The twenty-first year of Shaowu came quietly.
For ordinary people, except that the calendar turns a page, it is no different from other times.
But for the civil and military personnel who have been practicing for a month, this is a big deal.
This is because of the cabinet.
There were only two pavilion elders left out of the original four. It is impossible for one person to take charge of four departments, right?
For a time, the civil servants of the fourth rank and above were anxious and running around, hoping to be selected.
However, the most popular candidate is Liu Xiangke, the Minister of Civil Affairs.
The Ministry of Personnel is known as the first among the eight departments, and its ministers are the first choice to replace the cabinet. Even the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel is also the first choice for ministers of various ministries.
In addition to the usual practice, it was because Liu Xiangke was from Shaanxi and also from Fuping, Xi'an, a proper township party member.
He first served as a Zhusheng, serving as an assistant officer in the Shi Kefa army. After the city of Yangzhou was defeated, he lived in seclusion in Taihu Lake and fought against the invaders.
When the emperor entered Nanjing, he recruited virtuous and old ministers from the countryside. Liu Xiangke came to the court and was granted the position of knowing the county as a supervisor.
Over the years, the officials have climbed up the ranks, and now they are ranked first among the eight divisions and have become heavenly officials.
Ability, qualifications, or membership in the township party will give you a high chance of being selected.
For a time, it was like a bustling market, with invitations piled into several boxes.
Liu Xiangke naturally knew that once he left a bad impression on whether he could join the cabinet or not, his future would be in doubt.
He decisively closed the door and thanked guests.
They are all like this: Zhao Langxing, the Minister of Rites, Zhang Tongchang, the Minister of Industry, Ding Shikui, the Minister of Punishments, Wu Zhenyu, the Minister of War, Jin Bao, the Minister of Finance, Cui Bingchun, the Minister of Household Affairs, Qin Huaibo, the Minister of Civil Affairs, all of them are silent. Word.
In fact, the emperor did not let them wait too long. At the end of the first month, Liu Xiangke, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was removed from the position of Minister and was worshiped as a bachelor of Wenhua Palace. He was assigned to Wenyuan Pavilion and participated in important military affairs.
At the same time, he was also given the title of Prince's Young Master.
In fact, the palace bachelor only has the rank of fifth rank, but the prince's young master has the rank of first rank, which guarantees his status.
Entering the Wenyuan Pavilion is a mission, the core of power.
Theoretically speaking, it is enough to be admitted to Wenyuan Pavilion, but power and status will only make people truly convinced.
A young master and a bachelor's degree are both indispensable for entering Wenyuan Pavilion.
The person who succeeded him as minister was Xu Fu, the left minister of the Ministry of official affairs.
The reason why the ministers of other ministries were not changed is because they had already been fine-tuned when Yan Yingyuan entered the cabinet.
The second person to join the cabinet was beyond everyone’s expectations:
Yan Qiheng, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
He was awarded the title of Bachelor of Wuyingdian, Prince Shaobao, and was appointed to Wenyuan Pavilion.
Also a three-piece set.
Both of them are group assistants.
As a result, the cabinet returned to the four-member model.
Among them, the oldest one is Du Yinxi, sixty-seven years old; the second is Yan Yingyuan, fifty-five years old.
Liu Xiangke is fifty-four years old, and Yan Qiheng is the youngest, fifty-three years old.
Except for Liu Xiangke, who was given the same Jinshi background, the rest were all Jinshi.
It can be said that there are very few high-ranking officials in the entire court who are not Jinshi.
The benefits enjoyed during the founding of the People's Republic of China are gone.
However, it is worth noting that Du Yinxi and Yan Qiheng were from the south, while Yan Yingyuan and Liu Xiangke were from the north.
In a way, this is a balance.
The first thing a new official needs to do when he takes office is that the long-delayed Beijing inspection will finally come.
"Who could have expected that Feng Xianzong and Zhu Mou would both fall?"
