Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 236: Not sharing the world with the common people, but sharing the world with the scholar-officials!
The sun sets in the west, and the wind carries the evening bells.

The Duke's Mansion of Qi.

"Shut up!"

With a neigh, Qi Heng, carrying several official documents, slowly dismounted from the carriage, glancing at them from time to time as if deep in thought.

Before I knew it, I had just entered the courtyard.

"Officer."

With a soft call, Princess Pingning and Lady Shen walked over, each holding a newspaper.

"Your Excellency has been promoted?" Lady Shen asked with delight.

"what?"

Qi Heng was surprised, then nodded and said, "Grand Secretary Jiang recommended me for the position of acting Vice Commissioner of the Censorate."

"However, how does Madam know about matters of the court?"

Qi Heng was somewhat surprised.

Not long after the officials left their posts, his wife learned about the daily affairs of the court. When did the women of the inner quarters become so well-informed?
"The newspaper." Madam Shen handed over the newspaper in her hand and said gently, "It's a new publication from the Imperial Academy, and it's said to be printed every five days."

Qi Heng picked up the newspaper and glanced at it briefly.

Shocking! Jiang Zemin's virtuous conduct in recommending officials for official posts, regardless of personal grudges!

"Seventeen mediocre people have been demoted in succession!"

"The Imperial Academy's newspaper can be completed in a matter of days?" Qi Heng was secretly surprised.

Less than half a day has passed since the start of the regular court session, yet the Imperial Academy has already published the relevant news.

"Grand Secretary Jiang is indeed a man of great magnanimity."

Princess Pingning interjected, offering concerned advice: "Heng'er, you mustn't be too old-fashioned."

It is truly a great thing to receive such attention from Grand Secretary Jiang.

However, Qi Heng's personality is too upright. If he is still stubborn and inflexible, he may offend Grand Secretary Jiang again, turning a good thing into a bad thing.

Qi Heng remained silent and did not speak.

After a few breaths, he slowly said, "Your son will act impartially."

As he spoke, he gripped the document tightly and strode inside.

The fact that someone with the rank of a seventh-grade official was given a position with the real power of a fourth-grade official not only brought joy but also added a bit of pressure.

Jiang Ge Lao, with his boundless magnanimity, disregarded past grievances and named him.

If that's the case, then the Censorate should be managed even better in its administrative affairs.

Otherwise, wouldn't that mean that Grand Secretary Jiang lacks foresight?
Ningyuan Hou Mansion.

"cut!"

Gu Tingye glanced at the newspaper and lightly patted the wooden table: "It's only because Zichuan has the magnanimity of a prime minister, able to tolerate all civil and military officials. If it were me, I would simply demote Qi Heng, demoting him once a day."

"Why are you saying such hurtful things?"

With her pregnant belly bulging, Sheng Minglan comforted him, "You know the young master's temperament: stubborn, upright, gentle, and aloof. When it comes to reform, a stubborn person naturally has his own unique role to play."

"My brother-in-law is an official, and he is tolerant of others. His appointment of Young Master Qi is surprising, but not incomprehensible."

The core of the performance evaluation system is not difficult to understand; it simply involves three sets of accounting books.

One copy was made locally as the basis for implementing government orders, and another copy was made by various departments, both internal and external, as the basis for verification.

The Censorate was directly under the Cabinet and was listed in a separate volume. Its main responsibilities were to supervise local authorities and various government departments, and to report to the Cabinet.

The most crucial link was the Censorate, which served as a bridge between local authorities and the imperial court.

This step must be taken very seriously; there must be no favoritism or abuse of power, otherwise it could lead to a major problem of deceiving the cabinet.

Given the young master's personality, he is undoubtedly quite suitable to be the deputy head of the Censorate.

"Ah!"

Gu Tingye picked up the newspaper without saying a word.

Outside Donghua Gate.

People come and go, bustling.

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale!"

"Newspapers for sale!"

Several minor officials, carrying newspapers, would occasionally call out:
"Jiang Ge Lao Wai does not shy away from his enemies; he has the demeanor of a sage!"

"The emperor demoted more than ten people in succession to suppress unhealthy practices!"

