Chương 471: Two Governments, Three Courts, and One Department

The founding period of the nation lasted twenty years.

For the past twenty years, maintaining stability has been the top priority.

He must use an iron fist to eradicate the three major causes of the downfall of ancient dynasties: land annexation, aristocratic monopoly, and warlord separatism, and establish his own absolute authority.

Anyone who tries to obstruct reform, whether a distinguished veteran or a renowned scholar, must be ruthlessly eliminated.

A kind heart cannot command an army, righteousness cannot manage finances, and this is especially true of reform.

First is the central government system.

The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system was bloated, with unclear responsibilities and powers. A single task could be passed around and take months to complete.

The Grand Commandant was in charge of military affairs, the Minister of Works was in charge of civil administration, and the Minister of Agriculture was in charge of engineering projects. It sounded like a clear division of labor, but in reality, they would bicker and delay a single matter for half a year.

The system of three provinces and six ministries may seem perfect, but in reality it is full of loopholes.

The Ministry of Personnel wields too much power, which can easily breed powerful ministers.

The Secretariat and the Chancellery were constantly bickering and the administration was inefficient.

In the late Tang Dynasty, the position of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat almost became synonymous with a powerful minister, and anyone who dared to hold this position was suspected of rebellion.

What he wanted to replace was the "two offices, three courts and one bureau" system directly under the emperor's control.

The two offices are: the Government Affairs Office and the Imperial Clan Court.

The three academies are: the Privy Council, the Censorate, and the Supreme Court.

One agency: the Royal Statistical Auditor General.

The government administration took overall control of administration, and the six ministries were reorganized.

The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of finance and civil affairs; the Ministry of Works was in charge of infrastructure and industry; the newly added Ministries of Agriculture and Commerce were added; the Ministry of Rites was also in charge of education and diplomacy; and the Ministry of Justice was in charge of judicial administration.

The Minister of the Imperial Secretariat was merely the emperor's chief executive officer, possessing no decision-making power whatsoever, and could only execute imperial decrees without question.

This is called "separation of administration and decision-making" to prevent powerful ministers from becoming too powerful.

...

The Imperial Clan Court managed the affairs of the imperial family and clan, including imperial genealogy, succession of titles and stipends, clan rewards and punishments, and imperial education.

Independent of the outer court system, it was dedicated to handling internal affairs of the imperial family and preventing the imperial family from interfering in politics.

The downfall of dynasties throughout history was partly due to the maternal relatives and eunuchs, and partly due to internal strife within the imperial clan.

The Imperial Clan Court was responsible for keeping its own family members in check and preventing the princes and grandsons from causing trouble.

Liu Ce recalled the tragedies of princes vying for the throne and imperial clansmen causing chaos in politics throughout history, and the Imperial Clan Court was his firewall.

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The Privy Council was in charge of military orders, but not military or political affairs.

Military and political affairs were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War of the State Council.

The Privy Councilor had to be a civil official, and the position was changed every three years. Without the emperor's tiger tally, not even a single soldier could be mobilized.

Soldiers not knowing their generals, and generals not knowing their soldiers—this is the only way to prevent military interference in politics.

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The Censorate conducts independent oversight, and the Court of Judicial Review conducts independent trials.

Local judicial officers were directly appointed by the central government and were not subject to the jurisdiction of local officials.

Major cases were jointly tried by the three judicial departments, but the final decision rested with the emperor.

This will minimize the risk of wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice, and also prevent local officials from disregarding human life.

Judicial independence, within the framework of ancient times, was already at its limit.

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The Supreme People's Court is the highest judicial body in the country, responsible for hearing major cases, reviewing local death penalty judgments, and interpreting legal provisions.

The judiciary is independent and free from interference by administrative and military agencies; it forms a joint trial system with the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice, with major cases being tried jointly by the three parties.

Three checkpoints, three layers of protection.

...

And among all these, the most crucial and indispensable is the Royal Statistical Audit Office, which belongs solely to him.

This is his greatest weapon as a time traveler.

The biggest fatal flaw of ancient dynasties was information asymmetry.

