In the last 5,000 years of Chinese history, all kinds of people of insight have appeared in turn to create their own world, and in these 5,000 years, there are very few people who are called "one phase through the ages", and Zhang Juzheng is one of them.
He was the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty and the most respected teacher of the emperor.
He conscientiously assisted the government for decades, implemented reform measures, and purged the imperial court atmosphere in the political, economic, cultural, and military aspects, bringing the image of revival to the Ming Dynasty, which was in decline, and causing the treasury, which had been losing money for many years, to appear in surplus.
He vigorously rejected public opinion, vigorously implemented the examination law, and truly realized "although thousands of miles away, it is pursued from the bottom to the bottom", which made the political system of the Ming Dynasty solemn.
The court is turbulent, and Zhang Juzheng, as the first minister of the Ming Dynasty, is naturally indispensable to the support of capable generals.
He adhered to the concept of reusing officials and prudently using clear streams when employing people, and showed a different attitude when facing Qi Jiguang and Hai Rui, who were heroes of the Ming Dynasty.
But what is puzzling is that Zhang Juzheng fully supported Qi Jiguang to ensure the security of northern Xinjiang, but never appointed Hai Rui.
What is the reason for this? His wisdom in employing people is wonderful**?
Who is Zhang Juzheng? He is a young prodigy, a political genius, and the general of the Fu Building, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty who turned the tide of the tide.
He is a minister, covering the sky with one hand, creating one miracle after another, which is beyond the reach of future generations.
Later generations used all the most gorgeous and sincere words when evaluating him.
Liang Qichao said that "he was the only great statesman in the Ming Dynasty", Chairman Jiang said that "the biggest politician after Wang Anshi was Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty", and Mingyue said that "he was a genius with a unique education".
With the precipitation of history, Zhang Juzheng has been held up to the altar by later generations, as unattainable as a god.
But in fact, walking into his life experience, we will find that his success was not achieved overnight, he came step by step from the road full of thorns, and it was only then that he achieved his later hegemony.
At that time, it was an eventful autumn, and the forces of the DPRK and China were fighting openly and secretly, and there was a great tendency for wind and rain to come, and it was at this time that Zhang Juzheng entered the officialdom.
He was promoted to the cabinet by Xu Jie, an important minister in the cabinet, and the political struggle was fierce, and he was forced to leave the court at the wrong time and travel abroad for three years.
He experienced the Jiaqing and Longqing dynasties, and witnessed too many people's warmth and coldness, he returned to the court to be more diligent in government, and repeatedly made good words, and successfully sat on the position of the first assistant after the Wanli Emperor ascended the throne, became the emperor's teacher, and ushered in his own "first auxiliary era".
Zhang Juzheng attaches great importance to practical learning and efficiency, he looks at the Ming Dynasty that has been going downhill, and his heart is full of indignation.
He rectified the rule of officials, rewarded and punished clearly, attached importance to talents, and cleaned up the atmosphere of the court, and his way of employing people has always been talked about by future generations, and his wisdom can be seen from Zhang Juzheng's attitude towards Qi Jiguang and Hai Rui.
The author of "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty" commented on Zhang Juzheng and said: "He is a great reformer and a person whose morals are not noble."
This is quite pertinent, Zhang Juzheng has desires, selfishness, and sand in his eyes, for him, virtue is never the most important, the most important thing is who can do things well.
When he hired people, he broke the concept of the door, broke the boundary between the gentleman and the villain, he attached importance to the practical effect, reused the followers, and used the clear stream carefully.
Followers refer to people who want to do things well and put things first, and know how to be flexible, while Qingliu refers to people who are more rigid in thinking and always put morality first, Qi Jiguang obviously belongs to the former, and Hai Rui belongs to the latter.
Most of the officers of the Ming Dynasty were born in poverty, Qi Jiguang was no exception, he was born in a poor family, he was studious since he was a child, loved to read, and had extraordinary military talents, he inherited his father's mantle when he grew up and entered the military camp.
At that time, the eastern coastal areas were often invaded by Japanese pirates, and he fought bravely to kill the enemy, and at the age of 19 he wrote the ambitious poem "The Depths of Taozha".
