I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 223 Yuan Shu Reform
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs mainly belonged to two systems.

One is the Shaofu system, and the other is the Dachangqiu system.

These two systems are independent of each other but interrelated, together forming a complex power network within the imperial palace.

The Shaofu system was mainly responsible for the daily affairs and financial management of the imperial palace. A considerable part of the entire palace eunuch department was under the Shaofu, and the personal affiliations of many eunuchs were also with the Shaofu.

However, the relationship between them and the Shaofu was more like a dependent relationship in the modern sense, and the Shaofu could not actually manage the specific affairs and actions of these eunuchs.

This loose nominal management method resulted in very limited control of the Shaofu over the eunuchs, and also allowed the eunuchs to act freely and even do whatever they wanted to a certain extent, thereby continuously strengthening their own power.

Another group of eunuchs were concentrated under the command of the Grand Chamberlain.

The Grand Chamberlain was nominally the director of the Queen's Office, and was nominally responsible for the daily management of the Queen's palace and the Queen's life services, but in reality he had his hands in many more things.

Therefore, this Grand Chamberlain, who was in charge of serving the empress, had important duties and a prominent status. He was a high-ranking official of the 2,000-stone level and possessed considerable power and influence.

As for why the Shaofu, an important department at the level of the Nine Ministers of the imperial court, could still have jurisdiction over some eunuchs, if we look into it thoroughly, it seems more like a mess left over from history, involving various complex political struggles and power games.

Generally speaking, the positions that were originally held by regular officials were gradually occupied and replaced by eunuchs over the course of history for various reasons.

For example, the important position of Zhong Changshi was like this. It was originally held by normal officials, but with the emergence and maintenance of female rulers, eunuchs were given the opportunity to occupy this position.

Once power is obtained, it will not be easily let go. This is true for normal officials and eunuchs alike.

As one of the core members of the Yuan family's power group, Yuan Shu was well aware of the importance and urgency of addressing the eunuch problem. Therefore, he decided to take a series of actions to solve this problem in order to ensure stability within the palace and the long-term development of the Yuan family's power.

The first step he took to control and govern the eunuch problem was to abolish all the original eunuch departments in the entire palace, destroy all the original eunuch power networks, and reform and reshape them.

He decided to bring all royal affairs and internal palace affairs under the control of Shaofu, transforming Shaofu into a more purely professional management department for royal palace affairs and royal internal affairs, responsible for the comprehensive management of various palace affairs, providing services for the daily life of the royal family, and ensuring the normal operation of the palace.

In this way, all the miscellaneous redundant positions originally belonging to the eunuchs in the imperial palace could be eliminated, thereby massively reducing the number of senior positions in the eunuch group and reducing the overall power content of the eunuch group.

All high-ranking positions with a rank of 2,000 stones, such as the Zhong Changshi and Da Changqiu, were abolished, and these high-ranking positions held by eunuchs would no longer be established, completely cutting off the path and possibility for eunuchs to obtain excessive power through their positions.

The original main responsibility of the Shaofu was to manage the royal private property as the chief steward of the imperial palace.

They were responsible for collecting taxes from natural resources such as mountains, ponds, lakes, as well as income from checkpoints and markets, etc., to be used as the emperor's private money.

However, in the era of the rise of eunuchs, although the Shaofu was still the chief steward of the palace in name, he had actually gradually lost his management rights and control over the internal affairs of the palace and became a de facto piggy bank.

If the official who serves as Shaofu is a eunuch or has a cowardly character, he will not even be able to maintain the qualification of a piggy bank. Shaofu will be more like a pocket, where money can be put in, without any protection, allowing the eunuchs to reach in and take out.

Now, with the progress of Yuan’s coup, the strengthened eunuch group that had intimidated the Eastern Han Empire for thirty years has completely disappeared into the dust of history.

And Shaofu, as the professional management department of the imperial palace affairs and the royal family's internal affairs, can finally restore its prestige and former glory!
Thus, Yuan Shu's operation officially began.

First, Yuan Shu clarified the three main responsibilities of the Shaofu after the reorganization.

The first is to continue to undertake the management tasks of the original Shaofu, that is, to be responsible for the management of the royal family’s private property.

