Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> New Order of the Tang Dynasty

Volume 2 Hu Qixi Liuzhe Chapter 135 The Key to the Center (5)

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    PS: Thanks to Eagle Zhou and Wuyun Taxue for the reward.  This chapter was very difficult to write, so let¡¯s discuss the Three Provinces and Six Parts with everyone.  In the fourth year of Wude (621 AD), after Emperor Taizong, who had not yet ascended the throne, defeated Wang Shichong, he was granted the title of General Tiance and was allowed to open the Tiance Mansion. This ushered in an era of "shogunate" control that lasted less than five years.  .  Tiance Mansion is not only an official official office recognized by the imperial court, but also the personal staff of Emperor Taizong. According to Emperor Gaozu's edict, Tiance Mansion is in charge of "conquest of the country" and can appoint officials on its own. Among them, there is one chief minister and one Sima each, and two ministers.  There are two people, two people serving as military counselors and wine drinkers, two people as bookkeepers, two people recording events, two people taking part in military affairs in the recording office, and two people each from the six military positions including Gong Cao, Cang Cao, Bing Cao, Qi Cao, Kai Cao, and Shi Cao.  It is also equipped with several books on the history of the order, the history of the order, and military participation (miscellaneous).  In fact, it contained all the military affairs of the entire Tang Dynasty and became a small imperial court within the imperial court.  Famous officials such as Yuchi Jingde, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie, Liu Shili, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, etc. all served in Tiance Mansion, and they were even outstanding men trained by Tiance Mansion.  After Taizong ascended the throne, the Tiance Mansion disappeared, but the best among them, as Emperor Taizong's fortune-making team, stepped from behind the scenes to the stage of governance, creating a splendid and prosperous Tang Dynasty.  Nearly three hundred years later, Tiance Mansion appeared in front of the world again, which inevitably aroused many associations among the ministers.  The ministers tried their best to join the newly restored government office and become the "friendly team" of King Yan, who is currently supervising the country.  Even Zhang Jun, who is now ranked first in the political affairs hall.  I couldn't help but find an opportunity to test Li Chengzhong's tone in person and wanted to resign.  He took up the post of Chief of Tiance Mansion, but unfortunately, Li Chengzhong never let go, leaving almost everyone including Zhang Jun confused and puzzled.  While everyone was speculating on who could become the first "Scholar of the Dragon", Li Chengzhong took action against the Privy Council first.  During the reign of Daizong Yongtai, the Tang Dynasty officially established the Privy Council. However, this Privy Council was not an official office of the court, but an inner court yamen.  As the Zhongguan in charge of the Privy Envoy, he was responsible for receiving reports from courtiers and local officials, and announcing the emperor's orders. To put it bluntly, it was an institution that communicated with the internal and external dynasties.  The Privy Council is neither civil nor military. In fact, it has no actual power. It mainly just runs errands.  The first person in charge of privy affairs was the eunuch Dong Xiu during the Daizong period.  At that time, Dong Xiu was not the privy envoy because there was no such official position. He was not appointed as the privy envoy until Liang Shouqian, the eunuch of the Xianzong Dynasty, took charge of the privy affairs.  As the emperor became weaker and the eunuchs became more powerful, the Privy Council gradually became an inner court institution that could compete with the Political Hall.  In the period after the eunuchs abolished the emperor and established the emperor as a "system", the left and right privy envoys often acted on behalf of the emperor's authority, approved seals, and their positions were even higher than those of the ministers.  This was the most prosperous era of eunuch politics. The left and right privy envoys and the left and right lieutenants of the Shence Army were the "four internal ministers".  It can be said that he has power over the world.  In the third year of Tianfu, King Liang moved his eastern capital to Luoyang.  In less than two months, almost all the officials in the inner court were killed. Since then, the Privy Council has existed in name only, and the four remaining eunuchs, Han Quanjie, Zhang Juhan, Zhang Chengye, and Zhang Mao'an, have returned to their respective posts.  On the way, he resumed his business of serving the Tian family.  Before Li Chengzhong rebuilt the Privy Council, he first restored the Xuanhui Courtyard as an institution to serve the Tian family, playing the role of "housekeeper" and placing four eunuchs in it.  