Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Inside the Qianqing Palace,

After Jia Jing finished expressing his five points, Emperor Jingsheng remained silent for a moment.

The night outside the window was now as dark as ink, and the candlelight cast flickering shadows on his face.

When he spoke, he looked at Jia Jing with a rare, undisguised appreciation in his eyes.

"Since I ascended the throne, in the past ten years, I have personally written more than ten million words of imperial edicts. On average, I read at least ten memorials and wrote at least two thousand words of comments every day."

"This is a strict task I set for myself before ascending the throne, and I will not fail to do it, rain or shine, to show that I will never be lazy or negligent in my duties."

"But of all the comments I have written, no one has studied them as carefully and thoroughly as you, Zijie, and now you have summarized them into five points to tell me."

"You truly understand me, and my efforts haven't been in vain! My judgment... turns out to be quite good after all!"

Emperor Jingsheng spoke in a light tone, as if stating a fact.

The fact that the emperor could utter phrases like "understands me" and "has decent judgment" undoubtedly indicates his full affirmation of Jia Jing.

Moreover, this is a much more intimate expression than the previous terms such as "ministers of the state" or "good ministers".

A few words carry more weight than any lengthy praise!

Jia Jing cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, I dare not say that I understand you! I only feel that a ruler as talented, wise and intelligent as Your Majesty is a rare find throughout history."

"I am fortunate to have received Your Majesty's calligraphy. I should study it carefully. If I can learn even one or two of the principles of governance and serving the country from it, I will benefit from them for a lifetime!"

"The more I study Your Majesty, the more I realize your greatness. If when I first became an official, I was ignorant of court affairs and viewed Your Majesty like a frog in a well looking at the moon, now, looking back, it is like a mayfly seeing the blue sky!"

"The path Your Majesty chooses to take, the methods Your Majesty desires to implement, are truly unprecedented. Your subject now only wishes to closely follow Your Majesty and achieve a great feat that no one before you has accomplished!"

This statement conveys both the propriety of a subject, the warmth of a close friend or confidant, and more...

Emperor Jingsheng looked at the young man before him with a pleased expression, and a thought suddenly arose in his mind:

If one were to have a son like Jia Zijie, then what worry would there be about "the end of the regime after the death of the person"?

While Biao'er is a good person, he is a bit too kind.

Emperor Jingsheng composed himself, not dwelling on the matter. Looking at the somber darkness outside the hall, he turned to his cabinet ministers and said in a low voice:

"What do you gentlemen think of Zijie's proposed reform of the capital examination system?"

Zhang Tingyu's expression brightened upon hearing Emperor Jingsheng's inquiry.

He was so shocked by the constant mutual flattery between Emperor Jingsheng and Jia Jing, praising each other as "wise ruler and virtuous minister," that he had become somewhat numb!

Although Emperor Jingsheng was a man of deep feelings, he never hesitated to use lavish praise when commending his ministers!

For example, there were also criticisms or praises directed at him, such as "Hengchen understands me!", "Hengchen is truly my right-hand man!", "Hengchen, I miss you very much!", "I not only use you, but I also trust you and think of you", and "My confidence is not as great as Hengchen's!"

But isn't this praise for Jia Zijie a bit too frequent?!

In just one night, the two of them have already gone back and forth four or five times, right? That's almost more than the number of holy praises he received in the past year!

What was supposed to be a serious court meeting with seven people has almost turned into a private heart-to-heart talk between two people!

Ultimately, it's because Jia Zijie has no moral compass; he can utter any kind of flattering words, and he even dares to dream of becoming a mayfly...

The most outrageous thing is that he can still act so calmly and sincerely.

The emperor was a man of deep emotions and strong character; how could he withstand such a test!

Fortunately, the conversation finally returned to the matter of the capital inspection, and it was time for me to take the stage!

Thinking of this, Zhang Tingyu composed himself and stepped forward to report:

"Your Majesty, I believe that the core idea of ​​the regulations proposed by the Duke of Jing is to 'judge people by their deeds and determine their promotion or demotion based on their performance,' which is indeed a timely solution to the current problems."

"The old imperial examinations were held every six years, and the assessments were only conducted at the last minute, which inevitably led to carelessness."

"The new regulations take the performance evaluation method as the framework, with monthly registration, quarterly verification, and year-end final evaluation. By integrating the evaluation into daily administration, it can at least cure the long-standing problem of 'sitting in a position without doing anything during normal times and cramming at the last minute before the exam'."

"Your Majesty once said, 'No one should dare to cover up their mistakes; the government must be strict. Imperial edicts must be thoroughly implemented!' Reforming the system of the capital inspection is exactly in line with this principle!"

Zhang Tingyu expressed his support for reforming the system of imperial examinations in the capital.

On the other hand, he also cited a saying that Emperor Jingsheng had once said, implying that he was also a "confidant" who kept the emperor's words in mind.

In fact, there were many people who secretly studied Emperor Jingsheng's every word and action, trying to guess his thoughts!

However, most officials rarely have the opportunity to meet the emperor in their lifetime, or even if they do, they are not qualified to say more than a few words.

As for the high-ranking officials in the court who could speak with authority, most of them had a sense of shame and would not flatter the emperor too openly, otherwise they would worry about being impeached as treacherous officials by the censors!

Only a young, meritorious, and eloquent military officer like Jia Jing could speak his mind so frankly without any reservations!

So, Jia Jing did benefit somewhat from being younger!

As Zhang Tingyu finished speaking, Li Guangdi, who was standing to the side, flashed his eyes and stepped forward, saying:

"What Grand Secretary Zhang said makes sense. In my opinion, the greatest benefit of the reform proposed by Duke Jing is not that there are more assessment procedures, but that there are more eyes watching officials at all levels."

"In the old system of the capital inspection, it only depended on what the officials of each department said and what the Ministry of Personnel's evaluation department determined."

"The new system of inspection in the capital has expanded the scope of the 'visiting forms,' allowing subordinates, colleagues, and even local gentry to speak. It will no longer be so easy to get by simply currying favor with superiors. This is indeed a good system."

In the imperial examinations before the Han Dynasty, the Ministry of Personnel would distribute a document called a "visiting form" to relevant officials to conduct consultations and evaluations of candidates or those being assessed.

The application forms were issued directly by the Ministry of Personnel to the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel and the Censor in charge of the Henan Circuit, and the return of the forms was also the responsibility of these two individuals.

Its essence is a kind of "third-party evaluation" that is independent of the person being evaluated and their direct supervisor, and maintains the fairness of the evaluation through "extensive consultation and interviews".

Jia Jing made three improvements to the "visit form" system.

First, the scope of the evaluation form will be expanded. In the future, it will not only be issued to the direct superior, but also to the colleagues and subordinates of the person being evaluated, and even the gentry under their jurisdiction with whom they have dealings.

After all, when evaluating an official, you can't just listen to what he or his superior says.

The second interview form was standardized, replacing the previous abstract "interview comments" with specific questions.

For example, "How many backlog cases has this official handled this year?" "Is the area under his jurisdiction stable?" "Are there any complaints from his subordinates?"

Third, establish a mechanism for holding individuals accountable for "private orders," as previous customer service orders had the drawback of being "private orders."

Jia Jing suggested that anonymous or unsubstantiated petitions should not be accepted, and those who make false accusations should be punished instead.

It not only blocked the path for political parties to sling mud at each other and avoid partisan strife, but also allowed those who really wanted to speak to dare to speak.