Chapter 336 Too Free
Xu Zhenying smiled nonchalantly, "I'll naturally get to know you all better in the course of government affairs. There's no need to rush. Let's go into the city first. Brother, Feng'er, get in the carriage and tell me in detail about the situation in Bianjing."
Meanwhile, the west gate was bustling with activity, with countless people eagerly anticipating the appearance of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao, but they didn't know that the real prince had already quietly entered the city.
The news of Xu Zhenying entering the palace spread like wildfire, and the guarding soldiers had already gone to inform their masters. Therefore, after Xu Zhenying leisurely strolled around the palace, the civil and military officials ran back to the palace from the west gate panting.
In Baohua Hall, everything is ready.
Upon entering, Xu Zhenying was greeted by carved beams and painted rafters, jade steps, and the lingering aroma of incense. The Baohua Hall boasts a unique location, situated in the heart of the imperial palace. In front of the hall, there's a vast open space of approximately 2,000 square meters. The interior is even more magnificent, with a roof adorned with multicolored glazed tiles, resembling a pagoda spire. Surrounding the hall are countless lotus murals, unfolding one after another, creating a sense of solemnity.
Xu Zhenying felt a sense of emotion when he came here.
This place used to be the office of emperors of all dynasties and the center of power and politics. And she, Xu Zhenying, a soul from another world, finally arrived here after seven years.
Perhaps what others see is supreme glory.
But all she saw was a heavy burden and responsibility.
Xu Zhenying doesn’t know what kind of mentality she had to get to where she is today. Of course, it’s because she stood on the shoulders of giants, and it’s also because she and her partners worked hard, but more of it is luck.
This time, God did not treat her unfairly.
Ever since Feng'er's battle report came, the entire team has been in a state of excitement. This group of grassroots who have followed her from the beginning have finally transformed themselves and become one of the rulers of the world.
The so-called "merit of following the dragon" allows everyone to change their family background, enjoy wealth and glory in the second half of their lives, and realize their long-cherished wish. Naturally, they are very proud and happy, and can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one night.
Xu Zhenying was also happy.
It doesn't matter. Since she has managed to get the company listed, she should allow her subordinates to celebrate with champagne.
"Your Highness." Someone in Baohua Hall hurried over and bowed slightly. Xu Zhenying didn't recognize this person, so Feng'er stepped forward and introduced them, "Your Highness, this is my secretary, Wang Qiushuang. She was once one of Zhou Zhong's concubines. She joined the Datong Society a long time ago and became our comrade. I was hiding in her bedroom before. During this palace coup, she was also the one gathering intelligence outside, and her contribution is truly invaluable."
Wang Qiushuang's face flushed with excitement. She quickly said, "Minister Xu taught me well. I was just running errands."
Xu Zhenying looked her up and down with a smile, seeming very satisfied. "Not bad. As a concubine in the harem, you dared to approach our Jinzhou Prefecture when the situation was unclear. This is enough to prove your courage and boldness. Learn well from Feng'er, try to pass the clerk assessment as soon as possible, and do your job well in the future."
"Yes!" Wang Qiu Shuang answered loudly, puffing out her chest like the female clerks in Jinzhou Prefecture.
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a lot of noise and hurried footsteps outside.
Qian Zhenniang glanced outside and said with a smile, "Finally, someone is here."
Sure enough, hundreds of officials rushed in soon. Riding horses and running were prohibited in the palace, so these people could only walk quickly. They were sweating profusely from running, and were dumbfounded when they entered the house.
Something has changed inside Baohua Hall!
No one knew where the dragon throne had been moved to. Now there was only a long table similar to those in a college facing them. Obviously, that was the seat of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.
But below, the places where civil and military officials once stood have all become rows of tables, chairs and benches.
This made everyone panic.
Are we going to have to sit down and discuss things?
This... is outrageous...
These people looked at Feng'er as if for help. Feng'er winked at Wang Qiushuang, who immediately beckoned, "Masters, hurry up, find a seat wherever you like, regardless of rank or distinction between civil and military officials, just sit next to each other."
