My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 449: War Drums

Now that the Three Dukes have been decided, the positions of the Nine Ministers are not that difficult to choose.

To be precise, there are only a few candidates and there is not much choice.

——Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi, was the prime minister, Wei Wan, Marquis of Jianling, was the Imperial Censor, so Han Anguo, the Internal History, was transferred to the position of Grand Marshal and became one of the Three Dukes;

Later, Dali Zhao Yu, Langzhongling Zhou Ren, and Zongzheng Liu Piqiang all remained unchanged.

The Grand Coachman Saihou was upright and unsuspecting, and was transferred to the Imperial Guards;
Shi Fen, the Shaofu, was transferred to the position of Da Nong;
Dou Pengzu, Marquis of Nanpi, who had been hidden by Liu Rong in the past, and who had expressed his support for Liu Rong by participating in the imperial examination this year, was appointed as the Grand Coachman;
The former Minister of State, Gongsun Kunxie, was promoted to the position of Junior Official;
The relative of the emperor, Kurikara, was appointed as the chief officer of the nobility.

The Imperial Court Minister Ji An was appointed Minister of Rites...

At this point, the new team of nine ministers was determined.

——Shi Fen, the Minister of Agriculture; Zhao Yu, the Minister of Justice; Ji An, the Minister of Rites;
The doctor-in-chief Zhou Ren, the chief of clan affairs Liu Piqiang, and the imperial coachman Dou Pengzu;
The Shaofu Gongsun Kunxie, the Chief of the Imperial Guards Li Cang, and the Zhijinwu were upright and unsuspecting.

After the Nine Ministers were determined, all the officials in the court gradually realized that the current Emperor Liu Rong had finally extended his hand to the court.

Think back to the past, after the death of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, how eagerly did Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi place his cronies and confidants in the court?
Among the three highest officials, although there is a stubborn Prime Minister Shentu Jia, the Imperial Censor Tao Qing has already joined the Emperor Qi's camp!
Although they were not strong enough to compete with Prime Minister Shentu Jia, the Imperial Censor Tao Qing, Marquis of Kaifeng, the Internal History who was the head of the Nine Ministers, and Chao Cuo, the former Prince's Household Manager, were able to fight Shentu Jia back and forth.

He even completely suppressed Shentu Jia at one point!
At the level of the Nine Ministers, except for Chao Cuo, the head of the Nine Ministers, the actions of officials in other positions were also significant.

Zhang Ou, the Minister of Justice, was a former attendant of the Crown Prince;

Doctor-in-Chief Zhou Ren - the former Prince's attendant;

The Weiwei was honest and unsuspecting - hence the Crown Prince's shield guard;
There are also Taifu Liu She and Shaofu Cen Mai, who, although not Yuancong of the Qiandi Palace, are also absolute followers of the late emperor.

And Liu Fu, the then Emperor of the Imperial Clan, was even more directly a member of our family...

It is no exaggeration to say that before Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's body had even cooled down - or even been buried - the important positions in the court had already been quickly filled with Emperor Xiaojing's close confidants!

What about Liu Rong today?
Today, the first person to serve as one of the Nine Ministers finally appeared in the palace of Gong Yuancong, the crown prince of Liu Rong: Ji An.

Even Ji An was just a harmless Taichang.

Prime Minister Liu She has only abdicated to this day;
Imperial Censor Dou Ying was appointed less than a year ago, and his intention was not to "check and balance the Prime Minister", but he was purely an apprentice in the Prime Minister's residence to prepare for his appointment as Prime Minister today.

Among the Nine Ministers, the Internal Historian Han Anguo not only had no connection with Liu Rong, he was even a subordinate of the former King Xiao of Liang!
Considering the past when King Xiao of Liang coveted the throne, Han Anguo was not only not Liu Rong's confidant, but an undoubted reactionary!

Even so, Liu Rong still summoned Han Anguo to the court to serve as the Internal Secretary after the previous Internal Secretary Tian Shu retired, for the sake of the ancestral temple and the country.

