Chapter 55 Sixth, I still became the prime minister

The opposition of Xun, Kong Rong and others played an important role. Until the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), that is, the eve of the Battle of Chibi, the political system of the empire basically did not change. Cao Cao still served as Sikong and restored the Kyushu system The suggestion was never brought up again. During this time, except for fighting outside, Cao Cao lived in Ye County to avoid returning to Xu County to meet the emperor.However, this inconvenience is obvious.According to Sima Biao's "Continued Han Shu Baiguan Zhi", the establishment of the Sikong Mansion in the Eastern Han Dynasty was originally only more than 70 people, which obviously could not meet the actual needs, but to increase the internal organization and establishment on a large scale, there must be an explanation.

In June of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao ordered the reform of the court's political system, abolished the Sangong, and restored the prime minister. The central political system of the Han Dynasty was the system of the three lords and nine ministers, but in terms of its specific content, it was different in the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties.Since the Western Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, the three princes refer to the prime minister, Taiwei, and Yushi doctor respectively. They are not subordinate to each other, but they are restricted, and they are all directly responsible to the emperor; Jiuqing refers to Fengchang (in charge of ancestral temple etiquette) and Weiwei (in charge of palace security). , Lang Zhongling (in charge of palace guards), Tai Pu (in charge of court chariots and horses), Dian Ke (in charge of minority affairs and diplomacy), Ting Wei (in charge of justice), Zhi Su Nei Shi (in charge of finance and taxation), Zongzheng (in charge of the royal family Affairs), Shaofu (in charge of taxation and handicrafts of mountains, rivers, lakes and seas).The Sangong of the Eastern Han Dynasty refers to Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong, and Jiuqing refers to Taichang (in charge of ceremonies), Guang Luxun, Wei Wei (in charge of palace and provincial guards), Tai Pu (in charge of royal chariots and horses), and Ting Wei (in charge of justice) , Dahonglu (in charge of receiving princes and ethnic minorities), Zongzheng (in charge of royal affairs), Dasinong (in charge of national financial revenue and expenditure), and Shaofu (in charge of emperor's clothing).

Although the three princes of the Western Han Dynasty were not affiliated with each other, the status of the prime minister was obviously higher than that of the doctor Yushi and the Taiwei.Compared with the three princes of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the prime minister has greater power, which can be seen from its internal organization and establishment. The prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty has thirteen cao, which is equivalent to thirteen departments, and the standard establishment is 380 two people. These main departments are: Xicao, responsible for the appointment of officials in the prime minister's mansion; Dongcao, responsible for the promotion and promotion of government officials, including generals in the army, two thousand stones are equivalent to the ministerial level, which is local The first level of the prefect is equivalent to a general in the army, and this department has great power; Hu Cao is responsible for sacrifices and farming; Zou Cao is responsible for managing all the chapters of the government, which is equivalent to the Privy Council in the Tang Dynasty and the General Secretary in the Ming Dynasty; Ci Cao, in charge of civil legal proceedings; Fa Cao, in charge of transportation and post offices, etc.; Wei Cao, in charge of transportation, similar to the governor of water transportation in the Qing Dynasty; Thief Cao, in charge of investigating and handling thieves; Judgment Cao, in charge of criminal trials; Bing Cao, in charge of military service; Cao is responsible for managing currency, salt and iron; Cang Cao is responsible for managing the national grain depot; Huang Cao is equivalent to the General Affairs Office of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

From the functions of these internal departments, it can be seen that the prime minister's office is actually a standard small cabinet, with personnel, administration, economy, transportation, justice, diplomacy, and military all involved.Because of its great power, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty attached great importance to Shangshutai, and gradually transferred power from the prime minister to a group of secretaries around him, weakening the power of the prime minister.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, a new Sangong was simply set up to divide the power of the prime minister into three to check and balance each other.

From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, there has always been a struggle surrounding imperial power and prime minister power. Whether the emperor is strong or not has become the focus of determining the outcome of the struggle.In the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign relatives and eunuchs were involved in the political struggle, and the situation became more complicated.Sangong has been completely marginalized in the real political situation until Cao Cao became Sikong. The reform of the political system in the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208) did not encounter much resistance. Everyone was already mentally prepared for Cao Cao to become prime minister. change.

