Johime Three Kingdoms

Chapter 392 Two-level system of states and counties

What Bai Tu saw along the way was old scenery and he had not yet arrived in Jingzhou, but it also made Bai Tu feel some shortcomings of the county system...

Firstly, in troubled times, the unity of various counties was put to a new test; secondly, the emergence of a large number of workshops in Chu State made the city more and more important, the population dependent on the city increased sharply, and the large counties became more and more important. First, the counties are getting bigger and smaller; thirdly, the roads are becoming more and more convenient, and the speed of delivery of news and government orders is increasing day by day.

Therefore, the previous county system is obviously increasingly unable to keep up with the pace.

Bai Tu has long been thinking that the new administrative divisions are not just a slap on the forehead, but based on the experience of later generations.

It's just that... Bai Tu's thoughts were not the same as those of Cao Cao in history, or even completely opposite.

In the history without the white rabbit effect, after completely replacing the Yuan family and occupying the north, Cao Cao began to vigorously promote the Great Kyushu Plan, that is, to redesignate the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty as Kyushu.

But what Bai Tu had in mind was something similar to the two-level system of prefectures and counties in the Song Dynasty...

There is a definition of official positions in the Song Dynasty in history textbooks - redundant officials, which means that the official system is too large and redundant.

What is the specific local government system?

During the Han Dynasty, counties and counties were established locally. The counties had prefects and counties had magistrates. Even the "county magistrate" of a small county had great real power, so he got the "nickname" of "Bailihou".

The prefect is also a local official. In the troubled times of the Eastern Han Dynasty, before Liu Yan fooled Emperor Ling and created the state pastoral system, the state was just a supervisory unit, and the governor had no actual power to intervene in local affairs!

In contrast, the Song Dynasty took a big step forward in decentralizing power and centralizing power, absorbing the experience of the Tang Dynasty...

The smallest local administrative unit is still the county, but the "states" above the counties are usually three or four counties and one state. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were more than 200 states and more than 1000 counties in the country!

In other more important places, "fus" are established, which are at the same level as "states", but pay more attention to them.

As for the "roads" above the state level, they were also just supervisory units. Compared with the "states" of the Han Dynasty, the "roads" of the Song Dynasty seemed to have similar legal rationality, but there was one biggest difference - there was no highest official.

Instead, it was divided into four, the "transshipment envoy" responsible for water transportation and finance, the "criminal envoy" responsible for prison litigation, the "pacification envoy" responsible for military affairs, and the "Changping envoy" responsible for warehousing. Theoretically, there are four On the other hand, to supervise the various states, each governor has to face four chiefs...

At this time, the population of the Eastern Han Dynasty was much smaller than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, but the area was much larger than that of the Northern Song Dynasty. However, the number of counties was only half of the "states" of the Northern Song Dynasty. It can be seen that the place had been cut to pieces during the Song Dynasty.

The local official system in the Song Dynasty was redundant, but it undoubtedly ranked very high among the feudal dynasties in terms of political stability, and it was undoubtedly very up to standard in terms of the imperial court's ability to regain power in local areas and the mutual restraint of local departments.

But its shortcomings are also obvious. On the one hand, there are "redundant officials". On the other hand... small and medium-sized counties at the grassroots level have to face the dilemma of incomplete official staffing, resulting in low administrative capabilities.

That is to say, power was chopped into enough pieces, but small and medium-sized counties were not merged, resulting in terminal nerve weakness. If the official system of the Song Dynasty was bloated, it was probably like the central obesity of a fat house - obviously more than 200 kilograms, small The arms and calves are still "slender".

However, it is undeniable that the local official system in the Song Dynasty was more suitable for reference from the six-ministry vertical management system, and the "supervision" in the Song Dynasty can also be regarded as the prototype of the official office.

The "jians" in the Song Dynasty were large smelting, grazing, and salt-making workshops run by the court. Some were at the same level as the state, and some were at the same level as the county. They were all administrative units.

