Chapter 2726 The Most Complicated Human Heart

The autumn wind is gradually tightening, and the temperature is getting colder day by day.

Fei Qian also felt that there seemed to be a bit more chill in his heart.

Although in the feudal dynasty, one life, or even hundreds or even thousands of lives, was not a big deal in many cases, Fei Qian still felt uncomfortable.

Because Fei potential was once one of these numbers that could be ignored in future generations.

Even now that Fei Qian is in this position and understands that certain things need to be looked at from a macro perspective, he still can't forget that he was held back and averaged back then, so he was much better than other big Han people. Some experience from the bottom.

Fei Qian understood that the Chinese people's standards, or requirements, for officials were very low. Even ordinary people did not need officials to do anything. No matter how big a project they were, they only needed officials to not arbitrarily charge fees or apportion. If you work hard and do not waste money or people, you can be called a "good official".

It's like people like Kong Rong, who don't know how to deal with people's livelihood and government affairs, and don't know how to maintain peace and security for the people. They just need to do nothing and not disturb the people, and they can already get praise from the people. Think about it. , this is such a helpless but ridiculous thing...

But even with such low requirements, officials can repeatedly break through the bottom line.

And year after year, the bottom line is pulled lower and lower.

There is not much difference between Fei Qian and Xun You Kanze in their understanding of the Western Regions.

There were indeed some problems in the Western Regions under Lu Bu's leadership.

Even because of these problems, some people have died, and even more people will die.

"Counsellor Zhiyin Supervisor Wang..." Fei Qian searched his mind for the recorded impression of Counselor Zhiyin Supervisor, but unfortunately, he could not recall anything.

"Arrange the personnel first, and give the person's family a pension according to the general personnel who died in the line of duty..." Fei Qian said to Xun You, "The specific merits and demerits will be added after the Western Regions..."

Xun You cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to my lord, this person is from Shandong. His family fell into decline. He moved to Hedong to study, and later went to Chang'an for reference... He has no family records in Sanfu Hedong. If... he can only send people to Shandong to find... …』

Xun You is the chief steward, and he is more familiar with these people than Fei Qian. Moreover, even if Xun You cannot remember them, he can still check the files kept at the Shangshu Desk.

Fei Qian sighed slightly, "Then we have to send someone." 』

Xun You agreed.

When facing the waves of the times, everyone is like a small wave in the sea, rolling and disappearing without knowing when. Perhaps Counselor Wang once longed to rely on his own efforts to change his destiny, build a family, and live happily. Then his hopes and dreams quietly dissipated in the wind and sand of the Western Region.

"Tell me, what should you do?" Don't worry, just say whatever comes to mind. Fei Qian asked after watching Xun You and Kan Ze think for a while.

Of course Fei Qian did not ask Xun You or Kan Ze to lead soldiers to attack Lu Bu.

Military generals have their own battlefields, and civilian officials also have their own battlefields.

Isn't there an old saying that if military generals are not afraid of death and civil servants are not corrupt, then the court will naturally be very good.

Comparing death and corruption can also prove from the side that government administration is actually a major issue about life and death.

The issue of how to deal with the administration of officials that Fei Qian raised was not completely unexplored by anyone in the past dynasties. China is actually the leader in many aspects, and has been the leader for thousands of years, and then fell behind at a certain stage...

In the early Han Dynasty, China had already put forward further requirements for the assessment of officials. Even Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty stated that he was actually ruling the world together with the good ministers of Erqianshi, and formulated the "Shangzhi" and "Supervision" and other systems.

At that time, the central government set up the Chief of Planning to be in charge of the superior planning of the county and state, and the prefecture and state set up the Chief of Planning and Planning to be in charge of the superior planning of the local government. According to the "Book of Han" records, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun once "challenged the prime minister and the censor to ask the chief accountant of the prefecture and the country and the chief minister about the success and failure of the government orders." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che divided the country into thirteen prefectures in the fifth year of Yuanfeng. Each prefecture had a governor who was responsible for supervising the compliance of orders by counties and states. The Han Dynasty formally established a national supervision system.

The subsequent feudal dynasties also had more detailed rules for the assessment of officials...

