Wang You is not an ordinary person. He became famous very early. In terms of qualifications, he is even more powerful than Zhao Pu. However, his official career will really start after becoming an official, starting from a county official and going to the capital to gain experience. , served as an official abroad, and steadily became a feudal official step by step.
Of course, Wang You, like many of his ministers, had made great achievements during the Qianyou period, but it was after entering the Kaibao Year that he truly rose to prominence. After all, the Qianyou Year was the era of those who had made great contributions to the founding of the country and Yuan Cong's old ministers.
Moreover, Wang You was another northwest bureaucrat and scholar leader after Lu Duoxun. Of course, Wang You was not as strong and arrogant as Lu Duoxun, and his temperament was more acceptable. Taking Lu Duoxun's example as a lesson, these few In the Nian Dynasty, Wang You was very restrained in his political affairs and seemed relatively low-key.
However, since he took office in Pizhou, Wang You has been an official in the northwest for more than 20 years. He has basically held all positions at all levels above the governor's level, and has basically served in all four northwest provinces. Whether in terms of time or resume, Wang You The rightists all want to overshadow Lu Duosun, but the content is not as eye-catching as Lu Duosun.
However, when reaching Wang You's position, some things were beyond his control. With the fall of Lu Duoxun, Wang You had to take over the banner of the Northwest Faction and become the leader of an important political force.
The northwest is a bit strange. Although it is no longer the center of gravity of the Han Dynasty economically, it still enjoys a certain special status politically and militarily. In the past twenty years, the focus of border defense of the imperial court has always been in the northeast, Monan, and northwest, but in In the past ten years, it has completely moved to the northwest.
It is no secret that the stability of the northwest is related to the security of the world. The northwest seems to be particularly suitable for the emergence of political strongmen or leaders. The bureaucrats in the northwest are also accustomed to having someone who can provide shelter and lead them forward. From Lu Duoxun went to Wang You, then to the current Hexi Governor Wang Ming, and even to Yulin's political star Zhang Qixian.
For the bureaucrats in the northwest, Wang You's death is really a great loss, which means that the highest level has once again lost a spokesperson. In recent years, affected by the Lu Yu, the Mission Gu and the Yulin Rebellion, all the people in the northwest were affected. Being repeatedly punished by the imperial court and severely weakened, the bureaucrats in the northwest lived a "very hard life".
Last year, Emperor Liu transferred Wang You to Beijing to replace Wang Zhu as financial envoy. This was not without the intention of appeasing the officialdom in the northwest. After all, the blow was already severe enough.
For the imperial court, Wang You's death also had a huge impact. This was a plan. In the tax reform policy, the Financial Secretary was obviously the busiest and most critical department in the central government, and Wang You was the key figure in implementing the reform. His death will inevitably have some negative impact on reform.
Of course, under the current mature system of the Han Dynasty, the operation will basically not be affected by the departure or stay of any one person. For three days, all affairs were still arranged in an orderly manner. After all, it was just a formality, even if Emperor Liu resumed government affairs , and formal court meetings are rarely held.
The most critical point is who can succeed the Financial Envoy after Wang You. Among the many ministries and departments in the Han Dynasty, the Financial Department is the most powerful department after the Ministry of Personnel, so its status has always been high.
Although the Ministry of Personnel is called the Heavenly Official and has always been the head of all ministries, it is not easy to be the Heavenly Official because it holds the power of personnel organization.
On the contrary, the Financial Secretary gradually became his own group, and his administrative autonomy gradually strengthened. No matter how the political situation of the court changed, the Financial Secretary was always the top three prime ministers in the political hall.
With the unfolding of tax reform, the authority of the Financial Secretary has been further strengthened by taking advantage of the reform trend. Naturally, the status of the Financial Secretary has also flourished, and there is a tendency to become the third driver of the imperial court after the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council.
The position of chief officer of such a vital department with both power and fame naturally attracted the high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty to pursue it, and all those who were qualified took action.
To become a financial envoy, you need to have at least three qualities. First, you have sufficient qualifications and prestige. Without these two things, everything else is useless; second, you have sufficient ability, which is the wisdom of the wise; third, you are young, strong, energetic, and financially responsible.
In just over a year, three senior officials of the Finance Department have changed: Shen Yilun, Wang Zhuba, and Wang Youzu. The new Prime Minister needs to provide a certain degree of stability to ensure the continued stability of the Financial Secretary within a sufficient period of time.
