I want to be emperor

Chapter 1106 Continuous Change

In front of the office building of the General Administration of Finance in Jinling City, a carriage bearing the emblem of the Kingdom of Sweden slowly drove into the parking lot in front of the building. Halbrand, dressed in professional attire, got out of the carriage, and then led his entourage towards the front. Walk to the building.

Because simple vassal affairs were not taken seriously in the Great Chu Empire, the vassal affairs department that was responsible for vassal affairs had been a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs for decades.

That is to say, after the Ten Thousand Kingdoms came to court a few years ago, and a big boss with a vassal background happened to enter the Senate, more importantly, the Ministry of Etiquette was responsible for too many things, and the empire's top officials had already had their thoughts. The Ministry of Etiquette and Education was split... Therefore, the General Administration of Domain Affairs was established, with a level of second rank, directly under the management of the Council of Ministers.

This can be regarded as a certain degree of decentralization of the Department of Ethnic Affairs. Although the Department of Ethical Affairs is still relatively strong, it has become better.

Prior to this, the Ministry of Rites and Education in the Great Chu Empire was more powerful, and the Minister of Rites and Education had long been held by the Minister of Counseling.

Because at that time, the Ministry of Rites and Education consisted of many powerful organizations including the Education Department, Science Department, Imperial Examination Department, Daily Newspaper Department, Publishing Department, Etiquette Department, and Domain Affairs Department, integrating education, scientific research, imperial examinations, cultural public opinion, feudal affairs, etc. Sacrifice, etiquette and other multi-faceted work.

So much so that for many years, the Ministry of Rites and Education in the Great Chu Empire had both the elegance of the traditional Ministry of Rites and the huge power of the new era of industrialization.

The political status of such an institution in the Great Chu Empire was comparable to the core institutions of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In the early days, the ministers of the Ministry of Rites and Education were basically ministers who also served as counselors. .

However, as time goes by, the high-level political structure of the Dachu Empire is also constantly changing... Some of the power agencies of the Ministry of Ethics and Education have also been separated or adjusted, and their power has been reduced, but they are still important departments. The minister is still held concurrently by the minister of counselors.

The changes in the Ministry of Ethics and Education are not unique. In fact, many Gyeonggi institutions have experienced similar changes. After all, with the development of the times, many institutions established in the 1940s and 1950s have not adapted to the development of the times, and at the same time, there are new things. Needs to manage constantly arise.

Therefore, the political structure of the Dachu Empire has actually been changing...

But it doesn’t mean that it changes a lot at once, but it changes a little bit almost every year, but it changes every year...

After decades of changes, by the time the contemporary Great Chu Empire arrived, its capital institutions were actually completely different from those in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Up to now, the Great Chu Empire has established more than twenty ministries. The chief officials of these ministries are ministers, and their rank is the second rank (excluding additional titles).

In addition, there are more than 20 general bureaus, directors, and general divisions at the second-level level... which also include a number of special government-run administrative enterprises with a monopoly nature related to people's livelihood, such as the Salt Company, the Railway Company, and the Tobacco Company. Companies, etc... These head offices are actually different from normal government-run enterprises, that is, government-run enterprises under the Ministry of Industry.

Ordinary government-run enterprises, even the many very large enterprises under the Ministry of Industry, still fall into the category of normal commercial enterprises... even financial banks.

However, those super-large companies directly under the management of the Senate have names starting with 'Da Chu Empire' and ending with 'Head Office', and are named directly after industries, such as railways, tobacco, salt, etc.... Although they operate as a business, they are not actually a business...

The above-mentioned more than twenty second-level departments, from the second-level general bureau, director, general division, head office and other institutions... are only directly affiliated institutions under the Council of State system.

In addition, the Great Chu Empire also had a highly independent Hanlin Academy with hundreds of departments, known as a small central... In extreme cases, Luo Zhixue, as the emperor, could directly control various places through the departments under the Hanlin Academy. The military gives the orders.

The Hanlin Academy in the Great Chu Empire is very special... This thing is actually a miniature version of the central organization of the Great Chu Empire... Any Gyeonggi institution outside, regardless of civil and military affairs, can actually find the corresponding departments in the Hanlin Academy ...On weekdays, it mainly serves as Luo Zhixue's personal secretarial agency, connecting various subordinate departments, serving as a link between the past and the next, and assisting Luo Zhixue in handling many matters...But at critical moments, Luo Zhixue can issue decrees directly through the Hanlin Academy , commanding the civil and military forces of the entire empire.

This is also the reason why the head of the Hanlin Academy has always been one of the counselors.

In addition, the system of counselors in the Great Chu Empire has also undergone corresponding changes... In the forty-ninth year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue began to pay more attention to the counselors as he got older and considering the future succession of princes. The system is changing!

