The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 605 seek Li Yuan, plan to set up a cabinet
In the imperial study room of the Holy Martial Palace, a Shura guard quickly stepped into the hall and bowed to Yang Tong to report: "Your Majesty, Zuo Pushe and others are here to see you..."

"Xuan!"

"My humble minister sees His Majesty!"

After a while, Gongren, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and Ling Jing entered the hall and bowed to salute.

"sit!"

"Thank you, Lord."

"General Yin came to report just now, saying that the power of Li Yuan's Wuchuan Division has been further expanded to the point where arrests and murders do not need to be reported. After killing several military officials, the case was closed in a perfunctory way." Yang Tong roughly After a brief introduction, he was not in a hurry to tell Ling Lingyi's speculation, so as not to affect everyone's thinking, but asked: "What is Li Yuan's purpose for doing this?"

Although everyone was thinking, but no one spoke, but looked at Yang Gongren.

Yang Gongren was the first minister of the Sui Dynasty and the head of all the ministers.Although there is no explicit rule that first come first come first, but in this case, Yang Gongren should be the first to show the most basic respect.

"My Majesty!" Yang Gongren bowed his hands and said in a deep voice, "Although there was no obvious movement, but from the expansion of Wu Chuansi's power, I can guess a thing or two."

"Let Zuo Pushe talk about it." Yang Tong said with a smile.

"The puppet Tang court has been repaying debts. This debt is mainly the old debts of the army. Since Li Yuan entered the Guan army, no less than 20 people have been killed in his army. Soldiers, to say the least, lost a million young men, which means that he lost a million sets of relatively complete equipment. After expanding the army, he needs to build new equipment. Such expenditure is enough to bring down a country, even if it takes the The strong foundation of the nobles could not support it, not to mention that the Battle of Guanzhong happened too suddenly and ended too quickly, so that the wealth that Li Yuan and the nobles of Guanlong put in Guanzhong could not take away a single meter or a single coin. Li Yuan went out of the house, so Li Yuan became more and more sad every year. As far as I know, Li Yuan has not paid the pensions of the fallen soldiers until today. It sounds unbelievable, but it is the fact. We have been losing battles all these years, it can be said that the old debt is not cleared, and the new debt has come again."

Everyone laughed.

Yang Gongren smiled, and continued: "Right now, my Great Sui has announced the expansion of the army by 50, Li Yuan will naturally not sit still, what should I do? I can only engage in an 'arms race' with my Great Sui, but the reality of the Puppet Tang Dynasty is that the national treasury is empty, Financial resources are running out of money and are getting exhausted day by day, so what if he doesn't take the idea of ​​the Guanlong nobles? Especially the Dugu family, who was known as the richest family in the world back then, and was the main force supporting Li Yuan's rebellion. Naturally, the wealth hoarded in Bashu is not much less than that in Guanzhong, so Li Yuan took the wealthy Guanlong nobles as his sword, of course, this is one of them."

"Secondly, the puppet Tang Dynasty is in danger. Seeing that the situation is not good, the powerful families sent representatives to the Sui Dynasty again and again. The frequent exchanges made Li Yuan feel fearful. He was worried that these people would stab a knife in the back at a critical moment and cooperate with us in the Sui Dynasty. , so no matter whether it is for the stability of the country, or for money, grain, and army, he needs to get rid of the Guanlong nobles."

Speaking of this, Yang Gongren glanced at Fang Xuanling with emotion. All of this was part of Fang Xuanling's conspiracy to disrupt the situation in the Puppet Tang—"Pretending to lift the ban on the aristocratic families, causing civil strife in the Puppet Tang, Use Li Yuan's hand to get rid of the world's aristocratic families. '

"What do you guys think of what Zuo Pushe said?" Yang Tong asked with a smile.

"I fully agree with Zuo Pu's words." Fang Xuanling cupped his hands and said, "Li Yuan captured Bingzhou and Guanzhong with the support of the nobles in Guanlong. Noble, he can obtain money, food, land and soldiers, which can greatly enhance the strength of the puppet Tang Dynasty. In the final analysis, Li Yuan was completely cornered by my Great Sui, so he had to put all his eggs in one basket."

"My minister agrees!"

"My minister agrees!"

Li Yuan's intentions were already obvious, and Du Ruhui and Ling Jing had nothing to say.

"It's too late to implement it until today. Even if he killed the nobles of Guanlong with a quick knife, but with the national power of Bashu, he wants to fight against the Great Sui, which owns most of the world. There is no way. What's more, his The army is so small, I don't believe that he can take back Guanzhong, Bingzhou, and the whole world, no matter how much he struggles now, it's just a madness after dying."

