It has only been twenty-seven years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty. From the day Yang Jian decided to seek the throne and usurp the throne, he awarded and promised generous salaries to those who defected to him, allowing them to sincerely serve him because of their power and strength. Potency.
This method did bring great benefits to the Sui Dynasty at the beginning, but it also left the hidden danger of redundant officials and personnel. The only way to deal with redundant officials and personnel is to reduce staff, but how to reduce and who to reduce are extremely troublesome issues. If not handled well, it will cause huge turmoil. Therefore, when most emperors faced the phenomenon of redundant officials and redundant personnel, most emperors did not have the courage to lay off employees, and generally chose to let it go to avoid shaking the foundation. However, this kind of turning a blind eye has led to a skyrocketing number of redundant officials and redundant personnel every year. By the time countless redundant officials and redundant officials have joined major political factions and begun to devour the flesh and blood of the country, there is no way to deal with it.
Yang Guang severely attacked empty officials such as nobility officials, civil and military casual officials, honorary officials, and raiding officials. He also took advantage of the opportunity of changing prefectures and counties to counties and changing the Twelve Guards Palace to the Sixteenth Guards Palace to downgrade the officials one after another. It is to solve the sequelae of redundant officials and redundant personnel. But there is a very important privilege that Yang Guang may not have even thought about now. This right is the large number of house-opening rights that were rewarded previously.
Nowadays, many of the founding fathers and many civil and military officials have the privilege of opening mansions. Yang Ji, as the prince of the Sui Dynasty, naturally also has it. Not only does he have it, but the number of subordinate officials allocated by the imperial court to them, the children of the royal family, is quite exaggerated.
Among the subordinate officials of the Prince's Mansion, there is a Fu (Master), who is of the third rank; the Master Fu teaches the Prime Minister and corrects the fault of the Master of the Mansion (Prince/Princess). There is one person named Changshi, from the fourth rank; the Changshi manages all kinds of important political affairs in the government. Sima is a person, from the fourth rank, Sima manages various military affairs in the government. He is engaged in the second rank of Zhonglang, from the fourth rank; this position is the adjutant of Chang Shi and Sima, mainly assisting Chang Shi and Sima in managing various affairs in the government. There are two people who consult the military staff, who are on the fifth rank; they consult the military and political staff members who belong to the master of the palace. There are two friends, from the fifth rank; the friend is responsible for accompanying people when traveling, regulating morality and justice.
There is one person, who is in the sixth rank, and is in charge of Gong Cao, Hu Cao, Cang Cao, and Kai Cao. It belongs to one person and is in the sixth rank; it belongs to the military Cao, Qi Cao, Fa Cao, and Shi Cao. There are two chief registrars, starting from the sixth rank; the chief registrar is responsible for drafting religious decrees and orders within the mansion. There are two military personnel in the Record Office, starting from the sixth rank; the Record Office is responsible for the exchange of official documents (books, notes, lists, and instructions), and issues decrees and orders from the governor. There is one person who records affairs and participates in the military affairs, from the sixth rank; he is in charge of keeping track of affairs and auditing banknotes. There are two literary people, from the sixth grade; the literary master studies classics and follows articles. In the "organization" where these subordinate officers are located, there are four regular members of the eighth rank who join the military, four who are from the eighth rank and above to join the army, and sixteen who are from the ninth rank and serve as assistants.
The military officers of the Prince's Mansion and the Princess' Mansion are on the seventh rank, with one person for each officer, a total of eight people. Among them, the military officers of the Prince's Palace and the Princess' Mansion are in charge of leave, business trips, etiquette, medicine, selection, examinations, wages, benefits, construction, etc. for officials in the palace.
Cang Caoshan is in charge of the military affairs such as the central treasury, the canteen, the kitchen, and the issuance of certificates and "passing offices".
The Hu Cao Shen military officer was responsible for sealing households, fields and houses, shops, servants, slaves, hunting and other matters.
Shi Cao participated in the military affairs and was in charge of matters such as the residence of the Duke, the construction of workers and apprentices, promotion and dismissal, etc.
Fa Cao participated in the military affairs and was in charge of matters such as bullying, bullying, and punishment.
The Bing Cao Shen Military Officer is in charge of the roster of soldiers in the mansion, attendance, ceremonial guards, and the safety of the mansion master when he is away.
