Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 433: Split into Six Divisions (V)

Hearing Li Shanchang's question, Lu Jin immediately asked back.

"After the Ministry of Industry was split, there were people in charge of water conservancy, people in charge of transportation and postal services, and people in charge of construction. Don't you think there's something missing?"

"This..." Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, but Xu Jichuan, who was from the Construction Department of the former Academy of Literature and Arts and had already returned from Xuzhou, immediately said.

"Your Highness, there are still factories in various places that lack departmental management, especially the three ironworks and Longjiang Shipyard."

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on after hearing this.

Lu Jin also nodded and said, "Yes, this Ministry of Industry and Commerce is specifically responsible for managing factories across the country. Factories, or companies, are divided into state-owned companies and private companies. In addition, the Shaofu among the Nine Ministers will also manage some royal companies in the future as a source of treasury."

When people heard that Lu Jin was going to use the Shaofu to start a company and make money for the treasury, they didn't react much. There was no such thing as competing with the people for profits now, and there was also the influence of the previous two dynasties.

It was really awesome for the royal family of the Song Dynasty to make money through business. The Quanzhou Port in the Song Dynasty was basically controlled by the royal family of the Zhao Song Dynasty. The royal family managed maritime trade and did not have to pay taxes to the state. The private maritime merchants who were squeezed out could not continue their business. In addition, the profits from the monopoly of salt, tea, wine, etc. also went into the emperor's treasury, and the country's gold and silver minerals also went into the emperor's treasury.

The Yuan Dynasty was even more outrageous. The emperor's outaos lent money at high interest rates to the people, bought and sold slaves, etc., which was even more despicable.

With these two "examples" mentioned above, Lu Jin only proposed that the Shaofu should set up a company to make money for the imperial treasury, which was not even close.

It goes without saying how serious the consequences will be if the emperor himself has no money. Look at the Ming Dynasty in history. Zhu Yuanzhang got rid of the Shaofu when he founded the country, and Zhu Di opened several restaurants and imperial farms. Zhu Di was more powerful. He asked Zheng He to make seven voyages to the West to get money for him. If it weren't for these seven voyages, how could Zhu Di have the money to move the capital and make five expeditions to the northern desert? Look at Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty, he was forced into a state by money.

After all, this world is still material. If you want to get things done, you have to use money. Without money, nothing can be accomplished, and even the emperor is no exception.

So, leaving aside the national treasury, how to manage the royal finances is also a very important matter. However, Lu Jin is not very worried. He can monopolize oil and rob overseas. At worst, he can rely on selling technology patents to make money.
As for starting a company, making money is one aspect, but the key is that Lu Jin intends to use this to lead the trend and gradually make the social atmosphere transition to modern times.

Lu Jin continued to introduce, "The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has a General Affairs Department, which is responsible for daily management; the Industrial and Commercial Standards Department, which is responsible for formulating national industrial and commercial standards, such as the weight of scales, the length of rulers, and even the standards of various industries;

"There is also a Regulations Department, which is responsible for formulating regulations for related industries; a Registration Department, which is responsible for registering all public and private companies nationwide; and a Coordination Department, which is responsible for the national industrial and commercial layout and provides guidance and coordination for industrial and commercial development.

"There is also the Industrial and Commercial Inspection Department, which is responsible for supervising companies and merchants that violate laws and disciplines; and the Personnel Department, which is responsible for the appointment, promotion and transfer of managers of state-owned companies.

"The State Council has set up the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the provinces have set up the Department of Industry and Commerce, and the prefectures and counties have set up the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. In the future, if the people want to run a company, they must register with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau and pay taxes to the court, including but not limited to the corporate income tax of 4%, the value-added tax of 10%, the resource tax of 3%, and the industrial and commercial land occupation tax, which is collected according to the land area.

"In addition, no matter whether it is a state-owned, privately owned, or company run by the Shaofu, they all need to pay taxes to the court."

Everyone was stunned. Qin Conglong immediately asked, "Your Highness, do state-owned factories also need to pay taxes?"

"Of course, for example, ironworks. State-owned ironworks do not pay taxes, but private ironworks need to pay taxes. Isn't that very unfair? If you don't pay taxes, your operating costs will be very low, and you can sell iron more cheaply. Then the private ironworks will be squeezed out by the state-owned ones." Lu Jin explained.

Qin Conglong immediately complained, "The state-owned ironworks pays taxes to the court. Isn't this just transferring money from one hand to the other?"

"You have to pay the tax whether you transfer it from one hand to the other, even if it's just an internal account. When calculating the price of the final output goods, the cost of tax must also be included. This is to create a fair business environment and prevent private merchants from being squeezed into bankruptcy." Lu Jin said again.

However, Wang Guangyang still frowned and said, "But with such high taxes, 1% out of 4, 1% out of 3, can merchants really make money?"

