Everyone quickly asked: "Is the abolition of slavery really going to be implemented?"
Zhou Rong's cousin Zhou Guang is a general of the inner guards, and he usually has inside information about the inner guards.
Zhou Rong lowered his voice and said, "I went to pay my uncle a New Year's greeting on the third day of the Lunar New Year, only to find out that my cousin didn't have any rest in the first or second year of the Lunar New Year. The Internal Guard established an inspection department for the Abolition of Slavery Order, and it is said that he was prepared to accept reports!"
"I see!"
Li Zunyi slapped the table and suddenly realized: "I said what the two big black boxes at the door of the Internal Security Department are for, it turns out they are for accepting informants!"
Everyone became nervous, "Isn't this the same as Wu Zetian? Strict trial, torture, and putting you in a urn. How could the emperor do this?"
Zhou Rong said with a smile: "Actually, you don't need to be too nervous. My cousin said that it is not that strict. He is just supervising the implementation of the abolition of slavery. If you don't have slaves, it has nothing to do with you. Even if you have slaves, don't be afraid. The internal guards are only responsible for checking
This is the principle of not interrogating officials when it comes to cases. After the case is investigated, it will be handed over to the Yushitai, who will summon and question it. We will not see the internal guards."
"That's pretty much it. I thought the inner guards were going to use the abolition of slavery to start making trouble again."
Zhou Rong knocked on the table and said: "Don't put the cart before the horse, everyone. This time is not about the internal defense, but the strict implementation of the abolition of slavery. If there are still a few slaves in the family, abolition them as soon as possible and convert them to civilians.
Sign an employment contract and don’t be dismissed from your job for a few slaves, it’s not worth it!”
Liu Qiming frowned and said: "I don't understand why the emperor must pursue the abolition of slavery. It has been more than two years and there is no end. Brother Zhou, what did your father say?"
Zhou Rong's father, Zhou Yan, was a great Confucian scholar in Guanzhong and a professor of Taixue. He had taught for thirty years and cultivated numerous talents and was highly respected.
Zhou Rong said slowly: "My father said that since the Qin and Han Dynasties, slavery has been a big problem. All dynasties have tried to abolish slavery, but they have never succeeded. My father also said that now is the easiest time to abolish slavery. There is no big problem."
Interest groups have resisted. If it is not abolished at this time, there will be no chance in the future. My father admires the emperor very much and appreciates the emperor's great wisdom in solving the Guanlong Group. He believes that the abolition of slavery will be successful this time."
Li Zunyi nodded, "Anyway, there are no slaves in my family. Brother Liu, please release those slaves in your family immediately. Tell your father that if you don't release them, you will be dismissed. Your father will definitely agree."
Liu Qiming sighed, "I'll go back and persuade my father!"
Another member of the Ministry of Rites, Wailang Qin Kun, laughed and said: "Actually, I think today's mention of education and imperial examination reform, as well as county-level official system reform, is the focus of this year."
Li Zunyi raised his glass and said with a smile: "The educational reform should be to popularize primary school education. This should be a consensus! Taking advantage of the current financial abundance of the imperial court, allowing more children to have the opportunity to study is a necessity in a prosperous age. I am concerned about the reform of the imperial examination
What does it mean?”
Qin Kun hesitated and said: "I heard from the minister that it may be reforming the third question of the Jinshi subject!"
Everyone laughed suddenly, "This reform is timely and necessary. I don't know how many scholars have been cheated by the countermeasures. We all support it!"
“What about county-level official system reform?”
Li Zunyi asked again: "Who knows?"
Everyone is confused, no one knows this.
In the courtyard of Danfeng Restaurant, Yan Zhenqing filled a glass of wine for Wei Jiansu and asked curiously: "What does the reform of the county-level official system mentioned in today's congratulatory message mean?"
Wei Jiansu smiled and said: "This should have been mentioned before. It's normal for Brother Xian not to be aware of it. Brother Xian was still serving in the local government at that time."
"Brother, tell me, I'm very interested!"
Wei Jiansu smiled and said: "These are some reform measures proposed by the emperor in response to the imperial court's inability to control the county level. It is clarified that the county level is divided into four categories: officials, officials, mercenaries and servants, and then officials and officials are appointed by the court.
, the commission and service are still managed by the county. The officials mainly include the two officials of law and household affairs, as well as Xuezheng, Xingbao and Liucao, as well as six county assistants, a total of sixteen people.
In other words, the salaries of these sixteen people were borne by the imperial court and they were also appointed by the imperial court.
