According to Zhou Yu's idea, if the central official system is changed to a three-province and six-ministry system, the six ministries of officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and work will still be under the jurisdiction of the Shangshu Ling in the initial stage. However, the power of these positions is still too great. If there is no suitable candidate, the Shangshu Ling will The position could be vacant, and the emperor himself would directly manage the six ministries. This was similar to the historical pattern of the early Ming Dynasty, which ensured imperial power and in turn encouraged the emperor to personally participate in government affairs and have a clear understanding of world affairs.
The local official system, from the enfeoffment system in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties to the prefecture and county system and the prefecture and prefecture system in the Qin and Han dynasties, all have very serious flaws, that is, the power of the local chief officials is too great, and military and political affairs are in their hands. , chaos will inevitably arise over time.
Zhou Yu knew that in history, after the Qin and Han dynasties, the Tang and Song dynasties adopted the road system.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were 328 prefectures and 1,573 counties. In order to strengthen management, the country was divided into ten lanes based on the mountains and rivers, and later increased to fifteen lanes. At the beginning of the road's establishment, the central government only sent supervisory officials to inspect troubled areas from time to time, which was not custom-made. In the Kaiyuan period, various interview envoys were set up, and the six-article inspection was illegal, just like the governor of the Han Dynasty. Later, due to the frequent increase in border troubles, in order to strengthen the power of border commanders, the border military envoys were made to serve as road envoys and also administer state and county affairs. This situation repeated the situation of emphasizing foreign affairs and neglecting domestic affairs in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which eventually led to the Anshi Rebellion.
After the rebellion, the Jiedushi system was implemented throughout the country, forming three administrative regions: Dao, state capital, and county. The trend of separatist rule has been established, and the tail cannot be lost, and the split situation of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms has emerged.
After the Northern Song Dynasty unified the Central Plains, in order to change the situation of "the local towns were too heavy and the monarch was weak and the ministers were strong", in addition to transferring military power to the central government, local administrative agencies adopted separate governance and became three branches: road, prefecture/state/military/supervisor, and county. Extremely political area.
On the road, the land and water transportation envoy was appointed as the chief executive, and he also appointed the pacification envoy, the prison envoy, and the Changping envoy, who were respectively in charge of military affairs, punishment, market purchase, and salt and iron monopoly, restoring the decentralized local governance situation since the Qin and Han Dynasties. Fuzhou institutions followed the Tang Dynasty. Jun was originally a military region in the Five Dynasties. Later, it became an administrative region because it also handled civil affairs. The old name of Jun was still retained. Most of the prisons are located in industrial and mining areas to strengthen the management of mineral development. In order to further control the local area, the Northern Song Dynasty court often sent officials serving in the capital to implement central government orders in prefectures and counties. Their titles were prefect, prefect, county magistrate, etc. At the same time, a general magistrate was established in each prefecture, stipulating that all government orders must be countersigned by the general magistrate, and the general magistrate could report the situation of the prefecture and prefecture to the court at any time.
The obvious shortcomings of the road system of the Song Dynasty were that officials at all levels were restrained at all levels, and everything was subject to the imperial court's orders. Local governments had no initiative at all. This also made institutions bloated, filled with redundant officials, and administrative costs soared.
With such a strong economic strength and huge population in the Song Dynasty, it was eventually destroyed by the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. This complicated and cumbersome bureaucratic system is not one of the fundamental reasons.
The provincial system Zhou Yu wanted to adopt was the official system established by Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, during the Zhongtong period. Its establishment politically consolidated national unity and ensured centralization of power in the administrative system. This was a major change in the administrative system and had a huge impact on future generations. Province has always been used as the name of a local first-level administrative region.
There were ten provinces in the country during the Yuan Dynasty, namely Lingbei, Liaoyang, Henan Jiangbei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang. Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia are called "Feili" and are directly under the jurisdiction of Zhongshu Province.
