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

Chapter 306 Annual Planning of the Hundred Departments!

The fifth day of the first month of the seventh year of the Xifeng era.

Royal study room.

"call!"

With a gentle breath, a unique medicinal fragrance spreads.

He reached out and picked up a candied fruit.

"Ugh!"

Zhao Ceying shook his head and sighed, looking utterly hopeless.

He really didn't want to take the medicine.

too bitter!
A hodgepodge of herbs, boiled together until it turns a dark, murky liquid, leaves a bitter taste on the tongue and a harsh, astringent feeling in the mouth – it's practically torture.

"Ugh!"

Another sigh escaped Zhao Ceying's lips; he seemed somewhat helpless.

Unfortunately, patients cannot avoid seeking medical help; the medicine may be bitter, but they must endure it and continue taking it.

I picked up the candied fruit and took a couple of bites.

Immediately
"Humph!"

With a muffled groan, while the sweetness was still lingering, Zhao Ceying swallowed the medicinal soup in one gulp.

"call!"

With a long sigh, Zhao Ceying felt a sense of relief, as if she had been reborn.

Then, with a simple gesture, a senior eunuch approached and picked up the medicine bowl.

"Annual records documents?"

The small wooden table, about ten feet long, held dozens of documents.

Without exception, they were all annual accounting documents.

However, the cabinet reviewed the document and found it to be correct, so it was sent to the Imperial Study for the Emperor's review.

Zhao Ceying shook his head, picked up the document, and began to study it.

There were dozens of documents, one of which was two inches thick. They were called documents, but they were actually books, piled up to be half a person high.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will likely take a day or two of diligent review before it can be fully read.

Even emperors have their hardships!

"Ugh!"

With a sigh, he took in one document after another.

Zhao Ceying reviewed the document, nodding occasionally, looking approving.

The reason for this is that the reforms were remarkably effective.

More than four years have passed since the second year of the Xifeng reign.

In just four years, Jiang Zhao's administration can be described as gradual and methodical.

The purpose of all government orders is obvious.

It could be for the sake of improving the administration, amassing wealth, strengthening the military, or improving the economy.

In just four years, the corresponding reform policies have already taken shape, with mutual support and assistance among the various sectors.

In terms of results, it is quite gratifying.

Among these changes, the Ministry of Personnel changed its previous practice of "dismissing officials".

In the sixth year of the Xifeng reign alone, only 427 officials and 3,600 minor officials were dismissed.

Compared to previous years, this number of dismissals is not even a fraction of what it used to be.

After all, since the second year of the Xifeng reign, the number of officials dismissed had started at two thousand, and the number of minor officials had been more than fifteen thousand.

This was a chain reaction caused by territorial expansion.

By the sixth year of the Xifeng reign, there were 41,000 registered officials and 375,000 minor officials throughout the country.

Originally, according to the plan of Grand Chancellor Jiang Zhao and Grand Secretary Yuan Jiang of the Wenyuan Pavilion, the dismissal of officials should continue in order to achieve a delicate balance.

In other words, there is little difference between those who enter officialdom and those who retire gracefully.

According to Jiang Zhao and Yuan Jiang's estimates, to achieve a state where the number of those who enter officialdom and those who retire is roughly the same, the number of officials would need to be reduced to about 35,000 and the number of minor officials to about 350,000.

In this way, the problem of redundant officials can be solved once and for all.

Unfortunately, the plan could not keep up with the changes.

Who would have thought that the Great Zhou would expand its territory!

The conquest of Xihe, Xifeng, Yanyun, the destruction of Jiaozhi, and the expansion of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun—five expansions in total—truly added a considerable amount of territory to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The two expansions of Xihe and Xifeng alone expanded the territory by a total of twelve prefectures, which was basically the establishment of a "route".

Therefore, Xihe Road has been established as a separate road.

The two expansions of Yanyun territory involved approximately twenty prefectures, namely the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the prefectures ceded by Western Xia. These were also part of the "Road" system, hence the separate establishment of the Yanyun Road.

