The great man will live forever

Chapter 266 It’s Difficult to Rule the World
  In the West Palace, Liu Xiu sat high, with Yin Lihua on the left, Deng Yu on the right, and some important ministers such as Guo Ji, Du Shi, Hou Ba, Han Xin, and Ouyang She.

"Everyone, please read it. This is the three-province-six-ministry system and the imperial examination system that the prince mentioned. What do you think?"

"This."

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, a little surprised.

Deng Yu was silent for a moment and then stood up, "The prince is smart and came up with such a system. Although the system of three ministers and nine ministers in the Qin Dynasty was good, the prime minister had too much power and threatened the imperial power.

Some emperors even did not fully control the power of employing people. For example, in the former Han Dynasty, for a long time, aristocratic families controlled the power of officialdom and formed the strength of the clan. For example, Wang Mang belonged to the Wang family and served as ministers for many generations. In the end, he usurped the Han Dynasty, leading to great chaos in the world. Fortunately, His Majesty is still alive and can lead us to reopen the Han Dynasty...

The prince's system of three provinces and six ministries improved the imperial bureaucracy, improved administrative efficiency, and strengthened the imperial court's rule over local areas.

It can also prevent the prime minister from having too much power, restrain the power of the prime minister, greatly strengthen the imperial power, and prevent Wang Mang from usurping the Han Dynasty.

Brainstorming to prevent mistakes caused by a certain person's insufficient level can also prevent corruption caused by concentration of power, so as to prevent individuals from exercising power and harming the country.

Especially the emergence of the six ministries, namely the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War. Each ministry has a clear division of responsibilities, which is conducive to the smooth flow of government orders and improves the speed of the court's work..."

I have to say that Deng Yu was indeed average in fighting, not a hexagonal warrior, but he was very good at handling government affairs, macro control, and foresight, and even surpassed Liu Xiu in some aspects.

He was a very early follower of Liu Xiu. When the news of Liu Xiu's success in the Kunyang War came, Deng Yu immediately made up his mind that the only way to do big things was to follow his eldest brother Liu Xiucai. So he packed up his bags, gathered his wealth, and went to join Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu.

Later, the situation suddenly changed. Before Deng Yu could go to Liu Xiu, he heard that Liu Xiu had been appointed as Grand Sima and went to Hebei to appease various local forces.

So, Deng Yu took his family wealth and troops and rushed north without stopping, and finally caught up with Liu Xiu in Yecheng.

Liu Xiu looked at this young boy whom he had known for a long time and was very moved. He said to Deng Yu, "I have the privilege of being an official. I came all the way. Do I want to be an official?"

Deng Yu said, "I hope that Duke Ming's might and virtue will be extended to the world. I will be able to do my best for Duke Ming and leave my name in the annals of history."

Then he explained his public security policy to Liu Xiu based on the situation: "Recruit heroes, please the people, establish the cause of the great ancestor, and save the lives of all people."

At that time, Deng Yu believed that although the Gengshi regime had its capital in Guanxi, there was no stability in Shandong now. Armed forces such as Red Eyebrow and Qingdu were intertwined, and these forces would neither obey the Gengshi regime.

Moreover, the reform regime's own leadership capabilities are limited. Sooner or later, they will be the troublemakers who will cause the world to fall apart.

Although Liu Xiu assisted the Green Forest Army to reach the position of great treasure, he may not be able to achieve great success if he wants to continue to stabilize the world.

It is better to recruit heroes from all over, please the people, and go it alone. With Liu Xiu's virtue and talent, great things can be accomplished.

It has to be said that Deng Yu was extremely knowledgeable, but the Gengshi regime was actually fighting among itself, had little knowledge, and fell apart.

Deng Yu was not only extremely talented in government affairs, but he was also very unique in discerning people. The talents he recommended, such as Wu Han, Jia Fu, Chen Jun, etc. among the Yuntai generals, later became the pillars of Liu Xiu's regime and made great contributions to Liu Xiu's struggle for world hegemony.

Now, after more than ten years of conquests from east to west, Liu Xiu's empire has finally stabilized.

