Chapter 25: Working Together and Seeking Common Ground While Reserving Differences

The eighth day of the sixth month in the sixth year of Longqing.

……

The palaces and pavilions in the Forbidden City all have red walls and green tiles, with flying eaves and pointed corners. If each palace has several entrances, then they are stacked up layer upon layer, with winding corridors, giving it a grand and majestic look.

The cabinet in the east, by contrast, seems a bit petty.

The Cabinet Lobby is located on the east side of the Meridian Gate, not far to the south of the Wenhua Hall, with only a few small attics.

But this slightly small palace is where all the power of the Ming Dynasty is gathered.

On the door of the cabinet, there was a sacred edict left by King Sejong, which said: This is a confidential area and no officials or other people are allowed to enter without permission. Violators will be severely punished.

In the main room of the pavilion, statues of Confucius and his four companions are respectfully placed. The four side rooms are separated from each other, and a window is opened in the south, which is used as a place for cabinet ministers to work.

In the past, the three elders were on duty in one room each.

Early this morning, each of the duty rooms was empty, but a certain public room was closed and the voices of three people could be heard from time to time.

"So, what I mean is that now that the old is replaced by the new, it is not appropriate to make too big a move. It would be safest to try it out in Shuntian Prefecture first."

"A nine-story tower starts with a pile of earth."

"Once Shuntian Prefecture is done, we can push it to the various provincial governments and it will be a natural outcome."

"Besides, this will also cause less resistance from the two palaces and the ministers."

Gao Yi said this and took a sip of tea.

He has been in the officialdom for many years and knows how to get things done. He would not reveal everything he discussed with the Crown Prince yesterday.

He only attributed Concubine Li's concession to his own consideration.

He lied that in order to promote the performance evaluation system, he had to make some concessions so that it could be implemented as soon as possible.

The so-called "performance" is to unite all officials, and the so-called "pilot" is to convince the ladies of the two palaces.

We should proceed step by step in this way for the sake of major policies and tolerating each other for the sake of the country.

Gao Yi looked up at his two colleagues again.

Gao Gong was seen frowning in deep thought, while Zhang Juzheng was looking sideways at the beams of the house.

He waited patiently for the responses from his two colleagues.

He was quite confident about this. Yesterday, after reading the short note sent to him by the Crown Prince, he estimated that the matter should be settled.

Concubine Li was afraid of causing trouble, so she proposed this so-called "pilot" method, which really surprised Gao Yi. He found it hard to believe that this was the insight of a woman in the deep palace.

As he just said, although it takes a little longer, it is indeed safer.

It is easy to handle and it is also convenient to make the best use of your strengths and avoid your weaknesses in the future.

As for the matter of "performance", it is also quite benevolent. Although Gao Yi is used to being content with poverty, he still has to express his gratitude on behalf of all the upright people in the world.

I don't know how the Crown Prince persuaded Concubine Li to give in, but the effect is like harmonizing the yin and yang inside and outside.

After finishing this, Gao Yi felt that his performance evaluation method was more complete than the one they had discussed before, and he was confident that he could convince the two cabinet ministers.

He just thought of this...

"What is this 'performance'? I don't agree with it." Gao Gong suddenly said.

"The issue of 'pilot' is, I'm afraid, worth discussing," Zhang Juzheng said slowly.

The two of them spoke at the same time, denying the two things one after another, looked at each other, and then looked away.

Although Gao Yi was confident, he also knew that it would not be so easy, so there was no unnecessary expression on his face.

He asked calmly, "Why is this happening? What's wrong with this?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded, indicating that Gao Gong should express his opinion first.

Gao Gong was not polite and said bluntly: "What is the difference between Zixiang's behavior and bribing colleagues?"

"If new policies are implemented by bribing colleagues, wouldn't that be bribery?"

"Besides, how can the Ministry of Revenue have so much silver?"

"Last year's salary of 3.5 million taels of silver was only 1.1 million!"

