A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 464 Granting Li Yi the Right to Found a State and Establish a Government

All titles below the rank of Duke of the Great Tang Dynasty included the words "founding state".

The lowest rank among the nine ranks of nobility, the county baron, was also preceded by the title "Founding Baron of [County Name]". From the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, those who were granted the title were all granted the establishment of state officials. However, the number and types of state officials varied depending on the rank of the nobility and the additional nominal and substantive official positions.

"During the Daye era, Emperor Yang of Sui implemented the Daye Decree, abolishing all five ranks of nobility and replacing them with three ranks of nobility: king, duke, and marquis. He did not establish a new state, but only changed the State Decree to the Family Decree and abolished all other state officials."

Our dynasty basically restored the old system of the Kaihuang era, with the nobility still divided into nine ranks. At the founding of the dynasty, state officials were appointed, with the number of officials varying depending on the nobility rank. These officials were generally of nominal rank.

In the library,

Du Ruhui did not return to the capital with Li Shimin. He stayed in Wuji Fort and patiently explained to Li Yi the questions about the officials and the prefectural assistants.

The phrase "rank is determined by the official's position" actually reveals a lot.

Even though Li Yi was a prince, the so-called founding of the country and the establishment of state officials were merely symbolic. Without being granted fiefdoms and land, how could there be a real founding of the country? The state officials were just nice-sounding names.

Princes have state decrees, while other nobles have family decrees.

Li Yi's main state officials were the Household Steward, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Commandant, which sound very prestigious, but they were respectively ranked as the lower seventh rank, the lower eighth rank, and the lower ninth rank.

"Like the county magistrate, county assistant magistrate, and county commandant of a lower-level county?"

“No, it’s based on rank, on the ranks within the system, like the twelve ranks of meritorious officials,” Du Ruhui said.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi understood. The title of Shangzhuguo was equivalent to the second rank, but not a true second-rank official. If one only had the Shangzhuguo honorary title without a military post, then when applying for a substantive post in the Ministry of War, one could only be granted a sixth-rank substantive post.

It's roughly equivalent to enjoying some of the honors of a second-rank official, but in reality, it's only equivalent to being a sixth-rank official.

The title of "Wu'an Wangguo Ling" (武安王国令), which is a seventh-rank official, sounds similar to that of a county magistrate, but this is only a nominal rank and is very different from a true seventh-rank official.

"Should I personally recruit and appoint this official?"

"Yes, you should recruit them yourself and then submit a memorial to the court."

These officials were Li Yi's personal subordinates, recruited by him, and the court did not provide them with salaries; all expenses had to be covered by Li Yi.

His complete government staff consisted of about twenty people within the official ranks and about twenty people outside the official ranks.

There were officials in charge of education, food, stables, livestock, temples, and government offices, each with their own assistants, plus many guards, attendants, clerks, and scribes.

However, nowadays, few of those in the imperial court with titles actually hold so many official positions; they just appoint a few casually.

The prefectural assistant, also known as the prefectural governor, had a set of officials.

For example, the officials in the Qin Prince's Mansion and the Qi Prince's Mansion were fully equipped and of high rank. For instance, the tutor in the Prince's Mansion was of the third rank, the chief secretary and the military advisor were of the fourth rank, the advisory military advisor was of the fifth rank, the friend was of the fifth rank, the clerk, the subordinate and the chief clerk were of the sixth rank and the assistant military advisor were of the seventh rank, and the libationer was of the seventh rank.

However, the number of officials in the household of a prince was much smaller, and their ranks were also lower. As for dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, their household assistants were even fewer, and their ranks were even lower, so it was generally difficult to have a full complement of them.

The King of Qin and the King of Qi also had six guards on the left and right, commanding about 20,000 soldiers from the outer guards, as well as the left and right personal guards and the tent affairs office, with more than 1,000 guards.

Other princes and nobles did not receive such treatment.

The emperor's assignment of 500 personal attendants and accountants to Li Yi this time was quite unusual.

"In fact, as the Minister of Works, you were originally entitled to establish your own office and appoint subordinates, but the Three Dukes of our dynasty are actually high-ranking officials with empty titles and no specific duties. They simply sit and discuss matters with the emperor."

Even when the state held important ceremonies, court officials would act as the chief officiant, performing the duties of the Three Dukes.

After hearing Du Ruhui's explanation, I understood. Even though the Three Dukes had their own offices, there was no actual subordinate relationship between the Three Dukes and their subordinates. The official positions in the Three Dukes' offices were at most temporary placements for some officials, and most of the time, the positions in the Three Dukes' offices were vacant.