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After several rounds, the candidates were narrowed down to a certain range, and among them, the most competitive one was naturally Zhao Kuangyi, the assistant minister of Zhongshu. Since Zhao Pu returned to the prime minister, and for some hidden reasons, Zhao Kuangyi's short period of time
It was very difficult, and could be described as melancholy.
At the same time, without the support of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Kuangyi had to be more cautious and kept a very low profile this year. However, this low profile was broken after the financial envoy became vacant.
Wang You's death allowed Zhao Kuangyi to see the changes in the court situation, and he regarded the position of financial envoy as a good opportunity to break the situation. Once he took this position, he would not only regain real power, but also further establish his position in the court.
Therefore, Zhao Kuangyi was very proactive in the fight for the financial envoy. On the one hand, he invited the prince to help, and on the other hand, he even bowed to Zhao Pu, hoping to get his support.
However, in such an important position, Prince Liu Yang was also very cautious. He affirmed Zhao Kuangyi's talent and enthusiasm for serving the court, but he did not express his position easily.
As for Zhao Pu, an old fox, Zhao Kuangyi's intentions can be seen at a glance, but his attitude is still ambiguous. In fact, for Zhao Pu, it doesn't matter who is the financial envoy, and it will hardly affect his status. Even Zhao Kuangyi
, the same is true, if this person can be suppressed in the Political Hall, the same can be said of the Financial Secretary.
From the perspective of tax reform, with Zhao Kuangyi's shrewdness and ability, it is beneficial for him to preside over financial and taxation work. Since the Gyeonggi Province delegation, Zhao Kuangyi has labeled himself a "reformist" and has actively cooperated with the Zhao family.
The new system was implemented without any reservations, without any thoughts or actions to avoid tax, and all land was registered and recorded according to the facts.
However, even so, Zhao Pu had no intention of speaking for Zhao Kuangyi. He asked for nothing from Zhao Kuangyi, and the value of what Zhao Kuangyi could provide to Zhao Pu was also limited. Therefore, the discussion on the post of financial envoy ended with the candidate list being submitted to Liu
The emperor, submit it to the imperial approval.
As for Zhao Kuangyi's initiative, Emperor Liu was well aware of it. Of course, he would not get what he wanted. He refuted the list one by one. The reason for Zhao Kuangyi was that he had no experience in financial accounting and would be more suitable to stay in the Political Affairs Hall to assist in government affairs. .
This was naturally an excuse. Zhao Kuangyi had risen through the ranks step by step and was very familiar with all matters, including financial accounting. In the final analysis, Emperor Liu was just unwilling to hand over the financial envoy to Zhao Kuangyi.
The candidate selected by Emperor Liu was a somewhat unexpected but also expected person, the Salt and Iron Envoy Han Hui.
Han Hui was the son of Han Tong, Duke of Hanoi. There is no need to talk about his background. He was the first Jinshi among the second generation of nobles. He had already entered the official position during the Qianyou period, but he really came into the eyes of Emperor Liu during the Northern Expedition of Qianyou. As the food transshipment envoy for the Youzhou camp, he provided military supplies to the army. During the fierce battle between Han and Liao Dynasties in Nankou, he also organized manpower to provide support, and his performance was outstanding.
From then on, Han Hui's future was out of control. He served as the Secretary of the Ministry of War in the central government, and served as the governor, inspector, and transport envoy in the local area. Secretly, he was regarded by Emperor Liu as a reserve talent for the prime minister.
Now, Han Hui, who is in his fifties, is in the golden period of his political career and has already matured in all aspects. It is natural for him to be promoted to a higher position. After staying for so long, it is his turn.
In fact, when Emperor Liu asked Han Tong to become an official, one of the most important considerations was to use the Han emblem. It is not an unspoken rule for father and son to serve in the same court, but it is not allowed by the rules for father and son to be the head of a department.
Shortly after Han Tong resigned, Han Hui was transferred to Beijing as deputy financial envoy and salt and iron envoy. This paving the way is very obvious. In fact, many people can see this, including those who have been actively Zhao Kuangyi fought for.
Therefore, when the final results came out, the reaction from the DPRK and China was not strong. As Han Hui served as the financial envoy, there was nothing worthy of attack. However, some people whose calculations failed would inevitably be disappointed.
Therefore, at the beginning of the 25th year of Kaibao, the Han Dynasty ushered in a new Prime Minister, Han Hui, who was also jokingly called the "Prime Minister".