Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 684 The New Dynasty System
Yang Zhengshan laughed and said, "Since it cannot be avoided, then let's loosen the restrictions. The border town of Da Rong is divided not because innate martial artists are in charge of the border town, but because the imperial court is not strong enough, and also because the imperial court does not strictly enforce the term system!"

"From now on, the term of office for key officials in border towns must be strictly enforced, with the term of office for governors and generals not exceeding nine years!"

Yang Chengye nodded, understanding Yang Zhengshan's thoughts.

Yang Zhengshan patted him on the shoulder, "Institutional chaos is not necessarily due to problems with the system itself; it could also be due to insufficient enforcement!"

“When the Shangwu Temple and the Imperial Merchants Bureau were first established, there were no problems. However, as time went on, some people began to undermine the system, look for loopholes in the system, and even use the system to abuse their power for personal gain!”

"Therefore, for the imperial court, sometimes effective execution is more important than a perfect system!"

"Another issue is the governance of officials. We need to sharpen the knife and not hold back. Those corrupt officials should be executed if they deserve to be executed."

"If you kill more ruthlessly now, the new dynasty's administration will be more efficient and clean for another decade or so!"

Yang Zhengshan is the kind of person who, when he has a gun to use, will never talk nonsense with you.

The root cause of Da Rong's demise was the corruption of its officials.

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan talked to Yang Chengye for a long time. There were too many things going on and things were too chaotic. Yang Chengye was struggling to handle them all by himself, so Yang Zhengshan naturally wanted to help him sort things out.

At the same time, Yang Zhengshan also wanted to give Yang Chengye some constructive suggestions.

The grandfather and grandson talked for more than two hours, without stopping even during lunch.

Finally, Yang Zhengshan said, "Don't rush into anything else. The most urgent thing is for you to declare yourself emperor!"

"To become emperor?" Yang Chengye was taken aback. "My grandson really wants to be emperor!"

"Yes, we can't delay any longer. We need to establish a new dynasty, reward our officials, and reassure everyone to prevent unrest!" Yang Zhengshan said.

They expanded too fast, so fast that many people hadn't even caught up yet.

The purpose of becoming emperor was not to sit on the dragon throne of supreme power, but to stabilize the people's hearts and to distribute benefits.

Yang Chengye paused for a moment before asking, "Then how should the name of the country be chosen?"

Yang Zhengshan hadn't really considered this question. "What about Da'an?"

"Grandpa, I want Dajing!" Yang Chengye looked at Yang Zhengshan with longing eyes.

Yang Zhengshan was speechless. "Dajing has already been occupied by Chengyou!"

The title of Marquis of Jing'an held extraordinary significance for the Yang family. Although it originated from Jing'an Prefecture, it symbolized the rise of the Yang family.

The name "Da Jing" sounds better, but Yang Chengyou has already established the Da Jing Dynasty, so we can't let him change the name of the country.

“But Da’an doesn’t sound very nice!” Yang Chengye said.

Yang Zhengshan said calmly, "What's wrong with bringing peace to the world? Let's call it the Great Peace Dynasty!"

Yang Chengye had no way to refute it, so he could only ask, "What about the reign title?"

"You decide!" Yang Zhengshan didn't want to waste brain cells on this and simply handed the task over to Yang Chengye.

"Let's choose an auspicious day to declare ourselves emperor. But before that, we need to establish a series of systems. How about we release the news first to reassure everyone, and then we can discuss the various systems!"

After saying this, Yang Zhengshan got up and left the Imperial Study.

As Yang Zhengshan left, news that Yang Chengye was about to become emperor spread rapidly throughout the capital.

As Yang Zhengshan said, this news reassured many people.

After returning, Yang Zhengshan immediately drafted an outline for the establishment of the Da'an court's institutions according to his own ideas.

Overall, it was still based on the organizational structure of the Da Rong court, but Yang Zhengshan made many changes to the Da Rong court.

First, a Ministry of Commerce was established, which was renamed the Imperial Merchants Bureau and placed on the same level as the Six Ministries. The Ministry of Commerce had departments such as the Imperial Merchants Bureau, the Commerce Bureau, the Maritime Trade Bureau, and the Salt Transport Bureau. It was directly under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet and was mainly responsible for commercial activities inside and outside the Dynasty, planning the development of commerce inside and outside the Dynasty, and being responsible for tribute trade, border trade, etc.