Liu Rong basically did not touch the other positions of the Nine Ministers.

Shaofu Shi Fen was a soft persimmon, but he was not Liu Rong's confidant after all;

Wei Wan, the Imperial Guard, was a teacher, but he was also an old minister of the previous emperor after all.

There were also Dali (Tingwei) Zhao Yu, Taifu Zhi Buyi, Dianke Gongsun Kunxie and others, all of whom were old ministers left by the previous emperor for Liu Rong.

The most unbelievable thing is that even the most important Langzhongling, who must be guaranteed to be "loyal to the emperor alone", has not been replaced by Liu Rong, and he has been using Zhou Ren, a close minister of the previous emperor.

It is difficult to say whether Liu Rong was acting cautiously or he really failed to find a suitable replacement.

But there is no doubt that Liu Rong dared to do this - dared to maintain the court team left by the previous emperor so calmly, he undoubtedly had full confidence in his abilities.

that's the truth.

——He has been on the throne for less than three years, to be exact, only two years and two months;
On the premise of not harming the officials in the court, Liu Rong had basically grasped the power in the court.

The Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace, the old ministers of the outer court, and even the generals of the military were no longer obstacles to Liu Rong.

At the age of only twenty-one, Liu Rong already holds great power and rules the world!
Then, today, Liu Rong began to work slowly, starting from such an inconspicuous position as Taichang, and gradually made his way up, quietly placing his cronies and confidants in the court.

The benefits of doing this are obvious.

The political situation in the government and the opposition did not experience the turmoil that could have been avoided due to the large-scale personnel changes that occurred shortly after the handover of power.

From the time when Liu Rong ascended the throne to the present day - even from the time when Crown Prince Liu Rong became regent to the present day, in these five years or so, nearly six years, the court in Chang'an has been operating almost smoothly, without any obvious turmoil.

This is Liu Rong's ability.

Now, the process of power handover from the death of the previous emperor to the enthronement of the current Liu Rong, including the process and its aftermath, has completely ended.

The Han court and the current Liu Rong have completely adapted to each other.

At this point, Liu Rong patiently began to place his trusted members in the court. Even if there were objections inside and outside the court, they could not muster much resistance.

It's already pretty good~
It took several years until the political situation was completely stable before the process of "a new emperor, a new minister" was promoted - Liu Rong was already very kind~
What's more, in this process, Liu Rong almost perfectly balanced the overall situation of the government and the opposition and his own "personal interests".

It can even be said that Liu Rong sacrificed a considerable part of his own interests in order to consider the overall situation.

After all, when Emperor Xiaojing passed away and his body was still warm, if Liu Rong took Emperor Xiaojing's actions as a precedent and made drastic changes to the court, no one could complain about Liu Rong's courtesy.

Now, no one can criticize Liu Rong's gift, saying that Liu Rong is "eager for quick success and instant benefits" and "ignoring the overall situation".

"You two, please make your decision. As for the rest, just go ahead and see the results before making your decision."

"If there is nothing else to do, I will leave now."

The system of ministers was restructured, and specific appointments to positions were determined. There was no doubt that Liu Rong would continue to drag on with this court ceremony.

——After all, it is not the first lunar month, but one of the two lunar months in September.
The discussion had been going on from before dawn till sunset. This court meeting had lasted long enough.

The content and amount of information in the discussion were enough for the attendees to digest for a long time after they left the meeting.

What's more, even Liu Rong, who was in his prime, couldn't bear it anymore, let alone the old men in the court who were in their fifties or sixties but kept saying that they were "in their prime"?

After Liu Rong spoke, all the officials, ministers, meritorious officials and nobles in the court were pardoned.

They all stood up immediately and bowed to Liu Rongqi.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully send you off~"

Call ~
On the imperial couch, Liu Rong walked towards the corridor leading to the back hall while letting out a long sigh.

