After Xu Jie gritted his teeth and explained his point of view, he lowered his head uneasily, not daring to look directly into Jiajing's eyes.
After that, everyone felt a palpitating pressure rushing towards their faces, and even breathing became difficult.
Perhaps due to excessive fear, Xu Jie's body began to tremble uncontrollably, and large beads of sweat continued to roll down his forehead.
The whole cabinet was silent, no one dared to make any sound.
I don't know how long time passed, but Jiajing looked away from Xu Jie, sneered, and said to himself.
"Hmph, this is obviously an excuse you used to excuse me. How can there be so many unheard of things in this world?"
When Jiajing said this, he changed the subject, paused for a moment, and then continued.
"Didn't His Highness Taizu also use the punishment of skinning people and filling them with grass in order to deal with those corrupt officials?"
"Sometimes I often wonder if I am too kind to you, so that you dare to disobey my orders!"
After Jiajing's words fell, everyone suddenly felt a chill, and their whole people were shrouded in endless fear. They could tell that Jiajing was not joking with them!
Immediately, everyone knelt down on the ground, kowtowed to the ground, and prayed to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Jiajing saw this, and after watching coldly for a long time, he calmly gave instructions.
"Well, everyone, get up!"
Seeing Jiajing speak, everyone's faces suddenly showed expressions of surviving a disaster, and they immediately stood up from the ground and said in unison.
"Thank you for your grace!"
After everyone got up from the ground one after another, lingering fear still remained on their faces, and they waited tremblingly for Jiajing's instructions.
At this moment, Jiajing's Gujing Wubo voice sounded in everyone's ears.
"Have you all figured it out?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song stood up without thinking and responded.
"Your Majesty, we have figured it all out!"
Seeing this situation, Jiajing nodded slightly and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, now that you all have figured it out, let's share your opinions on this matter!"
Seeing that things were back to where they were at the beginning, everyone's faces involuntarily showed a bit of embarrassment.
If you don't follow Jiajing's wishes, you may die now. If you express support for this matter, you will definitely be infamy in the future and be cast aside by future generations of scholars!
There is a saying that one should choose the lesser of two evils. After a brief hesitation, everyone made up their minds.
"That's all, after I die, don't worry about the flood, just take care of the present first!"
At this moment, Yan Shifan, who had been silent from the beginning, stood up and reported to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, I have my own personal report!"
When Jiajing saw this, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face, and then he waved his hand quite casually, signaling Yan Shifan to continue.
After getting Jiajing's permission, Yan Shifan suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his heart. After sorting out his words, he faced everyone and said in a deep voice.
"Since His Majesty has said before, as long as the clan and nobles who have not entered the official career through the imperial examination, an insurmountable barrier must be set up above their heads to limit the official positions they can hold!"
"There are no restrictions on those clans and nobles who took part in the imperial examination and successfully obtained rankings!"
"Weichen feels that holding separate examinations for the clan and nobles does not mean that they will seize the quota of scholars in the world!
"The imperial examinations, as well as the examinations for the clan and nobles, can be carried out in parallel, and officials who have both ability and political integrity and serve the court loyally can be selected!"
When Jiajing heard Yan Shifan's words, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief on his face, nodded, and said.
"Well, good, keep talking!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Shifan followed closely.
After that, Yan Shifan calmed down, turned his attention to Jiajing, and continued to add.
"Weichen feels that in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, when holding exams for the clan and nobles, the Ministry of Rites should follow the usual practice and have the Ministry of Rites come forward to propose the questions and organize the exams."
"As for the clan members and nobles who have passed the examination, in order to hone their abilities, they should all be sent down to the grassroots level. The civil servants should start from the county magistrate, assisting the magistrate in managing county affairs, and the military attache should start from the inspection level. , be promoted according to their merits!”
"In addition to the part of their daily responsibilities that must be fulfilled, the staff should set additional goals for them and conduct regular assessments. If they fail the assessment, there will be penalties, and if they complete the goals, there will be rewards."
"An assessment is held once every six months. If he fails the assessment three times, he will be removed from his official position. In this way, we can also minimize the occurrence of shirk and delay in handling problems!"
After hearing what Yan Shifan said, Jiajing suddenly understood. In the final analysis, Yan Shifan's words can be summarized in three words.
"The test method (note: limited to clans and nobles)."
Seeing this situation, Yan Song's face was full of worry. He was worried that the method proposed by Yan Shifan for the clan and nobles would eventually be applied to them.
Yan Song originally thought that after hearing the measures proposed by Yan Shifan, Jiajing would be impatient to apply them to all bureaucrats. Just when he was about to give advice, Jiajing's voice rang in everyone's ears.
"Well, Yan Shifan, you did a good job on this matter, I am very pleased!"
"When the time comes, let's do it according to the method you said!"
When Yan Shifan heard this, a look of panic suddenly appeared on his face, and he subconsciously humbled himself.
"No, all of this should be attributed to His Majesty's wise leadership. The minister just made some small suggestions!"
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, there was a hint of pride in the corner of his mouth that the conspiracy had succeeded. In his opinion, Jiajing had not understood the profound meaning. No matter what happens next, the civil servants will firmly take the initiative!
Zhang Juzheng on the side was far less calm than he seemed on the surface. As early as when Yan Shifan mentioned that he would conduct assessments on those clans and nobles, Zhang Juzheng was keenly aware that if this method was used to monitor hundreds of people, If it is officially launched and promoted nationwide, it will definitely have excellent results!
In order to keep the black gauze hat on their heads, officials will definitely try every means to make their political achievements look good. In this way, those officials who eat nothing but feed the common people can be eliminated from the official ranks of the Ming Dynasty!
From this, we can achieve the purpose of clarifying officialdom, reducing unjust imprisonment, and strengthening the central government's control over local governments. If there were not so many corrupt officials, the lives of ordinary people would be easier!
Zhang Juzheng had an inexplicable confidence in Jiajing, because he knew that the emperor must have seen the feasibility of extending this measure to all officials!
Just as he was hoping in his heart that Jiajing would speak and extend this measure to all officials, Jiajing made no further moves.
"What do you mean by your majesty? Why not take this opportunity to promote this initiative to the whole country?"
Zhang Juzheng glanced at Jiajing calmly and thought in his heart.
(End of chapter)
