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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 298: Six Departments of Kaifu

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    In the late first month of the Jiayin year, King Xi and Queen Xi took a boat along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal from Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, and back to Suzhou.  On the way, Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er stayed in Wuxi for a few days, where Xiao Yungui met Fu Shanxiang, another legendary flower of peace.

    This Fu Shanxiang is indeed both talented and beautiful. Although we only met briefly, her elegant conversation, smart intelligence and delicate face left a deep impression on Xiao Yungui.  But because Hong Yun'er was around and the two had just reconciled, Xiao Yungui didn't dare to be too presumptuous, let alone serve private interests and transfer Fu Shanxiang to work around him.

    "I don't know if it was an illusion, but Xiao Yungui always felt that Hong Yun'er carefully controlled the women who appeared around him, especially unmarried women.  When we were in Tianjing, Su Sanniang came to visit. Without saying a few words, Su Sanniang was pulled into the room by Hong Yun'er to whisper alone.

    Su Sanniang was a widow. Her husband Su San died at the hands of the Qing army. Su Sanniang started the army to avenge her husband. Although Su Sanniang was still young and beautiful, Xiao Yungui asked himself that he saw this beauty purely from the perspective of appreciation.  , didn't think anything about it at all, but unexpectedly, she was pulled away by Hong Yun'er.  Afterwards, Xiao Yungui learned from Tang Erniu that the way he looked at Su Sanniang at that time was indeed a bit "too focused".

    Hong Yun'er is in charge of the female pavilion, female officers, and female personal guards in the West Palace. Any woman who wants to contact the King of the West must obtain the approval of the Queen of the West.  So far, the people Xiao Yungui has met the most besides Hong Yun'er are Li Xuanji and Yang Dongqing. These two women are Hong Yun'er's confidants, so they can have more contact with the King of the West.  So Xiao Yungui became indignant. Should he hang himself on a tree for the rest of his life?  This four-eyed girl is really good at playing. She actually started to prevent fires, thefts and mistresses so early.

    But fortunately, the two of them are still in love, and some of their desires can be satisfied.  So there hasn't been much of a stir yet.  To use Xiao Yungui's self-deprecating words, he can still eat enough, so he doesn't think about anything else for the time being.

    The same thing happened when I met Fu Shanxiang in Wuxi. Hong Yun'er stayed with the King of the West all the time. Fu Shanxiang just reported some official matters and didn't say a single extra word.  Fu Shanxiang was in charge of Wuxi's women's pavilion and women's camp, as well as Wuxi's imperial edict office, and Xiao Yungui was not very able to intervene in what was being reported.  However, Hong Yun'er played the leading role, pointing out several things that needed to be done in detail, and told Fu Shanxiang to try to open a new girls' school.

    Nothing major happened in Wuxi, but Li Shourong and Tan Shaoguang from Wuxi returned to Suzhou with Xi Wang and his party.  Because Xiao Yungui had already asked Zuo Zongtang to summon military and political generals from all over the country to Suzhou to discuss major New Deal matters in the name of the Western Palace.  Ever since Xiao Yungui received the clarification from Tianjing, he has been preparing to hold this new year's meeting in the West Palace to let the chief officials and generals from all over the country understand the general direction of the military and political affairs in southern Jiangsu in the future. At the same time, many new policies need to be enacted.  All counties, prefectures, and armies must send chief officers to participate.

    After sailing all the way to Suzhou.  Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er returned to the West Prince's Mansion in Suzhou without stopping to discuss the New Deal with Zuo Zongtang and others.  Tan Shaoguang, Li Shourong and other generals who came to Suzhou to participate in the grand event were received and accommodated by Suzhou officials.

    In the main hall of the Xiwang Mansion.  Officials from the Western Palace gathered here.  The official establishment of the West Prince's Mansion is similar to that of the East Prince's Mansion, but there is a slight difference in the number of people.  The King of the West was Youbi of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and was also the chief military advisor. He was called 8,000 years old. The Prime Minister Sunan immediately established the military and political affairs of the new Sufu Province. All military strategies, punishments, rewards and killings, official promotions and demotions, etc. were all decided by the West King's Palace. Please  Tianjing¡¯s decree is only accurate.

