Chapter 191: Inspector Hai, I Have an Idea

The position of Emperor is a very serious matter in both the East and the West.

For instance, after the British Empire achieved the status of "the empire on which the sun never sets," it continuously sought the title of Emperor. It was not until 1877 that it inherited the legitimacy of the Mughal Empire and was formally crowned as an empire. After World War II, the British Emperor renounced the legitimacy of the Mughal Empire and reverted to being the British Royal Family.

Legitimacy is the shared understanding of all those governed regarding language, culture, ethnicity, territory, religion, and history.

To obtain imperial legitimacy, beyond gaining living space through conquest, one must also establish a set of effective and universally observed systems. In the context of the Great Ming, this system is usually referred to as "ritual and law."

To be an Emperor, one must first have legitimacy.

The first fundamental characteristic of legitimacy is longitudinal historical stability; a system must be able to be universally observed and operated for at least a hundred years before it can claim to have legitimacy.

The second fundamental characteristic is horizontal universality; this system must be universally recognized within the governed territory, and everyone must follow this system in their lives.

The third fundamental characteristic is relative independence; it cannot exist by being attached to another collective. "I am who I am, and I exist because of myself."

The fourth fundamental characteristic is internal consistency, which is universal values and shared cognition.

Internal consistency is not difficult to understand. For example, when the Great Ming achieved victory at the Daning Guard, the common people under this legitimacy cheered for the victory. Only the factional parties and the "base scholars" were unhappy, because the stronger the Great Ming Capital Battalion became, the greater the threat to the factional parties. The stronger the Capital Battalion, the more the Emperor held the blade, and the power of life and death fell entirely into the Emperor's hands.

Longitudinal, horizontal, independent autonomy, and internal consistency are the fundamental characteristics of legitimacy.

Philip II had neither longitudinal nor horizontal stability, nor did he have complete independent autonomy. He had to rely on the Roman Curia to help him tie his scattered territories together. As for internal consistency, the Low Countries would not rejoice because the Invincible Armada defeated the Ottomans, nor would they grieve because the Ottomans occupied Tunisia.

Zhu Zhu Yijun deconstructed and analyzed legitimacy. He could be Emperor because Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang had shaped a Great Ming imperial legitimacy that met these four fundamental characteristics, allowing him to inherit this power hereditarily. Observing the Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Longqing eras, he discovered that, in fact, this legitimacy was no longer so stable.

One must either reform the old to restore it, or completely abandon this legitimacy and establish a new one.

Zhu Zhu Yijun considered himself a man of mediocre ability; he did not have the skill to dare to "teach the sun and moon to change the sky," so he could only patch things up on this mess of a foundation.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng was, without a doubt, the master patcher of the Great Ming state system. He possessed both the reuse of ancestral laws and his own unique understanding of the state system, belonging to the great synthesizer of ancestral laws and reform.

Zhu Zhu Yijun deconstructed this legitimacy because today's court discussion touched upon this issue.

"Teacher." Zhu Zhu Yijun put down his brush. He was attending the morning court at the Imperial Gate; attending court was originally just for listening, but Zhu Zhu Yijun had interrupted more than once or twice. As Emperor, Zhu Zhu Yijun's power was infinite.

"This subject is here." Zhang Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed his head and said.

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "In the future, pay special attention to memorials opposing the New Policies, and keep an eye on the issues mentioned within them. It is not for fear of them finding leverage, but to find the flaws in the New Policies and further perfect them."

These censors, holding magnifying glasses all day long, magnified several problems of the New Policies and opposed them every single day. Opposition was not ineffective; the censors who picked bones out of eggs could actually discover some problems.

The content of today's court discussion still involved censors impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng on dozens of charges; some were not worth mentioning, while others could be used for reference and improvement.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Zhang Juzheng was startled, then revealed a smile. His Majesty had already fully mastered the peerless method of turning enemies into tools and continuously perfecting government decrees.

The censors who picked bones out of eggs would never imagine that the reasons they used to oppose the New Policies would all make the New Policies more stable and powerful.

His Majesty's set of "receiving, transforming, and sending" was played very cleverly.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng put down the memorial impeaching him and picked up another, saying: "The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are not very supportive of selling ships."

