In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Hai Rui, the head of the Yunnan Department of the Household Department, put on a well-known "Public Security Neglect", which counted the various crimes of the Jiajing Emperor and said that the Jiajing Emperor was useless. Strangely, the Jiajing Emperor, who had always been harsh and thin-hearted, did not kill Hai Rui.
As for why Jiajing did not kill Hai Rui, there have always been many theories, roughly three:
One is Hai Rui's reputation. Hai Rui's official position is not high, but he has the name of honesty and integrity, known as "Hai Qingtian", and is deeply loved by the people;
The second is that Jiajing appreciates Hai Rui. It is said that Jiajing said to King Yu before his death that Hai Rui was a weapon of the country and would be of great use in the future;
The third is to believe that Jiajing maintains his own image. If Jiajing kills Hai Rui, although he can relieve his momentary anger, but the sin is the same as that of Hai Rui, and if he releases Hai Rui, he can achieve his own humble and generous qi.
Some people also believe that the reason why Jiajing opened up to Hai Rui was related to Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others interceding. There is some truth to all these reasons, but Yushi believes that this is not the fundamental reason why Jiajing let Hai Rui go.
If you understand the character of the Jiajing Emperor, you know that he has always been arbitrary and has killed countless people. In a great ceremonial discussion, hundreds of officials were given a staff, and those officials who died under the staff were not loyal subjects, and they were not direct counselors. For example, Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian, who were killed by Jiajing, were they all traitors? Therefore, Jiajing rarely considers his own reputation when doing things. As for the intercession of the courtiers, it is even more nonsense, except for a few Daoist priests who have refined Dan for Jiajing, when has he heard people persuade him?
Obviously, the above statements are untenable, the reason why Jiajing did not kill Hai Rui, in fact, the answer is still in the "Public Security Neglect" written by Hai Rui. Yu Shi had carefully read this recital, and more than three thousand words contained Hai Rui's great wisdom.
Hai Rui's song shu begins by comparing the Jiajing Emperor to the Famous Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, saying: "In the past, Emperor Wen of Han was also the lord of the Sage, and Jia Yi was weeping bitterly." Hai Rui compared himself to Jia Yi, and then turned his pen sharply, and gave the Jiajing Emperor a conclusion: "Your Majesty is talented and decisive, and the Chinese language is far greater." It is said that the Jiajing Emperor was much stronger than the Han Wen Emperor.
Under this premise, Hai Rui only entered the theme, and some of the words he said were really difficult to hear. For example, "single-mindedly cultivating the truth, exhausting the people's fat and anointing, and indiscriminately reviving civil engineering", "for more than twenty years, they do not look at the dynasty, the law and discipline are lax", "the two kings do not see each other, and people think that they are thinner than fathers and sons" and so on.
Judging from Hai Rui's personality, he should not be on this song for the sake of inviting a name, but to wake up Jiajing. He first determined a line of thought: the emperor was far more than Emperor Wen of Han, but he did not do the same feats as Emperor Wen of Han. And the cause of the problem is boiled down to "the fault of the courtiers". He said: "Your Majesty has misjudged it, and the princes have misqualified it, and no one is willing to speak up for His Majesty."
Hai Rui also mentioned an important thing in the song: Jai Ji prayed for eternal life. He said, "And Your Majesty's mistakes are many, and the big end of it lies in the jaijah." Saigon so seek eternal life also. "This incident speaks to the pain point of the Jiajing Emperor." However, Hai Rui is justified in saying that "since the ancient sages have been trained, self-cultivation and life are known as 'obeying their righteousness', and I have never heard of the so-called immortality." Yao Shun Yu Tang, the Ming Emperor of all the dynasties, which one is immortal?
This year is already the forty-fourth year of Jiajing's reign, and after decades of refining Dan, his body has deteriorated, which Jiajing himself is very emotional. So he thinks that Harry's statement, although sharp, is justified.
The Jiajing Emperor should be regarded as one of the most talented of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, a very intelligent person, and a very good set of control over his subjects, that is, he did not use his mind on the politics of the dynasty, and he had a good face and great self-confidence. However, once he understood Jiajing's personality, he knew that as long as he was given a step down, he was willing to correct it.
Hai Rui said something ugly in the song, but it cannot be said that he scolded Jiajing, or gave him enough face, comparing Jiajing to Yao ShunYu Tang, saying that as long as the emperor cheers up, then "why is the world worried and not cured"? Speaking of Hai Rui, he also has a bit of an element of blind talk, jiajing has been in power for decades, in fact, there are no political achievements. The reason why he complimented Jiajing in this way was nothing more than to leave a way back for himself.
When Hai Rui went to this recital, he had already prepared a coffin for himself, bid farewell to his wife, and dismissed the domestic servant. But Hai Rui firmly believed in his heart that this song was not enough to be fatal, this was Hai Rui's superiority, daring to anger Long Yan, but also paying attention to strategy.
If Hai Rui did not compare Jiajing to Yao Shun in the song, saying that he was far superior to Emperor Wen of Han and gave him a step down, but blindly exposed the short and scolded, then the result can be imagined. With Jiajing's character, Hai Rui will be punished with great disrespect and sentenced to capital punishment that day.