Datang New Order

ps: Thanks to Eagle Zhou and Wuyun Taxue for their rewards.This chapter was very difficult to write, and I discussed with everyone the three provinces and six departments.

In the fourth year of Wude (AD 621), after Emperor Taizong defeated Wang Shichong, who had not yet ascended the throne, he was appointed General Tiance and was allowed to open the Tiance Mansion, thus starting a period of "shogunate" control era that lasted less than five years .

Tiance Mansion is not only an official official office recognized by the imperial court, but also Emperor Taizong's private staff organization. According to the imperial edict, Tiance Mansion is in charge of the "conquest of the country" and can appoint officials by itself, including one Chang Shi and one Sima, who are in charge of Zhong Lang Er. There are two people, two military counselors, two chief bookkeepers, two recorders, two military officials in the office, and two military personnel for each of the six Cao Cao, Cang Cao, Bing Cao, Qi Cao, Kai Cao, and Shi Cao. It is also equipped with a history of orders, a history of books, and military participation (miscellaneous).In fact, all the military affairs of the entire Tang Dynasty were accommodated in it, and it became a small court within the court.

Famous ministers such as Yuchi Jingde, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, Liu Shili, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, etc., have all served in the Tiance Mansion, and they are even outstanding scholars cultivated by the Tiance Mansion.

After Taizong ascended the throne, the Tiance Mansion disappeared in smoke, but the best of them, as Taizong's fortune-telling team, stepped onto the ruling stage from behind the scenes, creating a splendid and prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Nearly 300 years later, Tiance Mansion reappeared in front of the world, which inevitably aroused many associations among the officials.

The courtiers tried their best to join the newly-restored government office and become the "familiar team" of King Yan, who supervises the country today.Even Zhang Jun, who is currently ranked first in the Political Affairs Hall, couldn't help but find an opportunity to test Li Chengzhong's tone in front of him. He wanted to resign from the position and take up the post of Minister of Tiance, but unfortunately, Li Chengzhong never let go. Almost everyone, including Zhang Jun, was puzzled and puzzled.

Just when everyone was guessing who could become the first "Scholar from the Dragon".Li Chengzhong was the first to attack the Privy Council.

During the Yongtai period of Emperor Daizong, the Privy Council was formally established in the Tang Dynasty. However, the Privy Council was not the official office of the imperial court, but the yamen of the inner court. To put it bluntly, it is an institution that communicates internal and external affairs.

The Privy Council is neither civil nor military, and actually has no real power.Mainly just running errands.The first person to be in charge of privy affairs was the eunuch Dong Xiu during the Daizong period. At that time, Dong Xiu was not a privy envoy because he did not have this official position. It was not until the eunuch Liang Shouqian of the Xianzong Dynasty was in charge of privy affairs that he was appointed as a privy envoy.

As the emperor became weak and the power of the eunuch became stronger, the Privy Council gradually became an inner court institution that could compete with the Zhengshitang. After the eunuchs abolished the emperor and became a "system", the privy envoys often acted on behalf of the emperor.Zhu's criticism of the Biaozhang is even higher than that of other phases.This was the most prosperous era of eunuch politics. The left and right privy envoys and the left and right shence army lieutenants were both the "Four Internal Ministers", which can be said to have power over the world.

Day after day for three years.The king of Liang moved his capital eastward to Luoyang, and in less than two months, almost all the officials in the inner court were killed, and since then.The Privy Council existed in name only, and the four remaining eunuchs, Han Quanhui, Zhang Juhan, Zhang Chengye, and Zhang Maoan, had returned to their posts.He started to serve Tian's family again.

Before Li Chengzhong rebuilt the Privy Council, he first restored the Xuanhui Court as an institution serving the Tian family, playing the role of "house steward" and placing all four eunuchs in it.Then, in the name of Jian Guoyan King, he issued an edict on behalf of the emperor.

First of all, Li Chengzhong reset the responsibilities of the Privy Council, with the Privy Council in charge of all affairs, including military and state affairs, military defense, border preparations, horse administration, military orders, guard squads, recruitment of internal and external sergeants, examinations, relocation, and garrison. Guards, rewards and punishments are all in charge.This decree is equivalent to officially granting military functions to the Privy Council, that is, transforming the functions of the original Yanwang Mansion Military Staff General Administration to become the "Military Command" of the Tang Dynasty.

Under the Privy Council, the relatively complete divisions of the former General Staff General Administration were copied over, and each division was promoted to a higher level, and the Yuhou Department, the Education Department, the Training Department, and the Logistics Department were established. The chief officers of each department were called Shangshu. It is at the same level as the six Shangshu.

The original Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was divided into two parts. After stripping off its non-military functions, it was called Junqingsi.The original Zhongnanhai Security Bureau was reorganized into the Guards' Pro-Army Division, the chief officer was called the general manager, and the rank of a strong military general was increased.The Junqing Temple and the Guards' Military Division are under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, but they are directly responsible to the emperor.

A new secretary supervisor was established under the Privy Council to take charge of document coordination and transshipment, and to be directly responsible to the Privy Council envoys.The chief officer is called Zhengjian, and he has the title of servant.

Therefore, the Privy Council is equivalent to the Shangshu Province in terms of military and political affairs, and its power is equal to that of the Shangshu Province.But military power is not comparable to civil power, and it is impossible for Li Chengzhong to let people occupy the post of privy envoy alone. Therefore, he established five privy envoys in the front, rear, left, and right. , no matter how big or small, we will resolve everything together.When the four privy envoys cannot reach a consensus, they can decide by themselves, and when they are not in the Privy Council, they can appoint a privy envoy to make the decision.