Wang Wang Guoguang, seeing Zhang Zhang Juzheng discuss this matter in court, spoke up: "Large ships—we in the Great Ming don't even have enough for ourselves; why sell them to the Red-Haired Barbarians? If we have twelve five-masted ocean-crossing ships, each ship carrying 10,000 piculs, one trip can transport 120,000 piculs. Next year, sea transport of grain needs to reach 800,000 piculs; four trips would be enough, and one month is plenty of time."

"Sell two, and we have two fewer."

Wang Wang Chonggu deliberated for a moment and said: "Grand Minister, your calculation is incorrect. The main sea ships for grain transport are still the three-masted galleons; these are the main force of grain transport. The five-masted ocean-crossing ships are for crossing the ocean. The last time we transported grain, it was to test the stability of the sea ships. Ocean-crossing ships are meant to cross the ocean. We currently have no sea charts or needle charts and cannot cross the ocean for now. That captain, Antonio, can help us test the ocean-crossing capability of the ocean-crossing ships."

"Letting five-masted ocean-crossing ships run in coastal waters is like putting chains on a dragon; it is a waste of talent."

Wang Wang Chonggu agreed to sell the ships because this was a business. Regarding business matters, Wang Wang Chonggu himself had a scholarly family background, and he supervised the official factories, so he did not agree with Wang Wang Guoguang's conservative thinking. Conservatism in business is shutting silver out the door.

Wang Wang Chonggu had always been bold; the Altan Khan tribute and the tribute markets were all promoted by his efforts, and now he was exerting force on the official factories.

Tan Lun said with great emotion: "Five-masted ocean-crossing ships are warships. If sold to the Red-Haired Barbarians, they will inevitably take the opportunity to cause chaos, colluding with the Black Barbarians, Japanese pirates, and desperate outlaws to invade. The Japanese pirate chaos in the southeast coastal areas really makes people's hearts linger with fear."

"Any government decree that might cause Japanese pirate trouble should be carefully reviewed before a decision is made."

Wang Wang Chonggu was silent for a moment and refused to say another word. Preventing Japanese pirate trouble was a "political correctness" that had existed in the Great Ming since its founding. No matter how much Wang Wang Chonggu wanted to express his opinion, he could only choose to avoid it on this issue.

Yu Yu Dayou, seeing that everyone was avoiding this issue, sat up straight and said: "I will rely on my old age to speak. The contradiction of Japanese pirate trouble is very complex. Looking at this issue solely from the perspective of military affairs and Great Ming coastal defense, specifically, it is the establishment and maintenance of the navy, coastal defense patrols, and the issue of leading weaponry."

"If you all have an impression, when the galleons arrived at the port, we called them giant ships. By comparison, the Great Ming's ships seemed very small. But now, our ships are already larger than theirs, and the types are becoming more numerous. Ships like the pleasure boats are also hot-selling products of the Songjiang Shipyard."

"In the first year of Emperor Wanli, we experienced a brief panic of commodity inferiority."

"I think we can sell them. After selling them, we can make our ships even more powerful. Without communication and exchange, shutting the door and playing by ourselves is ultimately just talking to ourselves. The Great Ming's five-masted ocean-crossing ships were also finalized by referencing Western sea ships and the tribute ships."

Yu Yu Dayou, as a famous anti-Japanese pirate general, relied on his old age to be the first to break this untouchable topic.

Wang Wang Chonggu, seeing someone take the lead, opened the floodgates of his speech and said with great certainty: "If we look at the development process of Great Ming commodities, it is very consistent with the theory of contradictions. The quality of a commodity needs to be tested. Where it is not good to use, find the problem, analyze the cause, and change this shortcoming; only then will this commodity become more perfect and mature."

"For example, silk products. The Great Ming's silk products can be called the pinnacle. Since ancient times, silk products have been for imperial use in the palace. For the guest that is the palace, one must be perfect."

"The perfection of commodities is a qualitative change triggered by continuous quantitative changes."

