Chapter 267 Zhang Juzheng: I'm going to make trouble

Just as the dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty were praising the Ming Dynasty for its impending prosperity.

A light cough.

A very discordant sound rang out in the hall.

Everyone stopped praising and looked in the direction of the voice.

It turned out to be Zhang Juzheng, the newly appointed governor of Shuntian.

Zhang Juzheng faced everyone's gaze without changing his expression, his face was calm, and his eyes were bright.

He raised his head and slowly looked at the long-lost emperor behind the pearl curtain.

"Your Majesty, I have also submitted a memorial to the emperor, and I ask Your Majesty to allow me to open the discussion."

Zhang Juzheng raised his arms and saluted, then spoke softly.

Thoughts flow in the mind.

There was no fear in his gaze.

In front of everyone, Zhang Juzheng's face was full of the words "I'm going to cause trouble".

Only then did everyone react.

Today, the issue of silk and satin for the people of Huizhou Prefecture, which Yan Shaoting had initially requested, came up. Then, somehow, it got to the point where Huizhou Prefecture would levy silver for defense assistance, and Suzhou and Songjiang Prefectures would levy silver for defense assistance commercial taxes and establish tax soldiers.

They actually forgot.

Today we were supposed to discuss Zhang Juzheng's request.

"Shuntian Prefecture petitions for re-examination of the false accusation case of a candidate in this year's spring examination"

Although this year's case of fraud and false accusation in the Spring Examination can be said to be absurd, it occurred before Zhang Juzheng took office as the prefect of Shuntian.

But at that time, it happened that the former Shuntian prefect Xu Fan was imprisoned, and Shuntian prefecture had been in a period of vacancy for a regular official.

Now Zhang Juzheng takes office as the prefect of Shuntian.

It is natural and reasonable to bring this matter up again.

After all, the candidate who made the false accusation was the first to go to Shuntian Prefecture to report Yan Shaoting.

And more importantly.

Zhang Juzheng wanted to request the execution of the mediocre officials who had been stripped of all their honors, and also to use this opportunity to petition the court to further subdivide the three lists of north, south and center, which had been in effect for hundreds of years, into lists for the two capitals and thirteen provinces!

This is a change to the ancestral system!

The same thing Yan Shaoting did today.

They are all unwarranted proposals to change the laws established by our ancestors!

Yan Shaoting raised his eyebrows and said immediately, "Your Majesty, I think what Prefect Zhang said is pure nonsense! The court has already punished the candidate who falsely accused me, stripping him of all his honors and never hiring him again. It's said that we should forgive him when we can, but the candidate felt that he didn't pass the exam, so he acted ridiculously. Why should he be severely punished and beheaded?"

Without waiting for others to speak.

Yan Shaoting immediately raised the banner of the ancestral laws.

"I would like to impeach the Shuntian prefect Zhang Juzheng. He is so evil that he dares to change the laws of our ancestors!"

"Since Emperor Taizu Gao, this dynasty has established the North and South Lists to ensure fairness for candidates from the north and south. Emperor Xuanzong, in June of the first year of Hongxi, added the Middle List to the North and South Lists to promote fairness in the imperial examinations. The three places have set quotas for candidates. This has been going on for more than a hundred years. All previous emperors have strictly implemented it, with a quota of candidates for three lists every three years, and there has been no change."

"Now, Shuntian prefect Zhang Juzheng has used the false accusation in the Ministry of Examination to request severe punishment and execution, and then attacked the three-list system that has been implemented in our dynasty for nearly two hundred years. His intentions are sinister and his words are truly a disaster for the country!"

"I beg Your Majesty to take notice and issue an imperial decree to reprimand the Shuntian prefect and order him not to submit such outrageous statements again!"

Just when everyone realized that Zhang Juzheng was going to make a report again today.

Yan Shaoting has already said a lot about how the so-called ancestral laws cannot be easily changed.

Minister of Rites Yan Ne opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth slightly, and looked at Yan Shaoting with a dull look.

Hey!
You kid said what I said!

What do you want me to say?
Xu Jie frowned.

My heart couldn't help but twitch.

It was not because Yan Shaoting expressed his opposition based on the ancestral laws.

It was because he was not aware of the matter that Zhang Juzheng reported in advance.

Gao Gong had a melancholy look in his eyes, with a hint of amusement.

I have a good show to watch now.

His eyes kept scanning Yan Shaoting, Zhang Juzheng and Xu Jie.

It’s lively!
It’s going to be fun!

Zhang Juzheng, however, stood steadily.

He was tall and handsome.

At this moment, he held his head high and chest out, and even if he didn't say anything, he could still be described as handsome and elegant.

The title of the most handsome man in the Ming Dynasty.

It’s true.

Zhang Juzheng did not immediately respond to Yan Shaoting's rebuttal.

After all, this matter was actually given to him by Yan Shaoting.

As for why he agreed to accept this memorial and bring up this matter?
That's because I need it too.

Just like Yan Shaoting today.

Cooperate with others.

Then, the case of silk and satin from the people of Huizhou Prefecture evolved into Huizhou Prefecture levying silver for auxiliary defense, and Suzhou and Songjiang Prefectures levying silver for auxiliary defense business tax and adding tax soldiers.

In the court.

It is never possible to write an article about just one thing.

The grass is gray and the line is hidden.

Victory is won from thousands of miles away.

The petition requesting severe punishment for the mediocre officials who made false accusations in this year's spring examination was just an excuse.

Yan Shaoting now clearly opposes it.

