Li Longji said melancholy: "In this case, isn't this matter unsolvable?"
"That's not necessarily the case." Lu Tianshi said suddenly, "There are still ways."
Li Longji's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "Please also ask Master Lu for advice."
Lu Tianshi said: "Speaking of this, we must first sort out the dispute between imperial power and prime minister power."
Hearing this, not only Li Longji, but also the princes, grandsons, civil and military officials in the palace all pricked up their ears.
There are not many opportunities to listen to the sermons of heavenly masters. They are lucky enough to listen to them once, which is a lifetime comfort.
Master Lu Tianshi stroked his black beard and said: "Before the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, China all adopted the enfeoffment system. There were vassal states under the emperor of Zhou, and there were many small vassals under the big vassals. The prime minister or the prime minister was just a retainer. The threat is far less than that of the princes, big and small, so there are few battles between prime ministerial power and imperial power, but only the trouble of feudal princes separatist power."
"So after Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, it learned its lesson and changed the feudal system into a system of prefectures and counties to strengthen centralization of power."
"This will indeed avoid the separation of princes, but the power of the prime minister will be unprecedentedly strengthened, which will also threaten the imperial power."
"Because the Prime Minister has mastered the power of administration, expenditure and personnel appointment and dismissal, his power has been enhanced unprecedentedly. The Taiwei who controls the military power and the Yushi doctor who is responsible for supervision have become vassals of the Prime Minister because their salary and personnel are restricted by the Prime Minister. That's why Li Si appeared. He who monopolizes the imperial court and Zhao Gao treats a deer as a horse."
"In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang was still able to stabilize the power of the prime minister."
"But as soon as Liu Bang died, Prime Minister Chen Ping dared to reprimand Liu Ying in front of all the civil and military officials."
"After Emperor Wu came to power, the government was still in the hands of the prime minister. He had no choice but to use his relatives and trusted servants to form an internal dynasty to isolate the prime minister. Only then did he take back power from the prime minister and achieve monopolization of power. However, this move by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the door to A very bad culprit is that relatives and eunuchs are disrupting the government."
"From the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties to Cao Wei, he has been deeply poisoned by his relatives and eunuchs."
"After the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Sima family learned from the lessons of the Han Dynasty and Cao Wei, and began to suppress their relatives and reuse the clan. As a result, the Eight Kings Rebellion was triggered, and the situation became even worse."
"After that, the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties learned the lessons of the previous dynasties, that is, they did not reuse relatives or clan members, and changed the prime minister to the prime minister. At the same time, in order to prevent the prime minister from monopolizing power, they adopted the system of group ministers, that is, The power that originally belonged to the prime minister was divided among a group of prime ministers, which is the system of three provinces and six ministries.”
"In terms of power checks and balances, the three-province and six-ministry system is perfect."
"But when it comes to heroes who want to make a difference, the system of three provinces and six ministries will create constraints and seriously affect efficiency. Many trivial matters can drag on for months or even years. Therefore, in this dynasty, Emperor Taizong set up the Political Affairs Hall , bringing together the prime ministers of the three provinces to work, no matter how big or small the matter is, decisions must be made on the same day."
“The three-province and six-ministry system coupled with the establishment of the political hall, the power structure has been set up to perfection.”
"It's just that no matter how good the system is, there are flaws, especially for a generation of heroes. Wasn't Emperor Taizong often angry to death by the prime minister? Even you, Li Longji, must have a deep understanding of this, right?"
Li Longji's face showed a look of disbelief. He didn't just understand it deeply?
Lu Tianshi's words really spoke to his heart. In the more than forty years since he had been in the imperial court, he had always felt constrained by the power of the prime minister, and he always felt that he could not show his abilities. When he was young, he could endure it, but as he grew older, he gradually lost it. Losing his patience, after Zhang Jiuling resigned as prime minister, he finally began to act arbitrarily, and he was out of control from then on.
But what follows is not suitable for ministers to listen.
Immediately, Li Longji invited Lu Tianshi to the side hall to communicate alone.
"Tianshi, you just said that the system of three provinces and six ministries plus the setting up of the political hall is perfect. Do you want to tell me that the prince and his grandsons are useless, so the state affairs must be completely entrusted to the prime ministers of the three provinces?"
"That's right, the emperor's choice of candidates is too narrow. Let alone the Tang Dynasty, even if we look at the entire history of China, the probability of finding another generation of heroes like you is too small. At least there will be no more among your descendants. There have been heroes like you, but there have been quite a few losers who were manipulated by eunuchs."
