Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 143: A Slight Shock to Chen Qun
Chen Qun's Nine-Rank System actually aimed to break down the limitations imposed by birth background, but its target was limited to those from humble backgrounds and aristocratic families.

But those from humble backgrounds were once aristocratic families; they have only fallen on hard times. So, the focus is still on established families.

Chen Qun's original intention was good.
Unfortunately, as time went on, his system was gradually taken over by powerful families and became a tool for them to maintain their own privileges, even leading to a situation where "there were no poor families among the upper ranks and no noble families among the lower ranks".

Chen Qun stared intently at Cao Yan, wanting to hear his evaluation of the system he had designed.

Cao Yan also tried his best to sit up straight and slowly said, "Changwen, I know you did this to break the drawbacks of the recommendation system and give children from poor families a way to advance. However, times have changed, and I wonder if you have considered the potential drawbacks of this system in the future?"

Chen Qun frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

He was quite confident in his carefully crafted system, but he also knew that Cao Yan would not ask questions without reason, so he cupped his hands and said, "I hope Lord Cao will enlighten me."

After organizing his thoughts, Cao Yan replied, "This system seems fair, but you have overlooked the person who will make the evaluation."

Ultimately, these officials were all recommended by powerful local families.

They come from prominent families, so how could they genuinely care about the plight of those from poor families?

Besides, the so-called "humble families" were nothing more than impoverished aristocratic families.

Look at the Yuan family of Runan today, with four generations producing three high-ranking officials, and the Yang family of Hongnong having students and former officials all over the country...

If a position of central authority were established, it would inevitably be controlled by these powerful clans.

In the future, when evaluating people, family background will be the first consideration, followed by moral character, and finally talent.

If this continues, a situation will arise where "the upper ranks have no poor families, and the lower ranks have no noble families."

After a brief pause, Cao Yan continued, "Imagine, even if a poor scholar is exceptionally talented and learned, if his background is obscure, the official in charge of the ceremonies might just ruin his future based solely on his birth."

Conversely, even if a member of an aristocratic family is uneducated and idle all day, he can still be ranked among the top officials simply because of his family background.

If this continues, the imperial court will be filled with pampered sons of noble families, while truly talented individuals will be buried among the common people.

In this situation, what hope is there for the nation?

Cao Yan looked at Chen Qun with sharp eyes: "Human greed is an age-old truth! How could powerful families easily allow poor children to rise up and share their benefits in order to protect their own interests?"
They only rate their own confidants and their own children as top-grade!

Those truly talented individuals from humble backgrounds, even those with extraordinary abilities, are seen as inferior in their eyes, and might even be considered enemies!

Chen Qun opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but was speechless for a moment, unable to find the right words.

Only then did he realize that he had underestimated the greed in people's hearts.

Chen Qun lowered his head in thought. He felt that what Cao Yan said did make some sense, and he began to feel uneasy.

But he was still not satisfied and wanted to argue further: "If no powerful families are involved, to whom should we entrust the task of evaluating talent?"

Cao Yan snorted coldly: "Does the world only have virtuous and capable people among the aristocratic families? Are there no talented people among those from humble backgrounds? It's just that they are usually suppressed by the aristocratic families and don't even have the opportunity to show their talents."

Cao Yan discovered that Chen Qun and Xun Yu were very similar; neither of them were short-sighted people who only cared about immediate gains, but rather people who cared about the big picture.

Therefore, he simply spoke freely: "Changwen, as a member of a prominent family, you must have seen clearly what the gentry and nobles do in their daily lives."

They amassed large tracts of land and seized fertile fields, causing many tenant farmers to become dependent on them, which led to a sharp decline in national tax revenue.

They held onto classical studies, shelving knowledge of governance and other subjects, leaving the people forever in ignorance.

They illegally established fortified villages and kept their own retainers, seriously threatening centralized power.

Moreover, for the sake of their family interests, they formed cliques and engaged in corrupt practices within and outside the court, interfering with state affairs...

These kinds of things are countless!

After Cao Yan finished speaking, he got up and walked to the inner room of the main hall. After a short while, he took out a file and spread it out in front of Chen Qun.
"This is the amount of land we found from certain gentry families in Yanzhou."

Look at the Tian family of Chenliu. They are just a small or medium-sized family, yet they have managed to seize thousands of acres of fertile land and hide more than three thousand tenant farmers.

It is evident that seven or eight tenths of the taxes levied in Yanzhou flowed into the private treasuries of powerful families.

Chen Qun's expression gradually became serious. He suddenly remembered that his father had always advised him to leave Yingchuan and travel to other places to broaden his horizons.

Looking back now, I think my father must have been aware of these drawbacks long ago, but he didn't say so because he didn't want to dampen my enthusiasm.

Perhaps it was because he was deeply disappointed with the actions of the powerful and wealthy families and unwilling to associate with them that his father chose to live in seclusion at home and devote himself to reading and scholarship.

Chen Qun finally understood his father's good intentions and also saw his own "naivety" and shortcomings.

He couldn't help but ask, "Then, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Cao Yan sat down again and slowly said, "It is an indisputable reality that powerful clans cannot be completely eliminated."

However, we can try to break down class barriers and broaden the career advancement channels for people from poor families and ordinary people, thereby achieving a balance.

