I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 91 I, Shen Ziheng, stabbed my mentor in the back just to get attention?
July 23rd, early morning.

Huangji Gate is where the court meetings are held every day.

Shen Nian, as a Hanlin editor, stood in a corner behind the officials.

Just as the official on duty at the Ministry of Public Administration had finished reading the memorial and the regular court was about to end, Shen Nian strode out.

"Your Majesty, Hanlin Academy Editor Shen Nian has a report to make!"

Shen Nian held the memorial in both hands and walked quickly to the middle position of the Huangji Sect.

The officials all looked at Shen Nian with confusion.

According to convention, officials should submit memorials to the Ministry of Communications first, and then they should be drafted by the cabinet and approved by the emperor.

Memorials often read out to the emperor.

Some of them have been processed and need to be made known to all officials; some of them are controversial and need to be resolved through public discussion at the court meeting.

This is the characteristic of the paperwork in the Ming Dynasty court.

There were cases like Shen Nian who submitted memorials directly to the court, but they were mostly impeachment memorials or urgent memorials from the censors.

Generally speaking, Hanlin officials would not submit memorials in this way.

"Editor Shen, what's the matter?" asked the young Wanli.

at the same time.

A young eunuch took Shen Nian's memorial and quickly presented it to the imperial desk of the young Wanli.

Shen Nian waited for the young Wanli to open the memorial and could not help but speak loudly, "Your Majesty, three days ago, a brother and sister from Gong County, Henan Prefecture, complained to me about the crimes of the Kaocheng Law. Because they had a prejudice against Lord Zhang, I chose to submit the memorial directly during the regular court session."

Shen Nian slowed down and raised his voice.

"The brother and sister claim that due to the performance evaluation system, local officials are using any means necessary to achieve political achievements, which has led to the people's miserable lives and the proliferation of exiles and criminals!"

"Zhou Huai, the magistrate of Gong County in Henan Prefecture, ordered the two siblings' father, Liang Huaian, the county magistrate, to collect land taxes from the people a year in advance. Liang Huaian refused to comply and was targeted by his superiors. He died suddenly from overwork while handling paperwork and account books. His wife also died of grief three days later."

"Furthermore, Gong County Magistrate Zhou Huai ordered the county clerks to gather local ruffians to forcibly collect taxes, tear down houses, rob people of their property, and even force people to borrow money. This is extremely evil! Attached to my memorial is a list of Gong County residents who were forced to pay taxes early, as well as a list of Gong County ruffians who maliciously collected taxes. Both are verifiable!"

……

"Your Majesty, I believe this is not an isolated case. Such incidents must occur in every part of our Ming Dynasty."

"In addition to collecting taxes in advance and visiting people to collect them, some officials, in order to meet performance evaluations, over-collected taxes, some clerks extorted the people under the pretext of collecting taxes and investigating cases, and some even falsified tax books, concealed their land holdings, and enriched themselves..."

Shen Nian told all the harms that the examination system had caused to the people in one breath.

"I believe that the performance evaluation system has been misinterpreted and distorted by some local officials, causing great harm to the people. We should gather our wisdom and think about how to improve it."

……

After Shen Nian finished speaking, the officials all looked at him in surprise.

Someone's face clearly said: He is crazy!
Since the incident with Inspector Liu Tai, no official from the capital to the localities dared to speak out publicly against the performance appraisal system.

To question the performance evaluation system is to question Zhang Juzheng and the national policy of the Ming Dynasty.

this moment.

The officials in the court were not very interested in the sudden death of the Gong County magistrate from overwork, the county government's early tax collection and violent tax collection.

It's just a small matter in one county and it doesn't matter at all.

In the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, people died accidentally every day, and things more serious than this happened every day.

The officials were surprised by Shen Nian's actions today.

Everyone knows that Shen Nian is Zhang Juzheng's favorite disciple.

When he heard about such things that were detrimental to the performance evaluation system, the correct approach should have been to report it privately to Zhang Juzheng and then resolve it privately.

However, Shen Nian chose to denounce the many drawbacks of the performance evaluation system in the regular court session. Isn't this a slap in the face of Zhang Juzheng?

In the queue of officials.

Hanlin editor Shen Yikuan looked at Shen Nian and shook his head slightly.

"He's still too young! To show off, to get attention, he actually questioned the performance evaluation system in front of the regular court. Within a year, he will be exiled and become a nobody."

And this moment.

The censors standing behind the officials from the six ministries all curled their lips slightly, their eyes full of disdain.