Similarly, most of the official positions for the ninth-rank nobles were vacant, except for the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Qi, whose official positions were complete. The Prince of Qin's official position, in particular, was filled with officials such as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, as well as Xiao Jing, Dou Lun, Yu Zhining, Yan Sigu, Chu Liang, Yao Silian, Quan Wanchun, Wang Da, Quan Hongshou, Wei Qingzhi, and Doulu Kuan.

Many of these people were renowned scholars, and some of them held part-time positions in the Prince of Qin's court.

The officials and staff of ordinary princes and dukes were at most assigned a few military advisors, and not even chief clerks or military commanders, let alone tutors, friends, advisors, or libationers.

The other marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons had even fewer of those.

It is quite unusual that the emperor now specifically says he wants to establish a state and government for Li Yi, and appoint officials and staff to his office.

In particular, they actually assigned him 500 men for his marriage and two offices within his household, and also arranged for many military officers to come.

"As for government officials, you can just recommend some people yourself. You can appoint your own stewards and relatives to serve as your household stewards, chief farmers, lieutenants, temple chiefs, food officials, etc., to help you collect rent from your fiefdom, manage your manor and workshops, manage your family temple and estate, and be in charge of the kitchen, horses and mules, private school, guards, etc."

"You don't need to worry about the Prefectural Assistant. Just accept whatever arrangements the court makes for you, whoever is appointed and how many are appointed, just follow their instructions."

These officials were appointed to assist Li Yi; they were his personal staff. Whether Li Yi was serving in the capital or returning to his hometown, he could take these people with him.

The tutor was responsible for teaching and assisting, the advisor was responsible for offering advice and counsel, the friend was responsible for accompanying and advising, the literary scholar was responsible for proofreading classics, and the chief priest was responsible for receiving guests.

The Chief Clerk and Sima were responsible for leading the officials and assisting Li Yi in handling affairs. The clerks and subordinates assisted the Chief Clerk and Sima, each in charge of one of the six departments. The Registrar reviewed and recorded documents, the Secretary was responsible for paperwork, the Military Advisor was dispatched on missions, and the Secretary was in charge of disseminating orders and decrees. The Military Advisors of the six departments were responsible for the affairs of their respective departments.

A complete team of prefectural officials is still very effective.

After all, Li Yi was a high-ranking official with great power and influence, and he held multiple positions. He would definitely be too busy to handle everything himself, and relying entirely on the officials in the government would certainly have its inconveniences.

Having your own team of staff is certainly more convenient.

However, such private staff teams inevitably encroach on public power, so the court usually imposes many restrictions on them. Now that Li Yi has been granted the power to establish his own government by the emperor, it is of course a special reward for him.

The emperor ordered Li Yizheng to appoint officials to the post, but Du Ruhui reminded him to ask the court to arrange for officials to be appointed.

This is to show an attitude, that there is no ambition.

Even for adult princes like the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Qi, their officials were appointed by the emperor; they couldn't really choose for themselves.

When the emperor wanted to appoint Du Ruhui, a military officer, as the chief administrator of the Shanzhou General's Office, Li Shimin, in order to retain him, went to the palace to request that Du Ruhui concurrently serve as an official in the Prince of Qin's household, rather than directly stating that the Prince of Qin had instructed him to stay. Li Yi felt that the emperor's appointment of him as an official was more about strengthening surveillance and control over him.

However, Li Yi was not afraid of the emperor's supervision.

He even resigned from his positions as Attendant-in-Ordinary, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, Commander of the Left Guard, and General of the Banner, so he wasn't afraid of the emperor sending someone to serve as his assistant.

Li Yi also requested the emperor to grant him the title of Prince of Wu'an.

However, the emperor quickly refused his request to decline the title of Prince again, making him refuse three times in a row and telling him not to bring it up again.

As for the concurrent positions of Attendant-in-Ordinary, the emperor refused only once and then nothing more was said.

"It's good that you resigned. Anyway, you'll stay in Hebei and won't return to the capital. You're so young, and being a member of the imperial clan isn't a close relative of the imperial clan."

It was only natural that the Prince of Qi would serve as Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, remotely holding the position of Grand General of Bingzhou, and also serving as Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit.

Even when Yang Gongren was stationed in Liangzhou, serving as the Inspector-General of Liangzhou and concurrently as the Grand Councilor, few people objected, given his seniority, prestige, and age.

Li Yi's achievements were certainly enough to qualify him for the position of prime minister, but he was too young.

"How has the Du family been lately?"

"It's good," Du Ruhui smiled. "Without that lackey Du Yan, the house is very quiet now. Du Rui has been transferred to a post in Shu, so out of sight, out of mind."

"It's just that Sanlang has been living in seclusion on Mount Song, studying and refusing to return to the capital, which is giving me a headache."