There is a small reason for this political reform.At the beginning of this year, Situ Zhao Wen suddenly recruited Cao Pi, that is, recruited Cao Pi to work in Situ's mansion.Because of Cao Pi's special status, Zhao Wen's proposal was not intended to please outsiders and Cao Cao himself, but a bit of a spoof, which offended Cao Cao, and Zhao Wen was dismissed from office. As the only serving official with the same status as Cao Cao in name, Zhao Wen's life is not easy. He is always worried that he will do something wrong, or violate Cao Cao's taboo, which will cause his death.This kind of mentality of being big and attracting the wind has always influenced Zhao Wen, who was born as a scholar-bureaucrat.At this time, Zhao Wen was more fortunate than unfortunate to be dismissed from office because of a small and shameful incident.

Therefore, some people think that Zhao Wen may have done this on purpose, with the purpose of getting out of his body.After Zhao Wen was dismissed, only Cao Cao was left among the three princes. At this time, when the prime minister was restored, Cao Cao became the only candidate as a matter of course. In June, Emperor Xian ordered Taichangqing Xu to go to Ye County with the emperor's talisman to worship Cao Cao as prime minister.Xu was the hero who escaped from Yuan Shu and returned the Jade Seal of Chuan Kingdom to the Han Dynasty.According to the "Book of the Later Han Xu Biography", Cao Cao also declined the appointment politely, and even gave up the prime minister to Xu Dang.No matter how mentally handicapped or obsessed with officials, Xu would definitely not dare to agree to this kind of thing, and would resolutely refuse it.

Therefore, Cao Cao officially became the prime minister, and at the same time appointed Xi Xi as the imperial doctor. In addition to the prime minister, the three princes of the Western Han Dynasty also had the three positions of imperial doctor and Taiwei.When Cao Cao restored the prime minister system this time, he also restored the Yushi doctor, but did not restore the Taiwei.Some people think that Doctor Yushi is very important, equivalent to "Deputy Prime Minister". It is really surprising that Cao Cao gave such an eye-catching position to the little-known Xi Ji. Chi Chi, courtesy name Hongyu, was born in Gaoping County, Shanyang State, Yanzhou Inspector Department, the same county as Liu Biao.He entered Cao Cao's camp relatively late, but he has a special status: Zheng Xuan's student, which made him a lot of honor.With Zheng Xuan's unrivaled status in the cultural circle at that time, his students Cui Yan, Guoyuan, Wang Ji and others also enjoyed high popularity in the society, and they were all highly valued after joining Cao Cao's camp.

Xi Xi was taught by Zheng Xuan since he was a child. He came to Xu County in the early years of Jian'an, and was recommended by Cao Cao as a servant.Emperor Xian was obviously disapproving of this appointment. He once asked Kong Rong, Minister of the Shaofu, in front of Xiji: "What are the characteristics and strengths of Mr. Xi (what are Hongyu's strengths)?" Kong Rong was already a little upset seeing Xi Ji walking lightly and calmly. He stood beside him regardless of the person involved, and replied to Emperor Xian, "You can send him to stand guard on the side of the road, but you can't let him take power. with rights)."

Hitting people without slapping them in the face, hurting others without revealing their faults, and being so insulted face to face, Xi Ji was very angry. He retorted: "Kong Rong was in charge of the Beihai Kingdom back then. He was negligent in politics and the people were scattered. Where is his ability?" Xi Xi identified Kong Rong as his enemy, so he must find an opportunity to punish him. Zhao Wen's notice of dismissal was delivered by Xi Xi (considering the festival, he was exempted from the official), Xi Xi's seniority was low, and he had a bad relationship with Kong Rong and other old scholar-bureaucrats. What Cao Cao needs is to promote Chi Chi to a doctor of imperial censor who is higher than Jiuqing. Although it is surprising in the eyes of outsiders, it is very in line with Cao Cao's ideas.