Liu Xiu once again granted titles to those old brothers who fought bloody battles with him. Deng Yu was named the Marquis of Gaomi, and he was given the title of governor of Gaomi, Chang'an, Yi'an, and Chunyu counties.

In order to show that he always had a high regard for his junior fellow student Deng Yu, Liu Xiu also granted one for one and gave Deng Yu's younger brother Deng Kuan the title of Mingqinhou.

"Well, what Zhong Hua said makes sense. My dear friends, what do you think?"

At this time, Guo Ji on the side spoke, "Your Majesty, we must be cautious about this matter. After all, the system of the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers has lasted for hundreds of years. There must be its reason. This is related to national affairs."

He is now in his seventies, with white hair and a stooped body, but his eyes are strong and he is expected to live for more than ten years.

Guo Ji's great-great-grandfather was Guo Xie, who was famous for his righteousness and chivalry during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Guo Ji's father, Guo Fan, once served as the prefect of Shu County.

Guo Ji had great ambitions when he was young. During the periods of Emperor Ai and Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, he was recruited to serve in Da Sikong Mansion. After several promotions, he served as the captain of Yuyang.

During Wang Mang's period, Guo Ji served as the Great Yin of Shanggu, and was later promoted to Bingzhou Mu.

After Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty, he appointed Guo Ji as the shepherd of Yongzhou and then as the Shangshu Ling. Guo Ji made many loyal and admonishing remarks to Emperor Guangwu.

This Shangshu Ling is very impressive, with low position and weight.

In the early Han Dynasty, Shangshu Ling was an official subordinate to the Shaofu in name. In fact, he obeyed the emperor directly and served the emperor on weekdays. His position was low, with no fixed position and no real power.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to strengthen the imperial power while weakening the power of the prime minister, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the Central Dynasty within the palace walls, and began to let ministers participate in the affairs of the court, and discuss national affairs with officials such as Shizhong, Gishizhong, and Changshi.

Since then, the decision-making body has changed from the outer dynasty represented by the prime minister to the inner dynasty with the emperor as the center. It's just that China and Korea were founded not long ago, and the powers of Shangshu Ling are still relatively small.

At first, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed eunuchs to serve as Shangshu Ling, which was called "Zhongshu Ye Zhe Ling", or "Zhongshu Ling" for short. Eunuchs who serve as "Zhongshu Ling" are often familiar with laws, classics and conventions, and are good at asking for instructions.

After Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the Shangshutai could also appoint local officials and inspect senior officials of the imperial court. Generally speaking, the Shangshutai is responsible for appointing officials with an official rank of [-] shi or above, while the prime minister can only appoint officials with an official rank of [-] shi to [-] shi.

When Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty became emperor, the powers and subordinate officials of the "Zhongshu Yezhe Ling" were further expanded, and the "Zhongshu Yezhe Ling" was changed to "Zhongshu Yezhe Ling", and eunuchs were no longer selected, but were filled by scholars. At this time, the power of the "Zhongye Zhe Ling" was mainly to deal with daily affairs in the palace...

As time goes by, it becomes more and more important. Huo Guang and Wang Mang have both held such positions.

"Your Majesty, I think it cannot be changed easily. At present, the Han Dynasty is initially determined to be stable. If the system changes again, I am afraid it will be Wang Mang's old thing again, so let's stick to the old Han Dynasty."

The speaker was Han Xin, a famous scholar in Nanyang. He initially defected to the Gengshi regime and was appointed by Gengshi Liu Xuan as the prefect of Hanoi County (the seat of the government is now Jiaozuo City, Henan Province), and as a pastoralist.

In the autumn of the second year of Gengshi (24 AD), Liu Xiu led his army to defeat the peasant army in the area of ​​Shedog (now northeast of Qinyang County, Henan Province), and then took advantage of the situation to enter Hanoi County and collect various counties.

Han Xin got his revenge and stayed behind closed doors to resist Liu Xiu. At that time, Cen Peng was appointed as the prefect of Yingchuan County, but because Yingchuan County (the seat of governance in today's Yuzhou, Henan Province) was occupied by Liu Mao at the time, he could not take up the post, so he had to go to Hanoi County to join Han Xin.

