Author: Xu Yunhui
(Mao Jie)
The State of Wei was drought-free for three years without rain, the sunset in Yecheng was blazing like fire, and the summer cicadas among the trees were noisy and annoying.
Mao Jiu was cooling off in the shade of the trees beside the road, when he suddenly saw the messenger escorting the prisoners with tattoos on their faces passing by, so he stopped them with ulterior motives and had no words to talk to the criminals. The criminal told him that his wife and children were not registered as official slaves because they were implicated by themselves. Mao Jiu suddenly remembered that his friend Cui Yan had been innocently killed by Cao Cao not long ago, so Yin Yang angrily pointed at Sang Huai: "Let the sky not rain cover this (the reason why the sky has been dry for a long time without rain, probably because of this)!" ”
- Ding Yi, a minor official of the Seven Pins, painted a colorful voice to inform Cao Cao of his superior, Shangshu Shu (Shangshu Provincial Deputy), Mao Jie.
<h1>First, get out safely</h1>
Cao Cao was furious and ordered "resentful imprisonment" on the grounds of "damaging the grace and righteousness of the emperor" and "vainly lamenting for his dead friends", which was characterized as a case of mao jiu slander. As we all know, Cao Cao's thirst for talents is certainly famous in the world, but the elimination of famous people is also notorious: borrowing a knife to kill you, killing Kong Rong, clearing the wisdom tank to destroy Xun Yu, accumulating grievances for a long time to get rid of Yang Xiu, and respecting Cui Yan. Mao Jiu was secretly accused, and he was imprisoned, and there was no other way but to kill him by the neck.
Fortunately, the plot of the crime scene depicted by the whistleblower is really absurd, the logic is too confusing, and the most upright Mao Jie of the Wei State is degraded to the point of brain damage and mental retardation, which provides a weapon for the righteous to fight back.
Therefore, at the emergency meeting of the imperial court, the old minister he Qia ignored Cao Cao's anger and spoke out in righteousness, firmly believing that Mao Jiu had always believed in discipline, "It is not appropriate to have this!" Huan Jie was convinced that Mao Jiu was innocently victimized and spared no effort to intercede; when Zhong Xuan was ordered to go to trial, his words flickered to imply that Mao Jiu had been wronged.
Mao Jiu categorically denied that he had said that "those who do not rain in the sky cover this", and asked President Zhong to let the informant provide relevant evidence, go to court, find out the truth, and die without regrets. The three major ministers tried to ensure that Mao Jiu was innocent, and Mao Jiu's defense lawsuit also proved that the defamation case was false, and Cao Cao finally opened his eyes and cut Mao Jiu from his post to the people, and closed the case.
(Cao Cao)
<h1>Second, embark on a career path</h1>
As early as when Mao Jie was a small section officer in the Kaifeng County Government, he was known for his honesty and fairness. Cao Cao admired the name of the conquest, regarded him as a confidant, promoted him out of the box, and was in charge of personnel affairs, providing a broader stage for Mao Jiu. Mao Jiu lived up to expectations, showed his skills, became the vanguard of anti-corruption and clean government, and directed a scene of stirring up and clearing dramas.
In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court sold officials and knights, political corruption was unbearable, and warlords in various places were at war, resulting in the "inspection and requisition system" of recommending talents to follow the tide and degenerate. The fraud between the powerful and the powerful is either "the power of the door to ask for help" (greeting), or the "noble relatives to write the order" (to hand over the note), or directly to go through the back door for personal gain, resulting in serious untruthfulness and ineffectiveness in the inspection, and the official field has repeatedly appeared "show off the talent, do not know the book." Cha Xiao Lian, the father does not dwell. Han Su is as innocent as mud, and Gaudilian will be cowardly as a chicken" spectacle.
The GateKeeper clan manipulated and used the probation system, and the selection of non-commissioned officials only recommended the children of prestigious families, and did not examine the quality of learning. "The magnate clan, pro-party class, with its private, inner charge of the Kyoshi, outer Bree County, topsy-turvy, trade elections." The magnates and the ruling faction jointly control the election, manipulate the official field, and form an alliance of interests, resulting in extreme corruption and chaos in the official field from top to bottom.
Mao Jiu led the Eastern Cao Rafter (equivalent to the current head of personnel), responsible for the assessment and recommendation of local and military high-ranking officials. This is a fat shortage that many people dream of, and if the official is a cornucopia, then Mao Jiu is a cash cow.
