Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 722 The Dialogue (Part 2)

The earliest mention of the Assessment and Performance Evaluation System can be found in the "Important Edict" section of Zhang Juzheng's "Memorial on Six Matters" submitted in the second year of the Longqing reign, but it was actually promulgated in November of the first year of the Wanli reign, forty-eight years earlier.

On the fourth day of the eleventh month of the first year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Juzheng submitted a memorial entitled "Requesting an Examination of Memorials and Assessments of Success in Accordance with Actual Policies in order to Improve Practical Governance." One of the key points of the memorial was: "The difficulty in governing the country lies not in enacting laws, but in ensuring their enforcement; not in listening to advice, but in ensuring that advice is effective."

Zhang Juzheng believed that if he wanted "laws to be enforced and words to be effective", then "there should be monthly inspections and annual reviews".

On the same day the memorial was submitted, an imperial edict was received: "You are right. How can there be any achievement if matters are not properly investigated? All the proposals in this memorial shall be implemented. As for the unfinished matters during the festival, if they are urgent, the relevant departments shall set a new deadline for their completion. If they are not urgent matters concerning funds or are too far in the future to be completed, a clear petition shall be submitted requesting their removal, without the need for unnecessary paperwork."

Although this imperial edict was not written down, its instructions were clear. If we consider the fact that the emperor was only nine years old at the time, given the prevailing political context, it is entirely reasonable to infer that both the memorial requesting the implementation of performance evaluations and the imperial edict approving them were actually written by the same person.

One of the most essential aspects of the Assessment and Performance Law was that it significantly strengthened the Cabinet's administrative and supervisory responsibilities through the Six Ministries system.

The Six Departments were originally set up to correspond with the Six Ministries. Each department had several officials, including the Chief Censor, Left and Right Censors, and Censors, who were responsible for supervising the work of the Six Ministries.

In addition, the Six Ministries Censors could also be ordered to handle or concurrently manage certain affairs, such as serving as envoys or participating in the interrogation of major criminal cases; they could also "report on matters based on hearsay" without necessarily being responsible for verification.

The Six Ministries' Censors held relatively low official ranks, no higher than the sixth or seventh grade, but because they reported directly to the emperor, they could impeach officials of all ranks, reaching the emperor's ears directly. From imperial relatives to prefectural and county officials, anyone could be impeached by name. They could even offer direct advice to the emperor if he was negligent or immoral. Therefore, for a long period, the impeachments by the Six Ministries' Censors and other officials often shaped the political situation and public opinion.

However, since the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns, the oversight of the Six Ministries by the Six Censors gradually became a mere formality, and with the development of the political situation, a sharp division occurred. Some, witnessing the hardships of the times, were able to risk their lives to vehemently expose and criticize corruption in all aspects, and some even risked their lives to uphold their duties.

However, many more censors chose to become appendages of the cabinet ministers, colluding with them to gain personal benefits, and even willingly serving as henchmen and henchmen for powerful figures like Liu Jin and Yan Song. In the various power struggles between the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the cabinet-ministerial conflicts, censors and imperial censors from various factions invariably acted as vanguards and scouts.

Zhang Juzheng, in power, was naturally unwilling to see such a situation repeat itself. Therefore, he demanded the restoration and even enhancement of the original duties of the Six Ministries, stipulating that all memorials and imperial edicts from various ministries and departments must be compiled into documents and distributed to the Six Ministries and the Grand Secretariat. The Six Ministries would then review and verify these documents.

On the other hand, Zhang Juzheng stipulated that all supervisory and investigative activities of the Six Ministries must be subject to further supervision and review by the Cabinet. This was tantamount to declaring that the Cabinet was the superior authority of the Six Ministries and was responsible for supervising the supervisors.

This effectively changed the old system where the Six Ministries were directly responsible to the emperor, and unprecedentedly concentrated power in the cabinet.

To be fair, in order to vigorously promote reforms affecting the entire country, it was necessary to centralize power. Given that the emperor had ascended the throne at a young age, Zhang Juzheng could only concentrate power in the hands of a group of key ministers, with himself at the top.

As it turned out, Zhang Juzheng's centralization of power in the early Wanli period was indeed very effective. Without this early centralization, there would have been no later reforms in officialdom, land surveying, or the Single Whip Law.

However, the very concentration of power that brought Zhang Juzheng both brought him success and failure. He earned a reputation for being autocratic because he excessively concentrated the power that originally belonged to the emperor in the cabinet and in his position as a non-ministerial "regency." Ultimately, he met a tragic end, with his own regime collapsing and his descendants suffering the consequences.

Later, the reason why the succeeding Grand Secretary Shen Shixing strongly advocated abolishing the Examination and Assessment Law was not so much because the Examination and Assessment Law was criticized by the public as "too strict" and "harsh". Rather, it was because the emperor had come of age and had his own ideas. If he continued to centralize power in the cabinet like Zhang Juzheng had done in the past, it would only cause trouble for himself.

