Chapter 439 Official Title System
Ganquan Mountain, Shogunate.

The cold wind was howling outside. Cui Zhouping, wearing a sable fur cloak, was sitting quietly in front of the fireplace with his feet resting on a low stool to keep warm.

He held the caramel milk tea in his hand and took a sip from time to time. This stuff should be drunk while it's hot.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, Cui Zhouping took a big sip and placed the remaining layer of black pottery bowl on the small cabinet beside him.

The official Chen Jiao came over holding a plate of paper information. Paper was precious, and the relatively confidential and valuable information in the shogunate was all wrapped in paper.

The storage space is small, which makes it convenient to seal and guard, and also easy to destroy.

"Master Changshi, this is the first draft of the law on positions, titles and salaries."

Chen Jiao handed over the information, and Cui Zhouping took it and asked, "Where is Si Zhigong?"

"I sent someone to the mansion to inquire, but Xu Gan and the others were all hungover and could not speak."

After Chen Jiao finished speaking, he took two steps back. Seeing that Cui Zhouping did not ask any more questions, he walked out.

Cui Zhouping held the "Law on Positions, Titles and Salaries" and read it carefully. He had read it many times and always felt that although this set of laws was harsh, it also contained great benefits.

An extremely ferocious beast was lurking in it, and it was also shattered.

As long as you read the laws and regulations carefully and spend time to manage it, you can gather the fragments and control this ferocious beast.

At present, there are two types of scholars who have entered officialdom since the Qin and Han Dynasties. One is a local clerk, whether it is a state clerk, a county clerk, or even a village official or a village head, they are all considered clerks.

The other type is the chief official, whether he is a Langguan, a filial and honest official, or a military meritorious official, and serves as the governor of a county or a province.

The so-called disciples and former officials were often developed from the subordinates of such senior officials.

If subordinate officials want to develop and grow, they have to go through the channels of Langguan and Xiaolian before they can become senior officials recognized by the court and the public.

It is extremely difficult for an ordinary clerk to be promoted to a senior official. Often, they need a push from their former senior official and will owe him a huge favor.

Such senior officials who have grown from subordinate officials are meaningful and useful senior officials to the old senior officials.

As for the larger number of old subordinate officials who still remain in the county or prefecture... these people cannot keep up with the promotion and transfer of the old officials. Although they have personal connections, they are far away from each other and are often of no use.

It is difficult for them to escape after staying in the local area, so these people will be welcomed and sent off, becoming subordinates or old officials of generations of senior officials.

Therefore, the growth of a family's influence depends on the effectiveness of old officials, those old subordinate officials and new senior officials who have completed their transformation and promotion.

However, there are only three official ways to become a senior official: Langguan, Xiaolian and military merit.

But now, according to this set of "Positions, Titles and Salaries Law", the accumulation of merits and evaluation of subordinate officials will be started in the future.

That is, daily administrative work will also be regarded as meritorious service, and this kind of merit can enhance the official's own title; after reaching the title and passing the central assessment, he will be granted an official position and become a senior official!

There were also some things that made Cui Zhouping dissatisfied, that is, the titles were conferred based on military merits, and the positions were conferred based on the titles.

In other words, with the implementation of this system, the chief officials of states, counties and prefectures could no longer recruit local celebrities or idle scholars as their subordinates.

Only subordinate officials who met the requirements of titles could be selected from the local area and reorganized to form an administrative team.

As for those with titles who failed in the election and did not take up official positions, they would form the Three Elders of the Township, the Three Elders of the County, and the Three Elders of the County. These people would have the power to supervise and discuss politics, and would be qualified to participate in the assessment of officials.

In the future, if a scholar or a person wants to become an official, the first step is to join the army and obtain a basic title from the army. Only after returning home with this title can he be granted a basic official position. Then, he can accumulate merits to improve his title and then be granted a higher new position based on the new title.

The channels for entering officialdom were uniformly blocked, but after entering officialdom and obtaining a title, one would be eligible for upward promotion.

In other words, the power of initial conferring a title is very heavy, and it directly determines whether a soldier can enter the local government after retirement and start from the grassroots level.

It is impossible to have wars every year, so the standard for awarding titles based on military merit cannot be based solely on beheadings on the battlefield.

