There haven't been many changes in the court in recent days.
The Constitutional Yuan was established.
The three fires expected when a new official took office did not boil over.
It seems that the new Constitutional Yuan is just like the previous Political Affairs Hall, and the prime minister has just moved his office to another place.
The only difference is that the Constitutional Yuan has transferred some officials from various ministries to the office recently.
The next step is to require all departments to hand over the data of recent years.
On September 16th, the Constitutional Yuan had been established for more than ten days. On this day, there were three government offices.
The Sansi Yamen is located inside the Duanli Gate of the Imperial Palace. When you enter from the Duanli Gate, you can see two rows of palaces on the left and right, and four more palaces behind them.
According to the records of "Tokyo Menghua Lu", this is the highest institution of the Song Dynasty, the offices of the Privy Council, Zhongshu Sheng, Dushi Tang, Menxia Sheng and the three bureaus of the Second Prefecture and the Third Sifu.
The palace of Sansi Yamen is very large, with dozens of large and small rooms densely packed with various official documents and materials.
There were many officials in the main hall copying official documents.
As the national financial center, the Third Division is responsible for the financial statistics of the entire Song Dynasty every day. From official salary expenditures to military expenditures, they are under their jurisdiction.
And in addition to these, other land taxes, tariffs, fees, monopoly, household registration, land, etc. are all matters within the scope of the three departments.
By analogy, the three departments in the Song Dynasty are like the Ministry of Household Affairs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Ministry of Finance and Civil Affairs in later generations.
Among them, the three divisions are divided into Yantie, Duzhi, and Hubu. Today, the third division is Cheng Lin, known as Ji Xiang. The three deputy envoys are Liu Yuanyu, deputy envoy of Yanqian, Xia Song, deputy envoy of Duzhi, and Yan Shu, deputy envoy of Hubu.
In terms of status, the three ministers are second only to the prime minister, deputy prime minister and prime minister. Their political status is basically maintained between the third rank and the second rank. They are among the highest-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty.
The current Sansi Yamen is the headquarters.
As a huge organization, the three departments also include the Metropolitan Survey Department, the Metropolitan Revenue Department, the Internment Department, the Metropolitan Debt Management Department, the Metropolitan Procurement Department, the Demolition Department, the Yamen Supervisory Officer, the Activities Company, There are more than 20 subordinate yamen of the three divisions, including officials of various divisions responsible for official affairs and activities.
There is even a standing army inside, which is responsible for the management of grain, fodder, material transportation, etc. of the Forbidden Army. They are called the Horse Infantry Army Food Academy Officer and the Horse Infantry Army Special Gou Division Officer.
Therefore, in terms of authority, the third division has very great power.
At this moment, hundreds of officials are performing their duties in the three government offices, transcribing and managing the official documents submitted from all over the country today. Some lower-level officials will handle what they can handle, and those who cannot handle it will be reported to the deputy envoy or the official historian for review.
In terms of workload, unless they were as meticulous as Zhu Yuanzhang, ancient emperors and officials did not have to work too hard. Small matters were basically handled by the people below, and only major matters were left to their decision-making.
Cheng Lin was reading official documents in the exclusive office in the backyard of the Third Division. Liu Yuanyu went in and handed over a more important document. When he came out, he happened to meet Xia Song, and the two chatted for a while in the corridor.
It was late autumn, and the autumn wind was bleak, making the branches and leaves in the courtyard rustle, and many yellow fallen leaves drifted down.
The corridor is quiet, because it is connected to Cheng Lin's office, and there are no other people coming and going.
Liu Yuanyu saw Xia Song coming towards him with several documents in his hand, and said, "Mr. Zi Qiao, why are you going to deliver the documents to Mr. Cheng personally? You can just leave this kind of thing to others."
Xia Song looked at the bruises on Liu Yuanyu's face, which were beaten by Wu Yu some time ago, and smiled and said, "Isn't Mr. Zizheng going in person?"
"I"
Liu Yuanyu was dumbfounded for a moment. He went to find Cheng Lin for something else.
However, Xia Song came to see Cheng Lin because he had something to discuss.
After a moment of hesitation, he whispered: "Mr. Zi Qiao must have gone to see Mr. Cheng to discuss the affairs of the Constitutional Yuan."
"That's not true."
Xia Song looked to his left and said, "It's just that my uncle and I have less time to spend these days. Some of the official affairs of their household department are now mostly handled by me, so I still have to ask Duke Cheng for his opinion on some important matters."
Liu Yuanyu sneered and said: "Uncle Yan Tong is now an alternate colleague of the Constitutional Yuan, and his position is higher than that of the deputy prime minister. It sounds better to say outside that he is the deputy prime minister, but no matter how good the deputy prime minister is, how can he be compared to the deputy prime minister? Take one step further. , can’t you control all the officials in the world?”
He meant something.
Some time ago, the government suddenly announced the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan. An inexplicable imperial city magistrate who did not even know his origins was appointed as the magistrate. He controlled all officials in the world and handled all government affairs except military affairs. He was comparable to the prime minister in ancient times.
