The Little Lucky Girl

Although it was not possible to praise oneself, it was possible to praise others. Therefore, the ministers submitted memorials one after another, reporting all the officials with good reputations that they knew.

First, report those who are related to you, then report those who are in the same faction as you. Finally, when there is no other choice, remember some rumors you have heard and recommend a few famous people and hermits who may be of use to you in the future.

The emperor was stunned by the impassioned speeches. He looked at the eunuch next to him and asked, "How many people have you recommended in total?"

The young eunuch said cleverly, "I have been counting, and the gentlemen have mentioned a total of 158 officials. Congratulations, Your Majesty. These are all our Dayu's most trusted officials."

The emperor was finally relieved. "Then let all the nobles report their deeds and let the Censorate select them. I also want my loyal ministers of Dayu to be famous throughout the world."

This time, there was no need to guess what His Majesty was thinking; it was clearly laid out before his eyes. How could the ministers dare to slack off? They went home and began writing memorials quickly.

The first thing to do is naturally to sing praises of the emperor's wisdom and bravery, because only a wise ruler can have honest ministers, and everything depends on your majesty's blessing, and then introduce the recommended officials.

Since I wanted to give an award, I used a lot of flattering words when writing it. After I finished writing it, I couldn't help but invite a few relatives and friends to appreciate it, and then the news spread even more widely.

Finally, even the envoys from Qi and Liang heard about it, and came to congratulate Emperor Dayu, which made everyone in the court feel very proud. As a result, the emperor and his ministers have been in harmony and joy during their recent court sessions, and they are just waiting for the Censorate to rank them quickly.

The censors are in a miserable situation. There are more than 150 of them. Even if they work overtime, it is impossible for them to complete the review in a short time. What's more, people from other departments keep urging them.

The Chief Censor was so angry that he simply invited all the retired former censors to help.

The old men have been fighting with others all their lives and are now unemployed at home, inevitably feeling lonely and bored. When they see another opportunity to shine, they return to their posts in high spirits, and in the process improve the efficiency of the entire Censorate.

Among them was Mr. Yin, who had impeached President Pei.

Lord Yin was quite famous when he was the Censor, because he was rather harsh on people, even nitpicking. When President Pei invited him to the academy to assist the academic supervisor, he thought that if his students could pass Lord Yin's test, they would surely pass the test in the future and gain a foothold in the court.

Lord Yin finished reading the case files in his hand and threw them to the left. These were all rejected. As for the ones on the right that could pass, well, there was not a single one so far.

The Chief Censor was so annoyed that his teeth ached. He smiled and said, "What has been sent to you has been screened several times. Now that His Majesty attaches great importance to this matter, can you... raise your hand slightly?"

Elder Yin was not happy with this. "Do you still want these people who are seeking fame and reputation to live forever? It's ridiculous."

“That’s not bad, either.”

"Humph, I just did my duty as an official. How can I deserve such praise?"

The Chief Censor shook his head and said nothing more. He only quietly asked the clerk to reduce the number of case files assigned to Lord Yin.

The other old gentlemen were not so easy to talk to either, and they had already retired and no longer had to consider so many pros and cons; some sincerely wanted to use their remaining energy to select talents for Your Majesty, while others selfishly wanted to gain more reputation for themselves. In short, in the end, only eight lonely names were presented before the Emperor.

Everyone was stunned. There were 158 people, but only a small number was left for them.

Knowing that Emperor Dayu was going to reward his subjects today, the envoys from other countries who came to join in the fun joked, "This is a good number, and quite auspicious, hahaha."

The faces of the officials of Dayu all turned black, and they all looked at the Chief Censor in condemnation. The Chief Censor felt very bitter, as those old gentlemen were his predecessors and predecessors, but no one listened to him, and he could get ten counter-attacks for every one he said, and they were all right; what's more, he was the one who got the people back, so the Chief Censor had no choice but to swallow his anger.

But this is not entirely the fault of the Censorate, look at what kind of people you have recommended, the Chief Censor glared back, the old men were right to scold, a large number of those people should not have appeared on the list, if you really want to investigate, you are all responsible for negligence.

For example, the Chief Secretary of Luzhou, who claimed to be honest and upright in front of others, but secretly accepted bribes and lived a luxurious life in his villa. The amount of gold and silver confiscated this time was so huge that even these Beijing officials were stunned.

If such an official was rewarded, it would be a slap in the face of the entire court.

A joyous court meeting ended in a dull atmosphere.

The emperor returned to the imperial study with a gloomy face. Looking at the pile of memorials half a person high presented by the Censorate, he pointed at the table and asked the eunuch to read them to him.

As the emperor listened, he suddenly laughed. His laughter became louder and louder, and he even laughed to the point of crying. The eunuchs serving beside him were so frightened that they knelt on the ground in fear.

The emperor waved his hand and said, "It's none of your business." He asked the others to leave and left the eunuch Chang to stay with him and talk.

"Do you think I am being a little too hasty?"

Eunuch Chang sighed in his heart. No matter how much His Majesty disliked the late emperor, his character still inherited his ambition and impatience. Fortunately, His Majesty himself knew it clearly and was still willing to listen to advice.

He bowed and responded, "Some of these things are not formed in a short time, and it takes time to remove them. Your Majesty has been patient for so long, why not continue to be patient for a while? Then there will be less resistance when you implement it."

"You can treat this as an assessment. Although most of them failed, you still selected a few people who truly serve the people. I heard that when one of the people left office, the people followed him for dozens of miles and presented him with an umbrella."

The people below probably did not expect that without the usual cover-up methods, the screening under the name of commendation this time would have a better effect than the annual routine assessment. Perhaps that was why His Majesty laughed.

Thinking of the previous emperor's anger that caused blood to flow like a river, Eunuch Chang's heart tightened, "Your Majesty, why don't you write a letter to Lord Tao to discuss this matter? Lord Tao is now in the local area, so he can see some things more clearly."

The emperor listened and nodded, saying, "If I write a letter to ask the teacher..."

"Once Lord Tao knows about this, he will definitely discuss it with Lord Zong Lao. But if Your Majesty writes directly, I'm afraid Lord Zong Lao will continue to move and play hide-and-seek with you."

The emperor smiled and said, "Well, let's discuss this with the cabinet and Minister Tao first."

Half a month later, an imperial edict was issued to rectify the administration of officials, which left many people who were unaware of the situation confused. Wasn't it about rewarding people? How did it turn into holding people accountable?

Some people couldn't help but wonder, could it be that this was His Majesty's original intention?

Some people also thought of "The Biography of Bao Gong", as if this matter originated from this book.

Thinking of the author of the book, everyone took a deep breath. This wandering man from Sanjing was truly an extraordinary person. He could stir up a storm with just one book.

So who exactly is this Sanjing Sanren?