bestfiction Chapter 380: Governing the People is Not as Good as Governing the Officials
Chapter 380: Governing the People is Not as Good as Governing the Officials
The area around Huai'an Prefecture was plundered by Hauge, and hundreds of thousands of refugees who lost their homes flocked to Huai'an City.
Huai'an prefect Chen Qi was extremely worried. He did not dare to use military rations on his own and could only open the government warehouse to provide relief to the victims. The food in the government warehouse could only last for half a month. Although this could only alleviate the need temporarily, it was enough to stabilize the people's hearts and avoid greater turmoil.
After opening the granaries to provide relief grain, Chen Qi ordered people to rush to Nanjing on horseback to report to Meng Jun the news that Haoge had wreaked havoc in Huai'an, causing a large number of disaster victims, and hoped that the military granary could be opened to provide relief to the victims.
Chen Qi knew that the way to solve the problem of the disaster victims was to restore production, so he summoned the wealthy families and gentry in the city and explained the reason to them and appealed to their emotions.
In the court, Chen Qi shed tears and said: "The enemy army brutally destroyed Huai'an. The people are living in misery everywhere. They have to eat grass roots and leaves to fill their stomachs. Children and girls cry to each other. The dust from the pots and pans is flying and the smoke from the cooking is gone. It has been difficult to get a meal of porridge for several days. Saving a life is a boundless grace!"
Thanks to Chen Qi's efforts, more than 2,000 dan of grain were raised, which greatly alleviated the pressure on the government.
At the same time, Chen Qi not only distributed food, but also some farm tools, seeds and other items to the victims, and encouraged them to return to their hometowns and rebuild their homes. Although some of the victims were dispersed, there were still tens of thousands of victims gathered outside Huai'an City.
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Huai'an is not far from Jinling. With the help of fast horses, the urgent messenger rushed into Jinling city in less than three days.
In response to the Huai'an prefect's request to first transfer military rations, Meng Jun ordered the shogunate to urgently raise food to supply the front line, and at the same time sent officials from the Inspectorate to Huai'an to inspect the victims and distribute military rations to help them.
Shortly after the officials of the Inspectorate left Nanjing, Zhao Yongping in Jining also sent a victory report, saying that the army had captured Jining.
After Meng Jun received the news that Zhao Yongping used gunpowder to blow up the Jining city wall, he felt a little ashamed. He didn't expect that he, a time traveler, did not blow up the Jinling city wall, but was blown up by Zhao Yongping instead.
Meng Jun then sent someone to order Zhao Yongping to record the process of blasting the Jining city wall in detail and report back to Nanjing.
As for Zhao Yongping's words in his memorial that governing the people is not as good as governing the officials, Meng Jun deeply agreed with it. As the saying goes, the current officials are not as good as the current managers. Although petty officials are not of high rank, they are the lowest tentacles of an empire in governing the world.
In fact, in all dynasties, there were people who were unaware of the power of petty officials, but this issue was too complicated and difficult to deal with. Meng Jun thought about it all night and had some ideas in his mind. Then, early the next morning, he summoned Yang En to discuss it in detail.
Meng Jun said to Yang En: "Mu De, Yong Ping wrote a letter saying that governing the people is not as good as governing the officials. Although the petty officials are not of the imperial rank, it is easy for them to harm the people. I want to bring the officials from all over the country into the imperial system under the county magistrate and the inspector, and unify them under the imperial management."
Upon hearing this, Yang En frowned and thought for a long time before he slowly spoke: "Your Majesty, if this happens, the number of people who receive state salaries will increase dramatically. When the country is first established, it may still be maintained, but after ten, twenty, or even a hundred years, I'm afraid the problem of redundant officials will be far worse than that of the former Song Dynasty!"
Meng Jun shook his head and said, "The salaries of officials can be borne by the local government. Moreover, even if the salaries of officials were not paid by the court before, the local government has always paid for the salaries of minor officials. What I am changing is that the official position can no longer be inherited by the emperor. Or, it can be treated as a temporary official, governed in a different place, and inspected and managed."
Since the position of a petty official can be inherited, a family can pass the position of a petty official to their sons and grandsons. Even if there are no direct descendants, there are still nephews and nieces. Unless the entire family is extinct, the position of a petty official will always be in the family. Therefore, no matter whether it is gentry or merchants, no one is willing to offend petty officials easily, let alone ordinary people.
If you offend the county magistrate, the worst that can happen is that you have to be careful for a few years and outlast the county magistrate. According to the rules of the imperial court, in order to prevent the emergence of local separatist forces, county magistrates, prefects and other local officials can only stay in one place for a maximum of six years.
Although the petty officials have little power, they are all local bosses who know the place well. Once you offend a petty official, your descendants may have a headache. In the process of doing things, all kinds of excuses and obstructions are enough to give people a headache.
Yang En had a headache after hearing this. He sighed and said, "Although the king's idea is good, it is difficult to implement. If you work as a clerk in a different place, not to mention that it is difficult for clerks to be promoted to officials, most people are unwilling to leave their hometowns to work as a clerk. Moreover, clerks are mostly responsible for handling specific local affairs. If they are not familiar with the local area, it may be difficult to implement. Moreover, once they become officials, they spend several years getting familiar with the place. Once they leave, they have to start all over again. If they stay as clerks, won't they be no different from the local clerks?"
Meng Jun also felt that what Yang En said made sense. After thinking for a moment, he said firmly: "It may not be possible to move clerks to other places, but the local minor clerks must not be hereditary. The shogunate should conduct detailed discussions. Minor clerks can be promoted to officials. A system should be put in place for the requirements of promotion and the replacement of clerks. A county under its jurisdiction can also be selected as a pilot. If it is feasible, the scope of implementation can be expanded."
Although the petty officials did not have much power and could not defeat the county magistrate, they could unite and undermine the county magistrate. For example, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, a scholar who had studied hard for more than ten years passed the imperial examination and was assigned to serve as a county magistrate.
This magistrate was a bookish person. Influenced by the wise men of all ages, he was determined to be an honest and good official. Therefore, he was very harsh on the petty officials. As a result, the petty officials began to shirk their responsibilities and were not attentive in handling various official duties. The collection of money and grain was very unfavorable. As a result, the magistrate received poor performance in the performance appraisals for three consecutive years. Finally, he was demoted by the Ministry of Personnel.
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Datong, Shanxi.
Outside the city, in the Qing army camp.
Dorgon had surrounded Datong. After Zhao Yongping's Northern Expedition, Dorgon could no longer hold back and tentatively launched an attack on Datong City. However, this city was even more fortified than Jining. Dorgon suffered heavy casualties and retreated without success.
After three days of fierce artillery bombardment, the city of Datong remained standing. The infantry attack lasted only one day before Dorgon could bear it any longer. More than 2,000 Green Camp soldiers in the north were killed or wounded, and more than 600 people from the Eight Banners were killed. As for Jiang Xiang of Datong, he defended the city with ease and without any pressure.
Dorgon had no choice but to continue to lock the city until Wang Gang died in the city and the generals in Xuzhou surrendered without a fight, which made Dorgon even more uneasy.
Another urgent report came from Tianjin. The Zhou army at sea used the navy to transport infantry to land and surrounded the city of Tianjin. There were three shocks in Beijing in one day. The empress dowager issued imperial decrees and mobilized more than a thousand Solon soldiers from outside the Great Wall. She also ordered the capital to be under martial law. Even the strong women among the Eight Banners families were armed. Several waves of messengers were sent to Datong for three days to ask for help from the regent Dorgon.