chsdbacks Page 46
Page 46
The lowest level is clerk, which is the most basic level of civil servant. You are considered to be at level nine as soon as you start working.
The eighth level is staff member, who is responsible for deputy and principal positions at the township level, usually the township head or deputy head, or the head of a county-level subordinate agency.
The seventh level is the section chief, who should be in charge of county-level officials and heads of subordinate agencies at the municipal level.
The sixth season is for department-level staff, dealing with municipal officials and heads of provincial-level subordinate agencies.
The fifth level is for ministers, who are responsible for provincial officials and heads of agencies under central ministries.
The fourth level is the staff member, which is the level of a ministerial member in the central government. Reaching this level is considered to have barely entered the central government and can be involved in national political affairs deployment.
The third level consists of cabinet members. In addition to the prime minister and deputy prime minister, the Prime Minister's Office has several political officials who are in charge of major areas such as finance, civil affairs, industry, and infrastructure.
The second level consists of committee members. The National Military and Political Supreme Council is located within the Head of State's office, with 7 to 13 committee members. High-ranking military and political officials are eligible to attend this council, and the decisions made by the Supreme Council are the highest directives of the national will.
As for the first level of civil servants, that is the head of state! This is the highest level of civil servant, with only one position available, and it is exclusively for Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan is hosting a banquet today, inviting all ministers and officials of the highest rank in Beijing, and has strictly ordered that no one may be absent.
The elite First Division, responsible for guarding the capital, also sealed off all the major city gates of Beijing, and the Forbidden City was placed on high alert.
This made the military and political officials who came to the banquet uneasy, as they all felt that something bad was about to happen, and they all felt that the banquet was not a good one.
Since there were hundreds of people attending the banquet, everyone was gathered outside the Meridian Gate to wait. The civil and military officials were all huddled together, whispering about what was going on.
Suddenly, heavy snow began to fall from the sky, and the weather became unbearably cold.
Officials were not allowed to enter the palace until the palace gates were opened. Their annual leave had been given three days earlier, and after the leave began, everyone except the officials on duty left the Forbidden City.
Although they hadn't been there for three days, everyone felt that the atmosphere in the palace had completely changed. The passageway leading into the palace was lined with heavily armed soldiers who stared at the officials as they passed by with hostile eyes.
After passing through the last palace gate, everyone arrived at the magnificent square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Snowflakes were falling heavily in the square, but rows of small square tables were neatly arranged. Hundreds of small square tables were arranged in square formations on the left and right sides, with one table for each person to eat at.
The food on the table was all the same: a bowl of cold soup, a plate of steamed buns, a plate of pickled vegetables, and finally a glass of wine. But what's noteworthy is that the most luxurious thing on the entire table was this glass of wine, because the glass was made of gold!
When the officials entered, the eunuchs and palace maids who had been setting up the banquet began to disperse. They had received orders that they could take their red envelopes and go home for the New Year.
These eunuchs and palace maids were all remnants of the former Qing dynasty imperial family, and they were all pitiful people. Zhao Yan did not forcibly disperse them, but strictly investigated and executed those ringleaders who were involved in embezzlement and corruption. Those lower-level eunuchs and palace maids who were willing to stay continued to sign labor contracts and work, while those who were unwilling were given a severance payment and left.
At this moment, the palace maids and eunuchs did not understand why the emperor would hold a banquet outdoors in this weather, and why the food served was not even as good as their working meals. However, they were all smart enough not to ask and had no curiosity whatsoever.
They all took their red envelopes and went home for the New Year. The head of state was definitely going to make trouble for these officials, but he was unusually lenient towards these people at the bottom of society.
When the officials saw the banquet being held outdoors in this terrible weather, they all started complaining. Several older officials even wanted to leave, but they were forced back by the guards' menacing gazes.
As the head of the civil officials, Zhang Mingqi gritted his teeth and led his subordinates onto the red carpet that stretched towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Stepping onto it was a perilous journey.
He tried hard to see what was at the end of the red carpet, but the snow was too thick.
It wasn't until he had walked over a hundred meters that he saw the end of the red carpet, where a platform four or five meters high had been erected in the center of the banquet hall on both sides. On the platform, a lonely figure sat quietly in the snow, without any cover, just sitting there in the snow.
"Your Majesty!" Zhang Mingqi exclaimed in disbelief.
Zhao Yan sat on the high platform without any cover, with a small table in front of him and a meager meal. Zhao Yan was covered in snowflakes, even his eyebrows were frosted, and the black fur coat he was wearing had been dyed white.
