The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Zhang Juzheng did not object to the first thing Wei Guangde wanted to do today. Although he had not made a clear statement, his intention was actually that.

If the situation of Atai and Ahai was true, it would be inevitable for the Liaodong Ming army to send troops to Honglizhai and Shajicheng again.

And improving the sanitation of the capital is actually good for everyone.

It's not that everyone can't imagine that the dirtiness and mess of the four-nine cities are mainly slums and streets, especially in commercial places such as cattle and horse markets and pig markets.

Yes, the more prosperous the commercial place is, the more animal power is needed. After all, it is unrealistic to rely on people to carry a large amount of goods.

Then there are groups of cattle and horses on the street, so naturally the streets have been covered with a thick layer of feces.

It's okay at ordinary times, there's nothing to step on, and it's even a little soft.

But once it rains, it's simply indescribable.

Before, everyone was just used to it, and they were used to it. The whole Ming Dynasty, and even the cities in the world, were like this, regardless of the East and the West.

The improvement of the appearance of Western cities actually started in the late 18th century. At that time, Westerners had a sense of hygiene and began to build special toilets and garbage dumps in cities, and arranged special people to clean up garbage and feces.

Since Wei Guangde came through and realized the problem, he naturally had to solve it.

Well, history will record that civilized China had already started urban sanitation work in the late 16th century, 200 years ahead of the West.

Wei Guangde said goodbye to Zhang Juzheng's office and returned to his own office. He immediately wrote a note to Shuntian Prefecture and Wucheng Bingmasi, asking them to come to the cabinet to discuss things in the afternoon.

However, when he really started writing, Wei Guangde was in trouble. It can only be said that he seemed to think a little simple before.

For this matter, Wei Guangde circled the main responsible government offices at the beginning, namely Shuntian Prefecture and Wucheng Bingmasi, but he forgot the relationship between the two government offices.

Shuntian Prefecture, responsible for managing administrative affairs in the Beijing area, has 5 prefectures, 7 directly-administered counties, and 15 prefectures.

This position occupies a pivotal position in the bureaucratic system of the Ming Dynasty, and its responsibilities are extensive, covering public security, government affairs, justice and other aspects.

As the highest administrative chief in Beijing, Shuntian Prefecture Yin is of the third rank and belongs to the civil official. This setting reflects the Ming Dynasty's emphasis on the governance of the capital area.

In the Ming Dynasty, Shuntian Prefecture Yin's responsibilities were not limited to administrative management, but also included judicial and financial aspects.

For example, Shuntian Prefecture needed to handle criminal and civil cases in the capital area, manage financial affairs, and be responsible for some specific ceremonies and activities, such as welcoming the spring and offering sacrifices to the ancestors of agriculture.

These responsibilities require Shuntian Prefecture Yin to have not only good administrative management capabilities, but also a certain understanding and handling ability of law and finance.

The Wucheng Bingma Division was affiliated to the Ministry of War in the Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Yongle, the Beijing Bingma Command was established. After the capital was established in Beijing, the Wucheng Bingma Division was divided into the six-rank yamen of the Central, East, West, South and North Wucheng Bingma Command.

Each of the five yamen had one commander, four deputy commanders, and one clerk, who were responsible for public security, fire bans, and clearing the streets of the canal. It was equivalent to the current Beijing Garrison and Public Security Bureau.

In the imperial era, the capital was the residence of the emperor, and it had important symbolic significance, political connotations, and strategic status. Reasonable institutional settings were of great significance to ensuring the safety and smooth operation of the capital, and therefore it has always been valued by the rulers.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Five Cities Military and Horse Division was set up as a full-time governance agency for the capital, imitating the Yuan system, including catching thieves, patrolling wind and fire, managing the market, cleaning the streets, examining corpses and injuries, compiling and reviewing shops, and providing relief to the poor.

In fact, whether it was the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture or the runners of the two counties of Daxing and Wanping, they overlapped with the Five Cities Military and Horse Division in many tasks.

Not only that, in addition to Shuntian Prefecture and the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, there were actually Jinyiwei and the East and West Factories that appeared from time to time in Beijing. Everyone was actually responsible for the public security of the capital.

Wei Guangde held the pen and thought for a long time, but he didn't know what to do for a while.

Now the Wucheng Bingmasi is under the Ministry of War, but the actual management power is in the hands of the patrol censor.

Although the censor is only a seventh-rank official, he can still manage the sixth-rank commander.

In addition, there is also a problem with the factory guards. It seems that they also collect membership fees on the street.

When Wei Guangde first arrived in the capital, he knew that although the business tax was low in the Ming Dynasty, the business expenses were not light.

But for the merchants in the four-nine cities, they had to pay tribute to the Jinyiwei, the county government and the Bingmasi according to the rules, otherwise the business would be difficult to do.

