I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 570: The Framework of the Three Provinces

The next day, Huang Xu came to the palace again and met his good friend and colleague Liu Qi.

In his opinion, Liu Qi was very good at enjoying himself, probably because his father Liu Biao left him very early, and he could often find some fun in the boring garrison and study life of the Yulin Lang.

He is a very happy person.

On this day, Huang Xu finished another "military cram school" for Yulin Lang, and suddenly heard someone sighing: "Most of the previous batch of Yulin Lang were assigned to the Northern Army, but now that the court wants to stop the war and pacify the people, we don't know where we will go in the future."

Huang Xu looked over and recognized the man as Bao Xun, the son of Northern Army Captain Bao Xin.

Seeing that the other party's words caused a group of Yu Lin Lang to worry about their future prospects, Huang Xu suddenly had a better understanding of what his father had always warned him: "Misfortune comes from the mouth."

Seeing that the Yulin Langs were all attracted, Huang Xu was about to pull Liu Qi up, but he didn't expect that he had been pulled back by Liu Qi - "Don't rush to leave, let's take a look at the excitement first."

Huang Xu finally stopped.

He whispered to Liu Qi: "How can we judge the state affairs casually? You and I are Yulin Lang, and we only obey the emperor's orders."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he found that everyone's eyes were on him.

Bao Xun repeated what he had just said: "I see Shen Yan has some ideas, I wonder if he would like to share some with us?"

Huang Xu thought again of Huang Zhong's teachings yesterday, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should talk about it or not.

Liu Qi sensed it and answered directly: "When you reach the mountain, there must be a way. You are thinking about the future before you have completed your self-cultivation? Don't forget how long the previous batch of Yu Lin Lang studied."

Liu Qi was able to use the trick of pulling the ladder out of the way to trick Zhuge Liang into giving him advice, which was quite a quick-witted move. He continued, "Besides, we have already come this far. If we were mediocre, we would be worried, but if we are not mediocre, why should we worry about the future?"

When these words were spoken, all the Yulin Lang present were speechless.

Like Sun Ce and others, they are either the children of powerful generals or have made their mark in the army. If they say anything else, wouldn't they be calling themselves mediocre?
……

While Huang Xu kept silent about the disbanding of the army, he didn't know that his father was talking about it - "There are indeed some comments in the army about disbanding the army. The soldiers have become accustomed to the treatment in the army. They are worried that once the army is disbanded, their future will be worrying and they don't know how to support their families. But your majesty, don't worry, there will be no chaos in the army."

Liu Bian knew that allowing these soldiers to worry about their future would not last long.

In fact, Liu Bian had never thought of simply demobilizing professional soldiers as civilians, as this would be too wasteful.

The imperial court needs to spend nearly 15,000 coins a year just for a professional soldier. Now, if both the Northern Army and the Western Garden Army reduce the number of soldiers, it will be enough to manage the Western Regions.

Liu Bian saw that the Sanhe Knights, who had been rewarded and returned home, had experienced many wars and were very capable. Although the professional field armies of the Xiyuan Army and the Northern Army were good, their numbers could be appropriately reduced. At least within a few years, when needed, they only needed to mobilize the Sanhe Knights to form combat effectiveness with the two armies as the skeleton.

Moreover, considering that the Xiyuan Army generally has a size of a thousand soldiers, after the reduction, it is almost the same as the eight battalions of the Northern Army, each with nearly 700 soldiers, which is not a small number.

Jian Shuo, who came with Huang Zhong, was different from Huang Zhong. He claimed that he had accurately grasped the emperor's thoughts and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, in recent years, the soldiers in the Xiyuan Army have been taught to read and write. Whenever they are not on the battlefield, the teaching has never stopped. Now the prefectures and counties in Guandong are short of qualified minor officials due to the war. I think it is time to follow the example of the past and select capable soldiers to return to their hometowns to serve as village officials and guard posts to calm the people and the army."

"Let's follow Jian Qing's advice, select people and have them return to their hometowns to serve as officials," Liu Bian said.

The practice of adding sand to the governance of the village will continue.

In fact, the Xiyuan Army was easy to deal with. After all, its soldiers came from different states and counties. They were dispatched as officials, and there were also people who could not continue to stay in the army for various reasons. In the end, only 60% to 70% of the full strength could be left.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the Eighth Battalion of the Northern Army is mainly composed of generations of professional soldiers. When increasing troops, it is only necessary to spend money, but when reducing troops, there are many things to consider.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian first said to Jian Shuo and Huang Zhong: "When you go back, make preparations for the selection and tell the soldiers that there will be no more cuts to reassure the army."

The two men accepted the order and left.