But the eyes beneath those frosty white eyebrows were incredibly majestic, and the hidden killing intent in their pupils almost made Zhang Mingqi's knees buckle and he knelt down.
"Please take your seats, everyone!" Zhao Yan said simply.
When the civil and military officials saw that the emperor was sitting in the snow, none of them dared to complain. They all obediently found seats and sat down.
Even a fool could see that the Führer is in a very bad mood, and someone is definitely going to be in big trouble today!
After everyone was seated, the entire place fell silent, with only the howling of the wind and snow remaining.
Zhao Yan didn't care that the cold wind was slapping his cheeks, nor did he care that his face was covered in snowflakes. No matter how cold the weather was, it couldn't dampen the anger burning in his heart at that moment.
Zhao Yan stood up, his hands braced on the armrests of the dragon throne. His majestic gaze swept across the entire room, and the officials all lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. A very few even experienced a sudden heat in their groin and wet their pants, falling off the benches and kneeling limply on the ground.
"Stand up! This is your last shred of dignity!" Zhao Yan said coldly. "Look at me, there's no need to look away!"
With his hands behind his back, Zhao Yan seemed to shield everyone from the swirling snow, and everyone looked at the figure on the high platform.
Zhao Yan slowly spoke: "There is a traitor among us!"
"I've given you all countless chances, and I've warned you countless times about the consequences of betrayal!"
"But some people rejected my opportunities and ignored my warnings!"
Zhao Yan picked up a stack of documents from the table, held them in his hand, and his expression turned extremely angry. He roared, "Thousands of officials and generals, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and four hundred million civilians have done their utmost."
The national treasury was emptied of its last copper coin, the warehouses emptied of their last rifle; countless people fought for it, everyone gambled everything on this!
"But some people have so easily sold us all out, sold all our efforts to the British, to the Germans, and even to the Japanese!"
"I don't understand, what did they give you that made you betray this country, betray 400 million compatriots, and betray millions of soldiers who bravely defended the country!"
"Is it really just for a few tens of thousands of pounds or a few hundred thousand yen? Can that amount of money buy a country's dignity and future? Yet you sold it off without hesitation. I don't understand, what has this country and this nation done to wrong you?"
Zhao Yan was well aware that his strategic plans would be leaked, which is why he held two strategic planning meetings, one overt and one covert. It didn't matter if the overt meeting was leaked, as that wasn't Zhao Yan's true intention.
But his secret strategic deployment was also leaked, and the Japanese learned of his million-strong mobilization plan! They didn't even deploy heavy troops in the Kwantung Leased Territory, but instead chose Korea as a springboard to invade China!
The matter is now very clear: a traitor has betrayed them all!
The civil officials were all filled with righteous indignation, and Zhang Mingqi even slammed his fist on the table in anger, his eyes almost bloodshot.
The military officers and generals immediately stood up and instinctively reached for their gun cases at their waists, hoping to find the traitor, but they found nothing; all their weapons had been confiscated before they entered the palace.
Zhao Yan turned his head and looked at Qiu Xingxun, the least prominent of the five tigers of the Revival Party, and nodded slightly.
Qiu Xingxun stepped forward with a list in hand, and began the process of counting the dead in the Book of Life and Death.
Soon, names were called out one by one, with the first to be called out being those spineless cowards who wet their pants and knelt on the ground. They were immediately dragged away by armed guards.
Then, one by one, those who had been trying to remain calm were called out by name. Their faces turned pale, their legs went weak, and before they could even fall to the ground, they were picked up again and dragged away by the fierce soldiers.
After Qiu Xingxun finished inspecting the civil officials, he began inspecting the military officials. A lieutenant colonel, deputy division commander, struggled to break free from the guards, took a bullet to the leg, and knelt down in front of Zhao Yan: "Commander-in-Chief, I am innocent! I did not betray my brothers!"
Zhao Yan kept his eyes closed and remained silent, but Qiu Xingxun spoke up: "Lieutenant Colonel Peng Kaifang, deputy commander of the 11th Division, you did not betray the intelligence, but your wife and your brother-in-law did! As the source of the leak, you must bear equal responsibility!"
Peng Kaifang looked shocked, though he seemed to have thought of something. He remembered that his wife had recently acquired a lot of expensive jewelry, and his brother-in-law had even bought a house in the capital. When he asked her about it, his wife said it was money earned from business.