Cen Peng was grateful to Liu Yan for not killing him, so he tried his best to persuade Han Xin to join Liu Xiu. But Han Xin refused Cen Peng's persuasion.

Soon, Liu Xiu led his army to Huai County. Seeing Liu Xiu's strong soldiers and horses, Han Xin knew that the situation was over and Kaicheng surrendered.

However, when Liu Xiu learned that Han had wanted to lead troops to resist him, he was furious. He had Han Xin tied up, held under a drum outside the door, and prepared to behead him.

Fortunately, Cen Peng interceded and said that Han Xin was a famous scholar in Nanyang and could serve Liu Xiu. Liu Xiucai pardoned Han Xin and allowed Han Xin to serve as a military advisor in Deng Yu's army.

Later, after Deng Yu's defeat in the Western Expedition, Han Xin continued to fight with Liu Xiu and made many contributions. He was named Fuyang Marquis, and was successively appointed as Shangshu Ling and Peijun Prefect. Now he is transferred back to the capital and is ready to be entrusted with important tasks.

But Liu Xiu didn't like this guy very much. Firstly, he wanted to resist him back then, and secondly, this guy was very straight-forward and would say whatever he wanted, which often made it difficult for Liu Xiu to get off the stage.

"Wang Mang's old story? Marquis Fuyang thinks that I am the king of subjugation?" Liu Xiu gave him a cold look.

Han Xin was silent for a moment, but he was not stupid and said quickly: "That's not what I meant. It's just a matter of rise and fall. Yu and Tang sinned against themselves, and their prosperity was also inconsistent. Jie and Zhou sinned, and their death was also sudden. I think Your Majesty should focus on safety."

Liu Xiu didn't want to tell him anymore and looked at Hou Ba, "Da Situ, what do you think?"

This is not an ordinary person. Hou Ba is reserved and serious, with a dignified appearance. Although his family is rich, he does not care about the family property.

He devoted himself to learning, studied "Gu Liang Zhuan" under the tutelage of Fangyuan, the prefect of Jiujiang, and served as Fangyuan's assistant lecturer. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ao, Hou Ba served as the prince's minister.

In the early years of Wang Mang's reign, Chen Chong, the commander of Wuwei, recommended Hou Ba to be promoted to Suixian County Magistrate (i.e. County Magistrate) because of his good moral character. Suixian County has vast land and is close to rivers and lakes, and many desperadoes work as robbers here.

After Hou Ba took office, he immediately opened a case to kill the powerful, sent troops to carry out a comprehensive sweep, and arrested the bandits separately. Since then, order within the county has been stabilized.

Hou Ba was therefore promoted to law enforcement assassin, responsible for monitoring official corruption. And Hou Ba had no doubts or fears when questioning powerful people.

Later he was promoted to Dayin (i.e. prefect) of Huaiping County, and he was very famous in managing political affairs. When Wang Mang failed, Hou Ba built the city and defended it, eventually saving the entire county.

In the fourth year of Jianwu (AD 28), Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu summoned Hou Ba to meet him in Shouchun and appointed him as Shangshu Ling.

At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty had just been established, and the governance measures were not yet complete, and there were very few people in the court who knew the laws and regulations. Hou Ba was familiar with the laws and regulations, collected missing documents, and presented the good policies and laws of the previous generation one by one.

Everything that is beneficial at the time will be implemented. In order to heal the wounds of war, ease class conflicts, prosper the social economy, and consolidate the Han Dynasty's political power, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu issued good governance many times. The edicts for pardoning criminals every spring, the four seasons of the year, adapting to the farming season, issuing edicts, and admonishing farmers to cultivate mulberry trees, are all Hou Ba's suggestions.

On the first day of November in the fifth year of Jianwu (AD 29), Hou Ba replaced Fu Zhan as the Great Situ and was granted the title of Marquis of Guannei.

During his tenure, Hou Ba was aware of affairs, insisted on justice, and was selfless.

It's just that he is getting older and his health has gotten worse and worse in the past two years.

"Ahem!" Hou Ba coughed.

