Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Two: The Ranking System

The other opposing faction argued from a practical standpoint, believing that a dual-track ranking system would create unclear lines of authority and cause severe psychological imbalance among the natives. They cited the example of the Kwantung Army and the Manchukuo Imperial Army to illustrate their point: a Japanese major general serving in the Manchukuo army was merely a reserve captain in the Japanese army, yet a Japanese captain could issue orders to high-ranking Manchukuo officers. Needless to say, this kind of phenomenon is intolerable in any time and space. Prolonged implementation of such obvious differential treatment would lead to strong dissatisfaction among native cadres.

“First, we should confirm one thing: the natives are ‘civil servants,’ not ‘state cadres,’” Wu De said, not explicitly stating which system he supported, but setting the tone first.

Ma Qianzhan said, “Is there a difference? Right now, we can’t even find enough basic village cadres…”

“Of course there’s a difference,” Wu De said. “Are village cadres considered civil servants?”

This question was a bit difficult. In theory, they were “cadres,” but not “civil servants,” which involved many institutional issues.

From the perspective of controlling the number of officials, it was best not to make grassroots cadres like village chiefs into civil servants. But at this stage, the Transmigrator Group was strengthening its control over the grassroots, and the primary task of strengthening grassroots control was to strengthen the ranks of grassroots cadres.

“We will definitely implement a civil service system, or a civil official system,” Wen Desi said. “Everyone is well aware of the drawbacks of the original cadre system—the ranks of cadres expanded too quickly, and the structure tended to age.”

Ma Qianzhan wanted to continue arguing on this issue. His intention was to establish a group of cadres in the countryside who would completely obey the Transmigrator Group and carry out all of its orders without question. As for things like rural autonomy, Ma Qianzhan didn’t consider them heresy, but he felt that transplanting such a system to this time and space would probably allow the rural clan forces to continue to control grassroots power.

Because this issue was highly controversial, Wu De suggested temporarily shelving it and deciding on the ranking issue first. After discussion, it was decided that it was not appropriate to adopt a dual-track system for official ranks, so as to avoid creating artificial difficulties.

“The elder system is actually already a kind of aristocratic system that separates the transmigrators from the natives. If we create another independent cadre system, it will be too complicated to manage,” Wu De said. “I propose that we can give the transmigrator members a high starting point. For example, military ranks could start from major general…”

“That’s outrageous! The army would have a whole bunch of major generals!” Wen Desi immediately objected. “So many people work so hard just to get a section chief or department head position, and these few ‘hard-core’ guys who just play with fire sticks get to be major generals?! I absolutely cannot agree.”

Everyone knew that President Wen not only had a low opinion of the PLA-born officers in the army, but he was even more disgusted with most of the civilian-born officers, especially the ’80s generation, whom Wen Desi had always sneered at.

“The official ranks don’t need to be separated,” Wen Desi said. “First, the elders are equivalent to nobles, and their status is already a big step above the natives. There’s no need to show that they are superior in every aspect. Second, the elders are currently holding leadership positions, while the natives only serve in low-level administrative positions. By the time the natives are promoted, the elders will have already reached higher positions. It doesn’t matter if the native officers in the navy are promoted a little faster—this is a temporary phenomenon, and so far no native’s rank is higher than an elder’s. Third, even if some elders are really, um, too useless, and they insist on being an official and are not willing to just be a member of the Senate, we can add a nominal title to raise their official rank.”

“Finally, we can set up a glass ceiling for the natives, only allowing them to be promoted to a certain level, such as major general in the army.”

“Of course, there’s no problem for our generation, but what about the next generation, the children of the elders?” Wu De asked.

“You guys, the great cause hasn’t even begun, and you’re already thinking about the future of your single-celled organisms,” Wen Desi said with a smiling shake of his head. “Do you really think that the children of the elders will lose to the natives in a competition that is the most unfair from birth? If there are such useless people, it’s a good thing to eliminate them directly. Let’s think about the present first. I think our civil service system should be implemented as soon as possible, instead of talking about who commands whom between the elders and the natives here.”

Next, a discussion on the civil service system began. In fact, this discussion had started on the BBS long ago. From the retro-style “Wugong Daifu” and “Dengshilang” to the modern-style section chief, department head, and bureau chief, and then to the Republic of China-style minister, vice-minister, and secretary, and so on. Ma Qianzhan began to peddle his 24-level administrative system again.

“Regarding the issue of official ranks, it’s not appropriate to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach,” Wu De said. “There’s no need to forcibly unify everything to be exactly the same. The army has its own situation, and government agencies have their own situations. We can’t have the army with three classes and nine grades, and the government also with three classes and nine grades, right? We should allow each department to have its own official ranking system.”