Among them, the most obvious and important change is to expand the Senate... and the increased quota is for civil servants.

The counselor system in the empire has always been the most important system in the empire, and it is also the core system... because the counselor ministers and co-organizers in the Da Chu Empire are the ones who really decide many strategic decisions of this huge empire. People, the same thing... The service system is also the core system for the emperor Luo Zhixue to directly control the empire and maintain the imperial power...

Although the power of the Minister of Counselor is astonishing, all he needs to come and go is just a word from the emperor... There is no need for court recommendation in the pre-Ming Dynasty, nor is there any need for official recommendation... the emperor can make the decision directly!

Even to a certain extent, the decision-making process was very hasty... not even formal, because there was no formal legal appointment letter or anything like that.

Some are just an edict, calling a certain minister into the imperial study room to counsel on military and political affairs... This is also the origin of the name 'Counselor'...

If Luo Zhixue is happy, he can find a dog to enter the imperial study room to counsel on military and political affairs... If he is not happy, he can also send a powerful official out directly... There is no formal removal procedure, just a middle pass. Just tell him not to come to the Imperial Study Room in the future.

Of course... these are all theoretical!

In reality, it is impossible for Luo Zhixue to do this. Every time he appoints or removes ministers, or even co-organizers, Luo Zhixue needs to be carefully considered... Behind this is often related to the future strategic direction of the empire, and the political struggle between factions within the empire. , geographical interests or interests of industry interest groups...

These senior officials are basically the banner figures and interest leaders of their respective factions... It seems that you are moving one person, but in fact you are moving the interests of the entire faction.

So it’s actually quite troublesome to do!

There is no problem for Luo Zhixue to operate it by himself... After all, he created the entire empire by himself, and he promoted the senior officials one by one, so he can understand and control the overall situation.

But if it were someone else...for example, the prince...it would be really difficult to deal with it.

It is even an exaggeration to say that the prince estimates that until now, he has not been able to fully understand the entanglement of interests behind the thirty or so ministers and co-ministers in the Senate!

After all, these are living people, and they are all people with top political IQs... At the same time, interests can be exchanged and sacrificed, so it is actually difficult for you to characterize such a big shot in the political arena... You The front foot thought that they represented the interests of the cotton spinning industry, but the back foot might have sold the cotton spinning industry for a few dollars, and then turned around and exchanged offers with those arms dealers.

If you think that this person is from a certain place, he will think that his hometown will support the interests of his hometown... But he may just withhold the financial subsidies originally given to his hometown and then transfer them to other places... Nor Why, just to make an exchange of interests with other big guys. The rankings of these political bigwigs are too high. Luo Zhixue is afraid that the prince will not be able to handle them in the future... What should he do?

Luo Zhixue began to add water to the Council of Ministers... and increased the number of ministers from the previous nine to eleven.

The number of co-organizing ministers increased from eighteen to twenty to twenty-eight.

This increase in personnel is actually a decentralization of power...especially the decentralization of power on the side of the Counselor is more obvious!

In the past, among the nine ministers of counselors, three were still unbeatable military generals, and only six were left with civilian quotas... This means that so many civil servants can only compete for six positions as ministers of counselors... said To be honest, the power of these counselors is very huge... Any counselor in the civil service is basically in charge of a lot of affairs... For example, the counselor responsible for economic affairs is basically responsible for presiding over the whole thing. Economic affairs, including industry and commerce, agriculture, animal husbandry, and even some people's livelihood projects, etc.... The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health, etc. are all under his control. .

Too much power and too busy at the same time...

And because there are relatively few seats for ministers, and there are too many co-ministers who want to be promoted, the competition is very fierce.

Behind every appointment and dismissal of staff officials in the civil service system, there are fierce political confrontations, and even some earthquakes.

In the past, Luo Zhixue didn't care much about the struggles between these ministers. He even thought that he could take advantage of the opportunity to fight a tiger and clear up the officialdom.

But... Luo Zhixue can do this kind of thing, but whether the future prince can do it or not is a question mark whether he can do it well or not!

Therefore, Luo Zhixue simply made advance preparations and increased the number of counselor ministers by three people, all of which were used for the civil service system.

This increased the number of ministers in the civil service system from six to nine... mainly to decentralize power, and also to better clarify the powers of the ministers.

As for the staff of the Senate, especially the staff of the co-organizing ministers, after the increase of 28 people, there are seven or eight more places than before. With more places, in addition to some fixed places, we can better Two or three mobile quotas are freed up to arrange for some veterans.

In daily life, Luo Zhixue always meets some old ministers who are getting older and are about to retire, but in terms of merit, they are not actually qualified to enter the Senate, at least not enough compared to others!

