Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 408: Great Government, Great Ming

Only silver was shipped to Nanjing, while the sons of several major Huizhou salt merchants continued to stay in Guangdong.

The heads of the families traveled from Nanzhili to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and then returned to Nanjing.

Money and people are all gathering towards Nanjing.

During the months when the emperor was away from Nanjing, the prefectures in Southern Zhili had been rectifying their administration.

In the end, most of the punishment fell on the officials, that is, on many local powerful families in Jiangnan.

Zhu Changluo didn't really care about the effect. What was important was the direction of the trend, and that it was a precedent and a new entry threshold for grassroots personnel in the government system.

After gaining great prestige, he chose not to further centralize power, but to establish a more advanced and reasonable government system.

In the eyes of millions of ordinary people, the direct image of the government has never been the almighty emperor and the officials in the court, or even the officials of the local prefectures, counties, and districts, but the numerous clerks and yamen runners.

Among so many clerks and yamen runners, the important positions were often filled by people from local wealthy families and various officials through connections, while those who did the hard and tiring jobs were often filled by corvée laborers assigned by the local government.

From then on, they were all government employees who received salaries. Secondly, rigid thresholds such as clean family background and literacy were set.

Therefore, before the emperor returned to Nanjing, Nanzhili first held a large-scale examination at the end of the year, known as the Yashi.

Organized by various prefectures and counties, the examination was less difficult than the examination for the scholar.

"Nanjing is still capable." Zhu Changluo asked Xu Guangqi, "What do you think of this proposal from a student?"

Xu Guangqi was the Minister of Culture and Education. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "The matter of examination and selection should be handled by the Jinxian Academy. But I think that there are three inappropriate things about this student's request for a literary background."

"Oh? Tell me."

The imperial carriage was still in Jiangxi, and a copy of the question book from Nanjing was sent to Beijing as well as to the imperial carriage.

The current government examinations are not for ordinary people, but only for the lower-ranking clerks and servants working in government offices at all levels. Therefore, they only need to report and the examinations can be carried out first.

But there are other requests in the memorial.

That is to expand this examination in the future, and also to those who have not obtained the qualification of students from the public. If they can pass, they can be given a Tongsheng origin document, which is different from the Xiucai students. With this Tongsheng origin document, they can work in government offices at all levels to meet the demand for clerks and yamen runners brought about by the large-scale reform of local government in the future.

From then on, literate people were divided into five levels: Mengsheng, Tongsheng, Shengyuan, Juren and Jinshi.

But Xu Guangqi believed that there were three problems with this proposal.

"First, the Tongsheng exam requested by Nanzhili is much easier than the Shengyuan exam. Although the reform of local government offices will require many people, once this Tongsheng exam begins, there will be no telling how many Tongsheng will be enrolled in the next few years. By then, one is that the government jobs will be in short supply, and the other is whether Tongsheng will be exempted from preferential treatment?"

Zhu Changluo remained calm and motioned for him to continue.

"Secondly, the Imperial College, the Ministry's affiliated universities, and the many prefecture schools, state schools, and county schools will all change their school systems. Graduates can continue to pursue a career in the imperial examinations, or they can use their graduation certificates to work in government offices and government-run factories. If there is a Tongsheng exam, which one will be more important in the future?"

Xu Guangqi was speaking for the cause of his Ministry of Culture and Education. Although it sounded like he was dissatisfied with Nanzhili for not considering this point, this problem did exist.

The last one is inappropriate, and that’s the key point.

"Jiangnan has always been a place where culture and education flourished. Since these students come from a literary background, it is probably the easiest for them to be tested in Jiangnan. If we start with Nanzhili, Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces, what about the other provinces? By then, the local government offices will be greatly reorganized. Since Jiangnan has a large number of ready-made students, can we consider that there are few officials and servants in other provinces who can read and write, and simply use a large number of Jiangnan students to meet the emergency needs?"

Zhu Changluo then sighed: "Although Nanjing is powerful, it is still very difficult."

Xu Guangqi stopped talking.

Nanjing was in a difficult situation. The pressure of rectifying the bureaucracy was put on the local clans in Jiangnan, and dissatisfaction and complaints would naturally be fed back. So there was such a petition, pushing the problem back to the court.

It doesn’t matter who came up with the idea. It just shows that the local big families in Jiangnan are still trying to get some exchanges.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, because the north had been under the rule of the Mongols for a long time, the cultural and educational level of Jiangnan had far surpassed that of the north. Therefore, the North-South List Incident occurred in the early years of the Ming Dynasty.

Now Zhu Changluo wants to set academic requirements for government clerks and yamen runners, instead of allowing local nobles and officials to fill the gap. That's great. Who in Jiangnan would be afraid of exams?

