Chapter Nine Hundred and Eighty Eight: Restoration or Revolution
After dinner, Jia Liu returned to the temporary office at the fellow villager's home to continue working.
The villagers are the Manchurian aborigines of the Xianglan Banner who have lived in Ant Village for a hundred years. The village is now filled with women, old people and children. The young and middle-aged people have been recruited by the deputy capital of Jinzhou to defend the city.
About 800 meters east of the temporary office site is the imperial camp with flags fluttering and strict guards, with three floors inside and three floors outside.
However, just as Jia Liu rarely took special trains, he never stayed in the imperial tent.
No matter where I go, I always like to stay in the courtyard of a fellow villager, saying that it is convenient to understand the people's sentiments and understand the sufferings of the people.
He does not like to wear the emperor's dragon robe except on necessary occasions, because he feels that wearing a dragon robe will easily separate him from the masses, will also create an insurmountable class, and will invisibly increase the communication barriers between him and his subjects.
Therefore, after leaving customs, I basically wear a large cotton-padded jacket and a dog-skin hat.
It's very simple, the kind that doesn't change its original intention.
In the office, the Prime Minister and Deputy Ministers Lao Ji and Queenie were working. Because the two Prime Ministers and Deputy Ministers could not bear the severe cold outside the customs, they specially had four heaters built in the office.
One each in the southeast, northwest and northwest.
Fortunately, it was burned with charcoal. If it had been burned with coal, the two prime ministers and deputy ministers might have been buried in the imperial mausoleum early.
However, from the perspective of historical materialism, being buried in the imperial mausoleum in advance is not necessarily a bad thing for the two prime ministers and deputy ministers, because another diary carried by His Majesty the Emperor that has never been made public contains discussions about anti-corruption and anti-bureaucracy.
.
"Only when all the cabinet members, 80% of the ministry and monastic officials, and 90% of the local officials are sent to Siberia can it show that the reform cause led by me has achieved initial success."
Because the contents of this diary were too scary and would easily lead to political instability if leaked, Jia Liu was still worried about it even if he carried it with him when sleeping, so he wrote this secret diary in English.
Mixed with Japanese, Korean, Russian, French, etc.
Some key places are also replaced with ***.
This ensures that even if his wives secretly open the diary while he is sleeping, they will not be able to read this heavenly book due to language barriers.
As smart as Jia Liu, no one will believe him.
"have eaten?"
"have eaten."
After saying hello to the two hamsters who were busy working, Jia Liu came to his desk, habitually cleared the table first, then made himself a pot of tea, then sat down and picked up the latest issue of "
Daqing Daily read it carefully with a magnifying glass.
The content in the newspaper was very progressive, the views were correct, and the reporting situation was also very good, which gave Jia Liu a sense of accomplishment.
While they were watching with great interest, Lao Ji and Queenie quietly looked at each other, and then they both stood up and presented to His Majesty the Emperor a streamlined plan for the various departments of the imperial court that had just been sent from Beijing.
The plan was worked out by Prime Minister Bo Qing'e and Deputy Prime Minister Li Huihui, who presided over the overall situation in Beijing.
If the emperor has no objection, the cabinet will fully implement it after the New Year.
"The plan has been drawn up. Is it so efficient?"
Jia Liu hurriedly took over the plan and looked at it carefully. He couldn't help being stunned at this sight. He raised his head and asked Ji and Kui in confusion: "Are you sure this is the plan to streamline the court departments drawn up by the cabinet?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The two prime ministers and deputy ministers responded in the affirmative.
There won't be any fake ones.
"Sure?"
Jia Liu took the plan in his hand and shook it in front of the two prime ministers and deputy ministers, and emphasized: "Are you sure that this plan is in line with my guiding spirit of streamlining the imperial organization?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The two prime ministers and deputy ministers said in unison.
"Fuck your mother!"
