I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 339 I seize nine points of dynasty power and five points of military power. Is Father Zhong willing? (Please subscribe)

The next morning, Liu He summoned Huo Guang in the greenhouse hall.

This is the first time the emperor has summoned Huo Guang since he took office. Naturally, it is not a simple meeting, but to draw the boundaries of power.

Liu He looked at Huo Guang calmly, catching a trace of decadence on his face.

Power is an aphrodisiac that can make people radiant. Huo Guang is about to hand over half of the power in his hands, and he will naturally look much older.

"Now that His Majesty has taken charge of the government, he will have to go to the Shangshu Office more frequently to approve memorials, make decisions on government affairs, and the use of talismans and seals. His Majesty must make decisions..."

"I have asked the Shangshu Office to prepare the edict for pro-government and circulate it throughout the world. All counties and counties will receive the edict soon, and they will definitely praise your majesty for your hard work."

As he spoke, Huo Guang's expression was no different from usual. He still had the majesty of a prime minister and the abbot of the dynasty.

But he still tasted a subtle sourness from it.

From the later years of Emperor Xiaowu to the present, through three dynasties, the Shangshu Office has always been controlled by Huo Guang.

Approving memorials, making decisions on government affairs, appointing and dismissing courtiers... Although the edicts were paid by three generations of emperors, almost all of them were written by Huo Guang.

How could Huo Guang be willing to suddenly hand back the final decision-making power in the government?
In the days to come, Huo Guang may still be able to use his "remaining power" to influence the direction of government affairs, but after all, he will have to retreat to a secondary position for the time being.

Every time he thought about this, Huo Guang would have a complex emotion towards the emperor in front of him - four parts fear, three parts resentment, two parts guilt and one part relief.

The emperor still called him Zhongfu, but he and the emperor could never return to the previous relationship of being both a teacher and a father.

"The main hall of the Shangshu Office has also been renovated. His Majesty can come at any time to take care of political affairs."

After Huo Guang said this, he presented a petition to the emperor, which was full of things that the emperor had to do every day.

Liu He took it calmly, glanced at it briefly, and put it back on the case.

There are so many things, so many things, so trivial.

The most important thing among them is to approve the ministers' memorials and use them to decide the government affairs.

There is not much difference in form between the petitions or memorials received by officials from the Shangshu Office and the petitions from the subjects received by the imperial censor's office, but the contents are different.

The former is mostly practical, and the emperor must make decisions; the latter is pragmatic, and the emperor does not need to respond one by one.

The people who submitted petitions through these two channels were also different. The petitions received by Yushi Dafufu were mostly from the private sector.

"Father Zhong, approximately how many memorials does the Shangshu Office receive in a day?"

"I haven't counted it in detail. Sometimes it's thirty or fifty copies, and sometimes it's one or two hundred copies."

"How long does it take to approve a chapter report?"

"If it's quick, it will only take a moment. Just send it to a few ministers and deal with it according to the established system..."

"But if what is reported is a major matter, then His Majesty will summon the courtiers to discuss it together. It is not clear whether it will take a long time or a short time."

As the emperor, after taking charge personally, it is still impossible for him to make independent decisions on all government affairs.

It's not a question of ability, but a question of time.

I have to do everything personally, and I'm afraid I'll die from exhaustion in the Shangshu office.

Therefore, the role of the Shangshu Office in assisting the emperor to approve memorials and handle government affairs is irreplaceable, but it cannot be left to one person - whether it is Huo Guang in the past or someone in the future.

In the original history, it was precisely because of the endless emergence of ministers who had sole power that the emperor of Han was emptied out, resulting in the loss of power, chaos in the court, and lack of access to government affairs.

Therefore, the six-part Shangshu system proposed by Liu He to Huo Guang today is a patch to revise the Sino-Korean system.

"That night at the General's Mansion, I told Father Zhong that I still want Father Zhong to assist in the government."

"The Shangshu Office is the political hub of the Han Dynasty. Father Zhong will still be in charge of the Shangshu Office and be in charge of the Shangshu Office."

When Huo Guang "reported his illness" and Bingji took charge of the affairs of the minister on his behalf, Liu He set the principle of approving the memorials.

Now, he reproduced those words intact.

Important and urgent chapter memorials were immediately submitted to the emperor.

Important and not urgent chapter memorials can be registered in a book first and presented to the emperor on a selected date.

