After two years of investigation, Zhang Xiaowu and a group of officials believed that the biggest constraint in the officialdom of the Holy Han Dynasty today is the official system. Taking the county government as an example, the county magistrate is in charge of everything, and the military and civilian power of the entire county is in the hands of the county magistrate. Although
There are four people in the county government who receive official salaries, namely the county magistrate, the county magistrate,
The county captain and the edict, but the chief bookkeeper who controls the county's financial power is actually the county magistrate's personal accountant and cashier. Except for four people, the county magistrate is responsible for all the food and salary expenses of everyone in the county government. That is to say, except for the four people, the county magistrate is responsible for all expenses.
Except for the county magistrate, county lieutenant and Jiaoyu, the rest are all the county magistrate's personal employees.
Therefore, if the county magistrate wants to support the employees of the yamen, he must increase other taxes besides the national tax (field tax), and there are endless tax schemes in various places, partly because the county magistrate needs to support the people in the yamen.
Zhang Xiaowu can understand that many county magistrates end up being corrupt and become what he hated most when he was young. After all, this is the inheritance of the old system for thousands of years. The family world makes the emperor think that the entire country belongs to him, and makes the state pastor think that the entire state belongs to him.
Own, let the county magistrate think that the entire county belongs to him, and taking some money from his own home is not considered stealing.
In a feudal society with underdeveloped communications and backward technology, the county magistrate's responsibility system resulted in the people only knowing the county magistrate and not the court. For the people, their county magistrate was the local emperor. Absolute power led to absolute corruption.
The same is true for the principal responsibility system in later generations of the country. When one person takes over all the power, all temptations come to him, and it is very difficult for a person not to be corrupt.
In order to reform, Zhang Xiaowu gradually started to reform the government offices after the finances of the four northern states were stabilized. First, he had to decentralize power, and second, he had to increase the number of civil servants. But Zhang Xiaowu first increased the number of national civil servants. Taking the county as an example, there were only
The county magistrate, the county magistrate, the county captain and the priest are civil servants who receive state salaries, and now there are forty-eight people.
The extra 44 people receive state salaries, which means that they are no longer employees of the county magistrate. The county magistrate also has no right to directly fire or suspend the 48 people in the county government. Of course, the county magistrate still has the right to
Personnel adjustments are made to subordinates, but personnel appointments and removals need to be reported to the government office, which will then dispatch specialized personnel to verify the promotion rewards of these 47 people.
Subsequently, Zhang Xiaowu carried out a clearer decentralization of power in the county government. Taking the county government as an example, the county magistrate (also known as the magistrate) uniformly managed all the work of the county government and was mainly responsible for the personnel, finance and logistics of the county government;
The county magistrate is responsible for managing local people's livelihood, household registration and construction. The county seat is also the second-in-command of the county government. In the absence of the county magistrate, he is fully responsible for all work within the county government;
The county lieutenant is responsible for managing local security, defense and military affairs, equivalent to the militia minister and police station chief, and is only responsible for arrests and prosecutions;
Jiaoyu is in charge of local education, religious worship, cultural development, and presides over major festival activities in the county;
The chief registrar is in charge of local financial budget, taxation and other affairs. The establishment of the chief registrar has returned the county's financial power from the private hands of the county magistrate to the hands of the government;
The county magistrate is responsible for local case judgment, punishment and prison, which is equivalent to a court. It takes back the county magistrate's greatest power to judge cases. From now on, the county magistrate no longer hears cases and leaves professional matters to professionals;
The county Zhu is responsible for compiling local archives and county annals, and presenting plaques to ancestral halls. For example, an old woman in a certain village has been widowed for many years, raising her children, and has been unmarried for many years. After application from the village chief and discussion by seven people from the county government, the county Zhu will present the chastity memorial arch on behalf of the government office.
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The county magistrate is the most idle and powerless person among the six deputy county magistrates. He is mainly used to supervise or adjust officials. Although the county magistrate cannot be directly removed from office, he can adjust unpopular officials to the county Zhu position through adjustment.
, as punishment.
