My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 437 Imperial Secretariat

But after all, I am over 50 years old and have experienced many ups and downs in life.

——Becoming a doctor at the age of 20 was the most glorious moment in Gongsun Hong’s life;
After that, there was a 25-year long downhill road, which made Gongsun Hong accustomed to the fickleness of human nature and the vicissitudes of the world.

Another ten years of settling down and calming down.

The Gongsun Hong of today is no longer the young man who was full of vigor and ambition and was able to make plans for the country more than 30 years ago.

At this moment, Gongsun Hong's heart was naturally filled with passion, and he wished he could combust on the spot!
But on the surface, Gongsun Hong still looked harmless, with an inexplicably honest smile always on his face.

While on the imperial couch, Liu Rong's gaze lingered for a long time on the elderly figure standing with his back bent in the center of the hall.

Finally, he nodded with a smile of appreciation.

As soon as he opened his mouth again, the topic jumped from the original discussion: collecting agricultural taxes on winter wheat, to something completely unrelated.

"Speaking of Shangshu Ling, you may have many questions."

"——In the past, the six ministers of the Shaofu were responsible for the daily life of the emperor;"

"Clothes, food, bathing, mats, hats, and books."

"All that the emperor needs comes from the six ministers of the Shaofu."

...

"Now, the new year is coming to an end, and the court officials are about to be restructured."

"The Shaofu has also undergone some changes, and the six ministers of the Shaofu should not remain the same."

Before Liu Rong said this, everyone instinctively thought: Gongsun Hong really fell to the point of being the Shangshu Ling, a position that even a eunuch could hold;

But after Liu Rong said this, everyone quickly realized: How could Gongsun Hong have fallen?
It is obvious that the person on the imperial bed is about to start doing something naughty again!

However, considering that the three dukes and nine ministers in the court had basically all been moved by this person, the mere Shaofu and Liushang were not a big deal.

With this in mind, everyone calmed themselves down and once again cast their scrutiny towards the new Shangshu Ling Gongsun Hong, who was bowing slightly and smiling.

——After Liu Rong clearly expressed his intention to "make some moves in the Six Shangfu", looking back at Gongsun Hong, the new Shangshu Ling, the situation was not that simple.

Just think about it;
Gongsun Hong was a man of the same era as Jia Yi and Chao Cuo, and he was also an old scholar whose political experience was no less than theirs.

Even if Gongsun Hong himself was willing to degenerate, Liu Rong would never really allow him to degenerate and really give him a position of 400 stones or even a eunuch position, so as to avoid being branded as "harsh to old ministers".

Based on this, it can almost be concluded that even if Liu Rong's position as Shang Shu Ling after the "movement" is not worthy of Gongsun Hong's former 2,000-stone doctor and former true 2,000-stone Tai Zhong Daifu's status, it will never be too different.

To put it bluntly: the rank and salary of the new Shangshu Ling can never be lower than that of two thousand stones!
In this case, the scope of authority of the new Shangshu Ling is worthy of careful study and examination both inside and outside the court.

What level is it compared to 2,000 stones?
In fact, the highest rank of officials in the Han Dynasty were the prime minister and the grand marshal, both with an annual salary of 10,000 dan, and their actual salary was 4,000 dan.

The two are the highest administrative and military officials respectively.

Following closely behind them was the 'Zhong Erqian Shi' of the Nine Ministers level, whose actual salary was 2,160 shi per year.

——The word "zhong" in "zhong erqianshi" roughly means "holding a position of 2,000 stones in the central government."

Going further down, there are real two thousand shi, with actual annual salary of one thousand eight hundred shi.

The positions of prime minister of a vassal state, royal tutor, and other officials were all of this rank and salary level.

The next highest is two thousand dan, with an actual annual salary of one thousand four hundred and forty dan.

The county magistrate, the prince's tutor, the prince's junior tutor, as well as the former lieutenant, the captain in charge of preventing thieves, and the captain without a general title in the army are all at this level.

Going down further - ten thousand shi, middle two thousand shi, real two thousand shi, and the fifth level below two thousand shi: compared to two thousand shi.

This level is extremely common in the current Han Dynasty bureaucracy.

First of all, the county commander, the capital post, the lieutenant of the vassal state, the internal historian, and the colonel in the army all belong to this level.

In addition, there were many positions in the central court, such as the General of the Central Army, the Palace Gate Captain of the Weiyang and Changle Palaces, and the Colonels of the various armies in the North and South, all of which were equivalent to the rank of two thousand stones.

There is also the Sizhi department under the prime minister, as well as the Duke of Fuma, the Duke of Zhisu, the Duke of Hujun, the Duke of Fengche, etc., all of which are higher in rank than the two thousand stone level.

It can be said that the level of 2,000-stone is the entry threshold for high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty.

