I want to be emperor

On September 45th, Chengshun [-]th year, Jinling City, the political center of the empire.

In the Xuanwu Villa of the Imperial Palace, Luo Zhixue was looking at the report in his hand. This was a report submitted by the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy.

The main content is the recent movements of senior officials in the empire, and not all of these contents are major matters. In fact, many of them are trivial matters, and many of them are very interesting.

For example, the Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, after his wife died a few years ago, recently got together with a young, beautiful and talented woman in her early twenties, and gave birth to an illegitimate child... He even had the idea of ​​marrying this woman. .

This old man in his 60s, still bald and pot-bellied, thought he had rejuvenated and had found true love. However, he probably didn’t know that the woman he thought he fell in love with was taking his money and being with his entourage every day. The secretary was tired of being together... The secretary and this young woman were in true love, and they even gave birth to the child of love... Well, the minister thought he was his illegitimate child, and he was spending all his money to cultivate it.

Dare to hide this from Mr. Zuo Shilang and secretly play this kind of game. Isn't this true love?

Once this kind of thing is exposed, the angry minister will make the two of them, and even the families behind them, be in danger.

Don't underestimate the power of a second-rank Zuo Shilang!

He didn't need to take action, or even give any instructions. At least a few hints. Naturally, a lot of people rushed to help him kill these two people.

However, these two true love men and women are still doing things in secret. At least so far, except for the all-pervasive Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy, no one else knows about these things.

To be honest, even people like Luo Zhixue would be interested in this kind of gossip sometimes... He also specifically asked the Internal Affairs Department to just continue to watch this matter secretly, not to interfere, and report any progress at any time...

Luo Zhixue has no intention of helping his ministers to catch adulterers. He is just chasing gossip...

After all, most of the things reported by the Internal Affairs Section of the Hanlin Academy are relatively boring. For example, who did a certain minister meet in private, and did not know what he was doing in secret. It is rare to see such interesting gossip, so Luo Zhixue It is also a normal mentality to be obsessed with catching up.

After reading the gossip as usual, Luo Zhixue glanced at some of the movements of other ministers. They were all messy things. For example, several ministers went together to drink and have fun in a very secret high-end blue building on the Qinhuai River. During this period, a series of indescribable chaos occurred.

Most of them are just trivial things... very few really big things happen.

And even if there is, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy may not be able to know... Because the senior officials of the empire basically know that there must be agents from the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy around them, so they will naturally take precautions, such as when discussing secret matters, Just choose an open and uninhabited place to have a secret conversation. No matter how good the agents of the Imperial Academy's Internal Affairs Section are, there is no way to know what they talked about... Many senior officials like to have a very open garden or a garden in their own manors. Pavilion in the middle of the lake and the like.

I don’t even have walls, how can you make the partition have ears?
However, in recent years, the surveillance methods of the Internal Affairs Department have continued to be upgraded for the defense measures of the courtiers, such as specializing in the study of lip reading... Telescopes combined with lip reading, small tricks such as unobstructed secret conversations in the Huxin Pavilion have long been used by the Internal Affairs Department The code was cracked.

Then some special monitoring equipment was developed. For example, some ministers liked to have secret room conversations, so the Internal Affairs Department developed monitoring devices.

Therefore, surveillance and counter-surveillance on both sides have always existed... but it is worth noting that if a minister engages in such secret talks every day for three days, then the Internal Affairs Department will quickly give you an upgrade package and include you in the conspiracy. List of reverse potential molecules.

Therefore, many times, ministers will not talk about everything in secret...when to talk about everything in secret, and when to talk normally. The control of the scale also tests the ability of a senior official of Chu State.

You must keep some secrets for yourself, but you must not attract the attention of the Internal Affairs Department, let alone arouse His Majesty's resentment...

Because everyone knows that His Majesty sent people to monitor you. As a senior official of the empire, you hide and keep so many secrets every day. What do you want to do?Rebellion?
Once your Majesty has doubts in his heart, you are not far away from being dismissed from office or even imprisoned.

The Internal Intelligence Department of the Hanlin Academy is not an innovation... To put it bluntly, it is just an advanced version of the Ming Dynasty Jin Yiwei.

What's more, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy is much more professional than the Jinyiwei or Dongxi Factory of the Ming Dynasty. The placement of agents is relatively secretive and will not disturb the normal work and life of the ministers. In fact, if it is not a big deal, it is actually None of these ministers felt the existence of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy.

Because the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy basically only monitors hundreds of officials, even if they detect some illegal and criminal activities of these officials, such as corruption, as long as it is not too exaggerated, the Internal Affairs Department will not do anything. action, but the relevant data will be sealed.

