Chapter 1912 - Civil Service Examination (Part Eight)
Material Three:
The theory of factions has existed since ancient times. A ruler need only discern which are the factions of gentlemen and which are the factions of petty men. As a general rule, gentlemen form factions with those who share the same principles; petty men form factions with those who share the same interests. This is the natural order of things.
I maintain, however, that petty men possess no true factions—only gentlemen do. Why is this? What petty men desire are profit and official salary; what they covet are wealth and treasure. When they share a common advantage, they form temporary alliances and call themselves a faction, but this is false. The moment they see profit, they scramble to get ahead; when the profits dry up and their relationships grow distant, they turn to harming one another. Even brothers and relatives cannot depend on each other. Therefore I say—petty men have no true factions; their temporary alliances are mere illusion.
Gentlemen are different. What they uphold is righteousness and principle; what they practice is loyalty and trustworthiness; what they cherish is reputation and integrity. Using these virtues to cultivate themselves, those who share the Way mutually benefit. Using these to serve the state, those of one mind accomplish things together. From beginning to end they remain constant—this is the faction of gentlemen. Therefore, a ruler need only dismiss the false factions of petty men and employ the true factions of gentlemen, and the realm will be governed well.
— "On Factions" by Ouyang Xiu, Great Song Dynasty
Material Four:
He Shijin was a member of the Donglin Party, listed in the Donglin Roll of Heroes as "Assistant Star of Earth, Young Marquis Wen." In the fourth year of Tianqi, he served as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi; in the fifth year, he was removed from office due to impeachment by the Eunuch Party.
During his tenure as Governor-General, He Shijin reformed the collection of the Liao Campaign Tax, attempting to offset land assessment surcharges by increasing commercial taxes. His reform proposals included: "First, investigate and donate public expenses and salary commutations; second, eliminate redundant official positions and their wages; third, levy miscellaneous taxes on market fairs and increase revenue from customs posts."
However, in the fourth month of the fifth year of Tianqi, because He Shijin's position on the Cudgel-Strike Case conflicted with the Eunuch Party, he fell victim to impeachment by the eunuch faction member Yu Tingbi, who accused him: "Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi He Shijin frivolously requested commercial taxes to offset the additional assessments, causing unrest throughout the region. Moreover, he is a partisan protector of Wang Zhicai and has instigated conflicts within the palace."
The punishment of He Shijin did not end with his dismissal. In the tenth month of the sixth year of Tianqi, Eunuch Party member Liang Menghuan impeached him once more: "When He Shijin was in Guangdong, there arose discussion of dismantling the Macau fortress. He intimidated and received bribes from the Portuguese headmen in Macau, accepting no less than three to four hundred thousand in illicit gains. Under the pretense of eliminating extra assessments, he actually used taxation as a vehicle for personal enrichment. Religious charlatans ran rampant, and the people could not make a living. The turmoil nearly erupted into catastrophe."
By this time, He Shijin's reform proposal to eliminate surcharges and use commercial taxes to supplement the Liao Campaign funds had been twisted into one of the charges the Eunuch Party used against him for corruption.
In the second month of the seventh year of Tianqi, the Ming court issued its final verdict on He Shijin's Liao Campaign Tax policies: "According to the memorial, the levies collected in Guangdong to offset army provisions were actually miscellaneous tax surcharges transferred from military funds and reallocated from regular revenues, causing various harms. Additionally, the extra assessments on the Taiping customs house caused merchants hardship and distress. It is clearly evident that these should be abolished and returned to land-based assessment, collected according to acreage to offset the Liao Campaign Tax. After the Liao Campaign concludes, the matter shall be reconsidered."
Ultimately, the court abolished He Shijin's proposal, and the Liao Campaign Tax collection reverted to land assessment.
In the seventh year of Tianqi, at the Eunuch Party's request, commercial taxes in Shaanxi were abolished: "Abolish the commercial taxes at Tongguan and Xianyang, in accordance with the request of Shaanxi Provincial Inspector Zhuang Qian."
