"Search the house?" Datou was stunned for a moment, then realized, "You want to arrest the doctor from the Ministry of Justice?"
"Yes." Changsheng nodded.
"This person has sinister intentions and has insulted our ancestors. We must not let him off lightly." Datou trotted to follow him while admonishing him. "But now we don't even know where the Yushitai is, nor how old we are." We are not familiar with the authority, the number of officials under his command, and the laws and regulations. Moreover, there is a crime for confiscating a house. How to determine his crime? He is a court official from the fifth rank, and we don’t know whether we need to ask for an order to arrest him. "
"I didn't say I would go immediately," Changsheng said.
Hearing Chang Sheng's words, Datou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he never thought that Chang Sheng's words had not been finished yet, and he immediately said, "Go back and prepare, we will start in the afternoon."
Seeing that Chang Sheng had made up his mind, Da Tou stopped admonishing him and quickly followed Chang Sheng and Yang Kai out of the palace.
Along the way, I met many officials who had retired from the court and left the palace. Everyone looked at Changsheng in the same way. They were all shocked and confused. No one could understand why he was able to rise to great heights, and no one could figure out who he belonged to. people.
The three of them didn't know where the imperial censor's desk was, but the other officials knew that when they were about to leave the palace, they called out to a fifth-grade courtier wearing a light red official uniform. The latter didn't know why, thinking that this was the newly appointed censor. When he was about to be stabbed, he was so frightened that his face turned pale and he was shaking like chaff. He only said that he sincerely supported him and had never opposed or slandered him in the palace before.
Changsheng was quite surprised when he saw that the other party's face turned pale with fright. Isn't it true that he was so frightened when he asked for directions?
After waiting to explain that he was just asking for directions, the latter, as if he had been granted amnesty, hurriedly introduced himself to his family, saying that his name was Jia Youdao and that he was currently a doctor in the Ministry of Rites. He then showed his hospitality and personally led the way.
Seeing that Chang Sheng and others were not very familiar with Chang'an, Jia Youdao explained all the way. Although Chang'an is divided into two cities, the east and west, it is also divided into three inner and outer cities. The inner city is the imperial palace, the middle city is commonly known as the imperial city, and the outer city is the common people. A place of residence.
In addition to the inner government that is responsible for the daily affairs of the palace, only the three core agencies of Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, and Shangshu Province work in the palace. The other major yamen, including the Six Ministries, are distributed around the imperial city, and there are also a few Distributed in the outer city, the Yushitai is located on the west side of the imperial city, north of the middle between the East City and the West City.
Hearing the man mention the three provinces, Changsheng interrupted him and said, "Master Jia, what are these three provinces doing in the palace?"
Jia Youdao knew that Changsheng had just entered the official career and was not very familiar with the official system of the imperial court, but he did not expect that he knew almost nothing about the official system. Hearing his question, he hurriedly replied, "My lord, this is a long story. Because the previous court The power of the prime minister is too heavy, so things like usurping the country often happen. Cao Pi usurped the Han, Sima Yan usurped the Wei, Liu Yu usurped the Jin, Xiao Yan usurped the Qi in the Southern Dynasty, and Yang Jian usurped the Zhou in the Northern Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty never had the post of prime minister, and the powers of the prime minister were shared by Zhongshu Sheng, Menxia Sheng, and Shangshu Sheng."
While Jia Youdao paused to take a breath, Changsheng took the opportunity to ask, "Did the Tang Dynasty never have a prime minister? Wasn't Wei Zheng the prime minister?"
Jia Youdao hurriedly replied, "Master Xiantai doesn't know something. The prime minister and the prime minister are not the same thing. The prime minister is a formal official position and is in charge of the government. One person is subordinate to ten thousand people. And the prime minister is just a respectful title. Some important ministers, including the chief officials of the three provinces, can be called prime ministers as long as they share part of the prime minister's powers. The Lord Wei Zheng you are talking about is the chief official of the province, so he can also be called prime minister."
After Jia Youdao finished speaking, Changsheng asked again, "Master Jia, which of these three provinces has the most power?"
Jia Youdao did not answer the question of Changsheng directly, because he could not answer the question of Changsheng directly. He could only explain patiently, "The responsibilities of the three provinces are different. Zhongshu Province is in charge of decision-making and is responsible for drafting and issuing the emperor's edict. The chief officer is Zhongshu Ling. The subordinate province is in charge of deliberation and is responsible for reviewing government orders and refuting corrections and violations. The chief officer is Shizhong. The Shangshu Province is in charge of execution. All government orders are implemented by the Shangshu Province, and its chief officer is Shangshu Ling."
Worried that the explanation was not clear enough, Jia Youdao added, "The reason why Mr. Wei Zheng dared to remonstrate directly was precisely because he was a minister in charge of the province, and it was both his right and his duty to remonstrate directly. Previously, from the court, Mr. Gao, who spoke for you at the last moment, is also the Minister of Menxiasheng. His words represent Menxiasheng. Since Zhongshu Sheng has proposed that you be the imperial censor, and Menxiasheng has no objections, naturally the civil and military officials cannot Say anything more."
