Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 430: Split into Six Divisions (Part )

Upon hearing that Lu Jin wanted to promote vertically in all departments, Wang Guangyang immediately raised his hand and asked.

"Your Highness, don't the emperors and prime ministers of the previous dynasties know the disadvantages of people not being omnipotent and not being able to master everything? However, the previous dynasties still implemented the system of rotating officials in various departments. There is a reason for this.

"If we change it to vertical promotion in each department, it will be fine if there is no trouble at ordinary times, but once a powerful official or a treacherous official appears, won't the entire department become a one-man show for the chief officer? Others will be unable to interfere, and even if they want to check and balance, they will not be able to do so. Your Highness should think twice."

Lu Jin said immediately, "You are right. Perhaps doing so can facilitate the checks and balances of power in the court. However, if a group of outsiders are brought in to do the checks and balances, it may indeed balance the power, but the department will also be useless. Almost nothing can be done, and no one can do anything. Isn't this just a charlatan?

“Instead of letting a bunch of outsiders in to cause trouble, I would rather let this department become a one-man show for the chief officer. This way, at least the department can still get things done. As for the powerful and treacherous officials you’re worried about, you can also use the chief officer responsibility system to supervise them.

"I have given you the power. I will give you whatever you want. If you make achievements, you will be a meritorious official and will be promoted to the cabinet. If you fail to make achievements and even mess things up, then you, as the chief official, can't shirk responsibility. You should be demoted if necessary and held accountable if necessary. It is better than doing nothing while checking and balancing each other. Wouldn't that make you a freeloader? What use do I have for you?"

Everyone was speechless. In fact, they had been with Lu Jin for a long time and had discovered long ago that this lord wanted an official who was pragmatic and could get things done.

This is pure science thinking. What I want to see is results, results, and results! What's the point of bragging if you can't produce results? What's the point of having a group of people staring at each other and restraining each other? It will only waste the country's resources and limited funds, and in the end nothing will be accomplished!
Lu Jin then said, "It's not that I don't want officials to transfer between departments, but the premise of the transfer is that you first do your job well. At least you have been promoted to a high-ranking official. You must first master your own industry.

“Why do I always emphasize one specialty with multiple skills, why do I insist on leaving professional matters to professionals, and why is the position of the Chief of the General Armament Department of the Privy Council always vacant?
"Although the current muskets are easy to use, they are afraid of wind and rain. I am now going to assemble and develop a musket that can still fire despite wind and rain, and has a longer range and greater power. Who among you understands this?

"I want the general assembly to increase the range of the artillery to six, eight, or ten miles, and the power will not be reduced. The weight must be lighter than the current one, and the cost cannot be too expensive. Who among you can do it? If anyone says that he can do it now, I will make him a minister on the spot. The question is, does anyone understand?
"Since you don't understand, what's the point of transferring you to this department? Did the court give you a salary just to let you eat idle meals?"

Lu Jin took a sip of tea and continued, "For example, the Imperial Court must select outstanding graduates from the Animal Husbandry Department of the Agricultural University when selecting officials for the Imperial Court. If you don't know how to raise horses, what's the point of the Imperial Court transferring you to the Imperial Court?

"After a person has completed elementary and middle school education, when choosing a major in college, if, for example, he has loved horses since childhood, he can apply for the animal husbandry major at an agricultural university and specialize in horse breeding, horse breeding, and horse medicine.

"Then I took the civil service exam and entered the Imperial Household Department. After passing the exam, I started at the horse farm as a grassroots worker. Then I was promoted step by step to the horse farm's grazing supervisor, the Imperial Household Department's junior secretary, the Imperial Household Department's secretary, and even the Minister of Agriculture. Finally, I entered the cabinet.

"A prime minister must rise from the provincial government, and a brave general must rise from the ranks. Isn't this what you Confucians always say?"

After listening to this, everyone finally understood the general process of this new education. Li Shanchang then concluded, "Your Highness means that everyone learns the same things in elementary and middle schools, and then chooses a major based on their interests and hobbies when they go to college, and then takes the civil service exam for the corresponding major after graduation, right?"

