I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 441: The emperor makes a big fuss in the court 2: Abolition of the Shangshu Office and implementation of a cabinet system; the vote will be approved and the monarch and his ministers will be harmonious!

"As for the Shangshu Office, it was originally just an office of the Shaofu, but it has become the center of the court. It is really awkward..."

"So the Shangshu Office will also be dismissed, and another government office will be built as the core of China and North Korea and the center of the court."

Liu He's two sentences turned the "buzzing" discussion into a "booming" discussion.

All the officials no longer cared about the etiquette of the court meeting, and were whispering to their peers in front, left, and right. Suddenly, the palace was very lively.

The five or six sentences that the emperor just said are not many words, but they are big things.

Officials from both the Chinese and Foreign Dynasties could not hold concurrent posts, which meant that many official positions would be vacant, and some would naturally be promoted.

Nowadays, some Chinese and North Korean officials have all been dismissed, which means that officials who only had Chinese and North Korean officials have lost their official positions inexplicably.

The abolition of the Shangshu office means the birth of a new government office. Whether it is a blessing or a disaster is not yet known.

This second New Deal affects not just three or five people, but most of the courtiers in the court. How could the discussion not be loud?
Liu He looked at the courtiers who were talking about it, but did not say anything to stop him. He had to give them some time to accept such a big thing.

Half a year ago, that is, before Liu He took charge, officials in China and North Korea were mainly divided into three categories.

The Shangshu Shi was in a category of its own. At that time, Huo Guang, the Shangshu Shi, was in charge of the affairs of the court, replacing the emperor's administration, and had the highest decision-making power in the Shangshu Office, the Chinese and foreign dynasties.

Several types of ministers are in the same category. They are of low rank and have no real power. They only serve as assistants under Huo Guang and cannot participate in the formulation of major political policies in the court.

The rest of the Chinese and Korean officials are in the same category. Their ranks vary greatly and their titles are also varied.

Six hundred stones are given to Shizhong and Sanqilang, Guanglu doctor and Jianyi doctor who are more than a thousand stones, chariot generals and hussar generals who are more than two thousand stones... are actually considered to be officials of the Central Dynasty.

Only when a foreign court official obtains the third category of official promotion from China and North Korea, does it mean that he has been favored by the emperor. Without official promotion from China and North Korea, even if he is ranked among the three princes, it is just a decoration.

When Emperor Xiaowu first established China and North Korea, he used China and North Korea to add officials to control the government and check and balance the prime minister.

Following Emperor Xiaowu's foreign court officials, Emperor Xiaowu added him as a Chinese court official, and only then could he be qualified to participate in court affairs.

If Emperor Xiaowu dislikes an official from a foreign court, Emperor Xiaowu will not add him to a court official in China. Then even the prime minister has no right to interfere in the affairs of the court.

However, after Emperor Xiaozhao succeeded to the throne, more and more officials were given to him by the Chinese and Korean officials. The three ministers, nine ministers, and ministers all received additional official posts from the Chinese and Korean officials. Eventually, the Chinese and foreign officials were confused together.

Originally, the power of the court could be subdivided into three types: administrative power, deliberation power and decision-making power.

According to Emperor Xiaowu's original intention: officials in the outer court held administrative power, officials in the inner court held political power, and the emperor held decision-making power.

But as the identities of Chinese and foreign officials overlapped, huge concealments and troubles arose.

In the Shangshu Office, courtiers used their status as Chinese officials to participate in the discussion of government affairs.

When they arrived at the outer dynasty, they participated in the execution of government affairs as the Sangong and Jiuqing.

The political affairs of the government alternated between their left and right hands, allowing them to play with each other: the Chinese and foreign governments completely lost the possibility of restraining and restricting each other.

It was under such circumstances that Huo Guang, the powerful "invisible emperor", was born.

Huo Guang's official positions were Grand Sima, Grand General, Chief Secretary, and Assistant Minister: different positions symbolized different powers.

The Grand Sima was the actual head of the foreign officials, the Chief Secretary was the head of the Chinese officials, the General was in charge of military power, and the Assistant Ministers exercised the power of the emperor.

As a result, decision-making power, deliberation power, governing power and military power were all concentrated in Huo Guang's hands.

In such a situation of monopolizing power, it is difficult for Huo Guang not to be monopolistic and domineering.

If the identities of Chinese and foreign officials are not separated, and if the decision-making, deliberation and administrative powers are not separated, then another Huo Guang will be just around the corner.

That’s why Liu He wanted to highlight this second New Deal.

……

Liu He waited for the discussions among the officials to gradually subside before he continued talking unhurriedly.

"After the Shangshu Office is removed, the Chinese and North Korean officials will move to other places to discuss government affairs in the future. As for where to move, I have an idea, and I will discuss it with all the ministers..."

"In the northwest of the Greenhouse Hall, there is a library called Shiqu Pavilion. There are many books of sages hidden there..."

"I think that if you want to manage the government well, you should read more books by sages, otherwise you will inevitably go astray like Huo who doesn't like reading."

"So, the new government office where Chinese and Korean officials discuss government affairs should be moved to Shiqu Pavilion."

"Since it has been moved to Shiqu Pavilion, it is no longer convenient to call it the Shangshu Office, so as not to confuse it with the Shangyi Supervisor and other government offices. Let's call this government office the Cabinet."