Yang Tong said this, and asked: "Li Yuan has two methods, one is to completely eradicate the Guanlong nobles, and the other is to kill one faction to deter the other faction, so that the other party will honestly hand over money, land and population. What do you think? In what way did he use it?"

"If the subject is Li Yuan, he will use the second one." Yang Gongren said.

"reason?"

"The first method involves too many aspects. If Li Yuan wants to solve the Dugu faction and the Dou faction at the same time, the time is not allowed, because I will not give him this time in the Sui Dynasty. This is one; The price. The third and most important point, "

Yang Gongren glanced at Yang Tong, and continued: "Li Yuan is not good at military affairs, but he is a master of power. He didn't enjoy the sweetness of the emperor until he was in his 50s, and Li Jiancheng is already in his 30s. He is afraid that his son will usurp the party and seize power." , so he supported Li Shimin to balance it; and in order to balance the court, after entering Guanzhong, Li Yuan took Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, Duguzheng, Dou Wei, Xiao Yu, and Chen Shuda as his prime ministers. Among the six, the first two represented the Yuanxun faction, The two in the middle are the nobles of Guanlong, and the last two are from the southern gentry, but if you look carefully, you will find that these six people form a faction of their own, plus the clan faction headed by Li Xiaogong, and the relatives faction headed by Chai Shao, there are eight major factions in total. Among the clan members, there are three sects: Li Xiaogong, Li Shentong, and Li Xiaoji, and the same goes for foreign relatives."

"What does this have to do with Li Yuan getting rid of the nobles of Guanlong?"

"The aristocrats of Guanlong started their family with military force. If Li Yuan gets rid of the nobles of Guanlong in one go, then there will be no faction in the puppet Tang army that can restrain Li Shimin from being the head of the King of Jin faction. This will be detrimental to Li Yuan's throne. In my opinion, Li Yuan If you choose to kill one faction and win over another faction, then the one who gets killed will be the Dugu faction that has a great relationship with Li Shimin." Yang Gongren finally asserted.

"I'll go!" Yang Tong snorted and said with a sneer, "It's almost over, and I still don't forget his throne. This old guy is really hopeless."

"Li Yuan is indeed hopeless." Du Ruhui said with a smile: "Actually, at the very beginning, the Holy Majesty not only had many powerful foreign enemies, but also had many internal problems, especially the serious shortage of talents. It was difficult to find even a person to govern the place At the beginning of the rebellion, Li Yuan was originally very promising, supported by the Guanlong nobles, the Guandong gentry, and the southern gentry, and also occupied Bingzhou, which occupied the inner and outer rivers and mountains, and Guanlong, which controlled the four fortresses and controlled the world. There are also rich Bashu and Jingxiang, which are major grain producers. Their huge population, talents, and money and food base are like Qin in the Warring States period. It may not be so smooth. It's a pity that Li Yuan deliberately provoked disputes between Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, and subdivided the courtiers into countless factions. All kinds of internal strife ruined the bright future, and the culprit is Li Yuan."

Yang Tong nodded approvingly and said: "My reputation was extremely bad at the beginning, and the reputation of the Sui Dynasty was even worse. If Li Yuan was also taking part in the imperial examination, I am afraid that no one would participate in the imperial examination. But since things have come to this day, even if Li Yuan I can't go back with regret. What should we do next? Are we just passively watching?"

As soon as the words fell, the hall suddenly fell silent, and the four important ministers began to think silently.

After a while, Fang Xuanling stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have a strategy, which may make the puppet Tang make more trouble."

"Go ahead."

"In the spring of the coming year, the main direction of our Tai Sui attack is Li Mi, Lin Shihong, Meng Haigong, and Lingnan Feng An!" Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "But according to the practice of our army, Li Yuan will always be the first, so Li Yuan doesn't know The direction of our army's attack next year is to destroy the Tang Dynasty as the first choice. In view of this, the minister thought that we could send an envoy to Xiangyang, saying that the Sui Dynasty is willing to sign a one-year truce agreement with Li Yuan. The condition for the truce is the cession of the puppet Tang Dynasty Xiangyang, Chongling, Jingling, and Yiling, if Li Yuan agrees, let him return to Bashu immediately, and I, the Sui Dynasty, obtained the four counties of Jingzhou out of thin air."

"With the current strength of our army and the army that is about to be recruited, we can definitely fight multilaterally in the coming year. Why does Xuanling give the Tang Dynasty a year's respite?" Yang Tong asked.