"Luzon has one five-masted ocean-crossing ship, while the Great Ming can deploy more than ten ocean-crossing ships from Guangzhou Dianbai Port to Songjiang Prefecture for coastal defense. If they dare to invade, let them have no way to return."

Tan Lun pondered for a long time, nodded, and said: "What you say makes sense, so let's sell them."

Minister of Revenue Wang Wang Guoguang thought for a while and said very seriously: "Absolutely do not let overseas orders snatch the Great Ming court's orders. Sea transport of grain is a matter of great importance; do not lose the big for the small."

"The Grand Minister is right." Zhang Zhang Juzheng, seeing that the opponents no longer opposed, began to seriously summarize the experience from all aspects, wrote it into a floating ticket, and sent it to the Imperial presence for vermilion approval.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng's handling opinion was: They can be sold, but to prevent the resurgence of Japanese pirate trouble, the Great Ming's number of warships must have an absolute numerical and qualitative advantage. Ensuring the safety of the Great Ming's sea frontiers is the first principle. While selling ships, one must also continuously summarize experience regarding shortcomings. While building, one must improve. The research and development of new ships must absolutely not stop. Maintaining relative leadership is also the task of the shipyard.

Zhu Zhu Yijun gave vermilion approval to Zhang Zhang Juzheng's floating ticket and stamped it with the Great Seal.

"The matter of Tang Tang Kekuan dying for the country at Gubeikou in Miyun has also been investigated, and there are no hidden circumstances." Zhang Zhang Juzheng took out a memorial and announced a piece of news. Tang Tang Kekuan's death in battle indeed had nothing to do with Liu Liu Liangbi and Pei Pei Yingzhang.

"No hidden circumstances?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked with great suspicion. The "Restoration Base Scholars" were too trashy; they actually didn't participate this time, which made Zhu Zhu Yijun exceptionally surprised.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, there was no time. Tang Tang Kekuan's pursuit was a temporary decision, and after marching for half a day, he was ambushed in the Eighteen Plate Mountains. In this half day, it was impossible to effectively pass the message out."

The "base scholars" might not have wanted to, but they just didn't have the ability.

After Zhang Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Zhu Zhu Yijun remembered the two times Wu Dui and Fang Fang Fengshi played with the court and reported false military intelligence. Information transmission in this era was not that convenient, especially while still in battle. Tang Tang Kekuan indeed pursued too deeply, was ambushed, and then died for the country.

Zhu Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and accepted this fact. Daning Regional Commander Wang Wang Rulong also questioned Dong Dong Huli. Dong Dong Huli implicated quite a few people but was slow to produce any evidence. Dong Dong Huli also failed to receive the Great Ming's favor, but the Great Ming used 500 taels of silver to buy back the corpses of Tang Tang Kekuan and several military generals.

"The Northern Barbarians are not weak." Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a hint of helplessness: "Tang Tang Kekuan violated the general's orders and attacked privately. After the official burial, strip him of all posthumous honors."

Disobeying military orders is a great taboo on the battlefield. According to Qi Qi Jiguang's meaning, against the backdrop of strengthening the military, no one mentioned this matter, and it passed in a muddled way. After all, the dead are the greatest, and after all, they were strengthening the military and died on the battlefield.

But Liu Liu Liangbi and Pei Zhongzhang insisted on entangling it and wanted to severely punish Qi Qi Jiguang, so it was put on the table. Once it was weighed, the fact of disobeying military orders became widely known, and it had to be punished.

Qi Qi Jiguang and Yu Yu Dayou looked at each other, both appearing helpless. His Majesty was punishing the military generals, but they did not stand up to plead for the military general who had already died on the battlefield.

In the army, military orders are like mountains. Since this matter was put on the table, it could only be like this.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng frowned and said: "Your Majesty, I fear this is inappropriate. This is precisely the time to strengthen the military."

"Teacher, benevolence does not command troops." Zhu Zhu Yijun reminded Zhang Zhang Juzheng. He really did not want to handle it this way. How many muddled things had the Great Ming done? He really intended to muddle through it, but once it was weighed and the impact was great, it could not be easily forgiven; that would be indulgence.

Disobeying military orders is something absolutely not allowed to happen in the army. This time, Gubeikou was not lost, but if it had been lost, how many more ripples would the war at Daning Guard have caused?

