Chapter 346: The New Regulation

Hou Xun's routine memorial was forwarded into Zhu Youjian's hands.

This time, the man he recommended was Zhao Zhiyong, Bureau Director of the Henan Clear Revenue Section of the Ministry of Revenue.

Like Wang Wenhui, whom Fan Jingwen had recommended, Zhao Zhiyong was also a capable official who had distinguished himself in settling disaster victims. Over two years he had shuttled between several prefectures in Henan and Shandong, personally calculating, apportioning, dispatching, and supervising the use of relief grain and supplies, so that the court's lifesaving materials were essentially never squandered or wasted.

In fact, Fan Jingwen's and Hou Xun's recommendations had been made at Zhu Youjian's instigation.

For the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, where official turnover had always been extremely slow, once one entered these two ministries it was very hard to get another chance at promotion — unless you had a sufficiently powerful background.

The main reason was that the professional demands of these two ministries were too high, and the daily workload was extremely heavy, with a very high probability of making mistakes. They were classic thankless posts, and the places most newly minted jinshi were least willing to enter.

Because once errors accumulated, in the end they would be recorded in one's file by the Ministry of Personnel during the capital evaluation, making promotion exceedingly difficult.

From the founding of the dynasty to the present, few of the chief officials of these two ministries had come to a good end, and the Bureau Directors, Vice Bureau Directors, Bureau Secretaries, and other appointed officials in the various sections also found it hard to ever get ahead. This phenomenon was extremely unreasonable, and it was one of the problems Zhu Youjian planned to solve step by step.

As the situation improved thoroughly, Zhu Youjian's focus was shifting toward how to mobilize the enthusiasm of officials. Giving capable men room and a platform to display their talents was the result he most wanted.

The chief achievement of local chief officials was reflected in the money and grain they remitted to the court. Under the precondition that they could not levy additional taxes on their own authority, the amount of money and grain a prefecture, department, or county remitted indicated the health of the local economy.

And the officials of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, who dealt with numbers all day, were the most proficient in understanding and using money and grain. In this respect they were several times stronger than the vast majority of civil officials and scholars who only knew how to bury their heads in poetry and the classics.

These officials were true practical talents. Once posted to local office, they would not be deceived by the petty clerks under them, because they were even more skilled at calculation than the clerks.

Zhu Youjian's goal was to get the talent of these two ministries flowing, and external posting with promotion was the simplest and most effective method.

Because once one or several chief officials in a ministry were promoted and posted out, the vacancies they left would be filled from below. Such a chain reaction would maximize the work enthusiasm of officials and clerks. Only when people had hope for their own futures and felt there was something to strive for would their work initiative and passion be stirred.

A Bureau Director of the fifth rank, promoted three grades, became a Prefect of the fourth rank; the official robe changed from blue to red, and the rank at one stroke entered the ranks of high officials. This kind of promotion and reward was the best stimulus for all middle- and lower-ranking officials.

The recommendations of Fan Jingwen and Hou Xun had also been verified by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate. Both men were of the very best choice in both ability and conduct, and neither was yet forty years old. As long as they committed no great error in office, their future prospects could be described as a smooth road.

Zhu Youjian intended to send a signal to all officials of the Great Ming: pragmatism was the foundation of promotion, empty talk would be thoroughly marginalized, this new regulation would be carried out over the long term, and it would become the primary standard by which the Ministry of Personnel assessed local officials.

The vast majority of successful examination candidates, once posted out to govern a region, imagined they could live a life of reciting poetry in the breeze, admiring the moon, and wallowing in luxury. But the implementation of the new regulation told them directly: sinking into enjoyment might well mean the end of one's official career.

Of course, Zhu Youjian did not oppose officials enjoying life. Pursuing a higher quality of life was an innate human nature, and this could not be denied or prohibited.

But the precondition was that, as a chief local official, only after making corresponding contributions did one have the right to enjoy oneself in one's spare time.

The greater one's contribution to the court and the people, the less excessive one's luxurious life would be considered. But if one did the opposite, the local censors would naturally not miss the chance to impeach you.

