I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 461: Imperial power does not extend below the county level?
In the Qinzheng Hall of Xiyuan, Zhu Yijun summoned the Chief Minister Li Chunfang, the Cabinet Minister and Minister of Personnel Zhang Juzheng, and the Minister of Imperial Household Liu Cai to discuss matters.

"Mr. Shi Lu, Mr. Shu Da, Mr. Liu, the central government is now stable, with the five military governors' offices, the six ministries of the cabinet, namely, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works, the six temples of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Rites ... Imperial Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Justice, as well as the two courts of the Ministry of Inspection and the Ministry of Imperial Households.

I thought about it and thought that we only need to set up two more temples, Sinong and Dushui, to focus on promoting agriculture and animal husbandry and controlling water resources, and the central government reform can come to an end. "

Li Chunfang immediately said, "Your Highness, the responsibilities of the remaining five ministries of the Six Ministries are now clear, but the Ministry of War has been divided since the establishment of the Five Military Commandery of the Xingrong Government, and is at a loss as to what to do."

Zhang Juzheng and Liu Cai couldn't help but turn their heads and look at him.

He is worthy of being the Crown Prince's first teacher and former "class teacher". He is the only one in the world who can say some taboo words so clearly and bluntly in front of the Crown Prince.

"The Ministry of War and the Military Government do not interfere with each other, but they are connected to each other. Currently, the military registration and the promotion and demotion of officers are not under the management of the Ministry of War, but the Ministry of War has a lot of things to manage.

After the military government formulates the national defense and armament plan, it needs to be coordinated by the six ministries and temples, and the Ministry of War will be in the middle to liaise and coordinate. In addition, the 26th Army and the Sushen Army are injured or retired at the end of their terms. The state has preferential laws and needs to properly resettle them. This also requires the Ministry of War to coordinate with local prefectures and counties.

Post stations, mail, transportation, and storage are all under the management of the Ministry of War. Although the affairs are numerous, each one is important, and the Ministry of War has a heavy responsibility. "

Li Chunfang said nothing more, and replied, "I understand."

Zhu Yijun continued: "The central government's reform has come to an end, and it is now the turn of the local governments.

The reform of the local official system has been piloted in Jingji, Shandong, Shuangliao and Shanxi. It has both advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. So the new local official system should also be formally established.

I have decided to divide the Ming Dynasty into 21 provinces: Zhili, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Annan, and to set up two prefectures, Shuntian and Yingtian.

Liaoning was merged from Liaodong and Liaoxi, and Jilin temporarily included the old areas of Jianzhou and Haixi.

Yingtian Prefecture, Jiangsu, and Anhui were separated from Nanzhili. Jiangsu was governed by Yangzhou Jiangdu, and governed seven prefectures: Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang.

Anhui was governed by the Qinghuaiqing Prefecture, and governed seven prefectures: Fengyang, Luzhou, Anqing, Chuzhou, Ningguo, Huizhou, and Chizhou. A Zhongdu Resident Office was set up to protect the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum.

Abolish direct-controlled prefectures, and temporarily set up three levels of provinces, prefectures, and counties. The remaining towns and villages will be discussed later. "

Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Liu Cai listened quietly.

"Each province has three departments: the Provincial Administration, the Provincial Inspection Department, and the Military Preparation Department, which are responsible for administrative, judicial and military affairs. There is also a provincial governor who is responsible for local supervision.

The remaining provincial governments, prefectures and counties are temporarily divided into six departments, bureaus and sections according to the six central departments, with their chief and assistant officials clearly defined one by one.

The Provincial Administration Department has one Provincial Governor, one Deputy Governor on the Left and one Deputy Governor, and one Chief Secretary, who are in charge of general affairs. There are three Councillors on the Left and Three Councillors, who are in charge of six departments. The Provincial Supervision Department has one Provincial Supervision Department, two Deputy Provincial Supervision Departments, and several Provincial Supervision Assistants.

The Military Preparation Department has one military preparation envoy and two deputy envoys.

Each prefecture has one prefect, two assistant prefects, each in charge of civil affairs, one chief secretary, in charge of general affairs, one assistant judge, several judges, in charge of judicial affairs in each prefecture, one military commander, several deputy commanders, in charge of military preparations in each prefecture.

Each county shall have one county magistrate, two county lieutenants, each in charge of civil affairs, and one chief clerk, in charge of general affairs. One county manager and several prosecutors shall be in charge of the judicial affairs of each county. One county lieutenant and several patrol inspectors and patrol guards shall be in charge of the military preparations of each county.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, and Qi Yan immediately came over with two eunuchs, pushing a screen with a map of the Ming Dynasty's territory hanging on it.

