I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 435: The iron-clad imperial power, the flowing power of the prime minister; the powerful or the clan, who do I choose to rule together?

The list submitted by Zhang Anshi is naturally related to the official positions that have become vacant in the court.

Every detail is taken into consideration, including more than [-] official positions and more than [-] officials.

Some of these officials Liu He had heard of and seen, some he had heard of but not seen, and some he had neither seen nor heard of.

These official positions only related to the outer dynasty, not the Chinese dynasty: Zhang Anshi was very measured and knew that the Chinese and dynasty officials were personally appointed by the emperor, so he did not comment casually.

The situation is different for foreign court officials. As the de facto head of the hundred officials, General Sima recommends foreign court officials.

According to convention, Emperor Liu He had no reason to refuse.

However, since it is a reform and implementation of the New Deal, where can there be so many conventions?
Liu He carefully looked at the ink on the memorial book against the light and found that it was completely dry.

It seems that Zhang Anshi has already drawn up this list and is just waiting to present it to him for his "decision" today.

Liu He felt displeased and naturally felt that he had been "overstepped".

But after thinking about it, I was relieved. After all, it is a convention for the "prime minister" to recommend important ministers in the court.

After all, looking at the history of the entire Han Empire for more than a hundred years, the power of the prime minister and the power of the king can still compete with each other.

Compared with later empires, the power in the hands of the emperors of the Han Empire was much smaller, and they were always restrained by different interest groups within the empire.

At the beginning of the founding of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Gao, although he was called emperor, was more like a co-owner, so he wanted to distribute most of the empire's land to princes and kings with different surnames.

Because the princes and kings with different surnames accumulated and controlled a large number of troops in the process of revolting against the Qin Dynasty, they were able to sit on an equal footing with Emperor Taizu Gao.

At the end of Emperor Taizu Gao's reign, princes and kings with different surnames were eliminated one by one, and the group of distinguished officials under the emperor and the group of princes and kings with the same surname began to occupy a core position in the power structure.

On the one hand, Emperor Taizu Gao hoped that they could become a large vassal vassal; on the other hand, they made great achievements in exterminating the princes and kings of different surnames and occupied the power of the losers.

The princes of the same surname and the group of distinguished heroes who were deeply trusted by Emperor Taizu Gao also lived up to the divine grace and made the right choice to save the Liu family's ancestral temple when Zhu Lu was in trouble.

In the blink of an eye, during the periods of Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Xiaojing, the distribution of imperial power changed again.

Due to the passage of time and the emperor's suppression, the group of distinguished heroes either fell into obscurity or died.

The princes and kings with the same surname also launched the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion because of their unsatisfactory desires. They were hit many times and were not even as rich as ordinary wealthy men.

These two power groups that once dominated the Han Empire were defeated by the emperor and gradually withdrew from the stage of the Han Dynasty.

However, where there is power, there is struggle, and the Han Empire did not calm down because of this.

When the group of nobles and heroes and the princes and kings with the same surname gradually fell into decline, the group of foreign relatives quietly emerged.

The foreign relatives group did not miss this precious opportunity and relied on the monarchy of several generations of emperors to expand rapidly.

This expansion reached its peak when Emperor Xiaowu used troops aggressively in the Western Regions.

The descendants of the heroes and nobles of the early Han Dynasty have disappeared from everyone, and the princes and kings with the same surname are still unbelievable.

As a result, the emperor could only trust his relatives from his wife's clan and his mother's clan.

Whether it is the Wang family and the Dou family during the reign of Emperor Xiaojing, the Wei family and the Li family during the Emperor Xiaowu period, or the Huo family and Shangguan family under the Emperor Xiaozhao...

They were all relatives granted military and court power by the emperor.

And they all became prominent for a certain period of time.

The foreign relatives group is much smarter than other power groups. They are always very cautious and only dare to rely on the imperial power and dare not threaten it.

However, how could power be controlled by others? The increasingly expanding group of relatives was still inevitably feared by the emperor.

The Witch Gu Rebellion is a disaster after this fear reaches its peak.

After Emperor Xiaowu hoeed off all his sons and relatives of the Wei family and Li family, he tried to start another power group to rise and form a restriction with the relatives group.

In fact, Emperor Xiaowu had already made this preparation before the Witch Gu Rebellion.

That is the civil servant group with "the aristocratic families that are integrated with Confucian classics" as the core.

Foreign relatives were connected to the imperial power through blood, and the civil servant group was connected to the imperial power through Confucian loyalty and filial piety.

The two can exactly form constraints.

Before Emperor Xiaowu's great success, he selected four auxiliary ministers for Emperor Xiaozhao.

