Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 123 Six Departments Become Nine Departments, Invitation from Li Shanchang
Lao Zhu is very dedicated to acting.

He pretended to flip through Liu Kuan's memorial before placing it on the desk and saying, "Vice-Lord Liu's suggestions for reforming the six ministries are indeed interesting. Crown Prince, please read them to the other ministers."

"Yes."

Zhu Biao responded and went to get the memorial. He stood beside the emperor, facing Xu Da, Li Shanchang and other ministers, and read it slowly.

Zhu Biao had also read this memorial in advance. Although his acting skills were not as natural as Zhu's, they were still up to standard. When he read it, it was as if he was seeing the contents for the first time.

When Zhu Biao's clear voice fell in the hall, all the ministers present also knew the contents of the memorial.

Xu Da and Li Shanchang were not so surprised by the contents of the memorial because Zhu Yuanzhang had informed them either openly or secretly.

It was different for cabinet ministers such as Liu Zhongzhi and Zhao Minwang. They all looked surprised at this moment.

Zhao Minwang glanced back at Liu Kuan, who stood behind him with his head lowered, and thought to himself, "How can these be just one or two suggestions? They're clearly several. It's like chopping off the six ministries in half, gutting them, and dismembering them!"
Among the original six ministries, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War were fine and there were not many major changes.

The Ministry of Industry simply added an Industry Department after adding the Science and Technology Department, saying that it was specifically responsible for managing places like the Liuhe Iron and Steel Plant and the Qinglongshan Coal Plant that had successfully transformed from state-run to state-operated.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice were the worst off, looking as if their intestines had been ripped open and dismembered.

The original Ministry of Revenue was divided into three parts: the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Taxation, and the Ministry of Finance.

The new Ministry of Revenue had greatly reduced powers and was only responsible for matters such as land, household registration, minerals, and forests.

Although it was still responsible for collecting land tax, the right to collect adult tax, commercial tax, customs tax and miscellaneous taxes was transferred to the Ministry of Taxation.

As for the Ministry of Finance, it is responsible for coordinating financial matters with the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Taxation, the Salt Transport Bureau, and institutions such as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and is responsible for the revenue, expenditure, and auditing of the Ming Dynasty's finances.

The Ministry of Justice suffered a similar fate, being split into the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Police.

However, the powers of the upper echelons of the Ministry of Justice did not change much. The only difference was that the former Ministry of Justice prison was handed over to the Chief of Police.

Its main reforms are at the local level.

Originally, if there was a case at the local level, the county magistrate, county magistrate, chief clerk, and registrar would all be responsible for hearing it, while ordinary disputes among the people could be handled by the clerks and clerks in the criminal department.

It can be said that both the county magistrate and the criminal clerk can intervene.

As for solving the case, the county magistrate, the criminal justice clerks and even the constables can all do it.

Such confusion of powers and responsibilities not only gives officials opportunities to engage in corruption and favoritism in cases, but also leads to confusion of responsibilities and reduces the efficiency of solving and trying cases.

According to the reform suggestions in Liu Kuan's memorial, local prefectures, counties and cities will add police stations and appoint one patrol chief and one patrol judge.

The fast squad among the three squads of yamen runners was renamed as patrol officers and was placed under the jurisdiction of the police station along with the local inspection office and county prison.

At the same time, the power of the criminal department was fixed in the hands of the Dianshi, and the county officials such as the county magistrate only had the right to know about the case, but no longer had the right to try the case.

Moreover, the criminal justice department and the police department will be directly managed by the criminal justice department and the police department of the next higher level. Although they are still under the management of the local chief officials, they are mainly directly managed by the orders of the superiors.

Each provincial government will abolish the Ministry of Justice's Office of Clearing Officials and establish a Criminal Department and a Police Department to specifically manage criminal and police affairs under its jurisdiction.
After Zhu Biao put away the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What do you think of Vice Minister Liu's proposal to reform the six ministries?"

Upon hearing this, several cabinet ministers subconsciously looked at Xu Da and Li Shanchang, but saw that the two men were calm and had no intention of speaking. They immediately understood that the two men probably knew the contents of the memorial in advance.

At that time, those who were able to become cabinet ministers were all considered to be knowledgeable, experienced, and quick-witted.