"Da Situ, please take care of yourself." Liu Xiu became concerned.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will pay attention. The three provinces and six ministries are similar to the three ministers and nine ministers, but they are also different. The positions of the six ministries are divided in detail. There is no need for these three provinces. Just have three ministers."

He agreed to some extent, but not completely. After all, he was the Great Situ and there were no three masters. So was the Great Situ still necessary?

Doesn't this indirectly weaken his power? No one wants to have less power in their hands.

"Your Majesty, I think it's better to keep it unchanged. The system of the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers is already very good. It can't be changed easily. A single move can affect the whole body."

The speaker was Ouyang She, who could barely be regarded as a great scholar of the time. He was honest, courteous and courteous. He was appointed as a doctor by the ancestral "Fu Sheng Shangshu". Wang Mang was the magistrate of Changshe County at that time, and later joined the Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan as the magistrate of Yuanwu County.

After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as Yin of Henan, was granted the title of Marquis of Poyang, and was appointed as the prefect of Runan. He taught and educated people, appointed talented people, and had considerable political achievements.

Good guys, except for Deng Yu, most of them disagreed. He actually expected there would be resistance, but he didn't expect the resistance to be so big.

Liu Xiu was actually very smart. He gained power and started a new journey - solving the root causes of the disease since the late Western Han Dynasty!

And the difficulty of this job is no easier for him than conquering the country. He knew very well that to solve the root cause of this problem, he had to attack the powerful gentry group, and these people were precisely the heroes who helped him establish the Eastern Han Empire.

What's even more frightening is that the civil servant group and the powerful group of heroes tend to infiltrate each other. Moreover, the civil servant group adheres to moral dogma and hinders the implementation of Liu Xiu's policies.

"Okay, I will consider this matter carefully. The prince will come to the court tomorrow. Let's discuss it with the officials again. What do you think of the imperial examination system?"

Liu Xiu had a headache and quickly changed the topic.

"I think it is very good. If you call them one by one to ask for advice, Your Majesty does not have so much time. If you let the local governments recommend them, and you are afraid that the local governments will collude with each other and recommend mediocre people, so you have to take unified national examinations and select the best, that is It’s quite good. It has also been promoted to local governments. All exams, as well as this name anonymity, are reviewed by several people, which can effectively prevent cheating..."

Deng Yu was the one who spoke. He was very supportive of Liu Xiu. This was probably the main reason why he occupied an important position in Liu Xiu's heart.

"I think so too." Guo Ji, Du Shi and Hou Ba all agreed.

However, Ouyang She hesitated and said, "The method is good, but if the character is not examined, if the person selected has bad character, it will be very harmful to the country."

Han Xin also nodded, "What Ouyang said makes sense."

Liu Xiu disagreed, "The prince said that in the previous inspection system, the inspection of the moral character of scholars was very important, but this was not good-looking because it was difficult to make a clear evaluation of people's moral character. After all, people are separated from each other." belly.

A more correct evaluation of a person's virtue must be obtained through long-term examination of his words and deeds, and such words and deeds may be false, or he may change in the future.

Xiangshi Wang Mang died first, who will know the truth of his life? "

"The messenger Wang Mang died first, who will know the truth of his life?"

Several people murmured this sentence, which seemed very charming and made sense.

"What your Majesty said makes sense, but you can't ignore this virtue, right?"

"Of course it needs to be seen. It can only be inspected during the process of becoming an official. The prince said that supervision can be strengthened and the establishment of the Yushitai and the admonishment court should be strengthened. The Yushitai is equivalent to the Yushi doctor. More officials should be set up, mainly to supervise hundreds of people. Officials, the admonishment court is equivalent to admonishing the officials, mainly speaking uprightly, impeaching corrupt officials, and even pointing out the emperor's shortcomings..."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, several people felt that it made sense.

“But isn’t this unified examination too costly in terms of money and manpower?”

"Qiang'er said he would find a way to solve this matter. Okay, let's leave it like this for now. Let's wait until tomorrow morning to discuss the rest of the matter."

Liu Xiu was a little tired. He felt that this was more difficult than fighting.

(End of this chapter)