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "Li Yuan has a year of military training, and may have made some achievements in the army, but there is only one Bashu territory, even if he works hard to develop and train the army, there will not be many troops, let alone how strong it is. Once Li Yuan isolates himself in Bashu, Li Mi, Lin Shihong, and Meng Haigong Feng An will fall into a helpless situation, and it will be easier to destroy them, and then Li Yuan can be wiped out in Bashu with full bloom!"

"The above is reflected in the military; the other point is mainly reflected in the long-term political stability. Because once the armistice agreement is signed, although the Puppet Tang Dynasty has a year's respite, Li Yuan, who is alone, can only use military force in order to keep Bashu. He made the whole of Bashu miserable and full of complaints, which made him completely lose the support of the people, and laid a solid foundation for the unification of the Sui Dynasty and the governance of Bashu."

Seeing that everyone was listening carefully, Fang Xuanling said in a deep voice: "Pseudo-Tang is like a big tree with luxuriant branches. In fact, its inside has slowly withered, but it has not fully manifested yet. If we pass If it is destroyed early, many people will miss the luxuriant Pseudo-Tang Dynasty. In addition, my Sui government program is based on the premise that the aristocratic families will lose their interests. It is inevitable that some people will never forget the Puppet Tang Dynasty that gained everything. If those old and young are dissatisfied with my Great Sui Dynasty, some people will definitely try to restore the Puppet Tang Dynasty; if we don’t worry, wait until the Puppet Tang Dynasty’s decline is fully revealed, and the people under the rule are in dire straits. No common people will miss the puppet Tang Dynasty anymore. Even if the old and the young rebel, few people will respond. Just like Wang Shichong, if he died when he implemented the land equalization system and recuperated with the people, some people will miss him now, but he died in the After the war was carried out and the people of Luoyang were in dire straits, the people of Luoyang cheered for the arrival of our Great Sui army, and regarded our Great Sui as a lifesaver."

Only then did Yang Tong suddenly realize, "I admire Xuanling's foresight and foresight."

"Don't dare!" Fang Xuanling said modestly: "Actually, this policy is also based on the foundation of the Holy One occupying, governing and stabilizing the territory."

"Your Majesty, I think Fang Shangshu's strategy is feasible!" Yang Gongren thought about it, and then said: "Didn't your Majesty always say that covenants are for tearing up? Do we have to abide by any agreement with the rebels? If the puppet Tang has already complained, we And I don’t want to bear this bad reputation, the worst thing is to create an incident where the Tang army tore up the agreement and attacked my Da Sui first.”

"Zuo Pu shoots a good idea." Yang Tong smiled and asked Fang Xuanling: "What if Li Yuan doesn't answer the truce?"

"It shouldn't be forgotten, anyway, we don't lose anything. And the main purpose of sending envoys is not the armistice agreement."

"What is the main purpose?"

"Meeting the heads of the Guanlong nobles will further widen the rift between Li Yuan and them. The ultimate goal is to make Li Yuan distrust the Dugu family and the Dou faction, forcing him to annihilate Guanlong in one step, causing even greater civil strife."

"What do you guys think?" Yang Tong asked with a smile.

Yang Gongren said with a smile: "It's totally feasible! Whether to sign the armistice agreement or not, we all have a big advantage."

Du Ruhui and Ling Jing also smiled and nodded
Yang Tong asked, "Who can serve as an envoy?"

"I am willing to imitate the sages and recommend myself as an envoy." Fang Xuanling begged for orders.

Yang Tong looked at Du Ruhui next to him, and said, "Xuanling is the chief envoy, and Keming is the deputy envoy! We will go to Xiangyang after the next year."

"Here!"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui surrendered.

……

Seeing that the matter was almost done, Yang Tong pointed to the large pile of memorials on the desk and said, "I am too busy to comment on so many memorials by myself, and because the result of the approval is the opinion of the whole family, it is easy to make mistakes. We are going to set up an institution similar to the Puppet Tang's "Zhengshi Tang" to assist me in handling memorials."

This is by no means a whim by Yang Tong, but a decision made after careful consideration. A person's energy is limited, lack of energy is one thing, and it is easy to make mistakes. The most important thing is that if such an organization is not set up, there will be no guarantee that there will be lazy emperors in the future However, once he casually handed over the right to review the memorials to a cronies, then the dynasty would not be far from coming to an end.Therefore, he felt that an organization similar to the cabinet and the Military Aircraft Department should be established. First, it could help him handle state affairs, and second, he wanted to institutionalize this organization to avoid the occurrence of harem, eunuchs, and powerful ministers reviewing memorials in the future.

