Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 12 is no longer an emperor who can be fooled, taught, or sidelined!

Qian Qianyi knew that a war far more brutal and profound than factional strife had begun.

Simple moral judgments are no longer effective!

If you scold him for "contrary to the laws of the former kings and behaving like a merchant," he'll immediately ask you how much business you've accomplished this quarter.

This is completely like talking to a brick wall, a scholar encountering a soldier.

No, it's even more terrifying than a scholar encountering a soldier!
Because this "soldier" isn't holding a knife, but rather a ledger that you can't understand at all...

He must find new ways to fight.

Qian Qianyi's brain, honed to an incredibly sharp level through years of experience navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom, began to work at breakneck speed.

They were faced with only two paths.

Either understand this "new rhetoric," learn it, study it, and then utilize it.

Arm yourself with the logic of an emperor.

You may say that the "return on investment" of my Ministry of Rites in educating the people cannot be quantified in the short term, but this is a long-term value investment, aimed at enhancing the intangible assets of the entire Ming Dynasty for the future.

You can say my impeachment "success rate" is low, but the core of my "business" is risk warning, whether that warning is accurate or not.
This path is difficult and humiliating, but it may be the only way to communicate with the emperor on the same level.

Either we must fundamentally and completely deny the legitimacy of this "new rhetoric."

It should be defined as "words that lead to the downfall of a nation" and "techniques that bring disaster to the world"!
We must unite all scholars in the land to form a powerful public opinion that tells the world and history that the emperor is using the abacus of merchants to destroy the foundation of the nation!

They wanted to force the emperor to retract his decree under pressure from the "orthodox tradition."

This path is more dangerous and more resolute; it's a high-stakes gamble.

If they win the gamble, they will regain control of the narrative; if they lose, Qian Qianyi will be doomed.

……

The following day, Grand Secretaries Huang Lijie and Shi Fenglai, along with the Ministers of the Six Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works, were invited to the Wenhua Hall.

The Wenhua Hall was once the place where emperors held lectures on the classics, and it was the hall where civil officials felt most honored.

Every beam and pillar here seemed to be imbued with the ink fragrance of sages' writings. However, today, when Huang Lijie and others stepped into this empty hall, they only felt a chill that penetrated to the bone, more piercing than the north wind outside the hall.

Zhu Youjian was already waiting there.

He was not wearing an elaborate dragon robe, but only a black casual dress. He stood with his hands behind his back in the hall, with his back to everyone, looking up at the elaborate and beautiful caisson ceiling.

Zhu Youjian did not turn around, yet it was as if he knew everyone had arrived, and knew the breath and heartbeat of each of them.

"Everyone's here?" His voice was calm, but it echoed hollowly in the hall.

"Your Majesty, we... pay our respects." Huang Liji led the way, and the others knelt down tremblingly.

These individuals were nominally a continuation of the "Wei Cabinet," a political legacy left by the previous dynasty.

They had assumed that the new emperor would soon depose them all, but to everyone's surprise, the emperor spared them.

At first they thought it was a good thing, but now they realize that it may be a more terrible punishment than being dismissed.

They became tools in the emperor's hands to test the old system and implement new policies, or rather, guinea pigs.

They could clearly feel the emperor's cold gaze passing through them, scrutinizing the vast and corrupt bureaucratic system behind them.

"Rise." Zhu Youjian slowly turned around.

His gaze swept across the faces of each cabinet minister and minister.

He took in Huang Lijie's obsequiousness and fear, Shi Fenglai's unease and fence-sitting, and the complex expressions of confusion, resistance and bewilderment on the faces of the ministers.

Zhu Youjian didn't say much, but gave Wang Chengen, who was beside him, a wink.

Wang Chengen understood and immediately directed several eunuchs to distribute a stack of pre-prepared documents to each minister.

It wasn't a traditional memorial to the throne, nor an imperial edict; it was something they had never seen before. The paper was of the finest quality, but it was printed with extremely fine Song typeface, as if it had been engraved, with densely packed, clearly defined tables. The paper had a cold, unfamiliar texture.

With trembling hands, Huang Liji held the document up to his eyes. At the very top, a line of large characters was clearly printed: "Application Form for Quarterly Work Plan and Budget of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet/Ministries (Trial)".

