The number of officials in the Song Dynasty was indeed large. Even after they crossed south and lost half of their territory, they remained at around 40,000.
For comparison, when the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, the number of officials was only 18,000.
It is speculated that the population in the Tang Dynasty was about 80 million, and in the Song Dynasty it peaked at more than 100 million. After the southern crossing, there were still about 70 million. In general terms, four thousand people supported one official in the Tang Dynasty, and two thousand people in the Song Dynasty. A man raises an official.
Therefore, both in terms of total number and proportion, there were indeed too many officials in the Song Dynasty.
But really?
In fact, productivity is developing, society is progressing, and the government's organizational capabilities and administrative efficiency are improving. It is normal for the proportion of officials to increase.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there were 100,000 civil and military officials, so one thousand people supported one official. By later generations, the ratio among developed countries was close to ten to one.
Of course, the officials mentioned here do not include the larger number of subordinate officials and government servants. Although they do not receive royal salaries, they are still essentially supported by the common people. However, even if they are included, this ratio is far lower than that of later generations.
Therefore, in Zhao Mengqi's view, the large number of officials is not a problem. The problem is that these officials do not play their due role. They only take money and do nothing, and they never relax in exploiting the people.
In order to solve the problem of redundant officials, the Song Dynasty carried out more than ten reforms starting from Taizu. The main methods were basically merging provincial government offices and abolishing officials, but they all ended in failure.
Some people are aware of the real crux. For example, during Wang Anshi's reforms, he no longer laid off officials, but instead increased official salaries. The purpose was to "high salary and maintain integrity", reduce corruption and bribery, improve the efficiency of Communist Party members, and even suggested that Xu The salary system is also implemented for officials.
From a certain point of view, the Song Dynasty court was actually a "small government". It advocated that imperial power should not be sent to the countryside. Grassroots society was managed by squires. In a county, there were only three small cats with official salaries. There are two, and administration depends on a larger number of subordinate staff.
This method seems to reduce the national financial expenditure, but in fact, the squires and subordinate officials are using various methods to obtain benefits. For the people, the administrative costs have not been reduced, but are more likely to increase.
Wang Anshi's original intention was to institutionalize hidden costs and integrate them into national management. In fact, his reform did achieve results to a certain extent. Unfortunately, there were too many loopholes and errors in this top-down reform. , and it is difficult to be stable and lasting.
In terms of political wisdom and governance methods, Zhao Mengqi believed that he was far inferior to Wang Anshi. The environment at this time did not allow him to make a big move in the official system, so he planned to try another method. .
From the bottom up, use the farm restructuring to experiment with establishing grassroots management organizations, and then slowly extend them to the upper levels after success.
Zhao Mengqi talked eloquently and expressed his point of view, "The powerful people conceal and pass on taxes, and the petty officials exploit the people. In fact, it is caused by the lack of management. Instead of this, it is better for the government to fill the gaps and get back the "stolen" taxes." We should take on all the responsibilities we should have and establish grassroots organizations so that we can take it from the people and use it for the people as much as possible. "
"Grassroots organization?" Wu Qian muttered this word, and then looked at Zhao Mengqi with some confusion, "What His Highness said seems to be similar to the Baojia system, but I don't know what the difference is?"
The Baojia system actually evolved from the military system. As a grassroots political system, it originated from Wang Anshi's reform. Ten households were one Bao, five Bao were one big Bao, and ten major Bao were one Du Bao.
"The Baojia system focuses on military and public security. It is essentially a kind of rural autonomy. In my vision, it is a comprehensive organization based on production."
"It is not a wholesale implementation, but it will be coordinated with the farm system. The farm will gradually replace the tenancy system with a labor system, and establish a cooperative to organize and manage farming production."
"This cooperative is not a government agency and is mainly of a service nature, but it can be given more functions, including production, life, military, security, education, medical care, finance, taxation, etc., all of which require corresponding professionals. Even if the personnel are not professional, they must at least have a cultural foundation.”
"There were so many scholars in the Song Dynasty, but in the past, only some of them could pass the imperial examination and become officials.
Most of the others did not have a satisfactory way out, and could even be kept in vain by the imperial court. "
"Take the more than 2,000 people in this university as an example. They study day after day for the imperial examination. Many of them have passed the age and still have not given up working hard to become officials. But they failed to pass the exam. Really? Is it because of lack of knowledge? I can't see it, after all, the number of people admitted by the imperial court is limited."
"Besides, relying solely on books may not necessarily lead to true mastery of knowledge. I believe that only through practice can we gain true knowledge. The integration of knowledge and action is the correct way for scholars to make progress."
These words had a big impact on the academic officers. They vaguely understood what King Yan was thinking, but they still needed more thinking to digest it.
Wu Qian's eyes sparkled, "Unity of knowledge and action? Unity of knowledge and action? Your Highness's words seem to be quite subtle. Do you mean to allow students to do practical things while studying? This actually makes sense. The old minister was After graduating, it took many years of practice in performing duties before I could become proficient in government affairs."
Zhao Mengqi continued, "This is one of them. What I want to say is that becoming an official is not the only way out for scholars. Through the experiment of farm cooperatives, more positions suitable for scholars can be explored in the future. Workers, farmers, merchants, military teachers also need to be educated. people."
