In the middle of December of the seventh year of Tang Wude, everyone was very busy at this time. The major yamen of the imperial court are all finishing up the work, after all, it is about to celebrate the New Year, if you don't take advantage of this time to hurry up and finish your work to celebrate the New Year, of course it won't work. Whether it is ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, every time before a big festival, the room will be very busy, because at this time, of course, it is not good to carry the work of the previous year to the next year, so whether it is an official of the government or various professions of the people, it will be extremely hard. And Zhang Chao is now busy, since Zhang Chao was officially promoted to the palace servant a few months ago, he has also begun to be responsible for inspecting the major warehouses of the imperial court, and then checking whether these warehouses are negligent or corrupt.

"Zhang Yushi, this is about the results of the current disposal of several major granaries. The warehouse supervisors of several granaries have deceived the imperial court by creating false accounts, and they have been taken down by us. Since Zhang Yushi came to our Yushitai, he is an important cadre for us! In less than a few months, more than 20 official misconduct was discovered, and any corrupt official who came to Zhang Yushi would satisfy Zhang Yushi's eyes. And now Zhang Yushi is already a celebrity in our Yushi Terrace, and all corrupt officials can't hide Zhang Yushi. A scribe from the Imperial Historical Observatory patted his ass.

Zhang Chao snorted softly: "I didn't even catch a tiger, what is this!" ”

Hearing Zhang Chao's words, the scribe's heart was broken: "You have caught more than 20 of them, and there are two five-grade officials, and you still can't say enough?" However, in Zhang Yushi's eyes, how many officials can be regarded as big tigers! ”

Zhang Chao saw that these officials who were found out were only fifth-grade officials at the highest, and the fifth-grade officials were just a department-level officials in later generations, and this kind of official was not too big a tiger. In Zhang Chao's eyes, at least the fourth-grade officials can be regarded as big tigers, and nothing else. However, it is very difficult for Zhang Chao to find out the fourth-grade official, because it is not so easy to become a real official above the fourth-rank official. Either they are the scholars, or they are the founding heroes who started their businesses with Li Yuan, otherwise it is difficult to become a four-grade official. And if you want to catch the corruption of the nobles, it is still not easy. It is not that Zhang Chao discriminates against the poor, because it is indeed the officials of the scholar clan who have enjoyed a rich life since childhood, and they are not short of money. They have enjoyed a rich life since childhood, and they are not very enthusiastic about the material enjoyment of life, and they are more likely to work hard for the expansion and development of the family.

And they have a perfect family inheritance education system since childhood, which can correctly establish their outlook on life, worldview and values, so that they will not be too indulged in ordinary meat. To enjoy. However, the poor officials are different, they have been poor since childhood, they are used to seeing the enjoyment of the scholars, and naturally they also hope to enjoy wealth. And when they become officials, they will be enthusiastic about enjoyment. Therefore, once the Hanmen becomes an official, the probability of corrupt officials is obviously higher than that of the scholars.

However, this is not the reason why Zhang Chao can agree to let the Shi clan lead the officialdom, because everyone has the right to realize their ideals and the goal of realizing their own life value. However, the scholars monopolized this power, and then they excluded countless people in the world, so that countless people were cut off from the power to work hard and realize their ideals. And once they can monopolize the officialdom for a long time, they will definitely suck the blood of ordinary ordinary people unscrupulously until the last time the people rebel. Therefore, if you don't solve the Shi clan, there must be countless people who can't have a channel to rise.

Although classes exist under certain circumstances, it does not mean that human beings cannot change their own classes. However, the gentry blocked this opportunity to change their own class, so that those poor families could not become the ruling class. And the best way is that classes are mobile, and if a class cannot be mobile, it must be rotten in the end. The gentry had begun to decay and were no longer qualified to continue to lead the country.

"Next, what should these corrupt officials do?" Zhang Chao asked.

And the scribe immediately said, "It has been dealt with according to the law!" ”

"That's good! For corrupt officials, there is zero tolerance. Zhang Chao said.

However, Zhang Chao cleans up these corrupt officials, in fact, he also has his own ideas, and he will not clean up corrupt officials for no reason. Because these corrupt officials occupy too many official resources, only by cleaning up corrupt officials can they make official positions vacant. At present, I have a lot of officials from poor families who are at the bottom, and they have no chance to be promoted after hard work, and only by cleaning up those corrupt officials can they make official positions vacant, and then they can install their own people. Zhang Chao also told Li Yuan, hoping that Li Yuan could support the poor officials. However, those old officials in front of them have already occupied too many official resources, so they must be cleaned up before they can let their people go up. If you can't grab some official positions as soon as possible, how can you maintain a balance with the scholars as much as possible? This is also the reason why Zhang Chao wants to clean up corrupt officials, if there is no benefit, why should he work so hard to clean up these corrupt officials?

