Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 76: Last Place Elimination System (Subscription Request)
"Brother Yang, you know too little about the court."

"how do I say this?"

Yang Chen was a little surprised to hear Zhu Biao say this.

Zhu Biao was not bored by this, but continued to tell the story.

"My father hated the formation of factions and private interests, but he disliked those parties that wanted to gain power, especially the power of the emperor.

As long as they were not seeking imperial power, he would not care about any party fighting. "

These words made Yang Chen react instantly.

He almost forgot that there is no right or wrong in any position within the system when it comes to many major issues.

Only stance.

This is a drawback of human development to this day.

Wherever there is an organization, there will be internal strife, and it will never be let go because of any sentimentality.

No one can escape the bondage of this evil.

"Well, this is my shortsightedness."

Yang Chen was quite generous and did not deny himself. He already had some understanding of this aspect when he was preparing for the exam.

There's nothing you can do about it. People are like this and changing the environment won't change them.

“But what the prince said just now did remind me.

Simply having extra full-time salary will only lead to further division among officials.

In this case, I have an idea, I wonder if the prince is willing to listen to it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao showed curiosity on his face and stretched out his hand to ask for instructions.

"Brother Yang, please come quickly."

Yang Chen sat on the chair, his back straight, with a playful look in his eyes.

He began to fiddle with the teacup in his hands.

"Officials are there to rule the country and stabilize the people's hearts, but they can't help the fact that there are some scumbags who are blinded by profit.

These people are no longer satisfied with their current lives; they want to move up.

However, the higher you go in your career, the more pegged the positions become. Without some skills, the extra positions can be counted on one hand.

In order to achieve their goals, this group of parasites frantically amassed wealth and accumulated fortune to open up a path for themselves to move upward.

There is a saying that goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. In order to make money, they will naturally lose something, such as their conscience and the government affairs that they should complete.

As the saying goes, where there is a reward, there is a punishment. The full attendance salary and year-end bonus are for those officials who are honest and incorruptible, and the last-place elimination system is for those officials who are not interested in doing their work. "

"Hiss! The last-place elimination system? Yang Chen, tell me slowly. I want to know the ins and outs of this!"

Zhu Biao took a breath of cold air. He felt that he was about to catch something.

With the previous performance appraisal, year-end bonus and month-end attendance salary, plus the last-in-first-out system, Zhu Biao already thought he had grasped a science.

As long as this knowledge is added to the emperor's mind, it will definitely enable the imperial power to better control the court.

No, not just the imperial court, this method can be used wherever there are people working for you!

Looking at the eager expression on Zhu Biao's face, Yang Chen's heart tightened.

Zhu Biao learned about this knowledge so early.

Then the officials will probably have a hard time from now on.

However, Yang Chen's guilt soon disappeared.

"I'm not an official anyway, so what does it have to do with me?"

He immediately said with a smile: "The last-place elimination system is an addition to what I just said.

Those who complete their tasks every month can be awarded full attendance, and if they do so for a year in a row, they can receive a year-end bonus. Those who make mistakes or fail to gain recognition from the people will not receive it.

If he has not committed any crime but is still an official recognized by the people, even if he has missed a few full attendances, as long as the number of times is not large and not due to his own subjective reasons, he will not be held accountable.

The officialdom is cruel, but it also requires some human touch.

The last-in-first-out system is aimed at those officials who neither complete full attendance nor win the favor of the people.

When their accumulated number of times reaches a certain level, they must be punished.

Isn't the purpose of their lazy governance just to make money and pave the way for promotion?

The goal of the punishment is to strike directly at their desires. Not only will their property be confiscated, but their official positions will also be demoted.

If you don't change after repeated teachings, then

At the end, Yang Chen made a gesture of wiping his neck.

Zhu Biao showed no surprise on his face. After all, his father's method of killing corrupt officials was even simpler and more convenient than what Yang Chen said.

