Chapter 361 Comprehensive Reform, One Government and Eight Departments In the autumn of the sixth year of Jian'an, the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty seemed to have pressed the pause button, and there was no war in all directions. More than four months had passed since Liu Bei took control of Jingzhou. With the arrival of the autumn harvest, Liu Bei's rule entered a busy period. As the territory grew larger, collecting taxes became a hassle, consuming a lot of manpower and resources. But during this busy season, Liu Bei's army launched a comprehensive reform from top to bottom. The reason for this is that after capturing Jingzhou, Liu Bei moved the seat of government from Shouchun to Xiangyang. Of course, the matter of relocating the capital was not a sudden idea of ​​Liu Bei, but a decision made after careful discussion with Qin Zhen. Originally, Liu Bei planned to let Qin Zhen continue to stay here to stabilize the situation in Jingzhou after he captured Jingzhou. However, due to Zhang Hong's advice and Qin Zhen's suggestion, this idea was directly abandoned by Liu Bei. After abandoning the idea, Liu Bei couldn't think of a suitable candidate in a short time, so Qin Zhen suggested to Liu Bei to move the capital to Xiangyang.

There are four reasons for making such a suggestion. First, Xuzhou and Yuzhou, where they started their business, have become stable. Compared with Jingzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou have a large number of talents and military forces, so there is no need for Liu Bei to be in charge in person. Secondly, although Shouchun had been in operation for several years, after the capture of Jingzhou, Shouchun was no longer suitable as the capital. After all, although Shouchun has a flat terrain, it has no advantage in shipping, and there is a huge lag in both orders and military reports. In contrast, Xiangyang is surrounded by numerous waterways, which allows for the transfer of materials and information through shipping. This advantage alone can save them manpower and material resources, and allow them to continue to develop their shipping and commerce. Third, from a strategic perspective, Shouchun is now located in the hinterland, too far away from the front line, which is not conducive to further expansion. Because their current front line in the Central Plains is too long, the next strategic focus will shift to the west and northwest. To the south of Xiangyang, we can strengthen the control over Jingnan, to the west, we can advance into central Sichuan and Hanzhong, and to the north, we can directly deter Cao Cao. Using such a place as their seat of government would make it easier for them to continue their conquests and expand their territory. The last and most important point is that Shouchun has no strategic location to defend and will be threatened by the cavalry of Cao and Yuan. Xiangyang is different. Although it is located on the front line, the well-developed water veins here can block the cavalry of Cao and Yuan, preventing the other side from launching a sneak attack on their hometown. Based on the above opinions, Liu Bei adopted Qin Zhen's suggestion and ordered his important officials to move from Shouchun. As soon as the order was issued, his civil and military officials began to move westward, and the governance of Shouchun was taken over by Liu Fu and Sun Qian. This process lasted two full months before all the civil and military officials and their families were moved into Xiangyang City. However, with the arrival of a large number of ministers, Xiangyang City became overcrowded and government orders fell into chaos. This is because relocating the seat of government is not simply about transferring people over, but also requires the transfer of the governance system and the bureaucratic system. Coincidentally, Liu Bei did not have a systematic bureaucratic system under his command for quite a long time. Due to the lack of a good system, it is very difficult for various officials under his command to coordinate their powers.