So, does it mean that the emperor has no idea what his officials are doing?

In fact, it is not, otherwise there would be no need for successive dynasties to strengthen the requirements for official governance and improve the evaluation system for officials. Most of the time, as long as the emperor is more or less sensible and understands some things, he basically hates the obedience of his officials.

In fact, the fundamental problem in officialdom lies in class interests and the bad nature of the feudal dynasty.

The emperor's basic interest is the world and the popular support of all people. As for the bureaucracy that assists the left emperor, they don't care what the world does, and the world is not their home...

So what should we do?

Fei Qian himself had some ideas, but he gave the question to Xun You and Kan Ze first.

Kan Ze was silent for a moment and said: "According to what I see, today's officials' questioning of matters is superficial. There is neither on-the-spot verification nor test and comparison strategies. Therefore, officials have no worries and mostly take chances." Therefore, we should implement the method of examination, formulate a system, declare it clearly in the court, and inform the people in the countryside, so that the officials know their responsibilities and the people know their system. Everyone above and below will examine themselves and depose them. 』

Kan Ze further elaborated, saying that the court should set up a special supervisory agency to be responsible for the assessment of officials in various places, such as dividing it into prefectures and counties, and being responsible for monitoring the administrative effectiveness of prefectures and counties. At the same time, the requirements for serving as an official are further clarified, and are considered in terms of "morality, prudence, public and private affairs, diligence" and other aspects. On the one hand, it focuses on the achievements of the official while in office, and on the other hand, the moral integrity of the official must also be considered.

And the assessment is divided into local assessment, that is, the preliminary examination, which can be presided over by the local governor or department head. It mainly assesses the merits and demerits of the year. The assessment director must announce the assessment results in public, publicly evaluate the merits, grade the performance, etc., and then conduct the assessment. The results were reported to the court.

The court will also conduct re-examinations, which are divided into fixed examinations and unscheduled examinations. The fixed examination is held once every three years, and the school examination is conducted in conjunction with the above plan. The irregular test is to send personnel to go deep into the local area to understand the actual situation and verify whether the local reports are true...

Fei Qian pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, but did not say yes or no, but looked at Xun You.

Xun You stroked his beard and seemed to be still thinking about something.

Fei Qian did not rush to urge, but waited quietly.

After a while, Xun You bowed his hands to Fei Qian as a courtesy, and then said: "I think that if the Lord wants to treat the disease before he is ill, it should be more important than before the official takes office." In the early Han Dynasty, filial piety and honesty were regarded as talents, which led to the rise of exaggeration and many people who did not live up to their reputation. This was the cause of the ills. Now my lord is practicing scientific research to eliminate this cause, and the disadvantages will be eliminated. But the current chaos in the Western Regions is caused by local responsibilities, just like the shortcomings of filial piety and integrity. One is no commission, the other is no responsibility, the responsibilities are not determined, and the duties are not clear. How can there be no reason for chaos? Therefore, I ask the lord to establish the official law, assign chief officials, control the awards, assess merits and demerits, evaluate the performance, and evaluate the officials before, during and after their appointment, so as to encourage the good and punish the mediocre. 』

Xun You said that after Fei Qian promoted the scientific examination and changed from "appointment of names" to "appointment of abilities", it was necessary to strengthen the control of officials and strengthen the management of officials from the front, middle and back aspects.

Before an official takes office, his character should be investigated and records should be kept for future reference. At the same time, before taking office, the local chief officer should interview him, observe his words and deeds, and make corresponding records. If problems arise during the official's term of office, the investigators and local officials will need to make corresponding inspections and bear certain penalties based on the culpability of the offending official.

In the appointment of officials, those with outstanding political performance will be given priority, those with poor performance will be given the middle grade, and those who are slack in handling matters will be given the lowest grade. Punishment methods such as promotion, promotion, and dismissal will be given respectively. This is somewhat similar to the previous assessment, but Xun You proposed that the biggest change during the term is that not all officials can serve for the full term. If there are major problems during the assessment during the term, they should be removed and their adjutants can temporarily take over. Performance will be recorded in the adjutant's assessment. After expiration, the adjutant will also face the result of "promotion and exemption from third grade".

