The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, but it has been more than three hundred years since the founding of the Han Dynasty. There have been additions and deletions. But the biggest change is undoubtedly the court system of the Han Dynasty.
When Emperor Gaozu first founded the country, the court meetings were very informal. Due to Emperor Gaozu's own style in his early years, he thought that the court meetings according to the Qin system were cumbersome, so he abolished them all. As a result, the ministers still called themselves brothers at the court meetings, hugging each other's backs, and some started drinking and making quarrels.
Liu Bang went crazy, "drunk or yelled indiscriminately, drew his sword and hit the pillars." Liu Bang couldn't bear to look at such scenes, and he quickly recruited his great Confucian uncle Sun Tong to formulate a set of court etiquette that was not as complicated as the Qin system, but was still well-organized. Confucianism is still here
There is a place in the Han court.
Later, during the period of Emperor Sejong Wu, Emperor Wu felt that the court meeting was dominated by the prime minister, and there were many constraints. So in addition to the court meeting, he established an inner dynasty, completely centered on the emperor, and the other officials in the inner dynasty were all advisers to the emperor to distract the prime minister.
Authority.
Just to dominate the state affairs, one must have extraordinary talents. As the most outstanding emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu was still able to use China and North Korea to transform the country, expand the territory and repel the barbarians, and conquer the sea. However, times were different. After the emperor, the emperor's life was short, and when he succeeded to the throne,
Most of them were babies, and they were only 3 years old when they died. The leadership of the Chinese dynasty gradually changed from the emperor to the control of relatives and eunuchs.
Fortunately, His Majesty is now old. Although he has done many ridiculous things since taking office, he can finally preside over the affairs of the state. The most important reason why Chen Chong came to Zhong Yao is that although he has many friends, he cannot participate in the daily affairs of the state.
Saint, but there is only Zhong Yao.
It's embarrassing to say that Chen Chong's own official position is that of a doctor offering wine, and he has the highest official position in Taixue besides Taixue offering wine, but he does not have the right to participate in the regular court that happens once every five days. According to the regulations, those who participate in the regular court must be
There are senior officials in the capital ranging from 600 to 2,000 shi, but Chen Chong’s official rank is exactly one level lower than 600 shi.
Zhong Yao's official rank was lower than his, at 300 shi, but no one in the court dared to look down upon him because Zhong Yao was the Minister of Civil Affairs.
Shangshulang is affiliated to Shangshutai, which is the highest institution in China and North Korea. Although his salary rank is lower, he is at the side of the emperor day and night. Whenever there are important national events, His Majesty may not attend court often. After discussing with Shangshutai directly,
Decision. When it comes to the influence on the country, spending money to buy the waste rice bags of the three princes may not be greater than that of an ordinary minister.
When Zhong Yao woke up, it was already the fifth watch. He straightened his clothes, brought in a virtuous crown, and wore a yellow ribbon with a copper seal. Then he carefully folded Chen Chong's paper and put it into his sleeve pocket, and then drove to the Baihu Gate of the Beigong.
Then go east to Zhangde Hall.
The Zhangde Hall was originally used for the emperor to summon his concubines, but before Emperor Huan, no emperor had the chance to enter for more than ten years. Empress Dowager An Siyan couldn't bear the emptiness of the place, so she summoned her relatives and eunuchs to discuss state affairs here. When Emperor Huan took over the throne and dismissed his relatives, she made mistakes.
, regarded this place as a fixed place for the internal dynasty, and unknowingly, this place has been used as a ministerial desk for nearly forty years.
When Zhong Yao entered the palace, many of his colleagues had already begun to sort out the documents. His Majesty and the attendants had not yet seen any trace of him. Fortunately, he walked through a small yellow door in front of the palace door. Zhong Yao stopped at the small yellow door and asked: "
I have something important to report to Your Majesty. I wonder when Your Majesty will arrive?".
This Xiaohuangmen was familiar with him and knew that His Majesty the Emperor admired this young minister. He replied in a sharp voice: "When Your Majesty got up, he made an impromptu decision to convene a debate to assist the two princes and test their homework. Jian Changshi was standing by.
To serve Your Majesty, if the minister wants to see Your Majesty, he can go to Anfu Hall."
Anfu Hall is not far from Zhangde Hall. To the west of Zhangde Hall is Hehuan Hall, and conveniently above Hehuan Hall is Anfu Hall. The distance is only a few hundred steps. Zhong Yao breathed a sigh of relief, thanked Xiaohuangmen, and then hurried towards Anfu Hall.
Go. Logically speaking, there are visits to the Inner Dynasty every day, but only he knows whether he wants to go or not today. If there is a note, he can only go to the court by himself.
