Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 1013 New Dynasty Meteorology 3
The reform of the civil service system is much more complicated than the reform of the military system.There is no way. This reform is directly related to the interests of millions of scholars. Any changes will affect the fate of countless students. A little carelessness may lead to catastrophic consequences.How did the Yuan Dynasty end?There are many reasons, the most important of which is that the status of scholars has been lowered and the status of scholars has been reduced to the ninth rank - almost the same status as beggars and prostitutes.Those scholars had no way out, so they naturally rebelled. However, the Yuan Dynasty was very good at seeking death, so this superpower was killed in one fell swoop, leaving no scum left.So by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, everyone knew that the existing system had big problems but did not dare to change it. They would rather live in a state of incompleteness than dare to reform, for fear of repeating the mistakes of the Yuan Dynasty.

However, Zhu Yujian had no worries in this regard.This battle destroyed most of the Ming Dynasty. Without so many altars, he might be able to free up his hands and carry out drastic reforms, but Chongzhen would never be able to do that.The advantage he has over Chongzhen is that he has lived among the people for a long time and has a clear view of the weaknesses of the Ming Dynasty's current system, while Chongzhen can only see the Forbidden City. He knows there are problems, but he doesn't. where is the problem.

The first article of the Longwu New Deal on the reform of the civil service system is to abolish the secondary assistant and the pivotal assistant, change the name of the first assistant to the prime minister, and the highest power of the cabinet belongs to the prime minister.The prime minister is elected by the most outstanding talents in the military and political circles. The emperor has no right to appoint and must not interfere in the election. No matter who is elected, as long as the procedure is legal, the emperor must recognize it.Similarly, the emperor has no right to remove the prime minister. If the prime minister has a major fault, he can submit his resignation to the emperor. It is against the constitution for the emperor to remove the prime minister at will, and the cabinet will not approve it.This article has been unanimously agreed by many civil officials. The removal of the secondary assistant and the shufu has freed the prime minister from a lot of constraints, and he can concentrate on doing what he wants to do. However, most of the shoufu's energy in Daming is used to defend against his own people and It's not good to be on top of one's own people.It is even more wonderful that the emperor cannot appoint or dismiss the prime minister. How many fucking chief ministers has Chongzhen changed over the years?The only bad thing is that this greatly limits the power of the emperor, and almost empties the emperor... But for Daming, this is not a problem at all. It is normal for the emperor to be ostracized, and now it is just a matter of ignoring the emperor. Normal procedure, legalization only!

The four departments originally under the jurisdiction of the Chief Assistant were changed from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Military Affairs, which was in charge of the national military. This department was controlled by two marshals, and civilian officials had no right to intervene.The original authority of the Ministry of Officials remains unchanged, while the Ministry of Industry is subdivided into the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Communications, which are respectively responsible for agricultural production, industrial development, water conservancy projects, and the construction of roads and bridges. Level, regardless of size.The Bingzhang Bureau was renamed the Ministry of Military Industry and placed under the Ministry of Military Affairs. It is responsible for the development and production of weapons and equipment, and is directly responsible to the army. The cabinet has no right to intervene in military industry research and production, otherwise it is tantamount to interfering in the military.The Ministry of Household Affairs is divided into the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Statistics, the Ministry of Taxation, and the Ministry of Finance, which are respectively responsible for the management of national land and resources, statistical population data and farmland data, tax collection, and fiscal revenue and expenditure management. The above four ministries are at the same level, and each is responsible for its own When it comes to departmental matters, which department has a problem, the cabinet directly goes to the boss of the department to settle the accounts. They also imagine that they would blame the Secretary of the Department of Revenue for everything like the previous one, and then let the Secretary of the Department of Revenue and Xi Ni go. That is impossible.At the same time, the Ministry of Education will be established to be responsible for the implementation of national compulsory education and higher education. The Ministry of Education is also at the same level as the above eight departments.

These departments, together with the military department, basically formed the framework of the empire.

Below the nine ministries are provincial officials.Provincial officials removed governors and constables, and the power of a province was vested in the governor.Under the governor, there are the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Statistics, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, in addition to the Ministry of Health and the Court.Especially the Ministry of Health is very important. In addition to cultivating medical talents and opening hospitals, it also prevents plagues. If a large-scale epidemic occurs in a place and is not effectively controlled, the central government will directly ask the governor to settle accounts. The minister was strangled to death.The structure of administrative agencies at the prefectural and county levels is basically the same as that at the provincial level, but at a lower level.After this round of reforms, each county has a relatively independent administrative capacity. Even if the end of the world arrives, all localities can rely on the original administrative system to respond quickly, so as to avoid the previous situation once the emperor is defeated. The whole empire is ruined.

