Chapter 542 Abnormal system
The Three Kingdoms era was also an era of institutional innovation. In order to cope with the new situation, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu all carried out a certain degree of innovation.
The system of Cao Wei was basically left over from Cao Cao's time. It was improved by Cao Pi and has been in use ever since. This system was used until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it lasted a very long time.
It's just that their system is disdainful to Ma Su. After all, there are basically no restrictions on wealthy families.
As for Soochow, to be honest, it is not as good as Cao Wei. It is fundamentally a product of compromise with the wealthy families. It is also thanks to Soochow's inability to unify the world, otherwise this broken system will definitely lead the country into an abyss.
However, compared with these two families, Ji Han's system is obviously more deformed.
In Zhuge Liang's time, the imperial court's structure could be summed up in one sentence: the palace, the palace, and the palace were all integrated into one. The Prime Minister's Office will have an overview of most of the power and work of the three ministers and nine ministers, and then everyone will work around Zhuge Liang.
Therefore, it is outrageous to say that Zhuge Liang is a powerful minister comparable to Cao Cao. Have you ever seen a powerful minister who exhausted himself to death?
Ji Han's system, with the blessing of Zhuge Liang's personal ability, improved administrative efficiency to the extreme. It is precisely because of this that during Ji Han's successive campaigns, Shu still had a good government and no trouble.
But the benefits come with a price. While its deformed system gave the Han great war potential, it also destined him not to last long.
After all, you Zhuge Liang can do the work of a hundred people by yourself, but you can't expect your successor to do the same. Take Jiang Wan as an example, if he were to take over all Zhuge Liang's work. There is a high probability that Zhuge Liang has not yet left for mourning, and Jiang Wan should catch up with him on the Huangquan Road.
So once Zhuge Liang dies of illness or retires, this system will quickly backfire on the entire court. When the power of the central government cannot be understood, it is extremely fatal to the entire country.
After the recapture of Chang'an, the central power was reorganized and the Shangshutai and the Prime Minister's Office were jointly responsible for the affairs of the world. And that's it, no one has any idea of further reform.
This was a very dangerous situation. After Ma Su understood this, he quickly realized the crisis. Thinking of this, Ma Di gave up the idea of continuing to discuss the annexation of the state. He immediately said goodbye to Jiang Wan and came to Zhuge Liang to discuss this strategy.
He didn't want to lead troops on an expedition in the future and not be in the mood to commit suicide. He worried about whether something would happen to the central government every day. It's better to clear away the thunder buried under the water as soon as possible, so that you can commit suicide without any worries in the future.
Ma Di quickly bid farewell to Jiang Wan and went straight to the Prime Minister's Mansion to discuss the matter with Zhuge Liang.
"Isn't this General Hussar? Today you..."
"I want to see the Prime Minister and have something important to discuss!" Ma Su looked serious and directly explained his purpose.
Dong Cao of the Prime Minister's Mansion was a little curious, but seeing how urgent Ma Su was, he quickly led him into the house.
Entering the Prime Minister's Mansion, Ma Su immediately saw Zhuge Liang listening to reports from officials below and handling important matters at the same time.
"You Chang, why are you here again? Have you finished handling the military affairs in the General's Mansion?" Zhuge Liang asked in surprise when he saw Ma Su breaking in.
"Prime Minister, we have something important to discuss!" Ma Su cupped his hands and reported seriously.
"Is it important?" Zhuge Liang frowned, sensitively feeling that Ma Di had discovered something important again. Then he waved his hand without hesitation and ordered the officials to go down first and handle official business later.
After the screen retreated, Zhuge Liang also put down his official duties and asked seriously,
"If you have anything to say, tell me now."
"Prime Minister, this is about the current issue of the imperial court's official system." Ma Di cupped his hands and explained straight to the point.
"Today Gongyan came to talk to me about important matters. During the discussion, I discovered that there are huge hidden dangers in the Han Dynasty's official system. It takes a long time to handle the financial affairs at the dignified Shangshu Desk, and the task is very heavy."
"There is nothing we can do about it. After all, money, food and taxes are a major matter for the country. In the past, the efficiency of the three ministers and the nine ministers was extremely slow, so the Shang Shutai had no choice but to handle it personally." Zhuge Liang knew this very well and nodded calmly.
The imperial court's financial sources were multifaceted, and taxation was only one of them. In addition, the revenue and expenditure of government-owned industries such as salt and iron, and the income from mining and minting are all important financial sources.
But in the Han system, these were the responsibilities of different officials. The chief agricultural officer is responsible for money and food, and the mineral resources are maintained by the young government...
These situations of being at the same level and not belonging to each other made the financial summary of the Han Dynasty very troublesome. Shangshutai spends a lot of energy on this, and has trouble getting through the money and food every day.
But in this regard, Zhuge Liang believed that although it was a drawback, it was not a serious problem for the time being.
"Although Gong Yan and the others need to waste too much energy on this, it is acceptable for the time being. And with the Prime Minister's Office sharing government affairs, there will be no problem in the short term." Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and calmly gave his conclusion.
"But Prime Minister, can't the Prime Minister's Mansion be maintained forever?" Ma Su smiled bitterly, spread his hands, and said to Zhuge Liang very directly.
"Whether it's the Prime Minister's Palace or a certain Cavalry General's Palace, it's all a temporary measure. If it becomes an indispensable part of the official system, there may be big problems in the future..."
"Of course I know this, but it's not the most important thing now." Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, agreeing with Ma Su's point of view, but still said calmly.
"We will wait until the world is unified and the Han Dynasty's hegemony is stabilized."
Zhuge Liang is not unaware of how deformed the current system is and how great its impact is on the court. Even if Zhuge Liang dies of illness at this time, the court may not be able to get out of chaos within ten years.
But at least for now, everything is going well. As long as nothing unexpected happens and the current trend continues, unification of the world will be a certainty.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang is more inclined to maintain stability at the moment and wait until the world is unified and the Han Dynasty's foundation is secured before reforming.
But such an idea was completely unacceptable to Ma Su, and he immediately raised objections.
"Prime Minister, if a problem is discovered and you don't solve it immediately, it may not be solved by the time it is delayed to a certain extent." Ma Su said with a serious look on his face.
"Now that the Han Dynasty has just returned to the old capital, and the national fortune is prosperous, this is the best way to solve these backlog problems. If it is not solved at this time, the future will inevitably have long nights and dreams..."
"But if something goes wrong, the man's national destiny, which has finally improved, will be interrupted!"
Zhuge Liang's expression remained calm, his eyes were fixed on Ma Su, and his tone was more unquestionable.
"You Chang, there is no room for nonsense in this matter. It's not time to make major changes yet!"