The Shangshutai was an institution in the Eastern Han Dynasty that processed official documents and memorials from all over the country.
In view of the dictatorship of powerful ministers in the late Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu intended to weaken the power of the prime minister. Taiwei, Situ and Sikong occupied the high positions of the three princes and were named prime ministers, while the actual power was gradually transferred to the minister.
At that time, the Shangshu institution was called Tai. There was one Ling, one Pushe each, and six Shangshu. They were divided into six Cao Cao, or it could be said to be five Cao Cao and six Shangshu. Among them, three Gongcao had two Shangshu.
Under the orders and servants, there is one person each from the left and the right to "record the documents" and check whether all matters are completed on time.
Under the minister, there were thirty-six ministers, each belonging to six cao, who were responsible for drafting documents; there were also eighteen ministers, three for each cao, who were responsible for copying documents.
In the Tang Dynasty, this institution was Zhongshu Sheng, Shangshu Sheng, and Menxia Sheng; in the Song Dynasty, it was Zhongshu Menxia and the Privy Council; in the Ming Dynasty, it was the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies; in the Qing Dynasty, it was the so-called Military Aircraft Department.
Although the names are different, the powers they exercise are similar. They are all responsible for overseeing official documents from across the country, or helping the emperor review memorials, or helping the emperor handle government affairs.
Strictly speaking, the power of the Eastern Han Dynasty's Secretariat was not that great. In terms of specific matters, major matters were left to the emperor, while minor matters were handled by the Secretariat or sent to other departments.
This is equivalent to the fact that the grading teacher only has the right to grade and mark a small number of questions, and not the entire paper is marked by the Shangshutai.
This situation would not be promoted until the Cao Wei period, when Xun Yu was in power, to take charge of national government affairs.
So in essence, Cao Cao was equivalent to the emperor, and Xun Yu was Cao Cao's prime minister.
As for now, it is regarded as a communication room plus half a functional department, responsible for sending and receiving documents and some government affairs processing work.
But even so, it is already very powerful.
All official documents in the world are kept at the Chancellor's Desk, and all state secrets are also kept here.
If the minister wants to deal with a local official, he only needs to destroy the official documents, and then he can report to the emperor for "dereliction of duty".
If they are officials below the county magistrate, they even have the power to directly remove them.
Don't say this is child's play, but it is.
When Wang Fu and Cao Jie came to power, he used his cronies to control the Secretariat, suppressed all memorials to impeach him, and then used this method to deal with the officials who impeached him.
And when Wei Zhongxian was in power in the Ming Dynasty, even Ming Xi Zong didn't want to see a memorial to impeach him.
Not to mention that time, even in a modern civilized society, how can you go to work in a foreign government agency? Let alone go to various departments to stamp and sign without breaking your legs? Once a certain department gives you a stuck for a year and a half, you can’t even call you daddy or mother.
Useless.
So the Chancellor's Desk is not just a communication room? It also depends on where the communication room is? The communication room at the entrance of the factory will definitely not have much power, but the communication room in a country will definitely have great power.
When Chen Mu walked into the Mingguang Hall early in the morning and officially went to work? Wang Jun had summoned the entire Shangshutai officials early in the morning and was already waiting for him.
The original Shangshu Ling was Liang Hu, who came from Hongdu School? He was a member of the eunuch faction.
Since Liang Hu? The entire Shangshutai is full of eunuchs.
In fact, at the beginning, the Shangshu Ling was not the only one in the Shangshutai. There were one to three people who recorded Shangshu affairs at the head of the Shangshu Ling. Generally, they were all headed by the three nobles.
But with the death of the last minister, Hu Guang, more than 10 years ago, there has been no more ministerial affairs.
Therefore, the current Shangshutai is controlled by Shangshu Ling.
And after Hu Guang, the eunuchs gradually realized the power held by the Shangshutai. From that time on, the eunuchs extended their hands into the Shangshutai.
First, Wang Fu's confidant Lian Zhong, the one who falsely accused Liu Kui, the younger brother of Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty, was appointed.
Then came Cao Teng’s nephew? Cao Cao’s uncle Cao Ding, and later the eunuch Cao Jie personally ended up? Then came Liang Hu.
Starting from the first year of Xiping, that is, 172, this department almost completely fell into the hands of the eunuchs.
Therefore, under the leadership of Wang Jun, Chen Mu settled in Shangshutai without any hindrance.
From the left and right servants below? There are about a hundred people from ministers, ministers, ministers, ministers, and various subordinates waiting for him in the Mingguang Hall.
"Meet Shangshu Ling."
Everyone bowed their hands and saluted.
"Everyone is polite."
Chen Mu also returned the favor.
Wang Jun pointed to the two people at the front and introduced: "Zi Gui? This person is Shangshu's right servant She Gou Gui."
"Gou Gui has met Shangshu Ling."
Gou Gui is about thirty years old. He has a goatee and a large black mole on his lower jaw. He looks a bit like a master or a dog-headed military advisor in the Song and Ming Dynasties.
Chen Mu nodded.
Wang Jun pointed to another person and said: "This person is Shangshu Zuopu She Jiang An."
Jiang An has a big ear and is a fat man.
"This person is..."
Wang Jun mainly introduced several supervisors of the Shangshu Desk, starting from Shangshu Ling, Zuo Youpu She, Liu Cao Shangshu, and eleven personal assistants subordinate to Shangshu Ling, Zuo Shangshu Lingcheng and Shangshu Shilang.
