Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 359 0354 [Government [-]]

Tang Dezong fled to Hanzhong in embarrassment, changed the Yuan and Xing Yuan, and took the meaning of revitalizing the country.

As a result, Hanzhong became Xingyuan Mansion.

Zhang Gen came all the way here, and found that Hanzhong had not suffered any damage, but instead had a very strange state of stability.

Entering the city at this moment, the people on the street are also beaming, not as sad as in the past two years.

Zhang Gen knew the reason. All the exorbitant taxes that urban residents had to pay had been directly halved.

It's not that Zhu Guoxiang's income is low, but that Song Huizong's income is too heavy!
Shen Yourong lifted the curtain of the car to watch, and said to Grandma Yan: "Mom, this is Xingyuan Mansion, it's really bustling and lively."

"It's lively." Grandma Yan laughed from ear to ear.

The two of them are not mother-in-law and daughter-in-law now, but mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Bai Qi has also become Zhu Guoxiang's adopted son and stepson.

At the beginning of the Zhu family's father and son's army, Grandma Yan was so frightened that she was terrified, but she gradually got used to it after a while, and now she even enjoys this status a little bit.

She can't help with work and suddenly start to believe in Buddhism. Every morning and evening, she prays for blessings and prays to the Bodhisattva to bless Zhu Ming to win the battle.

The carriage was quite big, and Wen Xiaomei, An Niang, Zhang Jinping, and Zheng Yuanyi were also in the carriage.

Both Wen Xiaomei and Zhang Jinping have complicated moods, but Anniang and Zheng Yuanyi are the purest. Sometimes, the wider the horizons and the more thoughts, the more troublesome they become.

Lizhou Road Transshipment Department Yamen is still rich, and now it is Zhu Guoxiang's residence, and the number of servants has decreased significantly.

The female relatives were arranged to live in the back house, and Grandma Yan, Zhang Jinping, and Zheng Yuanyi lived in the same courtyard.

"This place is much better than Daming Village." Grandma Yan said with a smile.

Zheng Yuanyi supported the old lady: "I will go shopping with the old lady."

"Okay, okay!" Grandma Yan was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth from ear to ear.

Zhang Jinping was calm and calm in front of her parents, but in private she was worried. She always dreamed that Zhu Ming was wearing armor covered in blood, and then she woke up sweating profusely from the dream.

Accompanying Shen Yourong to meet Zhu Guoxiang, Zhang Jinping couldn't help but ask after the greeting was over, "My lord, do you have any news about Da Lang?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Two days ago, I received the battle report that Dalang had conquered Sanquan County."

"As long as there is nothing to do," Zhang Jinping took out two letters and said, "This is a family letter from my daughter-in-law and sister Yuanyi, please send it to Da Lang with the official document."

"Okay." Zhu Guoxiang nodded.

After chatting for a few more words, Zhang Jinping got up to leave.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Families of officials in Hanzhong, you can contact Yourong a lot, and you can invite those female relatives to go on an autumn outing. You come from a rich family and are well-informed, so you need to help Yourong more."

"Yes, my daughter-in-law is leaving!" Zhang Jinping bowed and left.

There were only the husband and wife left in the room, Shen Yourong's expression changed instantly, and he asked with a reproachful tone: "It was agreed that Qi'er would be a civil servant, why did you let him lead the army to fight?"

Shen Yourong seldom gets angry, everything goes according to her husband, today is the first time she got angry since she got married.

Zhu Guoxiang could only comfort him: "He has his own ideas, and he can't be persuaded. It's good to practice more."

Shen Yourong didn't know how to quarrel very much, so she sat there sullen and didn't show her husband a good face.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have already written a letter and asked Da Lang to take care of him as much as possible. It's just a mid-level military job. There is no danger."

Hearing these words, Shen Yourong's anger subsided, but she still remained silent.

Zhu Guoxiang felt awkward all over, and after a few words of comfort, he slipped away on the pretext of handling official business.

Zhang Gen and all the scholars were summoned, and when they arrived in the lobby, they found that there were quite a number of people.