The rest depends on other people's reactions.

As for the others?
Lord Yan seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Gao Gong was just there to watch the fun.

Yuan Wei also kept out of the matter as it had nothing to do with him.

Since Gao Gong and Yuan Wei were like this, Guo Pu and Gao Yao naturally would not say anything.

The remaining Minister of Works Lei Li, Minister of War Hu Zongxian and Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Ouyang Bijin turned their eyes to Yan Shaoting.

leftover.

That is Yan Ne and others.

Yan Ne and others did not speak, but paid attention to the actions of Lord Xu.

That's it.

The main hall of the Wanshou Palace suddenly fell into silence after Yan Shaoting spoke up in opposition.

A strange balance.

At last.

It was Jiajing who frowned slightly and spoke to break the silence.

"Zhang Juzheng, what Yan Shaoting said is a law that cannot be changed."

"What do you say?"

After asking, Jiajing glanced at the ministers present who remained silent.

OK!

Everything is fine!

Let me charge into battle?

Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, as Yan Shidu said, our dynasty has implemented the three lists of north, south and center for more than a hundred years. But as Yan Shidu also said, during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, there was only one list in the country, and then it was changed to two lists of north and south.

"During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, before the change of the reign title, Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict to change the two lists of the north and south into three lists of the north, south and center. Only then did the method of selecting candidates based on the three lists come into being, which has been in use for nearly two hundred years.

Could it be that Emperor Taizu Gao could change the rules, Emperor Xuanzong could change the rules established by Emperor Taizu Gao, but this dynasty cannot change them?"

In the main hall.

There was only Zhang Juzheng's questioning voice.

Yan Shaoting smiled slightly in his heart.

He had just been laying the groundwork, and he wasn't going to say anything now.

Jiajing saw that Yan Shaoting was silent too.

His brows furrowed slightly.

He could only ask himself: "Since it was a false accusation by the examinee, Shuntian Prefecture believed that simply stripping him of all his honors and never hiring him again would not be enough to set things right, so they only reviewed his conviction and severely punished him. Why did they petition to open a list of quotas for the two capitals and thirteen provinces?"

Isn't this redundant?

Zhang Juzheng replied: "Your Majesty, Shuntian Prefecture believes that the reason why the candidates of this year's spring examination want to falsely accuse the chief examiner even though they know that the chief examiner is innocent is because they feel that they have failed.

He was a candidate for the Southern List, and the imperial court had already set quotas for the three lists. He knew he had no hope of passing the exam, but he still made false accusations. He should be severely punished for breaking the law. Simply expelling his name and never recruiting him again is not enough to punish him and serve as a warning to other candidates in the future."

Actually this topic.

What is at stake is the fairness of the imperial examination system for selecting officials throughout the country.

But there is no absolute fairness.

The current system of selecting candidates based on the three lists is just a stopgap measure at the beginning of the country.

Is it because literary culture is not popular in the north that the quota should be less than that in the south?
Is this fair?
Why did Emperor Xuanzong alone make a list of people who passed the exam?

It’s because the previous two rankings in the north and south were not truly fair.

But is it fair to have three lists?

After a while of thinking, Xu Jie finally spoke slowly, "Your Majesty, whether it is two lists or three lists, they are all for the court to show fairness in selecting scholars. Now Shuntian Prefecture has requested to open a list of two capitals and thirteen provinces to select scholars with a fixed quota, which is actually no different from the three lists."

Does this mean you agree with Zhang Juzheng's request?
Yan Ne, Paine and others raised their eyebrows.

Zhang Juzheng immediately said, "What Lord Xu said is absolutely right! The two lists are for the fairness of the imperial court's selection of candidates, and the same is true for the three lists. The same is true for the lists of the two capitals and thirteen provinces that I requested. It is the most fair method to select candidates from one list and a fixed quota for each province!"

Both teachers and students supported this matter, and Yan Ne and Paine were about to speak up to second the motion.

Anyway, it's what the two of them thought.

Since this matter was proposed by Zhang Juzheng and Yan Shaoting opposed it, then Lord Xu agreed.

Perhaps it is just to challenge Yan Shaoting and the Yan family and Yan party behind him?
Regardless of whether Zhang Juzheng had proposed reforms before.

But he hasn't made it clear yet where to draw the line between himself and people like them.

That still counts as one of our own.

Just the next moment.

Without waiting for Yan Ne and Paine to speak.

Zhang Juzheng then said: "Your Majesty, I think that if we want to publish the list of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, the purpose is to ensure that the court recruits scholars fairly and that each province recruits a fixed number of scholars.

As for how to determine the quota, I think we should check the population and household registration of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and determine the number of candidates to be selected in the special examination list in each province according to the population and household registration of each province!

"As Lord Xu said, selecting candidates by list and setting quotas is a way for the court to demonstrate fairness. It would be most appropriate and fair to check the population and household registration of each province and then set the quotas for each list!"

moment!

Yan Ne and Pan En, who were about to open their mouths to support the quota list for the two capitals and thirteen provinces, immediately shut their mouths and looked at Zhang Juzheng in surprise.

Then he slowly moved towards Xu Jie, the second assistant who had just agreed to Zhang Juzheng's request.

Lord Xu, do you really agree to this request?
Check the population and household registration of each province?
Isn't this what you, Zhang Juzheng, wrote in your previous memorial requesting reform?

You, Zhang Taiyue, when did you start learning from Yan Shaoting?

Get involved!
Change the soup without changing the medicine!
…………

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

(End of this chapter)