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Chapter 171 Hai Rui and Wang Yangming

[Is Hai Rui incorruptible or a capable minister? Understand Hai Rui's life history in one breath - Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty]

He was the first honest official of the Ming Dynasty. He was upright and incorruptible throughout his life, and he stood up for the people. Because of his integrity, he was honored by the people as "Hai Qingtian". Some people said that he was rude and useless and did not know how to adapt, but others thought that he was an irreplaceable famous official at that time.

So what kind of person was Hai Rui in history? In this video, let us go into the life of Hai Rui, the first honest official of the Ming Dynasty, in chronological order.

Hai Rui was born in Qiongshan, Hainan. His father died when he was 4 years old. His mother, Xie, barely made a living by relying on the dozens of acres of thin land at home and raised Hai Rui independently. Under his mother's strict teaching, Hai Rui studied hard since he was young and lived a very frugal life.

At the age of 36, Hai Rui passed the imperial examination and became a juren. After that, he took two joint examinations but failed to pass the imperial examination. Hai Rui simply gave up the imperial examination and went to Nanping County, Fujian Province as a juren to work as a teacher, which is now a school principal.

Hai Rui was upright by nature and never flattered the rich and powerful. Once, the imperial censor came to inspect, and everyone from teachers to students knelt to greet him, but Hai Rui stood there to greet him.

The censor was very surprised, but Hai Rui said that according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, teachers did not have to kneel before their superiors. The accompanying local officials were dumbfounded. Later, everyone realized that Hai Rui dared not give face to the censor, let alone the emperor.

In the Ming Dynasty, although the position of the magistrate was only a minor official, it was a very promising one. If one had good conduct, he could be promoted to the position of county magistrate. Although Hai Rui was an absolute thorn in the eyes of his superiors, his performance was really good. So five years later, Hai Rui was promoted to the position of Chun'an County Magistrate.

Chun'an County is located in the hilly and mountainous area in the southwest of Zhejiang Province. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was a place with serious land annexation, just like other areas in Jiangnan. The rich had 1 to acres of land but did not have to pay a penny of tax, while poor farmers had to bear high taxes for nothing.

After Hai Rui took office, he re-surveyed the land, evenly distributed taxes, and reduced the burden on the people. At the same time, he built water conservancy projects and improved social order, and was deeply loved by the people.

The common people respectfully called Hai Rui "Hai Qingtian". Hai Rui lived a very simple life. Although he was promoted to county magistrate, he still wore only cloth clothes. When his mother's birthday came, Hai Rui only bought two kilograms of meat to celebrate, which became a joke in the Zhejiang officialdom at that time.

It happened that the son of Zhejiang Governor Hu Zongxian passed by Chun'an County and beat up the post station clerk for a trivial matter. Upon hearing about this, Hai Rui immediately sent yamen runners to arrest Mr. Hu and confiscated the several thousand taels of silver that Mr. Hu carried with him.

When Hu Zongxian saw his son coming back dejected, he was furious. Then he saw the letter written by Hai Rui which said, "I heard that Mr. Hu has always been frugal. This person who claims to be his son is so extravagant. He must be an imposter." Hu Zongxian did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had heard of Hai Rui's reputation a long time ago, and today he finally experienced it.

Not long after, Chief Censor Yan Maojin went on a tour of Zhejiang and asked for bribes along the way. When passing through Chun'an, Hai Rui said that the county was too small to receive him and asked him to take a detour. Yan Maojin had also heard of Hai Rui's reputation and decided to take a detour based on the principle that he could not afford to offend but could afford to avoid.

Hai Rui should have been promoted to Tongpan, but because he offended Yan Maojin, he not only lost the chance of promotion, but also could not even be a county magistrate. With the help of his friends, Hai Rui was transferred to Xingguo, Jiangxi as a county magistrate, and was still loved by the local people.

Due to Hai Rui's upright character and high reputation, two years later, Hai Rui was promoted to the head of the Yunnan Division of the Ministry of Revenue and went to BJ to take up the post.

At this time, Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong had not attended court for more than 20 years. He spent all day in the Western Garden making elixirs and practicing Taoism. Corrupt officials were rampant and the people were living in misery. Hai Rui, who had always been upright, felt very indignant and resolutely wrote a letter of advice, which was the famous "An An Shu".

The world has not known your Majesty for a long time. Jiajing said that every family is clean and has no talent. Zhu Houcong was furious after reading it, and immediately ordered the Jinyiwei to arrest Hai Rui and put him in the prison. Hai Rui knew what the consequences would be after submitting this memorial, so he bought a coffin in advance. But he still suffered a series of mental blows. His two sons died suddenly and his wife Wang committed suicide.

Soon after, Emperor Shenzong Zhu Houcong passed away. Hai Rui cried bitterly, not only for himself, but also for the people and the country. The newly succeeded Emperor Muzong Zhu Zaihou released Hai Rui and restored him to his original post.

