Prime Minister

Chapter 1283 Test Success

Chapter 1283 Test Success

After listening to Zhang Yue's words, the six ministers each had their own thoughts.

After the reform, the power of the court was redistributed. For every official, the most important thing they care about is promotion.

To describe it accurately, it means sitting on this hill and looking at that hill.

If I don't move and others sit on the hill in front of me, I will feel an inexplicable feeling in my heart.

This time, among the six ministers of ministries, Zhang Yue and his faction took over three at once. How could the officials in and out of the court not have any thoughts?

But promotion in official position does not come easily.

One is that you have to know how to pay homage to the mountain masters, and the other is that you have to find good opportunities from every move of the court.

For so many years.

Zhang Yue's words count. The promises Zhang Yue made to you, or the big promises he made to me, can be fulfilled later.

If you fail again and again, the officials below will lose heart and will not take the initiative to stick to you and depend on you.

Everyone in the court knows that Zhang Yue is Ma Liang with the magic brush, and the pie you draw is the real pie.

Never write a blank check.

Zhang Yue raised two questions. One is that the reform is a reform, but it does not seem to have improved administrative efficiency at present. The other is the incident of the Liao Kingdom breaking through the Yanmen Pass.

Zhang Yue discussed these two things together.

Han Zhongyan said, "Prime Minister, the Ministry of War and the Privy Council are both in charge of military affairs. Why do we need to mix the old systems of the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty? It would be better to abolish the Privy Council and give the power to the Ministry of War."

"Otherwise, how can we resist the Liao Kingdom once it comes?"

Zhang Yue glanced at Han Zhongyan. A few days ago, Lu Gongzhu represented the Privy Council to oppose the continued use of troops against the Dangxiang.

This caused dissatisfaction on the other side, and he immediately wanted to attack.

In fact, before the reform, officials had suggested to the emperor that the Privy Council should be abolished, but the emperor directly stated that their ancestors set up the Privy Council because they did not want the prime minister to be in charge of military affairs.

While he was speaking, the two prime ministers Zhang Yue and Wang Gui listened in silence.

Therefore, we still follow the old system. For major military matters, the heads of the three ministries and the Privy Council will discuss and obtain orders together, while minor matters will still be handled by the Privy Council.

The Ministry of War was only responsible for the training of local soldiers, the registration of the garrison troops, and spying on military intelligence. After the establishment of the six ministers, Han Zhongyan had a high position but little power, and the Minister of War was the least prominent of the six ministers.

After Han Zhongyan finished speaking, several officials expressed their support for Zhang Yue's intention to merge the Privy Council into the Ministry of War, as if to say, "It's not too much for you, Brigade Commander, to be assigned a cavalry division."

However, Zhang Yue also understood that efficiency and checks and balances are inherently contradictory.

Seeing that Zhang Yue did not express his opinion, Han Zhongyan said, "If it doesn't work, major matters can be referred to the Privy Council, and minor matters can be referred to the Ministry of War."

Zhang Yue asked, "I didn't call you here today to discuss these things. Do you have any other plans?"

Han Zhongyan is now there to make jokes. In such a meeting, one person sets the stage and several people perform, so that the real purpose does not seem so prominent and conspicuous.

Wang Anli said, "Prime Minister, I have a humble opinion."

"When Duke Huan of Qi saw the ruins of the Guo family, he asked why it came to this. Others replied that it was because he liked good people and hated bad people (respecting good and hating evil)."

"Duke Huan of Qi asked, isn't this the foundation of life? Why is it so?"

"The other party replied that it was because of this that the good could not be used and the evil could not be eliminated (the good people could not be promoted and the bad people could not be eliminated), and finally both the good and the bad people hated him, so the Guo family was destroyed in the end."

"It has been half a year since the court was restructured. The system of three provinces and six ministries has been restored. For example, the Eastern Court of Judicial Examination and the Western Court of Judicial Examination, the Liunei Quan, and the Three Class Courts have all been merged into the current Ministry of Personnel. The Three Departments, the Sinong Temple, and the former Ministry of Revenue have been merged into the current Ministry of Revenue."