Chariot and Cavalry General Jin Rixi, Left General Shangguan Jie, Imperial Censor Sang Hongyang, and Grand Sima General Huo Guang.

They are not from a wealthy family, but they all belong to the civil servant group.

Later, because of the Empress Dowager Shangguan, Shangguan Jie and Huo Guangcai turned into a group of relatives.

There was still a power struggle between them. In the end, the Shangguan family who united with Yan Wangdan was defeated and the clan was destroyed, and Huo Guang took power.

Now, Liu He has disposed of Huo Guang, a relative and powerful official, leaving a gap in power, and the long-dormant civil servant group will rise.

What's more, Zhang Anshi, the Great Sima General who recommended his courtiers, was not only a civil servant, but also a relative.

He just looks like a small version of Huo Guang.

Although it is small, do you know that it will not become bigger in the future?
It is true that Zhang Anshi does not look like a powerful minister now, and his loyalty to the emperor can be seen in his words and deeds.

In the original timeline, Zhang Anshi was cautious throughout his life, and the Zhang family continued to stand still until the Eastern Han Dynasty.

But wasn’t Huo Guang cautious when he was Emperor Xiaowu?Doesn't Huo Guang want to be a loyal minister?Doesn't Huo Guang know that things must be reversed when they reach their extremes?
No, that's absolutely not the case.

Huo Guang has been in and out of the court for 20 years without making any mistakes, so how could he be a person obsessed with power from the beginning?
It was the growing power and rapidly rising status that made the original Huo Guang become the later Huo Guang.

Since Huo Guang can change, won't Zhang Anshi change?

You know, Zhang Anshi's current power and status are much higher than those in the original timeline.

What's more, Liu He, who is sitting on the imperial couch now, is not the same type of person as Emperor Xiaoxuan.

He wanted to implement reforms and implement new policies within the Han Empire.

And this new deal is an unprecedented new deal. It is a reform and new deal that will touch the core interests of the aristocratic families behind Zhang Anshi and others.

Can Zhang Anshi still "walk the path of peace of mind, full but not overflowing" like in the original timeline?

Liu He felt unsure.

At this moment, looking at the list of recommended officials in his hand, Liu He wanted to say something to Zhang Anshi, who was in his prime: Mr. Fu, times have changed.

But this sentence cannot be said.

Liu He's attitude towards Zhang Anshi and others was the same as his attitude towards Huo Guang.

If you are willing to follow yourself, then follow yourself; if you are not willing to follow yourself, then follow the ancestors of the past generations.

"Your Majesty, there are many vacancies in the positions of the nine ministers and ministers in the outer dynasty. Without the chief officials in charge, it is very inconvenient for the government office to handle affairs..."

"Weichen believes that the top priority is to recruit suitable officials to fill the vacancies. Only in this way can the court function smoothly." "This is a list drawn up by Weichen, Bing Gong and others after discussion at the Shangshu Office, and I would like to submit it to Your Majesty Decide.”

In the Han Dynasty, the prime minister had the right to directly appoint officials with a salary of less than [-] shi without the consent of the emperor.

As for officials with more than [-] shi, the prime minister can also directly recommend them to the emperor.

Zhang Anshi is not the Prime Minister, but the work of the Prime Minister, General Sima and the Minister, is the job of the Prime Minister. It is reasonable to propose this list today.

Coupled with the "national conditions" just now, Liu He was relieved - relief did not mean acceptance.

It is true that many official positions have been vacated in the court, and many of the people recommended by Zhang Anshi can be regarded as having both ability and political integrity.

However, Liu He did not accept such a recommendation step, or in other words, he was going to change the structure in which the power of the prime minister restricted the power of the monarch today.

The reform and implementation of the New Deal should start from the center of power of the Han Dynasty.

Now that Huo Guang is gone, the systems that were temporarily put in place to check and balance Huo Guang need to be drastically reformed.

There is only one purpose, which is to continuously increase the power of the monarch and weaken the power of the prime minister: since it is an empire, of course the emperor should be in charge alone.

The Han Empire did not allow such powerful courtiers to exist.

Huo Guang's body was still cold, which was when Zhang Anshi and others were most in awe of the emperor, so they wanted to take advantage of this momentum to pursue the victory.

Liu He has already made preparations, but today's small court meeting is too small and cannot be used. He will have to wait for a few more days until the big court meeting in a few days.

At that time, when all the ministers have arrived, Liu He can, in full view of the public, attack Zhang Anshi and others, and finish their work in one battle, leaving them with no way to retreat.