Three years later, Hai Rui was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Yingtian Prefecture. Yingtian Prefecture is today's NJ City. After the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, Nanjing became a place for officials to enjoy their retirement. As soon as Hai Rui arrived in Nanjing, he began to rectify the extravagant atmosphere here. From the nobles to the petty officials, everyone kept their tails between their legs and did not dare to provoke this official.

After Hai Rui took office, he vigorously promoted the Single Whip Law, built water conservancy projects, dredged the Wusong River, and forced the powerful in Jiangnan to return the annexed land to the farmers. Even the former Prime Minister Xu Jie had to return the occupied land according to Hai Rui's request.

In addition, Hai Rui encouraged widows to remarry, prohibited infanticide, and imposed many restrictions on the lives of officials. Although Hai Rui was already a governor at the time, he still lived a very frugal life. However, the officials at the time did not have such high moral standards as Hai Rui. They accused Hai Rui of being pedantic, sheltering unruly people, and taking advantage of the people. Therefore, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty transferred him from the governor of Yingtian and gave him a sinecure.

When the people in Jiangnan heard that Hai Rui was leaving, they cried and put Hai Rui's portrait in their homes for worship. Not long after, Hai Rui was excluded by Gao Gong and resigned and returned to his hometown. He was away for more than 10 years. During this period, many people recommended Hai Rui, but he was never re-employed until 1584, when Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty re-employed Hai Rui and appointed him as the Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate.

At that time, Hai Rui was already well-known throughout the country. The common people admired him for his loyalty to the people, and the new generation of civil servants admired him for his courage to speak out. Soon after, Hai Rui was promoted to the position of Chief Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, a position of the second rank.

However, Hai Rui did not want to be a mascot in Nanjing. He was old and wanted to retire and return home, but Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty refused to agree. In 1587, Hai Rui died in Nanjing at the age of 74. The court posthumously awarded him the title of Prince's Guardian. After Hai Rui's death, his family had no money left, and the people came to bury him. People who came to pay tribute to him stretched for hundreds of miles.

——"Watching Ming Dynasty 1566, Hai Rui in it is really amazing"

——"The Jiajing in the film is also amazing. I think it's Jiajing's fault if he doesn't look like that."

[The first person in five hundred years, who realized the truth in Longchang and became a saint in desperate situation. Wang Yangming, the history of Ming Dynasty]

Wang Yangming, the most powerful man in the entire Ming Dynasty, is one of the two "aliens" in Chinese history. He was able to establish a school of thought through literature and to stabilize the country through military force. He created the Yangming School of Mind and gained countless fans.

So how did Wang Yangming, a sage in the Ming Dynasty, become what he is? What is Yangming's philosophy of mind? In this video, let's take a look at Wang Yangming's life.

In ancient times, whenever a saint was born, there would be some strange phenomena, and Wang Shouren was no exception. One day in 1472, Wang Shouren, who had been in his mother's womb for 14 months, was finally born in a scholarly family in Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.

His father Wang Hua was just a scholar at the time and failed the imperial examination several times. Although the family was well-off, they had to rely on teaching outside to make a living. When Wang Shouren was 9 years old, his father Wang Hua finally passed the imperial examination and won the first place in the imperial examination four years later.

Wang Shouren also followed his father from Yuyao to live in Beijing, opening the door to a new world. After arriving in Beijing, Wang Shouren did not stay at home reading all day, but instead mingled in Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. He also enjoyed riding horses, archery, cockfighting, and playing with dogs.

Hearing that there was a peasant uprising in Beizhi, he also wrote a letter to Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty to offer advice. Wang Hua saw that his son was not doing his homework all day, so he quickly found a teacher to let him study with peace of mind. However, Wang Shouren became confused about the study of things as he read. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was the most prominent school of thought in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Xi believed that every plant and tree in the world contained the principles of heaven.

So Wang Shouren personally found a bamboo and wanted to explore the truth of heaven and earth. As a result, he looked at the bamboo in the yard for 7 days but did not see any truth. Instead, he fell seriously ill. The young Wang Shouren realized that he could not become a sage just by daydreaming at home.

At the age of 21, Wang Shouren passed the provincial examination for the first time, but failed the imperial examination in Beijing. The Prime Minister Li Dongyang encouraged him that if he failed this time, he would definitely win the first place next time, but he failed the next imperial examination.

At the age of 28, Wang Shouren finally passed the imperial examination and ranked seventh in the second class. During this period, he began to study military tactics, visited Yangming Cave in Kuaiji Mountain, and gave himself a nickname - Yangmingshanren, from which the name Wang Yangming came.

At this time, Wang Yangming's father Wang Hua had a successful career. His main task was to give lectures to the prince. This was originally a very promising career, but it would be different if he met this prince. Yes, he was the most playful prince Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty, and he would soon become the most playful emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1505, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang, passed away, and the 15-year-old Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne. The eight eunuchs headed by Liu Jin intervened in government affairs, causing strong dissatisfaction among the civil service group.