"Yes, that's what I mean." Lu Jin nodded.

Li Shanchang asked again, "Then what does your Highness mean when he said that when you reach a high position, you are allowed to transfer to other departments for exchange?"

Lu Jin explained again, "Generally speaking, those who can be promoted from the grassroots to high-ranking officials have almost mastered their own fields. Such talents are fully qualified to be the ministers of a certain department, but they are still somewhat lacking in being able to enter the cabinet as prime ministers.

“If you want to be a cabinet minister, or even a prime minister, it is not enough to know only one profession. You must be proficient in at least one profession and be familiar with two or three kinds of ministry affairs before you can enter the cabinet.

“Generally, when promoted to the provincial or vice-ministerial level, if one wants to change majors, one can self-study some knowledge of the relevant departments, or receive training organized by the court, such as classes in the Hanlin Academy for officials to study, and then transfer to other departments with a smaller scope. For example, if you come from the Ministry of Agriculture, you can go to the Ministry of Water Resources for exchange. Agriculture and water resources are inseparable, so you can also make some suggestions on the affairs of the Ministry of Water Resources from the perspective of agriculture.

“Or the municipal port bureau is responsible for collecting taxes or managing port affairs. They can also go to the Ministry of Transport for exchanges. Anyway, they are all involved in logistics management or operations planning. People from the Ministry of Transport can also go to the Ministry of Construction for exchanges. Although one is building roads and bridges and the other is building houses, they are both civil engineering after all, and the cross-industry is not too far. They can also exchange their respective engineering management experiences. This way, there will be no outsiders causing trouble, and the shortcomings of different departments can be complemented.

“In short, my requirement for cabinet ministers is that they must have presided over the affairs of at least two departments, have made achievements, understand economic development, and have never made any mistakes before they can join the cabinet.

"As for the chief regent of the cabinet, that is, the prime minister, the requirements are even higher. The prime minister is a person who assists the emperor in handling national affairs. So what are national affairs? Military, politics, industry, agriculture, education, and commerce. These six things, I don't ask you to be proficient in all of them, but you should at least understand three or four of them, right?
"As a prime minister who was born as a civil servant, when a crisis occurs around the country, should you resolve it by launching a war? I don't ask you to know how to lead troops in battle, but at least you should know the situation of your own country and the situation of the enemy. If it is appropriate to launch a war, then don't hesitate.

"If the country's situation in recent years is not strong enough to support the use of large numbers of troops abroad, then how to appease the enemy first, how to improve the country's internal strength, and how to urge the ministers of various ministries to do their work are what a prime minister should do."

Everyone grinned secretly when they heard this. Lu Jin's requirements for the prime minister were very high. What kind of great man must be qualified for the position of prime minister?

What Lu Jin was thinking was, under this system, if a person first passed the military academy entrance exam, took two courses, intelligence analysis and equipment development, and did not join the army after graduation, but instead passed the civil service exam in the industrial sector, and after being promoted to a senior official, he would go to the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Commerce for exchange, preside over the integration of industry, academia and research, and then enter the cabinet as a regent, responsible for coordinating the five-year plan, and finally be promoted to the prime minister, I don’t know how amazing such a prime minister would be, and to what extent he could lead the country.
Moreover, in Lu Jin's eyes, the cabinet is not an ordinary ancient cabinet. According to modern terms, Lu Jin's cabinet should be called the "National Development Planning Coordination and Supervision Committee". The cabinet formulates the five-year plan and then supervises the implementation of the various ministries. The cabinet is the formulation and supervision agency of the five-year plan, and the various ministries and commissions of the Privy Council and the State Council are the implementation agencies of the plan.

After the plan is formulated, a meeting is held to assign tasks to each department and arrange personnel. Each cabinet minister is responsible for two or three departments. They are required to supervise and monitor the progress of their plans. If they complete the tasks on time and in quantity, they can be promoted to second assistant or first assistant.

The Prime Minister serves a term of five years and can be re-elected for a maximum of two terms before retiring at the end of his term. This is to prevent the Prime Minister from controlling the government and competing for power with the emperor. By the way, it is also to make room for other cabinet ministers. If you don’t step down, how can others take over!

