Chapter 28 5. The boss is very reliable and the employees are very capable

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the system of three provinces and six ministries in the central government, that is, the emperor set up three provinces, Zhongshu Province, Shangshu Province and Menxia Province.Zhongshu Province is responsible for drafting government orders, Menxia Province is responsible for reviewing government orders, and Shangshu Province is responsible for implementing them.Those who are responsible for drafting government orders, those who are responsible for implementing government orders, and those who are responsible for reviewing are called the three provinces.Under Shangshu Province, six ministries were established, namely officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers.

The functions of the six ministries are different. The Ministry of Officials is responsible for the assessment, appointment and removal of officials, which is equivalent to our personnel department and organization department today.The Ministry of Households is responsible for household registration and finance and taxation, which is equivalent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance plus the State Administration of Taxation, similar to this kind of agency.The fattest of these six is ​​the Ministry of Accounting, and He Shen is so corrupt because he has been the Minister of the Ministry of Accounting for more than 20 years.

Theoretically speaking, the six ministers are the largest official ministers, because they manage officials!But in fact, in the Qing Dynasty, according to the order of promotion of the six ministers, the minister of the household department was the best. If the household department wanted to be transferred to the official department, it felt a bit demoted.You were transferred from the Family Planning Commission to the National Development and Reform Commission. Can you be in charge of family planning the same as the one in charge of the national economy?In the institutional reform of our State Council, the ministries and commissions are definitely not sorted according to the strokes of the surnames, but according to the degree of importance.The first one is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the second one is the Ministry of National Defense. Why don't you put my Family Planning Commission first in this ranking? Impossible!

The Ministry of Rites is in charge of etiquette and education, and even undertakes some diplomatic functions.The Ministry of War is in charge of military administration, including the assessment, appointment and removal of generals, and military administration is the recruitment of the army.The Ministry of Punishment is in charge of criminal law, judicial punishment and prisons.The Ministry of Industry is in charge of construction.This is the specific system of three provinces and six ministries, which was created by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and perfected in the Tang Dynasty.For example, the Ministry of Households was originally called the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but it was changed to the Ministry of Households in order to avoid Li Shimin's taboo.

The division of labor among the three provinces divided the prime minister's power into three, which weakened the prime minister's power and strengthened the imperial power.In the history of the world, there is a separation of powers. The separation of powers in others is the imperial power, the power of the president, and the power of the supreme ruler. Our separation of powers is the power of phases. One is to weaken the dictatorship, and the other is to strengthen the dictatorship.Because the power of the prime minister is too great a threat to the imperial power. For example, the prime minister in the Qin and Han Dynasties had great power and had the right to "seal, rebut and remonstrate disputes". What is "seal, rebut and remonstrate disputes"?The emperor's imperial decree and draft decrees need the approval of the prime minister. If the prime minister thinks it is inappropriate, he will not approve it, seal it up, reject it, write his own opinion in the back, and make changes according to my method. This is like a newspaper editor reviewing a manuscript. , has the right to revise or shoot the manuscript.Then the emperor and the prime minister went on a spring outing, and when they met outside, they had to get out of the car and salute each other, especially when the prime minister saluted, and the emperor returned the salute.Every time the prime minister finished his salute, the emperor had to return the salute.So at that time, the monarch and his ministers jointly ruled the world.

Who contributed the most to the establishment of the Han Dynasty?Xiao He contributed the most.Liu Bang is a ruffian, born as a scoundrel, and knew nothing when he debuted.I don't know why these people keep him. He said himself, I am a person who knows nothing. I have a million troops. I will conquer every attack and win every battle. I am not as good as Han Xin.In strategizing and decisively winning thousands of miles away, it is not as good as Zhang Liang.It is not as good as Xiao He to appease the people and deliver food and salaries.But these three people listen to me, so I have the world.But without Xiao He, what would Zhang Liang and Han Xin do?Fighting is fighting for money. Xiao He appeases the people, appeases the rear, and sends food to the frontlines. He is responsible for keeping the overall situation of the country in order. His contribution is the greatest.

