Chapter 341: Slack in the government

Before dawn the next day, Zhang Huan's carriage headed towards the Imperial City. Currently, he has two offices in the court. One is in the Ministry of War of the Imperial City, which is the court room where he serves as the Minister of War and is in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War, and the other is in the Ministry of War in the Daming Palace. As one of the members of the cabinet, he also has a court room in the Political Affairs Hall of the Secretariat of the Secretariat of the Secretariat of the Secretariat of the Secretariat. Today is his first court, so he naturally went to the Ministry of War first.

The sky was not yet bright, and the night fog filled the Suzaku Street. Through the gray mist, a bright star could be vaguely seen hanging in the sky. This is a sign that it is about to dawn.

Since the gate of the shop was opened, many people who had gotten up early to make a living appeared on Zhuque Street, and some low-level officials on duty were also riding horses towards the imperial city. However, like Zhang Huan, there were hundreds of cavalry guards, and he was the only senior official who was driving on the street.

Generally speaking, as time goes by, many rules in the officialdom will develop a kind of laziness. When no one cares about it, the boundaries of these rules will quietly develop to the side that is beneficial to officials. There are big and small things, big things, such as national economy and people's livelihood, such as land encroachment, and some small things that the people also think are irrelevant, such as the time of court.

At the beginning, the court had strict restrictions on the time of going to court. Even if Li Longji was obsessed with Concubine Yang in the later period and did not think about the morning court, all officials still strictly abide by the time of going to court, which was generally controlled by the prime minister. If he was late or short of absent, he would be deducted from his salary at the least, and would be dismissed from public office. Year after year, the officials of the Beijing government followed the matter conscientiously. Even when Cui Yuan was in power, he would also demand strictness on all officials.

But the slackness started when Pei Jun was in power. Perhaps because the old aristocratic system collapsed and the new power system was not established for a long time. When the court lacked an order, all officials fell into a state of confusion and chaos, and began to slack off against the court. At first, it was from high-ranking officials at the prime minister and the minister level. Soon the heads and minds of various provinces and Taiwan were also infected. They took the official business home to deal with it. The upper beam was not straight and the lower beam was crooked. This trend soon spread. Doctors and Shaoqing and other officials with slightly lower ranks, but they also had real power began to imitate it.

Soon, everyone discovered the benefits of handling official duties. Of course, it was not that they spent more time with their wives and concubines, but that many interpersonal relationships could be carried out privately. For example, when the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue reviewed the financial income and expenditure statements of each county, the Jinzouyuan of a certain county happened to send some "local products" to the extent that the relationship was contacted, and the matter in this county was much easier to handle.

Moreover, once this behavior of courting at night or not attending court begins to involve the vital interests of many people, it will form a kind of unspoken rule in the officialdom.

So last year, when Zhang Huan went to court, he could meet some middle- and high-level officials, but now he can't see any of them. It's not that everyone is seeking personal gain, but that many people don't want to break this unspoken rule. The weather is cold, and they are happy to hold their beautiful wife and concubines in the quilt to dream of the Qingqiu.

Zhang Huan also knew about this situation, but he did not expect it to become more serious today. His brows were frowning. The corruption in the administration often started with lax law enforcement.

When he arrived at the Zhuque Gate of the Imperial City, Zhang Huan looked at the place where he was open. It was indeed empty. Li Suhe followed Pei Mingyuan to Dashi, and of course the officials acting for him were not so dedicated.

The soldiers guarding the Zhuque Gate seemed to have not woken up yet, and they squatted on the ground one by one. Suddenly, they saw a large group of people coming over. They stood up one after another. Zhang Huan saw it through the cracks in the car curtain, and his face became more and more gloomy.

The carriage was driving on the empty Chengtianmen Street. It was getting dark. Many servants were removing the ice from the steps. The carriage turned a corner and stopped in front of the steps of the Ministry of War.

Zhang Huan jumped off his horse and quickly walked up the steps. The large courtyard of the Ministry of War was also deserted and there was no one to see. At this time, the time for court was passed, but the gate of the court room had not opened yet, only the side door was closed. He quietly walked through the side door. The long corridor was silent. There were four departments of the Ministry of War, the rank of the Ministry of War, the rank of the Ministry of War, the rank of the Ministry of War, and the rank of the warehouse, and each department had several rooms, and there were also library of various documents, classics and drawings.

At this moment, the lights of the court rooms of each department were on, and it was obvious that people had arrived. Zhang Huan walked into the court rooms of the Ministry of War with his hands behind his back. The court rooms were very wide and neatly arranged with more than a dozen copies, two doctors and two officials. These were four officials, and they were officials, which were equivalent to later clerks. According to their qualifications, they were called chief officials and employed people, and there were a total of more than a dozen people.

At this moment, there were five or six people in the Ministry of War, most of whom were engaged in the work, some were burning charcoal basins, some were cooking tea, and some were cleaning the doctor's tables. However, the doctor Sun Jinfang and other officials were not yet there.