This part of the work is of vital importance, involving the vital interests of the royal family and the honor of the emperor. It is a matter of face and cannot be taken lightly, so a separate department must be set up and a dedicated person must be in charge to ensure the safety of royal property.

Yuan Shu named it the Neikusi, which was specifically responsible for the management of the royal family's private money. Its functions were clear and it was not allowed to cross the line and interfere in other affairs.

This department has one Neibao Ling and two Neibao Pushe, with the rank of Ling being 1,000 dan and Pushe being 800 dan, and they supervise the indefinite number of Neibao Lang. Second, Yuan Shu proposed that the personal affiliation of all eunuchs and palace maids in the palace be unified under the management of the Shaofu.

This means that all eunuchs and palace maids who enter the palace to serve will become "clerks" under the Shaofu, and their promotions, rewards and punishments will all be the responsibility of the Shaofu.

This measure will help standardize personnel management within the palace and control the source of eunuchs and palace maids from the source.

For this purpose, Yuan Shu set up a special department called Neihuansi as the personnel management department of the Shaofu inner court system, responsible for recruiting new people, managing personal relationships, and rewards, punishments, promotions and other matters.

Like the Nei Treasury Department, this department has one Nei Eunuch Ling and two Nei Eunuch Pushes, whose ranks are the same as those of the Nei Treasury Department, and they are in charge of an indefinite number of Nei Eunuchs who are responsible for specific work.

The third is to integrate the miscellaneous management system within the palace, including all aspects of the palace staff's food, clothing, housing and transportation. This part of the work is trivial but important, and is directly related to the normal operation of the palace and the quality of life of the royal family.

Yuan Shu named this responsible department the Internal Affairs Department.

The Internal Affairs Department will become the major department of the entire Shaofu. The responsibilities of this department will cover all palace affairs that were previously handled by the eunuchs except for political affairs.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the work, in addition to establishing an internal affairs officer and two internal affairs assistants, the Internal Affairs Department will also add a number of specific service departments according to actual needs.

Such as catering management, clothing making, gardening and sanitation cleaning, each department will be equipped with dedicated personnel to be responsible for management in order to achieve refined and professional management goals.

After clarifying the three main responsibilities of the Shaofu after the reorganization, Yuan Shu began to carry out the specific implementation work.

This reform is not only for political purposes, but also has clear economic purposes.

In the past, the palace had complicated internal departments, bloated staff, low efficiency, and serious corruption. The eunuchs enjoyed making money from it, and their first pot of gold was basically made in the palace.

Therefore, he decided to abolish and merge most of the departments within the palace, streamline the establishment, reduce costs and increase efficiency. He would also strictly control the staffing within the palace and cut redundant staff.

Yuan Shu estimated that this combination of measures would reduce the expenses of the imperial palace by at least 50%, which would save a lot of financial expenditure for the entire Han Empire.

These saved financial funds can naturally be invested in other areas.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the Shaofu reorganization, Yuan Shu not only designed the functional structure after the Shaofu reorganization, but also personally formulated specific implementation rules.

He specified in detail the scope of responsibilities, staffing, and work processes of departments such as the Imperial Treasury, the Imperial Eunuchs, and the Internal Affairs Department to ensure that each department could carry out its work in an orderly manner according to the established plan.

In addition, Yuan Shu also implemented strict control over the selection of eunuchs and palace maids.

He firmly implemented the original idea, that is, all eunuchs and palace maids who entered the palace to serve must be illiterate and must have no cultural foundation at all, ensuring that everyone was illiterate.

This regulation aims to fundamentally limit the knowledge level and information acquisition ability of eunuchs and palace maids, thereby reducing the possibility of them interfering in politics.

At the same time, after entering the palace, they were strictly prohibited from learning cultural knowledge to ensure that they would remain illiterate during their service in the palace.

In order to further consolidate this regulation, Yuan Shu also planned to set up a supervision mechanism within the Shaofu.

He would appoint someone to supervise the daily behavior of eunuchs and palace maids to ensure that they strictly abided by the regulations that prohibit illiteracy. At the same time, Yuan Shu also formulated severe punishment measures for those who dared to violate the regulations to serve as a warning to others.

These measures will jointly form a strict prevention and control system, effectively locking the growth ceiling of the eunuchs and palace maids, making it impossible for them to abuse power and disrupt the government in every sense.

(End of this chapter)