Yang Gongren is a person who thinks wholeheartedly about the country. When he heard Yang Tong say this, he frowned and said, "My lord, the Political Affairs Hall of the Puppet Tang Dynasty is composed of six senior members. As long as they seal things in order, they can be called Xiangguo. It is decided that Li Yuan and his son will discuss with these six ministers, but in this way, the power of these six people will be further expanded, and the power of the court is almost in the hands of these six people. Not good."

"What Zuo Pushe said is very true!" Fang Xuanling also said solemnly: "Actually, in the previous Sui Dynasty, there was a similar 'Zhengshi Tang', such as the 'Four Nobles' who helped Emperor Wen govern the government, and the 'Four Nobles' who assisted Emperor Wu "Choosing Cao Qigui" and even Wang Shichong's "Qigui"...are similar to Li Yuan's Zhengshitang. These people have multiple positions. Take Pei Ju in "Choosing Cao Qigui" as an example. One is still the servant of the Huangmen, and the rest also have their own duties, and they are all powerful."

"'Choose Cao Qigui' colluded with each other. If your people want to be promoted today, everyone else will pass. Tomorrow, if my people want to be promoted, you must also agree to make this institution a holy place for these seven people to trade power and money. Others It’s hard to think about getting promoted.”

"In the 12th year of Daye, Emperor Wu visited Jiangdu. In addition to Zuo Pushe, the "six nobles" who handled the state affairs at that time included Pei Ju, Pei Yun, Su Wei, Yu Wenshu, and Yu Shiji. Zuo Pushe was punished for his integrity. The other five people were excluded and framed, and they were finally released as ambassadors of Henan Province. They went to the Central Plains alone and without soldiers to "catch thieves". It can be seen that everything in this kind of department depends on the self-consciousness of the officials inside. If an individual has selfish intentions, it will drive others to follow suit, which is really not good for the country."

The establishment of this kind of organization will undoubtedly form a small decision-making group, and too much power concentration may not be a good thing, so Yang Tong has clearly stipulated before: all related to the introduction of systems and laws must be decided by Shuo Wangchao. This is to disperse part of the power at the decision-making level.

There are three kinds of morning dynasties today: the most solemn one is the grand court meeting held on the first day of the Yuan Dynasty and the winter solstice day, with gongs and drums played, and the vehicles of honor guards are arranged in a long way to receive congratulations from the ministers and envoys from neighboring countries; On the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Shuowang Court Attendance is held. On this day, civil and military officials are in place according to their ranks. The emperor begins to sit on the throne. Etiquette is more important than practical effect; the third type is a regular participation in every day's government affairs.

That is to say, among the three types of early dynasties, only the Changshen, who are held every day, is doing practical things, and Yang Tong now puts the introduction of systems and laws, and various major events on the decision of the Shuowang Dynasty, which is actually mentioning the Shuowang Dynasty to do practical things. The purpose of doing this is threefold: one is to weaken the authority of the ten ministries of the three provinces; the other is to allow civil and military personnel above the ninth rank to participate in the discussion of major military and political affairs. Everyone has the right to express their opinions and gather the wisdom of the people for the court. This brand-new Shuowang court participation is very popular among officials, mainly because Yang Tong distributed part of the power to officials, so that officials can enjoy the joy of participating in and deciding state affairs; third, to enhance the sense of participation and belonging of low-level officials Sentiment, enthusiasm and initiative in doing things, and ultimately cultivate thoughtful and intelligent mid-level and low-level officials for the country, which is beneficial to the long-term development of the country.

Regarding Yang Tong’s separation of powers, Yang Gongren and others not only did not object, but supported it. Even if their generation can keep their original intentions, but the Sui Dynasty needs to be passed on, and the successors who are not sure of the various ministries may not be able to keep their original intentions. However, Yang Tong's restructuring and decentralization of power will not do any harm to the inheritance of the Sui Dynasty, and everyone is happy to see it succeed.

Now when Yang Tong said that he wanted to set up a "political hall" with centralized power in the Sui Dynasty, all four people present were against it.

Yang Tong was moved, and said with a smile: "The establishment of a department similar to the Zhengshitang is imperative, and it is also the trend of system development. Take me as an example. Now I am young and can handle mountains of memorials, but the old Another reason is that the heir to the throne is a lazy descendant, and he casually left the memorial to his cronies, and the consequences are even more unimaginable. Therefore, it is a good thing that some mechanisms are established in advance, and as a system For the generation of the current generation, we still have decades to improve various systems, and decades to learn from each other's strengths, and we cannot deny the benefits of the 'Zhengshitang' because of its harm."

