In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 390 Divided into Provinces
  Li Changfu looked at Li Liang and said, "Li Liang, at your age, as long as you don't get injured, you will at least be able to serve as a commander or even a general. My dear, it will be a big deal if you come back."

Li Liang smiled, then patted Zheng Youcai's son and relatives' sons to sign up.

He said that both relatives and Zheng Youcai's son wanted to enter the reading class.

Li Changfu looked around and whispered: "There are not enough people in the study class, so we can't recruit all of them, but we are our own people. To be honest, it is better to be a craftsman's apprentice."

"Think about it, there are so many scholars in Caizhou, how many of them can be officials?"

"Now that I have studied, there is no good place for me. Our generals can compete with them when they come back, and we will give priority to becoming street mayors and town mayors."

"Students don't want to be street chiefs." After all, the mayor and the mayor are not officials, but just officials.

"But craftsmen are different. They become officials when they come out, and they can also become officials in the future."

Li Changfu's words are similar to those of Mrs. Zheng Youcai. There are hundreds of students in a state's schools now. How many will be officials in the future? It's better to be a craftsman.

Li Liang and Zheng Youcai looked at each other and frowned, "I'm just afraid that the craftsmen will be sent abroad in the future."

"We have imperial craftsmen in Haisan City and Haisanwei. How can I bear the pain of going to such a far away place?"

Li Changfu said: "Aren't officials sent out? With a transfer order from the imperial court, they can go wherever they are told?"

"Also, your baby will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future? You don't even know how old your baby is?"

Zheng Youcai's son is nine years old. It is obviously a little late for him to start studying at this time.

"The craftsmen still have to go to the battlefield." Zheng Youcai added: "Now the imperial court is sending out a large army, and they will all bring craftsmen with them."

"Three years as an apprentice and five years as a worker. It will be at least eight years before they go to war. Besides, we don't want them to fight. They only use repair tools. It's a shame."

Li Changfu smiled and said, and the imperial court recruited relatively few local craftsmen.

Caizhou only recruited twenty people in the whole state last year. Once they were recruited, they would come back after the war, and they would not be recruited again for the next three years.

After thinking about it, the two brothers thought it would be better to take a craftsman's apprenticeship class.

Poor Zheng Youbin just got two positions, but they were changed instantly.

At that time, classes were held all over the Song Dynasty. As Zhao and Rui thought, both the doctor's apprentice class and the craftsman apprentice class were full, but those who specialized in studying were not full.

Why are you dissatisfied? The main reason is that the court does not pay attention to scholars now.

For example, in the local organizations after the reorganization of the imperial court, the posts of chief security officer, chief security officer, street chief, and town mayor are almost all held by people who have retired from the military.

Now even the county magistrate level above the town mayor and mid-level military generals are participating.

The path for scholars to become officials became increasingly narrow. The imperial examinations were highly competitive and the imperial court strictly controlled the number of officials.

During the reign of Zhao and Rui, the number of officials in each county was determined based on the local population. Every time the population increased by a certain amount, one official would be added. This allowed counties in some remote areas to spend one, two, or even three years No new officers will be recruited for four years.

In the past, the only way for ordinary people to get ahead was through the imperial examination, but that is no longer the case. There are three ways: craftsman, doctor, and soldier.

This makes it difficult to fill the reading class with students.

Of course, in the eyes of most landowners, small landowners, and businessmen, the imperial examination is still the priority.

After the imperial examination, the starting point is relatively high.

This is also Zhao Yurui's balancing act to suppress scholars while promoting them.

A craftsman starts from the ninth rank, a doctor starts from the eighth rank, and now after passing the imperial examination, he starts from the seventh rank.
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  In August of the second year of Yuanzhen.

Li Liang and Zheng Youcai have returned to Haisan City.

Zhao Yurui of Lin'an is summoning cabinet members to discuss political affairs.

There are several things that need to be discussed and confirmed this year and next year. The first is to fix the roads (provinces), prefectures and counties, etc., the second is to determine the personnel establishment again, the third is to determine the number of troops, and the fourth is to determine several important financial expenditures, etc. Wait, there are nearly ten things in total.

Of course, Zhao Yurui came one by one, first determining the location and personnel, and the main purpose was to unify planning and organization.

During the Song Dynasty before Zhao and Rui, the imperial court set up roads for local management.

The roads in the Song Dynasty are equivalent to provinces, but they are different from provinces.

In addition, in the Song Dynasty, there were also systems to set up envoys along the coast and along the river.

These are different from the local system, but they sound similar.

Zhao and Rui had already gone through a restructuring during their tenure, cutting down the relevant coastal and riverside envoys and merging them into local governments.

But in the Southern Song Dynasty, the area was still divided into two Zhejiang East Roads and two Zhejiang West Roads.

Zhao Yurui also changed his mind later, but at that time he still prioritized development and was anxious to confront Jin Meng, so his change was more hectic and simple.