Below the county level are the township, township, and village administrative bodies.The Imperial New Deal stipulated that township heads and village heads must be selected by election, and town heads must be appointed by county magistrates. The results of the election of township heads and village heads must be recognized by county magistrates. recognition, otherwise it is illegal.This move directly broke the pattern of imperial power not going to the countryside.In the past, the local clans basically had the final say at the township level, and what the imperial power could control was at most the county level. Those below the county level were completely independent kingdoms. It would be impossible to play this game now.At the same time, the New Deal also stipulates that township heads and town heads have the right to run for county heads, as long as his performance is outstanding enough.And after becoming the county magistrate, basically the sky is high and the sea is wide.This one is to secure the hearts of the local clan forces, so they have to give them a way to rise, right?

Article [-] of the New Deal: The income of all officials must be disclosed, and all officials are obliged to provide a reasonable explanation for the source of huge amounts of property, otherwise it will be regarded as accepting bribes.All officials have the obligation to pay personal income tax, and the higher the income, the more they pay, and the crime of tax evasion and concealment is added.At the same time, it also stipulates: Officials above the magistrate level who accept bribes exceeding one hundred silver dollars will be dismissed from their posts and exiled overseas. Officials at the county level and below are allowed to accept bribes, but are not allowed to do things. Anyone who dares to do things for others after receiving money will be punished with both crimes concurrently. , the crime is aggravated, as to whether they are thrown overseas to open up wasteland or build roads in China, it depends on the severity of the plot.This article almost kills all officials, and the income situation is made public, so how can they accept bribes!You can collect money but you are not allowed to do things... It sounds good, but if you take money and do nothing, the devil will give you money!

Article 40 of the New Deal: All officials shall be appointed for life. Once the roads, bridges, water conservancy projects, and construction projects built during their tenure have problems within [-] years, even if they have resigned, they will be captured and thrown overseas to open up wasteland!What if the guy hangs up?It's easy to deal with, fine his children to make up the project money, fine them until they go bankrupt!The trick of death, debt and death will not work in the new dynasty. If you have the courage to mess around, you will have the courage to withstand the iron fist of the empire!

This article makes officials want to cry more than property disclosure.

Then there are the reforms in education.China's education level is relatively high in the world: there is Taiyuan College in the capital, which is equivalent to the highest university in the country, there are private schools run by clans in local areas, there are health schools in the public health system, and in more developed areas, the government will also set up official schools, even if they are illiterate. The rate is still very high, but it is an indisputable fact that the number of people who can read and write in Ming Dynasty is higher than the total population of a European country.In addition, there are also a series of preferential treatments. Scholars do not have to kneel when they meet local officials, they do not have to pay taxes after being elected, and they are given money to care for their silver hair every year. The high treatment paid to scholars in the Ming Dynasty is really enviable.But treating scholars so favorably did not produce many talents, but instead produced a bunch of cheaters. It can only be said that there is something wrong with education itself.Of course, this does not mean that the imperial examination is not good. The Sui and Tang Dynasties also implemented the imperial examination system, recruiting talents in an eclectic way and creating a dreamy prosperous dynasty. The Song and Ming Dynasties also had the imperial examination, so why not make it worse?The reason is that the things learned are different and the things tested are also different.The education in Sui Tang was an elite education. During the imperial examinations, astronomy, geography, mathematics, water conservancy, military affairs... everything was covered. After being immersed in these fields for many years, in the end, they stood out and stood among their peers in the court. The elite among the elite, so Datang's scientific and technological talents and scientific research achievements each accounted for 60.00% of the world at that time. This ratio was really exaggerated.By the Song Dynasty, it had become a cramming education. There was no need to learn those mind-numbing things. As long as you memorized the Confucian classics thoroughly, you would have a chance to win the exam. The eight-legged essay of the Ming Dynasty even included this. A culmination of a terrible education.Under this deceptive system, only a few Confucian classics designated by the imperial court remained in the world of scholars. The scientific knowledge on which the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties relied for strength was reduced to miscellany and even extremely technical skills. A scholar had to learn it. These things are sure to be laughed at.The direct consequence of this kind of education is that the people selected for the imperial examination are a bunch of stupid people who can only memorize knowledge and fight with each other in their nests. If you rely on such a group of people to govern the country, it will be called a ghost if there are no problems!
So please keep in mind that although China began to depose Confucianism from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties did not take Confucianism seriously. That's all.It was the Song Dynasty that really abolished Confucianism, the most direct example of which was advocating literature and deposing martial arts.Since the Song Dynasty, China's scientific research and innovation capabilities have become more and more scarce. In the Ming Dynasty, they were not even able to write an almanac by themselves, so they had to rely on the strength of missionaries.

