Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 134 Ming Dynasty Public Service Center?

"why?"

Old Zhu's expression was extremely cold, like a cube of ice, and he couldn't help shivering at the sight of it.

But Yang Chen didn't pay any attention to him at all.

He then wrote two big words on the rice paper blackboard.

"corruption!"

“The reason is simple. Whether it is a township school or a county school, hiring teachers or repairing the school will cost a lot of money.

All these expenses were distributed personally by the Ministry of Revenue, which would conduct an inspection every three years to see whether the money had been allocated.

Three years is enough time for a corrupt official to have a mouthful of grease.

Even if they were investigated, they had already reached the peak of their lives.

And even if there is an investigation, I think Your Majesty will definitely not investigate all of it. Throughout history, no anti-corruption system, even in my later generations, has been as ruthless as Your Majesty's.

Even so, the number of corrupt officials during the Hongwu period continued to increase. In addition to the low salaries I mentioned before, these corrupt officials had a mentality of taking chances.

They would think, Your Majesty is so busy every day anyway, it will never be my turn to investigate corrupt officials, so I should enjoy it for as long as I can.

Therefore, under the tacit understanding, corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty tried every possible way to make profits for themselves.

The people in the yamen who were in charge of setting up schools saw that the children of the people did not go to school, so their parents took them out of school and put them in the fields to work.

Over time, the officials in charge of the relevant work simply left the school in disarray, thinking that since no one was studying, why not use the money for repairing the school for themselves? "

Yang Chen's analysis was very clear and concise, and he directly stated the reasons.

This made Lao Zhu feel a burning pain on his face.

He couldn't help but pound his fist on the table. How come he didn't know what the other person was talking about?
It’s just that Lao Zhu didn’t make time to deal with it, and now that it has been brought to the table, it’s naturally a slap in his face.

"We didn't bother with them before and gave them a chance. Now it seems that we were too soft-handed. We will have people arrest them all and sentence anyone who enjoyed the embezzled money."

Lao Zhu said this very easily, as if the people who died in this incident were not human beings at all, but just a number.

“Father, corruption and bribery should indeed be severely punished, but if this matter is carried out now, I am afraid it will conflict with the policy I issued earlier.

I think that we should first investigate those who accepted high bribes, and then look for those who did not accept much bribes. As long as they can hand over the amount of bribes, pay the fines, and have their year-end bonuses reduced, this punishment will serve as a warning to many people, and that will be enough.

If we kill them all at once, I'm afraid the Ming Dynasty will be short of officials, and the local government offices will be poorly managed. I'm worried that there will be no one to use, and unrest will occur, which is the worst."

Zhu Biao analyzed the situation calmly and explained the pros and cons to prevent his father from causing irreparable consequences due to a momentary impulse.

"Biao'er is right, but these corrupt officials must be investigated. We will not let any of them go. Those who have made mistakes should not only be punished financially, but also prevented from being promoted. Otherwise, we will be sorry for those officials who work diligently."

He could allow his son to worry about the shortage of officials, but he still hated corrupt officials.

"Tell me quickly what method can be used to eliminate the problems Hu Weiyong mentioned. We want to know how you can bring imperial power to the countryside."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't wait any longer and urged Yang Chen to stop talking nonsense.

Seeing this, Yang Chen stopped talking and began to draw out the plan he had thought of yesterday on paper.

“First is the first step.

Establishing an independent tax organization does not necessarily mean that this organization is specifically responsible for taxation, but its main job is to be responsible for taxation.

The second task was to spread the imperial authority to the countryside. They did not have the law enforcement power of the local county government and were only responsible for propaganda work.

The power of law enforcement is the responsibility of the county government. This organization is mainly responsible for preparing plans, executing them, and spreading the word so that the people and the local county government know that they are not unbridled wild horses.

This is to warn those local officials who use their power to oppress people.

I have already thought of a name for you, it’s called Daming Public Service Center.

The second step is to recruit personnel. Those who can work at the Daming Public Service Center must know at least 500 commonly used characters and know addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within 100. They must also be honest and upright. They cannot be locals, that is, they must work in a different place. If locals hold local official positions, it is easy to cause factionalism.

The third step is to promote the policy and publicize the policy, so that the imperial power can be disintegrated, and the policy can be publicized in vernacular, so that the people at the Daming Mass Service Center can inform every local citizen that this is the case. "

Yang Chen's method was almost a copy of the Party and Mass Service Center of later generations.

He just made some slight changes.

One of the main tasks of the Party and Mass Service Center is to disseminate theoretical knowledge of party building, publicize the party’s basic theories to party members, promptly convey relevant policies of the party and the country, and guide party members to actively exert their subjective initiative.

