Chapter 448: Reform

Three matters. The Kong family's affair is of no consequence; if they are not honest, cut them down. This includes those officials who vehemently oppose it; raiding their homes is not a problem. Perhaps there are incorruptible officials who act for the sake of the country and the people, and who champion the Kong family because they do not understand Wang Yan's grand strategy. But more of the opposition stems from a desire for discourse power and for the sake of their own vested interests as a large group. Such people, while Wang Yan's army of one hundred thousand is stationed in Bianjing, dare to represent the scholars of the world to dialogue with Wang Yan; they are truly bold beyond measure. It is necessary to behead a few leaders, then ruthlessly seize a batch of those who responded to them to carry out infrastructure construction.

If civil officials revolt, they won't succeed in ten years; they are nothing. After the imperial court was half-emptied and Bianjing was nearly paralyzed, throughout the entire North, there were no more civil officials clamoring against the toppling of the Kong family. As for those hot-blooded scholars who are easily led and cannot withstand agitation, they no longer bluster about making "death remonstrances." Wang Yan indeed did not kill many people, but he raided many people's homes.

If a family was truly poor, then so be it. Dismiss them directly, let them become commoners, and work for their own living. If things were found upon investigation, then the problem arose. Family assets were confiscated, retainers were disbanded, and all male members of the family over fifteen years of age were demoted to forced labor and resettled nearby. The high-ranking officials of the court, who were once awe-inspiring, are basically all in Luoyang repairing city walls and moving bricks; it is difficult for them even if they want to die.

As for the remaining two matters—nationalization of land and commercial taxes—they were actually not that difficult; it was just that there were enemies everywhere.

He has one hundred thousand troops in Bianjing, nearly fifty thousand in Shandong, another one hundred thousand in Hebei, and the Northern Army, counting the Wu Wei, has two hundred thousand; this is four hundred and fifty thousand troops. The Western Army has collectively submitted; although there are many landlords in the army, the upper echelons of the Western Army have already made up their minds to firmly support Wang Yan's leadership, and they will deal with whoever opposes him. At the same time, he sent five thousand men over to organize and train a new army to purify the ranks. Even if there were some rebellions, they were suppressed by the Zhong family and other high-ranking officials. The number of the Western Army, counting the garrison troops, local militia, and foreign troops, totals four hundred thousand.

With a total of eight hundred and fifty thousand troops, according to the slight exaggeration of military strength now, calling it a million-strong army is being modest. With such military strength, suppressing the North is not a big problem.

This number is definitely inflated. What is inflated is not that one hundred and fifty thousand, but the original Great Song troops other than the Northern Restoration Army and the Wu Wei. It is not for any other reason, but because of empty paychecks; the establishment of many units is severely inflated. The true number of people definitely cannot reach eight hundred and fifty thousand; around six hundred thousand should not be a problem.

The key to the problem is that there are not enough people to execute it. This is a massive project, and the number of people required is immense. This problem was solved by the Great Song's practice of supporting scholars for over a hundred years. Wang Yan directly conscripted students over seventeen years of age, coordinating with local clerks who had no hope of advancement, to go deep into the villages to measure land and carry out the first tax collection work for merchants in the cities.

Of course, if you want people to work, you must have corresponding incentives. If you want incentives, you must know people's demands. And those students and local clerks, what they seek goes without saying; naturally, it is to become officials and get rich.

Getting rich is impossible; Wang Yan will deal with whoever gets rich. But he can increase their salaries, enough for them to live reasonably well. As for becoming officials, he is reforming the official system and will open up channels for advancement for those clerks. With official status, plus the promise of further promotion for good work, they are all howling with eagerness to work.

However, to avoid clerks taking root locally and colluding with local clans, he still implemented the inspection of land and collection of taxes in different regions. If they encountered resistance, they would directly deploy troops to suppress and raid homes, and all male members would still be used as forced labor. These are precious labor forces; they cannot be simply killed to let them off easy. Even the old men who are about to die must move two bricks before dying.

The two items with the fastest progress are, of course, Shandong, Hebei, and the capital region. Next is the Northwest region, where, due to the Western Army shrinking its defensive line, one hundred thousand troops were withdrawn to suppress the local areas, leveling them one by one, with the destination being Luoyang.