After Liu Rong left, the hall was filled with waves of hoarse groans, which were the unique sound of middle-aged and elderly men moving their waists and backs after being extremely tired.

Today's court ceremony lasted a long time.

There are many topics and the content is quite important.

When the New Year's Day ceremony is held at the beginning of the year, all of today's agenda will be implemented, and the situation in the government and the opposition will also undergo earth-shaking changes.

However, compared with the past - especially the year when Emperor Taizong Xiaowen passed away, there was widespread grief when the court officials were replaced, Liu Rong's personnel transfer this time did not make too many people feel "hurt".

Back then, when Emperor Xiaojing appointed and dismissed the Nine Ministers, he really both "appointed" and "dismissed".

Every time one of Emperor Xiaojing's crown prince's team was appointed as one of the Nine Ministers, an important official who originally served as one of the Nine Ministers was dismissed to make room for the new emperor's cronies. However, Liu Rong did not harm anyone's interests this time.

Prime Minister Liu She, who was one of the three highest officials in the rank of Duke, resigned on his own initiative. Liu Rong did not use any coercion or inducement, and he also gave Liu She enough honor and dignity.

The Imperial Censor Dou Ying was promoted, and the Vice Prime Minister became a full-time official.

The Nei Shi Han Anguo was promoted from Nei Shi, the first of the Nine Ministers, to Da Si Kong, the last of the Three Dukes.

——From the head of a chicken to the tail of a phoenix, it belongs to that.

The same goes for Wei Wan, the Imperial Guard. He was promoted from Nine Ministers to Three Dukes—and he was directly promoted to the Second Prime Minister and the Imperial Censor. He has the hope of becoming the Prime Minister within ten years!

Among the original three officials, the position of Grand Marshal was originally idle and no one was dismissed.

On the contrary, after Wei Wan was appointed as the Imperial Censor, the vacant post of Weiwei could be used to promote a young general.

There will be no changes to the Dali, Zongzheng, and Langzhongling.

Zhi Buyi, Shi Fen and Gongsun Kunxie all moved to new units and continued to serve as Nine Ministers.

Moreover, after Gongsun Kunxie was transferred, a quasi-Nine Minister's office was vacated, which could be used by Liu Rong to train the prince's team and the palace's attendants.

As for the newly appointed Nine Ministers, Dou Pengzu, Marquis of Nanpi, Li Cang, the relative of the emperor, and Ji An, a member of the current crown prince's team, they did not replace anyone's position.

——Originally, there were only eight people working in the Nine Ministers’ Office, and the Ministry of Rites had been idle for several years;

Of the eight people who were originally Nine Ministers, six are still Nine Ministers;

The remaining two, Wei Wan and Han Anguo, were both promoted to the rank of Three Dukes.

There were major changes to the dukes and ministers. The new three dukes were promoted, and there were three new people in the Nine Ministers.

Moreover, none of the three dukes and nine ministers was dismissed except Prime Minister Liu She who retired voluntarily.

How can this not make people happy?

Even if there is no joy, at least I can breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, the last time Emperor Xiaojing made drastic changes to the "new emperor, new ministers" policy, and the knife was too sharp;
In comparison, Liu Rong's transfer this time can undoubtedly be regarded as very mild.

After today's court ceremony, not only will the Chang'an court usher in a new structure, the Han army will also usher in unprecedented changes.

——In the past, the Han Dynasty did not separate civil and military affairs. The three dukes had a Taiwei, and the nine ministers also had Weiwei and Langzhongling.

Further down, there is the Lieutenant who is quasi-Nine Ministers, and the General of the Household who is higher than the two thousand stone official.

But from now on, the Han army was separated, and among the three dukes and nine ministers, there were no military positions except for the Praefectus Urbi who was in charge of Chang'an's security and the Ordinary General who was in charge of the emperor's safety.

