Yuanfeng's restructuring during the Song Shenzong period mainly focused on two aspects.
First, the "Ji Lu Ge" was promulgated. The promotion of officials must refer to the "Ji Lu Ge". Officials' grades and salary standards no longer need to go through the prime minister.
The second is to restore the three-province system of the Tang Dynasty in the name of restoring the old system. After Yuanfeng's restructuring, the power of the prime minister was divided into Zuopushe and Youpuse, who were responsible for Menxia Province and Zhongshu Province respectively, and the emperor directly issued official orders to the officials of the three provinces. Order.
These two conclusions are to weaken the power of the prime minister and allow the emperor to directly participate in government affairs, thereby strengthening the emperor's personal power and strengthening centralization.
Although there is also a change of officials in order to make the official's position and title consistent, reducing the phenomenon of officials not doing their job in their positions, and also reducing the unclear boundaries of official positions and the imagination of mutual blame, thus improving the administrative efficiency. Efficiency reduces unnecessary financial expenditures.
But in essence, Yuanfeng's restructuring was still just a strategy for Song Shenzong to strengthen centralization and weaken the power of the prime minister. Moreover, the impact of Yuanfeng's restructuring was limited to the central government. For local governments, the effect was even less due to numerous obstacles.
Therefore, this restructuring is not so much a restructuring as an excuse for Song Shenzong to expand his imperial power. It has not done much to solve the actual problems of low administrative efficiency and serious redundancy of officials.
In the Guanjia Hall, Zhao Jun looked around at the crowd and said: "Yuanfeng's reform only weakened the power of the prime minister and strengthened the central imperial power. What Wang Anshi's reform needed was to improve the administrative efficiency of officials and change the phenomenon of officials not doing their jobs. It is a pity that Song Shenzong was too obsessed with imperial power, which caused Wang Anshi's reform to fail."
"Dasun, this is your fault. You yourself often say that strengthening the imperial power is beneficial to the emperor. So why can't Yuanfeng's restructuring first strengthen the imperial power and then change the administrative efficiency of the government?"
Zhao Zhen countered: "Maybe Song Shenzong originally thought this way."
"But he went about it the wrong way."
Zhao Jun shook his head: "It is clear that he needs to cooperate with Wang Anshi's reform to improve administrative efficiency in order to complete the reform, but he only thinks about improving his imperial power. He is putting the cart before the horse, brother."
"Forehead"
Zhao Zhen was choked for a moment and didn't know how to refute, so he turned to look at Lu Yijian and others.
Lu Yijian understood and said: "There is nothing wrong with strengthening the imperial power."
"That's natural."
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said: "Look, in history, my imperial power was supervised by the prime minister, admonishers, and censors. I couldn't do anything I wanted to do, I could only do nothing. But now after the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, Doesn’t the imperial power increase?”
Everyone rolled their eyes.
The establishment of the Constitutional Yuan did indeed increase the imperial power in a sense.
Since the Political Yuan controlled hundreds of officials, it began to govern the world, and the emperor could control the Political Yuan, so he controlled power through the Political Yuan, just like the cabinet in the early Ming Dynasty and the Military Aircraft Department of the Qing Dynasty.
But the prerequisite for all this is that the emperor can control the Constitutional Yuan.
Now Zhao Jun of the Constitutional Yuan holds the sky with one hand, and Zhao Zhen listens to him. He feels that the emergence of the Constitutional Yuan only strengthens the imperial power on the surface, but actually strengthens Zhao Jun's own power.
However, because the Constitutional Yuan increased the power of the prime minister, the emperor and the prime minister became a community of interests, and everyone suddenly became vested interests. There was no need to worry about being dismissed, so everyone just secretly complained and did not dare to speak out. Say it straight.
Zhao Zhen naturally knew that although the Constitutional Yuan had strengthened his imperial power, as long as he listened to Zhao Jun, Zhao Jun would become the center of power, so he could only roll his eyes and swallow his anger.
no way.
Who made the country of Song Dynasty full of holes and needed help from others to save it?
"So what do we do now?"
Zhao Zhen asked.
"In Jingyou's restructuring, we need to determine the positions and responsibilities of officials so that the efficiency of each government office can be improved. The responsibility system should be determined so that there can no longer be the phenomenon of buck-passing."
"Do you have any charter?"
"It's already done. Here are the planning documents for each department."
Zhao Jun opened his notebook and opened the planning documents for various departments that he had made these days as PPT documents.
