Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 234: Public Opinion or Indicators, Which is More Important? Li Yuanji's Transformation
Haikang, inside the palace hall.

After listening to Cen Wenben finding out the reasons for the petition of the people, his face suddenly became serious, and he was even more angry in his heart.

No matter what the reason, such things happened in Leizhou Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, and Nanzhou Prefecture, which is unforgivable.

These three prefectures, as originally part of Lingnan, were the first to start developing. Even Jiaozhou Prefecture and Liuzhou Prefecture, which were also originally part of Lingnan, did not develop as well as these three prefectures.

Especially in Leizhou Prefecture, his palace was located in Leizhou Prefecture. As an absolute development center, Leizhou Prefecture was much superior to Guangzhou Prefecture and Nanzhou Prefecture. In addition, he himself was in Leizhou Prefecture. However, he did not expect such a thing to happen in Leizhou Prefecture.

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben with a serious expression.

"First, tell me what happened in Leizhou Prefecture. I am very curious."

Cen Wenben's face also looked bad. He also had absolute responsibility for what happened in Leizhou Prefecture, and he had never expected that such a thing would happen.

“Your Majesty, this time the people’s petition mainly appeared in two places, namely Gangzhou and Gaozhou.

The two states are close to the sea, and many people make a living by fishing. Because of the construction of ports and docks at the junction of Gangzhou and Gaozhou, the development of the two states has been greatly improved.

This was originally a good thing. I was personally in charge of the approval and construction of the port and dock, and it also promoted the development of trade for the people in the two states who are not close to the sea.

However, with the increase in trade and the number of merchants traveling back and forth, it gradually became a northbound route and a transit station to Guangzhou Prefecture, Liuzhou Prefecture and other places. Many people saw the prosperity of sea business and began to want to go out to sea to do business.

However, to go out to sea for business, one first needs a ship that can sail long distances. No one in the private sector can build such a ship. Only the Navigation Bureau can build one. So the people made this suggestion to the county governments of Duling and Nanba counties.

Due to authority issues, neither county government could make the decision on this matter, so they submitted the proposal to the governor's offices of the two states.

The ultimate cause of this incident occurred in the Governor's Mansion."

After listening to what Cen Wenben said, Li Yuanji felt a little better. At least, the lowest level of the county government had not yet rotted.

The county government level is closest to the people. As long as there are no problems at this level, the overall problem can be controlled.

Cen Wenben paused for a moment and continued, "In fact, there is another reason involved here. That is, in each state, I will allocate the amount of wasteland to be reclaimed every year, and based on the existing amount of arable land in each state, each state must ensure a minimum amount of arable land.

In addition, there are indicators for population growth, tax growth, road construction, river channel and dam construction, etc.

And the problem arises here. Many people want to go out to sea to do business this time. Liu Ji, the governor of Gangzhou, and Chen Bin, the governor of Gaozhou, believe that once so many people go out to sea to do business, more people will choose to go out to sea.

Once such a trend is formed, the wasteland reclamation indicators for this year and in the future, as well as the arable land cultivation indicators, including road construction and other indicators, will be affected.

As for the economic indicators, even if these people did not go overseas to do business and bring about economic growth, the indicators I gave would be sufficient for the two states to complete normally.

It was based on this point that Liu Ji and Chen Bin chose to conceal the matter from their superiors and delay it to their subordinates.

This year happens to be the three-year assessment period for Liu Ji and Chen Bin. Both of them want to solve the problem of people wanting to go out to sea to do business after meeting other indicators. As long as they can continue to meet the standards this year, both of them will be transferred to the palace.

These are the confessions of the two people. I have conducted extensive investigations and all the people involved have been recorded.”

Li Yuanji looked at it for a while and then threw the memorial aside. What happened in Leizhou Prefecture made Li Yuanji feel a little complicated for a moment. What did he say about Liu Ji and Chen Bin?

He did not reach that level, he did not indulge in corruption, he did not appoint people based on personal connections, and he did not oppress the people.

Moreover, all indicators have been achieved very well. The development of Gangzhou and Gaozhou is indeed very good, and the lives of the people are indeed better than before. This is a fact.