"A tragic love story between a human and a transvestite, finally coming to fruition!"

"The Liao Kingdom's shameless act is actually an attempt to probe the strength and weaknesses of the border!"

Along the long street, there were teahouses, taverns, food stalls, brothels, bookstores, and theaters—all kinds of establishments could be found.

Every now and then, a scholar would run over, buy a few newspapers, and gather in twos and threes to discuss them endlessly.

Or perhaps it's a group of casual customers at a tea shop or food stall, buying a copy together, gathering to read it, occasionally pointing and discussing current affairs.

The two news stories have been widely circulated.

Soon, only two sounds remained.

One version praises Grand Secretary Jiang Zhao for his magnanimity and his meritocratic approach to promotion.

One type of voice was discussing the reform, mainly supporting the reform and believing that it was a good policy.

The reason for this is that the examination system had nothing to do with ordinary people.

From an outsider's perspective, the people would definitely prefer to see the officials suffer a bit.

After all, who hasn't experienced the "official power" of the lords?

It's rare to find someone who can discipline these corrupt officials, so naturally, we'd be happy to see it happen.

Besides being hotly discussed by ordinary people, the families of officials were also a subject of much discussion behind the scenes.

With a single word from the Emperor, more than ten people were demoted, which truly intimidated all the civil and military officials.

Jiang Ge Lao's statement, "If you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will," was even more brutal.

Ironically, this is actually the truth!

Since the late emperor took office, the number of candidates for official positions has increased significantly, with as many as three or four thousand scholars achieving the Jinshi degree alone.

It's important to know that the probability of a candidate passing the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examinations) is only three out of a hundred.

The true extent of a scholar's success in the imperial examinations can be gleaned from this.

Tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of candidates!

The number of candidates for the imperial examinations was almost enormous, but what about the number of scholars who passed the county-level examinations?

There were countless scholars who had passed the imperial examinations.

Of course, with the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination), he was definitely not qualified to enter officialdom.

But surely any nameless minor official would be fine?
If we're really talking about it, there's no shortage of people in the world who aspire to work "within the system."

There is no shortage of officials, no shortage of clerks, and no shortage of scholars!
As a result, the voices opposing the reforms weakened considerably.

The reason for this was simply that the demotion of more than ten people in succession shocked many of his opponents.

What matters is never the demotion of more than ten people; what matters is the firmness of the government's attitude!

More than ten fifth-rank officials were demoted without hesitation.

How cruel!

If the late emperor had been in power, those who opposed the reforms would probably have already jumped out and made a huge fuss.

However, the official's name was Zhao Ceying.

When the emperor was enraged, he even split up Liangzhe Road in two, and demoting a few people was no big deal.

If someone dares to speak out, they will really be demoted!
In this world, truly born "conservatives" are ultimately a minority.

In order to protect their official positions, no one dared to step forward.

In an instant, people from all walks of life were either shocked or excited, and discussions continued endlessly.

On the 17th day of the fifth month of the second year of the Xifeng era.

Fragrant blossoms permeate the air, and rain nourishes a thousand flowers.

The Secretariat, the Hall of State Affairs.

The six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet took their seats in succession.

Han Zhang, a Grand Academician of the Zhaowen Hall, lowered his hands and closed his eyes, pretending to be fast asleep.

On the left, Jiang Zhao holds a pen and writes down government orders from time to time.

The courtroom was completely silent.

"clatter!"

Jiang Zhao paused, resting his brush on the inkstone, and looked down.

"I'm feeling dizzy. Let Zichuan explain these two documents concerning the new policies." After passing the two documents to his disciple, Han Zhang opened his eyes and then closed them again.

Jiang Zhao nodded respectfully and took the document.

"Jiang will say a few words."

"The first memorial was submitted by Xue Xiangshang, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy."

Jiang Zhao opened the document in his hand and slowly said, "Since March 11th, the Imperial College has printed the newspaper thirteen times, selling a total of 193,217 copies, which is equivalent to selling about 15,000 copies per printing. Among them, more than 3,000 copies were overprinted, resulting in a loss. In the end, the newspaper sales amounted to more than 6,000 strings of cash."

