You have truly caused me great suffering!

More than two hundred official positions suddenly became vacant in the imperial court.

In order to avoid affecting the administration, the court immediately promoted a large number of technical bureaucrats.
Now the other officials dared not say anything.

Those who were promoted exceptionally had long heard that the court and His Majesty had suppressed hundreds of officials for their sake, and they felt both fearful and grateful.

In reality, many officials simply occupy positions without doing anything.

In most government offices, it was the clerks who did the work.

Chen Shao, who had long desired to reform the officialdom, seized the opportunity to take action.

Inside the Funing Hall, Cai Jing, who had not left the house for a long time, was also carried out and sat on one side of the civil officials.

Among the military officers, Han Shizhong, Zhong Shidao, Wu Jie, and Meizang Pangge sat to one side. Jin Ling was absent as she had already departed for the Northwest.

Li Tangchen, Liu Jizu, Yang Cheng, Xu Jin, Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhang Xiaochun, and Zhang Kejian sat on the other side.

As everyone was chatting, Chen Chong hurriedly walked in and said, "His Majesty has arrived."

Everyone stood up, and Chen Shao came in and said with a smile, "Grand Tutor Cai and Old Master Zhong don't need to get up."

Upon hearing this, Cai Jing stood up and said with a smile, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. This old minister has been feeling quite well lately."

Zhong Shidao chuckled and said, "I feel the same way."

Chen Shao nodded and said, "This is a blessing for the country."

Cai Jing's example already illustrates the point: His Majesty doesn't care about your past record.

As long as the officials left over from the previous dynasty genuinely support the Great Jing Dynasty, obey orders, and don't relapse into their old ways and oppose the emperor, they won't cause trouble for you.

Those who still do not restrain themselves, who are dishonest to His Majesty, and who are disloyal to the Great Jing Dynasty, must be resolutely punished.

In history, the old Zhong died in his tent when the Jin army marched south and swept into the capital region, and the young Zhong died on the front line, and the Western Army was basically wiped out.

Cai Jing was exiled and then cut off from his food supply, eventually starving to death in the south.

If it weren't for these events, their lives shouldn't have ended the year before last, which also shows that they didn't have any serious illnesses.

Now he is in excellent spirits and his condition is visibly good.

But given his age, it's hard to say how many more years he can live.

A country has a treasure when it has an elder, especially when it comes to reform; Cai Jing is very influential.

Some people believe that as long as the will to reform is firm, the purpose is pure, and one has great power, the reform will definitely be successfully completed. This is pure nonsense.

People like Cai Jing played a much greater role in the reforms than they imagined.

In the bureaucratic system, what obstacles exist, how should they be resolved, and how can the interests of all parties be balanced to smoothly promote reforms while uniting the majority as much as possible? Without such talent, it would be impossible to even begin to talk about reforms.

The art of officialdom is a very profound subject; it doesn't mean that you've been an official for decades and therefore a master of it.

One must possess exceptional talent, and through the trials of time, experience, and contemplation, gradually come to understand its profound meaning.

Throughout history, there have been those who achieved more than Cai Jing, those who wielded more power, and those who had a better ending than him.

But if you're talking about someone who understands officialdom better than him, they're probably extremely rare.

Although he was corrupt, if you make good use of him, the contributions he makes can easily outweigh the harm caused by his corruption.

"I have summoned you all here today to inquire about the reform of the official system."

After he finished speaking, Chen Shao waved his hand, and Chen Chong immediately came over with a stack of papers.

The ministers looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

When Chen Chong and his eunuchs distributed the papers to each person, everyone realized that His Majesty had written down his thoughts on the paper.
Li Tangchen read it aloud to Cai Jing, who had poor eyesight.

The others watched intently.

This novel way of holding meetings caught their eye.

Chen Shao's reforms to the official system can be summarized in three points:
First strategy: Offer generous rewards to appease their minds.

This is the so-called "high salaries to encourage integrity." If officials' expenses are truly insufficient to support their families, and they still have power, then this is a test of human nature.

Chen Shao felt that it was wrong for an official to have to constantly test his humanity.

Human nature is very complex, and few people can withstand the test indefinitely.

The solution should be to ensure that officials avoid such tests as much as possible, by offering extremely high salaries to prevent them from taking the risk of corruption.

The salaries in the Song Dynasty were already very high, and the Jing Dynasty continued this practice without change. Chen Shao planned to triple the salaries of officials.

The same applies to grassroots officials, including clerks and yamen runners. They receive 3 shi of rice per month, and their salaries are increased fivefold. They are supported by the national treasury and are no longer supported by the officials themselves.

When officials need money, they have it to spend, and their families can live comfortably. But when it comes to corruption, they should think twice.

Because what follows is punishment.

The second strategy: Enforce the laws strictly to intimidate them.

Anyone found guilty of corruption will be immediately dismissed from office and never to be reappointed.

Then, based on the amount involved, corresponding punishments were imposed: over five hundred taels, the offender was exiled three thousand li.

Those who embezzle more than a thousand taels of silver will be beheaded and their heads displayed to the public; their family property will be confiscated by the government, and their descendants will be banned from taking the imperial examinations for three generations.

