"Ning Guogong, only me and the two of you know about this matter now, so don't tell anyone about it until the matter is completely determined."

As far as Zhang Lingyang is concerned, directly announcing his decision to the cabinet and the six ministries and nine secretaries will definitely cause an uproar.

So Zhang Lingyang thought about whether to give them a wooden boat and create an established fact, so that the pressure he faced would be much less.

"However, in this critical period, the cabinet and the six ministries and nine secretaries cannot be idle!" Zhang Lingyang decided that during the preparatory period for the reform of the military system, those civilian officials should not be allowed to be too idle, otherwise there would definitely be some moths.

So the next day, Zhang Lingyang decided to summon Zheng Yongji, the first assistant of the cabinet, and the six ministries and nine secretaries to the Gongchen Hall to discuss matters.

As for what to discuss?

The ministers don't know.

In particular, Zheng Yongji, the first assistant to the cabinet, asked Emperor Zheng Yongji what he was going to discuss today, and Zheng Yongji always replied that he didn't know either.

Obviously, others obviously don't believe Zheng Yongji's answer.

"Believe it or not!" Zheng Yongji simply stopped explaining, calmed down and waited for Zhang Lingyang's summons.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Lingyang summoned the ministers into the palace.

After three bows, Zhang Lingyang saw the ministers peeking at him one by one with puzzled eyes, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, a few days ago, when I was bored, I flipped through the case files submitted by the Criminal Department in recent years, and found that the public security in various places in recent years has been really worrying.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Households, last year alone, there were 350,000 cases in Dazhou, of which no less than 30,000 involved human lives.

I wondered, you said that the living standards of the people have gradually improved in recent years, and the problem of food and clothing for the people in most places has been solved, why are public security things so common? ”

"Your Majesty, the sage has words, and he knows the etiquette. Weichen thinks that although public security incidents in various places have been common in recent years, they are caused by the fact that the people have not been well educated.

Therefore, the key is to educate the people in the way of sages, as long as the people understand the truth, the number of public security incidents will be reduced. Cao Rui, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and replied.

"Weichen agrees with Cao Shangshu's opinion!" Except for the six ministries and nine secretaries and the first assistant of the cabinet, Zheng Yongji, who did not express their position, other ministers stepped forward to echo Cao Rui's views.

Seeing this, Zhang Lingyang was not surprised at all, but chuckled, looked at Zheng Yongji and asked, "Zheng Aiqing, do you think so too?" ”

"Cao Shangshu also agrees with what Weichen said, but Weichen also believes that relying on etiquette and education alone is far from solving the problem, and grace and power are the king's way." Zheng Yongji came out and replied.

"What Zheng Aiqing said is good!" Zhang Lingyang said, "If you only rely on etiquette and education, the people will be able to know etiquette and abide by the law, but I'm afraid that you won't believe it yourself!" ”

Seeing that Cao Rui was about to open his mouth to argue, Zhang Lingyang raised his hand to stop and continued: "You said, there are many officials and gentry in the world, they are all from well-to-do families, and they have read through the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, why do they have to be corrupt and pervert the law after embarking on their official careers? ”

"This ......" Zhang Lingyang said, and the ministers exchanged ears and discussed a lot underground, but they didn't know how to answer.

According to Jinyiwei's investigation, since the fifth year of Tai'an, officials in various places have embezzled and accepted bribes more than twice as much as before. Among them, the poorer the area, the more serious the corruption of officials.

Last year, for example, the most corrupt provinces were Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong, and the northwestern provinces.

On the contrary, in the affluent Jiangnan region, there have been few corruption incidents in recent years.

What do you think is the reason for this? ”

In response to Zhang Lingyang's questioning, the ministers in the palace lowered their heads silently one by one and did not dare to speak.

"Can no one come out and answer?" Zhang Lingyang glanced at the courtiers below, and finally said, "Then I will tell you!" ”

"Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has been a problem in officialdom, the more capable officials are, the more they run to rich places.

Take the annual new science and technology scholars as an example, the first class stays in Beijing as an official, the second class mostly serves in rich places such as Jiangnan and Huguang, and the third class mostly serves in poor areas such as southwest and northwest. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, tell me, is this arrangement reasonable?"

"I don't think it makes sense!" Zhang Lingyang's tone was on the screen, and he said solemnly: "In several provinces in the southwest and northwest, most of the county-level officials have served two consecutive terms, three terms, or even more in local positions.

After staying in one place for a long time, the officials below will probably feel that they have no hope of promotion, so they will either start to be mediocre or corrupt the law. After all, they no longer see the hope of a career, so they simply make more money to leave to their children and grandchildren. ”

"There is also the annual assessment of the officials, how do you evaluate the performance of the officials?"

Seeing Zhang Lingyang's roll call, Chen Yiming's old face turned red all of a sudden, after all, being named by Zhang Lingyang in this case can be said to have lost his old face.

But Chen Yiming had to come out and reply: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Officials inspects the achievements of local officials and officials every year, mostly according to local public security, and the people's living standards have been educated in three aspects. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Lingyang smiled and said, "I wondered, can these three aspects investigate the true level of local officials?" ”

Seeing that the ministers were puzzled, Zhang Lingyang shook his head in disappointment and said: "Take the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River as an example, the living standards of the people there are much higher than those in the northwest and southwest provinces.

So how do you conclude that the people's living standards have improved significantly? I don't think there is a specific judgment. ”

"As for public security, Cao Aiqing also said before that he knows etiquette in a down-to-earth manner. The Jiangnan region is rich, and there are fewer people who commit adultery than the poor northwest and southwest regions, so it is naturally understandable, and what is the evaluation standard? ”

"And then there's education, I ask you, if the people can't even fill their stomachs, who is willing to give their children's little money to school?"

As for education, Zhang Lingyang knows that the richer the area, the better the conditions for education. Using this as a condition for judging an official's political performance, Zhang Lingyang feels ridiculous when he thinks about it.

In wealthy areas, even if the local officials are incompetent, as long as they are not stupid, the education of their children, the living standards of the people, and the security conditions are much higher than those in poor areas.

Therefore, taking these three conditions as the criteria for evaluating the performance of local officials, Zhang Lingyang feels that this is very unreasonable and unfair.

That's why Zhang Lingyang wants to change these, and it's far more than that......

。 m.