The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 304 Is this called twenty years old?
"Are you the official in charge of the Sili Xiaowei Department?!"

In the Supreme Court, Chen Qian sat in the upper seat, gritting his teeth and staring at the historian in front of him.

He whispered from history: "I am."

"How old are you?!"

"I'm Twenty"

"twenty?!"

Chen Qian immediately sneered. He looked at the little guy in front of him. This guy was not even as tall as his chest, with a childish face. And he still had the nerve to say he was twenty?
Chen Qian slammed the table in front of him and said, "Tell the truth!"

The historian was frightened by Chen Qian and burst into tears.

Chen Qian was so annoyed that he wanted to throw this guy into jail, but considering his age, he still suppressed his anger.

He looked at Xun Yu who was standing beside him.

This person had just taken up the position of Chief Justice and became Chen Qian's deputy.

As Xun Xi gained a firm foothold, the Xun family rose to prominence and many of them took up important positions.

When Chen Qian stared at him, Xun Yu's face looked a little embarrassed.

"Mr. Chen, there may be some misunderstanding about this matter."

"Yes, this Xun Congshi will be handed over to you, Xun Tingwei Zheng, to govern."

Chen Qian spoke coldly, especially emphasizing the word "Xun".

Xun Yu hurried forward and ordered his attendants to take the child away.

Chen Qian knew that the appointment of officials in the imperial court was somewhat chaotic, but he hadn't expected it to be this chaotic. A child in his early teens was actually a historian in the Sili Xiaowei Department?

However, the personal information of this person clearly states that he is 20 years old.

Is this twenty years old?
Is your Xun family really so arrogant and domineering? Do you really not care about the laws of the court? Do you think everyone is a fool?
It is obvious that this child's age was changed, and he started his career early. Anyway, he doesn't need to do anything, and he doesn't even need to show up.

Just as Chen Qian was trying to calm down his fury, Xun Yu suddenly said, "There's one more thing that doesn't match."

"What's up??"

"There is also a historian named Chen Chu."

"A child too?"

Xun Yu hurriedly shook his head, "No, there is no such person."

Chen Qian was stunned. "What do you mean there's no such person?"

"I can't find any information about this person. No one has ever seen him. There's only this name, and no other records."

Xun Yu said in a low voice.

The veins on Chen Qian's forehead were exposed.

He didn't speak for a long time.

Suddenly, Chen Qian stood up abruptly and looked at Xun Yu beside him.

"Keep an eye on those we've captured. Don't allow anyone to contact the outside world. If anyone leaks this information, I won't forgive you."

"only!!"

Chen Qian got on the carriage and quickly headed towards the Taiji Hall.

With the cooperation of Zheng Mao, Chen Qian discovered that there were very serious problems in many departments. After investigation, Chen Qian chose to attack with all his strength.

In Wang Jing's Sili Xiaowei Department alone, thirty historians and fifty-eight fake assistants were punished.

This is the dignified Sili Xiaowei Department! !

Is this how you monitor the Sili region?
The young history student was sent here to get a gilded position in advance, while the other one didn't even bother to pretend. He would just take up a spot regardless of whether there was anyone else or not.

Chen Qian was completely numb.

In the past, the Sili Xiaowei Department of the Eastern Han Dynasty had twelve historians, twenty-five temporary assistants, and thirty-seven subordinate officials.

Today, the Sili Xiaowei Department has forty historians, sixty assistants, and one hundred subordinate officials!
There are a hundred subordinates, and these people can't even fit into the Sili Xiaowei Department!

Among these people, there are probably only about twenty people who are actually doing the work, and the rest are either here to gain qualifications or to get the salary.

After Emperor Wen, the entire temple official system was greatly supplemented, and many inexplicable official positions appeared.

In fact, Emperor Wen's original intention was probably to divide the power of the ministers. He probably had already discovered the threat posed by the aristocratic families, so he established many official positions and subordinates in order to divide the power of the ministers and suppress them. Naturally, the ministers would not object when they had more positions.

However, when this situation developed during the Cao Mao period, the problem became serious.

Take the Sili Xiaowei Department as an example. There are 100 vacancies, 20 of them do the work, and 80 of them just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor. The daily work of those 80 people is to drink, recite poems, and comment on famous people all over the world, which they consider to be an elegant occupation.

Then, if there was any merit, it would be shared equally among everyone. The first ones to climb up were those who did nothing and did not come to the Sili Xiaowei Department for a single day in a year.

The situation in the government was already like this, so Chen Qian didn't even dare to imagine how terrible the situation at the local level would be.

No wonder the general was keen on killing the three clans. Even if there was no crime of collusion, he would still find a reason to forcibly kill them. How many parasites are there in the Wei Dynasty who are constantly sucking blood?
When Chen Qian arrived at the Taiji Hall with a stern face, Cao Mao was still busy.

