Hai and Ou Xianling: Why did Hai Rui become a model of honesty in Ming Dynasty?

Taking the post of Confucian Oracle in Nanping County, Yanping Prefecture, Fujian Province is the starting point of Harry's career, and the nickname "Doctor of Pen Shelf" he obtained during this period just shows his personality characteristics as an official. His later career development and setbacks were largely due to his character of not caring about powerful people and not knowing flattery.

Although his personality is wild and stubborn, Harry's achievements as a Confucian teacher in Nanping County for four years are obvious to all. So in the spring of Jiajing thirty-seven years (1558), he was promoted to the rank of Chun 'an County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. After a lot of research, he believes that local officials "skin and flatter others, and suffer more", which is direct. In view of this situation, Hai Rui carried out a series of reforms, not afraid of power, even if it touched the court dignitaries, so it became a famous "county magistrate" in history.

In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549, aged 35), Harry took part in the rural examination in Qiongzhou, wrote the Policy of Ritual Governance, analyzed the causes of Li's constant suffering in Hainan, and put forward the idea of crossing the road, thus winning the prize. In the twenty-ninth year (1550) and the thirty-second year (1553) of Jiajing, he went to Beijing twice in a row, but both ended in failure and decided to give up the imperial examination. This year, Harry accepted the appointment of the official department and went to Nanping County, Fujian Province as an Oracle, and began the ups and downs of his career.

Abide by the "sea pen holder" that the teacher refuses to please. In March of the thirty-third year of Jiajing, Harry was sent to Nanping County, Yanping Prefecture, Fujian Province as a teacher. Yanping Prefecture was one of the ten cities in Fujian at that time, and Nanping was one of the big counties, with a long history of Confucianism and relatively complete facilities. County Confucianism is the highest educational institution in a county, and Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the highest official, but his position is very low. "Official History" says: "County, one person teaches, two people teach." It can be said that the post of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is not even a "nine-level sesame official" in the relatively complete history of feudal official system. But for Harry as an intellectual, this is a position with a sense of honor and mission. He later wrote in the "Regulations on the Promotion of Reform": "The instructor is in charge of the teaching of a city, and everything is beautiful under the door. Everything is different from the lawsuit of vulgar officials. There will be many good people when you are a teacher. It is not shallow. " This is a recognition of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's position and a reflection of a person's sense of mission.

Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the social atmosphere has been deteriorating day by day, and the school discipline of counties and counties has been seriously damaged, and few students have excellent academic performance. As the leader of Confucianism in the county, at the beginning of his tenure, Hai Rui formulated and promulgated Article 16 of the Teaching Covenant according to the five learning rules set by Zhu when he gave lectures at Bailudong Academy and the "six studies" summarized by Zhu's disciple Fu Hanqing, combined with his personal experience in studying in Qiongzhou and the actual situation of Confucianism in Nanping County. The "Teaching Covenant" clearly stipulates students' self-cultivation, handling affairs, treating people, and even work and rest, etiquette and so on. And warned them to have knowledge, doubt, thought, discernment and faith, which played a due role in rectifying the style of study and improving students' moral cultivation and knowledge level.

In Harry's view, the important premise of receiving education is moral education, so there are quite a few contents related to moral education in Article 16 of the Covenant of Teaching. For example, Article 9 clearly stipulates: "When students receive distinguished guests, they are very aware that all books have etiquette. When you meet an official in Minglun Hall, you are not allowed to kneel down and say hello before going to school. Our school will receive an official outside Guo, not allowed to go out of the gate or the countryside. Xian Siguan came to this county and was not allowed to stay with him for three days. Commit crimes in various yamen, don't take off your hat and kowtow, bring disgrace to oneself, bring disgrace to oneself. " As an intellectual, we should have the corresponding backbone, and we must never grovel and be self-indulgent; As a school, we should safeguard the dignity of teachers. Harry said this and set an example. The achievements of Nanping Confucianism have attracted the attention of superiors. Suggesting to inspect the work, Harry went to see two instructors. In ancient officialdom, it was common for subordinates to greet and bow to their superiors. Facing their superiors, the two instructors knelt down to greet each other, but Harry refused to please them and only stood among them holding his fist. These three men are two low and one high, just like a penholder, which greatly annoyed the suggestion, reprimanded Harry for not knowing the ceremony of being an official, and ridiculed him as "an De pen with a mountain character". However, in the face of reprimand, Harry not only refused to admit his mistake, but said slowly, "This hall, teachers and priests should not be wronged." (Ming History) means that schools are sacred places for teaching and educating people, and should not bow down. Because of this shocking stop, Harry was nicknamed "Dr. Pen Container" from now on.

Being called "Dr. Pen Container" made Harry very angry. In addition, he was very disappointed with the officialdom and offered to resign. At this time, Zhu Heng, then assistant minister of Fujian, invited Harry to study in Justice College. After repeated persuasion by Zhu Heng, Harry soon returned to Nanping as a missionary. After a long time, Harry got used to the title of "Doctor Pen Container" and even compared it with his own name "Feng Gang" at one time.

Taking the post of Confucian Oracle in Nanping County is the starting point of Harry's official career, and the nickname "Doctor of Pen Shelf" he obtained during this period just shows his personality characteristics as an official. His later career development and setbacks were mainly due to this unappreciative character. The reason why Harry is famous all over the world and goes down in history is also because of his stubborn character, which urges him to put aside all evils and be impartial.

