I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 440: The emperor makes a big fuss in the court 1: Suppress the aristocratic family and support the poor family; remove the prime minister and remove the three princes!

Liu He, who had temporarily taken control of the situation in the front hall, looked down at the courtiers with somewhat complicated thoughts.

What he has to do today is not a trivial matter such as changing a few government offices, but a big and nerve-wracking matter - old interest groups must hand over power, and new interest groups must take power.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, all emperors were troubled by the same problem, or the same paradox.

Any emperor who is effective will want to control as much power as possible in the empire, so they will find ways to attack the interest groups that rule the world with them.

But when he takes control of all the power of the empire, he will immediately find that he alone is unable to handle all government affairs and can only support new interest groups.

So, over and over again, the gourd is pressed and the ladle floats up. You sing and we take the stage. The issue of the distribution of imperial power has never been truly resolved.

The princes and kings with different surnames in the early period of Emperor Gao, the heroes and nobles in the later period of Emperor Gao, the clan princes and new nobles in the Wenjing period, the relatives and aristocratic families in the period of Emperor Xiaowu...

It was the eunuch group, the gentry group, the scholar-bureaucrat group, the Manchu slaves, the Han landowners and warlords, the Beiyang warlords, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang conglomerates...

No matter what age it is, as long as it is still an imperial system ruled by one person, the emperor will inevitably choose a power group as his political ally.

Even in the end, when the monarchy was completely swept away, one would still have to rely on an interest group to govern a country.

Only at this time, interest groups had a brand new name - class.

Although Liu He was mentally different from all emperors in the past and present, physically speaking, he was still an ordinary person and did not have any strange power.

If we look at the degree of diligence alone, Liu He is not as good as many emperors, so it is impossible to truly rule the world alone.

Those who have to do everything by themselves will eventually die of exhaustion, leaving orphans and widows to be bullied by powerful ministers.

Therefore, whether Liu He is willing or not, he must choose a relatively reliable interest group to cooperate with him.

The only advantage Liu He had was the experience accumulated by hundreds of emperors through blood and tears.

He at least has a clearer understanding of the pros and cons brought by various interest groups: some interest groups must not be trusted.

For example, the relatives group, the eunuch group, the overly powerful clan group and the noble family group, these are all interest groups that have been verified by many emperors to be extremely risky.

After all this calculation, there are not many interest groups that Liu He can choose from.

After some ranking, the common people born from small and medium-sized landowners and the scholar-bureaucrats and civil servants group born under the imperial examination system became the least dangerous interest groups.

At least, the powerful ministers trained by the common people from poor families and the scholar-bureaucrats and civil servants group are weaker and more dispersed. They may evade the imperial power, but they will not threaten the imperial power.

At this time, in the Han Dynasty, the common people from poor families were still insignificant, and the group of scholar-bureaucrats and civil servants was only in its infancy.

In this way, supporting a relatively weak political ally will at least not be immediately counterattacked.

Moreover, Liu He can also transform them: expand their advantages and reduce their risks.

In the Han Dynasty, there was absolutely no possibility of success for a people's revolution of a national nature. The ruling group was expanded to include small and medium-sized landowners, and he tried his best to reserve a channel for the peasants at the bottom to lead to the upper class. This was the limit of what Liu He could do.

Even if he wants to achieve this, Liu He still has to show full courage.

Fortunately, some preparations have been made in advance, and many things will go more smoothly.

Looking at the court at this time, the aristocratic clans with closer internal relationships have not yet been formed, but the aristocratic families and relatives have already begun to become clans.

Liu He's support for the poor people will definitely be met with strong backlash and desperate obstruction from them.

But he had to do this. If the current situation continues to develop, aristocratic families, relatives, and schools of Confucian classics will merge. In less than 100 years, powerful noble families will appear.

Once the powerful nobles came to the Han Empire, the fate of the Han Dynasty could never be changed.

Therefore, before the emergence of wealthy noble families, Liu He would risk the disapproval of the world to support the poor families and suppress the wealthy families and relatives as much as possible.

……

With a "pop" sound, the pen in Fan Ke's hand fell to the ground for some reason. He hurriedly bent down to pick it up. The sound also brought Liu He's thoughts back to the front hall.

When Liu He came back to his senses, he realized that during the period of his random thoughts, the courtiers were all looking at him, and they were all nervously waiting for his next words.

Liu He coughed lightly, then paced back and forth on the jade steps for a few steps, allowing the tense and oppressive atmosphere in the front hall to relax slightly before he finally spoke.

"The prime minister is the head of all officials, but since Emperor Xiaowu, the position of prime minister has often been occupied, and government affairs are all handled by the Shangshu Office."

"Although the Nine Ministers and other ministers are said to be under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister, in fact they are under the jurisdiction of the Shangshu Office, so there is no need for their existence."

"So the first new policy is to dismiss the prime minister!"

Liu He slowly finished these words. When the last words were heard in the front hall, the thick pillars seemed to tremble.

The expressions on the faces of the officials ranged from anxiety to suspicion, then from suspicion to shock, and then from shock to fear.

Prime Minister, this is the head of a hundred officials. How much respect is there for him to be dismissed by the emperor's frivolous words?
After Emperor Xiaowu, the powers and responsibilities of the prime minister became smaller and smaller, and the prime minister's mansion became more and more dilapidated day by day, often showing the desolate scene of "a fox and a rabbit flying across my sky".But in the past 200 years, the prime minister has always been the ultimate ideal of courtiers.

The emperor was unprepared to say that he was going to abolish the army. How could the officials and ministers accept it calmly?
Many people think of Cai Yi again. Could this person be the last prime minister?Could it be that he was the last person to be granted the title of marquis by virtue of being prime minister?
That's great luck.

