I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 809 Feng Wu, I want to add more burden to you

Pan Yinglong immediately realized that the emperor was ostensibly warning him, but was actually assigning him tasks and adding to his burdens.

OK!

Your Majesty, I am waiting for more responsibilities!
Pan Yinglong said calmly: "I am stupid, please teach me, Your Majesty."

"Strengthen the construction of grassroots organizations!" Zhu Yijun said straight to the point, "The main thing is to strengthen the construction of grassroots organizations in rural areas and promote the construction of new agriculture and new countryside in Daming."

It is said that the imperial power of the Ming and Qing dynasties did not extend to the countryside, but Zhu Yijun knew that in history, the only dynasty that truly achieved this was the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty first inherited the Lijia system of the Ming Dynasty. During the Qianlong period, it announced the implementation of an upgraded version of the Baojia system, which handed over rural grassroots power to landlords in the form of clan rights.

In the past, village conventions and clan rules needed to be reviewed and approved by the government, but this was no longer necessary in the Qing Dynasty, and the village gentry and clan elders could just do as they pleased.

In the Qing Dynasty, landlords were not only the "breadwinners" of hundreds of millions of farmers, but could also exercise judicial power through village conventions and clan rules.

If they didn't like someone, they would put a hat on them at random, such as theft, adultery, or unemployed wandering. They would torture them at will, beat them to death with sticks, or put them in a pig cage, but it was useless even if they reported them to the government.

The landlords also had the right to farm taxes. The farmers' taxes were first handed over to them and then paid to the higher authorities. There were a lot of mysteries involved.

The imperial court took three, corrupt officials took seven, and the gentry took all of it.

Money and grain belong to the master, taxes and levies belong to the peasants, and the prosperous times belong to the emperor.

In the Qing Dynasty, landlords had a herd of cattle and horses to support them, and there was also the imperial examination as a channel for upward mobility. Children studied the books of sages and practiced eight-part essays. Once they passed the examination, they could serve the court.

To bring honor to the ancestors, the family also benefited from it, and from being a small country gentry, they grew into a noble family with houses in the city and fields in the countryside, who did not bow when meeting officials and had no ordinary people to associate with.

Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the landlord group, mainly composed of gentry and powerful people, has never been so comfortable.

Manchu, we are extremely loyal to you!
Even if you are eliminated by the torrent of history, we should leave a money rat, bright sun and moon, loyal heart! By the way, remember the good days of the past.

Through many major cases, he had destroyed most of the backbone forces at the village and town level, which were composed of gentry, celebrities, and powerful families. Then, he used economic means to lower the price of grain, and thereby lowered the ability of the land to create wealth, severely damaging the remaining landlord groups.

Now that the industrial age has arrived, all walks of life are developing rapidly, and labor is urgently needed everywhere. People have more and more ways to make a living, and the importance of fields is rapidly declining.

Without an economic foundation, the landlords can no longer speak with confidence. This is the best time to establish a complete grassroots organization of villages and towns and improve the rural management system.

Zhu Yijun continued: "No matter how rapid the industrial revolution is, the current situation of the Ming Dynasty is that the rural population still accounts for more than 80%.

If we don't occupy such an important position, it will be occupied by others, and then certain forces will revive and hinder the development of the Ming Dynasty.

In my plan, the new Daming includes the new countryside, and the new productivity includes the new agriculture. However, to build the new countryside of Daming and develop the new agriculture, the key lies in people and in the grassroots organizations in villages and towns. "

Pan Yinglong nodded repeatedly.

Your Majesty truly has a broad vision and foresight.

While everyone was entangled in the struggle between the old and new productive forces, he was thinking about how to establish new production relations to adapt to the new productive forces.

While everyone is thinking about ways to create more wealth, he is thinking about how to distribute wealth fairly and reasonably.

While everyone was discussing the establishment of an economic center with railways as the link, he was considering building a new countryside and a new agriculture.

"In the first year of Longqing, after the suppression of Japanese invaders in the southeast and the conquest of invaders in the north, a large number of veterans retired due to injuries, old age or voluntarily. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel joined forces to place them in the countryside to serve as village security guards and roving guards, responsible for rural security and maintaining local stability.