Zhu Yijun stood up, stood in front of the map, pointed at the map and spoke to Li Chunfang and the other two.

“I have decided to appoint a governor-general in the border areas to oversee the border military affairs, and then set up various garrisons under him, with generals, deputy generals, lieutenant generals and garrisons in charge of garrison troops.

Among them, there was a Governor-General of Jilin and Liaoning, stationed in Liaoyang, divided into three towns: Haixi, Liaodong and Liaoxi; there was a Governor-General of Shanxi, stationed in Datong, divided into three towns: Xuanfu, Datong and Yunzhong; there was a Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu, stationed in Lanzhou, divided into three towns: Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu; there was a Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, stationed in Kunming, divided into three towns: Yongchang, Qujing and Anshun; there was a Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, stationed in Panyu, divided into four towns: Nanning, Guilin, Nanhai and Jiaozhi.

The Navy has three naval divisions and a Marine Corps Battalion, namely the Beihai, Donghai and Nanhai divisions, as well as sixteen coastal defense battalions, namely the Dinghai, Weihai, Jinghai, Guanghai, Ninghai and Zhenhai divisions.

The Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird navies will be set up as strategic navies. As for the rest of the Xuanhui Court and the military government, I will discuss this with the Supervisory Office.

After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he sat back in his chair and said to Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng: "This is the general principle of the local official system. As for the other details, the Ministry of Personnel and the Guanglu Temple have discussed them many times and have already made detailed arrangements. Draft it as soon as possible, submit it to the cabinet for discussion, and approve it with a draft document, and issue a decree to the whole country."

"As ordered!"

"Mr. Liu, the biggest problem with the overall reform of the local official system is the staffing. After more than a year of recruitment, the staffing of local prefectures and counties is barely enough.

It's just a stopgap measure.

This time, the list of officials was mixed with good and bad officials, and many bad officials were included in the list of officials in the Ministry of Personnel. Half of the root cause of the corruption of local officials lies in these cunning clerks.

Colluding with local tyrants, currying favor with the gentry, undermining the court officials, and bullying the people. In the Xiyuan Pavilion, the cases submitted by the East Factory, the Imperial Guard, the Commercial Investigation Department, and other channels filled up two large rooms.

The scholars who passed the imperial examinations were noble and could not be used. The local clerks were cunning, deceiving their superiors and bullying their subordinates, so the rent and taxes could not be collected, the land and population were hidden, taxes were evaded, and the state was in a tight financial situation.

To rectify the administration of officials, we cannot just do it from the top down, but also need to go deep into the grassroots. The grassroots is the weakest link of the Ming Dynasty. "

Seeing Zhu Yijun emphasize it so solemnly and the gleam in his eyes, Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Liu Cai couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

I hope His Royal Highness the Crown Prince won't do anything weird again.

"Since the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, when Lord Ruzhen presided over the suppression of the Japanese in the southeast, the Ming soldiers fought bloody battles to pacify the northern barbarians, the southern barbarians, and the western barbarians, bringing peace to the four seas. Before we knew it, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had served the Ming for several years, some for five years and some for ten years. They have shed blood and sweat for the Ming, and it is time for them to enjoy peace and tranquility."

The more Li Chunfang and the other two listened, the more they felt something was wrong.

"I have decided that the imperial court cannot treat the soldiers of the Ming army and navy who have worked hard for the country unfairly. After five years of fighting, they can apply for retirement. Together with other retired soldiers due to injuries or illness, the Ministry of War will be responsible for their resettlement, and they will be assigned to different places, given land and houses, and settled in various places.

They are all meritorious men. After being settled in various villages, they must also contribute to the peace of the Ming Dynasty. According to their military ranks and medals, they can be awarded the titles of chief inspector, county lieutenant, inspector and patrol officer to enrich the grassroots.

They patrolled the towns and villages, trained young and strong soldiers for the court, and patrolled everywhere to catch thieves.

The prince's true intentions are revealed!
Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Liu Cai finally understood what Zhu Yijun was planning.

In the past, local areas were the territories of wealthy and powerful families, and imperial power did not extend below the county level.

The gentry, powerful families, and aristocratic families were entangled with each other. They kept scholars and ruffians as their minions and used the local security guards and village heads as their eyes and ears. They farmed for taxes and rents, undermined the government, and controlled the local area.

When a county magistrate takes office, he must please these people, otherwise there will be constant troubles, insufficient tax collection, and failure in governance assessments, and his future will be worrying.

