Chapter 860 Chickens and dogs ascend to heaven
The status of the Hanlin Academy in the court is similar to that of a base for training important officials.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was even a saying that only Hanlin scholars could serve as prime ministers.
In other words, if you want to have a glimpse of the high officialdom in the future, you have to enter the Hanlin Academy to gain some experience when you first start your career.
The so-called gilding means observing politics and learning in the Hanlin Academy. The best among them serve the emperor. This is a higher level of learning and also a kind of internship.
The monarch and his subjects observe each other, the subjects observe how the monarch handles state affairs, and the monarch observes the performance of his subjects.
This lays the foundation for subsequent reuse.
Jiang Qingzhi had an intuitive understanding of this way of employing people. He first studied and practiced, then found outstanding scholars among them and sent them to serve as officials in local areas or in the court. The emperor would always keep an eye on them, watching them grow and pulling them up step by step.
Therefore, the allocation of new Jinshi was not based on official rank, but on whether you could enter the Hanlin Academy.
It was easy for Zhang Juzheng to enter the Hanlin Academy. According to him, it was not difficult at all.
But this guy was too arrogant and offended many people. In addition, he stood on Jiang Qingzhi's side in the Confucian-Mohist War, and was ostracized by the Hanlin Academy from top to bottom.
If it were someone else, he would definitely choose to lie low or become an official in a local area to avoid the limelight.
But Zhang Juzheng's choice was unbelievable.
This guy actually defected to the Mohist School.
From then on, Zhang Juzheng became the only outlier in the Hanlin Academy, a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to kill.
But this guy was not afraid, and felt no pressure at all. The Taoist valued him and kept him by his side whenever he had nothing to do, which made the eyes of the Hanlin Academy's scholars jealous.
In the early morning of the Hanlin Academy, several scholars were stamping their feet in the yard, rubbing their hands, and talking about yesterday's gossip with a smile.
"…They said he killed someone and then set fire to the house."
"More than ten houses in Jiangjiazhuang were burned down. That man is vindictive and will take revenge."
"It is said that the murderer was Jiang Qingzhi's bodyguard."
"It was the local constable who took charge of the matter and said that the thieves were arrested."
"Haha! Everyone knows that he is now powerful and the local officials are busy fawning on him. Who dares to offend him?"
"It's better not to offend him and protect yourself. But the flattering faces of those villains are disgusting."
"do not talk."
"Why, you can't say it? I'm going to say it..."
"Zhang Juzheng is here."
Zhang Juzheng came and looked calm, as if he had not heard what these scholars said about Jiang Qingzhi.
"Uncle..." A scholar hesitated for a moment, and Zhang Juzheng had already passed them by.
Since he served Emperor Jiajing, Zhang Juzheng had a larger guard room. At first, he thought it was a gesture of goodwill from the Hanlin Academy. After a few days, he bribed the doorman with the dried meat given by Sun Chonglou and learned that the guard room was a haunted house where a scholar had hanged himself.
The doorman kindly told him: "The two Shujishi used that duty room before. Not long after, one of them went to a local official position and drowned in a shipwreck. The other went to the Ministry of War and was killed by robbers when he went to a local guard post to check the soldiers."
The doorman looked at Zhang Juzheng with a sad look, "I'm not saying anything, but why don't you... go somewhere else?"
Zhang Juzheng laughed and said, "This place is very nice."
After entering the duty room, Zhang Juzheng took a look inside and said loudly: "If you are wronged, you can dream about it. If not, get out!"
This is his opening words when he enters the duty room every day.
Zhang Juzheng really hoped that the predecessor who hanged himself could appear in his dream, if for no other reason, he just wanted to see what a ghost looked like.
"How could anyone be so shameless?" Zhang Juzheng smiled, sat down, and leisurely closed his eyes to rest.
This is the way to keep in good health. After going to work every day, the first thing to do is to relax your mind and sort out yesterday's affairs in your mind to see if there are any mistakes or if you need to continue today.
Then I sorted out the things I needed to do today and put them in order...
Once everything is sorted out, your mind will naturally be clear and not confused.
"Uncle."
There was a knock on the door.
Zhang Juzheng opened his eyes and said, "Come in."
The door opened, and a scholar named Chen Xian came in. He smiled dryly and bowed, "This room... has a smell of rawness."
Zhang Juzheng remained silent.
The host was silent, and the guest was embarrassed. But Chen Xian was obviously thick-skinned, and he came over and sat down in a familiar manner, "Have you heard? Our group of Shujishi will be given an important task."
Zhang Juzheng picked up a document.
"When the new policy is launched, many officials will be dismissed. Where can we find so many people to fill the vacancies at once? We, the group of Shujishi, have been observing government affairs for several years and should have been sent to different places long ago. The court has been leaving us alone, and I don't know why. But the new policy is a good opportunity."
Zhang Juzheng began to grind ink.
"The new policy benefits the country and the people, but we must not act rashly. Uncle..." Chen Xian suddenly lowered his voice, "Many people say that if Lord Chang Wei is in charge of the new policy, our Hanlin Academy will be suppressed. I don't know if this is true or not."
Chen Xian was considered a mediocre person in the Hanlin Academy. When the Hanlin Academy was making things difficult for Zhang Juzheng, this person had not yet entered. Therefore, there was no grudge between him and Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng said calmly: "This is a government matter, I don't know either."
"Haha!" Chen Xian said with a smile, "That's right. But this is a different time. At that time, the trend was overwhelming, who dared to stop it? To be honest, I am a little jealous of you, uncle."
Anyone who can openly say the word "jealousy" is either shameless or very cunning.
