At the end of November, the temperature in Bianliang is getting colder and colder.

The sky is often cloudy during the day, and even if the sun occasionally comes out, the sun is so white that it seems to have no temperature at all.

Today, the yamen of the Third Division began to pack up the departmental documents.

Dozens of officials packed baskets of documents, carried them outward, and headed in the direction of Daqing Palace.

Bianliang Imperial Palace is divided into the front palace and the back palace, there are two main buildings in the middle of the front palace, Wende Palace, Daqing Palace, in front of the Wende Palace is the three divisions, the Privy Council and the Yamen of the political affairs hall.

In front of the Daqing Hall is a huge school ground, which is a place to receive foreign guests, hold grand celebrations, and hold banquets and keju competitions on the birthday of the emperor or other important figures, which is used at most two or three times a year.

Zhao Jun has always felt that it is a pity that such a large place is empty, and it just so happened that after the establishment of the new department, he asked the Ministry of Industry to rebuild some courtyards here as office space for various departments.

It's not a big palace, it's just an ordinary courtyard.

The speed of this kind of yard is very fast, three in and three out, and it does not occupy much space, and there is no problem in accommodating more than 100 officials to work, so it is a relatively economical type.

It's really simple now, but the Ministry of Industry and the Eight Divisions are already stepping up their work, and it is estimated that it will be repaired like the current Three Divisions next year.

As for the three divisions, there are now six departments: the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Taxation.

Only the Ministry of Communications, which was originally in charge of roads, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which was in charge of industry and commerce, and the Ministry of Natural Resources, were left in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Taxation moved to the front of the Daqing Palace, plus the newly established Ministry of Police, the Ministry of Education, etc., and the political system behind the Daqing Hall is only separated by one hall.

After the reorganization of the entire department, each department was re-planned.

The original three provinces had already existed in name only, and there was nothing to do, so they were simply abolished, and the Privy Council still maintained its original structure, and the rest of the provinces were scattered and scattered, and new ones were newly built.

Such separate departments, together with the newly established departments, will undoubtedly increase the number of officials and exacerbate the problem of redundant officials.

But the benefits are also clear.

At present, the highest administrative body of the Great Song Dynasty is the Constitutional Yuan, and below it are a number of first-level institutions, namely the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Police, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Taxation, and the traditional six ministries of rites, officials, soldiers, criminals, households, and workers.

The chief officers of these departments are slightly higher than ordinary departments, and in addition to the title of Shangshu, there will also be an observer alternate Tongzhi status, which is equivalent to the second-rank level.

Then there are the general departments, which are Dali Temple (court), trial and criminal court (procuratorate), Yushitai, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Communications, Jinjuyuan (Propaganda Department), Ministry of Statistics, Ministry of Jiaozi, Ministry of Geology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (United Guoxin Office, Protocol House, Tongwen Museum, Duting Xiyi, Huaiyuanyi) and so on.

After that, the Constitutional Yuan directly governed more than 20 sub-departments, such as the Guozijian, the Shaofu Supervisor, the General Supervisor, the Ordnance Supervisor, the Dushui Supervisor, the Liunequan, the Sanban Courtyard, the Inquisitor's Courtyard, the Product Courtyard, the Firearms Bureau, the Creation Bureau, the System Bureau, the Living Bureau, and the Etiquette Bureau.

In this way, an entire body of power was formed.

From the point of view of redundant officials, due to the increase in departments, the number of personnel has also increased, which has led to the dispatch of idle officials, and the redundancy of officials has intensified.

From a practical point of view, the upper and lower grades have been re-customized, the institutional order has been improved, and the upper and lower levels of each department have been clear, and they are no longer subordinate to each other as before, causing chaos.

At the same time, the three provinces, Taichang Temple, Zongzheng Temple, Guanglu Temple, Weiwei Temple, Taifu Temple, Sinong Temple, and Taifu Temple were abolished, and the functions of the original six ministries were restored, and the power of the Constitutional Yuan was greatly strengthened.

In a sense, it is a bit like the three provinces and six ministries in the Sui and Tang dynasties, but at that time, the three provinces contained each other, and now the three provinces constitute the political system, forming an overall force and strengthening the relative power.

And because the current power and imperial power are connected together, the Constitutional Yuan was compared by Zhao Jun to an institution of the Ming and Qing Cabinets and the Military Aircraft Department, and the power of the imperial power has also been increased, and the administration has become more centralized.

The most important thing is that after the dismantling of the three divisions, which were originally extremely bloated, although there are more institutions and larger departments, there is less overlapping and influencing each other.

That's what departmental weight loss is all about.

The only dissatisfaction may be the new Minister of Finance Cheng Lin and the Ministry of Education Lang Xia Zhu.

Especially Xia Zhu, he thought he could get a ministerial position.

But it's a pity that the Constitutional Yuan suppressed it and didn't take it right.

Who made him cheap?

After Cheng Lin was divided between the three divisions, the original dignified plan became a scholar, which was equivalent to the deputy envoy of the three divisions who was originally in charge of the degree branch, how could he be satisfied?

