Chapter 476: The 12th Year of the Qingli Period, Another New Deal

The New Year of the 12th year of the Qingli Period of the Song Dynasty had just passed, and in January, a series of new policies arrived as expected.

The court issued decrees through various means.

And newspapers became the only channel for most ordinary people to obtain information.

January 26th.

It was not long after the New Year holiday, the Tiansheng Festival holiday, and the Yuan Festival holiday that a series of new policy news came out.

Yesterday, that is, on the morning of the 25th, after the court meeting ended, the Political System Institute issued the edicts with the emperor's jade seal and the signature of the Political System Institute to various places.

Such a new policy is naturally not to write all the contents on a piece of paper and then publish it.

Instead, the corresponding orders are specifically issued to the corresponding departments.

For example, if the court wants to reform the education system, then the content in this regard will be issued to the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Education will actually implement it.

The Political System Institute will be responsible for supervision and management, urging them to implement the policy as soon as possible.

In fact, such small changes are made every year, such as judicial reform.

The criminal law is a process of continuous improvement, and patches must be made at all times to prevent criminal suspects from finding loopholes.

Only this year is a large-scale centralized change, which can be said to be a major round of comprehensive reform.

Almost on the morning of the 25th, after the court meeting ended and the decree was issued, all relevant departments received the reform implementation draft and opinion draft.

The reason for the implementation draft and opinion draft is that some have been finalized, and some still need to be discussed and studied within the department.

But the news spread at noon, and by the next morning, on the 26th, the Song Daily sorted out relevant news from all aspects and published it on the earliest newspaper headlines.

Outer City West Street, this is the most prosperous street in the south city, because it is close to Nanxun Gate and connects the urban and rural areas outside the city, and the daily flow of people is very large.

At this time, West Street has long changed its appearance, although the overall building has not been demolished yet, so it remains the same as before.

However, the style of painting has changed drastically.

In the past, West Street was just an ordinary ancient street market, with two- and three-story buildings on both sides, restaurants, shops, residential buildings, various signs, vendors below and outside, and crowds of people.

Now, the sound of bicycle bells shuttles back and forth, and rickshaws shout and run.

There are also electric poles erected, wires passing through people's heads, and street lights standing at the crossroads, full of a weird feeling of ancient and modern intersection.

This feeling is really not reflected outside the city.

Because outside the city are already high-rise buildings, bicycles shuttle between them, and there are even train stations, telegraph stations, newsstands, etc.

The streets are also very wide and the roads are neat. Bus lanes and car roads are reserved for the future. It seems to be two worlds with the streets in the inner city, a bit like Shanghai in the Republic of China in later generations.

However, because the buildings in the city are too narrow, the roads are cramped, many facilities cannot keep up, and the buildings are too ancient, it is more like a very remote ancient town or village or Hengdian Song Dynasty Film and Television City after the millennium in later generations.

The most famous thing about West Street is the tea stalls everywhere, which cross the entire Bianliang from west to east. At the intersection of Nanxunmenli Street and West Street, near the Caihe Longjin Bridge, there are tea stalls everywhere under the towering trees.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"What's the matter?"

A few old tea drinkers sat there and chatted early in the morning.

"The court issued a new decree yesterday?"

"Really?"

"That's right, I heard that there are big changes."

"What are they?"

"In the officialdom, among the people, there are all kinds of things."

"Then there must be a reason."

"Well, I only know that my brother said that a new university is going to be built, and you also know that my brother is working in the Ministry of Education."

"That's all? Isn't it said that there are big changes?"

"It just came out, I just heard my brother mentioned it, anyway, this time it involves a lot."

"You just lied to me."

There are many people in the morning.

People in Bianliang like to drink morning tea, real morning tea.

In the morning, have a cup of tea, have breakfast, and then go to work.

Compared with the people who don't care about current affairs, the people of Bianliang must know something more or less because of the existence of newspapers.

So after various decrees were issued yesterday, well-informed people came early to talk about it.

But unfortunately, because there are too many aspects involved in this new policy, the relevant departments only know the changes within their own departments and have no idea about the situation of other departments.

Therefore, everyone has only a partial understanding.

Just when all kinds of gossips were flying around the tea stall, with the sound of "ding-dong-dong", many people looked over.

That was not the sound of bicycle bells, but the sound of newsboy bells. They waved the newspapers in their hands and shook the little ding-dongs in their hands to attract the attention of passers-by.

After everyone looked over, they shouted, "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, Song Daily, big news, the Constitutional Council issued 139 changes yesterday, involving more than 30 departments and all aspects!"

"Oh, there are really big changes."

"Buy it and take a look."

"Here, give me a copy."

"I want one too."

The tea drinkers immediately asked for newspapers.

