The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 208

One copy was kept as a reference in the Six Ministries, one copy was sent to the Six Offices for record-keeping, and one copy was sent to the Cabinet for review.

The officials in the Six Departments were not of high rank, mostly sixth or seventh grade, but they wielded considerable power. Originally, the Six Departments corresponded to the Six Ministries, and the initial reason for establishing the Six Departments was to supervise the Six Ministries and impeach their officials.

However, as development continued, the Sixth Division was basically occupied by those upright officials, who were truly upright and each one was incredibly stubborn.

Although the officials of the Six Ministries and the Cabinet could not completely control the Six Departments, they could guide and utilize them.

Among them, the one who guided and utilized this best was Xu Jie, who later became the Grand Secretary. At that time, the Six Ministries became a tool for Xu Jie to attack his political enemies. Gao Gong was forced to temporarily retire under the constant attacks of the officials of the Six Ministries.

Under the performance evaluation system, all officials were required to process documents ahead of schedule, without delay, or they would be punished accordingly. To prevent officials from protecting each other, Wang Yangming, on the advice of Zhou Chu, also formulated an administrative system with multiple layers of supervision and strict performance evaluation.

The fundamental reason why this matter was able to proceed successfully was due to the strong support of Yang Shen, the Grand Secretary, and Emperor Jiajing.

The current performance evaluation system has just been piloted and only the first part has been established. Further implementation will be needed gradually.

It was precisely because of this performance evaluation system that the officials in Southern Zhili were full of complaints and submitted memorials to impeach Wang Yangming. The officials in the court, led by Yang Yiqing, also denounced Wang Yangming's reckless behavior.

But how could these people possibly be a match for the troll Yang Shen?

In the imperial court, Yang Shen explained the advantages and disadvantages, and denounced the officials of the Ming Dynasty for their inaction, saying that they all wanted to rest on their laurels and wait to die, and had no desire to do anything.

Yang Shen and Jiajing played the roles of good cop and bad cop, respectively. After Yang Shen finished scolding the officials, Jiajing stepped forward and began to play the good guy.

Emperor Jiajing decreed that the performance evaluation system would be piloted in Southern Zhili first, and that the salaries of all officials in Southern Zhili would be increased by 50% on the existing basis. If the performance evaluation system proved effective, the salaries of officials in Southern Zhili would be further increased.

As soon as Jiajing said this, the officials who had been opposing him fell silent, especially the trolls in the Six Ministries. They didn't have any extra income and lived off their stipends. Fortunately, the officials in the Six Ministries didn't need to put on a show or pay people to carry their sedan chairs, unlike other officials.

Otherwise, they would have difficulty supporting their families with their salary.

This was because officials of the Six Ministries enjoyed the treatment of a fourth-rank official.

If the increase is 50%, then it will be more than enough to cover the expenses.

If anyone is most tempted by the promotion in Fengyin, it is undoubtedly the officials of the Sixth Section.

Therefore, the officials of the Six Ministries who had originally strongly opposed the Performance Evaluation System suddenly fell silent. They even hoped that the system could be implemented in the capital as soon as possible, so that their salaries could be increased accordingly.

Since the Six Ministries no longer objected, Yang Yiqing would certainly not object either. If he continued to insist on opposing, he would offend all the officials, and everyone would think that he was preventing the court from raising their salaries.

Even among officials in Southern Zhili, the opposition to the salary increase diminished considerably after the news broke. After all, many officials in Southern Zhili were nominal officials with little real power, living off their stipends. Now that their salaries had increased, while it's not to say that all their grievances had disappeared, at least their complaints had lessened considerably.

All the officials in Southern Zhili were busy, so Wang Yangming, the governor of Southern Zhili, had some free time. In addition, he had received an official document from the court a couple of days ago, ordering him to come to Jiangnan Province to take over military power, so Wang Yangming arrived in Suzhou Prefecture early.

They had barely arrived in Suzhou when they received news that Tang Yin wanted to adopt a young child as his son.

Wang Yangming thought to himself that he hadn't seen his good friend Zhou Hengqi and his student Shen Lian for many years, so he came uninvited.

Besides Wang Yangming, two other people arrived uninvited: Yan Song and Zhang Cong.

The two men witnessed Zhou Chu's astonishing energy and strength, and their respect for this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard grew even stronger. Naturally, they wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to flatter him, so they prepared congratulatory gifts and came to the Tang residence.

"Bo'an, it's been a long time since we parted ways in the capital."

As the host, Tang Bohu naturally behaved much more composed than usual and exchanged pleasantries with Wang Yangming.

"Yes, Brother Bohu, since we parted ways, I often miss the times when we drank and talked happily with you and Hengqi. Whenever I think of it, I can't help but sigh."

Wang Yangming remarked with emotion.

"teacher."

Upon seeing Wang Yangming, Shen Lian hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.

"Not bad, he's much more composed and reserved than before."

Wang Yangming looked at his disciple and nodded in satisfaction.

"It is all thanks to Lord Zhou's guidance. I have learned a lot by following Lord Zhou."

Shen Lian told the truth.

"Master Yangming".

Zhou Chu smiled and approached Wang Yangming, bowing respectfully.

"Hengqi, since we parted, I never imagined you would rise so high. But my Great Ming Dynasty truly needs a loyal minister like you."

Wang Yangming also smiled broadly when he saw Zhou Chu.

"This humble official has met Lord Wang and Lord Zhou. I am sorry to have come uninvited."

Yan Song bowed and said.

"Wei Zhong, when did we ever need to be so distant with each other?"

Wang Yangming saw that Yan Song was somewhat reserved and smiled.

Zhang Cong also hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects.

The Tang family members standing nearby were dumbfounded by what they saw. Whether it was Wang Yangming, the governor, Yan Song, the prefect of Suzhou, or Zhang Cong, the censor, they all seemed unapproachable to them.

But the way these people treated Zhou Chu sent chills down their spines.

The prefect was so respectful to this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and even the censor was somewhat obsequious to him.

The governor-general looked more like his equal?

What exactly is going on? Wasn't Tang Bohu's disciple just a mere centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?