"In the opinion of the two elders, it is absolutely undesirable to reduce the scale of the imperial examination or cancel it."
Gao Zhang nodded casually, and then asked the second question.
"So based on this, why do we say that the Song Dynasty has a serious problem of redundant officials, bloated institutions and overstaffed people?"
"..." Chen Shilang was about to speak, but Wu Zhizhong raised his hand to stop him. At this moment, Wu Zhizhong carefully looked at Gao Zhang, the erudite and well-educated prodigy. What was important was his intelligence, which could not be compared to ordinary people.
Seeing the other party's calm and confident expression, I couldn't help but feel like an old deer bumping into each other.
"Does my wise nephew have a good solution to solve the problem of bloated institutions and overstaffed people in the Song Dynasty?"
"I dare not say a good strategy, but please remember one thing. As the saying goes, things change with the passage of time. Since our imperial examination strategy in the Song Dynasty is to adapt to the politics of our Song Dynasty."
"And it is the best explanation for the prosperity of our Song Dynasty. In this case, if we want to solve the problem of the overstaffed people and bloated institutions of our Song Dynasty, then naturally we can only take action on the structure of the imperial court."
"My dear nephew, be careful..." Chen Shilang couldn't help but change his face and quickly spoke to stop him.
"Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, we have tried to reform the imperial institution since the reign of Renzong for nearly a hundred years, but we have not been able to solve this shortcoming."
"On the contrary, the more reforms are made, the more bloated the organization becomes, and the disadvantages of overstaffing become more obvious."
Wu Zhizhong nodded slightly, stroking his long beard and staring at Gao Zhang with burning eyes, wanting to know if he could think of any magic method.
"Perhaps it's because those who made the changes did not consider the interests pursued by the officials in the imperial court."
After hearing this, Wu Zhizhong couldn't help frowning and subconsciously retorted.
"All the princes in the court are officials of the country. The so-called ones are our Song Dynasty..."
But after he had just said a few words, he saw Gao Zhang looking at him with a smile, and folding his hands in front of his chest, as if I don't say anything, I'll just watch you brag.
Wu Zhizhong, a veteran of three dynasties who was loyal to the Song Dynasty, was directly punished. He looked at this kid with a dark face, always feeling that he was asking for a beating.
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Seeing Wu Zhizhong's dark face and unwilling to speak, Chen Shilang simply lowered his head and drank tea.
Gao Zhang then bowed apologetically to the elder Wu Zhizhong, but at this moment, his words were like a knife.
"People in the Ming Dynasty do not speak secretly. If the officials of the Song Dynasty only wanted to be remembered in history and serve the country loyally.
So how did Xixia survive for more than a hundred years? Why did we, the Song Dynasty, sit back and watch the Liao Kingdom occupy the sixteen states of Youyan, our Han family, and did nothing? "
"..." Wu Zhizhong opened his mouth, with countless reasons in his stomach, but at the same time, Wu Zhizhong also knew very well that the Song Dynasty's national policy of promoting culture and restraining military force must be correct.
However, how could he not know what the civil servants in the court were like? If it was caused by a foolish king on the spot.
But which one of the original Emperors Renzong and Shenzong was not a wise master? The results of it? Still different...
Wu Zhizhong wiped his face and finally sighed helplessly.
"My dear nephew, I know that you have great talents, so you must have a good solution. Please tell me frankly, my dear nephew, and don't make us so worried again."
"Actually, it's very simple. One is that the scale of the imperial examination cannot be reduced, so increase the threshold. The other is that there are too many people to do the work, so clearly add more institutions and implement people."
"..." Chen Shilang and Wu Zhizhong looked at Gao Zhang, who raised two fingers and looked like what I said was simple.
It always felt like he had said everything, but it seemed like he had said nothing.
But the problem is, whether it's the first or the second idea, it seems that this kid has a good idea.
"When I say my wise nephew, you mean that you have two strategies to solve the problem of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty?"
Gao Zhang thought for a while, considering that the character of these two people was still very guaranteed, it was these two who took action when he became the provincial leader.
Even in his palace examination, these two were in partnership with the master, which made people in the world feel that he relied not on officials but on his own talents and knowledge to get the top spot on the gold medal list.
Gao Zhang nodded, thought for a while, and decided to start with the hard part and then the easy part, depending on whether they would take the bait.
"My nephew, I will start with the court institutions. For example, the problem of overstaffing is actually due to unclear responsibilities and powers."
"Concerning this point, my nephew and I were deeply touched when I was working in Suzhou, Jiangnan."
As soon as these words came out, both Chen Shilang and Wu Zhizhong sat upright and listened attentively.
After all, Gao Zhang served in Suzhou and his political achievements were outstanding enough to make everyone in the world know that he was a capable official. Since he analyzed it from this aspect, he must have something to say.
First of all, the first point is three provinces, six ministries, twenty-four divisions, nine temples and five eunuchs. This is the basic structure of the imperial court of the Song Dynasty.
Again, this is inherited from the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps the Chinese nation likes to talk about auspicious numbers.
It is almost impossible to change the three provinces, six ministries and nine temples, so why not change it?
For example, during the Tang and Sui dynasties, the three provinces were the most important and were divided into six divisions. But in fact, three provinces and six departments are simply not enough.
Let’s take a simple example of one of the household departments, which is responsible for national household registration, land, currency, various taxes, official salaries, and financial expenditures.
Look, just one Ministry of Revenue is equivalent to the combination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Land Bureau, the Taxation Bureau, the Ministry of Commerce and even the Central Bank in later generations. The responsibilities and powers of each department are very important.
I don’t know if it is due to the limitations of the times, but I have never been able to list them completely.
For example, in certain periods of the Tang and Song dynasties, there was really no choice but to create three secretaries, or a prime minister could be responsible full-time and a group of officials would follow suit.
Why? Not only the country’s fiscal revenue and expenditure, this is definitely a very important matter.
But later it was merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs. Moreover, if the household department can be directly divided into three or four departments.
Not only can power and responsibilities be clarified, but importantly, a large number of officials can be recruited to do practical work. Those who are specifically responsible for taxation are specifically responsible for taxation.
Those in charge of financial allocations will do your financial allocations.
As for the household registration, disaster relief, and people's livelihood management, this is enough for him to worry about.
Chen Shilang and Wu Zhizhong looked directly at the young man in front of them, while sipping the tea soup, they elaborated on their ideas with reason and evidence.
I was really shocked beyond measure, and I felt more and more that this had great possibility of being implemented.
First of all, the first point is that with two more ministries, there are two more ministers and six ministers, and they all have real power.
The redundant officials in the Song Dynasty were not only in the middle and lower levels of officials, but also in the upper levels. There were also a large number of officials who could not get actual employment, or else they could just live in peace and contentment.
Or you have to find a way to defeat those officials with real power, so that you can ascend to power.
Today, the pain all over my body has eased a bit, and I still have a low fever. Well, there are two more updates, and I’m still writing.
(End of chapter)
