First Minister of Ming Dynasty

"My lord, since ancient times, the way of Confucius and Mencius has been misunderstood by too many rotten Confucians, such as repaying grievances with virtue, etc., and has always been controversial... Zhang Xiang is a great sage in the world. In fact, it reminds the world how to grasp the true meaning of sages and sages, how to extract the essence and discard the dross, with good intentions and painstaking efforts, is extraordinary!"

Hearing Wang Guangyang's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang began to doubt. Could it be that Mr. Zhang's "Yuanyu" was really well-intentioned?

At this time, Yang Yuangao, Ruan Hongdao, Song Lian and others all came over and asked for a look.

The big guys were passing it around and marveling at the same time. Several people even said seriously: "Master, Confucius is in a world of great controversy. He is both civil and military. The so-called heavy codes are used in troubled times. Confucius knows this truth best. Observe it with the ministers and others." , perhaps Zhang Xiang's meaning is closer to the original meaning of the saint!"

Someone followed and said: "We all know that Confucius advocated benevolent government, but Confucius also decisively cut down Shaozhengmao and his ilk without being polite. This shows that Confucius is by no means advocating benevolence and justice like Duke Xiang of Song Dynasty. He said What is meant is great benevolence and righteousness, eradicating rape and eradicating evil, helping the country, thunderous means, and the heart of a Bodhisattva, this is the sincerity of Confucius!"

……

Jiang Nan's eyes rolled, she was always by Zhang Ximeng's side, and she couldn't help but whispered at this moment: "Mr. Zhang, are they right?"

Zhang Ximeng rolled his eyes, I'm the one who wrote "Lun Yu", I know what a fart of Lun Yu!

"I wrote this for Zhu Ying for fun. They can think whatever they like!"

Jiang Nan understood instantly and almost laughed.

But it's a laugh, but it's not necessarily just a matter of laughing.

As Wang Guangyang said, Confucianism has been misinterpreted too much... In other words, the past dynasties have been constantly filling in the content and guiding the direction according to their own needs.

The Confucianism of Zhao and Song Dynasties is far and wide different from Han Confucianism.

Thinking about it this way, it seems reasonable for Zhang Ximeng to advocate redefining the norms and rebuilding the universe.

See if you don't, this is the dominance of the right to speak.

If you don't debate the scriptures, you have the great Confucianism in the south of the Yangtze River.

Many people feel that they have opened up their minds and gained a different kind of insight. Our Zhang Xianggong is really extraordinary!

"Superior, the jade of the He family is not decorated with five colors, and the pearl of the Marquis of the Sui Dynasty is not decorated with silver and yellow. Its quality is so beautiful that old things are not enough to decorate it. Zhang Xiang's knowledge of the ancient and modern, his character and integrity, are the best in the world. This is God bestows sages, help the superior to achieve hegemony!" Li Shanchang bowed his body and spoke generously.

The rest of the people also admired one after another, some said that Zhang Xiang'an was poor and happy, and some said that Zhang Xiangde was better than Marquis Wu.

Zhang Ximeng gained more flattery on this day than in the past few years combined.

But in the end, I have to listen to Zhu Yuanzhang's summary, "We took you to see Li Menggeng's mansion. He is sleeping at home on a big ivory and gold bed, which is more than two feet wide! How big is he, and he wants to sleep Such a big bed? Coveting enjoyment and getting carried away, this is the beginning of a person becoming bad. All corrupt officials are not necessarily born corrupt and law-abiding, and treat the law as nothing.”

"There are too many people, after they took power, they couldn't stand the temptation, or they were greedy for money, or lustful, or loved for fame... In short, people caught their pigtails, and they had to be controlled by others! The fate of being decapitated."

"Today, I want you to see it, just to tell you guys that as Mr. Zhang, you wear common clothes, sleep on bamboo beds, grow and eat yourself, and enjoy yourself. Ask yourself, are you more virtuous than Mr. Zhang, or are you more meritorious than Mr. Zhang?" ?”

Old Zhu looked at everyone majestically, and said with a sneer: "Recently, because of the salary, many people quarreled with Li, thinking that we gave less, and couldn't be like the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty, aloof and doing whatever they wanted! We don’t need you to be poor and save money like Zhang Xiang, but you still want to eat dragon liver and phoenix marrow? The salary we give is enough for you to wear silk and satin and have meat for meals, right?”

"Let's tell all the officials here... Under our rule, there is no such thing as getting promoted and making a fortune. If you think we are mean and mean, you can just go to Zhang Shicheng. We just remind everyone that when our Wu army marches over, everything will be destroyed !"

