Chapter 25 "Separation of powers" to achieve a balance of power

Although most of the political systems of the Tang Dynasty originated from the Sui Dynasty, the truly effective implementation, improvement and innovation were undoubtedly completed in the hands of Tang Taizong Li Shimin.In other words, the Zhenguan era can be said to be a foundational era and establishment era of the nearly 300-year history of the Tang Dynasty.Some of the important systems, such as the imperial examination system, were inherited and followed by successive dynasties, thus profoundly affecting the history of China for more than 1,200 years. In ancient China, the core of the political system was actually the prime minister system.One of the important frames of reference to examine a dynasty’s system creation, governance gains and losses, and political enlightenment is its prime minister system.Because the prime minister is the head of a hundred officials, the head of a group of bureaucrats, and the leader and representative of the entire imperial bureaucracy.Therefore, by examining the scope and mode of operation of Xiangquan itself, and examining the relationship between Xiangquan and monarchy, we can gain an in-depth understanding of the political system of a dynasty.

Throughout the political history of China, the prime minister system has roughly experienced three stages of evolution: the three metric systems in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the three provinces system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the cabinet system in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (called the Military Aircraft Department in the Qing Dynasty).Although the system is constantly evolving, it basically follows a common trend, that is, the earlier the era, the heavier the power of the prime minister; the later the era, the lighter the power of the prime minister. The decline of Xiangquan naturally means the promotion of monarchy.In this sense, the history of China's political system is a history in which the power of the prime minister is constantly weakened and the power of the monarchy is constantly strengthened; the whole evolution trend is that the politics is constantly tending towards imperial autocracy and personal dictatorship.After Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister, whether it was the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty or the military aircraft department of the Qing Dynasty, it was actually just a secretarial team of the emperor.Compared with the prime ministers in the Han and Tang Dynasties, the power and status held by the cabinet scholars and military ministers in Ming and Qing Dynasties are not comparable. The occasional appearance of a powerful chief assistant like Zhang Juzheng is only a special case and not the norm.

From the changes in the etiquette of the monarch and his ministers alone, we can vividly see how this system of respecting the emperor and ministers was strengthened step by step: from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when the emperor and the prime minister discussed politics together, the prime minister could sit down, There is also the courtesy of giving tea, which is the so-called "in ancient times, there was the ritual of sitting and discussing with the three princes", and the monarch and his ministers could "sit" and discuss the Tao; in the Song Dynasty, the seat of the prime minister was removed, and he could only stand and talk with the emperor Speaking; from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ministers were deprived of even the qualification to stand in front of the emperor, unless the emperor let you flatten your body, otherwise you can only kneel and play.

The deepening process of Chinese-style autocratic monarchy can be seen here. But looking at it the other way around, before the Song Dynasty, especially during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the constraints on prime minister power were undoubtedly the least. Compared with the Han Dynasty, the prime minister system of the Tang Dynasty has a major difference: the Han Dynasty adopted the "leadership system", that is, the prime minister alone holds the administrative power of the country; the Tang Dynasty adopted the "committee system", which means that the power of the prime ministers was dispersed Several departments that restrict each other are jointly responsible by many people; various edicts of the emperor and all the highest government orders of the country must be repeatedly discussed and discussed by several departments before they can be promulgated and implemented. Therefore, it can also be said that the implementation of the Tang Dynasty It is a kind of "collective power".

Li Shimin knew that even if a person is an emperor, even if he is wise, his abilities are limited and he will inevitably make mistakes.The accumulation of various small mistakes may lead to fatal mistakes.On this point, Li Shimin once criticized Yang Jian, the former Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty: "Everything is decided by oneself, although it is hard work, it is not reasonable." Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty could be regarded as a diligent emperor, but his problem was precisely that he was too diligent, always monopolizing power and doing everything by himself, and the result may not be good.

It is precisely because of such political wisdom that Li Shimin was able to create a new prime minister system that is more complete and more administratively effective on the basis of the Sui Dynasty and the Wude political system. There is a view that the reason why the Tang Dynasty implemented the three-province system and the collective power of prime ministers was to disperse the power of the prime ministers and tilt the "weight" to the emperor's side.In other words, the emperor wants to concentrate all power in his own hands. At first glance, this view seems plausible, but in fact it does not conform to historical facts.