Although they guessed that Zhu Yuanzhang might have intended to reform the system of the six ministries according to the contents of this memorial, there were some issues that they had to raise as ministers.

Zhao Minwang, who had been one of the four assistant officials, spoke first, but he looked at Liu Kuan and said, "Excuse me, Vice Minister Liu, since you proposed splitting the Ministry of Revenue into three parts, and the household registration authority still belongs to the Ministry of Revenue, why did you transfer the power of the Ding tax to the Ministry of Taxation?"

"Tax collection is inherently difficult. Ding tax collection relies on the household registration system. If you separate household registration management from Ding tax collection, won't it be even more difficult to collect Ding tax?"

Liu Kuan did not speak because Zhu Biao spoke first.

"This isn't a problem in my opinion. The local household registration office manages household registration, and the tax office is responsible for collecting taxes. All you need to do before collecting taxes is to go to the household registration office to borrow the yellow book and copy down the household registration figures."

"Furthermore, many local household registration officials have abused their power to engage in corruption and personal gain. Separating the responsibilities of household registration and the poll tax will only allow the two to hold each other hostage."

"Even if the household registration office and the tax office collude to commit corruption and seek personal gain, it will be more difficult than before, and the possibility of being exposed will be greater."

After saying this, Zhu Biao smiled and asked, "Does Grand Secretary Zhao have any other questions about Vice Minister Liu's memorial?"

Zhu Biao is now very popular among the civil officials in the court, and several cabinet ministers have high hopes for him. They never expected that this time he not only supports the reform of the six ministries, but also protects Liu Kuan.

Although Zhao Minwang still felt that doing so would lead to the problem of redundant personnel, he knew that it was useless to talk about it, so he bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for clarification. I have no further questions."

Zhu Biao nodded.

In fact, the division of the power of the capitation tax to the tax department was the result of a discussion between the emperor and his ministers. What he just said were superficial reasons. The real reason was that Liu Kuan proposed the policy of "spreading the capitation tax among the acres of land" at that time.

When he and his father heard it, they knew that this policy would benefit the poor people, promote population growth, and also have some effect in suppressing land annexation, so they naturally liked it very much.

However, considering that the reform of the six ministries had not been completed, it was not appropriate to bring up this matter at this time, so Liu Kuan omitted it from the memorial.

As for him coming out to speak for Liu Kuan, it was also agreed upon beforehand.

In his and his father's eyes, Liu Kuan should just concentrate on his work and should not get involved in court disputes.

Zhu Biao originally thought that his support for the reform of the six ministries would silence the other cabinet ministers.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhongzhi stood up again.

Liu Zhongzhi turned directly to Zhu Biao and said, "Your Highness, I believe that if the trials of local cases are left solely to the prefects, it will easily lead to false convictions and wrongful convictions, which is inappropriate."

Zhu Biao said, "Why not? Since the case has been assigned to the Dianshi, if there is a miscarriage of justice, the Dianshi can be held responsible." "Besides, the Dianshi is not without supervision. The magistrate, the county magistrate, and the chief clerk all have the right to know about the case, and the criminal clerk as his deputy can also supervise."

"In addition, major cases, homicide cases, and important cases all need to be reported to higher authorities for verification and finalization. If there are any false or wrongful convictions, they will be easily exposed."

"If all else fails, there are still inspectors who can clear up the mess. If the people have solid evidence, they can even arrest corrupt officials and bring them to the capital to file a complaint."

"All of these measures can reduce the possibility of wrongful convictions. Why must a few county officials be involved?"

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Liu Zhongzhi realized that Zhu Biao did not just support the reform of the six ministries. He was afraid that the content of Liu Kuan's memorial had been discussed with him in advance.

He couldn't find any other shortcomings at the moment, so he bowed and returned to his original seat.

The two cabinet ministers were defeated one after another, and the other cabinet ministers could not find any fault with the memorial, so they all fell silent.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Since the ministers have no objections to Vice Minister Liu's memorial to reform the six ministries, let us take this opportunity today to brainstorm and discuss how to implement the detailed process of converting the six ministries into nine."

As this informal imperial meeting continued and the discussion began on some specific contents of the reforms in various departments, Liu Kuan finally spoke a few words.

Time passed unconsciously.

By the time Liu Kuan and others came out of Fengxian Hall, it seemed to be dark, but the meeting had lasted for nearly two hours!

