After this, Yan Song gradually came to his senses and began to think about Xu Jie's intention to say this to him.

"Could it be that Xu Jie wants me to join him to persuade His Majesty not to act rashly?"

At this moment, I only heard Xu Jie's voice sounding on the side: "Checking the acres of land and suppressing land annexation is certainly a good medicine for the Ming Dynasty, but now is not the right time, Yan Ge Lao, what do you think?"

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he turned around and looked in the direction where Yan Song was, quietly waiting for his response.

"Hmph, I know, how could this Xu Jie, be so kind, it turned out that he wanted me to persuade His Majesty with him!"

After that, I saw Yan Song suppress all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, and after a moment of silence, he spoke in response.

"Well, Elder Xu Ge has a point, for the current Da Ming, checking the acres of land and suppressing land annexation is tantamount to a dose of medicine!"

"Although there is a saying in the medical book that it is called fierce medicine to get rid of scabies, but the current Ming can't bear the power of this fierce medicine."

"If you are not careful, you will backfire on yourself and make trouble, besides, at present, the national strength of my Ming Dynasty is slowly recovering, everything should be based on stability, and it can only be implemented when the time is ripe!"

Xu Jie deeply agreed with Yan Song's words, and said without thinking, "Well, Yan Ge Lao has a point!"

Even if on weekdays, no matter how hard Yan Song and Xu Jie's fights, no matter how incompatible they are, in the final analysis, this is a contradiction within the civil official group.

How can civil officials privately occupy a large amount of land, and watch the imperial court take stock of acres of land and curb land annexation?

Therefore, whenever there is such a crisis that will affect everyone's interests, the civilian officials will put aside their past grievances and unite together.

Like Zhang Xuan, there are reformers with great determination, great perseverance, and indomitable progress, after all, they are in the minority.

More people are thinking about how to protect their own interests.

Although he had temporarily reached an "offensive and defensive alliance" with Yan Song, Xu Jie's heart was still very worried.

Because Jiajing is not an emperor who listens to persuasion, there is no room for negotiation in everything he believes, whether it is the lifting of the sea ban or the integration of the officials and gentry to pay grain, from beginning to end, Jiajing has not listened to their opinions.

"Well, I hope everything goes well!"

Immediately, I saw Xu Jie's eyes lowered, looking at the ground casually, and thought so.

Just when Xu Jie was worried about this, he saw Lu Fang walking quietly in front of him and Yan Song, leaning down, and respectfully: "Elder Yan Ge, Elder Xu Ge, you can go in, Your Majesty is waiting for you inside!"

"Well, I'm tired of Grandpa Lu!"

"Elder Yan Ge, Elder Xu Ge doesn't have to be so polite, this is our family's duty!"

After this, I saw Yan Song Xu follow Lu Fang's steps and step onto the stairs of the Qianqing Palace.

……

After entering the Qianqing Palace, Yan Song Xu Jie did not hesitate at all, immediately looked in the direction where Jiajing was, knelt on the ground, and said in unison.

"Wechen knocks on Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

"Well, get up!"

Hearing this, Jiajing glanced over the two of them, waved his hand, and commanded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After getting Jiajing's consent, Yan Song got up from the ground tremblingly with Xu Jie's support.

After getting up from the ground, I saw Yan Song leaning on his body, lowering his eyes, looking like an old dragon clock, and Xu Jie on the side also looked anxious.

Jiajing took in the expressions on the faces of the two, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I came to you today because I have an important matter to discuss with the two of you!"

When Xu Jie heard Jiajing's words, his heart suddenly rose to his throat: "Sure enough, Your Majesty plans to inventory the acres of land and curb land annexation!"

"No, I have to find a way to persuade His Majesty to take back his order, otherwise, one

It's all over!"

Just as Xu Jie was organizing the language in his mind, preparing to state the benefits and disadvantages, and strongly persuading Jiajing not to act rashly, he only heard Jiajing's slightly emotional voice sound.

"Now that it's coming to the end of the year, I plan to let your cabinet, or the Ministry of Officials, take the lead, and make a ranking according to the performance of each department in a year, as well as the efficiency of work."

"When the time comes, according to the ranking, the six departments, the five armies, the five temples, the divisions, and other departments will be given year-end bonuses, what do you think?"

Xu Jie obviously didn't expect to hear these words from Jiajing's mouth, so his brain instantly shut down, and he didn't know what to do.

"What the hell is going on, isn't it for His Majesty to call me and Yan Song over with such fanfare to discuss the matter of checking the acres of land and suppressing land annexation?"

"Also, what is a year-end bonus?"

