Next, the editor of the History Encyclopedia will take you to explore the real Wang Qiong in history and discover the historical stories that happened to them.
At the beginning of the founding of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang used the imperial staff to intimidate civil officials, but unexpectedly, the trend of insulting officials became increasingly fierce. In fact, cursing is not the exclusive skill of censors. In the mid Ming Dynasty, there was a figure who could be called a “curse god”. The higher the official, the more he cursed, and that person was Wang Qiong.
The first to be criticized was the “Three Yangs” Cabinet, which assisted Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuanzong in creating the “Renxuan Governance”. The “Three Yangs” are widely recognized as virtuous officials, but Wang Qiong criticized them for their “pure heart and skills”, which caused accumulated problems in military, economic and other aspects during their tenure, and they simply did not understand how to govern the country.
Wang Qiong was even more uncompromising when scolding other ministers of the same era. For example, Li Dongyang, the prime minister of the cabinet, seemed to be well read in poetry and literature, but in reality, his abilities were average. When faced with the famine in Shandong and the flood in Hejian Prefecture, he only exempted taxes without any other follow-up measures; In terms of military affairs, it is even more inadequate. If Mongolia invades the border on a large scale, he will be helpless.
Wang Qiong criticized Yang Tinghe, the successor of Li Dongyang, from a different perspective: Yang Tinghe used the power of his censors to suppress dissent and silence the public, ultimately causing his son Yang Shen to be sent to exile. He really deserved it.
In theory, if one curses to such an extent, they will definitely not be able to succeed in their career. But Wang Qiong’s official fortune has always been good, reaching the rank of second grade Shangshu, and after his death, he was posthumously awarded the title of Taishi. How did he do it? The reason is simple – personal ability is strong enough.
At first, Wang Qiong was in charge of transportation in the Ministry of Works, responsible for the renovation and maintenance of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal, and wrote a rigorous and detailed “Caohe Atlas”; After being transferred to the Ministry of Household, he was also in charge of taxation and registered residence, which was very impressive; Served as a governor in Henan and became a local official; After returning to the central government, he began to be responsible for the salt administration in Zhejiang again; In the Jiajing Dynasty, due to inadequate border defense, Wang Qiong, who was already an old man, was appointed as the Minister of War and was in charge of the military affairs on the three sides. He managed the three sides, which were originally plagued by wars and smoke, to “pacify all the tribes and keep the western border safe”.
Another shining moment in Wang Qiong’s career as an official was supporting Wang Shouren and quelling the rebellion of Prince Ning.
In order to increase troops for future rebellions, Prince Ning made many small moves in the court. Although Wang Qiong is not as honest as Hai Rui, he knows what money cannot be accepted, so he avoids bribery from Prince Ning.
In March of the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign (1516), because Emperor Zhengde had never had a son, Prince Ning proposed to adopt his eldest son to him. In terms of seniority, Prince Ning is the great uncle of Emperor Zhengde, so his son is the distant uncle of Emperor Zhengde. The almost absurd proposal of having a cousin become a son immediately sparked fierce opposition from a group of ministers, including Wang Qiong.
Seeing the increasing ambition of Prince Ning, a few months later, Wang Qiong recommended Wang Shouren to serve as the Left Censor and Governor of Nangan, Tingzhang, and other places, citing rampant thieves in Jiangxi as a precautionary measure. Soon after, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of military affairs. Due to effective prevention measures, the rebellion of Prince Ning was quickly quelled, and the Yangtze River was spared from war. Prince Ning was immediately executed.
Since you have such strong abilities, why persist in cursing? In fact, Wang Qiong’s scolding involves a problem in the political ecology of the Ming Dynasty – the difference between “technical bureaucrats” and “administrative bureaucrats”.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a tradition that “non Hanlin officials were not allowed to enter the cabinet”, and the doors of the cabinet were almost only open to officials from the Hanlin Academy. But the bureaucrats who rose up through this path have almost no experience in handling practical matters, nor have they experienced observing public sentiment in the local area. They have never even been to the capital city many times in their lives, so when they encounter problems, they often cannot propose specific measures that are truly targeted, and can only shout a few vague slogans.
So, in the eyes of technocrats, administrative bureaucrats simply do not understand governing the country. As a typical technocrat, Wang Qiong relies on solid achievements in every step of promotion, so she naturally does not value administrative bureaucrats. Although he curses harshly, he is very principled and not aimless.
