The prince is more stable

Chapter 868 Appointment of Inspectors
Regarding the separation of supervisory powers, the ministers in the Council of State clearly felt that Zhao Xiaoqian's attitude was becoming increasingly tough and pressing them step by step.

Clearly, the Emperor was determined that this matter was open to no discussion or questioning. The supervisory power of the court had to be separated and established as a long-term, fixed structure in the Song Dynasty, clearly enshrined in law and not to be changed by future generations.

This is no longer just a matter of dividing the power of the Council of State Affairs; it undoubtedly puts a golden shackle on the heads of all officials in the Song Dynasty. From now on, whether in the imperial court or in local areas, officials who want to distort government orders, engage in corruption, or abuse their power for personal gain will be subject to direct supervision by the emperor's spies.

Which official would willingly be so bound by such constraints?

Inside the Hall of State Affairs, Zhang Dun remained silent with a somber face, as did Su Zhe, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery. The two were leaders of the New Party and the Old Party, respectively, and since they remained silent, it was naturally inconvenient for the other officials to say anything.

Zhao Xiaoqian seemed completely oblivious to the grim expressions on everyone's faces, and simply said, "This matter should be handled swiftly. The Ministry of Revenue should immediately allocate funds to select a site on the Imperial Street of Bianjing and build the Supervisory Office."

"The State Council and the Ministry of Personnel will produce the evaluation list of Censorate officials from the past few years, and select those with good character and integrity to be transferred to the Censorate."

"The head of the Censorate can be called the 'Censorate Grand Master,' a second-rank official, equivalent to the prime minister. He has two deputy officials under him, called the 'Left Censorate' and the 'Right Censorate,' who are in charge of the capital region and the local areas respectively."

"The first Inspector General is Han Zhongyan, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery, the Left Inspector General is Lü Huiqing, the Prefect of Daming, and the Right Inspector General is Li Qingchen, the Vice Prefect of Zhending."

"Based on these three individuals, the Supervisory Office will be established. Officials of the Imperial City Guard will not hold official positions, but they will have the power to supervise officials throughout the country. Furthermore, officials of the Imperial City Guard will only be responsible to me and will not be subject to any control by the Council of State Affairs or the Supervisory Office."

As Zhao Xiaoqian announced a series of personnel appointments, the ministers in the Hall of State Affairs felt their eyelids twitch and cold sweat soak through their backs.

These personnel appointments were not made on a whim by the officials, but were the result of careful consideration.

First, let's look at his definition of the Censorate: it is not subject to the control of the Council of State Affairs and is only responsible to the emperor. Second, the Imperial City Guard has its own supervision over the Censorate, which means that the officials of the Censorate cannot act arbitrarily, as they are being watched by the Imperial City Guard.

Next, let's look at the Emperor's appointment of the Inspector General and the Left and Right Chancellors. The Inspector General was Han Zhongyan, who was quite famous in the court.

Han Chung-yen is most famous for his ambiguous political stance, having moved between the old and new parties for many years.

Look at his resume. During the Yuan You era, when the old party was in power, Han Zhongyan served as Minister of Revenue and was later transferred to the Privy Council.

During the Shaosheng era, the New Party made a comeback. Han Zhongyan was transferred from Academician of the Zizheng Hall to Prefect of Daming. Later, he was transferred back to the capital to enter the Council of State Affairs and served as Vice Minister of the Chancellery, which was equivalent to a vice prime minister.

Whether the new party or the old party was in power, Han Zhongyan always maintained a stable position, never straying far from the center of power. This alone demonstrates just how remarkable his ability to survive in officialdom was.

Next, let's look at the candidates for Left and Right Chancellors: Lü Huiqing and Li Qingchen.

Lü Huiqing was a staunch supporter of the New Party. In the early years when Wang Anshi was alive, Lü Huiqing and Wang Anshi were practically like teacher and student, and Lü Huiqing always treated Wang Anshi with the respect due to a disciple.

At the time, people compared Wang Anshi to Confucius, and Lü Huiqing to Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius, which shows how close their relationship was.

Later, Lü Huiqing and Wang Anshi fell out due to a power struggle in the court. Lü Huiqing was repeatedly ostracized and demoted, and his official career went through many ups and downs. After being demoted to the position of prefect of Daming, he never returned to Bianjing.

There was also Li Qingchen, the prefectural magistrate of Zhending Prefecture. He was indeed a member of the New Party, but his views on the new policies differed from those of others.

His political stance was similar to Zhao Xiaoqian's. He believed that both the new policies and the old laws had their flaws, and advocated combining the new policies with the old laws, discarding the dross and retaining the essence, to form a completely new and perfect set of policies, which would then be implemented throughout the country.

This view was naturally unacceptable to the court, and neither the New Party nor the Old Party liked him. As a result, Li Qingchen was demoted to Zhen Ding Prefecture and became Zhao Xiaoqian's partner.

In recent years, Li Qingchen has held the official position of Tongpan of Zhending Prefecture, but he has done all the work of a prefect. Zhao Xiaoqian has dumped all the affairs of Zhending Prefecture on Li Qingchen, while he has been busy fighting against the Liao Kingdom. In terms of merit, Li Qingchen's contributions in recent years have been considerable.

When the Censorate was first established, Zhao Xiaoqian selected three officials—Han Zhongyan, Lü Huiqing, and Li Qingchen—all with ulterior motives.

The most notable characteristic of the three is that their relationship with the New Party was not very close, and there were even conflicts between them, but they could still be considered members of the New Party.

This relationship is quite delicate.