Everyone gathered around.
I saw that the first page was a partial frame diagram. The top one was a picture of an emperor, with an arrow next to it with the word emperor written on it.
Under the picture of the emperor are several figures of scholar-bureaucrats, with the words "Zhizhi Yuan" written next to them.
Logically speaking, there is no Internet connection here. If you want to make PPT, you have to find pictures from the Internet.
But Zhao Jun couldn't help it and took pictures of all the previous textbooks. There were also some normal pictures of historical figures in it, which could be cut out directly with the screenshot tool.
Below the Constitutional Yuan, a large number of arrows are marked. There are more than 20 or 30 departments including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Audit Office, etc., all with pictures posted on them.
Zhao Jun pointed at the top and said: "If you want to streamline departments and determine responsibility planning, you must first plan out each functional department, and then arrange officials to go in, so as to clarify their responsibilities and obligations. So I use the political system of future generations as a reference, Government department plans have been made.”
"Can you tell us about it?"
Zhao Zhen said.
Zhao Jun said: "This plan is to use the emperor as the head of the country, the Constitutional Yuan as the country's highest administrative organ, and then all the following departments will perform their own duties to achieve the problem of streamlining government departments and improving administrative efficiency."
Lu Yijian thought for a moment and said, "It looks like the three-gong-nine-ministerial system of the Han Dynasty, and a bit like the three-province and six-ministry system of the Tang Dynasty."
"indeed."
Yan Shu also agreed: "The system of three ministers and nine ministers means that the nine ministers are the heads of various departments, commanded by the three ministers, who are in turn responsible to the emperor. In the Tang Dynasty, there were three provinces and six ministries, and the six ministers were commanded by the prime minister, who then discussed politics with the emperor. With this Quite similar.”
"Isn't it the same for me?"
Wang Sui wondered: "The prime minister, the three departments, and the Privy Council are responsible to the emperor and coordinate all ministries."
"The Song Dynasty is completely different."
Zhao Jun shook his head and denied: "The Song Dynasty was more complicated. There were too many messy official positions, which led to the problem of redundant officials, unclear responsibilities, and extremely low administrative efficiency. This made the emperor have little power and the officials had little power. Everyone If everyone starts to stop doing things, won’t the government be abolished?”
Lu Yijian said dissatisfied: "Who said we have nothing to do? The political affairs hall has to deal with more than hundreds of official affairs every day?"
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said: "Then, what's the point? Has the Song Dynasty strengthened its army or its country? Jingkang Shai is still waiting in front."
"I"
Lu Laodeng was choked again and was speechless.
"This framework is basically the most appropriate framework. In later generations of Britain, the British king is the head of state, the prime minister is the head of the government, and the British prime minister governs. The cabinet is formed below. The cabinet has many departments, and each department performs its own duties."
Zhao Jun continued: "The Ming and Qing dynasties were considered the pinnacle example of feudal power, and it was a similar concept. The emperor, the cabinet (Military Aircraft Department), the six ministries, and then to the middle and lower yamen agencies carried out standardized governance. In this way, if something went wrong, This will allow for layer upon layer accountability to determine who is responsible.”
"Well"
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "Then how should each department be subdivided?"
Yan Shu thought for a while and said: "Hanlong mentioned it at the Political Council meeting before. At that time, he said that he would determine the functional planning of each ministry. Now I think it should have been done."
"Um."
Zhao Jun responded, then clicked the mouse, and the functions of each department appeared on the next picture of the PPT.
He said: "You see, the three divisions were originally used to contain the prime minister and make the prime minister lose financial power, but in this way, the entire fiscal power of the Song Dynasty was held in one division, including weapon manufacturing, fiscal revenue and expenditure, grain transportation, household registration, and taxation. , wine, salt and iron, etc. This is obviously unreasonable."
Zhao Zhen asked: "What do you mean?"
"Abolition of the Three Divisions. When Yuanfeng was restructured, the Three Divisions were abolished and merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs. This is actually unreasonable, because merging it into the Ministry of Household Affairs just turned the Ministry of Household Affairs, which had no real power, into another Three Divisions. It didn’t bring any substantial changes to the Third Division.”
Zhao Jun said: "We can completely abolish the three departments and establish the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Taxation, etc. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is responsible for business management, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for fiscal revenue and expenditure, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs The Ministry of Transport is responsible for the registered population, the Ministry of Transport is responsible for water transportation, the Ministry of Resources is responsible for minerals, and the Ministry of Taxation is responsible for taxation.”