There are many additional conditions, such as actively enrolling in school during service, or outstanding performance in military drills and exercises; or various inventions and creations.

Even if you retire without a title, you can be granted a title if you can provide agricultural improvement technology, even if it is to improve herding skills, research useful prescriptions, or improve forging and manufacturing skills. This includes killing bandits in daily life.

In short, after this set of laws is implemented, everything will be based on the rank of the noble.

If you have a title, you have everything; if you have a high title, you can hold a high position in the government; even if you don’t hold an official position, you can still participate in councils and supervise the prefectures and counties.

Looking at the various powers and qualifications associated with the title... Cui Zhouping felt that the people of Hebei would go crazy, and the people of Qingxu and Jianghuai would also go crazy.

The earlier people join the shogunate, the more opportunities they have to make achievements and the longer time they have to accumulate merit, and the more firmly they can hold an advantageous position.

Those who join later will have fewer opportunities to make achievements, face greater competition, and have a shorter time to accumulate merit and be promoted, which will make them very passive.

Family wealth is directly related to the title. In this case, the shogunate's pace of unification will be very slow and will face desperate resistance from all sides.

Unless the surrender is conditional, everything will start from scratch after the surrender, which will actually strengthen the resistance will of the enemy's core and backbone forces.

Cui Zhouping inexplicably thought of Liu Ye, the governor of Tianshui County, who was the first chief secretary.

He thought of Si Li Xiao Wei and Shi Zhong Yao, both of whom had more qualifications than him.

The Grand Marshal was a high-ranking official, so the Chief Clerk, Chief Justice, and Chief Secretary in the Grand Marshal's office all had an official rank lower than that of a two thousand stone official, one level lower than a county magistrate.

After the implementation of the title system, not to mention these two people, even Gan Ning, the pirate and bandit, would be ranked higher than him, the chief historian.

This system will surely be welcomed and supported by new and old soldiers, and almost no one can resist it.

No one can.

The more Cui Zhouping thought about it, the less he dared to cause trouble.

A new path has been established. If the Cui family continues along this path, they will definitely become heroes of the shogunate in the future.

At his current age, by the time he resigns from office, he will at least be able to achieve the rank of Shangqing. If he flatters more and works hard, he will definitely be able to become a duke in the future.

The ranks from lowest to highest are public servant, corporal, sergeant and staff sergeant. The highest rank in the army is deputy team officer. After retiring, one can serve as a minor official with a salary of 100 stones.

After that come second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain and first lieutenant. The highest position in the army can be deputy battalion commander. After retiring, one can hold a position between 200 and 400 shi.

Next are major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and senior general. The highest rank in the army can be captain. After retirement, one can hold a position between 600 shi to 2,000 shi.

After that are Shaoqing, Yaqing and Shangqing, whose corresponding titles in the army are Xiaowei, Miscellaneous General, General and Heavy General; after retirement, they are Qing positions at the level of two thousand stones, ranging from county governor to Nine Ministers.

At the same time, the rank of minister was conferred upon one's military merits, corresponding to Guannei Hou, Ting Hou and Xiang Hou respectively.

The last is the duke position, the corresponding official rank is Bi Wanshi, and the corresponding title is Xian Hou.

The title cannot be inherited, but the marquis can be inherited by lowering his rank.

Above this position is naturally the highest position in Guanzhong, Shanggong Da Sima.

Therefore, the governors of large and famous counties are comparable to the Yaqing, while the governors of other remote and weak counties are comparable to the Shaoqing.

According to this calculation, Tianshui County Magistrate Liu Ye was awarded the rank of Second Minister; and he, the current Chief Secretary of the shogunate... is equivalent to a major general.

Cui Zhouping was very dissatisfied. Even Zhuge Liang, the commander of the Sijin Army, was a rank lower than that of a two thousand stone official, and like him, he was a colonel.

This is obviously a title system that is a mixture of military ranks. It is inherently biased towards military officers, and naturally suppresses the well-off families in various places.

But even if we know, what can we do?
It was thought that it would take ten years to make progress in the southwestern Yizhou, but it was captured quickly in an unexpected way.

Under such circumstances, Cui Zhouping really didn't dare to consider or plan for the future of his fellow countrymen in Hebei anymore.

(End of this chapter)