Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 85: The Six Departments Were Not Built in a Day
"Gongtai, Zijing, how have you studied the proposal of 'six ministries and one academy' that was given to you the day before yesterday? Recently, Mr. Lu has expressed to me that many sons of aristocratic families want to join us, so it is better to set up this framework from the beginning, so as to avoid changes in the future and touching upon all parties." Bai Tu specifically asked Chen Gong and Lu Su.
Bai Tu, who was previously very busy with affairs of state, took the time to write a proposal on the "Six Ministries" while in Shucheng, referring to the system of three provinces and six ministries.
Of course, what Bai Tu can now establish is only an institution under the Yangzhou Mu official office. As a governor, Bai Tu himself has the power to establish a government office, that is, he can set up his own independent office and arrange subordinate officials.
However, Bai Tu's six ministries and one court were not only subordinate to his own government, but also had the power to control the local officials in Jiangdong. In theory, this was a bit of an usurpation of power, but as it was a time of chaos, this rule could be broken.
It was precisely because it was a time of chaos and Bai Tu was only a governor, so the three provinces were not set up. Instead, the governor's office directly governed the six ministries. At the same time, the functions of the original "Ministry of Industry" among the six ministries were divided into two, the "Ministry of Industry" responsible for confidential research and development and manufacturing, and the "Ministry of Civilian Affairs" responsible for civilian manufacturing.
The other four ministries are the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice. There is no Ministry of War, but rather a "Privy Council" independent of the six ministries, which is specifically responsible for military affairs.
After all, the convenience of the six ministries lies not only in their clear division of labor, but also in their mutual restraint.
Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Rites, in addition to offering sacrifices, was mainly responsible for establishing and promoting official schools, as well as recommending and selecting talents; the Ministry of Personnel was responsible for evaluating officials, recommending their promotions and demotions; the Ministry of Punishments was responsible for handling internal cases and reporting on officials' crimes...
In other words, before becoming an official, one relies on the Ministry of Rites, after becoming an official, one's evaluation relies on the Ministry of Personnel, and whether one has violated any regulations depends on the report of the Ministry of Justice. As long as all three ministries do not fall, the official selection system will not be controlled by certain forces.
However, the current social situation is obviously not suitable for restricting the military. If the military has to ask for instructions from the Ministry of War at every turn, there will be no war to fight.
What's more, among the six ministries, there must be quite a few positions occupied by powerful families, and involving the Ministry of War would only create more constraints.
Even though there may be mixed advantages and disadvantages in the future, Bai Tu still chooses to make the military independent from the six ministries.
As for why Bai Tu wanted Chen Gong and Lu Su to be his advisors, it was not because he wanted them to add anything to the six-department and one-court system. On the contrary... he wanted them to re-delineate it into several simplified versions.
A fat otaku is not made in one day. Bai Tu’s proposal is already “complete” and lacks the necessary adaptation steps.
Chen Gong and Lu Su were also well prepared, and their faces were already serious when Bai Tu called them.
When Bai Tu just said that he wanted to rebuild the court system, Chen Gong and Lu Su were still a little worried.
Even Chen Gong, who trusted Bai Tu's abilities more than Lu Su, was initially skeptical - he believed that Bai Tu, who came from the Yellow Turbans, would have some overly idealistic ideas - all dreamy rebels have this problem.
However, after really studying Bai Tu's six-department system, the two found that this almost complete central government position was so complete that... it was hard to imagine that it was actually imagined out of thin air!
From the emperor and the prime minister ruling the world together, to the three dukes and nine ministers, and the division of the court into internal and external, and then to the three dukes being vacant positions after Emperor Guangwu, with the nine ministers each performing their own duties.
The changes in the court official system were traceable and gradually optimized, but Bai Tu's six-department system trotted out all the way.
If a mediocre person looks at it, he might think it is a foolish dream, but in the eyes of knowledgeable people like Chen Gong and Lu Su, this is truly one step ahead of others... no, it is many steps!
How could a completely new official system be perfected to this extent without any practical application and relying solely on paper reasoning?
This is not just an official system, but also includes the official selection system of the Ministry of Rites, the tax system of the Ministry of Revenue, and the legal system of the Ministry of Punishment...
It covers all aspects and can be said that if one can achieve any one of them, he can be regarded as a sage in the future!