An unknown fire surged up from the bottom of his heart. He was so angry that Jia Liu slapped the plan on the table with a bang and yelled at the two prime ministers and deputy ministers: "What is streamlining? The less the better,
Damn it, you'd better keep it simple, the more you get! Is this called streamlining? That's right!"
Yu Yin was like a dragon roaring, causing the dust on the beams of the office to shake off.
Can you not be angry?
Originally, there were only six central agencies in the Qing Dynasty, including the Ducha Yuan, the Li Fan Yuan, and the Hanlin Academy; and sixteen institutions including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dali Temple, Taipu Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, and the General Affairs Department.
According to the past Manchu and Han Tang official system, these sixteen institutions produced a total of 108 Manchu and Han chief officials and deputy chief officials.
For example, there are one Manchu minister, one Han minister, two Manchu ministers, and two Han ministers in the Ministry of Personnel.
Then there are six chief and deputy ministers of the Ministry of Personnel.
Now that the Restoration has taken place, Manchus and Han are equal, and there is no longer any distinction between Manchus and Han in holding positions. According to Jia Liu's wishes, each ministry has one minister and two ministers.
In this way, three chief and deputy ministers can be eliminated at once.
The existing sixteen imperial agencies were also adjusted according to their different functions, reduced by half and divided into eight central-level agencies.
In this way, the number of officials in the hall can be reduced by dozens, and the number of officials below can be eliminated by thousands.
The abolished hall officials may be appointed as councilors with the title of minister of state affairs, or they may settle their seniority in one lump sum and go through retirement procedures.
Officials who are not court officials and staff who hold non-leadership positions will be reorganized and reassigned to other institutions. Those who fail to pass the assessment will be given certain financial compensation to clear out the civil service team.
For example, Manchu and Mongolian pen stickers, worshiping Tang'a, etc. are rampant in various yamen.
These positions have been reserved for bannermen since the beginning of the People's Republic of China. Many important officials have used this position as a springboard to reach the top of their lives. For example, Lao Bo, Queeni, and Asiha either worked as translators in their early years.
, or just take the pen-and-stick approach.
There are a lot of people who take the path of worshiping Tang'a, but there are not many big shots. Except for the emperor Jia Liu, there are only a few. But there are many middle-level officials who come out of worshiping Tang'a. These people control a lot of real power from the central to the local level.
The talents of important positions are close to zero, so they need to be cleaned up.
For this reason, Jia Liu specially issued an edict to the cabinet and designated the translator Jinshi, pen post style, and worship Tang A as the three backgrounds that must be sorted out.
And these three types of people are all bannermen. Jia Liu took action on his compatriots in order to convince the military and civilians across the country and lay the foundation for a comprehensive rectification of officialdom.
After all, the reform started with the Eight Banners, which Jia Liu repeatedly emphasized on several occasions. At the same time, he also told officials many times that the Eight Banners must atone for their past crimes, so that they could let go of their historical baggage and better integrate into the new era of reform.
Of course, abolition is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
One test determines the future.
Of course those who pass the exam can stay in their job, but those who fail the exam should not blame others.
Both Manchu and Han people are treated equally.
Starting from the central government to clean up and rectify institutions and officials on a large scale, firstly, the administrative efficiency of the court can be greatly improved, and secondly, a lot of expenses can be saved.
All temporary official positions such as team leaders and counselors created by Qianlong were abolished.
Formalization is the foundation of a country's strength.
Therefore, Jia Liu attached great importance to the streamlining plan of the imperial government agencies. As a result, the streamlining plan developed by the cabinet turned the original 16 central-level agencies into 48!
Do you think he can be angry?
Before the reform was successful, the government team he organized was blatantly following his instructions, and even openly defied his instructions, which Jia Liu couldn't tolerate.
"This is called downsizing? Just use this lake to mess with me! I have just ascended the throne as emperor, and I haven't covered my butt yet. I have decreed that I can't leave the Forbidden City, so I can't move you!"