This was also a big problem that troubled Liu Bei and Yuan Shao. They could not establish a court to rule the world like Cao Cao did. Yuan Shao's solution was the feudal system, which was to divide the provinces and counties under his command equally among his sons and nephews. In normal times, government policies are implemented according to the preferences of his sons and nephews, and only in times of war will a temporary team be formed to make arrangements. This governance system made the states and counties under Yuan Shao extremely loose and the administrative efficiency very low. Liu Bei's army adopted a unified approach to government orders from the very beginning, especially after Qin Zhen took charge of both military and political affairs, government affairs became a separate entity. This holistic approach allows them to more efficiently coordinate issues in various locations and come up with corresponding policies. But after Qin Zhen became the governor of Jiangdong, they returned to the feudal system in the short term. Jiangdong has one set of administrative systems, while Huainan, Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places have another set of administrative systems. Later, Qin Zhen seized Jiaozhou, and the system changed from two to three. In addition to Jiangdong, there was another Jiaozhou. In other words, Liu Bei now has enough talented subordinates, otherwise the administration under his command would have been in chaos long ago. However, although there was no chaos before, problems were directly exposed after the government seat was moved to Jingzhou. To give a very simple example, when Liu Bei was in Huainan, although Liu Fu was the governor of Yangzhou, he only managed the civil affairs of Huainan. The political orders of Jiangdong were in charge of Qin Zhen, and Liu Fu had no room to intervene. But now that Qin Zhen has resigned from his position in Jiangdong and Liu Fu has been left in Huainan, should Liu Fu be in charge of the government affairs of Yangzhou? If Liu Fu wanted to take charge, the local officials might not obey him. If Liu Fu did not take charge, Lu Su would not dare to overstep his authority, and the situation would become one where no one was in charge. Similarly, Liu Xian, as the deputy governor of Jingzhou, was in charge of the affairs of the state, while Qin Zhen, as the military advisor and general, was in charge of the government affairs of the entire territory. Since the powers are unclear, can Liu Xian transfer the officials appointed by Qin Zhen? Should those officials obey orders? What should he do if the policies of the upper and lower levels conflict? There are innumerable problems of this kind, which have troubled Liu Bei's core circle for a long time, and almost no one can solve them. In order to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, Liu Bei assigned Qin Zhen to take charge of the General's Office and asked him to carry out reforms. After Qin Zhen received the order, seeing that the governance system was in chaos, he directly broke the original system framework and established one government and eight departments based on the previous establishment of the Supervisory Department. The so-called one government office is the General's Office of the Eastern Expedition, with him as the military advisor general, responsible for establishing the overall framework. The eight departments are the Household Registration Department, the Personnel Department, the Military Department, the Criminal Punishment Department, the Engineering and Technology Department, the Audit Department, the Education Department, and the Health Department. Each of the eight departments has a director who is directly responsible to the General's Office and has full authority higher than all local officials. Among them, Zhang Zhao was appointed Director of the Household Registration Department, Jian Yong was appointed Director of the Personnel Department, Liu Ye was appointed Director of the Military Department, and the directors of the other five departments were Chen Qun, Zheng Hun, Liu Ba, Yuan Huan, and Zhang Ji respectively. Also for the purpose of avoiding taboo, Qin Zhen originally planned to appoint a Shangshu, but considering that the Shangshu was a well-known figure in the court, he could only replace him with a director. After this reform, Liu Bei's general's office actually became a small court independent of the existing system. After each department took office, their responsibilities and powers were immediately clearly defined. There was no longer the chaos as before, and government orders were also much smoother. However, reforming the system was only the first step of Qin Zhen's reform, and the establishment of the Eight Departments was also his next reform direction. First, regarding the Household Registration Department, Qin Zhen proposed changing the current grassroots structure and promoting the baojia system that had been used in Shouchun before. Such reforms were necessary because the territory under their jurisdiction was vast and the population was sparse, and the township pavilion as a grassroots structure was no longer applicable. Some pavilions are almost deserted due to population migration, but some pavilions accommodate a large number of people and are extremely crowded.

Therefore, in order to establish more effective grassroots organizations, we need to start with the population and build grassroots organizations based on the population. Secondly, with regard to the Ministry of Personnel, since the recommendation system was already in name only, Qin Zhen decided to implement the imperial examination system. During the first ten years of its implementation, an examination was held every year and candidates were selected based on their performance. This continued until the official quota was filled, when the examination was changed to every three years. At the same time, a performance-based system is adopted to evaluate officials' tenure and governance based on the economic and population development conditions during their tenure. An assessment is conducted every year and a comprehensive review is conducted every three years. The performance in office determines the promotion and transfer of officials. If no achievements were made within three years, or if a rebellion occurred within the territory, the official would be dismissed. In addition to the overt assessment, the Supervisory Department, which was independent of the Seven Departments, was also responsible for the secret inspection work. Once any corrupt officials are found who are exploiting the people, they will be investigated and handed over to the relevant authorities for punishment. Secondly, in response to the reform of the Bingmasi, Qin Zhen proposed to restore the farming and warfare system, that is, to adopt the system of granting land based on military merit. Because after they control half of the country, hinterland areas like Huainan and Nanjun will gradually restore order. Before this, the chaotic situation would force people to join the army and fight for their lives just to make a living. After order is restored, it will be difficult to get these people to fight for you just for a meal. At times like this, new systems are needed to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people, and the farming-warfare system is such a system. The fundamental reason why Qin unified the six kingdoms was to link war with land and titles, so that the people could make class transitions through war. Now they have control over uncultivated arable land, which is a good opportunity to expand through the farming-warfare system. In addition, the farming-warfare system is not only applicable to civil wars, but also to wars of foreign aggression. Qin Zhen had already thought it through. He would first use arable land to motivate people, and when there was not enough arable land, he would use slaves to motivate people. In short, the Han Dynasty's terrifying war machine will not stop until all external interests are seized. However, this was only part of the reform. In view of the fact that the Han laws were no longer applicable, Qin Zhen took the lead in formulating laws through the Department of Punishment. By adding and deleting the old laws of the Qin and Han dynasties, he and Chen Qun, Yi Ji, Liu Xian and others jointly formulated a "Legal Code". The new law stipulated that the law is above people, abolishing the governance concept that human feelings are more important than heaven in the Han Dynasty law. In view of the fact that the workshops under their command are currently difficult to manage, Qin Zhen, with the Industrial and Technical Bureau as the leader, has set up a special management department - the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Using this place as a unit, all major types of workshops will be centrally managed and responsible for talent placement and resource allocation. In addition, the Engineering and Technology Department is also responsible for recruiting talented people from all over the country to set up scientific and technological institutes to specialize in process improvement and research. In view of the lack of planning for the current financial situation, Qin Zhen appointed Liu Ba to be in charge of auditing to carry out special management of the money under their command. The Audit Department is also the only department among the eight departments that can directly mobilize money. If other departments need to requisition materials, they must first go through the Audit Department. Finally, there are the Education Department and the Health Department. The establishment of these two departments was entirely based on Qin Zhen’s personal will. In fact, Lao Liu was quite satisfied with the arrangements of the other six departments. It can be seen that Qin Zhen was confused when he set up the Education Department and the Health Department. After all, the Education Department and the other six departments are not at the same level at all, and there is no need for them to become an independent department.

