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◎A Day in the Life of the Little Princess◎

The little princess's marriage was talked about by the accompanying officials and their families for several days, but the eldest princess got married at the age of seventeen, and the emperor obviously loved the little princess more. It was obvious that the little princess would not get married too early.

Emperor Xingwu was indeed reluctant to let the little princess leave the palace too early, so he called Zhang Jie and his son Zhang Su over for a talk.

Emperor Xingwu: "I intend for Prince Xian to marry in February of next year. If state affairs remain unresolved, I will begin my southern tour in March. This tour will cover many prefectures and counties, and will take anywhere from six months to a year. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to schedule the wedding of Lin'er and Sulang for the year after next. Lin'er is still young, so waiting two more years is just right. However, Sulang is already twenty-one..."

Zhang Su immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, it is a great honor for me to be the princess's consort. I am willing to wait any longer."

Zhang Jie also said that the state affairs should be given priority during the southern tour.

Emperor Xingwu came over and personally helped Zhang Su to his feet. He patted the young man on the shoulder and said with emotion, "They say a son-in-law is half a son, but you're different. You've lived in the palace since childhood, growing up with the Third Prince. I've long considered you half a son. Now, with the added bonus of being my son-in-law, what's the difference between you and my own flesh and blood, other than the surname Zhang?"

Zhang Su: "Your Majesty truly treats me like a king and a father. I will do my utmost to serve the Great Qi in return for your kindness."

Emperor Xingwu glanced at the father and son and shook his head. "You, Zhang Jialang, are perfect in your conduct, but you lack a certain human touch. You always love to speak such polite words. Today, I clearly only treat you as relatives and sons-in-law. Who would listen to your talk of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country?"

Zhang Jie and Zhang Su: "..."

Emperor Xingwu: "Alright, I don't have that blessing anymore. I just hope my son can hear more of my consort's kind words in the future. By the way, the matter of the Southern Tour should only be known to you and your son. Don't spread it to anyone else for now."

The father and son accepted the order in unison.

.

Qingyang was not in a hurry to get married. The reason why she expressed her feelings to Zhang Su so early was because Zhang Su, who was six years older than her, had reached the age of marriage first. Since she had fallen in love with this man and had been hinting at it, she should give Zhang Su a definite answer.

After the marriage was settled, Qingyang could not only legitimately ask Zhang Su to accompany her for horse riding and boating, but she also focused more of her energy on the official business of the Ministry of Personnel.

Emperor Xingwu simply sent the little princess to the Ministry of Personnel, and then the Minister of Personnel Yang Zhimin arranged a specific task for the little princess.

The Ministry of Personnel was divided into four Qingli Si, namely the Wenxuan Si, the Kaogong Si, the Yanse Si, and the Jixun Si. Among them, the Wenxuan Si and the Kaogong Si were the ones that had the most frequent dealings with officials.

The Ministry of Personnel was responsible for the selection and appointment of civil servants in Beijing and local areas. Unless an official with a prominent background had direct connections with the emperor and asked the emperor to issue an order directly or to make a greeting to the Ministry of Personnel, the careers of most civil servants had to go through the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel was the most powerful department in the Ministry of Personnel.

The Ministry of Examination is responsible for evaluating the political achievements of officials. This evaluation is divided into a small test every three years and a large test every six years. If those officials who are just filling in the numbers are lucky and don't make big mistakes, they can get by for two or three more years before being exposed in the performance evaluation. However, the performance evaluation given to each official by the Ministry of Examination will directly determine whether the official will be promoted, demoted or dismissed by the Ministry of Selection, so the Ministry of Examination is also very important.

When the little princess first came in April, Yang Zhimin wanted to arrange for her to go to the Wenxuan Division, but Qingyang chose the Kaogong Division herself because she felt that although the Wenxuan Division had power, the political achievements of officials seen by the Wenxuan Division were basically summarized by the Kaogong Division. Once there were any omissions or the Kaogong Division was bribed, the Wenxuan Division might mistake mediocre officials for capable officials and bad officials for good officials.