This article can be written into the constitution to prevent the prime minister from staying in office.

Seeing that everyone was digesting and thinking, Lu Jin asked again, "Does anyone have any questions?"

Wang Guangyang asked again, "Your Highness, if this is done, how many universities will we have to set up? And which department should be responsible for the civil service examination?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "Because the current professional education is not perfect enough and lacks teaching staff, we can first set up one or two comprehensive universities, and then divide them into different professional departments. When they are mature in the future, we can divide them out to open professional universities.

"As for examinations, the graduation examinations of the education system are organized by each school and supervised by the prefectural and county education bureaus. The examinations for primary school students to junior high school are hosted by the provincial education department, and the entrance examinations for high school students to university are hosted by the Ministry of Education.

"The civil service examination will be hosted by the Ministry of Personnel, with one person from the Cabinet and one person from the Supervisory Office to supervise it. There will also be an age limit for the civil service examination, and those over 35 will not be allowed to continue taking the examination."

"This..." Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Just as they were about to say something, Lu Jin continued.

"A person starts school at the age of six, studies for 14 years, and graduates from college at the age of 20. From 20 to 35, that's years. Just like the imperial examination, you take the civil service exam every three years. You can at least take it five times. If you fail five times, then why do you take the exam? You should go home as soon as possible to save yourself from wasting time."

"."Everyone was speechless.

At this time, Qin Conglong also asked, "Your Highness, the civil service examinations for officials are presided over by the Ministry of Personnel, but what about the clerks?"

Lu Jin frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "It depends on how you distinguish between officials."

"How to say?"

"In your opinion, the chief officials in a county government, the magistrate, the assistant county magistrate, the chief clerk, and even the clerk, are all officials, while the heads of the six departments, the head of the pavilion, and the inspector (chief of the police station) are clerks, is that right?" Lu Jin asked immediately.

Everyone nodded, "Indeed."

So Lu Jin asked again, "Then what do you think the county yamen runners and constables are?"

"Of course he is just a menial worker, a commoner." Qin Conglong said immediately.

This is indeed the reality. In ancient times, yamen runners and constables were all part of corvee labor and were compulsory labor. It was equivalent to the state taking their labor for free. But Lu Jin was bound to establish a police system, so he couldn't take it for free anymore. He had to give them a position. So, are these people considered officials or clerks?

It is not a fantasy to establish a police system. In fact, there were similar public security departments in ancient times. In the Song Dynasty, there was the Imperial City Division, which had the Three Yamen Forbidden Army, and under it were the Palace Front Division (palace security), the Guard Division (capital security), and the Imperial Loyal Assistant Military Head Division (special service unit). In the Ming Dynasty, there was the Five Cities Bingmas Division established by Zhu Yuanzhang, which was responsible for the capital's security. In the Qing Dynasty, there was also the Nine-Gate Commander-in-Chief, who was responsible for the capital's security.

In ancient times, there were police stations and patrol officers (more like armed police) at the local level, but these departments were not integrated and each operated independently.

Moreover, in ancient times, only the public security of the capital was emphasized. Other cities did not have professional public security agencies. The police system was actually just a combination of these things and put them in one department. They were all things that existed in ancient times. Lu Jin then asked, "The teachers in the government-run academies are academic officials, so are the teachers who give lectures officials or clerks?"

"That's neither. The former Song Dynasty also had government-run schools. In addition to the school's chief officer being appointed by the court, the school's teachers were generally hired from successful candidates or tribute students. They were neither officials nor clerks, and were not directly appointed by the court."

Lu Jin continued to ask, "Who pays the salaries of the teachers hired by the government schools?"

"Of course it's the imperial court that's responsible," Qin Conglong said immediately.

Lu Jin frowned and asked, "He is neither an official nor a clerk of the court, so why should the court give him a salary?"

Qin Conglong added, "Because the government-run schools are run by the imperial court, the cost of hiring teachers should be included in the cost of running the school. Besides, the imperial court only has a few government-run schools and cannot hire many teachers. This cost should be paid by the imperial court."