In the early dynasties and later, he also wrote to Zhao Zhen many times to oppose it, but unfortunately the general trend cannot be changed.

This officialdom restructuring is a carnival of idle officials, and the overwhelming majority of the supporters of the Manchu dynasty are naturally unable to change it alone.

So in this way, the entire Jingyou restructuring was successfully completed.

The redistribution of personnel, the streamlining of institutions, and the coordinated and unified management of departments by the Constitutional Yuan are far more efficient than the once chaotic system.

The Criminal Department has worked overtime, and has also made out the charters of each department and determined the responsibility system.

For example, Cheng Lin of the Ministry of Finance is the main person in charge, and the following branches are also under the jurisdiction of various departments, which are accurate to the individual.

A series of restructurings have given Bianliang officialdom a new look and a new look.

Of course.

Regardless of the system, efficiency is mainly done by people.

If officials are lazy and lazy, even if their responsibilities are defined, their superiors and subordinates are clarified, and the responsibility system is divided, the efficiency will still be low.

So it depends on the courage of the Constitutional Yuan.

At least at present, it is the experience of the Salt and Iron Division, and it coincides with the restructuring, and the new redundant officials are eager to prove themselves, and the administrative efficiency that should be there is still not slow, and it is much stronger than before.

At the same time, people were still beheading and killing people outside the eastern city of Bianliang every day, and the grass in the eastern suburbs was almost red with blood, and the air was filled with a fishy smell.

The people of Bianliang are also used to seeing it.

The officials are not in danger of everyone, mainly because Zhao Jun beheaded and killed people, unlike Zhu Yuanzhang, who was so exaggerated that he cut thousands of officials every time.

Most of the people he killed were underworlds, and in the eyes of officials, they belonged to the people who should have been killed.

When their own interests are damaged, these officials will choose to stand together to confront them. But they look at the people at the bottom and those who have nothing to do with their own interests, no different from the lower ranks.

Therefore, this killing actually did not form much turmoil in the officialdom, but among the people, the influence was still unprecedented, and the Bianliang underworld was emptied for a while, and the underground was much cleaner.

After more than ten days, by mid-December, as the end of the year approached, the streets became more and more lively due to the cold wind.

The people came out to the market one after another to start preparing for the end of the year.

Kaifeng Mansion demolished a large mansion in Xianningfang, which was built by Bazuo Division and transformed into a commercial street, which is now under construction.

The government has even built another road at the Huimin River wharf to connect the streets that are not far away, which will obviously make this commercial street a place where every inch of land is valuable in the future.

Now the imperial court is not short of money for a while.

As soon as the autumn tax revenue came up, the current treasury has more than 40 million yuan. Second, Zhao Jun killed more than 10,000 people, frantically raided homes, and confiscated a large amount of property.

More than 1,000 mansions were seized in the inner and outer cities alone, among which the real estate owned by the owner of the Ghost Fan Building and the owner of the Sanssouci Cave added up to more than 1 million guan, as well as hundreds of thousands of yuan in cash, adding up to more than six or seven million guan.

Therefore, after having money, the government not only vigorously purchased grain and grass from the south, but also built a large number of buildings in the city, hired low-level laborers, built bridges and paved roads, and promoted economic development while maintaining the urban style of Bianliang.

"The top priority now is to make money, why is there a Jiaozi in Shuzhong? It was because of the prosperity of commerce in the Song Dynasty and the lack of copper money in the Bashu region that they were forced to replace money with paper money. ”

In today's Guanjia Palace, Zhao Jun started a new round of lectures.

He looked around at everyone and said: "The business environment in Bianliang has been greatly improved, and we will have a Ministry of Commerce in the future, which is responsible for domestic and foreign trade and international economic cooperation. ”

"Is the eldest grandson saying that the state ownership system has been changed to private ownership?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

These days, he has also understood the relationship between the state and the private sector, isn't it the former sales and tea and salt introduction?

Selling is a state monopoly, but as long as you transport grain to the border, there is tea to attract salt.

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Capital needs to sprout and grow, so we have to loosen the shackles for them." But it is not possible to completely liberalize the free market, and once the cage of this beast is opened, it will have very serious consequences. ”

"What consequences?"

Everyone asked curiously.

"To give a simple example, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, salt merchants in the south monopolized salt, raising the price of salt and making it difficult for the common people. The imperial court could not collect commercial taxes, and faced the dilemma of foreign races in the north, but they spent a lot of money in order to fight for wealth. ”

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "At that time, the salt merchants in the Jianghuai region can be said to be rich and rival the country, and the "Qing Dynasty Wild History Grand View" recorded: "Yangzhou salt merchants are extravagant in the world, and those who are less than one million are called small merchants", that is to say, for the salt merchants at that time, millions of taels of silver were small money, and the standard of the rich was at least more than 10 million taels. ”

Ten million taels of silver?

Everyone's faces were stunned.

In the Song Dynasty, silver was not not a currency, but there was less silver and not much was circulated in the market.

According to the proportions of the time, one tael of silver was about equal to the same money.

But this is the official exchange rate.

In fact, the value of silver was higher, and by the time of Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the consistent money was about 0.4-0.5 taels of silver, and almost one tael of silver was equal to two guan money.