Changing it into a branch of the taxation department would make taxation more direct and avoid the opaque taxation method of the Ministry of Revenue.

After observing this method, Lao Zhu felt that it was a very complete set of ideas, but it seemed to be missing something.

It felt like he had caught the bait, but had no idea who the other party was.

He felt very unwilling, but he could only nod in agreement.

"Brother Yang, this seems a bit difficult. There are too many grassroots organizations in the Ming Dynasty. According to what you said, to re-establish a Ming Dynasty Mass Service Center, it is necessary to build a court organization similar to the county government in each county.

There were more than a thousand counties in the Ming Dynasty.

These local gentry and clans have long been integrated into one, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are intricately intertwined. This is one of the reasons why the policy of surveying land could not be implemented.

They are the ones who are obstructing this matter. There are also some bold people who will cooperate with the county government. The two sides are one open and one covert. It is hard to guard against and difficult to eradicate! "

"Obstruct? With your majesty's iron fist, I don't believe they can obstruct the Ming cavalry."

Yang Chen didn't take Zhu Biao's reminder seriously, as he knew Zhu's methods best.

In order to fill the economic gap in the north, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered many southern merchants to migrate to the north with their families. Later, these merchants united and fled to the Guangzhou area further south.

When Zhu Yuanzhang learned about this, he was furious and sent Mu Ying directly to capture the ringleaders and behead them all. His children were also confiscated and sent to the frontier to do hard labor.

Zhu Biao certainly understood his father's temperament.

“With their strength, they can’t stop the Ming cavalry. They don’t even need cavalry. Even if they send a guard, a few thousand people can annihilate them.

But this process is like plucking hair. There are too many of them. Once all the hair is plucked, if we are not careful and the situation is unstable, the grassroots of the Ming Dynasty will be in crisis.

We can't just recruit people for the imperial examination, admit those who have achieved success in the shortest possible time, and assign them to official positions at will, right?
Besides, each county in the Ming Dynasty has many townships, and these townships are concepts spontaneously planned by the people. It is absolutely difficult for the Ming Dynasty Public Service Center to deploy enough staff in every place.

"If we take all of them together, there are nearly 10,000 villages, and the Ming Dynasty cannot spare so many people!"

For the first time, Zhu Biao expressed his opposition to Yang Chen's suggestion.

Old Zhu, who was sitting at the top, was just like Zhu Di, watching the two people arguing with his eyes full of excitement.

While the two were discussing this matter, Old Zhu ordered his servants to find the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi.

Six ministries.

Mao Xiang came here under Lao Zhu's order. As soon as he entered the door, many people began to discuss in whispers.

"Strange? How did the commander of the guards around His Majesty have time to come here? Could it be that someone has committed a crime?" "It's possible. The prince told us three policies a few days ago. Now that the policies have not been implemented, someone will definitely be held accountable."

"The adults in charge of this matter are going to be in trouble."

Mao Xiang had a stern face and ignored the gossip. Instead, he just shouted loudly.

"Where is Yang Siyi, the Minister of Finance? His Majesty has summoned him urgently. Hurry up and pack your things and follow me to see His Majesty!"

"So you're looking for Lord Yang from the Ministry of Revenue. Lord Yang is resting in the Yangxin Room next door. I'll go and tell him about this."

As soon as they heard that it was Lao Zhu who was looking for him, someone immediately stood up to tell Mao Xiang where Yang Siyi was.

At this moment, in the Yangxinfang, except for the six ministers, many other official members were in their respective offices dealing with matters handed down from their subordinates.

The six ministries were located in the imperial palace. They were responsible for all national affairs. The six divisions had clear responsibilities, and each department would arrange a manager in each yamen.

Among them, the Ministry of Revenue is responsible for taxation, finance, land and other matters.

Yang Siyi had been following Zhu since the early years of the Hongwu reign. However, because Zhu often changed the ministers, the ministers would usually only stay in the position for less than three months before being replaced.

During the entire Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang replaced nearly forty ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, and Yang Siyi was the one who served the longest.

He was also one of the few high-ranking officials who worked diligently and chose to remain neutral outside Hu Weiyong's party.

The Secretariat couldn't do anything about him either, naturally because Yang Siyi did a very good job in the Ministry of Revenue. To be precise, no matter what he did, he would not leave any traces that could be used by others.

"Sir Yang, the commander of His Majesty's guards has arrived outside the government office. He said he is here to see you."

The Yangxinfang is very large and is the place where the leaders of the six ministries rest. However, except for the Shangshu, few people can rest there.

