Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 107: Anti-Wanli, Diligent Emperor and Lazy Ministers

The first thing discussed in court in the new dynasty was the resignation of the Great Official. Isn't that inappropriate?

But in fact, everyone is familiar with this situation.

The Prime Minister fled due to illness, the Minister of Heaven resigned, and the undercurrent in the Taichang Dynasty had become difficult to conceal.

At such times, many people resign.

But the fact that Li Dai resigned in person at the court meeting rather than through a memorial was indeed significant.

"You are only sixty-five years old now, and I don't see that you are weak. Why are you asking for resignation?"

Li Dai didn't care about anything else and knelt down to plead: "In the 26th year of Wanli, the Emperor was angry with the Ministry of Personnel and demoted 22 officials. At that time, the Minister of Personnel Cai Guozhen retired, and the court recommended seven people to replace him. I was the last one, and I was not highly respected. I served for three years and followed the new order carefully, fortunately without any fault. However, this time when the merits of the whole country were evaluated and vacancies were filled, I was shocked to find that I was not talented enough to take on such a heavy responsibility, and I was ashamed. I struggled to support myself, but I became weaker day by day. Your Majesty is wise, and I hope you will grant me your approval."

After hearing himself being criticized so badly in front of so many people, Li Dai was really desperate.

Shen Shixing could not help but speak up: "Why do you have to be so modest, Mr. Ren? If there is any difficulty in evaluating merit and filling positions, just speak up. His Majesty has already issued an order, and you can speak freely at the court."

Li Dai just shook his head: "My broken body can no longer bear the burden, I still hope that Your Majesty will have mercy on me."

Zhu Changluo looked at him and was silent for a while before speaking: "Are you saying that if we put the imperial recommendation on the agenda, the Ministry of Personnel will still handle the matters of merit assessment and new appointment first?"

"Yes, I dare not add to your Majesty's worries, but I am really ashamed. The performance evaluation of officials will be evaluated by superiors and ministers; the appointment of officials in the capital will be recommended by the court and the Ministry, and all will be subject to the decision of the superiors. The assistants of the prefectures and the chief and assistant officials of the prefectures and counties will also be selected by drawing lots. I can still handle these things."

Zhu Changluo understood it: I don’t want to offend anyone and I don’t want to take the blame for anyone.

Wang Xijue raised his eyebrows: "The Great Heavenly Official, do you mean that the Cabinet is obstructing the power of the Ministry? If these things can be done well, what will be difficult for the Ministry of Personnel to handle in the future?"

Everyone nodded in agreement: That's right, isn't this what the Ministry of Personnel is doing now? Even if it's the imperial examination, it's not just the Ministry of Personnel that's in charge, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will also be involved.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like they hope the emperor will step in and let the Ministry of Personnel "restore its former glory."

After all, there may be rewards for diligence and honesty every year in the future, and the success or failure of the banknote customs, the maritime customs, and commercial taxes this year are also related to the administration of officials.

What does it mean that the performance evaluation of officials is judged by their superiors and ministers? The Ministry of Personnel only does paperwork, and the Performance Evaluation Office is a mere formality!
The court meeting, which originally had many topics to discuss, unfolded in such a bizarre way. Li Dai still looked like he was sincerely asking to leave, but he did not refute Wang Xijue.

Zhu Changluo easily kicked the ball back: "Since it is a matter for the future, why bring it up now? Since the Great Heavenly Official has already left, why not discuss the issue of the selection of the governor of Liaodong first."

Only then did Li Dai stand up and begin his long speech.

All the civil officials were stunned.

According to the old system, local governors and inspectors both belonged to the Censorate system. The inspectors were also clearly listed among the thirteen censors, while governors were not a regular position in the Censorate.

Generally speaking, the rank of the Inspector General is lower, while the rank of the Governor-General may range from the fourth rank to the second rank.

The governor was in a higher position with greater power and extensive responsibilities, which involved many aspects of local governance. Corvée labor, the village system, taxes and grain, etc. could all be coordinated by the governor; while the correction of corruption, the adjudication of serious cases, the redress of unjust sentences, the selection of officials, and the recording of merits and rewards were the exclusive responsibilities of the inspector-general, and the governor had no right to interfere.

However, their selection required the approval of the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, while the selection of provincial governors could be directly decided by the Ministry of Personnel.

At this moment, Li Dai read out almost all the names and resumes of those he thought could be appointed as the governor and inspector of Liaodong. Among them, those who had completed the examination were all officials in Beijing, and among the local officials, only those from the nearby places such as Northern Zhili, Shanxi, and Hebei had completed it.

Everyone shivered in the cold wind before dawn on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month: You shameless old man, you are just short of taking out a bamboo tube in court to draw lots, right?
According to the most likely promotion paths in officialdom today, those most likely to be promoted to Censor-in-Chief include county magistrates and prosecutors of various prefectures throughout the Ming Dynasty. How big is this list?
The more Zhu Changluo listened, the more his brows furrowed.

Threatening to strike and slowdown so soon? Anti-Wanli, right?

Or do we really have to take drastic measures, suppress the cabinet with all our strength, and return all the power to the six ministries before people will have the loyalty and courage to take charge?

