Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 630 Li Yuan's Methods

The cabinet was undecided about whether to establish a new department. In fact, over the past two decades, new departments have been constantly emerging, and Jia Lian was the instigator of all of them.

Having an additional government office is a good thing for officials, but these newly added offices are highly technical. If you don't have the skills to get in, it's really embarrassing.

Many officials who had passed the imperial examinations (进士 or 举人) were genuinely unwilling to work in these government offices. Not only did they need professional skills, but they also needed to be truly capable of doing the work.

The newly established government office suggested by Jia Lian is quite good. It can perform administrative functions, and the requirements are not high. Officials only need to memorize the rules.

From the perspective of the Five Cities Garrison, wouldn't it be a loss if some functions were stripped away?

If someone else had made this suggestion, the servants in the household would probably have been beaten up as soon as they went out to buy groceries.

Unfortunately, this person is Jia Lian, and the Five Cities Garrison will not resist him. In the future, this new government office will most likely be a sister unit.

"Let's go to the meeting!" Fang Song was unwilling to take responsibility for the separation of some functions of the Five Cities Garrison, but he was also reluctant to oppose Jia Lian's suggestion, so he changed course.

Li Qing felt quite uncomfortable. If this new government office was indeed established at Jia Lian's suggestion, a large portion of its officials would come from engineering colleges. This wasn't just idle talk; there was evidence to support it. Every single newly established office, without exception, had its main officials drawn from the so-called "practical school." This faction was primarily connected to engineering colleges and state-owned enterprises. Privately, they were known in official circles as the "Jia Party!"

Despite the bluffing, it had little practical effect. To put it bluntly, the fact that two emperors trusted Jia Lian so much in the future was because Jia Lian was truly capable, and the people he brought up were all competent officials.

The key point is to distinguish between the Jia faction and the pragmatic faction. The pragmatic faction also advocates doing things, but they believe in doing one part and handing over nine parts.

Jia Dang, on the other hand, worked quietly, made a lot of money, and rarely made a fuss in the court.

"Then let's go to the meeting." Li Qing felt quite aggrieved. He was the one who suggested spinning off a new department first, but now he didn't have the power to take charge.

Lin Ruhai had nothing to say. After giving instructions and making arrangements, he also had Jia Lian's reply presented to the Emperor, and then waited for the next day's cabinet meeting to make a decision.

People within the system always complain about the endless meetings and paperwork. In fact, this has always been the case in this country: resolutions are formed through meetings, and documents are issued.

The definition of governing the country through documents is quite accurate.

People dislike meetings mainly because they dislike how some people turn them into tools for demonstrating personal authority and conducting obedience tests.

These kinds of people often spout correct but meaningless statements in meetings; they might express something clearly in one sentence, but they insist on using ten sentences to explain it.

The result was that the meetings were long, tedious, and annoying.

In fact, when you look at documents, you will find that formal documents are often concise and to the point!

Jia Lian also received a notice to attend the meeting, and as the initiator of the proposal, he explained the content of the proposal to the emperor and the cabinet ministers.

The matter was quite simple. Jia Lian wrote down some key points on a piece of paper and then spoke eloquently in front of everyone.

"In the past decade, the number of four-wheeled carriages on the market has increased dramatically, leading to frequent traffic accidents and disputes. This is the initial motivation for the Five Cities Military and Horse Division's targeted governance. This involves a problem: some vehicles produced by private enterprises are of very poor quality, easily falling apart in a minor collision, posing a significant safety hazard. Therefore, this newly established department is primarily responsible for traffic safety management, and secondly for vehicle safety management. Regarding traffic safety, targeted regulations will be introduced and enforced. For vehicle safety, various mandatory standards will be established, and only those meeting these standards will be allowed to produce vehicles. It's important to note that this situation is not unique to Beijing; many large cities across the country face similar problems. Therefore, this new department is open to the entire nation."

Jia Lian didn't waste any words; in just a few short sentences, he made the issue very clear.

Li Qing asked, "What about the license plate and fees? And the fines, parking fees, etc., are all just pretexts."

This wasn't actually directed at Jia Lian; it's a true story.

"The license plate issue is simple. After some hit-and-run accidents, investigators can quickly find the perpetrators based on the license plate, reducing their workload. As for fines, shouldn't people be fined for not following the rules? This is a civil matter; you can't expect people to go to jail, can you? Fines teach offenders a lesson, and the government can generate revenue—what's wrong with that? As for parking fees, if you impound a car, don't you need to hire someone to guard it? Renting space to run a parking lot costs money, right? Asking the government to do the work while also spending money—whoever wants to do it can do it, but I'm not doing it."