After saying these words, everyone was shocked.

Lao Zhu has this kind of temper. He wants to speak earnestly and be kind and reasonable.

But in the end, it was still unavoidably murderous.

We can guarantee that you have no worries about food, clothing and life, but that's all.I still want us to enshrine you as ancestors to support your extravagant enjoyment and excessive hobbies, so don't even think about it!

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Jiang Nan and remembered another thing.

"Also, we have already banned the brothels, so that such harmful places are not allowed to exist. But Li Menggeng, a dignified minister, dared to blatantly get two women into the mansion, and boasted to them about his abilities, and proclaimed himself prime minister. Ugly, disgusting!"

"Let the Guards Division send someone to investigate thoroughly right now...By the way, Jiang Tiju, do you know any other female officials?"

Jiang Nan hurriedly said: "If you go back to the top position, there are three female directors in the Du Branch Bureau, and dozens of female accountants below, among them are the women who were rescued from the Yangzhou brothel. They have used the skills they have learned in the past few years. Pass the assessment, become a scribe, and work for the superior!"

Zhang Ximeng also added, "My lord, these female accountants are very good at calculating accounts. This time, they have made a lot of contributions to Li Menggeng's case. Don't think that they are women and underestimate these people. If anyone still refuses to accept , you can draw scribes from other ministries and compete with them.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded vigorously, "We know... How about this, five people are selected and awarded the title of Hundred Households, and let them go to the Guards Department to supervise this matter. We must find out all the prostitutes, whether they come in from outside or locals. Those cultivated, especially those who are involved in trafficking and forced into prostitution, will be severely punished!"

Old Zhu paused, and then added: "For the several female households involved in handling the case, if anyone discusses in secret, chews their tongues in private, slanders and slanders, don't be polite. Hard labor!"

"Besides, you have to tell your subordinates what you have seen and heard today, and the Ministry of Rites will make it public, so that the common people will know!"

Chapter 327 The Harmony between Monarch and Subject

The spring breeze blows the green south of the Yangtze River, and the mountain flowers and green grass are blooming.

This is the 18th year from Dayuan to Zhengzheng, and it is also the first year of King Wu, and it is probably an important year that needs to be recorded in history.

Since last year, Zhu Yuanzhang officially took the throne of Wu, and changed the year of the Wu Kingdom of China to the Year of the King of Wu. At the same time, he promulgated a series of important laws and regulations, which completely established the foundation of the Wu Kingdom.

These measures can be roughly divided into those aimed at the people and those aimed at the administration of officials.

First of all, the powerful forces headed by the Wang family were uprooted and wiped out.Under Wu Guozhi, the strategy of equalizing the land and restraining the powerful continued to be implemented.

Zhu Yuanzhang moved a large number of Jiangnan tyrants to Huaixi, and let them serve as hard labor for flood control and land reclamation.

If everything goes well, after five years, the land can be granted, just like ordinary people.But there is a premise that the land should not be granted in the place of origin, so as to avoid the resurgence of powerful forces.

In terms of official administration, Lao Zhu was equally drastic, first dismissing Tao An, and then finding out Li Menggeng. Even the old people who followed Lao Zhu before crossing the river were not exempt from the severe punishment of the state law.

And today is the day when Li Menggeng will be sentenced.

After experiencing the initial panic and fear, to desperately trying to survive, and then to despair... Today, Li Menggeng seems to be much calmer. He is handcuffed and wearing sin clothes, kneeling upright in the lobby of Dali Temple.

He tried his best to straighten his hunched back, not wanting to be too embarrassed in front of his former colleagues.

At this time, not only the officials of Dali Temple were sitting on both sides, but almost all the important officials under Zhu Yuanzhang were present.

On the left are Li Shanchang, Yang Yuangao, Ruan Hongdao, Wang Guangyang, Yang Xian and so on.

On the right are Zhang Ximeng, Song Lian, Zhang Yi, Jiang Nan and so on.

Everyone sat facing each other with dignified expressions.

Once upon a time, Li Menggeng was also a member of the big guys, working together, talking and laughing together, and discussing government affairs.

Who would have thought that in such a short period of time, he would become a prisoner, and he would have to pay the price of his life. The lesson is not insignificant.

"Li Menggeng!"

Yang Xian, who was promoted from the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the Ministry of Punishment, finally said with a sullen face, "You have embezzled 15 taels of silver from the Wang family, and you have another [-] mu of mulberry fields. Is it true?"