"Your Majesty should severely punish." Tan Lun agreed with His Majesty's handling. Zhang Zhang Juzheng wanted to strengthen the military, so he felt he could indulge a little; this was also his consistent way of doing things. Things like taking a little silver could be let go.

This disobedience of military orders from the General Conquering the Barbarians, in Tan Lun's view, could not be indulged.

Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered that Zhang Zhang Juzheng's military talent might be about the same as his own—both infinitely approaching zero.

"Build a Shrine of Loyalty and Bravery at Gubeikou to record his loyalty and bravery." Zhu Zhu Yijun finally gave Tang Tang Kekuan honor. Tang Tang Kekuan's motivation was not to compete for merit, but to expand the results of the battle. He died in battle, so the name of loyalty and bravery that should be given must still be given.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng pondered for a long time, shook his head, wrote the floating ticket, and presented it to the Imperial presence.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun gave vermilion approval, he said to Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhao Zhao Mengyou: "After court, release Liu Liu Liangbi and Pei Zhongzhang."

Hence Hai Rui stepped out of the ranks, bowed his head, and said: "Your Majesty, I fear they cannot be released. Corruption was discovered on them, and they are being investigated by the Censorate."

"Ah, this... no major matters involved them, but corruption did?" Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head. This happened to hit the blade of the Great Ming's Divine Sword. Hence Hai Rui was presiding over the matter of killing the wind of corruption; this Liu Liu Liangbi and Pei Zhongzhang were afraid they were going to be unlucky.

A new official takes office with three fires. This Liu Liu Liangbi and Pei Zhongzhang were afraid they would be more uncomfortable than death. Don't hit the diligent, don't hit the lazy, just hit those who don't have eyes.

"How much was embezzled?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked.

"Liu Liu Liangbi had more; there is evidence for over 130,000 taels. Pei Zhongzhang had less, only about 20,000 taels, and it is still being audited." Hence Hai Rui bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, this subject requests that this case be published in the Gazette to inform the world."

"Granted." Zhu Zhu Yijun's eyes rolled and he said: "Inspector Hai, I have an idea."

When the officials heard that the Emperor had an idea, they couldn't help but shiver. The Emperor had always been highly skilled in humiliating people. What kind of mess had he stirred up again?

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "I intend to build a 'Happy Stele Forest.' Just circle off a few acres of land outside the Zhaoyang Gate, and then truthfully carve the names and case details of these corrupt officials onto it. When the scholars enter the capital, they must all go to this Happy Stele Forest to study a little, take it as a warning, and also find a stele inscription to copy down. If they embezzled less, the stele inscription will be smaller; if they embezzled more, the stele inscription will be larger."

"Teacher, this does not violate the way of advocating frugality and self-reflection, does it?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it does not violate it." Zhang Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed his head and said. This does not conflict with the way of frugality! Your Majesty, don't associate everything with advocating frugality!

"Then build it outside the Zhaoyang Gate and reserve space to prevent it from not fitting. What does Inspector Hai think of the Happy Stele Forest?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked Hence Hai Rui for his opinion on the Happy Stele Forest.

Hence Hai Rui said very seriously: "This subject thinks it is very good. Scholars entering the capital seeing the stele inscriptions can also be warned, so they won't fall and regret it too late."

"So be it." Zhu Zhu Yijun revealed a sunny, brilliant smile.

Secretly colluding with the barbarians would result in being hung on a long pole in the Tonghui River, with a stone stele pressed under the long pole. Now, outside the Zhaoyang Gate, there was one more Happy Stele Forest, recording all corrupt officials.

The court discussion continued. Wang Wang Guoguang proposed the "Full Salary Law," which was to give Great Ming officials their full salaries. The last time the Great Ming set salaries was in the Emperor Hongwu era, and the last time they were paid in full was in the fifth year of Yongle. Later, they were paid in pepper, and as time went on, pepper became worthless, but the court still issued pepper.

Pepper was not a general equivalent, and the price of pepper fell every day. Later, the court became increasingly empty, and this pepper was no longer issued, simply paying 70% in paper money.

