Text/Guo Shan
One day in June of the third year of Emperor Mingwu's reign (1508), an unusual event occurred in the Forbidden City: after the end of the early morning of the day, an anonymous letter suddenly appeared on the imperial road through which the emperor was traveling, exposing the multiple crimes of Liu Jin, the eunuch of the Imperial Guard.
Si Lijian was known as the "First Office" of the Ming Dynasty's Inner Government, and Liu Jin was the head of the eight eunuchs who were most favored by the emperor, and these eight people were collectively known as the "Eight Tigers" by the people of the time, especially Liu Jin was the most cunning and vicious. Under the protection of Emperor Wuzong, Liu Jin specialized in government affairs, wantonly plundered the people's fat, openly accepted bribes and extortion, and mutilated Zhongliang, causing the people's resentment to boil. When he learned that someone had dared to report himself, Liu Jin was furious and pretended to be the emperor's edict, punishing the hundred officials and chiefs to kneel outside the Fengtian Gate and forcing the informants to appear.
Everyone knelt in the hot sun until dark, but Liu Jin was still angry, and he beat more than three hundred officials into the hot and unbearable prison and handed them over to Jinyiwei for interrogation. The next day, the university scholar Li Dongyang and others interceded, and Liu Jin had learned that the anonymous letter came from within the eunuchs and had nothing to do with the courtiers, so it was announced that the hundred officials had been released. However, many officials, including Zhou Chen, the governor of Suncheon Province, had died of heat stroke.
Among those who were imprisoned, there was one who was clean and unharmed, and he was Lu Lun, a clean and honest official who was known as the "Three Sages of Zengcheng" in Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, along with Zhan Ruoshui and Tang Wenjing.
Lu Lun statue. Yang Jia
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming, countless people were tortured, dismissed, or even destroyed for rebelling against or impeaching Liu Jin (see Ming Shi Liechuan 192 • Eunuch I). However, Lu Lun did not flinch because of this, and during his tenure in the Six Branches, he insisted on playing a complaint against Liu Jin for violating the law and discipline. Then, what will be the fate of this Cantonese official who dares to resist and risk death to "fight the tiger"?
Sent an envoy to Annan to participate in the impeachment of the eunuchs
Lu Lun (born and died unknown), also known as Wangfeng, was a native of Zengcheng County, Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province, in the Ming Dynasty, and a scholar during the Ming Dynasty, who served as a pedestrian, a messenger to Shizhong, and Sichuan. According to historical records such as the (Qing) Daoguang's "Guangdong Tongzhi", the (Qing) Guangxu's "Guangzhou Fuzhi", and the (Qing) Kangxi's "Zengcheng County Chronicle", Lu Lun was not only born rich and beautiful as a child, his eyes were as bright as the stars, but also his instrument was dignified and intelligent, and he could compose at the age of twelve and recite thousands of words every day.
Lu Lun recited the picture at an early age. Yang Jia
Lu Lun's path to the imperial examination was smooth sailing, and in the eighth year of Hongzhi (1495), he participated in the township examination, and in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi (1502), he was admitted to the jinshi, and was later awarded the position of pedestrian by the imperial court, which was subordinate to the pedestrian division. Founded in the thirteenth year of Ming Hongwu (1380), the Pedestrian Division was a special envoy sent by the Emperor Qin, under which the pedestrians were responsible for passing on orders, canonization, rewards, condolences, relief, sacrifices, and recruitment of talents, as well as diplomatic work such as envoys to foreign countries (see Ming Shi Zhi Zhi III). Considering that this position needed to represent the image of the imperial court, live up to its mission, and require high political quality, the imperial court often selected talents from among the newly promoted soldiers to fill the position. Therefore, although the rank of the pedestrian is not high, it is a position of "although the rank is lower and the selection is very high, although the Lu is small, the responsibility is heavy" (Ming Huangxun," "Famous Ministers' Economic Records • Records of the Inscriptions of the Pedestrian Division").