Xu Fuyan, Liu Yan, Liu Huiyuan, Fu Xingzhong and others from Lizhou Road, as well as local scholars from Xingyuanfu and Lizhou.

"Meet Mr. Zhu!"

Those who saluted collectively were scholars from all walks of life, adhering to the respect for Zhu Guoxiang.

The other officials did not give any good face.

Zhu Guoxiang bowed and bowed: "I have little talent and learning, and I am not good at managing politics and the people. Although I invite you to observe politics, I am actually afraid of doing something wrong, and hope to be corrected by you gentlemen."

"Don't dare to be the ones who are in the defeated army, how can we find out the mistakes of Duke Yuanzhang?" Xu Fuyan said angrily.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "When three people walk together, there must be my teacher. Please don't hesitate to teach me."

Zhang Gen was thinking along the way, he must have scolded Zhu Guoxiang when they met, and asked Zhu Guoxiang why he rebelled.Now that I really see it, but I don't have the desire to speak, it's a done deal, no matter how much I ask, it will be a waste of effort.

After thinking about it, Zhang Gen only asked, "Can Guanzheng leave in March?"

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said: "When the time comes, take it at your own discretion."

"Okay." Zhang Gen decided to run away after three months.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "In the past month, all the government orders that have been issued have been copied. You can familiarize yourself with them first, and then decide which government office you want to watch. Today we are discussing the issue of restructuring, and I hope you can speak freely."

A subordinate officer took out a blackboard and wrote on it with chalk.

Cancel Lizhou Road, merge into Xingyuan Mansion together with Jinzhou, and then change Xingyuan Mansion to Hanzhong Mansion.

Everyone felt that it was unnecessary, but it was just changing the road to the government, from the previous level of the state capital to the lower level of the state government.

Zhu Guoxiang suddenly said: "If the four roads of Chuanxia are occupied, Sichuan Province will be established. The province will have three chief officers in charge of civil affairs, military affairs and punishment. What do you think?"

Zhang Gen suddenly regained his energy, this is an extra level of administrative unit.

It was originally: Central - Road - Fuzhou Military Supervision - County.

Now it is: central - provincial - government - state county.

This is the result of the discussion between the father and son. To put it bluntly, it is to bring over the Ming Dynasty, and the local administration is more detailed and vertical.

In fact, there was a first-level invisible unit in the Ming Dynasty, namely: Dao!
Those who belong to the chief secretary are sub-shoudao, and those who belong to the inspectorate are sub-shoudao.There is also the way of military preparation for war, the way of learning for examinations, the way of Qingjun for the purge of the army, and so on.One Tao often manages multiple state capitals.

Chen Dong asked: "That is to say, in the future, the government will be equal to the road, and the imperial court will only be in charge of the province?"

Zhu Guoxiang nodded: "If there is no Sichuan Province, the four roads of Chuanxia will be scattered and easily captured by the rebels."

Zhang Gen agreed with this sentence very much.

The four roads of Chuanxia are said to be a whole, but in fact they are all doing their own thing.

Huang Gai, in his capacity as the transport envoy of Chengdu Fulu, also served as the dispatch envoy of Sichuan Zhizhi.During the actual war, he could actually only mobilize soldiers and horses from the Chengdu Fu Road, and the other three roads could not obey his orders, and had to be temporarily dispatched by the imperial court to appease them.

Moreover, if the economical appeasement envoy does not have the power to establish the government, it will be difficult to actually manage the various branches under his command.

The practice of the Song Dynasty made it convenient for the court to collect taxes and directly manage the localities.The price is that the whole country is in a state of disunity, and officials act in their own way, and they will be in a mess when there is a war.

Zhu Guoxiang also said: "The official system of the Song Dynasty is too complicated. From now on, it will only be based on dispatch. Officials and positions are all changed to empty titles, which are used to bestow honor."

Liu Yan couldn't help asking: "How do you get your salary?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Officials, positions, and dispatches, regardless of false titles or actual positions, whichever is higher in rank will be paid according to whichever is higher. It is impossible to have one official with two salaries, and one official with three salaries."