Li Menggeng took a deep breath and nodded helplessly, "It's true... Not only that, the sinner was also mad and tried to pull Xiang Li into the water. He bribed the people around Li Xiang and gave him bribes to the Wang family. The sinner is willing to obey the law!"

Although the big guys knew the details of the case long ago, and knew that today was just a formality, but when faced with such a huge amount, hearing Li Menggeng admit it personally, he was still frightened and shuddered.

Yang Xian went on to say: "In addition, when you were in the Ministry of Households, you embezzled relief food and spent it on river workers. You also shoddy it, stole and sold stored food... all kinds of crimes, and the total amount of embezzlement exceeded 5 taels. Is it true? "

Li Menggeng was startled, as if he was thinking about something, Yang Xian said again: "Do you have any other case, didn't you explain it clearly?"

Li Menggeng finally raised his head, his eyes swept over all the important ministers... Zhang Ximeng's communication with him was limited to drafting criminal orders, so he was naturally fearless.

In fact, even if Li Menggeng wanted to flirt with Zhang Ximeng, no one would believe it.

Zhang Xiang's character and integrity are the best in the world, so there is no need to doubt it.

If he was greedy for money, the mansion would not be so simple.

The dignified right prime minister, who still uses bamboo utensils, suspects that he is insane and inhuman.

Compared to Zhang Ximeng, the rest of the officials, especially those from Zhongshu Province, are not as calm as Zhang Ximeng. They and Li Menggeng have been colleagues for many years, and they even knew each other very early, and they know each other well.

If Li Menggeng said something at the last moment and pulled a few backs, things would be very troublesome.

Fortunately, Li Menggeng only looked around, and finally lowered his head, "The sinner pleads guilty and is willing to obey the law...but the sinner still wants to say a few words from his heart to his colleagues."

Yang Xian didn't bother to listen, since he pleaded guilty to the law, he should kill him as soon as possible, so as not to waste time.

But Li Shanchang didn't nod immediately, but glanced at Zhang Ximeng opposite.

Zhang Ximeng pondered for a while, and said: "A man who is about to die speaks well, just listen to what he has to say!"

Li Shanchang also nodded and said: "Zhang Xiang is right, Li Menggeng... If you have anything to say, just say it, and I will truthfully present it to the superior."

Li Menggeng nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Li!"

After a pause, Li Menggeng calmed down his emotions, and then said: "Everyone is a high-ranking confidant, with a bright future. In the future, he will be famous in history and be admired by all generations. The future is limitless. Sinners also have opportunities, but they are confused for a moment and make a big mistake. , This is all found by the sinner himself.”

"Ask yourself, how did sinners get to where they are today? It's nothing more than a dike of a thousand miles being destroyed by an ant's nest. After becoming an official and taking power, he has a greedy and lustful heart. At first, it was just a few hundred stones, thousands of stones, and a little money. ...but seeing no one find out, he became more and more courageous, so that he was greedy for tens of thousands of ink."

"After the occupation of Hangzhou, the household department was responsible for receiving the Changping warehouse, the sinner, the sinner received the bribes from the Yuan court's surrenders, kept their position, and let them continue to control the warehouse, as long as they gave gifts to the sinner. The sinner thought nothing more than every year It's just to get some benefits, but who knows that these treasury officials are the minions of the royal family. They know that sinners are greedy for money and lust, so they took out money and beauties, so much money, and such young beauties... Sinners, sinners did not control I fell into it myself."

When Li Menggeng said this, he seemed very excited. He looked up at everyone, "Masters, don't think that we have power in our hands, and powerful and wealthy businessmen will follow our orders. They gave money to Tian, Just put a hedgehog in our hands! The sinner accepts a generous gift, but if the superior Juntian succeeds and all the property of the Wang family is taken away, the gift he gave me will also be wiped out, and the superior will even find out. the sinner's handle."

"However, the sinner thought of a lot of ways, and I also came up with the job field. Later, he simply took the risk to give Li Xianggong a gift, let the Wang family come forward, and pull Li Xianggong down...I, I became a puppet in their hands , I am a majestic Shangshu, future Conglong hero, I, I was ruined by this little money!"

"My lords! It's not worth it, it's really not worth it! I can only advise you guys, don't be confused. Sinners have more than enough to die and have nothing. You are still in high positions and have the trust of your superiors. Especially you can make drastic moves and make After some achievements, the descendants will be enthralled... If, if I can go back to the past, that would be great!"