"The ministers and assistant ministers of each ministry are in charge of the affairs of the ministry, and the deputy ministers and assistant ministers are in charge of the affairs of the court. In addition, there are nine temples and five prisons. But why are things still slow? It's because the principles of reward and punishment are not enough. Good deeds cannot be rewarded, and evil deeds cannot be punished."

After Zhang Yue finished speaking, Li Qingchen, the Minister of Personnel, said, "Prime Minister, the issue of rewards and punishments is of course good, but the reform has just been finalized, and it is not easy to make major changes!"

"Now that people are calm, the officials below need to proceed step by step so that they can understand the intentions of the great gentlemen. We can only do one thing at a time. For now, it is enough to make the Tanguts in the west surrender and resist the Khitan in the north for a while."

As the Minister of Personnel, Li Qingchen is undoubtedly the head of the six ministers and has great say.

As soon as Li Qingchen finished speaking, Huang Lu said, "Prime Minister, Your Majesty is pleased that Chengzhou established officials according to their duties and set salaries according to their ranks. There are detailed lists for all positions, big or small, and they are divided into different positions and subordinates. The regulations for the affairs have been followed by two generations, and they are well prepared and prosperous."

"But after the reform, the various government offices are still passing the buck to each other and evading the issue. Is this in line with your majesty's intention?"

Chen Mu also said: "Prime Minister, now the affairs of the country are under the three provinces and scattered among the six ministries, so it is just a matter of accountability. However, although the overall situation is good, the measures and laws are not complete."

"In the past six months, the edicts issued by provincial officials have become nothing but empty words when they reach the local areas. When the hundreds of departments have made their requests, they have either been dealt with with empty documents or have been delayed for years without any follow-up."

"Such officials are numerous and waste salaries. They are in fact a body but useless."

After hearing this, Zhang Yue took a sip of tea and sorted out his thoughts.

In the six months since the restructuring, all government offices, big and small, have changed their names and seem to have been completely renewed, but the procedures remain the same.

The central government and local governments just dealt with each other in a perfunctory manner, and the practical things that each side asked the other to do became a game of words on paper, with the upper level perfunctory to the lower level, and the lower level also fooling the upper level.

That's why Zhang Yue was so furious that he wanted to rule the country by "righteousness" and he had to reorganize and replace the existing officials.

Zhang Yue said: "You have all seen how the reform has gone on for half a year. The people below are still ineffective in their duties!"

"To be honest, I am not afraid of dismissing half of the officials in the country and recruiting the other half! But how many people and families will cry if this happens?"

"However, if you want to govern the country, you must first govern the officials. What should you do?"

Cai Que took a look. Everyone else thought Zhang Yue was just making false threats. After all, to really lay off half of the officials was something that Fan Wencheng would never have dared to think of when he was cutting the three redundant things. Only Cai Que knew that Zhang Yue really had a plan to reorganize and replace the current officials.

This is also Zhang Yue's usual method, making preparations for both situations at the same time. If you want to threaten others, you must have real stuff there.

So Cai Que was not sure which one was Zhang Yue’s original intention.

Cai Que said, "Prime Minister, there is one thing I don't understand. Your Majesty originally intended that the three provinces should be equally governed, but now all important matters are in the hands of the Secretariat. Why is that?"

Zhang Yue said: "Documents are exchanged between the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel, so such an important matter is slow and difficult to resolve."

"So I have discussed with Prime Minister Wang that if it is a small matter, it can be recorded and drawn without going through the Imperial Censorate."

"I see." Cai Que didn't say anything else. If he continued, the two of them would have a falling out.

Zhang Yue saw Cai Que like this, then turned his head away and said, "You Cheng just said that the way of reward and punishment can be discussed again!"