Even if it is calculated according to the ratio of one tael of silver to the consistent money, it also means that the value of a rich salt merchant in Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties is comparable to one-tenth of the annual financial income of the Great Song Dynasty at this time.

You must know that under the two tax laws of the Song Dynasty, the fiscal revenue was still very high, and the Renzong Dynasty basically maintained about 80 million yuan per year, and it was already 1.6 billion yuan in the Yingzong Dynasty.

This is already the largest tax revenue in all dynasties.

But compared with the Jiangnan salt merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is obviously a small thing.

"I didn't expect the salt merchants in Jiangnan to be so rich during the Ming and Qing dynasties."

Lu Yijian sighed.

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "The source of their wealth is mainly the inflow of silver from Japan in the Ming and Qing dynasties, so that's why I said that I want to go to Japan." ”

"Hmm, if Japanese silver flows into the Great Song Dynasty in large quantities, wouldn't the economy of the Great Song Dynasty go to a higher level?"

Yan Shu pondered: "With so much silver entering the market of the Great Song Dynasty, it will be possible to improve the current situation of the Great Song Dynasty lacking money, and in the future, it will be possible for the imperial court to pay taxes every year, and even two or three hundred million yuan." ”

"But we must be careful not to be coerced by capital, nor can we be deceived by these people not to collect commercial taxes, in the future we have to set a rule, but anyone who dares to block the collection of commercial taxes will be killed!"

Zhao Jun looked around and said: "The experience of the Ming and Qing dynasties that the commercial tax did not come up is still vivid, and we can't listen to the interests of those merchants in the imperial court, so we will exempt those businessmen's taxes, and in the future, we will not only have to pay taxes, but also greatly increase their taxes and reduce the burden on the peasant class." ”

The lessons of the Ming and Qing dynasties are still vivid?

Why does this sound so awkward?

The crowd looked at each other.

Obviously, they were in the Song Dynasty before the Ming and Qing dynasties, but good guys, the later Ming and Qing dynasties became negative teaching materials.

"Well, it's nature."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "My Great Song Dynasty has its own ancestral system, and Taizu has set the "Commercial Tax Regulations", but anyone who dares to say that he will not collect commercial taxes will be killed!" ”

It's a matter of the country, and he is not sloppy.

"This is the best, business and agriculture are the foundation of the country, agriculture is in charge of food, and commerce is in charge of all aspects. In later generations, our country has completely abolished the agricultural tax, and even subsidized it, and the income is almost dominated by commercial taxes. ”

Zhao Jun continued: "The Great Song Dynasty must learn the lesson of the Ming and Qing dynasties, when commercial taxes could not be raised, resulting in the country having no money to use, and finally perishing. Therefore, in terms of taxation, it is necessary to fulfill its responsibilities and improve all kinds of legal systems to avoid being exploited by others, and the "Commercial Tax Regulations" must also be improved at all times. ”

"But at the same time, we must also encourage and develop business prosperity in the commercial market. It's just that in terms of rigid needs such as clothing, food, housing and transportation, it is still inseparable from the intervention of state-owned assets. ”

"Otherwise, if these things that are related to the lifeblood of the country are controlled by the merchants, then the country will inevitably be coerced forward by capital, and then it will inevitably cause turmoil in the domestic people's livelihood, thereby exacerbating the birth of internal friction.

"At the beginning of next year, I will inspect various places, Bianliang's commercial development is the top priority, and the reform will also start from Bianliang's pilot, and then we will still rely on Li Xiang and your support."

"All in all, we have only one goal, to improve the business environment, promote business development, and make money, money, and money for the imperial court!"

"Do you understand?"

After saying this, he still looked at everyone with a very serious expression.

Li Zheng had been buried at this time in history, but Zhao Jun pulled him back from the Ghost Gate Pass, and is currently serving as the minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Therefore, next year, Zhao Jun plans to carry out commercial reform and change the original monopoly of tea, salt, and grain to a public-private joint venture.

But it just so happens that he needs to go down to the grassroots level, understand the people's suffering, and next year he will have to inspect various places, and he is really a little worried about this business reform without him.

But then again.

The Constitutional Yuan had already gathered a group of prime ministers, if Zhao Jun had to intervene in everything, then what was the difference between their group of people and wine bags and rice bags?

Therefore, Zhao Jun only plans to carry out early reform and development and tell them how to do it.

As for how it was done, we will have to come back to it.

This is also a test for them.

"Got it!"

As in the regular meeting of the Constitutional Yuan, everyone responded.

Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction and said: "After the commercial restructuring, if you are lucky, Lao Fan will win in the north in the next few years, and you will be able to start thinking of ways to engage in silver inflow from Japan, and the business will be vigorously developed. ”

"Good!"

Zhao Zhen finally concluded: "This is a matter of the great Song Dynasty, please do your best." ”

"The ministers will do their best!"

Everyone stood up and bowed to Zhao Zhen solemnly.

This time is indeed a big test, Zhao Jun will leave Beijing next year, and they will carry out commercial restructuring, which is not a small pressure for them.

(End of chapter)