"indeed."
Yan Shu also agreed, saying, "The system of three dukes and nine ministers is that the nine ministers are the heads of various departments, commanded by the three dukes, who are in turn responsible to the emperor. The Tang Dynasty had three provinces and six ministries, with the heads of the six ministries commanded by the prime minister, who in turn consulted with the emperor on state affairs. This is quite similar to the system."
"Isn't it the same in our dynasty?"
Wang Sui was puzzled and said, "The Prime Minister, the Three Departments, and the Privy Council are responsible to the Emperor and coordinate all the ministries."
"The Song Dynasty is completely different."
Zhao Jun shook his head and denied it, saying, "The situation in the Song Dynasty was even more complicated. There were too many chaotic official positions, leading to redundancy, unclear responsibilities, and extremely low administrative efficiency. This reduced the emperor's power, and the power of all officials as well. If everyone started to do nothing, wouldn't the government be abolished?"
Lu Yijian complained, "Who says we don't do anything? The Political Affairs Hall has to deal with more than a hundred matters every day."
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said, "What's the point then? Is the Song Dynasty a strong army or a strong country? The Jingkang Shame is still waiting ahead."
"I"
Lu Laodeng was choked again and couldn't speak.
"This framework is basically the most appropriate framework. In later generations of the United Kingdom, the King is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Prime Minister governs the country, and under him is the Cabinet, which has many departments, each of which has its own responsibilities."
Zhao Jun continued, "The Ming and Qing dynasties were the pinnacle of feudal power, and the concept was similar. The emperor, the cabinet (the Grand Council), the six ministries, and then the various middle and lower-level government agencies all implemented standardized governance. This way, if a problem arose, accountability could be passed down through the ranks to determine who was responsible."
"Hmm"
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly and said thoughtfully, "Then how should the various departments be subdivided?"
Yan Shu thought for a moment and said, "Han Long mentioned this at the Council of Political Affairs meeting before. At that time, he said that he would determine the functional planning of each department. Now I think it should have been completed."
"Um."
Zhao Jun responded, then clicked the mouse, and the functions of each department appeared on the next picture in the PPT.
He said, "You see, the Three Departments were originally used to restrain the prime minister and deprive him of financial power. But now, it is unreasonable to hold the financial power of the entire Song Dynasty in one department, including weapons manufacturing, fiscal revenue and expenditure, grain transport, household registration, taxes, liquor monopoly, salt and iron, etc.
Zhao Zhen asked, "What do you mean?"
"The Three Departments were abolished during the Yuanfeng reform and merged into the Ministry of Revenue. This is actually unreasonable because merging the Ministry of Revenue, which originally had no real power, simply turned it into another of the Three Departments. It did not bring any substantial changes to the Three Departments."
Zhao Jun said, "We can completely abolish the three departments and establish the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Taxation, and so on. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will be responsible for commercial management, the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for fiscal revenue and expenditure, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will be responsible for household registration, the Ministry of Transportation will be responsible for grain transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources will be responsible for minerals, and the Ministry of Taxation will be responsible for taxation."
Everyone looked at each other, and Wang Zeng hesitated and said, "Wouldn't this split the original three departments into six? Wouldn't it lead to further redundancy?"
"There are already so many redundant officials. With so many idle officials, it would be better to find something for them to do."
Zhao Jun said happily, "Are you really going to let me lay off a large number of officials?"
Everyone looked at each other, and then Lü Yijian was the first to stand up and said righteously: "Your Majesty, I think what the Minister said is very reasonable. This official system must be changed!"
"Indeed, there are too many redundant officials in the world now, and with so many new candidates for imperial examinations every year, there simply aren't enough positions. The emergence of so many extra departments is just the right place to house these officials, and it's a good thing for the Great Song Dynasty."
"I completely agree with the Chancellor's idea. This is simply a brilliant idea!"
"I second the motion."
Many prime ministers stood up and agreed.
joke.
Their prime ministers also have their own political groups.
Why was Fan Zhongyan opposed?
Isn't it because he destroyed the rice bowls of officials all over the world that he led to the officials attacking him?
Now, not only did Zhao Jun not lay off redundant officials, he also added so many functional departments to accommodate idle officials. Isn't this a good thing for them?
So since it involves one’s own interests, why not do it?
Only Fan Zhongyan was confused.
What's going on, little brother?
He promised to support my Qingli New Deal and solve the problem of redundant officials.
Why did you change your mind again?
Wouldn't that make things difficult for yourself?
When Fan Zhongyan heard Zhao Jun's "brilliant ideas", he couldn't help but look at him with a resentful look.
However, he also knew that Zhao Jun might have other ideas, so he didn't object.
Zhao Zhen, upon hearing that all the prime ministers agreed, pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Well, if Grandson feels this can streamline the organization and improve administrative efficiency, then let's do it."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Of course it's possible. The original department was already too bloated. Clarifying the division of responsibilities and powers will be beneficial to administrative efficiency."
"Besides the three divisions?"
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "Should the Privy Council be restructured?"
Zhao Jun glanced at him.
Obviously, the army is Zhao Zhen's bottom line.
Although the Privy Council did not have the power to dispatch troops, the emperor at that time had to go through the Privy Council before dispatching troops.
The Privy Council coordinated the soldiers, equipment, and food.
So in a sense, although the power to dispatch troops lies in the hands of the emperor, the allocation of troops also requires the Privy Council.
If the Privy Council was decentralized again, the emperor's military power would also be affected, which is why Zhao Zhen was concerned.
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