Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

“My suggestion is that it would be better not to set up an oversight agency to oversee the oversight agency.”

Jiang Xinghuo was silent for a moment and replied.

Dongchang is used to check and balance Jinyiwei. Is it useful?

Of course it's easy to use, but just like the ubiquitous Huang Zongxi's law, accumulated damage can never be avoided.

The East Factory must have worked well in the beginning, just like the rent-yong modulation was changed to the Two Taxes Law, but then it would gradually fail, and then a new supervisory agency would have to be established, and this is how the West Factory appeared.

To borrow a phrase from "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", you ask me, what is Xichang?

In a word, I want to control what Dongchang can control, and I want to control what Dongchang cannot control even more. I will kill first and then report, royal power has granted me! This is West Factory, is it clear enough?

But, but, who will supervise the West Factory because it is so powerful?

The answer is an expert factory.

In the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, in the early years of Emperor Wuzong's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Ma Yongcheng, one of the Eight Tigers, was in charge of the East Factory, and Gu Dayong, another member of the Eight Tigers, was in charge of the West Factory. At that time, Liu Jin, the eunuch and eunuch, had conflicts with them. , and set up another expert factory in the old warehouse of Rongfu in the capital (that is, the Xixin Division, one of the four divisions), forming a system of its own.

The scope of the insider's factory arrests was larger than that of the three special agencies of Jinyiwei, Dongchang and Xichang. In addition to monitoring the subjects, Jinyiwei, Dongchang and Xichang were also included. They were more powerful than the East and West factories, and the torture was particularly cruel.

Of course, this kind of infinite matryoshka did not continue, because later the immortal emperor Jiajing, who could check and balance hundreds of officials with his own brain, appeared. This is a story later.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu was also a little frustrated.

Because they all realized that Jiang Xinghuo's logical deduction was impeccable.

The "law of blood reward" determines that during the establishment and management of a feudal country, violent organizations will inevitably pursue the long-term maximization of blood reward income over a long time span, and then turn to the short-term maximization of blood reward income in the late years of the dynasty. .

This makes it almost inevitable to change the tax system, whether it is to sort out the bad policies of the previous dynasty in the early stage of the feudal country, to revitalize the dynasty in the mid-term, or to try to extend the life of the dynasty in the later stage.

And the changes in the tax system will inevitably lead to the big pit of "Huang Zongxi's Law". The more changes are made, the heavier the burden will be on ordinary people. The root cause is that the petty officials will have their hands on it, and it is difficult for the petty officials to control it.

For junior officials, there is no salary increase, and promotion channels are limited, so they are destined to focus on making money.

So is it useful to increase the supervision agency for petty officials?

Useless! We will still fall into the pit of "Huang Zongxi's Law" again, but the tax system has turned into supervision, and the more changes it makes, the more it becomes a matryoshka.

All methods are useless, so what to do?

Isn't this just a meeting of eunuchs, nonsense?

"It seems there is only one solution," Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and said, "How about just leave it like this and don't think about changing it."

Obviously there was no way around it, so it started to fall apart.

And Zhu Di also figured out the context of this. To put it bluntly, he has been going back and forth between the "Law of Blood Remuneration" and "Huang Zongxi's Law". The most important thing is that the pitfall of "Huang Zongxi's Law" cannot be bypassed.

Zhu Di thought hard for a moment and felt that there was really no other way.

The truth is still the same. If there is a solution, wouldn't China's thousands of years of wisdom have been used to research it?

You asked me to think, where do I want to go?

"No need to."

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head and said, "There are still ways."

——————

The secret room next door.

Hearing Jiang Xinghuo's words, everyone cheered up.

"What is Master Jiang's method?" Xia Yuanji frowned slightly and said to himself.

Zhu Gaochi was very excited. He had never thought about this problem just now and urgently needed someone to analyze it clearly for him.

Zhu Gaochi felt that the answer seemed to be right in front of him.

After coming back to his senses, Xia Yuanji still remained calm and said in a deep voice: "Let's listen to what Master Jiang has to say first."

At this time, Dao Yan next to him also nodded and said: "Actually, I have some guesses."

"Master, tell me quickly." Zhu Gaochi said hurriedly.

Dao Yan turned the red sandalwood rosary in his hand and said, "I am just guessing. Since the so-called 'Huang Zongxi's Law' has its roots in the petty officials, Jiang Sheng's solution must also be in the petty officials. Is it possible to open up the place?" A promotion channel for junior officials?"

Zhu Gaochi was startled for a moment, and then asked tentatively: "For example, if there is no actual restriction, only petty officials from the first to third grade yamen can be promoted to officials?"

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this is not possible." Xia Yuanji denied, "Originally, between officials and staff, there is a trade-off between officials and not staff. At least there is a check and balance, which means that the transfer of officials is controlled by the imperial court. After being transferred every few years, it is difficult for officials to collude too closely with local officials. Most of them are cooperative relationships. That is to say, officials must rely on local officials to implement administrative orders, and local officials must also rely on officials to help them communicate with higher-ups. "

"But if there is no displacement of officials now, but after the officials are promoted to officials, there will be a large-scale displacement of officials. Your Highness, just imagine what the consequences will be."

Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment, and then said: "It will make the network of local officials begin to circulate outwards."

Dao Yan simply said: "There will be new 'poor families'."

