Any "new" system actually has its own laws. Some systems may seem original, but if you look carefully, you will find that there was a vague concept a long time ago. Therefore, every "new" system is generally a general summary of the strengths of the predecessors and the needs of society by contemporary wise men, and appropriately adds the needs of the real society and their own understanding, and this is passed down from generation to generation. , various systems will gradually become reasonable and perfect.
The seemingly novel Five Provinces and Six Ministries, Yushitai, Eleven Temples, and Twelve Guards can be traced back to the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties if carefully sorted out. Their advanced level may be that a few decades later, they may be a primitive one. It is a framework full of loopholes, but for the current Sui Dynasty, this is the work of countless outstanding wise men and has advanced to the extreme. It is really difficult to think of them breaking the bottleneck without any examples to follow. .
Therefore, the elites of the Sui Dynasty, including Yang Guang, Gao Jun, Yang Su, Yang Xiong, Su Wei, Niu Hong and others, knew that these systems were not good and had not reached a perfect state, but they had no way of starting. Because if there are random thoughts, random changes, and random uses, it will affect the operation of the court and the peace of the world.
For the ministers, it is a dream to find loopholes in the system to exploit. However, the emperor Yang Guang wanted to fill in all the loopholes to prevent his officials from taking advantage of them. Especially Yu Shiji's bad behavior of dominating the three provinces aroused Yang Guang's vigilance and attention. He knew that Yu Shiji's Being able to do this is secondary to my own respect and trust. The main thing is that Yu Shiji is taking advantage of loopholes in the system to do illegal things. Others know that he is wrong, but they are powerless to stop him and impeach him. So over time, it evolved to the point where the Minister of Internal Affairs gave orders to the Minister of Criminal Affairs of Shangshu Province.
It was also because Yu Wenshu manipulated the martial arts and Yu Shiji dominated the three provinces. It was also because these two confidants had major problems at the same time, which made Yang Guang realize that he could not rely on emotion and trust alone. If there are no institutional restrictions, more people will be deployed to dominate the three provinces in the future. And the seven elected officials he envisioned controlled the annual appointment power. If they were not checked and balanced, sooner or later all the officials in the world would be replaced by the cronies appointed by these seven people.
But the real problem is that Yang Guang knows that the system is not good, but he doesn’t know where to start.
This feeling made Yang Guang feel powerless and sad.
In the seven-member Cao selection group he envisioned, Yang Ji advocated that the royal family and relatives should each have one seat for the selection of officials. Yang Guang agreed in principle to this. As Yang Ji said, the royal family and relatives share weal and woe with the emperor. Even if they each have half of their selfish intentions, but the other half of their public intentions come together, they become a person who represents the emperor's will. If the other five seats are all ministers who are half-hearted, then the number will be three and a half.
"Since you understand the importance of public spirit and the power of the seven officials, do you have any way to restrict these people?" Yang Guang didn't hold out much hope in his heart, but since they had already talked about it, he asked casually. .
Yang Ji already had a rough idea in his mind, so he smiled and said: "There is no good way, and there is no shortcut, but there is a stupid way!"
Yang Guang looked a little regretful at first, but after hearing the last sentence, he immediately showed a hint of expectation and said with a smile: "A stupid solution is also a solution, it is better than no solution at all!"
Yang Ji asked: "Brother, are you worried that these seven people will try their best to squeeze people into the officialdom and turn it into seven major sects?"
"That's right!" Yang Guang didn't deny it. He nodded and said, "You are talking about one aspect; the other aspect is that they are worried that the people they put into the officialdom are all trash with corrupt moral character. If this is the case, seven of them will People have benefited, but I have to bear the bad reputation they created, so can I not worry about it?"
Yang Ji said: "How about adding a few more quotas for elected officials, which can further dilute their power. As long as the seven major sects are turned into seventy small sects, then the strength of each sect will be weak. You This powerful general leader is responsible for debugging, and when he sees who is stronger in the future, he will issue the leader's order to let many small sects attack him."
Yang Guang's heart was moved, but he said: "The seven officials who were selected have control over the power of officials and appointments, and their status can be called a prime minister. Do you think that the prime minister is just a beast, you can add more at any time?"