Everyone looked at each other, and Wang Zeng hesitated and said: "Wouldn't this separate the functions of the original three departments into six departments? Will it lead to further redundancy of officials?"
"There are already so many redundant officials. If we leave so many idle officials, we might as well find something for them to do."
Zhao Jun said happily: "Do you really want me to lay off a large number of officials?"
Everyone looked at each other, and then Lu Yijian was the first to stand up and said righteously: "Your Majesty, I think what the magistrate said is very reasonable. This official system must be changed!"
"That's right. Nowadays, most of the officials in the world are scattered. There are so many sects and scholars every year. There are simply not enough official positions. So many more departments are created to accommodate these officials. It is also a good thing for the Song Dynasty."
"I completely agree with Zhiyuan's idea. This is simply a divine idea!"
"I second the proposal."
Many prime ministers stood up and agreed.
joke.
Their prime ministers also have their own political groups.
Why was Fan Zhongyan opposed?
Didn’t it ruin the jobs of officials all over the world, and that’s why officials attacked in groups?
Now Zhao Jun has not only not eliminated redundant officials, but has also added so many functional departments to place idle officials. Isn't this a good thing for them?
So since it involves self-interest, why not do it?
Only Fan Zhongyan was confused.
What's going on, little brother?
He promised to support his Qingli New Deal to solve the problem of redundant officials.
Why did you change your mind again?
Wouldn't it make things difficult for yourself by doing this?
When Fan Zhongyan heard Zhao Jun's "wonderful thoughts", he couldn't help but look at him with a resentful look.
But he also knew that Zhao Jun might have other ideas, so he didn't object.
Zhao Zhen heard that many prime ministers agreed. He pondered for a while, then nodded and said: "Well, if the grandson thinks this can streamline the organization and improve administrative efficiency, then let's do it."
Zhao Jun smiled and said: "That's definitely possible. The original department was too bloated. It would be good for administrative efficiency to clearly subdivide the powers and responsibilities."
"Apart from Sansi?"
Zhao Zhen thought for a while and asked tentatively: "Does the Privy Council want to be restructured?"
Zhao Jun glanced at him.
Obviously the military is Zhao Zhen's bottom line.
Although the Privy Council did not have the power to send troops, the emperor at that time had to go through the Privy Council to send troops.
The Privy Council coordinates soldiers, equipment, and provisions.
So in a sense, although the power to send troops lies with the emperor, the Privy Council is also required for military deployment.
If the Privy Council is decentralized again, the emperor's military power will also be affected, which is why Zhao Zhen is concerned.
Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "If we don't change the military system for the time being, the problems in the army are too big. It is a powder keg that is more troublesome than redundant officials. Once ignited, the consequences will be disastrous. First, we should improve the official system, then carry out political reforms, and finally carry out political reform." Let’s restructure the army.”
"Well, this is the best and the safest way."
When Zhao Zhen heard that Zhao Jun did not plan to reform the military system immediately, he felt a stone fall in his heart, so he asked: "Is it only the third division that needs to be reformed? Is there anything else?"
"The judiciary must also be reformed to achieve judicial independence and separation of powers."
"Independence of the judiciary and separation of powers?"
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded and said: "The so-called judicial independence means that the power to formulate laws must be separated into an independent department. The separation of three powers refers to one department for review power and arrest power, one department for trial power, and one department for supervision power."
"Elaborate."
Zhao Zhen said.
"The original censorship, arrest, trial and supervisory powers of the Song Dynasty were particularly confusing. Kaifeng Prefecture could arrest people and judge cases, Dali Temple could also judge cases and conduct audits, but the Ministry of Punishment simply existed in name only and had no effect."
Zhao Jun said: "This is very unfair to the judiciary and can easily lead to unjust, false and wrongful convictions. Especially for local officials, a county magistrate has the power to review, arrest, and try. The power is too great. For the people of the county, life and death are all matters." Isn’t it outrageous to have it in the hands of the county magistrate? That’s why the Metropolitan Procuratorate was established in the Ming Dynasty for the sake of judicial justice.”
"Then how to do it specifically?"
"The Ministry of Criminal Justice was changed to the Ministry of Justice, which is used to revise laws and regulations of various departments, formulate development plans for judicial administration and organize their implementation. The revised law will be reviewed by the Constitutional Yuan and the officials. If it is approved, it will be the law!"
"Is this judicial independence?"
