The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 47 Who is more crazy

Wanli returned to Beijing.

This time he brought back all the Jinyiwei and the imperial guards, and Queen Wang also came back with them.

Moreover, they also moved back into the newly renovated Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace.

This seems to mean that the weather is no longer hot, so he doesn't need to stay in the summer resort anymore and can come back to concentrate on handling state affairs.

Sure enough, soon after he returned, he ordered someone to convey his oral instructions and hold a court meeting early the next morning.

When Zhang Siwei and his gang heard the news, they couldn't help but feel a pang of fear in their hearts.

What is wrong with the little emperor?
This guy rarely holds court meetings, but it seems that every time he holds a court meeting, it is not a good thing for them.

The next morning, at about 1 a.m., when it was just getting light, Wanli climbed the steps in front of the Huangji Hall to a roar of applause and sat on the dragon throne.

This time he didn't have a seizure.

He directly asked all civil and military officials to stand without formalities, and then looked at the ceremonial officer of the Honglu Temple beside the steps.

The ceremonial officer of the Honglu Temple quickly said in a loud voice: "There are times to report, otherwise leave the court."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cabinet's chief minister, Zhang Siwei, immediately stepped out of the train, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Wanli said directly with a blank expression: "Speak."

Zhang Siwei immediately launched into a torrent of speech: "Mr. Zhang, the Minister of State who served as the late Emperor's retainer of the throne, devoted all his energy to assisting the country during a time of uncertainty and uncertainty. He was the only one who, without any partisanship, guided the government and promoted officials to the highest positions in the government. He repeatedly reviewed and established laws without laxity or slackness. He was knowledgeable about matters of every magnitude and devoted his life to the safety of the country without hesitation. Over the years, he has made great achievements, and his modesty and humility have not wavered. He has maintained a stable and harmonious society. He has fought on the frontier without taking credit for his achievements. He has benefited the whole nation and the people.

Prime Minister Zhang has assisted in the administration for ten years, and the four seas have been peaceful and the four barbarians have submitted to him. His contribution is extremely great. Since the establishment of the performance appraisal system, the policies that had been neglected for decades have gradually been corrected. Today, the administration is clean and honest, and all officials are diligent, all thanks to Prime Minister Zhang's implementation of the performance appraisal system.

"I believe that, although Prime Minister Zhang has unfortunately passed away, the performance appraisal system should still be vigorously promoted. The Ministry of Personnel and the Supervisory Office should conduct a comprehensive performance appraisal of officials at all levels at the end of the year in accordance with the performance appraisal system to encourage and promote it."

This guy actually boasted about Zhang Juzheng's achievements and the benefits of the "Kaocheng Law", and seemed to be intending to inherit Zhang Juzheng's mantle and vigorously promote reforms.

If you didn't know that this guy was an old bastard, you would really think he was Zhang Juzheng's right-hand man.

Even after Zhang Juzheng died, he still vigorously promoted the reform. What a lackey he was.

This guy actually wanted to use the "Kaocheng Law" to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court!

Humph, you old bitch, who are you trying to fool?

Wanli nodded with feigned satisfaction and said, "Well, what you said, Lord Zhang, is absolutely right. Our teacher has made great contributions and should be honored with the title of Marquis of Jiangling. What do you think, Lord Zhang?"

I think there's something wrong with you!
I'm afraid you didn't understand what I was saying?

I told you about implementing the "Performance Evaluation System", and you said something about posthumously conferring the title of Marquis of Jiangling on Zhang Juzheng?
Zhang Siwei almost choked to death when he heard this.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then pretended to sigh slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial Ming Dynasty's ancestral precepts prohibit the conferment of nobility without military merit. This humble official has no other choice. You see, should we continue to vigorously promote this performance evaluation system?"

This time he didn't bother with literary tricks and just asked directly.

Wanli didn't pretend he didn't understand. He pretended to understand and nodded repeatedly, saying, "The law established by our teacher must be vigorously implemented."

real or fake?

Do you agree now?

Zhang Siwei was stunned when he heard this.

He thought the little emperor was going to rebel again and was deliberately going against him.

He had thought of a countermeasure for this a long time ago. If Wanli agreed to implement the "Kaocheng Law", he would take the opportunity to purge the court and seize power. If Wanli disagreed to implement the "Kaocheng Law", he would abolish it!
Anyway, no matter whether Wanli agreed to implement the "Kaocheng Law" or not, he could guide the matter in a direction that was beneficial to him.

He originally thought that the young emperor would strongly oppose the implementation of the "Kaocheng Law" in order to go against him and to preserve Zhang Juzheng's old party.

Who would have thought that the little emperor would agree without even thinking about it.

He was stunned for a moment, then he quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

It was good that the young emperor agreed, so he took the opportunity to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party in the court.