There were two people sitting in front of Cao Mao, namely the Minister of Agriculture Lu Qin and the Minister of Finance Cui Zan.

The Secretariat had a clear division of labor and was called the Eight Shangshu, including one Ling, two Pushe, and six Shangshu.

These six ministers were responsible for different things. The Minister of Personnel had already appeared, and the Minister of Revenue, the predecessor of the later Minister of Revenue, was responsible for food.

This was the semi-finished product of the later three-province and six-department system.

The power of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers was being transferred to the Secretariat, and even most of it had been transferred, but it had not been completely abolished. Many ministers treated the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers as honorary titles.

At this moment, Cao Mao was discussing the issue of future military pay and benefits with these two people.

Cui Zan was of course very opposed to Cao Mao's idea, but he was also worried that Cao Mao would skip him and use Lu Qin to complete the task.

Although he, as the Shangshu, had taken away the powers of the Grand Minister of Agriculture, the Grand Minister of Agriculture still had his own subordinates, so it cannot be said that he was completely useless.

This is the situation in today's government, where there are many officials with the same powers.

If we oppose it, the supporting side may seize power.

Cui Zan said helplessly, "Your Majesty, I know you are kind-hearted, and you are also concerned about those soldiers. However, my Great Wei's central army has over 100,000 soldiers. If their salaries are increased, the surrounding foreign troops will certainly not accept it. If you also increase their salaries, that means you will have to increase the salaries of nearly 300,000 people."

"This is no small expense. The granaries appear full today because of the accumulation of funds from previous years. If we follow your Majesty's instructions, I'm afraid that within three years, the granaries will be empty and there will be no more reserves."

“There is no way to continue to maintain this scale in the future.”

Cui Zan seemed to fully support Cao Mao's ideas, but what he said was always looking for trouble.

It was Shu that continued to live off its past capital. Cao Wei had long ago completed profits from taxes, and a slight improvement in the treatment of soldiers was not enough to destroy the foundation of the entire Wei. After all, Cao Wei had its own military farming institutions, and in many areas, farmers were directly used as tenants, making them work like crazy while ensuring that they would not starve to death.

In other dynasties, no one would believe that the Shangshutai did not order the transfer of grain and caused the civil unrest. However, in our Great Wei, this is feasible because the arable land is public land opened up by the government. The people only cultivate it for the temple and do not have ownership. Farming and harvesting all depend on the wishes of the officials.

They are not paying taxes, they are called serfs!
But if you think that Cao Wei's policies were too cruel, that's not right. In a way, Cao Wei ensured that these farmers could work and have food, and did not let them starve to death. Everything is afraid of comparison, especially compared with the previous chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty.

At that time, the people's land was crazily annexed by the powerful, and they were displaced. Years of war made them lifelong slaves of the powerful.

At least the government would grant them farmland from time to time so they wouldn't work themselves to death.

Compared with the other two countries, Wu was even more inhumane, and Shu was even more precarious, having almost run out of money.

Now Cui Zan told him that the court's income and expenditure could not sustain such "military expenses", but Cao Mao absolutely did not believe it. After cleaning up those corrupt officials, perhaps a lot of money could be saved by improving their treatment!

The annual military expenditure of the Wei Dynasty is a sky-high figure, and no one knows how much of this huge military expenditure is spent on the soldiers. There is exploitation at all levels and corruption is rampant, but it is also the kind of thing that is done in an upright and aboveboard manner. When it is said, they ignore the secular perspective, and when asked, they are like the madmen of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, who are romantic and free.

However, Cao Mao did not directly expose Cui Zan's lie. He looked at Lu Qin standing beside him.

Lu Qin laughed. "Mr. Cui, I've calculated the income and expenditure over the years, and I don't think you're right. The army's income and expenditure don't seem to match the actual treatment they receive today."

Cui Zan's forehead suddenly broke out in sweat. "Some are used to reward meritorious soldiers."

"Then let's save this reward and use it as a reward to boost the morale of the entire army. What do you think?"

Lu Qin asked again.

Cui Zan nodded quickly to show his approval.

Cui Zan didn't dare to continue this topic. Many of the Wei Dynasty's expenses could not be taken seriously. If they were taken seriously, who knows how many people would die.

Cui Zan cannot bear this responsibility.

Lu Qin then looked towards the emperor, his eyes full of disdain. None of these parasites in the temple could withstand interrogation. He had just made a casual lie, and the other party decisively admitted his mistake. This also showed that there were indeed some problems with the military expenditure of the Wei Dynasty.

Cao Mao also did not continue this topic. Things like this should just be recorded for now.

There will be a chance to settle accounts with them slowly.

"Your Majesty!! Minister Chen requests an audience!"

(End of this chapter)