This is to quickly pacify the North and carry out reforms with an iron fist; another point is also to go south to fight the war of unification. Having reached this point, he wants gentle reform, but it is already impossible; there is only the path of military pressure.

As for the hidden dangers brought about by this, Wang Yan is not afraid. There is nothing else; he lives a long time and can ensure that the fruits of reform are not reversed. According to the three-hundred-year lifespan of ancient dynasties, he alone can occupy nearly one-third. So if one generation is not convinced, two generations are not convinced, will three generations still not be convinced?

So there is nothing to worry about; just suppress them with force.

The matters have already been delegated. Although there are basically no officials who are loyal to him, Wang Mou, and work with all their hearts, the goals are there, and the means are there. If it is done well, then fine; if it is not done well, then that is a problem. And it is not that he does not have his own channels to obtain information. Emperors lack a sense of security and do not trust others; this is a common ailment. Although he does not lack a sense of security, he also does not trust anyone. So he still has an intelligence agency in his hands, and this time he is directly establishing his own headquarters.

The agency is that agency; the name is just a code. The Court Marshal, the Imperial City Department, and so on—what they do is the work of secret agents. So his secret agency is called the "Embroidered Uniform Guard." Mainly, he just feels that this name sounds better, and he went to such a world before. Although he did not do related things in that world, it does not prevent him from expressing appreciation for this name.

And the changes to other government structures are not small.

He abolished the three departments of the Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Department of State Affairs. He elevated the Court of Judicial Review to become a separate law enforcement agency, and he took the Censorate and merged it into the Supervisory Commission to become a separate supervisory agency. The Ministry of Revenue still manages financial affairs, the Ministry of Justice becomes a legislative agency, and the Ministry of Personnel still manages the appointment, promotion, and demotion of officials. He established a new Council of State as the highest administrative agency, which oversees the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Education, the Imperial Academy, the Directorate for Palace Buildings, and so on, as well as the administrative affairs of various local governments.

The above departments, excluding the two principal and deputy heads of the Council of State, counting the heads of other departments, total seven people, forming the Cabinet, with the principal head of the Council of State as the leader, jointly managing the major affairs of the state.

Because the Council of State merged most of the other departments, the matters involved are immense, and everything is handled by them; government affairs are complex. Therefore, he brought over that group of pure talk experts from the Hanlin Academy who do academic research to act as a think tank to help the Cabinet devise strategies. Those in the Hanlin Academy are all kinds of successful candidates; although they lack practical experience and many opinions are divorced from reality, their brains are still sufficient. They have no decision-making power, so acting as a think tank is not a big problem. If there are good seedlings, after seeing the highest power structure, they are also usable.

In addition, he merged the Ministry of War into the Bureau of Military Affairs and renamed it the Military Supervision Office. This is not the official position of the Republic of China, but the highest military power agency that supervises and leads the troops of the world. It only manages national military operations and does not have too much connection with the civil official group. Only civil officials are responsible for logistics and materials, still central control over local troops.

Those who govern the country only govern the country, and those who fight wars only fight wars. In this way, as the Emperor, Wang Yan directly controls the legislative power, law enforcement power, financial power, personnel power, and the most important military power. With five powers in hand, he can sleep soundly.

In addition, he also established a Wu Wei, under the command of the Council of State. It is equivalent to the later Ministry of Public Security; what it does is the work of police, which is equivalent to the current yamen runners and catchers. They are all formal civil servants with ranks. Now they are still filled by those yamen runners, and later they will be filled by retired soldiers after training.

The administrative divisions still follow the original circuit, prefecture, county, township, and security. Other administrative systems are reforms surrounding the existing structure; after all, it is vertical management. Whatever yamen is above, there is whatever department below.

And in the most basic administrative unit, this time the security, it is no longer served by the wealthy households in the township as security chiefs or village heads, but appointed by the government. And several positions have been added, responsible for the security, people's livelihood, taxation, and wealth creation of a security, etc. These people can also be promoted upward, can see the future, and work with enthusiasm.

