The Jingcha of the Ming Dynasty was divided into two categories: the northern and southern inspections, and the four or more grades were self-Chen, and the five grades were below the court trial. In other words, there are also differences in the way they are examined for officials of different ranks. Therefore, it was said at the time: "Ministers are different from ministers, and they have their own laws for advancing and retreating."

And this method is "four grades or above and bachelors of the Hanlin Academy, for example, it should be self-stated; The rest of the officials of the five grades and the five grades below the subordinate of the Yamen Hall shall take a group photo of the festival and the New Year's examples, and the headquarters will inspect them together with the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the officials of the Yamen Hall, and make a decision respectively."

Officials above the fourth rank and scholars of the Hanlin Dynasty completed the Jingcha procedure by presenting themselves to the emperor and waiting for the emperor's judgment; Officials below the fifth grade will be jointly examined by the Ministry of Officials and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to be inspected.

Yang Wei's Beicha and Hai Rui's Nancha are essentially "going to stay and inspect" the officials below the fifth grade of the Zhubu Political Department (province) under the control of the two capitals in the north and south, and the reason why Wang Xijue is worried about Hai Jui is not that he is worried about what happened to Hai Rui directly, but that he is worried about implication.

It has been said many times before that the characteristics of officialdom in the Ming Dynasty include the relationship between teachers and students, the relationship between the township party, and even factional relations today. Wang Xijue, as one of the pillars of the Xin School, is normal for many protégés to be arranged in the yamen under the management of Nanjing.

If Wang Xijue's protégés are deposed in large numbers in Jingcha, it will inevitably attract the attention of the government and the opposition. And at this point, there is a good chance that the real school will strike while the iron is hot and start to violently impeach Wang Xijue himself, and then the matter will be out of control.

However, the inspection of officials below the fifth grade has always been complicated, and there are still many processes to go, which will not be detailed at this time. Let's say that the most convenient "minister" is self-Chen, especially the first "battle" of Dinghai Jingcha caused by Beicha Zichen.

The so-called self-presentation, that is, "the officials of the two capitals are inspected every six years, and the four grades or more are ordered to self-report (dismissal)." Those who raise their professions will be retained, and those who are not employed will be retired".

All officials' self-presentations are carried out in the form of "not being subordinate to the subordinates, but actually being judged by the superiors", that is, the officials directly present themselves to the emperor.

There is a certain order of self-presentation, and the procurator in charge of the inspection shall make a self-presentation before the court trial, and proceed in the order of "the main hall first, the main hall of the metropolitan procuratorate, and the second left and right halls". Most of the other officials do not make their own presentations after the court trial, that is, the so-called "self-presentation after the inspection, the first cabinet, the second rank of the second rank of the Yamen, the second rank of the upper official, the second rank of the third grade, and the second fourth grade".

However, it must be said here that the regulations are regulations, and in fact, since the beginning of the Wanli period, some cabinet ministers such as scholars in the Ming Dynasty did not strictly follow the rule of "self-presentation after inspection", but had already submitted their self-presentation before the inspection.

As early as the 23rd day of the first month, Wang Xijue, an auxiliary minister of the cabinet, presented his own Chen Shu in February of the 21st year of Wanli. Another example is the Beijing inspection in February of the third year of the Apocalypse, and Ye Xianggao, an assistant minister of the cabinet, presented his self-Chen Shu as early as the eighth day of the first lunar month.

This year is particularly different, most of the usual Jingcha in February has been delayed to the Mid-Autumn Festival due to the Northwest Rebellion and other events, and many things have to be rushed, so the self-presentation of high-ranking officials has been greatly advanced.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty ordered officials above the fourth rank and the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy to present themselves and take them from the top cut in the Jingcha was because the officials above the fourth rank were almost all officials of the big and small Jiuqing, and they could usually stand on the court and discuss the government with the emperor, so the emperor had a preliminary understanding of all officials.

