Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 633 Zhu Biao releases his power over a cup of wine (Please subscribe!!)

All the officials were holding their personal performance lists in their hands, and they were extremely nervous!

Everyone was filled with fear and panic, no one dared to speak, they only dared to quietly look at the two figures on the dragon throne.

However, to the disappointment of all the civil and military officials, Zhu Yuanzhang on the dragon throne at this moment was like an old monk in meditation, showing no joy or anger at all. That was fine, after all, Zhu Yuanzhang had been emperor for more than 20 years, so it was normal for him to have such concentration. However, Emperor Zhu Biao also looked calm.

It's over.

The new emperor is becoming more sophisticated now.

Just as all the civil and military officials saw, Zhu Biao was not only calm and composed on the surface, but also quite composed in his heart.

Now he holds in his hand the personal performance lists of all civil and military officials, and can be said to have a clear understanding of their situations. Moreover, he has his father Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang above him to supervise him, and his brother-in-law Ouyang Lun below to protect him.

Zhu Biao didn't know how he could possibly lose this game!

The initiative was entirely in Zhu Biao's hands.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say a word, and Zhu Biao didn't say a word. When the civil and military officials saw the father and son remaining silent, their hearts immediately rose to their throats.

Days are like years.

Your Majesty, please say something!

You guys are making us really panic. You're going to kill us or chop us up. It's really uncomfortable to wait like this, neither going up nor down!
All the civil and military officials looked at Zhu Biao, wondering how Zhu Biao would handle the situation next, whether Zhu Yuanzhang would intervene, and so on.

The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall became more and more weird. Except for those civil and military officials with solid political achievements, most of the other officials were very uneasy. They didn't know what to do in such a situation and dared not to speak easily. If His Majesty the Emperor had no intention of pursuing the matter and they ended up exposing themselves, wouldn't they be made the scapegoats?

And even if you want to say something, you shouldn't go up and speak up yourself!

Time passed little by little, and just when many officials were about to give up, Zhu Biao finally spoke.

"You should have received your respective performance reports, right?"

"I think the performance list prepared by the Ministry of Revenue is very good! This point must be praised!"

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the civil and military officials, "My dear ministers, after reading your own performance list, I believe you must be quite clear. Although my Ming Dynasty has only been established for more than 20 years, many officials have begun to slack off, only knowing how to indulge in pleasure and work for nothing. This makes me very disappointed!"

When Zhu Biao said the word "disappointment", he deliberately emphasized his voice.

All the civil and military officials were shocked when they heard this.

Zhu Biao continued, "It has been a long time since the Ming Dynasty has been carrying out education reform and official selection reform. Many talents have been trained and selected. However, due to limited positions, their path to promotion is extremely bumpy. Without a bigger platform, it is difficult for them to fully display their talents!"

"If this continues, how much talent will be wasted!"

"Do you have any good ideas for this problem?"

After this period of experience as emperor, Zhu Biao became more and more sophisticated in handling things. Even when he had the initiative and was very confident, he did not directly ask for layoffs of officials, but first raised the issues he had thought of long ago.

But even so, Zhu Biao still underestimated the civil and military officials standing in the Taiji Hall.

All the officials who could stand in the Taiji Hall were experienced people. As soon as they heard the questions raised by Zhu Biao, they immediately understood that Zhu Biao was asking them for solutions and it was clear that he wanted to take this opportunity to lay off officials.

All the officials in the court had long heard about Zhu Biao's plan to lay off officials, and now they were even more certain of it.

After Zhu Biao asked this question, the court, which had been somewhat lively, fell silent again. The civil and military officials were not stupid. Whoever stood up to answer and said that he supported the layoffs of officials would offend the entire civil and military officials. If he did not support the layoffs of officials, he would offend the emperor. Anyway, he would not be a human being, so no one wanted to say that.

Seeing that none of the civil and military officials spoke up, Zhu Biao was not panicked. He was no longer the emperor now, and he had a better grasp of the situation in the court. Zhu Biao was now able to see through the thoughts of these ministers.

Originally, Zhu Biao still had great hopes for these officials in the court, but looking at the silence of the civil and military officials in the court, Zhu Biao's last bit of fantasy about these ministers was shattered.