Great Ming officials were definitely not poor. As long as they passed the provincial examination, many people would attach their land to the name of this provincial graduate. If they passed the metropolitan examination, there were even more people.

The purpose of Wang Wang Guoguang's proposal was to give a sweet date, and then give a few big slaps. What was to be done next was to return the land. Many gentry, provincial graduates, metropolitan graduates, and officials had land that seriously exceeded the standard. Now that they had been given full salaries, the next step was the big slaps.

This was entirely predictable. Wang Wang Guoguang did not hide his point of view in the memorial in the slightest.

Wang Wang Guoguang's precarious position as Minister of Revenue was stabilized once again.

Wang Wang Chonggu would definitely not make such a remonstrance; he would only think of ways to make money. Asking him to launch an attack on the gentry, Wang Wang Chonggu did not dare. He himself was also clear that he was just a petty man who was neither grand nor resolute.

For this kind of work of charging into the fray, it still had to be Zhang Zhang Juzheng, Wang Wang Guoguang, and Tan Lun.

The Ministry of Works reported that the ground buildings of the late Emperor's Imperial Mausoleum, which were not repaired well, had been repaired again and looked like something. As for the underground part, in order not to disturb the late Emperor, it was not moved again. The repairs cost a total of 120,000 taels of silver. In addition to repairing the ground buildings, the missing buildings were also rebuilt.

With this, the Emperor Longqing Emperor's Imperial Mausoleum was completely repaired.

Minister of Works Zhu Heng was the one who had bad luck in this matter. When Guo Guo Chaobin repaired it, he really did his best.

Wan Wan Shihe proposed a very constructive opinion, which was the "Changing the Native Official System" in the southwest. After the hereditary native official died, the court would no longer allow them to be hereditary, but instead send flowing officials. The purpose of doing this was to prevent chaos in the southwest. This time, the Luopang Mountain chaos was the Yao people.

This work of "Changing the Native Official System" had been going on from the Emperor Hongwu era to the Emperor Wanli era. Later, the Jianzhou Jurchens grew strong, and the court could no longer take care of the southwest.

Wan Wan Shihe once again affirmed that the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's Mansion had played a decisive role in the stability and development of the southwest, and requested the Emperor to reward the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's Mansion to express the affection of relatives.

The Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's Mansion, which the people called the Mu Prince's Mansion, Mu Ying was Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son. This was indeed the affection of relatives, not just the affection of monarch and subject.

Minister of Rites Ma Ma Ziqiang submitted a memorial that made Zhu Zhu Yijun's hands shake. The more he looked, the more shocked he became. He looked at Ma Ma Ziqiang and asked: "Grand Minister, this, this, can everything be simplified?"

The little Emperor, who feared neither heaven nor earth, not even the "base scholars," felt terrified in the face of this cumbersome etiquette. If a person went through this etiquette once, he was afraid he would lose a layer of skin even if he didn't die.

Ma Ma Ziqiang requested the Emperor to visit the Imperial Academy, submitting a specific set of etiquette.

In this cumbersome memorial, Zhu Zhu Yijun had to be busy for a full seven days. At the very beginning, he had to bathe, change clothes, burn incense, and fast, and also recite an article sacrificing to Confucius every day. By the third day, he began to sweep the streets. Just the sacrificial text alone made Zhu Zhu Yijun dizzy. In the middle, he had to go here to sacrifice and there to sacrifice; the places of sacrifice were running east and west.

"Your Majesty, this is already everything simplified. This ceremony for visiting the Imperial Academy has been the ancestral law since the Emperor Hongwu era, and all past dynasties have followed this ceremony." Ma Ma Ziqiang also wiped the sweat from his forehead. He also knew that this thing was indeed smelly and long, but it had already been simplified to the extreme.

In order to avoid these cumbersome and useless sacrifices, the Great Ming Emperors had come up with various methods. Having military officials substitute for the sacrifice was the most common.

But there was no saying of substitution for this matter. When the old Emperor Jiajing Daoist was still diligent, he had handled this ceremony for visiting the Imperial Academy.