It's no surprise that the family of a deputy division commander in the National Defense Army can do business without any obstacles. Making money is no big deal for Peng Kaifang, but he never expected that the top-secret intelligence he brought home would be sold by his wife and brother-in-law!
Peng Kaifang knelt down, bowing her head in admission of wrongdoing: "It was my fault, Your Majesty! I, Peng Kaifang, deserve to die! I admit it! But Your Majesty, in the next life, I still want to be with you!"
Zhao Yan spoke up: "Leave his body intact and allow him to be buried and have a tomb erected."
Peng Kaifang kowtowed again, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After getting up, Peng Kaifang refused the guards' escort and calmly limped to the execution ground.
Finally, another general, whose name had not yet been called, stepped forward and said, "Sir, I was wrong. I was blinded by greed. I was wrong!"
"I beg Your Majesty to spare my family, considering I've followed you all this way!"
Zhao Yan waved his hand: "It's too late. Your family is already waiting for you at the execution ground. Hold onto your last bit of dignity and bear the consequences like a man!"
The fate of those on the list was sealed the moment they left their homes today.
No sooner had they left than the fierce soldiers had already taken their families to the execution ground. Zhao Yan showed no mercy to traitors; if one person betrayed the country, the whole family would be executed!
If you survive a defeat on the battlefield, Zhao Yan can forgive you, even if you have done your best and eventually surrender, Zhao Yan will not blame you. But if you betray your brothers and betray your country, Zhao Yan will have absolutely no pity for you!
More than fifty officials and generals were taken away on the spot and sent to the execution ground. Soon after, dense gunfire rang out in the distance, and it sounded like Maxim heavy machine guns were firing.
"Please be seated, gentlemen. The banquet will now officially begin!"
Zhao Yan sat down again, raised his golden cup to the civil and military officials, and drank the wine, which was covered with snowflakes, in one gulp.
The civil and military officials also raised their cups and drank the wine without any smiles on their faces.
"Let us drink from this golden cup, for even the sharpest blade will not spare us!"
Zhao Yan put down his wine glass and continued, "I do not wish to execute any more colleagues. I hope everyone can lend me a hand. Even if the hope is slim, we should try our best to turn the tide and reclaim the lost destiny of our nation."
"This is the mission of every Chinese man, whether present or absent, and it is our destiny!"
The civil and military officials remained silent. At this moment, it would be meaningless to say anything more, and no matter how nice the words were, they would have no effect. The only way for everyone to prove their determination was to take action.
Zhang Mingqi took the lead, picked up the steamed bun that was frozen like a rock, and started to eat it. Then he picked up the soup that had been frozen into ice crystals and took a big gulp.
Zhao Yan remained silent, chewing the cold food like everyone else, making a crunching sound as he chewed, before swallowing it in the wind and snow, letting the cold penetrate his chest and abdomen.
Chapter 85 Prime Minister Regent?
The atmosphere in Beijing during the Spring Festival of 1907 was unusually eerie.
The grand banquet hosted by the head of state for his officials was originally a good thing, but what followed was an exceptionally brutal purge in the capital. Nearly one-third of the central high-ranking officials of the republican government were dismissed, and the vast majority of them were stripped of their official positions and their homes confiscated for corruption and dereliction of duty.
While these people suffered a terrible fate, at least they were safe and their families were still alive. The others, however, didn't even face a charge or trial; their entire families were taken away without a trace, and then they were never heard from again.
It all started on that bloody New Year's Eve. From that day on, the leader's face never showed a trace of a warm smile again, only a cold seriousness.
This massive purge had nothing to do with ordinary people; on the contrary, they enjoyed watching the spectacle. The vegetable markets were always packed with people, and officials would appear on stage every day, leaving everyone completely bewildered.
The administrative order and efficiency in the capital city also improved dramatically. From the lowest-level clerks to the top officials at the central level, no one dared to slack off in the slightest.
The officials who attended the bloody New Year's Eve banquet that day went back to work like crazy on the first day of the Lunar New Year. All those who were paid by the government ended their holidays early, or rather, they never had any more holidays.
Every official task, no matter how big or small, is assigned to a specific individual. If you do it well, you continue to work like crazy; if you do it poorly, you are immediately dismissed from your post and can only go home to grow sweet potatoes after being investigated.
After the bloody New Year's Eve, the lights in the Imperial Study would stay on until three or four in the morning every day.
