spend time

Jiang Shaohua did not try to find out what Zheng Chen was thinking. There was no need. It was not important what Zheng Chen was thinking. She walked to the emperor's bedroom and told him a few important things about the political affairs at the small court meeting today.

When it comes to the Ministry of War's request for military expenses, Jiang Shaohua did not hide his own meaning and said, "In fact, it is inappropriate to reduce the military expenses of the garrison again and again. However, the Ministry of Revenue is short of money at the moment and needs to repair the river embankment. This memorial can only be rejected for the time being. When the autumn tax is deposited into the treasury, the military expenses should be supplemented first."

Emperor Taihe sighed, "I know that I have to pay the army enough. But the annual tax revenue is so high, and we can't use it all to support the army. The court officials need to be paid, the palace has so many people to spend money on, and the other five ministries also have many other places where they need money."

As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice.

Whoever sits on the throne will have to face this headache-inducing problem.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes flashed, and he whispered: "It is true that the national treasury is not well-off, but it is not completely hopeless. If we cannot increase revenue for the time being, we must cut down on expenses."

"Cousin, please forgive me for speaking frankly. The Daliang government has always had a bad habit. Before the silver leaves the Ministry of Revenue, some of it will be withheld. When it reaches the lower levels, some will be deducted at each level. How much of it will actually be used? Cousin, do you know this?"

Emperor Taihe: "..."

Facing those bright and sharp eyes, Emperor Taihe suddenly felt ashamed, and after a while he whispered, "I know something."

In other words, they don't know the exact facts. It can also be understood as not having the courage to lift up the table to see how many termites there are underneath.

Jiang Shaohua sighed deeply in his heart, but had to slow down his tone and comfort Emperor Taihe in a gentle voice: "My cousin has been sitting on the throne for less than three years. He should not act too radically. He should really take it slow."

Emperor Taihe became more and more ashamed, and turned his head to the side. After a while, he turned back and looked at Jiang Shaohua: "Cousin, there is no need to say nice words to comfort me. I know that my methods are not gentle enough. I am also afraid that if we investigate, the whole court will be corrupt and no one will be available."

A Wang Yi who was corrupt and solicited bribes, and a Duke of Anguo who sold official positions at a fixed price. How many ministers like this were there in the court?
Jiang Shaohua said softly, "My cousin should rest and recuperate first, so it is not appropriate to start a war. However, we cannot allow the ministers to seize power in private. I will first give them some advice and make them hold back."

Then, he talked about how to archive the records of the court meetings so that they could be reviewed and settled at any time in the future.

Emperor Taihe listened with great interest and nodded repeatedly: "This is indeed a good idea, let's do it according to your idea." After a pause, he said: "Just let go and reorganize the court officials, don't be afraid of chaos, I will fully support you."

Jiang Shaohua smiled slightly: "Thank you for your trust, cousin."

……

This continued for the next few days.

The ministers got up early and went to the palace to discuss matters. They could only leave when they finished discussing. The accumulated political affairs were dealt with in about five days. However, there were new memorials and political affairs every day, so there were also small court meetings every day.

The most headache-inducing thing was that several secretaries took turns to take notes, and every word spoken by the ministers was recorded in writing and had to be archived.

You can't quarrel, and even if you have an argument, you have to be decent. You have to be more cautious when expressing your opinions and making suggestions. Because the princess said that if there is an omission in the mission, you have to look through the records and find the person who made the suggestion at the time to settle the account.

This move is so vicious.

Princess Nanyang has more powerful tricks yet to come.

After five or six days, the accumulated political affairs were dealt with. Most of the new political affairs of the day were dealt with in half a day. The small court meeting was over in half a day. The officials were busy for half a day and could return to their respective offices in the afternoon.

Just when everyone was secretly relieved, Princess Nanyang took out a form. No, it should be one for each important official.

The table lists the positions and specific responsibilities of each official. Every time a task is completed, it is recorded in the table. Every month, a statistics is made to calculate how many tasks are completed each month, and to distinguish which tasks are completed and which are messed up. Each has corresponding rewards and punishments.

Finally, each minister should be scored and ranked according to the table.

Jiang Shaohua said with a pleasant face: "Don't be too nervous. This is to urge everyone to do their job more attentively, there is no other meaning."

"The emperor will give generous rewards to the top three people every month. It's just some gold and silver. Everyone is an important official in the court with a rich family, so they don't really care about these things."

Ministers: "..."

Who said don't care?
They may not care about gold and silver, but they all care about this old face!
Prime Minister Wang frowned and looked at Jiang Shaohua: "There are rewards for being in the front, but what if you are in the back?"

Jiang Shaohua said calmly, "Ranked last in the monthly performance assessment, it means that one is lazy, perfunctory, or incompetent and often messes up the job. The court cannot tolerate people who are idle and do nothing. Those who rank last every month must write a memorial to defend themselves. Those who rank last for three consecutive months can resign or retire."

Prime Minister Wang frowned again: "This punishment is a bit too severe."

Zhang Shangshu's eyes flashed with anger, and his tone was stiff: "Princess, the assessment and promotion of all officials is the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel."

Jiang Shaohua nodded to show that he understood: "The assessment of officials below the third rank is all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel. Such assessment forms are only available to important officials above the third rank. Moreover, the assessment forms are decided by the emperor himself."

In other words, this kind of assessment is specially designed for the more than 20 important officials in front of him.

It was like there was a guillotine hanging over the heads of the important officials.

Prime Minister Wang was the most angry. In this way, his power as prime minister would be greatly weakened, and power would gradually be concentrated in the hands of the emperor.

But this selfishness cannot be expressed aloud, let alone revealed now.

Whatever, Jiang Shaohua will only stay in the capital for three months. Just endure these three months and wait until she leaves.

Prime Minister Wang did not speak out in opposition. The other important officials all complained in their hearts, but their thoughts were similar to Prime Minister Wang's, so they did not say anything.

Jiang Shaohua personally delivered the assessment forms to all the ministers one by one.

Surprisingly, Prime Minister Wang did not.

"The Prime Minister is the head of all officials and a veteran minister of three dynasties. His ability as an official is obvious to all." Jiang Shaohua said with a smile: "This princess and the Prime Minister have different political views occasionally, but I admire the Prime Minister very much. The Emperor respects and trusts the Prime Minister even more."

"It would be a joke if the prime minister also had to be assessed."

"I hope the Prime Minister will live up to the emperor's trust and high expectations."

At this moment, Prime Minister Wang's hair stood on end, and alarm bells rang in his heart. (End of this chapter)