Zhang Juzheng can be said to be a very good official of the Ming Dynasty, although later generations have mixed reviews of him, but he did save the Ming Dynasty at that time.
In the process of Zhang Juzheng's reform, he used the very cruel method of "asking for directions and cutting wood", and also relied on a villain, using negative means and villains to do the right thing, how did Zhang Juzheng do it?
Zhang Juzheng's unloading and killing donkey
First of all, let's explain the way to cut the wood, which is a story related to the Western Han Dynasty general Han Xin, simply put, it is to unload the mill and kill the donkey.
During the march, Han Xin asked a woodcutter for directions, and after asking him, Han Xin signaled his men to kill the woodcutter.
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but ask: "That woodcutter did us a great favor just now, and he is our great benefactor, why do we want to take revenge?"
After hearing this, Han Xin explained, "What if the enemy touches him and he leaks our whereabouts?"
"So we have to kill him to prevent future troubles, so that we can be foolproof. ”
There are many stories of unloading and killing donkeys like this in history, although Zhang Juzheng has used it, but it is not so cruel.
After the death of Ming Muzong, the young Ming Shenzong succeeded to the throne. Under the strong recommendation of the Queen Mother, Zhang Juzheng successfully replaced Gao Gong as the first assistant of the cabinet.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty can be said to be precarious, there are Japanese pirates harassing the border, and the interior has long been decayed, various problems have emerged one after another, and various fields such as military, politics, and economy have long been chaotic.
Therefore, after Zhang Juzheng became the first assistant of the cabinet, his burden was very heavy! In order to completely solve all this, it was necessary to carry out reforms.
At that time, the annual income of the Ming Dynasty was less than 3 million silver, and the annual expenditure had exceeded 4 million, and the salaries of many officials had been in arrears for several years.
In order to solve the problem of officials' salaries, Zhang Juzheng proposed the policy of "discounting", which means that the goods paid by foreign countries are converted into money.
It is not unusual for foreign countries to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, as early as the Western Han Dynasty.
Foreigners often give tribute to some more precious items. Most of these are kept in the treasury, and although they are precious, they are basically useless.
Rather than piling up in the treasury for nothing, it would be better to pay them to the ministers as salaries! This would solve the problem of too much tribute and the problem of the officials' salaries, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Having said that, the officials were not satisfied: "Can this thing be spent as money? You're not cheating on a three-year-old!"
In the face of the doubts of many officials, Zhang Juzheng also hurriedly explained: "These tributes are very rare in today's market, and you can sell them at a good price if you find any merchant, so won't you succeed in realizing them?"
"Now that the country's finances are tight, I hope you will be more considerate. The officials were also speechless when they heard this, and they could only go to the treasury to receive the reward with dissatisfaction.
Is that really what Zhang Juzheng said? Of course not.
Although these tributes are precious, they are of little use to most merchants, and only a very few people use them.
But the weaknesses of this approach were soon exposed.
It's nothing for the senior officials, who can survive without a salary, but not for the low-ranking officials, who mainly rely on their salaries to support their families.
Moreover, some of the more upright officials do not accept other people's money, which makes their lives even worse.
The situation has become more and more serious, and some officials have either starved to death or committed suicide in desperation. Seeing that the problem was getting more and more serious, Zhang Juzheng could only invite those rich businessmen to go out of the mountain.
Zhang Juzheng said to the merchants as the head of the cabinet: "Go and buy the tribute in the hands of the officials, and the price should not be too low." ”
To be honest, these merchants are reluctant even if they have money, after all, it is really useless to buy them. But because of the face of Zhang Juzheng's cabinet and some people wanted to curry favor with Zhang Juzheng, the businessmen bought all those tributes.
In this way, the officials finally had money to spend, and Zhang Juzheng did not treat the merchants very well.
This is Zhang Juzheng's method of "asking for directions and cutting wood", although it is a bit insidious and easy to attract people's jealousy, but at least it solves the problem of officials' salaries.
In fact, Zhang Juzheng's approach is also understandable, after all, there are so many businessmen, how can he take care of it himself, so he can only give up the small for the big.
Presumably, some people will ask at this time: "Every reform will touch the interests of some people, so don't these people think of retaliating against Zhang Juzheng?"
Of course, there were, and this involves the "villain" mentioned at the beginning. This villain's name is Feng Bao, and he was a very powerful eunuch at that time, and his power was almost equal to Zhang Juzheng.
Zhang Juzheng's "The Way of the Villain"
If everyone is Zhang Juzheng, then how would you treat this eunuch who likes to embezzle and collect money, and is a little ruthless? Of course, he should be excluded, this is what normal people think.
But as a wise man, he does not choose to reject, but chooses to take advantage. So what follows is the story of Zhang Juzheng's use of Feng Bao.
