Chapter 36 Don't think too much of the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty
Chongzhen revised the original edict for the destruction of the Fengyang ancestral mausoleum, and also issued a new reward.
This move made the new scholars in the capital feel very excited, as if they had received a big melon that "someone will soon be able to make meritorious deeds, become a marquis, and become a prime minister."
The common people, and even thieves from all walks of life, reacted with excitement, and started gossiping about "how long can Zhang Xianzhong live?"
It is said that when the news was later announced to all provinces and reached the Shangluo Mountains on the border of Shaanxi and Henan, even Li Zicheng, who is still hiding in the Shangluo Mountains to collect troops for guerrilla warfare, was jealous and even had an idea:
"Damn! Why is Zhang Xianzhong's head so valuable? Then if we chop him into pieces, can we also make him a general and wash away his previous sins?"
Don't think it's strange that Li Zicheng thought this way. Historically, Li Zicheng actually didn't have much foresight when it came to conquering cities and territories, and he never thought about building a base properly. He just attacked wherever he could.
Finally, Shanxi was defeated, and before Zhou Yuji was defeated at Ningwuguan, Li Zicheng was still begging Chongzhen to clear his name.
It's completely like "I have already occupied a province. Do you, Chongzhen, recognize me and divide it? If you don't recognize it, I will capture another province. Show your muscles and you recognize it. If you don't recognize it, I will capture another province." Finally, I met Chongzhen who was a
He would rather die than give in and forcefully fight his way to the capital.
(Note: This point does not mean to criticize Chongzhen. Chongzhen made many mistakes, but he was right to refuse to surrender. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ming Dynasty cannot be surrendered)
Everyone's ambitions gradually expand. When they first start, they just want to earn a small goal, or just become a general who conquers the West.
Of course, today's Li Zicheng is too lustful to take action immediately. He also has the authority and knows how to wait and see the situation.
I want to see if the people in the world really attack Zhang Xianzhong after the emperor's new alliance oath is announced. If Zhang Xianzhong's life is really difficult, Li Zicheng can't go down the mountain to pick peaches and snatch people's heads. If Zhang Xianzhong is not in despair yet, then first
Let others come on.
Except for Li Zicheng, others such as Luo Rucai, Junzhou Battalion, and Gezuo Fifth Battalion all still think so for the time being. They all want to wait for the officers and soldiers to take action first and see which way the wind is blowing.
As a result, there was a lot of commotion, and the most active and excited people were the newly promoted officials and Jinshi. These people had no experience in officialdom, and they felt that there must be brave men under heavy rewards, and their desire to underestimate the enemy was palpable.
…
Here in the capital, it is the tenth day of March, one week after the results of the palace examination are announced.
The appointment of three hundred new Jinshi officials has finally been completed. The first sixty first-class and second-class personnel, except for a few special circumstances, have all been left vacant——
And Shen Shuren, the second-level crane tail, also "offended" the emperor, which obviously fell into the category of "special circumstances".
The remaining 240 Sanjia and Jinshi were too large, and there were not so many shortages in the official department, so for the time being, only the first one was ranked.
Fellow students who were studying nervously before the exam took advantage of their free time while waiting for job vacancies to hang out in Qinlou and Chuguan across the capital, gathering for cultural gatherings every day, listening to music and having sex with girls.
In this kind of environment, the topic of chatting among everyone is naturally inseparable from the future.
Every day I hear that either this person entered the Imperial Academy as an editor in the same year, or that the other person in the same year was sent to a wealthy place in the south, and some were sent to Henan, Huguang, and Anlu. Many officials were killed by bandits.
, places with serious vacancies.
If it were previous years, and I heard that I was assigned to an area where thieves were rampant in the same year, most other people would think that the rabbit dies and the fox is sad, and the thing hurts its own kind.
But this year the situation is completely different. Many of the officials who were assigned to the areas where Zhang Xianzhong was ravaged were quite confident and felt that this was a good opportunity to gain credit.
Fang Yizhi, who was a close sibling of the Shenshu people, was assigned back to his place of origin and went to Tongcheng, South Zhili, as a county magistrate to defend the land against the thieves. He soon took office.
This kind of situation is difficult to imagine in the Taiping era. Although the "appointment of officials in other places" was not strictly implemented in the Ming Dynasty, it was generally staggered as much as possible.
Nowadays, the thief situation is too serious. The emperor and the officials feel that local officials can more easily defend their hometown and are less likely to betray their fathers and fellow villagers to cooperate with the bandits, so they have no choice but to appoint officials from their hometown.
This day was a day for Fang Yizhi to practice. Shen Shu chose the most famous brothel in the capital to set up a few tables. There were also a dozen second-class Jinshi who had just become acquainted with him in recent days, and they all came to drink and listen to music.
After the results of the imperial examination were announced, the top two scholars were naturally divided into three small groups based on their political opinions and tendencies.
The largest group, headed by Wei Zaode, Gao Eryan and other candidates, accounted for more than half, totaling thirty or forty people. They were all those who advocated moral kidnapping when asked by the emperor that day.
