Chapter 19 Attachment: Gou benefit the country, life and death based on reading Zhu Dongrun's "The Great Biography of Zhang Juzheng"

Li Xiaobo (Wuhan University of Science and Technology Central South Campus) 2009｜11｜0913:20 Source: Sinology Network http://www.guoxue.com/? p=971 Recently, I finished reading the long biography "The Great Biography of Zhang Juzheng" written by Mr. Zhu Dongrun in the early 1940s. However, it took me less than a week to finish reading the book "The Great Biography of Zhang Juzheng". Sometimes I wonder why the gap is so large. , when I read this book, I was really addicted to it, and I was so invested in it that I had never seen it before. Zhang Juzheng has always been the political figure I admire the most. This is not only because Zhang Juzheng is from the same hometown as me, and I love my house and my country. More importantly, I admire Zhang Juzheng's courage and courage to reform and be unspeakable. Zhang Juzheng has always been a controversial figure. As a historical figure, people criticized him a lot, but he ignored them. He knew that the implementation of reforms required not only courage, but also perseverance. Therefore, he chose to be unsympathetic. Sheji, with the attitude and determination of life and death, has carried out his reforms boldly. He has long put life and death aside. For the sake of the country and the community, he can disregard personal life, death and honor. In order to save expenses and standardize the administration of officials, he was determined to rectify the post delivery to reduce the burden on the people along the line. Because of the resentment of the officials, in order to restrain land annexation and crack down on the concealment of feudal landlords, In order to enrich the state's finances, he ordered the re-measurement of land across the country, and implemented a tax system reform with a whip law. As a result, he offended all the feudal bureaucrats and big landlords in the country. The private academies in his country prohibited illegal assembly and discussion of state affairs, which made him completely break with the literati all over the world and went to the opposite side.

The literati Wang Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty overly belittled Zhang Juzheng's historical achievements and thoroughly slandered him, which is why Zhang Juzheng is still widely controversial.Zhang Juzheng, as a commoner disciple in the countryside, passed the imperial examinations and went to the peak of power step by step, rising in the political arena. According to common sense, Zhang Juzheng is a representative of literati entering the political arena, and should be a role model for the majority of literati, but it is also because of this , Zhang Juzheng also has a better understanding of the nature of ordinary literati, and understands the disadvantages of taking materials from the imperial examination. He opposes empty talk, believes that empty talk is harmful to the country, opposes literati discussing politics, and suppresses literati all over the world. At this time, he is no longer the representative and example of literati. The majority of Wang Shizhen and his like also classified Zhang Juzheng as a deviant person, and ruthlessly criticized and ridiculed them in their works. Therefore, Zhang Juzheng suffered great criticism in front of him and behind him, and his evaluation in historical books was not good. Gao, because the history books are also written by literati, and they tried their best to suppress them, so that only by completely discrediting Zhang Juzheng can they relieve their hatred.

Zhang Juzheng, who occupies the high position of the first and assistant prime minister, is often hurt by rumors, but he ignores them. This is the inevitable price to be paid for the implementation of reforms. With Zhang Juzheng's wisdom, he is not ignorant of the fact that reformers have always been bad. Nine out of ten people will die for the country with their own body, but he still has no hesitation. He himself once said: I forget my family and die for the country, and I feel sorry for others.From these few words, it can be seen that he is not surprised by the calamity he will suffer behind him, but since he has chosen the path of reform, he has no turning back, and Zhang Juzheng is practicing it with practical actions. The oath I once promised to benefit the country, life and death!

Zhang Juzheng experienced the three dynasties of Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli in the middle of Ming Dynasty. He was not only the chief assistant of the cabinet, but also an outstanding reformer. Zhang Juzheng was the first person, both Jin Taifu and Jin Taishi, and Zhang Juzheng was the only one.Zhang Juzheng's reform inevitably violated the interests of a large number of big landlords and feudal bureaucrats, and they were strongly opposed by them. However, they were afraid of Zhang Juzheng, who was both the emperor's tutor and the chief assistant of the cabinet, and had nothing to do with the reform. After catching the old disease and letting go, the opposition launched a frenzied counterattack.On June 20th in the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng died of illness. He gave up the power he had held on to for 16 years and the emperor he had wholeheartedly supported for ten years. Just take care of Mr. Gu's descendants.Naturally, Zhang Juzheng can rest in peace under the Nine Springs. After Zhang Juzheng died of illness, Shenzong issued an edict to dismiss him for a few days, and bestowed him with the posthumous posthumous title of Wenzhong. Still quite tall, he buried his lifelong ambition in his hometown of Jiangling, but how did he know that the merits of his hard work for the country all his life, in exchange for the disaster of the family descendants, on the fourth day after Zhang Juzheng died of illness, the censor Lei Shijiao and other seven officials impeached Pan Sheng. Shenzong ordered Pan Zhishi. Pan Sheng was recommended by Zhang Juzheng before his death. He cut off his official rank, deprived him of the seal he had obtained during his lifetime, ordered four generations to show his crimes to the world, and almost opened his coffin and stabbed his corpse. After a year, his descendants suffered a catastrophe of family ruin and death.