After hearing Jia Youdao's explanation, Changsheng suddenly realized, and then asked, "If there is no draft recommendation from the Zhongshu Province, can the Menxia Province select and appoint officials?"
"No," Jia Youdao shook his head and said, "Officials below the fifth rank are selected and recommended by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Officials above the fifth rank must be appointed by the emperor, submitted to the Zhongshu Province for drafting, and then submitted to the Menxia Province for review. The Menxia Province will only object to rejection. power, not the power to appoint officials.”
Changsheng nodded slowly. It turns out that the court situation is so complicated. At present, Zhongshu Province is under the control of the emperor, while the power of Menxia Province falls into the hands of the eunuchs. As long as they disagree, many of the emperor's decrees cannot be implemented. Similarly, if the eunuchs want to promote someone, they can't do it without the emperor's consent. The two sides are in a relationship of opposition and coercion.
The situation in the palace was roughly understood, and then Changsheng asked about the situation at the Yushitai.
Although Jia Youdao is not an official in the Yushitai, he is a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, and he also knows the situation of the Yushitai very well. According to him, although the Yushitai is not as big as the six departments of Hu, Bing, Punishment, Officials, Rites, and Gong, , but it is also a very large yamen. In addition to the Yushitai itself, there are three courtyards below, namely the Taiyuan, the Dianyuan, and the Procuratorate. The Taiyuan is responsible for supervising and impeaching hundreds of court officials and hearing major and important cases. The palace is responsible for inspecting Kyoto and supervising court rites, court gatherings, and sacrifices. The Procuratorate mainly supervises and impeaches state, county and other local officials.
In a nutshell, the officials in Yushitai are the officials in charge of the officials, and the Yushi doctor is the officials in charge of the officials.
On the surface, the Yushitai is half a level lower than the Liubu. In fact, the Sixth Department is afraid of the Yushitai because they are all under the supervision of the Yushitai. As long as the Yushitai deems it necessary, they can be called to ask questions at any time. talk.
Yushitai, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment are also called the Three Law Divisions. The three Law Divisions all have the power to arrest, interrogate, and judge, but their powers do not conflict with each other. Dali Temple is mainly responsible for handling some common cases, and may be sentenced to exile or more. In major cases of punishment, the Ministry of Justice will come forward. Although the Yushitai can also arrest people for trial, its main responsibility is to supervise and impeach officials. Therefore, unless there are some particularly important cases or cases involving officials, the Yushitai will Taiwan generally does not take action easily.
However, in terms of criminal and prison powers alone, the most powerful among the three judicial departments is Yushitai, because Yushitai has the power of inspection. During the inspection process, if it is found that the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple have made mistakes in the trial, they can directly send it back for retrial or simply Take it over yourself.
Knowing the scope of his duties, he was not far from the Yushitai. He finally got in touch with Changsheng. Jia Youdao tried his best to make friends and show his goodwill, and kindly reminded him that although the post of Yushitai had been vacant for a long time, there was someone in the Yushitai. He was named Censor Zhongcheng, and his deputy performed the duties of the chief official. Moreover, this person had previously opposed the emperor's appointment as Censor Doctor in the palace.
Seeing the Yushitai in front of him, Jia Youdao was unwilling to go any further and bowed to leave.
Changsheng expressed his thanks, Jia Youdao nodded and bowed. Liandao was so honored that he turned around after taking three steps and bowed after taking five steps.
The three of them continued westward and arrived at the gate of Yushitai. Most of the government offices faced south and faced north, and Yushitai was no exception. Yushitai had three doors, one main, two auxiliary, and the middle door was one foot and two feet high. It is one foot and eight feet wide. On the door plaque are three gilded characters of Yushitai. On the left and right side of the door is a stone beast of Haechi, which is more than five feet high and symbolizes justice.
Because there are seven steps, no carriages or horses can pass through the gate. There is a spacious passage on both sides of the small door for carriages and horses to enter and exit.
There were more than a dozen officers from the headquarters on duty in front of the gate. When they saw several young officials coming in front of the gate, one of them hurriedly stepped forward to salute you, "I have met you sirs. What are you doing here?"
Before Changsheng could answer, the boss on the side took over the conversation, "We two are the new censors, and this is the appointed censor."
Although the big head is small, his voice is very loud. Hearing this, the official in front of the door hurriedly ran over to salute the three of them, "Greetings to Mr. Xiantai, I have met the two Censors."
The Yushitai is in charge of constitutional law, punishment and prison matters, so the Yushitai is also called Xiantai. As an official in charge of government, the Yushitai is also respectfully called Xiantai.
"Take us for seal verification and handover." Datou said loudly.