The cavalry cao takes part in military matters such as stable husbandry, riding, cultural relics, and equipment.
Cao Shen, the military officer of Kai Cao, is in charge of the weapons and armor in the mansion.
On the seventh level from Cong, there are one person offering wine from Dongbu and one person offering wine from Xibu. The positions of these two people are equivalent to the official positions of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple in the imperial court. Their functions are to direct etiquette, receive guests and other matters; there are another eight The name is from the eighth grade Dian Zhuo to assist.
In addition to these, there are also the expatriate (unofficial) Diansi Ling, temple chief, mausoleum chief, Dian Medical Chief, Dian Fu Cheng, Dian Shu Ling, Xue Guan Ling, chief food officer, lieutenant, minister, deacon lieutenant, Officials such as visitors, guards, ministers, middle-level officials, and large farmers.
As for leading troops, they were established based on the Prince's East Palace Ten Commandments. However, when it came to the prince and princess, they were reduced to six guard armies, named respectively Zuo Yi Fu, Zuo Second Fu, Zuo San Fu, Right Yi Fu, The second house on the right and the third house on the right. Each government has one main and two deputy guards, and left and right commanding troops.
The name of "protecting the army and commanding the army" may seem inconspicuous, but its rank was quite terrifying in the Sui Dynasty. Among them
The guards are from the fourth rank, and the deputy guards and commanders are from the fourth rank. Even more ruthless are the eighteen chief and deputy guards, who can also command the soldiers like the generals in the East Palace, and are the hussars generals in their respective military mansions , chariot and cavalry generals are all their subordinates.
In addition, there are military generals such as the hussars general and the left and right Kuzhi hussar generals from the fourth rank; the left and right Kuzhi cavalry generals from the fifth rank, the left and right chariot generals of Weifu, the left and right generals, the left and right cavalry generals, etc. …
This means that if Yang Ji has all the subordinate officials within the regulations, then the "small court" of Prince Wei's Mansion will have at least more than 200 officials, and the court will provide money, food, and positions to help support them.
At present, the Fu is Gongsun Huan, the chief historian is Ling Jing, the Sima is Hao Yuan, the lieutenants are Wei Zheng and Song Zhengben, the military advisors are Wei Yunqi and Li Daliang who have already served as officials, the friends are Yan Shigu and Kong Yingda, and the ministers are Gongsun Huan and Ling Jing were responsible for the hegemony respectively. Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui were responsible for the chief affairs. Yan Shixiang and Li Xuandao were responsible for the record keeping and military affairs. Gai Wenda and Lu Congdian were responsible for the military affairs recording. Yan Qinli and Liu Bin were responsible for the literature. It was Liu Xiaosun, Yao Silian, Cai Junhe, and Geng Bao, and the recorder was Geng Zizhi and Kong Desao and Shen Faxing who were sent abroad.
The number of people in the military attache system is also similar. Many of them are both imperial generals and palace officials, such as Li Jing, Yang Shanhui, Zhang Xutuo, Wei Yunqi, Xue Ju, Yuchi Gong, Dugu Pingyun, Zhu Can, Zong Luohu, Li Datong, Among the generals are Li Dabian, Achi, Hanliu, Pochaoqi, Yang Tie, Xue Wanshu, Xue Wanshu, Xue Wanjun, Xue Wanche, Mai Zhongcai, Mai Mengcai, Qian Jie, Wang Jun, Wang Haokai, Zhang Yan, Gao Xingwen and others. , except for those who have not yet served as officials, the rest are also serving as subordinate officials of the royal palace.
However, except for Gongsun Huan, Hao Yuan, Ling Jing, Li Daliang, etc., the above-mentioned people who have become officials have been officially separated from the palace.
As for the Cao Cao and other positions responsible for the daily operations of the palace, there are naturally many, and they are all filled by close servants and retired staff of Yang Shuang. In the end, they were unified by Dugu Min, Xiao Ying, Su Yunniang, Gongsun Huan, and Hao Yuan. , Ling Jing, Song Zhengben and others managed it. However, although these middle and low-level subordinate officials did their duties in an orderly manner, Yang Ji did not report them to the court in full, so they did not receive the positions or salaries granted by the court.
Therefore, in the imperial court and Zongzheng Temple's roster, Prince Wei's Mansion now only has a dozen subordinate officials who have reported. This also made the number of officials in Prince Wei's palace inferior to that of Yang Zhiji, who acted extremely cautiously.
