novelhk Chapter 52 Beining City Takes Off
Chapter 52 Beining City Takes Off
The term "reassigning officials to other places" actually refers to transferring local minor officials to other prefectures or counties.
The advantage of this is that when a minor official goes to an unfamiliar prefecture or county, he/she naturally loses the possibility of forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices.
After all, being in an unfamiliar place, even if he had ulterior motives, he wouldn't dare to act recklessly for the time being.
"Of course, using officials from other places to govern is not a fundamental solution, but it is a good medicine for Beining City at present."
Qiu Xingzhi continued, "If Your Highness truly wishes to restore order to the officialdom of Beining City, the best way is to broaden the channels for public opinion, allowing the people to report, expose, and even directly sue the officials."
"Only when the right to seek redress is truly delegated to the people will they have the courage to face injustice, and those corrupt officials will be respected and dare not commit crimes easily."
In the Great Qi Kingdom, ordinary people have always been at the bottom of society.
If the common people have grievances, they must appeal to higher authorities. If they bypass a level, they must first endure eighty strokes of the cane.
For example, if Zhang San is subjected to an unfair trial in his own place, he must go to a higher-level government office to appeal his case.
The prefect will then hold a trial, but before that, the official must be flogged eighty times, to uphold the authority of the court officials.
But once those eighty strokes of the cane are delivered, let alone an ordinary person, even a mere warrior would likely lose his life.
By then, the person will be dead, so how can you continue to file a complaint?
Qiu Xingzhi's intention was clearly to abolish these old systems and encourage people to file complaints.
In Qin Xuan's modern mindset, this means elevating the people's right to supervise, so that officials always remember that millions of people are watching them.
"Very well, sir. But please discuss the specific details with the military and formulate a complete set of regulations as soon as possible, and then issue them to all the prefectures and counties of Beining City."
Qin Xuan acted decisively and immediately made a decision: "In addition, a separate government office can be set up in Beining City, where any citizen can come to file a complaint without having to go through the local county government."
By doing this, Qin Xuan essentially hung a gleaming cleaver over the heads of all the county governments.
Anyone who dares to arbitrarily judge cases in their own territory will be digging their own grave if they are sued here.
Qiu Xingzhi's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he laughed loudly, "So Your Highness had this idea all along. It seems that I, Xingzhi, am just parroting what others have said."
"Ah, sir, you are being far too modest."
Qin Xuan laughed loudly: "Among everyone present, including myself, who can compare to you in terms of governance?"
"Yes, sir, we are just a bunch of reckless warriors, not very good at political affairs," Du Manjiang couldn't help but laugh at himself.
These military generals, accustomed to a life of fighting and killing, were indeed ill-equipped to handle political affairs.
“Your Highness, it’s not that I’m being modest, but there are indeed people who are more knowledgeable about government affairs than I am.”
Qiu Xingzhi smiled faintly: "Does Your Highness still remember last winter when one of my students came to visit me at my residence?"
When the matter was brought up, Qin Xuan had some recollection: "Was his name Cui Yu? It seems that he was demoted to Fuzhou because he offended the Minister of Personnel, and he came to say goodbye to you."
"Your Highness indeed has a good memory."
Qiu Xingzhi nodded: "After Cui Yu was demoted to Fuzhou, he worked diligently to govern the area. He not only transformed a poor county into a prosperous place, but also submitted many good policies for governing the country to the court."
"But unfortunately, these memorials were all rejected by the Minister of Personnel and subsequently fell into my hands."
As he spoke, Qiu Xingzhi took out a booklet from his bosom and handed it to Qin Xuan: "Your Highness, I have copied a portion of my disciple's memorial. Please take a look."
Qin Xuan did not hesitate and quickly began to read it after taking it.
But upon seeing this, Qin Xuan was deeply shocked.
Cui Yu actually proposed a new land distribution system in his memorial, which was almost identical to the policy Qin Xuan had previously implemented.
He also proposed establishing a supervisory mechanism and a three-year transfer system, which was truly astonishing.
This oversight mechanism is essentially the modern-day disciplinary inspection commission, specifically designed to investigate and supervise corrupt officials.
The transfer system was designed to prevent officials from serving too long in the same place and thus creating local tyrants.
If Qin Xuan hadn't met Cui Yu before, he would have even suspected that this person might be a time traveler like himself.
This vision and insight, far ahead of its time, is simply unheard of.
It's no wonder that even a great Confucian scholar like Qiu Xingzhi praised this disciple highly.
"Where is this person now? I'll send someone to invite him over right away."
Qin Xuan was genuinely eager to find talented people, and said excitedly.
Qiu Xingzhi seemed to have guessed Qin Xuan's thoughts long ago, and smiled and said, "I wrote a letter yesterday, and I believe he will come to Beining City after receiving my letter."
Because Qiu Xingzhi had previously sided with Qin Xuan, not only he but also his disciples were suppressed by the imperial court.
That's why he was so sure that Cui Yu would come to Beining City.
"Alright, then I'll leave this matter to you, sir."
Qin Xuan was overjoyed; the matter of the administration in Beining City could finally be resolved.
"Your Highness, what about the resettlement of these 200,000 refugees?" Zhao Luoying asked.
The crowd fell silent. Even Qiu Xingzhi frowned slightly and said, "The number of refugees this time is too large. Even though Beining City is making a fortune every day, it can't withstand such prolonged consumption."
"Indeed! In just the last two days, the grain reserves in the granaries have dropped drastically."
Zhuge Xuan nodded.
"I have already made a decision on this matter."
Just when everyone was at a loss, Qin Xuan smiled confidently and said, "Beining City has always been a place with a vast land and a sparse population. These 200,000 refugees may seem like a lot, but in terms of the size of Beining City, they are actually nothing special."
Beining City, as the largest defensive line of the Great Qi on the northern border, had a population of over three million at its peak.
Today, the population of Beining City is only around 600,000.
"Having land is useless; we can't just make up so many houses for them to live in out of thin air, can we?"
Du Manjiang muttered something out of the blue, earning him a glare from Ning Yuanfeng.
Qin Xuan smiled, indicating that it was alright, and continued, "Everyone has actually been caught in a misconception, only thinking about how to help the refugees, but there is another way, which is to provide work relief."
"Work relief in lieu of work?"
Qiu Xingzhi and Zhuge Xuan were both taken aback, and then their eyes gradually brightened.
"Does Your Highness intend to hire them to build houses and cultivate land on their own?"
As expected of a great Confucian scholar of our time, he guessed Qin Xuan's intentions as soon as he spoke.
Zhuge Xuan was equally not to be outdone, and immediately followed up with:
"This will not only solve their food problem, but the newly built houses and cultivated land can also be rented or sold to them. It's a win-win situation!"
Qin Xuan laughed heartily, feeling delighted. Indeed, the wisdom of the ancients should never be underestimated.
If all 200,000 refugees were to become productive forces, the results they would create would be beyond even Qin Xuan's imagination.
Emperor Daqi never dreamed that what he originally intended to do with these 200,000 refugees to cripple the entire city of Beining would unexpectedly provide Qin Tian with the most urgently needed labor force.
With this workforce in hand, Qin Xuan could finally begin implementing the next phase of his plan.
Thinking of this, a glint flashed in Qin Xuan's eyes, and he silently thought, "Beining City, let's take off from this moment on!"