Lu Jin nodded. He finally understood. The reason why there was no establishment of teachers in ancient times was mainly because the scale was too small. In the Song Dynasty, the total number of official teachers in the whole country might have been only a few hundred. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, county schools were fully established. With more than 1100 counties, if three or four teachers were hired in each county school, the total number would be only four or five thousand.

If the number of people increases and the scale becomes larger, the imperial court will naturally find ways to manage it, and no matter whether it is officials or clerks, they will always have to give an explanation.

Then Lu Jin continued, “I don’t know whether the teachers in the previous official schools were officials or clerks, but I will tell you what the official schools of the new dynasty should do.

"Each town should have a primary school with five grades. Each grade has five to ten classes. Each class has 50 students and there should be at least one teacher. Let's assume there are eight classes. That means there are 40 students in total. There are 40 classes and teachers. In addition to the principal, instructors, grade directors, and other administrative staff appointed by the court, there will be at least to teaching staff.

"A county has at least seven or eight towns, and at most ten towns, which means there are 20,000 primary school students and 500 to 600 teaching staff. Add a few government-run junior and senior high schools, and there may be 1,000 teaching staff. There are more than 1,000 counties in the country, and there are more than 1 million teaching staff.

"These one million teachers, in your opinion, are they officials or clerks? If they are not officials, what should they be called? And who should pay their salaries?"

When they heard Lu Jin announce this explosive number, everyone immediately started chattering.

"How could they possibly need so many teachers? With a million people, I'm afraid we can't even find a million scholars in the country."

"There are 20,000 students in one county, and there are more than 1,000 counties in the country, which means there are more than 20 million students. If we only count the population of school age, I'm afraid we can't find so many students. How many people are there in the country now? Doesn't this mean that all the children and teenagers in the country have to go to school?"

When Lu Jin heard this, he immediately said, "Why not? You always talk about education, education, and relying on one teacher and three or five teachers in each county, can a county educate two hundred scholars? If you don't even have anyone to teach, what kind of education is this?"

"."Everyone was speechless for a moment.

Wang Guangyang also frowned and said, "But Your Highness, with more than 20 million students, how much paper, ink, and books would be needed? I'm afraid that even if all the paper in the world was used to print books, it would not be possible to print 20 million copies."

Hearing this, Lu Jin said, "Don't worry about it. Papermaking and printing are the business of the two academies of science and technology and the Ministry of Industry. When the time comes, we will ensure that students all over the world have enough paper, pens and books. If we can't make them, it will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry. What I want to ask now is, what do you plan to give these one million teaching staff?"

"."Everyone fell silent again.

Seeing that they were silent, Lu Jin took the initiative to say, "If you can't think of it now, then put it aside for now and continue to talk about the issue of splitting the six ministries. It just so happens that other departments also have positions similar to these one million teaching staff. Anyway, whether it is an official, a clerk, or something else, there must be an explanation."

"Wait a moment, Your Highness, I have another question." Chen Yu, who had been silent, suddenly said.

"You said."

"Your Highness, although there were official schools in the past dynasties, they did not accept so many students because official schools were not responsible for the enlightenment of students. Students studied in private schools or at home. After learning a certain basic knowledge, they participated in the county and provincial examinations. Only after passing the examinations could they continue their studies in official schools. Or they could participate in the joint examinations, pass the examinations and become tribute students. Only then could they study in imperial schools such as the Imperial Academy.

"So in the past dynasties, there were few students and teachers because the schools were full of scholars and tribute students. There were only a few hundred people in a county who could pass the exam. Your Highness, do you want to let the government run the education of students?"

"Correct."

"Your Highness hopes that all children and teenagers in the world can go to school, and there are elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and universities, and each stage is divided into grades. What do these government-run schools teach?
Lu Jin glanced at him before saying, "You mean the textbooks, right?

"The education system of the new dynasty is similar to the previous system of subject division, and is also divided into multiple subjects. Starting from elementary school, there are only two subjects, Chinese and mathematics, in the first and second grades. History is added in the third grade. It is not required to be proficient in history, but at least know the inheritance of each dynasty.