If you step into this threshold, you will at least be a county governor or a general in the future;
If one cannot make it - especially if he is still in his forties or fifties, then he will basically never be able to become one of the 'two thousand stone' officials in his entire life.

This is for individual officials.

Now let’s talk about the subordinate yamen above the 2,000-stone level, which is also very interesting.

- Either it was nominally subordinate to the Nine Ministers, but in reality it was not directly under their jurisdiction, and had a size close to that of the Nine Ministers’ subordinate offices, but its specifications or importance were not up to par with those of the Nine Ministers’ independent departments;

For example, the Langzhongling in the past.

Or, they are the second or third in command of a county or country with administrative autonomy, or the captains and generals in the army with autonomous command authority.

Or, there may be some special departments that are independent of the entire court bureaucracy and directly responsible to the emperor himself.

Any of these three points would be scary enough if applied to the Shangshu Ling Gongsun Hong, whose salary was guaranteed to be at least two thousand stones.

Independent sector!

Have autonomy!

Not subject to the control of the court, directly responsible to the emperor himself!

Let's not talk about what such a department does specifically - even if it is a subsidiary office that collects excrement or sweeps the streets, no one dares to underestimate it.

To put it bluntly, with this standard of "more than 2,000 stones" in front of you, even if it's just digging excrement, you have to think carefully about his digging excrement technique;

Even if he is sweeping the streets, you have to carefully observe his body movements while sweeping the streets.

Clear your mind and understand all of the above;
Finally, let’s look back at the specific position of Gongsun Hong, the “new noble” whose “minimum salary was higher than 2,000 stones”: Minister of the Chancellery.

Shangshu;

Whether based on the past duties of the Shangshu Yamen or the name suggests, it is not difficult to judge that even if Liu Rong forcibly raised the rank and salary level to a level higher than the two thousand stones or even higher, the Shangshu Tai under the control of Gongsun Hong would most likely still be responsible for work related to documents and files.

To be more specific, it means sorting and moving the memorials and sending them to Liu Rong's imperial desk;
Then, based on Liu Rong's instructions after approval, they would either reply, refute, or keep it (burn it).

In addition, the organization and management of the royal archives, Shiqu Pavilion, also fell within the scope of the Shangshu Tai's responsibilities.

Because when Liu Rong suddenly asked, "Hey, that book/document, bring it to me," the Shangshutai had to find it and send it to Liu Rong as soon as possible.

It is so simple and boring, without any technical difficulty, and only requires a careful and serious position. No wonder it was held by temple servants and officials in the past, and the rank was only 600 stones.

——Document administrator, 600-stone level, almost catching up with the magistrate of a small county!

Now, Liu Rong has made it clear that he wants to elevate the status of the Shangshu Tai, and at least raise it to a rank higher than two thousand stones.

The duties of the Shangshutai should naturally be commensurate with the standards of a two thousand stone official.

Take the example of the Zhonglang Jiang, who is also a 2,000-stone official. He manages the entire Wuguan Zhonglang Jiang, and is the best and most powerful Zhonglang official in the world.
When the emperor travels, he accompanies him and guards him. If he picks up a sword and mounts a horse, he can be a captain. If he hangs up a seal in a place, he can be a county governor!
As a person of the same rank as the Two Thousand Stone official, the Shangshu Ling obviously cannot be much worse.

Not to mention that he could rule a division of the army when mounted on a horse, or herd the people of a county when dismounted;
At least you have to have some special abilities that you can show off, as well as special rights and responsibilities that cannot be replaced by others.

When these two things were combined together - the word "Shangshu" combined with the status of being higher than two thousand stones, everyone naturally thought of a very terrifying possibility.

"Could it be..."

"From now on, all memorials to the outer court must first be reviewed by the Shangshutai?"

"What's worse, His Majesty's approval and decree must also be issued through the Shangshutai..."

Not giving everyone too much opportunity to think wildly, Liu Rong once again spoke frankly and made his plans clear.

"I intend to appoint the Minister of the Chancellery to lead the Chancellery and serve as my advisor."

"All government affairs, internal and external military affairs, border wall military reports, and temple calculations are all handled by the Shangshutai, who will check for omissions and fill in the gaps for me."

"——However, the Shangshutai only has the right to make suggestions;"

"I will decide whether to accept their words and advice or not."

With Liu Rong's words, the officials who were still having wild thoughts finally calmed down a little.

——Think tank.

This word may not exist now, but this model is not unfamiliar to the nobles of this era.

For example, local tyrants, or nobles, would keep many retainers in private;
Most of the time, these retainers depend on the powerful and wealthy, eating and drinking for free and living a life of luxury.

But when the critical moment comes, everyone has to show their talents - those with brains use wisdom, and those with brute force use strength.

Especially the strategic retainers, that is, counselors, are the top-level and rarest among the retainers, and are more precious than assassins and death squads.

That's still putting it mildly.