Finally, Xun You elaborated that officials after office were equally important. Officials who serve in local areas cannot just walk away after taking office. They must establish a local chronicle system, that is, record what officials have done in the local area and what achievements or consequences they have achieved. You should write about saving people, and you should also write about killing people. After all, the merits and demerits will be judged by future generations, and predecessors will not dare to go too far. After all, most people still want to be shameless.

As for a small number of people, just punish them directly. After all, as Fei Qian said before, focus on prevention first, but you will still get sick. If you are sick, just take medicine and have surgery according to your condition.

Fei Qian smiled and nodded.

In fact, the suggestions put forward by Kan Ze and Xun You also have their own personal characteristics.

Kan Ze mainly focused on inspection, while Xun You said that the most important thing was to serve. The plans proposed by the two people were based on their thinking on the administration of officials, and their suggested solutions were also operational.

After listening to the two people's suggestions, Fei Qian thought for a while, and then said: "At the time when Qiu Huo was about to make a plan, he revised the official administration in the name of verifying the plan, and issued official documents first to participate in the court of law... By the way, Gongda, didn’t the Law Council just happen to lose its primary responsibility? 』

Xun You understood Fei Qian's meaning almost immediately, "My lord, do you mean to test the administration of officials in the name of participating in the law?" 』

Fei Qian smiled and nodded, "The Chancellery issued an official document, asking officials from all over the country to state their suggestions... He is responsible for participating in the legal academy to offer wine, participate in laws, etc., discuss the matter, formulate laws, improve standards, and select the best ones. You can pretend to be a member of the Legal Academy until the expiration of the term..."

Fei Qian said slowly: "The official examination must be complete first." Now we can first focus on the states and counties, define their laws, clarify their standards, and regulate their methods, so that officials know how to take exams, how well they perform in exams, grade them, and measure government performance. Prepare before the exam, record the exam, and report after the exam. 』

Fei Qian had also dealt with administrative issues for a period of time before, but most of that period was based on the autumn harvest and autumn poems. The content of the assessment is mainly tax issues, or issues related to tax, such as people's livelihood, agriculture, mulberry, water conservancy, roads, etc. On the one hand, at that time, the tax issue was the most important and the main contradiction faced by Fei Qian. On the other hand, most of the official assessments in the Han Dynasty were also based on this matter. The implementation of tax assessments was basically useless. Will it cause any unexpected backlash from local officials and squires?

After all, even if it wasn't Fei Qian, could it be that someone else would not have to pay taxes?

Therefore, the implementation of the official administration assessment at that time was actually not too difficult. Most people were wondering whether their own tax standards were high, whether the number of other counties and townships was low, and whether they should have this standard or not. It's about whether or not to take this assessment, and basically there's no big opinion.

But now it's different. It doesn't just refer to Qiu Fu, but also to daily conduct. Completing the taxation task of the court does not mean that you can do whatever you want in the place. After paying the court's money and food, it does not mean that you can spend the rest. This will naturally cause some people to feel uncomfortable and may even feel that it violates their interests.

Just like the Western Region.

In the traditional concept of the Han Dynasty, local officials are the local lords. And if you want to break this concept, it does not mean that you can change the person in charge. What is more important is to change your mind and change this concept...

Therefore, the first step is to promote changes in the mindset of state and county officials.

And this change does not mean that they immediately make a 180-degree change, but that they push forward gently and slowly, so that they can't even feel it, as if they are going forward themselves. Same step.

Did Fei Qian immediately make high demands?

not at all.

On the surface, the prefects of each county are still the chief officials. They now have one more job. They are responsible for the assessment of local officials. Of course, this is the same as their previous work, but the difference is that their assessment is no longer just In order to take responsibility for myself, I also need to report it.

Clear requirements must be reported.

The key point is this "reporting".

How is it assessed, what is assessed, and what are the results.

These contents may not seem important, but they are actually crucial.

Xun You's eyes moved slightly, as if he thought of something...

