"Your Majesty, I wonder if you still remember what I mentioned to you, which is about the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in my hometown?" Zhong Jinwei asked Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said: "Remember, after Master Zhong said it, I told you to prepare to study when there is a suitable opportunity. Do you mean that now is the right opportunity?"
This was the first time Wen Tiren heard the name of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. He didn't know what it was, so he asked Zhong Jinwei.
So Zhong Jinwei explained it to Wen Tiren again.[
Then he turned to Emperor Chongzhen and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, the current situation is very similar to the background of the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in my hometown. I think it is time to learn from the practices of the Independent Commission Against Corruption!"
"Didn't Master Zhong say that the common people must have the knowledge to judge people, so that reports can be justified and correctly identify whether officials have violated the law?" Emperor Chongzhen remembered the scene at that time and asked Zhong Jinwei with doubts.
Zhong Jinwei immediately replied: "In urgent matters, follow authority!"
When Wen Tiren heard this, he smiled and interjected: "Uncle Zhongxing's previous idea was too demanding. People are not required to be able to supervise and identify corrupt officials. As long as they can report corruption with great influence, they can
It can deter corrupt officials. As for the realm Zhongxingbo mentioned, it can be slowly realized."
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he realized that his previous statement was too idealistic.
Emperor Chongzhen asked with a skeptical attitude: "Is this okay?"
"Your Majesty, Taizu ordered the people back then to inform the people that if an official committed something wrong, he could be directly punished and escorted to the capital. Anyone who dared to stop him would barbarize the nine tribes." Wen Tiren gave the two popular science on the anti-corruption methods of the year.
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he felt a surge of bastard energy rushing towards him. The nine Yi and Qi tribes were so generous. Only Taizu could have the courage to issue such an order!
Then Zhong Jinwei felt that a certain movement in later generations seemed to have a similar form to this. Of course, it was deeper, wider, and lasted longer. I don’t know if the intention was the same.
After hearing what Wen Tiren said, Emperor Chongzhen no longer had any doubts about the common people's knowledge.
He then asked Zhong Jinwei: "How should the Independent Commission Against Corruption be implemented? I think the factory guard already has this function and needs to add another yamen?"
When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he immediately added: "Now the factory guards are also involved in corruption. How should this be solved?"
When it came to the critical step of solving the problem, Wen Tiren stopped stroking his beard leisurely and listened intently to what Uncle Zhong Xing said.
"Your Majesty, this is actually an issue involving the supervision mechanism. I feel that there are overlaps and redundancies in the current supervision mechanism." Zhong Jinwei analyzed.
"Oh, what should I say?" Emperor Chongzhen looked attentive.
"You see, the censor supervises all civil and military officials, the Jin Yiwei supervises all civil and military officials, and the Dongchang also supervises all civil and military officials. Although their respective focuses are slightly different, the difference is not too big. Is this redundant?"
"Does Master Zhong mean to adjust the functions of these three offices?" Emperor Chongzhen guessed.
"Exactly." Zhong Jinwei affirmed loudly.
"Then according to Master Zhong's opinion, how should we adjust it?"[
"Divide the labor according to the different objects of supervision. Officials are divided into civil and military officials, and their functions are different, so the characteristics of corruption are different. I think it would be better if the Metropolitan Procuratorate is dedicated to supervising civil servants, and the Jinyiwei is dedicated to supervising military attachés."
"What about Dongchang?" Emperor Chongzhen reminded, since all civil and military officials are under supervision, who else can Dongchang supervise?
"The East Factory is dedicated to supervising the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jinyiwei."
"Wouldn't that mean that Dongchang is the dominant factory? This doesn't seem to be in line with the balance between factory and guard that Master Zhong mentioned before, right?" Emperor Chongzhen still remembered Zhong Jinwei's original proposal and reminded him.
"Your Majesty, the situation is different, so I think it needs to be changed. Moreover, Dongchang will not be the only one. It can only supervise the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jinyiwei, and other civil servants and generals will have the power to interfere."
Zhong Jinwei said this and added the benefits: "In this way, the three supervisory agencies will supervise each other, and they will have nothing to do with each other and the affiliation of the objects being monitored, which will help prevent the spread of corruption."