Thinking of this, Zhu Biao became a little angry. The court uses salaries to support you officials so that you can do work for the court, but in the end you take the court's salary and do nothing!

He only thinks about protecting himself all the time. How can Zhu Biao rely on such an official!

Zhu Biao was too lazy to test the waters with these officials, so he turned to look at Ouyang Lun and said, "Brother-in-law, what do you think about this?"

What the hell!

When Ouyang Lun heard Zhu Biao ask him so directly, he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Uncle! Uncle!
Isn't this going to put your brother-in-law, that is, me, against all the officials?

What a sinister intention!
But who told you that you are my brother-in-law? We should help our relatives instead of helping others. What’s more, these guys haven’t paid any attention to me. I support you this time!

Ouyang Lun knew very well that Zhu Biao wanted him to cooperate with him, and also hoped that he could help him suppress the civil and military officials. It was not that Zhu Biao did not discuss this with him. Zhu Biao had discussed this matter with him many times before, and the last time, Ouyang Lun clearly supported Zhu Biao.

So he has to help, and he is also annoyed by many officials who are just sitting there doing nothing and taking advantage of the situation.

You don't have my ability, and you still want a life like mine? You're dreaming!
These were just a fleeting thought in Ouyang Lun's mind, and he immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be solved more easily!"

"There are only a limited number of officials in the Ming Dynasty, but there are many talented people. To put it simply, we are not short of people at all. If the Ming Dynasty wants to continue to develop, make the Ming Dynasty stronger and stronger, and make the people of the Ming Dynasty live better and better, then it requires the efforts of every official!"

"Officials who are incompetent and do not do their job should be eliminated!"

"For those officials who are capable and ambitious, they should be promoted!" "As for those officials who are incompetent and do not do anything, and those who are capable and ambitious, the data will tell everything!"

As Ouyang Lun finished speaking, the officials in the Taiji Hall were shocked again!
At this moment, they have confirmed that Zhu Biao and Ouyang Lun have joined forces, so this time the rectification of the civil service system is really unavoidable.

Unlike the nervousness of the civil and military officials, when Zhu Biao heard what Ouyang Lun said, even though he knew that Ouyang Lun would stand up, he was still extremely happy when he actually saw Ouyang Lun stand up. He thought he had not trusted the wrong person!
Zhu Biao did not hesitate at all and said immediately: "My brother-in-law said it very well!"

"The Ming Dynasty must continue to develop. You should do your job well. If you just occupy the position and do nothing, then what use do I have for you?"

Zhu Biao's voice is deep and full of energy!
There was an imperial sense of pressure in his words.

puff-

"I know I was wrong!"

As Zhu Biao said this, all the civil and military officials present knelt down in unison, except Ouyang Lun of course.

This still makes one feel how imposing Zhu Biao is.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on the dragon throne with his eyes closed, couldn't help but open his eyes. He looked at Zhu Biao with satisfaction, said nothing, and then continued to close his eyes and rest.

"I admit my mistake." Zhu Biao's mouth twitched. Is there nothing else he can do except admit his mistake?
"Humph! It seems that you, my dear ministers, also support me very much!"

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he paused deliberately, then swept his eyes over the civil and military officials. Seeing that no one dared to refute him, he continued: "Now the Ming Dynasty seems to be developing very well, but it is also full of crises. If the officials of the Ming Dynasty are not strong enough and not combat-ready enough, then the future development of our Ming Dynasty will be worrying! Therefore, I have decided to carry out administrative reforms! ”

"Since we are going to carry out administrative reform, we must start from the top down!"

"You, my dear ministers standing in the Taiji Hall, are my top priority in this round of rectification of the civil service!"

"Since you all have your own performance reports in your hands, you must have a clear understanding of how you have done this year or in the past few years. I can give you a chance!"

"After the court is adjourned today, those officials who have made no contribution to the court can write a letter of resignation to the Ministry of Personnel. I will retain their ranks and continue to pay their salaries. If they wait until I personally take action, they will get nothing!"

The words fell.

The officials at the scene also understood Zhu Biao's methods. They slowly raised their heads, first looking at Zhu Biao, and then at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Everyone knows that a new emperor has his own ministers, but it is the first time in all dynasties that the new emperor has purged court officials in front of the old emperor!

