The passage of the Cabinet's self-determination decree had far-reaching implications because it meant that officials had the right to self-determination for the first time.
Before this, even the smallest power was nominally exercised by the monarch through the hands of officials, even if it was actually the officials themselves doing things.
This time, giving the Cabinet the right to self-determination was essentially the royal family handing over a part of their true power.
It was easy to hand over this kind of power, but it could never be taken back. Even if a powerful monarch forcefully took it back, when he died, the officials would still do everything they could to regain this power.
At first, the empress dowager did not realize the true impact of this matter. Later, after the scholars on the rankings slowly analyzed it thoroughly, the empress dowager once again vomited blood and fainted.
A few days later, the members of the royal family gathered to visit the empress dowager, who fainted again.
This was because almost all the members of the royal family accused the empress dowager of making a big mistake, of betraying the royal family, the monarch, and imperial power. They even accused the empress dowager of having an unspeakable deal with Fang Yun.
However, no member of the royal family dared to run over and scold Fang Yun.
Zhao Hongzhuang, who was far away in Mishou, had no choice but to travel day and night back to the capital.
Weakening the imperial power, the Cabinet's power exploded.
Because almost all of this benefited Fang Yun, the other members of the Cabinet rarely made things difficult for Fang Yun's drafts. They only occasionally fought for some benefits for themselves and their own offices. That was all.
Thus, the Left Minister's Cabinet's decree was carried out very efficiently.
However, Fang Yun was not an inexperienced official. After roping in a group of officials, he unceremoniously used the Ministry of Appointments and the Overwatch Council to attack a group of officials who had previously obstructed him. Although the highest position of those officials was only fourth-level, Fang Yun's methods were shrewd and direct. There was not the slightest bit of oversight. Even their backers could not find fault. They suffered a hidden loss and did not dare to fight back.
They knew very well that Fang Yun was beating the grass to scare the snake. Whoever dared to stand out now, Fang Yun would use them to establish his power.
In reality, ever since Fang Yun became the Left Minister, all the high-ranking officials had been very careful to avoid becoming a target for Fang Yun to establish his power.
Even the Left Prime Minister was forced to leave, and even the Empress Dowager was so angry that she vomited blood. Fang Yun would not be afraid of any high-ranking official.
Among the officials that were punished by Fang Yun, there was a Secondary Grade Five Manager of the Honglu Temple, who walked the path of Chen Sheng's family. After being demoted by Fang Yun, he ran to Chen Shengshi's family to complain because his maternal grandmother was the cousin of the current head of Chen Shengshi's family.
In the end, the eldest grandson of the Chen family, Chen Jing, happened to be there. This person had an old friendship with Fang Yun and was a righteous person. When he found out that the manager had used his position as a diplomat to do some shady business with Gyeongo, he pointed at his nose and scolded him out of the Chen family.
Afterwards, the Chen Family used their power to strip that person of his official position and sent him to the Sea of Zhenyu. Their methods of dealing with him were far more brutal than Fang Yun's.
The manager's experience made many people who thought that they had powerful backing shudder. They had always known that any powerful force that cared about its reputation would not be willing to become enemies with Fang Yun, who was praised by the world. Moreover, they would have to pay a huge price.
Fang Yun's plan to lure the snake out of its hole failed, but it was very successful. This made his reform exceptionally smooth.
Fang Yun used one and a half months to carry out a basic reform of the Ministry of Personnel. Then, he announced the unification of the names of the official departments. The official departments under the Cabinet would all be named as ministries.
This news would have caused a confrontation between the old interest groups, especially the officials of the six ministries. However, Fang Yun added later that he wanted to split and add new ministerial departments.
Therefore, a strange scene appeared in Jingguo. It was obviously a huge reform. As far as the current situation was concerned, its impact was far greater than Fang Yun's return to the old ways and the Ministry of Personnel's interests. However, after the news was released, not a single official objected.
This was because every official realized that if new ministerial departments were to be split and added, there would definitely be a large number of official positions!
Even Sheng Boyuan, who was the most opposed to Fang Yun, did not express any objections at this moment.
He did not want to offend more than 90% of the officials in Jingguo!
Soon, Cao Dean was the first to speak out in support. He believed that Jingguo was currently in an unprecedented stage of development. The current official departments could no longer meet the needs of Jingguo. Fang Yun's reform must be carried out according to the will of heaven and the will of the people. Whoever objected to this reform would be obstructing the rise of Jingguo.
Cao Dean also said that in order to support Fang Yun, he was willing to start the reform from the Ministry of Revenue.
Later, Assistant Minister Yang Xuwen also expressed his support for Fang Yun in public. He believed that the reform of the official departments was inevitable.
With the three ministers supporting at the same time, all the officials felt reassured.
A few days later, a new ministerial department appeared in Jingguo's history. It was the Ministry of Water and Soil.
The cabinet also quickly announced the functions of the Ministry of Water and Soil. At this stage, the Ministry of Water and Soil was mainly responsible for investigating the construction land, fields, water systems, forests, grasslands, and other information in Jingguo.
At first glance, the Ministry of Water and Soil did not seem to have any special power. It was only responsible for more detailed exploration, investigation, and recording of Jingguo's land and resources.
However, this alone was not enough to form a ministry.
The temporary Minister of Water and Soil was Fang Yun's old friend, Cai He, who used to be the county magistrate of Ji County.
Filling the vacancy did not require a full five-year term.
Therefore, after a discussion, the officials of Jingguo quickly came to a conclusion. The Ministry of Water and Soil would be responsible for all the land and resources in Jingguo.
No one objected because the Ministry of Water and Soil could be said to be separated from the Ministry of Revenue. Cao Dean, who used to work in the Ministry of Revenue for many years and was now the Minister of the Right, personally supported it. No one had the right to object.
Land had always been the core lifeline of the human race. No one in power would ignore this point.
The scholars of Saint Origin once summed up the conflict between the two Han Dynasties and concluded that the main reason was that the officials of the time were unable to solve the problem of finance and land.
The officials quietly waited for the Ministry of Water and Soil to change. However, to their disappointment, after many days, the Ministry of Water and Soil was as advertised. It was only responsible for investigating and recording Jingguo's land and resources. It did not have any real power.
The only thing that happened in the Ministry of Water and Soil was that some officials in Yanzhou tried to stop the Ministry of Water and Soil from investigating the land. They were impeached by the Overwatch Council. The cabinet directly sent out orders to arrest them and bring them back to the capital for trial. What shocked the officials the most was that the entire process did not take more than five days. They were dealt with quickly and severely. Furthermore, no one in Jingguo objected to Fang Yun's decision.
While the officials did not understand why the Ministry of Water and Soil was so powerful, there was some gossip in Jingguo. Before the Ministry of Water and Soil was established, Fang Yun held a small cabinet meeting. The details were unknown, but the result was that the upper echelons of Jingguo fully supported the Ministry of Water and Soil.
Thus, the officials were certain that Fang Yun was going to make a move on the land policy.
However, after a few days, the Minister of the Left and the Ministry of Water and Soil still did not issue any related orders. The officials could only go about their own business, but continued to pay attention to the Ministry of Water and Soil.
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