When Li Menggeng said this, he couldn't stop anymore. An old man was crying like a three-year-old child.

Seeing this situation, everyone can't help sighing.

It was very unpleasant, and Li Menggeng was greedy for 20 taels.

Such a large amount of money is enough to peel him [-] skins. From a legal point of view, it is natural that he deserves to be blamed, and he deserves death.

But such a character fell down on this matter, more or less, it's a pity.What will be written in the history books?

Zhu Jiajun's first high-ranking official to fall because of corruption?

A lesson for all corrupt officials and ink officials?

No matter which one, this life is over, and it will even affect the children and grandchildren, so why bother if it is not appropriate to be a good Kaiyuan hero!

It can only be said that in the officialdom, we must guard against the passing of time, and we must not lose ourselves.

Li Menggeng's last words, together with the confession, were sent to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Old Zhu was merciless and went straight to the decision. No matter how nice he said and how greedy he was, there was absolutely no reason to live.

However, when facing Li Menggeng's family, Lao Zhu hesitated again and again, "Send them back to their original place, let them be ordinary farmers and take care of their mother."

Li Menggeng's old wife is getting old, and she is not liked by Li Menggeng. The two sides quarreled many times, and finally let Li Menggeng send her back to her hometown. Don't look at this extravagant, but the old wife only has a few acres of land, and she has to guard it. The tombs of the predecessors lived a difficult life, which is very pitiful.

Zhu Yuanzhang sent Li Menggeng's three sons back, and asked them to cultivate the fields and honor their mothers. If anyone dared not to be filial to their mothers, they would be severely punished immediately, and punished for both crimes.

When the final result was announced, the big guy's heart dropped a lot... The superior was still jealous, but under the cold butcher's knife, there was a little bit of warmth.

In the final analysis, even if it is a person who should be killed, a person who must die, he must be killed beautifully so that no one can find fault.

That is, after Tao An, another Shangshu collapsed, and in a tragic way, he declared Zhu's army's attitude towards corrupt officials.

The deterrent effect has indeed come out.

All the officials are awe-inspiring, and the officials are terrified.

Regarding the issue of salary, no one dared to question it anymore. In addition to Lumi and Baochao, Lao Zhu distributed some houses to let the big guys have a place to live, and provided carriages for the old officials. , Also arranged for a special coachman, and the court was responsible for paying the wages.

Since expectations have been greatly reduced, after seeing these, many people were so grateful that they were so excited that they cried. The superior still loves the big guys.

In addition to the combination of grace and power, Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered all officials to participate in training, explain the laws and regulations, and clarify the mission of each government office...

After this one button and three consecutive actions, the entire state of Zhu Jiajun has taken on a completely new look, with a feeling of being reborn.

However, it is not possible to achieve harmony between the monarch and his subjects everywhere, and to get what is good or bad.

Just upstream of Zhu's army, Tianwan, which dominates Jiangxi and Huguang, is in turmoil again... After killing Ni Wenjun, Chen Youliang fully accepted Ni Wenjun's influence and gained a firm foothold. Even domineering three points.

Even if he was an old official of the ordinary generation, he was not polite, because he had witnessed what these old officials did during Ni Wenjun's downfall.

Chen Youliang knew the importance of guarding against these people. In order to prevent them from joining forces, Chen Youliang directly ordered the titan Ding Pulang to garrison Xiaogushan to guard against Zhu Yuanzhang.

In addition to Ding Pulang, there was another person named Fu Youde who had just come here and followed Ding Pulang to Xiaogushan.

……

"Ding Pulang and Fu Youde."

Zhang Ximeng dug out his own notebook, among the lists provided by Sapphire, Fu Youde was on the list. He was a hero of the Northern Expedition, and he was transferred to Chen Youliang's subordinates. If he can win him over, it will be of great help!

Chapter 328 Two Ways to Go

It took Zhu Jiajun quite a long time to adjust internal conflicts.

This is very rare among heroes in troubled times.It can even be said to be extravagant.

For the heroes who are busy fighting for the world, time is the most precious and scarcest thing. Using all the time to expand the territory and strengthen the strength is the kingly way of kingship.

Even if you lose in the future, with a solid foundation, you can carry on for a little longer.

As for the conflicts accumulated during the rapid expansion of power, they can be resolved if they can be resolved. If they cannot be resolved, then it is even simpler. If they cannot resolve conflicts, they cannot resolve people!

Anyway, people are the root of all conflicts, as long as people are killed, everything will be fine.