"How's the ministry doing now?" Zhang Chao asked.

The scribe immediately said; "Now the ministry is also very busy, Zhang Yushi used to be in the ministry of officials, so naturally you should know that every time the ministry reaches the end of the year, it is very busy. Now the Ministry of Officials has begun to prepare for the examination of officials, especially after Zhang Yushi proposed the examination method, the power of the Ministry of Officials has risen sharply, and they have a basis for the assessment. However, the workload of the Ministry of Officials is also very large, so the officials of the Ministry of Officials have to make adjustments at the end of the year. In particular, those officials who have achieved performance will undergo a personnel adjustment after the New Year, and they will be promoted. ”

Zhang Chao knew that the practice of the Tang Dynasty was actually somewhat similar to that of later generations, at the end of the year, a unified general assessment was conducted, and then after the New Year, the imperial court had to make routine adjustments to official positions. Especially for the middle and low-level officials of the central government, many people will take advantage of the Chinese New Year to get a large-scale adjustment opportunity, so that everyone is looking forward to being promoted. The new year has a new atmosphere, so many people will make a collective adjustment of official positions and promotions on the New Year, so that they can take advantage of the new year to be happy. As for the next step, it is very easy, and all this has to be done by the ministry, so if you leave the ministry, you naturally don't have to worry about anything, that's what others worry about.

"The officials should be promoted, and put hats on others, so I, the 'secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection', should go and take off hats for others!" Zhang Chao sneered.

Zhang Chao's current position is the palace servant of the Imperial History Tower, and he is responsible for supervising officials, specializing in impeaching others and taking off hats for others. So now he has begun to think about how to take off the hat of those officials, and then promote the mobility of officials.

"Knock Knock Knock ......"

Soon, the last pilgrimage of this year has also begun, and everyone who is in Chang'an and above has to enter the Taiji Hall to make a pilgrimage. So Zhang Chao also followed in immediately.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you have anything, just say it as soon as possible! This year's affairs should not be carried over to next year, so everyone has something to solve today as soon as possible. Li Yuan said.

Soon, everyone began to take the initiative to start playing, and then Li Yuan also solved it one by one. After about two hours, it was the turn of the seven or eighth officials in the back to speak. After all, there is a clear hierarchy in officialdom, and if you rashly surpass your identity, it will definitely not work. When speaking, senior officials should be given priority, and they can only wait behind.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Chao, the servant of the palace, has something to report!" Zhang Chao said.

"Oh? Zhang Chao, what's the matter with you? Could it be that someone is corrupt again? Li Yuan asked.

Zhang Chao has cleaned up a lot of corrupt officials recently, and more than 20 corrupt officials have been dismissed, which makes Zhang Chao a public enemy of many officials. However, Zhang Chao's methods are really chilling, and the methods are very ruthless, and he actually directly grabbed the evidence of corruption and chased after it. And Li Yuan also intends to protect Zhang Chao, Li Yuan wants to support the cold door, if you don't clean up those officials, then what about the cold officials? Now the officials of the Hanmen are still relatively weak, and the highest grade is no more than five grades, so if they don't support it, then they won't be able to maintain a balance with the scholars. Therefore, Zhang Chao cleaned up the corrupt officials, and Li Yuan also felt more happy, because the vacant official position could support the poor, and the imperial court was also able to save wealth. You must know that the world belongs to Li Yuan, and of course he cares most about his country's wealth not being stolen by rats.

Of course, Li Yuan knew that the current period was just the time when the country was founded, and the time when the country was founded was the most unstable time, so of course he had to pay close attention to the atmosphere of officials. If you don't grasp the atmosphere of officials, you will inevitably "die twice" in the end. The style of officials was very important when the country was founded, and if a good style was not left behind when the country was founded, then it would definitely face a quick demise. Throughout Chinese history, if the founding of the country had not experienced a turbulent conquest, the country would have rarely lived long in the end. Especially those usurpers, many of whose dynasties did not live long. The reason why this is the case is not because they are not in the right position, in fact, the main thing is that their style of kings and ministers is not good. The usurper's new dynasty will inevitably face the decay of the old dynasty, because they are vested interests in the decay and are unable to carry out reforms. In this way, they inherited the rotten style of the old dynasty, so in the end they were not long-lasting.