Lu Lun, who has just entered the career path, has already shown a clean demeanor of standing upright and not seeking selfish interests. Once, Lu Lun was appointed by the imperial court to envoy an envoy to The Kingdom of Annam (present-day Vietnam), and was highly respected by the Annam monarchs for his outstanding talent. The Annan people specially gave the Eight Treasure Plates as gifts to Lu Lun privately, but they were not appreciated by him. This move made the Annan people more admired him, and specially wrote a poem praising him, which included the sentence "Famous tree copper GuanYue, Qing Shake Gui Hai Wind", which compared Lu Lun's high wind and bright festival to the bright wind of the bright moon.
After Lu Lun returned to the imperial court to report for duty, he was promoted by the imperial court and successively served as a post in the household section, the official section, and the military section. The Six Branches are an independent supervisory body established during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, with a wide range of functions and powers, involving slander, deliberation, and the responsibility of supervising the corresponding ministries, documents, and the performance of hundreds of officials. The above-mentioned anonymous letter occurred during Lu Lun's tenure.
At that time, Liu Jin's power was in the sky. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", all the chapters entered inside and outside must first be reported to him, called "red books", and only after he has reviewed them will they be submitted to the Department of Communications and Politics, called "white books". Liu Jin took advantage of his position to frantically amass wealth and bribes, and wantonly sold officials and knights. Some cabinet ministers who requested that Liu Jin and other "Eight Tigers" be severely punished were deposed or forcibly retired, and many of Liu Jin's impeachments were persecuted to death. Under Liu Jin's connivance and instructions, unjust imprisonment was everywhere, and for a time people were panicked, crying and shouting injustice, all over the road.
In Lu Lun's Six Sections System, some people were afraid of Liu Jin's power and hanged themselves with anger and indignation with impeachment, and some people chose to take their lives because they could not come up with money to bribe him, or because they were afraid of offending him in the process of doing things. Lu Lunsheng is frank and frank, and has always been straightforward and direct, "there is no way to avoid things" when things happen. He repeatedly wrote to report Liu Jin's adultery, but he never got a reply. In order to impeach Liu Jin, he even resisted the court in front of Emperor Wuzong, and he pleaded with him, causing Emperor Wuzong to leave in anger. Soon after, Lu Lun was transferred out of the capital and went to Datong to check the issue of military pay.
Strict investigation of military salaries, tax cuts, and disaster relief
Datong was one of the "Nine Border Towns" set up by the Ming Dynasty to resist the invasion of the Tatars, and was an important place related to the safety of the northern territory of the Ming Dynasty. During the period when Lu Lun was roughly counting the salaries of the soldiers, he picketed a large number of illegal acts of embezzling and swallowing beetles, and all of them were impartially investigated and handled in accordance with the law. Lu Lun relied on the iron face of selflessness when investigating the case, but it also attracted the envy of the powerful people in the DPRK and China, and was released as a senator in Sichuan.
Senators were subordinate officials of the provincial envoys of the Ming Dynasty. The envoys are in charge of a province's finances and civil affairs, while the senators are specifically in charge of grain storage, tun tian, military affairs, post-transmission, water conservancy, and other matters. After Lu Lun took office, it coincided with a great famine in Sichuan, the disaster situation was urgent, and hunger was everywhere, so some people asked the local inspectors and inspectors to open warehouses and release grain according to the instructions, but the reply was to report the disaster to the imperial court first, and then it could be implemented after approval. In a hurry, Lu Lun said: "Now that we have reached the critical juncture of hunger and death, if the documents declaring the disaster are delayed, won't they fall into an irreparable desperate situation?" ("If the people die at night, if the case is delayed, then the fish will be destroyed!") See Guangdong Tongzhi)
Lu Lun also mentioned to the crowd the famous Western Han Dynasty courtier Ji Dian (字長孺). When Ji Dian passed through Henan County on the way to inspect, he saw that the local poor people were suffering from floods and droughts, and even as far as father and son could eat each other, he ordered the opening of a warehouse to help the disaster victims with the charms he held. Afterwards, when he met with Emperor Wu of Han, he took the initiative to request the return of the Rune and bear the guilt of falsely transmitting the Holy Will. Lu Lun claimed to be willing to emulate the sages and bear the guilt of opening positions without authorization. He activated the Treasury Silver Valley, and concentrated the stolen silver and fines paid by various states and counties, purchased tens of thousands of stones of grain and distributed them to the victims, and saved hundreds of thousands of people.