On June [-]th of the third year of Tianyou, Li Chengzhong issued an edict of appointment, Zhang Xingzhong was the left privy envoy, Jiang Miao was the right privy envoy, Zhou Kan was the former privy envoy, and Zhao Hongde was the rear privy envoy. Miao concurrently served as Minister of Education, Zhou Kan concurrently served as Minister of Training, and Zhao Hongde concurrently served as Minister of Logistics Department.Later, when Li Chengzhong left the Privy Council, most of them appointed Zhang Xingzhong to be temporarily in charge of arbitrating the Privy Council, thus forming a custom of respecting the left Privy Envoy.

While Li Chengzhong endowed the Privy Council with military functions, it meant that the power of the ministers in the political affairs hall was reduced in disguise.

The system of three provinces and six ministries originated in the late Western Han Dynasty. The first ones were the Zhongshu Province and the Shangshu Province, and the Menxia Province was formed in the Three Kingdoms.After the evolution of the dynasties, this set of official positions was formally established in the time of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and it was carried forward and perfected day by day in this dynasty.Later generations generally believe that in the system of three provinces and six ministries, Shangshu Province has the greatest power, but it is not the case.In the Tang Dynasty, the core of the system of three provinces and six ministries was not in the Shangshu Province, but in the Zhongshu Province.

The Minister of Ministers of the Ministry of Finance does not have the right to accept the memorials alone. All the seals and memorials must first be sent to the Ministry of the Ministry of the Secretary of the Communist Party of China, which will review and attach a summary and implementation opinions, and then send them to the next province for approval.Among them, the most important thing is the right to "suggest", which is also the core of governing power.

If the subordinates think it is inappropriate, they will refute it and send it back to the Zhongshu for re-drafting. If the sect approves the proposal of the Zhongshu, it will be delivered to the inner court and judged by the emperor.Generally, at this point, the emperor has nothing to do, so he approves "yes". At this time, the Minister of Shangshu can see the document, and then implement it according to the content.

In addition to reviewing memorials, Zhongshu Sheng also assumed the responsibility of drafting imperial edicts for the emperor.If the emperor has any ideas, it must be drafted by the Zhongshu Province, and then sent to the subordinate province for approval.For example, the emperor said that I want to eat duck tonight. Well, the Ministry of Zhongshu drafted an edict based on this and sent it to the door. After reading it, if the door thinks that the duck is expensive and we can’t afford it, you can directly reject it. Then the emperor’s dinner will be served. Can't eat duck.When the sect feels that ducks are not expensive and can be eaten, the imperial edict can only reach Shangshu Province, and Shangshu Province will purchase them.

Therefore, there is no such thing as "following the heavens, the emperor's edict" in the imperial decree of the Tang Dynasty, and that thing is illegal.In the official imperial edict, there are only two words at the beginning-"Men Xia", which means to tell Men Xia Sheng, what I want to do, and whether I can do it, you can figure it out.It's like writing a request for instructions now, and directly write the department you want to send the request to, such as "a certain department", "a certain leader" and so on.The emperor wrote to his courtiers for instructions, this is the system!

The characteristic of the system of three provinces and six ministries is that it divides the past power of prime minister into three and restrains each other, weakening the power of prime minister in a disguised form.When there are more people who speak, the emperor can use them and divide them. This is the benefit of implementing the system of three provinces and six ministries.

But in any case, Zhongshu Sheng holds the right to write, and this alone makes the fragmented prime ministers have a tendency to concentrate again.For 300 years in this dynasty, Zhongshu Ling has always been the prime minister. This is an indisputable fact. (Of course, in the decades before and after Li Chengzhong's time travel, the Tang court has almost been abolished, and it belongs to the era of unconventional affairs, so it can be ignored for the time being.) Except that the minister under the door can barely compete with Zhongshu Ling, The two servants of Shang Shusheng were almost excluded from the edge of power.For example, Zhang Shuo, Pei Yan, Yao Chong, Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, etc., all used the Zhongshu Ling to serve as the prime minister, and even the power was poured into the government and the opposition.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Datang found a way to prevent Zhongshu Ling from becoming a powerful minister, that is, to bypass the Zhongshu Province and directly award low-level officials.For example, the appointment of ministers of a certain department, relative low-level officials such as Shizhong, Hanlin scholars, Yushi Zhongcheng, etc., are dispatched to "peace the affairs with Zhongshu Menxia", giving them the power to make decisions and handle affairs in Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province, That is to grant them the right to propose and the right to reject.As a result, the governors of the three provinces were suspended high, and gradually became empty posts, and then the emperor could do whatever he wanted.

It seems that it has suppressed the power of the prime minister, but in essence, it has greatly damaged the institutional framework.The prime minister of a country can be appointed and dismissed by the emperor at will, and even a villain can advance. Can such a governing method not be messed up?Step-by-step has the principle of step-by-step, and the procedures that should be followed must be followed. Most of the time, the ability of an official is directly proportional to the affairs he has experienced.Without rich experience in governing and a deep understanding of the bureaucratic system, how can you do a good job of governing the world?

Therefore, Li Chengzhong does not intend to follow the "Tongzhong Shumen Xiaping Zhangshi" approach. He intends to restore the old system.

The purpose of Li Chengzhong's tormenting the Privy Council is to strip military functions from the Zhengshitang, which is tantamount to further weakening the power of the prime minister.Even if Zhongshu Ling, who has the right to write, has been weakened repeatedly, even if his power is very strong, he still cannot control the overall situation.What Li Chengzhong wants to do after weakening the prime minister's power is to re-endow it with a new connotation-increasing governance power. (to be continued..)