The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 2456 Rewards and punishments are clear

Amidst the praise, the second ceremony of the Left Prime Minister's Office was soon announced, reducing the decorations of the official carriages and making them as simple as possible. It was also stipulated that if a new carriage was replaced, its price would be linked to the rank. Even for a first-rank official, the cost of a carriage for daily travel should not exceed 500 taels. At the same time, if a new carriage is used for special occasions such as celebrations or sacrifices, it is not restricted, but it cannot be on the road on weekdays.

Fang Yun set an example by removing many decorations from the Dragon Horse Carriage.

In the Shengyuan Continent, carriages often show the dignity of the owner better than many utensils, so the carriages of some wealthy officials are extremely luxurious and decorated with various precious materials, and practicality is secondary.

Although Fang Yun's Dragon Horse Carriage is of high value, the main cost is on protection, such as strong wood or some mechanisms, and the decoration is not particularly valued.

As soon as the second ceremony was announced, the public's voice was even higher. In fact, the people have long been tired of those high-ranking officials riding in luxurious carriages to swagger through the city.

Some wealthy merchants and scholars without official positions felt the pressure and took the initiative to announce that they would reduce the decorations on their carriages and try not to be too extravagant and wasteful when the country was in trouble.

This second ritual was also completely taken from "Book of Rites* Shaoyi", so many people began to predict Fang Yun's third ritual.

The original text of these two rituals in "Book of Rites" is "When the country is poor, the carriage will not be carved, the armor will not be decorated, the food utensils will not be carved, the gentleman will not wear silk shoes, and the horse will not be fed frequently".

This sentence means that in times of financial tension, disaster or distress, the carriage should not be carved with too gorgeous patterns, the armor should not use too bright decorations, the food utensils should not be carved, the people of high status should not wear silk shoes that are easy to wear and expensive, and the horses should not be fed with grain frequently.

Another day later, the Zuo Xiangge promulgated the third ritual, and as many people guessed, certain regulations were made on the boots of officials.

Many officials did not object, but some officials secretly gossiped and thought that Fang Yun was making a fuss.

Some officials also said that Fang Yun was really drunk and crazy. As the left prime minister, he actually took charge of such a trivial matter, which was simply a joke for the country's important equipment.

Some wealthy people also began to complain. Although Fang Yun explicitly stipulated that people without official status were not restricted, in order to avoid being accused of extravagance and waste, they could only cut down on their daily expenses.

It was at this time that noise began to appear among the people in the market.

Those wealthy businessmen and workers who made a living by making carriages and shoes began to complain that the court issued random bans, causing them to suffer losses.

However, in general, the attitudes of officials and people were mostly supportive.

From the name, the daily ritual means starting from a young age, so most people did not think that Fang Yun was making a fuss.

As time went by, the daily rituals were released one after another, all of which were specific matters. Officials and people gradually got used to it. Except for officials who had to read the court reports and official documents every day to master the daily rituals to avoid mistakes, ordinary people continued to do as usual, losing the novelty, but they also talked about it frequently.

On the seventh day of the daily ritual, a memorial from the Supervisory Council appeared in the Fuxiang Pavilion, and then the officials of the Fuxiang Pavilion forwarded it to the Zuoxiang Pavilion for drafting.

The Fuxiang was in charge of the Supervisory Council, and all memorials from the Supervisory Council would be drafted by the Fuxiang, and then sent to the palace. If the Supervisory Council had any objections to the Fuxiang's draft, the other ministers of the cabinet would have a say.

Since the Fuxiang Pavilion forwarded the memorial to the Zuoxiang Pavilion, it meant handing over the right to draft the memorial.

Soon, the content of the memorial spread throughout the official offices in the capital.

It turned out that one of the two Dao Yushi in charge of Xiangzhou reported that a sixth-rank Tongzhi in Xiangzhou did not follow the daily ritual and wore expensive boots to participate in ordinary activities after leaving the office.