Yang Ji shook his head and said: "What's the matter? I remember that there seemed to be only one prime minister in the Qin and Han Dynasties, but now there are three? And brother also said that the seven selected officials can be called prime ministers. If so, then I will be the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty. There are seven at least. We don’t necessarily need to expand the selection of officials from seven to one hundred, but we can increase the number of auditors. Although these people with auditor qualifications do not have the right to decide or appoint new officials, they can But they have veto power."
"Every time the elected officials Qicao draw up the list of new officials, they will call these officials together. They will first describe the background, abilities, resume, and political achievements of each new official to everyone, and then introduce to everyone the basic information of the place where the new official will serve. The general situation, as well as the local problems that need to be solved urgently, and then combine the two to explain the reasons and necessity of such an arrangement, and how much change this new official can bring to the local area after he takes office. If the observing officials think it is okay, they can Vote in favor, and if you feel it is inappropriate, vote against it. If the number of yes votes exceeds the number of no votes, it means that the appointment has been approved, if not, it means that the appointment has been rejected."
"During their deliberations, the Yushitai followed up the whole process, and at the same time sent a secretary, the Provincial Secretary, to record in detail the deliberations, the reasons for the appointment, what the new official would be able to achieve after he takes office, and who supports and who opposes, and then It is sealed in the Ministry of Secretaries in the form of a file. If any official has a problem during his term of office, one can find out who promoted it."
Yang Guang slapped his thigh fiercely, and the method of retaliation was really amazing.
The new officials selected by the Seven Officials are themselves the product of mutual compromise. Regardless of their origins, their character and abilities are somewhat guaranteed. The veto power in the hands of the observers not only weakened the power of the seven officials and weakened some of the selfishness of the seven officials, but also further isolated the descendants of officials and officials with corrupt moral character and low ability from the officialdom.
Even more powerful is the file that Yang Ji said was archived in the Secretariat. This thing is not only a weapon to spur new officials to enforce the law impartially and serve the people wholeheartedly; it is also a sharp sword hanging over the heads of recommenders and supporters, forcing them to recommend , When supporting someone, you have to carefully consider the ability and moral issues of the recommended person. In this way, the official team of the Sui Dynasty can be further "optimized".
Yang Guang thought for a moment and then asked: "If the seven elected officials come from various major forces, who do you think is a more suitable observer?"
Yang Ji pondered for a while and then said: "For example, the ministers of the three provinces, the ministers of the six bureaus, the ministers of the eleven temples, and the generals of the twelve guards are very suitable to be the officials who sit in. These people are eager to replace the seven generals. So when they know After recommending who the new official is, they will definitely stare at the new official silently. When something goes wrong with this new official, it becomes evidence for them to criticize the seven general election officials. This further ties the hands and feet of the seven general election officials. They are more cautious when recommending new officials.”
"Okay!" After hearing this, Yang Guang's confusion disappeared, and he felt like he was seeing the blue sky through the clouds. He said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to really come up with a solution."
To be honest, Yang Guang really didn't expect to get any "good tips" from Yang Ji. It's just that after the news that he was going to form a seven-member official selection team was revealed, all the forces were sharpening their knives and watching intently. If he had asked someone else to discuss the proposal to form the "Seven Officials" at this time, even if others did not favor him, they would not consider the Sui Dynasty wholeheartedly, let alone put forward a plan to limit the power of elected officials.
So he had no choice but to bring Yang Ji, who had a lot of clever ideas, to try his luck. Even if he couldn't get a satisfactory proposal, it was still better than just thinking hard in his heart. Unexpectedly, Yang Ji solved all the problems and hidden dangers in the bill in the blink of an eye. This surprised Yang Guangda and started to get entangled again.
Such a resourceful and public-minded genius was born to be a mastermind and prime minister. He was also Yang Guang's most scarce assistant and partner, so he was reluctant to let him go.
It's just that this guy's ability to get into trouble is as good as his ability to do things and his resourcefulness. If he stays by his side for a long time, he will definitely offend the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and the big forces behind the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. If it gets to that point, even if he doesn't want to , I'm afraid I can only cut him into pieces.