This is difficult for many officials to accept.
Although Cai Jing in the late Northern Song Dynasty and Qin Hui in the early Southern Song Dynasty both achieved power, they were not able to rise to power from the beginning.
They all flatter their superiors, and then get promoted step by step, then exclude dissidents, suppress political opponents, and finally cultivate a group of corrupt officials who support them, so that they can monopolize power.
But Zhao Jun is completely different. He is airborne and has no foundation in officialdom.
If it weren't for the power of Zhao Zhen and the three ministers, three ministers, and six prime ministers, I am afraid that no civil and military officials in the dynasty would support him. Even if he was forcibly appointed by Zhongshu's disciples, he would be nothing more than a polished commander.
Therefore, many people are dissatisfied with the leadership of the Constitutional Council.
After all, even the three ministers and three ministers have political opponents, not to mention this sudden appearance of a boss. How can these ambitious officials accept this?
Xia Song heard Liu Yuanyu's words and said noncommittally: "No matter what, this political institution is established by the government. Many ministers also agree and support it. Can we change anything? I heard that Wu Yu was transferred The Constitutional Yuan has set up a new department called the Statistics Department, and the Constitutional Yuan is mobilizing many officials."
"snort."
Mentioning Wu Yu, Liu Yuanyu snorted coldly and said: "How can an official be so unfair? Wu Yu beat his colleagues in Chui Gong Hall, despised His Majesty Long Wei, and was only fined three months' salary, and now he is transferred out of Taichang Liyuan. It’s really lawless.”
Xia Song smiled and said: "Who wants people to have good local political achievements? The Constitutional Yuan has obtained the list of officials from the Ministry of Personnel. They have outstanding local political achievements and hold idle positions. Now most of them have been transferred. I don't know what their plans are. How to arrange these people. But I guess it won’t be too bad, maybe they will be promoted.”
Hearing that Wu Yu might be promoted, Liu Yuanyu became even more angry. He walked up and down the corridor irritably, then frowned and said, "Are we just watching like this without doing anything? This Constitutional Yuan is so ridiculous. The officials should be removed, how can there be a place like this?"
"Who knows what the officials are thinking. Maybe it was Zhao Jun or Lu Yijian who confused the officials."
Xia Song whispered.
Now that there are only two of us here, we are not afraid of being known by outsiders.
And he is different from Liu Yuanyu. Liu Yuanyu was a corrupt official in history. History books record: "Yuanyu was greedy in nature, sold forbidden things to his best, and fought for power with others, which was despised by current commentators."
Because Liu Yuanyu secretly sold prohibited items and was prone to fighting for power and profit, his character was relatively poor and he was not popular among his colleagues.
On the other hand, Xia Song was listed as a traitor in history books, but at that time he always had a clean reputation.
People at the time commented that he had "outstanding literary talents, outstanding talents, and a true prime minister!" Even Fan Zhongyan recommended him. Later, Fan Zhongyan even wrote to thank him for being "a man of great talent in the mountains and wild fields, and recommended by heroes."
At least before the conflict broke out between Qingli's New Deal and Fan Zhongyan's new party, Xia Song had always maintained a low-key, pragmatic, talented and virtuous persona.
Unlike Liu Yuanyu, his reputation in official circles is relatively poor.
Therefore, even if the content of today's conversation is spread, the world will probably believe him but not Liu Yuanyu.
Hearing Xia Song's words, Liu Yuanyu took it seriously and said: "It must be Zhao Jun who colluded with Lu Yijian and others to deceive the officials. I want to make another report and ask the officials to depose the political system Yuan and the Imperial City Department. I must not let the young people. To bring trouble to the court."
Xia Song said quickly: "This must not be the case. Now that the officials have been deceived by them, they must believe them and not you. If we go up to the memorial at this time, wouldn't it make the officials unhappy?"
"What does Mr. Yizi Qiao mean?"
Liu Yuanyu asked hurriedly: "Does Mr. Qiao have any good ideas?"
"Well"
Xia Song began to think deeply.
Logically speaking, there is no conflict between him and Zhao Jun, there is no need to go against Zhao Jun.
The problem is that he and Lu Yijian are political enemies.
In the early years when Liu E came to the court, Lu Yijian supported Zhao Zhen's pro-government, while Xia Song was a person of Empress Dowager Liu and supported Empress Dowager Liu in taking power.
Therefore, Lu Yijian repeatedly impeached Xia Song and wanted to dismiss him from office.
Xia Song always remembered this.
In addition, Xia Song is a person with a strong desire for power and has always coveted the position of prime minister. If Lu Yijian and others are not defeated, he will not be able to get ahead.
Now the political enemy Lu Yijian is not only a very popular minister, he is even more exaggerated than before. After supporting Zhao Jun to take charge of the Political Yuan, he actually became the second person in the Political Yuan, with the power to control all officials.
This is outrageous.
While Xia Song was envious and resentful, he was also thinking about how to bring Lu Yijian and Zhao Jun down. Although he did not seek the status of the President of the Political Academy, it would be extremely important if he could maintain an equal relationship with Tong Zhongshu. Good thing.
