A.D. 1457, the 22nd day of the first month of the first year of Shunyuan tomorrow is the darkest day of the Ming Dynasty. Yu Qian, a cabinet scholar who made great contributions to the reconstruction of the Ming Dynasty, was guillotined by the "restored" new emperor. The day of execution was "gloomy and harmonious" and heaven and earth were wronged. This loyal minister with "clean hands" and outstanding achievements has made a life feud of "only leaving innocence in the world". The history dates back to 3 16, AD 1 14 1. In the 11th year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, a 39-year-old national hero and anti-gold star, died in Fengbo Pavilion of Dali Temple in Lin 'an, ending his "strong and fierce" life. On 172 and 1629 after Yu Qian's death, in order to fight against the Qing army, Yuan Chonghuan, the divisional commander of BenQ Liaodu, stationed in Beijing, was sentenced to "execution" in Xisi, and the people who didn't know the truth were "fighting for his flesh" that day! The Ming dynasty not only lost a "general and military star", but also no one "presided over border affairs" from then on, and the Ming dynasty finally embarked on the end of the road. Throughout the history of China, this kind of tragedy is far more than that. Why do loyal subjects and good soldiers come to no good end? Why do historical tragedies repeat themselves again and again?
Literally speaking, the so-called loyal minister is loyal to the monarch and unwilling to die. They only know that loyalty to the monarch is worse than others. It stands to reason that such subjects should be widely blessed by the emperor, rich and glorious, and never leave. At least, they have to feed themselves and die well. However, China's long history has given this concept more meaning, and the characteristics of a loyal minister and a good general can by no means be summarized by a "loyalty". To sum up, people who can make a name for themselves in history and occupy a place in the biographies of loyal ministers in the twenty-fourth history often have more qualities: first, ability, second, incorruptibility, third, honest and frank, and fourth, morality, which every loyal minister must possess. The deeds of these people have been sung through the ages because of these four characteristics, but it is precisely these characteristics that make many loyal ministers and good generals die ugly and even beheaded.
In the traditional sense, China's loyal ministers are first and foremost able ministers. Even if they have the loyalty of a dog, it is hard for mediocre people to deserve the word "loyalty". However, "being jealous" is the experience of too many loyal ministers. Kou Zhun, a loyal minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, can be regarded as the first "good man" in the Great Song Dynasty. He urged Song Zhenzong to fight side by side with him under the pressure of Liao soldiers, defeated the enemy soldiers, and forced Da Liao to sign the friendly treaty of Tang and Yuan Alliance, which maintained the peaceful relationship between Song and Liao 100 years and laid the foundation for the cultural and economic prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty for a hundred years. Even if the ability is not high, the contribution is not great. But this kind of treatment will inevitably lead to jealousy, and many colleagues hate it and are extremely jealous. "Jealousy slanders life", and soon people around the emperor released rumors that Kou Zhun "narrowly saved himself", which meant that he fought in Kou Zhun and seized power from it. No matter how wise the emperor is, as long as there is a situation of "Wang Yi-chen", he is not far from death. It happened that there was a "versatile villain" around the emperor-Wang Qinruo, who hated Kou Zhun for a long time and asked him to persuade the emperor: "The alliance under the city is not ashamed of Spring and Autumn Annals. Yuan Yuan's move is an alliance at the gates. It is a great shame for your majesty to form an alliance with Liao at the gates with the respect of Wan Cheng! " And "just think" took the opportunity to create a famous idiom, "has your majesty ever seen a gambler?" When you lose your eyes, you bet all his property on it. This is called' desperate'. In the battle of Ge Yuan, Kou Zhun just regarded your majesty as a' fugitive'! " How sinister. Since then, when Emperor Zhenzong saw Kou Zhun again in the DPRK, he always felt that his head was empty, and he always remembered that this gentleman was "putting all his eggs in one basket". From then on, the suffering of this capable minister began. First tell us about Shaanxi, then drop Leizhou to join the army, and soon drop Hengzhou Sima. Kou Zhun finally achieved his reputation as a "loyal and loyal hero" on the road of suffocating miasma and pressing heat.
As a loyal minister, you should also be honest. Those who take bribes, no matter how capable they are, can only agree with the gentry. All loyal ministers in the history of China were honest officials. Yu Qian left school at the age of 25 and died at the age of 6 1. He served as an official for 36 years, worked as a governor, handled numerous cases, worked as a local official and toured places many times, all of which were enviable "fat jobs" and "beautiful jobs", but every time he returned to the DPRK, he was "uncorrupted", which deeply offended the powerful people in the DPRK. Instead of being promoted to this position, he was trapped. However, Harry, who has a deep reputation for honesty, has been an official for many years, but his family is surrounded by walls. His salary is hard to make ends meet, so he works on his own and grows vegetables in the yamen to supplement his family. Mom can only cut 2 Jin of pork as a birthday present. It is impossible for future generations to doubt the integrity of these loyal ministers. However, in this world, these people can only be honest and self-sufficient, and they are in charge of temples and centers, but they don't know how many insatiable people they will offend, because they have blocked the financial resources of the powerful and cut off the way for corrupt officials to make money. How can this not be framed? How can you settle down in such danger?
In addition, loyal ministers are honest people. However, according to the hidden rules of officialdom, they are "honest men are easy to be demoted", "it is difficult for the upper class to be honest, and the lower class is taboo", which is unacceptable to the social environment. Speaking of straightforward Harry, he can be regarded as the first Tian Zi in the history of China, and he is also a master of uncovering Long Lin. There is even the word Harbour Peak in his name. In the famous "The Memorial of Emperor Jiajing", he said without hesitation that "the people of the world have not been your majesty for a long time" and joked about the title that the emperor loved to use. The so-called "Jiajing Jiajing, every family is clean", if such a minister was born in Zhenguan, he could still win a good reputation, but it happened that he fell on Jiajing, an emperor who even wanted to strangle his maid-in-waiting and go to jail. This is really a fluke.
Finally, loyal ministers have a common feature, that is, "high morality." No matter Kou Zhun, Yue Fei, Yu Qian, Hai Rui or Yuan Chonghuan, they all have high moral binding force. On the one hand, these people are honest and self-sustaining, on the other hand, they are dedicated to the country and have no narrow interests, showing a high moral level. But I am strict with myself, and I always want others to be like myself, or I have caused moral pressure to others invisibly. For example, Kou Zhun, when the world was cold, said, "Forget my life, die for the country, worship righteousness and evil, so it is unpopular." . Yu Qian "regards Xun Yong's country as an infant, and scholars have no intention." As important ministers of the country, these people tend to be too strong in their social environment, but their strategies are insufficient. In the history of China, people who want to achieve great things and be invincible should not only be loyal to their ministers, but also pay attention to certain strategies. Most of them have become tragic figures who wholeheartedly serve the country and despise human accidents. The contemporary poet Kitajima's poem "Despicability is the passport of the despicable, nobility is the epitaph of the noble" is actually the best annotation of "the end of loyalty"