Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 753
The ministers and the emperor discussed how to limit the emperor's power. If this was the case in the past, it would be the rhythm of quarreling.

However, the two of them were able to sit down and communicate with each other calmly, which was quite a sight.

When Sun Xiangfu really talked about the specific strategy, Li Shimin listened more seriously.

"Your Majesty, have you familiarized yourself with the history books of all dynasties since the Zhou Dynasty, have you discovered the truth that kings are always stupid?" Sun Xiangfu asked.

"Is the king always in a coma?"

Li Shimin didn't seem to have heard of this word very much, but following the meaning, he thought of many people.

Because, in this era, people over the age of 40 are considered old people. Then, those who are farther away include King Zhao Wuling, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and those who are closer include Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang Emperor, Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Yang, etc., all of whom are 50 years old. After that, I started to faint.

Li Shimin even thought of Li Yuan and himself. It seems that since the beginning of the army, Li Jiancheng and himself have been the main force. Now that he is in his 40s, he has become more and more lazy to deal with government affairs, leaving it to Li Chengqian, and even more and more. I like to hear some words that flatter myself.

No matter how much truth there is in what Sun Xiangfu said!At least, he felt that it was time for him to reflect.

Seeing that Li Shimin didn't continue to make a sound, Sun Xiangfu said again, "Actually, it's not the fault of those kings. People are old and have limited energy, so they can no longer bear high-intensity hard work, and their thinking tends to be more comfortable. , This is human nature, so if Your Majesty asks your ministers how to keep the spirit of pioneering and enterprising in future generations of kings, then, first of all, our kings must be younger."

"You mean, the emperor, also set a retirement age?" Li Shimin asked calmly.

It seems that he was not surprised by Sun Xiangfu's proposal. It can be seen that he had thought about it before.

Sun Xiangfu nodded and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, the physical strength and thinking ability of the elderly cannot be compared with those in their prime. It is most suitable for a person to be the king.

Moreover, a generation of kings, ministers, and emperors should not last too long.

For example, Your Majesty is in power, and you have reused the Changsun family, which is not to say that the Changsun family is not good, but it has only been more than ten years now. The assets of the Changsun family, the number of officials in the entire family, and how much power they have do not matter. Say it!
This is also the reason why the empress often advises you not to appoint the children of the Changsun family as officials. If things go on like this, the power of the Changsun family may increase many times in ten or twenty years. Do you really think that under the appeal of interests, they will Has it always been so stable?

When Chengqian is in charge of the country in the future, he will probably have a headache in the face of this overwhelming force. "

In history, after Gaozong succeeded to the throne, didn’t he immediately fight with Changsun Wuji? In this kind of internal struggle, the country’s resources will be lost. Sun Xiangfu also saw that Li Shimin was analyzing this issue very rationally. Empress Changsun had repeatedly advised her before she dared to bring up this matter.

Otherwise, even with his status, he would not dare to step on this thunder easily.

Of course, this is also due to the good relationship between him and Changsun Wuji and his son, and he doesn't want to see Changsun's final fate.

Hearing Sun Xiangfu's suggestion, Li Shimin's thoughts suddenly changed. How did the party's power in the court and the group of vested interests form?
It is not necessarily someone who is deliberately organizing and planning. Most of the time, it is a long time, and they are naturally gathered together because of interests.

If a policy has been implemented for a long time, and a person has been in charge of affairs in one position for a long time, it will naturally cause the people below to find loopholes in the policy and take advantage of the loopholes due to problems of perspective and habits.

This is also the reason why Li Shimin would reshuffle the top ministers for a round of power every one or two years. In his case, except for military generals who are slightly better, and civil servants, there is no such high-ranking official as prime minister. Xiao Yu, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Li Jing, Wen Yanbo, Changsun Wuji, etc., who have stayed in the position steadily for three to five years, have repeated it several times.

In addition, as long as he is still the emperor, he will definitely use his relatives, the Changsun family, because he wants to prove to everyone that those who support him will end well.

And when Li Chengqian becomes the emperor, this may not be the case. He may still reuse the Changsun family, but he will also reuse the Hou family and Sun Xiangfu's happy village family.

If the two have not been in the country for a long time, then they can basically be replaced by gentle means before these forces form a political force that threatens the royal family's rule.

But once a family has been reused for more than 20 years, more than two generations, then the power they have developed is very difficult to cut off.

Because, in one generation, there may be several times or even dozens of times of expansion. Take Li Shimin as an example, his next generation now has more than 60 sons, and there may be many more in the future.

If two generations come down, it will increase by hundreds or thousands of times. If this huge blood relationship network enters the court, it will definitely be enough to destroy the various systems set up by the court. This is why Li Shimin, after realizing this problem, The reason why he no longer appointed his adult sons or younger brothers as officials.