However, Zhu Changluo did not think that such centralization of power would threaten the imperial power itself, because the Ming Dynasty's system of checks and balances was so good that it simply did not have the institutional conditions to produce figures like Yi Yin and Huo Guang.

The civil and military systems were separated; the civil service examinations were used to select officials; commoners were allowed to enter the imperial harem; nobles and relatives of high rank controlled the capital's garrison; lower-ranking officials remonstrated with higher-ranking officials; and the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs held the power to draft and approve imperial edicts. Furthermore, there were regional princes whose legitimacy far surpassed that of powerful ministers. Anyone who dared to act recklessly would inevitably face a united attack from the entire realm.

Even Zhang Juzheng, an unprecedented and unparalleled "regency," was forced to return to his hometown to observe mourning for his parents by a minor "deprivation of mourning" order.

It can be said that as long as these rock-solid systems are not completely abolished, imperial power will be absolute.

After a moment of silence, Zhu Changluo nodded to Ye Xianggao. "What you say, Minister Ye, is to the point. However, setting deadlines for performance evaluation and holding people accountable based on their performance is still a good approach."

"Your Majesty is wise," Ye Xiang said, bowing high. "I also believe that we can continue the method of 'impeaching the governors and inspectors by the ministries, and the six ministries by the departments' to assess the entire nation. After that, we should restore the ancestral system, with Your Majesty directly in charge of the six departments."

"No, no, no, such trivial matters are too troublesome. I am already exhausted every day just overseeing decision-making, replying to memorials, and summoning ministers. If I were to take on the additional task of overseeing performance evaluations, I would probably be worked to death." Zhu Changlu shook his head repeatedly. "The submission of reports from the six departments will still be handled by the Grand Secretariat. I will manage you."

"But it's an ancestral rule."

“Oh dear. Ancestral rules, ancestral rules, how can there be so many ancestral rules?” Zhu Changlu interrupted Ye Xianggao, “If we were to restore all the ancestral rules of Hongwu as you say, wouldn’t that mean even the cabinet would have to be abolished? Emperor Taizu Gao was an iron-clad god, but I am not.”

Ye Xianggao's eyes widened, his pupils contracted, and his body involuntarily trembled. He had indeed, in a fit of resentment and boredom, said something like, "Following the old system of Emperor Gao, the cabinet ministers will be dismissed, and the affairs of the realm will still be the responsibility of the Six Ministries." But these words were written by Ye Xianggao more than a decade ago in a birthday letter to his teacher, Shen Shixing. How could the Emperor know?! Ye Xianggao kept his head down, and Zhu Changluo, unable to see the wavering and shock in his eyes, was completely unaware of the profound impact his outburst had had on Ye Xianggao.

Zhu Changluo continued, "However, this system can indeed be adjusted slightly, Fang Qing."

"Your subject is here!" Fang Congzhe stood up again.

"Sit down, both of you sit down to talk! If you two are both standing, Minister Wang will get restless." Zhu Changlu waved his hand downwards, smiled at Wang Yingjiao, but before they could both sit down, he continued, "My meaning is that the basic structure of the performance evaluation system—'the governors and inspectors govern the local areas, the ministries and departments review the governors and inspectors, the six departments refute the six ministries, and the cabinet and the general staff of the six departments'—remains unchanged. However, to prevent the cabinet, especially the Grand Secretary, from being accused of being autocratic, the cabinet's power to supervise the six departments is now divided among the six cabinet ministers. Each cabinet minister may be in charge of reviewing one department at a time, or concurrently review one department at a time."

"Furthermore, to avoid discord in government affairs and conflicting orders, the Grand Secretary will continue to oversee cabinet affairs. Unless there are extraordinary circumstances, the other cabinet secretaries should report to the Grand Secretary, and the Grand Secretary should be responsible to the other secretaries. Finally, to prevent the performance evaluation system from becoming a tool for factional struggles, the results of performance evaluations and the promotion and demotion of officials should all be clearly reported to the Emperor for his instructions. Minister Fang, do you understand?"

The emperor's adjustments to the performance evaluation system were not complicated; in essence, it was still about separating powers and checking each other to prevent arbitrary actions. The Grand Secretary's continued role as the chief minister in managing cabinet affairs was a reasonable compensation for the power split.

But even though he understood, Fang Congzhe still didn't want to do something that would inevitably offend a large number of people. At least he didn't want to be like Zhang Juzheng, personally submitting a memorial requesting the restoration of the examination system. However, the emperor suddenly seized the opportunity to make things clear, even blocking Ye Xianggao, which clearly showed that the emperor's mind was made up and the will of heaven was difficult to defy.
Fang Congzhe's mind raced, but before the emperor could urge him on, he had a sudden inspiration and said, "Your Majesty, I will obey your decree. After I leave, I will immediately draft an edict to reinstate the performance evaluation system."

"Hehe." Zhu Changluo was extremely familiar with the political operations of the Ming Dynasty, and immediately understood that Fang Congzhe wanted to skip the administrative process of submitting a memorial to the emperor and directly decide the matter through an imperial edict, so as to avoid public criticism. However, Zhu Changluo didn't mind the old man playing such a trick. "Alright, let's do it your way."

