Song Gexing

Chapter 167 The fate of Agricultural Bank of China

The restructuring of Yushitai went smoothly, but the proposal of the Agricultural Bank of China was difficult to produce. It was not that the ministers opposed the establishment of the Agricultural Bank of China, but who would govern it became a big issue.

The Third Division believes that since it is about finance, it must be under the jurisdiction of the Third Division. However, the vast majority of officials object, on the grounds that if the Third Division's power is increased, it will be one level higher than the Political Affairs Hall.

This was a difficult time. Indeed, not only Emperor Zhao Zhen muttered, but even Zhao Fang himself began to scrutinize it.

The third generation of finance ministers themselves had great powers, and they had jurisdiction over more than just the Ministry of Household Affairs. Their powers invaded the powers of the Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of Rites.

All financial issues are related to the relationship between the three departments, including military salaries from the Ministry of War, construction funds from the Ministry of Industry, official salaries from the Ministry of Personnel, and sacrificial properties from the Ministry of Rites, plus tributes and gifts from various countries.

In recent years, with the Qingli New Deal, fiscal revenue has increased significantly, and the expenditures of various ministries have also increased, and the scope to be governed has become larger.

Now let's take another bank, which is related to storage and lending. If it is still under the jurisdiction of the Third Division, then the power of the Third Division can really override that of the Prime Minister.

Although Zhao Fang has long had the idea of ​​banning the prime minister, the problem is that it has not started yet. If a position with greater power than the prime minister suddenly appears, is it necessary to ban the prime minister in the future?

However, the function of the bank is obviously financial transactions, so it cannot be justified that it is not under the jurisdiction of the three departments. This puts the monarch and his ministers in a dilemma.

The law is a good law, but it cannot be implemented unless this problem is solved. The first step is to hit a wall. How can we do it later?

After struggling for a few days, Zhao Fang made a memorial in his heart to divide the power of the three divisions, which immediately stirred up a thousand waves with one stone.

The three divisions in the Song Dynasty were not only responsible for financial entry and exit, but also the function of auditing finance. Originally, Zhao Kuangyin's establishment of the separation of these three powers was an excellent system.

But the problem is that they are a bit different. Since the second government and the three departments are divided into three powers, they should not be divided into high and low. The three departments should be on the same level.

But it was obvious that the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council were half a level higher than the Third Envoy, and there was a prime minister under Tong Ping Zhang Zhongshu's sect suppressing them.

Moreover, the names are even more chaotic. The ministers who are involved in political affairs are called deputy prime ministers, the privy envoys are called prime ministers, and the third secretaries are called prime ministers. They are obviously half a level above the political affairs hall.

The deputy prime minister is the deputy to the prime minister. The prime minister and the prime minister are obviously deputy prime ministers who have specific powers in a certain area. This is actually contrary to the separation of powers.

The correct approach should be to eliminate the prime minister under Tong Ping Zhang Zhongshu, and then the second government and the third division should be in charge of the six ministries at the same level.

In this way, the three powers of government, military, and finance are in a tripartite position, checking and balancing each other, and they are all responsible to the emperor alone. This is the true original intention of the three provinces and six ministries.

Zhao Fang wanted to cancel the three provinces, which was to strengthen the imperial power. It did not mean that the existence of the three provinces was wrong, but that the three provinces of the Song Dynasty had long existed in name only, so why keep them.

If the true system of three provinces and six ministries is followed, it will be good for the balance of the court, but it will definitely weaken the imperial power.

There is no other way now, Zhao Fang thought of two ways, one of which is to restore the true three provinces and six ministries, but he didn't say anything.

Now the petition mentions another item, which is to decompose the power of the three departments and return it to the six departments. The increase in the rights of the six departments will force the second government. Finally, the second government and three departments will be abolished and the six departments system of the Ming and Qing Dynasties will be implemented.

But he obviously overestimated himself. As soon as the memorial came out, he was immediately opposed by the ministers because everyone saw the trouble behind it, which was to cancel the three provinces.

