Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

"Your Majesty, if it is verified..." the Privy Councilor asked tentatively.

"If verified," Qin Ming said in a cold voice, "no matter who is involved, what position they hold, or what merits they have, they will all be dealt with according to military law! No leniency!"

"Yes!" The Privy Councilor and the Minister of Revenue were startled, knowing that His Majesty had made up his mind, and a bigger storm against the military was about to come.

Almost at the same time, Prime Minister Chen Shimao also submitted a report concerning local administration.

"Your Majesty, under the crackdown, corruption among officials in various prefectures and counties has subsided somewhat. However... the phenomenon of 'laziness and inaction' seems to be on the rise." Chen Shimao frowned. "Many officials, fearing severe punishment, dare not engage in corruption, but they also dare not act. They pass the buck to their superiors, wrangling over official documents, fearing responsibility, and thus delaying public affairs. The so-called 'the more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make; and if you do nothing, you make no mistakes' is quietly spreading."

Qin Ming's eyes flashed with annoyance and coldness when he heard this. This was another form of confrontation, a more subtle form of soft resistance.

"Propagate my decree: Order the Ministry of Personnel to revise the performance appraisal regulations! 'Inaction' is a serious offense! All local officials within their jurisdiction will be regularly evaluated for their duties in tax collection, judicial adjudication, river repairs, and public welfare. Anyone who fails to meet the standards and offers no reasonable explanation will be demoted at best, or dismissed at worst! We cannot allow them to sit idle and do nothing!"

He paused, then said in a cold voice, "Order the Censorate to intensify its inspections, investigating not only corruption but also inaction! Anyone found shirking their responsibilities or delaying official duties will be impeached on the spot and severely punished!"

"I will once again inform all provinces and counties: I want capable officials and ministers, not puppets or clay figurines! The capable will be promoted, and the incompetent will be demoted!"

This series of decrees, like a powerful combination of blows, not only combated corruption but also directly targeted the bureaucracy's inertia and inefficiency. Qin Ming knew that conquering the world was difficult, and ruling it was even more difficult. Relying solely on killing to intimidate was not a long-term solution. A more efficient and rigorous assessment and oversight system must be established.

Under the emperor's ruthless iron fist and almost harsh demands, the body of the empire was forced to remove the rotten flesh, speed up its operation, endure the excruciating pain of scraping bones to cure poison, but also transformed with difficulty towards a stronger direction.

The lights in the imperial study often burned brightly throughout the night. Qin Ming, buried in a vast sea of ​​memorials and case files, used his incredible energy and wisdom to control every detail of the purge that penetrated the very bones of the empire.

He seemed tireless, and his deep eyes, illuminated by the candlelight, always burned with a cold and focused flame.

Qin Ming's will, like an invisible giant hand, wields the "Post-War Audit Office" as its sharp blade, ruthlessly and precisely dissecting the abscesses on the empire's body. Inside and outside the capital, bloody storms alternate with austere silence.

The Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Canal, the Ministry of War... one corruption case after another was uncovered, heads were cut, and cartloads of confiscated property were deposited into the national treasury. The emperor's thunderous wrath forced the entire bureaucracy into high gear, trembling with fear, and the culture of prevarication and procrastination was swept away.

However, as Chen Shimao feared, under the iron fist of deterrence, another, more insidious problem began to emerge: lazy and inefficient governance. Many officials, intimidated by severe punishment, dared not engage in corruption, but also lost their drive and sense of responsibility. Documents traveled, requests were made at every level, and the mentality of "less is more" permeated the air. Many government departments fell into a stagnation, a state of "neither corruption nor good work."

Qin Ming was well aware of this undercurrent. He knew that while killing might intimidate temporarily, it was not a long-term solution for governing a nation. The empire needed not only clean officials but also efficient machinery.

Inside the imperial study, candles lit brightly. Qin Ming tossed a draft jointly drafted by the Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, and the Privy Council back onto the table. His voice was cold and hard: "It's just scratching the surface. Redraft."

