After being exiled, I led my whole family to rebel.

Chapter 335 Too Idle

Xu Zhenying smiled nonchalantly, "I will naturally understand the character of the gentlemen in the future when I am in government affairs. There is no need to rush. Let's go into the city first. Brother, Feng'er, get on the carriage and tell me in detail about the situation in Bianjing City."

Meanwhile, the west gate was bustling with activity, with countless people eagerly waiting to see how graceful and elegant His Royal Highness Prince Zhao would be, but unexpectedly, the real prince had already quietly entered the city.

The news of Xu Zhenying's entry into the palace spread like wildfire, and the soldiers on guard had already gone to inform their masters. Therefore, after Xu Zhenying leisurely strolled around the palace, the civil and military officials ran back to the palace from the west gate panting.

In Baohua Hall, everything is ready.

As soon as Xu Zhenying entered, he saw carved beams and painted buildings, jade steps, and the smell of incense. The entire Baohua Hall is located in a unique location, not only in the center of the palace, but also in front of the door, there is a large open space of about 2,000 square meters. The interior is even more magnificent, with colorful glazed decorations on the top, shaped like a pagoda, and countless lotus murals around it, which give people a solemn feeling.

Xu Zhenying felt a little emotional when he came to this point.

This place used to be the office location of emperors of successive dynasties, and it was also the center of power and politics. And she, Xu Zhenying, a soul from another world, finally arrived here after seven years.

Perhaps what others see is supreme glory.

But what she saw was only a heavy burden and responsibility.

Xu Zhenying doesn’t even know what mentality led her to where she is today. Of course, this is because she stood on the shoulders of giants, and because she and her partners worked hard, but more importantly, it is due to luck.

This time, God did not treat her unfairly.

Ever since Feng Er's battle report came, the entire team has been in a state of excitement. This group of grassroots who have followed her from the very beginning have finally transformed themselves and become one of the rulers of the world.

The so-called "merit of following the dragon" allows everyone to change their family background, enjoy wealth and splendor in the second half of their lives, and realize their long-cherished wish. Naturally, they are very proud and can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one night.

Xu Zhenying was also happy.

It doesn't matter. Since she has managed to get the company listed, she should allow her subordinates to celebrate with champagne.

"Your Highness." Someone in Baohua Palace hurried over and bowed slightly to her. Xu Zhenying did not recognize this person, so Feng'er stepped forward to introduce her, "Your Highness, this is my secretary Wang Qiushuang, who was once one of Zhou Zhong's concubines. She joined the Datong Society a long time ago and became our comrade. I was hiding in her bedroom before. During this palace coup, she was also outside to gather intelligence, and she really made an indelible contribution."

Wang Qiu Shuang's face turned red with excitement. She quickly said, "It was Minister Xu who taught me well. I was just running errands."

Xu Zhenying looked her up and down with a smile, seeming very satisfied, "Not bad, as a concubine in the harem, you dared to approach our Jinzhou Prefecture when the situation was unclear, which is enough to prove your courage and boldness. Follow Feng'er and learn well, try to pass the clerk assessment as soon as possible, and do your job well in the future."

"Yes!" Wang Qiu Shuang answered loudly, puffing out her chest like the female clerks in Jinzhou Prefecture.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a lot of noise and hurried footsteps coming from outside.

Qian Zhenniang glanced outside and said with a smile, "Finally they are here."

Sure enough, hundreds of officials soon rushed in. Riding horses and running were prohibited in the palace, so these people could only walk fast. They were sweating profusely from running, and were dumbfounded when they entered the house.

The interior of Baohua Hall has changed again!
No one knew where the dragon throne had been moved to. Now there was only a long table similar to those in a college facing them. Obviously, that was the seat for His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.

But below, the places where civil and military officials once stood have all become rows of tables, chairs and benches.

This made everyone panic.

Do we all have to sit down and discuss things?

This... is so shameless...

