The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 107: Taking Power
Some time ago, Ying Zheng did everything himself before he had the power. Now that he holds the power, he can finally relax a little and delegate power appropriately. Otherwise, in such a big country, no one can handle all the state affairs. In recent years, paper has been used in the court of the Qin Dynasty. Fortunately, with paper, handling state affairs is not so difficult.

The current central system of the various vassal states is that the king holds the highest decision-making and administrative power. Only when the king is willing to delegate power can there be powerful ministers. If the king would rather work hard than delegate power, there will naturally be no room for powerful ministers. Of course, nobles of all sizes have a high degree of autonomy.

But it was different in Qin. Although the nobles still had a say, they had no autonomy. Since Shang Yang's reforms, Qin had built a perfect war machine. Under the meticulous cultivation of successive Qin kings, this machine was completely obedient to the will of the Qin king. As long as the Qin king, the operator, did not act too recklessly, the machine would work exactly as it was commanded.

The most interesting point is that most of the Qin court has always been filled with scholars from the six kingdoms who have no foundation and hold high civil positions, but most of the middle-level and grassroots civil and military officials are old Qin people from Guanzhong who have been born through the military merit system. This ensures the stability of the grassroots rule and the political security of the upper level.

After Ying Zheng ascended the throne, he made some minor changes and laid the foundation for the cabinet and grand council systems of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The current version is a simplified one, adding an official position of "Zhangtai Walking Councillor". There is no fixed candidate, and the administration is in the side hall of the Zhangtai Palace, temporarily called the Fuzheng Pavilion Office.

It is better not to have too much power as a prime minister.

In addition to the three regents, the Regent Cabinet Office also added Wei Zhuang, an aristocratic elder, to the mix, as well as Zhang Tang, Yang Duanhe, and Changping Jun, making a total of seven people. Six people is the optimal number of cabinet members, but there is no rush now. Changping Jun is just there to make up the numbers temporarily, and he can be kicked out later.

Except for Changping Jun, the three new members were carefully selected. Wei Zhuang was an aristocratic elder who had always been in charge of the Shaofu. He could be said to be a representative of the old Qin aristocrats. Zhang Tang and Yang Duanhe were representatives of the aristocrats who were both civil and military.

In history, Lu Buwei was indeed not a man of integrity. He monopolized power and repeatedly excluded dissidents. Cai Ze and Zhang Tang were all driven out of the court by him, but now he has no chance.

If we talk about the loyalty of these seven people individually, except for Changping Jun who is a little bit lacking, the others are all fine, even the current Changping Jun is fine, but there are incompatible and numerous conflicts among the seven of them.

Lü Buwei, Cai Ze, and Zhong Cang were people from the six kingdoms who were directly recruited and held high positions. Wei Zhuang was from an old aristocratic family. Zhang Tang and Yang Duanhe were from military noble families. Changping Jun was a royal aristocrat of the Chu state.

Wei Zhuang looked down on all of them, and hated Lu Buwei, Cai Ze and Zhong Cang the most.

Zhang Tang and Yang Duan have little power in the officialdom, but are powerful in the military. They are specifically responsible for surveillance and balance in the Regent Office, and they do not get along well with the other five.

Lü Buwei, Cai Ze and Zhong Cang were all prime ministers. Although they had the greatest real power, they also had the greatest conflicts. Cai Ze had been a veteran minister for four dynasties, but because of his background and temperament, he had never held the greatest power, and he had a deep conflict with Lü Buwei.

Although Lu Buwei is second only to the king, his foundation is weak. Now, in terms of his relationship with the king alone, he is certainly not as good as Zhong Cang.

Since ancient times, a new emperor has his own ministers. Zhong Cang was an old minister of the previous king and the enlightenment teacher of the new king. They had a deep relationship as master and disciple. Naturally, he was dissatisfied with Lu Buwei always being above him, and Zhong Cang also wanted to go further.

Lu Buwei felt that he had the merit of supporting the dragon, and coupled with his relationship with Zichu's family, he should be ranked first. However, he was wary of the relationship between Zhong Cang and Ying Zheng, and the two fought endlessly.

Cai Ze believes that his relationship with Lu Buwei, Zhong Cang and Ying Zheng cannot compare to his. His greatest advantage is that he is extremely self-aware. Although he is an outsider, his loyalty and ability are unquestionable. He does not stand on the side of anyone but the king, which also leads to no one daring to look down on him.

As for Changping Jun, he was a reward for the Chu faction headed by the Queen Mother Huayang for their unremitting support to Zichu and Ying Zheng. He was a separate faction, and the other six people refused to play with him, a senior noble of the Chu State.