Anyone who dares to embezzle, no matter what the reason is, will be fined until the value of the embezzled property reaches a certain amount of silver.

Then there is only death.

After a while, Zhu Biao pondered and said:
"It's really strange. I always find some similarities between the methods you mentioned, Brother Yang, and the current situation in the Ming Dynasty."

Hearing this, Yang Chen was also very surprised.

Are all the records in history books false?

Did the real assessment index system begin to emerge in China?

If he hadn't heard his teacher mention this thing in class, he would have known that it was not introduced into China until the 1980s and 1990s.

If he hadn't accidentally met a girl majoring in management one semester, he might not have understood her so clearly.

So at his request, Zhu Biao began to say things that he thought were similar.

The three-yearly imperial inspections were quite similar to the major events that were originally conducted by the Ministry of Personnel.

The former is mainly used to assess officials in the capital, while the latter is used to assess officials in local governments.

During the Hongwu period, it was stipulated that examinations should be held every three years.

The imperial examination mainly used the "four criteria" and "eight methods" to assess whether an official could be promoted or demoted.

The four grids are defense, politics, talent and age.

They represent integrity, peace and greed respectively.
Politics refers to government affairs, divided into

It is long, short and flat.

Year naturally refers to age, including youth, middle age and old age.

It is very similar to the sources of salary distribution that Yang Chen mentioned earlier.

The eight principles are greed, cruelty, inaction, carelessness, old age, illness, impetuousness, and lack of talent.

Anyone who meets the various criteria of the Eight Laws will be punished to varying degrees.

The Beijing Inspection and the Major Plan were stipulated by Zhu Yuanzhang since the founding of the country, and some changes were made on the original basis.

Up to now, under the operation of the Ministry of Personnel, it has been able to run smoothly.

After all, it only happens once every three years, so the manpower, financial resources and material resources consumed are quite small.

After listening to this, Yang Chen just thought about it and directly pointed out the big problem with this measure.

This is taking too long to execute!

Once every three years is enough for those corrupt officials to completely infiltrate the Ministry of Personnel.

We are all in the same group. Apart from those who have to leave, how could the greedy people leave?

“Compared to the method I mentioned, this is not harsh enough. Whether it is the four grids or the eight methods, compared to my method, it is just a tickle.

The boundaries are vague and unclear, and there is no straightforward punishment method.

There are too many things that corrupt officials can do.”

Faced with this, Zhu Biao did not refute.

The purpose of the Beijing Inspection Program itself is good, and it is hoped that it can serve as a warning to all officials.

But as time went on, the extent of favoritism and corruption became more and more exaggerated.

Since the founding of the country, the Beijing inspection has been carried out less than twice.

The reason is that the Ming Dynasty was not stable in the previous years and the Beijing inspection could not be implemented.

In the past two years, thanks to the efforts of generals from all sides, the south and southwest directions have been gradually recovered, and the situation in the north has been stabilized.

Every time an accident occurs, the imperial inspection and major plans will be suspended.

The reason was that the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, so there was no extra energy to conduct imperial inspections and major plans.

As a result, every time the imperial inspection or major plan was carried out, only a few people could be dismissed, and the matter ended in nothing.

"In that case, what do you think, Brother Yang?"

It was rare to see someone so confident, so Zhu Biao naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it and know more.

Yang Chen was silent for a while, then said:
“Here’s what I think. Since we are going to conduct an assessment and elimination, we should first set an assessment target.

Based on the monthly full attendance I just mentioned.

Within one year, those who make mistakes will be punished and warned. If they make the same mistake again the following year, they must be severely investigated.

Let's see if he is corrupt and is disrupting government affairs.

If he is corrupt, he must be punished. Not only must his entire family be confiscated, but he must also be severely punished.

If there is no corruption but just laziness, then the first rank will be demoted to the second rank, and the second rank will be demoted to the second rank.

If there are still no changes within two years, then continue, but the downgrade will require more efforts.