The rain is hitting the banana trees and the cold wind is biting. No matter how tightly the window sill is sealed, it can't stop the sneak attack of the cold wind. It can be said that it is impossible to prevent it.
Zhu Cunqu was wearing a large cloak and warming himself by the fire. He felt a wisp of cold wind on his neck. He couldn't help but shrink and put down the letter in his hand.
He showed a trace of exhaustion.
At the same time, I felt a little happy in my heart.
He was also very fed up with Zhu Mou. If he hadn't been concerned about the identity of the prince, he would have been impeached long ago.
"Your Highness!"
At this time, the sensible staff said softly: "The money and food in Sichuan and Chongqing have been sorted out."
Although there are many civil servants in the Prince's East Palace, in fact most of them are civil servants in name only and very few hold office.
Naturally, after taking office as the Governor of Sichuan and Chongqing, he had to recruit staff to work according to tradition.
Being a Jinshi and observing politics is equivalent to polishing the government, while being a local official is to be close to the people, which is extremely complicated.
In this situation, Master cannot stop it and it is indispensable, and even Zhu Cunqu is no exception.
Being an official in a different place, his ears and eyes are blocked. Without his master, he is simply a living statue in the yamen, and he doesn't know anything.
Therefore, later generations did not put an end to it, they just turned private affairs into public affairs and became secretaries.
Master Qian Gu is necessary to sort out the taxes and granaries of the two provinces.
When he is going to report to the cabinet, he will go back to the prefectures and counties. The official correspondence is complicated and needs to be interpreted and drafted. The official documents for social interactions are complicated. Master Qi is bound to need a letter. He does not have the time to draft gorgeous words and prose to deal with it.
Then there is the registration master, who is responsible for registering, summarizing, and distributing various official documents entering the yamen, as well as preparing books for registration and excerpting the key points of the documents.
Since the governor-general of Sichuan and Chongqing is not responsible for the punishment, the punishment master is exempted. However, since he is responsible for the military affairs of the two provinces and has jurisdiction over the armies of the two provinces, the Rongmu master, a staff talent like this, is also necessary.
In addition, there must be a dedicated person to manage the salary distribution and personal expenses of the servants and secretaries around him, especially the accounting master.
Master Qiangu treats the public, and Master Accountant treats the private.
In addition, for visiting guests, there will also be a master who knows the guests.
Since he had to face the barbarians from Kang, Wei Zang, and Sichuan and Chongqing, he had another barbarian master.
Qiangu, Shuqi, Rongmu, registration, accounting, knowing guests, and handling barbarians, the seven masters are indispensable. They are the important pillars of the entire governor's mansion.
This is also the key to the ability of frontier officials to control places for the imperial court.
There are people who specialize in everything.
Like governors, they also have the title of disaster relief, so they have to add a Jimin Shiye, a river worker master who manages the river embankment...
It can be said that in the bureaucratic system, the master is already an important assistant to the officials. It is very difficult for local subordinates to hide from the chief officials and do whatever they want.
Because the professional level of these masters is better than that of junior staff.
Therefore, during the Qing Dynasty when Shiye was flourishing, local officials took the initiative and even participated in the slander and took the majority.
"How many?"
I left Beijing at the end of October last year and patrolled all the way from Hebei. I walked fast and slowly and arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan just before the Chinese New Year. It was really difficult.
Zhu Cunqu thought of the poem about the difficult road to Shu and felt emotional.
“There are two million households in Sichuan and nearly 8 million people; Chongqing has 800,000 households and 3 million people.”
"In the 20th year of Shaowu's reign, Sichuan's two taxes were only 3 million yuan, while the commercial tax was 4 million yuan. Just the well salt alone was worth 1 million yuan..."
The two taxes are 3 million, 37 cents, 2.1 million are paid to the court, and the commercial tax is 50 cents, that is two million.
A total of 4.1 million was handed over to the court.