"Since your Majesty has an idea, don't you need to be a fool." Hearing what Yang Tong said, Yang Gongren asked with a smile full of energy.

The system of three provinces and six ministries, the military system, and the local system were in the initial stage of exploration before Yang Tong. After Yang Tong's guidance, everyone perfected them one by one into today's official system. Although Yang Tong did not participate in every detail, his strengths Just thinking about what people can't do, his weird ideas are what everyone admires the most.

"Please make it clear, Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling also said expectantly.

Yang Tong said: "The hazards of similar institutions such as 'Sigui', 'Choose Cao Qigui', 'Zhengshitang' and so on mainly come from holding multiple positions concurrently. Therefore, the selection and appointment of personnel and the system are very important. Unlimited magnification, and then go back to the old way. It is not good to use new people, because they have no experience in governance and governance. Everyone is talking on paper, which is not beneficial to the country. Compared with the former two, veterans who have quit officialdom are more suitable. With rich experience, they can serve as my staff, handle the memorials, and continue to give full play to the court. They only have vain positions with salaries. They have the power to manage, discuss, and participate in power, but they have no decision-making power. After reviewing each memorial, The result is decided by a show of hands, and everyone’s opinions and opinions are included or affixed in the memo, so that the emperor can review it. After the emperor reviews and approves it, it will be given to the Zhongshu Province for decision-making, the subordinate department’s review, and the Shangshu Province’s implementation.”

Just like the CPPCC in later generations, even if you broke your throat arguing, you are still stuck in the end, and there is no way to interfere in the government affairs.

Yang Gongren pondered for a moment, and said: "Your Majesty, this method is excellent. It not only relieves the pressure on the emperor, but also prevents the power from being concentrated in the hands of a small group; The sect, the sect under the sect, and the minister of shangshu guard the gates, and if they are assessed layer by layer, the harm can be minimized."

"I have a problem here. If such a department is established, there will inevitably be a chief officer. If this person recruits several other people as his own, is it up to him to decide whether it is right or wrong?" Du Ruhui said. own claim.

Yang Tong said: "I call this department the 'cabinet'. There are seven members in the cabinet, and there is no chief official who is above others. The status and status of each other are equal. Each person is in charge for one day, and the next Every day, it’s another person’s turn, a cycle of seven days.”

If the cabinet is given the right to govern and make decisions, and a chief assistant is established, sooner or later the 'cabinet' will become the de facto ruler of the court, and the chief assistant will also become Zhang Juzheng.

During the Wanli period, Zhang Juzheng was the prime minister of a constitutional monarchy, while the Wanli Emperor was reduced to a symbolic decoration.

Zhang Juzheng was able to do this, first of all, because Emperor Wanli was still a child at that time, Zhang Juzheng, as the emperor's teacher, could influence the decision-making of Emperor Wanli with a single sentence; moreover, when Emperor Wanli reviewed it, it was under the guidance of the eunuch Feng Bao It was completed next time, and Feng Bao had a close relationship with Zhang Juzheng.Zhang Juzheng's cabinet asked others to agree to his opinions, and after writing them into a memorial, his own man Feng Bao agreed, and finally became a powerful minister like Huo Guang and Cao Cao. You are not welcome, as long as Emperor Wanli deviates from his plan, he will scold him. If he is an official, if he wants to overthrow the emperor, it is a matter of a few words. Because of the above reasons, Emperor Wanli finally got revenge.

In the world, there are few people who can always follow the way of a courtier like Zhang Juzheng, without taking a step forward.Therefore, the cabinet established by Yang Tong will not give the cabinet the right to govern and make decisions, and will not concentrate the power of different powers in the hands of one person.

Of course, the key is still to be perfected, and then institutionalized, using the system to clarify and clarify the distribution of power, stipulating which matters belong to the cabinet, which belong to the Shuowang Chaohui, which should be decided by the emperor, and which institution should make decisions and review them. Finally, the various details are classified, and finally stipulated by the system.This is what Yang Tong will do in the future. He plans to spend ten years perfecting the power distribution system.

As for whether future generations will open up new departments, it is beyond Yang Tong's control. What he can do is to create and let future generations develop freely.

"I believe that we can gather the wisdom of all ministers to create a relatively complete cabinet system; try it out for a year, find out the advantages and disadvantages, and make improvements. It will be formally established after one year." Yang Gongren expressed his opinion.

"My minister agrees!"

"My minister agrees!"

"Prelude!"

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There are still more than 1000 recommendation tickets, and it will reach [-]. Brothers, come on!

(End of this chapter)