At that time, there were not many ministers who were trusted by him. Many places were merged and put in charge of one person.

Now that Zhao Yurui has been in office for more than ten years, he has firmly controlled the country and has also cultivated a large number of honest and capable ministers who can be trusted.

Therefore, Zhao Yurui had to re-plan and fix the road province.

He was the first to ask whether he should save the money or use the road in the future.

In fact, before the meeting, he had already discussed it alone with Chief Assistant Li Zongmian, Deputy Prime Minister Wei Liaoweng, Ge Hong and others.

After listening to Zhao and Rui's explanation, most people tended to use less.

Zhao and Rui first communicated with important core ministers, and then usually received strong support when holding cabinet meetings. At the same time, he also showed that he respected the opinions of the ministers, not the emperor's words.

As soon as Zhao Yurui finished speaking, Zheng Qingzhi was the first to speak: "What is the difference between a road and a province?"

Zhao Yurui noticed that Zhao Rushu glanced at Zheng Qingzhi first, and then Zheng Qingzhi spoke.

These two people used to be Shi Miyuan's confidants, but now they seem to be on the same side.

But Zhao Yurui's cabinet deliberately arranged a group of Shi Miyuan's former subordinates to check and balance officials from another department.

He cannot make the cabinet full of honest or honest ministers, otherwise it will be difficult for him as the emperor to do things.

Only Li Pingxia, Shader and others massacred Mongolian herdsmen in Xiliao and other places, including the relocated Han people, and some ministers were able to resist the death of the emperor.

Zhao Yurui used more upright and traditional people in the court. Most of these people were more like saints and would care for the people when governing the place, but they certainly could not use all such people.

Zheng Qingzhi is also considered a famous official in history. It is difficult to say whether he is upright or not. Anyway, he will not do big bad things, but he is also very ruthless when targeting political opponents.

He is now in the court together with Zhao Rushu, Yu Tianxi, and Liang Chengda, which can be regarded as a faction. Of course these four people have one thing in common, they are all Shi Miyuan's former confidants.

In addition, Li Zongmian, Wei Liaoweng, Li Huang, and Qin Zhuo were all in the same group. They were the first to follow Zhao Yurui. Except for Li Zongmian who was a bit of a virgin, the other three were fine and supported the emperor in everything he did. , I can pretend I didn’t see the massacre, I’m a pragmatist.

In the words of Zhao Yurui, in a war, as long as it can reduce casualties on one's own side, anything can be done, and as long as the battle can be won, any means can be used.

In addition, Xu Yuan, Du Fan, and Zhao Yurui are a little later, but they are closer to the above four, and they can barely be considered a group.

The rest, Ge Hong, Deng Ruoshui, Yang Changru, Hu Mengyu, Huang Pu, Xie Fangshu and others are relatively traditional or upright ministers.

If the emperor is eager for quick success or does something ruthless, they will unite to persuade the emperor, and sometimes even object. Of course, the opposition is basically ineffective.

Qiao Xingjian was a special one in the cabinet. He did not form cliques with anyone, but generally speaking, he was considered a liberal. He was the first to agree to form an alliance with Jin and deal with Mongolia first.

After Zhao Yurui formed an alliance with Jin, and then suddenly rebelled and attacked the Jin Kingdom, Qiao Xingjian did not complain. Only Ge Hong and others felt that the emperor was unrighteous, had no martial ethics, and had no Confucianism.

After Zhao Yurui spoke, Zheng Qingzhi spoke first, and Zhao Yurui was quite satisfied.

It is very beneficial to have a party of traitors like Zhao Rushu and Liang Chengda in the court (although Yu Tianxi and Zheng Qingzhi are with them, they are not actually traitors. It is just that they were united together because they were Shi Miyuan's subordinates before).

Because traitorous ministers always cater to the emperor.

Therefore, as long as Zhao Yurui proposes, these people will support and cater to Li Zongmian's faction. As long as Zhao Yurui wants to do something, he does not need to suppress it as the emperor, and he can basically be in the cabinet. pass.

"As for roads, the main officials at the road level are the same as before."

"But if the province is changed, the names of relevant officials may need to be changed, and new grades may need to be added."

After Zhao Yurui finished speaking, he turned around and motioned to Li Huang, the Minister of Staff, to explain.

Li Huang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was formerly the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. After serving for five years, he changed his position with Du Fan, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu in the sixth year of Baoqing.

Now in the second year of Yuanzhen, it was changed to Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Among these ministers and cabinet members, except for Xu Yuan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was a craftsman and relatively professional, and has never been replaced, basically all other ministries have been rotated.

