I

   Chapter 775 772 [Eastern Palace Official]

  The former Zuo Buzheng of Jiangsu was called Gan Tangshu, a scholar in Fengcheng County, Jiangxi.

  If you only look at the growth rate of population and taxation, he has made remarkable achievements in Jiangsu. No one can make a mistake, and Zhao Han can't make a mistake, so he was transferred back to the central center for promotion, and directly became the left servant of the Ministry of Commerce—a step down in rank, but it was a real promotion.

  Gan Tangshu went through the appointment formalities, went to the palace to meet the emperor, and went to call on Yu Shiqin the next day.

  The left servant of the Ministry of Commerce actually took the initiative to call on the right servant of the Ministry of Industry!

   Li Rixuan used arrogant tactics all day long, and after a full year, Yu Shiqin was still able to maintain his sanity. But those who are really familiar with him can already feel the change, Yu Shiqin's words are becoming more and more impolite.

The two belonged to old friends for many years. After exchanging pleasantries, Gan Tangshu asked: "Regard cousin, brother Yu was transferred back to Beijing, and His Majesty let Xu Ying succeed him in Jiangsu. What does this mean? Xu Ying used to be in charge of the 'Jinyiwei' !"

Yu Shiqin also frowned, shook his head and said, "I don't understand. Your Majesty has always hidden deep meaning in his actions. Could it be that he is dissatisfied with Jiangsu's officialdom? But in Jiangsu Province, the number of household registrations is increasing day by day, business and commerce are booming, culture and education are flourishing, and there are so many taxes. What made His Majesty unhappy? After thinking about it, we may be overthinking. Your Majesty simply wants to promote Xu Ying, let him take charge of the government first, and then transfer back to the imperial court as Minister."

   "I hope so." Gan Tangshu was still a little uneasy.

  Both of them felt that the situation in Jiangsu was very good, and they couldn't find any loopholes.

Yu Shiqin said: "Imperial departments need a major adjustment, and the plan has come out. From now on, there will be the cabinet, eight ministries, two courts, one government, one party, and twelve cao. The minister will join the cabinet as prime minister." Yu Shiqin laughed, "I'm also going to move from the right servant to the left servant."

  Gan Tangshu cupped her fists and said, "Congratulations, brother!"

  Eight departments: officials, households, rituals, soldiers, criminals, industry, commerce, and finance.

  Two Houses: Inspectorate, National Security Council.

  One line: Datong Bank.

  One Mansion: The Mansion of the Governor of the Sixth Army.

  Twelve Caos: Corresponding to eight ministries, two courts, one line and one government respectively.

   This is the complete system of the Datong New Dynasty, and Zhao Han will not adjust it in the future unless he encounters major problems.

  Of course fine-tuning will be done. Since the military generals are all awesome, we can only let the civilian officials suppress the military generals from the system, even so, it is a bit overwhelming. With the transfer of a group of honorable military generals back to the central government, the generals will be given more power from the system in the future. Anyway, try to achieve a balance between civil and military affairs.

  Yu Shiqin said in a low voice: "Your Majesty intends to form a team for the Eastern Palace."

   "East Palace?" Gan Tangshu's eyes lit up.

  Yu Shiqin nodded and said, "The prince is already thirteen years old."

  Gan Tangshu asked: "Your Majesty has always been unconventional in doing things. Does this East Palace official position follow the pre-Ming system, or are there any new rules?"

  Yu Shiqin said: "Basically follow the previous Ming Dynasty."

  The official position of the East Palace in the Ming Dynasty was not established by Zhu Yuanzhang casually, but the most appropriate method carefully formulated by summarizing the experience of previous dynasties.

  The core point is to let the important officials of the court concurrently serve as the official position of the prince.

  This approach is to ease the conflict between the emperor and the prince, so as to avoid the situation where the prince seizes the throne. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible for the prince to rebel, because the prince has no ability to rebel.

  The disadvantage is that the official position of the East Palace is gradually becoming virtual, and it has become an honorary position and a springboard for promotion.

