jdhmnovel Chapter 420 Why don't you two dare to fight him?
Chapter 420 Why don't you two dare to fight him?
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, even the usually knowledgeable Emperor Zhu was somewhat bewildered.
If we really did as Li Shanchang suggested, what would be the point of the imperial examination system?
This was no longer a simple reform of the imperial examination system; it was a complete abolition of it.
Why does this feel a bit like the abolition of the imperial examination system by Emperor Huizong of Tang (Zhao Ji)?
More importantly, it allows local governments to recruit their own personnel.
What do local governments lack most right now?
He was neither a high-ranking official nor a servant of any kind.
What local governments lack most are assistant officials and clerks.
For example, the county magistrate, who was of the eighth rank, the registrar, who was of the ninth rank, and the clerk, who was not ranked, were all assistant officials.
Other departments such as the Six Offices, the Issuing Office, the Cabinet Office, the Confucian Academy, the Patrol Office, the Tax Bureau, the Expressway Office, the Water Horse Station, the River and Lake Station, the Warehouse, and the Sluice Gate and Dam Office, whose clerks and clerks were typical scribes, were called "Clerks".
The difference between an assistant official and a clerk lies in the fact that the former is an official with a rank, while the latter is a clerk without a rank.
The crux of the matter is that, whether they were officials with ranks or clerks without ranks, they all received a salary.
If the power to recruit assistant officials and clerks is delegated to local government offices, is it possible that the buying and selling of official positions will occur?
As for the assessment that Li Shanchang mentioned...
It's acceptable to have the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate conduct unannounced and direct investigations of the officials in charge, since the Ming Dynasty only had about a thousand prefectures and counties.
But if these assistant officials and clerks are also included in the "four no's and two direct's" assessment, will the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate be able to handle it?
Seeing the conflicted look on Emperor Zhu's face, Li Shanchang was immediately overjoyed.
Li Shanchang was well aware of the various drawbacks of allowing local officials to recruit manpower on their own.
But can I come up with a perfect solution from the very beginning?
No.
If all the solutions he proposed were perfect, how could he, the Emperor Zhu, demonstrate his wisdom and prowess?
More importantly, if I don't cause some trouble for Emperor Zhu, how will he deal with that madman Yang?
If he doesn't mess with Yang the madman, then that Yang will have time to cause trouble, and in the end, it will be the old man who suffers!
With that in mind, Li Shanchang simply gave Liu Bowen a wink.
Liu Bowen stroked his beard and smiled, then bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that allowing local governments to recruit their own personnel is a good approach, but it could also easily lead to some problems. Perhaps..."
Emperor Zhu grunted in agreement and asked, "Not as good as what?"
Liu Bowen pointed north and whispered, "Your Highness, His Highness is still in Dengzhou Prefecture."
However, as soon as Liu Bowen finished speaking, Emperor Zhu said without hesitation, "No!"
“Every time we send someone to Dengzhou Prefecture, we have to give that bastard a pound of Xiaolongtuan. How many Xiaolongtuan do you think we have to give him?”
At this point, Emperor Zhu looked at Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen with a hint of disappointment and began to complain.
“You two are the Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi of our Great Ming Dynasty, but look at you two, when you’re unhappy, you still have to use us to mess with that bastard.”
Why don't you two just have a fair fight with that bastard?
"Besides, don't you two ever consider that Zhu Chongba is, after all, a father-in-law? Always sending people to ask his son-in-law for advice, doesn't Zhu Chongba have any shame?"
"Anyway, we definitely won't send anyone to Dengzhou this time; we can't afford to lose face like that."
“If you absolutely have to send someone to Dengzhou, then you two will have to figure it out yourselves.”
"Anyway, you two also have the Little Dragon Buns that we gave you."
"..."
Seeing the somewhat exasperated Emperor Zhu, Li Shanchang's lips twitched involuntarily. He thought to himself, "We two don't dare to fight that madman Yang, but neither do you, Emperor Zhu. What right do you have to laugh at us?"
Besides, what do you mean by saying that we both have the Little Dragon Bundles you gave us?
That's something I earned through my own hard work!
Oh, you don't have many of your own Little Dragon Buns left, so you're eyeing my meager reserves?
I bother!
The atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace suddenly became somewhat strange.
Emperor Zhu launched a scathing attack on Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
Meanwhile, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were also internally ranting about Emperor Zhu.
It wasn't until quite a while later that Emperor Zhu changed the subject.
"Um, regarding the blank seal case, Xia Yu has already reached a conclusion in the investigation."
The Emperor Zhu said with a displeased expression, "It's a good thing we didn't appoint that old scoundrel Kong Kejian as the Duke of Yansheng, otherwise our Ming Dynasty would have lost all face."
At this point, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but sigh again, saying, "Actually, it's all gone now."
"The lineage of the Duke Yansheng in the north, and the lineage of Master Zhu in the south, have both gotten involved in the Empty Seal Case. What face does our Great Ming have left?"
As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, an eerie silence once again fell over the Qianqing Palace.
To be fair, the reputation of the Northern Confucian school among the common people is not very good, and there is also the Southern school. If the reputation of the Northern school is ruined, so be it.
However, the fact that Zhu Xi's descendants could get involved in the Blank Seal Case was something that Emperor Zhu could not accept under any circumstances.
Emperor Zhu originally thought Neo-Confucianism was quite good, and even considered promoting it vigorously.
For no other reason than the Neo-Confucian principle of "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires."
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen shared similar ideas with Emperor Zhu.
Zhu Xi's original words were: "Eating and drinking are natural principles; marriage is natural principles. Delicacies are human desires; having multiple wives and concubines is human desires."
In context, it is not difficult to understand that what Neo-Confucianism called "preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires" meant eliminating "human desires" such as grand buildings and ornate walls, wine pools and meat forests, lewdness and cruelty, and militarism.
Simply put, when people are hungry, they need to eat, but they only need to be full; they need to learn to control their appetite.
For government officials, this means that while it's acceptable to hold office and receive a salary, it's unacceptable to engage in corruption.
Similarly, there is the saying, "Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a great matter."
Similar to the concepts of natural law and human desires, in the context of this passage, "节" refers to moral integrity, not so-called chastity.
That's really infuriating.
Confucius emphasized the distinction between the Chinese and the barbarians. As a result, he served as the Duke Yansheng of the Jin Dynasty and the puppet Qi Dynasty before becoming the Duke Yansheng of the Yuan Dynasty.
Master Zhu emphasized preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires, and believed that starving to death was a small matter, but losing one's integrity was a great matter. As a result, later generations got involved in the Empty Seal Case.
It is a typical case of a good tree bearing bad fruit.
After a long silence, Emperor Zhu sighed helplessly and said, "Let the Ministry of Rites take charge of the matter of the Confucius worship ceremony."
"That bastard is right. We cannot absolve Kong Kejian and Zhu Kang of their crimes just because of Confucius and Zhu Xi."
"Similarly, we cannot deny Confucius and Zhu Xi because of the crimes committed by Kong Kejian and Zhu Kang."
At this point, Emperor Zhu spat out another curse and said, "What the hell is all this about!"