Facing these people, Luo Zhixue shouldn't make arrangements. People say you treat the heroes harshly... But make arrangements. The position of the co-organizing minister in the Senate is not a big deal, how can it be so easy to arrange!

Now that there are a few more mobile quotas, it will be easier to arrange... When the officer is about to retire, he can be temporarily given the title of co-organizing minister for fun, and then retire and become an official in a year or two.

It probably means that you have worked hard and achieved great results, and now you are approaching retirement... Don't expect to be a co-organizing minister normally. At most, I will arrange a temporary co-organizing minister for you to have fun. After a year and a half, you can get out of here... Don't stay in love. go.

Unlike other normal co-organizing ministers, their tenure basically starts from three to five years, and many of them last for ten or eight years.

However, the co-organizing ministers who are of a consolation nature basically only serve for about one or two years. If there are a lot of people queuing up and the time is tight and it is difficult to arrange, then the serving time will be shorter, maybe less than a year.

Of course...it is basically this kind of temporary co-organizing minister, which is also what many senior officials are struggling to pursue...the regular co-organizing minister is a carrot and a pit, and it is not so easy to wait for it. Besides, there are more wolves and less meat... A large number of ministers from various ministries, chief officers of general departments and bureaus, senior governors of various provinces and other high-ranking officials from second rank to above who have not been able to enter the Senate are all watching eagerly...

It is actually very difficult for some people to stand out and become regular Co-Ministers. However, the name of Co-Minister An is too resounding... In the empire, this is the top rank after the Minister of Counselor. Title... This is not about reputation, but real power!

Any co-organizing minister, if taken outside, would at least be a frontier official in charge of one side!

Moreover, after serving as the Minister of Counselor, the title will often be followed by promotion to the first rank... This is also a fatal attraction for many governors and ministers.

There is a big difference between becoming an official of the first grade and becoming an official of the second grade...

From the first rank, it belongs to the first rank, and after a first-rank official takes office, the treatment in all aspects is very good. If he takes office normally, he does not have to worry about being politically liquidated... Of course, the premise is to withdraw from the center of power in a proper manner, and don't be blind in the future. If you blend it in, you can basically enjoy your old age...and continue to enjoy the retirement benefits of a first-grade official.

With access and security, you can continue to live in the mansion you were given, and even if you die, you can be buried in the Baiguan Cemetery in the imperial mausoleum...

When a first-class official dies, the royal family will send a prince or county king to attend. Luo Zhixue will personally write a letter of condolence and send an elegiac couplet.

As long as you serve normally and don't make any obvious mistakes, you can basically get a posthumous title, and the posthumous title given later will usually not be too bad.

To put it simply, after a first-grade boss takes up his official position normally, his retirement benefits will be full, and even if he dies, his posthumous reputation will be very good... Luo Zhixue is still willing to give these important ministers a decent treatment... At least he has been emperor for more than fifty years, and he has no Killed any first-grade official!

not a single one!

Of course, there are some high-ranking officials who died of illness overnight inexplicably, but not many. Luo Zhixue is not a person who likes to treat old ministers harshly... As long as you behave in an official manner, then it is okay to enjoy your old age. As for Those who don’t want to behave themselves in officialdom... will naturally have three feet of white silk or a pot of poisonous wine waiting for him, and then announce his death...

The main thing is to be decent!

If you are not decent, I will help you be decent!

The salary of the first-grade bosses is good, but the retirement benefits of the second-grade officials are far behind. At least Luo Zhixue cannot write any elegiac couplets or condolences for you as an ordinary second-grade official.

The royal family will not send anyone to attend... After all, there are many officials with the title of second-grade official. There are dozens of governors alone. Cumulatively, the number of second-grade officials who have become official is not a small number... It doesn't sound good, a lot of people die every year...

It is impossible for members of the royal family to say that they do nothing every day and rush all over the world to attend funerals...

There is a huge difference between the first-grade and the second-grade just in terms of treatment after retirement, let alone the treatment before retirement!

This is also the reason why second-level officials, especially those who are ministers and governors from various places, dream of entering the Senate and becoming a co-organizer... Even some people who are almost at retirement age also want to work in the Senate. At the last moment, I got addicted to co-organizing the minister.

Of course, they only dare to expect the title of co-organizer minister, but not the title of counselor minister!

The position of Minister of Counselor is the top position in the imperial political arena. It needs to decide the strategic direction of the entire empire. It is not something you can just get into and hang out for a year or two while waiting for retirement.

Compared with the relatively high mobility of the co-ministers, the ministers in the empire tend to be relatively stable, with tenure starting from four to five years, and sometimes even ten or eight years.

(End of this chapter)