Chinese pay attention to the roots of fallen leaves, that is, no matter how far we go, we all hope to return to our hometown when we are old. Today's young people are working hard outside the home, and they are eager to earn enough money one day to return to their hometown and live a comfortable second half of their lives.
Under the education of ancient Confucianism and other ideas,
The fallen leaves have become the filial piety in people's hearts.
The ancient officialdom also stipulated the age at which officials could retire, and when they reached an age, they could return to their hometowns, which was actually a very glorious thing for the ancients.
Officials who can return to their hometowns are bound to do something.
Can always be appreciated by the emperor,
Therefore, when he was going to retire, the emperor would also give some real money and silver rewards so that they could live a carefree life in their hometown.
However, a great Qing official of the Ming Dynasty was not as lucky as others, and he could have told the old man to return to his hometown, but he provoked the disaster of killing himself, what happened?
The reason for returning home
Just as the so-called "companion is like a companion of the tiger", the reason why many officials return to their hometowns is not only because they have reached the age of retirement, but also because they are too disappointed by the struggle away from power or the deceit of the officialdom.
In ancient times, if you were fortunate enough to meet a Ming Jun, then your career would be smoother; if you encountered a tyrant and a dark king, then you might have died in a foreign land before you could tell your old age to return to your hometown. But some clever officials also know how to protect themselves.
For example, Wang Qi, a great general of the Qin Dynasty, returned to his hometown early, because he knew what it was to be a master of merit and high, and he also understood the disposition of Qin Shi Huang, so he chose a path that allowed him to spend his old age in peace.
The general Li Jing during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty was imprisoned after being falsely accused of rebellion by the adulterers, and later Li Shimin found out the truth and released him, but Li Jing proposed to return to his hometown.
Because he knew that such a thing as rebellion was intolerable in the emperor's heart, even if the final accusation was clarified, the emperor still had a knot in his heart.
If he was still serving in the court at this moment, it was inevitable that one day there would be a change and arouse the emperor's suspicions, so he simply bid farewell to the official field and terminated all the doubts of the emperor.
The purpose of each official to return to their hometown is different, and some officials have worked hard all their lives, but they still have not been able to get a good end. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was a very suspicious person, he was very uneasy about his courtiers, and as soon as the wind blew, he might provoke the disaster of killing himself.
Other emperors let them go with the wind when dealing with the matter of officials returning to their hometowns, but Zhu Yuanzhang was different.
His courtiers had all returned to their hometowns, but he was still not at ease, afraid that the courtiers would still do rebellious things, so after the courtiers returned to their hometown, they would send people to monitor them for a while and confirm their safety before they relaxed their minds.
It was because of Zhu Yuanzhang's "habit" that a generation of Qing officials Zeng Bingzheng fell into the fate of "life and death without a trace". What did he do to make Zhu Yuanzhang kill him?
The road from the official
Zeng Bing is a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi, who has been reading poetry since he was a child, and has written good articles, and is a person with both moral integrity and ability. That year coincided with the war-torn years at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and he wanted to take the meritorious examination, but he had more than enough and lacked strength.
After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, and all the national systems were replaced. Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just ascended to the throne, took pains to recruit all kinds of talents to govern the country. Because he was from a peasant background, although he had the talent of a general, it was still very difficult to manage a country.
Therefore, in addition to the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also specially opened a channel for "recommending talents". That is, officials can recommend the talents around them, and those who feel that they are talented can also recommend themselves, and they can only be appointed after zhu Yuanzhang's assessment.
At this time, Zeng Bingzheng saw a new opportunity, and later, at the recommendation of local officials, he successfully crossed the imperial examination system and became a court official, serving as Xuezheng in Haizhou, that is, performing academic rules and examination school disciplines, similar to the current director of the Education Bureau.
In the ninth year of Hongwu, when natural disasters struck all parts of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang urgently summoned his courtiers to the hall to discuss and collect ways to relieve the disaster.
Zeng Bingzheng wrote a thousand words, which roughly means that the monarch can rule the world only after the blessing of heaven, after twenty years of war and strife, even the heavens are eager for peace, let alone the people of Li. Therefore, natural disasters are not necessarily disasters, but may be a good time to give the monarch a good time to harvest the hearts and minds of the people.
His words were pearls, hitting Zhu Yuanzhang's heart. For a peasant who has become an emperor halfway through, he needs to be recognized by the people of the world. After reading Zeng Bingzheng's letter, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, so he appointed him as the Siwen Supervisor, which belonged to the people who helped the country's highest school to formulate school rules.
Later, Zeng Bingzheng performed well in his post and was transferred to the head of the Punishment Department. Ten years after Hongwu, he also went to Shaanxi to serve as the General Affairs Department, that is, a kind of person in charge of matters such as internal and external chapters and looseness, sealing and appealing by subjects, and zeng Bingzheng had already been ranked as a Zhengsanpin official.
He was sentenced to palace punishment
During the reign of Zeng Bingzheng, he has always been impartial in enforcing the law and selflessly, and is deeply loved by the local people. Although he had been promoted to the rank of Minister of Zhengsanpin, he always maintained a humble and courteous attitude towards others.
He has been very clean and honest for many years as an official, never coveted a single cent, and no matter how much he takes, he has self-discipline, resulting in his family being poor all these years. At the same time, the ministers lived in mansions, three wives and four concubines, and he was still destitute.
This is also one of the reasons why he is deeply liked by Zhu Yuanzhang, because Zhu Yuanzhang once lived at the bottom and witnessed too many corrupt officials, so he hated the corruption of officials very much. Therefore, the Punishment of Corrupt Officials by the Ming Dynasty was very serious.
Zeng Bingzheng had been working in the imperial court for decades, and he also looked down on the affairs of the imperial court a lot, so he submitted an application to Zhu Yuanzhang to tell the old man to return to his hometown. Then Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed, and Zeng Bingzheng went home to pack up his things and prepare to leave.
But when he went through all his belongings, there was not a single thing of value, and he couldn't even get the money on the way home. After that, Zeng Bingzheng wanted to come and go, or sold his daughter to make a trip fee to go home.
His daughter was only four years old at the time, and after he sold it, he set off to return home. However, when he reached the halfway point, he was captured by the guards and returned to the capital. It turned out that the news of his selling his daughter reached Zhu Yuanzhang, who felt that Zeng Bingzheng was not worthy of being a father, so he arrested him back.
After being captured and returned to the capital, Zeng Bingzheng told the truth about selling his daughter under the pressure of Zhu Yuanzhang. But Zhu Yuanzhang did not believe it, so he ordered him to be executed by the palace, and then there was no news of Zeng Bingzheng.
Some people say that after he was tortured by the palace, he chose to commit suicide because he could not bear the humiliation; others said that he had long returned to his hometown to live in anonymity. But Zeng Bingzheng disappeared from the history books, leaving only some groundless speculation.
Zeng Bingzheng handled this matter inappropriately, as a father, how could he bear to sell his daughter just to point out the travel expenses to return to his hometown?
This is also unreasonable, some people speculate that he himself does not like his daughter so he sold it, and some people say that he is afraid that he can't afford it. There are many opinions, and I am afraid that only Zeng Bingzheng himself has the correct answer.