The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 385 Counterattack
The Wei Dynasty is not very peaceful now.

Zheng Chong, Du Yu and others added several new laws targeting officials.

This won't take long at all. After all, this is not a revision of the law, it's just adding a few regulations. In the Qin State, if you can't add a few more regulations within ten days, you will be charged with dereliction of duty and have your hands chopped off!
The new decree has been sent by the Censorate to various places, demanding its implementation.

Wang Chang's seven political strategies have now become the main tasks of the entire Wei Dynasty.

The matter of restricting officials through laws has been nominally accomplished. As to whether the officials will comply, it depends on the ability of the local governors.

Thanks to Sima Shi, the provincial governors in various places were quite good. They were all talents carefully selected by Sima Shi. After a thorough investigation, Cao Mao made a series of arrangements.

He let Hua Biao's son Hua Yi replace Deng Ai as the governor of Yanzhou, let Ren Kai replace Wang Ji as the governor of Jingzhou, let the former Hongnong prefect Fu Xuan replace Wen Qin as the governor of Yangzhou, and Zhou Tai continued to serve as his governor of Yuzhou.

Wang Rong's father Wang Hun continued to serve as the governor of Liangzhou, and the former Taishan prefect Zhuge Xu was appointed as the governor of Yongzhou, and the Anfeng prefect Hu Wei, the son of General Hu Zhi, was appointed as the governor of Xuzhou.

Pei Kai's father Pei Hui continued to serve as the governor of Jizhou, and Li Xi, the right chief secretary of the former general Sima Shi, replaced Sun Yu as the governor of Qingzhou. Shi Jian continued to serve as the governor of Bingzhou, and the prefect He Zhen served as the governor of Youzhou.

Wang Jing continued to serve as the Inspector of the Imperial Capital.

Most of the people arranged by Cao Mao were Sima Shi's confidants. Those who didn't know would think that the general had come back to life and started to arrange his confidants again.

Among them were those who came from prominent families but had trustworthy personal qualities, those who came from poor backgrounds, those who were honest, those who were upright, and the worst of all were those who had reputations and could appease a certain area.

Anyway, there are no mediocre or crazy people in the position of governor, and the quality is still very good.

As for the position of the prefect... well, that's really hard to say.

Anyway, it is the job of the governor to supervise the local areas. If there is a good governor in each place, it should be able to slightly revitalize the local situation.

After reading the decree to the public, the court began to implement the rest of Wang Chang's strategy.

Extend the terms of officials and promote and dismiss them based on strict performance assessments.

This matter was mainly handled by Zhong Hui, who summarized a system for the promotion and appointment of local officials.

Zhong Hui absorbed the promotion methods of Qin and the early Han Dynasty and established a comparative assessment method. This method existed in the pre-Qin period, and its founder was probably Shang Yang. Under this assessment method, regions of the same level were in a competitive relationship.

Just like Ma Long's original military training, several counties within Yanzhou would review each other's achievements in farmland, household registration, public security, finance, road maintenance, etc. at the end of the year, and then compare and compete with each other. The county officials who ranked at the top would be promoted, and those who ranked at the bottom would be dismissed or punished.

The same is true within the county, where many counties are compared, and the top-ranked county officials are promoted. The county then compares its townships, and the townships compare their villages, including several states.

Zhong Hui believed that political achievements should be compared. By looking at how much progress they have made each year and comparing them with those in the same region, one can know their strengths and weaknesses.

In the absence of a better way to evaluate political achievements, Zhong Hui's method can be used as a substitute to kick out those idiots.

The eunuchs continued their rectification work in various places. It could not be said that the local officials who had been inspected and punished suddenly became better, but at least they did not dare to be as presumptuous as before.

Rare outstanding talents were discovered, and Cao Mao appointed these people as prefects in various places, paying special attention to them.

However, things like schools and imperial examinations have not yet been carried out.

The main reason is that the Wei Dynasty is too chaotic now, and officials are transferred too frequently, especially at the local level, it is simply a mess.

Because of Cao Mao's many actions after he took power, a large number of officials resigned. They believed that the emperor did not respect scholars enough and used cruel means to deal with them. Perhaps they were afraid of being discovered. In any case, there were many vacancies in the local areas, and officials in many places were still in the process of handover.

The Ministry of Personnel in the Secretariat was almost in an uproar.

Zheng Mao was the busiest person during this period. The emperor dismissed local officials, which was a very comfortable process, but it was hard for him, the person who was in charge of checking for vacancies and filling in the gaps.

Various transfer orders made Zheng Mao recite the transfer list of local officials in his dreams.

Cao Mao was unwilling to procrastinate in doing things. When issuing government orders, he always used military channels, that is, expedited delivery. This could ensure that the emperor's orders could be known to the local areas quickly, which was a bit like wasting time on postmen.

The local bureaucracy of the entire Wei Dynasty was in chaos, and many government affairs were affected. It seemed that the affairs of the Wei Dynasty had come to a standstill.

The Shangshutai expressed great concern about this.

It’s autumn harvest time now!!

"Your Majesty, the autumn harvest is not suitable for such a large-scale transfer of officials. Lord Zhong's new methods and Lord Zheng's new laws have forced many officials to resign. The number of these resignations is increasing. During the autumn harvest, there is no chief official to take charge, and the government's orders cannot be implemented at the local level."