Over time, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy has actually mastered evidence of almost all the illegal crimes of senior officials... and has formed relevant archive materials. However, unless approved by the imperial edict, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy will not disclose these information. Select Archive.

The Archives Warehouse set up by the Internal Affairs Section of the Hanlin Academy on the island in the center of Xuanwu Lake, it is no exaggeration to say that it has sealed the criminal information of almost all senior officials of third rank and above, as well as some mid-level officials in special positions...even those of the counselors. The Dark Materials is no exception.

However, decades after the founding of the Chu Empire, Luo Zhixue rarely actively used these materials to engage in anti-corruption activities, except for a few extremely serious cases that affected the foundation of the rule.

Even a major rectification of officialdom is no exception!
It's not that Luo Zhixue is conniving with the people under his opponent... but that it's really unnecessary.

As the emperor of the Chu Empire, Luo Zhixue's words are the law, and no evidence is needed to prosecute anyone...

Therefore, the large amount of common criminal evidence of courtiers sealed in the Imperial Academy's Internal Affairs Department is actually of no use... Looking at it this way, it seems that the Imperial Academy's Internal Affairs Department has done a useless job!
But... investigating the criminal behavior of officials is not the business scope of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy. They have not even deployed work in this direction. It is purely an additional product produced in the process of monitoring officials.

From the beginning to the end, the core function of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy is to monitor all officials, prevent rebellion, and prevent the foundation of rule from being shaken.

This institution upholds imperial power, not the law!
It is the business of the Inspectorate to crack down on corrupt officials.

Therefore, the senior officials in the court of Chu State basically know that the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy is monitoring them... and are even proud of it. Because you are not at a certain level and do not hold an important position, the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy will not bother to talk to you. .

Those who can be monitored by the Internal Affairs Section of the Hanlin Academy for a long time are the benefits of senior officials of the empire and a very small number of middle and low-level officials with special weight.

Most people don’t even think about it!

After all, the funds of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy are also limited, and the number of internal and external agents is also limited. Long-term monitoring requires funds, and it is impossible to arrange long-term monitoring for everyone.

You may feel aggrieved when senior officials are being monitored. They have no secrets and are full of insecurity...

But senior officials think this is a sign of promotion and wealth.

Of course, except for a very small number of officials who have evil intentions and want to play rebellion, or who have really done something to anger people and shake the foundation of their rule.

After these people are caught by the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy, they often end up miserable...

Based on the particularity of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hanlin Academy, Luo Zhixue actually knew the corruption situation of the officials under him, well, mainly the senior officials.

I don’t mean to say that I know everything, but I basically know the general situation.

For example, Xu Longze, the censor of the Grand Inspectorate who was newly promoted to preside over this major rectification of officialdom, is an official killer. It is true that he has killed countless corrupt officials... but in fact, he did not do anything in the early and middle stages of his official career. If you don't do these things less, you just have a professional anti-corruption background. These things are done very secretly, and there is no loophole in the law.

Of course, when he reached the position of the second-rank right capital censor, he began to cut off from these previous behaviors and began to put an end to them... It was not that his conscience found out, but that there was really no need to do it after reaching this point. What corruption.

He had made a lot of this money in the first half of his life, enough for his family to squander it every day for 100 years.

And he himself... To be honest, he has little interest in these material enjoyments, or he has already passed that stage.

In the second half of his official career, Xu Longze was actually focused on getting promoted, wanting to gain greater power and greater psychological satisfaction.

For example, kill a counselor?
As a censor, if you can kill a few ministers in this life, you will really have no regrets in this life.

This kind of spiritual pursuit and enjoyment are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Because ordinary people are still stuck in the pursuit of material enjoyment... It's not that they have low consciousness, but that they are really poor!
But Xu Longze has enjoyed it, and he has been greedy for enough money. At the same time, the power in his hands is getting bigger and bigger. The satisfaction brought by power far exceeds just money...

In an official-based imperial country like the Great Chu Empire, money is actually just a number to these senior officials and does not mean much.

Because at this stage, if they want something but can't get it, if they can't enjoy something, it's definitely not because they don't have enough money!
Therefore, in the official ecology of the Chu Empire, high-level officials and middle- and low-level officials are actually two species...their ideas and practices are completely different, although the former evolved from the latter...to use the words of a literary youth That is: different stages of life have different pursuits.

Of course, the above is only limited to the officials themselves, and does not include the officials’ family members... In fact, most of the senior officials in the Chu Empire fell because of problems with their family members or direct subordinates, and then their political opponents followed the clues and were eventually sent in. From the prison.