The other ministers, ministers, and subordinates are all officials with a salary of 200 shi, which is equivalent to ordinary staff in the office. There are more than 100 people in total, so there is no need to introduce them.
Chen Mu greeted them one by one, told them to perform their duties, and then entered his office accompanied by Wang Jun and his left and right ministers.
The office is located in the side hall of Mingguang Hall. The room is quite large, about a hundred square meters. However, the furnishings inside are not tables and mats on both sides, but densely packed calligraphy and paintings, which are either hung on the wall or spread out on the floor.
, many of them are graffiti works, but there is also some excellent calligraphy.
Minister Zuo Lingcheng Qiu Jian said awkwardly: "These are the original calligraphy and paintings of Minister Liang. He didn't take them with him when he left office. We don't know what to do with them."
Chen Mu's own level of calligraphy and painting was not low, and his eyes were extremely vicious. He glanced around and said: "Clean all the calligraphy and paintings on the floor, leave the ones on the wall, this one, that one, and the top one, be careful.
Frame it and collect it.”
Liang Hu was also a top calligrapher in the late Han Dynasty. Although he went to work to write and draw, he had to admit that many of the calligraphy and painting works were exquisite, and it would be good to hang them up for appreciation.
After hearing his order, the left and right ministers went outside to greet a group of ministers, and their subordinates came in to tidy up the room.
After cleaning, Chen Mu officially started office mode.
Several officials at the Chancellor's Desk sat in rows according to their rank, on both sides of him.
After everyone was seated, Chen Mu asked: "What do you do every day at work?"
Gou Gui replied: "It turns out that when Liang Shangshu was here, all the government affairs in the country were handled by me and Jiang Pushe. According to the usual practice, the selection of officials and prosecutors was decided by the emperor. The affairs of the prefectures, governors and state ministers in various places were also decided by the emperor.
The emperor handles matters of punishment and prison, and sends them to Yanwei. The hosts and guests from the north and south are handed over to Dahonglu. Finally, the examination of state and county affairs is handed over to the three ministers. Financial revenue and expenditure planning and land measurement are handed over to the chief minister of Xiyuan.
Nong and Shaofu."
Chen Mu's face turned darker and darker as he listened, and he said slightly unhappily: "Then what is the Chancellor doing?"
Gou Gui and Jiang An looked at each other and replied: "We are mainly responsible for counting the population of the country, sorting out official documents from various places, classifying them by state or specific affairs, and then sending them to various departments, or submitting major matters that need the emperor's approval to the emperor.
, or copy the imperial decree and pass it on to the world. It was we who copied and passed down the original decree to avenge my father."
"So, I have to thank you."
Chen Mu looked unhappy.
Everyone hurriedly said: "Don't dare."
"This Liang Hu is really an incompetent person. He is such a powerful minister, and he has turned him into this."
Chen Mu looked around and slowly said: "Everyone, although we are just low-level officials at the Shangshutai, we should also know how much power we have in our hands. But Liang Hu gave up these powers to others, are you just like this?"
Are you so willing?"
Everyone looked at each other with their heads lowered and did not dare to speak.
It turned out that when Liang Shangshu was here, he thought so many government affairs were too troublesome, so he threw away all the power that originally belonged to the Shangshu Desk, and they also ended up relaxed.
If Chen Mu wants to take back these powers, will other departments agree? Will the three ministers and nine ministers agree?
When the time comes when there are disputes between big shots and gods fight and mortals suffer, they, the ministers and ministers, will not dare to touch their brows.
Seeing them all lowering their heads like quails, Chen Mu sneered and said: "From now on, government affairs such as the selection of officials and prosecutors in various places, prison matters, guests from the north and south, financial revenue and expenditure planning, land surveying, etc., will be carried out first.
Leave it to me to check, do you understand?"
"I'm afraid this workload..."
Everyone's eyes widened.
There are countless official documents exchanged across the country every day, and more than a hundred people on and off the chancery table have to be busy to get it done. Chen Mu alone may not be able to handle a day's government affairs in a month.
Chen Mu waved his hand and said: "Just leave it to me for review. After the review, I will leave the specific affairs to you and cooperate with other departments. That's it for the time being."
"only!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just for a look, it would be fine. If Chen Mu had total power and everything had to be handled by him, then the national government affairs would probably be in chaos.
Immediately, everyone moved the documents sent from all over the country today to the side hall. There were several thick stacks, weighing more than ten kilograms.
It looks like a lot, but it’s actually not bad.
Because one thing to consider is that for the convenience of writing, the ancients used classical Chinese.
Since writing is not easy, I try to keep things as short as possible. An official document may only have a dozen words at least, or a few hundred words at most.
During the reign of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were more than 120 prefectures and more than 1,100 counties. Sometimes there were one or two thousand copies of official documents per day, and sometimes there were hundreds of copies. In terms of word count, the daily document content ranged from tens of thousands to more than 100,000 words.
No wait.
After all, things don't happen every day in various places. Except for emergencies, when reports need to be submitted, and when normal official documents are handed in, no official will be idle and send documents randomly on weekdays.
Most of these important matters are generally concentrated at the end of the year, because assessments are conducted at the end of the year, so the government affairs accumulated during the year are only sent to Luoyang at that time.
Therefore, unless you have to deal with everything, you can probably finish it in one day just by watching it.