Chapter 356 Reform of the Bureaucratic System

Jeken Skye came to Lin'an again after a lapse of three years, and every time he came, he had new feelings, and the rapid changes really made him dizzy.

According to his experience, the best way to know the changes in Lin'an City in the shortest possible time is to collect newspapers. When Huo Chongcheng was ordered to see him the next day, he asked Huo Chongcheng to give him some recent newspapers to read.

"You scheming, you have a good heart, and sent me to do the work of these servants." Huo Chongcheng was familiar with him, so there was no taboo when he spoke, and after scolding with a smile, he ordered someone to buy a newspaper for him, and then said to Jeken Skye: "Why did you ask Your Majesty for naturalization yesterday?" ”

"The Great Song Dynasty is flourishing, and this is the time for my generation to naturalize, if I wait for another ten or eight years, I am afraid that I will take out tens of millions of family fortunes to buy, and it will be difficult to become naturalized." Jekenskai's long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, and he is full of joy, and he knows that although Huo Chongcheng's position is not obvious, his power is heavy, so he does not hide it: "This is a profitable business, and I naturally dare not fall behind - Huo Duguan, there is one thing that I have to trouble you to play for me!" ”

He has been in the Great Song Dynasty for a long time, not only can he speak Song dialect smoothly, but he can also occasionally quote scriptures, and even know Chinese characters. Huo Chongcheng heard him say that he was cautious, so he also lowered his face: "You just have to say, as for whether the Son of Heaven is allowed to play or not, that's another matter." ”

"I heard that Da Song ran Dongsheng Merchants Bank, and I am very sorry in my heart, if I come back half a year earlier, I will have to mix a share in it."

After half a year of brewing, Dongsheng China Merchants has a prototype, and its shares were shorted early, that is, it is impossible for Zhao Youju to want to share a little more, after all, Dongshengzhou's exploration can bring back a huge amount of gold and silver every time, which is a well-known thing. Huo Chongcheng also got a piece of the pie in this, his current industry is so thick, it is also a few in the Great Song Dynasty, and the sources of income are reasonable and legitimate, although some ministers will mumble a few times, but no one dares to go to the Son of Heaven to touch this mold.

"It's just that the time has been lost now, and in my opinion, in addition to Dongshengzhou, there is another place that is also rich in gold, and compared to Dongshengzhou, there are more ivory, rhino horn, gems and spices here."

"You mean Africa?" Huo Chongcheng asked in surprise.

"Exactly, since the official family has allowed the establishment of the Dongshengzhou Merchants Bank, as long as someone goes to say something, this African China Merchants Bank can also do it." Jekensky's eyes are bright, he is a great cannibal, he has been in the Great Food for a long time, Africa and the Great Song Dynasty, and has been rich by this trade for several generations, so he knows the richness of the African continent. He has never been to Dongshengzhou, but he believes that if he can get the support of the Great Song Dynasty and the opposition, then what he will earn in Africa will definitely not be less than in Dongshengzhou.

And, he has another idea, and that is the labor force in Africa. As far as he knows, although the Great Song Dynasty has a population of more than 200 million, which is the most populous country in the world today, there is still a great shortage of labor, especially those engaged in some dangerous industries. And if African labor is abundant, if it can be transported to the Great Song Dynasty, and then factories and mines can be set up in the Great Song Dynasty, and these cheap labor can be used for production, the profit will not be less than the trade of goods.

He had not yet suffered at this time, and did not know that the tropical race, which was not suitable for the highly disciplined factories and mines.

"I see, I said why are you so urgent about naturalization, after all, it is still for the sake of making a fortune!" Hearing him say the African Merchants Bank, Huo Chongcheng immediately understood what he meant, and after scolding him with a smile, he carefully considered this matter, and only said after a while: "You plan to present this matter one by one, and I will play Your Majesty for you, it is difficult to say whether it will be successful or not......."

"Your Majesty will not object, things that can make money, Your Majesty has never objected!" Jeckonsky was very proud.

After learning from Huo Chongcheng's mouth about Jakensky's evaluation of himself, Zhao Heju couldn't laugh or cry, and his reputation for loving money seemed to really go down in history.

"What do the officials think this person says, can or cannot Africa Merchants Bank?" Huo Chongcheng also said with a smile.

"This matter ......" Zhao Youju thought for a while, and finally shook his head and said, "No." ”

"Your Majesty!" Huo Chongcheng was a little surprised, he was actually excited, he had also seen the charts sent by the Western Expeditionary Fleet, from Da Shi to Wangsong Jiao, the east coastline of the African continent was in full view, such a huge land, there would definitely be countless wealth, if this African Merchants Bank really set it up, it would definitely be able to bring rolling gold and silver to the Great Song Dynasty and him personally, but Zhao Youju refused, making him feel as if he had been poured cold water, and he was a little at a loss.