Although the population of Bianliang has increased dramatically, the sales growth rate of Bianliang Daily is actually becoming increasingly difficult.

The reason is that a large number of migrant workers are migrant workers, and only a very small number of merchants come to Bianliang. In the absence of a large-scale literacy campaign, there are only so many people who can read.

That is to say, no matter whether the population of Bianliang is one million or three million, the number of newspaper readers has not increased much, and the market has not changed much.

But over the past ten years, the public and private newspapers in Bianliang have grown explosively like mushrooms after rain.

If it were not for the fact that the Song Daily was the first Bianliang Ten-day Newspaper, which occupied the market first with a ten-day issue and quickly expanded to surrounding counties, it would have been swept up and its sales would have plummeted.

After all, the official color of the Song Daily led to a too solemn political atmosphere, and the topics were naturally too solemn, and most of them were reported in official language.

Private newspapers are different. In order to grab the headlines, all kinds of gossip emerge in an endless stream.

There are even tabloid reporters climbing over the walls of those dignitaries. Some time ago, Chen Zhizhong, the Minister of Personnel, was reported for whipping Ying'er, a maid at home, which caused an uproar for a while.

Chen Zhizhong was furious and wanted to suppress the matter with his power and punish the tabloid newspaper.

But the Censorate and the Remonstrance Office immediately pursued him and launched an investigation.

As a result, the Censorate determined that the maid Ying'er was indeed beaten by Chen Zhizhong, impeached her to the Political System Council, and was ordered to be dismissed by the Political System Council.

This incident made those tabloid newspapers famous.

Especially in an era like the Song Dynasty where folk entertainment was more popular, gossip about dignitaries was most popular among the people, causing the market share of the Song Daily to decline again and again.

Now this new policy can be regarded as a beautiful turnaround for the Song Daily. The people of Bianliang all want to know what new changes the court has made.

"The spring breeze of reform cannot stop. Only by keeping changing all the time can the Song Dynasty maintain healthy vitality and development all the time."

"The Zhiyuan is setting the tone. It seems that the strength of this reform is really great."

After several tea drinkers who bought newspapers first got the newspapers, the first page of the front page was the article written by Zhao Jun.

In the past, Zhao Jun often used the Song Daily as a high ground for public opinion propaganda. When Fan Zhongyan implemented the new policy several times, and even when Xia Song went to Jiangnan to massacre landlords, he wrote articles to explain.

The content is to tell everyone why the court did this, what benefits it would bring to the court and the people, etc.

Through such a simple and easy-to-understand way, he told everyone clearly in exchange for the support of the people and the victory in the public opinion field, so as to stand up and endorse the reformers.

"Increase the term of office of officials? These officials are comfortable. They used to only serve for three years, but now they can serve for five years, or even one more term."

"Hey, if I had known that I would study and take the imperial examination, why would I do business? It would be better to be an official."

"Haha, don't think I don't know. Didn't Bo Kao whip you to study in the past, but you just couldn't read it."

"We have been friends for decades, don't expose our shortcomings."

Several old tea drinkers in their fifties joked with each other that now only people like them who are rich and idle in Bianliang will care about current affairs tomorrow.

"Isn't this good news for us? Allowing local policies to be autonomous and giving certain tax incentives can attract foreign investment and strengthen local economic integration."

"Oh, that's good news. The court has opened up mineral resources in various places. If minerals are discovered in a certain place, the local government can hold a sale, and the highest bidder will get part of it as shares."

"Doesn't that mean that we businessmen can also purchase mines and open mines ourselves? This is a good business, and we can make a lot of money now."

"Also here, change the conscription method from a forced conscription system to a recruitment system , criminals, hooligans, and people with criminal records will no longer be allowed to join the army, and military schools will be opened, military ranks will be increased, and literacy education will be promoted for grassroots troops. "

"Recruitment system? Good men don't serve in the army, and good iron is not used to make nails. Who will serve in the army in the future?"

"I think the court is going to change the army again. This move is not good. What kind of place is the army? It's a den of dragons and tigers. Who wants to go there, not to mention those who served in the army before..."

"Forget it, let's look at the next one."

Many people saw the changes in the military in the newspapers and shook their heads, thinking that the court had made a bad move.

The people of the Song Dynasty discriminated against soldiers to the core. The idea of ​​the Political System Institute to improve the status of soldiers and strengthen the quality education of the army may not be understood by the people, but even if they understood, they would not think it was a good idea.

The sequelae of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were so great that people didn't want to serve in the army at all, so as not to be spit on as "thieves in the army", so most people thought it was just nonsense.

Only a few people noticed the keywords such as "military school" and "military rank", and considered that the military might be an important channel for advancement in addition to studying.

