Chapter 1473: The Great Adjustments at the End of the Ninth Year of Kaibao

It must be said that Old Zhao's political instincts were indeed exceptionally sharp—his words basically proved prophetic. After the Western Garden imperial banquet, Emperor Liu's follow-up moves indeed came.

On the last day of the ninth year of Kaibao, Emperor Liu rose early and, contrary to his usual practice, made a personal appearance at the Qianyuan Hall to hold a grand court assembly. This was also the first grand assembly after a long interval—prior to this, Emperor Liu had not held court for three months.

Imperial princes and nobles, civil and military generals, officials in charge of various ministries and bureaus, and officers reporting in from the capital—over a thousand people sat in the great Qianyuan Hall, respectfully listening to the imperial instructions. With such a grand gathering of the most elite upper echelon in one place, what was discussed was naturally matters of state and affairs of the court.

Of course, those in the know understood that the so-called deliberation was merely a formality; the real decisions had long been thoroughly discussed by the principal ministers. What was discussed at the grand assembly was, in effect, a large-scale announcement.

Emperor Liu did not speak much. With the Crown Prince absent, Zhao Pu mainly presided over the proceedings. The duration was not short—it ran from the hour of Chen to the hour of Wu, a full two shichen.

The court assembly had two main themes. The first was looking back at the Great Han's development over the past year, summarizing gains and losses in finance, military affairs, civil administration, and other matters, with emphasis on reviewing several major events in the lives of the court and the people during the ninth year of Kaibao—commending role models and remembering lessons.

The second was naturally looking to the future. The ninth year of Kaibao was the first year of change in the Great Han's national policy and strategic transformation—also the most important year. Although there was no shortage of problems, a good and solid foundation had already been formed.

Zhao Pu, representing the court, assured Emperor Liu that they would remain unwavering in continuing to implement the policy of recuperation, safeguarding the well-being of the people of the realm and the development of state affairs and the nation.

They would continue to deepen and perfect the various policy reforms and measures of the ninth year of Kaibao, promote good governance, remedy shortcomings, and strive to achieve the restoration of the exhausted national strength within three to five years.

On this premise, Zhao Pu, on behalf of the Hall of State Affairs, reported to Emperor Liu the court's work arrangements for government affairs in the coming year. Of course, those plans clearly reflected Emperor Liu's own will.

Zhao Pu emphasized that the court would strengthen governance of officialdom, cultivate officials' administrative abilities while also enhancing spiritual construction such as integrity and moral conduct, strengthen oversight, and clarify and perfect the promotion system.

Governance of officialdom was never merely about cracking down on corruption, nor was it enough to dispose of a few corrupt officials. On the contrary, it was a systematic project—from talent selection and cultivation, promotion and assessment, official appointment, to supervision and inspection—touching on every aspect.

Emperor Liu himself had spent more than a decade before truly understanding this principle, and therefore had constructed a relatively complete bureaucratic management system for the court.

However, completeness did not mean perfection. In past years, Emperor Liu had indeed spared no effort in cracking down on corruption, with a clear stance and considerable achievements. The sensational major cases that shook the court and the country over the more than twenty years from Qianyou to Kaibao, and the severe punishment of guilty officials and criminal ministers, were proof of that.

But likewise, in other aspects, although there was continuous improvement in political institutions, there were still deficiencies and gaps. This time, Zhao Pu also intended to devote some effort to this area, continuing to reform and remedy.

The court assembly concluded with the announcement of two decisions. The first was something some had anticipated but were unwilling to face—the policy of restricting nobles and meritorious officials.

This policy, which had been brewing within the court for years, sparked much controversy, and had even nearly failed to be born several times, was finally formally promulgated after the great upheaval of the winter of the ninth year of Kaibao.

Of course, Emperor Liu's table manners were not that unsightly, and Zhao Pu's methods had always been clever. They did not blatantly proclaim to the world that the court was going to reduce the salaries of meritorious officials and nobles and restrict their privileged status.

Nominally, it was because the court's salary system had many unreasonable aspects. In response, Zhao Pu led the Finance Commission in formulating a complete set of adjustments to salary levels for the Great Han's bureaucratic, military, and clerical personnel.

Looking solely at the prescribed salaries of the Great Han's officials at all levels, in the past, the overall level had been on the low side—especially for those lower-ranking grassroots officials.

Taking the capital as an example, many lower-level officials, with their annual salaries—even adding the annual welfare compensation from their posts—could hardly live a comfortable life in the capital, and some were even worse off than commoners engaged in commerce or handicrafts.