It's just a transition for the time being. Kick him out when the opportunity arises. History has proven that he will not be completely united with the Qin State. It's not bad to let him be a senior worker now. Changping Jun is still capable. Each of them is in a high position and is involved in many things. They have to rely on the people below and rely on the people below. Each of them represents a small group. It is impossible for them to unite because they fight with each other.

Come to think of it, they all have different interests, so how can they unite as one? But it is right for them not to unite. Only when they are not united can Ying Zheng feel at ease.

At present, the Regent Cabinet is headed by Lu Buwei, assisted by Zhongcang Cai Ze, and the other four are equal. Although they seem to be divided into upper and lower levels, they are actually all the same.

Anyone who was given the title of "Zhangtai Walking Councillor" could go directly to the side hall of Zhangtai Palace to handle memorials and jointly handle government affairs. For the same matter, everyone had to submit a draft, and Ying Zheng would approve the one who approved it. If no one agreed, he would send it back for a new draft, or call a meeting together for discussion, or make changes himself and issue it directly.

It seems that there are differences in status among the people, but in fact, whoever has a higher vote pass rate is the one who has a real high rate. Ying Zheng only needs to favor the vote of one of them, and then he can easily control all of them.

Because they only had the right to draft but not the right to approve, their administrative power was actually greatly reduced invisibly, because the actual administrative power was basically restricted by Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng required that only the edicts approved by the king and stamped with the royal seal were legal edicts. Ying Zheng temporarily handed over the approved edicts to the Regent Council for issuance. Whoever approved the draft would be given the order to carry out the work. He could even directly issue edicts to the Nine Ministers and county officials to execute them. Their greatest power was only the right to participate in politics, and Ying Zheng enjoyed all decision-making power.

As for the power to approve and make decisions, Ying Zheng was not crazy and would not give it to anyone.

The Ming and Qing dynasties were truly the dynasties at the peak of the emperor's centralized power system. This system was really useful. At first, they didn't react and thought that their power had increased. After they reacted, they found that something seemed wrong. The specific decisions after the king's approval were no longer handed over to the prime minister for administration, but were only issued to the ministers and counties for implementation through the Regent Council. Moreover, whoever drafted the decision would do it, and it was controlled tightly.

With the king holding all the power, the political structure changed directly, and the issuance and implementation of policies became extremely flat. Although the three prime ministers were secretly dissatisfied, there was nothing they could do.

Of course, at least the three prime ministers could still command their subordinates in name, but the subordinates could refuse because it was illegal without the king's order. Given the harshness of Qin law, few people were willing to try to see if their three clans were tough enough.

As for Wei Zhuang and the other three, they don't care at all. They didn't even have the highest voting power in the first place, but now they have it. What else is there to be dissatisfied about? They have to take one step at a time.

Changping Jun was even more satisfied. You know what? It's been too long! It's been too long! It's been too long since the Chu clan has been in the core power position of the Qin court.

Ying Zheng required that all records be kept, and all memorials and draft approvals be kept in archives. Memorials on state affairs, big or small, were divided into four levels from urgent to non-urgent. Moreover, officials above the rank of Zhongqing in the central court of the Qin Dynasty and local officials from the county level and above could submit memorials to Ying Zheng directly without going through the auxiliary cabinet. These were called secret memorials. Together with Yan Jin's increasingly powerful Xuanyu Guard, it was basically possible to ensure that the channels of communication were open and that the eyes and ears were clear.

The power of the Xuanyu Guards was strictly controlled. Their main function was to ensure intelligence of the Qin government and other countries, as well as to protect their safety. Even assassinations were extremely rare. As for managing the imperial prison and interrogating people, they could only do it if Ying Zheng ordered it personally. They were responsible for carrying out a single royal order, so they had to wield a sharp knife well.

Things have indeed become much easier after the changes to the highest government system. After all, the seven regents can handle most of the issues, and all they need is approval. Although this is still a bit too hard, it is more stable. Power will never disappear, and if you don't work hard to control it, someone else will control it for you. This is already the most stable way.

On this basis, Ying Zheng changed the court meeting to once a day, with only the morning court. After the morning court, everyone went to their official residences to do work.

Coupled with the many military, political and personnel adjustments before, especially the complete control of the Imperial Guards and the Xianyang City Defense Forces, as well as the increasingly powerful Xuanyu Guards, Ying Zheng has basically mastered the power of the Qin Dynasty over the past year.

(End of this chapter)