Although the officials of the Sixth Department knew that they would benefit from this, they could see the harm, and it would be even greater in the future.From three institutions restricting the imperial power to six departments competing with the imperial power, even a fool can see that the fewer the number, the better, because concentration is not easy to be divided and disintegrated.

For the ministers, it is best to keep the prime minister alone to contend with the imperial power. That is the real restriction. The original three provinces and six ministries system is to weaken the power of the ministers, and they will not do it even if the three provinces are abolished.

From the time when Qin Shihuang unified China until the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, China's patriarchal system has actually been a drama of confrontation between imperial power and ministerial power, played out one after another.

In the beginning, the prime minister system was against the imperial power. The Han Dynasty felt that the prime minister had too much power and used the Three Dukes to cancel it, but soon a general was created.

Until the Sui Dynasty established three provinces and six ministries, the Tang Dynasty shyly created a prime minister. They originally thought that the prime minister would have less power than the prime minister and would be a castrated version of the prime minister, but he did not expect that in the end he would still have the rights of the prime minister.

In the Song Dynasty, prime minister was just a title, creating two offices and three departments. However, when these people were gathered together, they still could not achieve the supremacy of imperial power.

The Yuan Dynasty simply restored the prime minister system. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was finally proud. After killing Li Shanchang, he abolished the prime minister and divided power among the six ministries.

Unexpectedly, his great-grandson Zhu Zhanji, because he could not be as diligent as his father and grandfather, set up a cabinet. Now, it was another political hall of the Song Dynasty, plus the Privy Council and the Three Envoys. right.

Zhu Jianshen had no choice but to hire eunuchs to check and balance the foreign dynasty. There was no other way. If he didn't do that, the imperial power would be emptied out.

Only the Manchu Qing Dynasty achieved true autocracy. The Qing Dynasty also had a cabinet, but it was just a decoration. It did not even have the right to order the six ministries and existed only as a staff group for the emperor.

Zhao Fang also thought about the Manchu system, but it was too inconvenient. In the end, he reluctantly announced that he could not be so shameless and had to give up.

Of course, the biggest reason is that the Manchu Qing had two sets of bureaucratic systems, which meant that the rights were divided into twelve parts. The six ministers of the Manchus and the six ministers of the Han people.

It is impossible for Da Song to do this, because the old Zhao family is Han Chinese.

"Okay, this won't work, and that won't work either. So what if Gu proposes that the bank be placed under the jurisdiction of Dafu Temple, and that the Third Envoy should not interfere in its operations and be only responsible for auditing the account books?"

"Dafuji Temple!"

Fan Zhongyan was surprised, and immediately nodded in agreement: "This proposal is very good! Since it is the Agricultural Bank, it is reasonable to attribute it to Dafu Temple."

Ding Du frowned and said, "Are you only responsible for auditing the account books? Your Highness won't think that in the future, the finances of the Sixth Department will also be attributed to the headquarters, and another third department will be responsible for the audit, right?"

Zhao Fang almost vomited blood when he said "I" and glared at him fiercely and said: "Does Mr. Ding know what it means to judge a gentleman's heart with a villain's heart? Aren't you against it? What's the point of saying this? Then Tell me, where does the bank belong?"

Ding Du's face turned red, not out of shame but out of anger. He pointed at him "you, you" for a long time, then flicked his sleeves and said, "I don't have the same experience as you!"

Zhao Zhen hurriedly scolded: "Prince, be careful! How can you criticize Prime Minister Ding so much? When discussing government, we should discuss government, and no personal attacks are allowed."

Zhao Fang had no choice but to admit his mistake to Ding Du. He had no choice but to drag the civil servants of the Song Dynasty like this, and the prince would not give him face.

When Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others saw it, they quickly stood up and echoed: "It is indeed feasible to return to Dafu Temple, then let's vote. If the minority obeys the majority, then the matter has been decided."

(End of this chapter)