Chengqing Hall the next day

Li Shimin: "The foundation of governance lies in trial. Appoint officials according to their talents and serve as provincial officials. If they are good, even a few will be enough; if they are not good, even if they are many, they will be ridiculed? Confucius said: 'The skin of a thousand sheep'

, not as good as the armpit of a fox.' These are all recorded in the classics and cannot be explained in detail.

I have been thinking about something these days. Is there something wrong with the three provinces, seven ministries and nine temples in the Tang Dynasty? Some people actually delay the implementation of the imperial edict.

Take the locust plague this time as an example. Although there were so many officials who neglected their duties in disaster relief matters, if the prince hadn't dealt with them with thunderous means, there would have been chaos in Guanzhong.

If it is a war, if there is such procrastination, no matter how many soldiers and horses you have, you will be defeated completely. Therefore, I decided to save the officials immediately.

Those officials who occupy official positions and have nothing to do, waste the government's salary, neglect government affairs, cause trouble for nothing, and hinder each other, are going to harm the country and the people."

Everyone in the palace knew that the locust plague in Guanzhong had completely exposed the problem of overstaffing in the imperial court. The prince had to use strong methods to deal with this famine. This also caused many officials to write letters to impeach the prince. In serious cases, he even said

The prince had rebellious intentions, and they knew more or less what happened in Luoyang. In addition, Zheng Shanguo was a weirdo, and the emperor, who had been hesitating for a long time, finally made up his mind and dismissed the officials.

What surprised Li Shimin was that Wei Zheng, an old guy who usually didn't rub his eyes in the sand, didn't say anything. He lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking. However, Cen Wenwen, who had always been calm, was the first to stand up.

"Your Majesty, I think that we must not rush into the matter of merging officials. The locust plague in Guanzhong has just passed, and all kinds of waste have been restored. If we annex officials now, I am afraid there will be trouble."

"It is precisely because there are many wastes waiting to be done and the court has a lot to do, so it must resolve this matter as soon as possible,"

Seeing the emperor's stubbornness, Cen Wenwen felt very troubled. He could only explain the pros and cons of merging provincial officials with the emperor in detail, hoping to change Li Shimin's view. After all, it was not worth offending so many people just because of a few black hats.

"Since His Majesty insists on merging officials, we must trace the source and find out where so many officials came from. The harm of overlapping officials began in the early days of Wude, and it has been more than ten years now.

After the Wude Emperor Jinyang raised his army, he had to appoint a large number of officials in order to win over the officials of the previous dynasty and the local squires. According to the archives of the Ministry of Personnel, on the way to Guanzhong, on one day, nearly a thousand officials were hired

record.

Because so many people have come to serve as officials, what could have been done by one person now has to be delegated to three, five, or even more people.

Cen Wenwen was telling the truth. In order to occupy Guanzhong as soon as possible and strive for world hegemony, Li Yuan hired all the officials and gentry who came to join him. He did not consider the officials' talents and character, let alone the problem of redundant personnel.

You must know that at that time, the Li family was just one of the heroes, and there was no guarantee that they could defeat them and dominate the world.

But it cannot be said that Li Yuan did something wrong, but all the princes at that time did this. In many places, they were officials under King Xia on the first day, but when King Zheng’s army came the next day, they immediately became King Zheng.

loyal ministers,

There are countless examples like this. This is also the form of officialdom in troubled times, and it has been like this in all dynasties.

Regarding the issue of official loyalty, Li Chengqian once asked Li Gang whether loyal officials are remembered by history because of their small number. Li Gang's answer was that it should not be used exclusively because the water is clear, and it should not be used exclusively because the water is turbid.

Yes, officials are also human beings, and they all have selfish motives. This is why most officials choose to follow the crowd.

"Yes, it is said that Emperor Wude also had a deep understanding of the harm, and once thought of merging officials." Before Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Cen Wenwen immediately took over the words: "But Emperor Wude

This matter was not done. Why? Because Emperor Wu De knew very well that appointing officials was a means to win people's hearts and consolidate imperial power. And taking off other people's black hats would offend others.

Your Majesty, Emperor Wude founded the Tang Dynasty. In addition to his wisdom and martial arts, he also benefited a lot from the appointment of officials. It is not easy for Your Majesty to win over this little bit of people's hearts, but it is easy to lose it.

ah."

Li Shimin fell into deep contemplation after Cen Wenwen's words. The officials in the DPRK and the Central Government were so intertwined that a slight mistake would cause turmoil in the DPRK situation.

If there is no proper solution, then doing as Cen Wenwen said is the only option, but how can Li Shimin, who has always been strong-willed, feel at ease.

After the discussion was over, Li Shimin asked Li Chengqian to seek attention from Du Ruhui, who was reported to be ill at home, while he himself strolled to the brightly lit Hongwen Hall, because the minister on duty in Hongwen Hall tonight was Changsun Wuji.

"Assistant machine, you've been through a lot these past few years. I've counted that the number of documents you uploaded and handed out in a day was up to 725."

Changsun Wuwu smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you still remember it so clearly. I don't want to be like this, but there is no way.

You see, the government offices are so complicated now, there are so many officials, and many things need to be coordinated. Every day, the official documents come to Hongwen Hall, and the ministers have to try their best to complete them. If they can't be completed until tomorrow, I don't know what will happen.

There's a mess."

"I know that sixty-seven out of ten of these are useless things. The officials below use them to deal with the court. But this not only wastes your time, but also wastes a lot of my energy. You said this

How can we accomplish the task of provincial officials if we don't implement it?" Li Shimin asked Sun Wuji while looking at the memorial on the case.

"Today in Chengqing Hall, I proposed to merge with provincial officials, but they all disagreed. There are no outsiders here. Tell me the truth. I want to do this. Is it really wrong?"

Changsun Wuji smiled and then said: "Your Majesty is right. Not only do I know that Your Majesty is right, but even the three of them must know that Your Majesty is right."

He believed that these important ministers were absolutely loyal to him, and they were not unaware of the dangers of overstaffing, but for what purpose?

Li Shimin couldn't figure it out and asked: "If that's the case, then why do they either object or remain silent?"

"Your Majesty, I think these three people have selfish motives. What Cen Wenwen said about Emperor Wude is actually an insinuation of Your Majesty.

Emperor Wude appointed many former Sui officials for his own use. However, when His Majesty first ascended the throne, he appointed many old ministers of Jiancheng and Yuanji. For example, Feng Li, Zhang Daozun, Xue Wanche, etc.

Within a year of Your Majesty's accession to the throne, as many as a thousand officials came to Chang'an to be candidates for office. Liu Linpu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, had no choice but to send a petition to Your Majesty to attend the election at any time and prepare for official positions.

During that period, as many as 800 officials were appointed, and most of these officials came from wealthy families, and Cen Wenwen had always been on good terms with them.

Now that His Majesty wants to dismiss these people, can Cen Wenwen not stand up and say something? As for Wei Zheng, he himself is a political enemy that Your Majesty pardoned out of kindness, so he had no choice but to remain silent on this matter.
Chapter completed!