I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 462 Zhang Juzheng's stunning success

Zhang Juzheng smiled confidently at Li Chunfang and Liu Cai and spoke loudly.

"Your Highness, Lord Li and Liu Guanglu are co-governors. The principle of my "Officials' Performance Evaluation Method" is to 'respect sovereignty, assess officials' duties, reward and punish according to their principles, and follow one order.'

The specific details are to record the tasks that the officials of the six ministries, temples and the Censorate should do in three account books according to the deadlines.

One copy was kept by the six ministries, temples and the Censorate, another was sent to the six departments, and the last one was submitted to the Cabinet.

The six ministries, temples and the Censorate recorded the accounts and checked the affairs of officials on a monthly basis.

Every completed task will be counted and must be reported truthfully regardless of whether it is completed or not, otherwise the crime will be punished; the six departments of the Censorate, which are responsible for central supervision, require the six ministries, temples, and other departments of the Censorate to report the implementation status every six months. Violators will be dealt with according to the case.

Finally, every six months, the cabinet can check the completion of the tasks of the six ministries, temples, and the Censorate, as well as the audit work of the six departments, and use the three accounts as the evaluation criteria for central officials. "

After listening to this, Li Chunfang and Liu Cai couldn't help but sigh.

Uncle Zhang, your opening shot was truly earth-shattering.

If this law is followed, all officials in the court will be put in shackles and their future will be in strict control.

All the officials in Beijing, from top to bottom, will complain about you.

In the past, being an official in the capital of the Ming Dynasty was more about idling away time, gaining experience, building up reputation, and accumulating connections. After reaching a certain official rank, one would be sent out to serve as a local official for a few years, work hard for a few years, make a fortune, and no longer have to worry about their future livelihood.

He then tried to use his connections to move back to the capital to serve as a court official, continuing to gain experience, build up his reputation, and accumulate connections, but at this point he had completely bid farewell to his previous career as a poor official in the capital.

Every winter and summer, we have ice and charcoal meals, and we are full.

On weekdays, he would look for opportunities to accept more students, keep in touch with the gentry and families in his hometown, respond to them from afar, and contribute more to his hometown.

When the time is right, you can retire and return home with honor and wealth. You will have a house, fields, servants, fame and wealth. You can live comfortably in your hometown as a nobleman, and bless your descendants!

Now you are forcing us to run around to support the cause and do practical work. How can this be tolerated? If this continues, how can we have time to hold literary gatherings, recite poems, paint, study the classics, improve our knowledge, and build relationships?

We have studied hard for more than ten years and finally passed the exam. We want to become a superior person, not to work like a slave!
Looking at the expressions of Li Chunfang and Liu Cai, Zhu Yijun knew that the "Officials Performance Evaluation Law" drafted by Zhang Juzheng hit the sore spot of the current officials in the court.

The two of them would not object verbally, but they were well aware of how much turmoil this law would cause if it was implemented.

Different positions lead to different angles of thinking.

Li Chunfang and Liu Cai hope for stability!

While stabilizing the situation, make some local and moderate reforms to the government.

The "Officials' Performance Evaluation Law" proposed by Zhang Juzheng now will not be stable. It will only stir up a storm and may completely overturn the government that has been stable for many years.

They had heard about the details of the Great Ceremony Debate from their senior teachers and were still haunted by the turbulent events that took place in the court forty years ago. They feared that a similar storm would be triggered.

"Mr. Shilu, Mr. Liu, what do you think of Mr. Shuda's "Official Performance Evaluation Method"?"

Liu Cai looked at Li Chunfang and his eyes spoke.

Li Yuanfu, you are the chief minister of the cabinet, but I am not even a cabinet minister. I have no room to speak.

Li Chunfang felt a little embarrassed.

He was well aware of the long-standing malpractices in the Ming officialdom and knew that the Ming Dynasty had reached the point where it had to rectify its administration of officials. He also understood that the "Officials' Performance Evaluation System" proposed by Zhang Juzheng was a good remedy.

But it is not only a good medicine, but also a powerful medicine!
The Ming Dynasty is now in a state of illness and needs treatment. However, the strong medicine you gave it not only failed to cure the disease but also damaged its root cause. The cost is not worth the gain.

Li Chunfang also had a good relationship with Zhang Juzheng. They were both teachers of Zhu Yijun and both had a close personal relationship with Xu Jie. The two of them had close contacts on a daily basis.