……

After thinking about the list for a long time, Liu He finally nodded and said, "Zhang Qing is thoughtful and considerate. I am very pleased to have you in charge of the government affairs."

"This is the duty of a minister. I dare not fail to fulfill my responsibilities." Zhang Anshi said quickly.

"Zhang Qing thought of this before me. I haven't had time to think about it yet. Thanks to Zhang Qing for taking precautions, otherwise I would have delayed the government affairs."

Liu He spoke calmly and freely, without showing any blame or dissatisfaction.

Then, he expressed some heartfelt praise for Zhang Anshi's "responsibility", which caused the rest of the people present to silently nod in agreement.

"Your Majesty, you are so complimentary. This is the responsibility of a humble minister. I dare not fail to do my best." Zhang Anshi said modestly again.

"Zhang Qing, have you seen this list of Bingqing, Cai Qing and Wei Qing?" Liu He asked.

These three people, plus Zhang Anshi himself, are the four ministers in charge of the Shangshu Office: matters in the court should be reported to the emperor after discussion.

"Today is the first small court meeting of the year, and the ministers have not had time to discuss it with the princes." Bingji actually already knew about this, but Zhang Anshi told a harmless lie,
"In this case, after the court is dismissed today, you can discuss it with the three beloved ministers first, and then report it to the court meeting in three days." Liu He replied calmly.

"Cai Gong has been in bed. I'm afraid he will still be unable to work in a few days..."

"Is Cai Qing so seriously ill?" Liu He asked in surprise.

"Although Mr. Cai is old, he was still in good health. Unfortunately, he has been quite frightened in the past few months..."

"I cried bitterly at the court meeting two years ago. In the first month of the year, I was caught in the cold again. I'm afraid it will take some time to recover."

Zhang Anshi put it very tactfully. A 70-year-old man who is so sick cannot recover in a few days.

Including the emperor, everyone in the Greenhouse Palace had a look of sadness on their faces. They knew that there was going to be another old acquaintance missing from the court.

Yang Chang, Ren Gong, Cai Yi... This year has been really eventful, with three people changing the position of prime minister.

"Cai Qing has also suffered." Liu He sighed, "In that case, you can discuss this with Gong Bing and Gong Wei again."

"No." Zhang Anshi responded.

"Three days later, at the great court meeting, the two matters of making a marquis and promoting officials will be dealt with together."

"The New Year should have a new atmosphere, and I hope that these two things can be used to make a good start for the first year of reform and innovation."

"I will do my best," the ministers responded in unison.

After Zhang Anshi finished answering, he felt happy.

The emperor asked him to report this matter to the court meeting, which meant that he had no objection to the matter, and it would just be a formality.

The emperor still knows the general picture.

……

Later, Liu He asked Han Zeng and Zhao Chongguo about the situation in Beidi County and Anding County.

All I got was good news.

The captain's mansions throughout the border fortress have been rebuilt, and the missing soldiers have been added from the two armies. There is absolutely no risk of resisting the Huns.

The troops of Fan Tian, ​​who had become a bandit strongman, were defeated and were almost wiped out a year ago. Only a few escaped and it did not harm the overall situation.

The cities in Beidi County, Anding County and Wuyuan County have also begun to be renovated. It costs a lot, but it will not burden the people.

"Beidi County, Anding County and Wuyuan County are all exempt from taxes for one year."

"As for Yinpan County and Lingwu County, which were the hardest hit, they were exempted from taxes for three years."

"Your Majesty is kind, and the people of the world will definitely appreciate it." The ministers once again praised the emperor.

At this point, today's small court meeting was over. The ministers bowed to the emperor again and then left slowly.

Liu He looked at the backs of the courtiers gradually leaving and guessed that they were in a good mood.

After all, Liu He deliberately did not mention the reform issue that had Zhang Anshi and others hanging on his throat today.

And he also "agreed" to the list of courtiers that was recommended.

No matter which angle you look at it, Zhang Anshi and others should be happy.

After all the courtiers had gone away, Liu Hecai stood up on the emperor's couch, and Fan Ke stood up next to him immediately.

"Fan Ke, have you remembered what you all said just now?" Liu He asked.

"I have written down all the details, every word." Fan Ke looked at the rice paper on the case and said.

"Okay, starting from today, I will say a lot in the court, and the courtiers will also say a lot in the court..."

"Whether you can understand it or not, you must write it down verbatim so that future generations know what happened in the court."

Fan Ke didn't understand the emperor's words, so how could there be anything he couldn't understand?

But the young waiter didn't ask any more questions, and just accepted the promise as usual.

(End of this chapter)