Datang New Order

ps: Thank you brothers for your monthly pass.

If phase power is to be subdivided, it should actually include two layers, namely, decision-making power and disposal power.Among them, the right to dispose is also commonly referred to as the right to govern.

The ministers of the Zhengshitang of the Tang Dynasty, because of the separation of the three provinces, the power is mainly concentrated in the Zhongshuling who wrote the book, that is, the ministerial power respected by the Zhongshuling.Zhongshuling has no right to dispose, that is, no power to govern, but some power to propose, that is, power to make decisions. Such a power structure has caused the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty to be much worse in governing power than the previous dynasties.Therefore, the court's ability to govern the local area is weakened.

What Li Chengzhong had to do was to re-establish the authority of Shangshu Province.

On June [-]th of the third year of Tianyou, Feng Dao set off from Youzhou and officially arrived in Luoyang.After having a long talk with Feng Dao all night, Li Chengzhong issued a series of edicts on behalf of the emperor in his capacity as King Yan of Jian Guo.

Appoint Feng Dao as Shangshuling, and move Zhang Jun as Zhongshuling.

Ever since Emperor Taizong took the post of Shangshuling, this official position has become the honorary title of the Prince of the East Palace, which has no real meaning, and now it suddenly reappeared, causing the officials to be in an uproar.Zhang Jun was originally Shangshu Zuopushe, but now he has moved to Zhongshuling. He has been promoted from the second rank to the second rank. It is an extremely glorious promotion in terms of rank. If we look at it according to the convention, he should be the head of all the prime ministers.

But Zhang Jun has self-knowledge. Although he has made suggestions for Li Chengzhong, and has successively made contributions in lobbying Ziqing to join him and persuading the emperor to Zen, but compared with Feng Dao, the young "old man" beside King Yan, he is still not "qualified" enough. of.Don't talk about Feng Dao, maybe in Yan Wang Li Chengzhong's heart, he is not even as good as Han Yanhui.Therefore, in the face of many congratulatory guests, he thanked them rationally and humbly.

It has to be said that Zhang Jun is indeed a seasoned man, and his low profile ensured that he would not lose face in Li Chengzhong's subsequent appointments.

On the first day of July, Li Chengzhong appointed Wang Shifan, king of Qi, as his servant.This edict is Feng Dao's direct suggestion.Not to mention Wang Shifan's own knowledge is sufficient, what Feng Dao values ​​most is actually the demonstration effect contained in this edict, so he also got Li Chengzhong's approval.

On the same day, Zhang Zaiji, the governor of Pingzhou, was appointed Zuo Pushe, and Liu Shenjiao, the governor of Cangzhou, was appointed You Pushe.Zhang Zaiji was an elder who supported Li Chengzhong to make a fortune, and Liu Shenjiao was Li Chengzhong's confidant who was promoted. The joining of these two people to Shangshusheng can only explain one problem. Shangshusheng will soon hold great power in the new court framework.

The second day of July.Li Chengzhong recruited Cui Yuan, who was at home, to be the servant of Zhongshu, and called Han Wo, who had been demoted to Puzhou, to be his servant, each of whom was a third-rank official.Cui Yuan once served as chancellor, and was quite prestigious among court officials; Han Wo served as a scholar of Hanlin for a long time, and also became prime minister for a short time.Allowing these two people to enter the court to take up important official positions is an important measure for Li Chengzhong to restore the central authority.

Drafted by the governors of the three provinces.The framework of the court hall was roughly restored.However, Li Chengzhong's entrustment of powers to the three provinces was very different from the past.

Among the three provinces, Zhongshuling, Shangshuling, and servants under the door are all of the second rank, and the left and right servants of the Shangshu are the second rank.Zhongshu Shilang and Menxia Shilang are the third grades—the same as the ministers.

Among them, Shangshu ordered Feng Dao, Zhongshu ordered Zhang Jun, Zhongshu Zhong Wang Shifan, Shangshu left servant shot Zhang Zaiji, Shangshu right servant shot Liu Shen and handed them into the political affairs hall. It is clear that Shangshu Ling Feng Dao is respected. It's a matter of words.

The original Shangshu province six.The Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Industry were reformed, while the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Punishment were retained, and the functions and powers of one party remained unchanged.The imperial examination and education functions in the Ministry of Rites were assigned to the Guozijian in the Nine Prisons.Only in charge of foreign affairs, etiquette, sacrificial offerings, etc.; the Ministry of Households was stripped of its financial and taxation duties, and only in charge of civil household registration; the Ministry of War was only in charge of the coordination between the local and the army; manage.

Among the five prisons, Guozijian was incorporated into Shangshu Province and renamed the Ministry of Education to manage schools, imperial examinations and other educational undertakings; Shaofujian was renamed the Ministry of Agriculture to take charge of agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry; the Supervisor was abolished and its functions were merged into the Ministry of Industry The Military Weapons Supervision was directly assigned to the Privy Council and became the Military Weapons Department of the Ministry of Logistics; the Metropolitan Water Supervision was upgraded to the Ministry of Communications. In addition to retaining water conservancy and other affairs, it also included affairs such as post biography and official roads.

Among the nine temples, Honglu Temple was merged into the Ministry of Rites, and Sinong Temple was upgraded to the Ministry of Planning, integrating the original Shaofu Temple and the Ministry of Household affairs related to wealth.

In addition, the Hanlin Academy was upgraded to the Ministry of Culture, responsible for cultural and educational affairs, management of history, diction and future publicity.At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce was newly established to be responsible for the affairs of Daxing Industry and Commerce.

