The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 586: The Success Test
Gao Wen, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, recommended that his remains be returned.

Zhu Guozuo, the former Minister of Rites and Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, took office immediately.

This guy is notoriously cruel.

Just a few days after he took office, he had almost dismissed all the Censors-in-Chief and Deputy Censors-in-Chief!
Immediately afterwards, he sent dozens of imperial censors to inspect everywhere.

He sent people to inspect all the government offices in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

He doesn't play games with others, he plays for real.

Wherever the inspector went, he would look up all the case files or official documents handled by the officials in office and check them carefully.

Then he ran around the streets, fields, people's homes and even prison cells, looking and asking questions everywhere.

Any official who is found to have problems is finished. Dismissal and investigation are considered the lightest punishments. Remove from office, stripping of status, or even exile and beheading are possible!
This guy caused chaos in the entire court. All officials felt scared when they saw the inspector from the Censorate.

Who can stand the Censorate doing this?

Who can guarantee that they have never made any mistakes?
Zhu Guozuo is only offending people by doing this.

Sure enough, someone soon filed a petition to impeach this guy.

Early in the morning at about noon, the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Li, ran to the imperial study with a large stack of memorials.

When he saw the scene in the imperial study, he was stunned.

Little Zhu Changxun was not in Wanli's arms anymore. The little guy was sitting beside him, copying books seriously with the younger brother of the new top scholar, Song Yingxing.

Wanli was also reading a book in his hand.

He was stunned for a moment, then bowed repeatedly.

Seeing him holding so many memorials, Wanli couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong, Zhonghua? Why are there so many memorials today?"

Does Qingliu dare to be dishonest?

Shen Li bowed and presented the memorial, then sighed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Zhaolong has sent out inspectors to investigate everywhere.

He sent out only newly minted scholars, and these guys were reckless and investigated everything, to the point that many officials couldn't stand it anymore."

What is this.

Isn’t this what the Censorate does?
Wanli flipped through the impeachment memorials and glanced at them. He couldn't help but smile slightly and said, "Zhaolong has done a very good job. These newly-minted Jinshi are also good. The Censorate is investigating everything."

That’s what I say, but I can’t do it that way.

Shen Li couldn't help but sigh, "Your Majesty, no one is perfect. If they investigate like this, all officials will be insecure."

Everyone is in danger?

Wanli was puzzled and asked, "Why are all the officials so worried? Have they all committed a crime?"

How do you say this?

Shen Li thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, you don't know that the dozens of inspectors sent by Zhaolong would submit impeachment memorials almost every day.

They don't care whether it's a big thing or a small thing. Once they find out, they will impeach me. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed these days."

Oh, these guys file impeachment petitions every day.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "This is also a good thing. This proves that they are really inspecting the area and not just going through the motions like before.

Why are you so worried? If there are any problems, can't you just handle them according to the law?"

It’s not that simple.

Shen Li shook his head and sighed, then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, they haven't found any real evidence for many things. They just heard it from hearsay, from the common people and even the prisoners in the prison, and then they submitted impeachments.

I cannot punish officials just because they hearsay. They hear a lot every day, and I cannot ask the Ministry of Justice to investigate them one by one."

Oh, that's too much, isn't it?
Wanli pondered and said, "You can handle this as you see fit. If there's no real evidence, you can let them investigate on their own. If they can't find any real evidence, then forget it for now."

Is this how it is handled?
That would save you a headache.

Upon hearing this, Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

After saying this, he bowed and took his leave.

Wanli raised the book in his hand and asked, "Zhonghua, are all the officials still taking the examination?"

So you are reading "Kaocheng Fa".

Upon hearing this, Shen Li said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, this 'Performance Evaluation Law' seems good, but it is actually very troublesome. If we really follow the 'Performance Evaluation Law', all officials will have a small test every month and a big test every six months. The Censorate, the Six Departments, and the Provincial Judicial Inspection Commissioners will all be extremely busy.

All officials will be overwhelmed and exhausted.

Everyone could no longer tolerate the Prime Minister's presence in Japan, and once he left, the "Kaocheng Law" gradually became a formality.

