For an emperor, it is only natural to clean up the bureaucracy; no ruler would like corrupt officials.

Let's not talk about capable corrupt officials or incompetent honest officials; there might be some debate about that. But ultimately, a corrupt official is a corrupt official, and that's already a violation of the law. No matter how capable a corrupt official is, they can't escape the crime of corruption.

Zhu Yunying would certainly not allow such a thing to happen. The corruption during the Yuan Dynasty was far too rampant, and this cautionary tale served as a stark warning. Moreover, the lingering effects of corruption were too great, and would have a profound impact on future officials, something that could not be eradicated in a short time.

Zhu Yunying had originally planned to reform the bureaucracy, and the recent series of events had finally given him some tasks to endure.

At this point, a more forceful approach is needed, and more resolute action must be taken to deal with certain matters. Hoping that Emperor Ying Shi would feign ignorance or let things slide is impossible, because some things have crossed his bottom line.

Clearly, such matters cannot be left to Xu Huizu to offend people, nor can they be handled solely by Xu Huizu. This requires the involvement of more important officials in the court, and more officials from top to bottom to handle these matters.

The Ministry of Personnel naturally needed to be involved, as it was the department that managed all the officials in the country.

However, this matter had to start with the Ministry of Personnel, because it was in charge of the selection, evaluation, and so on for all civil officials in the country. This meant that the Ministry of Personnel held great power and influence, and many officials fawned over its officials, as this concerned their career advancement.

Zhu Yunying was quite confident in Ru Chang, the Minister of Personnel, as Ru Chang's ability to accompany him in his studies and his character were both excellent.

Having confidence in the Minister of Personnel doesn't mean I'm at ease with the other officials. Without a thorough overhaul of the Ministry of Personnel, any attempt to improve official conduct will be nothing but a pipe dream.

This is where the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate come in; their existence is to uphold the laws of the imperial court. Whether they offend anyone or not is irrelevant; that's their job.

These are no small matters, and Zhu Yunying had no intention of hiding anything about them, nor was it necessary.

Zhu Yunying planned to formally begin the Capital Inspection, a system for regularly evaluating officials in the capital, also known as the Internal Assessment.

During Zhu Yunying's reign, the capital inspection system existed in name only, or rather, the system was flawed. Zhu Yunying did not intend to delay; he wanted to improve the capital inspection system.

Given Zhu Yuanzhang's (Hongwu Emperor's) personality, corrupt officials had no chance of survival under his rule. The Ming Dynasty was indeed extremely strict in its punishment of corrupt officials, but often it was simply a matter of the Hongwu Emperor's terrifying methods.

Now Zhu Yunying is trying to establish a system to ensure that the crackdown on corrupt officials continues, to keep those big rats feeling the pressure, and to make them feel that there is a sword hanging over their heads at all times.

The assessment is conducted every three years; for those in Beijing, it is called "Beijing Assessment," and for those outside Beijing, it is called "Grand Assessment." Promotion and demotion are based on "four categories" and "eight methods."

The four categories are: Integrity, Governance, Talent, and Age. Each category is ranked into three levels based on performance: Competent, Diligent, and Dedicated. Those ranked in the top level are named and have priority for promotion to official positions outside the capital. Integrity represents moral character, divided into Honest, Average, and Corrupt. Governance represents administrative affairs, divided into Diligent, Average, and Lazy. Talent is divided into Strong, Average, and Weak. Age refers to physical age, divided into Young, Middle-aged, and Old.

The "Eight Disciplinary Actions" are: greed, cruelty, inaction, carelessness, old age, illness, impetuosity, and lack of talent. The corresponding punishments are questioning, dismissal, or demotion. Those who are old or ill will be retired.

The purpose of the Capital Inspection and Grand Assessment systems was to reward the good and punish the bad, so that officials at all levels could perform their duties and contribute to the rule of the empire.

However, Joo Yoon-young also understood that people have emotions and desires, and the administrators were no exception.

Even the best system needs someone to implement it well. Even if a system works smoothly, it may have some effect in the short term, but it is also possible that such a system will soon become a mere shell.

After all, such assessments involve officials. However, precisely because they involve the rewards and punishments of officials, the result is that phenomena such as favoritism and factionalism are very obvious, making it difficult to truly achieve the intended purpose in the later stages of development.

However, these things definitely need to be done; we absolutely cannot just sit on the throne and let things slide.

Even if such a system has some shortcomings, then we should continuously improve it. Instead of feeling that the system might have some flaws and becoming complacent or simply giving up, that's not in Zhu Yunying's character.

Xu Miaoqing seemed to realize that the emperor had been busy with some things lately, but she wouldn't ask any questions. She was a clever empress; she knew what she should do and, even more importantly, what she couldn't touch.

If the emperor were willing to talk to her about something, that would be ideal. However, it wouldn't matter if the emperor didn't want to, because Xu Miaoqing was also very busy lately; she was not just a figurehead as empress.

For example, she needed to properly restore order within the palace. Although the emperor had only seemed to complain a little before, that didn't mean Xu Miaoqing could ignore it. Indeed, no one dared to disrespect Zhu Wenjin, but there were bound to be some degree of neglect.

Who could blame them when the second prince was somewhat unruly? Naturally, he didn't win the emperor's favor, and many people lost interest in him. Furthermore, the prince's mother was also out of favor, which meant that the presence of this mother and son would diminish in the very pragmatic palace.

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