Of course, Li Yuan knew this, so he let Zhang Chao clean up some corrupt officials, and he absolutely couldn't let the decadent style of those old dynasties stay in his Tang Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, although I have found a lot of corrupt officials during this time. However, I have always thought deeply that if I am alone, it must be very slow in efficiency, and it is not conducive to the integrity of officials. In particular, my energy is limited, so I hope to create a system where corrupt officials have nothing to hide, and then corrupt officials dare not be corrupt. If there is no perfect supervision system, then in the end, it must be faced with the luck of corrupt officials, so that they will continue to be corrupt. Only by using a good system and constantly discovering corrupt officials can they not dare to be corrupt and have no idea of luck. Zhang Chao replied.

"Use the system to curb corrupt officials?" Li Yuan felt that this was very fresh.

Zhang Chao took the initiative to answer; "Your Majesty, the minister suggested that the imperial court should conduct a departure audit when every official leaves office. If there is a problem, it must be explained, and if it is not explained, then there is no promotion or adjustment. If corruption is involved, it will be transferred to the Yushitai Criminal Department and the Dali Temple Three Law Divisions for a cooperative trial, so as to ensure that there will be no problems. And the outgoing audit can make it impossible for a large number of corrupt officials to avoid this legal net. ”

"The so-called audit is also an audit. It is a special way to find out what the official has been responsible for during his or her tenure, and then the accounts of the wealth involved in those things. Check to see if the accounts are correct, or to see if there are any personal benefits to these things. If you are suspected of accepting bribes or embezzling public funds, then you are not welcome, and one will be arrested. If there is no corruption involved, but only suspicions, it must be explained. If it is clear in time that you will be promoted as usual, if you don't explain it clearly, not only will you not be able to be promoted, but you will not be able to resume your duties until you explain it clearly. ”

Hearing this outgoing audit method, many people's faces turned green. Because who hasn't accepted some benefits in their position, hasn't done something corrupt? If the officialdom in ancient times was as clear as water, then Zhang Chao absolutely did not believe it. In the later era, when the supervision of public opinion on the social network is so perfect, there will be so many problems, even in foreign countries, there are many corrupt officials. However, in ancient times, when there was no supervision and no proper supervision system, Zhang Chao absolutely did not believe that there was no corruption.

Let the ancient officials be officials, the resources at their disposal are simply too great. It's like a man who has been hungry for three days and is in charge of guarding a steamed bun shop. And this bun shop has no second person to guard, no camera footage, and no one around is staring at you. And after you leave this position, people will not count the number of buns. In this case, whether or not you are corrupt depends on your own discipline, but discipline has been the most untrustworthy thing since ancient times, especially the integrity of politicians. Zhang Chao was also an official in his previous life, so he naturally knew how the officials behaved. In a place where there is no one to supervise, the supervision of the higher level is too far, the supervision of the same level is too soft, and the supervision of the lower level is too difficult, it is really difficult for the number one to think of not being corrupt.

Zhang Chao believes in his bones that it is the idea of the rule of law, and he believes that a good supervision system is more useful than countless useful prosecutors. A good system makes corrupt officials dare not embezzle, and a bad system makes good officials become corrupt officials, this is not a casual talk. The current supervision system of the Tang Dynasty is simply a pit, so Zhang Chao naturally does not count on it. He decided to personally propose this outgoing audit system, and then let them all clean up these corrupt officials. They don't supervise, so naturally there will be a lot of corruption.

"Your Majesty, this outgoing audit is too time-consuming, I don't think it's necessary, right?" Someone immediately said.

And Zhang Chao asked rhetorically: "How long did it take to leave the audit, and it only took three or two days to review an official." ”

"But there are so many officials in the imperial court, and each review is three or two days, isn't that too long?" There are still people who stubbornly say.

Zhang Chao immediately asked: "This colleague of Guanglu Temple, how can you be so poor in arithmetic?" I'm talking about outgoing audits, which are only conducted when officials leave office, so how can they be audited anytime and anywhere? I think, it's not that your arithmetic is too bad, but that your heart is crooked, and naturally you can't calculate accurately! ”

Zhang Chao looked at this official who was wearing a six-grade official uniform and standing in the queue of Guanglu Temple, obviously very disdainful. It seems that this guy is going to be used as the object of the first flag, because this guy is so anxious to jump out and oppose it, he is definitely a guy with a poop on his ass, he is so afraid of leaving the audit, I am afraid that he is going to be promoted now, so naturally he does not want to have problems. In the past, there was no outgoing audit system, and once they left office, they did not have to worry about being held accountable, and they were not afraid that they would be found out after they left office.