Below was a series of sections that made him dizzy:
"Department/Project Team", "Person in Charge", "Quarterly Core Objectives", "Key Result Indicators", "Quantitative Standards for Expected Outputs", "Required Resources (Human/Financial/Materials)", "Budget Request (Money)", "Risk Assessment", "Cross-Departmental Collaboration Needs"...

Every word felt like a cold awl piercing Huang Liji's mind, but he could feel that this thin piece of paper was heavier than a thousand pounds!

"I think you all are already familiar with this document after yesterday's court session," Zhu Youjian's voice rang out again, devoid of any emotion. "I will give you three days. After three days, I want to see the completed forms on my desk."

There was deathly silence in the hall.

You can hear the needle drop.

All that could be heard were the heavy, suppressed breathing of a few senior officials.

three days?

Don't even mention three days, even if you gave them three years, they still couldn't fill out this kind of garbage!

Finally, someone couldn't help it anymore.

Wang Yongguang, the Minister of Revenue, took a step forward. The Ministry of Revenue, in charge of the nation's finances, was extremely sensitive to numbers. He forced a bow and said, "Your Majesty… I am foolish. Many of the items in this table are completely unfamiliar to me. Take this 'quantitative indicator of expected output,' for example. Our Ministry of Revenue, in charge of the nation's finances, has fixed figures for tax revenue and losses from grain transport. We might be able to fill it in, albeit… with difficulty. But…"

He paused, raised his head, and glanced at the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Rites beside him, whose faces were deathly pale.

"But the Ministry of Personnel assesses the moral character of officials throughout the land, and the Ministry of Rites educates the people of the four seas. This 'moral character' and 'education' are the way of the sages, the work of nurturing like a gentle spring breeze and nourishing the earth silently. How... how can they be 'quantified'? Does it mean that the number of honest officials promoted by the Ministry of Personnel in a year is considered 'output'? Does it mean that the number of times the Ministry of Rites holds sacrifices to Heaven and Earth in a year is considered 'quota'? This... isn't this absurd?"

Wang Yongguang's words expressed the sentiments of everyone.

This is an irreconcilable contradiction. What they believe in and rely on for survival is a vague and flexible system built on morality, reputation, seniority, and personal relationships.

What the emperor is presenting now is a precise and rigorous system built on numbers, results, and cold logic.

This is a clash between two civilizations.

All eyes were on Zhu Youjian. They desperately hoped that the young emperor would be stumped by this question and realize the absurdity of his "new learning".

Zhu Youjian simply smiled faintly.

There was no mockery or impatience in that smile, only a calm that understood everything.

“Minister Wang, that’s a very good question.”

He took two steps forward, looking directly at Wang Yongguang.

"The question you raised, 'How to quantify the unquantifiable,' is itself an excellent 'core work objective.'"

He looked around at everyone, his voice not loud, but each word clear, like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

"Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites, your 'core work objective' for the next three months is to provide me with an answer. You need to research, define, and establish your own departmental 'assessment system.' For example, for the Ministry of Personnel, can the rate of corruption cases among officials be used as a negative indicator? Can changes in the number of local lawsuits reflect their governance level? For example, for the Ministry of Rites, can the 'cost' of royal ceremonies be reduced? With the money saved, can we print more copies of the 'Great Ming Code' and the 'Multiplication Table' and distribute them to village schools to increase the literacy rate by one percentage point? Wouldn't that be considered an 'output' of 'education'?"

"I will not provide you with answers."

A meaningful smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's lips.

"I only care about the results."

In one sentence, all hope was shattered.

He wasn't unaware of the difficulties involved; he did it on purpose!

What he wanted was not for them to submit a perfect answer.

What he wanted was to force them to think in his way!
It is a forced reversal of their already rigid minds, which can only quote scriptures and talk about morality!

The entire Wenhua Hall fell into a despairing silence.

The ministers bowed their heads, looking at the light piece of paper in their hands, yet they felt as if it contained a verdict for themselves, and even for this era.

For the first time, they truly realized that the young man sitting on the dragon throne was not an emperor who could be fooled, taught, or sidelined!
(End of this chapter)