Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 479: Speak out and make it impossible

Ministry of official affairs.

Wei Yuanzhong entered the government office early in the morning.

"Doctor Wei..."

"Doctor Wei..."

"Doctor Wei..."

Most officials would stop their feet and greet Wei Yuanzhong enthusiastically when they saw him.

As one of the first batch of Jinshi after the reform of the imperial examination system, Wei Yuanzhong was one of the first to try it out. As the first batch of disciples of the emperor, he attracted much attention.

At the same time, as Chen Qingsi's student, Wei Yuanzhong had no one to block him on the road to promotion, and he himself was extremely talented and capable.

The promotion of this type of people will undoubtedly be smooth.

If you have talent and someone to protect you, everything you do will be visible to the public.

When working in official circles, the most frightening thing is to be unknown and hide in the dark.

There are too many grassroots officials, and the credit for achievements easily goes to their superiors, so that some people waste more than ten or twenty years in a position and still cannot be promoted.

Officials like Wei Yuanzhong who live under the spotlight will never have to worry about promotion opportunities as long as they have the ability.

In eight years, Wei Yuanzhong had made several consecutive achievements and had become a Langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel, thus establishing his own foundation in the Ministry.

Wei Yuanzhong came to his office and planned to deal with the matters at hand.

After the war, the Ministry of Personnel began to get busy.

On the surface, fighting is the job of military personnel, but it also involves various logistical arrangements, material arrangements, military service management, and the assistance and cooperation of local government officials.

All of this is the key to determining victory in a war.

The Ministry of War is responsible for the assessment and promotion of military merit, while the promotion assessment of these civil servants is the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel.

Wei Yuanzhong's recent affairs are all about the promotion of such officials.

The Tang Dynasty advocated martial arts, and as long as it involved military achievements, the promotion opportunities were quite significant.

It is also because of this that local officials would actively participate in such matters when they encountered them. As a result, the Tang army rarely encountered logistics problems in foreign wars.

Wei Yuanzhong was a civil servant who was both civil and military, and he longed for the battlefield. For this reason, he specially learned military tactics from Jiang Rong.

Great importance was attached to this aspect. According to common sense, officials from all over the country who participated in the war were given extremely high evaluations, with the lowest being a B grade.

However, Wei Yuanzhong's evaluation here does not count. It only represents the opinion of the Ministry of Personnel and needs to be submitted to the prime minister for review.

It will only take effect after obtaining the prime minister's approval and submitting it to the emperor for review.

But now such small matters are usually handled by Empress Wu.

Although there were many controversies in the court, most people had tacitly agreed that Empress Wu would assist in the administration of the country and review memorials.

Many people wanted to restore power by finding faults, but Empress Wu was indeed very capable and was never caught in any faults. All officials could only acquiesce in this.

It took Wei Yuanzhong a whole morning to finish the work at hand. He placed it in a wooden box on the side and had a clerk deliver it to the prime minister's meeting room.

After lunch, Wei Yuanzhong had no time to rest and began to study the reform of the Ministry of Personnel.

The reform of the Ministry of Personnel is already imminent...

Any system needs to go through a process of gradual adjustment and continuous improvement, and the same is true for the Ministry of Personnel.

In the second year of Xianqing, Liu Xiangdao, then the Minister of Personnel, said: "The current selection of officials is too much and too indiscriminate. The number of candidates entering the official ranks every year is over 1,400, which is a lot of harm."

Ancient dynasties divided officials into nine ranks. Those below the ninth rank were considered "in the stream", and those above the ninth rank were considered "out of the stream". "Entering the stream" means being promoted from "out of the stream" to "in the stream".

To put it bluntly, it means redundant staff...

But it is different from the redundant officials in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty wanted to win over scholars and absorbed scholars without restriction, which resulted in signs of redundant officials and staff.

The Tang Dynasty was not perfect because of its system. After the turmoil at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the population of the Tang Dynasty dropped sharply. The state affairs were in their infancy, the military was newly established, the scholars did not seek salaries, and the officials were not fully staffed, so that one official held multiple positions.

Now that the country has enjoyed peace for a long time, talented people have emerged in large numbers, but the official vacancy system is still following the system of the early years, resulting in a situation where there are too many people but too few positions.

Therefore, the reform of the official positions in the Ministry of Personnel is inevitable.

But this kind of thing needs to be done step by step, and experiments need to be carried out step by step.

This is also a necessary step in reform.

To come up with a complete system all at once like Chen Qingsi did is pure cheating and foul behavior.

Everyone in the Ministry of Personnel knew that reform was needed, but they had no idea how to do it or where to start.

Wei Yuanzhong once asked Chen Qingsi for advice.

Chen Qingsi did not presume to interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, but when his students asked him questions, he still revealed a few ideas.

Chen Qingsi was a graduate of a professional school, so he naturally had some understanding of the ancient official system.