The reason for this situation is that, first, when Yang Ji was a child and when he was pretending to be a playboy, the palace had been disbanded and there were only a few generals from the King Wei family, and there was no power to rely on; Dugu Min saw that his son was still young. , and there was nothing special about him. He was afraid that being too high-profile would cause unnecessary trouble for his mother and son, so he kept a low profile and did not fill up his official posts like other dignitaries who had the power to open a mansion.
Dugu Min's style of hiding his talents in the sheath and "hiding his talents among the public" made Prince Wei's house completely invisible in the circle of powerful people. Even when others talked about the stubborn Yang Ji, they only used sighs, teasing, and gloating. He said things like "Tiger father and dog son", King Wei Zhao has no successor.
In this period of "decline" and "independence", the personal connections in Prince Wei's palace have been severely tempered by the hot world. When the impurities are removed year by year, what remains is the essence of loyalty. And because of this, Yang Ji spent his childhood and youth carefree and peacefully.
Second, after Yang Ji became an official, he always adhered to the tenet of "not showing wealth to others" and "not showing talent to others". His attitude towards subordinate officials was exactly the same as his mother's, and he did not help "de facto subordinate officials" to win the imperial title. The "leaders" at all levels under the palace system are mainly loyal old people. They know very well that the palace owner's good will be good for themselves, and high profile will cause trouble. In addition, Dugu Min and Yang Ji do not treat anyone badly, and they also We have all communicated with each other, so no one cares about the false reputation granted by the court.
However, Yang Ji believed that the world was changing and today was different from the past. It was only reasonable that the royal official system should change with the times and keep pace with the times.
At this moment, he suddenly thought of this matter. In addition, Prince Wei's Mansion occupies a large area and he could only walk around the Zhaoshou Veranda during the heavy rain. Therefore, when he heard Liu Rumei saying that Li Changya's messenger was still outside the door, he took the time to talk to Hao Yuan. We discussed the subordinate official system of Prince Wei's Mansion to see if it was necessary to have all the main subordinate officials.
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After hearing Yang Ji's explanation, Hao Yuan pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "The king's concerns are not unreasonable. In terms of the king's current status and reputation, if the system of subordinate officials in the palace continues to be as different from other people's possessions as before, The royal family and founding fathers who founded the government are incompatible with each other. If they continue to remain very few and dispensable, it will not only be detrimental to daily operations, boost morale, and unite people's hearts, but also once the emperor and civil and military officials pay attention to this matter, it will inevitably lead to troubles such as Rumors of "humbleness and near hypocrisy". "
"Chengyuan's words are also what I am worried about." Yang Ji nodded after hearing the words and said to Hao Yuan: "When I am an official, if I have no power, if I am still the same as before, I have no ambition, I’m afraid no one will believe me. So I plan to follow the trend, match up all the subordinate officials I should have, and report them to the court one by one, what do you think?"
Hao Yuan frowned and thought for a while, looked at Yang Ji, and said solemnly: "If the king decides to match all the more than 200 subordinate officials, then I will hold my objection."
"What is the reason for Chengyuan's objection?" Yang Ji thought of this matter and realized that the current subordinate official system had the hidden danger of "humbleness and hypocrisy", so he took the opportunity to speak out about it. I hope that the resourceful staff officer Hao Yuan can help analyze the pros and cons, which does not mean that they will be fully equipped immediately.
"There are three reasons for objecting to the humble position." Hao Yuan silently made a mental draft in his mind, and then said in a deep voice: "If your Majesty follows the rules of the imperial court and is fully equipped, the people you appoint and recommend will definitely be capable confidants, loyal Once all the officials are reported to the imperial court and Zongzheng Temple, the strategy of "hiding the enemy in the sheath" that the king and the concubine have insisted on for many years will come to nothing, and the palace's strength, talent advantages, and connections will be exposed to the world. This is one of the hidden dangers and one of the reasons for opposition to humble positions. "
"Secondly, under the premise that the talents of Prince Wei's palace are "disclosed to the world", the civil and military officials not only pay attention to the subordinate officials, but also analyze and connect with their own personal connections; if the subordinate officials perform amazingly, then the subordinate officials Your own relationships will be superimposed on the king by all the civil and military officials. Afterwards, the political opponents will surely make a big fuss based on this, creating a momentum that the king has influence all over the world and has a network of connections all over the world; and rumors such as recharging his energy, "respecting his talents and respecting himself", and having evil intentions will also arise in the government and the public. Although the saint has great faith in the king, the emperor is a person who cares about the country after all. Following what others say, he also sees that the king's subordinate officials are indeed very complete and everyone is capable, so it is inevitable that he will have some bad thoughts. "
Seeing Yang Ji's solemn expression, showing an expression of enlightenment, Hao Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "Your Majesty, as for the third point, it is also the most important point."