In selecting talent, we will establish systems such as the imperial examination, anonymous grading, and transcription to ensure fairness and impartiality, so that talented individuals from all walks of life, regardless of social status, have the opportunity to enter officialdom and serve the country. In this way, a relative balance can be achieved in talent recruitment, preventing powerful families from dominating the field.

Cao Yan's words struck Chen Qun's heart like a series of heavy blows.

Chen Qun remained silent for a long time before slowly rising and bowing deeply to Cao Yan, saying, "Your Excellency, your words today were truly enlightening, as if I had just woken up from a dream."

Chen was initially focused on selecting talent for the country, but overlooked the enormous crisis hidden behind the system.

Cao Yan quickly helped Chen Qun up and said, "Changwen, there's no need for this. Your intentions were good, but the world is complex and unpredictable, and people's hearts are fickle."

Chen Qun raised his head, his gaze intense, and asked, "Since Your Excellency has long been aware of the harm caused by aristocratic families and has established the relatively fair system of selecting officials through the imperial examinations... I dare to ask, Your Excellency, have you considered a new system for the court?!"

Cao Yan was taken aback by Chen Qun's question; he had indeed thought about it.

After all, if the Cao family were to truly unify the world in the future, the old system would certainly no longer be suitable for the situation at that time, and a system that keeps up with the times would be necessary.

The Three Departments and Six Ministries system was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Chinese feudal civilization, but even the best system is not without its flaws.

Even though the Ming Dynasty abolished the Three Departments system and replaced it with the Cabinet system, it still could not avoid factional strife.

As a modern person, Cao Yan knows that there is no best system, only the system that best suits the current situation.

Only through continuous reform, eliminating malpractices, and introducing new ideas can the vitality of both the imperial court and the people be maintained.

After pondering for a long time, Cao Yan finally uttered a single word under Chen Qun's expectant and nervous gaze: "Yes!"

Really?!
Chen Qun instantly became excited and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "Please enlighten me, Lord Prefect!"

"This is just my initial idea. If there are any errors, I would appreciate your feedback in a longer article!"

"I dare not accept such praise, but I am willing to discuss this with Your Excellency!"

Cao Yan fetched paper and pen, and upon seeing this, Chen Qun quickly stepped forward to grind ink for Cao Yan.

As Cao Yan wrote, he explained, “There is no best system in the world, only the most suitable system. The ideas I have put forward are merely personal opinions. How to implement them specifically still requires investigation and judgment by many knowledgeable people.”

After speaking, Cao Yan wrote down five large characters: "Three Departments and Six Ministries System!"

"The three provinces are: the Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Department of State Affairs."

The Secretariat was the central decision-making body.

Its main responsibilities included drafting imperial edicts and formulating policies. It also had a subordinate "Hall of State Affairs" as a council for ministers, which included Imperial Academy professors and local representatives in decision-making.

The Secretariat was responsible for reviewing imperial edicts issued by the Chancellery, exercising the power of rejection, and supervising the implementation by the Six Ministries. It also had a subordinate "Admonition Office" to receive petitions from the public.

The Ministry of Personnel (尚书省) was responsible for administrative execution, and its subordinate ministries—the Ministry of Personnel (吏部), Ministry of Revenue (户部), Ministry of Rites (礼部), Ministry of War (兵部), Ministry of Justice (刑部), and Ministry of Works (工部)—served as the specific implementing agencies.

"So...where should we place the Prime Minister?"

"The Central Secretariat replaced the autocracy of ministers and also brought imperial power under supervision."

Seeing Chen Qun's puzzled expression, Cao Yan smiled slightly and continued:

"The Secretariat makes decisions, the Chancellery reviews them, and the Department of State Affairs executes them. These three departments check and balance each other, which not only prevents the prime minister from monopolizing power, but also prevents the excessive concentration of imperial power."

And within this framework, the oversight system is key to maintaining this balance.

Cao Yan continued writing, but he did not completely copy the later Three Departments and Six Ministries system, and besides, he could not remember all the details.

As the saying goes, even the best framework needs to be adapted to the current situation.

Therefore, Cao Yan only wrote a rough draft and made some modifications to some unsuitable parts. The rest would require other people to help improve the details.

Cao Yan sketched out the framework of the supervisory system on the paper and continued to explain: "The imperial court needs to establish an independent Censorate outside the Three Departments. The censors will be officials from humble backgrounds selected through the imperial examinations. They can report on matters based on hearsay, and everyone from imperial relatives to minor officials in the Six Ministries will be within their scope of supervision. In this way, the operation of the Three Departments and the Six Ministries can be supervised, and the power of aristocratic families can be checked."

Chen Qun suddenly realized, "All of this is inseparable from the word 'supervision.' Is this also the reason why Your Excellency wants to promote the imperial examination and select officials from ordinary people?"

"That's exactly right. Only by involving ordinary people can a three-way supervision and balance be formed between the imperial power, the aristocracy, and the common people, thus creating a system of checks and balances."

"Therefore, you also established the Censorate, granting it the power to report matters based on hearsay!"

Cao Yan explained many things to Chen Qun in detail, and encountered many problems that were difficult to explain in the process.

But Chen Qun did not think Cao Yan's plan was flawed; on the contrary, he felt that Cao Yan was a truly practical person.

"This is the difference between me and the Prefect!" Chen Qun finally admitted defeat and sighed sincerely.

At this moment, he finally understood why the Cao Group was able to stand out in the chaotic world!

(End of this chapter)