If it continues to be sealed like this, no matter how big Tang's territory is, there will be a day when it will be closed. If the royal family blocks everyone's ascent channel, there will inevitably be big problems.

"Then, in your opinion, how should the king's abdication age be set?" Li Shimin asked calmly.

Hearing his question, Sun Xiangfu's admiration for Li Shimin increased a little.

Where is he asking about the king's abdication age? This is simply asking about his own abdication age.

Speaking of this, Sun Xiangfu suddenly remembered the fake history he had talked about in the past few months. Among them, Li Yuan, who was born in 566 and abdicated in 626, was just 60 years old.

Combined with the retirement age of civil servants and generals, Sun Xiangfu quickly came up with a number, saying, "This matter is actually very simple. You can add another level to the retirement age of prime ministers and generals, that is, 50 years old." retire.

Then, according to the regulations on delayed retirement, the maximum retirement age is exactly 60 years old, which coincides with the age of 60 years old when the Supreme Emperor abdicated.

In this case, this regulation can become the throne replacement system that our Great Tang Dynasty has resolutely implemented since the founding of the country. After that, no one will dare to question the legitimacy of His Majesty's succession. "

Hearing this, Li Shimin frowned, but he was a little bit reluctant.

If he retires at the age of 50, then he only has five years to retire. Even if he delays retirement, he will only have 15 years to retire. But if he really insists on retiring until the maximum retirement age of 60 years old.

Then, Li Chengqian will be the crown prince for more than 30 years. At that time, when it is his turn to be the emperor, even if he reaches the maximum retirement age, he will not have been the crown prince for as long.

Therefore, in order to make the overall emperor younger, he can't even delay for too long.

"It seems that this method is quite feasible. Let me think about it later. Do you have any other suggestions?" Li Shimin nodded after thinking for a while.

Sun Xiangfu said again, "Your Majesty, even if the king's retirement system is set up, it will not be able to limit the king's power and make it reach a balance with the scholar-bureaucrats.

Therefore, this is only a relatively basic system, and we have to set up a special department to limit the power of the monarch and courtiers. "

"A department that specifically limits the power of the monarch and courtiers?"

Speaking of this, Li Shimin thought of the Ministry of Law, but if Sun Xiangfu was only talking about the Ministry of Law, there is no need to bring it up. The officials of the Ministry of Law, to put it bluntly, are still officials, and they may not be able to break the law because of their interests. In future generations, there are many corrupt criminals in this system.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sun Xiangfu said after confirming, "You should know that our first batch of interns become full-time employees."

"I remember that in addition to the evaluation by the government, it also needs to be decided by public opinion vote!" Li Shimin replied.

"Yes, Your Majesty, after the implementation of this system, the officials we have selected over the years, in addition to being competent for their duties, most of them are also capable of working, and the common people are basically satisfied, because they are in power. tend to be on the side of public opinion.

For example, in Jiuyuan County, when the county magistrate makes important decisions, all the people in the county can express their opinions. Voting is adopted, and the minority obeys the majority.

Then, why don't we set up a public opinion representative group, combined with the Ministry of Justice, to propose a referendum when the candidate for the king and the reigning emperor have behaved improperly, and some major political issues decided by courtiers are inappropriate.

The result of this referendum can negate the emperor or the courtiers' forced decisions, and can also require the court to set up some policies to benefit the people according to the actual situation, which not only restricts the monarchy to a certain extent, but also makes the court's policies more for the sake of the people. Serving the people is to use public opinion to weaken the power of the military and courtiers in both directions.

Even, when the behavior of the emperor or some ministers exceeds the bottom line and arouses public outrage, when the results of the referendum reach a certain percentage, the emperor can be abolished and the ministers can be dismissed. Of course, this triggering condition must be satisfied. The main purpose of rigid indicators is to alert the emperor and ministers, so that they have awe of public opinion, not to really give the people the power to abolish establishments and dismiss ministers. "

An emperor and ministers under the supervision of the whole people, even if they are bad, cannot be so bad.

When the emperor, and being a high-ranking official, can't satisfy people's arrogance and extravagance, wanton enjoyment and squandering, control over life and death, and many other powers that surpass all living beings, but is a person who can only do things for the country and the people, think about it There may not be so many who want to be the sons of the emperor's royal family, or courtiers of top officials.

Unless it is really someone like Wu Meiniang who likes politics and the vanity that attracts the attention of the public, they will generally not work for too long in such a high-pressure state, because not everyone likes this kind of life.

If he abdicates and becomes the Supreme Emperor, he can enjoy a comfortable life for the rest of his life. Then, a person like Li Chengqian who loves art may not work himself to death. Watching his sons and descendants do things for the country, he may be more happy.

(End of this chapter)