  Because Zhu Houzhao had no son, the official position of the Eastern Palace was completely emptied. After Jiajing succeeded to the throne, he deliberately did not change this status quo, and even eliminated the "Prince Supervising the Country". At that time, Jiajing's son was only four or five years old, and the Daoist couldn't tolerate it at all.

  …

   On the sixth day after Xu Ying went to Jiangsu to take office, Zhao Han announced the establishment of the East Palace Officer at the court meeting.

  Prince Liu Fu, follow the old rules unchanged.

   That is, from the first-rank Prince Taishi, Prince Taifu, and Prince Taibao, from the second-rank Prince Shaoshi, Prince Shaofu, and Prince Shaobao.

  These six official positions are mostly awarded to ministers of the cabinet, or courtiers who have made great contributions. It is not only an honorary position bestowed on the courtiers, but also allows the ministers to be the teachers in name of the prince. It is the lubricant between the emperor and the prince, and also the lubricant to ensure the smooth transfer of imperial power.

  With the Prince Liufu in charge, there will be no such thing as the emperor being seriously ill and ministers colluding with the prince to seize the throne.

  Next, is the actual official position.

  The guests of the prince, the third grade, teach the prince etiquette, and persuade the prince to make mistakes.

  Bachelor of Wenhuadian University, five ranks, part-time cabinet member, tutoring the prince to familiarize himself with government affairs, and responsible for the education of the prince.

  Zhan Shi, a third-rank official, is in charge of the government affairs of the Eastern Palace, and tutors the prince to familiarize himself with the government.

  Under Zhan Shi, there are many positions.

  For example, the prince washes the horse, from the fifth rank, in charge of the books the prince wants to read. The Grand Master of Chunfang, the fifth grade, the Prince's edict to the emperor, the Prince's letter to the minister, and the Prince's study courses all need this Grand Master to check.

  Officials of the entire Zhan Shi Mansion, the Chief Registry, Zuo Chunfang, and the Economic and Economic Bureau not only taught the prince to learn homework, but also presented and analyzed major court affairs and explained the handling of government affairs by the emperor and the cabinet. Once the emperor is seriously ill or goes out, the prince can immediately supervise the country and handle government affairs directly.

   "From now on," Zhao Han said to the courtiers while sitting in the hall, "Schools at all levels in the world will go back and forth every ten days. There will be eight days of classes and two days of rest."

  For students, two days off is not safe, because the teacher will assign homework.

  The crown prince was even more troubled. Of the two rest days, he had to take one day out to be taught by officials from the East Palace.

   In the morning, learn the principles of governing the country. In addition to the traditional books such as "Zhenguan Zhengyao" and "Zizhi Tongjian", it is also necessary to study the "Datong Collection" of this dynasty. The prince is not required to recite it, anyway, just listen to the story, the prince must know these things.

   In the afternoon, learn the art of governing the country. For the government affairs that the Cabinet Department has already handled, select some important contents and send them over for analysis and explanation by the officials of the Eastern Palace.

  After the dynasty dispersed, the officials of the Eastern Palace gathered together.

  Several important cabinet ministers were all appointed as the six Fu of the prince. Their positions are all false, and even the Grand Master of the Wenhua Palace established by the prince is only responsible in name, and the real position is to handle government affairs in the cabinet.

  These important ministers said a few words, then left on their own, and will occasionally come to teach the prince in person in the future.

  The rest are substantive officials.

  Prince's guest, Hu Mengtai, the queen's cousin, is also the prince's cousin.

   Zhan Shi and Zhang Dai are in charge of the government affairs of the Eastern Palace.

   Two of them are full-time staff, and most of the rest are part-time officials of the Twelve Caos. As for the two princes washing horses, they are directly concurrently served by doctors from the Imperial Academy and Qintian Academy, and they can be called to answer questions about arts and sciences at any time.

  Zhang Dai was very surprised by his new official position. He used to be the minister of Honglu Temple, but somehow he was transferred to be the chief steward of the East Palace.

   It's very simple, he has enough reputation and qualifications, and he is not deeply involved with various factions.

  After those important officials left, Zhang Dai bowed his hands to the remaining officials and said: "I will take charge of the Zhan Shifu in the next month, and I still need your help. If there are any omissions, colleagues may wish to correct them!"