Wang Xijue couldn't bear to listen any longer: "Didn't the Great Heavenly Officials come up with a list of names of the accompanying persons? Even if there were more people accompanying them."

Li Dai just said coldly: "There are many vacancies in the various departments of the Ministry of Personnel, and it is not convenient for the Ministry to discuss. According to the rules, the vacancies in the various departments of the Ministry of Personnel should be recommended by the nine ministers, and the Shangshu cannot choose his own subordinates."

"Then Renfu will request that we first recommend someone to fill the vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel."

"The performance evaluation has not been completed yet, so the candidates will be mainly recommended from the six ministries in Beijing. I also have a list of names currently in office who can be selected. Your Majesty, please allow me to report it..." Everyone felt a little desperate after hearing this. Are they going to talk about this matter until dawn?
You said you were weak! In the cold wind, you have been standing and reading the list for nearly two quarters of an hour!

Zhu Changluo waited patiently for him to finish reading, then heaved a long sigh: "Since the first day of December last year, we have arranged for the assessment and recruitment. One and a half months have passed, and we can only recruit officials from the Ministry of Personnel first, and then the Ministry of Personnel will discuss and come up with a list? Lord Shen, all the officials inside and outside the capital are eagerly waiting for this, but the cabinet didn't urge this matter?"

Shen Shixing was not vague and said as soon as he left the class: "There are many vacancies this time, and after the vacancies are filled, there will be more than a thousand people who will be reassigned. The Ministry of Personnel is indeed busy, and we have to be cautious."

Zhu Changluo looked at them.

At the beginning of the first year of Taichang, the officials, who had been quiet for more than a month, finally came up with this solution.

There is no overt confrontation, but everything is done according to the procedures and current rules, and the ball can be pushed back and forth.

If the training of the Beijing camp is difficult to advance, the strategy of increasing revenue is difficult to implement, and the performance appraisal and appointment process has not been completed for a long time, causing local officials to lose patience, then it will be of no use to reprimand important officials for not daring to take charge.

Maybe everyone is looking forward to leaving the center of the brewing reform storm.

Not everyone wants to be a powerful official who is trusted by the emperor and is hostile to all the officials and gentry in the world.

So Shen Yikuan fled due to illness, and Li Dai resigned as soon as he opened his mouth.

Zhu Changluo can also select it directly, so there is no problem.

But that would allow some people to be promoted without going through the normal procedures. If they do well, they are justified, but if they make the slightest mistake, they will become "lucky officials" or "flattering officials".

Those who blocked other people's way and were promoted abnormally, and those who were appointed by the emperor without going through the formal procedures were mostly outliers in the system.

Shen Shixing first "sympathized" with the Ministry of Personnel, and then, seeing that the emperor remained silent, he said, "The affairs of Liaodong Border Town are heavy, and since the Great Heavenly Official has already selected people, I will recommend two people first. The affairs of the border town governors are more difficult and complicated than those of the provincial governments. I request that Li Ruhua, the governor of Henan, be transferred to Liaodong, and Yuan Keli, a Jinshi in the 17th year of Wanli, be reinstated as the governor of Liaodong."

Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Shixing, which was his display of loyalty and consideration.

After all, last year they were asked to write a letter to invite Yuan Keli.

Now that a minister has stepped forward to recommend, things are getting on the right track.

If Shen Shixing could recommend, then others could naturally do the same, it would only be up to the emperor to make the final selection.

Zhu Changluo listened silently to them mentioning some names. For example, someone mentioned Xiong Tingbi, who was the magistrate of Baoding Prefecture. He performed outstandingly during the drought last year and was praised as the number one magistrate by Wang Yingjiao, one of the two governors of northern Zhili, who was temporarily appointed as the governor of Tianjin and then the governor of Baoding.

He remembered the name Wang Yingjiao. Last summer, he had submitted a memorial on drought relief and made two suggestions: one was to ban the custom of driving drought-resistant piles, and the other was to dismiss the mining supervisors and tax collectors.

Now I hear him praising Xiong Tingbi again.

After all those who were qualified to recommend important officials had finished speaking, Zhu Changluo nodded directly and said, "Those who are recommended by you must be wise officials. The governor of Liaodong was recommended by Lord Shen. Since most of the censors have been promoted from county magistrates and prosecutors, the military department is currently vacant, so the left and right censors will be appointed in turn, and Xiong Tingbi will be appointed as the right censor of the military department, and then the others..."

Li Dai was also dumbfounded. Now it was the emperor's turn to recite for a long time in one breath.

First, he actually remembered so many people and positions that had just been nominated in court.

Second, he decided on the spot to appoint many censors and officials to the Ministry of Personnel.

Third, is this done for him, the Minister of Personnel, to see?

He was stunned, and many important officials in the court were also stunned.

The chaotic recommendation process ended, and they directly selected the candidate without waiting for the censors from various departments to come up with a candidate?

It’s hard to say where they were wrong, after all, there were quite a few vacancies, and the emperor selected people from those recommended by them.

But... he is a censor!

How many local magistrates and assistant officials are eagerly looking forward to becoming such censors!

(End of this chapter)