"Yes, Dali Temple was transformed into a court, focusing on trials. Learn from the Ming Dynasty, remove the trial court, and change it to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, focusing on supervision. In this way, each local yamen will only have the power of review and arrest, but no judicial power. , will also be supervised, which will reduce the occurrence of unjust, false and wrongful convictions."
"Various places?"
Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide and said, "Is it necessary to set up subordinate yamen in various places?"
"What if?"
Zhao Jun shrugged and said: "This is how we will be in later generations. The central government has the Supreme Court, the provinces have high courts, the cities have intermediate courts, the counties have grassroots courts, and even our towns and villages have branch courts of the grassroots courts. This can solve the problem to the greatest extent. People’s legal difficulties.”
Zhao Zhen looked at each other and saw the shock in everyone's eyes.
This organization can actually go to the countryside?
Really exaggerated.
"But if that's the case, how many people will be needed if there are so many agencies in each county."
Zhao Zhen hesitated and said: "You are like this in later generations because there are so many people in later generations. Doesn't the Song Dynasty's doing this aggravate the redundancy of officials?"
Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "No, these institutions already existed in the counties when our country was founded in later generations. At that time, it covered an area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a population of more than 500 million. In the Song Dynasty, it was 2.8 million square kilometers and 100 million taels. With a population of tens of millions, the ratio is actually about the same.”
The Song Dynasty was a typical one with more people and less land. Although it was not like when the country was founded in later generations, the population density in the hinterland of the Central Plains was much higher than that of the Song Dynasty. However, after the agricultural revolution in the Song Dynasty, it became possible to have branches in every county.
And it can be said that preparations are being made in advance. In a few years, ships going out to sea will bring back high-yielding crops. After decades of local adaptation of these crops, there may be a population explosion in the future.
At that time, it will be a matter of course for all counties to carry out judicial refinement.
"Well."
Zhao Zhen thought about it and felt that this seemed to divide the power of local officials and had nothing to do with imperial power, so he nodded and said: "Then let's do it."
"In that case, wouldn't the county magistrate lose any power?"
Lu Yijian wondered: "Isn't the power of arrest exercised by the county magistrate? If the county magistrate does not have the power of trial, what else can he do?"
"Executive power."
Zhao Jun shrugged and said: "Focus on the development of the county. From now on, just implement the decrees issued by the court and avoid any minor tweaks."
Good guy, wouldn't the power of a county magistrate who has the power of life and death become much smaller in this way?
Everyone looked at each other.
But it doesn't seem unreasonable.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, county magistrates had great powers. There was a saying that the county magistrate would destroy a family and the magistrate would destroy a family.
Dividing their power is indeed not a bad thing.
Anyway, as long as their power is not divided, as for the lower-level officials, it has nothing to do with them.
"Anyway, the judiciary in the Song Dynasty felt confused just by hearing about the mess of agencies. After the restructuring, the county lieutenant in the county was responsible for arrests, the county's Metropolitan Police Bureau conducted reviews and then filed lawsuits, and the court accepted the handling."
Zhao Jun said: "Afterwards, a state-level review and arrest department will be established at the state level to separate the original powers of magistrates and general judges. The state will also set up state-level courts and prosecutors' offices. Finally, the road-level people will be sentenced The separation of departments achieves the separation of judicial powers among counties, states, roads and finally the central government.”
This method is not unique to our country in later generations. It has already begun in the ancient Ming and Qing Dynasties. After the Ming Dynasty established the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the judicial power was separated into three branches. It was composed of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple and the Criminal Department, similar to later procuratorates, courts and public security bureaus.
As a result, the judicial system during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was far less chaotic than the Song Dynasty.
"When Song Ci was a criminal judge, he uncovered so many unjust, false and erroneous cases. But there was only one Song Ci in the Song Dynasty, so it is obviously impossible to rely on one person to achieve judicial justice. We can only rely on the system."
Zhao Jun finally looked around the crowd and said: "The system must be clean, responsibilities must be clear, and responsibilities must be implemented to individuals. In this way, the Song Dynasty will implement new policies in the future, such as promoting cotton cultivation, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other grains, Or carry out reforms and construction at the national level, so that there will be less obstacles and more smoothness!"
After listening to it, everyone felt that it was deafening and thought-provoking.
Today is just a chapter. I probably have the latest mycoplasma pneumonia. I haven’t been feeling well. I’m coughing and showing signs of fever. I may have to go to the hospital tomorrow.
(End of chapter)