The next two groups, each with only a dozen or so, each accounted for about 20%. One group was Shen Shuren who advocated admonishing the emperor to be pragmatic and not to seek fame. The other group was He Xini and had no ideas.
In the pragmatic faction, Chen Shuren, Fang Yizhi and Chuanlu Ge Shizhen were the leaders, and the other seven or eight were followers.
Ge Shizhen doesn't like to talk about moral education, he has a simple style of doing things, likes quantitative calculations, and considers costs, and he is a pragmatic talent. He was originally supposed to be ranked second, but now he has been reduced to Chuanlu due to the butterfly effect, and his ranking is still enough to win the respect of this group of people.
Shen Shuren was at the bottom of the list, but he was still respected and praised by others because he dared to rebuke his words. The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty all worshiped their colleagues who received the imperial cane, but Shen Shuren did not receive the imperial cane. But the effect is almost the same.
Among this group of people, there are still Cai Gongming from Quanzhou, Ma Mingluan from Hanzhong, Yanhun from Anqing, Sun Yiyi from Linyi, Mingke from Song Dynasty, Yao Xuzhi from Huzhou, and Ren Hongzhen from Wuchang.
Although the history books Chen Shuren read before traveling through time could not be too detailed, he probably didn't know most of these people at first.
But in fact, this group of officials has been relatively honest in history.
Among these people, Cai Gongming should have died in the future battle of Zhang Xianzhong's attack on Sichuan; Ma Mingluan followed Shi Kefa to defend the city and died at the hands of Duduo in Yangzhou Shiri;
Yan Hun, Sun Yimai, Song Mingke, Yao Xuzhi, Ren Hongzhen, or were sent to local officials, or worked in the six ministries of Nanjing. Historically, at least they refused to serve in official positions after the death of the Ming Dynasty, died of grief and anger, or died on hunger strike.
The most miserable among them should be Song Mingke, who died in the Denglai defense battle when Duduo went south. But he left some literary works by Qiu Qing, which were quoted and revised by Lu Liuliang of the Qing Dynasty many years later, which triggered a wave of controversy during the Yongzheng period. Literary prison.
After the Qing emperor chopped Lu Liuliang's body into a coffin and butchered his body, he still didn't understand his hatred, so he dug up the scholars of the previous dynasty who had been cited by Lu Liuliang. Song Mingke had been dead for more than eighty years at that time, and his body was too rotten to kill the body, so the Qing emperor ordered the change. To crush the bones and spread the ashes.
In contrast, Wei Zaode's faction is now very powerful, but in the future there will be traitors from the top three, and many of them will take the initiative to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and seek official positions.
Of course, those who sing high-profile words cannot all be traitors, and there are some individuals who truly believe in moral obsessiveness.
For example, Chen Chunde of Yongzhou was the one who shouted the loudest slogan about moral obsessiveness among this generation of Jinshi. Therefore, he was appointed as the Yushi Yanguan in Beijing, specifically responsible for criticizing people.
But he was indeed a tough man. In history, when Li Zicheng conquered Beijing, he heard that Chongzhen hanged himself, and he also hanged himself to die for his country. He was worthy of the emperor.
It's a pity that people like Chen Chunde only account for at most one or two percent of the moral model sect, and the rest are all hypocrites who just shout slogans.
…
Even though Shen Shuren doesn't know too many historical details, he still has a good eye for seeing people. Whether a person has integrity or not can be seen from his daily behavior.
For these like-minded people of the same age, he will definitely use his righteousness and wealth to make friends and win over them. In the future, he will have many friends to help him when he comes to the place.
At the practice banquet given today, Cai Gongming, Ma Mingluan, Sun Yimai, and Song Mingke, who were also sent to other places, toasted Fang Yizhi and congratulated him, wishing that he would be assigned to fight against Zhang Xianzhong's bandits. the frontier of.
"Brother Fang Xian, you are still in high school when you are young, and you can still go to Tongcheng to fight with Lin Chengcheng. You will definitely have a bright future in the future, which is beyond the reach of old men like us.
Your Majesty is so magnanimous, maybe when you arrive in Tongcheng, Liu Xiyao will turn against you and surrender, surrender with courtesy, lead the way for the imperial soldiers, and turn against you to kill Zhang Xianzhong."
The places where these four people were released were either Sichuan or Shandong, which were not as close to the war zone as Fang Yizhi.
They had just entered the official career and were a little fanatical. They all felt that Zhang Xianzhong would be finished soon, and everyone could take credit for his success.
Among them, Sun Yimai and Song Mingke are both in their forties, their beards are somewhat gray, and they have passed the exam four or five times. However, they have no political experience like the young people, and their attitudes are relatively dismissive of the enemy.
Fang Yizhi had a lot of contact with Shen Shu people, and his hometown was on the front line. He also knew the fighting power of the bandits and did not dare to underestimate the enemy. After drinking, he only responded cautiously:
"Brothers Nian, I have oversold you. Zhang Xianzhong has caused trouble over and over again for many years. How can His Majesty be able to clear it up with just an oath of oath. I have a long way to go before I leave. Let's encourage each other and do our best for the country."