Then, in the name of King Yan, who was overseeing the country, he issued an edict on behalf of the emperor.  First of all, Li Chengzhong re-established the responsibilities of the Privy Council. The Privy Council is in charge of the national military, including military and state machinery, military defense, border preparations, horse administration, military orders, bodyguards, recruitment of domestic and foreign sergeants, trials, relocation, garrison, etc.  All matters of reward and punishment are under your control.  This edict was equivalent to formally giving military functions to the Privy Council, that is, transforming the original functions of the General Military Staff Office of Prince Yan's Palace into the "Military Command" of the Tang Dynasty.  Under the Privy Council, the relatively complete departments of the former General Administration of Military Staff were copied and upgraded to one 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. According to the civil service regulations,  It is on the same level as the six ministers.  The original Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was divided into two, and after stripping off its non-military functions, it was called the Military Intelligence Temple. The chief officer was called Zhengqing, with the title of Vice Minister.  The former Zhongnanhai Security Bureau was reorganized into the Guards and Military Division, with the chief officer called the General Manager and the rank of Military General.  The Military Intelligence Temple and the Military Affairs Department of the Imperial Guard were under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, but were directly responsible to the emperor.  A new secretarial supervisor was established under the Privy Council, responsible for coordinating the transfer of documents, and was directly responsible to the Privy Council envoys.  The chief officer is called Zhengjian, and is also given the title of Shilang.  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.  However, military power is not comparable to civil rights, and it is impossible for Li Chengzhong to let someone occupy the post of Privy Councilor alone. Therefore, he established the posts of five Privy Councilors in the front, left, right, and center, except for the Central Privy Councilor, which he holds concurrently.??, the four privy envoys at the front, back, left and right are juxtaposed, no distinction is made between big and small, and they decide together when encountering problems.  When the four Privy Councilors cannot reach an agreement, they shall make the decision themselves. When they are not in the Privy Council, they may designate a Privy Councilor to make the decision.  On June 15, the third year of Tianyou, Li Chengzhong issued an appointment edict. Zhang Xingzhong was appointed as the secret envoy of the left privy, Jiang Miao was appointed as the secret envoy of the right privy, Zhou Kan was appointed as the former privy envoy, and Zhao Hongde was appointed as the rear privy envoy. Among them, Zhang Xingzhong also served as the minister of the Yuhou Department, and Jiang  Miao concurrently served as the minister of the Ministry of Education, Zhou Kan concurrently served as the minister of the training department, and Zhao Hongde concurrently served as the minister of the logistics department. They were known as the "four ministers of the privy council" at the time.  Later, when Li Chengzhong left the Privy Council, he mostly appointed Zhang Xingzhong to be temporarily responsible for deciding the affairs of the Privy Council. Therefore, it was customary to regard the left Privy Council envoy as the most respected.  When Li Chengzhong gave the Privy Council military functions, it also meant that the powers of the political ministers were reduced in disguise.  The system of three provinces and six ministries originated in the late Western Han Dynasty. The earliest ones were the Zhongshu Province and the Shangshu Province, while the Menxia Province was formed in the Three Kingdoms.  After evolution in the past dynasties, this set of official positions was formally established during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and it was carried forward and improved day by day in this dynasty.  Later generations generally believe that among the three provinces and six ministries, the Shangshu Province has the greatest power, but this is not the case.  In the Tang Dynasty, the core of the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system was not in Shangshu Province, but in Zhongshu Province.  The Shangshu Province does not have the right to accept memorials alone. All memorials and memorials must first be sent to the Zhongshu Province, which will review them and attach summaries and implementation opinions, and then send them to the lower provinces for approval.  The most important thing here is the right to "propose", which is also the core of governance.  