In April of the twelfth year of Wanli, the emperor decreed that Zhang Juzheng's family property be confiscated. Before the officials who confiscated the house arrived in Jiangling, Zhang's mansion in Jiangling was sealed off. The seventeen old, weak, sick and children who had not had time to escape were imprisoned in the mansion. Zhang Juzheng's eldest son, Zhang Jingxiu, could not bear the torture and hanged himself to death. The third son, Zhang Maoxiu, tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into a well and managed to save his life. He became disabled for life, and even if his other sons survived by chance, they were exiled into the army. In the end, at the begging of Pan Jixun, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Shenzong left an empty house and ten hectares of land to support Zhang Juzheng's eighty-year-old mother. The price paid for this was the resignation of Pan Jixun, Minister of the Criminal Ministry, to the people. No one in the court dared to say the word Zhang Juzheng. People died and the government died. Some of Yu Dayou, the famous general Li Chengliang, and the water control hero Pan Jixun were dismissed, some abandoned the city, and the government's policies also returned to the old view full of disadvantages. In the entire Shenzong dynasty, no one dared to call for Zhang Juzheng. Injustice, amidst the slander from the government and the opposition, only the scholar Li Zhi spoke out for Zhang Juzheng, praising Zhang Juzheng as an outstanding prime minister.

Hai Rui commented that Zhang Juzheng was good at seeking the country, but not good at making a living, which meant that Zhang Juzheng was good at governing the country, but he was indifferent to his own safety. Many literati, including some experts and scholars, have always agreed with Hai Rui’s evaluation. , but I do not agree, I think Hai Rui is only half right, that is, Zhang Juzheng is good at seeking the country, but it is not the case that he is clumsy at seeking himself. Violating the vested interests of a large number of big landlords and big bureaucrats, the reform is actually a redistribution of interests.It's not that Zhang Juzheng didn't consider his own fate. This can be known from the correspondence between him and his friends. It's just between the country and the individual. He chose the country. , What does personal life and death matter?Zhang Juzheng once said: A real man promised the country and his confidant with his body, but he did his best, so what can he say?

Some people say that in the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng was in power, and Shenzong was only ten years old. Zhang Juzheng used his extraordinary means to govern the government and carry out reforms. His ministerial power would inevitably infringe on part of the imperial power. Zhang Juzheng is acting on behalf of the imperial power, and it has been difficult to tolerate each other since ancient times. Zhang Juzheng's failure is precisely because of this. Distribution, its implementation must be based on the highest power, history has proved this time and time again, in the specific political environment of the feudal dynasty, we can even say that the reason why Zhang Juzheng's reforms achieved great success is precisely because he monopolized the Great power, vigorous and resolute, without the guarantee of strong power, it is impossible to succeed in reform. It will only suffer counterattacks from the opposition again and again. Since you have chosen the path of reform, it is impossible to be alone, because you are facing too much. This is also the difference between reformers and politicians. Politicians can coordinate their relationship without offending the interests of the other party. The success of politicians is often based on the standard of being in a high position, but reformers are different. They have There are too many enemies, they are almost fighting against the entire feudal bureaucratic group on their own, their success is often measured by the great progress of the country, and most of their endings are tragic, which is why in Chinese history there will be There are so many politicians but only a few reformers, because what politicians need is ability, while reformers need not only ability, but more importantly, unremitting courage and courage. Therefore, in evaluating Hai Rui I don’t agree with this sentence. Zhang Juzheng is not working for the country, but he is clumsy at making a living. Said: Nianji has forgotten his family and died for the country, and he is sympathetic to others. Although the machine trap is full of people in front of him and everyone gathers, he is not afraid of being alone.

History is ruthless. After Zhang Juzheng's reforms were abolished, the entire ruling class was corrupted, and various social contradictions intensified sharply, out of control.Only then did some people of insight think of Zhang Juzheng and his achievements in reform. In the third year of Chongzhen, Luo Yuyi, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward to appeal for Zhang Juzheng. In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Zhang Juzheng's eldest son, Zhang Jingxiu, to be restored to the original official position, and granted Zhang Jingxiu's grandson Zhang With the people of Changzhong Shushe, the country turned around to remember Zhang Juzheng's achievements when it was in crisis. It is true that trying to recall the abolished New Deal is just a waste of time, but it tells us from the negative side that Zhang Juzheng's achievements during his administration Zhang Ju is the most outstanding politician and reformer of the Ming Dynasty. Together with Shang Yang and Wang Anshi, he is called the three most famous reformers in Chinese feudal history. Similarly, his brilliant achievements are also It will continue to inspire me to stick to the path I love and keep fighting, even though there are many opportunities and crowds, I am not afraid of being alone.

Finally, I end with a poem "Ode to Bamboo" written by Zhang Juzheng when he was thirteen years old, that is, in the seventeenth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, to express my highest respect to Zhang Juzheng as a younger generation: Yong Bamboo The green is all over Xiaoxiang, and the sparse forest and jade dew are cold. The phoenix hair is full of strength and goes straight to the end.