"What performance are you still talking about? This is not the time during the Hongwu era when there were only 2,000 regular officials. Now there are 28,000 mouths. Can you feed them?"

"What do you mean by charitable and generous? It's just an excuse. Haven't I lived on this meager salary for decades?"

"Anyone who is corrupt is cheating the heaven and the people, and is violating the moral code of a minister. They deserve to be skinned alive, and there is no need to spend money to win them over!"

Gao Gong spoke in a series of words without taking a breath, in a very loud voice and with a firm attitude.

Then he snorted coldly: "Zi Xiang, please don't make the mistake of speaking for corrupt officials."

Gao Yi knew Gao Gong's bad temper and didn't bother with it.

To deliberate on matters, one must discuss them.

He was well prepared for this.

Gao Yi took out a stack of manuscripts from his sleeve, stood up, walked to Gao Gong, and handed him a sheet.

Another one was given to Zhang Juzheng.

Then he returned to his seat and slowly said, "This is what I compiled from the official documents archived in the Ministry of Revenue. Please take a look."

It is customary for memorials and official documents from various ministries and departments to be filed with the Cabinet and the Six Departments.

Seeing that Gao Yi had put in a lot of effort, the two of them also began to browse through it carefully.

While the two were reading, Gao Yi continued, "This is the salary of a local official at the ninth rank and eighteenth level of my dynasty."

"What the Prime Minister said just now is that living well on salary is certainly correct."

"However, in addition to Yuanfu's moral integrity, you must know that Yuanfu is a junior teacher, one of the three orphans, and is a first-rank official."

"The annual salary is 252 dan, which is equivalent to 151 taels of silver. Even if there is a shortfall, half of it was paid last year. Occasionally, there is also a reward from the palace."

"Of course it's enough."

"But what about low-ranking officials? You two may want to take a look."

Gao Gong's face gradually became ugly, but he still looked down.

Zhang Juzheng also readily accepted the advice.

Gao Yi continued, "Let's not talk about the ninth rank, but look at the seventh rank of our dynasty, the county lords of each county."

"The annual salary is 31 dan, which is only 19 taels of silver! Last year, there was a lack of salary. Local officials of the seventh rank received % of the salary, and officials in Beijing received only %. You two might as well calculate how much you can get."

"Not to mention that they are not real money, and a large part of the money has to be cut off."

"This is what we sent out. After all the money going around, how much silver did we get?"

"My butcher Zhang across the street only makes three taels of meat a month, but he makes more than thirty taels a year!"

"Yuanfu, a mere seventh rank, where are there so many great Confucian scholars and saints?"

"You are the ruler of a county, with almost no power in the county, but you are not even as good as a butcher, and you can't even afford your daily food and drink. Isn't this forcing others to ask for money?"

"If this performance appraisal system is implemented, the provincial governments will either continue to turn a blind eye or lay off most of the officials in their territory. This new law will be ruined."

Gao Yi spoke sincerely.

Gao Gong was silent for a moment, and finally he stopped being so tough: "Okay, Zixiang, you don't need to say anything."

He sighed and finally spoke his mind: "I am the Minister of Personnel, how could I not know what you said?"

"I really don't have any money."

"Of the taxes collected this year, Nanzhili kept 30% for the Southeast Anti-Japanese War; all the taxes collected by the Shanxi Provincial Government were shipped to the border towns of Ningxia; the late emperor is going to build a mountain mausoleum; the Yellow River flood season is approaching; and Xuanda is crying out for money. I can't even count all the places that need money!"

"The warehouse is almost empty!"

"Otherwise, why would they embezzle even the treasury money?"

"Zi Xiang, you can say nice things, but we need to be more practical. We can't make this an exception."

After Gao Gong took off his tough exterior, this powerful prime minister also seemed so powerless.

If you don’t reach his position, you really don’t know how difficult it is to run a family.