People who are still stuck in the small peasant economy and the concept of self-production and self-sales certainly cannot understand how low the manufacturing cost of products can be reduced by using a business model of centralized large-scale production using machines. They have never seen it, so it is normal that they do not understand it.

However, Lu Jin was too lazy to explain to them. If they didn't see it with their own eyes, they wouldn't be able to experience the industrial shock at all, so he said, "You will know it later.

"Regarding the split of the Ministry of Industry, after the split, it will become the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. There are only these four. Does anyone have any questions?"

"No more." Everyone shook their heads.

Seeing this, Lu Jin turned to the next page of the meeting minutes and said, "Then let's talk about the Ministry of Revenue and the Nine Ministers.

"Let's start with the Nine Ministers. The Taichang Temple, which presides over sacrificial ceremonies and takes the lead in worshipping at court meetings, will be abolished from now on, and its functions will be assigned to the Ministry of Rites after it is split."

Everyone nodded. After Lu Jin's split and adjustment, the Ministry of Rites did have overlapping functions with the Taichang Temple. Except for taking the lead in worshipping at court meetings, everything else was almost the same, so there was no problem in abolishing it directly.

"Guanglu Temple evolved from the Langzhongling of the Han Dynasty. It was originally responsible for guarding the palace, but later became responsible for cooking and preparing banquets for the emperor. This was also abolished. From now on, the guarding of the palace will be handed over to the Imperial Guard, and the cooking function will be assigned to the inner court.

"The Weiwei Temple, which is responsible for the emperor's ceremonial guards, will be abolished in the future, and its functions will be handed over to the Imperial Guard.

"The four ministers, namely, Zongzheng Temple, Dali Temple, Honglu Temple, and Shaofu, will be retained.

"Among the Nine Ministers, there are still the Sinong Temple, which is in charge of agricultural promotion and granaries, and the Imperial Household Department, which is in charge of horse breeding. These two will be merged into the Ministry of Agriculture. The new Ministry of Agriculture will have four departments under its jurisdiction, including the Granary Department, the Reclamation Department and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The Academy of Agricultural Sciences will be responsible for the development, research and technical teaching of agricultural technology." In addition, there is an Imperial Medical Service, which was not originally one of the Nine Ministers. In the future, it will be changed to the Ministry of Health, with the General Affairs Department, the Childcare Department, the Drug Supervision Department, the Epidemic Prevention Department and the Medical Examination Department under its jurisdiction.

"In the future, we must vigorously promote medical education, train medical talents through government-run medical universities, and then open national hospitals in all prefectures and counties. Each town should have a health center. All midwives in the country will be recruited by the Ministry of Health in the future. Those who pass the assessment will be issued a license to deliver babies. Unqualified witch doctors and witches are not allowed to practice medicine and deliver babies. Those who violate the law in midwifery and practice medicine will be arrested and exiled once they are found.

"After the statistics are collected, the Ministry of Health will recruit and train midwives from the local area or transfer them from other places in areas where there is a shortage of midwives. It is imperative that every village and town has a midwife with a license from the Ministry of Health to ensure the care and delivery of infants and young children across the country.

"From now on, all doctors and physicians must hold a medical license issued by the Ministry of Health. Graduates from government-run medical universities will be issued a license directly. Doctors and physicians who have inherited their medical skills from their families or passed down their medical skills from master to apprentice must be recommended by two licensed doctors and be assessed by the Ministry of Health's Medical Examination Department before they can be issued a medical license."

When Lu Jin was introducing the organizational structure of the Ministry of Health, everyone present could not help but look sideways at Dai Sigong who was sitting in the back. They heard that this man was the eldest disciple of Jinhua's miracle doctor Zhu Danxi. He was an excellent doctor and had arrived before the Eastern Expedition was over, but had rarely shown up. He only officially appeared at this meeting.

At this time, hearing Lu Jin's emphasis on introducing the Ministry of Health, everyone secretly thought that Dai Sigong was really lucky. He had no merits at all, but he could get the position of Shangshu for nothing.
However, it would be unfair to say that Dai Sigong has no contribution at all. Dai Sigong came at the end of last year, but not many people have seen him. That's because he was not in Jiankang at all. Instead, he was sent by Lu Jin to Hezhou to treat Hua Gao.

In the original history, Hua Gao, the Marquis of Guangde, was a very brave warrior at the beginning. But after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Hua Gao was conferred the title of Marquis of Guangde, and he suddenly became a coward. During the Hongwu period, there were several foreign wars, whether it was against Yunnan, Sichuan, or several northern expeditions. When Zhu Yuanzhang asked Hua Gao if he would go, he pretended to be sick and refused to go.
In fact, Hua Gao was not really ill, but he had been unable to have children and was afraid that no one would inherit his title. The intensity of the several wars in the early Ming Dynasty was no less than that before the founding of the country. If he died on the battlefield, wouldn't there be no one to inherit his title? So Hua Gao had actually been pretending to be sick and hiding at home to have children.
After Lu Jin learned about this situation, he first asked Doctor Chi Renping from Luzhou to see Hua Gao, but there was no improvement. Later, Hua Gao took two concubines, but there was still no improvement. So when Dai Sigong arrived, he was sent by Lu Jin to Hezhou to see Hua Gao.