We might as well take advantage of this opportunity to seize the initiative. With the test-taking ability of Jiangnan students, we can create a situation where most of the government officials and government officials in the country come from Jiangnan, which will be another surging force in the future.

"There's one more thing you didn't mention." Zhu Changluo looked at the question book, "In the future, the examination for entering the government will be presided over by the provincial education officials. How different is that from before?"

Xu Guangqi declined to comment. How the examination was conducted was indeed a matter for the Jinxian Academy.

"The left and right examinations are just for internal assessment. There is no rush for other matters. Let the ministers in Beijing discuss it first." Zhu Changluo said to Xu Guangqi, "You are in charge of the Ministry of Culture and Education. Your opinions can be submitted in the official document first."

After saying that, he was in a good mood and stood up with a smile.

Isn't this a trap? As long as you take the path of believing that there should be a threshold and a selection system to share power in the government, it is no longer just a pure internal pie-dividing.

Faced with an irresistible trend, the only solution Jiangnan could come up with was to go with the flow and seize the initiative.

Zhu Changluo is certainly familiar with all kinds of examinations, but the technology and conditions are limited now, so some adjustments will inevitably be made.

But this road represents an extremely important way out, and it must be as fair as possible and give hope to everyone.

Take it step by step, first requiring the most basic literacy, and then naturally gradually improve the standards, especially requiring understanding of politics, administrative regulations, and laws.

The imperial examination system has been in use for thousands of years, but the talents it selected are all high-end officials and cannot be said to be the entire civil service system.

It’s time to respond to new needs.

At this moment in Beijing, Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji were discussing.

"Has the Ministry of Personnel figured it out?" Ye Xianggao looked worried. "If all the central and local government offices of the Ming Dynasty are completely changed, how many officials and runners will be on the payroll? Based on the current salaries, how many officials should be in the capital and three capitals? How many will the local government offices need?"

"... I'm still calculating and deciding on the salary." "What's the rough figure? I really need to have an idea of ​​how much the salary should be."

He had a worried look on his face, of course, because of the huge financial pressure that would come with the Ming Dynasty's preparations for this. In the past, there were only a few tens of thousands of officials in the country. In the future, how much would the official salary budget soar?

Tian Le is also here because there will be a local security system in the future, which involves the resettlement of retired border troops and garrison soldiers, and the number also needs to be determined.

Looking at Ye Xianggao, he must have finally understood how hot his bottom was. Tian Le smiled and said, "I don't have to worry about my salary, at least I don't have to worry about my position as Prime Minister Ye."

"...How can we not worry?" Ye Xianggao looked at him, "Although the threat from the north has been resolved and border expenses can be greatly reduced, the national debt has been mostly used up for the new border defense and fleet formation. The land tax cannot be increased, and the industrial and commercial taxes have to wait for the government property office and various ministries and local governments to implement them. If they are to be implemented and effective, the first thing to be done is to reform the government offices. If the salaries are not settled and people's hearts are not settled, how can we achieve results?"

"Your Majesty has borrowed a sum of money." Tian Le just said this.

Although the chartered Takumi Militia will be related to maritime trade, because it involves the military, it is currently only being studied within the Privy Council system.

This is another new direction for the deployment of border troops and garrison soldiers.

Although there have been many rumors about this, no matter whether the news came from certain princes or some local clans that have been in contact, no one made a fuss about the emperor borrowing money.

How could it be like they bought the privilege? Of course, the special favor from the emperor could better reflect their specialness.

So Ye Xianggao and the others don’t know it now.

Because Zhu Changluo didn't want them to know yet.

"Your Majesty borrowed money..." Ye Xianggao didn't understand for a moment, "Although the various treasuries will be unified in the future..."

"The treasury is the treasury." Tian Le just said, "I can only say that Prime Minister Ye does not need to worry about his salary first. Implementing new policies will allow the central and local governments to prosper all walks of life. The court can really increase revenue and reduce expenditure, increase annual revenue, and the people will have no complaints. This is the achievement of Prime Minister Ye as the first prime minister."

Ye Xianggao was skeptical: "Brother Xizhi, this is really not a small amount. It's required every year."

"Your Majesty has borrowed 30 million taels." Tian Le laughed, "As for whether Your Majesty is willing to borrow more, it will naturally depend on whether Prime Minister Ye can show results when he makes the request."

"Three thousand... ten thousand taels?" Ye Xianggao was completely confused. "Your Majesty's southern tour... I haven't heard of it..."

