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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 724: After the Kingdom was established

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    Early the next morning after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiao Yungui held the first state affairs meeting after the founding of the People's Republic of China in the Qianqing Palace.  At the meeting, Zuo Zongtang, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Heaven, announced a series of government and official reform laws on the spot, the most eye-catching of which was the establishment of the Central Cabinet of the Kingdom of Heaven.

    The cabinet system appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Starting from Yongle, emperors of all dynasties have entrusted their major political affairs to the cabinet to varying degrees. The emperor "who can rule the world without meeting his ministers has the votes of cabinet ministers."  However, none of them dared to bear the charge of violating the ancestral system, and no one was willing to share part of the imperial power that had achieved complete victory with the cabinet ministers.  So the cabinet progressed slowly and never became a formal executive body at the central level.

    For the first time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officially designated the cabinet as a formal administrative agency at the central level. At the same time, the cabinet implemented a responsible cabinet system. However, unlike the British responsible cabinet, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's responsible cabinet was not responsible to the parliament, but to the Taiping Emperor.  That is to say, if the emperor does not trust the cabinet or his minister Wen Wu has an impeachment motion, the emperor can choose to remove the cabinet or dissolve the cabinet after a cabinet hearing, and then re-select candidates to form the cabinet.

    Of course, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cabinet was responsible to the emperor, it had greater power than the Ming Dynasty cabinet.  Although the Ming Dynasty cabinet also had greater power, it always succumbed to imperial power. During the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet never became a threat to imperial power.  However, the cabinet system reform of the Taiping Rebellion greatly loosened the constraints of imperial power on cabinet power.  The Taiping Rebellion's cabinet was involved in both legislation and administration, and actually controlled the legislative process of the Heavenly Kingdom.  At the same time, the Prime Minister is the head of the cabinet government and presides over cabinet meetings.  Oversees government affairs and has the power to appoint and remove cabinet members and all senior government officials.  Responsible for formulating and implementing major national internal and external policies.

    The only means for the Taiping Emperor to control the cabinet was the cabinet hearing system. If the emperor had objections to the cabinet's governance, he could not completely obstruct the cabinet's governance and could only intervene by removing the cabinet.  The current cabinet system of the Taiping Rebellion is like a listed company. The emperor is the chairman, and the appointed prime minister is eo. The entire company's operations are controlled and completed by eo. Then the board of directors and the chairman have the power to remove eo.

    At the same time, because the power of the cabinet has been greatly increased, there is no eunuch group in the Taiping Palace.  Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven's cabinet has more centralized power than the Ming Dynasty cabinet, because it does not need to compete for power with the eunuch group and the six ministries. This can ensure that the cabinet operates smoothly and will not have multiple orders.

    At the same time, in order to ensure effective supervision of the cabinet, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established the People's Assembly. This People's Assembly is the elected representatives of ordinary people in various places. They are only responsible for judging the quality of national government affairs and policy implementation in the People's Assembly, and finally will  The results of the evaluation are sent directly to the emperor.  The emperor decides on the outcome of the work of the cabinet through motions of the House of Commons.  This House of Representatives is only a form of information collection and transmission. It does not have the power to directly remove the cabinet, nor does it participate in the election of the cabinet prime minister.  However, this election system of the People's Assembly is to lay the foundation for the future cabinet to be elected by the people, and it also gives the cabinet another kind of constraint.

    After the cabinet system is announced.  It is the reform of the Six Ministries. The traditional Six Ministries of the imperial court have seriously hindered its operational efficiency in the face of more and more affairs. The thirty-six departments under the Six Ministries should be in charge of all affairs of the country.  Including the military, government, transportation, medical care, education, diplomacy, commerce, agriculture, industry, etc., but every time the department has official business, it has to go to six ministries to transfer one hand first.  This greatly affects efficiency and creates a large number of redundant officials with overlapping responsibilities.  therefore.  This time, the Taiping Rebellion directly canceled the traditional six ministries, directly elevated thirty-six departments to central national ministries, and established the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, etc., to make each department more professional.  Some of the original six ministers, ministers, and others went directly to the new ministries to take over ministerial positions, and some entered the cabinet.

    In addition to the above political reforms, there is also a striking military reform. According to the new military system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom emperor also served as the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's three armies. It was divided into nine military regions according to region, including the East China Military Region, the South China Military Region, and the Central China Military Region.  , North China Military Region, Northwest Military Region, Southwest Military Region, Northeastern Region, Xinjiang Military Region and Central Military Region.  In the traditional Chinese region, the first seven military regions are easy to understand, but the Xinjiang Military Region is separated because it is still the army of the Wing Palace, and the Central Military Region is an important manifestation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's ability to ensure the defense of the capital.

    Then there is the division of troops within each military region. The elite First Army and Second Army are assigned to the central military region, and the remaining three to eighteenth armies are assigned to the remaining seven military regions. The Xinjiang Military Region is commanded by King Yi alone.  The military chiefs of the above military regions rotate every three years, except for the Xinjiang Military Region.

    Originally, Xiao Yungui wanted to set up an overseas military region, but the intention of expansion was too obvious, and he was afraid thatBecause of the negative diplomatic impact, it was not established for the time being. However, a few years later, this military region was still established, and there were two, one was the Southern Naval Region and the other was the Northern Xinjiang Military Region (foreigners called it the Siberian Military Region).