Li Chunfang, who was of gentle temperament, was too embarrassed to criticize Zhang Juzheng's new policies.

"Your Highness, I think Zhang Shuda's "Officials' Performance Evaluation Method" is a good method. However, I think that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Haste makes waste.

I suggest that this method be divided into several steps and implemented one by one. Just like the previous new policy measures such as land and population census and fiscal and tax reform, we should first conduct a pilot project to test the pros and cons, then expand the pilot project and strive for perfection.

Zhang Juzheng could not help but retort: ​​"Li Shoufu, I do not agree with this. The civil service system is not the same as the investigation, so we can do it slowly. The civil service system is divided into two parts: the central government and the local government. We can either change the central government or the local government. This is the new policy of the official system that Your Highness is pushing for. We should change the central government first and then the local government.

There are those who try the Ministry of Personnel today and the capital tomorrow; they try the Imperial Palace today and Shandong tomorrow. They try again and again, but in the end, nothing happens.

Li Chunfang replied: "Uncle, haste makes waste in everything we do and in life, and we cannot ignore the changes in the actual situation. No matter how difficult and hard it is, we must act according to the rules.

The performance evaluation system is not a matter for one person. It concerns the future of all officials and the rise and fall of the country. You cannot let your thoughts shake up the entire government."

Zhang Juzheng immediately replied: "Mr. Li, the officialdom is like a battlefield, and reform is like fighting a war. We must act decisively without delay. If we need to change, we must change immediately without any room for human feelings or hesitation.

Otherwise, once the opportunity is gone and the chance is lost, it will be irreversible."

Li Chunfang continued to advise: "National affairs are extraordinary. All major affairs must have their own rules. Don't cross the line lightly. Even if you try, you must proceed step by step. Don't take it all at once, otherwise you will regret it forever."

Zhang Juzheng raised his eyebrows and said, "Being timid and timid, taking two steps forward and one step back is not what a real man does. Such reforms will hardly achieve great things!"

Li Chunfang continued to advise earnestly: "It is better to be sincere and open-hearted. Uncle, you have great ambitions and do things with principles. This is true, but you must be flexible in practice, so as to avoid unnecessary losses and injuries."

Zhang Juzheng could not help but ask back: "Mr. Li, if we act as you say, what is the difference between us and those officials who do nothing? What is the point of us carrying out reforms, promoting new policies, and eliminating abuses?"

Seeing that things had come to this, Li Chunfang made it clear directly.

"Uncle, your 'Officials' Performance Evaluation Law' will cause public outrage among the officials in the court! When the public is outraged and the government is in chaos, the people will suffer!"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Li Chunfang and said word by word: "Mr. Li, I am carrying out reforms for the people of the world, not for the officials of the court. I am carrying out reforms for the rejuvenation of the Ming Dynasty, not for the petty oppression of my colleagues."

Zhu Yijun listened to the argument between Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng in silence.

Zhang Juzheng's tactics were seen as unprecedented shackles and oppression by Li Chunfang, Liu Cai and most officials. But in the eyes of senior civil servant Zhu Yijun, it was nothing at all!
Only performance matters, chicken butts decide everything, veto, KPI
If I copied these, wouldn't you all go crazy and think that Zhang Juzheng was a kind-hearted and wise prime minister?

But was Zhang Juzheng really selfless in implementing the "Officials' Performance Evaluation System"?

He implemented this law with selfish motives, wanting to monopolize power. After this law was implemented, he could use the cabinet to command the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then use the Metropolitan Procuratorate to control the six ministries and temples, and use the six ministries and temples to command all officials and control the local areas.

By finding a way to expel the previous cabinet ministers, become the chief minister, control the power of drafting documents, and collude with Feng Bao in the inner court who holds the power of approving documents, Zhang Juzheng could become the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty in name only.

However, now that he was in power, Zhang Juzheng knew very well that he could not monopolize power.

He proposed the "Officials' Performance Evaluation Law" in order to test his support for the new policy reforms and how much support he was willing to give to his subordinates.

To put it bluntly, it depends on how much power you are willing to give to the ministers who are in charge of the reform.

In fact, he could reach an agreement with Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong to a certain extent.

If you want to accomplish great things, you must take great power.

In order to implement reform, we must unify our thoughts and unite as one.

In the Ming Dynasty, this was called party-building and usurping power to monopolize the country.