"It's true that there was no large-scale search and seizure, but Jiangnan is so rich that there's no need for such brutal means. Thirty million taels of silver in cash. It can be transported together when Your Majesty arrives in Beijing." Tian Le said nothing more than this, "Let's first figure out how many frontier troops and guards can be used by the provincial security departments and government offices? Now that there is no war, we can teach them to read and write. The Privy Council is already doing this."

Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji looked at each other.

This number is too exaggerated.

Your Majesty, how did you make so much money without making any noise during your southern tour?
Although it is a loan, but 30 million taels of silver in cash... who on earth is willing to take it out immediately?
"The two ministers of the Lifanyuan and Guanchanyuan accompanied the emperor on his southern tour, and it seems that they stopped here." Li Tingji laughed, "In this case, let's discuss the placement of the retired veterans first. Most of the local officials are rude and illiterate. Since the Privy Council has made great efforts, Tian Xiang's ability is more suitable than them. Since he can make up for a big gap, then the problem that Nanjing has given to Jinxianyuan has a solution."

Li Tingji felt relieved.

The power of personnel is now in the hands of Jinxianyuan, but the reform of local government offices involves too many aspects. Chengde Prefecture and Liaoning Province can certainly be used as pilot areas for observation, but the number of officials to be set in each province will still vary from place to place.

After such a long time, the official Ministry of Personnel, which was changed from the Ministry of Personnel under the Jinxian Academy, has been scratching its head.

From then on, the Ministry of Personnel was only responsible for the compilation of personnel files and the compilation of public funds such as salaries, while the Ministry of Rites and Laws was responsible for examinations and punishments. But at this moment, the Ministry of Personnel had a heavier task.

If the staffing is too small, the effect may not be achieved; if it is too large, the burden will be huge. We must consider how to make a smooth transition and how to ensure that the staffing is full without delays, and we must also consider the number of people with honors, the number of people that schools can provide, and the number of retired personnel who have transferred to the Privy Council system...

In addition, we also need to consider which unnecessary departments can be cut after the establishment of the Government-Owned Property Council and the implementation of corvee labor and some public project procurement laws.

At this moment, Tian Leming obviously wanted to give a piece of the cake to the border troops and local garrisons first, but this was both a national policy and a way to help them.

Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji looked at Tian Le and thought that the emperor still trusted him the most.

Thirty million taels... If they had known that the emperor had made such a big move during his southern tour, they wouldn't have to worry about it for the past few months and would have just taken drastic measures first.

There isn't much time left.

The emperor was on a southern tour, and they were in charge of government affairs in Beijing for the whole year.

This was both the emperor's trust in them after he appointed them as prime ministers and delegated power to them, and of course it was also a test.

We can't wait until the emperor returns to Beijing. After the entire ten years of Taichang, there is still no detailed strategy and regulations for the restructuring of local government offices and many new policies, right?

"It has to be decided!" Ye Xianggao said seriously, with a clear mind, "The Ministry of Rivers has already sent us a document. Your Majesty asked them to come up with a plan for river management in Huai'an. All these things must be taken into consideration. In addition, many people in the salt administration and other government offices still have to work in the government instead of in the business firms."

There are only about two months left, and the emperor must return to Beijing before the New Year.

At that time, it will be the time for the six ministers who remain in Beijing and other important officials of the Lifanyuan and the Ministry of Officials and Property to report on their work together.

Of course, the results of the government's policies throughout the year must satisfy the emperor, otherwise why would he appoint a prime minister and delegate power?

The 30 million taels of silver in cash during this southern tour was certainly shocking, but the fact that the officials of Nanzhili began to rectify the administration on a large scale further demonstrated the role of the emperor's southern tour.

Although there are new petitions now, the resistance to the establishment of the Eastern Capital and the future structure of the Ming Dynasty with one capital, three capitals, nine borders and eighteen provinces has been reduced a lot.

Of course, the reform of local government offices had to be fully implemented in the eleventh year of Taichang, otherwise how long would the emperor's ambition have to wait?

Tian Le participated in it and also wanted to solve the problems of the old, weak and vacancies in the Privy Council system as soon as possible.

The main purpose of the emperor's southern tour, in addition to solving the Jiangnan issue, was to lay a solid foundation for the future Nanyang strategy.

The Privy Council must streamline its administration as quickly as possible and truly complete a thorough change in many of the past military systems, management, selection and withdrawal, and become a new military system.

Otherwise, after the territory is expanded and a new Ming Dynasty is formed in the future, it will be out of control.

Without an army with strong centripetal force and checks and balances, how can we prevent the generals and soldiers who are stationed at the border and travel far to the East, South, North and Western Regions to control the local areas from having disloyalty, and try our best to keep the vassal states around the new borders stable within the Ming Dynasty's circle of interests?

(End of this chapter)