"Your Majesty previously ordered the Ministry of Works to build water conservancy projects throughout the land. Today's lack of concern is all thanks to Your Majesty's efforts!" Xu Changqing said with emotion.

Xu Changqing was not the type of person who relied on flattery to gain a foothold in the court, so his words were mostly from the heart.

To some extent, when Jiang Chen ordered the Ministry of Works to build water conservancy projects, he had his doubts.

There weren't any problems at the time, so why spend money on construction?

Especially since a severe drought followed, which made him feel that Jiang Chen's decision might have been wrong.

But he never expected that it would come in handy this year, two years after the water conservancy projects were built.

"Is that so?"

Jiang Chen looked somewhat puzzled.

Although he had ordered the construction of water conservancy projects, he wasn't very clear about what the people below could build and how effective it would be.

The reason he did this was simply because he knew that in this era, people relied on the heavens for their livelihood, and making more preparations was definitely not a bad thing.

However, he didn't completely believe the good news reported by Xu Changqing.

After accepting Xu Changqing's congratulations, Jiang Chen immediately sent the dark guards to investigate the local situation secretly.

A few days later, the news brought back by the dark guards wasn't as good as Xu Changqing had said, but things were indeed mostly fine.

Jiang Chen's heart was completely at ease.

As an emperor, what he feared most was that ministers in various places would deceive and mislead him.

Now it seemed that this was not the case.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Chen called Jing Yue and asked her to select ten people from the dark guards, and then send these ten people to various counties and prefectures of Great Wei to secretly investigate the situation.

Subsequently, at the early morning court the next day, Jiang Chen mentioned the matter that Xu Changqing had reported that day.

After hearing this, the ministers all shouted things like "Long live Your Majesty."

Only Xu Changqing was somewhat puzzled. He didn't understand why Jiang Chen brought up this matter after several days.

But he soon found out.

After the ministers finished their roaring, Jiang Chen looked at Yang Yongqi, the Minister of Rites.

"Minister Yang, what is the current official evaluation system in our Great Wei?"

Yang Yongqi, who originally planned to simply go through the motions today since there were no matters to report, didn't expect Jiang Chen to call his name.

He stood up and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the evaluation of officials in our Great Wei is based on a comparison of the situation when they took office and the situation at the end of the year. If they do well, they can be promoted; if they do poorly, they will be demoted or even punished."

Jiang Chen nodded. He had already learned about this method. It couldn't be said to be bad, as it had been in use for thousands of years.

But he still intended to make some changes to it.

Because Great Wei was very large, it was basically impossible to fully grasp the situation in various places.

Because the officials in various counties and prefectures were essentially in a state of "independent kingdoms" except when they had matters to report.

Jiang Chen sighed at this time, "It is very difficult for me to understand the situation in various places every time!"

"So I propose that the heads of various counties and prefectures write a memorial about the local situation to the court every three months. What does Minister Yang think?"

Although Jiang Chen's words were phrased as a suggestion, Yang Yongqi could hear the firmness in Jiang Chen's words.

Obviously, this matter had to be done.

Yang Yongqi turned Jiang Chen's proposal over in his mind several times, and then said, "Your Majesty is concerned about the world, and officials at all levels should naturally cooperate with Your Majesty. I think it is feasible."

Yang Yongqi didn't think too much about it and agreed after feeling that there was nothing wrong with this matter.

But as soon as his voice fell, a voice of opposition rang out.

"Your Majesty, I don't think so!"

This person's voice was firm and powerful, and he was even opposing the proposal of Jiang Chen, the emperor.

Everyone's eyes turned to the other party.

After seeing who the other party was, many people immediately understood why this person was opposed.

This person was none other than Situ Quan, the Director of the Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Personnel, which was managed by Yang Yongqi.

As everyone knows, since the establishment of the Ministry of Personnel, the appointment, removal, and transfer of local officials have been managed by the Evaluation Department.

And the basis for their appointment, removal, and transfer, in addition to personal preferences and vision, a very important aspect is performance evaluation.

This has always been the reason why the Evaluation Department is the most important department in the Ministry of Personnel.

And Jiang Chen's move was equivalent to directly putting a tight hoop on the Evaluation Department.

Previously, the appointment, removal, and transfer of officials were decided by them and then submitted to Jiang Chen for approval.

All the initiative was in their hands, and it could be said that they controlled the fate of the officials.

But once Jiang Chen, the emperor, was able to receive reports on the situation from all over Great Wei, he would immediately have a very intuitive understanding of the abilities of many officials.

At that time, the Evaluation Department would no longer be able to arbitrarily appoint, remove, and transfer officials.

Because above them, there was Jiang Chen, a man who saw through everything!

Therefore, in Situ Quan's view, Jiang Chen's move was equivalent to abolishing the Evaluation Department. As the Director of the Evaluation Department, he naturally didn't want to do it.

After Situ Quan spoke out against it, the person with the biggest reaction was not Jiang Chen, but Yang Yongqi.

As the Minister of Personnel, he was in charge of the entire Ministry of Personnel.

This Situ Quan was a protégé he had recruited when he was the chief examiner in the past.

Situ Quan had always been obedient to his orders, but today he was opposing His Majesty's opinion in front of so many people.

In the eyes of many people, this was what he had instructed!

Yang Yongqi didn't want to take the blame, and he quickly said, "Your Majesty, I think this move is feasible."

After speaking, Yang Yongqi turned his head and glared at Situ Quan, meaning to tell him to step down.

But this concerned Situ Quan's own power, so of course it was impossible for him to step down like this.

He said loudly, "Your Majesty, I don't think this move should be done!"

He ignored Yang Yongqi's fiery eyes and said, "There are hundreds of counties and prefectures in the world. If they submit a memorial every three months, it will inevitably increase many unnecessary expenses. This is not appropriate for our Great Wei."

After speaking, he looked at Xu Changqing, the Minister of Revenue: "Lord Xu, am I right?"

The real purpose of Situ Quan's opposition to this matter was naturally to protect the power in his hands, but he couldn't say that, so he pulled in the Ministry of Revenue.

In his opinion, Xu Changqing, who came from a merchant background, had always been known for his careful calculations. As long as expenses were mentioned, he would definitely gain Xu Changqing's support.

Xu Changqing took a step forward, first saluted Jiang Chen, and then said to Situ Quan, who had a confident expression, "Lord Situ, I don't think you're right."

The confidence on Situ Quan's face instantly froze.

He looked at Xu Changqing in disbelief, not understanding why Xu Changqing would say that he was wrong.

Many ministers also looked at Xu Changqing in confusion. They could probably guess some of Situ Quan's intentions, but they also felt that there was nothing wrong with the reason Situ Quan had found.

Why would Xu Changqing say that he was wrong?

Many ministers looked at Xu Changqing, waiting for his explanation.