But even if the number of civil servants in the county government increases to forty-eight, corruption cannot be avoided. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaowu is not an upright person. He knows that corruption exists wherever there are people. No matter how rich the country is, corruption cannot be avoided.
Greed is the most difficult gene to eradicate in human nature. Many people who claim to be honest are actually corrupt tigers. Especially when running a big country, as long as corruption is kept within control, people will feel fearful and confident.
The bottom line is the sign of success. Therefore Zhang
Xiaowu appointed Zhang Tongming as the chief inspector of the four northern states, specializing in monitoring whether corruption occurred in the officialdom of various places, and accepting reports from the people - of course, they would not care if the matter was minor, nor would they unless it was a life-threatening lawsuit.
Attack officials easily.
Reform is very difficult, and the main premise is the economic recovery in the north, increased taxation, social stability, and people living and working in peace and contentment. The increase in the number of civil servants in government offices has also given some people a greater sense of belonging at work, and they no longer have to worry about what day.
He was dismissed from his post and imprisoned because he offended his superior.
Guan Xiang believed that Zhang Xiaowu was a student of Legalism, and Wu Song believed that he was a student of military strategism. Zhang Xiaowu himself laughed and said that he was a student of miscellaneous families. He knew a little bit of everything and understood a little bit of everything, but to go deeper, he still needed professional people to do professional things.
At this time, Zhang Tongming introduced a talent to Zhang Xiaowu, Guo Xiang, who was known as Mr. Dongming. Guo Xiang was from Sizhou. He traveled around the world when he was young. He took the imperial examination at the age of twenty. After passing the imperial examination, he resolutely gave up the opportunity to become an official.
He then traveled around the world and became a successor of Legalism, advocating the rule of law.
Promoting the rule of law in a family-based society was really unethical for the imperial power. Therefore, Guo Xiang could only study abroad and use the "Sheng Han Code" to help some people who had been wronged in their lawsuits. Although he was famous, he was still
Even under the worst circumstances of the county magistrate, he could only do his meager part.
Guo Xiang settled in Yangzhou as a lawyer in his middle age, but corruption is serious now in Yangzhou, and the lawyer is just a bridge for bribes. Although Guo Xiang has many friends in Yangzhou, he is never a local in Yangzhou. He works hard and goes against his inner ideals.
, he followed the advice of his friends and took his whole family to Youzhou Prefecture in the four northern states. Because he was proficient in the "Sheng Han Code" and had excellent eloquence, he soon attracted the attention of Zhang Tongming. After the two had an in-depth conversation, he was attracted by Zhang Tongming.
Being transparent leads to a confidant.
After Zhang Tongming introduced it to Zhang Xiaowu, Guo Xiang said: "Although the "Shenghan Code" is the fundamental law of the country, it has many shortcomings. First of all, this law was formulated three hundred years ago. The situation at that time is different from today's.
Very different. The laws of the other day still have disadvantages and good consequences today.
More. For example, in terms of punishment, when the Holy Han Dynasty was first established, the population was sparse and banditry was rampant. As the saying goes, heavy laws are used in troubled times, even petty theft will be sentenced to servitude. Today, if the laws of troubled times are still used, the punishment will be excessive, making the people fearful.
The government is disgusting in my heart."
Zhang Xiaowu did not expect that this person was a reformer, so he asked: "Do you mean that even the "Sheng Han Code" needs to be revised?"
"It is not a revision, but a major change." Guo Xiang said, "The law was made by humans to help the government govern the people. The people of tomorrow will be different from the people of today, so the law will also need to change with the times. If it remains unchanged, the law will not change.
It has become a shackles to imprison people, imprisoning the people and imprisoning the government. If the law is completely effective, why is there so much evil in the world?"
Zhang Xiaowu laughed and said: "Okay, Mr. Guo, it's up to you to reformulate the "Shenghan Code". No, it's not called "Shenghan Code". We call it "New Code". We will try to use it in the four northern states first. See "
Which one can better promote the development of the country, the New Code or the Holy Han Code?"
Guo Xiang cupped his hands and said: "Dongming will definitely fulfill his mission!"