While serving in the selection bureau (the equivalent of a present-day human resources department), he came up with radical ideas to reform the bureaucracy by demoting or dismissing officials based on assessments of their moral character.
Through the recommendation of Zhang Wen, he came to serve in the Eastern Wu government and was appointed as a Gentleman in the Selection Bureau (選曹郎; the equivalent of a present-day human resources officer).
He thus came up with radical ideas to reform the bureaucracy according to the way he desired: he wanted to conduct a thorough assessment of all personnel to separate the virtuous from the corrupt, and then demote or dismiss them accordingly.
If his ideas were implemented, over 90 percent of all the staff would be affected and many who failed the "morality test" would end up being demoted to jun li (軍吏), one of the lowest positions in the bureaucracy.
In 224, the Eastern Wu emperor Sun Quan had Ji Yan and Xu Biao arrested and removed from office based on allegations of unprofessional conduct.