Even, there is a very pitted place in the ancient officialdom, that is, the predecessor is corrupt, and then the successor is found out, so to a large extent, it is necessary to kick the ball. It is impossible for the successor to take the initiative and push it to the predecessor. However, the predecessors also immediately shirked their responsibilities, so that it was difficult to detect and hold accountable for corruption. Therefore, many officials think that as long as they leave office, they should not serve in this official position, and corruption will not matter before they go to other systems, and it can be regarded as a safe landing.

However, Zhang Chao's outgoing audit broke their calculation and made them face the outgoing audit. If something goes wrong with the outgoing audit, they will definitely be held accountable. At that time, I am afraid that the promotion that was promised will be blown up, and even they will be held accountable by the court, so they naturally quit and will immediately come out to oppose it.

"However, is it overkill for the imperial court to censor it like this?" Someone immediately said.

But Zhang Chao immediately said: "Since ancient times, the embankment of thousands of miles has been destroyed in the anthill. If I don't catch a corrupt official, the atmosphere of the court will soon be corrupted, so I will definitely not tolerate corrupt officials. Since I am the imperial history, as the imperial historian, I also have to supervise the hundred officials. Let the court be clean and upright, and it will not be a mess. However, some people just can't get used to seeing the court honest and honest, and they want to plan for their own selfish interests, thinking about riding on the heads of the people all day long, using the people's fat and ointment to support themselves, and let themselves live a luxurious and rich life. ”

"But some people have forgotten that the people are fat and the people are anointed. If there were no taxes from the people to support, where would these officials be full of brains and fat to eat? Therefore, the survival of court officials is based on the people paying taxes. Since the people have paid taxes, they don't think about how they can do more things for the people and work for the people, but they are still doing power and blessing on the people, what is this like? Therefore, in order to maintain the atmosphere of officialdom, it is necessary to find out one by one, and there must be no mercy on anyone. If a corrupt official is not dealt with, it is not responsible to the court. At that time, once corruption was rampant in the court, what was it? ”

And the guy from Guanglu Temple looked at Zhang Chao viciously, obviously very angry at people like Zhang Chao who did not abide by the rules of officialdom. This kind of corruption was a very common thing in ancient times, and no one would take it seriously. But Zhang Chao actually caught corrupt officials so ruthlessly, which is simply unreasonable for everyone. Originally, the fight against corruption was only a means of political struggle, and it was seldom to fight corruption for the sake of corruption, everyone was fighting for the sake of fighting, and the fight against corruption was just a means of struggle. But Zhang Chao actually fired a map cannon here to carry out indiscriminate strikes, which was simply an alternative to officialdom, and they couldn't accept it.

And most of the people in the court are scholars, which makes the scholars hate Zhang Chao very much. Since Zhang Chao became the imperial history, he has continued to seize and find corrupt officials. And Zhang Chao's methods of investigating corrupt officials are really powerful, and those corrupt officials will be discovered by Zhang Chao no matter how they hide their criminal evidence. They didn't know that Zhang Chao, a later generation, knew that the anti-corruption methods were simply much more powerful. Their so-called anti-reconnaissance capabilities are not Zhang Chao's opponents at all. In later generations, the methods used by corrupt officials to counter reconnaissance were all included in textbooks, and they were a method that almost every staff member of the Discipline Inspection Commission had to learn. These methods are simply pediatric for Zhang Chao, an official of later generations.

"Your Majesty, the minister Zhang Chao took the initiative to ask for orders, hoping to let the minister be responsible for the departure review in the next few days. Only officials who have passed the examination of the resignation of ministers can go to new posts. If it can't be audited by the ministers, then ask him to explain it to the emperor. At present, the minister thought that the audit could be carried out in the Beijing officials, in the major yamen in the center of the imperial court, and then gradually expanded to other aspects. In addition, in the future, the Goshidai can be responsible for the corresponding matters. Zhang Chao said.

And many imperial historians of the Imperial History Observatory heard what Zhang Chao said, and the Imperial Historical Observatory could be responsible for the outgoing audit, which made many imperial historians shine. This is to increase the power of the imperial historians, and whoever wants to leave office and be promoted in the future must be audited by the imperial historians, otherwise they don't want to leave. This can be said to have greatly increased the power of the Imperial Historical Observatory, so the Imperial Historians of the Imperial Historical Observatory are obviously very enthusiastic and will not come out to oppose Zhang Chao.

"Okay, I'm going to trouble Zhang Aiqing recently, so you can check how many of these courtiers are corrupt. I will resolutely not let go of a corrupt official. Li Yuan said.

"The emperor is wise, and the minister is commanded!" Zhang Chao replied.