Li Chunfang felt that Zhang Juzheng was too radical and he could not convince him, so he turned to look at Zhu Yijun, hoping that His Highness could speak up and persuade Zhang Juzheng to change his ways and slow down.

Master Li, don't look at me. I think Master Zhang's plan is not too radical, but too conservative.

Zhu Yijun was silent for a while, and finally expressed his opinion: "I know what Master Zhang is up to. Ten thousand years is too long, we must seize the day. The Ming Dynasty has accumulated problems for two hundred years, and if we want to completely reverse it in the hands of our generation, we must race against time.

Reform must first change the administration of officials, otherwise any new laws will not be effectively implemented and will ultimately be in vain.

The original intention of Master Zhang's "Officials' Performance Evaluation Method" was to correct the evil tendencies of officials fighting for power and neglecting their duties. I agree with this point."

Li Chunfang's face was solemn and his eyes were slightly narrowed.

Zhang Juzheng's expression remained unchanged, and he raised his head slightly.

Zhu Yijun paused for a moment and continued, "I know Master Li's good intentions. As the Prime Minister, Master Li is involved in the affairs of state and helps me govern. From his perspective, he hopes that the government will be stable and that various reform measures will be implemented slowly and effectively!"

Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng's face changed slightly, and he became a little anxious. He seized the opportunity to add, "Your Highness, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Reform will inevitably cause turmoil. If you just seek stability, you won't be able to reform!

Just like without pain, there would be no way to scrape the bone and heal the wound! "

Li Chunfang's face changed drastically, but he knew it was useless to say more, and his eyes suddenly showed boredom.

No way, Master Li, are you thinking of giving up?

What I hate most is you literati. Once something doesn't go your way, you look lost and depressed, and then write a petition to beg for the right to return home. Your words are so sad and heartbreaking, as if I were a scumbag who abandoned me after having sex with me!
Master Li, you still need to learn more from Xu Jie.

Zhu Yijun said, "Master Li, Master Zhang, Mr. Liu, let's stop here today. Master Zhang's draft has been put forward. Everyone go back and think about it. Please raise any opinions you have.

I will tell you everything I know, and I will tell you everything I know! "

"I obey your order!"

Li Chunfang and the other two said goodbye and left.

Chen Ju walked in with a stack of memorials.

"Your Highness, this is an impeachment memorial. The Censorate and the Cabinet dare not make a decision without authorization, so they all came in."

"Impeachment?"

"Yes, Your Highness. These documents impeach Mr. Gao. The Ministry of Revenue's Shandong working group for land inventory has been repeatedly obstructed by local lawless elements, and they have been beaten at will, causing deaths.

Mr. Gao is also the Minister of Revenue, but he just sits there and does nothing, which makes his subordinates feel disappointed. He also doesn't take His Highness' orders and the country's plans to heart, and is negligent in his duties."

"This accusation is quite skillful. It's just that they didn't impeach him when the incident happened, but now that the Kong family has been brought to justice, they jumped out to impeach him. They have ulterior motives.

Who is taking the lead?

"Your Highness, it is the Right Censor-in-Chief Zeng Shengwu of the Censorate who is leading a dozen or so Censors of the Ministry of Personnel and the Imperial Censors."

"Zeng Xingwu? Master Zhang's disciple.

Master Zhang is really a man who makes a splash when he does not make a sound! He just finished confronting Master Li, and his students opened fire on Master Gao. "

Zhu Yijun felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was for a while.

"Any more?"

"Your Highness, someone has impeached Master Zhang for sitting back and watching the scum of the Confucius Mansion bully the people while he was the governor of Shandong, and for failing to do anything about it and shielding them."

"Oh, this one is interesting. Who is impeaching?"

"Your Highness, there are the Censor, the Imperial Academy, two Doctors and a Deputy Director."

Zhu Yijun quickly figured out the situation and took action.

This drama is becoming more and more interesting.

But Zhu Yijun was still wondering what exactly prompted Zhang Juzheng to suddenly become so famous?

Zhang Juzheng, who returned to the attic, soon received the news.

However, Zeng Xingwu's impeachment of Gao Gong was expected, but what was surprising was that someone actually impeached himself.

Moreover, the charges for impeachment were extremely accurate.

Zhang Juzheng sat on the chair and thought for a while, then said to himself in annoyance: "Alas! I haven't learned the master's skill of nourishing qi. I am too impatient!"

When Gao Gong received the news that Zeng Xingwu had impeached him, he was furious and started cursing in the attic!

(End of this chapter)