<h1>3. Anti-corruption measures</h1>
Mao Jie knew that striking iron depended on its own hardness, and that anti-corruption depended entirely on its own purity. In order to eradicate the phenomenon of corruption in the official arena and carry out the anti-corruption and clean government to the end, Mao Jiu, as soon as he got off the bus, he brandished a thunderous three-plate axe and broke into the dirty officialdom.
The first axe, pay close attention to team building.
Mao Jiu and Cui Yan set an example by example, unified understanding, ensured that the team members refused to corrode and never sticked, and led the officials of the department to "often walk by the river, that is, not wet shoes."
The second axe is to formulate assessment standards.
He and his members studied and formulated the assessment standards of "abiding by the law and abiding by the law, honesty and integrity", and issued them to lower-level departments for reference and implementation. At that time, the most prestigious social elites in the local area could be recommended, and the quality of talents was uneven and mixed. Mao Jiu strictly followed the assessment criteria and screened them, and pulled many people with false names and frivolous styles into the blacklist. Therefore, he "used all the righteous men."
The third axe, blocking the front door and the back door.
Mao Jie was selfless in his iron face, soft and hard, and lit a red light for all those who asked for office with various private feelings, so that many bosses and acquaintances who handed over notes to greet him ate the closed door soup. After the three axes were split, the situation was opened up, achievements were made, and the atmosphere was reversed; "his canonical elections, the promotion of chastity, the denunciation of Chinese hypocrisy, the advancement of inferiority, and the suppression of the Albanian party" ensured the quality of the contingent, curbed the phenomenon of corruption in the official field, and implemented Cao Cao's policy of "appointing people on the basis of merit."
At work, Mao Jiu did a good job. In life, Mao Jie also maintains a hard and simple nature. He was in a high position, still wore cloth and ate vegetarian food, raised his nephew, a Member of the Zhou Ji clan, and had no surplus wealth in his family. When Cao Cao shared the spoils of war, he gave Mao Jiu a plain screen and a few plain colors, specifically stating: "The king has the style of the ancients, so he gives the clothes of the ancients." ”
Under the example of Mao Jie's "thrifty leadership of people", "the people of the world must not encourage themselves with honesty and festivals." Ordinary officials are honest and self-disciplined, and high-ranking courtiers do not have "those who dare to dress well and eat well." Local officials commuted to and from work "dressed in dirty faces and often rode in firewood trucks", and military generals entered the Xiangfu and walked on foot in court clothes.
Cao Cao witnessed the earth-shaking changes in the political style and people's style brought about by Mao Jiu's anti-corruption and clean government, and after lamenting that "the law of loneliness is not as good as Mao Shangshu", Cao Cao called on all departments of the imperial court to actively mobilize and learn from Mao Jiu and jointly carry out the anti-corruption and clean government to the end.
<h1>Fourth, shoot flies and fight tigers</h1>
Mao Jie is anti-corruption, treating everyone equally, slapping small flies down and big tigers on top.
The representative of the little fly was called Ding Pei, and Cao Cao was a fellow countryman, who was originally a mid-level officer of the Janissaries. Ding Pei was greedy for money by nature, and repeatedly violated the law and discipline, but was protected and resolved by Cao Cao. Ding Pei became fat from this, and eventually developed to use power for personal gain, exchanging the family's lean cattle for the fat cattle of the government. After receiving the investigation and verification of the report, Mao Jie "sent him to prison and seized the official position", and repeatedly suggested that Cao Cao severely punish this moth that had always damaged public wealth and private interests, in order to set an example. Such a small fly, such a small matter, Mao Jiu's law enforcement is like a mountain, and severe punishment does not lend, which shows the great strength of the anti-corruption efforts.
The big tiger is naturally Cao Pi. At that time, the dispute between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi's crown prince was still in a secret contest, and they "had their own parties and opinions on seizing the sect." In order to enhance his strength, Cao Pi condescended to personally visit Mao Jiu, greeted Mao Jiu after a few words of greeting, and went straight to the subject, asking Mao Jiu to raise his noble hand and promote his relatives. Mao Jiu did not give face at all, and refused: "I was spared the crime because I was able to abide by my duties." Although the person you mentioned is your relative, he does not meet the order and conditions for promotion, so it is difficult to obey! Cao Pi slipped away, and Mao Jiu became famous for daring to touch the tiger's ass.
