Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Having decided to rest and recuperate for a year or two before waging a major war, the Great Khan of Lotus focused on domestic affairs.

The first step was the evaluation of officials. As is well known, the Great Khan placed great importance on governance, changing the evaluation period from once every three years to once a year. This year's evaluation was still divided into the Capital Inspection and the Grand Assessment, which evaluated officials in the capital and local areas respectively, but the specific content of the evaluation had changed.

The original regulation stipulated that officials of the third rank and above in the capital and local governors should submit self-reports on their current position, age, ethnicity, official career, merits and demerits during their tenure, etc., for the emperor to evaluate. These self-reports from high-ranking officials often focused on their achievements, rarely directly addressing their faults and shortcomings, turning the self-reports into a display of merit. The Great Khan grew tired of this and simply abolished the self-reporting system, ordering the Ministry of Personnel to compile a list of these officials' resumes for his own review, a system known as "listing the titles."

Previously, in the capital's performance evaluation, officials of the fourth and fifth ranks were assessed and their evaluations completed by the senior officials of their respective government offices (officials qualified to work in the main hall of the government office, such as ministers and vice ministers). Others were assessed by their respective government offices by detailing their performance of duties, which was then submitted to the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate for evaluation. Fearing favoritism among the various government offices, the Great Khan ordered that all subordinate officials of each government office must have their respective departments detail their performance of duties and complete their evaluations. After consultation among the government offices, preliminary opinions would be formulated before being submitted to the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate for evaluation.

The assessment of local officials was changed to a system where higher-level officials would provide preliminary opinions to lower-level officials, and heads of various government offices would provide preliminary opinions to their subordinates. These opinions would then be reported up the chain of command to the governors-general and governors, with comments added. Finally, a list would be compiled and sent to the Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the provincial authorities for joint examination and verification to determine the final assessment grade.

The assessment is graded into three levels: excellent, competent, and incompetent. The content has also been expanded from four categories: conduct (official ethics), talent (administrative ability), performance (administrative conduct), and age (age and physical condition) to eight categories: carelessness, incompetence, impetuosity, lack of talent, old age, illness, greed, and cruelty. Professional skills have also been added.

Besides civil officials, the commanders of the Imperial Guards, along with the governors-general, admirals, and provincial governors, assessed military officers at all levels in both the central and local governments. Their preliminary assessments were then submitted to the Ministry of War and the Censorate for joint examination and verification, ultimately determining the assessment grades. The Great Khan insisted on involving the Censorate in the assessment of military officers. While the Great Khan established his state through military force, producing many renowned generals, some arrogant and unruly soldiers also engaged in corruption, bribery, and lawlessness. If left unchecked, these men would become increasingly arrogant and disregard the law, inevitably threatening imperial power! While I am alive, I am confident I can control them, but what if I die? Will my son be able to control them? This trend must not be allowed to continue!
Anything becomes extremely serious once it is associated with the words "threat to imperial power"! The Great Khan decided to link this year's assessment of officials with the word "anti-corruption", and ordered the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of Justice to send joint inspection teams to various parts of the Great Khanate to specifically investigate corruption cases in the central government and local areas.

Besides aiming to deter arrogant and powerful officials, the "anti-corruption" campaign also served the purpose of embezzling funds. Although the total military force deployed in the war against Tsarist Russia was not the largest, the cost of the long-distance expedition far exceeded that of any previous major war. After the war, the national treasury was not only empty, but also owed private merchants more than three million taels of silver. While the national treasury was empty, corrupt officials certainly had money in their homes. Desperate for money, the Khan conceived the idea of ​​confiscating the wealth of corrupt officials to enrich the national treasury, dispatching a formidable team led by Left Censor-in-Chief Wei Xiangshu, Minister of Justice Mi Guozhen, and Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review Ahai.

These three were all renowned for their incorruptibility and impartiality, and the Great Khan trusted them implicitly. Indeed, they acted swiftly and decisively; after dozens of inspection teams were dispatched, they quickly investigated and punished 1,136 corrupt officials of varying ranks, recovering embezzled funds totaling 5.13 million taels of silver.

However, there were three people who gave the Great Khan a difficult problem.

Wang Du, the governor of Henan, was found to have accepted 200,000 taels of silver as a bribe from a merchant during his tenure as the provincial treasurer of Shanxi, in exchange for authorizing the merchant to mine several large coal mines within Shanxi. Wang Du had always been considered a capable minister by the Great Khan, having rendered meritorious service in the conquest of Datong. During his tenures as provincial treasurer of Shanxi and governor of Henan, he had been highly effective in pacifying displaced people, developing water conservancy projects, reviving the economy, and procuring military supplies. Unexpectedly, he fell victim to corruption.

"What a pity, Wang Du," the Great Khan muttered to himself. Although he cherished Wang Du's character, he was unwilling to corrupt the atmosphere of the court by letting a corrupt official go. He issued an edict to exile Wang Du to Ningguta. Considering his past merits, he left the Wang family 100 acres of fertile land to live on, and confiscated all the rest of their property.

The second was Buhe Artu, the Western Regions Admiral and Second-Class Marquis of Jingle. Buhe Artu was a veteran general with a distinguished military record. During his tenure as Western Regions Admiral, he became extremely arrogant, even falsifying troop numbers to embezzle funds. This was outrageous! If all the generals followed his example, what defense would the Great Khan have left? The Great Khan was furious and ordered his execution. This greatly distressed the meritorious officials who were on good terms with Buhe Artu. Orros, the Duke of Hequ; Tarhun, the Marquis of Guangling; Babai, the Marquis of Yunchuan; Toroshhu, the Marquis of Mayi; Jambi, the Earl of Shanyin, and others all submitted memorials pleading for his life. Even the Great Khan's own brother, the Prince of Liao, Sumur, submitted a memorial.

Killing him might chill the hearts of the meritorious officials; not killing him would render the "anti-corruption" campaign meaningless. After much deliberation, the Great Khan staged a self-inflicted wound, weeping before his ministers in the palace, saying, "Buhe Artu has fought alongside me on the battlefield for decades, like a brother to me. But the law is merciless; I cannot save him! Alas! Alas!" He then wailed, causing a chorus of weeping throughout the court. After his weeping, he still had Buhe Artu killed, and afterwards, he allowed Buhe Artu's son, Agudamu, to inherit his father's title of Second-Class Marquis of Jingle.

The third person of special status was the Empress's elder brother, the Second-Class Marquis of Hoboksari and the Chief of the Durbet Ten Thousand Households, Obodui Wulanghai. The Empress's brother-in-law hadn't committed any major offense; a subordinate general had flattered him, leading a group of soldiers to repair and expand his stables. Upon learning this, the Empress didn't reprimand him but instead promoted the man. This matter wasn't particularly serious, but the problem lay in the arrogance of the inspection team during their investigation; they even beat up the leading censor. This sparked a massive uproar, with impeachment memorials from the righteous officials flooding the Qianqing Palace.

Obodui Wulanghai was the Crown Prince's maternal uncle. Killing him would be tantamount to sending a political signal that the Crown Prince's position was unstable, potentially endangering him. Moreover, what should have been a minor matter had escalated to such an extent; there was no guarantee there wasn't a conspiracy involved! The Great Khan astutely felt that Obodui Wulanghai could not be killed. However, the inspection team was dispatched by the Khan himself; if the beating of the imperial envoy was not severely punished, what would become of the Khan's authority? What would become of the court's dignity? Enraged, he ordered Obodui Wulanghai demoted to commoner status and exiled to Yunnan to guard the border. (End of Chapter)