But what about them?
At least from this incident, it is not good. For the sake of his own future, he put the people aside, deceived his superiors, and delayed his subordinates. Is he a good official?

He had brought up the issue of indicators very early on, which was that the development of each government could not be blind, could not be without any purpose, and it was not just a slogan. Only when the indicators were achieved, could there be real development and progress.

The indicators of each state will first be submitted to Hikvision by the governments, and then Cen Wenben will review them. If the indicators are obviously too low or too high, Cen Wenben will pay special attention to them.

After the targets are set for each state, they will be summarized to him, who will review them, stamp them with his seal, read them out, and pass them on to lower-level prefectures, states, and counties before they are finally implemented.

For each indicator, except for some unique ones, the other indicators are not fixed.

For example, indicators such as wasteland reclamation, cultivated land area, population growth, economic growth, road construction, etc. are fixed indicators, which means they exist every year, but the amount of growth varies.

However, indicators such as which arable land to plant, canal construction, river dredging, etc. are not fixed. Some may be there this year, but some may not be there next year. These are targeted indicators made based on the basic conditions of each state submitted to the prefecture, which are approved by the prefecture and submitted to Cen Wenben for review. Spot checks are then carried out to ensure that the conditions of each state are true.

Li Yuanji set this target because the talent here was not as abundant as that in the Tang Dynasty. Many people did not know how to develop and had no idea where to start. He had to make these matters detailed so that the officials below only needed to follow the targets and they could actually achieve the goal of development.

A lot of effort was spent on the formulation of this indicator, of course mainly by Cen Wenben. Li Yuanji was only the one who proposed this direction, and the specific implementation and division were perfected and completed by Cen Wenben.

However, even so, there are still many states that fail to meet the targets every year. There are corresponding penalties for failing to meet the targets, and there are rewards for those who meet the targets.

As for the three-year assessment period, it is an assessment of the summary of three years of indicators. Those who perform outstandingly will be promoted and transferred to the royal palace, which is the central government, or promoted to the mayor.

Chen Bin and Liu Ji, because they have reached the third year of the assessment period, were originally the governors of two states. They have already completed the targets of the previous two years and only need to complete the targets of this year. Then they will either be promoted to the position of governor or promoted to the royal palace.

The cause and effect of this matter is here. Neither of them wanted to let the indicator assessment of the last year go wrong, which led to the problem. This is also the complicated part of Li Yuanji. This matter has caused a great impact now. If these two people don't deal with it, what will happen if everyone follows suit in the future?
But if it is dealt with, have these two people really made a big mistake?
It is true that they deceived their superiors and subordinates, but when it comes to governing and developing the local area and improving people's livelihood, both of them have done an extremely good job, and have been able to meet the targets for two consecutive years. During their administration, they are already considered excellent officials. After all, there are still many people who cannot even meet the targets.

Now that he understood the reason clearly, Li Yuanji was no longer angry, but he was still troubled. How to deal with this matter would become a weather vane, because this was the first case. It would be an important reference for officials in other states on how to balance the people's opinions and indicators in the future.

Li Yuanji was really having a headache. Only at this moment did he understand more clearly that it was really not easy to be a superior. If he handled things unfairly, those officials would probably treat him one-size-fits-all in the future.

If he imposes heavy penalties, will any public opinion in the future override the performance evaluation? Will the performance evaluation still be carried out?
The most important thing is, will those who are unable to meet the targets resort to crooked means and encourage the people to make some demands for them to complete? Then if the targets are not met, it will give them an excuse. Once this happens, how should we deal with it?

If Chen Bin and Liu Ji are not punished, the public opinion will be appeased, after all, the two did not do anything big that would anger God and people. However, if other officials follow suit and disregard public opinion, even if they are found out, how should they be dealt with severely in this case?

Li Yuanji suddenly realized at this moment that as a superior, reward and punishment are really a science. Although he is in control of it, if he does not do a good job of rewarding and punishing, the people below will not be convinced and the contradictions will gradually deepen.

Although he can use power and these people will not resist him, once he uses power, it will gradually turn into a struggle between him and the officials under him, and internal friction will continue to deepen, which is not what Li Yuanji wants to see.

