Chapter 3368 3370【Reforming the official system】

 Because there were too many redundant officials, the administrative efficiency of the court was extremely low. Officials in the six ministries often passed the blame to each other. The waiters passed the blame to the clerks, and the clerks passed the blame to the scribes. Often, some important documents turned into empty pieces of paper.

 When the governors and ministers from other provinces want to handle something, they often have to report it to them step by step starting from the county level, and it sometimes takes several months at the earliest to get to their hands.

In order to control each other, the imperial court often assigned several people to one position. In the end, all officials were too lazy to do their jobs, resulting in nothing being accomplished.

For example, in the early Qing Dynasty, more than four million stones were transported by water each year. Transporting rice was originally a matter for merchants, but the imperial court appointed officials at the governor level to handle it. There were as many as 100,000 people carrying men and boats along the way.

 Due to excessive redundancy, the freight cost per quintal of rice was as high as eighteen taels. For water transportation alone, the country had to pay tens of millions of taels of silver every year, which became a major financial burden.

Moreover, redundant officials and redundant personnel will seriously damage the officialdom. As a result, most of the officials in office have to follow the rules to protect themselves, while those waiting to be promoted are working hard to survive.

 Such a top-down effect naturally makes the officialdom extremely dark. That's why there is a saying that "three years to clear the prefecture, one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver".

 As for the subordinate staff, there are even more.

According to historical records, in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than a thousand subordinate officials in large counties in Zhili Province, and there were hundreds or more than a hundred in small counties.

During the Qianlong period, some county magistrates went to the countryside to conduct autopsies, bringing with them customs, execution documents, door seals, signatures, envoys, sixth rooms, and third squads, as well as their own official guards, Zaoli, horse servants, and sedan bearers. As many as More than a hundred people.

Most of these subordinate staff are not formally established, which means that the county will not pay them wages, and at most they will only take care of food.

As a result, if those subordinate officials want to make money, they will naturally find ways to use their power for personal gain, engage in malpractice, and even exploit the people and extort money. That’s why in ancient times there was a saying that “no officials are greedy”.

 …

 Therefore, Xiang Nancai wanted to reform the official system. First, to clarify the functions of officials in various ministries, so that no one would do anything and no one would remember mistakes; second, to solve the problem of subordinate officials.

 Ensure that every job is completed by someone, neither causing a backlog of work nor leaving personnel idle.

 In this way, extra subordinate staff will not be allowed to appear. From now on, every time a subordinate is found, he will be directly held accountable by the official.

 The other is a channel for promotion of subordinate staff.

  The reason why there is a saying that "no officials are greedy" for subordinate officials is that there is no establishment and no salary. Another reason is that subordinate officials cannot be promoted or even participate in the imperial examination.

 Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, specially enacted legislation to classify subordinate officials such as Zaoli, Ma Kuai, Bu Kuai, and fishermen as untouchables along with those in the professions of advocating excellence. These subordinate officials and their descendants were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination. If there is any violation, the penalty will be one hundred.

  During the Qing Dynasty, subordinate officials were slightly lenient and stipulated that an examination should be held every five years to get a job, but the position they could obtain could not exceed the ninth rank.

The road to promotion was blocked, and there was no salary. It was not allowed to do except for conspiracy and personal fraud.

After all, although the subordinate officials are not high-ranking people in the imperial court and are smaller than sesame seeds and mung beans, in the hearts of the people, they are all powerful people.

Even the soldiers guarding the city gate dared to extort people and traders who were passing by. They would not allow them to pass through the city gate without giving them any passing money or leaving anything behind. It can be said that the geese have to pluck their feathers, and the dung trucks have to taste the saltiness before passing by.

 So they do the most damage to the people, so there is a saying that "the king of **** is easy to see, but the devil is difficult to deal with", and "your official is as clean as water, but it is hard to escape, and the official is as slippery as oil."