The Kingdom of Jiaozhi, located in the southwest corner of the country, had a territory roughly one-fifteenth the size of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was also roughly a "route" in size, and for this reason, the Southwest Protectorate was established.

In other words, through several expansions of territory, the Great Zhou Dynasty managed to establish a three-way system.

It should be noted that the Great Zhou Dynasty previously only had thirteen routes, and the addition of three new routes means that the number has increased by about a quarter.

These newly expanded territories inevitably needed to be governed by officials and clerks.

As a result, the balance of dismissal of officials naturally changed to some extent.

Therefore, Prime Minister Jiang issued an order to restore the "normal" state of officialdom.

The number of people exempted from office in the sixth year of the Xifeng reign was reduced by more than half.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, once the annual review is over and the Ministry of Personnel issues the official document, it will almost certainly cause a stir among the officials.

With the return of governance to "normal," both high-ranking officials and low-level clerks will undoubtedly feel much more at ease.

In addition, the Ministry of Revenue underwent significant changes, primarily focusing on grain and population.

In the sixth year of the Xifeng reign, the Ministry of Revenue's expenditure totaled 64 million strings of cash.

Of these, the royal family's expenses amounted to nine million strings of cash.

This sum of money is almost a fixed expense.

Emperor Zhao Ceying was "adopted into the throne," which meant he could not reduce the imperial clan's stipends. Even if supporting the imperial clan was too costly, he had no choice but to continue spending the money.

Of course, this was actually a fiscal surplus, which gave the government the confidence not to reduce the stipends of the imperial clan.

Otherwise, with the fiscal deficit looming, a major crisis is imminent, and it must be reduced!
The military expenditure amounted to 18 million strings of cash.

The bulk of this part is "reward money".

To boost morale, the emperor made several promises of rewards for killing enemies.

On the day the unification was achieved, a lavish reward was also given.

The armies from Xihe, Shaanxi, Hedong, Hebei East, and Hebei West totaled five routes, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and the rewards were substantial.

It has even become comparable to military spending.

The remaining major expenditures, mainly consisting of officials' salaries, water conservancy projects, local governance, maritime expeditions, and iron and steel smelting, amounted to 37 million strings of cash.

As for the Ministry of Revenue's revenue, it amounted to 13.7 million strings of cash.

This is only the second time in the four years since Xi Feng that tax revenue has exceeded 100 million.

Among them, the agricultural tax was 40 million strings of cash, a slight increase, but the change was not significant.

In fact, the grain tax alone is still decreasing.

In reality, the grain tax was only around 3,600 strings of cash, a decrease of 2 million strings of cash compared to the previous year.

There's no way around it, Champa rice is just too "cheap"!
Three pounds of long-grain rice is not worth one pound of short-grain rice; this is no exaggeration.

This means that even though grain production is increasing, the actual grain tax is decreasing.

It is not difficult to foresee that the more widely Champa rice is cultivated, the lower the grain tax will be.

Of course, it's all worth it.

On the one hand, Champa rice has important political value.

When food is plentiful, the world is at peace.

Therefore, even if the tax revenue is a little less, it doesn't matter much.

On the other hand, this reduction in food tax will have a certain "lower limit".

If the price isn't enough, make up for it with increased production!
During the reign of the late emperor, the nominal land area was 400 million mu, and the agricultural tax was around 20 million guan.

Since the land survey, the actual land area is 820 million mu, which does not include the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

The increase in land area, which means an increase in grain production, will to some extent compensate for the reduction in grain tax caused by the cultivation of Champa rice.

According to estimates from the Ministry of Revenue, the grain tax will remain at around 35 million strings of cash and will not continue to decline.

Apart from the simple grain tax, most of the other agricultural taxes came from a new product—cotton!
Cotton is something else entirely.

Its unique warmth retention properties destined cotton to be quite valuable.

Even a cotton overcoat has become a family heirloom for ordinary people.

Because it's valuable, the taxes are naturally quite high.

Therefore, even though it was a new product with a small output, it generated a considerable amount of tax revenue, amounting to several million strings of cash.