From then on, military generals formed their own system - the first echelon was composed of high-ranking military positions such as the Grand Marshal, the General, the General of the Cavalry, and the General of the Chariots and Cavalry, and the second echelon was composed of the Weiwei, as well as the upper, front, rear, left, and right generals.

The nine ministers in the court do not interfere in military affairs, and the generals in the army do not interfere in state affairs.

The two go their separate ways.

But there is absolutely no connection?
In fact, there are still some.

Does the army’s food and pay need to be allocated from the prime minister’s treasury or the vice-prefectural treasury?
Moreover, at present, the Prime Minister's Treasury has an additional reviewer, the Imperial Censor, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs has also allocated a Chief Duke.
Another question: In order to calculate and approve the military achievements of generals in the army, does it need an imperial censor to do the statistics, or even temporarily serve as a military supervisor?
All of the above shows that the separation of the army does not mean that it is completely divided into two worlds, and neither of them regards the other as non-existent;
Rather, it means that from now on, the military system will be mainly responsible for fighting, and the administrative system will be mainly responsible for governance.

When necessary, the army will naturally take action to help solve internal governance problems - such as suppressing rebellions, maintaining public order, and cracking down on bandits.

The administrative system must also ensure the logistical supply of the army.

What is truly different from the past is that in the future, the two systems will be connected by Emperor Liu Rong.

——Without the emperor's edict, the administrative system will not dare to have any necessary or unnecessary dealings with the military system!
Similarly, without Liu Rong's approval, the military system would not dare to interfere in state affairs.

This is very important.

At least for Liu Rong and every future generation of Han emperors, this is very important and necessary.

However, at the moment, Liu Rong has not revealed too much about his plans for the 'separation of military forces' and the reform of the military system.

Or it should be said that compared with his frank and open speech on the reform of the administrative system, Liu Rong was somewhat secretive about the reform of the military system.

This resulted in all the officials, ministers, nobles and relatives inside and outside the court having to wait until he had done it and then look at the results directly if they wanted to know what Liu Rong had done to the Han army.

At least for now, no one can see or perceive what Liu Rong did to the Han army.

It was because of fatigue, but also because today's court ceremony contained a lot of information;
After the court was adjourned, most people did not leave immediately, but stayed where they were and took a rest.

I felt the fatigue in my body ease a little, and just as it was about to fade away, I happened to encounter a major event that made the whole world excited.

——Then he saw a rider with three flags on his back galloping in from Sima Gate and stopping at the long steps outside the Xuanshi Hall!

Then, there were shouts that came closer and louder, one after another, and were heard clearly by everyone in the hall.

"Express the 800-li Shuofang!"

"Express the speed of 800 miles from Shuofang!!!!"

In just a moment, all the ministers, nobles and officials in the court widened their eyes in shock and doubt!
Shuofang?

Hetao?

Didn't they say that the Huns went to the West to bully the weak to gain confidence, and to "recuperate" at the same time?

Besides the Xiongnu, who else could threaten Hetao???
It is driven by curiosity and sense of responsibility.

After "bumping into" the 800-li express message from Hetao to enter the palace, everyone did not move, but stood there, waiting for Liu Rong to appear again.

After a while, Liu Rong came back and walked to the front of the hall again.

Then the dusty post rider was seen kneeling on one knee, holding the general's report above his head with both hands.

"Shuofang Military News!"

"The Hunxie tribe in Hexi came out in full force and attacked the Xiutu tribe at Xiutu Lake at night, defeating them!"

"From the Xiutu King down, no matter the old, weak, women, children, soldiers, young and strong, all of the Xiutu tribe were killed by the Hunxie tribe!!!"

"The Hunxie tribe seized Xiutu Lake and sent envoys to Shuofang, asking to submit to the Han Dynasty and offer Xiutu Lake as a tribute."

"The troops from Shuofang and Wuyuan counties, led by Shuofang's defender Cheng Bushi, are to cross the river to the west and head towards Xiu Tu Ze!!!"

(End of this chapter)