This is to reduce salary expenses, and the treatment of officials in the Song Dynasty is really outrageous.

Zhu Guoxiang also said: "The salaries of low-level officials and officials have increased compared with those in the Song Dynasty. As for materials, job subsidies, additional expenses, and job fields, they are all combined into job subsidies and reduced accordingly."

The income of senior officials in the Song Dynasty was really too much.

Take the prime minister as an example, the cost of food alone is 300 guan, which is purely a food subsidy, and Lumi has to be calculated separately.

Compared with senior officials, the wages of low-level officials and subordinate staff are so low that they can't even support themselves.

Zhu Guoxiang's reform is to greatly reduce the salaries of senior officials, slightly reduce the salaries of middle-level officials and increase the salaries of low-level officials and subordinate staff.

It is not allowed to keep unpaid subordinates, and the number of subordinates is determined according to the situation of the region.

If there is really not enough manpower, temporary workers are recruited. Temporary workers are also paid, but they must be approved by the higher-level yamen.

The official system has not changed, and the system of the Song Dynasty has been followed.

The subordinate officials are divided into several grades, and now they can be promoted to officials quickly, but when the land becomes larger and the imperial examinations are held in the future, it will be more difficult to be promoted to officials, and at most they can be promoted to the seventh rank.Unless the outstanding achievements alarmed the emperor, give a fellow Jinshi background, so that he can be promoted to the seventh rank or above.

At the same time, subordinate officials had a strict assessment system, and senior officials had terms of office—the senior officials of the prefectures in the Song Dynasty also had terms of office, but they were basically not strictly enforced, and county-level officials had no terms of office.

Zhu Guoxiang then asked the subordinate officials to write down the specific official positions.

The system of state officials at the state level has been greatly streamlined, and their respective responsibilities have been clarified, which is no longer restricted by layers of restrictions but vague powers like the Song Dynasty.

After Zhang Gen read it, he thought carefully. This kind of official system has obvious advantages. The chances of kicking the ball are reduced, and the chances of throwing blame at each other are reduced. Officials who really want to do things can be more powerful.

Zhu Guoxiang did not completely abolish the preferential treatment for officials to buy crimes with fines. However, the crimes sentenced for corruption and breaking the law, not to mention the inevitable death penalty, even ordinary punishments cannot be mitigated by spending money.

That is, increase the intensity of the fight against corruption, so that officials do not have any luck.

Liu Huiyuan stared at the system after the reform and looked at it again and again, thinking that if the Zhu family and his son win the world, they must be cautious when they become officials in the future.Corruption will really kill the head. Even if you are not corrupt, even if you become a prime minister, your income will be far less than that of the Song Dynasty.

Of course, Xiaoguan became more moist.

Today I only talk about these system reforms, Zhu Guoxiang asked them to give suggestions, but no one is willing to speak.

After they dispersed, Zhang Gen met with several people and discussed the pros and cons of restructuring.

Xu Fuyan said: "Zhu Thief has not established an imperial examination for the time being. With the shortage of scholars, the promotion of officials will be very fast. He also introduced the system of grinding and examination of officials and increased the salaries of officials. I am afraid that the subordinate officials will be much cleaner. Being promoted will also actively do things. This will solve a major problem of the Song Dynasty court, and the subordinate staff will no longer blindly fish for oil and water."

Liu Yan said: "Simplify official positions, clarify powers and responsibilities, reform salaries, and solve the two stubborn problems of redundant officials and redundant expenses. The imperial court will never do it. Whichever prime minister dares to make such reforms, I am afraid that he will not be able to do it for a year." .”

Fu Xingzhong sighed: "I finally understand why Zhu Chenggong said that he can't break or stand. Drawing on a piece of white paper is better than painting on a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation."

This descendant of the Fu family wants to be a thief.

Not only for the people, but also want to do something, and another point of selfishness: bet on the new dynasty!

The higher the official position and the deeper the background, the more he understands what the Song court was like.

(End of this chapter)