    He is an official of the West Palace.  There are two members, the general commander and the prime minister. Currently, only Zuo Zongtang is in office, and the other prime minister is vacant.  There are six ministers of official, household, ritual, military, punishment and work, each with ten members.  There are a total of sixty people, each of whom receives reports from officials, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of rewards, the Ministry of Households is in charge of money and food, and so on, as the six departments are in charge.

    There are twenty people in charge of Xuancheng, who are responsible for giving orders; thirty people who are servants, who are responsible for serving food and daily life; one person each for the left master and one for the right master; eight members for praise; one for the canon and the deputy canon.  One member; one flag bearer; the first commander on the left, the second commander on the right, and one commander each, who are the leader of the escort; there are 1,500 members of the escort, namely the swordsmen of the West Palace Guards, who are in charge of entering and leaving the attendants, and stay directly in the West Prince's Mansion  .  There are 800 members of Dianxi Yu, 10 members of Dianxi Horse, 100 members of Dianxi Cai, and 240 members of Dianxi Music.  There are thirty-two Dianxi gongs, twenty-four Dianxi cannons, and twenty Dianxi geng.  There are four members each in Dianxi Prison and Dianxi Xing.  Dianxi Pao, Dianxi Shoes, Dianxi Kitchen, Dianxi Shui, and Dianxi Chai each have two members. Shangshu, Chengxuan, Pushe, Zhangmen, Yinzan, Flag Bearer, and Instructor all hold the same post. Zhengdian Dongyu, Deputy  Diandong Yu has the same position as commander, and Yu Du has the same position as general.  There are one hundred and forty-one officers with the same rank as the inspection point, two with the same rank as the commander, and 3,414 men with the same rank as the general.  A total of 3,557 members.

    This is the establishment established by the government in accordance with the official system of various princes and palaces promulgated by Tianjing. No matter how you look at it, Xiao Yungui feels that this establishment is too bloated. The bloated organization means that the work is ineffective.The rate is low, and there are so many generals serving. There are more than 3,000 people with the same rank as generals. Is this official title too childish?  Although there are third-rank officials in front of the prime minister, they are not so common.  Therefore, the first step of the New Deal is to abolish the bloated bureaucracy in the Xiwang Palace and re-formulate a government organization that is consistent with the actual situation.

    Zuo Zongtang also agreed with Xiao Yungui's idea. Although the official system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was different from that of the Qing Dynasty, it could not deviate from reality. Every change in the palace was filled with the same generals. Not to mention that no one cared about this official position after it became rampant.  The money for being an official is also a big expense.

    So the structure of the Western Palace was changed again, and the two prime ministers remained unchanged. Xiao Yungui was afraid that Zuo Zongtang would take over the power alone, so he set up another chief prime minister. Although Zuo Zongtang is currently the only one in the position of prime minister  , the other prime minister's position is vacant for the time being.

    ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? There are six ministers of official, household, rites, military, punishment, and work. Each minister has one person, and each minister has six people. Each minister is assigned a number of bookkeepers, clerks, and officials.

    In addition to receiving reports from officials and being in charge of rewards, the Ministry of Personnel also manages matters such as the appointment and dismissal of officials in various places, the annual performance evaluation of officials, promotion and demotion of officials, etc.

    The Ministry of Households is responsible for the money and grain of the holy treasury, the number of people, the number of farmland, various military equipment, the number of various livestock, etc. In short, the Ministry of Households not only undertakes the errands of the Statistics Bureau for later generations, but also serves as the errands of the Logistics Department and the Ministry of Agriculture.  Originally, Xiao Yungui wanted to separate the Logistics Department and the Ministry of Agriculture at once, but Zuo Zongtang said that it is not appropriate to go too far in officialdom. There are only six departments in the Dongwang Mansion. If he creates a few more departments separately, wouldn't it become multiple departments?  ?  Therefore, two separate departments, the Logistics Department and the Agriculture Department, were set up under the Ministry of Household Affairs to take charge of errands.

