frightfiction Chapter 1154 Is this treating officials like thieves?
Chapter 1154 Is this treating officials like thieves?
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Lao Deng furtively.
To be honest, Emperor Deng's cardiopulmonary function was incredibly strong; he wasn't driven to death by the officials. In less than a week, I personally witnessed two brawls in the court. How many such brawls have taken place in the court since Emperor Deng became emperor?
While Yang Shaofeng was pondering this in his mind, Li Wenzhong, Xu Da and others had successfully separated Chang Yuchun and Lü Ben.
Emperor Zhu stood up from his dragon throne and walked down the imperial steps, his face dark as he said, "You're really something! You've fought twice in just three days, and right at the end of the year, damn it! The officials of our Great Ming are really something! You've got some serious skills!"
Chang Yuchun lowered his head slightly, and Lü Ben didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Emperor Zhu walked up to the two men, first kicking Chang Yuchun, then glaring fiercely at Lü Ben, and said, "The Duke of Eguo insulted someone first and then attacked, so he will be fined half a year's salary. Minister Lü was insulted first, but also attacked first, so he will also be fined half a year's salary."
Chang Yuchun bowed his head and clasped his hands in agreement, but then turned his head and glared at Lü Ben.
It's all your fault, you old scoundrel! I've lost half a year's worth of pocket money and drinking money! You old scoundrel, just you wait!
Lü Ben glared back at Chang Yuchun.
You dared to curse me? That's your retribution, that's why you only have one daughter?
This isn't over!
Emperor Zhu ignored Chang Yuchun and Lü Ben, and instead strolled up the imperial steps and sat back on the dragon throne.
"The matter concerning Pegu will be temporarily handled by the Cabinet and the Grand General's Office, with the Court of State Ceremonies and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices providing assistance."
“But Rāsadāli, as the crown prince of a vassal king, is now kneeling outside the Meridian Gate, carrying thorns to beg for forgiveness. If there is no explanation, it will be an eyesore.”
Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Yang Shaofeng and directly instructed him: "Go and handle the matter of Luosuo Tuoli. You must be reasonable and justified."
Is it reasonable and well-founded?
Reasonable?
Yang Shaofeng subtly pursed his lips, then bowed and accepted.
After Yang Shaofeng left the main hall, Emperor Zhu turned to Lü Ben with a dark face and scolded, "So you think you're so smart, Lü Ben?"
"In my opinion, you're the dumbest person in the entire court!"
"That bastard has always been petty. You've messed with him, do you think he'll let it go so easily?"
"I'll definitely have to cause you a lot of trouble in the future!"
After reprimanding Lü Ben, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Li Shanchang and said, "Mr. Shanchang, tell me about the reform."
Li Shanchang cupped his hands in greeting to Emperor Zhu, and then addressed the assembled civil and military officials, saying, "The reforms will generally follow the principle of separation of powers among the military, government, law, and supervision, with each power cooperating and supervising the other."
"The original ministries, directorates, temples, and academies, except for the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Grand Military Commission, which are involved in supervision, law, and military affairs, were all transferred to the Grand Secretariat and directly managed by the Grand Secretariat."
"The treasury originally under the Ministry of Revenue will be established as the Great Ming Treasury, responsible for the collection and storage of taxes from across the country, while the function of disbursement will be transferred to the newly established Ministry of Finance."
"The responsibility for tax collection originally held by the imperial court and local governments will be taken over by the newly established Ministry of Taxation of the Ming Dynasty."
"The original Censorate was split into the Procuratorial Department and the Disciplinary Department. The Procuratorial Department assumed the responsibilities of the original censors of various circuits, while the Disciplinary Department assumed the responsibilities of the original clerks. On this basis, the Procuratorial Department was responsible for local political and civil cases, while the Disciplinary Department was responsible for investigating and correcting officials in the court and local areas..."
"The former Baochao Si was renamed Da Ming Baochao Zongxing, which was responsible for the printing, issuance and replacement of Baochao."
"The areas originally under the jurisdiction of Zhili, various provincial administration commissioners, prefectures, states, and counties have been adjusted."
"..."
After Li Shanchang finished explaining how he had basically copied the work of the Ningyang County government, the entire court fell silent once again.
It's not surprising that they copied Ningyang County's approach; many officials had already anticipated it.
However, the reforms of the Censorate, the tax system, and the Grand Military Commission truly disgusted the officials.
Reach out?
The prerequisite for reaching out is to simultaneously appease the Procuratorate, the Discipline Inspection Commission, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Ministry of Taxation and the Audit Bureau.
The key point is that among these government departments, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is completely isolated from the bureaucratic system, while the relevant departments such as the Procuratorate, the Discipline Inspection Commission, and the Tax Bureau are all departmental departments with horizontal and vertical supervision. It is completely useless to deal with just one person!
Even more disgusting tenure systems for officials have also been settled with this reform.
It's a five-year term, and they leave after two terms.
It can be done earlier, but not later.
Officials were prohibited from serving in their hometowns or in the same province. Officials from the south were to be transferred to the north or from the east to the west. Local officials at the county magistrate level and above were required to serve thousands of miles away from their hometowns.
In addition, clerks and servants were also formally brought under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, with their salaries paid by the imperial court. They were no longer subject to arbitrary conscription by local governments, and any shortage of personnel had to be reported to the next higher level of the Ministry of Personnel, which also kept records of such cases.
Is this treating government officials like thieves?
……
While the officials in the court were filled with worry, Yang Shaofeng, like a caged bird released from its cage, headed straight for the Meridian Gate.
When they arrived at the Meridian Gate, even Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but gasp.
Good heavens, in the dead of winter, shirtless, carrying a bundle of thorns, kneeling outside the Meridian Gate to beg for forgiveness?
That guy, Rāsadāli, is a ruthless person!
Yang Shaofeng quickened his pace, reached out to help Rashadari up, and said with a smile, "Why is Crown Prince Rashadari like this?"
Suppressing his trembling urge, Luo Suoduo bowed to Yang Shaofeng and said, "Your Highness, I know I have committed a grave error, and therefore I humbly beg for forgiveness. I hope Your Highness can put in a good word for me and ask His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty to spare Bago this time!"
Yang Shaofeng reached behind him, and a Jinyiwei officer handed him a garment. Yang Shaofeng took it, draped it over Luosuodali, and then said with a smile, "Your Highness Luosuodali, do not worry. His Majesty sent me here to resolve the problem of the Kingdom of Pegu."
"Well then, this isn't the place to talk. If Crown Prince Rashadari has nothing else to do, why don't you come with me to the Honglu Temple for a cup of hot tea?"
Rosadhara's eyes lit up, and he immediately cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "This humble subject thanks Your Highness the Prince Consort, thank you very much."
As the two walked towards the Honglu Temple, Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "I only learned about the affairs of the Bogu Kingdom in the last couple of days."
Rashadari hurriedly said, "This humble subject truly knew nothing of this matter, much less that anyone dared to target Ming merchants, causing such a huge uproar. If only I had known earlier..."
Before Rashadari could finish speaking, Yang Shaofeng waved his hand with a smile and said, "Well, this matter is neither a big deal nor a small one."
"It's not a big deal, because merchants are profit-driven, and it's inevitable to offend people for profit in the business world. It's normal to make one or two enemies."
"It's not a small matter, because this is the first time since the first year of Hongwu's reign that a Ming merchant has encountered trouble overseas. If it is not handled properly, I'm afraid that similar situations will happen again in the future."
"As the saying goes, 'Prevention is better than cure'..."