It's clearly saying: You're a historian, yet you're doing the work of us censors. You really love to show off and are crazy about getting promoted!
Their disdain came from the fact that Shen Nian's memorial was really not worth mentioning.

Similar situations caused by the performance evaluation system are happening everywhere. Local officials and the people are fighting wits and courage, and there is no solution at all.

The censors knew it, the officials of the six ministries knew it, and the ministers of the cabinet knew it too.

However, we only know the problem but have no solution.

Yao Bin, the Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, was also a little confused. He felt that Shen Nian today was much more stupid than the Shen Nian who pulled the cart into the duty room of the Sixth Ministry that day.

But when he thought about it carefully, Shen Nian was only twenty-six years old, and he couldn't help but feel that it was normal.

Young officials never conceal their desire for fame and fortune, but when they are beaten to a pulp, they realize the importance of keeping in harmony with others.

this moment.

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard lightly, his face expressionless, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry to speak.

And this time.

Zhang Siwei, who likes to show his face recently, stood up.

"Editor Shen, since the implementation of the Kaocheng system in the first year of the Wanli reign, the results achieved have been witnessed by the entire court. The Kaocheng system is indeed a flawless jade."

"You're criticizing the performance evaluation system so harshly over such a trivial matter. It's sheer nonsense! Have you verified the people's words? Do you know how hard it is for local county officials to collect taxes? Do you know how scarce the county clerks are? Do you know that sometimes, when faced with unruly citizens, you have to find other ways to collect taxes? Do you know..."

Zhang Siwei currently strongly supports the performance evaluation system.

He obeyed Zhang Juzheng's orders unconditionally.

Shen Nian bowed slightly to Zhang Siwei, and then bowed slightly to the little Wanli.

"Your Majesty, Scholar Zhang just said that the performance evaluation system is flawed. I agree with this statement. I just mentioned these flaws. Since there are flaws, we should correct them, rather than let them stand!"

"Ha ha!"

At this moment, Shen Yikuan almost laughed out loud.

Above the regular court.

Shen Nian actually dared to seize on the loopholes in the cabinet elder's words to refute him. This seemed to be a show of strength, but in fact, he didn't want to do his job anymore, or even didn't want to live anymore.

Zhang Siwei didn't expect Shen Nian to dare to retort him. He snorted coldly and stopped talking.

On the throne.

Little Wanli also felt that Shen Nian's behavior was inappropriate and he was trying to show off.

But he thought about it again: Could it be that Mr. Shen is using this incident to express his feelings to me, that he is willing to distance himself from Yuan Fu and become my man?

"This is Mr. Shen showing his loyalty to me." Little Wanli suddenly understood.

Feng Bao once told him: The best way to consolidate the imperial power is to let the officials in the court fight each other and compete for power, and the emperor will sit on the mountain and watch the fight, so that this internal fighting will continue to tend to balance but cannot end. Once the officials work together, it will be difficult for the emperor to be in power.

Young Wanli knew very well that he would have to overcome the huge obstacle of Zhang Juzheng when he took power in the future, and he would especially need a minister with strong fighting ability like Shen Nian to assist him.

"Cough cough..."

The young Wanli coughed dryly and said, "Since there are flaws, then all the ministers should think carefully about how to solve these problems. I need ministers who constantly raise questions, but I need ministers who can also provide answers after raising questions."

The last half of the sentence was what Shen Nian taught to little Wanli.

"Prime Minister, do you have any other opinions?"

Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "I have no objection. If there are any flaws, we should do our utmost to find and correct them!"

Then, the regular court session ended.

……

Half an hour later.

Shen Nian walked alone on the corridor in front of Huangji Gate, feeling the contemptuous gazes of some officials around him, and felt very relaxed.

Today he criticized the performance evaluation system, and was suspected of "backstabbing Zhang Juzheng", which made him famous and even regarded as stupid. In addition, the young Wanli ordered the officials to discuss the issue together.

It's all according to plan.

He already had a plan in mind to resolve the conflict between officials' performance evaluation and the stability of people's livelihood.

However, this strategy could not come from Zhang Juzheng's mouth, and Zhang Juzheng had to be kept far away.

Next, he has a trick up his sleeve.

This is a back-up plan.

This will further despair those officials who regard the performance evaluation system as a bad law that "only lets the horse run but not eat grass."

The person who made this move will also be cursed by these officials with gnashing teeth.

Shen Nian was ready to be scolded, and wanted to drag little Wanli into it.

(End of this chapter)