Yang Guang sighed in his heart: That's all! It's better to let him continue to go to Liangzhou and communicate through letters if there are any problems in the future.
Yang Ji said proudly: "What does this mean? I have many ideas!"
"It can be seen that our Sui Dynasty's King Wei and Liangzhou Mu are indeed talented prime ministers and assistants with both civil and military skills, as well as military and political skills." Yang Guang's confusion was eliminated, he was in a good mood, and he said with a smile.
Yang Guang very much recognized Yang Ji's talents, but he also found that Yang Ji was a boring gourd. His greatest advantage was solving problems rather than finding problems to solve. It would never work if he were asked to specifically find out the problem and solve it. But just ask him questions and he can help you arrange things properly.
But it doesn't matter, because he, Yang Guang, is the best at finding problems. Anyway, he feels that nothing is perfect and nothing is good enough. In the future, if you find problems that no one can solve, then have them sent to Yang Ji to solve.
He thought for a while and said to Yang Ji: "The Sui Dynasty is a vast territory, and I have endless government affairs to deal with every day. I thought about delaying it for a day, but I was afraid of affecting local governance, so in the end I had to persevere day by day. Now. It's better to be young, but if you get older, you will definitely become unable to do what you want. So I decided to delegate part of my power in an attempt to free myself from the tedious daily government affairs, so that I can have more time to consider major policies and improve the system. "
When Yang Ji heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "Brother, do you want to increase your power as prime minister?"
"That's right!" Yang Guang nodded: "Those empires that dominated the world in history, because the last emperors were better at the hands of women in the palace, did not know the sufferings of the world, were not familiar with power and strategy, were arrogant and willful, ignorant and incompetent, and ended up one by one. Dynasties collapsed and disappeared. Therefore, whether the emperor is wise or not is directly related to the life and death of an empire. Our generation may not make mistakes, but who guarantees that the second, third, fourth, and fifth generations will still be like this? The improvement of the prime minister's power can greatly avoid the disasters caused by the emperor's ignorance. Those prime ministers who stand out from thousands of bureaucrats are all people with outstanding strategies and talents. This kind of selection and elimination of people helps It is really the safest way for the emperor to handle state affairs. So I handed over some powers to Yu Wenshu and Yu Shiji, who I trusted, but I ignored the people's hearts."
Yang Guang was silent for a moment and said with a wry smile: "Due to the imperfect system and laws of our Sui Dynasty and the lack of supervision, after they gained power, their ambitions grew like weeds, so something happened to Yu Wenshu and something happened to Yu Shiji. They are right under my nose, and they are not so careless. The problem of local officials leaving the center can be imagined. It is no wonder that you can catch a lot of corrupt officials soon after arriving in Liangzhou. I have been here for the past few days. I have been thinking about this issue and believe that it is not possible to rely solely on the consciousness of the ministers; in the face of huge interests, even a person with the best moral character can easily change his mood. Therefore, if we, the Sui Dynasty, want long-term peace and stability, on the one hand It is to improve the power of the prime minister and ensure the judicial independence of Yushitai, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Justice; on the other hand, it is to constrain the prime minister and the three laws with a complete and sound system and laws. And your proposal to form the "seven-member official group" is It is very suitable for the daily operation of the center.”
"Next, I plan to let the officials of the three provinces and six ministries perform their duties without interfering with each other to prevent the recurrence of the bad incident of Yu Shiji dominating the three provinces. However, such a clear division will easily make the provinces with the right to refute one province dominate. Even if there is no one If you are alone, you will also waste a lot of time because of too many rejections, making the work efficiency very low. So I decided to set up a council on top of the three provinces and six ministries. Before issuing the edict, the chief officials of the three provinces would sit together. After discussion, we all felt that it was feasible, and then we followed the procedures of the Ministry of Internal History to draft the edict, the approval of the subordinates, and the execution of the six departments of the Shangshu Province to avoid wasted effort. All edicts must be discussed and approved by the council and stamped with the chief seals of the three provinces before they can take effect. Afterwards, everyone will not interfere. All edicts are divided into different levels. If the level is high, additional auditorium seats will be added. If it is a small matter, several chief officials of the council can vote to decide."