If it is not important but urgent, it will be decided by the Shangshu Office in accordance with the official system.

If it is not important or urgent, the Shangshu Office will convene the relevant courtiers to discuss the matter before making a decision.

After finishing speaking, Liu He asked: "Do you think this arrangement makes sense?"

Huo Guang was a little surprised. He had thought that the emperor was eager to take charge and would definitely hold the Shangshu Office tightly.

He didn't expect that the emperor would let him continue to serve as minister.

Although the "important and urgent" chapter memorial should be submitted to the emperor immediately, the emperor had no experience in governing government affairs after all, which left Huo Guang room for maneuver.

It was an unexpected surprise to be able to get some power back, and Huo Guang's gloomy face gained a happy expression.

Liu He took it seriously and did not expose it.

"Since Your Majesty can trust me, I will definitely live up to Your Majesty's high expectations!" Huo Guang bowed down.

Liu He sneered in his heart.

Huo Guang was a fish so obsessed with power that as soon as the bait was thrown out, he couldn't wait to bite it, never thinking that he might get bloodied by the hook.

If Huo Guang was in his prime now, he would definitely be more cautious. How could he be so careless as he is now?

Liu He comforted Huo Guang for a while before finally raising the line.

"Some time ago, Father Zhong took a leave of absence due to illness, and the Shangshu Office suddenly became chaotic..."

"I had no choice but to ask the young master Bingji to temporarily take charge of the affairs of the Secretariat, so I barely managed to prevent the government from falling into chaos..."

"And this also made me understand two things. One is that Father Zhong is indispensable, and the other is that there must be no mistakes in the Shangshu Office."

"After much thought, I decided to change the current structure of the Shangshu Office and select a few capable courtiers to help Zhongfu share the important responsibilities."

In the past, after Liu He finished his proposal, he would always ask, "What do you think Father Zhong wants?" - but this time, he didn't ask.

This small change in language means that this is a proposal, but a decision by the emperor.

Huo Guang, who had been in officialdom for more than ten years, naturally knew the purpose of the emperor's move: to weaken his authority in the Shangshu Office.

The invisible shackles around his neck were slightly loosened, but now they were tightened again.

The best way to control government affairs is not to do it yourself, but to let different courtiers restrain and restrain each other, and then mediate in the middle.

Pulling one faction together and fighting another faction are the best methods.

Over the past ten years, Huo Guang has used this method to keep himself standing in the court.

He never expected that the emperor would learn so quickly.

Now, the emperor wanted to let him, Huo Guang, continue to work hard in the Shangshu office, but he would not let Huo Guang become the dominant one. This was really a good deal.

Huo Guang couldn't help but feel a little regretful. He shouldn't have agreed so happily just now.

"Your Majesty, the structure of the Shangshu Office was set by Emperor Xiaowu. I'm afraid..." Huo Guang said carefully, trying to use Emperor Xiaowu to suppress the emperor.

However, the dead are no match for the living.

"The court system is changing all the time. Emperor Xiaowu also changed the imperial system of Emperor Xiaojing and Emperor Xiaowen, so there is no need to worry."

"But……"

"The issue of whether the ancestral system cannot be changed was clearly argued at the court meeting last month..."

"Zhongfu, please stop trying to persuade me about this matter. If word spreads, some villains may say that Zhongfu is greedy for power and is unwilling to delegate power. This is not beautiful."

Liu He looked calm and seemed to be talking about a trivial matter, but in fact, to Huo Guang, it was a "heart-breaking" comment.

A few months ago, the emperor would not have dared to "beat" Huo Guang like this.

But now, the emperor's methods of manipulating people's hearts became more and more sophisticated, leaving Huo Guang speechless.

Take today's incident as an example. The emperor first praised Huo Guang for his hard work and merit, and asked Huo Guang to continue to serve as the secretary.

After Huo Guang relaxed his vigilance, he immediately proposed to change the structure of Shangshu Office, leaving Huo Guang speechless.

When Huo Guang raised some objections, the emperor came up with this "heart-breaking" argument, leaving Huo Guang with no way to retreat.

After these three rounds of confrontation, Huo Guang did not gain any advantage.

Huo Guang could only say with some fear: "Your Majesty clearly knows that I have no such intention!"

"Well, I know that Father Zhong is not a person who is greedy for power, so Father Zhong should stop objecting to this matter."

"No." Huo Guang said reluctantly.