The officials and ministers also gradually came to their senses. Just now when the emperor asked Cai Yi to retire, he had already thought about abolishing the prime minister.

At this time, the most embarrassed and overwhelmed people were naturally Zhang Anshi and Wei Xuancheng.

One of them is the Great Sima, the General, and the other is the Imperial Censor. They are the three Dukes like the Prime Minister. The emperor dismissed the Prime Minister with just one word. So is it necessary for the Grand Sima and the Imperial Censor to exist?
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, although the prime minister is often in vain, he has been the head of the officials for hundreds of years. Without the prime minister to lead the officials, I am afraid that the officials' hearts will be unstable..." Zhang Anshi tried to remonstrate.

"Without the Prime Minister, I will take charge of the officials. Will the officials' hearts change?" Liu He said lightly.

"This..." Zhang Anshi was stunned by this question, his mouth half-opened and he didn't know how to continue.

He really wanted to continue to remonstrate, but he didn't know where to start. The emperor should lead all officials. In the final analysis, there was nothing wrong with it, but it didn't seem to be in line with the established system.

But since the emperor wanted to reform the law and implement the New Deal, he originally wanted to change the adult system, so how could he continue to use the adult system?
When Zhang Anshi was still thinking about going back and forth with the emperor over the matter of the prime minister, the emperor had already secretly attacked Chen Cang and quietly slashed at him with the knife in his hand.

"In addition, since the prime minister has been dismissed, it is not appropriate for the Grand Sima and the Imperial Censor to be higher than the Jiu Qing. From today on..."

"The rank of the Grand Sima and the Imperial Censor are the same as those of Jiuqing. The rank of the Grand Sima and the Imperial Censor has been reduced from ten thousand stones to two thousand stones."

"From now on, Grand Sima will only be responsible for raising troops, not using them. If there is a matter of recruiting troops for conquest, I will select people from among the generals to lead the troops."

Da Sima evolved from Taiwei. He is said to be in charge of the world's military affairs. His power and responsibilities can be large or small. He is definitely a threat to the imperial power.

Military affairs are divided into raising troops, commanding troops and deploying troops.

Raising troops is military administration, including the selection of courses and training in military schools, recruitment of soldiers, post missions, stable herding, ordnance, equipment survey, military registration, martial arts and other matters.

With this change, Da Sima's power in charge of military affairs was divided in black and white, and he changed from the chief general of the entire Han army to the steward and cook of the Han army.

The power to control the army was actually divided into three parts.

The emperor is in charge of dispatching troops, the lieutenant is in charge of commanding them, and the great commander is in charge of raising troops: in the event of a conquest, the emperor will divide the power of dispatching troops among the generals.

Zhang Anshi, as the Great Sima General, was still protecting the position of "Prime Minister" one moment, but the next moment he found that his position as "Great Sima" had also been demoted?
"The imperial censor is still in charge of the supervision and assessment of hundreds of officials, and his rank is consistent with that of the nine ministers!"

"From today on, the three ministers and nine ministers will be changed to the nine ministers and two ministers. Do you have any objections to it?"

Liu He slowly asked this last sentence to the courtiers in the palace, but his eyes moved back and forth between Zhang Anshi and Cai Yi.

The other ministers have no reason to object. Now it depends on the attitude of the two of them.

Zhang Anshi, who stood up, did not dare to object, and Wei Xuancheng, who was sitting down, had no reason to object.

Just now, when the emperor granted them the title of marquis, they did not refuse; but now that they are about to take away their official title, how can they object?

Neither Zhang Anshi nor Wei Xian was Huo Guang, and they did not dare to directly disobey orders at the court meeting.

It was not worth it for the two of them to play the role of Third Duke. Within three months from Jiuqing to Third Duke, they were demoted from Third Duke back to Jiuqing.

Although they dare not raise objections, both Zhang Anshi and Wei Xuancheng have some "sexual difficulties".

Although the emperor was implementing a new system, he had to terminate their officials after all. How could they lose face?
The two of them were indeed people who had seen strong winds and heavy rains, and they themselves were not very obsessed with power. The half-displeasure quickly disappeared from their faces into their hearts.

Liu He observed their fleeting displeasure, but did not offer any words of advice. Instead, he deliberately asked: "Zhang Qing and Wei Qing, don't you have any feelings of resentment?"

"Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision. I dare not feel any resentment among you. I will wait for your orders." Zhang Anshi and Wei Xuancheng said quickly and calmly.

"Okay, you two dear friends understand the righteousness well and are worthy of being the pillars of the court. I am very pleased." Liu He praised with a half-smile.

This is just the beginning. I hope you can consistently maintain this respect and composure in the front hall today.

"In the past, when Emperor Xiaowu established China and North Korea, his original intention was to let China and North Korea make decisions and foreign countries administer affairs..."

"But Huo wins people's hearts with officials from China and North Korea, and there are countless officials from foreign countries who have been promoted. China, North Korea, and foreign countries have long been confused."

"This is how the Huo family was able to take over power. In order to prevent any more powerful ministers from taking over power and having one person in charge of both the Chinese and foreign dynasties, I decided to implement the second new policy..."

"From today onwards, officials from foreign countries are not allowed to serve as officials from China, and officials from China are not allowed to serve as officials from foreign countries..."

"All existing Chinese and North Korean officials have been dismissed, and I will re-appoint and dismiss them all..."

However, this second new policy didn't stop there, and the emperor's next words made all the officials and ministers buzz with excitement.

There was an uproar in the front hall. This was not a reform, it was simply a change!
　Please note here that the aristocratic family in the article is in a broad sense. At this time, a clear class like the noble family has not yet formed.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)