Chapter 38 Sejong Chapter 39 Kou Zhun Resigns as Prime Minister
Chapter 2163 Sejong Chapter 39 Kou Zhun Resigns as Prime Minister
When the news of the death of King Anton Liu Wenyuan reached Luoyang, everyone in the court subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. The old guy was finally dead. This matter was really a big deal for the powerful people in the court who were hostile to Anton.
happy event.
Not mentioning the too-distant future, let alone the next few decades, at least during the reign of Emperor Jianlong, Anton could no longer become a nuisance to the court. The combination of the rest of the Anton royal family and the Anton Kingdom was far inferior to that brought about by Liu Wenyuan
The threat is great.
Therefore, in addition to carrying out the funeral rites for the death of the feudal lord as usual, the imperial court also did not hinder the inheritance of Prince Andong and gave the green light. In recent years, the imperial court has improved its understanding of the descendants of the Andong royal family.
Compared to Liu Wenyuan, who was like a tiger and a wolf, Liu Jitan was just a docile sheep. Even if he was restless, his brothers could make a lot of trouble for the court.
It can be said that with the death of Liu Wenyuan, the open and secret fighting between the imperial court and the Andong clan, and between Taizong and the direct eldest son of the King of Qin, which lasted for decades, truly fell silent and came to an end for the time being.
At the same time that Liu Wenyuan passed away, great changes had taken place in the imperial court of the Han Empire, presenting a new pattern. For the top officials of the empire, any changes would ultimately come down to changes in personnel.
Obviously, the personnel structure of the empire center has undergone major changes. The people are basically the same, but the Shangshu Ling has changed people, which is the biggest change. Shortly after the Shangyuan Festival in the eighth year of Jianlong, the "Edict to Dispose of the Prime Minister" was issued
, although it was sudden, the process was simple and smooth. Kou Zhun, who had served as the "Prime Minister" of the empire for seven full years, resigned due to a "suffering illness".
Of course, Emperor Liu Wenji found him a good place to retire, so that he could go to the southeast and learn about Huzhou. In the empire's appointment of ministers, although there were many local officials, he was changed from a dignified prime minister to a small governor.
, this situation can only explain one thing, that is, this person suffered a major setback in his career, and he will sink for the rest of his life, and it will be difficult to recover.
Such an encounter is not so easy for Kou Zhun, who has a strong temperament, great ambitions and a strong desire for power. Especially, Kou Zhun is only sixty-four years old, which is not too old for a prime minister.
Kou Zhun has always been energetic and diligent in government affairs. His goal is to achieve the achievements and reputation of Kaibao Prime Minister Zhao Pu.
However, all of this came to an abrupt end with the issuance of the edict of dismissal. After all, the Han Empire was an autocratic monarchy, and the person in power was not a mediocre and cowardly ruler, but a man who spent eleven years taking his throne.
Create an impregnable and sinister emperor who spreads his authority throughout the world.
Although Liu Wenji is not as powerful as Shizu and Taizong, and has an absolute protagonist aura, judging from his performance during his ten years in power, he is by no means as easy to deal with as he seems.
After losing the emperor's trust, Kou Zhun's status could not be maintained. With Liu Wenji's skills, there were many ways to squeeze him out of the court. He was relegated to Huzhou, and he was not beaten to the end, or he was demoted to a remote mountain.
A kind of tolerance that saves his respect.
When it comes to Kou Zhun, you cannot at least deny his insight and talent, as well as his ability to make decisions on major and important matters. At least during his more than seven years as minister, he made outstanding contributions to the development of the Han Empire.
Kou Zhun's contribution mainly lies in three aspects. First, he assisted Liu Wenji in consolidating imperial power and removed the gloom that shrouded the Han emperor in the Kangzong era. This was fundamental. If he could not keep up in this matter, Kou Zhun would not be able to keep up.
I can’t be a minister for so many years;
The second is to rectify the administration of officials, fight against corruption, re-advocate the legacy of Taizong, severely crack down on the fraud, extravagance, and corruption that have appeared since the Kangzong Dynasty, and restore the authority of the imperial legal system;
The third thing is what has never been put on the table, but has been done overtly and covertly, the suppression of the imperial nobles, whether it is promoting and cultivating common people bureaucrats and landlords, or weakening the presence and presence of the noble group in the center of power of the imperial court.
Influence, these are all very obvious political characteristics in the Jianlong era. Of course, the political conflicts accumulated from this are also conflicting.
Therefore, in the position of Shangshu Ling, Kou Zhun was not a mediocre and inactive person. On the contrary, he was a minister who did much. However, his achievements were often accompanied by countless criticisms. It has to be said that in the
Kou Zhun also helped Liu Wenji share most of the conflicts and hostility caused by the "Jianlong Reform".
It was under this political background that the "anti-bandit faction" emerged, and it included not only those nobles whose interests had been lost, but also many common people bureaucrats who belonged to the same class. For example, the southern bureaucrats that Kou Zhun had always despised, and
Many people could not stand Kou Zhun's strong political style, which was even tough to the point of being unreasonable.
In view of this, although Zhao Pu is targeted, Kou Zhun will never reach the height of Zhao Pu. First of all, there is no supreme leader like Emperor Shizu, which is an inherent disadvantage. On the other hand, in terms of dealing with people, Kou Zhun is also inferior to Zhao Pu.
Small gap.
This is a smart man, but his smartness does not entirely please the emperor. Both Taizong and Liu Wenji have similar perceptions. You must know that after Xiang Deming, when he chose the ministerial order, he was very fond of Kou Zhun and Liu Wenji.
Having doubts.
But in the end, the choice of Kou Zhun was also a political choice. At least, this person could do things, dared to do things, and had a strong ability to get things done. During Liu Wenji's journey to the pinnacle of imperial power, Kou Zhun was a vanguard.