In addition, in order to show respect for high-ranking officials, officials who have attained dignity above the fourth rank are not allowed to be tried in the same court as middle- and lower-level officials below the fifth rank. The bachelors of the Hanlin Academy themselves are the "choice of Tsinghua University", and "the official is a bachelor, and the job is to discuss and think", so there is no need to participate too much in the handling of government affairs; In addition, the scholar had a close relationship with the emperor, and his ability to do so must be known to the emperor, so he did not need to be inspected by the Ministry of Officials and the Imperial Procuratorate.

Of course, in fact, the self-presentation of officials above the fourth grade and the bachelor of Hanlin is not always the same, but has gone through a period of repetition before it is customized.

There is no relevant record of the self-report of the relevant officials in Jingchazhong before the fourth year of Chenghua. It took four years of Chenghua to have a record of "Xu Ling, the Minister of the Two Beijings, and the Emperor of the two capitals", but this was not a custom of the self-Chen, but only occasionally acted at the suggestion of the official, and there was no clear indication of what the so-called "minister" was.

"In February of the tenth year of Hongzhi, the Ministry of Officials inspected the officials in Beijing, and asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate to inspect the officials below the five grades in Beijing as usual...... From above. and with the imperial history Zheng Weiheng and others, if you want to take the examination of the minister, please pass the two capitals and four grades of officials and above, and order self-presentation. Shang said: The officials of the two capital halls do not have to show themselves".

It can be seen that until the tenth year of Hongzhi, the minister was still outside Jingcha, and Zichen was still not a fixed program of Jingcha, even if the official was invited, the emperor did not accept it. In the fourth year of Zhengde, there was a clear stipulation in the edict of Xingjingcha: "The four grades of the official in the hall are ordered to be self-presented". Since then, officials above the fourth grade have made their own presentations in Jingcha.

Unlike officials above the fourth rank who go from not self-reporting to self-reporting in accordance with regulations, the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy have gone through a process of changing from being an official under inspection to being an official of self-presentation. As early as the fourth year of Chenghua, Ke Qian, a bachelor in charge of the Hanlin Academy, requested that only the subordinate officials of the academy be inspected with the cabinet on the grounds that the subordinate officials of the academy "have no achievements to examine", and obtained the approval of Xianzong.

The thirteenth year of Chenghua also follows the old practice of four years of Chenghua. However, perhaps because the effect of the Jingcha presided over by the Hanlin Yuan and the cabinet was not obvious, the Ministry of Officials began to participate in the inspection of the officials of the Hanlin Yuan in the first year of Hongzhi. However, this move caused the objections of the scholars of the Hanlin Academy, and when the Hongzhi was in the tenth year of Jingcha, Yang Shoulu, the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, was sent to Xiaozong:

The minister and the scholar Wang Wei of the Zhan Mansion should listen to the inspection. However, the ministers and other ministers have their own subordinates, and when they enter the examination with the officials, they sit in the court; Listen to the exam, and wait for the steps. I am a good bachelor, Qingcheng banquet, the fourth class is on the Yong, the car is in Yong, sitting in the Yilun Hall, depending on the three products, this story is also. If the four products are not investigated, then the bachelor should not be with them. The ministers and officials spoke and read and wrote, saying that there are those who do not need to be examined in the holy scriptures.

Xiaozong felt that what he said was true, so he followed the advice and adopted Yang Shouluan's suggestion, so from then on, "all officials to bachelors will be self-reported when they encounter investigations." "History of the Ming Dynasty" is also called: "Bachelors do not investigate, starting from shame (阯)".

Since the high-ranking officials are the first to report themselves this year, then in accordance with the remaining rules, that is, in the order of "the cabinet first, the second rank of the second rank of each yamen, the second rank of the second rank, the second rank of the fourth rank", the cabinet elders and ministers are the first to sparse, and the routine is the same: self-presentation and resignation. The emperor's reply is also very routine, all of them are "warm words of condolence, and no resignation is allowed".

When the "officials of the two halls of each yamen" were self-presented, Gao Pragmatic also went to self-report.

"The head of the household is still pragmatic and respectful:

In order to declare his dereliction of duty, he was begged to be deposed to supervise the ceremony. Officials and quasi-officials. In order to strictly inspect the old regulations to encourage the official affairs, the internal officials of the Beijing Department should inspect the four or more cases, and the headquarters of its officials will inspect the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and still carry out the Nanjing integrated inspection and implementation.