Thinking about the calculation in his mind, Zhu Cuququ smiled and said: "I heard that when His Majesty was in Huguang, he used Sichuan salt to help the lake. Nowadays, Sichuan salt is sold in Huguang, and there is so much of it."
“How many people are there in Chongqing?”
Chongqing Province is composed of Chongqing Prefecture, Kuizhou Prefecture, and Shunqing Prefecture of Sichuan Province as the core, adding Shizhou Prefecture of Hubei Province, plus Youyang Xuanfu Division changed into Youyang Prefecture, the land of five prefectures, and for thirty years county.
"three million."
"If Chongqing is not excluded, then there will be 11 million people?"
Zhu Cunqu was filled with emotions.
"The five prefectures in Chongqing have two taxes of approximately 500,000 yuan and a commercial tax of 2 million yuan."
Master Qian Gu continued.
Chongqing has a small land and a large population, and as the Three Gorges is located, prosperity can be expected.
Zhu Cunqu started to think about it in his mind.
According to the rules, 50% of the commercial tax is turned over, 30% is retained in the county, and 20% is retained in the province for storage and is responsible for disaster relief, embankment repair, education, and rewards.
In this way, Sichuan's reserve is 800,000 yuan, while Chongqing's reserve is 400,000 yuan.
Not to mention, there are still some stocks in the county warehouses in the two provinces.
After all, in a county's finances, there are two to three hundred officials, and they eat the food and salary issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs. Only the white servants and the county patrol camp, etc., eat the county government meal.
Not to mention that half of the county patrol camp’s salary is paid by the court.
This is also the difference between the Shaowu Dynasty and the previous Ming Dynasty.
In the former Ming Dynasty, local salaries were deducted and then handed over to the court, which was a net profit. However, in the Shaowu Dynasty, there was no need to deduct taxes, and they were paid and distributed uniformly, which gave them stronger control.
According to estimates, the county warehouses left by each county should have a lot of money.
"One million and two hundred thousand yuan is enough to support a war."
Zhu Cunqu muttered.
Before leaving, his father made it clear that within three years of taking office as governor of Sichuan and Chongqing, Kang and Weizang must be resolved.
At that time, he, the Governor of Sichuan and Chongqing, will become the Governor of the Southwest, responsible for Sichuan, Kangxi, and Tibet.
He did not wonder why the emperor wanted to attack Kang and Zang. It was because the emperor never concealed his greed for land.
Regarding Kang and Tibet, he also asked whether they should be enfeoffed, but the emperor said: "The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers all end here, how can they be controlled by the vassal state?"
Turning his head, he asked the military commander at the side: "How are the armies in the two provinces?"
"Not of much use."
The Rongmu Master smiled bitterly and said: "The patrol camp is only for catching thieves. It is useless to fight against some small thieves."
"Sichuan patrol battalions are about 30,000 people, and Chongqing is about 10,000 people. Since Sichuan is a border area, there are 5,000 Beijing battalions garrisoned, while Chongqing only has 3,000 people."
"However, the garrison in Beijing is mostly accustomed to mountainous terrain, and some people are not afraid of altitude sickness. They have developed it through practice."
Of course they knew all about Zhu Cunqu's move to conquer the plateau and had been planning for it.
"We can't count on garrisoning the capital camp."
Zhu Cuqu said in a deep voice: "They will return to Beijing at the end of the year, and a new batch of Beijing camps will come..."
"Draw elites from patrol battalions in various places to adapt."
"Let the number of people be tentatively set at 3,000!"
"Your Highness, the patrol camp's move to extract people is too big. Why not send some full soldiers from chieftains from various places?"
Master Rongmu put forward his own suggestion: "The cost of barbarian soldiers is much lower than that of patrol battalions, and not many people pay attention to the drill in the mountains..."
"Very good." Zhu Cuqu said with a smile: "Just recruit three thousand barbarians."
"As for the salary, let Sichuan provide 200,000 yuan and Chongqing provide 100,000 yuan."