Compared to the agricultural tax, which remained largely unchanged, the commercial tax increased significantly, reaching 57 million strings of cash.

It increased by about six million guan compared to the previous year.

The reason was simple: the overland Silk Road leading to the Western Regions had been opened.

Since the Western Xia became a vassal state, the overland Silk Road has been opened.

Merchants are driven by profit, and when a business opportunity suddenly appears, they rush to seize it.

Six months is enough time to support a round trip for trade.

As a result, the land-based Silk Road contributed a significant amount of commercial tax revenue. In addition, border markets and maritime trade also saw substantial increases in revenue.

Agricultural tax and commercial tax totaled 97 million strings of cash. Including the bank's 4 million strings of cash safekeeping fees, the total came to 10,100 million strings of cash.

It's surpassed 100 million!
Moreover, compared to the "confiscation of over 100 million" in the fourth year of the Xifeng reign, the amount of over 100 million in the sixth year of the Xifeng reign was clearly achieved through genuine merit.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the tax revenue of the Great Zhou Dynasty will now routinely exceed 100 million.

In addition to taxes, the Ministry of Revenue also had some data compiled separately.

One of the more prominent items is the population census.

Eighty-five million people!

This is the result of the Ministry of Revenue's census.

The main system of the population census in the Great Zhou Dynasty was "two intercalary months followed by one census".

The astronomical calendar follows a nineteen-year cycle with seven leap years, or one leap year every two to three years.

The check is conducted every two leap years, which means it is checked approximately every five or six years.

The last census of the Great Zhou Dynasty was naturally in the fourth year of the Zhiping era.

At that time, the census data showed 14.38 million registered households and 24.62 million people.

The main account refers to the number of households involved in paying taxes.

The term "口" mainly refers to the total number of adult males, women from wealthy families, and unregistered slaves.

This was because some of the slaves did not have household registration.

Without a registered household, the statistics naturally fall under the head of the household.

However, women from wealthy families and unregistered slaves were actually a very small minority.

The slaves of the Great Zhou Dynasty were mostly "employees," and were actually good people in essence.

This is why officials who beat or killed slaves were often impeached or even punished.

Killing an innocent person should be punished, right?
Women from wealthy families and unregistered slaves were extremely rare, meaning they could be ignored.

Overall, "口" can be considered as the number of adult males.

There were 12.38 million households and 14.62 million adult males, which was almost "the number of males equaled the number of household heads," with one male per household.

One male would have one wife.

Even including children, a family consists of about three or four people.

Such a quantity is definitely being concealed.

A typical household, if averaged out, would have at least five people.

After all, besides the normal male offspring, there are also parents.
Even if the brothers divide the family property, shouldn't each parent get one share?

Not to mention, brothers don't necessarily divide the family property.

There's definitely something wrong with the data.

But, there is no way!
The people deliberately avoided people, and the government dealt with the matter perfunctorily. What could be done?
However, one can only see the whole picture from a single glimpse.

In the fourth year of the Zhiping era, there were 14.62 million males. If children and women are included, the total "false population" is estimated to be around 50 million.

In the sixth year of the Xifeng reign, the Ministry of Revenue conducted another population census.

Compared to the fourth year of the Zhiping era, the census in the sixth year of the Xifeng era was more thorough.

On the one hand, there is data from land surveys to support this.

In the past, Jiang Zhao listed land surveys as one of his political achievements.

Officials at all levels, both high and low, naturally conducted thorough land surveys in order to achieve their political goals.

Along with this, all the "hidden accounts" were also uncovered.

After all, land must have an owner, right?
The Ministry of Revenue used the land survey data as support, which made the investigation more thorough.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Revenue also specifically investigated the number of women and children.

In this way, the true population number was determined.

The main households totaled 19.3 million.

There are 33 million adult males.

Women, 31 million.

Children, 21 million households.

Thus, the source of 85 million people was found.

It is estimated that there are two male members in the household.

Two men, two wives, that makes a family of four.

If you include the children, it's roughly a family of six or seven people.

Such data is considered relatively normal.

Apart from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, the other major government offices, such as the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, and the Bank, have basically remained unchanged.

