After finishing talking about running the newspaper, Zhu Yijun picked up another memorial from the table and said: "This is a memorial that Xu Zhenming of Shanyin County heard about the imperial court's plan to overhaul water conservancy, so he took the initiative to go to Nanjing to see Hai Rui, and passed him on to me. , old gentleman, take a look."
The names and resumes of officials above seventh rank in the world are all in Zhang Juzheng's heart. While receiving the memorial, he said: "I know him. He was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing's reign. He is a man who can do practical things. I also heard that he always wanted to plant rice in the north. I originally wanted to recommend him this year to be appointed to the engineering department. middle."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "He can't wait any longer. The matter of growing rice in the north has become his heartache. It just so happens that because of the sale of the salt farm, I have harvested a lot of land in the capital, but I might as well let him try it."
Zhang Juzheng took the memorial, without reading it, and said to the emperor: "The emperor has established a system of direct reporting with silver seals. Some political affairs of important ministers above the governor level and imperial envoys in the world are reported directly without going through the general affairs department. The cabinet is not allowed to foresee it and give the right to the right person in the matter." This is quite annoying. I think it is better for the Emperor to instruct them to report government affairs through formal memorials when approving the red ones - if there are details that are inconvenient to disclose, then use direct reports."
Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement and said with a smile: "What the old gentleman said is that this system is meant to be used by people to collect their favors. I have already reprimanded a few who couldn't understand. However, Xu Zhenming had a memorial in the sixth year of Longqing, but he did not Obtaining approval from the court - this time it's not his and Hai Rui's fault. It's not easy for this person to win Hai Rui's favor." After saying this, he burst into laughter.
Zhang Ju felt very comfortable after hearing the emperor's promise. He quickly opened Xu Zhenming's memorial and read it. He saw that the main content of what he wrote was that water transportation was wasteful, and the lack of water conservancy in the north led to insufficient grain production. It was a pity. . It was suggested that the imperial court could overhaul water conservancy projects and reclaim farmland in the north to solve the food problem in the north.
Xu Zhenming also said in the memorial that when he came to the capital for the Spring Festival in the fifth year of Longqing, he had already inspected the river waters near the capital and believed that tens of thousands of acres of rice fields could be cultivated to alleviate the capital's food demand.
Zhang Juzheng was greatly surprised after seeing it and said: "This is a capable minister. Congratulations to the emperor for having a capable minister."
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this and said: "Xu Zhenming is clearly a talented person who wants to do things. Although there are some rice fields in the capital's Fulingyan and Lugou areas, there are too few. If Xu Zhenming can succeed, the cost of water transportation can also be saved. Quite a few.”
Zhang Juzheng nodded in agreement, and the two of them dispersed and discussed the planting of corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other new crops. Finally, it was agreed to appoint Xu Zhenming as the censor of the Gyeonggi Province, responsible for the reclamation of farmland and the promotion of new crops.
After talking about Xu Zhenming, Zhang Juzheng took the memorial that Hai Rui forwarded to him and asked Zhu Yijun: "Hai Rui, the special imperial envoy, will come back to deliver the order after the imperial court has finished dealing with the various families in the south of the Yangtze River. What is the emperor's next plan?" he?"
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun had a headache and couldn't help but ponder. He frowned and looked at Zhang Juzheng, who happened to be peeking at his face at this time. The two of them met each other's eyes and started laughing.
Zhu Yijun hadn't laughed heartily for a long time, but now he was so relaxed that he actually burst into tears. After he stopped laughing, he said to Zhang Juzheng: "I originally thought of setting up roving inspectors across the country to clean up the backlog of cases and unjust imprisonments in various places. - Since the responsibilities of the foreign missions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are somewhat overlapping, I have been hesitating. I haven't discussed it with the old gentleman. How about adding Hai Rui Zuodu as censor to settle this matter?"
Zhang Juzheng was shaken after hearing this. He asked: "This...this is on the same level as the Minister of Dali Temple. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "I want to establish a mobile final adjudication system. In this civil litigation, rich people can go to the government. Only those who are particularly wronged or very rich can come to Beijing to file a lawsuit, but they suffer a lot because they have no money. It's powerful. It's better to let Hai Rui lead the foreign missions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to build a mobile Dali Temple. So that those who are helpless can have a place to reason, and also break the stubborn problem of local officials protecting each other. Hmm, I don't know. Can his body hold up?"
Zhang Juzheng thought for a while, then laughed and said: "This old Lianpo can still eat a bucket of rice, your Majesty, don't worry!"
...
Zhang Siwei finally completed the "Records of Emperor Shizong" in April. As usual, the imperial court awarded him a reward and the title of Minister of Rites. Zhang Juzheng then presented a memorial and suggested that the emperor increase the number of cabinet members.
After being recommended by the court, Zhang Siwei finally realized his dream of entering the court. Before he could sit down, he took over the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works that Wang Guowei was in charge of, and became very busy.
Because Zhang Siwei regarded Wang Guoguang as a competitor, he was several times more rigorous and hardworking than Wang Guoguang, a pervert, and the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works were tormented to death - this was exactly what Zhu Yijun liked to see.
