Amidst the praises, the Left Prime Minister's Office announced the second ceremony. They would reduce the decorations on the carriages of officials and make them as plain as possible. They also stipulated that the price of a new carriage would be based on its grade. Even if it was a first rank official, the cost of a carriage could not exceed 500 taels. At the same time, new carriages used for special occasions such as ceremonies or ceremonies were not restricted. However, they could not be used on normal days.
Fang Yun set an example by removing many of the decorations on the Dragon Horse.
In the Saint Origin World, carriages were often more important than many other tools to show the nobility of the owner. Therefore, the carriages of some rich and high-ranking officials were extremely luxurious. They were decorated with all kinds of expensive materials.
Although Fang Yun's Dragon Horse was expensive, the main cost was on protection, such as sturdy wood and some mechanisms. The decorations were not particularly important.
When the second ceremony was announced, the public cheered even louder. In fact, the public had long been tired of those high-ranking officials sitting in luxurious carriages.
Some rich businessmen and scholars without official positions felt the pressure and took the initiative to announce that they would reduce the decorations on their carriages. They would try their best not to be overly extravagant when the country was in trouble.
The second ceremony was also completely taken from the Book of Rites * Shaoyi. Therefore, many people began to predict Fang Yun's third ceremony.
The original text of the two ceremonies in the Book of Rites was, "When the country is poor, carve few carriages, armor no armor, utensils no carving, a gentleman does not wear silk, and a horse does not gallop."
The meaning of this sentence was that when the country's finances were tight, there should be as few luxurious carvings on the carriages. Armor should not be too brightly colored, utensils should not be exquisitely carved. People with high status should not wear expensive silk shoes that could easily wear out. Horses should not be fed grain too often.
After another day, the Left Prime Minister's Office announced the third ceremony. Just as many people had guessed, there were certain regulations on the boots of officials.
Many officials did not object. However, there were some officials who secretly gossiped and thought that Fang Yun was making a mountain out of a molehill.
There were also some officials who thought that Fang Yun was drunk and salty. As the Left Prime Minister, he was actually focusing on such trivial matters. He was simply treating the country's treasures as child's play.
Some rich people also began to complain. Although Fang Yun had explicitly stated that people without official positions were not restricted, they could only follow suit and reduce their daily expenses to avoid being accused of being extravagant and wasteful.
It was also at this time that noise began to appear among the common people in the marketplace.
The wealthy merchants and workers who made a living by making carriages and shoes began to complain about the imperial court's arbitrary ban, causing them to suffer losses.
However, on the whole, the attitude of the officials and the people was mostly supportive.
Based on the name, the Gift of the Day started from a young age. Therefore, most people did not think that Fang Yun was making a fuss over nothing.
Time passed day by day, and the ceremony was announced one after another. They were all specific matters, and the officials and commoners gradually got used to it. Other than the officials who had to read the court bulletin and official documents every day to grasp the ceremony to prevent mistakes, the commoners continued as usual. They lost the novelty of the ceremony, but they still talked about it frequently.
On the seventh day of the ceremony, an Overwatch Council memorial appeared in the Assistant Minister's Pavilion. The Assistant Minister's Pavilion then passed it to the Left Minister's Pavilion to draft.
The assistant minister was in charge of the Overwatch Council. The Overwatch Council's memorials were all drafted by the assistant minister and then sent to the palace. If the Overwatch Council had objections to the assistant minister's draft, the other ministers in the cabinet had the right to speak.
Since the Assistant Prime Minister Pavilion had passed the memorial to the Left Prime Minister Pavilion, it meant that they had handed over the voting rights for the memorial.
Very quickly, the contents of the memorial spread throughout the Jingdou government.
It turned out that one of the two Taoist imperial censors in charge of Xiangzhou had participated in the memorial. A sixth-level Tongzhi in Xiangzhou did not follow the Gift of the Day. After leaving the yamen, he wore expensive boots to participate in ordinary activities.
This memorial seemed ordinary, but because it happened in Xiangzhou, it attracted the attention of many scholars.
Very quickly, the background of the Taoist imperial censor and Tongzhi was dug up by the officials.
The imperial censor was called Luo Yu, and there was no obvious faction mark. The Tongzhi was a true local official in Xiangzhou, a true member of the Fang party.
Many people felt that the matter was not so simple, but they soon discovered that the other Taoist imperial censor in Xiangzhou was a fellow villager of the Minister of Rites, Sheng Boyuan, and was a staunch loyalist.
Very quickly, some officials came to the conclusion that Luo Yu had been used as a tool. They even deduced that the other Taoist imperial censor had arranged for someone to report this matter to Luo Yu. Luo Yu was an extremely upright person. Even when facing Mount Liu, he was fearless. Moreover, he had always been ambitious.
For an imperial censor, this was an extremely important opportunity, so he did not consider Fang Yun's attitude and directly sent the memorial.
Thus, Luo Yu became the first person to report the Gift of the Day.
Many people felt that Luo Yu was too utilitarian, but there were also people who felt that Luo Yu's reputation was not bad and that he was just doing his job.
Thus, everyone quietly waited to see how Fang Yun would deal with this matter after the Assistant Prime Minister handed this difficult problem to Fang Yun.
The next day, the Left Prime Minister's Pavilion's draft was approved by the imperial family and announced to the public.
Fang Yun's method of dealing with this matter was that the sixth-level official's salary would be deducted for a year. This year, he would be evaluated as lower-class and would not be promoted for five years. As for the Supervisory Imperial Censor Luo Yu, he had performed meritorious service in reporting this matter and was directly promoted to middle-class.
When this news came out, the entire bureaucracy was shaken.
Whether it was the punishment for the sixth-level official or the punishment for Luo Yu, it was beyond everyone's expectations.
A year of salary deduction was a normal punishment, but being evaluated as lower-class was a bit more serious, because this kind of evaluation was equivalent to extremely severe criticism. It was almost pointing at the official's nose and scolding him for being incompetent. Not being promoted for five years was an even more serious punishment. If nothing unexpected happened, this official would be transferred to a low-ranking government office by the Ministry of Appointments. As long as Fang Yun was here, he would not be promoted.
As for the reward for Luo Yu, it was too high, because this contribution was not that great.
The evaluation of the Ministry of Appointments was actually very complicated. Generally speaking, lower-class was the limit. Unless one had made a great contribution, even if the Emperor gave someone an upper-class evaluation, all the officials would oppose it. If one person was given an upper-class evaluation for no reason, then if the other officials were not given an upper-class evaluation, wouldn't that make them seem incompetent?
Since this imperial censor Luo Yu was given an upper-class evaluation, it basically meant that if there was a vacancy for a higher position, he would have the greatest chance of promotion among all the officials of the same rank.
Many officials were confused. Didn't Fang Yun use etiquette to get rid of dissidents? Why was he punishing his own people? Why was he heavily rewarding an imperial censor who had nothing to do with him and could even be said to be an enemy?
There were also righteous people who praised Fang Yun's actions. They believed that Fang Yun's rewards and punishments were appropriate. He did not cover up for the Xiangzhou official, nor did he suppress the Overwatch Council official. This was treating all the Jingguo officials equally, and having a sense of the big picture. He was not like the other officials who treated the court as a place for internal strife, where they were all dogs biting each other.
At the same time, there were also people who criticized the official. He was clearly a member of Fang Yun's faction, but at this time, not only did he not support Fang Yun, he even dragged Fang Yun down. This kind of person should be severely punished. If he continued to stay in Fang Yun's faction, he would certainly bring shame to the members of the faction.
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