Although the big tiger Cao Zhi did not touch a nose of ash, he was also scratched by Mao Jiu's strong palm wind of anti-corruption and clean government: During the anti-corruption and clean government campaign in full swing, Cao Zhi's daughter-in-law openly defied the wind and changed into a beautiful and precious embroidery dress to practice cat steps in the yard. Coincidentally, Cao Cao was riding on a high platform, and saw his daughter-in-law wearing fancy clothes and smelling beautiful, and immediately the tree was a negative example, "to disobey the order, and return the family to death."
(Cao Zhi)
<h1>V. Anti-corruption and imprisonment</h1>
Mao Jiu spared no effort to shoot flies and fight tigers, which was bound to cause the Fly and Tiger Alliance to fight back wildly, because anti-corruption has always been a contest between you and me. Therefore, when Mao Jiu pleaded in prison, he said: "On the surface, I was framed because I had served in the bureaucracy for a long time and was involved in complicated personnel relations at any time. But the essence of the problem is that human nature wants to pursue self-interest without restriction, but this is prohibited by law. The implementation of the law must be operated by specific people, so I, who is forbidden to seek illegal profits according to law, will be framed by more powerful people. ”
Mao Jiu hinted at the judge in the Spring and Autumn Style: "If someone asks for personal trust with private feelings, then I will refuse no matter how powerful he is", who is the most powerful person Mao Jiu has ever rejected? Everybody knows it. Mao Jiu firmly believed that he was killed by the alliance of fly and tiger: "The person who slanders the subject is not him (the person who slanders me, it is bound to have no other reason)!" ”
Mao Jiu himself blamed the prison on the Fly and Tiger Alliance, what did others think? He Qia analyzed Cao Cao that the reason for Mao Jiu's false accusations was that he was "prominent in his first position, favored over the years, just loyal to the duke, and feared by the people"; Cao Pi said that the empress remembered him as "loyal to the dynasty and performing benevolence and righteousness." Chen Shou praised "Mao Jiu Qing Gong Su Shou", "Xian Xian Xing" praised Mao Jiu for "elegant and fair, in the official Qing Ke", and Later Yun "in Wei Ze Mao Jiu Gong Fang". Mao Jie's defense and praise from others are enough to prove that the reason why he was imprisoned is anti-corruption!
However, this is not the only reason. Because Mao Jie's anti-corruption has inherent shortcomings, it is doomed to die:
First, his anti-corruption and clean government lack of legal and institutional support, and can only be carried out within the scope of Cao Cao's circle or permission, so once the anti-corruption touches the interests of the big tiger and weighs the weight, Cao Cao can only give up his pawn to protect the car.
Second, his anti-corruption and honesty promotion and talent evaluation mechanism are based on the moral level, lack of obvious operability, and expose the hard wounds of congenital deficiencies.
Mao Jiu's criteria for the evaluation of officials and the identification of corruption were very extensive: All officials whose political achievements were not significant but who had "rich private wealth" were suspected of having huge amounts of assets of unknown origin, and all of them were "exempted from being deposed and abolished, and not selected for a long time." For this reason, Heqia once euphemistically criticized his anti-corruption as too "frugal first", believing that Mao Jiu regarded hardship and simplicity as his principle of doing things, but it seemed biased to use whether he was hard and simple as the only criterion for judging whether officials were qualified.
Third, Mao Jie's anti-corruption is principled and has poor flexibility.
Hitting the dog depends on the owner's face, not to mention that Mao Jiu beat the owner's watchdog. Ding Pei, who was deposed by Mao Jiu for changing cattle, was once Cao Cao's savior. When Cao Cao was in danger during the battle with Ma Chao, "Chao Chao rode and shot after him, and the arrow rained like rain." Ding Pei was in a hurry to release cattle and horses to lure the enemy to rob, and Cao Cao escaped safely, praising afterwards: "If it were not for Xiao Ding's cleverness today, I would have been trapped by Ma Chao, a little thief!" After Ding Pei was released from prison, he became an unemployed vagrant, wandering around the streets and encountering Cao Cao.
