Chương 473: discusses this again.

His mission was not to become an emperor who was unprecedented and unparalleled throughout history.

It's not about having everyone sing his praises, nor about having his name forever etched in history.

His mission is to establish a system that can operate and improve itself.

A system that will not collapse due to the incompetence of the emperor, nor perish due to the usurpation of power by powerful ministers, and that can achieve long-term stability and sustainable development.

He wanted to personally end that vicious cycle of history that repeats itself every three hundred years.

He wanted to make Chinese civilization shine even brighter in his hands.

A century from now, when his descendants stand before his tomb, they will not be proud of him for being a great emperor, but rather of the free, equal, prosperous, and powerful nation he built.

Only then can he truly rest in peace.

Liu Ce took a deep breath and turned back to his desk.

He picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote four large characters on a blank sheet of rice paper:

"The world belongs to all."

The brushstrokes are vigorous and powerful, penetrating the paper.

These four words represent both his ideal and his promise.

...

A few days later, in the council hall of the Prince of Yan's residence.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Jia Xu, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Shen Pei, Chen Gong, Xu Shu, Cheng Yu, and others chatted amongst themselves, and soon the ground was littered with crumpled draft papers.

From the Three Departments and Six Ministries system to the imperial examination system, from local systems to military systems, and from laws to taxes, these top strategists who followed Liu Ce in conquering the world were now arguing like middle-aged women in a vegetable market, rolling up their sleeves and banging on the table, none of them willing to concede to the others.

"I still think the Three Departments and Six Ministries system is the best! With clear division of powers and responsibilities and mutual checks and balances, there definitely won't be any problems!"

Fang Xuanling held a brush and drew a diagram of the three provinces on paper, so anxious that he almost broke the brush handle.

"No, no!" Xun Yu immediately retorted, snatching the brush and drawing a large X on the paper.

"The Ministry of Personnel has too much power! What if a powerful minister like Huo Guang emerges? Who can check and balance him? Wouldn't we be repeating the mistakes of the past, having worked so hard to build this empire? Huo Guang could depose emperors; who knows if someone else will emerge capable of usurping the throne?"

"Then what do you suggest? We can't expect our lord to do everything by himself, can we? Our lord isn't made of iron; there are only twelve hours in a day!"

"We can split up the power of the Ministry of Personnel! Separate administration and finance, and set up a separate supervisory agency..." Xun Yu became more and more excited as he spoke, and drew a messy structural diagram on the paper, which looked like a spider web.

The two were arguing fiercely when Cheng Yu slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacups to jump and spill tea all over the table.

"Stop arguing about the official system! Explain the law first! The laws of the previous dynasty were a joke! Too lenient on the gentry and too harsh on the common people! I suggest that anyone who embezzles more than one thousand coins should be exiled; anyone who embezzles more than ten thousand coins should be executed immediately! Moreover, there should be collective punishment; family members who know about it but fail to report it should be punished the same way!"

"It's too strict, too strict!"

Xu Shu quickly waved his hand, his face looking as if he had eaten a bitter melon.

"If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. If we judge all officials like this, we'll kill them all! Who will work for the court then? We still need to leave some room for maneuver and give people a way out."

"Leaving room for maneuver? It's precisely because too much room for maneuver that there are so many corrupt officials!"

Cheng Yu puffed out his beard, glared, and said, his face turning bright red:

"Back then, which of those powerful clans didn't take advantage of loopholes in the law to oppress the people? Today they forcibly seize fertile land, tomorrow they abduct women, and the day after tomorrow they drive people to their deaths. Which law could control them?"

This time we must be ruthless and make an example of them! If we don't, they won't learn their lesson!

"Even if we're ruthless, we can't just use a blanket approach!" Xu Shu argued.

"If someone embezzles a thousand coins, they're exiled. What about someone who embezzles a hundred coins? Are they also exiled? What kind of officials are there then?"

"One hundred coins? One hundred coins is still greed! It's the people's hard-earned money! You'll still be exiled!"

The two argued until their faces turned red and their necks were thick with anger, and Tian Feng and Ju Shou, who were standing nearby, also joined the fray.

While the legal arguments were raging on one side, Tian Feng and Ju Shou were arguing about the official selection system on the other.

"The recommendation system must be completely abolished! It's all about powerful families recommending each other; there's no chance for poor families to rise in society!"

Tian Feng was so excited that he stood up, almost tipping his chair over.

"Look at the court now, how many are from humble backgrounds? Nine out of ten are scions of powerful families! We must implement the imperial examination system, regardless of background, selecting only those with talent!"

"No! The country has just been pacified, and you can't find one literate person out of ten! We have to rely entirely on the imperial examinations, and those selected are mostly from aristocratic families!"

Ju Shou retorted, his voice equally loud, "I suggest that the imperial examination and the recommendation system be implemented concurrently for ten years as a transitional period. Once official schools are established in various regions and children from poor families have access to education, the recommendation system can be gradually abolished. This is called a gradual approach, not a one-size-fits-all solution!"

"Ten years? Ten years is too long! Those scions of powerful families have already filled all the official positions!"

"But we can't rush it! Haste makes waste! Look at Wang Mang, he was too hasty, which is why he threw the country into chaos!"

Guo Jia, fanning himself with a feather fan, leisurely added insult to injury from the sidelines, his tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude:

"Stop arguing, everyone. Think about the local system first! The governors of the previous dynasty had too much power, controlling both military and political affairs, which eventually led to the fragmentation of the country into warlord states."

If this problem isn't solved, all our arguments today will be for nothing! When we die, our descendants will be fighting amongst themselves again.

"That's right!" Chen Gong nodded immediately, his finger slamming heavily on the map.

"I suggest abolishing the governorship of the prefectures and implementing a two-tiered system of prefectures and counties. Local officials would only be responsible for administration, while all military power would be centralized in the central government! Only by centralizing power can we prevent local separatism."

"What if something happens there? We can't always wait for the central government to send troops, can we?" Shen Pei frowned and voiced his objection.

"It would take half a month to travel from Luoyang to Jiaozhou, even at the fastest horse. By the time the central government's troops arrive, it will be too late. I think we can retain the prefecture level, but separate the military and the government."

The governor was in charge of supervision, the prefecture-general of administration, and the commandant-in-chief of military affairs; these three powers were separated and mutually supervised. This ensured both rapid response and prevented the concentration of power.

They argued back and forth like this from sunrise to sunset. When Dian Wei brought in the food, he was chased out by the crowd.

"Go away! Can't you see we're busy? We'll eat after we're done arguing!" Cheng Yaojin waved his hand to shoo Dian Wei away, but his eyes were fixed on the map on the table, and he still had half a piece of beef jerky in his mouth.

"I think the military system needs to be reformed! The militia system was good, but its combat effectiveness declined too quickly! Farming in peacetime and fighting in wartime, where would they find the time to train? We should establish a professional military system, so that soldiers can serve their entire lives, focusing solely on combat training!"