Although it was early in the morning, the weather was hot and humid, which still made people feel uncomfortable. Zhong Yao approached Anfu Hall and felt the breeze gradually picking up and feeling cool. This was because Anfu Hall was built near the lake. Looking from a distance, Zhulan
Between the green tiles, the small pavilion in the center of the lake is pointed, and the lotus leaves are everywhere. Zhong Yao suddenly heard a gentle ballad:
"Lotus can be picked in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are fields of lotus leaves.
Fish playing among lotus leaves.
The fish-lily leaves are to the east, the fish-lily leaves are to the west, the fish-lily leaves are to the south, and the fish-lily leaves are to the north."
The gentle words of the palace maid in the distance were like a basin of clear water flowing into the heart along the clothes. Zhong Yao kept sighing in his heart. When he arrived in front of the palace, he saluted the small yellow door in front of the door and said: "Excuse me, please tell me, Shangshu Lang Zhong."
I have something to ask you to see Your Majesty."
Zhong Yao thought he would wait for a while, but unexpectedly, the small yellow gate quickly left and returned, notifying him to enter the palace.
The hall is wider than the Zhangde Hall, and the front and rear doors are wide open. Zhong Yao can vaguely see the crowd of people at that end, but before walking a few steps, he sees all the people retreating to both sides, leaving only five or six people.
There are sparkling waves behind it.
Zhong Yao walked forward and saw His Majesty lying on a bed behind the main hall. A palace maid was fanning him gently. Two children were kneeling on the left and right in front of them. An old man was hunched over in front of the table, sorting books for the children.
Zhong Yao then stepped forward and bowed and said: "The humble minister Zhong Yao pays homage to Your Majesty and wishes His Majesty long live."
The two children, one older and one younger, were still at a curious age and couldn't help but look him up and down. The old man was calm and composed. After sorting out the books, he stepped aside and waited for His Majesty to ask questions.
Your Majesty took a nap again, and then turned over to look at Zhong Yao. He was still young, but His Majesty's face was bloodless, as pale as catkins, but his eyes still radiated a divine light that was difficult to look at, making people feel
He is indeed the lord of the empire and the son of God. He asked directly: "Yuan Chang, Chen Tingjian returned to Beijing yesterday without stopping. He returned home only three minutes later and went to your house to plan with you. I don't know what important matter I want you to give me.
Have a message?"
This sentence was like a strange peak, and it was a terrible and heart-wrenching sentence for any minister. However, Zhong Yao's face did not change, he raised his head and looked directly at the emperor and said: "Chen Jijiu heard about the imperial court's recruitment of the Huns, and he was very anxious, fearing that he would brew.
If it becomes a serious disaster, a memorial will be written and asked to be forwarded to Your Majesty."
After saying this, Zhong Yao took out the folded paper from his sleeve pocket, raised his hands to his eyebrows, lowered his head and waited.
Zhong Yao was speechless for a moment, and Zhong Yao felt his eyes slowly moving away, and then His Majesty said: "Jian Shuo, bring it up."
The old man walked up to Zhong Yao calmly, took off the folded paper with both hands, and staggered to the front of the cave. Only his footsteps echoed in the huge palace.
The emperor took the folded paper and said with a smile: "Except for Chen Tingjian, no one in the Manchu Dynasty dares to use paper to write me a memorial. I heard that the bamboo and paper workshop he ran in the Imperial College is very prosperous, and more than half of it is
Even all the students of the Imperial Academy have used it, so what do you call this bamboo paper? Dragon head paper. But to be fair, Cai Hou paper is really incomparable with his dragon head paper."
Zhong Yao replied: "Your Majesty, I also believe that writing and reading on paper is far easier than writing letters. If your Majesty promotes it, it will be beneficial and harmless to national affairs."
His Majesty did not continue the topic. He read the memorial in deep thought, then sat up, placed the memorial on the bed, and asked: "Chen Tingjian asked to be released as the prefect of Xihe, and he also hoped that I would transfer the captain of Dongping to Zhang
As the deputy governor of the expedition, Zhong Qing, since you have brought this memorial to me, please tell me, what do you think of Chen Tingjian's proposal?"
Zhong Yao raised his head and looked at the Emperor. Your Majesty was also examining his expression. He sat as calm as a mountain and said calmly: "Now that Duke Taiqiu is newly mourned, Chen Shangshu resigned and Ding You resigned, and Chen Jijiu ignored the world's slander and generously asked him to be the governor of Xihe.
He was not afraid of dangers and faced difficulties, and his loyalty to the government and the country was illustrious. I am a drinking friend of Chen Ji, and I know that there are difficulties in Xihe, and I am worried about him."