All the civil and military officials knew that they could not avoid this rectification of the civil service. At the same time, they also thought about how Zhu Biao would carry out the rectification of the civil service. The most likely thing was to start with some minor officials at the lower levels, and then gradually move up to the central court.

Such administrative rectification did not pose much threat to them, and in the end many officials were able to land safely. If the emperor was under great pressure, he could just push out a few useless officials to take the blame. In this way, the emperor's majesty was established, the atmosphere in the court was rectified, and the overall interests of the ministers were not greatly damaged.

It can be said that everyone can accept this.

But Zhu Biao's move was obviously extremely swift and fierce, and he was determined to clean up the court!
All the civil and military officials were deeply shocked. Even Li Shanchang looked very ugly at the moment. You know, in terms of seniority, no one in the entire Ming officialdom could compare with him, Li Shanchang. But in terms of political achievements, he, Li Shanchang, did make quite a few achievements in the past, but those were all when he was the prime minister. Ever since the court abolished the prime minister system, the political achievements that he, Li Shanchang, could show off have become less and less!

He has no political achievements to show for it, but he has a lot of failures, such as the rebellion in the four southern provinces, the Ministry of Revenue incident, etc.!
Li Shanchang took a look at the list of political achievements in his hand. Although he did not make any achievements this year, he was a cabinet minister after all, and he did not rest on his laurels. So, although there were few achievements on the list, there were still some. In this regard, the Ministry of Revenue was very fair and just. They did not reduce or hide Li Shanchang's achievements just because he was Li Shanchang. Even Li Shanchang could not find any fault with this.

But when Li Shanchang took a look at the performance lists of other officials from the Huaixi Party on his side, he almost fainted from anger. Damn, many of them were worse than him, and he even saw blank performance lists!
On weekdays, you all boast about yourselves to the sky, and it seems that you are all bragging to him! The key is that Li Shanchang believed it all.

Damn it! If this happened during a war, I would have killed all of you! You are a bunch of idiots!
But now there is no need for Li Shanchang to take action, because Li Shanchang knows very well that those officials whose political achievements are not even as good as his will basically become the targets of Zhu Biao's purge, and even if he wants to protect them, he can't.

While Li Shanchang was thinking, other officials in the court were also thinking!
Zhu Biao has already revealed his cards.

This is very similar to the routine of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, who gave up military power over a cup of wine. By voluntarily handing over the power in one's hands, one can gain fame, wealth, and a lifetime of peace. But if one persists in his mistakes, the consequences can be imagined. First use courtesy and then force, this is definitely an old routine of emperors.

The situation is now very clear. The retired emperor Zhu Yuanzhang undoubtedly acquiesced to Zhu Biao's behavior, and the chief minister of the cabinet, Ouyang Lun, strongly supported him in the court. Everyone even suspected that the methods used by Zhu Biao were taught by Ouyang Lun.

In addition, Li Shanchang sat on the bench and remained silent.

Any sane official would know how to make that choice.

After realizing this, officials soon stepped forward.

"I, the Minister of Justice, Hou Yuan, know that I am not worthy of my position and that I am not talented enough. I am willing to resign!!"

After the first one, the second and the third one came immediately.
"I, the Censor of the Censorate, am also willing to resign!"

"Minister of Military Affairs"

"minister"

The officials were not fools. In the current situation, Zhu Biao was obviously serious. There were only two options left for them. One was to fight hard, which was undoubtedly a dead end. The other was to honestly choose the path arranged by Zhu Biao for them. Although they would lose their power, they would retain their rank to some extent, which was considered a dignified exit.

Officials kept coming forward to resign, and Zhu Biao made a list in his mind based on these resigning officials.

He was still very satisfied with the result. Everyone was very self-aware. Those officials who came forward to resign voluntarily were basically the officials he wanted to lay off.

In this way, his goal of laying off officials was achieved, and at the same time, Zhu Biao would not be accused of being mean and ungrateful. It can be said that he had a perfect start.

Zhu Biao was still quite proud of himself, and even glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang secretly. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything, he felt more at ease.

Soon, more than ten officials came forward to resign, which was already a lot, because it meant that more than ten positions above the fifth rank would be vacated at once! !

(End of this chapter)