Everyone looked at each other, but the clever ones either grabbed the last seat or the middle seat. As for the seats in the front rows, which were only a few meters away from His Royal Highness Prince Zhao, no one dared to grab them.
It must be kept for the ministers and high-ranking officials of Jinzhou Prefecture.
Although Wang Qiu Shuang said that anyone could sit anywhere, the officials still tacitly reserved seats in the first two rows.
For a moment, the Baohua Hall was filled with noise and those who had grabbed seats did not dare to sit down. They just stood there blankly, looking around.
General Bai, Ming Xiaoshuang, Zhao Qiaonian and others also walked in. Everyone was like a headless fly, watching the behavior of those people from Jinzhou Prefecture with their eyes and noses, and they just followed suit.
Zhao Qiaonian, Ming Xiaoshuang and Lin Lao walked straight to the first row and sat down casually.
Seeing them take their seats, the two or three hundred people behind them mustered up the courage to sit down.
In the past, being granted a seat by the emperor was a supreme honor, and only Prime Minister Han and those old ministers with outstanding merits could enjoy such treatment. But now everyone actually sat down to discuss matters, which really frightened the old ministers of the Zhou Dynasty.
But some people were whispering.
"Didn't they say His Highness had already entered the palace? Why can't I see him?"
"Yes, His Majesty is not here, so it is really inappropriate for us to sit down like this."
"It's so cramped here, how are we going to perform the three kneeling and nine kowtows ceremony later? We don't even know the rules of the Jinzhou government—"
"Don't be afraid. We'll see what the people in Jinzhou Prefecture do later. If we follow their example, we won't be picked on."
And soon, something shocking happened.
Seeing that everyone was seated, the group of people gathered in front separated and sat down opposite them one by one.
Then, a young woman appeared. She was wearing a narrow-cut casual dress, her hair tied up high, and her dress was quite androgynous. Her facial features were not outstanding, except for the two dimples on her lips and a pair of smiling eyes.
She walked straight to the middle of the row opposite and sat down.
The whole audience was in an uproar.
The voices of discussion stopped abruptly, and suddenly there was dead silence.
Almost instantly, those with quick brains reacted.
This person is His Royal Highness Prince Zhao!!!
"Your Highness Prince Zhao!" someone exclaimed and quickly stood up.
The officials in the back row who were confused about the situation all stood up one after another after being shouted at. The sound of pulling tables, chairs and benches filled the Baohua Hall.
No one expected that Xu Zhenying was already in this room.
There was a bunch of people around her just now, Qian Zhenniang, Feng'er, and the secretaries all surrounding her, so when the officials came in, they just thought they were ordinary officials from Jinzhou Prefecture and didn't take them seriously.
After all, it is impossible for a person in power of a country to be so simple.
It is also impossible for him to be without a group of guards around him.
Logically speaking, His Royal Highness Prince Zhao should be recognized as soon as he appears.
But, this prince... is really too young...
Who could have imagined that His Royal Highness Prince Zhao would stand there and chat with his subordinates like an ordinary official?
These veteran officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who were rich in officialdom, met with setbacks on their first meeting. First, they didn't see anyone at the West City Gate, and then they failed to recognize Xu Zhenying. It was truly a case of an old horse stumbling.
Among the civil and military officials, there were those who were eager to show off and make an impression, but now they have stopped trying.
The more sensitive ones secretly speculated whether His Royal Highness Prince Zhao wanted to give them a warning?
Xu Zhenying looked around, waved his hand, and said with a smile, "No need to be polite, everyone. Please take a seat."
Everyone looked at each other, and seeing that General Bai, who had been closest to Jinzhou Prefecture recently, had sat down, the others had no choice but to muster up the courage to sit down one after another.
"There are still empty seats in the back. Please allow all the officials waiting outside to come in."