Not long ago, the Director of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Works was implicated by the Censorate for accepting bribes from merchants. Seven or eight officials under the Ministry of Works were also implicated and convicted. My father meant that the officials should be directly decided by the Ministry of Personnel, but for the Director of the Construction Department, who is a fifth-rank official, my father hopes to select a talented and virtuous person from among the local officials to bring some new atmosphere to the Ministry of Works, rather than selecting from the current officials in the capital who are already well versed in the ways of the officialdom in the capital.

The emperor told Yang Zhimin his requirements, and it was Yang Zhimin's business to decide how to select the candidates.

Given that the Langzhong of the Ministry of Works and Maintenance was a fifth-rank official, and local officials could only be promoted or transferred horizontally based on their performance, Yang Zhimin had the Ministry of Examination compile a list of the top ten local officials from the seventh to fifth ranks in the previous performance evaluations. He also ordered a quick review of the recent performance of these officials within a month. This prevented him from recommending an official based on previous performance evaluations, who would then cause a major scandal in the past year or two, leading to him being accused of dereliction of duty by the emperor. Consequently, the officials of the Ministry of Examination were extremely busy, with piles of performance documents stacked on each of their desks, including those from previous years and those from the past one or two years, including performance reports from local officials waiting to be evaluated.

Qingyang had a separate rest room where she could rest and relieve herself, but she shared a public room with Tan Zhan, a doctor from the Ministry of Examination, and Dong Shengyuan, a deputy minister. Considering the young princess's infancy, Tan Zhan and Dong Shengyuan were responsible for reviewing the performance of officials of the seventh and sixth ranks, respectively, while Qingyang was solely responsible for reviewing the performance of officials of the fifth rank.

All local officials of the fifth rank were county magistrates.

During the Great Qi Dynasty, there were fourteen states, one hundred and eighty-two prefectures, and more than one thousand counties. The chief official of a state was the governor, the chief official of a prefecture was the county magistrate, and the chief official of a county was the county magistrate.

Qingyang obtained the performance records and resumes of ten county governors. Unexpectedly, she saw two familiar names among the ten. One was Jia Fangping, a poor scholar whom she recommended to her father, and now he was the county governor of Kuaiji County in Yangzhou for the fourth year. The other was Luo Pan, her grandfather who she had never met but was related to by blood.

Three-year-old Qingyang heard his mother briefly mention this grandfather, and knew that it was his grandfather, who was the magistrate of a county at the time, who presented his mother to his father.

Qingyang still remembers the conversation she had with her mother.

"Mother, my eldest brother and sister's grandfather has passed away, so we can't see him. Did my third brother and I also have the grandfather?"

"...No, your grandfather is serving as a county magistrate out there."

"...My second brother's maternal grandfather was Yan Xizheng. Yan Xizheng was able to become the Left Prime Minister because of his contributions to the founding of the country. Is my maternal grandfather so incompetent?"

"...The previous dynasty was very chaotic, and my grandfather just lived a lazy life. I don't know if he had any talent."

"Mother, how old is Grandfather this year?"

"Let me calculate. I think he should be fifty-three, which is exactly fifty years older than Lin'er."

Now think about it, my grandfather was only a county magistrate when he was in his forties. It was either because he was not appreciated for his talent or because he himself had no great talent. But if he really had talent, with my father's love for my mother, why did he keep transferring my grandfather to other places for twenty years?

Qingyang carefully examined Luo Pan's resume and performance records after his father ascended the throne. In his ten-year career as a county magistrate, Luo Pan had been idling for seven years. In the last three years, he probably finally realized that he could not rise to prominence by relying on his daughter being a concubine in the palace. Finally, he worked diligently and made achievements in his last term as a county magistrate, and was directly promoted to county governor.