Therefore, it was inevitable that some officials would take advantage of their positions to seek benefits outside the system, and they even had an excuse—to make a living. In response to this, the court this time substantially raised official salaries; the lower the rank, the greater the increase. At the same time, the official lands and properties attached to various posts were also opened up somewhat—all for the purpose of improving the treatment of officials and clerks.

Of course, with the court's finances not in good condition, such generous treatment of the bureaucracy naturally came with conditions—namely, an explicit prohibition on officials in active service and their direct blood relatives engaging in commerce.

Although truly eradicating it would be very difficult, even unrealistic, a law that could serve as a reference and basis for enforcement was now clearly established. This undoubtedly placed a tightening band around the heads of all officials in the realm, and could at least somewhat cool down the corruption of power.

Overall, this time all officials of the realm received real benefits—especially those who conducted themselves properly in office. Additionally, because the levels of economic development across the Great Han were extremely uneven, and in view of the differences between rich and poor postings, the salary levels of officials in various regions were also adjusted accordingly.

This provision was likewise formed into written policy, directing the various circuits and prefectures to make adjustments, no longer completely determining pay according to official rank as in the past.

Complementing this, regarding the assessment and promotion of officials in remote and poor regions, the Ministry of Personnel would greatly relax requirements and offer preferential treatment, and would encourage ambitious officials to serve in remote and backward areas.

As for military personnel, there was no need to say much—over the past twenty years, the one thing Emperor Liu had never shortchanged was the army. This time was no different; even the adjusted official salaries merely matched the level of military pay.

The adjustments to military pay were confined to perfecting the internal salary system of the military—increasing the treatment of border troops and garrison soldiers, maintaining the level of the palace guards and the imperial army, and reducing the garrisons of local circuits—making the differentiation and stratification more pronounced.

At the very least, even though the country had basically entered an era of peace, being a soldier remained a good choice.

Likewise, compared to clerical and military positions, the adjustment to the treatment of nobles and meritorious officials was more targeted—targeted reduction. It was promulgated entirely according to the provisions Zhao Pu had planned, with minor revisions by Emperor Liu.

The most direct change was that from the rank of Prince downward, annual salaries were all reduced. Taking a Prince as an example, the annual salary was reduced from eight thousand strings of cash and twelve hundred shi of grain to six thousand strings of cash and eight hundred shi of grain.

The Princes of the Great Han at present were just those few imperial princes. Starting the reduction with one's own sons could indeed silence many people's mouths, leaving them with no room for argument.

In comparison, the treatment of meritorious ministers remained unchanged. After all, their ranks could not be inherited, and they had rendered great meritorious service for the country—Emperor Liu had no need to treat them poorly over this. Of course, this was also a method of appeasement.

Starting with the most direct noble stipends, the quota of tax-exempt land for nobles was also greatly reduced. A Duke's five hundred qing was directly cut to one hundred qing, and the rest had to be re-registered with the local authorities.

Beyond direct benefits, other explicit and implicit privileges of nobles and meritorious officials were also restricted. Of course, in the end, it all had to be implemented through law enforcement. And the building of the law enforcement apparatus was also the next key focus of the court under Zhao Pu's leadership.

In the past, if the court had issued such a malicious policy, the Great Han's nobles and meritorious officials would have long since kicked up a fuss—their defiance would definitely have been written on their faces and expressed in their words and deeds.

But this time, they were all silent. The blood in the Southern Market had yet to be wiped away, and the Western Garden imperial banquet was chillingly cold. No matter how unwilling they were, in the end they could only suppress it in their hearts, not daring to make a move.

The powerful families of Fu, Li, Zhao, and others even took the lead in expressing their response and acceptance of the court's policy, also expressing willingness to accept the court's supervision and report their local products. Zhao Kuangyin even proposed being willing to retroactively pay past land taxes, but without Emperor Liu needing to say a word, Zhao Pu stated that past favors were in accordance with court regulations and did not need to be collected retroactively.

The final measure was the court's personnel adjustments. Murong Yanchao, Duke of Luan, formally retired, and the Ministry of Works was temporarily managed by Vice Minister Pan You—a southern official, a reformist, and a capable general under Zhao Pu.

At the same time, Cui Zhoudu was appointed chancellor, concurrently overseeing criminal justice and supervision, becoming the chancellor responsible for the Great Han's judicial work. Additionally, Zhao Kuangyi's tenure as Governor of Luoyang, which had lasted less than a year, came to an end, and he was transferred to serve as the chief official of the Jinghu Southern Circuit.