Everyone suddenly saw Zhang Huan coming in, and they stood up one by one, panic and at a loss. Zhang Huan waved his hand and smiled at everyone, "Did you come so early?"

A senior official quickly bowed and said, "Report to the Secretary of the People's Republic of China, the court stipulates that it will be three hours (6 o'clock in the morning). Now it is two hours. I will clean up and it will be the time to go to court."

"When will he arrive?" Zhang Huan whispered to the desk of the doctor Sun Jinfang.

"This..." The old official looked at both sides, with a embarrassed expression on his face. He looked at the complex personnel relationship in the room. How could he speak casually? But he had to answer the words of the Shangshu and said vaguely: "Sometimes earlier, sometimes later, there is no accurate number."

Zhang Huan knew that he couldn't ask anything, so he smiled and turned to his room. As soon as he left, the officials were panicked and each packed up their official documents. Two people even sneaked out and told their boss.

Zhang Huan's room is located at the bottom of the corridor, in the middle of the Assistant's Court's Office. Currently, there are two Assistant Ministers in the Ministry of War, one is the Right Assistant Minister Yuan Zai and the other is the Left Assistant Minister Li Huai. Li Huai's legs are abandoned and he only takes up a quota and does not take charge of the matters. In fact, the Ministry of War is still under the charge of Yuan Zai. When encountering major events, he will send a quick message to Longyou to ask Zhang Huan to decide. However, Zhang Huan spent most of this year in Anxi, so most of the major affairs of the Ministry of War are decided by Pei Jun.

Yuan Zai didn't arrive at this moment, and there were only a few people working on cleaning the house for him. Zhang Huan pushed the door and entered his room. The room was neatly tidy and the charcoal fire had been lit. The teapot was burned on the stove and the room was filled with a strong tea fragrance.

Next to the bookshelf in a corner, I saw a man standing on a short ladder to pick up a volume of documents. He was alarmed by the sound of pushing the door and turned his head instinctively. It was Zhang Huan's secretary Lang Niu Sengru, and Zhang Huan's other secretary Qin Mi, was working in the court room of his Daming Palace.

When Niu Sengru saw that Zhang Huan came in, he was shocked and happy. He quickly climbed down from the ladder and saluted: "See the Governor!"

"Are you the only one here?" Zhang Huan looked around and asked him with a smile.

"No, there is another tea boy who is cleaning up for the governor in the room."

"Come in, I have something to ask you."

Zhang Huan said, and quickly walked into the inner room. A tea boy in the room was wiping the table quickly. When Zhang Huan came in, he was so scared that he quickly stepped back. Zhang Huan sat down and waited for the personal soldiers to close the door. Then he asked Niu Sengru: "When will the daily yen ride come to court?"

Niu Sengru thought about it and replied respectfully: "It's okay for Mr. Yuan to come to court every day, at about three or four minutes of Mao time."

"So, are you here on time every day?" Zhang Huan changed his tone and asked him indifferently.

"My subordinates dare not slacken. They arrive at the Chaofang on time and at 2 o'clock every day, and there is no interruption in one day."

"Yes, good times are nothing. The rare thing is persistence, just like the 'big event record' you wrote, it's been continuous every day, and I'm very satisfied." Zhang Huan nodded with praise, and he pondered for a while and asked again: "What about the Sisi Doctor and Yuanwailang?"

In front of Zhang Huan, Niu Sengru would not hide it for anyone. He said bluntly: "The sixteen doctors and Yuanwailang, the Four Divisions of the Ministry of War, can retreat from morning to court every day, at most five or six people. Most of them show up after Si Shi (9:00 to 11:00 am), and then return home with a few books. As for those who came on time at 3:00 am, there was no other one except the Minister of Yuan. Yuan Shu turned a blind eye, closed his eyes, and let them do what they did."

"Do you think it's too early to go to court?" Zhang Huan asked him again without saying a word.

"No!" Niu Sengru bowed to Zhang Huan, and said loudly: "I have customized the time for the Tang Dynasty to attend court, so that all officials can make the early court to show their diligence. Not to mention that the predecessors have been diligent for a hundred years, they have never dared to be late for a long time. If they take the court too early, the system can be modified, not personal preferences. If you want to come, you will leave as soon as you want. For my subordinates, this trend was led by Pei Xiangguo, and he has always let it go. In the past, things that could be done in one or two days had to be done for seven or eight days. And it was not a single person, almost everyone was like this. If he did not strictly regulate it, my Tang Dynasty's guide would probably be ruined in this matter."

Zhang Huan nodded and smiled, "You have some reason, but everyone cleans up the snow in front of the door. We don't care about others. Go and see if the Minister Yuan has arrived. If he arrives, ask him to come to me."

Niu Sengru agreed to leave, but Zhang Huan stopped him, "Wait a minute, I have something else to do."
Chapter completed!