Thief Emperor

Chapter 905 New Prime Minister
Li Yun looked at the document in his hand, thought for a moment, and then ordered: "Let Meng Hai come to see me."

The palace maid immediately bowed her head and hurried away.

Half an hour later, Meng Hai, wearing official clothes, appeared in the emperor's study. After seeing Li Yun, he bowed to Li Yun and said respectfully: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Li Yun looked up and glanced at him.

At this time, Meng Hai had already changed into a deep blue robe with a faintly visible python pattern on it.

This is the uniform color of the Nine Departments decided by Li Yun and Liu Bo.

Today, the color of the official uniform of the Tang Dynasty has been determined. Officials of the seventh rank and below wear blue, officials of the fourth rank and seventh rank wear red, and officials of the third rank and above wear purple.

Blue is the color independent of the court. It was given to the Nine Departments by Li Yun. This means that in the future of the new dynasty, the Nine Departments will be independent of the normal bureaucratic system of the court and directly under the command of the emperor.

And around his waist hung a silver fish bag with a fish pattern painted on it, indicating his rank and status.

Fifth grade.

The ranks of the nine official posts have been formally established. Liu Bo, the chief director, has been specially promoted by Li Yun to an important position of the third grade, almost on par with the six ministers.

The chiefs of each department under the general department are of the fifth rank. Below the chief, there are only two seventh rank officials and four ninth rank officials in each department.

The ranks of the Nine Departments are not consistent, mainly because this yamen is relatively special and has great power.

Therefore, those who work at the lower levels of the Nine Departments should not be given too high a rank or too many official positions, otherwise it will attract many people to rush into the Nine Departments.

It will affect the Zhengchao.

Therefore, the ranks of the nine officials are so different and the gap is so huge.

Li Yun looked Meng Hai up and down, and said with a smile: "Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. You look much more energetic in this outfit, and you really look like an official."

Meng Hai lowered his head slightly and said with a smile: "I am not an official now. If my ancestors knew that I could become a fifth-rank official, they would be extremely happy."

Li Yun joked with him for a few words, then said, "Sit down and talk."

Meng Hai was Li Yun's first follower and the closest person who had been with him the longest. He didn't say anything too polite at this time. After thanking him, he found a seat and sat down. Then he asked, "Why are you so anxious to find me, what do you want me to do?"

Li Yun didn't rush to talk about the matter. Instead, he looked at him and asked, "Has the Meng family moved to Luoyang?"

"Yes."

Meng Hai lowered his head and said quickly: "My father and his family have already moved to the new house."

Mr. Li nodded slightly and asked, "The court is going to set up a minting department, which will be nominally under the Ministry of Revenue. It is a seventh-rank government office, and your father will be the director of this department in the future."

"The new dynasty has been established, and the newly minted Zhangwu Tongbao coins must be gradually circulated. The more the better, so the minting of coins in Luoyang must begin as soon as possible."

"That's what I agreed with your father."

Li Yun said seriously: "As long as the Meng family does a good job and there are no problems, the future coinage will be handed over to your family."

Meng Hai bowed his head slightly and said immediately, "Yes, I will tell my father about this matter after I return. If the superior is free, I will bring my father to the palace to meet the superior."

"Okay, let him come to the palace in the next few days."

Li Yun looked at Meng Hai and said with a smile, "There is one thing I need to explain to the Meng family. From now on, the Mint will only follow the emperor's orders on how much money and how to mint it each year. It does not need to pay attention to all other government offices in the court."

"Unless all the prime ministers sign a letter together."

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, "Because this yamen is important, I will dispatch some people to serve as soldiers in the Mint Office during this period of time."

He looked at Meng Hai and said with a smile: "Although the number of people is small, the Mint will become one of the few government offices in Luoyang City that has soldiers."

Meng Hai stood up and subconsciously lowered his head. He was about to respond, but he quickly reacted and said, "My Lord, I am working in the Nine Departments. Regarding the coinage... I will discuss it with you in detail after my father enters the palace."

Li Yun looked at him, then smiled dumbly: "You are getting smarter and smarter. OK, let's talk about serious matters."

"Sit down and talk."

After Meng Hai sat down, Li Yun spoke up, "The intelligence sent from Guanzhong was forwarded to the palace by your men. Please tell us in detail."

"Yes."

Finally talking about his own business, Meng Hai lowered his head and described the general situation in Guanzhong. Then he smiled and said, "After the Shangwei came to rule the Central Plains, the life in the Central Plains has been getting better day by day. Now that the Shangwei has taken the throne, the people in Guanzhong naturally want to return home and submit to the Shangwei, so there is this turmoil."