"In this way, the title of "Ling Shangshu Shi" will no longer be called "Ling Shangshu Shi", but will be changed to "Grand Scholar". This name can also urge them to study scriptures diligently and pursue the legacy of saints.

"As for the generals, they are neither internal nor external officials. They are governed separately to prepare for the military."

When the officials and ministers listened to the emperor's eloquent talk, they were surprised and felt a lot of admiration and respect for the emperor, and felt even more ashamed.

Not to mention anything else, the location of this new government office was chosen very well, and the title of Grand Bachelor is also unique - after all, the name is just right!

Just looking at the title of Grand Scholar, it seems that the emperor pays more attention to Confucianism, which is a good thing.

As a result, many courtiers with profound attainments in Confucianism stroked their beards with appreciative smiles on their faces.However, when Zhang Anshi and other ministers heard the fresh words "cabinet" and "bachelor", the waves in their hearts became higher and higher.

No matter how you look at it, the power in your hands is getting smaller and smaller.

The emperor's move to drain the fire was so clever that it caught them off guard.

Zhang Anshi and others only want to elect vacant official positions today. How could they have thought that the emperor would directly "attack" them!
The Sangong and Shangshu offices were all abolished in one fell swoop.

They felt like they were holding back a breath that they couldn't get up, and they also felt that they were a little ridiculous.

It's like a man hunting for a thief. He went out to catch the thief with great fanfare, but when he looked back, his home was robbed.

Zhang Anshi and others finally saw the purpose of the emperor's implementation of these two new policies: to strengthen the imperial power and weaken the power of the prime minister.

It seems that today's emperor wants to be a "one emperor through the ages" who can say the same thing.

This may not be a good sign for the world, the courtiers, the people, or the aristocratic families.

Zhang Anshi and Bingji's eyes exchanged back and forth. They saw some worries in each other's eyes, but they could not stand up and give advice.

When the emperor gave them a heavy reward just now, they did not resolutely refuse; now that the emperor wants to take away their power, how can they stand up and remonstrate?
What's more, the emperor only took away the power of the three princes and the ministers, but the official positions of the nine ministers and lie ministers were not affected much.

This means that the interests of the hundreds of officials in the palace have not been affected much under these two new policies - what is affected is their top-level courtiers.

It's none of your business, hang up high.

Even for other courtiers, this new deal is still an opportunity.

Officials in the central court and officials in the inner court must be treated separately, which means that each person can only have one official position, so many official positions will be vacant.

Take Bingji as an example. He was originally the chief minister and Guang Luxun. According to the new system, once he joins the cabinet, he can no longer serve as Guang Luxun.

That leaves a position for Jiuqing, and someone can come in as a substitute.

It's profitable, why oppose it.

It seemed from both sides that even if Zhang Anshi and Bingji could "shamelessly" stand up to remonstrate, they would not get the support of other courtiers.

Zhang Anshi and Bingji could only look at the emperor with normal expressions, waiting for the emperor's new holy teachings.

By this time, they finally felt the emperor's determination to reform the law and implement new policies - the big man might really be going to change things.

"From now on, memorials submitted by the subjects of the world will be delivered directly to the chariot commander's room under the North Tower, and then sent to the cabinet."

"After the cabinet receives the memorial, the cabinet ministers will read it and discuss it together. They will write down their opinions on how to deal with it and paste it on the memorial. This is called a draft."

"After the memorial and tickets are submitted to me, I will approve it again."

After Liu He said these words, it was considered "unexpected": he bypassed the three provinces and six ministries system and directly implemented the cabinet system.

Under the feudal monarchy, no matter what system is implemented, there will always be disadvantages.

But if there is any system that pushed the feudal autocratic monarchy to its peak, it was naturally the cabinet system and the military command system.

Whether it is the cabinet or the military aircraft department, there is not much difference in essence.

It is nothing more than separating the legislative power, administrative power and decision-making power, and leaving the decision-making power to the emperor.

Under the cabinet system, if the emperor ascends the throne at a young age or the emperor ignores government affairs, powerful ministers will naturally be born, but this will also be greatly restricted.

After all, there are many people in the cabinet, and they cannot interfere in the specific governance process, and their status is not higher than that of the Nine Ministers and the Second Palace.

"With this change, the cabinet academicians have a heavy burden. No matter who can join the cabinet today, I would like to express my gratitude in advance." Liu He said sincerely.

The ministers were silent for a while, unable to accept such a big change.

In the end, Zhang Anshi stood up knowingly and led a group of courtiers to say goodbye to the emperor and express their loyalty.

Therefore, under the tsunami-like roar of the ministers who "will not give up even if they die", the cabinet system was approved at least on the surface.

After the ministers sat back down again, many courtiers who were not ranked among the nine ministers could not help but look at the emperor with expectant eyes.

Because the next step is very important: it is time to divide the groups into groups and official seals.

I'm afraid I won't get the chance to join the cabinet, but I can look forward to the vacant position of Jiuqing.

After people like Zhang Anshi finished eating the meat, they followed behind and took a few sips of soup. Isn't this excessive and shameful?

Liu He looked at this expectation and enthusiasm, and felt happy in his heart. He has such a good heart for fame and wealth.

If those who serve as officials in the dynasty have no ambition for fame and wealth, how can I control you?
"Okay, the number of Shiqu Pavilion's bachelors is numbered at seven. I will appoint candidates to the cabinet now."

All the courtiers, including Zhang Anshi and Bingji, who were a little depressed, became energetic.

(End of this chapter)