Of course, if the background is strong, such as the membership fees of the Bingmasi and the county government, they can refuse to pay. They are intimidated by the people behind the merchants and dare not do anything.

In addition, digging ditches and repairing canals seems to involve the Ministry of Works. Wei Guangde knows that there is also a street office under the Ministry of Works, which seems to be doing this.

All of the above can only mean that although China has a thousand-year history, it still has not formed a simple and effective management method for the growing cities.

In the Ming Dynasty, Beijing had a large population and a large area, and the public security issues were a headache for the court.

In the past hundred years, the number of government offices and people involved in public security and civil affairs management has gradually increased, involving Shuntianfu, Wanping, Daxing County Government Offices, Wucheng Bingmasi, Patrol City Censors, Jinyiwei, Patrol Camp, Ministry of Works Street Office, etc., and the relationship between departments is complicated.

Well, now Wei Guangde finally remembered that there seems to be something about the Ministry of Works.

Just think about the sanitation work in Beijing alone, which involves the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Censorate and the Imperial Guard. It is no wonder that for more than a hundred years, the capital of the Ming Dynasty still uses the foundation of the city built during the reign of Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di. It involves too many government offices and covers too wide a range.

Even if someone below realizes that there is something to be done here, they will retreat as long as they think about it carefully. It is really difficult to coordinate the people involved.

Not to mention anything else, when he, a cabinet assistant, really started this matter, he felt overwhelmed and at a loss, not to mention others.

What the hell is this?

It is no wonder that when the invaders entered Beijing, one order could drive the people to work hard to maintain sanitation. The organization of the occupying army was simple, and it was just a matter of the commander's words.

They didn't have time to see any docking departments, and they implemented military control.

However, if this kind of thing was put in the court, it would be really troublesome, and several departments had to be coordinated.

Wei Guangde thought for a long time, and finally he could only choose that this matter should be handed over to Shuntian Prefecture, and the officials of Daxing and Wanping counties under Shuntian Prefecture should be responsible for the specific implementation.

The Wucheng Bingmasi cannot be used. First, the Bingmasi looks like a government office, but it is divided into five parts: southeast, northwest, northeast and central. It is not easy to coordinate. Although there is a nobleman commanding these five commanders, there is still a layer of separation.

Moreover, the commander of the Bingmasi is of too low rank after all, and he is a military position. What is the use of a sixth-rank military position?

Shuntian Prefecture Yin is different. He is a third-rank official and can be regarded as a real power in the capital. Although because of the gathering of powerful people, Shuntian Prefecture Yin has always been notoriously difficult to do.

With Shuntian Prefecture Yin in charge of the sanitation of the capital, it will be easy to promote it to other places in the future.

At the local level, the person in charge of this matter is naturally the prefect and county magistrate, who does not have so many government offices in the capital.

There are six departments in the prefectural and county yamen that connect with the six ministries. The sanitation work can be carried out with just a word from the hall official.

It's not like the capital, where there are too many mothers-in-law.

Wei Guangde sat in his seat and thought about it carefully. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it should be so.

The Street Office of the Ministry of Works was ordered by the Ministry of Works and Shuntian Prefecture at the same time, so that the Shuntian Prefecture Governor could coordinate the work of the streets and ditches in the capital, and the two counties recruited migrant workers to be responsible for the sanitation work in the capital, and also directly collected sanitation fees from businesses to pay for this expenditure.

This is also the biggest difference between ancient economics and modern economics. In the era of small government, taxes were collected according to expenditures, and there were no taxes without expenditures.

Taxes are levied once for each expenditure, and long-term expenditures are taxed for a long time.

For later generations, it feels that a new tax would emerge from time to time in some places in ancient times, and it feels like it is a heavy tax levied by the government, but it is not entirely true.

Relatively speaking, the ancient taxation model can minimize the burden on the people.

No expenditure, no tax.

Of course, it is impossible not to pay at all. Zhu Yuanzhang had long ago set the taxes that local prefectures and counties should pay to the central court as a permanent rule. This tax money cannot be escaped no matter what.

In the modern era of big government, the tax is clearly arranged. No matter how much the government spends, the final result is the fiscal deficit and surplus.

Generally speaking, the government will not increase or reduce taxes unless it is absolutely necessary.

Wei Guangde is not going to throw the usual street sweeping work to the officers and soldiers of the Wucheng Bingmasi. They have enough errands. If the government can solve them, there is no need to use soldiers, and it can also give the people in the city another way to make money.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde quickly wrote down everything he just thought of. This is to be handed over to Shuntian Prefecture Yin, and let him handle it according to this.

With the rules, at least Shuntian Prefecture Yin knows what he has to do and what he needs to do.

As for the Ministry of Works, it naturally had to attend this meeting. The Street Office was changed from being managed by the Ministry of Works to being managed in cooperation with Shuntian Prefecture. It was not possible to not inform the Ministry of Works, otherwise Shuntian Prefecture would definitely not be able to command the Street Office.