As for the Health Bureau, Lao Liu doesn’t even know what functions this department has or what benefits it can bring! In this regard, Qin Zhen explained to Liu Bei that the establishment of the Education Department was because education is the foundation of the country. Along the way, he naturally quoted various classics and examples, which directly explained to Liu Bei a truth: only by educating the people can the country become strong. If education could be universalized and everyone could read and write, they wouldn't have to work so hard to find talent. As for the explanation of the Health Bureau, Qin Zhen only mentioned one function - preventing plague, and Liu Bei had no objection. What a joke! If preventing the plague is not a big deal, then there is nothing worth paying attention to under his command. Since Old Liu had no objection, Qin Zhen was able to directly implement various reform measures, keeping the officials in Liu Bei's army busy. Of course, the ministers also put forward their opinions on Qin Zhen’s reform plan. For example, Chen Qun came to Qin Zhen and recommended a new talent selection system, the Nine-Rank System. Old Chen had been planning this plan for a long time and had considered the interests of all parties before proposing it, but Qin Zhen rejected it as soon as he heard it. Not only that, he also directly told Chen Qun that the separation of various departments was to ensure clear division of responsibilities and powers. You are in charge of punishment, and it is not your turn to interfere in the Personnel Department. This was also the purpose of him transferring Chen Qun to be in charge of punishment, which was to prevent these children of the gentry from interfering in their employment. In addition to Chen Qun, there were many people who questioned the policies of the Criminal Department and the Military Department, and they were all refuted by Qin Zhen one by one. With the tone of reform set in this way, Qin Zhen was finally able to take some time out from his busy schedule to enjoy the family happiness that belonged only to him. This time when the capital was moved, not only Liu Bei's ministers were moved here, but also Qin Zhen's family. At this time, Qin Zhen's family was no longer as small as before. After his son He'er was born, Daqiao also gave birth to a son for Qin Zhen at the beginning of this year. At that time, Qin Zhen was still fighting in Jingzhou. He was naturally overjoyed when he received the news, and named him Anian, which means missing his family. The birth of these two sons naturally brought a lot of laughter and joy to the Qin family and also fulfilled Cai Yan's wish. However, the appearance of these two sons also caused Qin Zhen's other two wives, Xiaoqiao and Cai Yao, to feel a little resentful. After all, three years have passed since Qin Zhen remarried. Xiaoqiao is already twenty years old and Cai Yao is eighteen. However, since Qin Zhen was often away, the two girls had not even slept with Qin Zhen and were still virgins. This kind of thing was obviously somewhat unorthodox in this era, so although the two girls didn't say anything, they felt a little resentful in their hearts. But the girls' shyness made it difficult for them to speak out, and seeing that Qin Zhen was unconscious, they could only feel sad in secret. Fortunately, the eldest sister Cai Yan was considerate enough. Seeing that the two girls were unhappy, she came to Qin Zhen and chatted with them for a while. At this time, Qin Zhen was holding his son. He was stunned when he heard it. He thought that time passed too quickly. He didn't realize that he was already 32 years old! In this age where thirty years old is considered an old man, he has also entered middle age and couldn't help but say: "If Madam hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it. But it's hard to talk about it anyway, so what should I do?" Although he is very decisive in public, he is somewhat negligent in handling matters at home. As he gets older, he even feels a little embarrassed. When Cai Yan saw him like this, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and smiled, "I know my husband is not good at this matter, I will make my own arrangements." "I have discussed this with sister Daqiao. You are not allowed to enter the house tonight. You are asked to sleep somewhere else!" Qin Zhen felt relieved when he heard that she had made arrangements, but when he heard that it was just a closed-door arrangement, he could not help but frown and said: "So, Ke'er and Yao'er know about this. What if my husband suddenly goes there and scares them?"

The current situation is not that he is unwilling to sleep with others, but because they have been separated for a long time, he is afraid that if he goes there suddenly, it will scare Xiaoqiao and others. But when Cai Yan heard this, she smiled and said, "Who told my husband to let my two sisters stay alone in the empty room?" "Now that my two sisters are resentful, the one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. My husband should coax them away by himself, why would he ask me to go there?" Having said this, she chuckled, hugged her son and left, leaving Qin Zhen standing there alone, groaning inwardly. But he was an experienced man after all, and he thought that she was his wife anyway, so why should a grown man like him be afraid of this? He was about to go find the two girls to exchange feelings, but at this moment, the housekeeper came to report: "My lord, General Zhengdong has sent someone to summon you. He wants you to come to the palace to discuss an important matter!" Hearing this, Qin Zhen frowned and hesitated for a moment, but still walked towards the general's mansion. PS: I am really late, there is only one chapter tonight, sorry. (End of this chapter)