Because of the title of Feng Qinyi, prepare to consult the minister, except for the Beijing case of the inspection official, Qin Zun will be the same as the inspection of the performance, the minister should be self-presented.

He was an official of Xinzheng, Henan, and was recorded as a jinshi in the eighth year of Wanli. At the beginning, it was revised by the Hanlin Academy, and he was awarded the main author's work; Due to the carelessness of the first officer, Guangxi was released to patrol the press; to calm the Tusi chaos and Fu Ping'an Nan returned to office; sent an envoy to Tumut, relied on the emperor Hongfu, attacked the Tumen, captured Xin Ai, and promoted the southern Liaonan army; With the great victory in southern Liaoning, he was promoted to the governor of eastern Liaoning; After returning to Beijing after the year, he served as a political servant of Rong; At the beginning of this year, with the accident of the Northwest War, he was appointed to the Seven Towns and the Overseers were determined; Returned to the dynasty and reappointed to his current position.

The ministers were met with selfishness, first and now, so high and thick, I don't know what to report, I am attached to it for many years, and I also want to exhaust the dust. Bi Zhi Sangyu, empty embrace Pu Zhong, short and long contempt, there is a Qu Shi, and the letter is not worthy of receiving the great.

Chen Li can't, and the banquet should be stopped. The governor is only twenty years old, and he is in charge of the country's finances, and the world is suspicious. In the past, people sighed and didn't know what to do in the end, and the burden will be deeper, and it is with great tiest.

The minister is young and virtuous, and he is light and shallow, and he is impeached at the beginning of his office. What the ministers are thinking about, today's wealth is all a peasant, which is not the original intention of the two ancestors, but the commercial tax is widely accepted to light the agricultural tax, which is what the heavy agriculture should do. This thought is not easy, so it is rare to have one heart with colleagues.

If you can't solve the worries of the saints, and you can't get the forgiveness of your colleagues, then today's people who are more noteworthy are no longer called them, and they should be deposed from the ministers.

Fu Qichen gave it away, so that China and foreign countries knew that the court was strict and punished, and what he did to temper his ministers should not be shallow. The minister has nothing to do with the crime, so he has a book, and the special clerk He Chenlian holds the music and hears it, and the Hou Hou decrees. ”

The highly pragmatic "Self-Presentation and Non-Negligence" is very typical in terms of format.

In the first sentence of Chen Shu, he first declares his name and official title, which is not much different from the general recital, so I will not repeat it. From the second sentence onwards, the characteristics of Jingcha begin to be revealed.

Taking Gao Pragmatic's article as an example, the second sentence is "In order to justify his derogation, beg to be deposed to supervise the affairs of the canon", and this sentence begins to show differences according to the different identities of officials.

Because Gao Shishi himself was already a senior official of the household department, and he had the right to fill in the examination language for the headquarters in the inspection code, so his recital called "begging for dismissal" was to re-inspect the code - because if even one of the officials in charge of the inspection was deposed because of self-presentation, it would obviously play a role in the system of re-inspecting the code.

Here he is different from the previous cabinet ministers' self-declaration of omission, and the reasons for the cabinet ministers' "begging for dismissal" are usually written as "clean government books".

For example, yesterday, Shen Shixing, the first assistant of the cabinet, said in his self-statement: "In order to comply with the rules, Chen begged to remove him with the ability to clean up the government", and Wang Xijue from Chen also said that "he begged from Chen to clean up the government in order to comply with the rules", and Zhang Xueyan, Wu Dui, Wang Jiaping, and so on are also in the same case.

The reason why this is so is because the cabinet is a "place of political capital", and cabinet members will inevitably mention that they begged for deposition because of their own inconvenience, so once they are really reprimanded, they will naturally play the role of "cleaning up the political capital".

The reason for the "begging and dismissal" of officials such as Shangshu and Shilang like Gao Shishi is "strict investigation", "strict planning and canonization", "public inspection", etc. Because such officials themselves are members of the imperial court, if the officials are deposed, they can naturally achieve the purpose of encouraging the ministers and setting an example.