“In that case, it will be impossible to make rank comparisons. You see, the old 24 administrative levels correspond very clearly, with levels 17 and 18 corresponding to battalion commander, deputy battalion commander, section chief, and deputy section chief. It’s clear at a glance.” Ma Qianzhan was obsessed with this system.

“Such rank comparisons are meaningless,” Wu De sneered. “I was a demobilized military officer myself. Don’t I know this stuff? The so-called corresponding ranks are completely useless. At most, they are a reference, and they are only useful within one’s own unit!”

“I think we should adopt a system of separating position and rank for now,” Xiao Zishan proposed. “The position is the ‘errand,’ and there is another ranking system. This rank determines the treatment level…”

“Isn’t this becoming the Song Dynasty’s system of ‘Jilu Guan’ (officials with nominal posts)?”

“It does feel a bit like that, but I think this can solve the problem of seniority,” Xiao Zishan said. “Actually, we talked about this problem last year when we were grading workers.”

At that time, this problem was raised by Wu De. That is, if a worker cannot be promoted for a long time, it will inevitably cause his income to stagnate at a low level for a long time. This problem will also occur in the actual cadre system. Due to ability issues, the nature of the position itself, or the total number of senior positions being limited, there will always be a group of people who cannot be promoted to a higher level after reaching a certain level. In this way, they will be stuck for a long time, and their work enthusiasm will gradually fade.

Sometimes, in order to solve the problem of treatment, it is necessary to promote personnel according to seniority. This is not a big problem in the military system. The soldiers in the army are mobile, and they do not need to be promoted. Officers are a minority, and promoting them according to seniority will not lead to a situation of more officers than soldiers. Civil servants in government agencies rarely move, and over time, there will often be phenomena such as “section-level section members,” “department-level section chiefs,” and even “department-level section members.”

The 24-level administrative system that Ma Qianzhan had proposed in the past was essentially linked to the position. A high position corresponded to a high administrative level and a high income, which still could not solve the income problem of low-level cadres who could not be promoted.

“For example, in our planned police station grassroots unit, the ‘zhuzaisuo’ (resident police post), a newly graduated police cadet may have to be a resident policeman in one place for his entire life. Policemen are also human beings and have to support their families. If we keep him at a low income level for a long time, it will inevitably encourage him to break the law and discipline…”

“Hmph, another piece of nonsense about ‘high salaries to foster integrity’,” Ma Qianzhan sneered. “High salaries can’t foster integrity!” He slammed the table to express the strength of his opinion. “High salaries will only attract some people who control social power to stuff their connections into the civil service system.”

“Our current system is different and cannot be compared…” Xiao Zishan defended.

“I think we should give civil servants or cadres higher treatment,” Wu De said. “To rule, we must delegate power. Since we delegate power, we must let them enjoy certain benefits—it’s better for us to properly divide a piece of the cake than to let them privately use their power to steal and rob.”

“If you say that, shouldn’t the workers in our enterprises also enjoy this treatment?” Ma Qianzhan said.

“Not necessarily for the workers,” Wu De said. “Workers just work for wages. As long as we ensure that they and their families have enough to eat and wear, that’s enough. We’re not building a welfare society.”

The implication was that since there was no need to give workers administrative power, there was no need to give them too many benefits.

Ma Qianzhan’s face was grim, and he said nothing. Wu De said, “Director-General, high salaries to foster integrity is a global trend—don’t say that I’m just blowing smoke and aligning with international standards. In fact, as long as we implement a strict management system, we can minimize the problem of official corruption.”

“That’s right, what’s that so-called Cheka for?” someone remembered Yi Fan.

In the end, everyone agreed to Xiao Zishan’s proposal of a “position and rank separation system,” setting up a 29-level administrative salary system. These 29 levels do not represent their power or position, but only the level of salary and benefits they enjoy. Cadres below level 13 are promoted one level each year; for levels 7 to 13, they are promoted one level every three years; for levels above 7, they are not promoted according to seniority, but according to their ability and contribution.

In this way, a native official who serves normally, without committing serious mistakes or making great contributions, can rise from the lowest level 29 to level 7 in 37 consecutive years of service, which is about the retirement age.

Native officials with outstanding contributions can be rewarded with an increase of 0.5 to 1 level at a time. Similarly, as a means of punishment, their salary level promotion can be suspended for several years or their level can be lowered.

This 29-level administrative salary does not constitute the entire income of native officials, otherwise, it would not be possible to reflect the differences in positions and abilities. Therefore, in this plan, native officials have other sources of income.