The Ministry of Works is still repairing the palace, the Ministry of Rites remains extremely austere, and bank savings are linked to the economy, so there won't be much change in the short term.

There may be significant changes to the government offices, namely the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Academy, and the Military Equipment Bureau.

The main issue in the Ministry of Justice was the dispute over imperial edicts and laws.

This debate solidified the edict's exalted status.

From then on, the king's decrees superseded the laws!
This was an inevitable outcome.

The more centralized the government, the greater the monarch's power.

The Imperial College (Guozijian) primarily offered semi-free education and newspapers.

The influence of newspapers is undeniable, and it remains unchanged.

The semi-free education is an exceptionally rare achievement, truly a contribution that will benefit future generations.

Of course, the promotion of semi-free education has not been without its challenges.

There may be no resistance when a decree is issued, but that doesn’t mean there will be no resistance when it is implemented.

The main obstructors were medium-sized landowners.

That is, landlords who had reached a state of "not worrying about food and clothing" were slightly lower than those in the county who were "armed with weapons and cannons"—a group that was neither here nor there.

This group of people can be considered the true victims of semi-free education.

Based on their social standing, those slightly below them were small landlords who had barely managed to make ends meet, or were still struggling to survive, as well as some purely poor peasant children.

This group of people are the real beneficiaries, the so-called "passing down the family tradition of farming and studying".

The policy of semi-free education is enough to allow them to focus on their studies without worrying about making a living.

Moving up a notch, there are medium to large-sized landlords who can barely hold a say in a county.

These people were affected to some extent by the semi-free education, but the impact was not significant.

To be precise, these people are not in the same league as those who study and farm.

Firstly, these people already have access to better educational resources.

When it comes to reading, the quality of teachers is absolutely a crucial factor that cannot be ignored.

The teachers in semi-free education are certainly quite poor. Most of the teachers are students who have only a superficial understanding of some knowledge, or even explain the knowledge incorrectly.

As people who could speak with authority in a county, medium to large landowners could undoubtedly provide their children with better teachers, such as scholars who had passed the imperial examinations.

Conversely, if a child cannot even pass the exams of those who study farming, it proves that the child is not academically gifted and is unlikely to actually succeed in his studies.

Further up the hierarchy are powerful clans that have influence in a county or prefecture, or even dominant families that rule a prefecture.

Such large clans all had clan schools, and the teachers there started as candidates for the imperial examinations, and some might even become Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

Even more extreme, like Grand Chancellor Jiang Zhao, some directly take high-ranking officials as their teachers.

Those who study and farm are certainly no match for them.

The higher one goes, the greater the gap becomes, and the less one is affected by the semi-free education.

Only the medium-sized landlords who were "not worried about food and clothing" became victims and deliberately obstructed the process.

Fortunately, Lü Huiqing was also a ruthless person.

Similar to the tactic of making an example of someone to scare others, this method has been mastered to perfection, and once it is publicized in the newspapers, the problem can be solved.

The Ordnance Bureau primarily deals with the research, development, and mass production of military weapons.

The Battle of Yanyun consumed far too many bombs and artillery pieces.

Of course, the effect is truly remarkable.

As the Director of the Ordnance Bureau, he was recommended by Grand Chancellor Jiang Zhao and ranked among the twenty-four meritorious officials of the Zhaoxun Pavilion.

Having tasted success, Shen Kuo decided to increase the dosage and mass-produce cannons, aiming to achieve a situation where each capital (one hundred people) could have one cannon.

"call!"

About half a day.

Zhao Ceying was a little tired and put down the documents.

Where is Shen'er?

Zhao Ceying rubbed his forehead and asked calmly.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Prince of Yan is in the Zhaowen Hall," said Li Xian, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies.

"Zhaowen Hall!"

A hint of hesitation flashed in Zhao Ceying's eyes.

After a moment of contemplation, he slowly said, "Let the six Grand Secretaries enter the palace."

"I hereby announce the personnel changes in the cabinet."

"Yes, sir." Li Xian bowed and withdrew.

(End of this chapter)