Xue Xiang petitioned the emperor, requesting that all officials of the Imperial Academy, from top to bottom, be rewarded with ten strings of cash each, totaling one thousand and ten strings of cash.

Excuse!
"190,000 copies?" Tang Jie hissed, somewhat surprised.

Sold 15,000 units in one go?

The others were also taken aback.

In fact, in terms of economic benefits alone, newspapers are quite inefficient.

In just over forty days, only six thousand strings of cash were sold, and it's estimated that less than fifty thousand strings of cash would be sold in a year.

The economic benefits of a year may not even equal the economic benefits of a salt merchant in a single day.

But this is a newspaper!

Compared to economic benefits, the most important aspect of a newspaper is its ability to control public opinion.

A single print run can sell 15,000 copies, and its impact on public opinion is absolutely terrifying.

Such a level of dissemination is undoubtedly quite surprising.

Jiang Zhao nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the document was passed down.

In fact, this result exceeded his expectations.

But that's the reality. Taking advantage of the "reform movement," newspapers were launched and really capitalized on the hype. Relying on their "timeliness" and so-called inside information, they made a fortune.

Last time, he and Xue Xiang estimated the profitability issue.

If you sell a thousand copies at a time, you'll barely break even.

As a result, more than 15,000 copies were sold in one go?
This means that in just over forty days, they had already earned back a year's worth of printing costs, and even made a profit.

In the future, as a monopolistic product of selling "knowledge," newspapers will only become more and more profitable, making it a business with virtually no cost.

Furthermore, as a monopolistic product, the newspapers produced by the Imperial College inherently possessed "authoritative" status.

Once it spreads throughout the world, in terms of authority and influence alone, even a hundred or so great Confucian scholars might not be able to match it.

A powerful weapon of public opinion has been formed!

"Disregarding the annual costs, the profit is two thousand strings of cash." Han Jiang looked at the document and nodded repeatedly: "If that's the case, then reward him!"

Newspapers are crucial to shaping public opinion.

The newspaper has now been successfully established, which is undoubtedly a great thing.

The remaining people nodded in agreement, none of them having any objections.

Since the newspaper is already profitable, it wouldn't hurt to give it a reward or two.

After about ten breaths, the red robe was draped over.

Jiang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "In the future, if newspapers can be promoted to the two capitals and fourteen circuits, then the establishment of the Imperial Academy will be elevated." "Agreed."

"Ah."

Several people subsequently gave their approval.

In fact, the Imperial Academy was not a high-ranking institution; the Chancellor was only a fourth-rank official.

In terms of organizational structure alone, it was one of the lowest-ranking government offices in the imperial court.

Elevating the status quo is not necessarily a bad thing.

Jiang Zhao pulled out the next memorial, along with an account book, and said calmly:
"Regarding the evaluation of performance, Wang Anshi submitted a memorial."

"To date, the new policy has been in effect for over forty days. The performance evaluations of officials of all ranks in the capital have all been completed."

Several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were all startled.

Performance evaluation system, with monthly reports required.

The verification time for performance evaluations differs between local and Bianjing (Kaifeng).

This is mainly because of the local issues related to travel.

In some remote border areas, the distance to the capital is thousands of miles, and it can take about a month just to deliver the examination results.

Therefore, local performance evaluation verification may involve verifying April's performance in June and May's performance in July, resulting in a significant delay in timeliness.

The capital region is not involved in this problem, so performance evaluations are naturally verified on time.

The period from March 11th to March 31st was essentially a preparation period for officials, during which they were not subject to performance evaluation.

Now, the memorial Wang Anshi submitted was a performance evaluation of officials of all ranks in the capital region for April.

Jiang Zhao picked up the ledger and glanced at it briefly.

In Bianjing alone, there are more than a thousand people with serious problems.

Among them, about a hundred people did not strictly follow the examination and assessment procedures and did not keep accounting records.

The rest of the people were almost all corrupt officials.

Since the implementation of the performance evaluation system, many censors who were struggling to achieve results have stopped impeaching officials and instead actively pursued corrupt records to demonstrate their achievements.

As a result, quite a few people were inevitably identified.

It is almost predictable that the longer this process continues, the more corrupt officials will be uncovered.