As the saying goes: "Fighting is a lose-lose situation, and cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win." "The Ming Dynasty is in danger, what Zhang Juzheng desperately wants to do is reform, if he excludes Feng Bao, then the situation of the Ming Dynasty is destined to be worse.
So in order to help themselves reform, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao gradually came together.
The previous cabinet chief assistant was Gao Gong, who was also a ruthless person, and he had festivals with Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng.
Later, although Gao Gong stepped down and went home to retire, he instructed his cronies to often frame Zhang Juzheng secretly. In this case, it is a very wise choice to join forces with Feng Bao.
Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao teamed up to eradicate Gao Gong's cronies, and then the two officially began to cooperate.
At that time, Feng Bao was often corrupt, and although Zhang Juzheng knew about it, he never ignored it. After accepting other people's money, Feng Bao must give it to other high-ranking officials, so he has to ask Zhang Juzheng for instructions.
When Feng Bao proposed to promote others, Zhang Juzheng always nodded in agreement.
Over time, Feng Bao became more and more trusting of Zhang Juzheng. At that time, Feng Bao could be said to be the most loyal to Zhang Juzheng, and he was also a eunuch.
At that time, the eunuchs were becoming more and more powerful, and then Zhang Juzheng discussed with Feng Bao to curb the development of the eunuchs' power, and Feng Bao promised when he saw this: "I will definitely restrain my subordinates." ”
In addition, Zhang Juzheng also used Feng Bao's hand to punish the forces of many other eunuchs, such as Sun Dexiu, Sun Hai and other high-ranking eunuchs.
Although he is protected by Zhang Juzheng, Feng Bao is not unscrupulous, and he can do whatever he wants.
Feng Bao would discuss with Zhang Juzheng before doing anything, and he would only act after Zhang Juzheng's consent. Moreover, Zhang Juzheng said that Feng Bao never interfered with his own presiding over the government.
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, the powerful eunuch is useless, but in fact, as long as it is used well, it is destined to do more good than harm.
With the support of Feng Bao, Zhang Juzheng began a drastic reform, and every policy will basically touch the interests of some people, but there is no way, the country always has to be saved.
The main policies implemented by Zhang Juzheng are the filial piety law and the whip law. These policies can be said to have raised the income of the common people, while the gentry and aristocrats were not satisfied.
If they are not satisfied, there will definitely be people who will stand up and oppose it, what should I do? Of course, let Feng Bao come forward to clean them up.
Zhang Juzheng was only responsible for promulgating and implementing the new policies, and as for the more "dirty" things, Feng Bao and others were responsible for doing them.
In fact, the reason why Zhang Juzheng dared to make drastic reforms was because he had a sharp sword in his hand.
With Zhang Juzheng's efforts, the situation of the Ming Dynasty finally took a turn for the better. The fiscal deficit is gone, and annual revenues are steadily rising every year.
On the military front, the national hero Qi Jiguang and others were successfully reused, and rebellions in various places were also put down one after another.
The implementation of the "filial piety law" policy has gradually cleared up politics and gradually eliminated the trend of corruption.
Although Zhang Juzheng also has many shortcomings, such as some people say that he is corrupt and conniving at villains, but judging from the contributions he has made, it is beneficial to the whole country, so what are their personal interests?
Maybe someone will say at this time: "Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao are in the same stream, and his behavior is to dance with wolves." ”
In a way, his behavior does smack of complicity. However, Zhang Juzheng has never forgotten what he wants to do, and Feng Bao is just a chess piece to him.
Zhang Juzheng also knew that his behavior would definitely be talked about by everyone, so he once said: "Although I am not convenient for the customs, after he leaves the throne, there will be people who think about me." ”
That is to say, my current behavior is indeed a little bad, but after I leave, there are destined to be future generations who will understand my methods, and they will definitely understand my suffering.
Zhang Juzheng satisfied the interests of Feng Bao alone, which in exchange for the prosperity of the entire Ming Dynasty, this business only makes money and does not lose, which is his "way of getting along with villains".
If he can sacrifice his personal interests in exchange for the interests of most people, then Zhang Juzheng will not hesitate to do it, which is what he once said should not have "women's benevolence".
As the saying goes, "In order to achieve great things, you should not be afraid of going against the current?" If you give up what you insist on just because many people oppose you, you are doomed to achieve nothing.
Throughout every reform in the history of the mainland, most of the reasons for the failure are inseparable from the villain.
If these reformers can find a powerful villain to escort themselves, the probability of success may be much greater, so how to get along with villains is also a science, after all, they can also achieve their own goals.
So sometimes don't be too "rigid", because too rigid is easy to break. Fame is not worth mentioning at all compared to the interests of the country as a whole!