Now, Xiang Nan has reformed the official system and lifted the ban on subordinate officials. Subordinate officials can be promoted, participate in imperial examinations, and serve as high officials.

 Officials and officials are inspected every three years, and the superior ones are promoted. For example, the arrester is promoted to patrol inspection, the patrol inspector is promoted to chief clerk, the chief clerk is promoted to county magistrate, the county magistrate is promoted to general judge, and general judge is promoted to imperial envoy...

 In fact, because officials are responsible for specific affairs, their ability to do things is even better than that of officials. After all, most of the officials came from the imperial examination or donated officials, and most of them studied the Four Books and Five Classics, or simply had money to buy an official position. They had never been an official before and had no practical administrative experience.

 After taking office, many officials are troubled by all the big and small matters in the county. I don't even know the "Legal Code" and I don't know which law to use when trying a case.

 Comparatively, the subordinate officials responsible for punishment names are not unfamiliar with the "Laws and Regulations". They know much more about trying cases than the officials. So it's really unfair to shut them out.

 …

Xiang Nan waved his hand to reform the official system, and no one among the officials dared to obey.

 First of all, Xiang Nan's prestige was high enough. Over the years, he had expanded his territory, made the country rich and powerful, and had a very high reputation among the people and officials.

 Secondly, Xiang Nan’s methods are ruthless. In recent years, corrupt officials have been strictly investigated, and thousands of people were beheaded every year. As for those who ransacked their homes, exiled, punished, and demoted officials, there were no one knows how many. They were even more ruthless than Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty.

 Thirdly, redundant officials and redundant personnel are indeed a shortcoming of past dynasties and must be rectified.

Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, although the imperial establishment remained unchanged, during the Shunzhi period, the annual salary paid by the imperial court to hundreds of officials was only two million taels. By the time of Qianlong's reign, it had increased to six million taels. The establishment is still the same, but the expenditure has more than tripled, because of the increase in redundant officials.

For example, the number of additional doctors, Yuanwailang, Zhongxing, Zhangjing, etc. in the Sixth Ministry is indefinite, so the Sixth Ministry officials will expand their recruitment aggressively, and then hand over their own work to these subordinates.

As a result, although the ministries have not increased their official establishment in name, in fact, there are surprisingly many people receiving salaries in each ministry, which is already quite bloated.

 Those with insight all know that reform is necessary, and they naturally agree with Xiang Nan’s reforms. Most of those conservatives had other ideas. Some wanted to sell their positions and earn money by expanding their ranks, and some wanted to raise more subordinates so that they could shirk the blame. They did not agree with Xiang Nan very much.

Just like Humphrey in "Yes, Minister", as a leader of civil servants, he hopes that the number of civil servants will increase. When Secretary Jim Harker wanted to cut jobs, he even suggested hiring thousands more.

 It's just that those people didn't have the courage to stand in front of Xiang Nan. After all, life was more important than power.

 Subsequently, the six parts were split into twelve parts. Each department performs its own duties and is not subordinate to each other.

Of course, many things require multi-departmental cooperation. For example, building a bridge on the water requires multi-departmental cooperation. When the time comes, specific matters must be analyzed in detail. In short, responsibilities must be clarified to departments and individuals.

　　It can no longer be like before, with no one doing anything and no one taking responsibility. We are just a bunch of idlers with nothing to do.

 In addition, Xiang Nan also specifically increased the authority of the Supervision Department and the Department of Supervision. The Supervision Department is responsible for supervising all officials, ranging from princes and nobles to first-class officials, to city guards, soldiers and police officers. Anyone who dares to break the law is qualified to report them.

The Ministry of Justice handles cases in accordance with the principle that princes who break the law are equally guilty as the people. The law must be followed and law enforcement must be strict.

 The best thing is that the department and supervision department are directly under the management of superiors, and funds and salaries are also allocated by superiors, which can effectively avoid being restrained.

 (End of this chapter)