In the Yuan Dynasty, provinces had prime ministers, Pingzhang, left and right prime ministers, and political advisors. The names of their administrative agencies and the ranks of their officials were equal to those of the central government, and they were responsible for all major military and state affairs in a province. The province's jurisdiction is not only vast in territory, but also has intertwined provincial boundaries, leaving it with no dangerous mountains and rivers to rely on, and an open door to the north, forming a military control situation in which the north dominates the south. Because this measure helped prevent local separatism, it was inherited by the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Although the provinces ¡°have important military and national affairs, they all take charge of them¡±, but in the actual operation process, they are all restrained and restricted by the central government in all aspects, so ¡°there are towns of princes, but no power of princes¡±.
For example, in terms of personnel power, the selection of local officials in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly the responsibility of the Zhongshu Sheng and the Ministry of Personnel. The provinces had little power to appoint officials and regulate their affairs. In this regard, they were far inferior to the local officials of the Han and Tang dynasties. In terms of finance, the provinces only It served as a tool for the imperial court to concentrate wealth. The provinces must implement the disparity ratio of 73% to 73% for central and local use of the wealth collected. The provinces were also obliged to follow the imperial court's orders and provide additional money and grain to make up for the central treasury. Insufficient tax expenditures; in terms of military affairs, provinces could not exercise military power independently, and military power was controlled by the central Privy Council; in terms of justice, the imperial court also established strict rules and regulations for provinces, which could not be exceeded.
The local government system envisioned by Zhou Yu is basically the same as the provincial system. It will be named after states, counties, and counties for the time being, and relatively large adjustments will be made to the existing states, counties, and counties. It's just that changing the current state and county system into a provincial system cannot be done overnight, it will take a long time.
The selection of officials is the foundation of the entire official system.
Zhou Yu knew that during this period in history, the imperial examination system gradually disappeared and the "nine-grade Zhongzheng system" began to be implemented. That is to say, there are small and medium-sized officials in the states and counties. They are responsible for evaluating local scholars according to their family background and moral ability, and collecting public opinion. They are divided into nine grades from top to bottom for the imperial court to appoint officials according to their grades.
In the Wei and Jin dynasties, with the strengthening of the rule of clans, after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, this system was full of disadvantages. The weight of the Zhongzheng was random, and the judgments were arbitrary. The family clans controlled the Zhongzheng and controlled the elections. In the later period, it resulted in "the glory of the noble family and the prosperity of the world, and the glory of the common people." People from the Han tribe have no way to advance." The nine-level Zhongzheng system has become a tool for clan rule.
After the Sui Dynasty unified the country, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty abolished the nine-rank Zhongzheng system in the seventh year of his reign and established the Xiucai Department. During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, the Jinshi Department was established to select scholars by "examination", and an imperial examination system characterized by public examinations and selection of outstanding talents was established. The imperial examination system was created in the Sui Dynasty, formed in the Tang Dynasty, fully developed in the Song Dynasty, strengthened in the Ming Dynasty, and declined in the Qing Dynasty, lasting for more than 1,300 years.
"Those who excel in learning will become officials." With the imperial examination system, outstanding talents outside of hereditary and aristocratic families will have a ladder to advance in their official careers. Moreover, this system is relatively fair and can select talents in an eclectic way. Compared with hereditary, recommendation and other selection systems, the imperial examination is undoubtedly a fair, open and impartial method, which improves the employment system.
Over the years, Zhou Yu opened schools in the Jiangdong area, trained tens of thousands of school-ready teenagers, and built the largest library in China in Moling, attracting young talents from all over the world to study here.
The question is, how can so many young talents be used by the imperial court? If the recommendation system is still adopted, it may be unfair. In Zhou Yu's view, the imperial examination system is a good way to solve this problem. The only thing to worry about is the opposition of the wealthy families who support Zhou Yu. However, Zhou Yu has also thought of a countermeasure, which is to retain a small amount of There are hereditary and recommended systems as a supplement to the imperial examination system.
The three provinces and six ministries system, the provincial system, and the imperial examination system are the three goals of Zhou Yu's official reform! (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)