After Cao Cao became the prime minister, he immediately started to promote the construction of the prime minister's mansion and selected various personnel.Basically all the personnel from the former Sikong Mansion were transferred to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and at the same time, some new people were selected and transferred according to the needs of the increase in the internal institutions of the Prime Minister's Mansion. For everyone who transferred from the Sikong Mansion to the Prime Minister's Mansion, the nature of the work may not change much, but the income can increase a lot.For example, the chief (掾) first-level official in Sikong Mansion has a rank of 300 to 400 shi, a monthly salary of 30 to 40 hu, and the rank of the deputy director (掾) is Two hundred shi, the monthly salary is about 20 hu, and after being transferred to the prime minister's mansion, the rank of the director (掾) is promoted to 400 shi to 600 shi, and the monthly salary is increased to 45 to 70 hu. Although the rank of Chang (genus) is still 200 shi, the monthly salary can be increased to more than 30 hu. During those days, everyone was immersed in the joy of salary increase. Among the various departments (Cao) of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the two departments of Xicao and Dongcao are in charge of personnel and are responsible for selecting senior officials from the local area to the army, and their status is the most important.Cao Cao transferred Cui Yan from Jizhou Biejia to serve as the director of Xicao (西曹掾), and transferred Mao to be the director of Dongcao (Dong Cao掾). This was the beginning of the two of them being in charge of personnel work for a long time. As early as two years ago, when Cao Cao marched west to Bingzhou, he left Cao Pi to guard Ye County, and Cui Yan assisted Cao Pi as Jizhou Biejia.During this period, Cao Pi became obsessed with hunting activities and did not concentrate on his work.Cui Yan did not turn a blind eye because of his status as the eldest son. He wrote a sharply worded letter to Cao Pi, asking Cao Pi to think carefully about how Yuan Shao and his son failed. Use your mind to get down to business. In the face of Cui Yan, who dared to speak out, Cao Pi had no choice but to obey. He said to Cui Yan: "Yesterday, I saw the earnest instruction written by my husband, asking me to burn the hunting equipment and throw away the hunting clothes. Now the equipment has been burned. , I also threw away the hunting suit. If I make similar mistakes in the future, please teach me in time, sir (there will be a comparison of this later, and I will teach you again)." The attitude is quite sincere.After Cao Cao knew about this, he also admired Cui Yan very much. When Cao Cao appointed Cui Yan as Dongcao, he said to him: "Sir, you have the demeanor of Boyi and the integrity of Shi Yu. Greedy people will become honest when they hear your name, and strong men will become more honest when they hear your name." Bravery (greedy husbands are respected by fame, strong men are honored and fierce), sir, can be called an example of the times, so I appoint you as Dong Cao." Mao was engaged in personnel work in the Sikong Mansion. He was known for his integrity and fairness. He had no selfish desires, no greed, no bad habits, no cliques, no cliques, and the courage to offend others. These are the necessary conditions for doing personnel work. , Cao Cao handed over the power of selecting officials to him. Both Western Cao and Eastern Cao are in charge of personnel affairs, but the division of labor is different. For example, one is like the organization department, and the other is like the personnel department. Cui Yan and Mao both do a good job. Sima Yi, Gao Rou, Liu Ye, Pei Qian, Fu Gan, Yang Xiu, Wang Guan, etc. served successively as the chief (掾) and deputy chief (掾) in the other eleven departments (Cao) of the prime minister's mansion. Yang Jun, Xu Miao, Xin Pi, Wen Hui, Xue Xia, Wang Ling and others, most of them have been introduced before. There are also two positions in the prime minister's mansion. Their status and role are higher than those of the general director. One is the chief secretary, which is similar to the director of the office, and the other is the long history. Secretary-General of the Prime Minister's Mansion.After Cao Cao became prime minister, Sima Lang, Sima Yi's elder brother, was the first director-in-chief, and Sima Yi also held this position later.Du Xi, Xu Yi, Xin Pi, Wang Bi, Yang Xiu and others served as the chief minister of the prime minister's mansion. In addition, there are some relatively independent departments "affiliated" in the prime minister's mansion, mainly military-related departments, including various military staff members of Cao Cao.It is said that they are "affiliated" because there is no establishment for them in the traditional prime minister's mansion. In Cao Cao's prime minister's mansion, there are many of them, and there are several names: Military advisers: Xun You, Zhong Yao, Hua Xin, Liang Mao, Mao, Cheng Gongying, etc. successively served as military advisers; military advisers for sacrificial wine: Guo Jia, Dong Zhao, Wang Lang, Wang Can, Du Xi, Liu Fang, Sun Zi, etc. served successively Pass; Military strategist: Xu Miao, Tian Yu, Qianzhao, Gao Tanglong, Jia Hong, Xue Xia, Kuixi, Han Xuan, Linghu Shao and others have served successively; Prime Minister Military: He Kui, Jia Xu, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Pei Qian, Liu Fang, Sun Zi, Xing, Chen Qun, Zhang Fan, Zhang Cheng, Zhong Changtong, Chen Qun, Wei Zhen and others have served successively. The above-mentioned people formed Cao Cao's General Staff Department, and their positions were similar to the Chief of General Staff, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Senior Staff, Chief of Staff, Staff, etc., forming a powerful staff team to serve Cao Cao's military operations . It can be said that the prime minister's mansion absorbed the best talents at that time. They worked beside Cao Cao and actually took on the task of managing the entire "Cao Tong District".Cao Cao likes to put some outstanding talents by his side to train first, and then send them to local governors, county prefects, county magistrates, or field officials. The prime minister's mansion thus became a training base for high-level talents. It is an honor to be able to work in the prime minister's mansion.