"If I didn't have Dongshengzhou, maybe I would allow this policy, but I have Dongshengzhou, the territory of Dongshengzhou is several times that of my Great Song Dynasty, and the population is tens of millions, how can I still have the spare energy to distract the rest of the place? Besides, although the world is big, we must always leave something for future generations, and our generation has made all the merits, and the future generations will not have a slack heart? ”

Huo Chongcheng was greatly impressed when he heard this, and he only felt that the Son of Heaven had no last resort, and he could predict things in advance a hundred years later. He didn't know that Zhao Heju was high-sounding on his lips, but in fact he was powerless.

Whether it is Africa or Dongshengzhou, it is too vast, with the strength of the Great Song Dynasty now, swallowing one of them is already the limit, from the perspective of Zhao and Ju, it is impossible for Africa to have a force that is enough to threaten the Great Song Dynasty, so it does not matter if it is slowed down, and the superior natural conditions of Dongshengzhou determine that if a strong country appears on it, it will inevitably threaten the hegemony of the Great Song Dynasty, and controlling Dongshengzhou means that the Eastern Ocean has become the inland sea of the Great Song Dynasty, from a geopolitical point of view, There was no longer any force that could pose a threat to the fundamental interests of the Great Song Dynasty, which could be attacked, retreated, and defended.

Huo Chongcheng didn't understand what geopolitics was, and Zhao Youju didn't expect him to understand.

Failing to gain the support of the Son of Heaven, Jakensky was disappointed but did not abandon his plans, and he began to sell his plans to everyone he knew. He was already quite wealthy, and Zhao and Ju also gave him some rewards, so he also made friends with some powerful people, and then through these people, he quickly became acquainted with the wealthy merchants of the Great Song Dynasty, these wealthy merchants were profit-seeking, and heard him boast so much that he thought about it, although he did not immediately invest a lot of money, but also agreed to his suggestion, and everyone partnered to contribute money, formed an expedition, first went deep into Africa, to see if they could find a profitable industry, and most importantly, whether they could find gold, ivory and rhino horn, Test to see if you can make the profits that Jaken Skye boasts about.

This is not something that Zhao and Ju can control, once the capital is released, as Zhang Duanyi once said, it will become a monster and devour everything it can devour.

In the first month of the spring of the 14th year of Yanhuang, before returning from the war report in the Western Regions, Zhao Heju promulgated the second edict of the Ming Dingguo since he was in power. If the first edict of the Ming Dingguo fifteen years ago was to appease the people's hearts after the elimination of Shi Miyuan and lay down the economic development strategy of the Great Song Dynasty to attach importance to industry and commerce in the future, then this edict of the Ming Dingguo was to announce to the world that the political reform of the Great Song Dynasty was put on the agenda.

The first thing to do in the reform was the central court, and the original six departments have now become twelve, which are officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, workers, farmers, posts, prisons, materials, medicine, and commerce. In the official reform plan proposed by Wei Liaoweng, the three ministries of agriculture, post and prison were retained, but the Ministry of Mines was not set up, and the responsibility of the Ministry of Supervision was always only to supervise ministers below the prime minister, but not to the Son of Heaven. The other three newly established departments, the Ministry of Things, is actually the Department of Wisdom, but the direct use of the word Wisdom is afraid of causing opposition from Shilin, so it borrows the word "thing" of "Gewu Zhizhi", the main responsibility is to scientific research and promote wisdom and vocational skills education, and part of the responsibilities of the original Ministry of Rites are divided, and the purpose of setting up this department is naturally to maintain the scientific and technological advantages of the Great Song Dynasty, which has been far ahead of the world; The full name of the "medical" department is the "Ministry of Medicine and Civil Power", and its main responsibility is to improve the medical conditions of the whole people, increase the population of the Great Song Dynasty in the shortest possible time, and set up this department. The Ministry of Commerce is the most controversial of the Ministry of the Son of Heaven, the status of merchants is not high since ancient times, but the Great Song Dynasty now has more than eighty percent of the tax depends on industry and commerce, and industry is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, but with the prosperity of domestic trade and overseas trade, who will govern this business and merchants has become a huge problem, and the ministers in the court also know that it is necessary to set up a special agency to govern commerce, but the status of merchants has been low for a long time, so that making such a proposal will inevitably take risks. In the end, Zhao Youju had to propose it in person.