This memorial seemed ordinary, but it attracted the attention of many scholars just because it happened in Xiangzhou.

Soon, the background of the Dao Yushi and Tongzhi was exposed by the officials.

The Dao Yushi was called Luo Yu, and there was no obvious factional imprint. The Tongzhi was a local official of Xiangzhou and a member of Fang's party.

Many people felt that the matter was not that simple, and soon discovered that another Dao Yushi in Xiangzhou was a fellow countryman of Sheng Boyuan, the Minister of Rites, and a staunch royalist.

Soon, some officials came to the conclusion based on their official experience that Luo Yu was being used as a gun. They even deduced the details that it was another Dao Yushi who arranged for someone to inform Luo Yu of the matter. Luo Yu was very upright and had no fear even when facing Liu Shan. Moreover, he always had great ambitions.

For a Dao Yushi, this was a very important opportunity, so he did not consider Fang Yun's attitude and directly issued a memorial.

Therefore, Luo Yu became the first person to report the daily ritual.

Many people thought that Luo Yu was too utilitarian, but some people thought that Luo Yu had a good reputation and that this was a matter of public affairs.

So everyone was quietly waiting to see how Fang Yun would deal with this matter after the assistant prime minister handed this difficult problem to Fang Yun.

Only the next day, the proposal of the Left Prime Minister was approved by the royal family and announced to the public.

Fang Yun's way of dealing with it was to fine the sixth-rank official for one year, and this year's evaluation was rated as low, and he could not be promoted within five years. As for the Supervisory Censor Luo Yu, he was rewarded for his report, and this year's evaluation was directly promoted to upper middle.

When this news came out, the officialdom was shocked.

Both the treatment of the sixth-rank Tongzhi and Luo Yu exceeded everyone's expectations.

Deducting one year's salary is a normal punishment, but a low-low evaluation is a bit serious, because this kind of evaluation is almost equivalent to extremely harsh criticism, almost pointing at an official's nose and scolding him for being incompetent. And not being promoted within five years is an even more serious punishment. If nothing unexpected happens, this official will be transferred to a quiet government office by the Ministry of Personnel to serve as an idle position. As long as Fang Yun is there, he will not be promoted.

As for the praise for Luo Yu, it is too high, because his contribution is not that great.

The evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel is actually very complicated. Generally speaking, the upper middle is the limit. Unless a great contribution is made, even if the emperor gives a person an upper evaluation, the officials will oppose it with all their strength. If a person gets the upper upper for no reason, then other officials who don't get the upper evaluation will appear incompetent, right?

Since this censor Luo Yu received the upper middle evaluation, it basically means that if a higher position is vacant, he will have the greatest chance of promotion among all officials of the same rank.

Many officials are a little confused. Didn't Fang Yun use etiquette to exclude dissidents? Why did he punish his own people? Why did he reward a censor who had nothing to do with him and was even his opponent?

Some righteous people praised Fang Yun for this action, believing that Fang Yun rewarded and punished appropriately, did not shield Xiangzhou officials, and did not suppress the officials of the Supervisory Yuan. This was to treat Jingguo officials equally and had a sense of the overall situation. Unlike other officials, he treated the court as a place for internal fighting and was a dog-eat-dog situation.

At the same time, some people criticized the Tongzhi, who was obviously a member of the Fang Party. At this time, he not only did not support Fang Yun, but also dragged Fang Yun's feet. Such people should be severely punished. If they continue to stay in the Fang Party, it will inevitably bring shame to the members of the Fang Party.

Some old scholars also praised Fang Yun, believing that it was stupid to shelter subordinates who made mistakes. Once there were too many such people, it would not only be disadvantageous to the Fang Party, but it would also be likely to become a handle for the hostile faction. The thousand-mile dam was destroyed by an ant hole, and eventually the entire Fang Party and even the Panorama Kingdom would be affected.