    After the military and political restructuring, another major reform in education was announced, which was the abolition of the imperial examination system that had been in place for thousands of years. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom began to implement a three-year compulsory education system for all and the national civil service examination system.  Three-year compulsory education is a universal education that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spent a lot of money and investment to implement in order to reduce the national illiteracy rate. It is expected that more than 3,000 new primary schools will be opened across the country within three years, ensuring that every county in more than 3,000 counties across the country has a public education system.  primary school.  Because the country has too many people and too large a territory, it can only implement three-year compulsory education for the time being. Otherwise, the financial pressure will still be too great, because this compulsory education is paid for by the state and is completely free.

    The national government affairs examination system has further opened up the channels for ordinary people to become officials. As long as you are literate and have skills, you can participate in the government affairs examination held every year. Like later generations, the state selects the best and starts with local government affairs and then gradually  Promoted to the central government.  This can prevent a group of nerds who can only write eight-part essays from controlling the country's political situation for a long time, and truly achieve an eclectic selection system that promotes talents.

    After the announcement of various reform systems, the old courtiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom behaved relatively calmly. They had already known these reforms in their hearts. They had participated in discussions on many systems before, so they were not surprised.  Yuan Jiasan, Li Hongzhang, Peng Yulin, Qingfeng and other Manchu officials who were demoted were very surprised.

    After the dynasty was dismissed, Li Hongzhang said to Yuan Jiasan and Peng Yulin while walking on the corridor of the palace: "Look at the atmosphere of our new dynasty, it is opening up a new situation that has not been seen in China for three thousand years." Peng Yulin asked: "Will the new emperor delegate power?  Too much? Will there be an incident about Ming Taizu?" All three people understood what Peng Yulin said about Ming Taizu. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established the left and right prime ministers, but later the imperial power and the prime minister's power conflicted, and finally Zhu Yuanzhang canceled it.  The prime minister system was established.

    Yuan Jiasan pondered for a long time and then said: "The new emperor is an enlightened king. He will definitely not be like Zhu Yuanzhang who indiscriminately killed the founding heroes. China will definitely be able to achieve great governance within a few decades." Yuan Jiasan's words are only half right. Xiao Yungui is indeed  He is not a person who kills heroes indiscriminately, but his wife Hong Yun'er is.  Twenty years later, Xiao Yungui died of illness and the new emperor succeeded to the throne. Faced with the competition between the domestic bourgeoisie and the traditional feudal forces that wanted to control the state affairs, Hong Yun'er, who was already the empress dowager, wanted to ensure that  The country transitioned smoothly, completed the reform of the national capital system, and killed more than ten founding officials, including Yuan Jiasan himself, who represented the remnants of feudal forces.  But it was lucky. When Hong Yun'er killed the heroes, many of them had already died of old age and illness, so they didn't kill too many.

    Hong Yun'er's execution of the heroes twenty years later to support the reform of the capital system was another major change. At that time, the country had already met the conditions for reform. The illiteracy rate of the people had dropped significantly, the people's wisdom was opened, ideological trends were surging, and domestic industry and commerce were prosperous.  In developed countries, it is inevitable for the capitalist class, which controls the country's economy, to initiate major changes.  After this change, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom finally embarked on the path of constitutional monarchy, and the Xiao family became the royal family, just a symbol of the country, and the imperial power was further weakened.  The country has formed a House of Commons and a Council of State composed of capitalists, which is the British House of Commons and House of Lords. The prime minister has become a system in which he is responsible to both houses of the House of Commons and the Council of State.

    After listening to Yuan Jiasan's words, Peng Yulin said: "What about abolishing the imperial examination system? I am afraid that scholars all over the world will be dissatisfied." Li Hongzhang nodded slightly and said: "It is possible that they will be dissatisfied. Without the titles of examiner and scholar, it is also possible  We can't be exempted from some taxes." Yuan Jiasan said: "As far as the country is concerned, we scholars should have paid taxes and food a long time ago. I feel that in the future, unless those who have made meritorious contributions to the country can be exempted from tax, others will only have to pay taxes for many years.  It is unreasonable to get tax exemption after just a few years of study. Besides, the country is currently promoting universal education. In the future, more and more people will be educated and literate. The emperor¡¯s compulsory education is more generous than Mr. Kong Sheng. He wants the people of the whole country to  They are all scholars."

    Li Hongzhang said: "Yes, Sage Kong taught one side, and the current emperor really wants to educate all people." Peng Yulin nodded and sighed: "At that time, who will dare to bully us? Maybe China will open up again.  A prosperous Han and Tang Dynasties are coming."

    As he was talking, he saw a group of people walking towards him. It was dozens of palace guards escorting more than a dozen prisoners. The three of them stepped aside. Peng Yulin's sharp eyes recognized that this group of people was Xiang.  Military Zeng Guofan, Guo Songtao, Zeng Guohua and others.  Peng Yulin hurried forward, but was stopped by the guard. He hurriedly said: "I just want to say a few words." The guard said: "The emperor is waiting to see them, I'm sorry." After that, he escorted them forward.

    Zeng Guofan looked back when he heard the voice, and just smiled bitterly at Peng Yulin, then slightly cupped his hands, while Peng Yulin replied deeply.?One gift.  Behind him, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Jiasan came forward. Yuan Jiasan sighed: "Zeng Wenzheng was a man of great power, but I don't know what the emperor will do with them." Li Hongzhang sighed: "In the previous dynasty, they must have been high-ranking officials and well-paid, but in this new dynasty,  , Alas, that¡¯s just four words of public release in accordance with the law" (To be continued)
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