This time the cabinet was re-ranked. Zhang Juzheng was promoted to the Grand Bachelor of the Intermediate Hall and climbed to the top of the cabinet ministers for his work in revising the "Records of King Sejong"; Lu Tiaoyang was promoted to the Grand Bachelor of the Jianji Hall; Wang Guoguang was promoted to the Grand Bachelor of the Wenyuan Pavilion. Level one. Zhang Siwei, a newbie, is a bachelor of Dongge University.
With the completion of spring plowing, the "Whole Basin River Control and Dredging" project, the primary project of Wanli Three Years, has officially started.
Zhang Juzheng was appointed by the emperor as the "Prime Minister of River Control", responsible for coordinating the national water control work; Wang Guangguang and Pan Jixun were appointed as "Associate Ministers of River Control", responsible for assisting Zhang Juzheng.
Since the start of the salt policy reform last year, the title of "Prime Minister" has appeared in the imperial court for the first time, and the first "Salt Policy Prime Minister" is Wang Guoguang. Wang Guoguang was notorious for a long time, but with the completion of the salt policy reform, the title of Prime Minister was immediately cancelled.
This year, nationwide water control began, and Zhu Yijun established the "Prime Minister for River Control", with Zhang Juzheng assuming this position. The entire court was kept in the dark, and no objection was raised.
Zhang Juzheng knew what was going on. Seeing that the emperor was doing things openly and his overtime hours were extended again, his waist was bent a little from exhaustion.
Pan Jixun, who had the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry before he was dismissed, was reinstated as the Left Minister of the Ministry of Industry and appointed as the Associate Minister of River Control, responsible for the specific tasks of water control.
Wang Guoguang was responsible for coordinating the division of labor among the various ministries of the imperial court and across regions and provinces, while Zhang Juzheng took overall responsibility for the flood control work.
In order to ensure implementation, Zhu Yijun also issued an order to mobilize elites from various ministries and set up a special class for water control. The special class further deepened Zhang Juzheng's examination method, listed various water control indicators to be completed, arranged the construction period backwards, first decomposed the tasks to ministries and provinces, then decomposed them layer by layer, and finally fell to individual officials.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple also assigned specialized officials to join the special flood control class, and set up ten inspection teams to conduct assessments at all levels with construction schedules, task lists, and responsibility lists.
Since Taizu, the civil and military officials of the imperial court had never seen such a formation, and this time it was an eye-opener. Even if Kaiji's second ancestor went east and west to conquer such important military matters, the court at that time would only set up dedicated ministers for certain transfer matters. The emperor did not interfere with how the dedicated ministers managed their subordinates. As long as they completed their tasks, they would be rewarded when the time comes.
Now seeing the emperor and Zhang Juzheng playing such tricks on the examination method, all civil and military officials are thinking to themselves that they were too naive before - is it not too late for Yu Maoxue, a fool like me, to give advice now?
Unfortunately, with Zhang Siwei joining the cabinet, Yu Maoxue fell ill and died in prison, and could no longer speak out. Others have seen this ready-made example in the matter, and the emperor has already spoken in advance, who dares to speak out about the test? ——They failed the test.
Zhu Yijun led the establishment of the special class and taught Zhang Juzheng a lesson. He originally thought that the examination method he designed was already very good and that it was also harsh on officials.
Unexpectedly, the emperor actually introduced the old and introduced the new, and tapped the potential of the examination method to this extent. Compared with the emperor, the examination method he introduced was a bit loose, and it was very good for officials. After thinking about it like this, Zhang Juzheng was almost moved by himself.
This kind of political thinking would never be thought of except by veteran officials who have been immersed in officialdom for many years. Is this emperor a sage and wise man, or is there someone capable around him? Zhang Juzheng couldn't observe it and didn't bother to guess. Anyway, this method is easy to use.
After the introduction of this enhanced version of the examination law, officials at all levels who took on the task also became enlightened. In addition to asking his wife to make a small figure out of cloth, write Zhang Juzheng's name on it and prick it with a needle every day, everyone followed the same example and implemented it layer by layer.
In order to encourage officials at all levels to perform their duties diligently, the court was not blindly harsh. After the special class was established, a reward and punishment system was established. The penalties are no different from those set by the imperial court in previous assessments. This reward system is very humane:
Anyone who performs well in the water control project will be immediately promoted to one level or above. If he or she makes a significant contribution to the entire project, in addition to regular honors such as promotion and service, the cash reward will be increased tenfold, with a maximum limit of ten thousand taels;
Since most officials wear two hats during the flood control process, their workload is almost doubled. As a result, the imperial court issued regulations that during the implementation of the project, the performance evaluation of water control officials in their respective jobs would still be excellent, which was called "double excellence." The imperial court gave him a single name for his descendants, and his name could be given at will. Even if all of your descendants are daughters, it’s no problem. Your relatives and the court will also admit it.
The introduction of this reward and punishment system caused a sensation among officials all over the world. Officials who no longer have a sense of responsibility have no intention of slacking off, their eyes are red, and they have to do something famous.
The entire empire, due to the establishment of a special class for water control and the implementation of the enhanced test method, was finally like a long-rusty machine. After being injected with lubricating oil made of real gold and silver, the inertia was worn away amidst the rattling. The iron rusted, and it sped up.
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