Then the number of people admitted to the imperial examination will be appropriately expanded and divided into the first-A list, the second-A list, the B-list and the C-list. The first-A list will be the top ten, the second-A list will be the 21st to 50th, and the 51st will be
The 100th place is called the B list, and the one after the 100th place is the C list.
Among them, the officials in the A list are officials, and the officials in the B and C lists are evaluated once every five years. If they pass the evaluation, they will be promoted to one level. In other words, if the lowest ranked scholar in the C list passes the evaluation, he can be promoted to an official in ten years at the latest.
."
"What about the Taixue students?" Yan Zhenqing asked again.
"Taixue students still go to teach in county schools and prefectural schools. They are divided into two grades, A and B, based on their grades. Grade A goes to the prefecture and county as teaching assistants and becomes an official after five years. Grade B goes to the county school as a teaching assistant and is promoted to an official after ten years.
."
Wei Jiansu drank a glass of wine and smiled slightly: "So the reform of imperial examination education and the reform of county-level officials are complementary to each other. The real purpose of the reform is to increase the imperial court's control over county-level officialdom and firmly consolidate the county's power."
It is in the hands of the imperial court rather than in the hands of local powerful people. This is also a big problem that has been criticized for thousands of years."
Yan Zhenqing raised his glass and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is really generous in fighting against local powerhouses for control of the county. Let's have a drink. The Emperor sincerely hopes that the reform will succeed!"
After the New Year, the Internal Guard established a special department for the abolition of slavery and set up two whistle-blower boxes in front of the Internal Guard offices.
According to the Internal Security Regulations, except for the Internal Security Bureau Baihutang, which is classified as a major case, the Internal Security Bureau will not directly contact officials in general cases. The same is true for abolition cases. The limit is 50 people. If there are more than 50 people, it will be classified as a major case.
, In addition, there is an unwritten rule that if officials of fifth rank or above are found to have violated the rules, they must promptly notify the political hall.
If a major case involving more than 50 people involves officials or immediate family members, the internal security will also strictly investigate.
If the slaves are not officials but civilians, but the number of slaves exceeds ten, the internal guards will issue a warning letter, requiring the other party to complete the rectification within a month. If the slaves do not come to the internal guards to remove the warning within a month, a case will be filed.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the informant box was opened for the first time by the inner guard Baihutang. No one expected that there would be more than 500 informant letters inside.
Nearly four hundred letters of complaint were eliminated that were not within the scope of the investigation. These were reports of civilians holding slaves, but the number of people did not exceed ten. These letters of complaint were forwarded to the county government for investigation.
There were a total of 164 compliance reporting letters, and Baihutang organized them into 164 cases and handed them over to various investigation teams.
At present, the Internal Security Abolition Order Inspection Department has mobilized a thousand people and established 100 investigation teams.
After receiving the case, the internal security investigation team was dispatched one after another.
There are ten people in the first investigation team, headed by Colonel Yang Li.
Yang Li received a major case of fifty slaves. It turned out that his servant Zhang Hao had fifty slaves in the manor. It was reported by a servant in his mansion. If it is found out, this servant will be rewarded with five hundred coins.
, and at the same time the internal guards promised to protect his safety.
A big reward is the motivation. Under the big reward, insiders report it one after another.
Yang Li led nine of his men and rushed towards Wushan County, Longzhou. There was a manor covering an area of fifty hectares. It was Zhang Hao's manor, and there were fifty slaves farming for him.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, all officials officially went to court. Li Ye also rushed back to the Daming Palace from Huaqing Palace and began his normal official duties. His family came back on the 13th day of the first lunar month to catch up with the Lantern Festival in Chang'an.
There is no morning court today, and Baiguanmen basically arrive at Daming Palace from Chen hour onwards.
In front of several gates of Danfeng Gate, there were officials distributing newspapers. Almost all officials took a copy of the first issue of "Datang Xunkan".
The newspaper story had spread a few months ago, but I didn’t expect it to finally come out at the beginning of this year.
The size of the newspaper was like the A3 paper of later generations, printed front to back, folded in the middle, and divided into four pages. The front page was about people's livelihood, the second page was about the emperor's decree, the third page was about government affairs, and the fourth page was about local news.
People's livelihood mainly includes the market prices of major materials, disasters in various places and the court's disposal, as well as grain output and other news related to people's livelihood.
As for the second version of the emperor's decree, the first item is that the emperor issued the decree on the first day of the first lunar month, and the internal guards set up an inspection department for the abolition of slavery. Starting from the third day of the first lunar month, rewards were offered to all directions for clues, and the inspection officially started on the fifth day of the first lunar month.
At the same time, various case registration standards and reward standards are introduced. Reporting a slave will reward you with ten rewards.
Once confirmed, the official will be dismissed and never hired.