Wen Tiren frowned when he heard this: "Who will supervise the East Factory?"
Zhong Jinwei turned to Wen Tiren and replied: "Establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption and let it supervise."
"Another Yamen?" Wen Tiren frowned and asked.
"The ICAC I envisioned is not an ordinary yamen. This is what I think. This ICAC exists in Dongchang, but it has no office space and the personnel list is kept secret. Even the admiral of Dongchang does not know who is from the ICAC. Only
Your Majesty knows. In this way, the yamen with the highest level of supervision can be guaranteed to remain clean, because when anyone wants to do bad things, he must consider whether the people around him are from the Independent Commission Against Corruption."
Zhong Jinwei's statement was very novel. Wen Tiren was not sure whether it was good or bad, so he began to think deeply.
"Do people from the Independent Commission Against Corruption also supervise the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jinyiwei?" Wen Tiren actually thought of something that Zhong Jinwei didn't mention and asked.
"No, the people from the Independent Commission Against Corruption only supervise the East Factory."
"Then can the Independent Commission Against Corruption be deployed to the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Jinyi Guards so that the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Jinyi Guards will not dare to commit corruption or illegal activities? Isn't that okay?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.
"Your Majesty, the more things you secretly supervise, the better, otherwise everyone will be in danger. As the saying goes, if you do too much and make too many mistakes, the officials who handle things may change to the point where they would rather do less than do the wrong things. This is very important to the Ming Dynasty.
It’s not a good phenomenon.”
Zhong Jinwei was thinking about what he was saying. Just as he finished speaking, he remembered another reason and continued to add: "Moreover, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jinyiwei already have Dongchang supervision. If the Independent Commission Against Corruption is added, the supervisory powers will be duplicated.
It’s a waste of manpower, material and financial resources.”
"Then how should I do this ICAC?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't know the specific method.
"For example, Your Majesty selects A and B from the East Factory. These two people do not know that each other has been designated by His Majesty as the head of the ICAC. Then A and B respectively draw up a list of people from the East Factory who they think can serve as the ICAC.
It is left to His Majesty for the final decision. Your Majesty will cross out some duplicate or unfavorable names from the two lists. Then A and B will notify the other party to be selected for the Independent Commission Against Corruption. These people can only contact A or B in a single line. If necessary, there is
I have the right to have a direct audience with His Majesty."
"Master Zhong, I have a few questions about this approach."
"Your Majesty, please speak."
"Is this leader going to have two people, A and B?" Emperor Chongzhen asked.
"Your Majesty, you can decide this based on the situation. If Dongchang is relatively clean and has few violations of laws and disciplines, you can only choose two or one. If there are more violations of laws and disciplines, you can increase it appropriately. However,
We can't let them know how many bosses there are in total."[
"Is this to make them feel that someone is supervising their work and not to take bribes or bend the law?" Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhong Jinwei according to his own understanding.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then why do you need to give me a list and wait for confirmation before informing the other party to become a member of the Independent Commission Against Corruption?" Emperor Chongzhen asked the second question.
"If this is not the case, there may be someone who will be noticed by both A and B and notify them. In this way, this person will know that the two people who notified him are the leaders of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which is not conducive to confidentiality." Zhong Jinwei
explained.
"Then why do you want them to meet me directly?"
"This can limit the conditions for the audience. Only if his superior at the Independent Commission Against Corruption is found to have committed illegal acts, will he have the right to meet with His Majesty. This is also to allow A and B to consider whether they will report it when they ask their subordinates to do illegal things." Zhong Jinwei
Emperor Chongzhen’s problem was immediately explained.
"Oh, that's it." Emperor Chongzhen had no problem and went through what Zhong Jinwei just said in his mind.
Seeing Emperor Chongzhen thinking, Zhong Jinwei turned to Wen Tiren and said: "Master Wen, do you have any opinion on the matter of the Independent Commission Against Corruption?"
"Uncle Zhongxing, didn't you say that the Independent Commission Against Corruption accepts reports from the people? If this agency turns into a secret place, how can people report it?" Wen Tiren really has a problem. Just when Zhong Jinwei came to ask him, he took advantage of the situation and asked.