Luo Pan's first term as prefect was in Yizhou. He encouraged the people to reclaim wasteland, donated his own money to build bridges and roads for the people, and solved three murder cases that the previous prefect had failed to solve, for which he received high performance evaluations. The year before last, he was transferred to Runan County in the capital, which was getting closer to the capital.

Qingyang could guess from his mother's attitude that Luo Pan was not a kind father to her, otherwise his mother would not miss her biological father at all. Because of this, his father treated Luo Pan based entirely on his political achievements when deciding whether to promote him. Perhaps considering that Luo Pan was getting older and might die one day, his father decided to transfer the old man to the capital so that his mother could see him for the last time?

In any case, Qingyang did not think that Luo Pan was a suitable candidate to succeed the Langzhong of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Works. First, this person was too utilitarian. When he had no connections in the previous dynasty, he just muddled through. Now that he had a favorite daughter in the new dynasty, he relied on his daughter to make a good life. Seeing that he could not make a good life, he worked hard to show his father. Second, this person was too old, and the Ministry of Works was busy. If he died soon after taking office, wouldn't the Ministry of Personnel have to be busy again?

Therefore, when the little princess ranked the ten people she was responsible for, she put Luo Pan at the last place.

Tan Zhan, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Examination, submitted all the lists to Shangshu Yang Zhimin.

The first list was of the fifth-rank county magistrates. Yang Zhimin looked from the top to the bottom. Jia Fangping was ranked third and Luo Pan was ranked tenth.

He asked Tan Zhan, "Who arranged it?"

In previous years, he would deliberately put Luo Pan at the front. After all, this man was Concubine Li's father. The emperor could choose not to choose him, but he could not fail to recommend him.

Tan Zhan smiled and said, “The princess is ranked because Mr. Luo’s early political achievements were mediocre and not as good as the previous nine.”

Yang Zhimin pointed at Jia Fangping's name and said, "What about this?" He remembered that this was a talent discovered by the little princess.

Tan Zhan: "The princess said that this person has only been in the officialdom for four years. He has talent but lacks practical experience. It would be best if he can gain a few more years of experience in the local area to get rid of his arrogance."

Yang Zhimin stroked his beard and continued to look at the following lists.

In the end, Yang Zhimin selected five people including Luo Pan and Jia Fangping, and took them to the Secretariat for review by the two prime ministers.

Yan Xizheng frowned and pointed at Jia and Luo who were standing at the bottom and asked, "Was it chosen by the princess?"

Yang Zhimin repeated the little princess's comments on the two men and said with a smile, "I think there is some truth in what the princess said. However, Jia Fangping's arrogance can be transformed into a keen determination to govern. Mr. Luo's achievements in his early years were mediocre, but in recent years they have been outstanding. This just shows that he has great talent. Since he has talent, the Ministry of Personnel should recommend him."

Yan Xizheng: "...That's right. Come with me to see the emperor."

When he arrived before Emperor Xingwu, Yan Xizheng asked Yang Zhimin to comment on the five people on the list one by one, including repeating the little princess's two comments.

Emperor Xingwu suppressed his smirk and asked Yan Xizheng, "Lin'er and Zhimin each hold different opinions. What do the Left Prime Minister think of them?"

Yan Xizheng: "...I agree with the princess. The beating Jia Fangping received back then shows that he is not thorough enough in his actions and needs more training. As for Luo Pan, it is entirely up to the emperor to decide whether to use him or not."

He himself is an old man and would not pick on Luo Pan's age, but Luo Pan's utilitarianism is a big problem. This kind of person can work diligently in order to go to Beijing, but once he gets what he wants, he can easily become lazy and even start to abuse his power.

Emperor Xingwu pointed at Yang Zhimin and said, "You are always right when recommending outsiders, but you always make mistakes when it comes to my relatives."

Yang Zhimin: “…”

Is this referring only to Concubine Li's father, or is it related to other things as well?

【Author’s words】

Here we go, 100 little red envelopes, see you in the evening for the second update! (I'll try to be there by 11pm but I can't guarantee it, so you can come back tomorrow morning [poor thing])