Since then, Zhao Yan has not held any meetings. All departments only need to strictly follow the orders from the Imperial Study. Apart from cooperating with each other, departments are strictly prohibited from inquiring about each other's information. If anyone is found to be inquiring, they will be arrested immediately. It is better to kill the innocent than to let the guilty go free.
No one in the military or government dared to take official documents home anymore; some even slept in separate rooms from their wives immediately after paying their grain taxes.
This tense atmosphere continued until May 10, 1907, when Zhao Yan finally began to summon officials, the first of whom was Premier Zhang Mingqi.
Inside the Imperial Study, Zhang Mingqi and Zhao Yan sat facing each other across a table. Among the civil officials, only Zhang Mingqi received such treatment, after all, he was a veteran of the Changsha Uprising.
Zhao Yan looked much thinner. More than three months of high-intensity work had made him lose almost ten pounds. His cheekbones were more prominent, his eye sockets were sunken, and his thick, black mustache looked like Lu Xiaofeng's, but it was unkempt and looked a bit messy.
The only thing that hadn't changed was his dignified gaze, which remained as deep and unwavering as ever.
"Old Zhang, although we've only known each other for two years, you've been there for me through thick and thin."
Zhao Yan picked up the teapot and filled Zhang Mingqi's cup with tea, and Zhang Mingqi quickly reached out to protect the cup.
Zhao Yan continued, "I want to ask, can I trust you?"
"It's not just ordinary trust, but the kind of trust that allows someone to entrust their entire business to you!"
Zhang Mingqi nodded emphatically without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I, Zhang Mingqi, am just a military man. I was fortunate enough to follow Lord Zeng Guofan in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion and climbed all the way to the position of governor based on my military achievements."
Over the decades, he lived a life where he thought he was clever, but he never saw through anything. He thought he was carefree, but in reality, he was nothing more than a servant.
Until I met you, these past two years have been more exciting than the previous decades combined. I have never lived so clearly and understandably.
I don't know if Your Majesty trusts me, but I have entrusted the rest of my life to you. I will obey your every command, even unto death!
Zhao Yan nodded: "I understand, I believe you!"
"This great battle is just around the corner. I have decided to personally lead the expedition to Korea in three days. To be honest with you, I cannot be sure of the outcome of this battle. I can only say that there is some hope, but not much."
But this battle must be fought. I will not run away, and I don't know if I will ever come back.
"I entrust everything in the central government to you. You, Zhang Mingqi, will oversee the country as Prime Minister. Everything behind me is entrusted to you!"
Zhang Mingqi's eyes were filled with disbelief, and he stood up abruptly: "Your Majesty, how can this be? What kind of monarch goes to the front lines personally? This is absolutely unacceptable!"
Zhang Mingqi's first concern wasn't the power of regent, but rather that Zhao Yan was going to personally lead the army to the front lines!
Although Zhao Yan personally directed and organized the Changsha Uprising and the Central Plains War in the past, those were still the early stages, and everyone had to risk their lives.
But things are different now. To put it bluntly, Zhao Yan is now the de facto ruler of a country. If he were to personally lead an expedition to fight a war with little hope of success, where would that place the country?
Even now, despite the immense effort and enormous costs borne by the entire nation, the top leadership still believes the odds of victory are slim.
After all, they had suffered too many defeats in the past few decades and had never won, so no one believed that a miracle would happen this time.
Throughout history, emperors have personally led military campaigns, such as during the Qing Dynasty. However, these were only campaigns where victory was assured. Only when the emperor was certain of victory would he personally lead a campaign to gain prestige. Otherwise, if there was even a sliver of risk of defeat or if the forces were evenly matched, the emperor would not go.
Not to mention the battle that is now hopeless but must be fought. What will happen to such a large country if Zhao Yan goes and doesn't come back?
Zhao Yan took a sip of his tea and said, "If I don't go, who will?"
Zhang Mingqi instinctively said, "It must be Wang Chongshan."
But Zhang Mingqi couldn't finish his sentence. Wang Chongshan was the kind of general who was good at maintaining the status quo but not good at making progress. He had no ambition and was reliable in normal times, but you shouldn't expect any miracles from him at critical moments.
Wang Chongshan, as the top military officer, was promoted to lieutenant general on the first day of this month. Everyone thought he would be the supreme commander of the upcoming battle, but in fact Zhang Mingqi had no confidence in him at all.
When Zhao Yan said at a meeting last year that he would personally lead the expedition, everyone thought it was just a strategic deception and no one took it seriously. But now that Zhao Yan is saying he's serious, Zhang Mingqi is finding it hard to accept.