Chapter 17 Who is more beautiful, me or Mr. Xu
As soon as Zhu Houzhao and Qiu Ju walked out of the Royal Industrial Laboratory, Liu Jin came to Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of War, has applied to join the Zhongjun Society. This is his application." Liu Jin handed the application to Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly, thinking that Xu Jin was quite straightforward, but he didn't want Xu Jin to join the club so easily, so he just took out a book from his bookcase:
"Now that he has applied to join, Gu Dayong will send someone to investigate him and even interview him. You ask him to wait for the news first. The Zhongjun Society is a society with a sense of mission and belief. To develop members, you must be strict in entering and lenient in leaving. Unless you are aspiring to the Ming Dynasty Those who seek the welfare of the people cannot enter, even if he is the left minister of the Ministry of War, he cannot be too hasty."
Liu Jin nodded in agreement. He knew that Emperor Zhu Houzhao wanted to do great things, and asking them to develop the Zhongjun Society was also to discover virtuous ministers and generals who were truly worth cultivating.
On this day, Liu Jin found Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of War, with Zhu Houzhao's instructions:
"After the organizational assessment, we found that you had deducted three thousand shi from military rations when you were the governor of Taiyuan. This disappointed the organization."
Xu Jin didn't know what to say for a moment, and couldn't defend himself even if he wanted to, because it has become a normal unspoken rule for military officials to withhold military pay and rations. Otherwise, there would be no money to support staff and improve the quality of life, not to mention the capital. Many high-ranking officials bribe, so if it is not excessive, they will not be held accountable. Even if they commit corruption, they will not be punished for corruption. This is the default rule in the officialdom.
Xu Jin smiled awkwardly, with a look of disappointment on his face. He did not expect that the assessment of the Zhongjun Society would be so strict. He would be used as a stain because of his deducting military rations many years ago: "So, Xu will not be able to enter the Zhongjun Society." Club? ”
Xu Jin really wanted to ask if not being able to join the Zhongjun Society would mean that he would not even have the chance to become the Minister of the Ministry of War, but he still did not ask.
At this time, Liu Jin laughed: "However, the organization found that although you were corrupt, you were not afraid of life and death in combat. When you encountered Tartar invaders several times in Liaodong and Taiyuan, you dared to take the lead and defeated the Tartars. During your tenure, No Tartars dared to commit crimes during your term of office, which shows that you still have some merits in protecting the border people. Therefore, the organization has decided to only develop you as a reserve member for the time being and will test you for a long period of time;
You have to remember that joining the Zhongjun Society is only for those who are aspiring to benefit the Ming Dynasty and benefit the people of the world. Naturally, the assessment must be stricter. This is the "Outline of the Zhongjun Society" and the "Outline of the State Governance" given by the emperor. Take it back and study it carefully. , remember to write a study summary and personal governance summary after one year. At that time, the organization will assess you again. If you pass the assessment, you can be called a member of Zhongjun Society. ”
After listening to Liu Jin's words, Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of War, realized that it was so troublesome to join the Zhongjun Society. However, because of this, he began to feel that the Zhongjun Society might not really be a group that hugs each other for warmth, but might really be an organization with ideals and a sense of mission. , because it was very troublesome, it aroused Xu Jin's desire to join. Now he feels more and more that if he joins this loyal society, it means that he is a truly virtuous minister and good official.
"I, Xu Jin, am also a person with lofty ideals! Please rest assured, Eunuch Liu, Xu will go back and read these two books immediately. He will not let the organization down by then." Xu Jin stood up and left as he said, "Organizing" these two books The words came out of his mouth unconsciously, but after he finished speaking, he couldn't help but be a little surprised by his actions just now. He thought to himself who invented this word, it was so powerful!
This was naturally invented by Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao knew that it is difficult for a person to be loyal to one person, because human nature is to pursue freedom and not want to be controlled by another person. However, humans are gregarious creatures and naturally want to Gain recognition and affirmation from others.