Many people think of Sichuan as the "kingdom of heaven" in Wufu Minfeng, but Lu Lun found in his field investigation that the land in central Sichuan was poor and fertile, but the people were forced to bear the same servitude and taxes. Under the premise of detailed verification, Lu Lun made adjustments to local taxation and dispatch ordinances that were originally simple and rude. After the promulgation of the new decree, the burden on the people was reduced and won the praise of all the people.
Regarding Lu Lun's talents, there is also a legendary story in historical materials such as the Chronicle of Guangzhou Prefecture and the Chronicle of Zengcheng County. In the ninth year of Zhengde (1514), the Qianqing Palace suddenly caught fire, in order to repair and build the burned palace, the imperial court appointed special envoys to Shu to collect timber, and Lu Lun was responsible for cooperation. The two men found a rare giant tree in the mountains and used more than 10,000 workers to carry it by pull cart. During the transport, the people's strength was exhausted, and the timber was still three hundred miles away from the location of the water transport. Just when everyone was anxious, Lu Lun speculated that the rainstorm was coming by observing the celestial signs, so he made relevant arrangements. Soon after, sure enough, a thunderstorm was raging, and the river water swelled, higher than usual. The timber actually went down the river, and after a few days, news came from downstream that the timber had drifted into the territory of Yiling (present-day Yichang, Hubei). Lu Lun was also rewarded by Emperor Wuzong for this incident.
Lu Lun procured giant trees in Shu. Yang Jia
Pacify the stream and enforce the law impartially
Lu Lun was promoted by the imperial court to be the deputy envoy of Sichuan. When he led his troops to garrison the area around Fuzhou (夔州, in present-day Fengjie, Chongqing), there were many local outlaws, while the Qianhu (official name) document responsible for maintaining law and order was secretly soliciting outlaws with ill intentions. After meticulous deployment, Lu Lun commanded the troops to kill the literature, eliminate the thieves, and maintain the social order and the people's living tranquility in the territory. After that, Lu Lun was promoted to be the envoy of Sichuan.
At this time, the situation in the DPRK has undergone earth-shaking changes. The eunuch Liu Jin was reprimanded, and the university scholar Yang Tinghe and Yu Zhengde served as the first assistant in the seventh year (1512). After the collapse of Emperor Mingwu, Emperor Mingshizong succeeded to the throne. During this period, Yang Tinghe once took charge of the government and carried out reforms. Yang Tinghe was a native of Sichuan, and his relatives and children in his hometown used his power to run rampant in the townships, and were brought to justice by Lu Lun. Yang Tinghe pleaded with Lu Lun for this, and Lu Lun was unmoved. Yang Tinghe hated him for this, and later Luo Weaving deposed Lu Lun under the pretext of deposing him.
In the first year of Jiajing (1522), the bandit leader Huang Xuemei rebelled in Zengcheng, and the king of Bingbei Dao used his army to suppress it. At that time, Lu Lun, who had already returned to his hometown, actively offered advice and helped the officers and soldiers capture Huang Xuemei, and the banditry was quelled.
Lu Lun, who returned to Zengcheng, lived in simplicity, refused the invitation of the gentry, and had not entered the provincial city of Guangzhou for more than thirty years, and many people had only heard of his name and had never seen him. He usually served his mother as filial piety, got up every morning to greet Ann, personally served his elderly mother to eat, and did not pretend to be a hand to others. After Lu Mu's death, he was grief-stricken, vegetarian for three years, and did not see a happy face.
In addition, after Lu Lun got up early every day, he would definitely dress up and go to the family temple to worship, and when he returned, he would teach his children and nephews to read. He taught his juniors, "It is better to read a foot than to walk an inch," and that readers should know the unity of action and put it into action, and not relax their practice because of laziness. Because of the early death of his brother, Lu Lun raised his nephews as if he were his own children, married them, and distributed the ancestral farmhouse to them. Because Lu Lun's moral character has always been convinced and respected by his neighbors, many people are willing to ask Lu Lun to come forward to preside over justice whenever there is a lawsuit or dispute (see Zengcheng County Chronicle).
