The prince is more stable

Chapter 907 The Right Path of Humanity
Only those in officialdom know how difficult the process is to transition from a nominal official to one with real power.

The bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty was severely bloated, with an excessive number of redundant personnel.

The existence of "officials who receive stipends" was itself a compromise between imperial power and the power of officials; of course, it could also be understood as a way to win over the hearts of scholars.

Consolidating imperial power was crucial. The policy of emphasizing civil affairs and de-emphasizing military affairs after the founding of the dynasty by Emperor Taizu determined that the emperor and the scholar-officials would jointly govern the country. Only by winning over the literati in this way could the fact that Zhao Kuangyin's acquisition of the country was illegitimate be eliminated to the greatest extent.

Thus, a century after its founding, the Song Dynasty developed a phenomenon in which the number of officials holding nominal positions far exceeded the number of officials with real power.

Some of these officials were granted official positions through ancestral favors, while others entered officialdom through the proper imperial examinations. The court was very generous in granting them official positions; as long as one was qualified, there were plenty of positions available. However, if one wanted real power, that was another matter entirely.

As any normal person knows, there is a world of difference between a nominal official position and an official with real power. In the official system of the Song Dynasty, "official position" is nominal, while "assignment" is real.

Zheng Chaozong was like that. He had been a Fengyilang, a position with a nominal salary, for more than ten years, and he was eager to advance.

Therefore, when the officials of the State Affairs Hall selected him, they only asked him one question: Did he want to be promoted?

Zheng Chaozong agreed almost without hesitation.

Then, the officials of the State Affairs Hall earnestly told him the importance of this relocation to rural areas of Gyeonggi Province.

Simply put, it's not enough to just participate in labor; more importantly, you need to be able to understand the hardships of ordinary people, keenly identify their problems, pinpoint the points of conflict between the government and ordinary people, and assess the implementation of the imperial court's new policies in local areas.

Being sent to the countryside doesn't mean you'll be farming; it means you'll be sent to conduct research.

They went deep into the grassroots, setting aside their official status and airs, and used the perspective of an ordinary citizen to deeply understand the advantages, disadvantages, problems, and contradictions among the people, the government, and policies.

To be honest, Zheng Chaozong's attitude was very perfunctory during his first month in this new Wang Village.

On the surface, he dared not say much, but in his heart, he scoffed at the government's decision.

Participating in farmers' farming is one thing, but for the sake of progress, one can grit one's teeth and treat it as just going through the motions.

However, the government required that all the things they saw and heard, as well as the conflicts between the government and the people, the implementation of the new policies, and other real situations, be recorded in a diary every day.

That's... unlikely.

Who the serious person keeps a diary?
Who would write their innermost thoughts in a diary?
Can what's written in a diary be considered your true feelings?

Scumbag!

The factional struggles in the imperial court were so fierce, with the new and old parties fighting each other. The relationship between the central government and local officials was delicate and complex, and the relationship between local officials and local merchants and landlords was also deeply intertwined, with various forms of collusion.

The relationships were more complex than a spider web. Zheng Chaozong was just a nobody official. If he really wrote down the true situation of the common people in his diary and was eventually sent to the government office, I ask you... would he still be alive?

Moreover, the day after Zheng Chaozong was sent down to Xinwang Village, a clerk from Yangdi County came over and, in a gentle but veiled threat, relayed the magistrate's words, instructing him to "carefully report" what he had seen and heard among the people.

These four words carried great weight, and Zheng Chaozong dared not disobey them.

He only wanted to go through the motions, complete the court's task, and strive for a promotion to a position with real power, but he dared not offend the local government and the forces that colluded with merchants and landlords.

So, during the first month after Zheng Chaozong was sent down to Xinwang Village, he wrote mostly about the local customs, traditions, and specialties of Xinwang Village every night. These were all rather bland and uninteresting topics.

However, the turmoil in Bianjing soon affected the counties under the jurisdiction of Jingji Road.

This was a storm that neither the court nor the public could have predicted. Caught off guard, the newly enthroned emperor proposed the establishment of the Censorate, which not only divided the power of the Council of State Affairs but also hung a sword of Damocles over the heads of all officials.

Immediately following this, various power struggles arose among the emperor and his officials in the Bianjing court, with rumors swirling around them. Officials vehemently opposed the move, while the emperor insisted on his own opinion, even at the cost of antagonizing the entire court.

Later, the Censorate was finally established despite opposition. It became a new independent institution in the Song Dynasty, separate from the Council of State Affairs, and accountable only to the emperor.

Later, more than eighty officials, merchants, and landlords in Chenzhou were executed by imperial decree, which was personally issued by the emperor.

After this case, the Censorate firmly established itself in the imperial court and served as a powerful deterrent to officials throughout the country.

So many things happened in the Bianjing court, but Zheng Chaozong, a high-ranking official far away in Xinwang Village, watched the commotion from afar like an outsider, occasionally letting out a few sighs of lament.

These important matters are decided by important people; right and wrong, good and evil, are not something he, a mere eighth-rank official, can comment on.

Until three days ago, a major event occurred in Yangdi County.

From the county magistrate down, a large number of officials were arrested and questioned, and the county government was almost emptied out.

The people who came to question the officials were officials from the Censorate and the Imperial City Guard.

Only after the county officials in front of him were questioned did Zheng Chaozong realize with shock that the officials were serious!

It was no secret that these officials were charged with the same crimes as the officials in Chenzhou: harming the people, embezzling taxes, and colluding with merchants and landlords.