Liu He nodded, then took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Huo Guang.

"This is my idea. Then Father Zhong will take a look for me to see if there are any flaws."

"No." Huo Guang took it and squinted his eyes to read the words on the paper carefully.

The more he read, the more frightened he felt. The emperor's lofty position and the way he manipulated the court were somewhat similar to that of Emperor Xiaowu.

No, vaguely, he was much higher than Emperor Xiaowu.

At that time, Emperor Xiaowu established the Central Dynasty and used a small Shangshu Office to bypass the prime minister in government affairs and wrested all the power from this head of officials.

Since then, the prime minister has become a mere decoration, the power of the prime minister has been completely sidelined, and the monarch's power has been greatly strengthened.

If the subsequent prime ministers did not have the support of Emperor Xiaowu, they would not be able to achieve any great achievements.

Today, the rebuilt Shangshu Office will not only weaken the responsibilities of the Shangshu, but also allow China and North Korea to further evade the power of foreign countries.

The three officials and nine ministers will eventually become "left-second officials" who only do practical work.

Such changes were more drastic than those of Emperor Xiaowu.

This new Shangshu Office consists of four parts.

One is to take charge of the affairs of the minister, there are three people in total.

The second is the six ministers, a total of six people.

The third is the six censors, a total of six people.

Third, there is only one person who holds the seal.

In addition, there are also subordinate officials assigned to the above-mentioned Chinese and Korean officials.

All memorials were decided upon by three leading ministers through discussion, and were either assigned to six ministers or submitted directly to the emperor. When encountering complex government affairs, the leading ministers would have to convene all the ministers for discussion.

After the chapter memorials are distributed to the six ministers, they will be approved by the six ministers. The six censors have no right to interfere, but they can read the memorials and replies of their respective departments. If there is any violation of law, they can secretly report it to the emperor.

After Zhang Zou approved and drafted the edict, the seal official would use the seal and issue the talisman. If the seal official had any doubts, he could refuse to use the seal or talisman, but he had to explain the reason to the emperor afterwards.

With such a set of procedures, coupled with the four principles for distributing memorials that Liu He just put forward, a pattern of mutual restraint within the Shangshu Office was formed.

After Huo Guang finished reading, his face was gloomy, and he felt chills on his back, and the invisible shackles around his neck became tighter and tighter.

"Of course Father Zhong is in charge of the Secretariat, and he is also the Chief Secretary, responsible for the operation of the entire Secretariat." Liu He said with great respect.

Just now, Huo Guang thought that as long as he continued to be the minister, he could still control a part of the government.

But looking at it now, whether he is the chief minister or the general chief minister, the power in his hands is very little - not even as good as the six ministers.

The power of the Shangshu Office has been divided into pieces.

The Ling Shangshu only has the power to distribute Zhang Zun and court affairs, but does not have the power to deal with Zhang Zou and government affairs. Only when major events occur can the six Shangshu be summoned for joint discussion.

It seems that his status is lofty and important, but when it comes to important government affairs, he must appeal to the emperor to make a decision, so he can only stand aside in the matter of being a minister.

In this way, the minister is just a "two thousand stone visitor".

What's more, there are three people in charge of this matter, which in itself will check and balance each other.

Although the six ministers can handle most political affairs, they are also supervised by the six censors, so naturally they cannot be arbitrary in the management of government affairs.

And even if the chief minister or the six ministers bypass the supervision of the six censors, there will still be checks and balances from the seal official.

As a result, ordinary government affairs must go through three passes: six ministers, six censors, and seal officials before they can be implemented and issued to the world.

Important political affairs must have the participation of ministers, and finally must be approved by the emperor.

Under the layout of this stack of beds, it is simply impossible to cover the sky with one hand like before, unless the entire Shangshu Office is "one of our own."

In the past, Huo Guang couldn't do this; today, it's even less possible.

What's more, there is an emperor in the Shangshu office now.

The more Huo Guang thought about it, the more out of breath he felt. How on earth could this young emperor come up with this almost flawless arrangement?

In this way, the chance of intervening in government affairs is slim.

In addition, Huo Guang suddenly had another layer of worry than before.

The emperor's move seemed to only take away the "power of the court", but it also vaguely emptied General Huo Guang's military power!
Not to mention that as a general, Huo Guang can no longer use the seal and tiger talisman at will. Among these six departments, there is also a bright military department.