Later, counties successively set up township offices and town offices, changed patrols and roving guards into police stations and militia camps, and arranged officials and retired military officers to take up the posts.

The village security is still there, and the village militia captain continues to maintain social order at the grassroots level.

This was an attempt by the imperial court to build grassroots organizations in villages and towns. The person in charge of this matter at the time was Master Zhang, who was a cabinet elder and the Minister of Personnel.

However, he later proposed the performance evaluation system and was transferred to the position of Prime Minister, taking charge of national affairs, and the matter was gradually put aside.

At that time, my main focus was on implementing the Wanli New Deal reforms, and I had no time to pay attention to anything else.

However, the biggest achievement of rural work in recent years is the survey of land and population, which has made it clear what the rural conditions are in all parts of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the baojia and lizheng system was abolished and reorganized into villages and groups according to the concentration and dispersion of residents.

The village is the administrative unit and the group is the mutual assistance unit among farmers, but the rest of the work has been stagnant.

Now that the new policy has begun to show results, and the performance appraisal system has also been quite effective, the construction of grassroots organizations in villages and towns should also continue to move forward.”

Pan Yinglong replied, "I accept your order. But I am stupid and don't know if I have fully understood your will. I hope your Majesty will give me some guidance."

"Feng Wu, tell me about your understanding first."

Pan Yinglong replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, please allow me to sort it out."

"It's okay, just think about it slowly."

Zhu Yijun picked up the teacup and slowly walked to the window.

This is the guesthouse of Luanzhou Iron and Steel Group, which has three buildings, one large and two small.

In recent years, many officials, students and common people from all over the country have come to Luanzhou to visit and study. In order to entertain the distinguished guests, the guesthouses built by several major enterprises in Luanzhou are of good quality.

The big building is an eight-story hotel with twenty rooms on each floor.

The small building is a large courtyard with two small courtyards, and each small courtyard has a separate building. It is three stories high, a new building with a generous and elegant style. The decoration is exquisite and comfortable to live in.

Zhu Yijun lived in the best building, the four advisors lived in another, and the rest of the advisors and court officials lived in the guesthouse.

The room where I talked with Pan Yinglong was on the second floor. Through the lush trees, I could see the Luan River in the distance, winding like a jade belt across the land of Yandong.

"emperor!"

After more than ten minutes, Pan Yinglong spoke.

Zhu Yijun turned around when he heard the voice.

"Feng Wu has thought it through."

Zhu Yijun quickly sat back on the sofa and listened attentively.

"Your Majesty, I have summarized your words just now. The purpose of grassroots construction in villages and towns is to build a new agriculture and a new countryside, that is, to implement new productive forces and new production relations in the villages and towns of Daming.

Once the goal is clear, you can start accordingly.

The first is to strengthen the construction of the official team of township and village offices. Township and town offices are government agencies sent by the county government to townships and villages, and are also the most basic official government agencies.

It should play an important role as a bridge between the upper and lower levels. If conditions permit, the township office can also become the local regional economic center and a leader in the development of new agriculture and new rural areas. "

Zhu Yijun was full of surprise. "Regional economic center, you have figured out the term thoroughly, so why didn't you realize the most important contradiction of the Ming Dynasty at today's meeting?"

Pan Yinglong replied awkwardly.

"In reply to your Majesty, I am a bit too eager for quick success. I can understand the pragmatic words that can be used in practice. However, I am not good at the overly theoretical terms.

It’s just that at today’s meeting, I heard Your Majesty combine these theories with practice, and I completely understood it.”

"Well, we still need to combine theory with practice. Only practice can produce true insights. Feng Wu, please continue."

"The next are the village security guards and militia captains. They are all retired veterans, and their abilities and loyalty are beyond doubt. But I know that their education level is not high. I think it is unrealistic for them to understand the emperor's new agricultural and rural policies and become the leaders of each village.

They can only be the cornerstone of stabilizing rural social order, but to build a new agriculture and a new countryside, we need to find other talented people.”

"What is the virtuous person chosen by Fengwu?"

