[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties":3,"chapter-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-6":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Really Am Not Neglecting My Duties",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2363275,4622,"Chapter 6","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-6",6,"\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng had sharp, clear features, strikingly handsome, slightly lean, yet his eyes held a faint glimmer of brilliance; standing there, unassuming yet radiating a piercing presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first year of Wanli, the Great Ming had already entered old age, its sun sinking toward the horizon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Governance had grown lax, the state weak, discipline crumbling; military readiness had decayed, the capital garrisons numbering no more than fifty to sixty thousand—mostly old, weak, sick, or crippled; state finances were in dire deficit, the tax base utterly withered; court factions choked the halls, officials multiplied uselessly, bureaucratic corruption reached unprecedented levels; the people suffered under the burden of survival, and the Great Ming teetered on the brink of collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At such a time, only a man capable of saving the world could purge the accumulated rot and prolong the Ming’s life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Song could not do it; Xu Jie could not do it; Gao Gong could not do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Zhu Yijun’s eyes stood the Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng—someone with strategy, resolve, ability, and talent; could he do it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had not succeeded either; ten years was far too short, and the Ming’s illness far too grave. After Zhang Juzheng’s death in the tenth year of Wanli, the Ming’s final chance at self-correction vanished without a trace amid the tide of retaliatory purges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Grand Secretary, skilled in governing the state but clumsy in safeguarding himself, was the very foundation that allowed the Wanli Emperor to neglect court for thirty years, left half the bureaucracy vacant, yet still indulge in idleness and misconduct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as Zhang Juzheng’s actions benefited the Great Ming, Zhu Yijun would never obstruct him in the slightest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Restoring the Great Ming to greatness was Zhu Yijun’s unwavering wish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng; Zhang Juzheng looked back at the young emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yesterday, an assassin had breached the Qianqing Palace, stabbing his bed—after such a dire ordeal, how would this young monarch react? Would he be terrified into timidity? Would he be consumed by fear of assassination? Or would he be overcome with grief over his father’s death and his own lack of safety?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng saw none of that—only calm composure, and a hint of amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eyes never lie; the Ming emperor’s gaze held no fear, no panic, no sorrow, no anxiety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Secretary, may we begin the lecture?” Zhu Yijun asked. According to past memory, he was supposed to recite a long, flowery speech.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It went something like this: “I am still young and deeply fear my virtue fails to merit the people’s sustenance and my late father’s expectations. Today, in accordance with ancestral law, I hope the ministers will earnestly instruct me in principle and govern this realm well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This long passage was like chanting scripture; he had forgotten most of what he learned, yet this one passage remained vividly etched in his memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun was testing—testing whether the lecture could proceed without him reciting it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As Your Majesty commands!” Zhang Juzheng paused, then bowed in assent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the lecture could begin without reciting scripture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twenty-seven powerful ministers of the Ming court served only Zhu Yijun’s studies; the emperor did not even need to turn pages—exposition officials turned them for him, while readers and lecturers prepared paper, ground ink, and recorded every word spoken by the lecture scholars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He need not take notes—only listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the lecture scholars entered, Zhu Yijun had to rise and return their bow before the lesson could begin; the content was the Four Books and Five Classics, each scholar assigned specific passages, dissecting every word and syllable to feed it directly into his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng was not idle, nor distracted—he watched Zhu Yijun’s learning with intense focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng had no political heir, nor could he have one; his authority was absolute. If he had an heir, Empress Dowager Li would lose sleep and appetite; deposing Gao Gong was one thing, deposing Zhang Juzheng was another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Empress Dowager Li, safeguarding imperial authority was her duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng’s sole legitimate heir could only be the emperor upon the dais; thus, he devoted himself earnestly to teaching the emperor to learn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun truly wished to study well,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>to improve daily, but as he listened, he gradually sensed something amiss—he suddenly spoke: “Stop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Secretary, I have a question,” Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Juzheng: “These lecture scholars all quote the same line, yet each offers a different interpretation—whose view should I follow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Analects of Confucius, ‘Wei Zheng,’ says: ‘Pursuing heterodox doctrines is harmful.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Scholar Wang Xilie says: ‘To delve into heterodox doctrines brings great harm’; Scholar Chen Jin says: ‘To condemn false doctrines eradicates their harm’; Hanlin Compiler Wang Tangsun says: ‘Attacking views differing from one’s own is perilous.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Secretary, what is the true meaning of this line? Three scholars, one phrase, three meanings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This question from the young emperor momentarily stumped Zhang Juzheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is easier to determine victory in martial contest than to judge superiority in scholarly debate; in literature, there is no first place; in martial arts, there is no second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scholars have always looked down on one another; Confucius’s single phrase yields a thousand interpretations—one for each reader. Commentaries multiply endlessly; each school, each faction, even each individual, holds a different view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who is right? Who is wrong? Whom should one believe?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever Zhang Juzheng answered, he would offend the other scholars utterly. Zhang Juzheng was not afraid of offending people—if he feared offense, he would never have proposed the Examination System.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Examination System was a bridle and whip for officials, imposing performance evaluations—most unpopular of all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng pondered how best to teach the emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s silence, Zhang Juzheng said: “I believe ‘gong’ means to study devotedly; ‘yiduan’ refers to doctrines that diverge from the sages’ path.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Emperor Huizong of Song pursued Daoism, calling himself the Daoist Lord; Emperor Wu of Liang obsessed over Buddhism, calling himself Bodhidharma—both lost their lives and their states, mocked by posterity. Is not the harm of heterodoxy a warning for all ages?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun picked up his brush and wrote “Emperor Huizong” and “Emperor Wu” six characters, then asked: “Does Grand Secretary mean these religious doctrines are the heterodox?