Because of Guo, the two branches of the Hou family in Dujiafeng Township had been at odds for many years, and after much fighting, a resolution was finally reached.

"Brother Dugu did a good job killing them. Otherwise, if that lackey Du Yan had returned to Chang'an, the family would have continued to be in chaos and unrest," Du Ruhui said.

Li Yi smiled and said, "Speaking of the Dugu brothers, they were dismissed from their posts for killing Wang Shichong and others, but I heard that they have all been reinstated and even promoted. Dugu Xiude has even inherited the title of Duke."

Although in the end the King of Qin took the blame for that incident,

It was undoubtedly done in accordance with the emperor's wishes.

Wang Shichong was very capable; Li Yuan certainly didn't want to keep someone like that around.

As it turned out, even though Wang Shichong died and his brothers and nephews were sentenced to exile in Sichuan, they were all killed on the way.

The imperial court simply stated that they died of illness on the way due to acclimatization issues.

But everyone knew this was a case of eliminating the root of the problem, and the aftermath didn't cause much of a stir.

Li Yi had reason to believe

Although Dou Jiande has been granted the title of Duke of Changcheng County and given a large mansion in Chang'an, it is estimated that he will not live long. Li Yuan refrained from killing him earlier because he was persuaded by Li Yi and Li Shimin that Hebei should be kept stable and Dou Jiande should not be executed.

But in a year or two, Dou Jiande will die suddenly in Chang'an. By then, Hebei will be stable, and most of his generals will be serving as officials in the Tang Dynasty. How many of them will still stand up for him, or even rebel for him?

Now that Wang Shichong's entire clan has been killed on their way to exile, most of Wang Shichong's former subordinates have fallen silent.

Li Yuan certainly possessed the qualities of an emperor.

He was flexible and adaptable, both yielding and assertive. He could endure humiliation with the Turks, and he was also generous in bestowing titles and official positions upon various warlords. He was also always generous in rewarding his soldiers.

However, he turned on them very quickly after using them and discarding them.

Li Yuan was a man of great cunning; he wouldn't truly believe in benevolence, righteousness, or trustworthiness.

Crown Prince Li Jiancheng inherited some of these traits, such as his cruelty towards refugees during the suppression of bandits in Nanshan and his ruthlessness and lack of integrity in inducing surrender and killing prisoners during the campaign against the Ji Hu in Weibei.

On the contrary, Li Shimin, a victorious general on the battlefield, was quite particular about the word "trust".

"I heard that my elder brother is also serving as the Military Advisor of the Tian Ce Mansion this time?"

"Maybe." Du Ruhui had also heard some rumors, but he wasn't too concerned.

His current official positions are: Director of the Imperial Secretariat of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit, Military Advisor of the Prince of Qin's Palace, Chief Secretary of the General Administration of Shanzhou, and Founding Viscount of Jianping County.

Adding the position of Military Advisor in the Tian Ce Mansion wouldn't be a big deal.

"Do you think a sage would allow the King of Qin to build a literary academy in the Qin Prince's Palace in Chang'an, and appoint scholars from the Qin Prince's Palace through the Qin Prince's teachings?"

“I heard that His Majesty has ordered the construction of a palace for the Prince of Qin in the northwest of the Forbidden Garden, named Hongyi Palace,” Li Yi said. Previously, the emperor had ordered the Prince of Qin to move out of Chengqian Hall in Taiji Palace and granted Li Shimin a plot of land in the southeast of Chang’an to build his palace.

Now that the pacification of Hebei has been completed, the emperor has built a new palace for the Prince of Qin in the northwest corner of the Taiji Palace Forbidden Garden. This shows that the emperor feels somewhat indebted to the Prince of Qin for restricting and suppressing him, and is therefore making various forms of compensation.

At this time, the King of Qin said he wanted to study, so he built a literary academy and invited some civil officials to be scholars and study with him. The emperor was overjoyed.

The emperor had no reason to object to the King of Qin's decision to stay in Chang'an and study with civil officials instead of military generals.

"I'm afraid the emperor will just go along with it and really only let the Prince of Qin study in Chang'an from now on."

"Don't worry, the Tang Dynasty is about to unify the Central Plains, but the external threats have not yet been eliminated. An even more severe test is coming. At that time, we will still need the Prince of Qin to take action."

The Turks were not easy to deal with; they were stronger than Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, Xiao Xian, and all the others combined.

At that time, Li Yuan would have to ask his son to take action, and might even have to make a private promise to change the crown prince to the Prince of Qin.

nowadays,
The fact that the King of Qin was a capable general already put him in an invincible position.

(End of this chapter)