PS: Thanks to Eagle Zhou and Wuyun Taxue for the reward. This chapter was very difficult to write. Let’s discuss the Three Provinces and Six Parts with everyone.
In the fourth year of Takeoku (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.
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Tiance Mansion is not only an official official office recognized by the imperial court, but also the personal staff of Emperor Taizong. According to the imperial edict of Emperor Gaozu, Tiance Mansion is in charge of "conquest of the country" and can appoint officials on its own. Among them, there is one chief historian and one minister each.
There are two people who serve as military counselors and wine drinkers, two people who are chief bookkeepers, two people who record events, two people who work in the record office and participate in the military affairs, and two people each who participate in the military affairs including the meritorious cao, the warehouse cao, the soldier cao, the cavalry cao, the armored cao, and the scholar cao.
It is also equipped with a history of orders, a history of orders, and a number of military affairs (miscellaneous). In fact, all the military affairs of the entire Tang Dynasty were included in it, making it 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 official office and become the "close team" of King Yan, who is currently supervising the country. Even Zhang Jun, who is now ranked first in the political affairs hall, couldn't help but find a new one.
The opportunity came to test Li Chengzhong's tone, and he wanted to resign from the position and take up the post of Tiance Mansion Chief Shi, but unfortunately, Li Chengzhong never relented, leaving almost everyone, including Zhang Jun, confused and puzzled.
Just when 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 formally established the Privy Council. However, the Privy Council was not an official office of the court, but an inner court yamen. The Zhongguan was in charge of the Privy Envoy, responsible for receiving memorials from courtiers and local officials, and announcing the emperor's orders.
To put it bluntly, it is an institution that communicates between internal and external affairs.
The Privy Council is neither civil nor military. In fact, it does not have any actual power. It mainly does errands. The first person to take charge of privy affairs was the eunuch Dong Xiu during the Daizong period. At that time, Dong Xiu was not a privy envoy because he did not have this official position.
It was not until Liang Shouqian, the eunuch of the Xianzong Dynasty, took charge of the privy affairs that he was appointed as the privy envoy.
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 and established the emperor and became a "system", the left and right privy councilors often acted for the emperor's authority, and Zhu approved seals, among which
The position was higher than that of the other 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". They could be said to have overwhelming power over the world.
In the third year of Tianfu, King Liang moved his eastern capital to Luoyang. In less than two months, he almost killed all the officials in the inner court. From then on, the Privy Council existed in name only, and Han Quanhui, Zhang Juhan, Zhang Chengye, and Zhang Maoan
These four remaining eunuchs have returned to their respective posts and resumed their duties 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 "big housekeeper" and placing four eunuchs in it. Then, in the name of King Yan, he served as the supervisor of the emperor.
Issue an edict.
First of all, Li Chengzhong reset 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, examinations, relocation, garrison, etc.
All matters of reward and punishment are under his control. This edict is 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 well-established departments of the former General Administration of Military Staff were copied, each promoted 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, and he was given the title of Shilang. The former Zhongnanhai Guard Bureau was reorganized into the Guards and Military Division, and the chief officer was called the General Manager, and he was given the title 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 secretarial supervisor was newly established under the Privy Council. He was responsible for coordinating the transfer of documents and was directly responsible to the various privy envoys. The chief official was called the principal supervisor and had the title of minister.
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 Li Chengzhong cannot allow anyone to occupy the position of Privy Council alone. Therefore, he established five ministers: the front, rear, left, right, and middle.
Except for the position of Privy Council, which is held concurrently by oneself, the four Privy Councilors at the front, back, left, and right sit side by side, without distinction of big or small, and make decisions together when the matter arises. When the four Privy Councilors cannot reach an agreement, they shall make the decision themselves, when they are not in the Privy Council.
At this time, a Privy Councilor can be appointed to make the decision.
On June 15, the third year of Tianyou's reign, Li Chengzhong issued an appointment edict. Zhang Xingzhong served as the secret envoy to the left privy, Jiang Miao became the right privy envoy, Zhou Kan served as the former privy envoy, and Zhao Hongde served 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 Education, Zhou Kan concurrently served as the Minister of Training, and Zhao Hongde concurrently served as the Minister of Logistics. They were known as the "Four Prime Ministers" at the time. Later, when Li Chengzhong left the Privy Council, he mostly appointed Zhang Xingzhong to be temporarily responsible for the privy affairs, thus forming the following
It is the custom for Zuo Privy Secret Envoy to be 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, by the time of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, this set of official positions was formally established, and it was carried forward and perfected 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 the Shangshu Province, but in the 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. This is
Among them, the most important thing 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-drafting. 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 "yes".
At this time, the Minister can see the document and implement it according to the content.
In addition to reviewing memorials, the Zhongshu Province is also responsible for drafting imperial edicts for the emperor. If the emperor has any ideas, they must be drafted by the Zhongshu Province and then sent to the Menxia Province for approval. For example, if the emperor says I want to eat duck tonight, okay
, Zhongshu Sheng drafted an edict based on this and sent it to his subordinates. After reading it, if the subordinates think that the duck is very expensive and we cannot afford it, they can directly reject it. Then the emperor will not be able to eat duck for dinner. When the subordinates think that duck is not expensive,
, when it is ready to eat, this edict can reach the Shangshu Province, and the Shangshu Province will purchase it.
Therefore, the imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty did not include the phrase "it is carried out by heaven, and the emperor issued an edict". That thing was illegal. In the formal edict, there were only two words at the beginning - "menxia", which meant to tell the subordinates of the province that I
It's up to you to decide what you want to do and whether you can do it. Just like when writing a request for instructions now, just look up and write directly to the department you want to send the request to, such as "such-and-such department", "such-and-such leader", etc. The emperor writes requests for instructions to his ministers,
This is the system!
The characteristic of the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system is that it divides the former prime ministerial power into three and restrains each other, thus weakening the prime ministerial power in a disguised form. When there are more people speaking out, the emperor can take advantage of them and divide them into three parts. This is how the three provinces and six ministries system is implemented.
benefit.
But in any case, Zhongshu Ling has the power to write. This alone has centralized the divided power of the prime minister. For the past three hundred years of this dynasty, Zhongshu Ling has always been the prime minister. This is
It 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, so it can be ignored for the time being.) Except for the fact that the provincial ministers under the sect can barely compete with Zhongshu Ling
After a dispute, the two servants of Shangshu Province were almost excluded from the edge of power. For example, Zhang Shuo, Pei Yan, Yao Chong, Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, etc., all served as prime ministers under the title of Zhongshu Ling, and their power spread 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-level officials positions. For example, appointing ministers of a certain ministry to relatively low-level officials such as Shizhong, Hanlin Bachelor, and Yushi Zhongcheng
With the mission of "Tong Zhongshu's Men Xia Zhang Affairs", they were given the power to decide and handle affairs in Zhongshu Province and Men Xia Province, that is, they were given the right to propose and the right to refute. Thus, the governors of the three provinces were hung up.
, and then gradually became a false position, and then the emperor could do whatever he wanted.
It may seem like it has suppressed the power of the prime minister, but its essence is a great damage to the institutional framework. The prime minister of a country can be appointed and removed by the emperor at will, and even the villain can be promoted. Can such a governing method avoid chaos? Follow the rules step by step.
The truth is that 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 one do well?
The job of ruling the world?
Therefore, Li Chengzhong did not intend to follow the policy of "Tong Zhongshu's family is in peace". He planned to restore the old system. If he wanted to enter the political hall, he could 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 repeated weakening, even if the power is very strong, he cannot do it.
To take charge of 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.