Chapter 645 Government Reform
Chapter 645 Government Reform
With concessions from both sides, the second round of negotiations ended quickly and the two sides reached an agreement.
All four counties on the Shandong Peninsula were returned to the imperial court, and the Jiangnan Dao General Administration Office only retained the right to station troops in Donglai County. In addition, the military land of Jiangnan Dao in Donglai County belonged to the army and the government was not allowed to take it back. The government was not allowed to interfere with the refugee camps set up by Jiangnan Dao in Donglai County.
Once these two red lines were drawn, Donglai County basically maintained the status quo. Except for the power to appoint county and county officials being taken away by the court, what the court actually wanted was the power of officials. The court was not interested in other things such as refugees, seaports, and land.
In return for the return of the Shandong Peninsula by Jiangnan Dao, the imperial court agreed to hand over Xiangyang County to the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan Dao General Administration Office.
However, in the second negotiation, in order to obtain thirteen technical officials, Xiao Xia agreed to return the administrative power of Xiangyang County to the court, and both parties were happy.
In Qi County, General Qin Qiong, the Eagle-Flying General, and the newly appointed Qi County Governor Tu Wanxu handed over the garrison power. He led an army of 10,000 to leave Qi County and Beihai County and head to Donglai County with the farewell of the elders and folks. They will take a boat back to Jiangnan in Donglai County.
Cheng Yaojin was indeed a little depressed. He had been living a very comfortable life in Beihai County, eating meat and drinking wine all day long, and gambling with his men whenever he had nothing to do. Now, once he returned to Jiangnan, his good days would be over.
The army arrived at Wendeng County, rested in the military camp for a day, and prepared to board the ship to Jiangnan the next day.
Cheng Yaojin found Qin Qiong in the big tent.
"Brother, can you tell His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin that I want to be a military officer in the local area?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Qiong glared at him fiercely, "Don't think I don't know that you've been living a life of debauchery in Beihai County. I only hate myself for being too indulgent with you. From now on, you must strictly abide by military discipline. King Jin has very strict requirements on military discipline. I don't want you to be the first general to be beheaded for violating military discipline."
Cheng Yaojin's face turned pale. After a while, he asked in a low voice: "What kind of crime will result in beheading?"
"You don't even know the most basic military discipline?"
Cheng Yaojin muttered, "I knew it before, but it's been a long time and I've forgotten it."
Qin Qiong said angrily: "I'm telling you now, gambling, drinking, and visiting prostitutes are strictly prohibited. Anyone who violates this will be executed."
Cheng Yaojin couldn't say a word. If he violated these three rules, he would be beheaded. He didn't know how many times he had died.
At this time, Jia Wuben stepped forward and patted Cheng Yaojin on the shoulder and said with a smile: "It's not that serious. It is not allowed in wartime, but it is relatively relaxed in normal times. Although drinking, gambling, and prostitution are not allowed in the barracks, you can go to the city during your rest time. As long as it is legitimate business, you can go to the restaurant for a drink, visit the brothel, or go to the casino to play a game."
Qin Qiong sighed and said, "Old Jia, stop encouraging him. He still wants to start a family, marry a wife and give a dowry, and buy a house. Ask him first how much money he has saved."
Jia Wu was startled, then asked with a smile, "Brother, you don't have any savings at all, do you?"
Cheng Yaojin's face was as red as a pig's liver. He spent his whole days in debauchery and had no way of saving any money. Not only did he not have a penny in savings, he also owed a lot of gambling debts.
Jia Wuben understood immediately and said with a dry laugh: "You kid should seize the opportunity to make meritorious service! If you make great contributions and get a big reward, you will turn your life around."
The next day, Qin Qiong led his troops on board, and dozens of large ships carrying 10,000 troops returned to Jiangdu.
At the same time, there are also 100,000 refugees returning together. Currently, there are still 400,000 refugees in Donglai County. They will all be transported back to the south for resettlement one after another. The first batch of 100,000 refugees will be resettled in the seven counties of Jianghuai.
At this time, Jiangdu was also very lively. The General Manager's Mansion began to move to Jiangdu. Of course, Xiao Xia did not move, and the Prince of Jin's Mansion remained in Jingkou.
At the same time, the Jiangnan Province General Administration Office began to reform its government structure. A general manager was appointed in the Jiangnan Province General Administration Office, and Prince Jin Xiao Xia was appointed to the position. Three institutions were set up under the General Administration Office, namely the Secretary's Hall, the White Tiger Hall and the Shangshu Xingtaiyuan.
