Chapter 71 Section fifteen

In May of this year, Yao Chong ushered in his most brilliant achievement in the seven months since he took office as prime minister. After more than three months of intensive and orderly work, the work of civil servants across the country has finally been completed. A total of 2,731 civilian officials have passed the performance appraisal, and 1,015 non-member and school inspection officials.Compared with the situation of Emperor Zhongzong, when more than 30,000 non-member officials were crowded in the capital alone, this is really unimaginable, and it is also a great success. Of course, tens of thousands of officials were eliminated all over the country at one time, and these people were all wealthy, literate, and able to move around. Since then, Yao Chong's reputation among the people has changed unconsciously. less respected.

Especially in Chang'an, the capital city, tens of thousands of foreign officials entered Beijing with money in previous years, which brought huge benefits to property owners, restaurants, and merchants in Chang'an City.It has given physiology to countless tailors, bootmakers, hairdressers, grooms, and bath attendants.It also brought guests to the thousands of singing girls of different beauty and beauty in Pingkangfang, and brought audiences to all kinds of juggling in the West Market. Those current officials, even the coldest, a small clerk living in the Ministry of Industry known as the "Ice Hall", will take advantage of this atmosphere of seeking employment, entertaining guests and giving gifts to live a good life.

The most affected and most directly affected are the beggars in Chang'an City.According to calculations made by that old beggar surnamed Chang, once these non-member officials leave, the coins in Chang'an people's wallets will decrease sharply, and people will no longer generously reward beggars who sing songs like they used to.Therefore, Chang'an City, which used to be prosperous and prosperous in the past, can no longer support more than 41,000 beggars, big and small. This made some Chang'an people often scold Yao Chong in private. Yao Chong himself didn't take it seriously.

On the third day of May, Yao Chong complacently wrote an imperial edict in the political affairs hall: "... I have been informed that the dismissal of the members, the examiners, and the school inspectors, since now there are no military exploits and special edicts, so I don't have to comment on it." That is to say, after this rectification of the official system, there are very few officials outside the official position. "Brother Qi, what do you think?" Yao Chongzhi's satisfaction was beyond words.It is no wonder that since Emperor Zhongzong came to the throne, it has been nearly ten years. Everyone knows that officials outside the staff are a major drawback of the Tang Dynasty. However, more and more officials outside the staff were laid off.Even after the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, he ordered Yao Chong and Song Jing to carry out a major rectification, and achieved quite good results. However, due to the obstruction of Princess Taiping, Dou Huaizhen and others, everything quickly returned to the old view. .

"With this decree, the chariots, horsemen and porters in Chang'an City may be hired out by officials and officials who leave Beijing." Qi Huan, a member of Zhongshushe, has the same cheerful personality as Yao Chong, and is also resourceful and resourceful. "It's just that many of these tens of thousands of people are paid for official positions. If they don't get their money back, they may cause trouble." Yao Chong laughed and said, "Most of these people are famous and wealthy, and they have never gained power, so they don't have much energy; and they are used to pushing each other out, and there will be no cliques and chaos in politics. ;As for the rebellion, it was not their doing. What they wanted was to get promoted and get rich. As long as an imperial edict was issued to the states and counties ordering them to strictly guard against traitors and troubles, and the news spread, these bastards would have been frightened away long ago, so there is no need for us to worry. .”

Qi Huan didn't answer.He felt that Yao Chong was a little too exaggerated in this matter, but this may be one of the reasons why he was able to become a competent prime minister.The prime minister is quite focused on the big politics. As for the details in the operation, that is the business of lower-level officials. Suddenly, Yao Chong asked Qi Huan, "Brother Qi, what do you think of my prime minister?" "What are you talking about?" Qi Huan roughly knew what Yao Chong was thinking, but he didn't know what Yao Chong's intention was. "In your personal opinion, how does my prime minister compare to Guan Zhong and Yan Zi?"