The "poor family" here refers specifically to families with lower status and influence, also called common people, and does not refer to the poor class.

That is to say, once the petty officials, who already have intricate connections in the local area, can become officials on a large scale and travel abroad, then the local powerful petty officials will make up for their most lacking upper-level resources, which will inevitably lead to The emergence of a new type of poor family.

Zhu Gaochi frowned slightly, but felt that there was nothing wrong with his words.

Dao Yan continued: "We are in the center, and we should be the first to think of the crux of the official governance. Unfortunately, the Jingnan period has just ended, and we are focused on government affairs and have never paid attention to this issue that is not urgent. And for this For such a complex official administration issue, I am afraid that the Dukes in the court only know how to infer some common sense, but do not know how to delve into it in depth, let alone make conclusions similar to the 'blood reward law' and 'Huang Zongxi's law'."

Dao Yan sighed softly, and then said: "Today, I saw the reaction of His Majesty the Emperor and even the two princes, and I have some vague guesses. They probably hate the harsh treatment of the people by the small officials but can do nothing about it. And those who are entrenched in the place The petty officials and big gentry have always used their power to amass wealth, and used various means to bribe their superiors and subordinates, seize land, recruit tenant farmers, and expand their power."

"I feel that even if we want to open up the promotion channels for officials, it is time for the junior officials to work hard, work hard, and starve their bodies!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the secret room immediately became tense.

Zhu Gaochi's expression changed and his eyes flickered, as if he was thinking about something.

The two clerks, Guo Jing and Chai Che, simply bowed their heads and pretended to be dead.

"Can't see me. Can't see me"

——————

"What is the solution? Mr. Jiang, please tell me quickly!"

Zhu Gaoxu asked eagerly.

Jiang Xinghuo has always been a person who doesn't like to sell things, so he gave the answer very simply.

"Take the test."

In fact, it is the one used by Zhang Juzheng in history.

Jiang Xinghuo plans to improve it and use it not only to evaluate officials, but also to evaluate staff.

This thing is easy to use, it is really easy to use. This is because the "testing method" itself is Zhang Juzheng's witnessing the farce and institutional deterioration in the officialdom. He deeply realized that not only should officials at all levels be inspected regularly, but also what should be done to them. Everything should be completed within a specified time limit.

The important features of the implementation of the "Examination Method" are the so-called "setting limits for examinations" and "taking responsibility for people". In other words, in layman's terms, there must be a time limit for things to be done well, and if things are not done well, the responsibility will be assigned to the person. .

It's a worker's nightmare.

However, Jiang Xinghuo had already had the idea of ​​Ku Yi Ku Guan.

The strange Lieutenant Yan in front of him was obviously not just a loyal guard captain. He was probably either a close confidant of the emperor or a hero of Jingnan. What he said would definitely reach the emperor's ears.

So Jiang Xinghuo planned to speak, and he would speak boldly.

The specific content of Zhang Juzheng's version of the test method is simply two points, taking the Six Central Departments as an example.

The first point is that the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate set deadlines for the matters that their officials should do, and registered them in three account books. One was kept by the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate as a base book, the other was sent to the Sixth Section, and the last one was kept by the Sixth Ministry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. This copy was submitted to the emperor for review.

The second point is that the six ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate register according to the account books and conduct inspections monthly. Every matter undertaken by the subordinate officials must be logged out. Otherwise, they must be reported truthfully, otherwise they will be punished; the six subjects can also According to the account book registration, the six departments are required to report the implementation status every six months, and violators will be dealt with in limited cases. Finally, the cabinet also followed the account book registration to verify the audit work of the six departments.

The same is true locally.

The central government supervises local affairs through the Department of Proclamation and Prosecution, the Department of Prosecution and Prosecution, and the Department of Capital Command, and then the two departments of the Department of Proclamation and Propaganda and the Department of Propagation and Prosecution supervise prefectural and county magistrates.

As a result, officials at all levels from central to local levels are strictly controlled by relying on the three accounts passed by the Liqing Examination. Every year when local officials are evaluated for "big plans", it is emphasized that officials who act impartially and serve the people with integrity are emphasized. For the purpose of passing the examination, officials who rely exclusively on sweet words and gaining trust will be classified as taking the examination for the lower level. Those redundant officials who lack efficiency will be eliminated.

At the same time, the "passing examination method" can also be a useful tool for promoting officials who support political reform and have outstanding political achievements. These officials who are capable and willing to do things can be entrusted with important tasks, because there is a "passing examination method" and "the limits of passing the examination are clear at a glance." , putting performance here can break the traditional prejudice of seniority and promote people with good performance, and everyone will have nothing to say.

In this way, a complete set of official evaluation mechanisms has been formed, which effectively combines evaluation and correction, changing the previous official evaluation that was mainly operated by the Ministry of Personnel.

Of course, Jiang Xinghuo would not directly copy Zhang Juzheng's examination method. He would use the modern management knowledge he had learned to make some improvements.

Because in Jiang Xinghuo's view, the examination method is not really perfect.

What is the official’s nightmare?

Do you think that "setting limits to test things" and "responsible for people by things" is already a nightmare difficulty?

No, you should learn what SWOT strategic analysis is in public sector strategic planning.

What do you think the strategic management departments in large companies are used for?

If you add this thing to the exam, it will be an official’s nightmare.