The prime minister and several important officials looked stern and held their breath.

"The core of the examination method is just two words: 'reward' and 'punishment'." Qin Ming's eyes swept over the crowd like a torch. "I have already shown you the punishment. Where is the reward?"

He stood up and walked over to the huge hanging map of the empire. "Previously, the performance evaluation was too general, based on seniority, one person doing the best and the other the best. From now on, this needs to change!"

"The first is quantification." Qin Ming tapped his finger on the prefectures and counties on the map. "Each prefecture and county must have a quota for tax collection! How much has been completed? How much has been exceeded? How much has been delayed? For disaster relief and grain distribution, the number of people, money, and timeliness must all be clearly recorded! For river engineering and water conservancy projects, the progress, quality, and cost must all be clearly accounted for! For criminal cases, the number of backlogs, the settlement rate, and the number of wrongful convictions must all be tracked! No more muddled accounts that can be brushed off with a simple "diligent" explanation at the end of the year!"

"Secondly, there will be grading." He glanced at the Minister of Personnel. "The capable will be promoted, the average will be demoted, the mediocre will be demoted, and the corrupt will be killed! There will be five grades: 'Outstanding', 'Competent', 'Ordinary', 'Lazy', and 'Dereliction of Duty'! 'Outstanding' will be promoted regardless of seniority and rewarded generously! 'Competent' will be retained or transferred. 'Ordinary' will be admonished or kept for observation. 'Lazy' will be demoted or exiled! 'Dereliction of Duty' will be treated as corruption and severely punished!"

"The third is the Inspection." He looked at the Chief Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. "Censors of the Metropolitan Censorate, assigned to each prefecture, conduct open and secret investigations! Not only investigate corruption, but also investigate performance! Listen to the voices of the people and verify achievements! Anyone who shirks responsibility, delays official duties, or deceives superiors and subordinates, with solid evidence in hand, can be stripped of their official hat on the spot and escorted to the capital! I grant you the power to execute first and report later!"

"Fourth, collective punishment." Qin Ming's voice suddenly turned cold. "If a departmental leader's subordinates repeatedly show signs of laziness or dereliction of duty, the leader will be guilty as well! If a provincial governor's performance in the counties under his jurisdiction is consistently mediocre, the governor will also be held mediocre! A leader's inability to supervise and govern his subordinates is a serious offense!"

Each line, each clause, was clear and brutal, like tightening every screw in the vast bureaucratic machine of the empire, setting new operating rules. The important officials in the palace felt cold sweats streaming down their backs as they listened, as if they saw a more sophisticated and more ruthless state machine slowly taking shape under the emperor's will. No one dared to raise the slightest objection.

"Immediately promulgate it to the whole country. The Ministry of Personnel will take the lead, and the Censorate and the Privy Council will cooperate. The first performance appraisal under the new law will be completed within three months!" Qin Ming finally gave the order, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"We obey your order!" The ministers bowed their heads and accepted the order, knowing that an efficiency revolution sweeping across the country's officialdom was about to begin.

Just as the new examination method was being implemented in full swing, another more secretive and more dangerous storm was brewing in secret.

In the Privy Council's duty room, the candlelight flickered and the atmosphere was as solemn as iron.

The Privy Councilor and two trusted doctors presented a thick stack of inspection documents and the secret report from Tingfeng Guard to Qin Ming.

"Your Majesty," the Privy Councilor said in a low voice, a hint of suppressed anger and disbelief, "The issue of unpaid salaries for the Southern Xinjiang Zhennan Army and the Western Frontier Longyou Army... has been preliminarily verified."

Qin Ming had no expression on his face as he flipped through the shocking evidence one by one.

There is a huge gap between the number of people, barracks and cooking stoves recorded in the military personnel list and those verified through on-site secret inspections.

There are many loopholes in the comparison between the reports of military equipment losses and the actual inventory and the records of craftsmen's production.