang Butang. If your words are spread, I'm afraid you will be severely punished."

Zhang Juzheng smiled meaningfully: "There are only you and me here. Heaven knows, you know and I know. I, Zhang Juzheng, claim to be good at reading people. You, He Liu, are not the kind of snitch."

He Liu shook his head: "You have to know that Jin Yiwei was originally set up to inform people."

Zhang Juzheng praised He Liudao: "That's right. Most of the commanders and governors of Jinyiwei in the past dynasties were whistleblowers who did not hesitate to betray their loyal ministers for the sake of fame and fortune. There are only two people who are different from those people. One is Lu who died of illness. Bing, one is you, He Liu. You are a kind person with family and country in mind."

He Liu smiled wryly: "Zhang Butang thinks too highly of me, He Liu."

Zhang Juzheng said again: "You don't have to be modest. Let's continue to talk about the root cause of the disease. The affairs of the court are nothing more than the word 'quan'. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there are three types of power. Monarch power, minister power, and slave power. Slave power is divided into eunuch power and guard power. Sovereign power has always joined forces with slave power to squeeze out minister power. To put it bluntly, the emperors of all dynasties have ruled the world with family slaves."

He Liudao: "This is the truth. Now the emperor is widely sending guarding and supervising eunuchs to various places. They control the local military and political power, and the eunuchs have taken more than half of the power in the hands of the governors and governors. This is indeed true. Rule the world with slaves."

Zhang Juzheng took a sip of tea and talked eloquently: "Three emperors and five emperors of morality, famed Xiahou, Shang and Zhou. The Xia and Shang dynasties were a world with only monarchs and no people. At the time of Xia Jie, the people in the world could not survive, and they all survived and died with the king." In the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou regarded the people as two-legged sheep, wanton fish and meat, so Shang died. Confucius was sent from heaven to teach the benevolent to love others. Mencius was also sent to the world to say for heaven that "the people are the first, and the society is second. , the king is light' the eternal truth! The Qin Dynasty did not respect Confucius and Mencius, and the third generation died..."

He Liu smiled and said, "Zhang Butang is here to teach me the history of the Imperial Academy today."

Zhang Juzheng said: "That's right. I haven't finished my history lesson yet, so don't interrupt me. When I arrived at Emperor Hanwen, I really understood the essence of the way of Confucius and Mencius. The monarch and his ministers rule together, and the people are the foundation. It is the first time that China has peace. In the prosperous age, it is called the rule of Wenjing in history. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ruled together, and then there was the rule of Zhenguan. After that, dynasties changed. But if the monarch and ministers ruled together, people-oriented, the world would be peaceful. The monarchy ruled alone, regardless of the livelihood of the small people plan, the country will decline and perish.”

He Liudao: "What Zhang Butang means is that to cure the root cause of the Ming Dynasty's disease, the only good medicine is the eight words of ruler and minister co-governing and people-oriented?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded: "That's right. Only these eight words can bring peace to the world. It's a pity that Lord Hongwu founded the country. He established cruel laws to deal with corrupt officials. He reduced the taxes of the common people. There are great virtues for the common people. But the Great Grandfather At that time, it also planted a huge hidden danger for Daming. He actually ordered that the tablet of Mencius be moved out of the Confucian Temple. This is not agreeing with the eternal principle of "the people are the first, the community is second, and the king is the lightest". The cabinet officials are regarded as servants. The court sticks are beaten when they are wanted, and the steel knife is killed when they are wanted. Jin Yiwei is rampant, and the world is governed by domestic slaves. The people of the Li people in the two capitals and thirteen provinces are regarded as the private property of the Zhu family."

He Liudao: "Zhang Butang, stop talking. If you continue talking, I will feel that you have the intention of treason!"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head: "Rebellion? Rebellion is just another dynasty. In 500 years, the king will rise and die, and the people will suffer. If the people are prosperous, the people will also suffer! If the people in the world want to live a good life, only the monarch and his ministers will rule together. People-oriented, reform and innovation all the way!"

He Liu smiled and said: "Reform? Heh, if you mention any reform to the emperor, the emperor will probably reward you with a hundred court sticks."

Zhang Juzheng said: "Indeed. The current emperor will not allow the court to reform. By the way, I haven't finished what I just said. The Ming Dynasty has been passed down to this day, and there have been eleven emperors. The current emperor has not been in court for 20 years. Obsessed with cultivating immortals and asked, secretly manipulating one monarch to rule alone. Use strict party to frighten honest and honest officials and loyal ministers with conscience. Desire to search for people's fat and people's anointing. The upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked. The emperor is greedy for money. Can the officials below follow suit? So Almost, the people are in dire straits, starving for thousands of miles, Jiajing Jiajing, every house is clean!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Juzheng's nose turned sour, and two tears came out of his eyes.He Liu knew that Zhang Juzheng's tears were shed for the people of Li, and there was no falsehood.

(End of this chapter)