Wang Anli, the Right Prime Minister, continued, "Prime Minister, I think the most urgent thing for today is to get rid of useless empty words and seek practical results."

"During the reigns of Yao and Shun, the imperial court inspected the area every five years. During the Han Dynasty, there were matters that had to be reported to the emperor. Now, we must set a time limit for each department and office to examine the matter and hold people accountable for the matter!"

Li Qingchen objected: "Prime Minister, the key to governing a country is perseverance."

"Although the method of examination and accountability is good, if the officials below are not convinced and cannot do their job, it will be difficult to continue."

Wang Anli said: "Prime Minister, the best way to govern the world is to rule by law. How can we achieve this without a law to hold people accountable for their deeds?"

Li Qingchen responded pointedly: "Prime Minister, the rule of the world depends on people, not laws. These people ignore the laws and rely on the heart to rule. Yao cannot correct the country. This is close to the fallacy of the Legalists."

Huang Lu said: "Prime Minister, in the past, we only tested people, not things. We only tested the officials' moral character, but not their diligence in doing things."

"The Ministry of Revenue sent a letter to a certain state, but nothing happened for three months. It was not until the next letter was sent that the state replied to the previous letter, saying that it was delayed on the way. The officials are so negligent!"

"This makes officials all over the country feel comfortable and live in peace in the officialdom. Now we have to avoid empty words and just deal with the writing."

Zhang Yue listened to Huang Lu and others' discussion and thought a lot.

Wang Anli said: "Prime Minister, many officials below have made suggestions and proposals, many of which are insightful, but when they reach the officials, they all give a 'yes'."

"Forgive me for my ignorance. I don't know what the word 'can' means. Should we do it? Should we do it? The last word 'can' is still shelved. No one is held accountable for its results or effectiveness. In the end, no matter how good the proposal is, it becomes a piece of empty paper."

"Even if the imperial court issued a clear decree, the lower-level officials still did not obey. Although the imperial court repeatedly taught them earnestly, the lower-level officials always pretended to be obedient, but they turned around and threw it aside."

Zhang Yue also found it funny when he heard it.

Reform is like this. The enemy you are fighting against does not seem to be just one or two people.

But it seems like you are fighting with the air every day.

The officials he personally appointed and promoted over the years are relatively better, but what about those who are not from his own faction?

In fact, the officials who did not obey also had their own reasons. For example, capable people like Su refused the request of Huaye to cross the river three times. No one else would dare to do this, but in the end they respected Su's request.

Such opposition is permissible because it shows respect for ability.

But the problem with the Song Dynasty is that people like it have too little execution ability.

Therefore, after the reform was initially finalized, Zhang Yue resorted to the Ming Dynasty's "Kaocheng Law" as a powerful measure.

It’s like when you build a car. What you build first is the car, and the performance evaluation method is like the engine. It won’t work without the coordination of the internal and external parts.

Things should be done step by step, and meals should be eaten bite by bite.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yue said solemnly: "I think Wang Youcheng's idea is feasible. In the world, it is not difficult to make laws, but it is difficult to enforce them; it is not difficult to listen to advice, but it is difficult to make the advice effective!"

The officials below listened in awe.

“If you do not examine the end of a matter, or start something without repeatedly reflecting on it, even if you have a wise ruler and wise ministers, you will not be able to achieve results!”

"How can we make sure that what we say is true and what we do is effective? I think this method is feasible!"

……

What Zhang Yue said in the hall that day was copied into the court newspaper.

Wang Anshi, who was retiring in Zhongshan, was sitting next to a donkey and slowly flipping through the books.

When he read 'In the affairs of the world, it is not difficult to make laws, but it is difficult to enforce the laws; it is not difficult to listen to words, but it is difficult to make the words effective! '

Wang Anshi could not help but shudder and said to himself, "This is a very good way to evaluate performance!"

"Why didn't I think of it at the beginning!"

After saying this, Wang Anshi's regret was evident in his words.