In any case, the superior of the Street Office is the Ministry of Works, which is a second-rank government office, and it may give face to Shuntian Prefecture, which is a third-rank government office.

As for the future inspection of sanitation, the city patrol censor and the Five Cities Military Department can participate.

It is easy to clean Beijing once, as long as you get enough people, but it is another matter to keep it clean and tidy.

Shuntian Prefecture, together with the people of the Five Cities Military Department, probably no one will dare to urinate and defecate in the city.

As for the feces of livestock, I remember that in later generations, it seemed that bags were put on these animals to catch the excrement and take them back to deal with them by themselves, so it was not difficult.

Soon, after a charter was written, Wei Guangde quickly sent a note to Wang Zhiyuan, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and sent a note to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War, asking them to arrange a minister to come, mainly to manage the people of the Street Office and the Military Department to come to the cabinet to discuss matters.

Although the government of the Ming Dynasty should be said to be a very mature system, when encountering problems from later generations, Wei Guangde always feels that it is not as good as the government system of later generations, and it is easy to solve these problems.

For example, sanitation, if it is a political system in later generations, it will directly ask Shuntian Prefecture to do it, and there is no need to contact the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works for assistance.

But it is just like this, the ditches and streets are not under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, but the Ministry of Works. If there is something, it is just Shuntian Prefecture or the Military Department to write to the Ministry of Works and request a solution.

Then the official of the Ministry of Works approved it and transferred it to the Street Office for processing.

Compared with later generations, ordinary government affairs are indeed very slow and inefficient to handle.

"Come here."

Wei Guangde wrote the note and shouted to the outside.

"Master".

Lu Bu came in from outside, stood in front of Wei Guangde and bowed to listen to his orders.

Wei Guangde handed him the note in his hand and said, "Send it here, and pick it up in the afternoon."

Lu Bu took the note from Wei Guangde, took a look, and naturally knew where to send it.

After everyone left, Wei Guangde continued his work today.

He couldn't change the government system. This was an ancestral system formed over a thousand years. If it was really changed, everyone would probably not be used to it and would cause a big mess.

It's a little troublesome, but it can also reflect the value of the cabinet.

Soon, Wei Guangde's note was sent to Shuntian Prefecture, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War.

The governor of Shuntian Prefecture was Wang Zhiyuan, whose courtesy name was Ershi and whose pseudonym was Jianfeng. He was from Xincheng County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, and was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing.

To be able to hold such a position in Shuntian Prefecture at such an age, he was naturally supported by nobles.

However, his nobleman has now resigned and returned to Shandong to retire.

Yes, this person is naturally Yin Shizhan. After leaving the capital, he wrote a letter to Wei Guangde when he returned to Beijing, asking Wei Guangde to take care of his fellow Shandong native.

Wang Zhiyuan is very capable, otherwise Yin Shizhan may not fully support him.

After passing the imperial examination in the 41st year of Jiajing, he was first appointed as the magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture, and in the first year of Longqing, he was appointed as the Jieshizhong of the Criminal Department, which was regarded as the chess piece that Yin Shizhan began to arrange in the six departments.

In the position of Jieshizhong of the Criminal Department, Wang Zhiyuan proposed four suggestions for pacifying the people and consolidating the foundation, which were well received by the upper and lower levels. Later, he served as the Right Jieshizhong of the Rites Department, the Left Jieshizhong of the Military Department, the Du Jieshizhong of the Rites Department, and the Du Jieshizhong of the Criminal Department.

In the fifth year of Longqing, he was promoted to the Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department, and soon transferred to the Honglu Temple. He managed his subordinates with a serious attitude, making the entire Honglu Temple in order.

During the Wanli period, because of Yin Shizhan's relationship, Wei Guangde, after obtaining his wishes, arranged for him to serve successively as the Right Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, the Left Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, the Minister of the Nanjing Imperial Household, and the Minister of the Imperial Household.

It can be said that during these three years, Wang Zhiyuan gained Wei Guangde's trust because of his outstanding ability, and was promoted all the way, and finally supported him to be promoted to the Shuntian Prefecture Yin.

This position is not easy to do, but the rank is high, so naturally there are many people watching.

His promotion made the Shandong officials in the court seem to have taken him as the leader, which can be regarded as Wei Guangde fulfilling Yin Shizhan's entrustment.

This can also be regarded as Wei Guangde's chess master. He did not push his fellow Jiangxi native to the position, but pushed Wang Zhiyuan, so that Zhang Juzheng could only accept it helplessly.

Although Wang Zhiyuan did not know why Wei Guangde summoned him, since it was a cabinet meeting, he knew it must be a big deal.

However, he could not have thought that it was actually just a sanitation job.

However, although the matter is small, if it is really done well, it can also make him famous in history.

As for Zhu Heng and Tan Lun, it naturally doesn't matter. They just need to follow the arrangements.