Without this official uniform, naturally no one would look down upon this inconspicuous dwarf in front of him, but with the official uniform on him, he suddenly felt majestic. Hearing Datou's words, the leader, the captain, hurriedly and respectfully ushered the three people into the censor's stage.
As a supervisory official and the legal yamen responsible for handling prisons, the Yushitai is much larger than the county yamen and the government yamen. It has dozens of branches and hundreds of rooms. It is connected from east to west and connected from north to south. It is such a big area.
Yamen always give people a solemn feeling, especially Yushitai. Although the courtyard is large and the house is very high, the entire Yamen feels very serious and depressing. As an owner, you have this feeling. It feels like outsiders are even more frightened when they come here.
"Has Zhongcheng come back?" Changsheng asked casually.
"My lord, Lord Zhongcheng has already returned before you." The captain replied respectfully.
"What's his last name?" Changsheng asked again.
"Sir, Mr. Zhongcheng's surname is Feng." The captain replied.
"Where is he now?" Changsheng asked again.
"Sir, I don't know how humble my position is." The captain shook his head.
Changsheng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Although the Censor's Platform is large, it is still small compared to the imperial palace. Not long after, the three of them were led by the school captain to the Censor's Hall.
The Censor's Hall is more than two feet high and more than ten feet wide. It is really grand. However, as soon as you come out of the palace, you don't feel that the Censor's Hall is very big. The door of the lobby is ajar, and you can see through the crack in the door. I saw a lot of people inside, talking loudly about something.
"Sir, there is someone in the hall." the captain said.
Upon hearing this, Changsheng turned his head and glanced at the captain.
The school captain felt weak when he saw Chang Sheng, and hurriedly lowered his head in fear, "Can you please go and inform me?"
"No, you go down first." Changsheng said coldly.
The captain responded in fear, turned around and retreated.
After the captain left, Changsheng said, "They knew we were coming, so they deliberately left the door open and talked loudly in the hall. The captain also got their instructions in advance and deliberately did not shout to disturb us, in order to make us listen. What did they say inside."
Yang Kai and Da Tou both nodded.
"Since they want us to listen, then let's listen." Changsheng said.
"Master Feng, as a court official, you should speak out and give advice, not to private matters, not to personal matters, not to individuals. Lord Xiantai will never hold grudges, retaliate, suppress or exclude people."
"Yes, Mr. Feng, you are too pessimistic. Over the years, you have fulfilled your duties and worked hard day and night. We have all seen it."
"Master Feng, in a few days it will be Mr. Attendant's birthday. If you still have to worry about it, don't worry about it."
"The Ni family has been hoarding and amassing money for profit over the years. There are many violations of the law. Although we have verified the truth, we have not made it difficult for them."
"What Lord Jiang said is that Lord Xiantai is the son-in-law of the Ni family, so he will not let the Ni family's family be scandalized and its reputation be ruined."
"Master Feng, you don't have to worry anymore. We have been working on errands for many years. Master Xiantai is new here and always asks us to help him. He will not hold a grudge and wait for an opportunity to retaliate."
"Lord Feng, you are worrying too much. Your Majesty is far-sighted and has a keen eye. The person he chooses will never be petty or despicable."
Hearing the loud discussions from everyone in the hall, Datou raised his head and looked at Changsheng, "Sir, they knew we were outside the door and they deliberately told us."
Changsheng nodded. If everyone didn't know he was outside the door, they would never speak so loudly, and they would never call him Mr. Xiantai. It is probably polite to call him Huangmao Ruzi.
"They are using both soft and hard tactics to try to make you respect your identity and avoid using other methods. They want to protect themselves but also want to dampen your spirit." Datou said.
"It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is what I think." Changsheng walked towards the Censor's Hall to the north.
The door of the lobby was ajar. Da Tou and Yang Kai took a few steps ahead and pushed open the ajar door. Everyone in the hall turned their heads when they heard the sound and looked at Changsheng in pretense of panic.
Changsheng crossed the threshold and entered the hall first. At this time, there were more than 20 officials gathered in the hall, most of them were minor officials. The only one wearing red court clothes was a middle-aged man sitting in the hall. Beard, Changsheng had an impression of him. This person had slandered him a lot in the court before.
Just when everyone was hesitating whether they should greet Changsheng, Changsheng walked straight towards Feng Zhongcheng who was sitting in the hall.
Seeing Changsheng's gloomy expression, Feng Zhongcheng panicked and stood up with his arms raised.
Before the other party could speak, Changsheng raised his hand angrily and gave Feng Zhongcheng a loud slap in the face.
Feng Zhongcheng did not expect that Changsheng would beat him in public. He was shocked and stunned on the spot.
"Do you think I can forgive you just by saying goodbye to me?" Chang Sheng said and slapped him again with his backhand.
"I, I, I..."
Before the other party could finish speaking, Changsheng slapped him again, "Are you sitting in this seat? Get out of here..."