"Geography is taught in the fourth grade. We don't need to master it, but we need to know how many provinces, cities, and counties there are in our country, what are the characteristics of each province's geography, how many famous mountains and rivers there are in the world, and basic road traffic knowledge. Natural science is taught in the fifth grade, which includes astronomy, meteorology, solar terms, and some basic scientific knowledge.

“My requirement is that all primary school graduates should be able to read, write and do math, understand official documents and notices, write an article that may not be very literary but can accurately express their own ideas, and be able to read most books on their own, such as technical books such as agricultural books, so that they can participate in production after graduation.

"Be able to do some slightly more complex arithmetic, have a rough understanding of the geography and history of our motherland, know where our ancestors came from, and which are our ancestors' territories that we have not yet recovered!"

Everyone opened their mouths when they heard this. This was to plant the seeds of regaining the homeland in all the children from an early age.
Lu Jin continued.

"The subjects in junior high school will not change much, but they will be more in-depth. In Chinese, students will learn some classic articles, and they will be able to write a clear and logical article on their own. In mathematics, students will learn algebra, functions, geometry, statistics, etc. After simple training, they can become qualified artillerymen. This is also part of the national mobilization mechanism.

"History requires learning Chinese history, but in more detail than what is taught in elementary school. You need to know the major events of each dynasty, the successes and failures of previous dynasties, and how countries perished. Geography requires learning world geography, understanding what the world we live in is like, what other countries there are in the world besides China, and what characteristics each has.

“In addition, the natural sciences in elementary schools should be divided into physics, chemistry, and biology, and taught as the three main subjects. We don’t ask them to achieve anything, but they should understand the principles of various things. At least they should know that there is no such thing as immortality in this world, and they can’t make any bullshit elixirs, let alone gods and monsters.

"When you get to high school, math is more advanced, you have to start studying classic Chinese works, history is world history and the historical context of countries around the world, and geography is surveying and mapping principles and cartography. In the future, you will be able to draw maps after some training.

"Physics, chemistry, and biology, continue to strengthen your studies, and do some simple applications, that's about it."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other. Wow, if everyone was taught in this way, as long as they could successfully graduate from high school, almost everyone could become a Grand Tutor. Guo Shoujing, the Grand Tutor of the Yuan Dynasty, was probably no more than that.

Lu Jin continued, "The specific textbooks will be compiled by the Education Research Department under the Ministry of Education according to the requirements I just mentioned, and then sent to the official printing factory designated by the court for printing and handed over to all provinces across the country for unified study.

"Some people may ask, where can the court find so many teachers who are proficient in these subjects? The solution is for the Ministry of Education to set up several normal universities to train teachers. With tens of thousands of graduates every year, there will be enough teachers in less than 20 to 30 years.

"And I don't want any doctors of the Five Classics or great scholars of statecraft. I just want teachers who can be mass-produced. Weapons and armor can be mass-produced on assembly lines in factories, and the same goes for talents. Teachers are professional craftsmen on the assembly line. I don't ask them to be proficient in every subject. They just need to be proficient in one subject and be able to read the lesson plans compiled by the Ministry of Education to students verbatim!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu asked again, "Your Highness, doesn't the new dynasty recruit officials based on Confucianism? Why do they have to learn so many miscellaneous subjects, but not the Five Classics?"

Lu Jin said immediately, "From the time you start learning at the age of six to the time you graduate from high school at the age of sixteen, it takes ten years. You should have learned some of the classic articles in the Five Classics long ago. As for specializing in the Five Classics, there will naturally be special Five Classics courses for you to study in college. If you are a student who likes the Five Classics course, you can apply to the relevant schools yourself."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this. Fortunately, Lu Jin did not directly abolish the foundation of Confucianism. The Four Books and Five Classics still had to be taught after all.

But what Lu Jin was thinking was that there were indeed liberal arts and history departments such as the Five Classics in universities, but when it came time to take the civil service exam, the court only accepted people with science and engineering graduates. I wonder what you will do then!
If you like it, then pay for your hobby. When you can't become an official, they will know to apply for the science and engineering track.

(End of this chapter)