Secondly, a new Military Department was established, namely, Shangwu Temple was renamed Military Department, which was on the same level as the Six Ministries, and under it were Shangwu Division, Yanwu Pavilion, Zongmen Division, Gongfeng Academy, etc.

The Martial Arts Division is responsible for combating martial arts crimes, the Martial Arts Training Hall is responsible for training young martial artists, the Sect Division is responsible for managing martial arts forces, and the Imperial Academy is responsible for managing innate martial artists.

Yang Zhengshan established strict rules and regulations for the Martial Arts Department, which required all members, whether from sects or innate martial artists, to strictly abide by them.

Previously, Da Rong did not have much control over innate martial artists, and Yang Zhengshan felt that this should be changed.

The imperial court can grant innate martial artists a high status and generous salary, but innate martial artists must serve the imperial court.

It would certainly be inappropriate to transfer the Yang family's cultivation-based stipends to the new dynasty, but the new dynasty could still establish corresponding cultivation-based stipends for innate martial artists.

Since they have received the cultivation-based salary from the imperial court, innate martial artists must serve the court.

In addition to the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Military Affairs, Yang Zhengshan also made changes to the garrison system, abolished the military household system, and promoted a conscription system.

The conscription system, also known as the volunteer military system, allows civilians to voluntarily join the army.

If this volunteer soldier system is to be implemented, the soldiers' treatment must be improved; otherwise, ordinary people will certainly not be willing to join the army.

Simply put, it's about using incentives to encourage people to join the army.

First, we must improve the soldiers' benefits; second, we must improve their pensions; and third, we must improve their resettlement benefits after they retire.

After much deliberation, Yang Zhengshan finally decided to link the conscription system with the civil service system, meaning that after soldiers retired from the army, they could be given priority to be assigned to local government offices as clerks or runners.

Correspondingly, the treatment of clerks and yamen runners was improved.

Clerks and yamen runners were not officials, but Yang Zhengshan gave them the attributes of officials and set up promotion paths for them.

Previously, the clerks of Da Rong could only remain clerks, at most rising from the county government to the prefectural government or the provincial government. But Yang Zhengshan created a promotion system for them.

Clerks who have served for a certain number of years can be promoted to official ranks, and yamen runners who have sufficient ability and strength can also be promoted to the Shangwu Division.

In short, the goal was to transform clerks and runners into true civil servants with ample opportunities for advancement. Of course, compared to the officials who passed the imperial examinations and became Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest level of the civil service exams), these officials who rose through the ranks from clerks would certainly be less successful.

Yang Zhengshan only laid out a general framework; the specific implementation details could be left to the cabinet and various ministries to fill in later.

The change from the garrison system to a conscription system meant that the government's financial expenditures would increase, and the transformation of clerks and yamen runners into civil servants meant that the government would have to pay their salaries, which would also increase the government's financial pressure.

In order to ensure the balance of the court's revenue and expenditure, Yang Zhengshan decided to increase commercial taxes, integrate land tax with poll tax, establish a central bank, and issue paper money.

Previously, Da Rong's commercial tax was very low, one in twenty, but Yang Zhengshan felt that one in ten was more appropriate.

As for the "equalization of poll tax and land tax," it was actually carried out in conjunction with the land distribution system, incorporating the poll tax into the land tax.

The amount of tax was determined by the amount of land owned. Those with more land paid more, those with less land paid less, and those with no land paid no tax. This measure benefited the poor but not the officials, gentry, and landlords. It relieved the poor of their heavy burdens while reducing opportunities for officials to embezzle funds.

Because the tax was levied on land, the government relaxed its control over household registration, which increased the number of freely mobile laborers and promoted the revitalization of the commodity economy.

Landless and land-poor farmers were freed from the burden of corvée labor and were no longer forcibly bound to the land, allowing ordinary people to engage in other industries and further increasing economic activity.

Yang Zhengshan's desire to establish a central bank and issue paper money was also aimed at further developing Da'an's commerce.

However, the paper money he wanted to issue was not intended to replace metal currency, but rather to facilitate commerce.

Calling it paper money is not quite accurate; it should be called banknotes more precisely.

These were government-run money shops and government-issued banknotes.

It is no different from the bonds that Yang Zhengshan issued in Chongshan Town before, except that there is no interest and of course no handling fee.