It was also very convenient. With such an energetic and courageous general, Liu Wenji saved a lot of energy in the process of governing the country and had more room to deal with some difficult problems.
Therefore, even Liu Wenji never denied Kou Zhun's ability. However, time was passing, the political situation was changing, and people's hearts were also changing. In the seventh year of Jianlong, after suppressing the rebellious King Liu Wenyuan of Andong, Liu Wenji's
His position has been completely consolidated from the inside out, and no one can challenge him anymore.
While there is basically no need to worry about the stability of the throne, the political situation of the empire has also been fundamentally reversed, and the people's livelihood has been prosperous and remarkable achievements have been made. Under this situation, if it was just to stabilize the people, Kou Zhun would have been a must.
is missing, in contrast, the adverse reactions caused by Kou Zhun continue to ferment.
Bureaucrats, nobles, those old forces whose interests were violated during the rectification and reform, those groups that still have great say and influence in all aspects, their dissatisfaction has gradually accumulated to a very deep level, even Emperor Liu Wenji could not help but
Worry.
Of course, if this is the only case, it will not shake Kou Zhun's position. Liu Wenji is determined and will not easily dismiss the prime minister because of the opposition of nobles and bureaucrats. The problem still lies with Kou Zhun himself.
First of all, the political differences with the emperor were getting bigger and bigger, especially in the selection of candidates. The emperor's reliance on southern scholars almost made Kou Zhun hate him, and he repeatedly prevented Liu Wenji from promoting officials from the south, including to the University of Political Science and Law.
There were also a lot of accusations.
As for the military, finance and taxation, and law, Kou Zhun also had more ideas and concepts of his own, and brought them out bit by bit. If that was all, but if he promoted his ideas as the emperor's will,
Execution will be a big problem
Of course, Kou Zhun did not do anything that was obviously over the top, but when his words and deeds gave such an impression to the emperor, his position was destined not to last long.
What really made Liu Wenji decide to resign was during his northern tour in the sixth year of Jianlong's reign. While Liu Wenji was planning the Anton incident in Youzhou and making military preparations, Kou Zhun was holding back Luoyang. He thought it was inappropriate.
Qingdao felt that he had not reached that point with Anton, so he exercised the authority of Shangshu Ling to stop Liu Wenji's military preparations from Luoyang;
At the same time, when the victory news of the "Six Han-Iraq War" reached Luoyang, without Liu Wenji's consent, he responded directly in the name of Zhengshitang and sent envoys to congratulate him. He still had reasons, and the court's attention at that time
They were all in civil strife in Anton and could not care about Anxi;
When he was worshiping heaven in Taiyuan, Liu Wenji received another "interesting story" from Luoyang. It was said that Kou Zhun went to the Ministry of Works to inspect, and asked a foreign minister as a secretary.
Under all the majesty, I was so scared that I peed my pants
In short, there are many "little stories" about Kou Xiang, and the conflict between him and the emperor has become increasingly serious. Kou Zhun is an unrepentant person, and his style is difficult to change easily.
When the negative impression gained the upper hand in the emperor's mind, and when the emperor's trust and favorability continued to decline, his end was doomed. The mediocre people often compared Liu Wenji's generosity to Emperor Taizong, but only after a long period of contact did he realize that
, Liu Wenji's generosity cannot be helped, because he is "not in the right position" and faces pressure and challenges from all aspects. In many cases, he has to adopt some compromising attitudes and measures.
At the same time, Liu Wenji's generosity is more directed at those who are useful to him. Once he is labeled as "useless", no matter how deep his tolerance is, it will fade away. Just like Kou Zhun, it is also a political necessity to not concoct any charges against him.
, after all, Liu Wenji cannot slap himself in the face.
Compared with the time when I resigned from Xiang Deming, I still had to watch and wait, make prudent decisions, and even ask Deming himself to ask for resignation, but when dealing with Kou Zhun, it seemed simple and neat. It was really a matter of an edict.
Facts have also proved that no matter how powerful and arrogant Kou Xianggong was in the past, he was also arrogant in front of the emperor's authority. In the end, he could only wander away to the southeast in misery.
In fact, he was not even allowed to return to his hometown because the emperor wanted Kou Zhun to go to the southeast to see the mountains, rivers and lakes there, and to see the gathering of humanities that he had always looked down upon.
At the same time, Kou Zhun was probably the first prime minister who, after being dismissed from office, was celebrated by all civil and military officials in the court. Except for close confidants, almost no one expressed regret. To achieve this level, Kou Zhun was considered worthy.
But no matter what, the era of Kou Zhun in the Imperial Government Hall has completely passed since the spring of the eighth year of Jianlong's reign, and his successor was Han Chengjun, the Minister of Civil Affairs.
This was another choice with a hint of compromise and appeasement. Regarding the Xungui Group, Liu Wenji also did not dare to blindly suppress it. At the same time, the center of the imperial court could not completely let the common people bureaucrats make decisions.
As for Han Chengjun, his ability is certainly not comparable to that of his father Han Hui, but with sufficient basic quality and resume, coupled with his status and current situation, he can become the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty. This is a position that even the "Prime Minister" has not been able to occupy.
PS: The ministers of the political affairs hall in the eighth year of Jianlong: Han Chengjun, the minister of the secretariat, Liu Yao, the king of Xuchang, the secretary of the Central Committee, Zhang Zhibai, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Chen Yaozuo, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Yang Yanlang, the privy envoy, Wang Qinruo, the financial envoy, Ding Wei, the governor of the capital, Zhang Jian, the minister of the war department.
Chai Xirang, Minister of Rites (the second son of Chai Zongxun and Princess Gaode Liu Jian)