Having said this, Yang Guang glanced at Yang Ji and asked with a smile, "What do you think?"
"I think it's feasible!" Yang Ji knew that the assembly hall Yang Guang mentioned was exactly the same as the political affairs hall established in the Tang Dynasty. If the assembly hall was really established, the three provinces would not interfere with each other without affecting the efficiency of work, and everyone would gather together Working together, sound and effective systems can be promulgated from the central government throughout the country, which is indeed beneficial to the country and the people. If there are more seats, the power of the prime minister can be divided into several parts. Everyone can check and balance each other and avoid the emergence of powerful prime ministers and ministers.
Although the specific effect needs to be verified in practice and time, the Zhengshitang established in the Tang Dynasty lasted until the Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, and Jin. Its long life is enough to prove its charm and value.
Of course, this assembly hall with many benefits is not without variables, and this variable is Yang Guang, who proposed to increase the power of the prime minister and establish the assembly hall.
This guy is eager for quick success and wants to finish things that will take a hundred years in one day, so although he may be good at what he says now, he may find the Assembly Hall to be too slow and obstructive in the future and simply kick it open.
"After I sort out the details, I will set up this council. The number of chief officers is tentatively decided at nine! This year's selection of new officials will be the opening of the council." Yang Guang continued: "As for the number of chief officers, it will be nine. In terms of the chief officials, Brother Ande can represent the royal family, Xiao Cong can represent the relatives and the Jingzhou gentry in the south (one of the internal history orders), Gao Jiong can represent the poor family, Yang Su or Yang Yue can represent the Central Plains gentry, and Su Wei can represent the Central Plains gentry. It would be a bit troublesome to represent the Guanzhong nobles, Pei Ju to represent the Hedong nobles, Cui Zhongfang to represent the Shandong nobles, Yu Wenbi or Changsun Chi to represent the Guanlong nobles, and the Jiangnan nobles!"
He pondered for a while and then said: "Originally Yu Shiji was the most promising candidate, but he was dismissed from office a few days ago. It will be difficult to find a suitable candidate for a while."
Yang Ji saw that Yang Guang was extremely confused and couldn't help but suggest: "Brother, I think the Emperor in the Well is quite good!"
When Yang Guang heard the novel term "Emperor in the Well", he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he understood it. He asked with a smile: "The Emperor in the Well you are talking about, do you mean Chen Shubao?"
"It's him." Yang Ji nodded suddenly: "Brother Xiao Cong was the last emperor of the Liang Dynasty, and Chen Shubao was the last emperor of the Chen Dynasty. Their status as former emperors meant that they would not and would not dare to bend the law for personal gain, exclude dissidents, and form cliques. If you form a faction, everything will be done according to brother's will; and from a symbolic point of view, isn't it quite enjoyable for you, the emperor, to enslave the other two emperors? And the emperors of the unified dynasty in history were also Who can enjoy this special treatment? It seems that Emperor Qin and Han Wu can’t, right?"
Yang Guang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, but he shook his head and said angrily: "Um, that Emperor in the Well is dead, don't you know?"
Yang Ji shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this."
Yang Guang said: "He died in the twelfth lunar month of last year and was buried in Mangshan, Luoyang. After I ascended the throne, I posthumously awarded him the title of General and his posthumous title of Yang. Do you know why I call him Emperor Yang?"
"Poof!" Yang Ji, who was sitting opposite Yang Guang, was drinking tea leisurely. When he heard the word "Yangdi", he couldn't hold it back and sprayed a mouthful of tea on Yang Guang's face. He looked at Yang Guang apologetically and explained: "I'm sorry, I was really shocked by 'Chen Yangdi'."
