It is well known that the Hongwu Emperor severely cracked down on corrupt officials, and corrupt officials would certainly not have a good ending once they were caught.
However, to be realistic, even with the severe crackdown by Emperor Hongwu, corrupt officials continued to emerge one after another. Besides being blinded by greed, this was also because many officials harbored a侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality).
There were other factors at play. Although governing officialdom was very important and there seemed to be some methods available, the Hongwu reign actually lacked effective systems for managing officialdom, and many practices were simply continuations of those from previous dynasties.
This result essentially means a lack of necessary assessments of civil servants, which is essentially the core function of the Ministry of Personnel.
In fact, the system of imperial examinations in the capital can be considered to have originated in the Hongwu reign. However, this system was not strictly enforced. More due to the terrifying authority of Emperor Hongwu, the system appeared to exist, but it was not consistently implemented.
This is clearly not acceptable. What Zhu Yunying needs is for this system to operate in the long term and to consistently exert its effectiveness so that it can better govern the bureaucracy and ensure that the space for corrupt officials to survive shrinks.
Jiang Huan, having been summoned to an audience by imperial decree, naturally knew what he was supposed to do. He had many tasks at hand and had to be careful and meticulous, diligently carrying out the tasks assigned by His Majesty.
The palm oil matter was actually handled more by the Imperial Guards, who investigated the source of the palm oil and its production process.
Although Jiang Huan was also envious of this mission, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had a considerable presence outside the Ming Dynasty's borders, while the Eastern Depot could not compare to the Embroidered Uniform Guard in terms of its overseas operations.
However, within the country, especially in the capital, the Eastern Depot's surveillance of civil and military officials is actually stronger than that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In fact, the Eastern Depot's oversight and checks on the Embroidered Uniform Guard are quite evident to anyone with discerning eyes.
Seeing Jiang Huan kneeling, Zhu Yunying asked, "How many people have been secretly colluding these past few days?"
At this moment, Jiang Huan immediately said, "Your Majesty, Huang Zicheng, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, associates with many officials of the Qingliu faction. Since the decree for the capital inspection was issued, Huang Zicheng has been interacting with many officials. There were also some complaints at the banquet earlier."
Zhu Yunying sneered and said disdainfully, "I'm afraid you're going to say again that I mistreat scholars and dishonor culture!"
Jiang Huan kowtowed, knowing the emperor was in a bad mood. "Your Majesty is wise!"
That's exactly the case. The status of Confucianism was continuously consolidated and elevated, especially during the Song Dynasty, which was a paradise for scholars. This made many scholars yearn for the Song Dynasty, feeling that it was the era when literati should live.
That was the Song Dynasty, where scholars and officials jointly governed the country, and the law did not apply to high-ranking officials. In addition, there were incredibly generous salaries and a superior social status... All of this was why scholars longed for the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, passing the imperial examination was the pinnacle of life, and the whole society was fervently pursuing scholars, something unimaginable even in the Ming Dynasty.
Before the Song Dynasty, many people were rather indifferent to the imperial examination system. However, during the Song Dynasty, people realized that "there are houses of gold and beauties in books," and everyone wanted to pass the imperial examination with flying colors, because that was the true path to success.
Unlike now, countless civil officials in the Ming Dynasty have been beheaded or skinned alive, receiving meager salaries barely enough to support their families, and constantly subjected to humiliation and harassment by uncouth military men. Even those who appear to be part of the civil service are often unskilled, including some lowly craftsmen.
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This is the greatest humiliation for scholars, even more excessive than Emperor Hongwu's removal of the Second Sage from the Confucian Temple or Emperor Yingshi's suppression of the Duke Yansheng.
After all, while the Duke Yansheng was a spiritual leader for many scholars, he was ultimately a descendant of Confucius, and indeed, he had a few unworthy descendants. The emergence of artisans and other craftsmen within the civil service was a more sensitive issue, as entering officialdom through the imperial examinations should have been the foundation for scholars.
Looking at Jiang Huan, Zhu Yunying said, "My Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices has been somewhat restless these past few years."
Huang Zicheng had always felt that he was somewhat underappreciated, having achieved first place in the provincial examination and third place in the palace examination in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign. His background should have been incredibly illustrious, even surpassing that of Ru Chang, who came from a tribute student background. Was it simply because Ru Chang was also a 'child prodigy'?
He served as an editor and compiler, and also served as a tutor to the Crown Prince and concurrently as a Hanlin Academician. He was also the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and served as the chief officiant in charge of grand ceremonies of the court. It can be said that Huang Zicheng's career path was incredibly smooth and quite illustrious in the eyes of many people.
However, Huang Zicheng himself was bitter. Although his official positions were indeed quite prestigious, they were all extremely noble and insignificant. In other words, most of the time, he was merely a figurehead with no real power, just a role model for scholars in the eyes of the court.
Whether it's positive guidance or a warning to some intellectuals is up to them to decide.
His political ambitions had nowhere to be realized, and the emperor was never close to him and rarely listened to his suggestions.
To say he wasn't indignant would be a lie. Huang Zicheng has always believed he was talented and had the ability to save the world. It's just a pity that he never had the opportunity to use his talents.
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