Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 116 Temujin: Ashu, as long as you can collect taxes, you can set the rules!
By now, Temujin's strategic plan for the second attack on the Jin Dynasty had become very clear.

Temujin was stationed in Zhongdu, Muhuali attacked the northeast region, and Zhao Shuo attacked Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi, determined to take all the areas north of the Yellow River of the Jin Dynasty into his possession.

After Zhao Shuo came out of the palace, he returned to Shufeng Villa and summoned Yelu Chucai to discuss matters.

This was originally a villa built by Jin Wushu for himself during the founding of the Jin Dynasty. It was magnificent and beautiful, and besides the imperial palace, it was the largest and most livable place in Zhongdu. Today, it serves as Zhao Shuo's residence in Zhongdu.

"You all stand down!"

Zhao Shuo waved his hand and ordered the maid to leave. Only he and Yelu Chucai were left in the room.

After Zhao Shuo explained Temujin's intention, he said, "Of the four provinces, Hebei is the first place we must attack. According to Jinqing (Yelü Chucai's courtesy name), how should our army attack Hebei?"

"Please allow Chu Cai to think carefully."

Yelu Chucai is not without quick wit, but he would not speak casually about such a big thing.

After carefully considering it for a quarter of an hour, he said, "I wonder if the Prince Consort wants to go fast or slow?"

Zhao Shuo asked, "How do you say fast, and how do you say slow?"

Yelu Chucai said, "If the prince consort wants to capture Hebei as quickly as possible, it will be very easy. You can issue a proclamation to retain all surrendered Jin officials. And guarantee the safety of the lives and property of all wealthy families who surrender."

Three years ago, the Prince Consort led a large army and captured Hebei. Once this manifesto is issued, I estimate that the entire Hebei region can be pacified in two to three months at the earliest, or half a year at the slowest.

However, in this case, the loyalty of these local officials is really questionable. When the prince consort's army sets out to attack other areas, Hebei will inevitably experience repeated chaos.

What I mean is, if the Prince Consort wants long-term peace and stability in Hebei, he can't rush things."

Zhao Shuo nodded slightly and said, "Then tell me about the slow method."

"There are two main points. First, all officials above the county level, unless they have made great contributions, must be dismissed from their posts and demoted to civilians, and replaced with our own people."

"One of our own? You mean, hold an imperial examination in Zhongdu?"

"The prince consort is wise!"

Yelu Chucai's words were not just a casual response to his superiors, but came from the bottom of his heart.

He knew, of course, that Zhao Shuo was invincible in battle and a rare figure of his time. However, he had never imagined that Zhao Shuo was so astute in government affairs. As soon as he started, Zhao Shuo immediately thought of the imperial examinations.

Zhongdu and its surrounding areas had the highest literacy rate in the entire Jin Dynasty.

Countless scholars were frustrated and tried their best to become officials.

As for whether to be officials of the Jin Dynasty or the Mongolian Dynasty, they didn't care at all.

The officials selected through this imperial examination were, in the eyes of the Jin court, traitors. The Mongols weren't forcing you to take the imperial examinations with weapons. You were even more despicable than those soldiers from the Baru Camp who had pledged their allegiance to the government.

But in the eyes of the Mongolian court, these people who had completely offended the Jin court were definitely their own people.

Yelu Chucai asked, "But I wonder if Genghis Khan, who appointed his son-in-law as Darughachi for all the land south of Tiemenguan and north of the Yellow River, has the power to conduct the imperial examinations?"

Zhao Shuo said, "There shouldn't be any problem. First, tell me how the imperial examination is conducted."

Yelu Chucai said, "The content of our imperial examination will be different from that of the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty's imperial examination is divided into five categories: poetry and prose, classics, policy essays, law, and classics. Candidates can choose any one category and take the exam..."

After briefly introducing the Jin Dynasty's imperial examination system, he said, "I believe that the three subjects of poetry, classics, and Confucian classics are actually of no benefit to the country. Our laws are certainly different from those of the Jin Dynasty, so there is no need for the law subject. We only need to have the policy subject."

"Mr. Jin's words are quite insightful!"

In fact, Zhao Shuo also had some understanding of the Jin Dynasty's imperial examination system.

In addition to the imperial examination system introduced by Yelu Chucai, the Jin Dynasty also had a "Jurchen Jinshi" exam specifically for the Jurchens. On the surface, the Jurchen Jinshi exam consisted of three subjects: "Strategy," "Poetry," and "Essay."

However, "策" should be written in large Jurchen characters, and "诗" should be written in small Jurchen characters.

After these two are qualified, they will be determined as Jinshi. Then, the ranking will be determined by the "lun".

To put it bluntly, the "strategy" and "poems" in the Jurchen imperial examinations were to see whether the candidates had the ability to use the Jurchen language.

Next, the candidates who are good at writing "essays" are the talents that the Jin Dynasty needs most.

It seems that the Jin court was not stupid and knew what kind of talents were most important to the country.

However, Zhao Shuo felt that a single exam on policy essays was a bit monotonous, and that a math exam should be added. The math didn't need to be too advanced; a passing score on the four basic arithmetic operations would suffice. The policy essay exam would have a perfect score of 400, and the math exam would have a perfect score of 100. The combined scores of the two exams would determine whoever scored higher would pass the imperial examination.