If you have a Ministry of War, you have to take care of military affairs. Doesn't this mean that your military power is also being emptied?
Huo Guang remembered clearly that that night the emperor made it clear that he would continue to be a "genuine" general, and he "agreed" to let the emperor personally rule.

Is the emperor going to kill the donkey now?
This is a little too impatient.

The cool feeling in Huo Guang's heart turned into a murderous intention, and his eyes became fierce unconsciously.

He could give up the power of the court, but he could never give up the power of the army.

The Xiongnu is not destroyed, why should the family be.

This is Emperor Xiaowu's ambition, this is the Han Dynasty's eternal legacy, this is his brother's last wish...

Of course, the most important thing is that this is the foundation of the Huo family's prosperity.

Huo Guang would never allow the emperor to get involved.

With a gloomy expression on his face, he returned the piece of paper to the emperor and said, "If your majesty wants to change the structure of the Shangshu Office, then change it, but I have something unclear. Please clarify my confusion."

"Father Zhong, if you have any questions, you can speak freely."

"In the past, the military affairs of the Han Dynasty were handled by the General's Office, while the Shangshu Office was only responsible for the rest of the government."

"Now there is a Ministry of War among these six ministries. Does this military affairs also need to be under the jurisdiction of the Shangshu Office?"

"Military affairs are of vital importance and cannot be delayed. I'm afraid it should not be confused with ordinary government affairs. Changing them rashly may cause chaos and shake the foundation of the Han Dynasty."

Liu He had known that Huo Guang would ask this question, because military affairs were Huo Guang's lifeblood.

The Tiger Talisman and the Imperial Seal were still in the Shangshu Office, but with the Seal Officer, Huo Guang could no longer use them easily.

But at least Huo Guang can still exert influence on the Han army and control part of the Han army as the Great Sima General.

If General Sima, like the Prime Minister, was sidelined by the Ministry of War and turned into a vacant position, then Huo Guang's influence on the Han army would probably become smaller and smaller.

Of course Huo Guang would be worried.

"Father Zhong made a mistake. Only Father Zhong can control the military affairs of this big man now. Now is the time to use troops, so I will not interfere with it."

"The military affairs of the Han Dynasty are still in charge of General Sima. The Ministry of War in the Shangshu Administration is only responsible for matters related to military affairs in the government, such as the allocation of grain and grass, the construction of warships, etc."

"In short, this Minister of War is the one who takes care of Father Zhong's worries."

Liu He's explanation did not completely reassure Huo Guang.

Because this new Shangshu Office has greatly weakened his power.

If the court power and the military power each had one dendrobium, then Huo Guang had two dendrobiums to himself in the past.

But now, [-]% of the dendrobium belonging to the imperial court has been taken away by the emperor, and [-] to [-]% of the dendrobium belonging to the military power has been divided.

After all, the power of the government and the power of the military are integrated into one, and they cannot be separated from each other. How can they be separated?

The appointment and dismissal of generals, the allocation of grain and fodder, the distribution of military pay... these matters belong to the government, but they are also military affairs, and they have all been separated.

Although he was still a general, he could only intervene in practical matters such as assessments and examinations, and use the Huo Party in the army to control the Han army.

How can we say this is not weakened?
This of course made Huo Guang very unhappy.

However, he didn't seem to know how to resist.

Before the victory of the Han army or the return of 15 Han troops, Huo Guang's prestige was getting lower and lower day by day, while the prestige of the emperor who had just taken charge was rising steadily.

The current Huo Guang cannot defeat the emperor.

He suddenly realized that every time he retreated, he was wrong and would make the situation even more unfavorable.

But what made Huo Guang suffocated was that he had to retreat every time.

During the chess match with the Emperor, he seemed to have never won a single move - those situations that seemed like a draw, he had actually lost.

Huo Guang was secretly thinking about how to reverse this situation, and for a moment he forgot to reply.

"Father Zhong, do you still have any concerns?" Liu He asked pretending not to see through anything.

"I have no other concerns."

"Okay, then I will show Father Zhong the candidates for the officials of the Shangshu Department. If the person proposed is not suitable, Father Zhong will tell me." Liu He said with a smile, and there was a lot of meaning in his smile.

"I must speak freely."

Huo Guang cheered up. These words were not empty words. Who can enter the Shangshu Office is also a big deal. Of course, he must compete with the emperor.

At least more Huo Dang should be among them.

　This is not peace, this is an armistice!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)