Cao Cao deliberately took him and asked him where the official seal had gone. Ding Pei replied with a hippie smile: "I changed the flatbread early and ate it!" Cao Cao was amused and laughed, and said to the people around him: "Ding Pei, living and getting rid of this is a housekeeper dog who only steals the master's things and is better at catching mice." Although he stole something from me to eat, he took good care of my granary, and it is still useful for such a person to keep it! He immediately reinstated Ding Peiguan, twisting and turning to express his dissatisfaction with Mao Jiu's poor flexibility in fighting corruption.
Therefore, Mao Jiu was framed, objectively speaking, because the anti-corruption and honesty promotion offended those with vested interests and was jointly hanged by the Fly-Tiger Alliance. Subjectively, Mao Jiu's anti-corruption mechanisms, measures, and even methods were flawed, which made Cao Cao partial to his beliefs and arrest him and imprison him in anger.
<h1>6. The day of escape</h1>
Mao Jie's anti-corruption and honesty campaigns, swatting flies and fighting tigers, made outstanding contributions to consolidating the Cao Wei regime. He was finally able to escape from death, in addition to the pleas of the important courtiers, but also because Cao Cao, as a mature politician, always affirmed his contribution, admired his character, and firmly believed in his innocence.
As early as when Mao Jiu was serving as Dong Cao Yuan, those bosses who hit the wall, acquaintances who ate the embarrassment, and officials who refused to refuse all hated him to the bone, and they all wanted to get rid of him quickly. When they heard that Cao Cao was preparing to streamline the organization, they gathered together to "xian want to save Eastern Cao" and jumped up and down to help Ding Yi replace him.
Ding Yi was the Western Cao Rafter appointed by the officials in charge of the XiangFu, and usually gave Mao Jiu eye drops in front of Cao Cao. Fortunately, Huan Jie always spoke well for Mao Jiu, which balanced the situation.
Ding Yi led a fan group to lobby Cao Cao: "Following the old system, West Cao should be the upper, and the Eastern Cao should be secondary, and the Eastern Cao should be abolished." ”
(Ding Yi)
Cao Cao chengjing for so many years, of course, "know his feelings", a hammer set: "The sun is out of the east, the moon is flourishing in the east, mortals speak squarely, but also return to the east, why is the province of Eastern Cao?" Ding Yi's Western Cao was withdrawn and Mao Jiu's Eastern Cao was retained, thus demonstrating strong support for Mao Jiu's anti-corruption campaign.
Mao Jiu's fight against corruption and the promotion of honesty were also indispensable to reversing the "flashy" social atmosphere at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao Cao praised Mao Jiu for using people to enable the people of the world to manage themselves, which is really valuable, so he called on officials large and small to take the lead in honest government, firmly believing that "the transfer of customs is not difficult." Mao Jiu's bold anti-corruption and clean government made the people from the official to the people at that time "the officials were on top, and the customs shifted from the bottom (the officials were afraid of the anti-corruption sword hanging high and consciously clean government, and the honesty, self-discipline, hardship and simplicity of the atmosphere affected the local and the people)", until the Jin Dynasty, the people still remembered and praised him.
After the Mao Jiu defamation case came to light, he was not reinstated as an official, but was stripped of his post and became a citizen. Despicable whistleblowers are not punished as they deserve and steal pleasure with impunity. The reasons for this, intricate and intriguing, are beyond the scope of this article. Mao Jiu walked out of prison alive and returned home to retire, which is the victory of his life value and the joy of life freedom. Walking on the country road, Mao Jiu will surely comfort himself in this way.
Mao Jiu was imprisoned for anti-corruption, and his release from prison relied entirely on innocence. Cao Cao once praised Mao Jiu as the upright man in the country as the ancients said, and he always felt sorry for being forced to send Mao Jiu like this, so after Mao Jiu's death, he deliberately "gave the coffin money" and promoted Mao Jiu's son to be a subordinate official, and at the same time handwritten the four big characters of "Ten Thousand Ancient High Winds", highly praising Mao Jiu's life of anti-corruption and honesty.
As long as everyone follows the enlightenment left by Mao Jiu, who has been praised by Gao Feng liangjie for eons, "To strike iron, we must rely on our own hardness, and the anti-corruption depends on our own purity" to do it.
【About the author】Xu Yunhui, male, graduated from the Department of Chinese of Yunnan Normal University in 1984 and is now a senior lecturer at Baoshan No.1 Middle School Education Group in Yunnan Province. He has published two monographs and published more than 500,000 words in literary journals at or above the provincial level.
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