After thinking for a while, Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben.

"Now that this incident has happened, Chen Bin and Liu Ji must be dealt with, but we must also ensure that the indicators are given priority, and officials must also pay attention to the people's opinions. How do you think we should deal with it?"

Cen Wenben was still in deep thought. When he heard Li Yuanji's words, he was stunned for a moment, and then his face became solemn.

"Your Majesty, if you must deal with Chen Bin and Liu Ji, I have a question, and I hope Your Majesty can answer it."

Seeing that Cen Wenben was extremely serious, Li Yuanji pondered for a moment and then looked at Cen Wenben with a deep gaze.

"You said."

Cen Wenben looked up at Li Yuanji and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, which is more important, the assessment indicators of each prefecture, state, or even county, or the public opinion?"

Li Yuanji looked deeply at Cen Wenben. This question was like putting him on the fire. In Li Yuanji's eyes, Cen Wenben's question was a choice between officials and the people.

Li Yuanji sat at the top, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the chair. After thinking for a moment, Li Yuanji realized that he might have been thinking in the wrong direction. Based on his understanding of Cen Wenben, Cen Wenben would not go against him so blatantly and favor officials at all levels.

The essence of this issue seems to represent the attitude towards handling Chen Bin and Liu Ji, as well as the template for handling similar incidents in the future. What is determined now may become the standard for a certain period of time in the future.

Li Yuanji frowned. Which is more important, indicators or public opinion?

Li Yuanji was really worried for a while. In his eyes, indicators were important, but public opinion was equally important.

Others may not know the importance of the people, but how could he not know it?

Li Yuanji was thinking like this, while Cen Wenben was waiting patiently below without any urging.

After a long time, Li Yuanji gradually understood.

What is the original intention of development?
The original intention of development is to improve the local economy and all aspects of it, the most important of which is the improvement of people's livelihood.

Think about what kind of life the people here lived when he first came to Lingnan, and then look at it now. These are gradually improving through development.

From the very beginning, they were starving, their houses were extremely dilapidated, not to mention their clothes. If they were placed in the Tang Dynasty, they would probably be considered beggars.

Nowadays, the people here can not only afford food, but also their living conditions have been greatly improved. As for clothes, at least they don’t have to go out naked anymore, and they can even have a new set of clothes.

Various other conditions are countless times better than before. Roads, canals, rivers, etc. are all undergoing all-round improvements. It can be said that everything today is brought about by his coming here and vigorously developing the country.

It is because the people have become rich that they now have the desire to go out to sea to do business. If they had not even had enough food to eat before, how could they have wanted to go out to do business? How could they do that?

Without him, would this place be so prosperous? Would they be able to see so many merchants? Would they still want to go out to sea? Forget it!
However, although people's livelihood has developed so well nowadays, there are still some people who are not satisfied and want more. For this reason, so many people gather for no reason and resist the government. Behind the government, there is no one but Li Yuanji.

After thinking this through, Li Yuanji suddenly realized that the people do need to be valued, but is he valued too much?
Looking at this incident as a whole, not only did Chen Bin and Liu Ji do nothing wrong in governance and development, but even when the people proposed to go overseas to do business, did they refuse?

No, what they both adopted was procrastination. It was not that they did not execute it, but that they would do it later.

If the two made any mistakes, their biggest mistake was concealing the truth from their superiors. If they had not concealed the truth from their superiors, they could be said to have not committed any crime.

Li Yuanji thought a lot, and after he figured it out, he became much clearer. In the past, he was indeed a little obsessed.

What he is doing now can be said to be a rebirth for everyone. These people should be grateful to him instead of asking for more from him.

As Cen Wenben watched Li Yuanji gradually change, he knew that Li Yuanji had figured it out, and Cen Wenben was particularly happy.

After Li Yuanji came to his senses, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, I think that Chen Bin and Liu Ji are guilty of deceiving their superiors, not of ignoring the will of the people.

On the contrary, these people are so ungrateful that they gathered in such a large crowd without any notification and disregarded the local development. They should be punished!"

(End of this chapter)