There are 28,000 officials registered in the Ministry of Personnel. Even if only half of them can be given performance bonuses, even if each person gets only 10 taels, it will be nearly 200,000 taels.

This is not even counting the clerks. Where did he find so much money? Ming Dynasty treasure notes? That would be as much as toilet paper!

Do you really think that the national treasury is inexhaustible?
In the first year of the Longqing reign, upon taking office, Ma Sen, the Minister of Revenue, discovered that the silver deposits in Taicang were only enough to last for three months, and the grain deposits in Beijing warehouses were only enough to last for two months. He was so frightened that he decided to retire.

Zhang Shouzhi was appointed Minister of Revenue. After taking totals, he found that the court's annual revenue was only 2.3 million taels, while its expenditure was as high as 4.4 million taels.

I even couldn't help but say, "The country's situation has reached this point, and everyone is disheartened."

When the late emperor asked the Taicang warehouse for money, all the ministers submitted memorials to persuade him. Was it just an evasion?

At the beginning of this year, Yin Zhengmao from Guangdong came to ask for military pay, and Gao Gong promised 200,000 taels, but it has not been paid yet!

With the current financial situation, how is it possible to increase the salaries of officials?
Gao Gong just thought Gao Yi was daydreaming.

If the performance evaluation system can only be implemented through bribery, it would be better not to implement it.

Gao Gong's attitude was firm - he would bear the blame if all officials suffered.

Gao Yi was prepared for Gao Gong's attitude.

He never mentioned who would pay for it, which shows that he understood the principle of taking two steps forward and one step back.

If the money was directly withdrawn from the treasury, Gao Gong might suspect that the inner court was trying to interfere with the officials' salaries and financial power.

Gao Yi paused, pretending to hesitate, and said, "Prime Minister... In my opinion, when the tax revenue comes in from the summer, the 100,000 taels should not be returned to the treasury."

Gao Gong frowned: "Why?"

Gao Yi looked quite hesitant: "What I mean is, I want to ask the two palaces to use this money as a 'performance', how about that?"

After hearing this, Gao Gong laughed at himself.

He waved his hand and said, "The ladies of the two palaces are so stingy, and Feng Bao is also making trouble. Not to mention not returning it, even if it's just one night, they would want to eat me. Zixiang is just dreaming."

Gao Yi was about to speak when Zhang Juzheng suddenly interrupted and said, "Prime Minister, in my opinion, this may not be impossible."

Gao Gong turned around in confusion and looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng laughed and said, "Isn't Zixiang admired by the Crown Prince? Why don't you explain the pros and cons to the Crown Prince and ask him to persuade the two palaces. After all, the treasury is only managed by the two palaces for others."

After saying that, he looked at Gao Yi helplessly.

As soon as Gao Yi said that the money came from the treasury, he immediately knew whose idea it was.

Zhang Juzheng naturally heard about Gao Yi being invited to participate in the meal yesterday.

I just don’t know what words the “holy king” used to deceive this cabinet minister.

Fortunately, there was no talk of disrupting the government, otherwise, he might have to hold a lecture earlier to discipline them.

Judging from the current situation, this prince does have some kindness in his heart and has some insight into things, but he is too scheming and does not abide by morality. He needs to be taught well.

It was rare that he improved his attitude towards that scheming boy - he was the only emperor willing to take money from the treasury.

Zhang Juzheng silently suppressed the idea of ​​removing Zhang Hong and holding an early imperial lecture, and decided to wait and see.

Gao Yi couldn't help but look at Zhang Juzheng in surprise.

The fact that he had been admired by the Crown Prince had spread among his ministers. It seemed that in time, it might become a good story between the monarch and his ministers.

Grohe was a little proud.

With the help, he gained some confidence. He looked at Gao Gong confidently and said, "Prime Minister, what the Left Prime Minister said is right. This treasury belongs to the Crown Prince after all."

"I have already sounded out the Crown Prince's opinion during yesterday's talk. I am confident that I can convince His Highness. Why don't you let me try, Prime Minister?"