There was no leniency shown. It is said that when the officials of Yangdi County were interrogated, from the magistrate to the county constables and runners, they all wept bitterly and knelt down to repent. However, the Imperial Guards of the Imperial City were unmoved and forcibly put them in wooden shackles and lock them in prison carts to be escorted to Bianjing.

With the establishment of the Censorate, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty underwent a series of major changes.

Zheng Chaozong finally realized that the Emperor was consciously rectifying officialdom and wanted to break the network of collusion among local officials in the Song Dynasty.

What courage and boldness this was! For the first time, Zheng Chaozong felt awe towards the emperor he had never met before. This was the most bold and courageous emperor since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Before he could recover from the shock of the Yangdi County officials being arrested, several young men in plain clothes arrived at Xinwang Village the following afternoon and found him.

These people were all very young, with a touch of naivety on their faces and a pure idealism for the future. That pure expression was truly radiant.

After finding Zheng Chaozong, the young men immediately revealed their identities.

They were newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the second year of the Shaosheng era, and were ordered to be transferred to the Censorate. Their purpose in coming to Zheng Chaozong was to review the handwritten records of Zheng Chaozong during the nearly three months he had been sent to Xinwang Village.

Refusing is not allowed; it must be presented to them for review immediately.

Zheng Chaozong dared not refuse, for he already held the officials of the Censorate in deep awe.

The diary, filled with trivial and insignificant entries over the past three months, was handed over. One can imagine how unpleasant the faces of the officials from the Censorate were.

Zheng Chaozong was already a middle-aged man in his thirties, but when he stood in front of these young people, his hands and feet were ice-cold, his face was full of fear, and he felt deep regret.

If he had taken the tasks assigned by the government to heart after being sent down to Xinwang Village seriously, the outcome today would probably be different.

Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in the world.

Seeing the deep frown on the faces of the officials from the Censorate, Zheng Chaozong felt a surge of fear, but also a strong will to survive.

Zheng Chaozong immediately admitted his mistake, repented for being perfunctory in his duties, and pleaded with the Censorate to give him another chance, promising to deliver a satisfactory answer in just one night.

Whether the officials of the Inspectorate believed him or not, Jeong Jo-jong did not know, but they surprisingly said they were willing to give him one last chance.

They'll only give us one night; they'll come back at this time tomorrow.

If Zheng Chaozong still submits a bunch of worthless trash, then I'm sorry, you can forget about being a government official. Go home and find a job.

These officials from the Inspectorate acted mysteriously and exuded an air of impartiality. The so-called unspoken rules and interpersonal relationships of officialdom seemed to have no effect on them at all.

They were officials themselves, yet they seemed to stand outside the officialdom, observing the various aspects of the Song Dynasty's officialdom with detached indifference.

Then, using the standards set by the Censorate, they judged right and wrong, good and evil in the officialdom and decided on merits, demerits, rewards and punishments.

Zheng Chaozong felt like a naughty student caught by a teacher in front of them, his heart filled with awe and trepidation.

Looking at the young officials of the Censorate in front of him, Zheng Chaozong also confirmed one thing.

The imperial court and local governments of the Song Dynasty are about to undergo a major upheaval!
This upheaval will be extremely thorough.

It means that new rules and a new order will emerge in the Song Dynasty.

Whether in the imperial court or in local government, their power will no longer be unbridled. The establishment of the supervisory office is like a cage made of fine iron, which will firmly confine the power in the hands of officials.

After the young officials from the Inspectorate left, Zheng Chaozong stood outside the house in a daze for a long, long time.

He thought a lot, his heart was shaken, and his thoughts were in turmoil.

A new era may have slowly begun, with opportunities and risks presented equally to everyone.

If he takes it seriously, he might be able to seize the opportunity and achieve great success.

If he, like the officials of Chenzhou and Yangdi County, does not take it seriously and deals with it perfunctorily, then the consequences are obvious.

After seeing off the officials from the Censorate, Zheng Chaozong approached the house, spread out paper and pen on the old and simple table, and began to write furiously.

Zheng Chaozong was neither mediocre nor incompetent.

Ten years ago, those who passed the imperial examinations were undoubtedly talented and intelligent, regardless of their abilities.

Like all other unfulfilled officials in the world, he simply lacked an opportunity and a bit of good fortune.

During the three months he was sent down to Xinwang Village, what he recorded was, of course, a pile of rubbish.

Being perfunctory stems from attitude, not ability.

In fact, he had deeply memorized what he had seen and heard in Xinwang Village over the past three months. He had profound insights into the new policies of the imperial court, the contradictions between the government and the people, and the collusion between officials, merchants and landlords.

If the imperial court had not established a supervisory office, and if the rules of this world had remained the same old system, then Zheng Chaozong's observations and profound insights might have remained buried deep in his heart forever, never to see the light of day.

However, with the establishment of the Overwatch Council, the game of this world has a new way of being played, and his personal future and opportunities are waving eagerly at him from the front.

Then, some real things should also appear in this world.

On the worn-out desk, on a yellowed sheet of Xuan paper, Zheng Chaozong, with a solemn expression, wrote with flowing, powerful strokes.

"Your subject, Zheng Chaozong, a court advisor, humbly requests Your Majesty's ears to hear: In June of the first year of the Jingkang era, I was dispatched by the Council of State Affairs to Xinwang Village, Yangdi County, Jingji Circuit. What I have seen over the past few months is recorded here..."

(End of this chapter)