As for the dissatisfaction of wealthy households, there is absolutely none. Whoever dares to clamor loudly, then that person's whole family will be sent to repair roads and dig canals on the spot; it is just that tough. With a million-strong army in hand, although half of them are trash, it is still easy to handle some wealthy households.

The three redundancies of the Great Song—redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses—have already been considered solved under Wang Yan's disregard for the world's opposition.

His official system and administrative reforms, coupled with massive arrests and demotions, vacated many positions. The original many useless yamen were abolished, and the situation of multiple personnel for one job was also solved. He streamlined government functional departments, refined functional departments, and personnel were dispersed to various places to take office. Even now, officials are somewhat insufficient, and many places have vacant establishments. This solved the problem of redundant officials.

The Northern Army and Western Army training currently underway, as well as the two hundred thousand troops pushing from Hebei, Shaanxi, and other places to the center, will also be trained. Those who are qualified will continue to be combat soldiers, and those who are unqualified but have a correct attitude will be allowed to return home to join the Wu Wei. As for the garrison troops composed of refugees, their establishment will be abolished, and they will become free citizens, but they will belong to the Ministry of Works to become construction teams, working to earn money. In this way, the problem of redundant soldiers is considered solved.

Under the condition that both of the above are solved, although there is no longer the Zhao Song royal family, no tribute to the Liao Kingdom, and various other things, the expenses may be even larger than the original. After all, these are necessary expenditures. In any case, for officials and soldiers, salaries and military pay must be guaranteed.

The salaries of civil officials were already very high; he maintained the original salaries, neither increasing nor decreasing. But he streamlined the army, and for the remaining professional soldiers, he increased their welfare benefits. The number of people decreased, but the expenses were even higher. Adding the two together, the cost is much higher than before.

However, there is a saying that is good: as long as it is a money problem, then it is not a problem.

He has already ordered the whole country that "Treasure Money" is the officially designated currency. Although gold, silver, and copper are still used, they are gradually decreasing. Of course, he cannot force the people to use paper money, but he can regulate it. After all, what he gives people is paper money, so the previous gold, silver, and copper currencies will definitely become less and less with consumption. What he has to do is to constantly print money.

He is not afraid of currency devaluation; after all, even if he over-issues, it is within an acceptable range. And now he is constantly raiding homes, and there is a constant stream of various land, grain, and treasures entering the treasury. With so much wealth of gentry and landlords being harvested by him, it is absolutely no problem to spend for two or three years. And as long as these two or three years pass, it is basically fully combed, and it will definitely not collapse; it is very stable...

Luoyang is a big construction site. Not counting the Ziwei Palace, various infrastructure within the city, such as drainage, hard roads, etc., are all being renovated and built, just for the atmosphere of the imperial capital.

Fixing the capital in Luoyang, if you want to say who is the most unhappy, it must be the original people of Bianjing. Conversely, the happiest are the people of Luoyang. Not to mention other policies that Wang Yan newly implemented, and their support for this good emperor, just the status of Luoyang returning to the imperial capital, and the resulting rise in housing prices, is good news for the people of Luoyang.

Not to mention the various infrastructure renovations and urban replanning this time. Although Luoyang was originally an imperial capital standard and nothing was missing, it was never like it is now, feeling like the whole thing is brand new.

Snow is falling in the sky, and it will be New Year's Eve in a month, but the hustle and bustle of Luoyang City has not weakened in the slightest. Although the weather is cold, the enthusiasm is not stopped. People's heads are steaming, and it is still in full swing.

In the magnificent, golden, and brilliant Hall of Ten Thousand Phenomena, an official wearing a cyan plain robe, a white jade crown on his head, a layer of red patch sewn on the left shoulder, and a golden mythical beast embroidered on the patch, lined up in front of the ministers, bowed to someone sitting sideways on a pure gold dragon chair in the distance with his legs crossed: "Report to Your Majesty, the Altar of Land and Grain and the Imperial Ancestral Temple have been built, and the enthronement ceremony has been prepared. Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."