Yelu Chucai had no objection to this.

"Rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics", mathematics is one of the six arts of a gentleman.

Moreover, from a practical point of view, if a county magistrate is not good at math and cannot even understand the accounts, how can he handle the government affairs of a county?

Yelu Chucai said, "Furthermore, when the imperial consort's army leaves Hebei, it's inevitable that some people with ulterior motives will cause trouble. Whether these officials selected through the imperial examinations can fight to the death for their country is a real question. I suggest that their families must remain in Zhongdu."

Zhao Shuo said, "Very good, but there is one more rule: no matter how many bandits attack, whoever loses the land will be killed.

Those who fought bravely and died for their country will be rewarded.

If only the county seat was lost but forces were organized within the county to fight the bandits, rewards and punishments would be given accordingly. However, if one left the county, regardless of the reason, not only would the person be executed but his family would also be reduced to slavery.

Zhao Shuo's method was actually the policy adopted by the Qing Dynasty when it entered the Pass.

At that time, the Qing army entered the pass, clashing with the peasant army and the Ming army, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Who knows if it was the enemy's overwhelming strength, or your own cowardice that led to your defeat and loss of land? Nothing else mattered, only your departure from the county. Anyone who left the county was subject to execution.

Yelu Chucai immediately understood the merit of Zhao Shuo's plan and said, "The prince consort is wise!"

Yelu Chucai continued, "I believe there are two ways to deal with the local tyrants in the county. The first is to force them to offer hostages and send private soldiers to assist the prince consort in the war. The second method is to confiscate the land of all local tyrants and wealthy households and directly implement the equal-field system and military system of the Tang Dynasty. Only those who have made great contributions to Mongolia will be exempted.

The first method is faster and will kill fewer people. The second method is more likely to maintain long-term peace. However, it is slower and will kill many more people.

Zhao Shuo said without hesitation, "Let's go with the second option. However, after the land is evenly distributed, it will all be considered government land. All land will belong to the government, and farmers will only have the right to rent it."

The Fubing system was the same as that of the Tang Dynasty. Fubing did not have to pay rent or taxes, but had to participate in military training and accept conscription when necessary.

If a farmer feels his income is too low, he can strive to become a government soldier, engage in business, work, or join the Eight Banner Army.

Yelu Chucai asked, "Eight Banner Army? But is that the system implemented by the Prince Consort in Fu, Huan, and Chang?"

Zhao Shuo said, "That's right. I plan to recruit another 30,000 troops in Hebei, to match the Han army banners in Chu, Huan, and Chang. As for where to enclose land in Hebei, we'll decide after we've counted the registered population of Hebei."

In short, within my territory, if you want to be a landlord, you have no choice but to join the Eight Banners. As for killing too many people? What's the big deal? I'm worried that even if we implement the equal-field system, the land distributed to the people will be too little, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain long-term stability."

"The prince consort is wise!"

This was the third time that Yelu Chucai said that his son-in-law was wise, and each time he said it from the bottom of his heart.

Originally, in his view, implementing the equal-field system and the military fubing system of the Tang Dynasty to distribute the land equally was the best way to achieve long-term stability.

However, he did not consider that even if the land was divided equally, the people might still not have enough land, and the effect of long-term stability would be greatly reduced.

If you think about it carefully, that’s true!
The population of the Jin Dynasty now reaches 60 to 70 million.

There is little land and many people.

Even if the land was divided equally, the people would still not have enough to eat as the population grew.

Therefore, the two methods just proposed by Yelu Chucai are not a question of pros and cons at all, but the second method should be used.

Moreover, the method Zhao Shuo just proposed turned all the land into government farmland, directly solving the most troublesome problem of land annexation in all dynasties.

In addition, for farmers who are used to digging for food in the soil, it is not easy to do business or work.

However, whether it is the palace soldiers or the Eight Banners, as long as they are brave and willing to train and not afraid, they will be fine.

In this way, the peasants looked forward to being soldiers of the government, and the soldiers of the government looked forward to being soldiers of the Eight Banners. The army under the command of the prince consort easily turned into a group of fierce beasts!
It really kills three birds with one stone!
It seems that his master is much wiser than he imagined!
Zhao Shuo was also very satisfied with Yelu Chucai's performance today.

He is indeed one of the most talented ministers in history. All the suggestions he made are very reasonable.

If Zhao Shuo did not have a vision eight hundred years ahead of his time, he would definitely think that Yelu Chucai's suggestions were simply perfect.

He said, "In addition, there is one more thing: all grassroots officials must be replaced. The new grassroots officials will be selected from those who have made contributions to my country. In the battle of Huihe Fort, my first attack on Hebei, and my second attack on Hebei, there were so many people who contributed to my efforts.

Why don't we use them as our grassroots officials, instead giving them to outsiders?"

Yelu Chucai's eyes lit up and he said, "What a great idea! Since ancient times, imperial power has not extended below the county level. However, by doing this, the Prince Consort is extending the power of the imperial court directly into the countryside. If this is successfully implemented, I'm afraid that no one in history will be able to control Hebei more than the Prince Consort!"