Wang Qiushuang wanted to remind His Royal Highness King Zhao that in the Zhou Dynasty, only officials of the fifth rank and above were qualified to enter the Baohua Hall to attend daily meetings. However, when she thought of her own status and saw that the other officials below had no objections, she chose to remain silent and just asked the officials waiting outside to take their seats.
Those standing outside were all minor officials dressed in green. They were supposed to go to the west gate to greet him as arranged, but at that time His Royal Highness Prince Zhao did not enter the city from the west gate, so they were also dragged here in a daze.
This was their first pilgrimage, and everyone held the view that courtesy was the most important thing, so even though they knew they could not enter the Baohua Hall, these minor officials still chose to follow all the way in.
However, it was unexpected that His Royal Highness King Zhao seemed to not care about the rules of the Zhou Dynasty at all. As long as an official came, almost every official could take a seat.
The minor officials were flattered, but they felt uneasy when they saw their former superiors.
"Everyone, this is our first meeting, and we don't know each other yet. Since it's still early, let's take attendance. Starting with the first person in the first row, please state your name and position." Xu Zhenying turned to look at Feng'er again, "Do you have the roster for the Ministry of Revenue?"
Feng Er handed it over respectfully, "Here it is."
"Okay, give it to Secretary Wang, and have her name each person named. It would be best if she could compile a list of the officials who didn't come for me."
What’s going on?
Everyone was suddenly terrified!
The old ministers no longer cared about the past grudges and hatreds. They were all arguing with each other and speculating about the intentions of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.
Today, Prime Minister Han and the three ministers still haven't arrived.
Is His Royal Highness Prince Zhao going to settle the score later?
The first person sitting in the first row was Ming Xiaoshuang. When Xu Zhenying gave the order, he was the first to respond. He stood up and faced everyone: "Ming Xiaoshuang, in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture."
"Zhao Qiaonian, in charge of the Jinzhou Prefecture Inspection Department."
…
…
"Huo Bushang, Minister of the Dali Temple."
"Zhao Guanhe, Director of the Taichang Temple."
…
The unusual introduction meeting lasted about a quarter of an hour. One by one, the officials in Baohua Hall stood up and announced their names and official positions.
Finally it was over, and Wang Qiu Shuang handed the list to Xu Zhenying.
Xu Zhenying nodded. "Han Zongyun, Qiao Yuhua, Song Ci'en, Chen Shangqing, Sheng Lang, Zhou Zuoji, Yun Xingjian, and Chen Mingyuan, a total of eight people. Is the Minister of Revenue here?"
Immediately, an old man with white hair stood up and responded, "I am here."
"When will these people's salaries end? Settle this month's salary, and then process their dismissal."
When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked.
The Minister of Revenue was even more shocked and asked uncertainly, "Your Highness, are you going to dismiss the officials who didn't come today?"
"That's right. If they don't come today, they don't have to come tomorrow. Also, please confirm whether their residence is privately owned or state-owned. If it's state-owned, please have them clear it out and return it to the national treasury within five working days."
"A weekday?"
Zhou Houfang immediately explained, "Your Highness means that Bianjing City will also follow the Jinzhou Prefecture's schedule. A total of seven days a week, working from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday off. Five working days, today is Tuesday, which means they must be cleared out next Tuesday."
The room was filled with silence.
No one expected that the first thing Xu Zhenying did when he entered the city was to dismiss Han Xiang, the head of all officials.
According to past practice, this civil service group must be the priority for appeasement. Who would take drastic measures to directly dismiss the prime minister of a country and the ministers of three ministries right from the start?
Everyone thought that this would drag on for at least a month, and would end with His Highness visiting Prime Minister Han three times to ask him to come out of retirement.
Xu Zhenying's arbitrary decision made the old ministers panic and uneasy. As if they were sympathetic to their own kind, others almost immediately pleaded for mercy.