“In reply to Your Majesty, my idea is to mobilize a group of trainee officials from all regions to go to the countryside and serve as village heads.

The provincial examinations in the fifth year of Wanli are about to begin. Preparations should begin now. Communicate well with the clerks of each provincial government. A group of trainee clerks recruited by each province this year should be selected. They should first be trained and taught the emperor's outline for the construction of new agriculture and new rural areas. Then they should be assigned to serve as village heads in each village. With the support of the village security and militia captains, and relying on the township office, they should lead the village to transform its productivity."

Zhu Yijun listened quietly, with turbulent waves in his heart.

He is indeed a talent that I have chosen. He came up with such a "wonderful" idea in a short time, which coincides with mine.

But if you think about it carefully, it's normal.

Pan Yinglong, Wang Yi'e and other important officials whom I valued the most spent the most time communicating with me. During the communication, I would convey many of my thoughts intentionally or unintentionally.

They are all extremely smart people. After listening, they will definitely think carefully in their minds, and it is not surprising that they come up with ideas that are similar to their own.

This is also an important reason why I like to use them.

After Pan Yinglong finished speaking, Zhu Yijun pointed out the key problem, "Fengwu, your idea is very good and pioneering. It shows that you are good at learning and summarizing in your daily life.

But I want to point out that there is a big problem with your idea."

"Your Majesty, please give us your instructions."

“I have also made a field survey of what the countryside is like during my eastern tour. Although I have never lived there in disguise, I can understand that they may not be very united internally, but are very xenophobic.

In a village, everyone is related, some are relatives, some are old friends. They usually quarrel over trivial matters, such as farm matters, but once an outsider comes in, they will subconsciously stand together and face the outsider in unison. "

Pan Yinglong thought about it carefully and realized that what the emperor said was right.

"Your Majesty is wise and hits the nail on the head.

In this case, my idea of ​​mobilizing trainee officials and sending them to each village as village chiefs will be met with many obstacles. "

Yes, the government sent a village chief down here. What did they want to do? Did they want to collect more land tax from us?
The farmers must be confused.

The village elders, whose limelight and voice have been snatched away, will not accept this and will secretly collude to set traps for the new village chief.

How to lead the village to build new agriculture and new countryside in the face of various obstacles?
"Secondly, it is not appropriate to mobilize trainee officers. They are indeed full of vigor and vitality, but they are all rookies. Rural work is not as simple as we think, it may be very complicated.

These new recruits are unfamiliar with the place and have to resolve doubts, eliminate misunderstandings, and avoid attacks from both sides. It is extremely difficult and it is difficult for them to control the situation. "

Pan Yinglong nodded repeatedly, "Your Majesty is wise, I have oversimplified things."

But when he saw the thoughtful look on Zhu Yijun's face, he couldn't help but be moved and spoke cautiously.

"Your Majesty is very wise and can see through the secrets of heaven. You must have a good way. I am very stupid. Please enlighten me."

"Enlighten? Do you want me to give you a wake-up call?" Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Sending officials to each village is a good idea. But we need to use a different method.

First, do not mobilize trainee clerks, but mobilize officials who have been regularized for less than three years.

Within three years, they have gained experience and work experience, and those who are capable have also stood out. But they have not yet become bureaucrats and still retain their youthful vigor.

Rural conditions are difficult, so favorable conditions must be used to attract people to volunteer. For example, all voluntary applicants will be directly included in the special list of the Ministry of Personnel and given priority in examinations.

After completing three years of village work, as long as no mistakes are made, one rank will be added. If the work performance is excellent, the official rank will be added by several ranks.
Second, when we send them to the villages, we need to use clever methods to make the villagers happy to accept them. "

Make the villagers happy to accept it?

What kind of clever trick is this?

Pan Yinglong's eyes lit up, and he asked anxiously, "Your Majesty is very talented and clever. He came up with a good idea right away, which made me suddenly enlightened. I dare to ask, what is this clever idea?"

Zhu Yijun laughed: "It's not a bad trick, it's just taking advantage of human nature. 'If you want to take something, you must first give it.'"

When Pan Yinglong heard this, he became more curious and anxious.

What kind of clever trick is this?

(End of this chapter)