As for the claim that some corrupt officials are capable, Zhu Yunying considered this an utter joke. The court has no shortage of officials waiting for their chance to rise to power, and vacancies for corrupt officials can always be filled.
To show leniency to corrupt officials, or to offer them any kind of appeasement, is a joke. Zhu Yunying has no intention of showing mercy, nor does he intend to give them any chance; once they commit a crime, they will pay the heaviest price.
Looking at Ru Chang, Zhu Yunying asked, "The Ministry of Personnel's current grand inspection of officials in the capital shouldn't be limited to those in Beijing. The entire bureaucracy of the empire needs to be cleaned up, and the bureaucracy of the Ming Dynasty should be made more transparent!"
A clean and efficient government was Zhu Yunying's expectation, even though he knew he might not be able to do many things perfectly or achieve complete transparency. However, he was determined to maintain control to the best of his ability and did not intend to be complacent.
It was something Zhu Yunying should have done to keep officials constantly aware of the potential for corruption. That's how governance is; even a moment's negligence or laxity can lead to its decay.
Zhu Yunying would absolutely not allow such a thing. While he didn't harbor the utmost malice towards officials, he certainly didn't have much goodwill towards them either. These things were certainly unchangeable, and Zhu Yunying was well aware of this, as were many others.
This was how it was during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign; he used iron-fisted methods to clean up the corrupt bureaucracy, and those high-pressure tactics did indeed greatly improve the already corrupt bureaucracy that had existed since the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Zhu Yunying's task now is naturally to maintain this positive situation.
Even though the administration has been somewhat volatile in the past two years, it is still within a controllable range.
Ru Chang naturally understood what she should do. The rectification of officialdom was not necessarily the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel, but it was an inescapable duty.
After seeing Ru Chang off, Zhu Yunying was also looking at the memorials sent by the cabinet. With the arrival of the new year, various budgets and matters naturally came up, all of which required Zhu Yunying's approval, and these were no small matters.
"Before moving the capital, we need to thoroughly reform the banking and land systems. The foundation is pretty good now, isn't it?" Zhu Yunying sighed and said, "It's been almost three years, and we've only managed to complete these things in the two capitals and Jiangnan. That's not enough."
It's definitely not enough. Zhu Yunying has always been very concerned about these things, whether it's banking or land reform, he has been trying his best to do them well.
Most importantly, there was tax reform. Zhu Yunying implemented the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" for a period of time. This was mainly done in the two capitals, specifically in Southern Zhili, which laid a solid foundation.
In fact, Zhu Yunying understood that these things must have infringed on the interests of some people, especially the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax, which clearly seriously infringed on the interests of some large landowners and restricted their land annexation.
But now it's hard to say. The policy of merging land tax into land tax makes it difficult for them to easily acquire more land, or rather, the cost of acquiring land is increasing, which must be a very worrying thing for them.
It seems they have no better options. This is because they are under the emperor's nose, in the heart of the capital. Even if they have some ulterior motives or ideas, they have no chance to resist.
Ultimately, it was the emperor who held military power, and anyone who dared to bare their teeth at the emperor would inevitably be crushed.
“If we were to implement some reforms all at once, many people would feel the pinch,” Zhu Yunying muttered to himself, somewhat worried. “It’s not a big deal in the capital region, where the imperial power can always be on the lookout. But in other places, we need to be careful about the strength of local powerful families; those people might cause trouble.”
This was also what Zhu Yunying truly thought. He didn't overestimate the strength of some local clans, but he also wouldn't underestimate their power.
Under normal circumstances, those people would not dare to oppose the imperial power, but once their own interests are infringed, they will inevitably begin to prepare for resistance or try to resist.
Whether it was the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" or land reform, all of these actions infringed upon the interests of some large landowners. Zhu Yunying was well aware of this, and many others were also aware of it.
Think about it, Emperor Zhu Yunying offended quite a few people. It seems that being an emperor is an inherently disliked profession.
The decision to relocate the capital will inevitably infringe upon the interests of many, including many residents of Yingtian Prefecture. Moving from the capital to a secondary capital will clearly affect them, as their various benefits and privileges will certainly decrease significantly.
The current crackdown on official corruption is naturally met with discontent from both civil and military officials, as their vested interests will inevitably be affected to some extent. Most importantly, Emperor Ying Shi's continued high-pressure tactics against officials mean that the officials will certainly not have an easy environment.
Offending officials wasn't enough; the local gentry would soon feel the pinch. Land reform, tax reform, and other reforms would directly affect their interests, and they would soon experience what it meant to suffer real pain.
This was clearly not just empty talk, because the emperor didn't care about offending those people. For him, the fate of the nation was paramount.
Zhu Yunying rubbed his temples. There were quite a few messy things to deal with, but who could blame him for being the emperor? He had to do these things properly.
While Zhu Yunying was still considering these matters, Song Zhong requested an audience. This commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was usually one to "not visit the palace unless there was a reason," so he must have discovered something to warrant such an immediate request to the emperor.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