Li Longji said sarcastically: "Actually, I have long intended to hand over state affairs to the Political Affairs Hall."
"Are you handing over the state affairs to the Political Affairs Hall? You are handing over the state affairs to the right prime minister and letting the right prime minister manage the affairs for you. Even the political affairs hall has become a decoration. In fact, it doesn't matter if you choose the right prime minister, but Who are the people you chose?" Lu Tianshi asked, "First Li Linfu, then Yang Guozhong, what kind of birds are these?"
After a pause, he continued: "Li Linfu is somewhat capable, but he is narrow-minded and has no bottom line in doing things. He has ruined the atmosphere of the officialdom. Yang Guozhong is a complete waste. What else will he do besides flattering others? Since he became the After becoming the Right Prime Minister, the entire officialdom of the Tang Dynasty was thrown into chaos."
That is to say, Master Lu Tianshi said that ten other people's heads would not be enough for Li Longji to chop off.
After being reprimanded, Li Longji could only sing: "Well, what Master Lu Tian taught me is that I have really been slacking on government affairs in recent years, and I have been too indulgent and partial to Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong."
To put it bluntly, Li Longji's eyes are not blind.
It's not that he couldn't see what Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong did.
However, Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong were able to make him act decisively, and they would not oppose him in everything like Zhang Jiuling and others, who would face fierce opposition if they made the slightest move out of line.
It is for this reason that Li Longji acquiesced to some of the actions of Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong.
Master Lu Tianshi continued: "The core of the prime minister system is checks and balances. The right prime minister can have greater power, but he must not absolutely suppress other prime ministers. Otherwise, wouldn't the right prime minister become the prime minister again?"
"You, Li Longji, have the ability, skill, and prestige, so you can control Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong."
"But Prince Li Heng is far behind you in terms of ability and skills, and his prestige is completely incomparable to yours. Do you think he can suppress the right prime minister? Are you eager for Li Tang to change his surname?"
"Don't expect every prime minister to be Zhuge Liang or Zhou Gongdan."
"The lesson taught by the Heavenly Master is that I will never let the right prime minister take over the government again." Li Longji said, "It's just as the Heavenly Master said, the emperor's selection of talents is too narrow, and I cannot guarantee that all of my descendants will be successful." Even with outstanding abilities, there is no guarantee that the prime ministers selected will be loyal and capable ministers. In the future, there will inevitably be treacherous villains like Yang Guozhong, and it is even possible to select treacherous prime ministers like Cao Cao, so what should we do?"
"This is indeed a problem." Lu Tianshi said, "But it is not impossible to solve it."
"Please also ask Lu Tianshi for advice." Li Longji really asked Lu Tianshi for advice now, because this matter has been bothering him for decades, and he has never been able to find a solution.
Lu Tianshi said: "To prevent treacherous villains like Yang Guozhong from ascending to the high position of the prime minister, the best way is to formalize the promotion system of the prime minister. Those who are not from the imperial examination are not allowed to become prime ministers. This way, we can avoid being uneducated and incompetent. The common people have stepped into the high position of prime minister, and the scholars who passed the imperial examination may not all be loyal and virtuous ministers, but their overall moral standards are definitely higher than those of the common people. After all, reading can make people wise, reasonable, and virtuous."
Hearing this, Li Longji was a little disappointed: "My imperial grandmother has already tried the method of selecting scholars through the imperial examination, which Tianshi mentioned, but the effect is actually not good. Although the prime minister selected through the imperial examination has high moral character, his ability is mediocre. , is far less decisive than the people in the market, and the imperial examination will also bring great harm, that is, harm to the noble families!"
However, Master Lu Tianshi was not angry and said, "The two points you said are true, but they are easy to handle."
"Oh, really?" Li Longji's eyes once again filled with anticipation, "I'd like to hear the details."
Lu Tianshi said: "Let's talk about the first point first. How to ensure that the prime minister selected through the imperial examination not only has excellent moral character, but also has excellent ability to govern the country? The solution is to start from the grassroots! Or to put it another way, the prime minister must Those who started from prefectures and counties, unless they have served as chief officials of prefectures and counties and have excellent performance in examinations, cannot become prime ministers in the dynasty."
"Hey, this is indeed a method." Li Longji said it clearly.
Then he asked: "Then, how can we prevent harm to the noble family?"