Lu Lun presided over justice for the townspeople. Yang Jia
Later, Lu Lun died in his hometown at the age of eighty-nine. In order to commemorate Lu Lun, the people of Zengcheng included him in the list of sacrifices at the Xiangxian Ancestral Hall. It is said that most of his descendants are also able people who maintain their families and business.
Although Lu Lun's life is not earth-shattering, there are many remarkable points. He not only had the courage to take responsibility at critical junctures such as disaster relief, but also made great achievements in local governance. What is particularly admirable is that when Liu Jin, Yang Tinghe, and gained power, he twice disregarded his personal future and the gains and losses of his interests and losses, abided by justice and uprightness, handled affairs strictly according to law, and dared to struggle against corrupt forces and illegal acts. His loyalty and dedication won the praise of the cabinet minister Liang Chu, and he was praised as "the pillar of the cult" (Zengcheng County Chronicle).
There is a cloud in the "Han Shi Wai Biography": "There are those who quarrel with their subjects, and their kingdom is prosperous; there are those who silently slander their subjects, and their kingdoms perish." "Lu Lun's integrity and integrity need to be inherited and carried forward in any era, and his deeds need to be further excavated and sorted out for today's people to remember their ancestors and cleans themselves."
Comment on Lu Lun
Text/Yuanze
Zengcheng Lu Lun, with the same name as the Tang Dynasty poet Lu Lun, is not mentioned in the history, and his deeds are found in the Records of Reality, Fang Zhi and so on. As a clean official, Lu Lun has the courage to do things, can be competent for various types of work, and can be called a capable official. He was fighting greed in Datong, "a loud and loud voice, and many people are jealous." In Sichuan, "those who are favored for a while, the voice of "Huan". Overseeing the repair of the giant trees of the palace, he will skillfully use the opportunity of the river to surge, and eventually save manpower, material resources and time. He also had good achievements in the planning of the army, and his demeanor could be seen through Fang Zhizhong's words such as "Jule bingzhi" and "managed to capture and kill the thief's leader Huang Xuemei, and all the remaining parties were killed.".
What we can see more is the side of Lu Lun's "a pillar of slander". During the Zhengde period, Lu Lun risked his life to impeach Liu Jin, a powerful eunuch at that time, and even if he was suspected of having a will, he did not care about his personal life. During the Jiajing period, Lu Lun was an envoy to Sichuan and impartially handled the case of the family of Yang Tinghe, the head of the dynasty, who had violated the law. The former made him an official and away from the imperial court for several years; the latter led to early retirement in his prime of life, when he was about to show his skills.
"Mencius Gongsun Ugly" has a cloud: "Those who have gained the Tao have more help, and those who have lost the Tao have little help." Liu Jin, who only covered the sky with his hands, drove Lu Lun out of the Capital Division, seemingly for a while, but within a few years, he was executed by the imperial court for the crime of rebellion (Ling Chi) for the crime of rebellion. One of the most notorious greedy giants in Chinese history ended up being spurned.
In stark contrast, in his eunuch career, Lu Lun "lived in the height of the temple and worried about his people, and when he was far away from the rivers and lakes, he worried about his king", and he enjoyed a high life expectancy of 89 years. Although there is no biography left in the main history, as one of the "Three Sages of Zengcheng" in the Ming Dynasty, Lu Lun's incorruptible conduct of loving the people during his lifetime has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the locals, and the common people have entered him into the ancestral shrine of the township and enshrined him as an example for thousands of years.
(Thanks to Xu Qitang, associate professor of the Department of History, School of Humanities, Guangzhou University, and Zhong Yuanze, a member of the editorial board of "Guangzhou Historical Figures and Honesty", for their support and valuable suggestions for this article.) ）
【Author】 Guo Shan
Cantonese reading
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