The above is the conventional pattern that begins with Chen Shu, but if you encounter a Jingcha held due to the new emperor's accession to the throne, it begins with "begging to remove the new political affairs with light" and "strict new political affairs", so as to highlight the sense of renewal brought about by the new emperor's accession to the throne.

The next few sentences are the reason for the self-sparseness.

Because the Ming Dynasty had stricter regulations on Jingcha's self-presentation, officials had to wait until the emperor's holy decree on Jingcha was issued before they could make their own statement. Therefore, the original history Ye Xianggao once said: "The officials, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the ministers and other big officials all dare to present themselves after this decree."

Therefore, after reporting to the official, name and explanation, Gao Pragmatic began to explain his background in self-presentation.

Because this year is the year of routine Jingcha, Gao Shipra quoted the full text of the minister's message and the emperor's holy decree on holding Jingcha, firstly, to highlight the respect for the emperor and avoid ceremonial offense; First, it is to show that he only confessed himself after receiving the order, and he was not presumptuous.

If it is not a year of Jingcha, such as Jingcha because of the new emperor's accession to the throne, another "template" will be used for the explanation of the reasons for Chen. For example, the first year of Longqing's Jingcha was due to the new emperor's accession to the throne, and the beginning of the high arch from Chen Shu was: "A paragraph in the edict, the two capitals and six ministries and other yamen and more than four officials have to stay from Chen, take from the upper cut, and admire this." The ministers respectfully respect those who report themselves".

The third step of self-presentation is to introduce yourself in detail. Because the officials, especially those who were far away in Nanjing, were not well known to the emperor, and some of the old ministers of the previous dynasty had not even met with the emperor, the emperor knew very little about the situation of the officials.

Since self-presentation does not require several months of preparation in advance like the court trial, the officials can only report their hometown, date of appointment and official resume to the emperor in Zichen Shuzhong, so that the emperor has a preliminary understanding of himself. But because the emperor was familiar enough with Gao Shishi, his "resume" was very simple, and he finished his legendary career in seven or eight years in a few sentences.

This is him, when he meets others who have made so many contributions, he has to write a special book, for fear that the emperor will forget?

After submitting his resume, the preparation for Zichen has been completed. Officials can then enter into the core content of their own self-presentation according to their own actual situation and their different political demands.

The core of self-presentation generally revolves around the order of "saying favors, talking about duty, suing for non-duty, and discussing meaning".

This routine is not an exception, it first explains that the emperor has "the grace of heaven and earth, I don't know what to repay", and then talks about himself, "the minister is only twenty years old, and he is in charge of the country's finances"; then told that he was "young and thin, only light and shallow, and he was impeached at the beginning of his tenure"; Then he made a self-presentation, telling that the meaning of deposing himself was to "make China and foreign countries know the rules and regulations of the Ming court, punish them with recklessness, and do not shallow and relentless ministers." This is the end of the core content of the self-presentation.

However, Gao pragmatic's self-statement caused an accident.

The reason is not elsewhere, but because he explicitly mentions the current political situation in this self-confession:

"What the ministers are thinking about, today's wealth is all a peasant, which is not the original intention of the two ancestors, but the commercial tax is widely accepted to light the agricultural endowment, which is what the heavy agriculture should do. This thought is not easy, so it is rare to have one heart with colleagues.

If you can't solve the worries of the saints, and you can't get the forgiveness of your colleagues, then today's people who are more noteworthy are no longer called them, and they should be deposed from the ministers. ”

Good guy, you have failed to do your job, but you want to link this "failure to do your duty" with your administrative means that you have to collect business taxes, and you also say that you can't reach agreement with your colleagues, so you ask the emperor to depose you?

What do you mean? Are you blackmailing the emperor to make a choice between you and your "colleagues"?

Therefore, as soon as Gao Pragmatic Chen Shu arrived at the General Administration, the officials of the Outer Court Heart School learned about it and were immediately in an uproar.

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PS: It was a common thing in history at that time that civil political disputes started from articles, but I'm not sure if it would be a little "too deep" to be so "realistic", so let's try it.