At the end of the meeting, not only did the detailed method of changing the six ministries into nine ministries be determined, but also, at the instruction of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Tongzhengsi was reformed.

The Tongzhengsi will be upgraded to Tongzhengyuan, with one Yuanshi, one Yuancheng, and one Yuanpan.

It is under the jurisdiction of the Chengjin Department, the Yichuan Department, and the Transportation Department.

Among them, Chengjinsi and Yichuansi simply reorganized the original functions of Tongzhengsi and changed their names.

Chengjinsi even existed during the Tang and Song dynasties, commonly known as Yintai. It was the Yichuansi, which was also a subordinate agency of the Tongzhengyuan in the Yuan Dynasty.

Only the Ministry of Communications was a truly newly established agency. Liu Kuan had originally envisioned ten ministries in his Six Ministries reform proposal, with the last one being the Ministry of Communications. Zhu Yuanzhang rejected the proposal, and thus the Ministry of Communications of the Tongzheng Yuan came into being.

···
When Liu Kuan came out of the Meridian Gate, a cool "goose feather" suddenly fell on the tip of his nose.

"Snowing."

Liu Kuan looked up at the sky and murmured to himself, thinking of his parents, brother and sister-in-law.

"My sister-in-law should have given birth, but I don't know if it's a nephew or a niece."

Just as Liu Kuan was standing in the heavy snow with his head raised, missing his family, a carriage rumbled out of the Forbidden City and stopped beside Liu Kuan.

There were not many people who could ride horses or cars in the Forbidden City. The princes could only ride horses. As for those who could ride in cars or sedan chairs, they were only old ministers with outstanding achievements such as Xu Da and Li Shanchang.

Sure enough, the car window opened, revealing an old face with gray hair.

It was Li Shanchang, Duke of Korea.

"Prince Consort Liu is going to the Ministry of Works, right? I'm on my way, would you mind getting in your car for a ride?"

"Are you on your way? Do you think I don't know where your home is? Unless you're not going home."

Liu Kuan muttered to himself, but smiled and said, "Thank you, Duke Hanguo, for your kindness. It's rare for me to encounter such heavy snowfall, and I'd like to take a walk in the snow."

A flash of disappointment passed across Li Shanchang's face, and then he smiled and said, "Prince Consort Liu is in such a refined mood, I won't bother you any longer."

After saying that, he closed the window and the carriage rumbled away again.

Liu Kuan looked at Li Shanchang's carriage thoughtfully.

He suspected that Li Shanchang wanted him to get on the carriage and ask him something - on the Double Ninth Festival, Li Qi watched three movies with him and listened to him talk about so many things, so he would definitely tell Li Shanchang after returning.

Therefore, Li Shanchang was probably certain of his identity as a later generation.

Since we know that he is a person from the future, who would not want to know about his own affairs after his death?

"Since I know your fate, why would I get involved with you?"

"But given Old Li's intelligence, he wouldn't have judged from my attitude that his ending was not going to be good, right?"

Although he thought so, Liu Kuan was not worried at all.

Seeing that the heavy snow was getting heavier and heavier, and would soon turn his hair white, he quickened his pace and walked towards the Ministry of Industry compound...
It didn't take long.

Two more carriages drove out of the Forbidden City from Donghua Gate, passed Chaoyang Gate and Shangfang Bridge, and arrived at Huaishuli, where the poorest people were the most in the southwest area of ​​the outer city.

The carriage stopped a few dozen steps away from the locust tree. A young man in a sable fur coat got off the carriage, and then teams of royal soldiers drove into the locust tree to clear the area and check for danger.

Not long after, the general who had gone to check for danger came back and said something to the young man with a fist salute.

The young man then brought a few followers and carried a few things and walked to a small farmyard at the edge of the locust tree.

It is called a small courtyard, but in fact it is just surrounded by a fence, with only two thatched houses inside.

The young man walked in and came to the main room, where he saw a man lying on the bed, wrapped in a thin blanket and shivering.

The man looked over at the sound and saw the young man was delighted at first, then he thought of something and wrapped himself tightly in the quilt. He turned his back to the young man and said in a sarcastic tone, "What are you doing here, Crown Prince? Are you here to laugh at me?"

　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)