After the two men left, Liu Bian took out a document, which recorded the list of guests that Sikong Yang Biao had hosted at his home yesterday.

In addition, after Yang Xiu measured the land, he still visited Dong Zhuo frequently, and the personal relationship between the two families gradually warmed up.

Liu Bian looked at the document, thinking of Yang Biao's name, and his mind was full of thoughts.

After the Yuan family was divided under the auspices of Yuan Wei, although its influence was still there, it was foreseeable that with the replacement of personnel in the two families, it would eventually evolve into the same situation as the Chenjun Yuan family and the Runan Yuan family. Liu Bian naturally realized the effect of this method of dividing the powerful families in a bloodless way, which could be called the powerful family version of the Enfeoffment Order.

The deeds of the three Yuan Ji brothers fully prove that even if they are brothers, they are never of one mind when it comes to interests.

But after the Yuan family, there was no "sensible" aristocratic family who came to Liu Bian to fight against himself, which made Liu Bian somewhat disappointed.

After the Yuan family, the most famous family in the Han Dynasty was the Yang family.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian closed the document in his hand again, and a thought arose in his mind - maybe it's time to replace Sikong.

"Come here, go and invite the Minister of the Chancellery and the Minister of the Court."

After Huangfu Song and Xun Yu arrived, Liu Bian asked, "I have mentioned before that the power of drafting and reviewing imperial edicts should be divided between the two places. What do you think of their response?"

Huangfu Song was the first to answer: "According to the old system, when the Shangshu Ling is in office, the imperial edict comes from the Ling, and when the Ling is not there, the Pushe takes over. After that, Cao Shangshu, who is responsible for the imperial edict, is in charge, which does have the hidden danger of lack of review."

"At first, Wen Ruo and I discussed that the Pushe should draft the edict and the order should review it. However, if one of the two is absent from the job, it may delay the work. Therefore, Wen Ruo and I thought again and again that we could appoint another official in the Shangshutai to take charge of the review. I personally think that Your Majesty can appoint several Shizhong. Shizhong is originally an internal official and has no real job, so it is just right to do this."

In essence, adding an examination power would reduce the power of the Shangshu Ling and Shangshu Pushe, but Huangfu Song and Xun Yu chose to introduce other candidates without hesitation, which shows their impartiality.

Moreover, Liu Bian remembered that in the system of three provinces and six ministries, the chief of the Menxia Province who was responsible for review was the Shizhong. Now it can be considered that everything is destined.

However, for Liu Bian, there were too many Shizhong who were his close ministers. After all, he was always indecisive about personnel matters, so he was appointed as Shizhong.

Yuan Kui, Ma Ridi, Fan Ling, Cao Teng, Ma Teng, and even Huangfu Song also served as Shizhong. Among them, Ma Ridi and Fan Ling were in the south, one was in charge of immigration, and the other was repairing water conservancy. Liu Bian did not dare to...

Liu Bian suddenly realized that Yuan Wei was indeed useful now, as he only needed to review the contents of the imperial edict.

Moreover, this would also reveal his preferential treatment towards the Yuan family after the division.

The role that the Shizhong who reviews imperial edicts can play in the Shangshutai today is definitely not as good as when the Menxia Province was in place, not to mention that he theoretically has the qualification to report directly to the emperor.

As for the number of Shizhong besides Yuan Wei, they could be promoted from the governors of prefectures and counties or high-ranking officials in the court, such as Yang Biao, who Liu Bian disliked. With the current bureaucratic system of the Han Dynasty, which consisted of the Shangshutai and the three dukes and nine ministers, it would take time to transition to the three provinces and six ministries of the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The most crucial point is that the Three Dukes' Office, which is actually an extension of the power of the Shangshutai, has many subordinates, and the Three Dukes have the power to recruit officials on their own. It is not easy to combine the two in name, let alone the Three Dukes, the highest officials in the Han Dynasty, who are equivalent to prime ministers.

In short, we should first establish the "drafting, review, and implementation" framework of the three provinces.

Then, Liu Bian suddenly realized that, in this sense, the current Shangshu Tai was actually the Zhongshu Province, the Shizhong represented the Menxia Province, and the Sangongfu responsible for implementation had become the Shangshu Province.

……

"Mr. Yang, this is the situation. The system of reviewing imperial edicts has just been established, so we need a mature and steady minister to take charge... Apart from Mr. Yuan, the first person I thought of who could take on this task was you."

At the moment of announcing his decision to Yang Biao, Liu Bian felt that his skin was not thick enough and his heart was not black enough.

Otherwise, just dismiss Yang Biao and move him to be the Shizhong directly. There is no need to give him a reason.