"Look, you are now serving His Majesty and are valued by Lord Changwei. Zhou Xia didn't have such an opportunity back then! How many people in the Hanlin Academy are regretting their decision? I bet that if they had known the situation would be like this, many people would have stood on Lord Changwei's side. However, there is no regret medicine to sell, so they can only sigh in vain."
Zhang Juzheng picked up his pen and began to write his proposal. This was the task that Emperor Jiajing had given him yesterday: What should the Hanlin Academy do? This was a big topic, and it included some of the Daoye's plans for official administration.
The Hanlin Academy is a training base for important officials, but the attitudes of the officials who graduated from this base towards me and the new policies are witnessed by everyone in the world.
What would happen if the Hanlin Academy was not in agreement with the emperor?
The new policy was to sweep away everything... This was Zhang Juzheng's understanding. Cleansing and rebuilding the Beijing Guards and martial arts was the beginning.
It's ridiculous that those idiots don't know that the purge and reconstruction of the Beijing Guards and martial arts is to set an example for subsequent new policies.
If the Hanlin Academy is unwilling to follow the pace of the emperor and the new policies, it will go astray and take the wrong path.
Then, he will definitely follow the footsteps of Jingwei and martial arts.
And these people... Zhang Juzheng raised his eyes and glanced at Chen Xian, and Chen Xian smiled subconsciously.
"Anything else?"
"No more, no more." Chen Xian laughed dryly, walked to the door and looked back, "By the way, is uncle free today?"
Most people would ask what’s up, just like when someone asks you on WeChat in the future: “Are you free?” You would subconsciously reply: “What’s up?”
"No time."
Chen Xian went out, closed the door, turned around, took a deep breath, and a slightly smug smile appeared on his face.
A few Shujishi from across the street saw him being proud and whispered, "Damn it, he got the first prize."
"Who made us so reserved that we refused to bow to Uncle Zhang?"
"Are you willing to bow your head? Don't forget how arrogant Zhang Juzheng is. If you don't handle it well, you will only bring shame upon yourself."
"But Chen Xian went there and nothing happened. It seems... he succeeded. Tsk! When one person succeeds, everyone else will benefit. I don't know where Uncle Zhang will go, but Chen Xian is the one who knows the opportunity and showed his goodwill first."
“Don’t forget, the man now holds great power and can interfere in the appointment of officials.”
"We offended Jiang Qingzhi too much back then, and he said that we, the Shujishi, would never be given important positions."
No one took it seriously at the time, and some even treated it as a joke, a topic of conversation after dinner.
As time goes by, the joke has become reality.
Do not reuse!
These four words were like a heavy hammer, hitting everyone in the Hanlin Academy hard on the heads.
"After several years of observing politics, no one cares."
"We are not afraid of being asked to serve as local officials."
"It's fine if we're local officials, but I heard that a group of officials in Yunnan were purged. If we were to be sent there..."
"Then I would rather resign and return home."
"Do you think this can threaten Jiang Qingzhi? Don't forget how many officials are currently unemployed and waiting to be filled!"
Zhang Juzheng was concentrating on writing an article in his duty room. After a long while, he picked up his pen, read it carefully, and sighed, "It's well written, but it lacks confidence."
He blew the ink dry, put away his things, and got up to go out.
Outside, several scholars saw him with complicated looks, some slowly bowed, and some lowered their heads.
There is no more sarcasm of the past.
They are all a bunch of vulgar and mediocre people!
Zhang Juzheng has been suppressed in the Hanlin Academy these days, but he does not care. Instead, he takes this opportunity to observe the Hanlin Academy and learn the personalities of these so-called chosen ones.
Everything in the world has two sides. Mediocre people only see the bad side but not the good side.
A true born child can often see the beneficial side of a bad thing.
This is the different results brought about by looking at things from different angles.
This kind of ability is not innate, but a system of thought, which is what Jiang Qingzhi calls the three views.
If your three views are right, your life will be smooth. If your three views are wrong, the world will become a sea of suffering for you.
Zhang Juzheng deeply agreed with this. He even felt that this great man had the ability to establish a school of thought. He also hinted to Jiang Qingzhi that he should simply promote the Mohist school with great fanfare.
But Jiang Qingzhi said: Why rush? Many things will come naturally. Making a big fuss at this moment will only lead to disputes and suppression.
Zhang Juzheng felt that Jiang Qingzhi was too cautious, but as the power of the new policy fell into Jiang Qingzhi's hands, Zhang Juzheng realized that he was too impatient.
He glanced at a few Shujishi with pity in his eyes, and then laughed heartily, feeling extremely happy.
He went to Zhilu first, and Xu Wei, who stayed behind, said that Jiang Qingzhi had gone to the Ministry of War. When Zhang Juzheng went to the Ministry of War, he happened to see Jiang Qingzhi scolding someone.
"...I have said it many times that it has long been a common practice for the various garrisons to eat empty salaries. If this matter is not sorted out, it will be empty talk to revive the Ming army. What is the law that does not punish the masses? What is the point of replacing generals without anyone to fill the vacancies? What is the purpose of martial arts? This batch of students is about to graduate, so replace them!"
Several officials responded respectfully.
Wang Yiqi stood there like a Buddha, allowing Jiang Qingzhi to take over his position and ordering his subordinates around.
"Uncle." Jiang Qingzhi saw Zhang Juzheng and said to several officials: "The first thing to do now is to clean up the land. The investigation of the garrisons can be done as a preliminary matter."
"Yes." Several officials took their leave.
Jiang Qingzhi entered the duty room, sat down, and said with a wry smile: "There are so many things about the new policy, and they all happened all of a sudden, which made me a little anxious. There are too few people around me, and I am stretched to the limit."
When Zhang Juzheng came in and heard these words, he was moved.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him and said with a smile: "Uncle has been observing government affairs in the Hanlin Academy for several years. Would you like to come and work for me?"
(End of this chapter)