After all, being unable to have children is quite shameful for a man, so Lu Jin did not make it public, and therefore not many people knew about it.

Fortunately, after Dai Sigong's treatment, Hua Gao's wife and concubine finally became pregnant, and they were both pregnant at the same time. Now they are more than three months pregnant. This can be regarded as Lu Jin changing history. I just hope that when we conquer the Central Plains this year, Hua Gao, the commander-in-chief of the group army, will no longer have any worries.

After Lu Jin finished explaining the organizational structure of the Ministry of Health, he looked at everyone and asked, "Does anyone want to ask questions?"

"No." Everyone shook their heads. They had no objection to the changes in the Nine Ministers. The Ministry of Agriculture was also formed by the merger of the original Sinong Temple and Taipu Temple. It was still in charge of the original farming and horse breeding, and there were not many changes.

The Ministry of Health had undergone the biggest changes. Lu Jin had a clear attitude and made it clear that he was going to increase the management of doctors and physicians. Moreover, these government officials did not quite understand and were too lazy to ask. What they were most concerned about, of course, was what changes would take place in the Ministry of Revenue, the powerful department in charge of finances.

Then I heard Lu Jin say, "Let's talk about splitting up the Ministry of Households.

“The biggest problem with the Ministry of Revenue is that financial power is too concentrated. At the same time, it also controls land, population, and storage. The responsibility is too heavy. It’s not that I look down on anyone, but I really think that no one can manage so many things at the same time. Even if the Ministry of Revenue is still retained and managed by force, no one can manage it well. It’s better to just split it up.

"Especially financial power. Those who collect money, those who spend money, and those who manage money should all be separated, just like the three judicial departments of the Dali Temple, which were divided into three financial departments."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this. This change was probably the biggest part of the entire reform. After all, for an organizational entity, financial power and personnel appointment power were the most important.

Lu Jin said again at this time.

"In the future, the Ministry of Revenue will be split into the Ministry of Finance, which will be responsible for formulating fiscal expenditures and approving various budgets, mainly managing how to spend money.

“A new taxation department will be set up to be responsible for all types of taxes across the country and for collecting money.

"A new central bank, or treasury, will be established to manage money, as well as a printing factory and a mint."

As a result, before Lu Jin finished speaking, Li Shanchang frowned and asked.

"Your Highness, there is no problem with the separation of powers among taxation, expenditure, and custody, but which department should manage the population household registration and land register that originally belonged to the Ministry of Revenue? If the Ministry of Taxation does not have control over the household registration and land, how can it collect taxes? What is the basis for collecting taxes?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "I haven't finished talking yet. The Ministry of Criminal Justice that was not mentioned before will be changed to the Ministry of Police in the future. The Ministry of Police will have a Civil Affairs Department under it, and the population and household registration will be managed by the Ministry of Police in the future, which will also make it easier to investigate cases.

"As for land, a new Ministry of Land and Resources will be established in the future, with a Land Division responsible for agricultural land; a Housing and Construction Division responsible for urban and residential land; an Industrial Construction Division responsible for industrial plant land; a Resource Survey Division responsible for exploring mineral resources in various places; and a Geological Survey Division responsible for geological surveys and mapping.

"In addition, the original warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue will be managed by the Ministry of Agriculture's Granary Department."

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard this, and Li Shanchang asked again.

"Your Highness, I still have the same question. If the Taxation Department does not manage population, household registration, and land registers, how will taxes be collected in the future?"

Lu Jin frowned and said, "How can we not collect taxes without the household registration and land register? Haven't you seen the people paying taxes? When did the government collect taxes? Did they go to the countryside with the household registration and land register to collect taxes from every household? Didn't the people carry their own food and take the initiative to hand it over to the government?
"Although the tax department doesn't have household registration and land registers, the people do have them. When they pay taxes, they bring their household registrations with them. After the tax department receives the grain, it just issues them a receipt. Who says taxes can't be collected without household registration and land registers?"

"."Everyone was speechless. Well, Lu Jin is not the kind of emperor who grew up in the deep palace and has never seen the common people. It is impossible to scare him with this. It's not like Lu Jin has never seen how the common people pay taxes!

At this time, Qin Conglong also asked, "If the local government needs to organize corvée labor in the future, which department should organize it?"

Lu Jin said again, "Whether to use corvée is decided by the prefect, supervised by the county magistrate, and the local police station in charge of population registration is responsible for the specific organization. Do you have any other questions?"

This time everyone finally kept silent. Since Lu Jin had made such clear arrangements, it meant that he had already made plans to split up the household department. How could he be stumped by their questions?

(End of this chapter)