Once they take a break, Zhu will think that they are not working seriously and are lazy and negative, and will look for opportunities to dismiss or even directly remove the officials.

Coupled with the newly reformed salary policy, many people have become more introverted than before.

There is no other way. If they don’t compete internally, they will not get any money. For the year-end bonus and for perfect attendance every month, they bring all their suffering upon themselves.

The clerk reporting outside the room was a subordinate who had followed Yang Siyi for many years.

He told this to Yang Siyi, who was resting with his eyes closed and thinking about how to deal with the problem.

When he heard that Lao Zhu was looking for him, his relaxed mind suddenly became alert.

He stared at the clerk with wide eyes.

"What did you say just now? His Majesty sent him Mao Xiang to find me and said that His Majesty wanted me to go there immediately?"

"Yes, sir. It looks like it's very urgent. The commander has already come here to find you impatiently."

Hearing this, Yang Siyi stood up from the couch, put his hands behind his back and walked back and forth, looking at the information on the table and whispered to himself:
"Could it be about the Crown Prince? Is Your Majesty dissatisfied and angry that I cannot cooperate with the Crown Prince in issuing policies?"

Yang Siyi slowly closed his eyes, frowned, and kept thinking.

Thinking of the end, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Forget it, forget it. It's fate. If Your Majesty is really dissatisfied with me, I will just accept my fate if you dismiss me.

The worst that can happen is that he won’t be promoted to the position of Shangshu and will be demoted.”

Seeing how carefree and relaxed he was, the officials couldn't help but give him some advice with concern.

"Master Yang"

"Okay, I know what you want to say, stop talking and pack your bags quickly. I'll know where we're going when I come back. His Majesty doesn't like me, so I can't just stay here and leave."

Zhu Yuanzhang's habit of frequently changing the chancellor had long been deeply rooted in people's minds, and Yang Siyi simply believed in his own judgment.

The clerk didn't know what to say, so he nodded, bowed and left, packing his luggage obediently.

Yang Siyi sighed and walked to the front hall of the Six Departments.

At this moment, the six ministries were already discussing the matter very heatedly. Normally speaking, if His Majesty asked the eunuch to come and find someone, it must be safe and sound, and it was an imperial decree to dispatch him.

If the guards are sent over today, the problem will be extremely serious.

Walking this road, Yang Siyi, who is almost sixty years old, now feels as if he has no desire to live.

He was one of the few people in history who was demoted and left the imperial court at an age when he was already 50.

"Lord Yang! His Majesty has summoned you. Please follow me."

Although Mao Xiang was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, his official position could not compete with that of the Shangshu.

He called the other party "Sir", which was the rule in officialdom.

"Please lead the way."

Yang Siyi didn't say anything, just replied lightly.

Soon, Yang Siyi followed the group, and the discussions in the remaining six government offices became even more lively.

Especially the people in the Ministry of Households, they felt extremely complicated and didn't know what would happen to them next.

Soon, Yang Siyi came to Lao Zhu's side.

Yang Chen and Zhu Biao both noticed an old man in the room, but they ignored him because they were both very anxious.

"Brother Yang! What you said is totally impossible!
In addition to the problem of gentry and the fact that there are too many townships that I just mentioned, the most important thing is that it is completely impossible to establish a new Ming Dynasty Public Service Center as you said. Just think about it, an institution will have to add at least four or five officials.

And to add so many officials to more than a thousand counties and nearly ten thousand townships, how many new people would be needed to support the entire Ming Dynasty?

If this was the price to pay for bringing imperial power to the countryside, how could the Ming Dynasty have so much money to support people like those in the current bureaucratic system?

This is just an ordinary organization. I haven't mentioned the other problems yet. With so many people added, the Ming treasury cannot afford it at all!"

"Yang Siyi, do you think Yang Chen's proposal can be done? What about what the prince said?"

While the two were not discussing for the time being, Zhu Biao glanced at Yang Siyi and asked casually.

Yang Siyi rolled his eyes and answered seriously:

“In reply to your Majesty, I think what Yang Chen said is completely fantastic.

Not to mention the first step of establishing a unique organization, the next two steps are completely impossible to achieve.

The prince also said that the minimum number of people needed to be recruited to handle the office is the entire number of people in the current court. The Ming Dynasty simply cannot afford to have so many people.

In order to collect taxes, to promote imperial power, and to let the people understand Your Majesty's policies, a new redundant official was appointed.

I have to pay a salary that is not worth it. In my opinion, this is a losing deal and not worth it."

(End of this chapter)