It is said that it is cold at the top, and emperors are the loneliest. Wang Yan feels that even if he wants to not be lonely, he cannot. This damn big Hall of Ten Thousand Phenomena, he sits on the dragon chair on the high platform; if his eyesight is not good, it is difficult to see who the person speaking is, so it would be strange if he were not lonely. He can also understand that this is for the sacredness of the emperor being high above, but to be honest, among the thousands of ministers below, there are few fools who believe in this kind of sacredness. What they think about is how to make the fool on the high dragon chair believe in this kind of sacredness himself.

Simply put, whether it is the emperor or the ministers below, whoever believes it is a fool, but they all want the other party to believe it.

The one speaking is the Minister of Works, Zong Ze. This is also a famous anti-Jin figure in history, who promoted Yue Fei to a high position. Previously, he was a county magistrate in Shandong, and especially served as the Assistant Prefect of Dengzhou. What kind of place is Dengzhou? That is a port. There were many businesses there before, and ships frequently came and went, either going north or south. As one of the top leaders of Dengzhou, Zong Ze could not have known about those things. No matter how well hidden, it was still under his nose. These are not the secret agents of the Imperial City Department in Wang Family Village; after all, the things in Wang Family Village are what Wang Yan wants people to see, and there are many things elsewhere.

Zong Ze was not convinced at first, but later he sadly discovered that the whole of Shandong was someone else's territory. If he lifted this lid, it would be a separatist regime in Shandong in an instant. Considering the external situation and that Wang Yan indeed provided a lot of subsidies to various places in Shandong and led the people to live a good life, he could only grit his teeth and accept it. Later, he retired directly, not seeing it and not being annoyed. After all, from top to bottom, they were all Wang Yan's people, and his work was not comfortable.

Now it is Wang Yan who is in power, and there is not so much nonsense. He directly conscripted Zong Ze to lead the Ministry of Works and be in charge of national infrastructure. And the Altar of Land and Grain and the Imperial Ancestral Temple were newly built outside the city. The function is the same as that of the Ming Dynasty; one is to sacrifice to heaven, earth, and the five grains, and the other is to sacrifice to distant ancestors and recent ancestors.

"Do it according to the original plan."

He sank his breath into his dantian, used vocal techniques, and his voice spread in this magnificent highest hall, majestic and incomparable, with the atmosphere of a great emperor.

Zong Ze bowed to accept the order and returned to the ranks.

After waiting for a while, no one else reported matters. Wang Yan shook his dragon robe, stood up, turned and left, and a loud "Court dismissed" from a eunuch sounded behind him.

This is the grand court meeting on the first day of every month. It is not anything else; it is basically summarizing the work of the past month and making a report. Of course, it is picking what can be said. An empire has many secret things, and it is impossible to discuss everything at the grand court meeting. After all, there are so many people, bustling, and at first, they might be thinking about solving problems, but later it is the struggle between different opinions. Therefore, what is said at the grand court meeting is the work progress of various departments and general data.

The intention of this is to let those officials know to what extent the empire has developed. At the same time, every grand court meeting will have a special person to record, compile into a court gazette, and after printing, send it to the hands of local officials. On the other hand, it is also because some things really cannot be taken care of, and some people do too much below. In the vast court, there may not be upright officials who spray in the court, and it also gives them a chance.

As for the eunuch who shouted "Court dismissed" just now, he did not abolish eunuchs and appoint female officials this time. When he was in the Embroidered Uniform Guard before, he was still a bit immature. The selection of eunuchs is from poor families with many children who cannot survive.

So it is obvious that what he wants to do is to eliminate poor families. If you can study for the imperial examination, why grit your teeth and cut off your descendants? Of course, that is now, not later. After all, when officials are saturated later, the difficulty of passing the imperial examination and promotion becomes greater, and those who do not want to engage in other work, there should be no shortage of those who are ruthless and take shortcuts. The competitiveness is there; compared to the imperial examination, it is obvious that the chance of becoming a eunuch and getting ahead is greater. This is a human problem.

Another point is that if his descendants have a marriage, or are weaker, then it will not work if the palace is full of women. If you look for men, then the emperor has so many women, flesh and blood, and it is certain that he cannot toss them all. Over time, the emperor's hat will definitely not be less. So even if he abolishes eunuchs now, there will definitely be more in the future. This is also a human problem.