The functions of the original six ministries have also been changed, such as the Ministry of Rites, the function of organizing examinations has been transferred to the Ministry of Materials, and it is now in charge of etiquette, propaganda and naturalization. After this adjustment, some emerging social changes were reflected in the institutional setup of the court.

In addition to the foreign dynasties, Zhao and Ju reformed and strengthened the Boya Building, from the original Boya Building Bachelor to the cabinet, the Prime Minister concurrently served as the Prime Minister of the Boya Building, corresponding to the Twelve Ministries, and the other twelve scholars and Nuogan Bachelors, and the Prime Minister and the Ministers of the University set up a secretary and supervisor, and the secretary and supervisor nominally assisted the Prime Minister and the Scholar to deal with government affairs, but in fact was directly responsible to the Son of Heaven. These all add up and are called cabinets

The relationship between the foreign dynasty and the cabinet is strictly stipulated in this edict that the outer court is the highest body under the Son of Heaven to dispose of state affairs, and the prime minister is the head of the foreign dynasty and is responsible to the Son of Heaven. The Cabinet is responsible for the implementation of the Cabinet when formulating major policies and strategies for the Son of Heaven, and the decisions of the Son of Heaven on major national policies must also be drafted by the Prime Minister of the Foreign Dynasty or the relevant competent authorities. The Cabinet is the body that executes government affairs, and it was originally owned by the executive power of the foreign courts, but now it is under the cabinet, and the cabinet must be responsible to the Son of Heaven and the foreign courts, and the foreign courts must supervise and evaluate the implementation of the cabinet, and the foreign courts have the right to veto the appointment of the cabinet's major scholars and chamberlains. In this, Zhao and Ju played a little trick, and the voting power of foreign dynasties only existed in the decision of "relevant national policies", and daily government affairs were not clearly stipulated.

It was a compromise in which Zhao and Ju handed over the appointment and dismissal of the Boya Lou scholars, using this vital personnel power in exchange for concessions from the courtiers to expand the power of the cabinet. Since then, the three-legged power structure of the Son of Heaven, the Foreign Dynasty, and the Cabinet has begun to emerge.

This bureaucratic reform is actually a kind of political reform, and any political reform cannot be done in one step, Zhao Youju understands that this is actually only the first step of his political reform, and there is still a long way to go in the future, and there are great risks to take. He hoped that in his lifetime, he would be able to transform the foreign dynasty into a legal and supervisory body, and the Son of Heaven would become the symbol of the state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while also taking into account the chief justice and the supreme adjudicator, and the cabinet would become the executor of specific government affairs. This is not a separation of powers, the Son of Heaven has more power than those countries with a separation of powers, and the legislature is not elected but through the "imperial examination".

Since then, the imperial examination and the regular examination will also be reformed, and the imperial examination will be based on the traditional content of the imperial examination, while taking into account some intellectual learning, so as not to make those who are poor but have no administrative power enter the foreign court. Also as a compromise, the Confucian classics must also be tested in the regular selection examination, and only those who can pass the Confucian classics can enter the cabinet and local posts.

In the edict of the Ming Dynasty in the spring of the 14th year of the Yan Huang Dynasty, there was no clear provision on the reform of local government institutions, and the central departments were the first to be changed, because in the struggle between the Son of Heaven and the central scholars and doctors for the power of official reform, the local governors did not change immediately. After this reform of the bureaucratic system, at least at the central level, a political system has been established that is adapted to the current economic and social development of the Great Song Dynasty.

This time, the longest part of the edict was the reform of the imperial court, followed by the clarification of the original policy of encouraging new industries such as industry and commerce. Fifteen years ago, in the edict of the Ming Dynasty, the Son of Heaven said in very vague language that he would encourage industry and commerce, but this time, he bluntly pointed out that industry and commerce, like agriculture, were the foundation of the founding of the Great Song Dynasty and the foundation of the prosperity and strength of the Great Song Dynasty. Through the previous concessions, Zhao and Ju could be regarded as expanding the base of their rule, and from then on, those who received a new school education, especially the orphans he raised with the money of the treasury, could justifiably go out of office, and not have to make great achievements to silence Shilin.

In addition to encouraging industry and commerce, it also encourages the people to go overseas to breed and start businesses. Fifteen years ago, or even seven years ago, this kind of measure to encourage overseas farming and industrial development may not have aroused a response from the people. In the past seven years, there have been stories of hundreds of people who have been forced to go overseas and return to their hometowns after making a fortune, and more importantly, the gold tide brought by the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet last year has not subsided, so there is an endless stream of people who go to local governments to inquire about relevant information, as long as they are bold and hard-working, they are dreaming of going overseas to make a fortune.

In view of the people's concern about the changeable national policy, one thing was specially proposed, that is, to set the "Imperial Constitution".