Jia Lian's explanation was calm and composed, without any anger. It wasn't a big deal to begin with.

Li Qing had only asked casually, without any intention of nitpicking or causing trouble, so he kept quiet.

Taking this too seriously will only make things awkward for everyone. To put it bluntly, which government office in the capital is easy to get into? When officials from other places come to the capital on business, which gatekeeper doesn't charge a bribe?
If you insist on stopping it, be careful someone might come to your doorstep and throw feces at night.

The current situation is relatively good. In the early days, when lower-level officials in the capital received their salaries, there was a so-called "extra income" system, which was truly exploitative. How could they support their families without earning some extra money?

So I asked him, he explained, and I had no further questions.

"The name of the Traffic Safety and Vehicle Safety Administration is too long. Should we change it?" Lin Ruhai said something pointless.

Li Yuan smiled and waved his hand, "A bit long doesn't matter, as long as people can clearly understand what this government office does. Since it's a national government office, how is its level determined?"

New government offices like these were not new; several were added during the reign of Emperor Chenghui.

Pan Jixun said, "Since there's a precedent to follow, the new government office will be at the level of a vice minister. It will have two departments: Transportation and Vehicles." Li Yuan nodded in satisfaction, "Then let's do it that way. Issue the official document. How about a one-month preparation period?"

"First, we'll establish a sound system in the capital. Then, we'll send people to set up new agencies in all the provinces across the country. These agencies will be directly under the cabinet. When issuing documents, we'll emphasize that officials in each province must cooperate fully. Anyone who outwardly complies but inwardly disobeys will be punished for dereliction of duty." Li Yuan really enjoyed the feeling of making the final decision at the meeting, and his voice became even louder.

These new agencies at the vice-ministerial level are quite interesting. They bypass the Six Ministries and are either directly under the Emperor or the Cabinet. As for which Cabinet minister is in charge, that's a matter for the Cabinet itself.

Having just finished dealing with one matter, Li Yuan spoke again: "Since everyone is here, let's discuss Jia Qing's memorial regarding the establishment of schools. I'll start here, as it involves the court's military strategy. Railway schools will definitely be government-run. However, we need to come up with a plan regarding whether this engineering college should be entirely government-run or a combination of government-run and privately-run."

The cabinet ministers all looked somewhat frozen. It was Jia Lian's matter again. Although he had not yet joined the cabinet, both the previous and current emperors had paid close attention to matters concerning him, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred!
"If all engineering colleges are incorporated into the government, then everyone must be treated equally. What about outstanding graduates from engineering colleges in the capital who can be appointed to official positions? What about outstanding graduates from other regions?" Lin Ruhai, in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, was very sensitive to this issue and reacted immediately. Graduates from railway schools could make their way within the railway system, as long as it didn't spill over into other areas; the cabinet had no say in that. Top students from engineering colleges, however, were directly appointed to official positions. As long as they were legitimate officials, they could leave state-owned enterprises and serve in local government positions—the nature of their positions was completely different.

Jia Lian understood Lin Ruhai's meaning and immediately stood up, saying, "Your Majesty, gentlemen, I believe that an advanced class can be set up within the Engineering Academy in the capital. Those with outstanding grades can be granted the status of Juren (a degree in the imperial examination system), with a maximum limit of one class. With the status of Juren, they can participate in the metropolitan examination. As for the students in the advanced class, they can be selected from engineering academies all over the country, regardless of whether they are government-run or private, based on merit."

Li Qing immediately jumped up and said, "This is inappropriate, terribly inappropriate. The textbooks of the Engineering College do not delve deeply into the Four Books and Five Classics, how can they be granted the status of a Juren?"

Jia Lian didn't argue, but sat down with a smile and remained silent.

Li Yuan, growing impatient, tapped the table: "Practical learning is required for the imperial examinations. Why can't the graduates of the advanced class, composed of top students from the engineering college, be granted the status of Juren? Is Prime Minister Li going to make this decision for me?"

Li Qing thought to himself, "Oh no, I got too excited and lost my composure." But he quickly regained his composure and said, "Your Majesty, I am truly worried about the discontent among the candidates from various provinces. Just think about it, in some of the southern provinces, which candidate didn't fight their way through thousands upon thousands of applicants? How can a mere graduate of a three-year engineering college compare? This is unfair!"

Li Yuan waved his hand impatiently, saying, "What the court needs are officials who can get things done, which is also my original intention in advocating that practical learning be included in the imperial examinations. In the past five years, the fastest growing tax revenue for the court has come from industry. Last year's data shows that industrial tax already accounts for 35% of total tax revenue, and industrial tax is not as difficult to collect as agricultural tax. Given this, what is wrong with the court allocating resources to industry?"