This is the reason why he did not abolish eunuchs this time. And to be honest, eunuchs are indeed more energetic than palace maids, and they do not hold back on heavy and tiring work. As for the batch of Zhao Ji's original ones, some were sent to guard the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Altar of Land and Grain, and many remained in the Bianjing Imperial City.

He intends to open the Imperial City of Bianjing for people to travel and sightsee. And the Ten Thousand Years Mountain that Zhao Ji spent so much money to build cannot be wasted. He simply opened it all up and let those eunuchs collect tickets and be tour guides.

The ticket price is not high, only five hundred wen, which is a five-hundred-yuan paper note, half a month's salary for ordinary people. In this way, rich people can watch as they please, and ordinary people can grit their teeth and enjoy it. It is quite good.

Wang Yan rode his horse back to the harem all the way; there is no way, the place is too big. Although the architectural style of the Sui and Tang Dynasties has made leaps and bounds, the overall architecture still highlights a "big." So in this Ziwei Palace, all the buildings are extremely atmospheric. Correspondingly, the spacing is very large, and there are many open spaces. Now this palace is also a big construction site, designed by the architectural masters of the Ministry of Works, making use of all the open spaces. Halls, pavilions, and towers must be complete in every way, and they must not be abrupt; they must be integrated with the original buildings.

The thinking of these people now is actually quite unrestrained, and their imagination is sufficient. The design drawings are very domineering, and some buildings are even stacked in the air, among which the corridor bridges and plank roads are particularly good-looking. As for the mountain and stone scenery, that goes without saying.

If Ziwei Palace is not destroyed, it is a royal palace building more magnificent than the Forbidden City, and it is already a great creation in the history of human architecture. He is now filling it in and expanding it through architectural masters, and he can only say that the atmosphere of a great country is there; how can it be measured by the barbarians of foreign lands?

Although Zhao Ji stepped down and became the curator of the Royal Library, indulging in calligraphy and painting all day, he also paid attention to the actions of his good son-in-law. He is not convinced; he just wants to see how much better Wang Yan can be than him. Just looking at how much money his good son-in-law spends, he feels that he is a peerless wise emperor. Sometimes he dreams that someone is looking for him, wanting to help him restore the country...

In any case, Wang Yan has achieved the small goal of being able to gallop on horseback at home and still have to run for a while.

Arriving in the harem, it is lively.

The little cubs are blustering, running wildly in the snow outside, having snowball fights, building snowmen, and several women are doing needlework together; this is infected by Jin Lian. They don't want to go out in this weather, so they sit together, muttering about this and that, while making clothes and sewing shoes, getting along quite well.

Seeing Wang Yan return, they just greeted him; there were no messy etiquette. Letting the palace maids help take off the outer robe, Wang Yan sat there and took Qingxiao, who was only a year old, from Shishi's arms. Because she could not go out to play, she was stretching her neck enviously looking at the older brothers and sisters playing outside with red eyes. This is Yupan's child, who was conceived when they were rebelling.

Watching Wang Yan playing with the child again, Jin Lian smiled and looked at Yupan on the side: "Do you say that emperors are all so idle? Why do I feel that it is no different from when we were in Wang Family Village? Yupan, was your father like this when he was emperor?"

Zhao Yupan shook her head and smiled: "Although my father was not diligent in government affairs and liked to enjoy himself, he was not as idle as our official."

She has also adapted now, knowing that Wang Yan has the world in his heart and never cares, so there is no taboo, and she says whatever she has to say.

"I am good at knowing people and using them, which is why I am idle. Even if I am idle, I am still better than my father-in-law."

Zhao Yupan shook her head and smiled again. She did not deny this point. She has not been ignorant all these years. Her father's name as a faint emperor in the history books is inevitable.

"It's almost time for lunch, what are we eating today?"

"It's snowing today, we should have mutton hot pot and drink some yellow wine to warm our bodies." Li Shishi played with Qingxiao's little hands. She could not have children, so she was particularly close to children.

Wang Yan nodded, waved his hand at the palace maid serving on the side: "Go and notify the Imperial Food Bureau, mutton hot pot..." ===== CHAPTER 449 =====