Local officials deceived their superiors and subordinates, falsified population figures, concealed land ownership, and embezzled taxes, all without the central government's knowledge.

By the time the problems accumulate to the point of erupting, it's already too late to salvage the situation.

A county reported 10, 000 households, but there were actually only 5, 000. Where did the tax grain for those 5, 000 households go?

It went into the county magistrate's pocket.

The imperial court was kept in the dark, believing that the world was at peace.

The Royal Statistical Audit Office was directly under the Emperor and not subordinate to any other department.

Liu Ce would personally select the most loyal and meticulous people and train them to become professional statisticians and auditors.

They will travel to every corner of the country, measure every inch of land, count the population of every household, and verify every tax payment.

All data is reported directly to him, bypassing all intermediate steps.

Only with this real data can he truly understand the country and make the right decisions.

Any official's corruption and malpractice will have nowhere to hide in the face of this massive data network.

You're trying to cover this up?

The people at the National Audit Office know better than you how much land and how many people are in the territory you are in charge of.

This is the dimensional reduction attack of information warfare.

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The central government has streamlined things; the next step is for the local governments.

Even a nominal enfeoffment system must never be implemented.

The lessons learned from the Rebellion of the Seven States and the Rebellion of the Eight Princes were too painful.

Liu Bang enfeoffed kings of the same surname, which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States, nearly bringing down the Han Dynasty.

Sima Yan enfeoffed members of the imperial clan, which resulted in the War of the Eight Princes, which directly led to the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty.

The country implements a single-level three-tier system of provinces, prefectures, and counties. Officials at each level are appointed by the central government, serve three-year terms, are not allowed to serve in their place of origin, and are rotated regularly.

Most importantly, the military and government must be completely separated.

Local officials are only in charge of administration, finance, and the judiciary; they cannot have a single soldier under their command.

All local garrisons were directly dispatched by the central government, with generals rotating every three years. The army's logistics and supplies were all provided by the central government, and local requisition of grain was absolutely prohibited.

In this way, even if some generals harbored ulterior motives, they would not be able to cause much trouble due to lack of supplies and base.

The breeding ground for warlordism will be completely eradicated.

Below the county level, a three-tiered system of self-governance is implemented, consisting of township, neighborhood, and village.

The people elected respected elders and village heads to serve as village elders and village leaders, who were responsible for local security, taxation, and education.

This can reduce the government's administrative burden and make people feel that they are part of the country.

Decentralization of power is essential to unleashing the vitality of grassroots communities.

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Then comes the most intractable and crucial issue: land.

Land annexation was the root cause of the demise of all ancient dynasties.

Landlords and powerful families possessed vast amounts of land, causing peasants to lose their land and become displaced people. Unable to survive, they had no choice but to rise up in rebellion.

Why did the Yellow Turban Rebellion break out?

It wasn't because Zhang Jiao possessed any sorcery; it was because the people had no food to eat.

If you have no food to eat, aren't you just waiting to die?

He wants to implement land restriction orders and land equalization orders.

The regulations stipulate that each household can own a maximum of ten mu of land, and any excess land must be redeemed by the state at market price.

Land sales are prohibited; violators will have all their land confiscated.

The state will redeem all the land and unclaimed wasteland and distribute them to landless and land-poor farmers.

Farmers only have the right to use the land, not ownership; the land reverts to the state upon their death.

In this way, farmers would have their own land and would no longer become vagrants.

Those with stable property have stable minds, and the world will naturally be at peace.

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In terms of taxation, the poll tax and all other exorbitant taxes were completely abolished, and the land tax was converted into a system where all taxes were levied based on land area.

The Single Whip Law was implemented, and all taxes were paid in copper coins, abolishing taxes in kind and corvée labor.

The corvée labor system was changed to a wage labor system, where the state paid people to do the work.

This will not only reduce the burden on farmers, but also greatly improve the country's tax revenue efficiency.

Landlords, who owned vast amounts of land, naturally had to pay more taxes.

Their power will be gradually weakened without them even realizing it.

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