Downgraded from the second rank to the third rank.

If there is still no change in the third year, then just dismiss him and investigate him."

Halfway through his speech, Yang Chen suddenly stopped, hesitated for a while, and finally said in a low voice with a smile on his face:
“In fact, in addition to examining full attendance, other aspects can also be examined.

For example, in terms of achievements, mediocre officials can only manage the current situation in a stable situation.

If he encounters an accident and can't handle anything, what's the use of having such an official?

Therefore, it is necessary to examine the abilities of officials, and the method of examination is also very simple.

Just to see how diligent he is.

The local government itself has a lot of power. The county magistrate, the county magistrate, since ancient times, the highest official that many villagers have seen in their lives is the county magistrate.

Most of the matters issued by the imperial court were handled personally by the county magistrate.

A hard-working county magistrate will naturally ensure that the areas under his responsibility are executed faster and better.

However, those mediocre county magistrates could only appear to be doing nothing, and the lives of the people remained unchanged.

If this situation continues for too long, people will lose their ambition. If the county magistrate leads like this, do you think the people can still live a good life?

Giving government affairs to a county magistrate who makes life difficult for the people is like raising pigs. Not only does it make the court short of silver, it also makes the people lose their support! "

Yang Chen's words hit the nail on the head for Zhu Biao's deepest thoughts.

He also thought that the other party's last sentence was right.

The salaries distributed to all officials were all obtained from taxes paid within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, they get paid to do the job.

But some officials only think about getting money and don't want to do anything.

Even if such officials are not corrupt, they are just occupying the toilet without doing anything.

How could Zhu Biao tolerate such a waste of national resources? "If such people hold official positions, they will harm the people sooner or later. If I don't deal with them in time, I will be condoning them to harm the people!"

"If they really have to be punished, then they deserve it. After all, you, the prince, have already given them a chance, haven't you?"

When Yang Chen added something in the side, Zhu Biao raised his hand to express his gratitude.

“I had originally thought of coming to Brother Yang’s place to have a good rest today, but I didn’t expect to unexpectedly receive such a policy on governing the country.

Yang Chen, I think you are really suitable for an important position.

If you want, I promise to give you a position, at least a third-rank position, how about it?"

Communication that flows smoothly often passes quickly.

Yang Chen sat on a chair and used teapots and teacups to represent various forces, and also revealed some knowledge from later generations.

It would instantly make Zhu Biao feel that he had gained a lot.

At least the problem of salaries for officials in the court was solved.

Facing Zhu Biao's cordial invitation, Yang Chen immediately smiled bitterly, waved his hand and refused, saying:
“Forget it, forget it. I see you just won’t give up and want me to enter the officialdom.

I'll say it one last time, the affairs between your officials are so complicated that I don't want to get involved at all.

There are intrigues all day long. You say my mind is so clean and pure. What if someone betrays me? Who can I turn to then?"

Zhu Biao in front was just a little disappointed. After all, he appreciated Yang Chen's abilities.

But the more the other party talked, the more something seemed wrong. Was his mind clean? Pure?
These words have nothing to do with the suggestions Yang Chen just made.

In addition, Yang Chen’s actions since they met each other were simply difficult to evaluate. To say that he was clean and pure, Zhu Biao would rather there were ghosts in this world!
Finding that Zhu Biao was not giving up and was still trying to persuade him to become an official in the court, Yang Chen had to come up with an excuse to get away with it.

"Alright! Prince, I know you still want me to work. Today is the case, so I won't waste my words. If you want me to work, I can. If I become an official, I must be the best official.

It would be best if I were an official who would look at me, only allow me to look down at others, and not allow others to speak loudly to me. "

"Isn't this 'official' you're talking about the position of my Crown Prince Regent?"

Zhu Biao thought carefully about what Yang Chen meant and found that it seemed that only his identity met all the conditions the other party mentioned.

Seeing a new misunderstanding, Yang Chen quickly interrupted it.