The reform of the Ministry of Personnel in the Tang Dynasty was delayed until Pei Xingjian returned to Beijing after his meritorious service in the Western Regions and served as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

He summed up the experience of his predecessors and presided over the reform of the Ministry of Personnel, focusing on the self-representation of candidates and the long list of names, supplemented by regulations such as the Selection and Annotation System, and completed the reform of the Ministry of Personnel.

The long list of names and the selection of officials may not be particularly impressive, but they are very suitable for this era.

Some systems in future generations will indeed be more complete than the current ones, but different national conditions may lead to taking too big steps and causing failure.

Chen Qingsi based his plan on Pei Xingjian's "Self-appointment of Juren", "Changmingbang" and "Quanzhu", added some of his own ideas and formulated a plan. Of course, he did not give it all to his students, but spit out some of it for them to digest, taking it step by step.

Wei Yuanzhong is studying this thing.

Until the clerk refuted the official document sent to the council hall.

Wei Yuanzhong didn't care either. It was a normal procedure for official documents to be refuted.

The prime minister has his own considerations, and the people below should just make adjustments according to the prime minister's wishes.

Wei Yuanzhong opened the wooden box, but his expression changed slightly. The wooden box was full of official documents, and the number was exactly the same as in the morning.

This was returned intact.

There was a flash of anger in Wei Yuanzhong's eyes. This was a bit too much.

He noticed a note on the wooden box, picked it up and saw: "In the affairs of the world, the people's safety is the most important. Considering the people and making them live in peace is the first-class. For military affairs, exhausting the people and hurting them, neglecting one's own duties, there are merits, why should one be ranked first or second?"

In other words, the civil servants who contributed to this war did not even qualify as Grade B, and all of them would be downgraded by one or two grades in the merit book.

"That's absurd, Mr. Zhang. This is too harsh."

Wei Yuanzhong was so angry that he couldn't help but say something.

Compared with Zhang Jianzhi's steadiness, Wei Yuanzhong, a descendant of the Wei family of Songzhou, who is handsome, rich, well-born, has good grades, and a smooth career, is an elite who has not been beaten by society, so it is inevitable that he has a bad temper.

All the clerks changed color when they heard this.

Sheng Jinfang, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the same office, hastily reminded him, "Mr. Wei, be careful with your words."

He looked around and said, "Mr. Zhang is very popular now, and many people have fallen into his hands. Even Mr. Xu has to give him a wide berth. Even if Doctor Wei has Mr. Chen's support, he will not be able to get away with it."

Wei Yuanzhong was so angry that he couldn't utter a word.

They could only follow Zhang Wenguan's instructions and downgrade the evaluation of local officials who assisted the Tang army in winning this time by two levels. However, Wei Yuanzhong did not report the document immediately, but suppressed it and sent it to the Council of State tomorrow.

After being dismissed from his post, Wei Yuanzhong did not go home, but went to Chen's house and cried to Chen Qingsi.

"Sir, Prime Minister Zhang is too strict. Since he became prime minister, the Ministry of Personnel has rejected more than half of the official documents. Not only the Ministry of Personnel, but also other ministries are the same. They are fed up with it."

Chen Qingsi listened to Wei Yuanzhong's complaints quietly, nodded slightly, and said with some seriousness: "Stop gossiping and adding fuel to the fire. There is nothing wrong with having Mr. Zhang to manage the government."

This emperor is different, and the atmosphere in the court is also different.

This is what is meant by "leading by example, following suit".

After Emperor Taizong of the Zhenguan Dynasty ascended the throne, he took history as a lesson, set an example himself, practiced frugality, and avoided extravagance, thus creating a clean political atmosphere in the court. This changed only in his later years when he became lazy.

Li Zhi was a utilitarian and efficient person, and he believed in using any means to achieve his goals. As a result, many of his subordinates were capable of doing things, but also many of them committed crimes.

Among them, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu are typical examples.

Li Zhi was the kind of person who could ignore minor flaws as long as they were useful and helped him control the world.

As long as one does not go to extremes in greed for power and money, it does not matter, so the atmosphere in the government is very general.

Now Li Zhi needs to deal with the Arab Empire, and he needs a lot of money to develop people's livelihood in order to increase grain production and thus get more money.

Zhang Wenguan proposed strategies for governing officials in accordance with the circumstances of the time.

Gain money by governing officials, and then use the money to develop people's livelihood, thereby obtaining food and money.

Zhang Wenguan's policies were very targeted. Officials who were used to the style of Li Zhi's reign wailed when they suddenly encountered a Zhang Wenguan who was like Wei Zheng.

Zhang Wenguan was upright and honest, and he did not give face to anyone, including Xu Jingzong.

All of Xu Jingzong's confidants in the Censorate were brought down by Zhang Wenguan and driven out of the capital, and many of the corrupt officials' property was confiscated.

As a result, the atmosphere of the entire temple was boosted, and the effect was immediate.

Chen Qingsi and the Qingliu Party also cheered for it.