The anger made Jia Liu's true dragon face become a little distorted, and the anger even made him lose his mind.
The office was filled with the roar of the real dragon, and everyone was affected wherever the sound wave went. Even Lao Chen, who was talking to the gang leader at the beach, was also affected and could not help but shudder.
"Before the reform was successful, I was completely ignored! What on earth do you want to do!"
With a crash, the official documents on the desk were thrown to the ground by the furious Jia Liu.
"If this is what you want, then I will announce my resignation immediately, and then lead my people to pile sandbags at Zhengyang Gate to attack the evil Bastille!"
The excited Jia Liu couldn't help swinging his right fist, with a sickly blush on his face: "I want to learn from France and reform its bad government! For the sake of the country, I would like to be Rousseau, Voltaire! Danton, Robespierre
, Cromwell! For that Mussolini, for that... Hi!"
"..."
A bit hysterical.
The air is filled with the smell of hormones, and spittle stars are flying all over the sky.
The other two were the Prime Minister and Deputy Ministers who were dumbfounded.
Even though the two adults have made rapid progress, they still don't understand the golden words spoken by His Majesty the Emperor.
"Tell me, do you want reform or revolution?"
With the sound of Qiang Qiang's punch setting the tone, Jia Liu gave two choices.
If you want to reform, listen to me and let us all be happy together.
If there is a revolution, either I will be guillotined or you will hang up street lights!
"..."
The atmosphere in the room was a bit tense.
After a while, Lao Ji coughed lightly: "Your Majesty, regarding the adjustment plan of the imperial department, please don't be impatient and let me explain slowly."
After saying that, he picked up the thermos cup and opened the lid and took two sips.
After that, he said slowly that this plan was completely formulated in accordance with the streamlined requirements of His Majesty the Emperor, but on this basis, the current national conditions of the Qing Dynasty were properly considered, and the plan was finally introduced after consulting all parties.
Therefore, this plan is the collective wisdom, not the opinion of one individual in the cabinet.
"Chen and Kui Zhongtang agree with this plan, because this plan can well solve many practical problems at present, and can get the unanimous support of civil and military officials, Manchu and Han soldiers and civilians, especially it can reasonably solve the problem of the removal of old officials.
Leave questions..."
The old officials mentioned by Lao Ji refer to the officials of the Qianlong Dynasty in the past. According to the emperor's intention, all these officials should be removed from their posts through explicit promotion and covert promotion, so that they can be sent to the House of Representatives. However, in practice, this method is obviously inappropriate and too radical.
, after all, the current Reform Dynasty has not yet unified the country.
There are still many hostile forces at home and abroad.
Therefore, the cabinet reached the unanimous conclusion after the closed-door meeting that they should unite the old officials and allow these old officials to still serve in the court on the premise of basically implementing His Majesty the Emperor's clear responsibilities for the court departments.
Thus, there is a plan to expand the 16 departments into 48 departments.
With the creation of more than thirty departments at once, old officials and new officials can be well arranged.
Queenie took over Lao Ji's words: "In the past, the Ministry of Rites was in charge of the five rituals and the school's tribute system. Now, according to His Majesty's request, the department's responsibilities must be clear and direct, and the department must be directly responsible. Then the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, which is in charge of diplomacy, will
Is it very reasonable to merge and split into three independent departments: education, diplomacy, and culture?"
"Um?..."
Jia Liu said nothing because it sounded more reasonable.
Lao Ji struck while the iron was hot: "There is also the Ministry of Household Affairs. In the past, as a large department, it was responsible for too many things, which led to a bloated administrative structure and low efficiency. Now the Ministry of Household Affairs has been split into four independent departments: finance, agriculture, commerce, and taxation, right?
Very necessary?"
"Um."