This abolition of commercial taxes was later criticized during the Chongzhen reign discussions on the Liao Campaign Tax as the Eunuch Party currying favor with merchants: "The Tongguan route is a vital thoroughfare between Shaanxi and Shanxi, and the Longche post station stands at the strategic junction of Shaanxi and Hubei. Merchants gather and goods cluster at these key passages, making them ideal for commerce and convenient for tax collection. Tax officials have been stationed there for decades without the people considering it burdensome. In the seventh year of Tianqi, when Cui Wei seized power, they sought to court favor with merchants and abolished all posts at Tongguan, Xianyang, Daqing, Qingyang, Fengxiang, Hanzhong, Lintao, Xi'an, and Sanyuan. That the profits from merchants should not be used to supplement the state's deficits is indeed a great miscalculation."
Material Five:
Political Parties
Our Senate does not prohibit political parties. Within the Senate itself, there exist different factions; the more prominent ones include the Industrialist Party, the Law Club, and the Han Nationalist Party.
A political party is a political organization whose ultimate goal is governance. Under the Senate system, political parties generally seek to govern through electoral participation, sometimes forming political alliances and governing in coalition when necessary. Political parties typically espouse specific political objectives and ideologies, advancing their positions on national and social issues while establishing platforms to display their vision. Political parties are the political organizations of the ruling class; the organizational form of political parties is determined by that ruling class. The formation of a ruling class within a single party and the formation of multiple parties within a ruling class—these describe the current political ecology of our Great Song.
Question One: Based on the content of "Material One," briefly summarize the relevant circumstances of the Pseudo-Ming Eunuch Party, including the time of its rise, main representatives, and the class they represented.
Requirements: Stay close to the materials, be comprehensive and accurate, organize clearly, no more than 300 characters.
Question Two: Based on "Material Two" and "Material Four," analyze why the Pseudo-Ming Donglin Party, despite advocating progressive slogans such as clean governance, revitalizing the bureaucracy, opening channels of speech, and eliminating long-standing abuses in court and society, nevertheless turned a blind eye to the tragic reality of famine victims and actively obstructed relief efforts.
Requirements: (1) Cover all aspects while staying close to the materials; (2) State clear viewpoints concisely; (3) Write fluently and organize clearly; (4) No format requirements, no more than 400 characters.
Question Three: Based on "Material Three" and "Material Five," compare the similarities and differences between the "factions" mentioned by our Great Song predecessor Ouyang Xiu and our Great Song's political parties.
Requirements: Comprehensive, accurate, concise. No more than 450 characters.
Question Four: The Great Song pioneer Chen Duxiu once said: "A party without factions is imperial thinking; factions within a party are strange indeed." This means that even within a political party there will be different voices. Please write an essay based on your reflections on this statement.
Requirements: (1) Choose your own angle and title; present clear and profound insights; (2) Organize your thoughts clearly; write fluently; (3) Reference the "given materials" but do not be constrained by them; (4) Total word count: 800-1000 characters.
After reading through the examination materials, Yuan Shuzhi settled into deep contemplation. The provided sources presented starkly contradictory viewpoints between Materials One and Four. Clearly, the Senate held both the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party in equal contempt. Despising the Eunuch Party seemed unremarkable—they were already rats scurrying across the street, universally reviled. But this naked assault on the Donglin Party for "ruining the nation"—if those Donglin worthies still serving in the Pseudo-Ming court saw this, they would surely explode with indignation.
Still, the criticism was not entirely without merit. Wei Zhongxian might have been a faithless villain, yet he was a great villain who feigned loyalty. The current sorry state of the Pseudo-Ming—wasn't it precisely those sanctimonious officials running the government who had brought it about? Wasn't his own unrecognized talent perfect proof of this systemic failure? Ahem. Better focus on the examination first—score an Australian jinshi degree and show those posturing Donglin Party members what real capability looked like!
Question One required summarizing the Eunuch Party—a genuinely challenging task. Yuan Shuzhi recalled from the Zeng Juan study materials that summary questions must derive entirely from the provided sources—no fabrication permitted. After a moment of consideration, he began to write:
Eunuch parties have existed since ancient times, causing great harm; both Han and Tang suffered grievously from them. The Pseudo-Ming dynasty's eunuch party proved especially severe, originating with the Pseudo-Ming Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, then growing in power through the Xuande, Yingzong, Xian, Wu, and Xi reigns. Throughout Pseudo-Ming history, powerful eunuchs ran rampant—first there was Wang Zhen who manipulated power, then came Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, and others. By the Tianqi reign, Wei Zhongxian's power overwhelmed the court and he stood unmatched. Looking at all history, eunuch parties were never parties of eunuchs alone, but rather household slaves of emperors. The emperor is but a despot! Without eunuchs to run his errands, he would find himself at the mercy of outside ministers! Members of eunuch parties are either poor or suffering—many are sons of impoverished families, either peasants or workers, or even displaced refugees. Thus when famine strikes the realm, eunuchs abound; when the realm enjoys peace, they vanish from sight!