If the disciples think it is inappropriate, they will refute it and send it back to Zhongshu for re-draft. If the disciples approve the proposal of Zhongshu, it will be handed over to the inner court for judgment by the emperor.  Usually at this point, the emperor has nothing to do, so he approves it. At this time, the minister can see the document and implement it according to the content.  In addition to reviewing memorials, Zhongshu Sheng was also responsible for drafting imperial edicts for the emperor.  Any ideas the emperor has must be drafted by the Zhongshu Province and then sent to the Menxia Province for approval.  For example, the emperor said that I want to eat duck tonight. Well, the Zhongshu Ministry drafted an edict accordingly and sent it to the subordinates. After reading it, if the subordinates think that the duck is very expensive and we can't afford it, they can directly reject it. Then the emperor's dinner  Just can't eat duck.  When the disciples feel that the duck is not expensive and can be eaten, the edict can reach the Shangshu Province and the Shangshu Province will purchase it.  Therefore, there is no such thing as "it is carried by heaven and the emperor declares it" in the imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty. That thing is illegal.  The official edict begins with two words - "Menxia", which means to tell the subordinates that what I want to do and whether I can do it is up to you.  Just like writing a request for instructions now, just write the department you want to send the request to, such as "such and such department", "such and such leader" and so on.  The emperor writes requests to his ministers. This is the system!  The characteristic of the three provinces and six ministries system is that the past power of the prime minister is divided into three and restrained from each other, thus weakening the power of the prime minister in disguised form.  If there are more people speaking, the emperor can take advantage of it and divide it. This is the benefit of implementing the three provinces and six ministries system.  But in any case, Zhongshu Sheng holds the power to write. This alone makes the divided prime minister power have a tendency to concentrate again.  For the past three hundred years of this dynasty, Zhongshu Ling has been the prime minister. This is an indisputable fact.  (Of course, in the decades before and after Li Chengzhong's time travel, the Tang Dynasty was almost abolished. It was an era when things were not done according to common sense and can be ignored for the time being.) In addition to the fact that the provincial ministers under the sect could barely compete with Zhongshu Ling,  The two servants of Shangshu Province were almost excluded from the fringes of power.  For example, Zhang Shuo, Pei Yan, Yao Chong, Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, etc. all served as prime ministers with the title of Zhongshu Ling, and even had power over the government and the public.  After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty found a way to prevent Zhongshu Ling from forming powerful ministers, that is, bypassing Zhongshu Sheng and directly granting low-ranking officials positions.  For example, by appointing a minister of a certain ministry, relatively low-ranking officials such as Shizhong, Hanlin Bachelor, and Yushi Zhongcheng were assigned the task of "tongzhongshumenxiapingzhangshi", giving them the power to make decisions and handle affairs in Zhongshu Sheng and Menxiasheng.  That is to say, they are given the right to propose and refute.  As a result, the governors of the three provinces were hung up, and their duties gradually became empty, and then the emperor could do whatever he wanted.  It may seem like 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 removed by the emperor at will, and even villains can be promoted. Can such a governance method avoid chaos?  There is a step-by-step principle, and the procedures that should be followed must be followed. The ability of an official is directly proportional to the affairs he has experienced most of the time.  Without rich experience in governing and a deep understanding of the official system, how can we do the job of ruling the world well?  Therefore, Li Chengzhong does not intend to follow the policy of "Tong Zhongshu's family is in peace". He plans to restore the old system. If he wants to enter the political hall, he can first become the governor of the three provinces.  Li Chengzhong¡¯s purpose in tormenting the Privy Council is to separate military functions from the political hall, which is tantamount to further weakening the power of the prime minister.  Even if Zhongshu Ling still has the power to write, after being continuously weakened, even if his power is very strong, he will not be able to do anything.to the point of overseeing the overall situation.  After weakening the power of the prime minister, what Li Chengzhong wants to do is to give it a new connotation - to increase the power of governance.
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report