So Xiao He paid homage to the prime minister, and the emperor gave him three privileges: "When you see the king, you don't follow him, you don't get a name as a minister, and you go to the palace with your sword".Seeing the king does not tend: In the past, the emperor just sat there. When you come in, you have to run. Only by trotting over can you show respect to the emperor.But Xiao He can swagger, the Lord is here. Calling a minister without a name: In ancient China, calling someone by their first name was the same as swearing at him, and you could only call him by his name.Look at our TV series, it's called Tan Sitong, Brother Sitong...Brother Sitong must smoke you.You call it that, you dig people’s ancestral graves, don’t you? In "Towards the Republic", Li Hongzhang is so old, and he is outstanding when he meets Liang Qichao!It's not Qi Chao.Ma Chao wrote a letter to the emperor of the Shu Kingdom, Meng De killed more than a hundred members of my family, and he killed more than a hundred members of yours. You have to call him Meng De, otherwise it will prove that you are uneducated.What happened to Gong Jin, what happened to Kong Ming, you can't say what happened to Zhuge Liang, what happened to Zhou Yu, that won't work.The name is self-proclaimed, no one else can call you, only the emperor can call you by name, and you must also report your name when you see the emperor.And the emperor didn't need to report Xiao He's meeting, as long as the minister saw him, it was over, needless to say that the minister Xiao He saw him.This is also one of the privileges.

Go to the temple with sword shoes: You can wear shoes and go to the temple with a sword.Because at that time they all sat on the ground, and they should take off their shoes when entering the door.In the future, if the prime minister is a bull, the emperor will grant these three privileges, so the power of the prime minister is too great. The prime minister's subordinate officer is called Thirteen Cao, which is equivalent to the General Office of the State Council.The Thirteen Caos are official state agencies, and the chief officer ranks thousands of stones. He is paid by the state and is at the same level as the county magistrate.

The emperor's official is Shangshutai.Shangshu, as the name suggests, may have been in charge of documents and archives for the emperor. It is equivalent to the emperor's secretary.It means that the rank of the emperor's subordinate officials is lower than that of the prime minister. Not only is it lower, but the salary is not paid by the state, but the emperor pays for it himself. If you don't pay, you don't have to hire him. One is the General Office of the State Council, and the other is the personal assistant to the president. Your status is incomparable to others.From this point of view, it still shows that the relative power is great.

So how does the emperor weaken the power of the prime minister?I discuss everything with these ministers. The Shangshutai sets up a minister, and the subordinate province sets up a servant.Although these people's grades are low, they spend all day with the emperor, and their status is very important.When it developed to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the prime minister basically became a false title, and the person who really held the real power must add such a title-the general records the affairs of the minister, the general controls the military general, and the minister manages the civil servants. Basically.