Therefore, it would be difficult for Zhu Houzhao to ask these officials to be loyal to him as the emperor. Even though they have accepted the Confucian idea of loyalty to the emperor for so long, they may regard the emperor as their father on the surface, but many times they will regard the emperor as a bandit and will not do it. He was very loyal to the emperor because one person would not be willing to be loyal to another person.
But it’s different if it’s a group. Because human nature is afraid of loneliness, people don’t dare to betray a group, and they will even take the initiative to obey a group. This is called herd mentality. This is why officials would rather offend the emperor than The reason for offending the civil servant group.
Zhu Houzhao now wants to develop a group organization that represents his own will. He wants the people in this group organization to understand that betraying him is not betraying the emperor alone, but betraying the entire group. Failure to gain recognition from this group means not gaining the support of many people. Recognition, not to mention that the people in this group represent the best elites. If you don't get recognition, it means you are a loser. Xu Jin now has the desire to be recognized by the "organization", and this desire even exceeds his desire to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, making him forget that his original purpose was to be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of War.
Xu Jin went back and began to read carefully the "Outline of the Loyalty Society" and the "Outline of the State Administration" given by the emperor. In order to understand the organization's intentions and gain recognition from the organization, he was studying sleepless nights. Even as a literati, he instinctively commented and expressed with your own understanding and opinions.
As a second-ranking scholar who passed the eight-part essay test, he is best at writing reading comprehension and practical essays, using test questions to brainwash himself. Therefore, in order to gain recognition from the organization, he has also begun to use the "Outline of the Loyalty Society" and the Qin Dynasty written by Zhu Houzhao himself. I gave myself the "Programme for Governing the Country" to brainwash myself. In the end, I felt more and more enriched and felt more and more that I should join the Loyalty Society.
At this time, Liu Jin also reported to Zhu Houzhao the latest situation about the development of Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of War: "Your Majesty, Xu Shilang has agreed to organize an assessment of him, and first learn your spirit as a reserve member."
"Very good. In that case, he can be chosen as the Minister of War. Let Wang Yue, the Supervisor of Rites, come to see me!" Zhu Houzhao said.
Liu Jin was a little puzzled: "Your Majesty, he has not become a member of the commune, why are you made the Minister of the Ministry of War? Shouldn't he be made a member of the commune first? This Minister of the Ministry of War is one of the nine ministers!"
"I just want him to know that becoming a member of the Zhongjun Society is more difficult than becoming the Minister of the Ministry of War. No matter how old you are, you have the opportunity to become an official in the imperial court. But if you want to become a member of the Zhongjun Society, you must be an idealist with ideas and beliefs. Colleagues with a common goal, otherwise even the old minister of Gonghou Pavilion will not be able to join. People must understand that joining the club is really not to get promoted and make money, but to prove that you are an outstanding person!”
When Zhu Houzhao said this, Liu Jin understood a little and nodded quickly to leave.
Zhu Houzhao smiled. Through Xu Jin's incident, he discovered that people in this era are really lacking in ideas. Even senior officials like Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War can let themselves be manipulated in their minds like this. It is enough to see that It is so easy for people who lack the ability to think under the Neo-Confucian education to be brainwashed. It is no wonder that later Western missionaries were able to successfully trick the cabinet bachelors into joining the religion, and even the White Lotus Sect can continue to exist.
Zhu Houzhao believes that in the future he can develop more people to have the same strong national consciousness and reform consciousness as him.
Not long after, Wang Yue came, and Zhu Houzhao chose Xu Jin as Minister of War on the grounds that Xu Jin was more handsome.
After Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, told Liu Jian and others this reason, Liu Jian and others all laughed, feeling that the emperor really had no opinion and would no doubt be a coward in the future.
Wang Hua also found out later, and couldn't help but look in the mirror and sigh to himself. How could he not be as good as Xu Jin when his appearance was obviously decent? So he couldn't help but ask his son Wang Yangming: "Who is more beautiful, me or Mr. Xu?"
"Mr. Xu is very beautiful, but he lacks masculinity, is fair and fat, and is not as good as Mr. Xu." Wang Yangming, then the director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, met Xu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of War, and told the truth, and was beaten by his father.
(End of chapter)