Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 426: Term System and Retirement System (Special thanks to book friend Xiaoteng328 for two monthly tickets!)

When Chai Zongxun traveled from Bian Jing, he had never really thought about taking over Gaochang and Yutian. It was just a godsend opportunity and he happened to be in the right place.

Chai Zongxun said:

"My dear fellows, please stand up! My fellow villagers, please stand up!
"I have led the imperial family on tours for the past six months, and I have relied on you, my dear ministers, to stay in the capital. Now the government affairs of the country are running smoothly, so I have no worries. You, my dear ministers, have made contributions!"

Amidst the hustle and bustle along the way, Chai Zongxun led the imperial family back to the long-lost palace under the protection of the Imperial Guards and the Wude Division.

After a night's rest, Chai Zongxun summoned Tang Qi, Zhang Qixian and Li Hang to Yanfu Hall at 9:00 p.m. the next day.

After listening to the three people's descriptions of their duties over the past six months, Chai Zongxun nodded and said:
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prime Minister have done a great job in the past six months in managing internal and external affairs. I am very relieved."

After the three of them expressed their gratitude, Zhang Qixian said:

"Your Majesty, I, Li Cifu, and other cabinet ministers have discussed this for the past few months and, in accordance with Your Majesty's instructions, have conducted a thorough investigation into the matter of Wang Mian.

This is the result of the handling of this case, please review it, Your Majesty."

When Chai Zongxun received the files, he found that more than 30 officials had been punished for Wang Mian's case:

The brothers Wang Mian and Wang Huai were the main culprits. Wang Mian was dismissed from his post, his property was confiscated, and he was imprisoned and sentenced to exile to Beiming and do hard labor for ten years.

Wang Huai embezzled a huge amount of money, rebelled, had his property confiscated and was executed.

The officials who conspired with Wang Mian and shielded Wang Huai, mainly more than 20 officials from the Huaibei Office and more than 10 officials from the Dali Temple, were all dismissed from their posts and sentenced to a few years' imprisonment or fines depending on the severity of their crimes.

The handling plan of Zhang Qixian, Li Hang and others can be said to be to thoroughly investigate all those involved in the case and impose the maximum punishment.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Wang Mian is the Supreme Court Justice, the highest official in charge of justice. If he doesn't impose severe punishment, how can we maintain judicial justice and dignity?

Just do as you have planned."

Chai Zongxun took a few sips of tea and continued:
"During the past six months since I went on tour, I have thought about the issue of official administration many times.

Throughout history, after the establishment of each dynasty, the emperor hoped that the country would be stable, the throne would last forever, and the people would have enough food and clothing.

However, every dynasty was ultimately unable to escape the formation of a powerful bureaucratic aristocratic group, which led to social polarization!

Eventually, when the number of people who cannot survive reaches a certain level, they will rise up again, and society will once again enter a period of chaos. After the bloody war, society will be unified under a new dynasty, and the cycle of history will begin again.

I believe that the root cause is the formation of privileged groups in society. These people use the power in their hands to wantonly seize the wealth of the entire society and exploit the people without limit, until polarization occurs that makes it impossible to maintain social stability!

In order to break this historical cycle of "prosperity, chaos, and fall", we must completely eliminate the privileged class and the social roots of its formation.

Since I ascended the throne, I have implemented the "local virtuous system" and abolished the "recommendation system" and "ennobling system". All officials must be selected through the imperial examination system, which is to continuously weaken the hereditary privileges of the bureaucracy.

When I went on a tour to Luoyang to visit Zhou'er this time, Taifu Wang and Lu Cixiang, who are truly loyal ministers of the Great Zhou, proposed to me an excellent solution to this matter.

Officials were originally established to implement the court's policies, but in the end these powers became the officials' private rights for personal gain!"

When Zhang Qixian, Li Hang and Tang Qi in the palace heard the emperor say this, they knew that major reforms to rectify the administration of officials and eliminate privileged groups were brewing in the emperor's mind.

Chai Zongxun said: "To eliminate the social roots of the growth of privileged groups, I think there are three main points:

First, the court belongs to all the people of the world, not to a small group of officials. All the policies of the court should be based on the people.

Second, before the judiciary, all are equal, whether common people, bureaucrats, nobles, or even royal relatives.

Only by ensuring judicial fairness and equality can we eliminate the soil for the emergence of privileged groups at its root.

Third, reform the term system and assessment system for central court officials.

The "local worthy system" gave the people the power to supervise local officials. Since its implementation, the government has been clean and corrupt officials have nowhere to hide.

However, as can be seen from the case of Wang Mian, high-ranking officials in the central court lacked effective supervision.

In order to change this situation, I have decided to imitate the military's "retirement system" and implement a "term system" and "retirement system" for high-ranking officials in the central court:
The maximum term of office for each official is ten years. Every five years, the cabinet organizes the six ministries to conduct performance appraisals, and the capable are promoted and the inferior are eliminated.

All officials, regardless of whether they are local or imperial officials, will be required to retire at the age of 60, in order to maintain a clean bureaucracy and orderly promotion and demotion.

Since the Huang Chao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, the power of China's aristocratic families has been almost completely destroyed.

After Chai Zongxun succeeded to the throne, he vigorously weakened the hereditary system of bureaucracy, and all talents were selected through imperial examinations, which greatly promoted social fairness and justice as well as class mobility.

However, over the past thirty years, during the process of Chai Zongxun unifying China and conquering the four directions, many new founding heroes emerged.

If the power of these high-ranking officials and dignitaries is not institutionally planned, it will be very easy to once again form the power of aristocratic families.

In Chai Zongxun's eyes, although being an emperor can be said to have the greatest privilege, the emperor's fundamental interests lie in the inheritance of his dynasty from generation to generation and the eternal stability of his country. He would never want the people to be oppressed by the bureaucratic group and live in misery.

The emperor's successor is likely to be someone who is ambitious, incompetent and unjust.

As long as the society does not become polarized under the exploitation and oppression of privileged groups, the lifespan of the dynasty will break the "three-hundred-year curse" and become a "millennium dynasty" like Khotan, Gaochang or many European countries in Chai Zongxun's previous life.

After hearing this, Tang Qi was not greatly moved. After all, as a eunuch, all his power came from the emperor and he was the emperor's household slave.

Both Zhang Qixian and Li Hang were talents selected through the imperial examination after Chai Zongxun ascended the throne. They came from commoner families and had no objection to the emperor's reforms to eliminate the mechanism for the emergence of powerful families at its root.

The two also knew that only Emperor Chai Zongxun, who had great achievements and military prowess, could implement this reform thoroughly.

In the past, Qin Shihuang unified the world and, with his unparalleled prestige, was able to establish the county system and standardize weights and measures.

The Great Zhou Emperor Chai Zongxun will, for the first time in history, tame the privileges of the aristocratic families and establish a commercial social system that "puts the people first and the world for all."

Li Hang said:
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!
Aristocratic families have been formed since the pre-Qin period. During the Han Dynasty, prominent families with generations of nobles formed the aristocratic families.

Then, during the Wei and Jin dynasties, the "Nine-Rank System" was established, in which all scholars were selected from aristocratic families. Most of these children were absurd, with little talent and learning, and they brought hundreds of years of darkness and chaos to China.

It was not until Emperor Wen of Sui first created the imperial examination system that the situation in which aristocratic families monopolized the officialdom began to truly change.

Your Majesty has now pioneered the "term system" and "retirement system", which will completely eliminate the soil for the emergence of aristocratic families and make our Great Zhou Empire a unified dynasty that will last forever!"

(End of this chapter)