Sure enough, Fei Qian continued, "Secondly, there should be dedicated personnel for assessment." Taking the Yushitai as a template, a merit examination department was set up to handle the examination of officials, with directors, doctors, foreign doctors, etc., dedicated to reviewing merit examinations. 』

There was originally a Yushitai in the Han Dynasty, which was also responsible for the assessment of officials. However, the Yushitai was relatively more prestigious, so it was renamed the Kao Gongsi. Different from the original Yushitai, the Yushi has the responsibility of impeachment. Although there is also a merit examination department, it only has the authority to assess the performance and conduct of officials. The other supervisory powers and the authority to spy on rumors are in the Youwen Division. .

Neither Xun You nor Kan Ze were surprised by this arrangement.

After all, both of them have just said that the assessment of officials is very important. To strengthen management in this area, of course, a more efficient organization is needed. So is there any more effective method than dedicating dedicated personnel to full-time work?

Xun You asked Fei Qian for his opinion on the chief executive of Yu Kao Gong Department.

Fei Qian thought for a while and said that the magistrates and magistrates of the surrounding counties of Sanfu, Chang'an, who have excellent performance and are about to expire their term will be selected and evaluated on the basis of merit.

Xun You also said that Fei Qian's decision was a wise one, and said that once the news is released, many people will be excited...

Fei Qian smiled.

Xun You also smiled.

Kan Ze looked around, and then felt a little enlightened.

"Third," Fei Qian said about the third aspect, "The local chronicles mentioned by Gongda are a good strategy. Assessment matters should be publicly reviewed, and local chronicle matters should also be made public. In the past, assessments were only made after the term of office expired, so the time limit was inevitably lengthy. Adding years to local ambitions can make up for the shortcomings..."

Assessments are made public, and local chronicles are also made public.

The matter of making assessments public existed in the early Han Dynasty.

There is a word in the Han Dynasty called "public review", which is in the form of a meeting. The examiner asks various questions to the officials being evaluated, and the officials being evaluated must answer them in front of the audience. The examiner then combines the annual results submitted by the officials previously submitted. Summarize reports and other relevant written materials, and determine the assessment levels.

Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, personally "summoned the county planners to inquire about their customs" and "publicly comment" many times to evaluate the quality of the county officials' work. Emperor Guangwu took the lead to set an example, and county governors and other local officials naturally evaluated subordinate officials in the same way. Public evaluation of officials became a trend within a period of time in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later, the Eastern Han emperor became lazy, and local officials became equally lazy.

Fei Qian has also said before that as an official, there will be evaluation after the term is completed. If the consecutive terms are not good, or major problems occur during a certain term, it will be like a posthumous title, and the official will be followed. Commentary, but China has a problem, that is, it is too friendly to bad people and too harsh to good people.

Of course, this was not the original intention of Master Confucius. The original intention was just to persuade people to be good. In order to make more "bad people" become good, they said that as long as "the prodigal son returns, he will not be able to exchange for gold", but it is only "not for gold". He did not say that he was "not guilty", but some people People have distorted and exploited it.

So on the one hand, Fei Qian has not been in power for too long, and no official has ever been given an "evil posthumous title". On the other hand, many corrupt officials are also very cunning, and they will use some tricks, like At the beginning of the year, he would silently embezzle money and use it for other purposes. At the end of the year, he only spent two small sums of money to send a few farmers to repair water conservancy, and the whole city knew about it.

He first did bad things when he took office, and then did good things when his term was about to end, and then the people were inexplicably grateful. They felt that they had influenced bad people and became good people. In order to make themselves more moved, they praised the official well, because this was the only one Only good officials can prove that their efforts over the years are effective and enjoyable...

Open local chronicles will avoid this problem to a certain extent.

For example, if you write about repairing water conservancy, you worked on it for one, two, or three years, and then you left office and still haven’t finished it. What does that mean?

If it is not announced every year and is only recorded roughly, then in the end the official's resume may show that he paid attention to water conservancy and made achievements in repairs, but in reality?

Moreover, the local chronicles suggested by Xun You happen to be a point that Fei Qian values ​​​​very much. It may also bring some new vitality and inject some new vitality into China's chaotic and cyclical bureaucratic structure...