"Your Highness, this is unacceptable. When you first entered the Imperial City, you took such drastic measures to depose Prime Minister Han that the court was shaken, and we were all filled with fear and trepidation—"
"Your Highness, Prime Minister Han is the head of all officials, and his role is irreplaceable. His refusal to come out to greet you today is not a deliberate act of disobedience to Your Highness. It is simply because Prime Minister Han values friendship and trust, and he misses his former master, feeling deeply saddened and ill. Your Highness should have invited him out of retirement three times."
"Your Highness, please do not act on impulse. Prime Minister Han has served three dynasties and is the pillar of our dynasty. Without Prime Minister Han, there would be no Great Zhou. Your Highness, please reconsider."
There were cries of pleas coming from the crowd. At this time, the old ministers were united, and they were almost crying, which gave Xu Zhenying a headache.
However, there were also people who usually opposed Han Xiang. At this moment, they were very angry, but because they were not sure whether Xu Zhenying really wanted to depose Han Xiang, they did not dare to add insult to injury at this moment. They were also forced to stand up and express their stance.
However, there were also some sharp-minded people who thought that this was the first decree issued by His Royal Highness Prince Zhao after entering the city of Bianjing, but it was opposed by the ministers. If they also opposed it, would it be counterproductive?
Therefore, some people sat there, lowered their heads, did not speak, and watched coldly.
Xu Zhenying was really furious.
She was not unaware of the long-standing problems in the Zhou Dynasty, and she also knew that the official relationships in the Zhou Dynasty were complicated. If you counted the number of people under her, they were probably all related to each other, so naturally they formed a very united interest group.
Besides, she had lived too smoothly in Jinzhou Prefecture over the years. The entire administrative efficiency of Jinzhou Prefecture was very high, and she almost had the final say. No one had ever dared to use such a trick to coerce her in front of her.
She also didn't expect that they would be able to attack Bianjing City so quickly, so the team members from Jinzhou Prefecture had not arrived yet. In other words, she now needed at least one month of this group of people to keep the operation going before she could depose all of them.
Given Xu Zhenying's temper, he naturally wanted to dismiss them all.
She had so many talented people under her command that even if she fired them all, the entire Bianjing City would be able to operate immediately. However, they still didn't know much about the situation in Bianjing City, and many files and documents needed to be handed over, which required a peaceful transition process.
Just let them work for another month.
The old officials in Bianjing City did not understand Xu Zhenying, but the people from Jinzhou Prefecture could clearly see that His Highness was angry.
They sneered in their hearts: This group of people still want to use this method of crying, making a fuss and even threatening to commit suicide to frame His Highness. This is a good plan, but unfortunately they made a fatal mistake.
When two armies are fighting, if one acts rashly without knowing the character of the opposing commander, he will inevitably be in a passive position.
They didn't understand Prince Zhao's temper.
His Royal Highness Prince Zhao hates being threatened the most.
Let’s wait and see, Bianjing City will probably be bustling with activity this month.
Xu Zhenying suppressed his inner anger and remained indifferent to the ministers' wailing. He didn't even respond. He only asked Feng'er beside him, "Report on the situation of the officials."
Feng Er cleared her throat, her sharp eyes sweeping across the faces of the crowd below. Then, in a clear voice, she said, "There are a total of 338 officials in Bianjing City, including 182 civil officials and 156 military officers. Their salaries are paid until September. There are a total of 32 state-owned residences, with a market value of approximately 800,000 taels."
After saying that, she stepped aside and sat down.
Xu Zhenying curled the corners of her lips slightly. Those who knew her knew that someone would soon fall into the trap.
"Today is Tuesday, and I'm new here. Even though many people have introduced themselves just now, I still don't remember much. So let's have another discussion on Friday."
Before the old ministers could react, they saw the people from Jinzhou Prefecture all took out notebooks and pencils and started taking notes.
This made them a little panicked.