"Taking a step back, if the refined management I envisioned can be successful, then the government will definitely add more official positions, and this kind of management promotes social production, so naturally it will not be a burden. As long as it can generate value, then A large number of officials will not make them redundant."
Wu Qian nodded thoughtfully, "In this way, it will be a good thing for teachers and students in the official school."
Several academic officers also figured it out at this time. The increase in official positions was not only good for students, but also meant that they themselves had a path to advancement.
The Song Dynasty was very cautious in the selection and appointment of academic officials. They must have good moral conduct and be knowledgeable. Being a Jinshi is only a qualification. You often have to pass a special examination to become an academic officer. After that, there are strict assessments and supervision. .
However, local academic officials who have strict requirements and heavy responsibilities do not receive corresponding treatment. They are even called "cold officials". Their status is low, promotion is difficult, and their income is meager. Many academic officials spend their entire lives in the eighth or ninth grade. Wandering, if you can become a county magistrate, you will be lucky.
When it came to their own interests, several academic officers began to feel that King Yan's idea of adding more officials was actually quite good...
Zhao Mengqi added, "In order to adapt to the demand, I think the current teaching subjects of Pingjiang Prefecture need to be improved."
The official school itself was aimed at cultivating civil servants, and the courses followed the content of the imperial examination. At this time, they mainly included classics and poems, as well as some related courses such as legal documents.
"In the past, the imperial court also opened many vocational schools for martial arts, arithmetic, medicine, law, painting, etc., but they have all been abandoned. I hope that Pingjiang Fuxue will not just focus on the imperial examinations and remain self-proclaimed, but can become a comprehensive school. A comprehensive university should not only include the above subjects, but also establish agriculture, engineering, construction, water conservancy, geography, navigation, etc. As long as the knowledge can be useful to people, it should be treated as knowledge and studied exclusively!"
"Now there are less than 2,000 students in the school. This is not enough, far from enough. Even if it is increased ten times or a hundred times, it should be increased!"
Zhao Mengqi said he was happy, and he didn't care whether his views could be accepted by people at this time, he just threw them out anyway.
I have long heard that King Yan has unique ideas about the school. He has expressed some ideas in the court through the topic of civil and military disputes, and he even personally proposed and presided over the construction of a new sect.
Unexpectedly, Lin'an's new school was still building a house. King Yan now had his mind set on Pingjiang's school, and his idea seemed to be bolder. Or maybe he had such an idea before, but he just didn't expose it.
Although the academic officials felt a little awkward and resistant, they thought of the new way out that King Yan had said before. In order to "apply it", you have to "learn it" first. Besides, King Yan did not reduce the original share of official education. It seems that it is not unacceptable to affect the interests of those who are interested in the imperial examination.
And if the government school really expands tenfold or a hundredfold, it will naturally produce various tangible and intangible benefits. Then academic officials like myself are the direct beneficiaries, so why bother?
What about objections?
Professor Zeng stood up and said with a serious expression, "Your Highness, although what you said makes sense, I still believe that Confucianism is the orthodox knowledge, and official studies must adhere to this principle."
Then the voice changed, "But the sage also said that there is no distinction between education. The lifelong wish of our scholars is to educate all people in the world. Naturally, we are also happy to see His Highness expand the scale of the school. It is said that tolerance means greatness. I am a Confucian scholar. In fact, it is not closed-minded. Taking Confucianism as the foundation and miscellaneous studies as its purpose should not go against the original intention of the saint. The official is willing to help His Highness give it a try, but the official has doubts about where the school's funds come from and where the students come from. Where do you come from, where do teachers come from?”
Zhao Mengqi thought Professor Zeng was going to object at first, but he didn't expect that he would take such a big detour. He didn't know whether it was to convince himself or to show others a high-sounding reason.
No matter what Xiao Jiujiu wants in his heart, as long as he can support it, Zhao Mengqi will welcome it.
"Your doubts are generally solved by farmland. Through the reform of official land, the tax revenue of Pingjiang Prefecture will increase greatly in the future. However, under our government's system, we cannot leave much money to the local government, so I think, Directly allocating a proportion of the income from the farm to be used exclusively for education will definitely be more sufficient and stable than the funding provided by the previous school farm system."
"What about student sources? In the short term, students in existing prefecture and county schools who have little hope of passing the imperial examination can be transferred to study other subjects. At the same time, I plan to open elementary schools in every farm and select students from government schools to serve as teachers. , outstanding students trained by the Mongolian School can enter the government schools, and as an important component of the cooperative, the teachers of the Mongolian School are also responsible for the accounting of the cooperative, as well as daily supervision and some related management."
This farm system, under the design of Zhao Mengqi, has formed many different stakeholders, such as nominal owners like Zhao Feng, people who hold land certificates, the government that collects taxes, and then the government, county schools and farmers. The interests are tied together, and when the time comes, we will jointly manage and supervise each other.
"As for miscellaneous subjects teachers, it is not something that can be accomplished overnight anyway. You can first recruit talents from the private sector and improve while teaching. I will make arrangements in this regard, so you don't have to worry too much."
Everything takes time to develop. Zhao Mengqi's ideas must go through a long period of exploration and improvement before they can be successful. Just take the first step and take your time.