"Then do it." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the long memorial and sighed. This ritual and law were strict, and he, the Emperor, could not avoid it. It was just a grand ceremony for the Emperor to go to the Imperial Academy, which all past dynasties had, and it was not the Ministry of Rites making things difficult for the little Emperor.

For seven days, Zhu Zhu Yijun felt that he had lost a layer of skin. Fortunately, this only happened once in a lifetime; otherwise, Zhu Zhu Yijun would definitely take out his "lying flat" method.

However, after Zhu Zhu Yijun finished this smelly and long ceremony for visiting the Imperial Academy, Hence Hai Rui finished the Happy Stele Forest in less than five days and invited the Emperor to go and see it himself. 1,000 taels of embezzlement was one inch high. There were only two stone steles inside, cold and clear.

The stele inscriptions had punctuation, so reading them would not be too troublesome, and they used common characters and common language. All of Zhu Zhu Yijun's mental exhaustion from the ceremony for visiting the Imperial Academy was restored because of the completion of the Happy Stele Forest!

"Having punctuation is good, using common language and common characters is good, setting up courtyard walls but not setting up gates is even better. Anyone can walk in and visit." Zhu Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with Hence Hai Rui handling this errand.

"Your Majesty, I fear that in the future, it will be the same as the old matter of the Dengwen Drum." Hence Hai Rui said with some worry.

In the Emperor Hongwu era, there was a Dengwen Drum. If the common people had injustices, they could directly beat the Dengwen Drum to find the Taizu Gao Emperor to file a complaint. After the Gao Emperor ascended to heaven, this Dengwen Drum had courtyard walls and became the Dengwen Drum Court. Once the gate was locked, no one came to file complaints anymore.

"Who can manage things so far into the future?" Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand, not caring much about future matters. No one could manage what happened after they died, but as long as he was alive for one day, this Happy Stele Forest would be open for one day, and the names of these corrupt officials would be muttered by people for one day.

"Your Majesty, an interesting thing happened in the capital recently." Hence Hai Rui followed His Majesty left and right. He was now the Inspector of the Censorate, one of the big bosses, specifically responsible for hearing and reporting on affairs.

"Oh, what happened?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked with great curiosity.

"Right Vice Minister of Rites and Chancellor of the Imperial Academy Sun Ying'ao humiliated his subordinate Zhou Zhou Daozhi and was impeached by a censor." Hence Hai Rui said with a smile.

"I have met Sun Ying'ao; he is a typical 'good old man.' How did he suddenly humiliate his subordinate? Why did Sun Ying'ao scold someone?" Zhu Zhu Yijun recalled.

This Right Vice Minister and Chancellor of the Imperial Academy Sun Ying'ao was a typical stubborn old man, but his temper was very good. He was stubborn with himself, but rarely quarreled with others.

Hence Hai Rui also shook his head repeatedly and said helplessly: "It was also Sun Vice Minister's bad luck. This Zhou Zhou Daozhi entered the capital as an official in September this year and went to Sun Ying'ao's mansion to pay a visit to his superior. Zhou Zhou Daozhi knelt to see him, but Sun Ying'ao did not like people kneeling, so he scolded Zhou Zhou Daozhi to his face."

The nickname "Hai Pen-Rack" came from Hence Hai Rui refusing to kneel to superiors—he knelt to heaven, earth, parents, and monarch, but not to others. The Great Ming had two styles: kneeling to superiors and not kneeling to superiors, and Hence Hai Rui was the pillar of the "non-kneeling" faction, which was also an important basis for Hence Hai Rui's identification of uprightness.

Uprightness meant not being able to kneel; the bones were hard.

Apparently, Right Vice Minister Sun Ying'ao was of the "non-kneeling" faction, while Zhou Zhou Daozhi was of the "kneeling" faction. This Zhou Zhou Daozhi knelt to see him and was scolded by Sun Ying'ao.

Hence Hai Rui continued: "This Zhou Zhou Daozhi started to make a scene, saying that Sun Ying'ao humiliated him. Your Majesty was going to visit the Imperial Academy, and Sun Ying'ao was busy with ritual matters and didn't pay attention to him. As a result, on the day Your Majesty went to the Imperial Academy, this Zhou Zhou Daozhi was outside the gate of the Imperial Academy, crying bitterly, scolding and counting Sun Ying'ao's crimes."