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Precisely,” Zhang Juzheng did not conceal his disdain for Buddhism and Daoism—primarily because they shrank the tax base; temple lands paid no grain or tax, and gentry often attached themselves to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the Ming, these places harbored filth and evaded taxes—one of the worms devouring the dying Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The teachings of the Hundred Schools were not heterodox—they were scholarship. Only those doctrines that bewitched the people were true heterodoxy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng was a Confucian scholar, yet not merely a pure one; could a pure Confucian scholar have devised the Examination System?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly: “I understand. Grand Secretary speaks of governing the state; the scholars speak of principle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I dare not accept such praise,” Zhang Juzheng replied with a quick bow, yet his posture remained rigid, even proud; the scholars dared not contradict him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yi was dead; Gao Gong had been expelled from the Grand Secretariat. Zhang Juzheng’s methods were ruthless—what if opposing him led to dismissal tomorrow for stepping into the Chengtian Gate with the left foot?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun grew impatient with this lecture; the scholars’ words were like speeches from past-life meetings—full of sensible nonsense, all correct, yet utterly irrelevant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had nothing to do with governing the state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pure nonsense!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Zhang Juzheng and suddenly had an idea—he smiled and asked: “Grand Secretary is also a scholar, yes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng, puzzled by the question, replied: “I am from the Changning Garrison of Jingzhou Prefecture. Unworthy as I am, I ranked ninth in the second class of the Jiajing twenty-sixth year’s imperial examination.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng was a military household native of Changning Garrison, ranked ninth in the second class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun continued: “Grand Secretary excelled in scholarship—surely you have annotated the Four Books and Five Classics.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng now understood the emperor’s intent and replied: “I have.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun revealed his purpose: “I believe that as Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, you are the greatest scholar alive. Let us use your annotated version of the Four Books and Five Classics for study.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The court has twenty-seven ministers, their duties overwhelming—departmental deliberations, nominations, and affairs wait outside the hall. To serve only me in study for hours on end—do not these internal and external matters require discussion?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Secretary, give me your annotated Four Books and Five Classics. Once a month, set aside one day for the Hanlin and scholars to examine me. If I fail, then we can return to this crowded lecture format—no harm done.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You deliberate below the dais; I study alone upon it. Neither side is delayed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twenty-seven ministers waited outside, the ceremonial officers holding embroidered daggers watching them—they dared not even whisper, let alone discuss state affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun’s proposal saved time, increased efficiency, and avoided the confusion caused by scholarly disputes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn’t the core of the Examination System precisely to save time, improve efficiency, and reduce rigidity within the Ming system?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng pondered, flipped his sleeve, and pulled out a copy of the “Direct Explanation of the Four Books,” handing it to Zhang Hong beside him, and declared loudly: “Your Majesty is wise.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He agreed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun had assumed his opinion as a young emperor mattered little—but seeing Zhang Juzheng agree so readily, and noticing the “Direct Explanation” already prepared, he realized: Zhang Juzheng had planned this all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The emperor and the minister were truly of the same mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng spoke solemnly: “After the court deliberation, I will remain alone for one hour to clarify any doubts for Your Majesty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the death of the Longqing Emperor, the lecture system had lasted six months—what progress had the emperor made?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zero progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng had tested him; the young emperor had absorbed nothing—not a single word. He stammered in reply to every question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such grandeur, how could a ten-year-old possibly absorb anything?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other hand, each scholar dissected every word, twisting and turning their interpretations—these conflicting views, mixed together, confused even Zhang Juzheng; each side claimed its own truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who among them truly understood Confucius?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been pondering how to teach the emperor well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, he could not let court ministers avoid the emperor—Gao Gong’s fate was fresh in memory; the Wenhua Hall deliberations were for state affairs, and the emperor’s presence was essential. Second, the young emperor must make scholarly progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most importantly, Empress Dowager Li must not suspect Zhang Juzheng of plotting to usurp the throne!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you were teaching well, then suddenly stopped letting the scholars teach—what was Zhang Juzheng’s motive?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After much thought, Zhang Juzheng arrived at a solution nearly identical to the emperor’s—except he added one thing: after court deliberations, he would remain for one hour to instruct and clarify.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excellent! Excellent!” Zhu Yijun flipped through Zhang Juzheng’s “Direct Explanation of the Four Books”—this volume only annotated the Analects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most crucially, all annotations were written in vernacular Chinese; the scholars’ flowery, archaic speech was too hard to understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Direct Explanation of the Four Books” was a popularized version of the Four Books and Five Classics—but popular did not mean simplistic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take the Analects: for each saying of Confucius, it explained the context, to whom it was spoken, why it was said, its implications for governance, and its relevance to the Ming of today—all explained clearly and incisively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We withdraw,” the scholars glanced at one another, then bowed and retreated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng was seizing imperial authority—and the emperor not only did not resist, but handed him the reins. What could the scholars do?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when the throne no longer bore the Zhu surname would Your Majesty realize his mistake!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twenty-seven ministers entered the hall, seated along the long table, and began deliberating state affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first matter: the assassination attempt on the emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>",1998,"2026-06-21T07:55:54.218Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","1b6f871ee8adf31dce4d868ab6dcd7d908847b76c0ece67b28e3bdff01396808","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-7","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-5",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-cover.jpg"]