The six ministries and nine officials jointly wrote a letter to impeach Liu Jin, but Zhu Houzhao stood on the side of the Eight Tigers. Elders Xie Qian and Liu Jian were deeply disappointed and resigned and returned home. Nanjing Kedao official Dai Xian and others were indignant and wrote letters to impeach Liu Jin. Liu Jin wanted to arrest them and bring them to justice. Wang Yangming, then the head of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, wrote a letter to plead for mercy, satirizing Liu Jin as a traitor.

As a result, he was beaten with 40 boards and demoted to Longchang Posthouse in Guizhou. His father Wang Hua was also expelled from Beijing and transferred to Nanjing as the Minister of Personnel. On the way, Liu Jin sent someone to assassinate Wang Yangming, but Wang Yangming pretended to commit suicide by jumping into the water, thus escaping the pursuit.

At that time, Longchang was still a wild place with mountains and wilderness everywhere, and life was very hard. After Wang Yangming arrived in Longchang, he did not lose heart, but reflected on his experiences over the years and gained a new understanding of the way of the sage: the way of the sage comes from the heart, not from external things. He proposed "there is no reason outside the heart", "there is no object outside the heart", "conscience" and "unity of knowledge and action".

Implement the inherent principles of nature in one's heart into objective things. After several setbacks, Wang Yangming once again carried forward the philosophy of mind, which was later collectively referred to as Lu-Wang philosophy of mind.

Three years later, Wang Yangming was transferred from Guizhou to Jiangxi as a county magistrate. After Liu Jin's fall, Wang Yangming returned to the central government. In 1516, Wang Qiong, the Minister of War, recommended Wang Yangming to be the governor of Jiangxi.

At that time, the central and southern parts of Jiangxi were full of bandits who occupied the mountains and robbed the people, and even gathered to attack the prefectures and counties. Wang Yangming began to suppress the bandits as soon as he took office. He instigated the spies who sent letters to the rebels, obtained intelligence on the enemy's actions, and joined forces with the troops of Jianfu and Dongguang to fight the rebels. He won victory after victory and solved the bandit problem that had plagued Jiangxi for 10 years.

However, how could a group of bandits grow to such a size? Wang Yangming was keenly aware that there must be a mastermind behind these banditry.

At that time, there were three princes in Jiangxi: Prince of Ning, Prince of Huai and Prince of Yi. Among them, Prince of Huai and Prince of Yi were both direct descendants of Zhu Di, while Prince of Ning was a little special because his ancestor was tricked by Zhu Di and sent to Jiangxi.

When Prince of Yan Zhu Di rebelled, he asked his younger brother Prince of Ning Zhu Quan to help him and promised to divide the country in half after the rebellion. However, when Zhu Di ascended the throne, he changed the title of Prince of Ning to Nanchang, Jiangxi. Zhu Quan was depressed and stayed indoors in Nanchang.

When Zhu Quan's grandson's grandson Zhu Chenhao succeeded to the throne, he took the initiative to make friends with the dignitaries in the court, sheltered local bandits, and secretly recruited soldiers. At that time, many officials had reported to the court that Prince Ning had evil intentions, but the reports were withheld.

In 1519, Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao launched a rebellion and attacked Anqing. After Wang Yangming received the news, he immediately assembled troops to suppress the rebellion and captured Ning Wang's family in just 35 days.

However, the real trouble was yet to come. When Zhu Houzhao heard that Prince Ning was rebelling, he was very excited to go and quell the rebellion. Halfway through, he was very disappointed when he learned that the rebellion had been quelled. Zhu Houzhao's favorite ministers came up with a bad idea, asking Wang Yangming to release Prince Ning and let the emperor arrest him again.

Wang Yangming was at a loss for words and had to hand over Prince Ning to the eunuch Zhang Yong, then retired at the right time and went home on the pretext of illness. Not long after, Zhu Houzhao fell into the water and became seriously ill, and died in 1522.

The newly enthroned Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao conferred Wang Shouren the title of Xinjian Earl, but never used him. After his father Wang Hua passed away, Wang Shouren returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period and founded Yangming Academy in Shaoxing to teach the School of Mind.

At that time, Yangming was already very famous and had many disciples, many of whom came to listen to his teachings. However, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houcong, was very indifferent to the School of Mind.

In 1527, Guangxi rebelled and Zhu Houcong ordered Wang Yangming to go and quell the rebellion. Wang Yangming, 57 years old at the time, suffered from severe lung disease. After the rebellion was quelled, he wrote many letters requesting to return home, but never received a response.

Wang Yangming could not wait any longer and embarked on a journey back home. However, when passing through Qinglong Port in Jiangxi, he died of illness on the boat, leaving behind his last words: "This heart is bright, what else can I say?"

——"I don't know Wang Shouren very well, but I know his brother Wang Shouyi very well. He sells seasonings and has a big business."

——"To unite knowledge and action, and to follow one's conscience, if one can do these two things, he or she will no longer be an ordinary person."

——"It's really amazing, enlightenment in Longchang"