In Chinese history, the monarchy has almost never been clearly restricted, and what is commendable is that the Zhengshitang in the Zhenguan period had a clear delineation of the scope of the monarchy.According to the prime minister system in the early Tang Dynasty, any edict issued by the emperor must be collectively studied and approved by the Zhengshitang meeting, and then stamped with the seal of "Zhongshumenxia" before it can be sent to the Ministry of Ministers for execution.If the emperor directly issued an edict without the seal of "Zhongshu Menxia", it would be considered illegal at that time, and various lower-level agencies may not recognize it.

This is the restriction of the prime minister's power on the monarchy in the Zhenguan period. Although the restriction of the prime minister's power on the monarchy was gradually abolished and could not be effectively continued, even in the era of Wu Zetian's dictatorship, this tradition was still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The "Liu Yizhi Incident" that happened at that time is a typical example. In the third year of Chuigong (AD 687), Liu Yizhi, who was the prime minister at the time, was dissatisfied with Wu Zetian's "professional system in the court", so he privately shared with Fengge Sheren (During Wu Zetian's period, Zhongshu Province was changed to Fengge, Menxia Province was renamed Luantai ) Jia Dayin complained, saying that the Wu family should return power to Li Tang, "to reassure the world".Jia Dayin immediately informed Wu Zetian.Wu Zetian was very displeased, and has held a grudge ever since.Soon after, Wu Zetian made some charges and issued an imperial edict to punish Liu Yizhi.After the imperial emissary read the imperial edict to Liu Yizhi, Liu Yizhi took the imperial edict and looked at it, and immediately said dismissively, "If you don't pass through Fengge Luantai, what is it called?" ")

Wu Zetian was furious, and then ordered Liu Yizhi to die in the name of "refusing to defend the envoy". This is a famous story in Chinese political history.Liu Yizhi's stern question to the emissary not only represented the minister's resistance to the emperor, but also fully explained the profound influence of the Zhenguan tradition on later generations.That's why when the prime minister's power was violated by the monarchy, Liu Yizhi was able to fight so confidently. Although this kind of confrontation is weak and insignificant, it can't improve Liu Yizhi's situation at all, let alone save him from being killed, but it is enough to leave a light worthy of admiration in the yellowed history.

And the source of this ray of light is the system model jointly created by the Zhenguan monarch and ministers headed by Li Shimin. If it is said that the purpose of Li Shimin's implementation of the three-provincial system and collective prime ministership was to weaken the prime minister's power and strengthen the monarchy, then in the prime minister system in the early Tang Dynasty, why did the emperor's edict have to be affixed with the seal of Zhongshumen to take effect?Why in the era of Wu Zetian's dictatorship, Prime Minister Liu Yizhi can still rely on this tradition of chastity to openly confront Wu Zetian, who represents the monarchy?

It can be seen that the so-called emperor of the Tang Dynasty dispersed the power of the prime minister in order to strengthen the monarchy is simply untenable. In fact, the starting point and essential spirit of the Zhenguan political system is not to weaken the power of any party, but to check and balance the power of all parties.This kind of check and balance not only exists between the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang, but also between the power of the prime minister and the power of the monarch.In other words, the most valuable and precious part of the Zhenguan system is the supervision and checks and balances of relative power over monarchy. Looking at the Chinese political system in the two thousand years since the Qin and Han Dynasties, it is not difficult to find that the political system (prime minister system) in the early Tang Dynasty has obvious advantages compared with any historical period before and after.In other words, within the established framework of the autocratic monarchy, under the historical and social conditions of ancient China, the political enlightenment of the early Tang Dynasty (Zhenguan) can be said to be the highest and the closest to the ideal state.Even from today's perspective, as one of the precious legacy left to future generations in the Zhenguan era, the prime minister system in the early Tang Dynasty still retains its value of shocking the past and shining the present.