It is still considered a euphemism for the wealthy and powerful to keep retainers.

When it comes to clan princes, or princes - especially to the level of the crown prince, their advisers are all raised in a legitimate way.

To talk about more recent times, Liu Rong's Bowang Garden and the late emperor's Sixian Garden were both specially prepared by their respective emperor fathers for the two to meet and accommodate guests, mainly advisers and think tanks.

Especially the name of the late emperor's private garden: Sixian Garden, which clearly shows the intention of "all the smart people come to help me with ideas".

Going back further - weren't Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Lou Jing and the like the think tank of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang?
Wasn’t Yafu Fan Zeng also the chief strategist of Overlord Xiang Yu?
To put it bluntly, in this era, although counselors are not as common as they were during the Three Kingdoms period hundreds of years later, they have become a standard feature of every "ambitious person";

However, finding a smart person to plan and calculate for oneself and give oneself advice has become a consensus among the vast majority of the powerful people in this era.

From this perspective, it was not so shocking that Liu Rong promoted the Shangshu Tai from a simple document management department to a royal think tank and advisory group.

If there is anything wrong, it is that in the past, the emperor's think tank has always been composed of ministers and officials in the court.

Whenever there was something going on, the emperor would always bring it up in the court and ask: “Oh, what should I do about this?”
So the officials gave their suggestions: I think we should do this, I think we should do that...

After they came to an end of the discussion, they presented the final result to the emperor: Your Majesty, look, we have come up with this, do you think it will work?

If it works, it works. If not, we can discuss it again.

If what we are discussing is not to your Majesty's liking, then it is up to your Majesty to make the decision yourself.

However, the think tank under this model is actually very different from the Shangshu Tai described by Liu Rong.

——Among the officials in the court who are qualified to give advice to Liu Rong, all of them are important officials and ministers with high rank!
Just like before, when Gongsun Hong spoke in his official robes of 400 stones, all the ministers in the court looked at each other in shock - those who are not of sufficient rank have no right to take the initiative to speak!
This led to the advice given by the ministers and officials in the court that Liu Rong and every generation of Han emperors should give some face to the other party, even if it was just because of his official rank of two thousand stones.

Even if you don't adopt it, you should at least say something to comfort me: Your idea is still a good one~
It’s just that the timing is not right/the conditions do not allow blah blah…

In extremely rare cases, it might even happen that a senior official would be stubborn and insist on arguing with the emperor and forcing him to agree to his suggestion.

For example, during the reign of the previous emperor, Prime Minister Shentu Jia repeatedly stated: If Your Majesty does not agree to my request and postpone the reduction of the feudal system, I will kill myself in front of Your Majesty!

And before I kill him, I must first beat Chao Cuo, the traitor, to death in court!!!
This is very embarrassing.

It is not right to listen, nor is it right not to listen;

The contradictions have been exposed and there is no room for easing.

Moreover, important officials of the court must bear responsibility when making suggestions at court meetings.

For example, today, Liu Rong said that he would collect agricultural taxes on winter wheat, and everyone agreed. No one stood up and said: Your Majesty has a keen eye, this is what should be done!
why?
Because if these words were uttered by any minister, half an hour later, all the rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs in Chang'an would be thrown at the corrupt official who "competed with the people for profit" and "exploited the poor people".

Therefore, there are some things that officials dare not and cannot say;
There are also some things that officials know they should not say, but have to say due to political influence and public opinion.

This meant that there was almost no room for easing the issues between the emperor and his subjects, and every issue was diametrically opposed.

But with the Shangshu Tai, everything is different.

——The Shangshu Ling himself is less talented than a 2,000-stone official, so his assistants cannot be regular 1,000-stone officials, but must be equivalent to 1,000-stone officials;
The chief officer was worth two thousand stones, the deputy officer was worth one thousand stones, and the salaries of the ministers under him naturally ranged from four hundred to six hundred stones.

This group of people have no psychological burden when talking, especially when they talk behind closed doors.

Just stick to the facts and give the advice: This is the case, Your Majesty can listen to it or not.

Liu Rong didn't need to save face for them.

What is right and what is wrong are listed one by one, so that you can train these Shangshulang and think tanks, and also sort out your own thoughts at the same time.

The most important thing is: with this think tank as a buffer, if Liu Rong wants to do something, he no longer needs to directly clash with the outside world.

Instead, we can close the door and discuss it with the Shangshutai and his subordinates: I am planning to do this, what do you think?
Among the officials in the court, who might object and who might react more strongly?
According to the worst case scenario, what will the situation be like in the court?
How should I solve it, how should I prepare for a rainy day, and even: should I bring this matter to the court?
Or maybe I did it secretly first;
Now that the results are out, I will stand up and take responsibility for them.

If you don't achieve anything, just pretend nothing happened and I won't acknowledge it...

(End of this chapter)