"The discussion meeting will have two agendas. The first is for the performance reports of the leaders of the six ministries. The ministers of Rites, Personnel, and War are absent today, so their deputy ministers will fill in on Friday. You will also be filling in for the time being. Mainly discuss what each person has done in their department, what role they have played, and what results they have achieved. Try to provide solid data, avoid empty rhetoric and clichés, and let the data speak for itself. I will not recognize achievements without data. The second agenda is for officials from all departments in Bianjing City, that is, everyone attending today. After returning, from the perspective of department managers, please talk about your understanding and plans for your department. This should include problems, measures, implementation plans, and required resources. Each person is limited to fifteen minutes, or a quarter of an hour. Of course, we will also score and rank everyone based on their performance, and the results will be posted outside the Baohua Hall."
Xu Zhenying finished his words with a smile, but he couldn't help but think to himself: Since you are all willing to plead for Han Xiang and the others, it proves that you are too idle. I will find something for you to do. If I don't crack the whip, they won't know how steel is tempered.
Sure enough, after Xu Zhenying finished speaking, everyone in Jinzhou Prefecture was trying to hold back their laughter, and all the civil and military officials were shocked!
What?
What is performance report?
What is scoring?
What ranking?
Today is Tuesday and the work report will be on Friday, so there are only more than two days left?
It will take more than two days to come up with a detailed summary and plan.
Everyone was dumbfounded. No one had time to plead for Han Xiang and the others. Even General Bai couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.
The Minister of Revenue, the most prestigious among them, immediately objected: "Your Highness, according to your calculation, this is only a little over two days. How can it be possible? Please forgive me for a little longer..."
Xu Zhenying interrupted him without mercy and said to the people from Jinzhou Prefecture, "The same goes for you. Write for whichever department you like. We will report together on Friday."
The people from Jinzhou Prefecture didn't hesitate and immediately responded, "Yes!"
Xu Zhenying's words almost blocked everyone's retreat.
Those with quick minds have already grasped what Xu Zhenying said, "Write about the department you like." When you think about this carefully, it is shocking.
In other words, these people from Jinzhou Prefecture might want to take their place!
Moreover, under the same conditions, the people of Jinzhou Prefecture were able to write such a complete report within two days. How embarrassing would it be for those old officials who were all Jinshi graduates, considered themselves to be very talented, but always talked behind the scenes about Jinzhou Prefecture being a group of grassroots officials?
Competition.
This is a bloodless competition.
Tit for tat.
At this moment, no one paid attention to Han Xiang anymore, and no one dared to refute the performance report on Friday. Everyone's attention was focused on the performance report, not to mention that the scores of this performance report would be made public. If they ranked low, where would they put their faces?
Even more frightening was the rumor that every time Xu Zhenying conquered a city, he would not retain all the officials but would only recruit the best. This meant that a considerable number of people would be kicked out of officialdom.
Bianjing City...isn’t it like this too?
A silent atmosphere filled the Baohua Hall.
At this moment, everyone realized the methods of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.
It's like using a blunt knife to cut meat.
Xu Zhenying smiled meaningfully this time.
Wang Qiushuang, standing on the side, felt the first confrontation between His Royal Highness Prince Zhao and his ministers. There was no flash of swords, but it was enough to kill people and destroy their hearts.
As expected, someone who can become the eternal empress cannot be an ordinary person.
His Royal Highness Prince Zhao’s methods... are truly frightening.
Soon, the subordinates' arguments were almost over. These old-timers seemed to have secretly nominated a scapegoat to charge into battle. He asked from below, "Your Highness, I heard that when you attacked cities elsewhere before, you didn't retain all the officials. Instead, you evaluated them before deciding whether to keep them. Will this performance review meeting determine whether we stay or go?"
Sure enough, this is the issue that everyone is most concerned about.
Xu Zhenying said firmly: "No."
The tense hearts of all the civil and military officials relaxed at once, and some of them even looked happy immediately, and they couldn't wait to share their feelings about escaping death with their colleagues.
However, the next second, Xu Zhenying's words made everyone's mind tense again.
"The assessment will not be held on Friday, but in a month, which is when the Jinzhou government's main force arrives."
With just one word, thunder struck out of nowhere, and a burst of astonishment erupted from the audience.
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