"If Chengyuan has something to say, just say it directly." After hearing Hao Yuan's first two reasons, Yang Ji already realized the problem. At this time, it was more important to hear the third point, but Hao Yuan seemed hesitant to speak. .
[In view of the general environment,
"Here!" Hao Yuan thought silently for a while, and then said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, in order to better exercise power and control the local area, the late emperor transferred all the power to appoint and remove officials to the central government, and all the power to appoint and remove officials was vested in the central government. Officials under the control of the Ministry and above the ninth rank are all appointed and dismissed by the central government. At the same time, the late emperor not only prohibited local officials from hiring staff on the spot, but also prohibited those with the power to open a government from hiring staff on their own. Every year, the Ministry of Personnel must appoint staff above the ninth rank. Officials are evaluated to determine rewards, punishments, promotions and demotions. Under this rule, the king actually only has the right to recommend the officials of the palace, but not the final decision-making power."
Hao Yuan stared at Yang Ji for a long time, and he sighed softly: "Your Majesty, when the Ministry of Personnel appoints officials in Liangzhou, the sage requires them to listen to your opinion. If you don't agree, it will not be approved. If you If you agree, it will be approved. This is a great trust and honor. But if you think about the worst, the saint is testing you? If the king vetoes the people recommended by the officials, what will the saint think? Will he think that the king How about taking Liangzhou as your own?"
"Perhaps the saint will not think so now or take this into consideration, but the emperor's heart is unpredictable, and no one can guarantee how he will treat the king in the future. If he has doubts in the future, then the king's previous actions, the palace's Members of the official system and the King of Wei system have evil intentions.
Best evidence. In view of this, I suggest that the king should not attach too much importance to this so-called decision-making power. The best policy is to do what is appropriate. "
As the saying goes, one word wakes up the dreamer. When Yang Ji heard this, he couldn't help but sweat on his forehead: Just as Hao Yuan said, no one can predict the emperor's thoughts. Maybe Yang Guang hasn't thought so much now, and it's true. It is indeed a matter of delegating power to oneself and letting oneself check things for him. But people don’t have flowers that last a hundred days, and the state of the world will change with time. Will he still think so in the future? I'm afraid even Yang Guang himself can't guarantee it.
It's not that Yang Ji didn't expect these truths, but it was because he had been so successful recently that he became careless and careless.
In addition, he cared too much about the Sui Dynasty and ignored his own safety and his future relationship with Yang Guang. In addition to the above-mentioned purposes, he now decided to allocate all subordinate officials. He also hoped to use his own subordinate official system as an example to take the opportunity to suggest that Yang Guang reform the power of opening a government and reduce the number of ministers who have the power to open a government. official quota. However, the "personality" of a reform pioneer made him forget the troubles it would bring to him in the future.
Thinking of this, Yang Ji gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up, bowed his hands to Hao Yuan, and said, "Chengyuan, it's lucky that you are here. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"This is the responsibility of a humble position. Your Majesty is too polite." Hao Yuan quickly stood up and returned the gift, and continued to say to Yang Ji: "As for the officials of the palace, your Majesty only has the right to recommend, but not the final decision. If your Majesty submits the list, However, the saints, officials, and Zongzheng Temple did not recognize the people recommended by the king, and appointed people with impure intentions or from other factions. At that time, the king would have to take it or not. The result would not only be for the whole palace, but also for the whole family. It caused great trouble and made the king unable to guard against it.”
"In view of the many hidden dangers, I believe that the king only needs to recommend the main and indispensable subordinate officials, and do not strive for the positions awarded by the court. This will not only eliminate the hidden danger of "humility and hypocrisy", but also enable some Talented people can be promoted without exposing their full strength. In addition, infiltration by other factions can be avoided. "
Yang Jishen thought so. Just when he was about to express his position, Liu Rumei's voice came from outside the door: "Master, the messenger has arrived."