Seeing Gao Yi's confident look, Gao Gong thought he was just being self-indulgent. There were several emperors who did not pay money to the Ministry of Revenue, and as for those who paid money, he had never even seen one.

But... this gave Gao Gong an inspiration.

Isn't Li afraid of hurting Shengde? Then just pay the money!

If you don't pay money and don't let people do anything, then doesn't this crime of corrupting the world hurt the saint's virtue?
He wanted to see, Li was afraid of being scolded by corrupt officials, but was he not afraid of the upright officials?

People all like to compromise, and Li is probably no exception - it would be difficult to agree to the performance evaluation system directly, but it would not be so difficult for him to agree to it directly and wait for the cabinet to let him pay for its implementation.

Thinking of this, Gao Gong changed his attitude and accepted Gao Yi's proposal. He said, "Since Zixiang has said so, let's give it a try."

"Let's discuss it first and see how the two palaces react. We can't let them not give us anything while we tolerate each other for the sake of the country, right?"

It seems that I have passed this test.

Seeing Gao Gong agree to give in, Gao Yi also nodded.

Then he thought of another thing and turned to Zhang Juzheng and said, "Prime Minister Zuo just mentioned that the 'pilot project' is open to discussion. What does that mean?"

He really didn't expect there would be any difficulties here.

After all, no matter how you look at it, this matter is very feasible, and it is even an excellent method. Any discerning person should agree with it. Why does Zhang Juzheng still have objections?

Zhang Juzheng did not answer directly.

Instead, he stretched out a pair of wrinkled and somewhat dry hands, turning them back and forth under Gao Yi's gaze.

He slowly said, "Zi Xiang is 55 this year, right?"

Gao Yi didn't understand and nodded in confusion.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Gao Gong again: "I remember that Yuan Fu is almost 60?"

Gao Gong hummed: "Six months left."

Zhang Juzheng sighed: "I am almost 50."

"Recently, I read Han Changli's "Sacrificial Essay to My Younger Brother" in my spare time, and I couldn't help but feel deeply moved."

He turned to chanting: "Since this year, my grey parts have turned white, my shaking parts have fallen off, my hair and blood have become thinner, and my spirit has become weaker."

After reciting a line, he looked back and forth with his two cabinet ministers.

"Recently, I have more and more white hair, and my heart is beating and uneasy. I can only sleep for less than two hours at night."

"How much time do people like you have left?"

The two highs were both moved.

In this world, sixty is considered a long life, and only a few people can live as long as Yan Song.

The three of them were already quite old, and their health had already shown signs of problems.

At the current rate at which energy is declining, it would be a rare achievement to be able to handle government affairs for another six or seven years.

Gao Gong immediately understood what Zhang Juzheng meant: "You mean..."

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "Too slow. We are trying it out in one prefecture and one province. I don't know how long it will take to implement it in the whole country."

"What's more, clarifying the administration of officials is only the beginning of a long journey. The performance evaluation system is only to pave the way. There is still a lot for us to do in the new policy."

"I am afraid that... the government will be destroyed halfway through, and the people will die and the government will cease to exist."

He said this without hesitation.

What performance, what pilot, they just sound novel, do you really think no one has thought of it?

It is true that a good cook cannot cook without rice, and time is really not waiting for us.

There was no need for that! After Li Guifei became the empress dowager and Gao Gong retired, Zhang Juzheng would seize power. He was confident that he could suppress the backlash.

He is confident that he can leave behind an unbreakable framework for new policies after returning power, and then let people slowly work on it.

But if we waste time now, it will be too late in the future.

Gao Yi felt that clarifying the administration of officials was the end point, and Gao Gong believed that a court full of upright people could rebuild the Ming Dynasty. However, in his opinion, this was far from enough!

He wants to check the land!

He wants to reform the tax laws!

He wants to settle the border issue!