Jia Liu remained silent, but the anger on his face gradually disappeared. He picked up the plan on the table and looked at it carefully. He hesitated and said weakly: "Although the new department plan includes transportation, finance, national defense, diplomacy and other matters,
It has been strengthened and has a clear department, but I feel that the industry is a bit lacking. The Ministry of Industry alone is not enough to show that I attach great importance to industrialization...
Can it be further split into the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Ministry of Light Industry? Of course, this is my personal opinion. Whether it is feasible or not should be discussed by the cabinet and come up with a charter."
"Your Majesty is right. What makes our reform different from the past is that we manage all government affairs in a concrete manner and adjust them according to changes in the international situation..."
The two prime ministers and deputy ministers both agreed with His Majesty the Emperor's proposal. Queenie also thoughtfully took out a large Qianmen cigarette in his pocket and handed one to the Emperor, and then helped the Emperor light it.
I didn't give it to Lao Ji because he didn't like this kind of paper cigarettes and still liked to smoke his big pipe.
"I have no experience in governing the country in the past. It is inevitable that I am a little immature in some places. You cabinet ministers should help me more with my work in the future..."
After gently patting Queenie's right hand which lit the fire for him, Jia Liu puffed out the smoke.
The atmosphere became cheerful again.
After smoking a cigarette, Jia Liu suddenly asked the two prime ministers and deputy ministers with some confusion: "I have a doubt, I don't know whether I should talk about it or not."
Lao Ji hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter if you say so."
Jia Liu nodded and asked curiously: "How did you come up with the finance, transportation, culture, and diplomacy departments?"
"Um?"
Lao Ji was stunned, "Aren't these the same things that appear repeatedly in His Majesty's diary? Why doesn't His Majesty know about them?"
"Is there any?"
Jia Liu himself was confused. His publicly released diary was actually a sentence or two he wrote when he was bored in his spare time. It was not systematic or relevant, but I don’t know how these guys could write it down.
Those words are connected together.
Just as he was wondering, Luo Yuan, deputy director of the Internal Affairs Committee, came secretly to report.
"Fullehun openly claimed that the emperor was born from the beggar gang. He also said that as long as Qianlong followed him well, he might not be unable to be restored to power in the future! Your Majesty, your ambition is clearly revealed, and Fulehun's heart is known to everyone on the road!"
Deputy Director Luo was particularly angry and excited: "I believe that your Majesty must not let the situation develop, and should take strong and powerful measures to immediately crush the reactionary group headed by Fulehun!"
"Is the old rich man so brave?"
Lao Ji and Queenie were also shocked by the old rich man's rebellious words and couldn't understand how the old rich man dared to do this.
"This old rich man really wishes that Old Chen would not die."
Jia Liu smiled and didn't take it seriously, because he knew that the old rich man was tempting Lao Chen to commit a crime and wanted to push Lao Chen into the abyss.
Seeing that the emperor was writing about the matter lightly, Luo Yuan became anxious. Just as he was about to make a comment, someone else came in, but it was someone from the attendant's room.
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from Commander Wang of the Eastward Regiment!"
The guard in charge of official documents handed over the urgent telegram.
Jia Liu took it and looked at it, then threw it on the table and asked the guard to call back to Dongjin Corps Headquarters, saying that he understood.
Lao Ji stepped forward and asked curiously: "Your Majesty, what happened?"
"Nothing, Jinzhou is liberated."
Jia Liu looked like it was no big deal and bent down to pick up the official documents that he had dropped when he was angry.
Jinzhou was liberated?!
The two prime ministers and deputy ministers were so shocked by the news that they were speechless for a long time. Didn't they say that it would take at least half a month to capture Jinzhou, but it was captured in just three days?
"What's all the fuss about? My army has always been invincible. Not to mention the small Jinzhou, even Shengjing can only fall overnight."
Jia Liu's face was full of pride. The army he had built with his own hands might not be able to keep up with the revolutionary army, but at least it could compare with the troops of the Beiyang warlords.