Reforming the Official System
"Everyone in Gengxin City is burdened with enormous taxes from birth. The tax officials are all bloated with greed, while the people under their rule live in misery and curse the Spirit Hall!"
"Gentlemen, is this the Spirit Hall under your rule?"
For a moment, all the Elder present fell silent, trembling with fear.
How could they not know these things?
In the past, they were all Bibi Dong's Subordinate, and these things did not happen overnight, but gradually grew out over the past twenty years when Bibi Dong let things go unchecked.
Don't these Elder want to take responsibility?
In the past, they were either powerless to change the status quo due to their low status or they were vested interest groups who turned a blind eye to it and even secretly provided some assistance to those corrupt officials.
Wu Qi brought this matter to the forefront in order to completely eradicate it. The Elder who were involved in this matter were all trembling with fear, afraid of being implicated.
Although a Titled Douluo can get along well anywhere, most of them are trained by the Titled Douluo Spirit Hall from childhood, and the consequences of betraying the Spirit Hall are unimaginable.
In contrast, directly facing the wrath of the New Pope would result in the least loss.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Wu Qi continued, "Starting today, the Hall of Judgment will be established, spearheaded by Qian Renxue. Qian Renxue will serve as the Elder of Judgment, Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo will serve as the Hall of Judgment Hall Guardian Douluo."
The establishment of the Hall of Judgment was like a sharp blade hanging over the heads of all the Elder.
If this matter were discussed directly, it would inevitably be met with strong opposition. But right now, these Elder are all preoccupied with their own problems; if they were to step forward, wouldn't that prove they have a guilty conscience?
Those Elder act with integrity have even less reason to oppose it; on the contrary, they will strongly support it to show that they are upright and have nothing to fear!
Seeing that all the Elder had raised their hands to vote, Wu Qi nodded slightly, "Since everyone has no objections, the Hall of Judgment shall be established immediately."
"The Myers I just mentioned is not an isolated case in the various branches of the Spirit Hall; it's almost a universal phenomenon. The focus of the Hall of Judgment's work for the foreseeable future will be to purge these parasites from our ranks and make way for those who truly speak out for the people."
A large-scale anti-corruption campaign will inevitably cause internal turmoil. But don't forget that there are many people within the Spirit Hall who want to rise to power but lack the opportunity.
If they were to report and expose their respective leaders for misconduct, wouldn't their opportunity have arrived?
Of course, Wu Qi also formulated corresponding strategies to prevent malicious reporting.
As for these Elder...
It is not easy for the Spirit Hall to cultivate a Titled Douluo. If even Titled Douluo is executed, it will surely cause great alarm among officials at all levels within the Spirit Hall, leading to their successive departures from the Spirit Hall.
An organization that cannot continuously attract talent is not far from its demise.
"Those of you present who feel you have committed a wrong, you may come to me and confess within Half a Month after the end of this meeting. If you exceed this timeframe and are subsequently discovered by the Hall of Judgment, you will bear the consequences!"
Hearing this, the Elder calmed down considerably. At least, Wu Qi had given them a chance to reform. For some serious offenses, he would send out some people from the family to take the blame, and if they didn't repeat the offense, the matter would be considered closed.
A short while later, Qiangu Changkong stood up and began the next topic. "Your His Holiness the Pope, my investigation these past few days has revealed a serious problem of redundant officials within the Spirit Hall."
The emergence of redundant officials is due to the drawbacks of the lifelong tenure system.
If a low-level Hall Master has no chance of rising in his lifetime, then the branch temple he belongs to will not change hands for decades.
As new generations of Soul Master continue to rise, some may even surpass the Hall Master in strength. Therefore, in order to balance the interests of both new and old Soul Master, the Hall Master will inevitably apply to higher authorities to add a Vice Hall Master position to the area.
Over time, a branch hall could even have ten or more Vice Hall Master, and the salary of one Vice Hall Master was equivalent to that of ten or more ordinary Deacon. As a result, a branch hall with a staff of thirty people had to pay the salaries of two hundred Deacon. Even if the Spirit Hall was large and powerful, it could not withstand such consumption and would inevitably run into a financial deficit sooner or later.
These Elder had no objection to the Reform of the Official System.
Even though they have a family behind them, the family members are not many, and the number of positions needed is small. Moreover, most of the family disciples stay in Spirit City and live off their parents. The current Official System is something that Bibi Dong deliberately allowed to be implemented in order to win over lower-level officials, and it even infringes on the interests of these Elder. Now that this matter has been brought to the forefront, everyone is talking about their own solutions.
However, these Elder ' policies only address the symptoms, not the root cause, and may even cause unrest among lower-level officials.
Wu Qi tapped the table lightly, interrupting the Elder ' conversation.
"I have some suggestions regarding the Reform of the Official System; please take a look."
As he spoke, he took out the white paper he had prepared earlier from his Soul Tool and turned to the page on the Reform of the Official System, which was then passed around among the Elder.
Wu Qi did offer several suggestions for Reform the Official System, which would also solve the problem of redundant personnel.
In his plan, the Hall Master of the lower-level branch temples would serve terms of office. For example, the Platinum Bishop of the Sacred Hall in the two imperial cities of Wu Qi Two Great Empires would serve ten-year terms, with each person not allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms. The first term would be in the empire where they were born. After a term ended, Wu Qi would personally examine their merits during their tenure and decide whether to grant them a next term.
Of course, a Platinum Bishop must leave his birthplace for a second term and serve in another location. For example, Platinum Bishop of the Heaven Dou Sacred Hall must serve in the Star Luo Sacred Hall for his next term.
If a Platinum Bishop is removed from office during his term, his successor continues to serve the remainder of his term.
The remaining Hall Master all serve a five-year term. Their first term is usually held in their hometown branch, while subsequent terms require them to travel elsewhere, and each person may not serve more than four terms.
All of the aforementioned officials, if not promoted upon the end of their term, will never be rehired. At most, they may be rehired as lower-level officials or special advisors in a branch hall, and generally no more than three rehired personnel per branch hall.
"It's rare for a new Hall Master, even in their hometown, to engage in collusion between officials and businessmen. On the contrary, because they are serving in their birthplace, they can receive help from family and friends, allowing them to quickly adapt to the governing environment. I agree with His Holiness the Pope's proposal." It was Qian Daoliu who spoke.
Since he had spoken, the other Elder naturally had no reservations.
After all, those Hall Master who willingly degenerate are mostly those who clearly know they have no hope of promotion. New Hall Master, on the other hand, take office full of enthusiasm, so it's rare for this to happen.
According to Wu Qi's plan, a lower-level Hall Master can generally serve at least two terms, so if he stays in his hometown for his first term, there is unlikely to be any serious problems.
However, Qian Renxue raised her own questions.