"Don't slander me, I have no relationship with your father, how could I possibly want your position.

Anyway, I simply can't stand the atmosphere in your officialdom.

So I either have to be the best official or not. If you really want to be, then make your own choice."

This time Zhu Biao didn't say anything. After thinking for a moment, he looked up at the sun in the sky.

The two had been chatting from the middle of the sun to the sun shining diagonally.

“I still have some government affairs to take care of, so I’ll leave now. If you need anything, just tell the maid.

I have already explained their identities. In the Eastern Palace, the maids around you, as long as they move around, have much more power than others.

It will be more convenient for you to just give orders, and you don't have to report everything to me."

Yang Chen glanced at the sun and quickly determined that the current time should be two or three in the afternoon.

The two chatted for two hours.

In addition to being busy at the morning court, Zhu Biao's identity also required him to spend an afternoon in the study.

How could it be possible that all government affairs, big or small, across the country could be completed in just one morning?

Yang Chen knew that he could live such a comfortable life till now because of Zhu Biao's support.

Although she was just a maid of the lowest rank, she had the power to come and go freely, which was enough for him to handle many things.

"In that case, the prince should go and do his work. I, an idle person, will not disturb you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Biao stood up and left without any courtesy.

Step out the door.

He felt that all the unhappiness that had accumulated in his heart that morning had disappeared.

After the conversation with Yang Chen, the ministers' salary issue, which had been at a dead end and had no good solution, now showed some signs of being resolved.

The general direction is completely clear.

The remaining thing is to start improving it, such as the amount of full attendance salary and how to stipulate the task completion quota for the ministers.

The amount of each person's year-end bonus, the number of awards received after persevering for a long time, etc. are all very complex projects.

The most important thing is that Zhu Biao must find an opportunity to talk to his father about this matter.

At the same time, in the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang, under the guidance of Zhu Xiongying, quickly came to a cradle.

"Grandpa Emperor! Look, my little brother has grown up again. He almost knows how to call me Grandpa Emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang, who rarely had a charitable and doting smile on his face, half bowed and looked down at Zhu Yunhuan who was lying in the cradle.

He stroked Zhu Xiongying's head with one hand and giggled.

"Hahaha! Good! Good, he is worthy of being our grandson. He can already talk at just a few months old. He will definitely be as smart as you, Xiongying, in the future."

"Xiong Ying will definitely take good care of his brother and make him as good at making Grandpa Huang happy as Xiong Ying!"

"Hahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily again. Zhu Yunhuan, who was lying on the bed with baby fat, seemed to feel the voice was familiar.

He also started to grab at the several "giants" around him in a sleepy state.

Zhu Xiongying, whose figure is as tall as a human thigh, kept making his younger brother happy.

"What are you so happy about? I heard the noise outside the door."

A loving voice sounded, and Zhu Yuanzhang stopped and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Pointing to his two grandsons, he boasted:

"Sister, Yunxun is about to learn to call me grandpa, and I'm so happy! Look at him, he keeps waving at me, which means he likes me more than you, the queen grandmother."

It was rare to see Zhu Yuanzhang not having the sullen face and acting like a cousin who kept strangers away as usual.

Queen Ma rolled her eyes at this.

He walked over and touched Zhu Yunhuan's abdomen.

Then he turned around and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said:
"You are a grandfather, but you don't even know your grandson has no milk in his stomach."

Faced with the reprimand, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned at first, and obviously did not react.

Then Empress Ma picked up Zhu Yunhuan and handed him to Zhu Xiongying.

"Xiongying, take your brother to the wet nurse and wait for Grandma Huang to make you some pancakes, okay?"

To protect his brother, Zhu Xiongying said with a red face:

"Yes! Xiongying got it. Xiongying will go now. Grandma Huang, Xiongying will eat three pancakes later!"

"Okay, okay, Xiongying, eat as much as you want. Come on, Bing'er, you go with Xiongying."