When Xu Jie was still brainstorming, he saw Yan Song take the lead in reacting, looked at Jiajing who was sitting on the dragon chair at the moment, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that in order to ensure justice, it is better for this matter to be led by the cabinet!"

Yan Song paused for a moment when he said this, and then continued to add: "After all, the officials also participated in the competition, so they should avoid suspicion!"

After listening to Yan Song's words, Jiajing nodded, looked in the direction where Xu Jie was, and asked, "Elder Xu Ge, what do you think?"

When Xu Jie heard Jiajing's words, he suddenly came back to his senses and replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Weichen agrees with Elder Yan Ge's opinion, this matter should be led by the cabinet, so that justice can be ensured!"

Hearing this, Jiajing nodded after pondering for a moment, and then ordered, "Since this is the case, then this matter is decided!"

Then, I saw Xu Jie pluck up his courage, look in the direction where Jiajing was, and asked, "Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, I beg your pardon for being stupid, what is the year-end bonus you mentioned earlier?"

When Xu Jie's words fell, Yan Song on the side also cast a curious look at Jiajing, waiting for his response.

Jiajing took in the expressions on the faces of the two, and responded without thinking: "The year-end bonus, as the name suggests, is the reward given by the imperial court to those departments who are efficient and conscientious at the end of the year!"

When Xu Jie heard Jiajing's words, his whole person reacted instantly: "It turns out that Your Majesty is planning to give everyone a reward before the end of the year by taking advantage of the evaluation!"

Thinking of this, Xu Jie's whole person was in a trance, he couldn't believe that everything in front of him was true.

Not only did the emperor not mention the suppression of land annexation, but he also wanted to give rewards to various departments in the capital according to their rankings before the end of the year, which was an unprecedented good thing!

After thinking about this, I saw Xu Jie's 'plop' kneeling on the ground, and patted Jiajing's ass.

"In this way, the civil and military officials in the court will all be grateful for Your Majesty's kindness, and there is no other day in the world, and there is only one sun in the heart of Weichen!"

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he bowed again, and looked at Jiajing's eyes full of reverence.

Seeing this, Yan Song was not far behind, and followed Xu Jie's pace and patted Jiajing's sycophant.

After this, I saw Jiajing glance at Yan Song Xu Jie, waved his hand, and commanded: "Okay, this matter will be handled by your cabinet, don't let me down!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Yan Song and Xu Jie's words heard this, and after glancing at each other, they responded in unison.

"This matter is settled, you can leave!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, Wechen will retire!"

……

After walking out of the Qianqing Palace, Xu Jie's face still had a little shock remaining, he looked at Yan Song on the side, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I really didn't expect that Your Majesty called us here with such fanfare, and it was actually for this matter!"

Yan Song also seemed to be quite emotional about this, only to see him withdraw his gaze from a distance, and said in a gentle manner: "Yes, no one thought that things would be like this!"

Before this, Yan Song also had the same idea as Xu Jie, thinking that Jiajing came to them this time to discuss matters related to the inventory of acres and the suppression of land annexation.

For this reason, Yan Song also deliberately prepared a draft, in order to stand up at the right time and admonish Jiajing.

Who knows, from beginning to end, Jiajing not only did not involve this matter, but was quite generous in giving benefits to officials.

Thinking of this, Yan Song couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Your Majesty is really kind-hearted, not long ago, he just raised the salary of hundreds of officials, and now he is going to give out a year-end bonus!"

The Ming officials' salaries, placed in the past dynasties, are the lowest level.

You must know that before the emperor raised the salary of hundreds of officials, the court was a first-grade official, with a monthly salary of eighty-seven stones, and from a nine-grade official, the monthly rice was only five stones, which was enough to support his family.

In such a situation, it is rare to be able to eat a meal of meat once in a while.

After the emperor raised the salaries of hundreds of officials, he greatly increased the salaries of middle- and low-ranking officials, so that they could support their family expenses by relying only on them, and even have a surplus at the end of the year.

After this, I saw Xu Jie glance at Yan Song, and said solemnly: "Elder Yan Ge, we have to be cautious about the ranking, otherwise, it will be easy to be poked in the back!"

When Yan Song heard Xu Jie's words, he nodded, and then sighed, "Yes, the scale in the middle is not easy to grasp!"

Yan Song knew very well in his heart that the interests involved in this matter were very important, and if he didn't pay attention to it, it would be easy to favor one over the other, and then cause chaos.

You must know that the year-end bonus is issued through ranking, from high to low.

The evaluation criteria are based on the performance of each department in a year, work efficiency, and professionalism and other factors.

Seeing that it is almost the end of the year, who doesn't want to occupy a good ranking and show their face in front of the emperor?

No one wants to be the last one, because in this way, isn't it the same as confirming that their department is inefficient and has no achievements?