After Zhang Juzheng heard his story, he was very interested in him, not only personally promoted, but also entrusted him with important tasks.
The border military is the foundation of the country, and there is no room for sloppiness, although Zhang Juzheng is in the capital, but he often writes letters to Qi Jiguang.
For Qi Jiguang, he is not only a boss, a Bole, but also a teacher, he cares about Qi Jiguang's life, pays attention to the situation of border defense, and is also a teacher and friend with Qi Jiguang.
It is precisely because of this that Qi Jiguang can boldly tell Zhang Juzheng about his needs and point out the shortcomings of the military policy of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty implemented a system of "local military service", in which most of the soldiers in the army entered the barracks because of hereditary inheritance, and when the old people retired, their sons would replace them.
Although this kind of military system ensured the conscription of the Ming Dynasty, it caused a bad situation in which the soldiers were holding iron rice bowls in the barracks.
These soldiers entered the barracks because of hereditary inheritance, and they did not have any special feelings about defending their homes and defending the country, and they were not proud of being soldiers, so they also behaved quite decadently when training to kill the enemy, hiding if they could, and being lazy when they could.
After Zhang Juzheng learned of this situation, he supported Qi Jiguang in training a new army.
And this army is the prototype of Qi's army, Zhang Juzheng not only gave Qi Jiguang the green light and gave him the right to train new soldiers, but also squeezed out military funds from the tight treasury to prepare military salaries for him.
With the strong support of the cabinet, Qi Jiguang trained a well-trained army with extremely strong combat capability.
During the Ming Dynasty, in order to curb the rights of generals and avoid the self-respect of mercenaries, the king set up a governor in addition to the general army, and the governor could lead the general army and interfere in the military decision-making of the general army.
Under normal circumstances, when there is a disagreement between the general army and the governor, the governor's opinion should prevail, but because of the special relationship between Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang, Qi Jiguang can always bypass the governor and make decisions directly.
It is precisely because Qi Jiguang has the money, power and ability in his hands that he has a platform to display his ambitions and has made many miraculous achievements.
Qi Jiguang served as a general soldier in Jiliao for 13 years, and during his tenure, Jiliao almost never lost battles.
When he was working in Jiliao, he played to the emperor many times, raising the issue of border defense, and with the support of Zhang Juzheng, his performance was highly valued by the emperor, and the shortcomings of border defense were quickly solved.
Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang were the best partners of the Ming Dynasty, one of them strategized in the capital, and the other killed the enemy at the border.
Hai Rui is also a legendary figure in the Ming Dynasty, he is the most incorruptible ** in the Ming Dynasty, once served as the crown prince Taibao, the official to the second grade, but after his death, he couldn't even afford a coffin.
He has a strong sense of morality, has his own judgment of right and wrong, and has repeatedly redressed unjust, false and wrongful cases during his official years, which has been unanimously recognized by the people.
During the Jiajing period, Hai Rui had a head-on conflict with Yan Song**, and he presented a letter to the emperor in the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, criticizing Ming Shizong's luxurious life, obsessed with witchcraft, and ignoring the government.
He dared to risk the world's condemnation and directly scolded the emperor, which caused a huge storm at that time.
After Zhang Juzheng became the first assistant, the ministers of the DPRK and China recommended Hai Jui to him many times, praising him for his moral self-discipline and being a model of the best, but Zhang Juzheng did not promote Hai Juzheng and give him real power.
Understanding Zhang Juzheng's way of employing people, it is not difficult for us to guess why he doesn't use Hai Rui.
People like Hai Jui are too tendonous, they don't know how to be flexible, and they often offend people in officialdom, and if they entrust him with important responsibilities, they will cause conflicts in officialdom at least and affect major decisions at worst.
Zhang Juzheng is a practical person, always adhere to the principle of "regardless of the white cat and black cat, catch the mouse is a good cat" when employing people, he raised his talents and personally selected talents, and solved many practical things for the Ming Dynasty.
He sees people very clearly, he entrusts him with a heavy responsibility in the face of Qi Jiguang, and he has a green light all the way, but when facing Hai Rui, he just praises and does not give real power, and his way of employing people has also directly affected the learning and imitation of later generations.