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

Chapter 411

This was inevitable. The entire Jiangnan region, or rather the entire southern gentry, had thoroughly studied the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system, to the point that it was somewhat similar to training courses in later generations. Their research on the imperial examination system was quite in-depth.

In this situation, the relationship between the scholars from Jiangnan who participated in the imperial examinations and these Jiangnan gentry families was intricate and complex, forming a huge network of relationships. Once you entered this network, it was not something you could simply walk away from.

Few people were willing to leave, after all, many people were well aware of the significant difference between having connections and not having them when it came to entering officialdom.

Of course, Zhou Chu's actions were not entirely without effect. At least now, there are some officials in Jiangnan who are no longer part of the Jiangnan faction. These officials are the core of Yan Song and the imperial court, and the key to Yan Song's continued power in Jiangnan Province.

These people naturally supported Yan Song's policies unconditionally. Although the performance evaluation system increased their workload, with the precedent of Southern Zhili as an example, everyone knew that their salaries would rise accordingly after the implementation of the system, and they would even receive additional bonuses at the end of the year.

If officials could buy houses and land with their salaries, many would stay true to their principles.

The fact that these people are willing does not mean that the officials in the Jiangnan faction are willing. Once the performance evaluation system is implemented, they will have to work hard. If there are any unfinished tasks, they will be recorded during the end-of-month audit.

If this happens a few more times, he won't even be able to keep his official position, let alone his salary.

In this way, they would have no choice but to collect taxes from the gentry in Jiangnan, thus putting themselves in opposition to them. This was an open conspiracy, unless the gentry could truly be of one mind with the officials and fully cooperate with them.

However, everyone has selfish motives. Collecting taxes from these people is tantamount to cutting flesh off their bodies with a knife. Even if they don't break ties, it will create resentment among them.

This is another reason why Zhou Chu and Jiajing wanted to implement the performance evaluation system in Jiangnan: to sever the foundation of the Jiangnan faction.

In particular, they all received secret letters from Mao Ji and Xie Qian, instructing them to prevent the implementation of the performance evaluation system at all costs. As a result, after Yan Song announced the performance evaluation system, countless officials came to Yan Song's office and jointly resisted it.

"Lord Yan, we've all gone through this before. We've never heard of any performance evaluation system in any dynasty. Aren't you just wasting your time, Lord Yan?"

An official of the third rank from Jiangnan Province stepped forward and spoke righteously.

He had countless officials standing behind him, which was the source of his confidence to confront Yan Song head-on.

"The performance evaluation system is not my idea, but the decree of the imperial court. Southern Zhili implemented it earlier, and it has proven to be completely feasible. Lord Zhang, are you trying to go against the imperial court and His Majesty by acting like this?"

The Yan Song of today is not the Yan Song of a few years ago, and naturally he will not be intimidated by the current situation. He looked at the leading official and rebuked him.

Upon hearing this, the man was intimidated by Yan Song's imposing manner and his breath caught in his throat. For a moment, he was at a loss for words to refute him.

"Lord Yan is trying to evade the issue. Southern Zhili is Southern Zhili, and Jiangnan Province is Jiangnan Province. Just because this ridiculous performance evaluation system can be implemented in Southern Zhili doesn't mean it's suitable for Jiangnan Province."

Another official stepped forward and spoke.

"Oh? Then what exactly is unsuitable for Jiangnan Province? I'd like to hear Lord Li's explanation."

Yan Song listened attentively.

Yan Song was not fighting alone. After news of these officials besieging Yan Song's office spread, countless officials who stood on Yan Song's side rushed over and engaged in a war of words with the officials from the Jiangnan faction.

In the end, the officials on both sides stopped talking about reason and just started hurling insults at each other.

The debate ultimately came to nothing, and the performance evaluation law was to continue to be implemented.

However, the officials of the Jiangnan faction did not intend to follow the performance evaluation system. Instead, they planned to collectively teach Yan Song a lesson. At the same time, these officials wrote memorials impeaching Yan Song for various crimes.

These memorials, like snowflakes, drifted to the capital and entered the Grand Secretariat.

"Recently, there has been a sudden surge in impeachments against Yan Weizhong."

In the cabinet office, Yang Yiqing looked at the memorials on his desk and said with a hint of sarcasm.

He had long anticipated this situation; with the implementation of the performance evaluation system, it would be strange if those officials could remain indifferent.

"That only shows that Yan Weizhong is unpopular and acts recklessly."

Mao Ji snorted coldly.

"Lord Mao's words are somewhat biased. As you and I both know, these memorials impeaching Lord Yan are simply because Lord Yan is promoting the performance evaluation system. When the performance evaluation system was first implemented in Southern Zhili, weren't there many memorials impeaching Master Yangming?"

Yang Shen glanced at the indignant Mao Ji and sneered.

"Lord Yang, you are mistaken. How can Yan Weizhong be compared to Master Yangming? Moreover, it is still unknown whether the implementation of the performance evaluation system in Southern Zhili was right or wrong."

Mao Ji did not give way at all.

"Alright, you two don't need to argue anymore. Just select some of the memorials with representative credentials and present them to the Emperor. Whether Yan Weizhong is wrong or not still needs to be judged by the court."

Xie Qian was like an old man on his deathbed, too lazy to say a single unnecessary word, but once he did speak, everyone respected his opinion.

"Then let's draft the proposal."

Yang Yiqing echoed.