Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Not only that, we must also vigorously promote the cross-invitation method to ensure the best possible supply of food and fodder for the border troops. We must then establish a Firearms Bureau and a Creation Bureau, recruit talented personnel, and secretly manufacture weapons. We must prepare firearms, cannons, steam engines, and the like in advance. Furthermore, we must establish a Geology Department to explore the nation's mineral resources, especially coal and iron mines."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "The power of the Three Officials is too great."
"You want to dismantle the Three Divisions?"
"Is that all?"
Lu Yijian asked.
"Can you tell me more about that?"
Wang Zeng asked.
Everyone was shocked.
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Well, we'll talk about it later. I think the current division of responsibilities among various departments is unclear, and the subdivision of officials' duties is unclear. This is a major problem and must be rectified and a responsibility system established. For example, I am the person in charge of the Constitutional System Council. The Constitutional System Council is the country's primary authority and is accountable only to the government."
"The role of these departments is to exercise their powers in their respective areas, to actually solve the problems faced by the people, to be responsible departments, and to provide assistance for the development and construction of the country."
"The national conditions of the Song Dynasty are different. It's still a feudal society, so it should be reformed according to the current situation. For example, the Privy Council can be a separate department, but the Constitutional Council still needs to have a Ministry of National Defense, also known as the Ministry of War. The current six ministries exist in name only, and they must still bear their responsibilities."
"It's very simple. Government agencies should be organized into hierarchical levels, with clear responsibilities for government agencies and officials. In later generations, we call this a system of collective responsibility and a system of individual responsibility."
Zhao Jun explained, "In later generations, we have a large number of ministerial-level departments to coordinate national affairs and handle a large number of matters in detail, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Health, the People's Bank of China, the National Audit Office, and so on."
Before Zhao Jun could finish his words, Song Shou interrupted him, "I remember you taught the children about percentages. 10, does that mean you're asking for a one-tenth share of national grain production?"
"Yes."
"My suggestion is to build on the foundation of the Song Dynasty's existing system by clearly dividing responsibilities and establishing a system of personal accountability. The leadership terms of each government office should be clearly defined, and the Political System Council will only make requirements. For example, I would establish a Ministry of Agriculture and require it to increase national grain production by 10% this year."
"Wait a minute."
Song Shou was stunned.
The others were also surprised.
Zhao Jun nodded.
"How can that be done?"
With the existing productivity at such a low level, it is simply difficult to complete such task targets.
Zhao Jun complained, "Why not? We need to ease land annexation, improve agricultural varieties, establish a university directly under the Ministry of Agriculture, refine agricultural disciplines, train agricultural experts, and research more agricultural knowledge. The Constitutional Court will provide guidance. As long as we move in this direction, we will inevitably achieve our mission goals."
Although Zhao Jun proposed to go overseas to find high-yield crops.
But this is a long-term plan and may take several years to achieve.
"All right."
Everyone had no choice but to agree. Now Zhao Jun was the boss, and what he said seemed to be fine, so they could only nod in agreement.
"What if it's still not achieved?"
"If the Constitutional Court has provided the correct guidance, but they still can't achieve it, then it means that the people below are just empty-handed and idle. If they are incompetent, they should be replaced. Corrupt officials should be investigated, arrested, and executed. I don't need to say more."
"yes."
Seeing Zhao Jun's decisiveness, several people responded unconsciously.
"I will formulate specific regulations for each department in the next few months. Within this year, I will complete the statistical data and the investigation reports for each functional department. I will also spread the word that the restructuring and reform of each department will be carried out next year."
Zhao Jun looked around at everyone and said, "The names of the departments can still be kept as they are. For example, the Ministry of War doesn't need to be changed to the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Rites doesn't need to be changed to the Ministry of Education. However, the responsibilities of these departments must be clearly defined. In the future, the Constitutional Council must ensure that each department has its own internal affairs, rather than a situation where everyone passes the buck. Do you understand?"
What is touching is that Zhao Jun’s leadership ability has been recognized by them, and is even better than they imagined.
The reason is that his planning is reasonable and purposeful.
Thinking about it afterwards, I feel both surprised and moved.
To their surprise, they found themselves gradually beginning to obey Zhao Jun's leadership.
This is not a bad thing for bureaucrats and literati.
After all, the emperors in the past deliberately blurred and overlapped the powers of these functional departments in order to prevent them from becoming too powerful and posing a threat to the imperial power.
If he had implemented drastic reforms from the beginning, they would have certainly resisted and hoped to be persuaded.
However, Zhao Jun did not make immediate institutional changes. Instead, he simply clarified responsibilities and subdivided powers on the original basis.
And up to now, Zhao Jun has not immediately proposed to dismiss a large number of officials and implement strict control over the entry into officialdom through family connections like Fan Zhongyan, which has made 90% of officials disgusted.
This means that Zhao Jun, at least for the time being, has no intention of disturbing the base of the literati, nor has he touched their bottom line.
Zhao Jun, however, did the opposite. He subdivided power and did not care whether officials had too much power. For the bureaucrats and literati, this was actually a good thing as it increased their power.
In this case, naturally no one objects.
For example, after the three offices were dismantled, the power of the prime minister would be weakened a lot, and some of the functions of the three offices would be transferred out, and the financial power would be greatly weakened.
But this is within an acceptable range.
The reform process is relatively gentle, which naturally makes it acceptable to them.
The only problem is that Zhao Jun's approach was like boiling a frog in warm water. On the surface, he increased the power of officials, but after the responsibilities were clearly divided, he broke up some departments and listed them separately.
Zhao Jun summarized the meeting and then grinned, "I heard your salaries are all quite high. Let's compile statistics on the income of officials nationwide. Salaries can vary for officials of different ranks, but the disparity shouldn't be too great, don't you agree?"
"ah?"
Anyway, they are not Prime Minister Ji. If Cheng Lin and others object, let them worry about it.
"This year's mission is data, everything is based on data!"
Everyone in the audience was stunned.
What's the meaning.
Are you going to cut our salaries right after taking office?
(End of this chapter)
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