The next morning, Zhao Shuo went into the palace again to meet Temujin and talked about the imperial examination.

Temujin was getting a little impatient and said, "Ashuo, didn't I appoint you as the Darughachi for the entire area south of Tiemenguan and north of the Yellow River? You can make all military and political decisions with a single word. Did that corrupt scholar named Yelu Chucai say something to you? We Mongols don't have as many taboos as people in the Central Plains."

Zhao Shuo explained, "My father, the Khan, is stationed in Zhongdu and has ordered me to conquer the four provinces of Shanhe. Zhongdu is not within my jurisdiction, so I have come to ask for your instructions."

Temujin said, "Since I have appointed you as the Darughachi for the entire area south of Tiemenguan and north of the Yellow River, the political affairs of Zhongdu will naturally fall under your responsibility. Whether it's the imperial examinations you want to hold, or the security and tax collection in Zhongdu, it's all your responsibility, Ah Shuo."

"Yes."

To put it bluntly, Temujin had no idea how to govern the people of Central China, let alone how to collect taxes from them.

In the historical arc without Zhao Shuo's time travel, a year before Temujin's death, someone suggested to him, "When the Central Plains was Jin territory, we could rob those people. Now that they've become our subjects, we can't rob them. These people who farm the land are completely useless. Why not destroy all the farmland and turn it into pastures, and let the farmers become herders?"

Temujin almost agreed.

It was only after Yelu Chucai strongly advised Temujin that the taxes on the Chinese people were quite high that Temujin allowed Yelu Chucai to give it a try.

By the time Yelu Chucai successfully collected taxes, Ogedei had already ascended the throne.

They can’t even figure out how to collect agricultural taxes, let alone the more complicated commercial taxes.

Throughout history, the Mongols massacred countless cities for this reason.

Now if Temujin doesn't hand over the administrative power of Zhongdu to Zhao Shuo, who else will he hand it over to?
However, when Yelu Chucai saw that Zhao Shuo had entered the palace and not only had the imperial examination settled, but also had the administrative power of Zhongdu, he was completely shocked.

Prince Consort Zhao Shuo is too trusted by Genghis Khan, isn't he?
If the emperors of the Jin or Song dynasties faced a general like Zhao Shuo, commanding a large army, wouldn't they be on high alert? In Mongolia, Zhao Shuo's desire to institute the imperial examinations was a matter of a single word. Not only that, he even secured administrative control of Zhongdu.

Moreover, this seems to be not just a problem of trust, but also a problem of the Mongolian system.

The Mongolians have little cultural heritage, so they value talents very much and give them great power.

Moreover, Mongolians are very good at learning. They learn whatever is practical and advanced. Not only do they learn, but they also have no taboos and always put practicality first.

For example, the reform of the imperial examination system proposed by Yelu Chucai would have undoubtedly caused a great uproar in the Jin Dynasty. Without years of debate, the matter would have remained unresolved. However, Zhao Shuo saw the rationale and not only implemented it but also proposed even more comprehensive improvements.

The next day, it can be implemented directly.

Everything is based on practicality first, the efficiency is simply too high!

The Mongolian Empire was a fledgling state, and while its institutions were crude, it was vibrant and full of vitality. Coupled with outstanding figures like Temujin and Zhao Shuo, its future was truly limitless.

Yelu Chucai was also very efficient.

At noon that day, he ordered people to write dozens of imperial examination notices and post them in crowded places in Zhongdu City.

When the scholars in Zhongdu saw this, they were in an uproar.

Although things are not peaceful now, and the Mongols have a saying that whoever loses land first will die, but wealth and honor must be sought in danger!
Hebei has a total of 135 counties. Appointing a county magistrate and a county lieutenant for each county would require 270 officials. Furthermore, there are prefectures above the counties, which would also require a large number of officials. Even if positions were reserved for those with meritorious service, the number of officials required would be dizzying.

Zhao Shuo set the quota for this imperial examination at 300 people.

What is this concept?
It turned out that the Jin Dynasty selected Jinshi from a population of 60 to 70 million, and only selected forty to fifty people at a time.

The chance of admission has increased nearly a thousand times!
Moreover, the exam only involves policy essays and simple mathematics, so even if you are not very knowledgeable, you don't have to worry about where to start.

So what are you waiting for?

If you don’t take advantage of such a great deal, you’d be a fool!

Those who originally had no hope for the imperial examination now had great hopes.

Just as the imperial examination was being held in Zhongdu, Zhao Shuo led an army of 80,000 and invaded Hebei.

At this time in Hebei, some are happy while others are sad.

For ordinary people, this was an opportunity to rise to prominence overnight. The Mongolian manifesto stated that, except for those who had made great contributions, no grassroots officials would be used, and only Mongolian meritorious officials would be employed.

For some Jin Dynasty officials, taking their official positions was no different from taking their lives.

For many local tyrants, taking their land is like taking their lives!
As soon as Zhao Shuo arrived, the whole sky of Hebei changed!
(End of this chapter)