The current performance evaluation is basically just filling out official documents according to the old templates, and no one really checks every detail.”

The implementation of Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng's "Performance Evaluation Law" was really troublesome.

A small test every month can really kill anyone.

Not to mention anything else, just the official documents related to exam results have to be filled out tens of thousands of times every month.

Every official has a lot of things to do every month. If every detail were to be evaluated, the performance documents for tens of thousands of officials would be at least tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of words each month.

In other words, if the "Performance Evaluation Law" formulated by Zhang Juzheng was really followed, the annual performance evaluation documents alone would have hundreds of millions or even billions of words.

People didn’t write as fast back then as they do now, so the workload was quite scary.

The copying of the Yongle Encyclopedia during the Jiajing period is a clear example.

The Yongle Encyclopedia consists of more than 10,000 volumes and more than 300 million words. Emperor Jiajing ordered people to copy two copies.

As a result, hundreds of people who were good at calligraphy kept copying it, and it took them five years to finish it!
If we calculate based on this efficiency, then at least five or six hundred people would have to constantly copy the official documents for the annual examination.

This is just copying official documents. It does not mean that every detail must be examined. If every detail is really examined, the time spent will be many times more than copying official documents.

Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng had good intentions. If officials could really be evaluated according to the "Performance Evaluation Law", then all officials would have to be loyal to their duties, not dare to slack off in the slightest, let alone engage in corruption and abuse of power.

However, this huge workload is really scary.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said solemnly: "The implementation of the "Performance Evaluation Law" formulated by the Yuanfu is indeed a bit troublesome.

However, we cannot just go through the motions because it is troublesome. Doing so now would be a waste of manpower and resources, and would not have any effect in supervising officials.

I still say the same thing, if there is anything inappropriate in the laws of the Ming Dynasty, we must revise it in a timely manner, if there is a problem, we must solve it, and if there is not enough manpower, we must add more people.

For example, a small test every month and a big test every six months is really too frequent. I think a small test every quarter and a big test every year is enough. What do you think?"

After this change, the workload has indeed been reduced a lot, roughly only about 30% of the original.

Shen Li thought about it carefully after hearing this, then nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. With this change, the Performance Evaluation Law should be able to be implemented."

What this means is that it is still a bit difficult to implement.

You still feel the workload is a bit heavy, right?
Wanli pondered again and said, "Actually, we don't need all officials to pass the exam.

We only need to examine the officials who are in charge. As for the officials under them, if there are problems, it is their fault.

We can also write this in the "Performance Evaluation Law". If there is any problem with the subordinates of the official in charge, he will fail the performance evaluation.

If they don't want to fail the exam, they will take the initiative to manage the officials under their command."

With this change, the workload will be much smaller. How many officials will be responsible for it?
There were only a little over a thousand but less than two thousand officials in charge of local prefectures, counties, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.

There were less than a thousand officials in charge of the various government offices in the two capitals.

In other words, after this change, the number of officials who need to pass the examination will be less than 30%.

Upon hearing this, Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This way, there will be no problem in implementing the 'Performance Evaluation Law'. We will have more than enough manpower and there is no need to add any more people."

Then implement it comprehensively, and don't just go through the motions.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "Okay, you should revise the "Performance Evaluation Law" carefully, then print it into a booklet, distribute it, and start full implementation next quarter.

We can no longer just go through the motions. We will demote those who fail the test and investigate those who should be dismissed. We will promote those who perform well."

Shen Li quickly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Wanli looked at the impeachment memorial in front of him and thought, "The inspectors of the Metropolitan Censorate are really wasting other people's time on inspections like this.

How about this, you go and tell Zhaolong that those officials and inspectors who are responsible for this matter should not be arrested for a thorough investigation.

They are mainly responsible for inspecting the officials working below them, and those responsible for the main tasks will be strictly evaluated using the "Performance Evaluation Law". We are taking a two-pronged approach."

This is a good idea, as there is someone to supervise the officials working below.

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand."

(End of this chapter)