Heluo Group has a deep understanding of this problem. At its most basic, when establishing a new legion, it takes them a long time to find someone proficient in mathematics to manage logistics. At least the recruitment of artillery troops is even worse.Artillery is a high-tech arm, which covers mechanics, mathematics, and civil engineering. Where can these talents be found?Therefore, even if it is only for the sake of continuing to be strong, education reform must be carried out.Therefore, the Longwu New Deal made new regulations in the same simple and crude style as always: Mohism will be listed as a national study, and every emperor of the generation must worship the great master of the Mohist family as his imperial teacher!

Stupid?
Don’t be so busy being silly, there’s more to come later: popularize Mohist thought throughout the country, and it’s still the original flavor.I believe Boss Mozi will not object, because when he proposed the "non-attack" initiative, it was at a time when the seven heroes of the Warring States period were in a melee. Maybe it's just for the Huaxia ethnic group, everyone has the same language and the same race, so there is no need to kill each other!As for the Seven Kingdoms going to kill Hu people, it is estimated that the boss Mozi will not object, and maybe he will support it with both hands-we want to convince people with reason, but can Hu people count as people?

As soon as this article came out, the whole country was shaken. I don’t know how many gentry beat their chests and feet, shouting that Chinese etiquette will be abolished, and the country will not be a country. I don’t know how many students jumped out to demonstrate and even threatened death. But Emperor Longwu’s attitude is very firm: I This is the way to do it, and those who are not convinced can rebel!

The Longwu New Deal regards education as the top priority, and the focus of education reform is to popularize education so that more people can afford and read good books.The Longwu New Deal stipulates that education is the responsibility of the state. Every township must have a primary school for children over the age of six to attend school. Schools of local clans must be disbanded!Each county must have three or more junior high schools, which are funded by the prefecture and county levels at a rate of [-]:[-]; each prefecture must have two or more senior high schools, which are funded by the province and the government at a rate of [-]:[-]; Each province must have more than six universities, which are funded by the central government and the province in a ratio of [-] to [-].Teachers are allocated uniformly by the state, and each teacher will have better treatment and higher status.But the tuition fees are very cheap. Elementary school is completely free, and each student just needs to give the teacher a few catties of rice; junior high school tuition fees are one silver dollar a year, high school two, and university five. It's quite amazing—the Royal Academy is above the university, and the tuition fees are quite high, but students with excellent grades can reduce tuition fees and receive scholarships.The Royal Academy is the highest institution in the empire, and the people who come out of it have a famous name, that is: scientists!Every scientist is a treasure of the empire.

After spending so much effort on education reform, of course we can no longer just memorize it as we did before.The empire will organize talents to extract the essence from the ancient classics, and at the same time absorb the essence of Western civilization, integrate them, and compile new teaching materials. In the future, students will have to learn a little more, besides knowing how to read and write words, choosing words and making sentences , but also to learn mathematics, music, calligraphy, geometry, history, foreign languages, astronomy, geography, physical education and ideological education are also essential, and there is also military training.After arriving at university, there are more elective courses available. In addition to the above, there are law, business, military, medicine, physics, chemistry, architecture, agriculture, etc. You can also become a teacher in high school, or enter a vocational college to learn a skill. Of course, your achievements will not be as high as those from a serious major, but you will still be very popular after reading it, and your future will be worry-free.

Emperor Longwu stipulated that all the above must be prepared within ten years, otherwise... hum, the new army's bayonets are thirsty!

After this round of violent reforms, the Confucian monopoly on education has been completely broken.The inevitable result of listing Mohism as a national study is that the talents selected by the empire in the future will be technocrats, and the pattern of laymen commanding experts has not completely disappeared, but at least it will no longer become a common phenomenon.Dare to subvert the old pattern that lasted for thousands of years, Emperor Longwu was indeed very courageous.Although to a large extent he was successful because of people, without Yang Menglong's Heluo Group, he might not be able to do anything, but this does not prevent him from leaving an extremely brilliant page in history.After his death, he was blackened even more than tyrants such as Xia Jie, Shang Zhou, Qin Shihuang, etc., but the people who hacked him only dared to hide in their own small circle and dare to sell their private goods in public , [-]% will be beaten on the spot so that they can't take care of themselves, or sprayed to the point of insanity.

Because what he took over was a mess, but when he left, he left his people a fantastic and glorious world. "Far away from the Han and Tang Dynasties" was no longer an empty talk in the Longwu Dynasty.

Whether a ruler is great does not lie in his power and ability, but in what he left for the people.

(End of this chapter)