This is undeniably harsh, but when considered in conjunction with the first point, it is not entirely unacceptable.

The third strategy: Examine the facts and promote the virtuous. An examination was conducted every three years, covering the following aspects: civil administration, finance, education, and military preparedness.

Those who fail to meet the standards will be demoted or dismissed based on their performance.

Each prefecture and county erected a "performance monument" inscribed with details of taxes, household registration, and projects, which the people could consult at will.

Such reforms could only be implemented when Chen Shao's prestige was at its peak.

If a few generations pass, today's officials will have formed new interest groups, making it difficult to implement policies.

There's a reason why founding emperors throughout history all wished they could do everything themselves.

They knew better than anyone that what they could do, their descendants might not be able to do, even if their descendants were powerful emperors.

In addition to real power, the founding emperor also possessed an unseen 'divine authority'.

He was considered by everyone to be the chosen one, while the ruling class of the new dynasty had only just emerged at the time of its founding, was very immature and not powerful, and mostly existed by relying on the founding emperor.

Cai Jing was the first to agree.

In fact, he saw his own reflection in many of these policies. When Cai Jing really wanted to do something practical and save the Song Dynasty, many of the policies he wanted to implement had a lot in common with these policies.

Those who were high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty, especially those who had served in the central government, were very clear about this.

However, Zhao Ji was not a monarch who could allow him to display his talents in this area.

Cai Jing rose shakily and said, “Your Majesty, if this policy is implemented, the treasury will be replenished daily without harming the people’s strength, and the administration will be cleaned up and corrupt officials will be eliminated—the foundation of our Great Jing Dynasty will surely advance to a new level!”

Hearing his affirmation, Chen Shao immediately felt more confident.

It seems that the old bureaucrats have indeed destroyed their own foundation.

The biggest obstacle to the implementation of new policies is often the existing interest groups.

However, after the successive blows of the "Luoyang Case," the "Yintian Case," and the "Jiming Case," the scholar-official class that the Song Dynasty had nurtured for nearly two hundred years had completely collapsed.

Of course, the main reason was the impact of trade, which caused the gentry class behind them to lose absolute control over the local area.

Chen Shao could flip the table anytime, anywhere.

"I trust Grand Tutor Cai's judgment. Now, let's talk about the military reforms."

Chen Shao looked at Zhong Shidao and smiled, "Old Zhong, I, Han Wu, and Wu Jie, we all come from the Western Army and know these soldiers best. It's simply a matter of who pays the bills and who gives the orders."

"During the Song Dynasty, the so-called soldiers did not know their generals, and generals did not know their soldiers, in order to reverse the situation in the Five Dynasties where military men raised their own armies to make themselves important."

"The Great Jing treasury is now full and there is no shortage of money. All Jing soldiers must eat the imperial rations!"

“Every year, a portion of the taxes that each region had to pay to the imperial court was taken out to support the local troops.”

Zhong Shidao nodded. Actually, there was nothing difficult about doing this; on the contrary, it was quite simple.

Why didn't the imperial families of past dynasties do it?

It's very simple: they were poor. No dynasty was as wealthy as the Jing Dynasty.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that Dajing will become even wealthier in the future.

As the fog of war on the map is gradually lifted by the merchant ships and warships of the Great Jing, mines and markets will open their arms to the Great Jing.

Chen Shao was a soldier by origin, so he really understood these things. After all, he had prepared so many wars and recruited so many soldiers behind the scenes in the Northwest and Hedong.

He knew better than anyone how the military operated.

The difficulty of this matter lies in persuading the emperor to provide funds so that the army can be fed by the emperor.

Since the emperor himself brought it up, there are no problems in the army; all that's needed is to ensure proper preservation.

In this respect, just like with civil servants, we can implement high salaries, strict punishments, and performance evaluations.

After the general direction was determined, Chen Shao asked everyone to work together to fill in the details, and they chatted for most of the day.

At noon, Chen Shao hosted another banquet, and they ate and chatted together.

After several rounds of drinks, Chen Shao looked at Li Tangchen, who was in the middle of a lively conversation, and asked loudly, "How long will it take for the Secretariat and Chancellery to come up with specific regulations?"

Li Tangchen cleared his throat and said, "One month!"

Chen Shao was silent for a moment, then said, "No rush. I'll give you two months. Make sure it's done meticulously, and it will save you a lot of trouble later."

Li Tangchen nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I will certainly not fail in your trust."

When it comes to practical matters, Li Tangchen handles things very thoroughly, without needing to rack his brains too much.

He has a particular characteristic in doing things: he is meticulous and extremely serious.

Chen Shao was very pleased with this.

Because Chen Shao made many major decisions on his own, he was very autocratic.

What he needed was a prime minister like Li Tangchen, who was a perfect fit for him.

Among the civil officials, Li Tangchen, Yang Cheng, Xu Jin, and Liu Jizu correspond precisely to the scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

This is a team that Chen Shao has carefully cultivated, making it easy to assign tasks when doing specific work.

"Just like before, we'll bring it up for discussion in the imperial court. We'll allow everyone to speak freely for the next two months!"

Chen Shao raised his wine cup and said, "My lords, let us drink this cup to the brim, and encourage each other, ruler and subject!" (End of this chapter)