Seeing this, Lin Ruhai quickly stood up to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Li meant well, for the sake of overall stability."

Li Yuandao said, "The Emperor established departments such as statistics and auditing to more intuitively see the shortcomings of the country in this process through numbers. You are all cabinet ministers, how can you not pay attention to data when handling government affairs? Here I want to ask you all, how do the agricultural tax statistics compare over the past two years? Who can answer this?"

A deathly silence fell over the scene. Not only were the five cabinet ministers unaware, but even Jia Lian was clueless.

It can only be said that Li Yuan's attack was very cunning; who would bother to keep track of the exact numbers? This new ruler, however, did, and he has his own unique theories and understandings.

"It seems you gentlemen are unaware of this, and haven't paid enough attention to it. I tell you all, agricultural taxes have fallen by five percent in the past two years, accounting for fifty-one percent of total tax revenue. Compared to five years ago, agricultural taxes have consistently shown a downward trend. So, I ask you gentlemen, what are your thoughts on this? Have you noticed this problem, and have you considered how to address its causes?"

Now, all was silent again. Jia Lian was a little dumbfounded. This new emperor was something else.

Li Yuan glanced around smugly, realizing that his secret weapon had worked.

The cabinet ministers were truly bitter. The reason was simple: they were not unaware of the downward trend in agricultural taxes, nor were they unaware of the causes, but they simply couldn't solve the problem and had to pretend not to see it.

It can only be said that under the current situation where imperial power does not extend to the countryside, local gentry have too many ways to evade taxes.

County magistrates at the grassroots level, being officials on temporary assignments, often aim to maintain the status quo during their term, neither increasing nor decreasing anything.

But this is wishful thinking, because the reduction in agricultural taxes is inevitable. Aside from natural disasters and man-made calamities, the main cause is land consolidation. This problem cannot be solved.

Another reason is that emerging industries are competing with agriculture for workers. The overseas grain brought by maritime trade also has a significant impact on inland agriculture.

Therefore, farmers are always the most miserable group of people, unless you are the head of the Japanese agricultural cooperative.

"In my opinion, the loss of agricultural tax revenue can only be made up by industrial tax revenue. Since the importance of industry is increasing day by day, why can't we give it preferential treatment in terms of talent? The cabinet is the banner of all civil officials in the country. Your clinging to the old ways and lack of ambition are actually setting a bad precedent for the country." Li Yuan naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to put pressure on the cabinet.

After another speech, the cabinet ministers could no longer remain seated and rose to their feet, saying, "Your Majesty is wise and enlightened. We are humbled and ashamed!"

Li Yuan, trembling slightly with pleasure, suppressed his excitement and slowly rose, pressing his hands together in a gesture of respect: "Gentlemen, please sit down!"

The cabinet ministers were seated, and Li Yuan continued, “In the past, scholars always said that skilled craftsmen were nothing more than frivolous tricks. After my father’s reforms, he slightly supported industry and commerce, and the court’s finances were freed from heavy reliance on agricultural taxes. Therefore, the so-called frivolous tricks are nothing more than incompetent people taking the teachings of the sages out of context in order to maintain the dignity of scholars. Since I ascended the throne, I have been constantly thinking about how to uphold the legacy of my late father, forge ahead, and create a new era of glory. I hope that you gentlemen will assist me in this matter!”

As he spoke, Li Yuanchao clasped his hands in greeting to the crowd, who all stood up and bowed in return.

Finally, the Imperial Cabinet reached a consensus on the issue of practical education.

First, there are railway schools. As vocational and technical schools, their graduates are naturally consumed by the railway departments under the railway bureau—this is undisputed. Second, there are engineering colleges, which must be promoted nationwide. There should be both government-run and privately-run institutions. Regardless of whether they are government-run or privately-run, graduates can participate in a nationally unified advanced training program. If they successfully graduate from this program, they will be granted the title of *juren* (a degree in the imperial examination system) by the emperor.

The key point is still this advanced class; it's difficult to get in, and even harder to graduate. Therefore, once the advanced class is established, the quota for granting official positions within the College of Engineering will be cancelled.

The cabinet also compromised, acknowledging the increased weight of practical knowledge in future imperial examinations. Liberal arts subjects would account for 50%, while mathematics and practical knowledge combined would account for 50%.

The advanced class was not the end; there was also the Jinshi class, which was directly managed by the emperor. The top students who graduated from the advanced class went to Europe to study for several years, obtained degrees from well-known European universities, and then returned to China for a year of further study. After mastering both Chinese and Western knowledge, the emperor bestowed upon them the title of Jinshi.

(End of this chapter)