Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1084 Framework
Xia Guo successively set up seven roads in Zhili, Henan, Huaihai, Guannei, Guanbei, Hexi, and Longyou. This is the core issue of Luoyang officialdom today.

Under the governor of the third rank, there are also the transfer envoys of the fourth rank, the prison envoys, the command envoys, and the scholars. Officials and scholars from all over the country stared at each other and scrambled endlessly.

Under such circumstances, Song Le, Chen Cheng, and Zhao Guangfeng returned to Luoyang one after another.

Song Le arrived first, and Shao Shude was waiting for him in the newly renovated Linzhi Hall.

The Linzhi Hall is to the west of the Ganlu Hall. In front of the hall is the Shenhe Pavilion to the east and the Dongxuan Hall to the west, both of which have been completed.

In fact, the entire Shangyang City, the Guanfeng Temple group, the Benzhiyuan group, the Huachengyuan group, and the Linzhi Temple group have all been completed and put into use. The Fragrance Hall group has entered the later stage of decoration and will be ready for use in a few months.The construction of the Xiaoshangyang Palace group consisting mainly of Yongshou Hall and Jiaofang Hall has entered the later stage, and it will definitely be put into use early next year.

At that time, the entire Shangyang Palace City will be completed, which lasted five years.It was several times slower than the speed at which Emperor Sui Yang built the palace, but it was not bad.

Shao Shude likes Shangyang Palace very much, because the environment is beautiful and the residence is comfortable, which is completely different from the solemnity, massiness and magnificence of Ziwei City.If possible, he will try his best to govern in Shangyang Palace in the future.

The army has been reorganized, and the division of the various roads has also been determined. Next is the reorganization, or reorganization, of government agencies.

Song, Chen, and Zhao have been with him for many years, and it is impossible not to give them an explanation. He has to think about the specific position.

It used to be making cakes, but now it is dividing cakes. It is not a simple matter.

"Your Highness has not yet ascended the throne, it is best not to hang around the palace in a grand manner." Song Le came in, frowning, remonstrating.

"It doesn't matter, I am the envoy of the palace repair system, and I often go to and from the palace, so others can't say anything." Shao Shude said.

Song Le suffocated, the first remonstrance was easily dismissed, and his momentum suddenly lost.

"Haha." Shao Shude smiled, stepped forward and took Song Le's hand, and said, "Mr. is my good teacher and helpful friend. He always speaks something and hits the point. I know."

Song Le was pulled to sit down.

"Mr. Song came first, just in time." Shao Shude said: "There is something I don't understand today, I hope you can teach me."

"What's the matter?" Song Le is a relatively traditional literati and official, and immediately sat upright when he heard the words.

"Sir, you are familiar with history books. You should know that in the Qin Dynasty, there was a prime minister in charge of the government, the Taiwei was in charge of the army, and the censor was in charge of supervision." Shao Shude said: "In the Han Dynasty, there was a Shangshutai to divide the power of the prime minister. There is the truth of being a prime minister. In the past, Duke Cao was in charge of the government. When he went out to fight, Xun Yu was the minister and took charge of the government affairs."

Song Le listened quietly.

The game of monarchy and phase power is eternal.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the prime minister had great power, which aroused the suspicion of the king. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up the Shangshutai, which was originally composed of personnel from the inner court organization serving the king, and was used to divide the power of the prime minister.After long-term development, the three princes (Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong) have been successfully turned into empty posts, and Shangshuling and Zuopushe have gradually become actual prime ministers.

But Shang Shuling's sitting on the throne aroused the king's suspicion.

Cao Cao set up a secretary order, and his son Cao Pi changed it to a Zhongshu order, so there was a Zhongshu province to divide the power of the Shangshu province.

From the Northern Dynasties to the Guo Dynasty, there were more Menxia Provinces, that is, Zhongshu Province drafted edicts, Menxia Provinces reviewed and rejected them, and Shangshu Province became an executive agency.That's not to mention, Shangshu Ling has been vacant all year round, reduced to a false title, and the chief officer of Shangshu Province has become a left and right servant. Originally, one person had the final say, but now the power is divided between two people.

Under the mutual restraint of the three provinces, the number of real prime ministers has increased greatly, namely the left and right servants (Shangshu Sheng), Zhongshu Ling (Zhongshu Sheng), and two servants (Menxia Province), a total of five prime ministers.

Even so, after Gaozong came to the throne, he still felt that the centralization of power was not enough, so he ordered that low-level officials from the three provinces and six ministries could also enter the political affairs hall to participate in government affairs, and gave them the title of "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi" to make the original real prime minister .