Performance evaluation? It was just to get rid of the pests before doing anything. It was just the first step. How could he be willing to waste too many years on it?

You know, it took Taizu more than ten years to survey the land!
How many more decades does Zhang Juzheng have left?
Now that we are at an age where we are counting the days, we should spend our time wisely.

Gao Yi looked at Zhang Juzheng's expression and understood what this cabinet minister meant.

He had never thought about this because he felt that each generation had its own responsibilities.

Human power is limited. No one can accomplish everything in the world by himself.

What's more, Grohe now believes that there is a successor.

He slowly said, "Zuo Kui, you must believe in the responsibility of future generations."

Judging from Gao Yi's behavior towards the Crown Prince, he was willing to believe that his disciple was willing to govern the country, and the new policies could naturally be entrusted to him.

However, this is a tacit understanding between teacher and student and should not be told to outsiders.

Zhang Juzheng looked at him in surprise. Did this cabinet minister trust the Crown Prince to this extent?

Have you forgotten what Sejong and the previous emperor looked like?
What kind of magic potion is this?

He did not change his words: "We must always do our best first."

Zhang Juzheng understood that such drastic actions would lead to endless troubles. He would either have an unknown old age or his body would be exhumed and mutilated after his death.

He doesn't care. When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. When there is still something he can do, he should do his best.

However, today’s GROHE is different from the past.

He insisted: "If we don't give in at all, the two palaces will be worried about the Holy Virtue and may not agree."

"If we remain deadlocked, it will only waste time."

“This is also a stopgap measure.”

"Zuo Kui, think carefully."

How could Gao Yi bear to let his disciple's enthusiasm for participating in state affairs for the first time go to waste?
He didn't feel it was urgent, there was no end to the work, and he was willing to hand it all over to the new monarch.

Zhang Juzheng seemed to have made up his mind. After Gao Yi spoke, he immediately said without hesitation: "How about adding the eighteen prefectures of Nanzhili and the Fujian Provincial Government?"

Easy first and then difficult.

Land annexation and tax evasion are the two most serious.

Whether it is land surveying or tax law reform, it must start from this capital and this province.

If these two areas are completed first, it will not affect the subsequent progress so much. This can be regarded as a certain degree of concession on his part.

Gao Yi was in a state of hesitation.

Suddenly, it expanded from a prefecture to a capital and a province, which was inconsistent with the tacit understanding between him and the crown prince.

Now it was Zhang Juzheng's turn to persuade Gao Yi: "Zi Xiang, we should also try our best to clear the way for the new emperor."

This remark hit the spot for Gao Yi. One capital and one province were indeed within the cabinet's capabilities.

After thinking about it, he finally nodded.

Gao Gong saw that there were no more disagreements on the general idea, so he finally made the decision and said, "Let's discuss it in court."

"I will first communicate with the Jin Party and the Taijian."

"Uncle, go ask the Chu party if they have any other opinions."

"As for Qingliu, Zixiang doesn't need to exert much effort. Just let them fully support the performance evaluation method."

"Let's do this for now. We'll go to the court to discuss this later. Even if we decide on this matter, it won't count. We still need the nods of the ministers of the six ministries and the approval of the two palaces."
-
PS: Happy May Day everyone! By the way, are there any free monthly tickets?

　Note 1: Zhang Shouzhi, the Minister of Revenue, said: "…I have examined the amount of money and grain in the country, and calculated that the annual income is more than million... In the second year of Longqing, more than million was spent; in the third year, million was spent, which was the lowest; but the expenditure was already twice the income."

　　Note 2: The data on monthly salaries for various ranks in the Ming Dynasty comes from: Peng Xinwei, History of Chinese Currency, Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2007 edition, page 496.

　　Note 3: Regarding the rice price conversion rate of 1:0.6 to silver, the source is: Chen Guanggui: "A Preliminary Study on China's Fiscal Support Rate", published in "Contemporary Economic Science", July 2003.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)