"This is another good thing."

"What?"

"Old Li, didn't you just say that you regretted not passing the imperial examination? Your son doesn't have that ability, I think your grandson can do it."

"What do you mean?"

"Look here, the newspaper said that the court will open many universities again. Once you graduate, you can choose to apply for the exam. The court will even select the best and grant you the same imperial examination status. If you have excellent grades and pass the special examination, you can directly grant the third-class imperial examination status."

"Awarded the imperial examination status? Is it true? Are you sure you read it right? It's not the same imperial examination status?"

"It's true, you can see for yourself."

"God, this is a Jinshi, not the special category of being virtuous, upright, outspoken, wise in education, wise in body, detailed in official affairs, insightful in strategy, and far-reaching in military strategy."

Everyone was shocked by the court's change this time.

This means that the Jinshi category is no longer the only one in the future, but there are other ways to become a Jinshi.

You should know that in ancient times, although there were other subjects, and even in the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was open to the whole society, with more than 100 subjects, but the most valuable one was always the Jinshi category.

The other subjects often gave people a small official of the eighth or ninth grade, and the upper limit was the fifth grade prefecture, which was the limit, and it was almost impossible to become a senior official.

And this time the court opened many universities, and the excellent ones were awarded Jinshi.

Although it was only a third-class Jinshi, not a first-class Jinshi and Wenlinlang, nor a second-class Jinshi and Gongshilang, it was much better than the fourth-class Tong Jinshi and the fifth-class Ci Tong Jinshi.

At least in terms of the upper limit of being an official, a Jinshi can already become a senior official. Even if they are a little luckier, if their talents are really outstanding and they are appreciated by the big guys, they will be able to take charge of a first-level department or even enter the Political System Institute in the future.

So this change is obviously a great blessing for the vast number of students who can only squeeze in dozens or at most a hundred Jinshi quotas every year.

Even if there are certainly not too many quotas in this regard, it is better than the internal competition of hundreds of thousands of people in the imperial examination.

In fact, many of Zhao Jun’s major changes this time are subversive, and there are such measures in many aspects, such as officialdom, economy, military, agriculture, education, commerce, industry, justice, etc. There are 139 reform measures.

This is only the first batch, because some reforms are suitable for release at the moment, and some need to be piloted to see the effect. It cannot be said that it will change immediately if you think it’s okay. It takes time to verify.

Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, Zhao Jun estimates that within the next three years, the court will carry out more than 300 reforms, involving more than 40 departments.

The Song Dynasty currently has 52 first-, second- and third-level departments and institutions.

In other words, most of the existing departments of the Song Dynasty basically need to be changed, covering a very wide range.

There is no way.

In later generations, there are 26 ministerial-level units in my country.

But many special departments are not included in them, so the ministerial-level institutions seem to be few.

But in the Song Dynasty, almost all departments are directly under the jurisdiction of the Political System Yuan, and there are actually only 16 first-level important power units.

The rest of the departments, such as the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Transportation, the Imperial Court, the Ministry of Statistics, the Ministry of Jiaozi, the Ministry of Geology, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, belong to the second-level institutions.

After that, there are more than 20 third-level departments directly under the Political System Yuan, including the Imperial College, the Ministry of Household, the Ministry of Works, the Military Equipment Bureau, the Capital Water Bureau, the Liuneiquan, the Sanbanyuan, the Shenguanyuan, the Pinyuan, the Firearms Bureau, the Creation Bureau, the Zhichi Bureau, the Living Bureau, and the Etiquette Bureau.

This is the three provinces, Taichang Temple, Zongzheng Temple, Guanglu Temple, Weiwei Temple, Taipu Temple, Sinong Temple, Taifu Temple, Guoxin Office, Protocol, Tongwenguan, Dutingxi Posthouse, Huaiyuan Posthouse and other departments have been abolished or merged.

Otherwise, there will be more departments directly under the Political System Yuan.

However, although the organization is bloated, it is well organized under the three-level management of the Political System Yuan. In this change, many of its subordinate departments that are not very useful have been abolished and merged again.

Therefore, the Political System Yuan will continue to move towards streamlining and efficiency in the future.

The main focus of this reform is on those first-level units with real power. In addition, there are changes in folk customs, religious beliefs, etc.

For example, the court held a Buddhist and Taoist exchange conference last year and appointed the president, vice president, and directors of the Buddhist Association and the Taoist Association.

Actively promote Buddhism and Taoism, oppose local cults and bad folk customs, and resolutely crack down on various unorthodox religious activities.

To some extent, previous changes only affected people's lives in terms of policy.

This time, the imperial court is actually interfering with many things of the people, including their beliefs, concepts, and thoughts.