At this meeting, just look at the honorary titles given to Jiedu envoys from various places. A bunch of servants, servants, ministers, and Zhongshu orders, you can know that the official positions of prime ministers in the early days of the country have become empty positions again.

From Sangong to Shangshuling, Zhongshuling, Zuopushe, and Shizhong, they have gradually changed from real power prime ministers to empty positions, reflecting the expansion of monarchy and the mutual checks and balances of courts.

But checks and balances also have a side effect, that is, the efficiency is gradually reduced.

The official system of the country is also flawed. In order to make up for this flaw, the emperor had to engage in a large number of "missions", that is, dispatch.

At the beginning, envoys had no grades and were part-time jobs. This was the originator of the chaotic official system of the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty.

"However, the times have changed, and today's Shangshu Province is in name only, or can it be abolished?" Shao Shude said, "What do you think, sir?"

"During Emperor Taizong's reign, the chief officials of the three provinces worked together." Song Le pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "At the time of Emperor Zhongzong, the chief officials of Shangshu Province could no longer enter the political affairs hall, and their status was greatly reduced. The six books of Shangshu were reduced to Zhongshu, A vassal of the two provinces under the sect. It is said that there are six provinces in three provinces, but in fact there are six provinces in two provinces."

"It's just..." Song Le smiled and said: "If your Highness wants to centralize power, shouldn't you bring the chief minister of Shangshu Province into the political affairs hall? The more people there are, the more trivial matters will be, and the more difficult it is to form a unified opinion. It happens that the sage ruling."

In theory yes, but sometimes the sage's verdict doesn't work.Even with Taizong's prestige, his decree has been rejected, and if the process cannot be completed, then the emperor's order is "random order" and "zhong decree", which will not have legal effect.

"Do you think there is a need for Zhongshu and Menxia provinces?" Shao Shude asked.

Song Le sighed and said: "Your Highness, the king is the king, and the prime minister is the prime minister."

Shao Shude was silent.

He remembered the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the system of six ministries in one province at the beginning, that is, the Ministry of Zhongshu was in charge of the six ministries, but he later abolished this organization, and the six ministries were directly responsible to the emperor.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang actually hold the post of prime minister.

The prime minister has the power to make decisions, discuss political power, and execute powers. Zhu Yuanzhang firmly holds the decision-making power in his hands.

This will undoubtedly bring a heavy workload.Lao Zhu is not too polite, he will be on his own, every day until late at night, leaving people speechless.

Once upon a time, the prime minister had all the power, from decision-making to execution, and the emperor didn't need to ask.Even if the emperor lost his tune, he would be reprimanded by the prime minister and even replaced.

In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the power of the prime minister was weakened.The existence of the three provinces, six ministries and the Zhengshitang ensures that there will not be a powerful minister with all powers in one body, because the emperor can stuff his own people in the Zhengshitang.

The system of six ministries in one province, the prime minister makes decisions, and the efficiency is high, but the side effect is that powerful ministers may appear.

The system of three provinces and six ministries, the prime minister makes decisions, which is inefficient, but it is difficult to have powerful ministers.

The cabinet system of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is another dimension. The emperor makes decisions, and the scholars give advice—of course, if the emperor is lazy or young, it will actually become a six-ministration system in one province, but as far as the legal system is concerned, Bachelors do not have decision-making power, although in the actual implementation process, they can often take advantage of loopholes to obtain this power.

Shao Shude was also a little uncertain in his heart.

He felt that if he took one step to the point where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were directly in charge of the six ministries, not only civil servants would criticize him, but even the military commanders would also be astonished. It was too big a step.

"Your Highness previously mentioned six books as the second grade..." Seeing Shao Shude's silence, Song Le smiled and said, "Actually, people with discerning eyes see it and think about it."

Shao Shude laughed to cover up his embarrassment, the little trick was seen through.

"My servant suggests that the Shangshu Province should be abolished, and the three departments of Duzhi, Yantie, and Hubu should be transferred to the six departments. The six departments should be placed under the administration of the Zhongshu Province, and the Menxia Province should be retained, how about it?" Song Le asked.

The third division was born under the background of lack of money in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Under the separatist rule of the feudal town, the offerings in Hebei were symbolic, and often a dime was not given to the court.

Henan and Hedong hardly contributed financially to the imperial court because they raised too many soldiers.For example, Dongdu Town originally governed Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou, and the fiscal revenue in Dezong was less than 60 yuan, but he never gave money to the court. Instead, he asked the court to transfer payment.

The towns in the northwest of Beijing are completely dependent on transfer payments from the central government.

Xuanwu Town raises [-] soldiers, but rarely gives money to the court.