Bing'er, who was standing beside the door curtain in a light pink palace dress, bowed and responded:

"Bing'er understands. Crown Prince, please come this way."

With Bing'er's support and protection, Zhu Xiongying quickly left with his brother in his arms.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were left in the room.

In an instant, the atmosphere around them turned cold.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the chair, waiting for Empress Ma's questions. As they had been married for so many years, how could he not know the changes in Empress Ma's expression? She must have something to ask him.

The queen sat and the emperor stood.

I'm afraid this kind of scene would only happen in the Zhu family.

Putting down the teacup and half-covering the lid, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang sideways and said in a calm tone:

"Tell me, what's going on with the second brother?

I just went to the Imperial Medical Office and asked the imperial physician to prepare some prescriptions that can help the child strengthen his body and bones.

Suddenly I saw someone discussing that the second brother’s injury was only half a step away from life or death.

After asking carefully, I found out that the second brother was beaten half to death by you.

Later I went to the palace where the second brother was imprisoned.

I saw with my own eyes him lying on the bed, wailing, and his entire back was covered with festering wounds.

You must give me an explanation."

It just so happened that Zhu Yuanzhang had originally planned to wait until Zhu Chong was better before telling the other party about his son's wrongdoings.

Who would have thought that it would be discovered on the first day.

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang was honest and admitted it openly.

"Yes! Sister, we agree that the second brother should be punished like this.

I won't waste my words, sister, I'm telling you, Lao Er is worse than a beast, I wish I could kill him!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the thick table angrily.

The scene before her surprised Queen Ma slightly.

A few days ago, the other party still vowed that his son was a rare talent and was outstanding among all the princes.

Although he is not a witty writer, at least he is capable of leading troops in battles and serving as a general at the border.

For this purpose, his fiefdom was specially arranged in Shaanxi.

This area connects the northwest and north-west directions, and can resist enemies from three forces in total.

It is not a position that an ordinary prince can hold.

Realizing that there must be something she didn't know about, Queen Ma frowned and asked:
"Don't be angry, tell me, what happened here?

Didn't you only ask Yang Chen about the future of the Ming Dynasty yesterday? Tell me slowly what happened to Shu'er. "

After calming himself down a bit, Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly:
"Sister, do you remember that before Biao'er got into trouble, he went to Shaanxi? Yang Chen told us that the second brother got into trouble in his own territory?"

After recalling for a moment, Queen Ma nodded without saying anything.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and clenched his fist, his eyes slightly dazed.

"The extent to which this guy behaved recklessly in his fiefdom is far beyond our imagination!

The extent of the abuse of the people is outrageous!
He slaughtered young children, palace maids and women, and his actions were stained with blood.

This guy usurped the imperial power and followed the concubine's instructions to make a dragon bed, and also made dragon robes and phoenix robes.

What kind of behavior is it to wear our own clothes and commit debauchery in a luxurious palace built in the open air?
This is something that only ancient tyrants would do, and they will be engraved on the pillar of shame!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's indignant voice echoed throughout the palace, and Empress Ma was shocked to hear that her son had actually done such a thing.

His entire face turned pale in an instant.

"Asshole! As a vassal king, you didn't fulfill your responsibilities, you deserve to be beaten.

The emperor who breaks the law is subject to the same punishment as the common people. Chongba, although Chong'er is our son, if we allow him to act so recklessly.

I'm afraid it will be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty.

In my opinion, he should be exiled back to Fengyang and stay in the ancestral temple forever to repent. "

"Sister, since he's been beaten, there's no need to punish him so severely. Besides, the second brother hasn't actually done these things.

I have sent people to investigate, and now we are sure that he abused Guanyin slaves and secretly raised taxes on the people in order to raise funds to build a better palace for himself.

Shaanxi is an important place. If we don’t have people staying there, we won’t be able to sleep well.”

(End of this chapter)