Hearing this, Li Yun shook his head slightly and snorted, "Don't flatter me. The people in Guanzhong may not know what is happening outside Guanzhong. The ones who really know what is happening outside are the old dignitaries in Guanzhong."

"They were bullied by Wei Quanzhong, and they were worried that if they came here too late, they would lose their positions, so they were desperate and took desperate measures."

Meng Hai blinked and said nothing. Li Yun hummed, looked at the sky outside the study, and then looked down at the document in his hand.

At this time, his mood was somewhat complicated.

To be honest, he really wanted to take this opportunity to kill all the old nobles with the help of Wei Quanzhong, and then take over Guanzhong. However, if he did not take the opportunity, the Jiangdong Army would...

In other words, when the Tang army tries to take Guanzhong again in the future, it will suffer a lot of losses.

"Meng Hai."

Li Yun shouted and said, "Go and pick up Cui Shao. Don't let him die on the road. At the same time, keep in touch with the Nine Officials in Guanzhong. If there is anything, report to me as soon as possible."

Meng Hai immediately lowered his head and replied yes.

Li Yun stood up, patted his shoulder, and suddenly said with a smile: "Do you feel uncomfortable when your name is not included in the title this time?"

Meng Hai quickly shook his head and said, "I know my own abilities. I have no military merits and no skills. The most I do is pass on messages for my superiors."

"You shouldn't have given me a title."

Li Yun touched his head and said with a smile: "Good boy, you are open-minded."

"Now, many of the great men who were so majestic on the battlefield are crying in Luoyang City."

"Don't worry, just do your job."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I can't treat you badly."

Meng Hai bowed his head deeply: "Subordinate, I will go now."

After saying that, he trotted out of the palace. Li Yun thought about it, then put his hands behind his back, left the palace as well, and came to the imperial city.

In the imperial city, there were various government offices of the imperial court. Li Yun walked around with his hands behind his back and slowly came to the Secretariat. Before he entered the Secretariat, all the officials in the Secretariat, headed by Du Qian, came out in unison, knelt in front of him very smoothly, and called him "Your Majesty".

Li Yun stepped forward, helped Du Qian up, looked at Yao Zhong, told him to get up, and then said with a smile: "I didn't ask anyone to shout that I was coming, why did you all come out?"

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said with a wry smile, "It was precisely because Your Majesty did not order anyone to shout that when we hurried out just now, at least three of us fell to the ground, and one of us even had a bloody head."

Li Yun was startled, then shook his head and said helplessly: "Go inside and talk, go inside and talk."

After entering the Zhongshu, Li Yun sat down in the main seat without any hesitation, and then told Du Qian and Yao Zhong to sit on either side of him. After driving away the idlers, Li Yun looked at the two people and asked with a smile: "You two, I have something to discuss with you."

Both prime ministers bowed their heads and said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

"Do you think it's time to establish three provinces?"

Zhongshu, Menxia and Shangshu are the core of the three provinces and six ministries.

The Zhongshu drafted government decrees, the Menxia reviewed them, and the Shangshu was in charge of the six ministries and implemented them.

Now, these three functions are actually in the hands of the two prime ministers of Zhongshu in front of us.

Du Qian and Yao Zhong looked at each other, then bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "This matter has been discussed with Prime Minister Yao. The three provinces must be established, but the problem is the selection of candidates."

"Your Majesty, do you have any favorite candidates?"

"What I mean is that Brother Shouyi is still the Minister of the Central Secretariat."

He looked at Yao Zhong and said with a smile: "Mr. Yao, go to the Shangshu Province and be the Shangshu Zuo Pushe."

Du Qian seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "Should we ask Brother Ziwang to come as the Minister of the Imperial Household?"

Li Yun nodded silently: "At present, it seems that he is the only one who is more suitable, but the Censorate also needs him."

Yao Zhong looked at Li Yun and whispered, "Your Majesty, Xu Ziwang is not suitable to be the Minister of the Imperial Household. He should continue to preside over the Imperial Censorate. I think that Zhuo Guangrui, the Minister of Works, can be appointed as the Prime Minister."

"Besides, there is no need to forcibly divide it into three provinces."

Yao Zhong bowed his head and said, "During the old Zhou Dynasty, the responsibilities of the three ministries were no longer clearly defined. Most matters were discussed in the Political Affairs Hall. Your Majesty can rebuild the Political Affairs Hall."

"This way, the three provinces will have a place to coordinate and won't hinder each other."

Hearing this, Li Yun thought about it seriously, then nodded and said, "I'll think about this again."

As he spoke, he handed the document from the Nine Departments regarding Guanzhong to Du Qian, then looked at Yao Zhong and said, "You two..."

"Take a look at them all."

(End of this chapter)