These people looked at Feng'er for help. Feng'er winked at Wang Qiushuang, who immediately waved her hand: "My lords, hurry up, find a seat and sit down wherever you like, regardless of rank or whether you are civil or military, just sit next to each other."

Everyone looked at each other, but those who were clever either grabbed the last seat or the middle seat. As for the seats in the front rows, which were only a few meters away from His Royal Highness Prince Zhao, no one dared to grab them.

At least it must be kept for the ministers and high-ranking officials of Jinzhou Prefecture.

Although Wang Qiu Shuang said that anyone could sit anywhere, all the officials tacitly reserved seats in the first two rows.

For a moment, there was a lot of noise in the Baohua Hall. Those who had grabbed seats did not dare to sit down. They just stood there blankly, looking around.

General Bai, Ming Xiaoshuang, Zhao Qiaonian and others also walked in. Everyone was like headless flies, they could only watch the behavior of those people from Jinzhou Prefecture with their eyes and noses, and they just followed suit.

Zhao Qiaonian, Ming Xiaoshuang and Lin Lao walked straight to the first row and sat down casually.

Seeing them take their seats, the two or three hundred people behind them mustered up the courage to sit down.

In the past, being granted a seat by the emperor was a supreme honor, and only the Prime Minister of Han and those old ministers with outstanding merits could enjoy such treatment. But now everyone actually sat down to discuss matters, which really frightened the old ministers of the Zhou Dynasty.

But some people were whispering.

"Didn't they say His Highness had already entered the palace? Why can't I see him?"

"Yes, His Majesty is not here, so it is really inappropriate for us to sit down like this."

"The space here is so narrow, how are we going to perform the three kneeling and nine kowtows ceremony? We don't know anything about the rules of the Jinzhou government—"

"Don't be afraid. Let's see what the people in Jinzhou Prefecture do. We can follow their example and we won't be picked on for anything wrong."

Soon, something shocking happened.

Seeing that everyone had taken their seats, the group of people gathered in front separated and sat down opposite them one by one.

Then, there was a young woman, she was wearing a narrow-cut dress, her hair was tied up high, her dress was androgynous. Her facial features were not outstanding, only two dimples on her lips, and a pair of smiling eyes.

She walked straight to the middle of the row opposite and sat down.

There was an uproar.

The voices of discussion stopped abruptly, and suddenly there was dead silence.

Almost instantly, those with quick brains reacted.

This person is His Royal Highness Prince Zhao!!!

"Your Highness Prince Zhao!" someone exclaimed and quickly stood up.

The officials in the back row who were confused about the situation all stood up one after another after hearing this shout. The sound of pulling tables, chairs and benches filled the Baohua Hall.

No one expected that Xu Zhenying was already in the room.

There were a lot of people around her just now, Qian Zhenniang, Feng'er, and the secretaries all surrounding her, so when the officials came in, they just thought they were ordinary officials from Jinzhou Prefecture and didn't take them seriously.

After all, it is impossible for a person in power of a country to be so simple.

It is also impossible for him to not have a group of guards around him.

Logically speaking, His Royal Highness Prince Zhao should be recognized as soon as he appears.

But, this prince... is really too young...

Who would have thought that His Royal Highness Prince Zhao would stand there and chat with his subordinates like an ordinary official—

These old officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty who were rich in officialdom failed miserably the first time they met. First, they didn't see anyone at the West City Gate, and then they failed to recognize Xu Zhenying. It was truly a case of an old horse stumbling.

Among the civil and military officials, there were those who were eager to try their best to show off and make an impression, but now they have stopped trying.

The more sensitive ones secretly wondered whether His Royal Highness Prince Zhao wanted to give them a warning.

Xu Zhenying looked around, waved his hand, and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, please take a seat."

Everyone looked at each other, and seeing that General Bai, who had been closest to Jinzhou Prefecture recently, had sat down, the others had no choice but to muster up the courage to sit down one after another.

"There are still empty seats in the back. Please allow all the officials waiting outside to come in."