After all, if you really want to talk about it, there aren't many clean people in officialdom.

In just a few breaths, the document was passed down.

"Investigating like this could lead to trouble," Han Jiang said with a frown and a deep voice.

In the world of officialdom, truly none of them can withstand scrutiny.

If old grievances were to be brought up, even the senior cabinet members might not be able to withstand the investigation.

“Dig into old grievances, that won’t work,” Wu Chong said, frowning.

In the past, Emperor Zhenzong had also thoroughly investigated past accounts and dismissed nearly 200,000 officials.

It should be noted that at that time there were fewer than 600,000 officials, meaning that one-third of them were brought down by "old scores".

The remaining two-thirds are also likely problematic; they were just lucky, not honest.

The final result, naturally, was that officials were terrified and the country was shaken.

Now that we have the example of Emperor Zhenzong, bringing up old grievances would only cause widespread panic.

The entire imperial court was in an uproar!
"Issue a decree regarding corruption, with the new policy as the dividing line." Jiang Zhao had anticipated this and nodded, saying, "Past events will be forgiven!"

Some things are really hard to investigate thoroughly.

It’s not that you can’t, but that you don’t have to.

"Among these eight or nine hundred people, those who were corrupt after March 11th will all be dismissed."

"Anyone who fails to perform well in the performance evaluation will be dismissed," Jiang Zhao stated definitively.

Several scholars pondered for a moment, then nodded in succession, picked up their pens, and began to write in red ink.

In fact, such a severe punishment is by no means lenient.

Of these eight or nine hundred people, at least three or four hundred committed their crimes after March.

Three to four hundred people, roughly one-tenth of the officials, large and small, in Bianjing.

Such a drastic demotion was bound to cause a huge uproar.

However, compared to investigating past issues, a clean break is undoubtedly more acceptable.

It's been said that this is a reform; if it doesn't cause any waves, how can it be called a reform and restructuring?

Both memorials had been circulated and read. Jiang Zhao picked up the several decrees he had just written and passed them on.

About half an incense stick's time.

Several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet frowned from time to time, and relaxed from time to time.

The document contained a total of three decrees:
Land survey!

Jiaozi Bank!

Heavy industry and commerce!

Jiang Zhao looked at the group of people with a calm expression.

Regarding governance, no new decrees will be issued in the short term to avoid making the decrees too complicated and affecting administrative efficiency.

Given this compatibility, it is permissible to issue decrees concerning merchants.

Of course, the same attitude applies.

Once a decree concerning merchants is issued, no further general decrees concerning merchants will be issued for a short period. At most, there will be minor revisions and refinements.

"Jiaozi?" Han Jiang picked up the document, somewhat surprised.

In the early days of the People's Republic of China, some people in Yizhou believed that copper coins were too bulky and inconvenient for large transactions.

For this reason, several well-known wealthy merchants jointly issued paper money, also known as "Jiaozi," which holders could exchange for copper coins at designated shops.

However, over time, the wealthy businessman ran out of money and even showed signs of absconding with the funds, which triggered a credit crisis.

In the first year of the Tiansheng era (1023), the right to issue Jiaozi (paper money) was taken over by the government, and the imperial court established the Jiaozi Bureau in Yizhou, with the government providing official credit.

The following year, the first batch of "official paper money" was officially issued, stipulating the corresponding paper denominations, circulation period and issuance limit, and anchored to iron coins as reserves.

To date, official paper money has been issued for over forty years and has circulated in Shaanxi, Hedong and other regions.

And the result
The imperial court would print more paper money than allowed, which led to currency devaluation and made the paper money completely untrustworthy.

Jiaozi (paper money) is now defunct in name only!
In fact, the term "jiaozi" (paper money) was not unfamiliar to cabinet ministers.

As high-ranking officials, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were exceptionally knowledgeable and had certainly seen paper money before.

but
"Paper money has too many drawbacks."

Han Jiang sighed, “First, they are easily damaged; second, the people are worried that the court will overprint them; and third, they are not easy to circulate.”

In fact, the shortcomings of Jiaozi can be further compounded by the problems of "exploitation by officials" and "counterfeiting of paper money".