    The most eye-catching change in the official system of the West Palace is the Bingjia Department and the Logistics Department established under the Ministry of Household Affairs. The responsibility of these two departments is to take away the power from the hands of the generals of the various armies. Qianliangjia  Once the equipment needed by the army will be borne by the two departments of the Ministry of Household Affairs, it is no longer the general of the first army who controls the entire army's money, food, armor and equipment.  This is also the method that the King of the West used early to prevent his generals from becoming powerful. As long as he controls the money, food, armor, and lifeblood of an army, no matter how strong the general is, he cannot cause any trouble. This also means that the King of the West has a strong influence on the West Palace army.  The control is more stringent.  At the same time, the Ministry of Household Affairs also joined the Customs Department, which was responsible for collecting customs duties, and was also responsible for the tax collection of Sufu Province.

    The responsibilities of the Ministry of Rites were originally only matters related to rituals and music and imperial examinations. Xiao Yungui added two new departments to this department: the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Encouraging Learning.  The Department of Western Affairs is the department of the Ministry of Rites responsible for handling various affairs of foreigners. It is divided into American Section, French Section, English Section, etc., and each appoints people who are familiar with Westernization as section chiefs.  The Department of Encouraging Learning is an important symbol of Xiao Yungui's initiation of Western learning. The purpose of admonishing learning is to persuade more people to study. This is also closely related to a very important measure of the New Deal in Southern Jiangsu, that is, Xiao Yungui plans to  Based on major cities, we will establish new schools and various technical schools to cultivate our own talents and skilled workers.

    The Ministry of War is still in charge of the old responsibilities, responsible for recruiting and training troops. Two new divisions have also been added to this department.  One is the Rural Soldiers Department, which is responsible for managing the rural soldiers in all parts of Suzhou Province. In fact, it is the flavor of the Militia and Armed Forces Department.  The other is the Staff Department, which is responsible for formulating strategic coordination, campaign plan formulation, and battle situation deductions for the entire army.  Later, many famous generals of the Taiping Army came out of these two divisions, because the top students who graduated from the Jiangwu School would directly enter these two divisions, and then be released after a few years of experience.

    In addition to being in charge of punishment in the Ministry of Punishment, Xiao Yungui established the Supervision Department, which is mainly responsible for supervising the conduct of officials.  At the same time, the Ministry of Punishment was deprived of the right to promulgate criminal laws. From now on, the Ministry of Punishment will only be responsible for investigating, trying, and deciding cases. All laws in Sufu Province are directly promulgated in the form of the King of the West.  An extra department in the Ministry of Punishment is the Police Department. This is not because Xiao Yungui is lazy, but the word police is still very applicable. The Police Department under the Ministry of Punishment is responsible for managing police stations established in various places, which is responsible for maintaining local security.

    In addition to the previous responsibilities of building water conservancy, building bridges and paving roads, and constructing houses, palaces, and city walls, Xiao Yungui established three new departments: the Firearms Department, the Shipbuilding Department, and the Machinery Department.  The Firearms Department is the department responsible for manufacturing and developing various firearms, artillery, and gunpowder. This department existed long before the West Palace's Eastern Expedition. At that time, the West Palace craftsmen were gathered together to repair firearms and prepare gunpowder.  , now it is only officially listed.  The establishment of the Shipbuilding Department was somewhat hasty. Although the Taiping Army had many naval forces, there were still few shipbuilding craftsmen. Many private shipbuilders were recruited to join, but their craftsmanship was still at the stage of wooden sailing ships.  But Xiao Yungui felt that this matter had to be done step by step. He would first put up the framework and gradually improve it. Later, the shipbuilding department would invite foreign technicians to join, which would naturally improve his shipbuilding skills.  At the same time, the Shipping Department was also responsible for managing various ships traveling on inland rivers, and it was also the predecessor of the Jiang Maritime Safety Bureau.  The Machinery Department is responsible for many things, from mineral exploration to developmentMining, smelting, and manufacturing of various machinery, etc.  But this department, like the Shipping Department, was just an empty frame at the beginning.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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