In contrast, the annual fiscal revenue of many feudal towns in the south is not as good as that of Xuanwu, Xuzhou and other towns, but they have to pay most of the taxes because they don’t have a few soldiers. Know the difference.

During the Yuanhe period, there were nearly 100 million warriors in the country, and most of them were in the north. They were completely financial black holes.

Under such circumstances, two-thirds of the imperial court's wealth came from Jiangnan, which was used to make up for the Chang'an bureaucracy and huge military expenditures against rebellion.

In order to make money, the imperial court sent salt and iron envoys to the south to collect taxes, and transshipment envoys were responsible for transportation, and the three divisions came into being.

During Dezong's reign, more than 600 million yuan of salt was minted a year, most of which came from the south.

For the salt ponds in the north, Xia Sui's self-supported defenses to the north.

It is impossible for Hebei Yanchi to give money to the central government, and the profits of Ziqing Haiyan are also kept in their own pockets.

That is to say, the Yanchi court in Hezhong can control it, but it has to share the accounts with the feudal town. After all, Hezhong Town has a population of more than one million and has to support [-] troops, which is expensive—while Huainan Town, which has twice the population of Hezhong, has only [-] soldiers. The achievements of military expansion after the Western rebellion were "less than [-] people" before that, and the money saved would naturally be turned over to the central government.

The third division has been mixed up to now, but in fact, they can't get much money.

The observation envoys in the south gradually turned into Jiedu envoys, and they raised more soldiers. Coupled with the germination of ambitions, the number of offerings decreased, and the financial collapse of the imperial court was inevitable.

Song Le suggested that the third department should be returned to the Ministry of Households, also for the sake of standardization.

"Okay!" Shao Shude also took a step back, and said, "The third department will return to the Ministry of Finance, and the sixth department will be under the control of the Zhongshu Province, and the right to review and criticize the province under the door will be retained. But I want to expand the scope of candidates for the Zhengshitang. "

"How to expand?" Song Le asked.

"In the past, the members of the Zhengshitang were limited to the Zhongshu and the two provinces under the sect. There were occasionally six ministers, but not many, and even fewer in the Imperial Academy." Shao Shude said: "I think the Secretary Province, the Imperial Academy, and even the imperial clan can send people."

"Secretary supervisors and Hanlin bachelors don't understand government affairs, how can they learn about government affairs?" Song Le frowned.

"Officials from the Secretary's Ministry and the Imperial Academy can go to the local government to perform their duties, so don't they understand government affairs?" Shao Shude asked rhetorically.

Song Le was speechless.

The Secretary Province and the Hanlin Academy are institutions close to the emperor.The emperor wanted to cultivate private individuals and put his own people in the political affairs hall.

If there are too many people in the political affairs hall and the dispute cannot be resolved, the emperor will be appealed for adjudication.

But already good.

The founding emperor, he was already very conscientious when he made concessions.However, maybe there are other reasons?Want to win over literati?Change the social atmosphere?

"How many people is suitable for the political affairs hall?" Song Le asked.

"Let's decide on seven people tentatively." Shao Shude said: "Two servants under the door, two servants from Zhongshu, and the other three, I will decide. If there is no dispute, they can be voted on, and the decision is based on the number of people."

This show of hands voting system did not exist before, and this is also an important reason for the low efficiency.

In addition, the emperor actually had veto power.That is to say, for a certain policy, the prime ministers make their own decisions and reach a consensus, and the emperor can veto it.

This power is actually quite incredible.Sometimes, the emperor would use it to make deals with the prime ministers.

"The servants are not allowed to enter the political affairs hall, and the grades of the six ministers should be reconsidered." Song Le added.

Shao Shude laughed, did he get scared by the eunuch?Are you also worried that you are directly in charge of the six ministries and also the prime minister?

"Yes." He said: "But the prime minister is not allowed to serve as the privy envoy, and the civil servants are not allowed to serve as the privy envoy."

"The division of power between the Nine Temples and the Six Ministries has to be clarified." Song Le said again.

"Master Song, why are you in such a hurry..." Shao Shude laughed, and said, "Once the framework is clarified, everything else will be easy to handle."

Song Le thought so too.

The system is basically like this, two provinces and six ministries, the emperor and scholars share power and rule the world together.But the Privy Council is still controlled by warriors, and behind these warriors is actually the emperor himself.

That's fine too.

As long as the warriors don't meddle in the civil affairs, the civil servants are already very popular.As for the military affairs-in turn to seize the power of the warriors?As long as you don't use martial arts to control literature, you can use literature to control martial arts, I dare not think about it!
(End of this chapter)