Wang, a local celebrity in Hainan at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, said in the Chronicle of the Sea: "The public has been in Nanping for more than four years and has been educated by ethics. He preached and taught, ruled the country with righteousness, sought truth from facts one by one, and was not influenced by popular learning. This is the most difficult course in the department. At this point, the inspection is recommended by the supervisor. " Although headstrong and opinionated, Harry's achievements as a Confucian scholar in Nanping County for four years are obvious to all. In addition, the upright and upright character of "pen container", which does not serve the powerful, has also been appreciated by some people. So in the spring of Jiajing thirty-seven years (1558), he was promoted to the rank of Chun 'an County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.

Chun 'an County has few mountains and barren land. Only tea, bamboo, fir and cypress are produced on the mountain, and people's lives are very embarrassed. After Harry came to power, "at first more than half of the people ran away after reading the book." After extensive investigation, he believed that local officials "stripped the people to flatter them and paid a lot of money in many subjects", which directly led to the people "being tired and unable to settle down, and being simple and straightforward can't beat the traitors." In view of this situation, Hai Rui carried out a series of reforms, not afraid of power, even if it touched the court dignitaries, so it became a famous "county magistrate" in history.

When Harry Chun' an took office, it was the authoritarian period of Yan Song, and corruption was prevalent from top to bottom, and Chun' an was no exception, but he was maverick and said: "Do everything in the world, don't accept bribes from Shangguan, don't move; It's no shame to be the best in the world for Shangguan! Anke himself is a ravine! "It means that all officials in the world don't pay bribes to their superiors, so they can't be promoted? Officials all over the world pay bribes to their superiors. Can't you be demoted and dismissed? How can this deceive oneself and others? In that era when filth was everywhere, Harry really got rid of it with his noble personality.

Although Chun 'an County is poor, it is located in the lower reaches of Xin 'an River and is a land and water transportation hub. Bureaucrats from all walks of life often pass by, and local authorities have to come forward to receive them. For example, when ordinary officials pass by, they need twenty or thirty taels of silver. It costs 120 silver to patrol the censor and other supervisory officials, and 3400 silver to patrol the governor. At the same time, they need a place to appoint boatmen by boat, and a place to pay for horse labor by land, which has brought profound disasters to the local people. Harry advocated frugality in Chun 'an, and kept the reception of superior officials simple. He also set an example by letting his wife cook, grow vegetables in his yard and send servants out to collect firewood to save daily expenses. Even on his mother's birthday, he only bought two Jin of meat, which was a joke to Hu Zongxian, then the governor of seven provinces including Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The "autumn wind" of the superior is not afraid of power. Harry is not afraid of power, and eventually many officials are afraid of his name. There are two allusions circulating in history, which can well explain Harry's character and bureaucracy. On one occasion, Hu Zongxian's son went to Chun 'an County with his entourage to throw his weight around, lost his temper because of poor reception, and even tied up the postman and hung him from a tree. Harry had to bring someone over, and Hu Gongzi was reprimanded on the spot. He confiscated a large amount of silver with him and put it into the official treasury. He also wrote a letter to Hu Zongxian, saying that the Governor of * * * had ordered all localities not to entertain your honour in the past. Now this man is so ostentatious and demanding hospitality, so he is definitely not the son of the governor, but an impostor who is ruining the reputation of the governor. He suggests severe punishment. Hu Zongxian gnashed his teeth when he received Harry's letter, but he knew he was wrong and had to submit to humiliation. He also has to say that Harry did a good job. If there is exaggeration in this story, there is no doubt about Harry's experience in dealing with his wife.

As a confidant of Yan Song, Chen Chongqing was once the prime minister of salt policy in Zhejiang and the deputy capital of Huaibei and other places. The Prime Minister's salt policy is a profitable job. In addition, Zen Qing, with the power of Yan Song, took bribes and blackmailed everywhere, killing his little wife down a peg or two, but flaunted her as "simple and don't like to meet", which brought a great burden to all localities. Harry learned that Zen Baqing was coming to Chun 'an, so he wrote him a letter, leaving him with nothing to say, and he consciously made a detour, which was boring. This is the famous "Exposing the Post of Capital College". In this letter, Harry said, you said that you always prefer simplicity to welcoming people. I believe that you are sincere in serving the country and the people, not empty words. Recently, however, I heard rumors from all over the country that you buy banquets everywhere, and each banquet costs three or four hundred taels of silver. They are all delicacies, and the supply is very luxurious. Even urinals are made of silver. Chun' an county is a poor county. If we do it according to rumors, it will be unaffordable and will violate the image of adults. But we are afraid that this rumor is true, and if we don't receive it according to high standards, we will offend adults. We are in a dilemma and don't know what to do. Please make it clear here. Harry's book is sincere but tactful, which makes him tremble with anger but speechless, so he has to bypass Chun 'an and go elsewhere.

Harry offended Hu Zongxian, Chen Qing and other dignitaries because of his stubbornness and fear of power, but they were afraid of Harry's clean reputation and did not dare to dismiss him rashly. They instructed Yuan Chun, the salt inspector, to find ways to impeach and frame Harry. Harry immediately wrote a seal, confident that he would stick to the way of sages and act according to the emperor's will, with a clear conscience, leaving him speechless and giving up angrily. Soon, someone recommended Hai Rui as the deputy magistrate of Jiaxing, and Jin Gyeong and Yuan Chun got in the way. They reported to the court on the grounds of improper procedures, and finally they were transferred to the Xingguo County Order of Jiangxi Province at the end of the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562). In Xingguo, Harry kept doing practical things for the people, and many unjust, false and wrong cases were made, which was welcomed by the people and called "Haitian". In the winter of the 43rd year of Jiajing (1564), on the recommendation of Lu Guangzu, a senior official of the official department, Hai Rui went to Beijing to serve as the director of the Yunnan Department of the Household Department. Working in Beijing provides Harry with a broader platform to show his political talents and publicize his moral quality.