After hearing this, Yang Biao had no confidence to say no.

Thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness.

Although he didn't know what he had done wrong, Yang Biao was already grateful that he would soon be able to serve as a minister, and a part-time minister at that.

"I will obey your Majesty's orders and do my best to live up to your trust!" Yang Biao bowed. He was already thinking in his mind whether he had done anything wrong recently.

"I entrust this important task to you." Liu Bian said solemnly.

After finishing speaking, Yang Biao took his leave at an appropriate time.

After Yang Biao left, Liu Bian began to think about the candidate for the new Sikong, or whether to simply not set up the position in order to merge the Three Dukes' Office and the Shangshu Tai.

But the latter option was soon abandoned by Liu Bian.

In principle, the most suitable person to serve as Sikong is Liu Yu, but now the resettlement of immigrants in Youzhou is in full swing, and Liu Yu is still needed to stay in Youzhou to take charge of the overall situation.

The other candidate below Liu Yu was General Lu Kang of Andong.

The Four An Generals were originally a temporary plan to recruit Qiang, Man, Yue and other tribes to settle and farm. Among them, the first to be abolished was General Anbei Tao Qian.

Now the military farming work in various places has been put on the right track. The barbarians such as Shanyue who dared to cause chaos have already done so in the past few years. The rest can be left to the counties. There is no need for a general who is in charge of the military of a state or half a state to take charge of the overall situation.

In fact, the last memorial written by Xun Shuang before his death had hinted that after the military farming work in Yangzhou reached a certain level, Lu Kang could be summoned to the court to be a minister.

In addition, Jingzhou no longer needs a Liu Biao who is in charge of military affairs, and the position of general of Liu Bei in Nanzhong should also be replaced...

In short, after a series of rebellions, peace followed.

On the other hand, Yang Biao suppressed the sigh in his heart. After leaving the palace, he still couldn't figure out how he had suddenly become a Shizhong from a Sikong.

When Yang Biao's carriage arrived at the door of his house, he got off the car and suddenly saw his son Yang Xiu seemed to be pacing happily in front of the door.

This unusual scene immediately aroused Yang Biao's vigilance - could it be that his beloved son had done something again to deceive his old father?
The more Yang Biao thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. After all, Yang Xiu had so much dark history.

Yang Xiu didn't know what his father was thinking. When he went to the residence of Prime Minister Dong Zhuo today, he happened to meet Dong Zhuo's granddaughter Dong Bai. Ever since he was beaten by Dong Bai, Yang Xiu didn't know why he would often think about Dong Bai beating him with a stick. After talking to Dong Bai today, Yang Xiu felt very happy.

"Unfilial son, are you hiding something from me?"

Yang Xiu was stunned for a moment, then realized that this was a question from his father and nodded instinctively.

As both were three highest officials in the government, it was difficult for his father and Dong Zhuo to be too close, so Yang Xiu had always kept the matter a secret from his father.

"It is true!" Yang Biao sneered, "If you have done something wrong, just admit it!"

Yang Xiu also knew that he shouldn't do this, but he couldn't help it... Seeing Yang Biao say this, he just thought that Yang Biao knew about it, and nodded and said, "Father, since you know about it, please don't be offended..."

"You're not surprised?" Yang Biao said angrily, "Come here, arrest him and beat him up!"

……

Unlike Yang Biao and his son, Liu Qi was extremely excited after confirming that his father Liu Biao was finally returning to Luoyang.

Liu Qi shared his happiness with Huang Xu when his brother Liu Cong was not around: "Father is loyal to the king. Since he went to Jingzhou, he has been running around in Jingzhou. The only communication is letters. Even when we were reunited on New Year's Day, he never came back. Now, I finally wait for my father to come."

In this way, after waiting and waiting, Liu Qi finally waited for the day when his father received the imperial edict and arrived in Luoyang.

That day, he received the news in advance and waited early on the official road outside Luoyang City with his brother Liu Cong.

Finally, when the morning dew disappeared under the sunlight, Liu Qi finally saw his father's figure.

He saw his father leading the way, followed by a carriage behind. Liu Qi did not suspect anything and hurriedly took Liu Cong to meet them.

"Greetings, father!" they both bowed in unison.

When Liu Biao saw his son, he had already dismounted and came to the side of the carriage. Seeing that the two had already greeted him, he quickly said, "No hurry, come and greet your mother first."

Liu Qi:?
He and Liu Cong's mother had passed away long ago.

But a beautiful woman slowly walked out of the carriage and was helped out by Liu Biao.

"Your mother is from the Cai family of Xiangyang. From now on, you must respect your mother as you respect me."

In an instant, Liu Qi was no longer happy.

(End of this chapter)