"My king, please give me your orders." Mr. Pingyuan replied immediately.
Zhao Kuo nodded, but hesitated for a while. When the words came, Zhao Kuo was a little hesitant. It was obviously a bit abrupt to talk about reform so directly.
Where to start?
Yes, didn’t we just talk about foreign policy?
It is also time for me to have a good discussion with Mr. Pingyuan. The future direction of the Zhao Kingdom is not only because of my new accession to the throne, but more importantly, if I want to achieve the goal of Wang Tianxia, I must have clear steps.
"I will tell you nothing from Pingyuan Lord." Zhao Kuo finally spoke and said: "Since I ascended this throne, I have been worried all day and night. This year, our country, Zhao, resists the strong Qin in the west and defeats the Yan army in the north. All the six countries are looking at it. Now. The Zhao Kingdom seems to be in flames and blooming with flowers, but it is not an undercurrent."
"My king." Of course Lord Pingyuan understood that being a king was not easy, especially when Zhao Kuo still regarded unifying the world as his mission.
Without waiting for Pingyuan Lord to be relieved, Zhao Kuo continued: "It can make the six countries look at each other, Qin does not dare to go eastward, and even Chu, Qi and other countries try their best to make friends. This is naturally a good thing, and it is certainly gratifying!"
"However, I know very well that the saying goes that misfortune lies on the back of good fortune, and good fortune lies on the back of misfortune." Zhao Kuo shook his head and continued: "In particular, I know very well that our country, Zhao, now only has the reputation of deterring the six countries, but has no deterrent." The strength of the Six Kingdoms. Not to mention the Six Kingdoms, the Qin Kingdom alone is too much for our Zhao Kingdom! If it is not worthy of its name, it is already the biggest disaster!"
Pingyuan Jun and Lu Buwei immediately frowned slightly after hearing this. Obviously, what Zhao Kuo said was indeed the truth.
Seeing the two of them thinking, Zhao Kuo immediately continued: "Today, the Qin State invited the five countries to discuss the affairs of the Yan State. Although I blocked it because of my anger, this plan is not as dangerous as the army. If the Qin State is really If we send troops, our country, Zhao, will be in danger. Moreover, this act of intimidation will never happen again."
"My king's intention?" Lord Pingyuan asked with some doubts.
"The answer is very simple, nine words: build walls high, accumulate grain widely, and don't seek hegemony!" Zhao Kuo explained lightly.
"Building a high wall," as the name suggests: our country, Zhao, will be on the defensive from now on.
First of all, in the face of the Qin State, they wanted to use Danshui as the boundary, and put the land west of Danshui and Hanoi into the new Shangdang County. The county governed the wild king and focused on consolidating the matter. Objective: With the Fen River as the backbone, the Yewang becomes deep and defends against the possible eastward march of the Qin army. On the one hand, it delays the decisive battle with Qin, and on the other hand, it forces the Qin army to turn its attention to Wei, Chu and other places.
Of course, if necessary, we can also provide corresponding assistance to Wei, Chu and other countries.
Secondly, we should still take a defensive position at the junction with Qi, Yan, Wei and other three countries, so that all countries will gradually forget the impact of the Changping Battle while our army is on the defensive.
Of course, building walls is not the purpose, but for a relatively stable external environment, and then for further internal upgrades. This is the accumulation of grain. "
"Those who accumulate grain extensively are not just grain and grass, but also the accumulation of soldiers, horses, weapons and even morale. To achieve this goal, I decided to update the officialdom!" Zhao Kuo said quite seriously.
After finally laying out his thoughts, Zhao Kuo finally slowly expressed his thoughts.
"How will the king be updated?" Mr. Pingyuan still doesn't know what kind of storm he will face.
After hearing this, Zhao Kuo continued to explain:
"The first step is to redefine the official ranks. The original official positions are long and unclear. There are many cases where officials and positions are incompatible, and there are many conflicts between titles and officials. Often many people do one thing, but no one cares about another thing, and even want to hold people accountable. It’s also not available.
Therefore, the few people decided to redefine the official ranks, and they must clearly understand their grades and their rights and responsibilities.
From top to bottom, the nine grades of official grades are determined, with the first grade as the most important and the ninth grade as the lightest. Each grade has the distinction between righteousness and subordination. From the center to the local level, there are eighteen levels in total!
Second, reform the central deployment. Looking at the ministers in Handan, there are many who are mediocre and inactive, and few who are down-to-earth and capable. Or if you are a senior official, you will have nothing to do until you leave the meeting. This wind cannot last long.
Because of the establishment of a cabinet, five capable people were selected to jointly conduct state affairs and assist in government affairs. The leader of the five is called Shoufu, ranking in the first rank, and the second is called Shifu, ranking in the first rank. After that, the third assistant, fourth assistant, and finally the last assistant are no longer called names, but they all have different duties, and they are all ranked in the second rank.
All national affairs, including military affairs and the appointment and removal of officials below the third rank, are first discussed by the cabinet and then reported to the public. If there is no decision, the chief assistant can organize a vote and vote one after another to decide. The first assistant has two votes, the second assistant has one and a half votes, and the remainder has one vote.
This first cabinet group, according to my opinion, should be led by Lord Pingyuan, with Lian Po as the second assistant. General Tian Dan and Lu Qing will both join the cabinet to take orders. As for the last candidate, Lord Pingyuan is also asked to recommend someone. "
Hearing this, Mr. Pingyuan opened his mouth wide.