When it came to exchanging paper money, officials would often take the opportunity to extort money from the people, refusing to exchange the paper money on the grounds that it was worn out.

After experiencing this several times, the common people naturally harbored resentment and refused to use paper money again.

Counterfeiting banknotes is a typical example of "low risk, high return," with many hooligans, thugs, servants, and lackeys repeatedly engaging in counterfeiting, making it impossible to stop them from being caught.

The others nodded from time to time, indicating their agreement.

The late emperor was benevolent, but he also did a lot of immoral things.

The shortcomings mentioned, such as "easily damaged" and "not easy to circulate," are all superficial.

The only real drawback is that the official stance lacks credibility!

The common people were worried that the imperial court would print too many paper coins, so they naturally wouldn't save them.

"Don't let ordinary people save it," Jiang Zhao said, shaking his head.

Clearly, he had considered these issues.

"Then who should store it?" Wu Chong asked, squinting his eyes.

"Dashang!"

"An official!"

Jiang Zhao said decisively.

"Great merchants, whether they are in the business of hand-woven textiles, ceramics, salt, or wine and tea, must deposit more than 50,000 strings of cash in the bank."

"Firstly, it serves as a guarantee, a symbol of a merchant's right to monopolize business; secondly, it's genuinely for their benefit. The rest of the common people, individual investors, and those with wealth exceeding ten thousand taels of silver are entitled to save money," Jiang Zhao said calmly.

Whether they were wealthy merchants or people with vast fortunes, they were already considered "famous and well-known" figures.

At the very least, he's still the richest person in a county.

Such large clients all have some kind of background, which eliminates the possibility of "counterfeiting currency," and even low-level officials would certainly not dare to exploit them.

These people are actually quite wealthy!
Once all the big merchants in the world deposit their money in, it will amount to at least tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of strings of cash.

If the imperial court encounters a financial crisis, it can borrow money from the bank for one or two years and then make up the difference.

This is what is known as a solution to an "urgent problem".

As for the fact that the imperial court has lost its credibility?
It won't affect anything!
Behind every prestigious county is a high-ranking official in the imperial court, and these people would not easily allow the emperor to issue official documents indiscriminately.

Moreover, some of the people who deposited the money were high-ranking officials of the imperial court.

"Hi~!"

Wu Chong was taken aback.

To be honest, that makes a lot of sense.

Merchants don't save money simply because they worry that the imperial court will print money recklessly.

After all, merchants were undoubtedly at a disadvantage when facing the imperial court.

But scholars are different; when facing the imperial court, they might not necessarily back down.

Throughout history, there have been very few emperors as powerful as Zhao Ceying.

Conversely, if someone has the ability to be powerful, then they should understand the importance of a credit system.

The courtroom fell silent.

After a moment, Tang Jie asked, "But what if the withdrawal amount is too large, and the bank can't process the withdrawal?"

"Then it is stipulated that paper money shops be set up in ten designated prosperous commercial cities throughout the land. Major merchants must apply to the court thirty days in advance, specifying where the money will be collected and how much it will be collected," Jiang Zhao said, raising his eyebrows.

"Of course, it can't be called Jiaozipu anymore; it should be renamed a bank," Jiang Zhao added.

Nowadays, the Jiaozipu (paper money shop) is showing signs of being universally reviled, so it's better to change its name.

The courtroom fell silent once more.

After about an incense stick's time, Han Zhang opened his eyes and nodded, saying, "Alright."

“That’s feasible,” Wu Chong immediately agreed.

"Let's wear red," Han Jiang agreed.

Tang Jie nodded in agreement.

“That makes sense. It’s not about sharing the world with the common people, but with the scholar-officials,” Wen Yanbo rarely agreed.

Jiang Zhao frowned but remained silent.

Aside from the establishment of the bank, the remaining land surveys and heavy industry and commerce had already been discussed by the Grand Secretaries once, so there was no need to continue the discussion.

The three documents were all covered in red ink.

The following day, the decree was issued.

They surveyed the land, established banks, and revitalized industry and commerce.

With a single stroke, more than four hundred people were dismissed.

The various government decrees were all more shocking than the last.

In an instant, a huge uproar ensued!

(End of this chapter)