After saying this, Zhu Changluo turned to look at Wang Yingjiao. Just then, Wang Yingjiao also looked over, his face showing a hesitant expression.

"Does Minister Wang have something to say?" Zhu Changluo asked proactively.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the performance evaluation system is indeed a good solution to save the day," Wang Yingjiao said. "However, the Six Ministries are supposed to be officials responsible for upholding the law, directly advising the emperor and impeaching officials from all departments. If each ministry is exclusively controlled by a cabinet minister, and this system takes root over the years, I fear that the Six Ministries will lose their backbone and become mere appendages of the cabinet ministers."

“You’re overthinking it.” Despite saying this, Zhu Changluo nodded. “I have no intention of reducing the power of the Six Ministries to correct errors and investigate all departments. The censors of each ministry can still report matters based on hearsay, reaching the Emperor directly. The only exception is that the ministries need to report to the Cabinet regarding performance evaluations.” At this point, Zhu Changluo looked at Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao, “If any ministry is impeached by the Cabinet for performance evaluations, they can submit a memorial to defend themselves. At that time, I will personally determine the truth.”

"As for vassals," Zhu Changluo tapped his finger lightly on the edge of the throne armrest, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "A rotating duty system, that's possible!"

"Duty shift?"

"It means that the cabinet ministers change the departments they supervise every year. For example, Minister Fang," Zhu Changluo nodded to Fang Congzhe, "this year he is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, next year he can be in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and the year after that he can be in charge of the Ministry of War. The same goes for others. This way, the roots are pulled out every year, so there is no problem of rootedness. Minister Fang, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Fang Congzhe immediately bowed and said, "Once the imperial edict is issued, I will work with the Imperial Academy to draft a rotation order."

"Does Wang Qing have anything else to say?" Zhu Changlu blinked heavily, biting down on a yawn.

"Your Majesty is wise." Wang Yingjiao certainly had more to say, but he felt that the emperor probably didn't want to waste any more time on this matter.

Sure enough, before Wang Yingjiao could finish speaking, the emperor picked up where they left off: "Alright. The matters of official conduct and performance evaluation are over. Minister Wang, please move on to the last point." Zhu Changluo's mind went blank for a moment, then he turned to ask Wang An, "What was the last point he mentioned again?"

“Commercial tax.” Wang An came to his senses and said, “The third problem that Minister Wang just mentioned is that commercial taxation is not thriving, and the profits are going to private individuals.”

“Yes, commercial tax.” Zhu Changluo couldn’t help but yawn. “Go on with the commercial tax.”

By now, Wang Yingjiao surely understood that the emperor already harbored prejudice against him. Summoning him today was less about seeking advice and more about using the occasion to issue his predetermined orders. Land surveying was directed to the Ministry of Revenue, and performance evaluation to the Grand Secretariat. Judging from the emperor's current yawning and lack of interest, he likely also held a grudge regarding the commercial tax matter.

Wang Yingjiao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, because the scene he had imagined on his way to the capital was actually the emperor looking at him with anticipation and anxiety, asking for his advice, and then he would adopt the posture of Fang Xuanling and Du Fu and present his remonstrances.

Wang Yingjiao sighed inwardly, but forced himself to speak: "Your Majesty, please allow me to speak. I believe that while the past calamities caused by mining taxes were due to overexploitation and the appointment of unsuitable officials, this does not mean that the court should not levy taxes in various regions. As far as I know, long before the establishment of mining supervisors and tax commissioners, local officials and powerful families had already devised various pretexts to set up private tax checkpoints in various places, extorting merchants and traders. All the taxes they collected went into their own pockets; not a single penny was ever turned over to the court." As Wang Yingjiao spoke, he also observed the emperor's expression. Seeing the emperor straighten up and show signs of fatigue, his dejected mood gradually rose:

"Commercial tax revenue is not nonexistent; it is actually intercepted by local authorities and embezzled by powerful clans! The imperial court only needs to formulate sound laws, select honest and capable officials to go to key transportation hubs, reorganize customs offices, and implement policies that benefit merchants and the people. Then, trade routes will surely be open, and tax revenue will surely be abundant. For example, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Songjiang are renowned for their silk and cotton textile industries, attracting merchants from all over the world and making their businesses prosperous. If customs offices were set up and taxes were levied properly, the annual commercial tax revenue from just these places alone would be well over ten thousand."

Zhu Changluo nodded repeatedly, his face showing even more appreciation. The three issues raised by Wang Yingjiao, and the suggestions that followed, were all within his expectations. But the fact that Wang Yingjiao could pinpoint the issues he cared about three times in a row during their first audience at least demonstrated that this Minister of Revenue was reliable.

The only problem is that this old man seems a bit too old; his appearance alone puts him a generation older than Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao. If he were to retire halfway through like Li Ruhua, it would be a real problem.
(End of this chapter)