   "How dare, how dare!" Zhan Shifu officials quickly replied.

  Zhang Dai said to Hu Mengtai: "Mr. Hu, please tell me a few words."

  Hu Mengtai waved his hands and said with a smile: "No need, I'm just an admonisher next to the prince."

  The prince’s guests, when the quota is full, can be up to four people. They are nominally advising the prince on gains and losses, but they are actually the prince’s advisers. They will help the prince analyze the situation in the court and the inside story of the court's handling of government affairs.

  The official position of prince guest was only established during Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, and was completely abolished later.

  The reason for the cancellation is very simple. Why does the prince want counselors?

   Zhao Han can arrange guests for the prince, and it is estimated that the future emperor will also cancel this position. Even Zhao Han himself would cancel it and transfer Hu Mengtai to the post of Shangshu.

  After arranging the daily affairs, Zhang Dai asked the officials to step down, leaving only Hu Mengtai to discuss work.

  Zhang Dai said: "The prince's studies are still based on the Imperial City School. On Zhan Shifu's side, he only studies one day every ten days. Isn't the time too short?"

Hu Mengtai said: "The crown prince is only thirteen years old, and he needs to be familiar with government affairs slowly. He can understand the speech too deeply? I guess, when the prince graduates from middle school, there will be more courses in Zhan Shifu. At that time, there may be Half the time, I will learn how to deal with political affairs."

   "That makes sense." Zhang Dai nodded.

  Then the two found that they had nothing to talk about, because the time for the prince to attend classes at Zhan Shifu was too short. The ten-day class arrangement can be done in one day, and there is nothing to do in the remaining days.

Zhang Dai asked again: "Yesterday, I went to the palace to meet the saint. Your majesty means that the crown prince is too young, so don't be too rigid and serious when teaching. Especially when explaining "Zhenguan Zhengyao" and "Zizhi Tongjian", try to entertain as much as possible , Make the history into a story and tell it more excitingly. Don’t bore the prince, cultivate the prince’s interest more.”

Hu Mengtai smiled and said: "Then let the lecturers make the stories more exciting. Around the political leaders and Tongjian, you can also tell some related things. For example, Fang Xuanling is afraid of his wife. This kind of story, Children will definitely like to hear it. And how Li Shimin did Tian Khan and how majestic he was in the war, the prince also likes it when he tells it."

  Zhang Dai suddenly remembered something: "Your Majesty entrusted the Imperial Academy with an errand to compile "The Pros and Cons of Land Administration in Past Dynasties".

  Hu Mengtai said: "I asked, and most of the writing has been completed. During the writing process, the Imperial Academy made new discoveries. For example, the death of the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty was also related to the collapse of Tianzheng."

  Zhang Dai felt very strange: "The collapse of Tianzheng is nothing more than too serious land annexation. There is only the second emperor in the Sui Dynasty, so land annexation shouldn't be serious, right?"

Hu Mengtai said: "Although the Sui Dynasty was only the second generation, it was too easy to win the country, and too few gentry were killed in the north. The historians of the Imperial Academy found that the population of the Sui Dynasty increased, and the cultivated area increased at a rapid rate. It's outrageous."

  Zhang Dai said: "Perhaps it came from the investigation of hidden households in hidden fields."

Hu Mengtai said: "It is true that we are investigating hidden fields and hidden households, but it is still too unimaginable, and it lasts for a very long time. The historian of the Imperial Academy has probably guessed the truth. Emperor Sui Yang was very happy. They are all exaggerations, but Emperor Sui Yang took it seriously. With so many empty populations and acres of land, of course taxes must be collected. In order to complete the task, local officials cannot collect taxes from the big clan, and can only be counted on the common people.”

"On the one hand, the aristocratic families do not pay taxes, and on the other hand, the common people double the tax. How can the common people bear it? Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty also wanted to build warehouses. If it is taken away, not only will there be no relief in the year of disaster, but it will not even be able to be circulated in the market. Once a natural disaster occurs, no grain can be bought at all, and local heroes will make trouble. Whoever dares to open a warehouse to release grain will win the hearts of the people..."

  (end of this chapter)