So far, the new Shangshu Province has completed its embryonic form and has become a large province among the three provinces, including the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Commerce, The Ministry of Education has a total of twelve departments, almost including all the original six departments, five prisons, and nine temples.

The Zhongshu Province is still responsible for reviewing the performances delivered by various ministries and localities, and putting forward opinions and suggestions. At the same time, it drafts an imperial edict for the emperor.However, it should be noted that in the Zhengshitang, Shangshuling has been clearly respected. At the same time, among the five members of the Zhengshitang, Shangshuxing has occupied three places. So far, the power of Shangshuxing has been greatly strengthened. be officially recognized.

Another important move by Li Chengzhong to strengthen the ministers of the political affairs hall is that the governors of the three provinces can nominate all officials in each province except the deputies.For example, Shangshu ordered Feng Daoke to nominate and appoint twelve ministers and servants, and Zhongshu ordered Zhang Jun to nominate and appoint Zhongshu Sheren, You Sanqi Changshi, You Jianyi Doctor, You Buque, You Suyi, and Living Sheren, etc. Wang Shifan, a servant under the door, can nominate and appoint Zuo Sanqi Changshi, Zuo Buque, Zuo Suyi, Qijulang, Dianyi, Chengmenlang, Fu Baolang, etc.After the above-mentioned nomination was approved by the Zhengshitang, it was reported to Tiance Mansion for approval. Under normal circumstances, Li Chengzhong had no objections.

This measure is tantamount to allowing the Zhengshitang to grasp the crucial power to appoint personnel, which plays an important role in the rapid issuance and smooth implementation of government orders, and to a certain extent eliminates the phenomenon of buck-passing and wrangling among officials at all levels.

Of course, Feng Dao welcomed such a system very much, but when Li Chengzhong proposed it, he still couldn't believe it.Li Chengzhong's explanation for this is that while letting officials take on responsibilities, they must also be given corresponding powers. This is called equal rights and responsibilities!Of course, Li Chengzhong secretly did not further explain to Feng Dao what "the prime minister forms a cabinet", that thing is a bit too advanced, so there is no need to say more, let's talk about it first to a certain extent.

After the government affairs framework was set up, the delighted Feng Dao immediately convened the ministers of the political affairs hall to discuss, and quickly drew up a partial list of appointments. After the list was submitted to Tiance Mansion, Li Chengzhong approved all of them and implemented them all.

In fact, including Feng Dao, the vast majority of people have almost forgotten that there is such an institution as "Tiance Mansion", and everyone equates Tiance Mansion with Yan Wang Li Chengzhong himself.

This kind of understanding seems reasonable at this time, but soon, with the announcement of another important personnel appointment, everyone began to think about this organization again.

On July [-]th, Li Chengzhong finally announced the appointment of Han Yanhui. Han Yanhui was added the title of Minister Zuo Cheng, and took up the post of Chief Minister of Tiance Mansion with the status of the fourth rank. waiter.Immediately afterwards, Han Yanhui proposed a series of appointments, initially setting up the framework of Tiance Mansion.Among the various appointments, the most eye-catching one is that Li Zhen was awarded the Sima of Tiance Mansion, with the title of Cong Sipin Shangshu Youcheng, second only to Han Yanhui.

Li Chengzhong's positioning of Tiance Mansion is actually closely related to the current imperial reform.The latest reform of the court is tantamount to handing over most of the disposal power in the hands of the emperor to the political affairs hall. Correspondingly, Li Chengzhong must strengthen his decision-making power.The reorganization of the Privy Council, the Xuanhui Yuan, and the dismantling of the five prisons and nine monasteries have all reduced the number of affairs organizations that Li Chengzhong can directly manage. Therefore, he needs an organization that can communicate with the inside and outside and has decision-making power.This organization is Tiance Mansion.

After becoming a high-ranking person for a long time, Li Chengzhong's control over power has become smooth and smooth. Of course, he understands that things must be done step by step, and he can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.Therefore, in his long-term plan, the Tiance Mansion needs two major steps to complete.

In Li Chengzhong's mind, the Tiance Mansion in the early days should be an institution like the Central Office of the later generations, specializing in communication with the inside and outside.As for the later period, Li Chengzhong will not tell anyone what is called the "standing committee meeting system".

In fact, letting Tiance Mansion hold the final approval authority for the appointment of bureaucrats in the three provinces is to prepare for the perfect Tiance Mansion in the future.

Li Chengzhong, who came through time travel, does not have the self-consciousness of "family world". On the contrary, from the perspective of future generations, he is more envious of those royal families in Western countries that have been passed down for thousands of years.Li Chengzhong himself is a time traveler, and can control the general trend and direction to a certain extent, but this does not mean that the descendants of the time traveler have the same vision. The descendants of the time traveler are also "indigenous". There is nothing questionable about this.

Monarchy is a temptation, but it is also a hot potato. Li Chengzhong cannot guarantee that his descendants will not mess with this thing.Therefore, he can implement the centralization of monarchy, but he must make preparations now to lay an institutional foundation for the separation of powers, try to come up with a power division mechanism acceptable to all parties, and ensure that the current aristocratic republic system can be passed on smoothly. , and even successfully transformed into an asset republic.

The Privy Council manages the military and the Political Affairs Hall governs. In fact, this is only half of the regime structure, and it is not complete.Li Chengzhong's next edict is understood by any traveler - to restore the authority of Yushitai! (to be continued..)