The foundation of the Qingliu Party is its reputation, and they have always been honest and dedicated to their work. Some of the hypocritical people who hid themselves deeply, or those who could not stand the corruption, were purged. For the Qingliu Party, it was just to eliminate the parasites, so they were not greatly affected.

However, Zhang Wenguan was extremely anti-war in nature. He believed that once the world was at peace, he should put away his weapons, let his horses run wild in the mountains, and focus on the people's livelihood, creating a prosperous era like that of Emperor Wen of Han.

Chen Qingsi once had a debate with him on this issue in the East Palace Zhanshi Mansion because of their different ideas.

In the end, no one convinced anyone.

There is nothing right or wrong about this; it’s just a difference in philosophy.

After Zhang Wenguan became prime minister, he focused on both administration of officials and people's livelihood, and did an excellent job.

The situation that Wei Yuanzhong encountered was similar to what Chen Qingsi’s Ministry of War encountered.

However, promotions in the Ministry of War are different from those in the Ministry of Personnel. Promotions in the Ministry of War follow a traceable path.

Where the battle was won, how many people were killed, how many people were captured, and how much supplies were seized, all of these can be checked.

The imperial court already had its own system for rewarding military merit.

Zhang Wenguan did not have much room for maneuver.

If he really wanted to raise doubts, Chen Qingsi could fill the Tibetan's head with wood ash and let him personally examine it.

However, Zhang Wenguan was reluctant to give rewards after the war and reduced a certain amount of the rewards, on the grounds that the war was a waste of manpower but no land was gained.

As for the beheading of Lun Qinling, in Zhang Wenguan's eyes it was not worth mentioning.

Why should we care about a defeated general who has been defeated by the imperial court many times?

Chen Qingsi didn't care about it.

In general, Zhang Wenguan's approach is beneficial to the overall situation.

Chen Qingsi also didn't want to cause trouble at this critical moment.

Wei Yuanzhong went to look for him today and exaggerated the matter, which was just a clever move.

Chen Qingsi was not happy, but the fact was real and could not be taken lightly.

"What you said is indeed something that cannot be taken lightly." He thought for a moment and said, "Revise the document according to what Mr. Zhang said, lower the amount, and then report it truthfully."

Wei Yuanzhong asked: "What do you mean, sir?"

Chen Qingsi said, "Make everything clear and make it impossible. This matter is not decided by Zhang Xianggong alone, but also needs the final decision from His Majesty or the Queen. As for the current situation, it will most likely be handled by the Queen. The Queen hates Zhang Xianggong deeply, and she will inevitably say a few good words for us when she sees that Zhang Xianggong is biased in this matter."

Wei Yuanzhong was delighted and said, "I understand!"

The next day, Wei Yuanzhong revised the official document and submitted it as instructed.

This time it was not rejected, but directly approved by the prime minister and then passed to Empress Wu.

Empress Wu was now able to handle government affairs skillfully. When she saw the document that had been refuted and revised, she immediately realized the problem with it.

For a moment, Empress Wu's face looked uncertain.

Empress Wu hated Zhang Wenguan more than anyone else...

In Empress Wu's memory, her eldest son Li Hong was an obedient and filial child who always followed his mother's orders.

She would share everything with her mother and answer any questions she asked, including some confidential matters of the Prince's Mansion.

Empress Wu would also give advice to Li Hong on how to win people's hearts and how to please Li Zhi.

However, during the Fengshan period, the crown prince was regent, and Li Hong's attitude changed somewhat.

He was still filial, but he no longer shared state affairs with her. Even when she asked him about it, he would look around and talk about other things, looking embarrassed and unwilling to tell her the truth.

Empress Wu once asked Wu Minzhi why this was the case.

Wu Minzhi naturally attributed everything to the officials of the Eastern Palace headed by Zhang Wenguan, who kept telling Li Hong about the interference of foreign relatives in politics, talking about Empress Lü, Empress Dowager Dou, Wang Zhengjun, and Empress Yang and Empress Jia of the Jin Dynasty...

Empress Wu was so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas were born.

It was this bastard who taught his son bad things.

Empress Wu bit her back teeth, then showed an embarrassment, looked at Li Zhi at the top, and called out, "Your Majesty."
-
Chen Qingsi resigned from his post and went home in a happy mood. Ever since Su Dingfang forced Lun Qinling to commit suicide on the plateau, he has been in a particularly good mood and always faces everything with a smile.

As soon as I entered the house, the steward Jiang Chen came to greet me with a serious face.

"What's wrong? You look so serious..."

Chen Qingsi asked with a curious smile.

Jiang Chen said, "My Lord, this is the suicide note sent by General Cheng."

General Cheng? Which General Cheng? Could it be Duke Lu...

This thought flashed through Chen Qingsi's mind.

He took the letter and looked at it. There were five words written on the envelope: "Su Dingfang's last words"

……

(End of this chapter)