Wang Qiu Shuang wanted to remind His Royal Highness King Zhao that in the Zhou Dynasty, only officials of the fifth rank and above were qualified to enter the Baohua Hall to attend daily meetings. However, when she thought of her own status and saw that the other officials below had no objections, she chose to remain silent and just asked the clerks waiting outside to take their seats.

Those standing outside were minor officials dressed in green. They were supposed to go to the west gate to greet him as arranged, but at that time His Royal Highness Prince Zhao did not enter the city from the west gate, so they were also dragged here in a daze.

This was the first pilgrimage, and everyone held the idea that the more courtesy the better, so even though they knew they could not step into the Baohua Hall, these minor officials still chose to follow all the way in.

However, it was unexpected that His Royal Highness King Zhao seemed to not care about the rules of the Zhou Dynasty at all. Almost all officials who came could take a seat.

The minor officials were flattered, but they felt uneasy when they saw their former superiors.

"Everyone, this is our first meeting. I don't know you all yet. Since it's still early, let's take a roll call. Starting from the first person in the first row, please tell us your name and position." Xu Zhenying turned his head and looked at Feng'er again, "Do you have the roster of the Ministry of Households?"

Feng Er handed it over respectfully, "Here it is."

"Okay, give it to Secretary Wang, and ask her to name each person and tick their name. It would be best if you can compile a list of the officials who didn't come for me."

What’s going on?
Everyone was suddenly terrified!
The old ministers no longer cared about the past grudges and hatreds. They were all engaged in arguments and speculating on the intentions of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.

Today, Prime Minister Han and the three ministers have not arrived yet.

Is His Royal Highness Prince Zhao going to settle the score later?
The first person sitting in the first row was Ming Xiaoshuang. When Xu Zhenying gave the order, he was the first to respond. He stood up and faced everyone: "Ming Xiaoshuang, in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture."

"Zhao Qiaonian, in charge of the Jinzhou Prefecture Inspection Department."...

……

"Huo Bushang, the Minister of the Dali Temple."

"Zhao Guanhe, Director of the Taichang Temple."

……

The unique introduction meeting lasted about a quarter of an hour, and the clerks in the Baohua Hall stood up one after another and reported their names and official positions.

Finally it was over, and Wang Qiu Shuang handed the list to Xu Zhenying.

Xu Zhenying nodded. "Han Zongyun, Qiao Yuhua, Song Ci'en, Chen Shangqing, Sheng Lang, Zhou Zuoji, Yun Xingjian, and Chen Mingyuan, a total of eight people. Is the Minister of Revenue here?"

Immediately, an old man with gray hair stood up and responded, "I am here."

"When will these people's salaries end? Settle this month's salary, and then handle their dismissal procedures."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked.

The Minister of Finance was even more surprised and asked uncertainly, "Your Highness, are you going to dismiss the officials who did not come today?"

"That's right. If they don't come today, they don't have to come tomorrow. By the way, confirm whether their residence is private or state-owned. If it is state-owned, ask them to return the money to the national treasury within five working days."

"Workday?"

Zhou Houfang immediately explained: "Your Highness means that Bianjing City will also follow the timetable of Jinzhou Prefecture in the future. There are seven days in a week, working from Monday to Friday, and resting on Saturday and Sunday. Five working days, today is Tuesday, which means they must be cleared out next Tuesday."

The room was filled with silence.

No one expected that the first thing Xu Zhenying did when he entered the city was to dismiss Han Xiang, the head of all officials.

According to past practice, this civil service group must be the priority for appeasement. Who would take drastic measures to directly dismiss the prime minister of a country and the ministers of three ministries right away?
Everyone thought that this would drag on for at least a month, and would end with His Highness visiting Prime Minister Han three times to ask him to come out of retirement.

Xu Zhenying's arbitrary decision made the old ministers uneasy. As if they were feeling sorry for their own kind, the others almost immediately pleaded for mercy.