He thought that was the end of the matter and that it was time for the Minister of Personnel, Wu Dui, to take the stage. But just as he was about to leave, Wanli suddenly asked, "Lord Zhang, your teacher established not only the 'Performance Evaluation Law' but also the 'Land Surveying Regulations'. Since the 'Performance Evaluation Law' is to be vigorously promoted, shouldn't the 'Land Surveying Regulations' also be vigorously promoted?"

You are pretending to be crazy about reforms, right?
Come on, let’s see who is crazier.

You are playing tricks on me, and I am playing real games with you. The "Land Surveying and Land Surveying Regulations" are also being implemented crazily!

Zhang Siwei froze when he heard this.

He really didn't expect that the little emperor would suddenly mention the "Land Survey Regulations".

What to do now?
If it was the "Single Whip Law", it would be easy to deal with, because the "Single Whip Law" has loopholes, and they had already figured them out.

The "Land Surveying and Land Surveying Regulations" cannot be vigorously implemented.

Most of the officials he won over were profit-driven, and these officials were also the ones who loved to buy land.

Moreover, the three major families in Puzhou own a lot of land, and they have the final say on the price of grain in Shanxi.

If the Land Surveying and Land Surveying Ordinance is vigorously implemented, how will they explain the large amount of land they have?

His eyes rolled around for a while, but he still said with a stiff upper lip: "Your Majesty, vigorously implementing the 'Performance Evaluation Law' requires a large number of officials, and vigorously implementing the 'Land Surveying Regulations' also requires a large number of officials.

There aren't that many officials in the imperial court. We can't do these two things at the same time. How about we first vigorously implement the "Performance Evaluation Law" and then vigorously implement the "Land Surveying Regulations"?

You just want to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party under the pretext of implementing the "Performance Evaluation System".

Once you have finished the cleansing, you will have the final say in the court.

By then, no one will listen to me, so it would be strange if you would still implement the "Land Surveying and Land Surveying Regulations".

Do you think I'm stupid? You promote whatever is beneficial to you, and you promote it in any way that benefits you. Are you dreaming?
Wanli pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Why do we have to vigorously implement the "Performance Evaluation Law" first? You always say that there are not enough officials in the court. If we vigorously implement the "Performance Evaluation Law", won't we have to remove a number of officials? Wouldn't that make the number of officials even smaller?"

Or we should vigorously promote the Land Surveying Ordinance first. The Land Surveying Ordinance will not lay off officials, and everything will be fine once the land surveying is completed."

This little emperor is really hard to fool.

Zhang Siwei thought about it anxiously and then coaxed him, "Your Majesty's 'Performance Evaluation Law' does not lay off officials. It removes officials with unsatisfactory performance and replaces them with suitable officials. This way, there will be no shortage of officials.

Moreover, the implementation of the "Evaluation Law" is relatively quick, while the implementation of the "Land Surveying Regulations" takes too long. I think it is better to vigorously implement the "Evaluation Law" first, and then vigorously implement the "Land Surveying Regulations."

You want to deceive me, right?
Wanli asked directly, "How long will it take to implement the 'Performance Evaluation Law', and how long will it take to implement the 'Measurement Regulations'?"

Is the little emperor going to be fooled?
Zhang Siwei said carefully, "The implementation of the 'Performance Evaluation Law' will only take the last three months of the year at most, while the implementation of the 'Land Surveying Regulations' will take at least a year."

You think I don't know what you are thinking?
Upon hearing this, Wanli pretended to ponder and said, "How about this? Let's implement it together. Doesn't the performance appraisal system assess political performance? Next year, the focus of the performance appraisal for all local officials will be to survey the land. Those who survey well will be promoted and rewarded, and those who don't will be dismissed and investigated."

Okay, in these three months I will get rid of all of Zhang Juzheng’s old party members for you, and then we’ll see who will still listen to you.

Zhang Siwei bowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I will take my leave."

After saying that, he returned to the train.

Minister of Personnel Wu Dui coughed immediately, quickly stepped out of the formation, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Wanli said expressionlessly again: "Speak."

Minister of Personnel Wu Dui immediately announced in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the six ministries and seven officials have been evaluated. Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan and Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo are too old to serve, and Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu's performance is unsatisfactory. All three need to be replaced."

You want to play crazy cleaning with me, right?

Come on, let’s see who is crazier.

Wanli feigned confusion and asked, "Are Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan and Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo too old to serve in government? How old are they?"

The Minister of Personnel, Wu Dui, said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, they are all sixty-one years old. Common people are usually buried at forty or fifty."

Humph, are you playing double standards with me?
I'm going to play a big game with you!
Wanli feigned confusion and said, "Sixty-one is considered too old to hold an official position? Chen Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Supervisory Council, is already sixty-three, isn't he? And Yang Wei, the Minister of Works, seems to be sixty-seven. Shouldn't they be replaced first?"

what?
Are you crazy, kid?
You can change five of the six ministries and seven officials in a moment!

(End of this chapter)