"What crimes? I have heard it until now, and I don't feel that Sun Ying'ao's handling had anything wrong." Zhu Zhu Yijun said suspiciously.

Hence Hai Rui replied: "Zhou Zhou Daozhi said Sun Ying'ao had three crimes: 'throwing back the red gift,' 'not repairing the gate,' and 'changing the ritual.' That is to say, he made Sun Ying'ao not accept Zhou Zhou Daozhi's gift and threw it back at him, and also said that Sun Ying'ao was not a good person in private, and also said that Sun Ying'ao simplified the ceremony for Your Majesty's visit to the Imperial Academy."

"Oh, I understand. This Zhou Zhou Daozhi is of the 'Restoration' faction." Zhu Zhu Yijun finally understood.

Ma Ma Ziqiang led the Ministry of Rites to modify the ceremony for visiting the Imperial Academy, allowing its process to be greatly simplified, and also allowing the Emperor to be less busy.

This Zhou Zhou Daozhi was very dissatisfied, and coupled with being scolded in Sun Ying'ao's private residence earlier, this was settling old and new grudges together.

Hence Hai Rui continued: "To prevent delaying the ceremony, Zhou Zhou Daozhi was pulled away by the crowd. He couldn't take it, suddenly rushed into the corridor, and wanted to see the Emperor. After being stopped, he cried bitterly and shouted: 'The Imperial countenance is close at hand! Chancellor Sun Ying'ao repeatedly violates private words and constantly wipes his face with a handkerchief. The Censorate should impeach him!'"

"The Censor of Rituals said that Sun Ying'ao only wiped his sweat twice and turned his head once, and there was no sinister intent to destroy the ritual."

The Great Ming Censor of Rituals was specifically responsible for correcting etiquette. If Sun Ying'ao really disregarded the solemnity of the occasion, whispered, and wiped his sweat constantly, he would definitely have been corrected by the Censor of Rituals.

Zhu Zhu Yijun marveled and said: "Very interesting. Sun Ying'ao clearly didn't do anything wrong, yet they are all impeaching Sun Ying'ao. And this Zhou Zhou Daozhi, not being allowed to kneel, actually feels it is a humiliation, and also opposes simplifying the ceremony, impeaching a high official over a small matter. Sure enough, they are a group of 'base scholars,' things carved from the same mold."

"This atmosphere is changing. Sun Ying'ao is not wrong, and Zhou Zhou Daozhi is in the wrong even if he screams until his throat breaks. The focus of the debate now is: some say one should kneel to superiors, others say one should not."

Zhu Zhu Yijun thought for a while and asked: "What does Hou Hou Yuzhao say?"

"Hou Hou Yuzhao actually submitted a memorial saying that he was not in the capital and did not know the specific situation, so he dared not make a conclusion. But regarding this kneeling to superiors or not, Hou Hou Yuzhao believes one should not kneel." Hence Hai Rui answered truthfully.

"Look, Hou Hou Yuzhao is still loyal to the monarch and the country, and he sees things clearly." Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled.

This Hou Hou Yuzhao was very interesting. He clearly wanted to go with the majority, but when expressing his views, he would ramble on and on, always exposing his nature of loyalty to the monarch and the country.

"What else did Minister Hou say?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

Hence Hai Rui then revealed the point: "Hou Hou Yuzhao also said, if one kneels, one should crawl on one's knees to the hall and not stand up to report; if one does not kneel, one should walk to the hall, perform a grand ceremony, and then stand up to report. How to distinguish? Post a list for everyone to sign, and act accordingly."

"Minister Hou really has a way!" Zhu Zhu Yijun was startled and felt this method was wonderful!

One list for kneeling, one list for not kneeling. Whoever thinks which is right, sign and press their thumbprint on that list. If you think you should kneel to superiors and like to kneel, then in the future, when you go to court and enter the hall, crawl on your knees to the hall.

Because the Emperor is more noble than the superior.

Requesting monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!!!!!!!!

End of chapter ===== CHAPTER 192 =====