As for Emperor Li's road, the chief officials remained the same as before, including the zhizhi envoys and deputy envoys, and the subordinates were all division chiefs. This was the restructuring in the second year of Baoqing's second year when Zhao Yurui ascended the throne. There were ten divisions at the road level, which was equivalent to In the ten departments of the province in later generations, the aforementioned coastal system envoys, coastal system envoys, and the former Yanke Coin Casting Department were all combined into these ten departments, which greatly increased the power of the system at that time. .

Of course, the setup back then meant that many people had served in the cabinet, and they were all Zhao Yurui's confidants.

This time, another department will be added, called the Chao Zi Department, which corresponds to the Maritime Trade Department at the center of the imperial court (the current minister is Qin Zhuo).

So if it is still called a road, the rest remains the same, except that there is an additional court capital department, whose function is to manage the factories below.

In the past, the imperial court had various factories below, such as shipyards and so on, which belonged to the Ministry of Industry, while salt fields, mines, etc. used to belong to the Ministry of Commerce and Taxation.

The import and export business of sugar factories, silk fabrics, ceramics, etc. belongs to the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

After the establishment of the Department of Korean Assets, it was under the direct management of the Ministry of Maritime Trade. The local establishment was regarded as a dual management department, but the main department was still the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

Generally, principal positions are determined by the court, and deputy positions can be recommended by local governments.

Hearing this, Zheng Qingzhi asked again: "What does the Secretary of State Capital do?"

"In addition to the shipyard, which also belongs to the Ministry of Industry, other factories (fields), including the sugar factory, are placed under the Department of Capital Assets," Qin Zhuo said.

Because the North Korean Assets Department corresponds to the Ministry of Maritime Trade, it is actually placed under the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

Everyone couldn't help but glance at Qin Zhuo. Qin Zhuo's maritime trade department had great power and was in charge of making money.

In fact, it is equivalent to grouping all the imperial enterprises of later generations into one place.

Of course, the court also supported private merchants, but for the expansion of the empire, the first factor was that the court could make money, otherwise it would not be able to pay for the expenses of the huge empire, so it was also important to expand the court enterprises of the Song Dynasty.

Of course, he couldn't let the people below stuff all the seven aunts, eight aunts and eight aunts into the government capital department, resulting in bloated staff and losses every year.

From now on, every factory in the Chaozi Department will give priority to recruiting employees from retired sergeants. Of course, they can also be hereditary.

Sergeants contribute to the expansion of our empire, and this kind of preferential treatment is normal.

However, a hereditary family can only have one direct relative (that is, a son or a daughter), and only those who have no direct relatives can be collateral relatives.

This is to prevent some people from bringing all the aunts, aunts, and relatives into the Imperial Capital Department.

Moreover, in the same family, there can only be three generations of hereditary inheritance. If it exceeds three generations, someone in your family must serve as a soldier and then come back to continue the hereditary inheritance for three generations.

Of course, in the future, the imperial court will draw one in fifty, one in every fifty households. If you are drawn, you will have nothing to say. You will first serve as a soldier and then come back to the hereditary imperial capital department.

This imperial capital department is relatively complicated in this era. Emperor Li explained it for a long time, but everyone seemed to understand it.

But most people understand one thing. From now on, people in these factories (fields) in the Song Dynasty will be raised by the court and can be hereditary.

Of course, when Zhao Yurui ascended the throne, important state-owned enterprises were also maintained by the court, as were all mines.

The only difference is that in the future, it can be hereditary, and the descendants of workers will still be workers.

At this time, Zhao Yurui spoke: "To prevent the disorderly expansion of relevant personnel in various factories (mines)."

"How much output, determine how many people."

"If output and profits remain unchanged, the number of workers cannot be increased."

"Reduced production profits will also lead to a corresponding reduction in the number of people."

"That is to say, the court must maintain a profit every year. If it loses money, how can we increase personnel and expenses?"

The imperial capital department can be hereditary. This is a beneficial thing. In the future, local officials will definitely try to arrange for their relatives to join.

Zhao Yurui first gave priority to retired sergeants, and then they had to ensure profits, or at least not lose too much.

For example, some industries may still lose money, but the court can accept it.

For example, in the past, copper coins were minted at a loss, and now the shipyards are also losing money, because the imperial court builds large ships, all of which are used by the imperial court itself. There is only investment and no gain.

At this time, Qin Zhuo, who was in charge of the Chaozi Department, spoke. In the future, the Chaozi Department might participate in expanding more local industries, such as silk factories, ceramics factories, wineries, and even restaurants.

As long as it can make money, the DPRK Capital Division will do it, and it must make money. Once there is a loss, the relevant officials and responsible persons must be held accountable.

In the Song Dynasty, there were originally government-run ceramic factories and wineries, but the scale was not very large and there were many private enterprises. When exporting these products, they sometimes purchased them from the private sector. The export of silk and other fabrics was mainly taxed and purchased from the private sector.

Now the court wants to increase the number of factories, so that instead of competing with the people for profit, the court can mainly export to further distances from maritime trade.

(End of this chapter)