"Your Highness, you can't do that. When you first entered the Imperial City, you took drastic measures to depose Prime Minister Han, which shocked the court. We are also worried and uneasy in our hearts—"

"Your Highness, Han Xiang is the head of all officials and his role is irreplaceable. He was not going out to greet you today, not because he was deliberately going against Your Highness. It was because Han Xiang valued friendship and trust, and he missed his old master and was sick in bed. Your Highness should have visited him three times and asked him to come out."

"Your Highness, please do not act on impulse. Prime Minister Han has served three dynasties and is the pillar of our dynasty. Without Prime Minister Han, there would be no Great Zhou. Please think twice."

There were cries of pleas from the crowd. At this moment, the old ministers were united, almost crying, which gave Xu Zhenying a headache.

However, there were also people who were usually against Han Xiang. At this moment, they were very angry, but because they were not sure whether Xu Zhenying really wanted to depose Han Xiang, they did not dare to add insult to injury at this moment and were forced to stand up and express their stance.

However, there were also some sharp-minded people who thought that this was the first decree issued by His Royal Highness Prince Zhao after entering the city of Bianjing, but it was opposed by the ministers. If they also opposed it, would it be counterproductive?

Therefore, some people just sat there, lowered their heads, said nothing, and watched coldly.

Xu Zhenying was really furious.

She was not unaware of the long-standing problems in the Zhou Dynasty, and she also knew that the official relationships in the Zhou Dynasty were complicated. If you count the number of people under her, they are probably all related to each other, so naturally they formed a very united interest group.

Besides, she had lived too smoothly in Jinzhou Prefecture over the years. The entire administrative efficiency of Jinzhou Prefecture was very high, and she had almost the final say. No one had ever dared to use such a trick to coerce her in front of her.

She also didn't expect that they would be able to attack Bianjing City so quickly, so the team members from Jinzhou Prefecture had not arrived yet. In other words, she would need this group of people to keep running for at least a month before she could depose all of them.

Given Xu Zhenying's temper, he would naturally want to dismiss them all.

Anyway, she had so many talented people under her command that even if she fired all of them, the entire Bianjing City could still be running immediately. But after all, they still didn't know much about the situation in Bianjing City, and many data and files needed to be handed over, which required a peaceful transition process.

Just let them work for another month.

The old officials in Bianjing City did not understand Xu Zhenying, but the people from Jinzhou Prefecture could clearly see that His Highness was angry.

They sneered in their hearts: This group of people wanted to use this method of crying, making a fuss and threatening to commit suicide to frame His Highness. This was a good plan, but unfortunately they made a fatal mistake.

When two armies are at war, if one acts rashly without knowing the character of the opposing commander, one will inevitably be in a passive position.

They didn't understand Prince Zhao's temper.

His Royal Highness Prince Zhao hates being threatened the most.

Just wait and see, the city of Bianjing will probably be bustling in this month.

Xu Zhenying suppressed his anger and remained indifferent to the cries of the ministers. He did not even respond and only asked Feng'er at the side, "Report on the situation of the officials."

Feng Er cleared her throat, and with a pair of sharp eyes, she swept the faces of the people below, and then said in a clear voice: "There are a total of 338 officials in Bianjing City, including 182 civil officials and 156 military officers. Their salaries will be paid until September. There are a total of 32 state-owned residences, with a market value of about 800,000 taels."

After saying that, she stepped aside and sat down.

Xu Zhenying curled the corners of her lips slightly. Everyone who knew her knew that someone would soon fall into the trap.

"Today is Tuesday, and I'm new here. Although many people have introduced themselves just now, I still don't have any impression, so let's have another discussion on Friday."

Before the old ministers could react, they saw the people from Jinzhou Prefecture all took out their notebooks and pencils and started taking notes.

This made them a little panicked.