His Majesty was silent for a moment, then continued to lie back on the bed, turning his back to Zhong Yao and said: "In that case, then agree to him."
Zhong Yao was overjoyed and bowed again: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
His Majesty waved his hands and sighed, and then said: "Don't be in a hurry to thank me. I won't transfer Liu Xuande's appointment for a while. Qingzhou is now full of thieves and the Dongping Army is fighting fires everywhere. He can't be left there for a while. After this year, the situation in Qingzhou will be
If the situation improves a little, I will consider the situation and mobilize the Dongping Army to join the annexation."
Zhong Yao had nothing to say, but His Majesty the Emperor asked: "Zhong Qing, I did not follow Chen Tingjian's words and re-activated Huangfu Yizhen, but this time I agreed to Chen Tingjian's request. Do you know why?"
If Zhong Yao could still talk calmly about the topic before, now he suddenly felt the thunder and the scorching summer heat, and sweat broke out from his forehead. After a long time, he said: "That is naturally because Zuo Cha has been riding for half a year.
Because of the rebel army, if you are not completely sure about national affairs, you must be careful..."
Unexpectedly, the emperor laughed lowly, and his laughter was more ghostly than that of Ye Xiao. His majesty turned around, pointed at Zhong Yao and said: "Okay, even you, the 'unlucky man', told lies."
"Yes." His Majesty closed his eyelids and continued: "I know that the last time Huangfu Song was dismissed, hundreds of officials complained. If he was dismissed after half a year without success, 90% of the famous generals in the Han Dynasty would be without titles for life. But I have my
Logically speaking, why I don’t use Huangfu Song is simply because he has selfish motives, and I use Chen Tingjian just because he has absolutely no selfish motives.”
If these words spread, Huangfu Song's reputation for decades will be destroyed. Zhong Yao has always admired Huangfu Song and couldn't help but defend him: "Why did your Majesty say this? The traitor Yan Zhong used Kuai to pass him by.
Zuo Cheqi tried to persuade Zuo Cheqi, but Zuo Cheqi refused. He then took up the post of Jizhou to pacify the people and exempted them from taxes and service. Then there was a song from the common people saying: "The world is in chaos, the market has become a ruin, the mother cannot protect her son, the wife has lost her husband, and the emperor's husband has been relied on."
"Rehabilitate and live in peace.' This shows that Zuo Chaqi is very loyal. Your Majesty must not be caught in the wind and have any rift with the ministers of the country!"
The emperor sighed: "Yuan Chang, although you have read a lot of poetry and books, you are not as good as Chen Qing. I know everything you said. What I said about Huangfu Song's selfishness is not ambition. Huangfu Song defeated the moth thief [1
】Since then, he has been living in isolation, not making friends with ministers or regular attendants. He has been studying military books and cultivating his moral character all day long. He has no ambitions, and I know that."
Zhong Yao asked doubtfully: "In that case, where does your Majesty's suspicion come from?"
The emperor opened his eyes, looked at Zhong Yao and said, "He loves himself too much and ponders me all day long, lest I inflict sin on him and make it difficult for him to die a good death!"
This sentence was like a thunderbolt piercing the spine, making Zhong Yao suddenly realize, and then he couldn't help but tremble slightly: With the emperor's mind reaching this level, who can say that His Majesty is not extremely smart? It's just that if even half of these talents are used for state affairs, the country will not
To get to this point...
His Majesty, however, kept to himself and continued: "Huangfu Song had been confronting the rebels for half a year, but he had not made any achievements. It would be reasonable to put it on others, but as a left rider, he was able to defeat the Yellow Turbans in the Three Prefectures in half a year, and now he is like this
How can his performance be justified? I can see that he is afraid that he will make new achievements and put himself on the stove. If this is the case, he will inevitably go home and suffer several defeats."
"I will let him be dismissed from office for several years this time, and then I will ask him to perform meritorious service, and then he will do his best." At this point, His Majesty also sighed: "But looking at the entire court, there are people like him who have no ambitions.
Not much." Then the emperor asked Zhong Yao again: "Zhong Qing, do you think I admire Chen Qing or hate Chen Qing?"
There was no reason for this question, and Zhong Yao could only answer: "Since Your Majesty can reuse Ting Jian, he must be appreciated by many."
Upon hearing the answer, the emperor showed a weird smile that Zhong Yao had never seen before. When Zhong Yao recalled it again many years later, he described this smile as "spring plum blossoms melting into mist", and then His Majesty said softly: "I want to kill him alive.
”
【1】Moth Thief: When Zhang Jiao started the uprising, all his subordinates wore yellow scarves as a symbol. People at that time called them "yellow scarves" and also "moth thieves".