After completing his response, Yuan Shuzhi felt this summary proved harder than composing eight-legged essays. With such brief materials, one still had to produce something substantial. Fortunately, his foundation was solid enough to generate a respectable answer. At the end, he'd even managed to subtly flatter the Senate—after all, the Senate had no eunuchs!
Having completed Question One, Yuan Shuzhi proceeded to Question Two. This was an analysis question, and he knew from his study materials that such questions allowed him to express his own views based on the materials. The difficulty could be considered greater or lesser than the previous question—it all depended on individual comprehension. He carefully reread the materials and began to write:
The Donglin Party was not the emperor's Donglin Party, nor was it the Donglin Party of the common people—it was actually the running dog of the Jiangnan gentry! Their words such as "The sounds of wind, rain, and reading—every sound enters the ears; family affairs, national affairs, world affairs—every affair concerns the heart"—though appearing as expressions of great loyalty, were actually meant to conceal their vile deeds! The Donglin Party, pursuing their own selfish interests, treated the common people as straw dogs and disregarded the state entirely! First they imposed crushing agricultural taxes, provoking public outrage; then they abolished all courier stations throughout the land, leaving men like Li Chuang with no means of livelihood. When the great famine years came, they did not implement relief policies for the realm, but instead doubled the agricultural taxes, ultimately igniting fires of rebellion throughout the Pseudo-Ming's northern territories. First came Gao Chuang's uprising, then Li and Zhang followed. Even at such a critical juncture, there were Donglin members who said: "Rather be a peaceful starving corpse than imitate the praying mantis raising its arm!" Their true nature was thus revealed! As for the defeats in Liaodong, one can well imagine—it was not that Pseudo-Ming soldiers failed to fight courageously, but that the Donglin Party held sway in the court!
As for the Jiangnan gentry families, they live in extreme extravagance. Jiangnan alone hoards seven or eight-tenths of the Pseudo-Ming's wealth, yet commercial taxes remain impossible to implement there—is this not because the Donglin Party acts as their running dog? Alas, the Donglin Party members speak nothing but high-sounding words, yet prove less beneficial to the nation than the eunuch party, less hopeful to the people than the eunuch party! Thus when the Donglin Party governs, the emperor has no recourse, the people have no sustenance, bandits cannot be repelled, and the state cannot be governed—the fall of the Pseudo-Ming is imminent!
After finishing Question Two, Yuan Shuzhi's forehead glistened with sweat. He thought uneasily that praising the Eunuch Party seemed highly inappropriate. But then again, the Eunuch Party was a dead tiger, while the Donglin Party was a living tiger that the Senate clearly meant to deal with.
He turned his attention to Question Three and rubbed his temples—this question troubled him considerably. He understood what the Old Drunkard meant by "factions," but as for Great Song political parties, he knew virtually nothing. What was the Industrialist Party? What was the Law Club? He'd never heard of them. As for this so-called Han Nationalist Party, he couldn't fathom its purpose at all. After struggling for a while, Yuan Shuzhi decided to write some general observations:
The factions mentioned by the Old Drunkard and our Great Song's political parties share the similarity that both are groups formed by like-minded people of similar interests. However, their differences are vast! The Shuowen Jiezi says: "Party means not fresh." The character for party consists of "worship" and "black"! The factions mentioned by the Old Drunkard, whether parties of petty men or parties of gentlemen, were all parties of single families and single surnames—parties of emperors and generals. Private! Dark! Without the constraints of party rules, without clear platforms, with free entry and exit, one could join in the morning and betray by evening! What such parties sought was nothing more than the private interests of single families, emperors and generals, with no benefit whatsoever to the common people of the realm, treating the needs of ordinary folk as grass and weeds!
(End of Chapter)