Immediately, when spring came and the flowers bloomed, Zhu Cunqu went to the stone pillar to offer incense to this heroine.
Qin Liangyu could bear his incense.
After being reborn, Shizhu Chieftain became Shizhu County, but Zhu Cunqu knew that the Ma family's control over this place had not weakened at all.
Even though Ma Wannian has been granted the title of Marquis and lives in Beijing.
But time wears away everything.
"What is the mountain with the highest stone pillars?"
Zhu Cunqu asked.
The county magistrate Shizhu on the side said hurriedly: "Governor, this is Wanshou Mountain, and there is Wanshou Army Stronghold on it. It was the boundary where Qin Gao ordered to station troops..."
"The Wanshou Mountain was renamed Liangyu Mountain, a temple was built, Mr. Qin was made the God of Liangyu Mountain, and a hundred acres of land was given as a sacrificial field."
Zhu Cunqu said casually.
As the prince, he is qualified to do this.
"yes!"
The magistrate naturally agreed.
On the way back, the guard of honor was walking on the road, and suddenly someone shouted injustice halfway.
"It's unfair, it's unfair!"
Zhu Cunqu smiled helplessly. The story in the play actually happened to him.
"Bring me here!"
Soon, a man in ragged clothes who looked like a beggar was kneeling on the ground. He was very skinny and was being carried over by two soldiers. He was miserable.
"Go on, if you have any grievances, just bring them up!"
There was a bit of excitement in Zhu Cunqu's words.
It was the first time he encountered such a thing, and he was also nervous.
"Master Qingtian, Master Qingtian!"
After shouting a few words, the man fainted.
Okay, neither up nor down.
Zhu Cunqu had no choice but to go directly to Ba County, the capital of Chongqing Province.
Naturally, he had capable people under his command, and he found out everything immediately.
It turned out that the man who complained was named Xiang Cheng, and his father, Xiang Zixian, was the doctor at the county medical center and was responsible for the operation of the entire medical center.
In the past, the emperor required each county to set up medical clinics, and then assigned students from Taiyuan Hospital to settle there as medical officers and doctors of the ninth grade.
For the government, there are doctors of the eighth grade, and for the province, there are doctors of the seventh grade.
Since he is eating royal food, he requires medical clinics to treat patients at affordable prices and not to charge high prices.
Xiang Zixian naturally did not dare to disobey him. After all, he ensured harvests despite droughts and floods, and the court supported him, so he had nothing to fear.
But he couldn't stand it anymore. When he saw a doctor, he diagnosed that the niece of the prefect of Chongqing was pregnant.
Yunying is unmarried, isn't this a slander?
The reputation of the prefect was ruined in one day.
All of a sudden, the entire medical center was smashed.
In addition, as time goes by, people keep shouting that quack doctors are killing people.
The county took him directly to jail.
"I heard that the county trial failed. Isn't there a government trial and an inspection commission?"
Zhu Cunqu was surprised. According to the rules of the Shaowu Dynasty, after the county trial, the government trial would still be on trial. Finally, the prosecutor would make the final pass and report it to the Ministry of Punishment.
Xiang Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "Which of the county general magistrate or the prefecture general magistrate will not give face to the prefect?"
"As for the inspector, how could he know the truth? Not to mention that my father was beaten into a trap..."
The judiciary is independent, and local officials are subject to supervision, but it is no more than the officials protecting each other.
According to common sense, the governor has no right to interfere with the judiciary, but who makes Zhu Cunqu special?
Different from the difficulties in the play, the top-down order was followed by a quick retrial by the inspector, and the Xiang family was cleared.
Almost going through the motions rather than discerning the truth.
After Zhu Cunqu was overjoyed, he frowned.
Is this fair? It's just using big power to suppress small power.
Once you encounter greater power, what does unjust killing mean?
Power is both fascinating and boring.
"Fairness, how can it be fair in this world even if a holy king comes to the court?"