Fang Yizhi's slightly cold words made several others a little unhappy, and they thought Fang Yizhi was being so humble that he was almost hypocritical.
When Ma Mingluan, who was assigned to be the county magistrate in Yangzhou, heard this, he took Chen Shuren aside and asked him to say something fair:
"Brother Shen Xian, we Ming people don't tell secrets. We are all our own people here. I know that His Majesty's oath to the Ancestral Temple was actually your idea. Can you tell me how long it will take for Zhang Xianzhong to be crowned?
With your talent, even though His Majesty has deposed you as the bottom of the second-grade rank, you will definitely be put to other places for re-use. You were already at the seventh rank before you knew how to take the test, so this time you will be put into a higher-ranking position than Fang Xiandi. You don’t want to Also get a job to fight Zhang Xianzhong?"
Chen Shuren didn't expect that the topic would reach him, so he just shook his head indifferently: "The Ministry of Civil Affairs has not appointed me yet, maybe there are some variables, who put me at the bottom of the second class.
As for Zhang Xianzhong, he is not so easy to deal with. I am sure that those who now feel that this thief will soon be defeated are mostly ordinary people, new officials in the court, or leaders of other factions among the bandits.
But most of the veterans and generals in the court would not be so optimistic - only they know how much the courtiers are trying to evade His Majesty's will. It is true that killing Zhang Xianzhong can lead to the title of marquis, but who will be the first to take the lead?
From my point of view, except for Mr. Yang Ge, who has no choice but to take on the responsibility of co-ordinating and has to sacrifice his life, the rest of the people, I don’t know how many want to avoid the hard bones and focus on the soft meat. After a few months, the limelight receded and said Maybe it will be Lao Fang’s post again.”
Chen Shuren's tone was cold, which made other people of the same age feel quite depressed.
Indeed, in terms of understanding of officialdom, these people who have just passed the exam are indeed far inferior to those like Shen Shuren who have been officials for more than half a year.
No matter how high the reward for killing the enemy is, with the current decadence of the Ming Dynasty, no one wants to be the first to deal damage, and they are all waiting for the final touch.
The atmosphere in the wine shop suddenly became a little dull.
Just when everyone wanted to find some good news to comfort them, a guest suddenly came in from the Goulan door. He asked the madam to find the place and went straight to the flower hall where Chen Shuren and others were gathering.
Everyone took a closer look and found that this person was also Jiujiang Huangyun Master, who was ranked second in the same year in Jinke. This person had been relatively silent before, and he didn't speak much when Chongzhen asked questions in front of the emperor. He was considered a centrist.
Master Huang Yun walked up to Shen Shuren and told him a piece of news: "Brother Shen Xian, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has allocated the last batch of second-level people to be appointed today, and you and I are both in this batch.
I'm here to tell you that you have been temporarily transferred to the Hanlin Academy to compile, and together with the people who passed the first grade, you are responsible for the history review. I don't know why it was arranged like this in the end. But the Ministry of Official Affairs revealed some news, It’s said that your compilation should not be long, and it will be released soon, so please be patient.”
Everyone nearby couldn't help but be surprised when they heard this. Some were happy for Shen Shuren, while others were unworthy of him.
It's not worth it for him because now that the circle has been formed, they all feel that Wei Zaodegaoer is like a person who likes to follow the crowd, and they don't want to be associated with those people. Even if the Shenshu people go, they will probably be ostracized.
What makes Chen Shuren happy is that he feels that after all, Hanlin Compilation and Compilation is a treatment that can only be obtained by passing the first grade. Chen Shuren is now enjoying an exceptional high standard.
Only Shen Shuren himself knew that when faced with the nuisance of friends in the same year who were either congratulating each other or not, he warned everyone to be calm and calm:
"Don't worry, don't congratulate me. I know what's going on. Since the official department said that I haven't completed this compilation for a long time, your majesty should be waiting for the results of the water transport reform in various places to report back.
I came to Beijing this time to escort the military rations transported to Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan, and to take the exam on the way. Now the canal and the Bohai Sea have completely thawed, and March and April were the peak seasons for the northward transportation of grain last winter. Your Majesty is leaving me in Beijing to observe "The final decision on my official position depends on the merits and demerits of the water transport reform and cost saving."
Hearing what he said, Ma Mingluan, Song Mingke and others congratulated him one after another: "So that's the case, then I wish brother Xian a smooth pass, and then he will have a real person who can show his talents in the containment of Zhang Xianzhong."
"That's right, even though those old civil and military officials are trying to protect themselves, I believe that loyal people like Xiandi will definitely go all out if given the opportunity. Xiandi can also set an example for all the loyal people in the world!"
Facing these compliments, Shen Shuren also smiled bitterly. These people still thought it was so easy to deal with Zhang Xianzhong. Sure enough, they had not experienced severe beatings in official circles and battlefields.