Yang Guang was used to Yang Ji's surprises, so he was squirted in the face at this time, so he was not angry. He thought Yang Ji was frightened by Chen Shubao's "Chen Yang Emperor". He wiped his face with his sleeves and proudly explained the origin of "Yangdi": "I have been in Yangzhou for ten years and know Chen Shubao very well. This guy is greedy for beauty and does not care about state affairs. He only lives in drunkenness and dreams all day long. , so when I became the crown prince, I took Aye as an example and Chen Shubao as a warning. I didn’t dare to slack off or enjoy myself for a day. My posthumous name for Aye was ‘Wen’. I hope that after Shiming ascends the throne, The posthumous title given to me is 'Wu'. There is no way I can be allowed to become the Second Sui Dynasty or Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty!"
"..." Yang Ji had a strange look on his face when he heard this. History is always so cruel. After Yang Guang's death, Li Yuan and his son gave him the posthumous title "Yang", so he didn't know what to say at this time. , can only understand the helplessness of the victors and the defeated, and the cruelty of history being written by the victors.
"Uncle Wang's posthumous name is 'Zhao', which is a beautiful posthumous title!" Yang Guang continued: "You have to be careful, kid. After all, you must win a good posthumous title for the future, so that the friendship and beauty of the previous generation can be achieved." The name continues.”
"Yes, yes!" At this time, besides nodding, what else could Yang Ji say? He thought for a while and then said: "Since the Emperor in the Well is dead, then I will capture Murong Fuyun and the kings of the Western Regions to enslave you."
Yang Guang nodded with satisfaction: "That makes sense. If you capture all these monarchs, you will definitely have a good posthumous title in the future."
"I hope so." Yang Ji smiled bitterly in his heart. To be honest, judging from Yang Guang's current performance, he hoped that Yang Guang would be like Chen Shubao who put life and death first. If Yang Guang chooses to be a half-conscious person in a few years, Foolish king, the Sui Dynasty might have lasted longer.
"When will you go to Liangzhou?" Yang Guang asked again.
Yang Ji was speechless: "Everything is fine in Liangzhou. What difference does it make if I go or not?"
Yang Guang was even more speechless and said in a more serious tone: "Vajra slave, you are the shepherd of Liangzhou. What kind of behavior do you have to stay in the capital all the time?"
Yang Ji was not afraid of him at all, and said nonchalantly: "Then just dismiss him! Anyway, I don't want to be an official. I am still the king of playboys. I can beat whoever I want."
Yang Guang was furious when he heard this, pointed at Yang Ji and yelled: "I really misjudged you! I trusted you in vain and appointed you as the shepherd of Liangzhou, but you don't want to make progress. As long as you think about being the king of dandies, I will be angry." .”
Pointing to the door, he said: "Where is the door? Get out of here!" He looked eager to try: "It's okay if you don't want to get out. Practice with me."
"I'd better get out!" Yang Ji immediately gave in. Even if Yang Guang didn't have the status of an emperor, he could still beat him to a bruised and swollen face with his abnormal force. 'Practice with him' was simply asking for trouble.
Yang Ji didn't know the strength of Qin Qiong and Shan Xiongxin, so it was difficult to evaluate it. However, among his generals, only men of the level of Zhang Xutuo and Xue Ju could compete with Qin Qiong and Shan Xiongxin in terms of strength. When Yang Guang is compared, one is better than the other. And when Yu Chigong, who was still in the growth stage, went up to compete with Yang Guang, he was probably looking for abuse.
As for Yang Ji, let alone him, he also delivers food when he goes up.
When Yang Guang saw that Yang Ji was afraid that he would beat him, he continued to threaten: "As soon as the martial arts competition is over, you go to Liangzhou immediately and capture Murong Fuyun for me as soon as possible. Otherwise, I will come to kill you." Do you believe it?"
"Trust, trust, trust! I'm really scared of you. Isn't he just a little Murong Fuyun? It's so simple!" Yang Ji muttered: "It's true that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger! It's better to be a commoner."
Leaving these words behind, he ran away in despair.
Yang Guang was even more furious, but he also had a trace of curiosity and expectation in his heart: Tuyuhun was also a hegemon in the Western Region after all. Even if Yang Ji took away Shanshan and Qiemo, and killed many elite soldiers, the camels would still be so thin Bigger than a horse, how can it be so easy to destroy?
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