Chapter 152 Morning Morning
"Your Highness, are you waiting for them to make a mistake and then taking the opportunity to get rid of them?" Wang Anshi asked uncertainly.
The reason he thought so was because Zhao Xing had filled the three vacant county magistrate positions with his people.
"If this is what I really think, what do you think?" Zhao Xing asked back.
"Your Highness, this is not appropriate." Wang Anshi pondered for a while and said, "The county magistrate is the father and mother of the county. If you rashly replace him, it will take a long time just to familiarize himself with the county's affairs. You can replace a few people to deter them, but you can't replace them all."
"I understand what you said. I did this for other plans." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
Zhao Xing had naturally considered these things. In Zhao Xing's view, knowing how to use people and putting the right people in the right positions was based on his own vision of people.
But sometimes, it's easy to be deceived.
The smartest way to employ people is to put unsuitable people in a position and let them play the role you want them to play.
He appointed Sheng Changbai and others as county magistrates in order to train them.
Now that the positions of three county magistrates are vacant, even if he transfers others to take the positions, they will still face the situation of having to familiarize themselves with the situation from scratch.
The only difference is that they are more experienced than Sheng Changbai and his group.
But that’s what the grind is for.
He did not tell Wang Anshi about this, and Wang Anshi did not continue to ask when Zhao Xing did not say anything. Instead, he said, "The news that your highness has ordered the county magistrates to check the land will spread soon. By then, I am afraid that many people in the court will be restless."
"Haha, I'm waiting." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
Zhao Xing ordered an investigation of the farmland within Kaifeng Prefecture, which seemed to have little to do with the officials in the court.
But the underlying impact is profound.
The hidden land is no longer included in the government records.
In other words, this part of the land is not subject to tax, and after being checked, it is found to be ownerless.
If a large number of hidden fields are uncovered, not only will tax revenue increase, but the imperial court will also be able to obtain a large amount of unowned land.
In this case, after seeing the benefits, would the government consider conducting an inventory of all the land in the country?
Which official in the court doesn’t have some land?
Even children of common people would buy a lot of land after becoming officials.
The land they bought near Bian Jing may not have hidden fields, but the land in their hometown definitely had some.
Once Zhao Xing measured the land and found a large number of hidden fields, the government would see the benefits and want to conduct an inventory of all the land in the country. What reason would they have to stop him?
So at the very beginning many people will stand up to oppose it and want to nip this matter in the bud.
There is no need to unite on this matter because it has already affected the interests of the majority of people.
The counties under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture were all around Bianliang. Being so close to Bianliang, the county magistrates had contacts with some officials in Bianliang.
Not long after these officials left, news spread that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to investigate the land in Kaifeng Prefecture.
This news did not spread among the people, but officials of all ranks in Bianliang basically knew about it by the evening.
…………
"Your Highness, Your Highness, it's time to get up."
Zhao Xing was woken up in a daze and whispered, "I know."
After saying that, he carefully opened the curtains and wanted to get out of bed.
Although Zhao Xing's movements were very gentle, Yu Yanran was still awakened. She propped herself up and sat up, rubbed her eyes and said, "Your Highness, are you going to court?"
Yu Yanran was only wearing a red underdress. It was unknown whether she had not been honest when she slept or someone's hands were dishonest, but the belt of her underdress had been untied.
As she sat up, her underwear slipped off, revealing a large area of her body.
Yu Yanran was unaware of it and said, "Your Highness, I will help you wash and change your clothes."
Zhao Xing came to his senses, got out of bed quickly, lowered the curtains to block the spring scenery, took a deep breath and said, "I have to go to court, you sleep a little longer."
Yu Yanran didn't insist after hearing that and just lay down and continued to sleep.
After Zhao Xing washed up, his anger finally subsided a little. He changed his clothes, left the East Palace, and took a carriage to the Imperial Palace.
When he became the prefect of Kaifeng, he naturally had to attend the morning court.
This was his second time attending the morning court.
On the way, Zhao Xing was still cursing inwardly, wondering who had set the time for the morning court, the morning court at the hour of Yin. Converted to later times, it was three o'clock in the morning. The officials who were closer were fine, as they could get up around two o'clock in the morning, pack up, and rush to the palace in time.
Those who live far away probably have to get up and wash up at midnight.
Fortunately, we only hold court once every five days. If we had to go to court every day, we would go crazy.
Zhao Xing made up his mind that when he ascended the throne in the future, he would change the time of the morning court.
Isn't it crazy to hold court in the middle of the night?
By the way, it should be changed to once every ten days, or even once a month.
It’s not that Zhao Xing is lazy, but this morning court thing doesn’t have much meaning at all.
The last time Zhao Xing attended a meeting, it was just to discuss some unresolved matters.
Normally, the government would summon the prime minister and the six ministers to discuss matters.
Only matters that could not be resolved through discussion would be discussed at the morning court session.
Of course, there is another purpose for the early court session, which is to prevent the emperor from being deceived.
If there were no morning court, many officials would not even be qualified to seek an audience with the emperor, and it was not certain whether the petitions they submitted to the emperor would reach his hands.
However, all officials of the sixth rank and above serving in Bianliang had to attend the morning court.
If you have anything to say, you can report it to the court immediately.
In Zhao Xing's opinion, it is of no use at all, the root cause still depends on whether the emperor is incompetent or not.
Zhao Xing felt that he had to learn from Jiajing to be an emperor. Jiajing had been in power for decades and did not attend court for most of the time, yet he sat firmly on the throne. He had mastered the "art of emperorship" to perfection and manipulated his ministers at will.
However, the prerequisite is that he can solve the long-standing problems of the Song Dynasty and deal with the two neighbors, Liao and Xia.
He arrived at the gate of the palace while he was lost in thought. Civil and military officials were still waiting outside, but Zhao Xing was able to go straight into the palace.
After changing to a sedan chair and arriving outside the main hall, Zhao Xing simply sat on the sedan chair and took a nap.
I was sleeping soundly when I was woken up by Sanshui.
Zhao Xing rubbed his eyes, stood up, and found that the civil and military officials had already lined up and were walking over under the leadership of the eunuchs.
When they stepped onto the stairs, Zhao Xing came to the front of the civil servants and led the way into the hall.
As the crown prince, Zhao Xing stood at the forefront of the civil servants, and even Han Zhang, the prime minister, was behind him.
After all the civil and military officials stood still, the eunuch in charge of the palace received the notification and shouted, "Your Majesty has arrived!"
"Your son respectfully welcomes your father!"
"My ministers welcome you, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Xing and all the civil and military officials bowed.
The emperor walked to the throne, sat down, waved his sleeves and said, "Stand up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After expressing their gratitude, the civil and military officials who had been bowing stood up.
"If you have something to say, report it early!"
With the eunuch's shout, the morning court officially began.
First, an official came forward to make a report, and the emperor asked the ministers for their opinions. After some debate, a result was reached and the emperor issued an order to implement it.
As time went by, things were sorted out one after another.
At this point, most of the discussion has been done, and it is now time for the censors to take action.
But they are not here to put forward political views, but to impeach others.
Since ancient times, censors have had a privilege called "reporting things based on rumors", which means that as long as they hear that an official has done something wrong, they can impeach that official in the court without having any evidence.
(End of this chapter)