Chapter 563: Can two strategies solve the problem of redundant officials in our Song Dynasty? (
Chapter 563: Can two strategies solve the problem of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty? (1st update)
Author: sunny
Chapter 563: Can two strategies solve the problem of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty? (1st update)
"In the opinion of the two elders, if we want to reduce the scale of selecting scholars through the imperial examination and win tens of thousands of people, should we cancel it? Otherwise, it is absolutely undesirable behavior."
Gao Zhang nodded casually and then asked the second question.
"So based on this, why do you think that the Song Dynasty had a serious problem of redundant officials, bloated institutions, and overstaffed people?"
"..." Chen Shilang was about to ask for help, but Wu Zhizhong raised his leg to stop him. At this moment, Wu Zhizhong carefully looked at Gao Zhang, the prodigy who was erudite and well-informed. He was extremely intelligent and could not be compared to ordinary people.
Seeing Fang Fang's calm and confident expression, I couldn't help but feel like I had a blue bandage syndrome.
"Does the wise nephew have a good strategy to solve the bloated organization and overstaffing of the Song Dynasty?"
"I dare not say a good strategy, but you two please remember one thing. As the saying goes, things change with the passage of time. Since the imperial examination strategy of the Song Dynasty is to select scholars, it will not adapt to the politics of the Song Dynasty."
"And it is not the best explanation for the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. In this case, if we want to solve the problem of the overstaffed people and bloated institutions of the Song Dynasty, we can naturally move towards 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, he has made mistakes in his attempts to reform the imperial court structure. From the reign of Renzong to the Ming Dynasty for nearly a hundred years, he has not been able to solve this shortcoming."
"On the contrary, the more reforms are made, the more bloated the organization will become, and the disadvantages of overstaffing will 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 is because those who made the changes did not consider the interests pursued by the officials in the imperial court."
After hearing those words, Wu Zhizhong couldn't help but frown, and consciously retorted.
"All the princes in the court are not officials of the country. The so-called officials of the Song Dynasty..."
After he had just said a few words, he saw Gao Zhang looking at him with a smile, hugging his legs to his chest, as if he would look at me and brag if he didn't shut up.
He directly let Wu Zhizhong, a veteran of three dynasties who was loyal to the Song Dynasty, not be punished. He looked at the boy with a sullen face, always feeling that he did not deserve to be beaten.
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Seeing Wu Zhizhong's dark face and unwilling to shut up, Chen Shilang beside him 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 swords.
"People in the Ming Dynasty do not speak secretly, and officials in the Song Dynasty, if not, everyone will seek to be remembered in history and serve the country with loyalty.
So why did the Western Xia Heyuan Bo concubine defeat the Song Dynasty, and why did it ignore the Liao Kingdom and seize the Han family's secluded Yan sixteen states and do nothing?"
"..." Wu Zhizhong opened his mouth, with countless reasons in his stomach. But at the same time, Wu Zhizhong also knew very well whether the Song Dynasty's national policy of promoting culture and restraining military force must be wrong.
But no, he didn't know what kind of behavior the civil servants in the court were in. If it was the result of a cowardly emperor, it was caused on the spot.
Is it possible that the original Emperor Renzong and Emperor Shenzong were not wise masters? So what? Very different...
Wu Zhizhong wiped his face and sighed helplessly.
"My dear nephew, I know that I have great talents, so I must have a good solution. Please tell me frankly, my dear nephew, and don't make him wait in fear anymore."
"In fact, it's very simple. If the scale of the imperial examination cannot be reduced, then increase the threshold. Second, if there are too many people to do the work, then clearly add institutions and implement the tasks by people."
"..." Chen Shilang and Wu Zhizhong looked at Gao Zhang, who raised his legs and fingers, as if what he said was simple.
It always felt like he had said everything, but yet it seemed like he had said nothing.
But the question is no, no matter whether it is the first idea or the second idea, it seems that the boy has a good idea.
"He said he was a wise nephew. Did I say that I have two strategies to solve the problem of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty?"
Gao Zhang thought for a while and considered that the character of those two people was not very reliable. If he could become the provincial leader at that time, he would not be able to get involved with them.
Even in the imperial examination, he could not cooperate with these two masters, which made the people of Tiandong feel that they were relying on the officials rather than their own talents to get the top spot on the gold list.
Gao Zhang nodded, thought about it, and decided whether to do it first and then the easy thing, depending on whether they were hooked or not.
"My nephew, let's start with the government agencies. For example, the problem of overstaffing is actually due to unclear responsibilities and powers."
"Concerning this point, my nephew felt deeply when he was working in Suzhou, Jiangnan."
As soon as these words came out, both Chen Shilang and Wu Zhizhong walked away attentively and listened attentively.
After all, Gao Zhang served in Suzhou and his political achievements were very outstanding, enough for everyone in Tiandong to know whether he was a worthy official. Since he analyzed it from that aspect, he must have something to say.
First of all, the first point is that three provinces, six ministries, twenty-four divisions, nine temples and five eunuchs are not the basic structure of the imperial court of the Song Dynasty.
Similarly, whether this is inherited from the Tang Dynasty, it may be that 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, in the Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, the three provinces were the most important, and the east was divided into six divisions. But in fact, the three provinces and six divisions were not used at all.
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 Accounts is equivalent to a combination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Bureau of Land and Resources, 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 because of the limitations of the times, but I have never been able to list them completely.
For example, in the specific periods of the Tang and Song Dynasties, if there was really no other way, three secretaries could be created, and the prime minister would be responsible for the east side full-time, and a group of officials would follow suit.
Why? It’s not about the country’s fiscal revenue and expenditure, which is a very important matter.
Can it be merged into the household department later? And, if it is possible, the household department can be directly split into three or four departments.
Not only can the powers and responsibilities be clarified, but if the requirements are emphasized, a large number of officials can be attracted to do practical work, and those who are specifically responsible for taxation will be specifically responsible for taxation.
The person in charge of financial allocation will do my financial allocation.
As for whether the Ministry of Household Affairs only handles household registration, disaster relief, and people's livelihood management, that's 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 explained their ideas rationally and well-founded.
I was so shocked that I felt more and more that this was very true and had great feasibility of implementation.
First of all, the first point is that with two more ministries, there are two more ministers and six ministers, and none of them have real power.
The redundant officials in the Song Dynasty were not only at the lower levels of officials, but also at the upper levels. There were also a large number of officials who could not get any real work, so they could just live in peace and quiet.
If you want, just find a way to defeat those officials with real power, so that you can stay in power.
Tomorrow, the pain all over my body has eased a bit, and I have a very low fever. Well, I have two updates. I am writing a lot.
