Looking at Zou Yuanbiao, Zhu Youxiao was helpless. The man in front of him was a Neo-Confucian scholar.

Zhu Youxiao didn't know whether Zou Yuanbiao did it on purpose or he really thought so, but Zhu Youxiao felt that the latter possibility was quite high.

It is probably impossible to understand Zou Yuanbiao or these people's thinking with your own way of thinking.

When Zou Yuanbiao had finished talking, Zhu Youxiao waved to Chen Hong and said, "Go, bring Mr. Zou a cup of tea."

Zou Yuanbiao quickly stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Watching Zou Yuanbiao drink water, Zhu Youxiao finally spoke: "My dear, since you support the new policy, I also have some ideas."

Zou Yuanbiao was stunned, but he couldn't just say "I don't want to listen, I don't want to listen" at this time. Your Majesty has been listening to you for so long, and you don't want to listen to Your Majesty? Do you still want to get away with it?

Looking at Zou Yuanbiao, Zhu Youxiao spoke directly, "Lord Zou, today's framing of Xiong Tingbi has left me restless. He's an imperial envoy of the Censorate, a censor, the eyes and ears of the emperor. Yet, they accepted bribes and framed ministers. If even the Censorate behaved this way, what about other government offices? What about local officials?"

Zhu Youxiao sighed when he said this, and then started coughing violently again. He felt better only when Chen Hong handed him a silk handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

"Lord Zou, since you wish to rehabilitate Zhang Juzheng and advocate for his new laws, I wonder if you could implement some of his new laws first? For example, the performance evaluation system?"

The so-called performance appraisal system is actually a tight ring put on the heads of officials. It is an official appraisal system established during Zhang Juzheng's reform. Its purpose is to focus on the effectiveness of appraisal work and improve efficiency.

His policy was to "respect sovereignty, assess official duties, carry out rewards and punishments, and issue one order." He cut redundant officials in government agencies and rectified the postal and personnel systems.

Not only should officials at all levels be inspected regularly, but they should also be given deadlines to complete all tasks they handle. The important features of implementing the "Performance Evaluation System" are the so-called "setting deadlines for inspecting tasks" and "holding people accountable for tasks."

Later generations of official and personnel assessments were influenced by the performance evaluation system. In short, responsibilities were assigned to individuals and completed within a specified timeframe. Those who failed to complete their tasks were punished, whether they should be punished or expelled. The court did not want incompetent or lazy officials; those who were redundant or inactive were dismissed and never reappointed.

During the years when Zhang Juzheng was in power, as many as 30% of the officials were dismissed by the imperial examination system. These dismissed officials formed a group to oppose Zhang Juzheng, and many of them were members of the Donglin Party.

Zhu Youxiao's words were a trap.

Zou Yuanbiao talked about the new policies and said a lot, but Zhu Youxiao proposed the performance evaluation system that the Donglin Party did not want.

Many people in later generations said that the Donglin Party rehabilitated Zhang Juzheng, but in fact it was just a name given to him. Since they praised Zhang Juzheng, why didn’t they re-implement his reforms?

For example, the performance evaluation system, or Zhang Juzheng’s tax system?

Obviously, these are things that the Donglin Party does not want.

Now Zhu Youxiao doesn’t care whether the Donglin Party wants it or not, this is what he wants.

In a word, I don’t care what you think, I care what I think.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, the essence of Zhang Juzheng's reform was the performance evaluation system. Once the performance evaluation system was completed, the administration of officials would surely improve significantly.

As for Zhang Juzheng's most proud whip method, Zhu Youxiao was not optimistic about it at all.

The Single Whip Law bypassed the essence of the problem, which was that officials and gentry all paid taxes. Even if the land in the country was fully investigated, what would happen? Wouldn't it be the same in a few years?

The Single Whip Law also increased the burden on self-cultivating farmers, as taxes were collected in silver, and grain could not be converted into money on its own. Gentry colluded with local officials to suppress grain prices during tax season, making grain worthless. To pay taxes in silver, the people had to sell their grain at a low price.

During the lean period, the gentry and officials would raise the price of grain, making it impossible for the common people to buy it and forcing them to sell their land and themselves.

It can be said that the Single Whip Law was a compromise law. It was precisely because of this compromise that the burden on the people of the Ming Dynasty increased significantly, turning it from a law for the benefit of the people into a law that harmed them.

If the New Deal of the Ming Dynasty had not been abolished, the Wanli period would have been full of wars, and the people who could not survive would have directly revolted. The Single Whip Law was just a temporary solution.

As for the solution, it is actually very simple, and was given by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing dynasty inherited the Ming system, and by the end of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Ming dynasty's old system had essentially returned. Tax revenues were failing, and land annexation was rampant.

Under such circumstances, Emperor Yongzheng took a direct approach and implemented the tax system based on the amount of land he had.

There is no tax exemption. It doesn’t matter if you are a landlord or if you own tens of thousands of acres of land. You pay tax based on how much land you have. If you don’t have land, you don’t have to pay tax.

Of course, this also has disadvantages, because the landlord will rent the land for a long time, and the pressure is on the tenants, making their lives even more miserable.

There is a solution, which is to develop industry and commerce and free the people from the land.

Go to work, do business, join the army, go to colonize, anyway, they don't become tenants. If the people have other ways to make a living, they will naturally not become tenants.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to do just that, but all this had a prerequisite, which was the administration of officials. But with the current administration of officials, no policy would be of any use.

So Zhu Youxiao went straight to the Kaocheng system, and Zou Yuanbiao happened to come along, so he was the one to do it!

Zou Yuanbiao was stunned after hearing what Zhu Youxiao said. Performance evaluation method?

In an instant, Zou Yuanbiao denied this idea in his heart.

How can we use the performance evaluation method?

"Your Majesty, the performance evaluation system is too strict. It dictates everything. This shows a lack of trust in your subjects!" Zou Yuanbiao retorted bluntly, "Your Majesty's subjects are all scholars of the sages' books. A gentleman's conduct lies in self-discipline, and the way to rule lies in benevolence and forgiveness. You must trust your subjects. Don't let the performance evaluation system be too strict. That would alienate the subjects from the king!"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zou Yuanbiao and knew what was going on.

This is a defender of Neo-Confucianism. He believes that the world is governed not by laws but by the ways of a gentleman. Is this the mainstream thought of this era?

Although it is not known whether Zou Yuanbiao said this on purpose or he really thought so, it doesn’t matter. This is his political attitude and political proposition.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao understood that this person was useless.

Even if he had integrity and courage, and even dared to commit suicide to preserve his loyalty to the Tartars, it would still be useless. If he had really listened to Zou Yuanbiao, the Ming Dynasty would probably have fallen even faster.

Listening to Zou Yuanbiao talking about the emperor setting an example, Zhu Youxiao shook his head.

They actually believed that as long as the emperor took the lead, the people below would follow suit. This was simply a joke. If I paid taxes to the imperial farm, these people would follow suit?

It's impossible. The so-called emperor setting an example is something you made up to make the emperor obey.