However, at the same time, the two also had a bigger headache - what Bai Tu handed over to them was not suitable for a complete version to be achieved in one step, but Bai Tu's advantage was that he knew what he was doing, and unlike the Yellow Turbans, they would not overthrow and rebuild at every turn. The reason why he gave it to them as advisers was that he still needed them to supplement the process.
During these few days, Chen Gong and Lu Su often met and discussed, during which Chen Gong got to know Lu Su's talents and began to truly trust this "unexpected" talent that Bai Tu brought from Huainan.
The two even discussed privately how Bai Tu wrote the "six ministries and one academy" proposal. As Bai Tu's golden partner, Chen Gong gave a reasonable explanation.
According to legend, there was a wise man in ancient times who could travel to the entire Huaxu Kingdom in a dream. Perhaps Bai Gong also had such an experience... In short, Bai Gong is truly a god.
In his mind, Lu Su combined his own experience and guessed in the direction of the Heavenly Book, but he couldn't figure out which volume of the Heavenly Book Bai Tu had obtained.
When Bai Tu asked about it, the two of them had dark circles under their eyes and took out the revised version of the six-department and one-court system. Although it was weakened a lot, it was more in line with the current situation. It also included the process of developing towards Bai Tu's complete form!
If Bai Tu could use ten years to rebuild the country, then after the prosperity and peace, he might need another ten years to consolidate it. After that, it would take at least several generations of people to remain determined to achieve the final "complete form".
For example, in Bai Tu's plan, the Ministry of Justice will become the only department responsible for handling criminal cases. The central Ministry of Justice will set up criminal courts in each state, prefecture, and even county. The yamen police will only be responsible for catching thieves and criminal investigation. Ultimately, the crimes will be decided by the criminal courts at all levels. Those who are dissatisfied can appeal to the higher-level criminal courts. Death penalty cases will be approved by the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Revenue also has a tax hall, which is responsible for the taxation and household registration of each county; the Ministry of Rites has a ritual hall, which is responsible for local official schools; the Ministry of Civil Affairs has a civil hall, which is responsible for the overall planning of projects in the county...
In short, after all of this is realized, the jobs of county governors and county magistrates will be much easier than they are now, and the trial of cases by county magistrates will become a thing of the past. It can even be said that the county magistrate will go directly from being a "marquis of a hundred miles" to a "small official."
At present, it is not enough to achieve the goal of talent reserve in one step, not to mention that if the functions of all departments are to reach the level planned by Bai Tu, it will almost be a stab in the back of the aristocratic families and even the clan system - in the end, even the family laws and private punishments within the clan will be completely banned.
You have to know that even during the periods when emperors such as Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Guangwu were extremely powerful, the imperial court's orders could only be implemented in the county town at most. Outside the city and in the countryside, it was basically clan rule. This was no longer just a matter of targeting the aristocratic families and powerful people.
"Mr. Bai has far-sightedness and vision, which impresses me, but..." Chen Gong handed over the document hesitantly.
"It's just unrealistic and needs to be deleted? Don't worry, I understand. This is what I want you to do." Bai Tu took over.
However, after unfolding it and reading it, even though Bai Tu was mentally prepared, he still grinned - it had been castrated beyond recognition - even so, in the minds of Chen Gong and Lu Su, it was already an epoch-making reform.
The Ministry of Rites was weakened to the point of summarizing and reviewing officials' recommendations of talents, evaluating and guiding prefects and county magistrates, and establishing official schools within the jurisdiction... As for the more important prototype of the "Imperial Examination System", it was directly reduced an official school selection system.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Justice were similar, becoming "assistants" to local governors.
The functions of the Ministry of Personnel were largely preserved, which was equivalent to setting up a department to evaluate officials.
As for the Ministry of Revenue... Chen Gong and Lu Su did not reach a consensus, because the tax system and the new household registration system mentioned in them were already cutting into the flesh of the aristocratic families and powerful people, and this cut was the most direct, so the scale must be properly grasped.
Bai Tu read for half an hour, then said, "Let's not talk about the Ministry of Revenue for now. We must start the Talent Selection Hall and the Talent Selection Test. If the noble families object... spread the word today and say that I, Bai Tu, am crazy and want to abolish the recommendation system."
In fact, Bai Tu is much more optimistic than Lu Su and Chen Gong, because they would not have thought that after Bai Tu's technology tree is climbed, the production relations will change so much. This new policy is not only "pulled" by the top, but also "pushed" by the bottom when the foundation has changed drastically...