If the official division of eighteen levels is acceptable, after all, it is not a new thing to have the Qin State's military merit of level twenty, but this cabinet is a big deal.
Just hearing a few words from the king was enough to make Mr. Pingyuan's heart turn upside down.
Let's say he has divided the powers of the prime minister, but the original power of one person has now become five people, so the division is natural. But the rights that once belonged to the king were delegated to the cabinet. The most important of them are military power and personnel appointment and dismissal power.
Needless to say, the military, just talking about the power of appointment and removal of personnel, although the cabinet can only think of those below the third rank. Of course, Mr. Pingyuan does not know how big the third rank is, but judging from the rank of the cabinet, it is at least the position of a prefect. .
When have you ever seen a prime minister directly arrange the governor of a county?
What made Lao Lao's life worse was that the king also directly gave the last cabinet spot to Lord Pingyuan. Of course, this was also in exchange for Lu Buwei's entry into the cabinet.
But you have to know that Mr. Pingyuan's one vote is more powerful than two votes. If you add the cast-iron vote of the cabinet member you selected, although the total is still 3 to 3.5, Mr. Pingyuan obviously only needs to convince one person, even if If you stay neutral, Mr. Pingyuan will be sure of victory.
It can be said that Mr. Pingyuan can easily control almost everything in the cabinet. It seems that power has been divided, but in fact his power has been greatly increased.
The reason why Zhao Kuo did this is very simple, for the future-Pingyuan Jun can influence the cabinet because he has an ironclad vote, but what about the latecomers? Can we still have such an ironclad vote?
You must know that the cabinet members are of the second grade and must be appointed by Zhao Kuo himself.
"My king, this responsibility is very important. I thought..." After Lord Pingyuan understood his future rights, he quickly thought of refusing. Now the State of Zhao is being roasted by fire. This first minister , why not roast him on the fire?
"If Mr. Pingyuan doesn't do it, is there anyone in Zhao who can be the first assistant?" Zhao Kuo interrupted Mr. Pingyuan before he finished speaking, and then continued: "Don't worry, Mr. Pingyuan, the cabinet is just taking The one who has the idea and the one who actually does things has already thought about it."
"Oh?" Both of them were shocked when they heard this. Of course, there are some differences between surprise and astonishment.
Zhao Kuo ignored everything else and continued to talk about his plan.
"I want to establish six departments, namely officials, rituals, soldiers, households, workers, and punishments, to replace the nine ministers in the past, so as to determine the rights and responsibilities and abolish the system of redundant personnel!
There is one person in charge of each department, called Shangshu, who is in charge of the affairs of the ministry. Except for the staff department, all are ranked in the second rank of Cong. Each department has two assistant officials, called left and right ministers, who assist the Shangshu in managing the affairs of the ministry and rank in the third rank. "
Hearing this, Mr. Pingyuan frowned slightly and said, "The system of Jiuqing has been around for a long time. If we abolish it rashly, I'm afraid some people will feel resentful!"
Obviously, gradually, Lord Pingyuan was already thinking about the problem according to Zhao Kuo's thinking.
"Don't be afraid! The purpose of the Six Ministries is to divide clear authority and responsibilities, so as to remove unnecessary redundant personnel. It is not to abolish the original rights of Jiu Qing. Those who can stay will have more power than Jiu Qing. When the ministers realized this, they began to resist the restructuring and instead strived for superiority!" Zhao Kuo explained calmly.
After hearing this, Mr. Pingyuan thought for a moment, and then nodded in agreement - people are like this, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. Just like myself, although I don't have the name of Prime Minister, I have the power of Prime Minister. Why not do it?
Then Zhao Kuo continued to introduce: "The Ministry of Personnel is the head of all the ministries. It is the organ that manages civil officials. It is in charge of the system of ranking and selection, the examination and removal of officials, the canon of awards and rewards, and the final system of permanent registration. Law. The importance of his duties is not weaker than that of cabinet ministers.
Therefore, its rank is higher than that of other ministries and offices, ranking in the second rank. Starting from the servant, the rank is as usual. Subsequently, the selection of ministers of the Ministry of Personnel should be promoted to the position by capable and capable ministers from other departments, or by assistant ministers in the cabinet.
Nowadays, at this time of change, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is particularly important, and Lord Pingyuan holds it concurrently!
When choosing a minister, Lord Pingyuan will report to me, and the court will discuss it together. "
Mr. Pingyuan suddenly didn't know how to express his feelings. This could no longer be expressed by the word trust. The chief minister, the staff, and the king have almost handed over half of the country of Zhao into the hands of Lord Pingyuan.
What more can be said?
Mr. Pingyuan could only clasp his fists with both hands, bow deeply to Zhao Kuo, and said: "I will obey the king's order."
Zhao Kuo nodded, then helped Pingyuan Jun up, and continued: "The Ministry of Rites is in charge of ceremonial affairs and diplomatic matters! After the opening of the Qixian Hall, the talents will be tested, and the Ministry of Rites will be responsible for it. At the same time, I want to open one in Zhucheng The Academy is to make up for the shortage of talents, and the Ministry of Rites is also responsible for it!”
Of course, the most important responsibility of the Ministry of Rites in history was actually the imperial examination. However, Zhao Kuo obviously had no intention of taking out this killer weapon.
Yes, the imperial examination has always been the public enemy of wealthy families. It was also the machete of the imperial examination that changed history from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, where the clans shared the world, to the Song and Ming dynasties, where the scholar-bureaucrats shared the world.
clear? That thing is hard to say...
Some people died, but not completely...