Under the Shangshu Xingtaiyuan, there were six departments: the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. The highest official was called the Dusi and the deputy was called the Tongpan.
Liu Wenjing was appointed as the Minister of the Secretariat and concurrently the Chief of the Ministry of Revenue, Wei Zheng was appointed as the Chief of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhang Yunqiu was appointed as the Chief of the Ministry of Punishment, Yu Shinan was appointed as the Chief of the Ministry of Rites, Pei Wen'an was appointed as the Chief of the Ministry of War, and He Chou was appointed as the Chief of the Ministry of Works.
Each functional department is under the six departments, and the biggest changes are in the Military Department and the Industry Department. The Industry Department is newly established, and He Chou is in charge of it. The biggest feature of the Industry Department is that it manages all craftsmen and technical departments, technical research institutes, and engineering and computer science colleges. All military industry departments and research bureaus that were previously under the military have been merged into the Industry Department.
The Ministry of War was also newly established. The former military department was split into two, and the management functions were placed under the Ministry of War, including the conscription, retirement, and pensions of soldiers, as well as military academies, martial arts halls, county soldiers, military farms, warehouses, supplies, docks, warships, logistics and transportation, etc.
The army and intelligence in the military department were separated, and the 200,000-strong army and the Intelligence Department were managed by the newly established Privy Council under the Prince of Jin's Palace. Zhang Liang was appointed as the first Privy Councilor, who took orders directly from the Prince of Jin.
The Supervisory Council and the Internal Security Bureau were also established under the Prince of Jin's Palace. There were five major institutions under the Prince of Jin's Palace, namely the Council of State, the Secretariat, the Privy Council, the Supervisory Council and the Internal Security Bureau.
In this way, the entire structure is very clear and definite, consisting of the two major government offices: the Prince of Jin's Mansion and the General Manager's Mansion, and nothing else.
There is also a little secret here. There are three institutions under the General Administration Office, namely the Secretary's Hall, the White Tiger Hall and the Shangshu Xingtaiyuan, which actually correspond to the Zhongshu Province, the Menxia Province and the Shangshu Province respectively.
But we cannot be so direct as that would be an encroachment. We can only say that the functions are similar.
That morning, Xiao Xia inspected Jiangyang County again. After the refugees moved out of Jiangyang County, the county was renovated and tidied up again, and it became a government-run county, with 4,000 government-run households and a population of 20,000.
The city wall of Jiangyang County had been built long ago, and there were facilities such as the county government office, schools, temples, city god temples, military camps, parade grounds, vegetable markets, and docks.
There are all kinds of shops on both sides of the central street. The officials and craftsmen have relatively high incomes and strong spending power. There are more than a dozen restaurants and five or six inns.
There were also other salt shops, rice shops, butcher shops, wine shops, drug stores, cloth shops, clothing shops, stationery shops, grocery stores, bakery shops, mule and horse shops, carriage and horse shops, as well as shopping malls, music halls, gambling houses, clinics, brothels and so on. The sound of hawking was heard one after another, and it was very noisy and lively.
At this time, Xiao Xia saw a pickled vegetable shop. There were no refrigerators in the Sui Dynasty, so pickled vegetables were the staple food that every household could not do without. People either pickled them themselves or bought them.
The shopkeeper saw an official coming in. He didn't recognize Xiao Xia, so he smiled and said, "What would you like to buy, sir?"
"Do you have pickled fish?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.
"We have pickled fish and cured fish!"
"Let me see the kippers!"
The shopkeeper took out a straw bag. The pickled fish were all packed in straw bags. Xiao Xia took out the pickled fish and looked at it carefully. This was normal pickled fish. Two taels of salt were used to pickle one fish. Unlike the previous pickled fish, which used two kilograms of salt to pickle one fish, that was actually selling salt.
"How much is this fish?"
"Reporting to the lord, twenty cents a piece!"
Xiao Xia nodded and asked again: "Where does the salt come from?"
The shopkeeper immediately clasped his fists and said, "I guarantee that the pickles in my shop are all made with official salt. The Salt and Iron Bureau comes to inspect and audit every month. I have written down the details of my purchases, and there is evidence to prove it. Using private salt is punishable by death. I will not sacrifice my family's lives for such a small profit."
Xiao Xia laughed. This was a good point. You couldn't make much money from selling privately salted pickled vegetables, but the cost was too high. It was totally not worth it, so no one would do it.
The key is to strictly prohibit foreign merchants from opening pickled vegetable chain stores, and to strictly prohibit importing goods from other places.
(End of this chapter)