Only when Fang Yun returned to the independent study in the Zuo Xiang Pavilion did the three of them come to their senses.
Li Zhixiao praised in a low voice: "Fang Xusheng is really a man of great talent who is practical and pragmatic. This report may seem useless, but it actually contains mysteries."
Xu Changgeng also whispered: "Yes, everything in this cabinet is actually made up of us people and things. Knowing what everyone does, we naturally know everything about the cabinet. One report can tell us everything about the cabinet. However, this report is very difficult to write. I'm afraid you won't have time to sleep tonight."
Dong Yueqian said: "Just write it down truthfully according to what the Prime Minister said, what's the difficulty?"
Xu Changgeng glanced at him and said, "For an honest guy like you, it's fine to write it truthfully, but for us, it would be really stupid to write it truthfully. Forget it, you won't understand even if I tell you."
Li Zhixiao said with a smile: "The Prime Minister's ability is beyond our reach. This report must be thought about, but not too deeply. No matter how deeply you think about it, can you surpass Prime Minister Fang's wisdom?"
Dong Yueqian was a little confused and smiled, "I don't quite understand, but I do know a little bit. Congratulations on your promotion!"
Xu Changgeng said, "You don't know how to appreciate your blessings. You will understand the difficulties we face in the future. This personal report is unprecedented. Since we are indebted to the Prime Minister, we cannot treat it lightly. I think we should discuss it in detail after the court is dismissed. I have a relative nearby who can borrow his house for an hour or two. What do you think?"
Dong Yueqian smiled and said, "I am a stupid person, so I need your guidance."
Li Zhixiao looked at Xu Changgeng deeply, nodded gently and said, "Brother Xu has asked me to do so, I dare not disobey."
At seven o'clock in the morning, the cabinet began to report for duty, and then each official went about his or her business.
After a while, Xu Changgeng took the copied document and distributed it to each person in the Zuo Xiangge in turn, and explained that Fang Yun ordered everyone to write a personal report, and the document contained specific requirements.
Everyone carefully considered Fang Yun's request and fell into deep thought. Similar documents have always existed.
The Ministry of Personnel of the imperial court was responsible for evaluating officials and recording their merits and demerits. Superiors would also evaluate their subordinates, and historians and scholars would also record some deeds. A few people would also submit memorials or publicly write articles to state their merits and demerits.
Zhuge Liang's "The Memorial on Starting the War" and Cao Cao's "Statement of Ambition" are basically a kind of performance report.
However, it is unprecedented for a new official to require all his subordinates to write such personal reports, especially by clearly dividing them into five topics.
This was the second day since Fang Yun took office as the Left Prime Minister. Almost all the senior officials and staff of Shengyuan Continent were paying attention to Fang Yun.
Therefore, the news of the personal report spread immediately on the discussion board.
A few people thought it was unnecessary, and many people thought it was dispensable, but some senior officials praised it highly.
Right Prime Minister Cao De'an soon learned about it and immediately proposed to learn from the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet, asking the officials of the Right Prime Minister's Cabinet to hand in the report tomorrow. Cao De'an even said that if this matter was effective, it would be expanded to all government offices in the capital and even in other places.
However, both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Rites said that the matter was not urgent and they would wait and see.
After Liu Shan resigned as the Left Prime Minister, the position of Assistant Prime Minister became vacant and was finally taken by Yang Xuwen, an old and respected university scholar of Jing State. Yang Xuwen resigned in anger when Liu Shan abused his power, and only after Liu Shan retired was he willing to take on the position of Assistant Prime Minister.
However, now that Jing State is in turmoil, this Grand Secretary Yang has begun to play it safe and not participate in any political struggles. Even government affairs are managed by his subordinates. He is basically a puppet agency of the Queen Mother and King Jing.
What many people did not expect was that the King of Wu actually issued an edict in the afternoon of that day, requiring all officials of the seventh rank and above to write a memorial. The requirements of the memorial completely copied Fang Yun's five aspects, and they were too lazy to even make any changes.
When this incident happened, some people cursed and some laughed, but a few officials from all over the Ten Kingdoms began to secretly follow suit, especially in Xiangzhou and Mizhou. The three levels of government, from state, prefecture, and county, began to require relevant officials to write a personal report.
Because so many people were paying attention to Fang Yun, many things that happened to Fang Yun in the Zuo Xiang Pavilion were widely spread, and the news that Fang Yun repeatedly praised Liu Shan in the cabinet also spread.
That evening, someone else posted on the discussion board that after Liu Shan learned about the personal report, he sighed: "I am not as talented as Fang Yun."
Afterwards, many people analyzed this performance report on the forum and came to many conclusions, one of which was shared by many people. These reports would be useless in the hands of mediocre superiors, but in the hands of capable officials like Fang Yun, not only would they be able to see clearly who wrote the report, but they would also be able to grasp the operation of the Left Prime Minister's Office, the Cabinet, and even the entire court at the fastest speed.
The second day of Fang Yun's tenure as the Left Prime Minister was very peaceful. He was not as arbitrary as others had imagined.
Before he makes a decision on any matter, he will consult the relevant personnel and listen to their opinions before making a decision. If his subordinates have different opinions, he will also listen and improve the decision as appropriate.
The Left Prime Minister's Cabinet has to deal with a lot of affairs every day. Before, the position of Left Prime Minister was vacant, and many affairs could be decided quickly after discussion by the officials. But with Fang Yun, they can only follow the established process and get Fang Yun's reply before they can implement them. As a result, the backlog of documents is getting bigger and bigger, and Fang Yun has to deal with the important affairs first.
Everyone discovered that although Fang Yun was slow in handling government affairs, his methods were sophisticated and extremely rigorous, and no one could find any mistakes.
Those officials who had looked down on Fang Yun in their hearts only realized at this moment that Fang Yun had not served as the county magistrate of Ning'an and the governor of Xiangzhou for nothing, and he had long been familiar with the operation of government offices.
On that day, Cai He, Sai Zhixue and Yu Xingshu were received by Fang Yun, and the four of them had a secret conversation in the study for a long time.
Time flies, and half a month has passed in a flash.
Compared with the time when Fang Yun was in office, the past half month can be described as calm as nothing major happened. However, small things kept happening.
The four ministers of Jing State each had their own division of labor.
Among them, the Left Prime Minister was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy and the Honglu Temple.
Even if he was the left prime minister, he did not have the power to directly transfer and appoint the top officials of the four yamen: the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Rites, the President of the Hanlin Academy, and the Minister of the Honglu Temple.
However, Zuo Xiang had great control over the positions under the four chief officials of the four yamen. As long as Fang Yun wanted to transfer the officials under the chief officials, whether they were other officials or the king and the empress dowager, under normal circumstances, they would agree, unless the person appointed by Fang Yun had major problems or was involved in a conflict of interest.
Fang Yun did not make any drastic personnel changes and only appointed three people.
Sai Zhixue, who once served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was transferred to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, becoming the second-in-command of the Ministry of Personnel. Because Sai Zhixue had a rich resume, it was considered a lateral transfer in terms of position and did not cause any waves.
Cai He, who had been the magistrate of Ji County, later served as the prefect of Mizhou and the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites. Later, he was transferred to the Hanlin Academy as a sinecure. Fang Yun transferred him back to the Ministry of Rites and restored him to his original position as the right assistant minister, the third-ranking official in the Ministry of Rites. This appointment was also unopposed.