If he wins the last place, what does this make those colleagues in the court think, is there still light on their faces?

Then, I saw Yan Song come back to his senses, looked in the direction where Xu Jie was, and proposed, "Without further ado, let's go back to the cabinet, and then announce the news as soon as possible!"

Xu Jie also agreed with Yan Song's proposal, only to see him nod, and said in response: "Well, let's go!"

After that, Yan Song Xu Jiejie went straight back to the cabinet.

……

As soon as Yan Song and Xu Jie returned to the cabinet, everyone looked at them curiously, after all, looking at this posture, the emperor should have something important to discuss.

Combined with the current incident that is spreading in the capital, the answer is already coming out - His Majesty is looking for Yan Song and Xu Jie to discuss the matter of clearing the acres of land and suppressing land annexation.

"Could it be that Your Majesty has already made up his mind to restore the policy implemented by Zhang Xuan and Zhang Ge Elder at the beginning, and start to curb land annexation?"

"And this matter of the Yuan family in Jiaxing is that His Majesty instructed Zhao Zhenji to kill chickens and monkeys to deter those rich gentry!"

Zhang Juzheng thought like this, and looked at Yan Song Xu Jie's eyes, full of expectation.

Facing everyone's curious eyes, I saw Yan Song clear his throat, face everyone, and said slowly, "The reason why Your Majesty called me and Elder Xu Ge is that there is an extremely important matter that needs to be led by the cabinet!"

When Yan Song said this, he paused for a moment, and continued: "It looks like the end of the year is approaching, and the next step will be led by the cabinet to make a ranking according to the performance of each department in a year and the efficiency of work."

"When the time comes, according to the ranking, the six departments, the five armies, the five temples, the divisions, and other departments will be given year-end bonuses!"

When talking about this, Yan Song also explained to everyone what is called a year

Final prize.

When Yan Song's words fell, Hu Zongxian on the side stood up after thinking for a moment, and then said, "That is to say, next our cabinet will draw up the corresponding rankings according to the performance of each department, and then the emperor will issue corresponding rewards according to the rankings, right?"

Xu Jie, who was on the side, heard Hu Zongxian's words, nodded, and then spoke, "Well, that's right, that's it!"

When the words fell, Gao Gong on the side stood up after thinking for a long time and expressed his attitude: "Elder Yan Ge, Elder Xu Ge, there are many involved in this matter, our cabinet can have a bowl of water to be even, otherwise, it will be easy to breed trouble!"

Zhang Juzheng also agreed with Gao Gong's words, and followed Ying He and said, "Well, what Gao Ge said makes sense, after all, there are a lot of involved in it, and you must be cautious!"

Immediately, I saw Yan Song wave his hand, and then ordered, "Okay, without further ado, let's announce this matter first!"

Seeing that Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, had already made a decision, everyone began to get busy non-stop.

The efficiency of the cabinet was very fast, and soon after that, the emperor asked the cabinet to take the lead in issuing year-end bonuses according to the performance of each department in a year and the efficiency of work, and it spread in the court.

……

Soon after the news spread, the bulletin board near the cabinet was quickly surrounded by officials who rushed to hear the news.

At this time, the relevant announcement has been posted on the bulletin board, and not only that, but also an explanation of the term year-end bonus has been intimately attached.

"Your Majesty, Shengming, I actually want to give you a year-end bonus at the end of the year, it seems that you can have a good year this year!"

I saw a tall official in a green robe, squeezed out of the crowd, and said with emotion.

After this, I saw a ceremonial official in a scarlet robe, who said excitedly after reading the contents of the paper posted on the bulletin board.

"This said, the year-end bonus is distributed according to the ranking, our Ministry of Rites not only organized the exam this year, but also prepared for the canonization ceremony of the queen's mother, and did so many things, no matter what, we have to rank in the top three of the six!"

When the Ministry of Rites official's words fell, I saw a Ministry of Industry official not far away, sneering, and mocking with disdain.

"Hmph, it's just wishful thinking, don't forget, your Ministry of Rites has had a lot of trouble this year, and it's the fraud in the imperial examination, and the leakage of exam questions, only our Ministry of Engineering is really doing practical things for the Ming Dynasty......

When the official of the Ministry of Rites heard this, his face suddenly became extremely gloomy, and then, he sneered and said mockingly.

"Hmph, your Ministry of Industry is not much better, you know, the imperial court spent nearly four million taels of silver on the embankment in Zhejiang, but the embankment that the imperial court spent a lot of money to build collapsed when it was washed away by the torrential rain, in my opinion, most of it is your Ministry of Industry that is wantonly greedy for ink and cutting corners!"