Hearing Yao Chong talk about himself so freely, Qi Huan felt a little scared at first, and didn't know how to answer.You must know that there is no one who is a prime minister who does not want people to compare him to Yiwu and Duke Zhou who are impartial and famous.Speaking of Yao Chong, Qi Huan believes that since he entered the cabinet, he has successively dismissed several incompetent prime ministers who disagreed with his political views, so that there are no more officials in the political affairs hall who push each other and live by talking , so that the opinions of the prime ministers tend to be consistent, mutual support in case of problems, and political affairs as the most important thing, this is one of his achievements.Another point is that the rectification of the official system has made great progress; the kings and foreign relatives withdrew their hands, and the way to ask for advice was cut off; the construction of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples was stopped, and it was strictly forbidden to teach people to become monks, avoiding the waste of national currency and the evasion of taxes by noble relatives ; Although there was a famine in Guanzhong, the market was not chaotic, and the number of refugees did not increase; the major governors in the north showed due respect for the imperial court again, and the border troubles did not arise.The most important point is that Yao Chong received the emperor's unreserved, even dangerous support, which was a favor that no prime minister had ever enjoyed since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

However, Qi Huan has his own ideas, and he is absolutely unwilling to be a flattering subordinate, especially under Yao Chong. "Although the laws of Guan Zhong and Yan Zi's administration cannot still be effective after their death, at least they have been successful throughout their lives, and their laws have always been consistent. Xianggong's policies change from time to time. Compared with them, there seems to be a certain distance. " Qi Huan is taking the risk of abandoning his own future.If Yao Chong is not as cheerful and generous as he appears, but actually a narrow-minded person, the status and future that Qi Huan spent most of his life to win will be destroyed in this kind of worthless chat.

"Qi Jun, you are a straightforward person, which is very good." Yao Chong's complexion showed a bit of seriousness. "I've been thinking, what kind of prime minister can this old man be?" "Xianggong is in charge of politics at the right time, is bold and decisive, does not fear the powerful, and does not avoid current discussions. He should be regarded as a minister who saves the time." Qi Huan spoke the truth, because he did not want Yao Chong to fall into the emptiness and depression after success. China, North Korea and China still have many unresolved issues.

"Okay! It's not easy to be a face-saving person." Yao Chong threw the brush in his hand to the desk and said loudly. "Xianggong has indeed made great achievements in building a building that will collapse." At this moment, Lu Huaishen, who had been sitting quietly on the side, joined their conversation.On the seat in front of Lu Huaishen were dozens of counting chips, and at this moment he was putting them into the counting bag one by one.Just now, Lu Huaishen was calculating last year's national tax revenue and the imperial court's expenses.The result is quite frustrating, and the balance of revenue and expenditure of the treasury has reached a very dangerous level.However, this is not a problem that can be solved in a few words, so he talked about another matter.

"Yao Xianggong." "Brother Lu." Although people in the world ridicule the impoverished Lu Huaishen as "accompanying the prime minister", the implication is that he is only in the political affairs hall for the free lunch given by the prime minister, but Yao Chong always treats him with respect. Lu Huaishen showed considerable respect.Yao Chong knew best in his heart that without Lu Huaishen's humble fame and wealth and his hard work, Yao Chong's great cause of government reform would not have achieved what it is today.In other words, Yao Chong knows that his prestige and success today are based on the work of people like Song Jing, Lu Huaishen and Wei Zhigu. "Yao Xianggong, it is a great ability to turn the building down. However, a person cannot always have this ability in this life. The three aspects of governing the country, regulating the family, and self-cultivation are very important. If there is a problem, the ability will be damaged." Lu Huaishen spoke very slowly, almost word for word. "I heard that there have been a lot of comments about me in the capital recently. Besides, my good reputation may have turned into a bad reputation." Yao Chong laughed. "However, although ordinary people don't like changes, we have to make changes. This is what you taught me, Brother Lu." "It's not about this. There have been some rumors recently, which make me a little worried." Lu Huaishen's expression was serious, but not yet serious. "Qi Jun, it's up to you to tell the story." Qi Huan glanced at Lu Huaishen with some doubts, and suddenly understood what he meant. "That's what happened. Recently, some people are talking about Mr. Yao's two young masters." "This is really a problem." Yao Chong knew his two sons very well, and he believed what Lu Huaishen and Qi Huan said.