Zhao Xiaoqian's intention in appointing these three men to head the Censorate was self-evident.

If the Control Yuan has too good a relationship with the New Party, it is feared that the Control Yuan and the New Party officials will protect each other, and the Control Yuan will not be able to play its supervisory role at all. The Control Yuan will be a mere formality and will not achieve the purpose of supervising officials throughout the country.

If officials from the old party who have a grudge against the new party are appointed, there is a concern that the old party might find fault with the new party and use the supervisory power granted by the emperor to frame and retaliate against the new party officials, thus intensifying the factional struggle and creating a chaotic atmosphere in the court.

It must be said that Zhao Xiaoqian's choice of these three people was indeed very suitable. The team built around these three people would definitely be able to deter and supervise the government and local officials.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaoqian had even finalized the selection of personnel for the Censorate, the court officials in the Council of State Affairs understood that this matter was beyond discussion and irreversible.

The emperor's will must be carried out, regardless of whether it is right or wrong.

Although the political environment in the Song Dynasty court was relatively relaxed, it depended on the people and the situation.

There is absolutely no room for leniency in this matter; whatever the emperor decides, that is the final word.

Ultimately, the world remains a place where imperial power determines everything.

After Zhao Xiaoqian finished speaking, Zhang Dun had already resigned himself to his fate, so he stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, we are willing to obey your decree."

Then a man stepped forward from among the officials in the hall and said, "I, Han Zhongyan, am willing to serve as the Inspector General, to share the Emperor's burdens, and to serve the country."

Everyone looked at Han Zhongyan with complicated expressions. This Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat had somehow gotten lucky. He was originally just a barely ranked deputy prime minister, but suddenly he rose to the top and became the Inspector General, with an official rank equal to that of the prime minister. Not only that, he also had the power to supervise the prime minister and all officials in the country.

It must be that someone started a forest fire near his ancestral graves, which caused the graves to smoke as well...

You need to hurry back to your hometown and put out the fire!

Zhao Xiaoqian stared at Han Zhongyan and slowly said, "Master Shipu, I appointed you as the Inspector General so that you and your colleagues could supervise the officials of the country. However, the Inspectorate only has the power of supervision, not the power to arrest, interrogate, or interfere in local affairs. You must understand this point."

"The Imperial City Guard will thoroughly investigate every matter reported by the Censorate. If any Censorate official is found to have deceived or framed another official, Mr. Shi Pu will be held accountable. Do you understand?"

Han Zhongyan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust. Every word I have said and reported is true. If it is untrue, I am willing to bear the punishment."

"The Censorate is located on the Imperial Street in Bianjing, but local censorate offices should also be established, with circuit and prefecture-level censorate offices below, all under the control of the Bianjing Censorate. The Censorate can be gradually improved over the next two years."

"The minister obeys the order."

Zhao Xiaoqian rubbed his aching temples and surveyed the expressions of the officials in the Hall of State Affairs.

Yes, they all look angry but dare not speak out. It seems that no one is happy about the establishment of the Censorate.

It's okay, you'll get used to it eventually.

To reiterate, the era of the Song Dynasty emphasizing civil affairs over military matters has ended, and the saying "the law does not apply to scholar-officials" will no longer exist.

Do you really think that being an official means you'll enjoy a life of luxury for generations after passing the imperial examinations?

…………

The court officials in the Council of State dared not speak out, because they were in such a high position that they dared not act rashly. No matter how dissatisfied they were with Zhao Xiaoqian's decision, they could only endure it for the time being.

But Zhao Xiaoqian knew that things had only just begun.

He stirred up a storm himself, and now he's waiting for it to come.

Sure enough, the next day, news of the Emperor's decision to establish the Censorate reached the court.

The court officials were immediately in an uproar.

This is not just a simple matter of decentralization; the government's decision is like a sword hanging over the heads of all officials in the country.

From then on, all officials were subject to surveillance. Every word they spoke and every action they took might be recorded by the officials of the Censorate and sent to the Emperor in Bianjing.

How can I bear this?

Since its founding, the Song Dynasty has always adhered to the national policy of treating scholars and officials well. Now, the Emperor's decision is tantamount to completely overturning this national policy.

The emperor, with an attitude of distrust but having no choice but to rely on the officials, has transformed the officials' status from governing a region to being monitored.

This isn't just a matter of interests being threatened; it's practically being kidnapped.

As a result, court officials submitted memorials one after another, vehemently opposing the emperor's decision to establish the Censorate.

The memorial was first sent to the Hall of State Affairs, but the prime ministers there looked troubled and then sent it to the Funing Palace.

Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

He knew very well that this was a war without gunfire, a war between the power of the monarch and the power of the ministers.

Today, the war has just begun.

He was facing the entire imperial court and officialdom, the system that had been in place for a hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, and the struggle for interests among officials, nobles, and landlords throughout the land.

When Zheng Chunhe brought the mountain of memorials into the Funing Palace, his face was pale.

He had already heard about the affairs of the Council of State, and he had also heard the uproar of opposition and protests outside the palace.

Looking at Zhao Xiaoqian in front of him, his expression remained unchanged, calm and composed, still as lazy as ever, as if nothing in the world was worth his attention.

He casually picked up the memorial placed on top, opened it, glanced at it quickly, and then smiled.

"This batch of officials is the worst I've ever led, but also the most stubborn. They even dare to directly curse me. Tsk!" Zhao Xiaoqian commented with a sneer.

“Establishing the Censorate is like digging up their ancestral graves. The more this is the case, the more I want to establish the Censorate.”

(End of this chapter)