Cui Zan stood in front of Cao Mao, looking quite anxious.

Cui Zan felt that the emperor was too anxious.

It is actually acceptable to arrange so many provincial governors in succession, but it is also acceptable to attack officials one after another.

This caused local officials to be terrified and angry, and a large number of them resigned from their posts.

This was actually a direct expression of local officials' dissatisfaction with the emperor.

The last time this happened was during the Party Imprisonment Period.

Cui Zan has been trying to find ways to avoid this situation.

Cao Mao looked quite calm, and Cui Zan's words did not shake his determination.

He knew what was happening in the local area. Zheng Mao would inform him of the vacancies in various places every day, but Cao Mao was indifferent. Rather than being forced to find a group of officials who only knew how to harm the people to continue to govern the local area, it would be better to let them all go.

Delay this year's autumn harvest and winter preparation?

Then let’s delay it for this time!

They always have excuses. After surviving the autumn, they have to prepare for winter. After surviving the winter, they have to plant in the spring. After surviving the spring, there are still busy farming seasons. Cao Mao would rather endure the pain than not get rid of these intruders.

Cui Zan continued, "Your Majesty, no matter what, the autumn harvest should not be delayed. Even if a transfer is necessary, it should be done at the end of the year. Zhong Hui is working in a hurry."

"It's already very mild. I haven't dismissed everyone. Even if someone has made a mistake, I only punish and urge them, not dismiss them all. This is already a very mild measure."

Cao Mao interrupted Cui Zan directly.

He said coldly: "If it is urgent, at least half of the officials in the world will die."

Cui Zan felt a chill on his back instantly, and his words got stuck in his throat.

"Why, Lord Cui, do you still think I'm too hasty?"

"They were unwilling to serve as officials, and I didn't execute them for disobedience. This was already very lenient. Officials in the Later Han Dynasty also gave up their posts for some famous scholars. I remember that the emperor at that time ordered them to be arrested and tortured to death."

"I am already so kind and righteous, what else do you want to persuade me?"

"Do you want me to beg them to become officials?"

Cui Zan was unable to answer. He said bitterly, "Your Majesty, I understand what you mean, but the autumn harvest is the most important time of the year. With government affairs in various places in disarray, I'm afraid this year's harvest will be disastrous."

Cao Mao, however, didn't care. "We still have provincial governors, the Four Garrisons and the Four Expeditions. Can the resignation of some county magistrates and prefects mean a bumper harvest in autumn?! These officials are overestimating themselves. Granted, dispatching requires the approval of officials, but if a few leaders leave, there will always be those left to take over!"

"These officials, who can't tell the difference between grains and nothing else besides taking medicine and drinking, if they were gone, maybe this year's harvest would be even better! Do they really have to do things that just require a nod and a stamp of approval?!"

From the emperor's words, Cui Zan felt his extreme contempt for officials.

But Cui Zan didn't dare to refute.

He already understood that His Majesty was determined to rectify the local officials, and he was determined to get rid of them even at the cost of a bad autumn harvest.

Cui Zan didn't understand this at all.

Cao Mao was not the only emperor who was dissatisfied with officials. During the reign of Cao Pi, local officials were rectified many times, and Cao Rui even took direct action against court officials. Even in the previous year, Sima Shi rectified false and incompetent local officials based on Deng Ai's memorial.

But none of them is as crazy as the current emperor.

In Cui Zan's opinion, Cao Mao's decrees were really crazy.

Which emperor would discipline officials in this way? This is to clean up the entire world thoroughly. At the beginning, Sima Shi only ordered the governors to dismiss a few people who acted excessively as a warning to let the other officials restrain themselves.

The risks involved in doing what Your Majesty is doing are truly frightening.

Just as Cui Zan was trying hard to persuade him, Zhang Hua rushed in anxiously.

"His Majesty."

"what happened?"

"Pingchang County Magistrate Zang Ai attacked the eunuch's convoy and started a rebellion!"

"what?!"

Cui Zan jumped up in anger, his eyes filled with astonishment, but Cao Mao remained calm, as if he had expected this. "What banner did he raise?"

"He said he wanted to welcome back the King of Qi and support the Wei Dynasty, saying that Your Majesty was in an unjust position, had committed many tyrannical acts, and had indiscriminately killed meritorious officials."

Zhang Hua said very calmly some words that were enough to kill three generations of his clan.

Cao Mao laughed.

"I remember this Zang Ai. He's Zang Ba's son, right? He's the one who gave Deng Yang money and real estate every day in order to get an official position, and in the end even gave Deng Yang his father's concubine. Is he the one?"

Zhang Hua nodded, his eyes filled with disdain, "That's exactly him."

"Then the ministers submitted a petition a few days ago saying that this person was the most suitable person to be the Qingzhou Governor, right?"

Zhang Hua nodded, "That's exactly the person."

"A man like this who relied on sending his father's concubines to become an official, could rise all the way to become a county governor in my Great Wei, and even be nominated as a provincial governor. This is truly eye-opening for me."

"Quickly arrest Zang Ai's clansmen and behead them. Also, find the contents of the previous petition that recommended Zang Ai for the post of Qingzhou Governor and arrest and behead them as well."

"only!!!"

(End of this chapter)