"There are two agendas for the discussion meeting. The first is the performance reports of the heads of the six ministries. The ministers of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War are not here today. They will be replaced by the vice ministers on Friday. You will also take over for the time being. Mainly talk about what each person has done in the department, what role they have played, and what results they have achieved. Try to have solid data and avoid empty words. Use data to speak for yourself. I will not recognize results without data. The second agenda is for officials in all departments in Bianjing City, that is, all the people attending the meeting today. After returning, from the perspective of department managers, talk about your understanding and planning of your department. It should include problems, measures, how to implement them, and what resources are needed. Each person is limited to fifteen minutes, which is a quarter of an hour. Of course, we will also score everyone based on their performance, and the final ranking will be posted outside the Baohua Hall."

Xu Zhenying finished speaking with a smile, but he couldn't help thinking in his heart: Since you are willing to plead for Han Xiang and others, it proves that you are too idle. I will find something for you to do. If I don't whip them, they won't know how steel is tempered.

As expected, after Xu Zhenying finished speaking, everyone from Jinzhou Prefecture was trying to hold back their laughter, while all the civil and military officials were shocked!

what?
What is performance review?
What is scoring?
What ranking?
Today is Tuesday and the work report will be on Friday, so there are only more than two days left?
It takes more than two days to come up with a detailed summary and plan.

Everyone was dumbfounded. No one had time to plead for Prime Minister Han and the others. Even General Bai couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.

The Minister of Finance was the most prestigious person among them, and he immediately raised an objection: "Your Highness, according to your calculation, there are only more than two days. How can it be possible? Please forgive me for a while——"

Xu Zhenying interrupted him mercilessly and said to the people in Jinzhou Prefecture, "It's the same for you. Write for whichever department you like. Let's report together on Friday."

The people from Jinzhou Prefecture did not shirk their responsibilities and immediately responded with a “Yes!”

Xu Zhenying's words almost blocked everyone's retreat.

People with quick thinking have already grasped what Xu Zhenying said, "Write about the department you like." When you think about this sentence carefully, it is shocking.

In other words, these people from Jinzhou Prefecture might try to take their positions!
Moreover, under the same conditions, the people of Jinzhou Prefecture were able to write such a complete report within two days. How embarrassed were those old officials who were all Jinshi graduates and considered themselves to be very talented but always talked behind the scenes about Jinzhou Prefecture being a group of rogue officials?
Competition.

This is a bloodless competition.

The tip of the needle is facing the wheat awn.

At this moment, no one was paying attention to Prime Minister Han anymore, and no one dared to refute the performance report on Friday. Everyone's attention was focused on the performance report, not to mention that the scores for this performance report would be made public. If they were ranked low, where would they put their faces?
What is even more frightening is that it is said that every time Xu Zhenying conquers a city, he will not retain all the officials, but will only recruit the best ones. In other words, a considerable number of people will be kicked out of the officialdom.

Bianjing City... wouldn’t it be like this too?
A silent atmosphere permeated the Baohua Hall.

At this moment, everyone realized the methods of His Royal Highness Prince Zhao.

It's like using a blunt knife to cut meat.

Xu Zhenying smiled meaningfully this time.

Wang Qiushuang, standing on the side, felt the first confrontation between His Royal Highness Prince Zhao and his ministers. There was no flash of swords, but it was enough to kill people and destroy their hearts.

As expected, someone who can become the eternal empress cannot be a mediocre person.

His Royal Highness Prince Zhao’s methods... are truly frightening.

Soon, the subordinates' eyebrow-eye lawsuit was almost over. This group of old-timers seemed to have secretly nominated a fool to charge into battle. He asked from below: "May I ask Your Highness, I heard that when you attacked cities in other places before, you did not retain all the officials, but made a decision on whether to stay after an assessment. Will this performance review meeting decide whether we stay or go?"

Sure enough, this is the issue that everyone is most concerned about.

Xu Zhenying said firmly: "No."

The tense hearts of all the civil and military officials relaxed at once, and some even looked happy immediately, wishing they could talk to their colleagues about how they felt about escaping death.

However, the next second, Xu Zhenying's words made everyone's mind tense again.

"The assessment will not be held on Friday, but in a month, which is when the large force from Jinzhou Prefecture arrives."

With just one word, there was a sudden burst of surprise from the crowd.