"The men recommended by my two ministers are all officials of outstanding ability and remarkable achievements — such talented men are exactly the ministers my dynasty urgently needs! I have decided to specially promote Bureau Director Wang of the Capital Works Section of the Ministry of Works to Prefect of Yangzhou Prefecture, and Bureau Director Zhao of the Henan Clear Revenue Section of the Ministry of Revenue to Prefect of Huai'an Prefecture, ordering them to hand over their current affairs and assume office immediately. The vacancies they leave in their ministries shall be examined by the Ministry of Personnel together with the chief officials of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, and the proposed candidates shall be reported to the Grand Secretariat for joint decision. It is my wish that the replacement candidates be recommended from within their own ministries — let all ministers bear this in mind!"

Zhu Youjian immediately announced the two personnel appointments. Fan Jingwen and Hou Xun both accepted the edict with joyful expressions and returned to their positions, while Minister of Personnel Zhou Yun likewise breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just been afraid that the Emperor would also keep the power to appoint officials below the fifth rank in his own hands — in which case he, the Minister of Personnel, would have become a mere ornament.

"I beg to report to Your Majesty, your minister also wishes to recommend one man. This man is Luo Fulong, County Magistrate of Fancheng County in Henan. This man is not an old acquaintance of your minister; rather, while leafing through the military dispatches submitted by the governors and administrators after the roving bandits grew powerful in the seventh year of Chongzhen, your minister happened upon him when they praised civil officials who had rendered military merit in various places. From the military report of Hong Hengjiu, then Governor-General of the Five Provinces, your minister discovered that Luo rendered no small merit in the eighth year of Chongzhen when handling the mutiny of the Sichuan troops, yet to this day he has received no promotion or reward. Your minister does not know how his governance has been, but Hong Hengjiu praised him highly in his military dispatch. Lest the court lose worthy talent in the wilds, your minister suggests that the Ministry of Personnel examine him in detail and then consider employing him!"

Yang Sichang rose, bowed, and memorialized.

He did not know Luo Fulong. The sole reason he stood up to recommend this man was to display his own public-spiritedness to Zhu Youjian.

Luo Fulong's name was something he had happened to discover in a military report.

In this memorial on pacifying the Sichuan troops' rebellion, Hong Chengchou hinted everywhere at his own loyalty and wisdom, indicating that he had not used large forces to suppress them, but had moved the six thousand rebellious soldiers with the righteousness of the court's great cause, causing them to turn back from error and return to his command.

Yang Sichang naturally sneered through his nose at Hong Chengchou's self-aggrandizement.

Because from Hong Chengchou's praise of County Magistrate Luo Fulong at the end of the memorial, Yang Sichang judged that this matter was definitely not so simple. Although the details of the pacification were now hard to investigate, it was certainly not as easy and effortless as Hong Chengchou described, and this Fancheng County Magistrate Luo Fulong must have played a very critical role in it.

Following the principle of leaving a good impression on the Emperor on important occasions, Yang Sichang boldly recommended Luo Fulong.

Although he did not know how this young county magistrate governed, the fact that he could play a major role in a mutiny of several thousand government troops at least proved that the man's ability should be quite outstanding.

As for why he had not been promoted to this day, that was surely because he had no one in the capital to speak for him. For such a proper jinshi with ability but no backing, if a senior minister extended a hand to pull him up, then in the future he would certainly be grateful for a lifetime.

As long as this man could achieve something in his official career in the future, he himself would gain a good reputation for discerning talent and selecting officials for the state, and would also gain one more ally in the court.

"Oh? Since he is a civil official yet has rendered military merit, he should presumably be a usable talent. After the meeting, the Ministry of Personnel shall retrieve his file — as long as his annual evaluations over the years are satisfactory, then give him a corresponding promotion! Minister Yang can see the great from the small; besides diligently attending to official business, he still finds time to select talent for the state. This devoted and conscientious conduct is worthy of emulation by all ministers!"

Zhu Youjian was extremely appreciative of Yang Sichang's move.

Since he had rendered military merit first, and Hong Chengchou had vouched for him afterward, that at least proved the man had some merit.

One should know that given the power Hong Chengchou wielded at the time, had Luo not rendered great merit, he naturally would not have spoken up for a mere county magistrate.

As for whether his governance truly had any substance, one only needed to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate, compare it with the Ministry of Personnel's annual merit assessments, and a final conclusion would quickly be reached.

Arranging a post was even easier — the deputy posts of the four prefectures including Yangzhou and Huai'an were the most suitable positions. If he truly had ability, he would naturally distinguish himself in office.