Xu Longze is a typical high-ranking official who evolved from middle- and low-ranking officials... Of course, if there are no special circumstances, his official career will normally end as a co-organizing minister, and this is where he will stop after being promoted to the third rank. And the situation after cutting with the past.

If he continues to mess around after being promoted to the third rank, his political opponents will be able to suppress him or even suppress him without Luo Zhixue, the emperor, taking action.But he really encountered a special situation. Luo Zhixue felt that the imperial officialdom needed to be reorganized and was preparing for a general cleaning, which naturally required capable people to carry out the work.

After going through the process, I found that Xu Longze's knife was quite sharp in the judicial system, so he went one step further and became the Minister of Counsel, becoming one of the top people in the imperial political arena.

Of course, although he can climb to the top, Luo Zhixue will not let him work for too long... he will be arranged to become an official in about four or five years.

Although Luo Zhixue never said this, Xu Longze knew it very well... The reason why he was able to become the Minister of Counselor was because His Majesty wanted a sharp knife.

As for knives, you should naturally throw them away after use. You can't keep them in your hands. Otherwise, how can so many officials in the empire still work after the official rectification?

How can you work well if you are worried every day? After all, none of your butts are clean!

Xu Longze, as a high-ranking official in the empire and someone who had participated in several major rectifications of government affairs, naturally knew the natural ecology of the empire very well.

But a few years is enough!

The empire has hundreds of millions of people and many officials, but how many of them can reach the level of Minister of Counselor?
The past few years have been enough for him to achieve some achievements, such as killing a large number of people and leaving a strong mark in the history of the empire.

As for whether he will suffer retaliation after becoming an official in the future, such as having his grave dug up and whipped like Zhang Juzheng in the previous Ming Dynasty, there is no need to worry about this in the Chu Empire.

Luo Zhixue's treatment for officials who serve normally is quite good, and the official group is currently the only group in the empire that can receive pensions.

After ordinary employees of enterprises, even those directly under the Ministry of Industry, retire, they retire normally, but there is no such thing as a pension.

The coverage of this official is not limited to high-ranking officials, but also official officials, even if they are only ninth-rank officials!
In addition, it is worth noting that doctors and nurses in government-run hospitals and teachers in government-run schools in the Chu Empire also enjoy official treatment, so these two groups also have pensions.

Except for these officials or those who enjoy official benefits, other groups of people do not have pension funds. At most, some large enterprises will have some internal pension funds, but the number is small and not standardized. For example, Li Shi Steel has set up an internal pension fund plan, with employees voluntarily participating. The fund adopts a stable model to operate, such as purchasing government bonds, large government-owned corporate bonds, dismantling funds between banks, participating in small proportions of venture capital, etc.
On the whole, the operating model is actually not much different from that of commercial insurance, except that Lee Steel will provide additional subsidies. If employees voluntarily participate in the pension fund, they will be given certain subsidies.

That is, employees contribute part of their own money, and the company also contributes part of the money to participate in the pension fund...

However, there are actually very few companies that can do the same as Lee's Steel. Most companies will not provide you with these messy things. If you want a pension, you can make your own financial plan and invest. It is really not possible. There are also some companies on the market. Some insurance companies will accept some personal long-term insurances, which are actually personal commercial pensions.

But it's not cheap.

Therefore, it is still very attractive for contemporary officials to have pensions.

In addition, the pensions of officials are not actually financed by the finance... At first, the finance was directly financed. Later, I felt that this was too much of a loss and could not be continued... So I started to develop a pension fund model to take advantage of the time when it was supposed to be in a certain year. When the salary is raised, the salary is not raised directly, but the part of the salary increase is turned into the purchase share of the pension fund, and the government subsidizes part of it...

It's said to be a subsidy, but in fact it was originally intended to be a salary increase.

To put it bluntly, the empire converted the part of the salary increase that was originally planned to be paid into pension funds and financial subsidies by individuals!
The money is still the same money, just in a different name.

This pension fund is then directly managed and operated by the Ministry of Finance, and officials' pensions are paid from this pension fund.

Therefore, the pension funds in each province are quite wealthy and often participate in some stable and large-scale investment projects.

The post-retirement benefits for officials include pensions for middle- and low-level ordinary officials, but it is different for senior officials. In addition to pensions, senior officials generally receive other benefits after retirement.

Especially for top-level officials at the level of Minister of Counselor, their treatment will be much better. Basically, even if you do not accept any corruption and only rely on the treatment after retirement and the rewards from the royal family during the holidays, you can maintain your prosperity and wealth. life.

