Chongzhen was very determined on whether to make his property public.
He was well aware that he would encounter great resistance and many troubles when implementing it.
But no matter how difficult it is, he has to give it a try.
Unsupervised power will not benefit the people, but will only do evil with impunity.
During the next half month, every court meeting discussed whether the family property should be made public.
The pros and cons were arguing fiercely in the court.
Secretly win over the other side and strengthen one's own momentum.
The political game is the majority rule.
As long as there are many opposing voices, the government’s policies cannot be implemented.
Looking at the data collected privately, Chongzhen was somewhat confused.
He asked Qiu Yu: "Why are most officials above the fourth rank who support public disclosure of assets? And most officials below the fourth rank are against public disclosure of assets?"
Qiu Yu thought for a moment and explained, "There are two main aspects of publicizing one's property: one is to file it with the court, and the other is to post it outside the government office for the public to see."
"The higher the rank of an official, the less chances they have to interact with the people. The less contact they have, the less likely the people will find fault, so this item is of no concern to them. There is even less pressure to file a report with the court. The Imperial Guards are omnipresent and can find out anything they want to find out."
“It is better to cater to policies than to resist them.”
"Oh," Chongzhen suddenly realized, "Why do officials below the fourth rank oppose it so strongly?"
Qiu Yu said seriously: "The lower the rank, the more opportunities to contact the people. Take local officials as an example. Only local officials with authority can deter local officials, while officials without authority will make local officials out of control. The quality of the family property is the official's secret and bottom line. Exposing this bottom line will make the official lose his authority, especially those poor officials."
Chongzhen thought for a moment and said, "If that's the case, let's take a step back."
"What does your majesty mean?"
"Officials of the fourth rank and above are required to disclose their property to the court and the people; officials of the fourth rank and below only need to fill out a property list and disclose it to me in a confidential letter, but not to the people."
"This will not only ensure the authority of officials in the hearts of the people, but also curb corruption to a certain extent."
"Also... this decree only applies to civil officials, military officers do not have to comply."
Qiu Yu originally wanted to treat everyone equally, but he had already entered the game and become Chongzhen's white glove.
It was too late to oppose Chongzhen, so he could only respond: "I will write the memorial right away."
The next morning.
Qiu Yu began to contact local officials in the capital to inquire about their attitudes.
Faced with this new policy, local officials in the capital still felt very resistant.
But someone soon found a loophole.
They found no need to resist the disclosure of property.
Because there is no need.
There are so many officials of the fourth rank and below in the country.
Even if each person wrote two lists of their property, the total would be tens of thousands.
Can Chongzhen see through it?
Even if you can see it, you can't tell the real from the fake.
Moreover, the court's move was intended to combat corruption.
Truly corrupt people have various ways to conceal and transfer their property.
Rather than losing your official position because of resisting a policy, it is better to find ways to transfer and conceal your property in advance.
This idea spread quickly.
Officials in the capital began to try various methods to transfer their property.
In order to please their superiors, they changed their previous opposition attitude and began to support the public disclosure of property.
As more and more people supported him, Chongzhen instructed Qiu Yu to express his gratitude.
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Qiu Yu attacked Xie Sanbin at the morning court session.
As before, he proposed that officials make their assets public.
As expected, Xie Sanbin opposed it.
Qiu Yu immediately said to Chongzhen: "I impeach the cabinet chief minister Xie Sanbin for eliminating dissidents, fawning on his superiors, being greedy, and undermining the government! I ask Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate Xie Sanbin and rectify the government!"
"I second the motion." The censors of the Censorate were the first to express their opinions.
"I agree with this." Some officials from the Ministry of War also expressed their opinions.
The eunuch party official said: "I second the motion."
Where someone takes the lead, others will respond.
Xie Sanbin has maintained power in the government for too long.
The higher he stands, the more people dislike him.
Xie Sanbin pointed at Qiu Yu's nose and said, "False accusation! You are framing me!"
Xie Sanbin's followers immediately launched a counterattack.
An imperial censor came out and said, "I impeach the Minister of Personnel Qiu Yu. He has controlled the Ministry of Personnel for more than ten years. His followers are everywhere in the court and in the local areas. He eliminates dissidents, flatters his superiors, is extremely corrupt, and corrupts the government! I ask Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate Qiu Yu and rectify the government!"
"I second the motion."
"I second the motion."
Then the two sides began to attack each other.
After watching for a while, Xie Sanbin suddenly felt something was wrong.
In the previous month, the two sides attacked each other in the court every day.
There have always been more people supporting him than against him.
Today there are more people against than for.
What's going on?
After a moment, Xie Sanbin guessed that Chongzhen was going to get rid of him.
He wanted to struggle.
But he was tired.
Since he became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he has been either trying to please his superiors or protecting his subordinates.
He is tired.
Now he neither wanted to curry favor with his superiors nor protect his subordinates.
He just wants to live a good life.
How to survive?
Cooperate with Chongzhen to promote public disclosure of property.
But it’s not an open cooperation.
Instead, they opposed openly and cooperated secretly.
Under the gaze of everyone, Xie Sanbin knelt down on both knees and said, "Your Majesty, I am deaf and blind, and I beg to retire and return home!"
Chongzhen slowly stood up and asked, "Minister Xie, what do you think about the public disclosure of the family property?"
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