According to Yang Zhengshan's idea, the minimum denomination of government-issued banknotes was fifty taels, which meant that ordinary people would not need government-issued banknotes.

For several days, Yang Zhengshan stayed at home, organizing his ideas for the court. These ideas were based on the system of his previous life, but of course, the realities of this world also had to be taken into account.

He had lived in this world for forty years and had even served as an official in the imperial court. He was very familiar with everything here, so the systems and court institutions he created were very practical.

He thought of everything he could think of, compiled it into a book, and then handed it over to Yang Chengye.

That's all he could do to help Yang Chengye; the rest was up to Yang Chengye and the officials in the court.

"Grandpa, this..." Yang Chengye looked at the booklet that Yang Zhengshan had sent, filled with doubt and confusion.

Although Yang Zhengshan had written down his thoughts in great detail, Yang Chengye still didn't quite understand many parts of them.

"Just ask me if you don't understand anything!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Yang Chengye then asked a whole host of questions, which Yang Zhengshan answered one by one. It took Yang Chengye more than an hour to understand Yang Zhengshan's thoughts.

After answering Yang Chengye's questions, Yang Zhengshan asked again, "Has the Great Yue in the Western Regions been quite unruly lately?"

“Yes, it’s not just the Great Yue Dynasty, even the Uriyangkhu tribe is making moves! According to our information, the Uriyangkhu king has reached an agreement with the Chici and Alaman tribes, preparing to jointly invade Longbei Town!” Yang Chengye said.

The Uriyang Kingdom has been divided for twenty years, but now it seems that there are signs of unification again.

The young prince of Utopia is now over sixty years old. Although he is old and frail, he has become a cunning and shrewd old fox.

In recent years, under Uto's rule, the Uriyang tribe has recovered its former strength, and is even stronger than before.

This is why tribes such as the Chila and Alaman were willing to return to the Uriyang royal court.

If the Uriyang royal court is rebuilt, the new court will be even more powerful than the original one.

This poses a significant threat to the new Da'an dynasty.

Yang Zhengshan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's switch from offense to defense, stabilize the current situation first, and then proceed slowly!"

Yang Chengye nodded and said, "That's what I think too. General Zhou Lan has already captured Longbei Town, and I've ordered her to stop the attack!"

"Leave Suzhou Town, Tingzhou Town, and Wusi Town for now. They can help us hold off the Great Yue Dynasty. Beiyuan Town and Longbei Town in the north need to recuperate, and Chongshan Town may have a newly trained army!"

"Therefore, we can only passively defend against the Uriyang royal court!"

Yang Zhengshan asked, "What about the south?"

"Chen Hengchang seems to want to occupy Yungui first, but Yangtian Sect has already surrendered to us. Currently, Yangtian Sect is cooperating with Nanjiang Town to seize Yungui's territory!"

"Meanwhile, the Taiping army in Sichuan and Chongqing has also transferred troops to western and northern Yunnan and Guizhou. They should be able to stop Chen Hengchang from continuing to expand!"

Yang Chengye explained.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "We expanded too quickly last year. Although we now occupy most of the territory, our foundation is not yet solid!"

"Moreover, the people have just experienced a period of chaos, when all industries were in ruins and people's livelihoods were devastated. Therefore, we need to allow the people to recuperate and settle down, rebuild the imperial court and local government system, and ensure that the entire court can operate normally and quickly!"

This period of chaos may not have lasted long, but in reality, it caused great harm to people's livelihoods.

The three provinces of Gansu and Gansu suffered from a severe drought for three years, leaving the land barren and nine out of ten houses empty. It is estimated that it will be difficult to recover, let alone in a few years, even in more than ten years.

The Shanhe Province was also devastated by the rampant bandits, and the people of Bashu had also suffered greatly from the many wars they had fought.

Therefore, the most important thing now is not to unify the world, but to stabilize the current situation and let the people catch their breath.

Fortunately, Yang Chengye is a shrewd and methodical person, and as things stand, he is still very suitable to be the ruler of a country.

After receiving the pamphlet compiled by Yang Zhengshan, Yang Chengye immediately made adjustments to the new dynasty, adding the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Military Affairs, establishing a central bank, and preparing to issue government-issued banknotes.

At the same time, the military household system was abolished and a conscription system was implemented.

Although everything seemed a bit chaotic, things were organized amidst the busyness. With the assistance of Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan, Yang Chengye gradually became familiar with the business of managing the world.

(End of this chapter)