These are all to dispel some of the concerns of officials when they retire at an old age and prevent them from making huge profits when they are approaching their retirement years.

In order to prevent this situation, except for a handful of the top officials in the empire, such as the Minister of Staff and the Military Affairs Commissioner.

Other mid-level and senior officials, even the co-organizing ministers, will arrange for a few years of idle transition before taking up their official positions.

If Xu Longze fails to climb up this time and becomes the Minister of Counselor, then according to the normal path, after serving as the censor of the Zuodu for several years, he will be renamed the censor of the Left Supervisor of the Grand Inspectorate. This is also a second-grade job. position, but does not add the title of co-organizing minister. Although the actual power is still there, it is not great and has relatively large limitations.

Arrangement of idle positions as the age approaches and prepares for official career is also a practice that has been formed in the imperial political circles for decades... For officials who are approaching retirement at this time, it is generally considered a safe retirement... You have already left your position, and your political opponents are too lazy to do so. Take care of you!

Of course, if the ending was not cleaned up before and someone really wanted to mess with him and settle the score, he would probably be sent to prison.

Every year, I read the reports in the imperial newspapers of the Great Chu Empire about the corruption of various corrupt officials. Quite a lot of them were caused by those who had retreated to the second line and failed to arrange a way out, so they were settled by others...or they took the second line and still regarded themselves as uncles, and they were careless. He stretched out his hand and was slapped by the front-line bosses in power.

This is a convention that has been formed over decades. It cannot be changed by one or two people, and Xu Longze is no exception.

But now, Xu Longze has jumped out of this scope... After becoming the Minister of Counselor, he no longer has to worry about his retreat.

As one of the nine top people in the political arena of the Dachu Empire, in order to ensure the effectiveness of governance, as long as you don't treason or go too far, Luo Zhixue will basically not offend and kill the donkey.

There is no need to worry about retaliation from former political opponents after taking office, because Luo Zhixue will not allow it.

After becoming an official, a counselor will have all the glory and wealth that he deserves.

Not to mention purely material enjoyment, you can enjoy everything that the current minister can enjoy... and you don't have to pay a dime yourself, the imperial finance will pay for it in full!
All kinds of benefits are also available directly, such as the official Guards security, Imperial Manor, Royal Kitchen and other benefits provided by the government, as long as you are alive.

This series of benefits, especially the need to worry about being settled by others, means that many senior officials will not have any psychological burden when they are promoted to ministers of affairs.

The same is true for Xu Longze... To be honest, before he became the Minister of Counselor, he was always on tenterhooks. After all, he had been greedy a lot and done a lot of disgusting things in the past. Although the clues left behind are secret, there will definitely be some. .

At the same time, due to the nature of his work, he had killed too many officials and had many potential enemies... He was also worried about the retaliation from his former opponents once he retired.

However, after becoming the Minister of Counselor, he instantly felt that the future of his life had broadened... He no longer had to worry about the many stains in the past being exposed, and his political opponents would not be able to do anything to him in the future.

Ever since, after his escape route was guaranteed, he had no scruples in doing things... Not long after he took office, he took over a second-rank minister as the first of his three firepowers as his new official. !

And this is not enough!

He wants more!

Soon, on the one hand, he launched inspections in the capital, and on the other hand, he sent inspection censors to various provinces, and began to comprehensively rectify corruption and malfeasance in officialdom and other criminal activities.

Moreover, he also sorted out prisons across the country and prepared enough prison locations in advance.

Now that the Chinese New Year is only a few months away, he has made a promise to Luo Zhixue. Before the Spring Festival, he must donate at least 1 heads to Luo Zhixue, plus [-] prison seats.

No matter what Xu Longze does, Luo Zhixue will see the heads of 1 corrupt officials before the Spring Festival, send another [-] corrupt officials to prison, and let the people have a happy New Year!

And Xu Longze doesn't care what the censors under him do, he only needs to see the results of the various inspection censors... It doesn't matter what you do, but you have to kill a few for me, and arrest a bunch of corrupt officials and put them in jail. .

If the numbers are not up to standard, then you are not doing your job well enough, and if your work is not up to standard, Xu Longze will adjust you...

This is also the characteristic of the great rectification of official administration in the Great Chu Empire, that is, 'setting tasks'...

As for whether innocent people will be involved after the mission is determined, and good officials will be killed as bad officials... This is not a joke. There are no good officials in the Da Chu Empire!
At most, there are distinctions between generally bad, particularly bad, and extremely sinful bad!