When the Ministry of Industry official heard this, the green tendons on his head bloomed, and he looked quite hideous, and said word by word: "What do you say, do you have the ability to say it again?"

In the face of the threat of the Ministry of Rites official, the Ministry of Rites official was not afraid at all, met the man's gaze, and continued, "Why, dare to do it?"

Everyone present saw that the two sides had a tendency to fight, and hurriedly stepped forward to start a round.

"Alas, the people in the Ministry of Industry are short-tempered, and they will do it if they don't agree with each other, and the Ministry of Rites will only play lip service, according to the official, it is still the household department that has the greatest credit, you must know ......

"I, Tian is shameless, obviously our military department has made the most contributions, not to mention anything else, our military department sent sailors to suppress the Japanese this year......

While the many officials present were arguing about who had the most credit, the officials of the Inspectorate hidden in the crowd were secretly observing all this and recording it.

……

On the same day, after the decommission, the cabinet did not leave in a hurry, but stayed, and they planned to exchange opinions on the next issue that would affect the evaluation of the year-end bonus.

At the same time, everything that happened before near the bulletin board, also passed through various ones

And all kinds of channels reached the ears of the people.

I saw Yan Song put down the teacup soaked in wolfberry water, and after looking around, he said unhurriedly, "Everyone, let's talk about your opinions first!"

When Yan Song's words fell, I saw Xu Jie stand up, face everyone, and put forward his own ideas.

"As you can see from what happened near the bulletin board not long ago, there are many differences and contradictions between various departments, so we should be cautious when it comes to rankings!"

After Xu Jie, Hu Zongxian on the side also stood up, and then spoke: "Well, Elder Xu Ge is right, this ranking matter should be cautious, after all, this involves many departments of my Daming, Your Majesty will hand over this matter to our cabinet, we can't live up to Your Majesty's trust!"

Zhang Juzheng, who was on the side, thought about it for a long time, and put forward his own suggestion: "As Hu Ge Lao said, this matter involves many departments of my Ming Dynasty, and I think that we should try not to breed trouble as the premise, and then rank each department!"

"Besides, didn't Your Majesty say before, this time the year-end bonus is distributed according to the ranking between various departments, which does not mean that the departments behind the ranking will be punished, it is nothing more than a matter of how much to reward!"

Yan Shifan, who was not far away, heard Zhang Juzheng's words, raised his eyebrows, and secretly complained: "This Zhang Juzheng, the abacus is quite loud, anyway, I won't give in, no matter what I say, the Ministry of Industry can't be ranked last!"

At this moment, I saw Gao Gong on the side looking around and made his own suggestion: "Let's set the rankings of those departments that don't have too much controversy first."

"And then the rest, take your time, and in this way, you can also reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble, what do you think?"

As soon as Gao Gong's words fell, Xu Jie responded without thinking, "Well, I agree with Gao Ge Lao's idea!"

After Xu Jie, Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng, and Yan Shifan also followed closely to express their positions and agreed to Gao Gong's suggestion.

Seeing that everyone agreed to his suggestion, a trace of excitement flashed on Gao Gong's face.

After careful consideration for a long time, Gao Gong Fang faced everyone and put forward his own suggestions.

"If you're on the side of the six departments, let's just put the officials in the first place, so that no matter who it is, you won't be able to find too much fault."

"You know, not long ago, the Ministry of Officials just successfully completed the triennial plan of the imperial court, and the officials at all levels, from top to bottom, have been rewarded by His Majesty, ranking the Ministry of Officials in the first place, and many disputes can also be avoided, what do you think?"

As soon as Gao Gong's words fell, I saw Zhang Juzheng stand up and respond without thinking: "Well, I think it's feasible, the six departments are here, and the officials are in the first place, no big problem!"

After pondering for a while, Xu Jie also agreed with Zhang Juzheng's idea: "Well, I also agree with letting the officials come first, Elder Yan Ge, what do you think?"

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he looked in the direction where Yan Song was, waiting for his response.

When Yan Song heard this, he didn't think about it, so he made his position clear: "I have no opinion!"

Hu Zongxian, as his most valued student, is also the secretary of the ministry, ranking him in the first place, and his face is also bright.

Seeing this situation, Hu Zongxian, who was on the side, had no intention of refusing.

He knew that if the officials were to be put in the first place, those officials would at most mumble a few words in private, and it would not cause too much controversy.

After that, everyone turned their eyes to Hu Zongxian, waiting for his response.

Immediately, I saw Hu Zongxian look around, nodded, and then said, "In this case, the six departments are here, and the officials will be in the first place!"

"On the side of the twelve eunuchs, the celebrant is in the first place......" (end of this chapter)