jdhmnovel Chapter 522 There must be a trap here!
Chapter 522 There must be a trap here!
While Xu Da was cursing wildly in the Grand Commander's Mansion, Zhu Biao in the Eastern Palace was looking at Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen with a big smile on his face.
Like I said before, my brother-in-law is a terrible person; the awful things he's done are a real headache.
“My father wrote a letter saying that he wanted to add a small government office between the prefecture and county and the village communities.”
"Oh, it means dividing several villages into a township, and then dividing a county into several townships, forming a county town plus township structure."
"However, our Great Ming Dynasty has more than a thousand prefectures and counties, and the number of villages and communities under its jurisdiction is countless."
"If we increase the number of township positions between prefectures and counties and villages, tens of thousands of official vacancies will be created out of thin air."
"..."
Zhu Biao's mouth opened and closed as he relayed Emperor Zhu's letter, while Li Shanchang was already secretly plotting how he could retire gracefully and return to his hometown.
Let whoever wants to be prime minister be it; I, for one, have no desire to be one anymore.
Sitting next to Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen had no intention of retiring to his hometown.
After all, the matter of adding smaller government offices between prefectures, counties, and villages was under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel, and had nothing to do with him, the chief censor of the Censorate.
Liu Bowen never expected that after Zhu Biao relayed the matter of increasing the number of small government offices in townships, he would suddenly change the subject and turn his attention to the Censorate.
“In another letter, my father said that the censorate offices of the various prefectures should be expanded to include the counties.”
"After all, ordinary people don't easily go to the prefectural city to file a complaint. If there isn't an censorate in the county, I'm afraid there will be a situation where people suffer injustice but have nowhere to turn for help."
"..."
Liu Bowen suddenly wanted to retire and return to his hometown.
Let whoever wants to be the Censor-in-Chief take the job; I, for one, am not really keen on it anymore.
Just as Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were contemplating running away with their buckets, Zhu Biao added, "By the way, my father also said that we should discuss and decide on a retirement age. In the future, when the officials of our Great Ming Dynasty reach a certain age, they must retire and return to their hometowns."
As Zhu Biao finished speaking, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen's eyes lit up.
Both of them, without prior agreement, skipped over the topic of adding smaller government offices between prefectures, counties, and villages.
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty is benevolent and virtuous. This old minister believes that the retirement age can be set at sixty."
Liu Bowen glanced at Li Shanchang.
So he's become a veteran minister?
You old scoundrel, your face changes a little too quickly!
Liu Bowen inwardly complained, but his face was full of agreement: "Your Highness, I also think that the retirement age can be set between sixty and sixty years old."
Sixty years old?
Upon hearing Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen's shameless remarks, Zhu Biao could hardly believe what he was hearing.
After all, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were both in their sixties.
If the retirement age is set at sixty, wouldn't the two of them be able to legitimately retire and return to their hometown?
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but shake his head.
shameless.
So shameless.
To avoid the "blessings" of working for someone else, these two old guys have completely abandoned all sense of shame!
It's a pity that even though you two have chosen to be shameless, you're still too weak when it comes to being shameless!
Zhu Biao said with a smile, "Since both the Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi believe that the retirement age can be set at sixty, then let's set it at sixty."
Both Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were taken aback.
You agreed so readily?
There must be something fishy going on!
Sure enough, just as Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were secretly worried, Zhu Biao grinned and said, "However, my father also mentioned in his letter that my brother-in-law suggested setting a retirement age and also suggested a re-employment system."
Li Shanchang paused slightly, then unconsciously repeated, "Re-employment system?"
Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Yes, it's the re-employment system."
"The so-called re-employment means that when someone reaches the age of retirement and wants to go back to their hometown, the imperial court will provide them with preferential treatment after retirement."
"but……"
Upon hearing the word "but," Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen felt a sudden jolt in their hearts, and their expressions became somewhat dazed.
Zhu Biao continued, "The Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi should know that there are countless affairs in the court, and they cannot do without the assistance of virtuous and capable ministers like you two."
"so……"
"My brother-in-law proposed a re-employment system, which means rehiring former officials who had already retired to their hometowns."
"In addition to the original salary, various preferential treatments granted by the imperial court will also be distributed."
Simply put, it means receiving an extra salary.
Li Shanchang stared intently at Zhu Biao.
To receive an extra salary?
Ah.
Can I refuse all the preferential treatment granted by the imperial court?
Damn it, do they really think being prime minister is a good job?
Didn't you see that Hu Weiyong, who was originally jumping around trying to become prime minister, has become obedient?
Even if you put the position of prime minister in front of Hu Weiyong now, he still wouldn't want to take it!
While Li Shanchang was secretly complaining, Liu Bowen was also busy with his own thoughts.
However, Li Shanchang complained about the re-employment system, while Liu Bowen's complaints were specifically about three people.
The first one is a son-in-law of the Zhu family whose very name is enough to give anyone a headache.
No one but him could have come up with such a despicable and outrageous idea.
The second was the son-in-law of the Ma family.
Besides him, no one else wanted to get involved with that crazy Yang, and no one else wanted to adopt such a terrible idea.
As for the third one, it is the Crown Prince, who looks like a glutinous rice ball, standing right in front of us.
Aside from him, probably no one else can be like Tangyuan, with a smooth and jade-like surface, but once you bite into it, you can get a mouthful of black sesame seeds.
Liu Bowen did not ask pointless questions such as "Can the re-employment system be abolished?"
After all, everyone knows in their hearts that asking such a question is pointless.
The fact that they can now receive an extra preferential treatment means that the Zhu and Ma family sons-in-law still have some conscience.
Not much though.
After a long silence, Liu Bowen finally spoke: "Your Highness, whether it is to add small government offices in various prefectures, counties and villages, or to set up censorate offices in various prefectures and counties, the manpower and resources required are not insignificant."
"Even without considering the issue of money and food, the number of additional personnel needed would be as high as tens of thousands."
"The reason why His Majesty wrote back asking Your Highness to discuss this with us is probably because of the sudden shortage of tens of thousands of manpower, and the concern that these manpower might be loyal to Hu Yuan."
Zhu Biao nodded. "The Marquis of Chengyi is right. That's exactly what my father said in his letter."
Liu Bowen nodded slightly, and as he was pondering this, Li Shanchang suddenly stroked his beard and said, "Your Highness, I have an idea that may solve this problem."
Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, and he asked repeatedly, "What are your thoughts, Duke of Han?"