What's worse, several eight-line letters were sent to the provincial capital and the capital, asking you to be impeached by the censor. The lighter punishment was dismissal from office, and the heavier punishment was exile.

Why hasn't the Ming Dynasty conducted a nationwide census of land and population since the Hongwu period?

It is these people who control the place.

In order to collect taxes and rent and threaten the government, these people would definitely not want the court to conduct a census of the actual land and population.

Now that you have investigated everything clearly, how can we evade taxes or rent?
Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is making careful preparations for the second national census of land and population since the Hongwu period. To this end, he has launched a severe crackdown on the royal family, the Kong family, and thousands of local aristocratic families.

From now on, it seems that everyone still oversimplifies His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's strategy for governing the country.

The nationwide land and population inventory is only the first step. Your Highness must not only find out the Ming Dynasty's assets, but also have a thorough grasp of them.

They rely on the tens of thousands of soldiers and junior officers who have followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in battles across the country, fought bloody battles, and received generous rewards and treatment.

These people would be placed in each province, prefecture, and county, and serve as prefectural governors, deputy prefectural governors, county lieutenants, and patrol officers, commanding local militias, catching thieves, and maintaining local public order.

Now that you have control over the local "military power", when the imperial court sends out an investigation team in the future, if there are still powerful families who instigate ruffians and scoundrels to stop them, do you think these county lieutenants, patrol officers and patrol officers will treat you as thieves and eliminate you?
They kept going on expeditions to seize land resources, train elite soldiers, gain control of military power, and intimidate all forces.

After completing the task, they further gained control of local power by relocating these retired officers and soldiers.

Imperial power does not extend below the county level?
Can you ask these old soldiers who are scattered all over the country and have received great favor from the emperor whether they agree?
In towns and villages across the country, they represent imperial power!
Think long and hard.

Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Liu Cai were amazed in their hearts but did not dare to refute.

The three knew that this was the strategy that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was determined to implement, and it was his bottom line, and no one could stop or destroy it. Otherwise, even the teachers and class teachers would turn against him.

The Zhu family has a fine tradition of changing their attitude faster than turning the pages of a book.

After Zhu Yijun finished describing his new local official system, he turned to look at Liu Cai and said, "Mr. Liu, this year's civil servant recruitment examination will be held next month. According to the plan, it will be held in different provinces.

This was the first formal recruitment examination since the new policy. In addition to tens of thousands of royal family members, hundreds of thousands of scholars and juren from all over the country also signed up to participate.

This exam will be mainly conducted by the Guanglu Temple, with assistance from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel and the local provincial governments, and supervision by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. "Mr. Liu, are you ready?"

"Your Highness, the Guanglu Temple has coordinated with the Ministry of Personnel and the Provincial Administration Department to determine the registration list and confirm the registration qualifications. Coordinate with the Ministry of Rites to determine the candidates for the chief examiners and deputy examiners for the provincial examinations. They were sent to the provinces in early summer to preside over the examinations. All the rules and regulations are the same as those for the provincial examinations.

The examination outline was distributed throughout the country this spring, and thirty sets of examination questions were produced in accordance with the outline in April. They were randomly divided into thirteen groups of five each, and escorted to the provincial capitals by the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division and the Guard Army.

When the exam officially started on August 26, the chief examiner randomly picked out a set of exam questions and announced them to the candidates, and the exam officially began.
The Censorate also formed 46 inspection teams to patrol the 13 provinces in disguise to supervise the examinations.

Zhu Yijun nodded with satisfaction.

No matter how rigorous the exam is, there will be cheating. What I need to do is to urge the people below me to make the recruitment exam as fair and just as possible to make cheating more difficult.

The key is to increase the severity of penalties.

As the difficulty increases and the consequences become more serious, the "cost of cheating" doubles, making those with ulterior motives give up.

In any crime prevention, in addition to improving morality and awakening conscience, it is more important to let the public know the consequences of crimes and the responsibilities they need to bear.

Don't put all your hope on them to have a change of heart, but make them afraid and not commit the crime!
After listening to Liu Cai's report, Zhu Yijun turned to Zhang Juzheng.

"Mr. Taiyue, you drafted a 'Regulations on the Evaluation of Officials' a few days ago. I think it is good. I will tell Mr. Shilu and Mr. Liu about it here today. We will have a preliminary discussion first to discuss the pros and cons, and then submit it to the cabinet for review and Taiji Hall for a major discussion."

"Officials' Performance Evaluation Law"?
Hearing the name, they felt something was wrong, and Li Chunfang and Liu Cai turned to look at Zhang Juzheng.

(End of this chapter)