In history, Cao Cao implemented the "Great Kyushu" plan, which was actually a step to strengthen his own Jizhou. After replacing Yuan Shao, he began to use the north as his base camp, and at the same time weakened Xudu's court.

Bai Tu's current Hundred States Plan is also to strengthen the centralization of power in the Chu State.

Although the population was not as dense as in the Northern Song Dynasty, the convenient development of transportation and the trend of population concentration in cities and towns laid the foundation for the decentralization of local powers and the centralization of power at the court, and also strengthened Bai Tu's determination to gradually launch the "Hundred States Plan".

The current large-scale expansion of county-level officials is already paving the way...

According to the White Plan, it will take at least five years to accumulate sufficient talent reserves and gradually improve the functions of local government agencies.

Five to ten years later, the complete abolition of counties into states will be realized. With Chu State now controlling the territory, hundreds of states will be established - about one state for every two or three counties. "Prefectures" will be established in key areas. Referring to the military and supervisory system of the Song Dynasty, Place the army and official houses.

Taking the state and the government as the end of the vertical management of the six ministries, that is, ensuring that the state has a full set of subordinate government offices of the six ministries, in fact... is equivalent to upgrading the current large county to a "state" or "fu", dragging two small counties, Just like a prefecture-level city and a subordinate county-level city, it is a disguised merger to avoid an incomplete local official system.

At the same time, counties are no longer established, and "roads" are also divided into supervisory units, serving as middle-level institutions for vertical management of the six ministries.

As for the county magistrates after the Hundred States Plan, they were really "Sesame Officials" and had nothing to do with Baili Hou anymore.

After Bai Tu proposed the two-level system of prefectures and counties, he and the staff transferred from the six departments were also conducting targeted inspections along the way...

Every time we visit a county, we will check various data and compare the changes brought about by the increase in the number of workshops, so as to compare the feasibility and necessity of the state-county two-level system.

At present, only some core officials of the Sixth Department are aware of Bai Tu's suggestion. Most of them have a wait-and-see attitude or a slight resistance.

After all, the county system has been around for so many years, and it is already very perfect compared to the past. Moreover, after Bai Tu pushed the six departments to establish official offices directly under counties and counties, it can be regarded as a complete version. It should be enough, right?

After all, changes in administrative divisions are undoubtedly one of the biggest causes of political instability.

If the person who proposed it was not Bai Tu, he would probably resist it with all his strength, and some people would die on the spot to remonstrate.

But as for Bai Tu...

This is the trust that has been accumulated little by little since the establishment of the Sixth Department with empty words during the General Mansion period!
Moreover, there are also unwritten rules in the court of Chu State. Everyone can argue with the King of Chu, but please use the current data to speak, and do not use the name of ancestral laws or other names to argue. Otherwise... You Heng will answer on behalf of the King of Chu.

Therefore, although many people are cautious, they are cautiously seeking verification.

Because there was no official announcement yet, the counties were taken aback, thinking that King Chu was conducting a surprise inspection. However, it was later discovered that the bosses only asked for the data of each county and conducted a simple inspection of the government.

It wasn't until I entered Jiangxia that the contrast became even more obvious.

When it was within the scope of Wu County and Poyang County, the larger the county town, the more workshops there were around it.

Jiangxia County is different, because it was still a war zone a year ago, and most of the local wealthy families are not sensitive to the development of workshops, which can be regarded as an "original" comparison.

……

On the eighth day of June, shortly after Bai Tu entered Jiangxia County, he happened to encounter a family migration.

Although the other party looked like he wanted to hide in a crack in the ground so as not to be discovered by Bai Tu, Bai Tu still ordered him to come forward and ask.

It doesn't look like they are escaping from disaster. There is no disaster to escape from in Jingzhou. Although... the scale of several hundred people is not a big deal, but as the King of Chu, since he encounters it, he still has to ask.

After all, this kind of large-scale exodus often indicates suspicion of harsh governance in the local area...

(End of this chapter)