Thinking of this, Xia Song whispered: "I'm afraid this matter will not be easy to handle. Now that the officials trust them, direct impeachment may not be effective. In my opinion, we should act according to the situation."
"Play it by ear?"
Liu Yuanyu wondered: "How to act according to the situation?"
Xia Song said: "I don't know who this Zhao Jun is, nor his background. Now he has a great reputation in Bianliang. It may not be easy for him to be removed from office due to impeachment. Moreover, the Political Yuan has now restrained all officials. , if they disobey the orders of the Constitutional Yuan, they may be given a handle and make the officials unhappy.”
"this"
Liu Yuanyu sighed: "Yes, I went to see Mr. Cheng this time because I wanted to ask. This time the Political Yuan came down with a document and asked us to sort out the counts of the past few years and send them to the Political Yuan. Can we refuse? , on the grounds that the Third Division always only obeys the officials, they don’t listen to what they do.”
"Then what did Mr. Cheng say?"
Xia Song asked.
"Mr. Cheng is cautious and doesn't want to do this. He has already asked us to sort out the count."
Liu Yuanyu shrugged.
Xia Song thought about it and said, "Well, Mr. Cheng doesn't want to be such a bad person even if he wants to. Now that the Constitutional Yuan is newly established, he may want to establish his authority. In fact, we don't need to come forward. We can just wait and see what happens."
Liu Yuanyu said fiercely: "I just can't swallow this breath. This Zhao Jun is just a kid with a yellow mouth, how can he be in a high position?"
"What Zi Zhenggong thinks is also what most of our colleagues think."
Xia Song smiled and then said, "In that case, I have an idea."
"oh?"
Liu Yuanyu asked hurriedly: "Mr. Zi Qiao, tell me quickly."
Xia Song came up with an idea like a dog-headed strategist: "I don't think the Constitutional Yuan will do anything big this year. They will probably check the statistics of each department first, browse the amounts of previous years, and start implementing some new policies next year. You "What should we do if the counting is wrong, chaotic, mixed up, or the administration is bad?"
"you mean?"
Liu Yuanyu suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Xia Song smiled and said: "Humans, sometimes mistakes happen, and you can't blame the people in the Third Division for not sorting things out, right?"
Liu Yuanyu understood immediately and nodded with a smile: "Master Zi Qiao has a good plan."
He cupped his hands and said, "I have some matters at the Salt and Money Department, so I won't bother Mr. Qiao. I'll hold a banquet for Mr. Qiao tomorrow."
"It's easy to talk about."
Xia Song nodded.
Liu Yuanyu left happily.
Looking at his leaving figure, Xia Song narrowed his eyes.
Historically, his method of dealing with the New Party was to frame Fan Zhongyan and others as cronies, and then asked the maid to imitate Shi Jie's notes and spread rumors that Fu Bi was planning to rebel.
Although it was more risky to do so, it did allow him to succeed, which is enough to show that Xia Song is a person who is good at using intrigues.
In other words, the scholar-bureaucrat class at that time was still more concerned about their reputation, and it was Xia Song who found a breakthrough.
This is related to the fact that Xia Song was not an orthodox scholar.
Compared with the uprightness of some scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty, Xia Song could indeed do whatever it took to achieve his goals.
The current situation is that he cannot achieve his goal by framing Zhao Jun for rebellion.
After all, he didn't know the details about Zhao Jun at all, and he was still the boss of the Imperial City Department, so he was much better than him in terms of intelligence work.
It would be great if Zhao Jun didn't frame him, so how could he frame him?
So I can only think of another way.
Since we want to bring down Zhao Jun and Lu Yijian and destroy the sudden appearance of the Constitutional Yuan, what better way is there than if there is a big problem with the governance of the Constitutional Yuan?
As long as there is a problem with the policy of the Constitutional Yuan and it harms the country and the people, hundreds of officials will attack in groups. Even if the officials trust Zhao Jun and Lu Yijian again, they may have to waver.
When he strikes again, I am afraid that political opponents such as Zhao Jun and Lu Yijian will soon be dismissed from office, so the possibility of him taking over will naturally be very high.
Therefore, in the face of these political opponents, there must be something behind the scenes.
However, from the perspective of seducing Liu Yuanyu, it is actually a bit stupid.
After all, just submitting wrong and confusing statistics may not cause too much trouble to the Constitutional Yuan.
The smart thing to do is to hide it first, wait and see what happens, and wait until the Constitutional Council issues policies in the future, then secretly sabotage it.
But Xia Song still helped Liu Yuanyu come up with ideas.
The main reason is to see how the Constitutional Yuan will deal with it, and to test Zhao Jun's ability.
Anyway, he just mentioned this matter casually. Even if the incident happened in the future, and the officials and the Political Yuan wanted to question Liu Yuanyu, given Liu Yuanyu's character among the officials, no one would believe it.
When the time comes, he will clarify his relationship with Liu Yuanyu and say that Liu Yuanyu has a grudge against him and is trying to bite him.
So it was just a casual chess game to see how the other party would react.
(End of chapter)