But this great general Lu Shangshushi is still alone.Although it is no longer called a prime minister, its strength is equivalent to a prime minister, and it poses a threat to the imperial power.At that time, the monarch and his ministers ruled the world together. The prime minister and the emperor, who had more power, completely depended on the personalities of the two people. If it was the Qinhuang Hanwu period, it must be the imperial power. , and ignore the government, then the power will fall to the side.Therefore, before the Sui Dynasty, there were many books and records about the usurpation of the throne by powerful officials.Often, if you become the prime minister, you have the opportunity to usurp the throne. Cao Cao became the prime minister, which is basically equivalent to usurping the throne. His son helped him complete this move.Then, decades later, Cao Wei was usurped by Prime Minister Sima.Especially in the troubled times of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, if you became the prime minister and did not usurp the throne, the common people would be anxious for you. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, also usurped the Northern Zhou throne after he became prime minister, so once he became emperor, he was afraid that this kind of thing would happen to his descendants. For the sake of the great Sui Dynasty, what should we do?Weaken power. Nominally weakening the power of the prime minister, it is said that it is divided into three, but in fact it is more than that.The chief and deputy chiefs of the three provinces are all prime ministers, and they are all in the political affairs hall.And as long as an official can enter the political affairs hall to discuss matters, he is actually equivalent to a prime minister.The chief and deputy chiefs of the three provinces are roughly these: the chiefs of Zhongshu and Shangshu provinces are called Ling, and the deputy chiefs are called Pushe.Zhongshu Ling, Shangshu Ling, Zhongshu Zuopushe, Zhongshu Youpushe, Shangshu Zuopushe, Shangshu Youpushe.Then the chief of the province under the door is called Shizhong, and the deputy chief is called Shilang.The chief of the six ministries is called Shangshu, and the deputy chief is also called Shilang.So in this way, the chief and deputy chief executives of the three provinces are all prime ministers, three out of three get nine, and one person's power is divided into nine.Of course, not every emperor had such a complete official system when he was in power. For example, when Li Shimin was the king of Qin, he served as a minister of the book. Emperor Taizong has done this job, who of you is worthy of this job?Hereby cancel. In any case, there are generally six or seven, seven or eight prime ministers.After Zhongzong and Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty, the emperor established a position called Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin.This position is a temporary position, no matter how many officials you are now, as long as this title is added to you, you are equivalent to a prime minister.If the emperor wants to promote you, he will add this title to you and enter the political affairs hall to discuss affairs. You are equivalent to a prime minister.In this way, the prime minister has changed from fixed to temporary.Its advantage is that if a formally appointed prime minister wants to be dismissed, there is a set of strict procedures. Now this is a temporary prime minister, and the emperor can dismiss this temporary worker as soon as he wants.For example, the promotion of national civil servants should be promoted step by step.Section chiefs, deputy directors, directors, deputy directors, directors, deputy directors, and directors should be promoted in an orderly manner.But then you don't want to be promoted, I'll give you a title and that's it.If you are the director now, I will give you a third grade under Tongzhong Shumen, and you will be equivalent to the deputy prime minister.The advantage is that one day I will look down on you, once I take this title off, you will go back to be your director, which is very convenient.So in the future, since the third grade under Tongzhongshumen was established, the chiefs of these three provinces became empty titles.Not even set. When it was time for Zhongshuling to retire, he originally wanted to choose a new one, but he didn't choose it now, and left it empty.Even if it is set up, it is for the kind of veteran who is about to die in two years, let him honor it.You don't enter the political affairs hall when you are too old to discuss matters, and you can't discuss matters. You even forget your surname. .The ones who are really in power are the temporary replacements of Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Sanpin, who come and go at the discretion of the emperor. In ancient China, officials of the first and second ranks wore purple robes.Li said: "Yesterday I thought the ragged coat was cold, but today I think the purple python is long." Then the third, fourth, and fifth ranks are red robes, the sixth and seventh ranks are blue robes, that is, green robes (Jiangzhou Sima's green shirt is wet), eighth and ninth ranks are red robes, and officials of the sixth and seventh ranks are blue robes. The official is the green robe.So there is an idiom in China that describes a family full of high-ranking officials, saying that their family is full of nobles, except for the red ones, the purple ones.What is said now is red and purple, and the meaning is roughly the same. In this case, if the temporary prime minister is a small official with a green shirt, I will give you the title of the third grade under the Tongzhongshu sect. You only need to change the color of the official uniform, just change the clothes, from the green shirt to the green shirt. The purple one is over.When the emperor doesn't want to see you anymore, once the title is removed, you can go back and put on your director's official uniform, take off the red robe or the purple robe, and put on the blue one. Having said so much, it is just to illustrate the method that the emperors of the Sui and Tang Dynasties came up with to weaken the power of the prime minister. It not only divided the power of prime minister into three, but more importantly, it later transformed the post of prime minister into a temporary worker and became the emperor's handyman. kid.It was at this time in ancient China that the prime ministers changed from one prime minister to a nest, and from a single prime minister to a group prime minister. Confucius advocated quality education, and now we also advocate quality education. How did the thousands of years of exam-oriented education come from the Sui and Tang Dynasties? At that time, with the decline of the noble families and the rise of the common landlords, the Jiupin Zhongzheng System, which emphasized family status since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, could not continue.It is no longer possible to rely on gentry landlords to monopolize official positions.So Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty began to think of other tricks, and started the imperial examination.Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty abolished the nine-rank Zhongzheng and began to divide the examinations into different subjects.Although the imperial examination system has been abolished, Chinese intellectuals have become accustomed to the examination papers for more than a thousand years, so the reason why students today do their examination papers with big brains is because they were given one during the Sui Dynasty. Although it is said that "what is achieved on paper is always superficial", the system at that time was still very objective and effective. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Jinshi and Mingjing were the main subjects.Wu Zetian created martial arts examinations and palace examinations, not only civil examinations can be used for imperial examinations, but also military examinations.In addition, the palace examination was created, that is, the emperor personally examines you.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examinations were held in the Palace of Preservation in the Forbidden City. The emperors of the three generations, like Kang, Yonggan, basically set the questions and invigilated the examinations themselves. During the Kaiyuan period, senior officials presided over the examination.As soon as the TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" was staged, He Shen always went to preside over the exam, and He Shen was equivalent to the prime minister.In this way, the imperial examination system was gradually formed through several generations of emperors including Emperor Wen, Yangdi, Taizong, Wu Zetian, and Xuanzong. Its formation is a very big event in Chinese history. There are several functions of the formation of the imperial examination system.First, break the monopoly of official careers by aristocratic families, "Wang, Xie, Yuan, Xiao", those surnames, these guys used to monopolize official careers.It is no longer possible. The imperial examination suppresses the powerful and expands the source of officials.In fact, it also played a role in alleviating class contradictions.Because the landlords of the common clan can also pass the imperial examination to become officials, and no longer envy those wimps among the high-ranking lords who can be officials from birth, and will rely purely on their ability to make a living in the future. Second, improve the cultural quality of officials.It links reading and examinations with being an official, so it improves the cultural quality of officials.It turns out that the possibility of such an illiterate person becoming an official no longer exists.Of course, the actual selection of officials in the Tang Dynasty was still dominated by the sons of the gentry, not the imperial examination system, and even the imperial examination system had status restrictions, not farmers.It was not until the Song Dynasty that heroes began to participate regardless of their provenance. Anyone can participate. In addition, the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty was not something you wanted to take, and you could pass it in one test. It was very difficult.At that time, Jinshi and Mingjing were two subjects. The Mingjing subject was to fill in the blanks. The master said when to learn it, you fill in one and you are done.But Mingjing is easy to take the exam, so you can't be a high-ranking official after you pass the exam. Jinshi is particularly difficult to take the exam.You have to write a paper on poetry, music, current affairs, major national policies, and whether the Olympics should be held.People in the Tang Dynasty called the Fifty Young Scholars and the Thirty Old Masters. At the age of 30, the Mingjing test belongs to the old Mingjing, because it is easy, and at the age of 50, it belongs to the young Jinshi, because it is difficult.The average life expectancy of people in the Tang Dynasty was 29. What is the concept of being a Jinshi at the age of 50? You have to compete with others for life expectancy.When you put everyone else to death, you live the longest, and after finishing the test paper with ginseng in your mouth, it looks like you have been taking the test for the rest of your life in retrospect.Literati have spent their entire lives taking exams, so do they still have time to figure out how to rebel?Scholars don't think about rebellion, let alone a bunch of illiterates who have been sold and counted money for you, let alone rebellion! So Tang Taizong's favorite thing to do is to inspect the examination room.That exam is not like the college entrance examination today, which is taken every year. At that time, the Jinshi exam was taken every three years.Every time Tang Taizong went to the examination room, he saw that everyone came happily, and then went back dejectedly; three years later, he came happily, then went back dejectedly, and came again three years later.Watching this group of people's black hair get white hair in the test.Emperor Taizong of Tang said with great joy in body and mind, "The heroes of the world have fallen into my trap!" You have all been fooled and fell into my trap.Then people in the Tang Dynasty wrote poems, "Emperor Taizong really made a long-term strategy, and he made a hero's life." You let him take the exam, let him fail the exam, give him a hope, and he can't pass the exam. It's all gone. After all, there are very few people like Hong Xiuquan who rebelled without doing it once, so some people say that an important function of the imperial examination is to cage people with lofty ideals.Especially later, when farmers in the Song Dynasty could take the exam, class conflicts were further eased.If the peasants want to become officials, they don't need to rebel and grab them. As long as they "read the Six Classics diligently at the window", they will be done.So the reason why China's ancient traditional society was stubborn and unshakable for so long was because the ruling class was too powerful. Later, during the Enlightenment Movement in the 18th century, the Chinese imperial examination system was introduced to Europe, forming the modern civil service system in Europe today.Later, it was passed back to China and called the National Civil Service Examination, which is actually the imperial examination system.For example, I studied history, and our party won the election, so I was able to serve as the Minister of Defense.How can a history student serve as the Minister of Defense? Do you know business?I don't need to understand business, as long as the deputy director knows, because the deputy director is admitted.If you get the highest score in the exam, you will be admitted to the deputy ministerial level. The minister is a politician, and the deputy minister is a bureaucrat. It is a profession. Politicians are unprofessional, and it doesn’t matter if they are unprofessional. The Minister of Defense is responsible for Canadian policy, and it is enough for a group of professional consultants who have been admitted to give advice on Canadian policy.Moreover, the main task of the Minister of Defense is to go to Congress to ask for money and funds, and he is not really expected to go to war, so anyone can do this.Japan’s cabinet changes so fast, the prime minister is finished in one year, and all the ministers are replaced as soon as the prime minister is finished. How can the country be fine with such a big change?Because the deputy department level is stable, it doesn't matter how many unprofessional ministers are replaced.Therefore, civil servants in modern times were all admitted through the imperial examination system, which made the political situation particularly stable.