"Emperor Guangwu was angry at the loss of power for several generations, and was angry at the stealing of the lives of powerful ministers. He went too far and failed to take charge of the government. Although he appointed the three princes, the affairs were returned to the Taige. From then on, the duties of the three princes were only to prepare personnel." [
Book of the Later Han·Zhong Changtong Zhuan]
Weiyang Palace, Shangshu Terrace.
Nowadays, among the officials at home and abroad, Situ Ma Rixi is the most powerful. When he was serving as the assistant director of the Central and Taiwan Affairs Bureau, he sat in the main seat without hesitation. At this time, he pointed to the few coins placed on the table by Xun You, the Secretary of Ping Dynasty.
The drafted edict said coldly: "This is against the rules!"
"What?" Taiwei Dong Cheng looked at the imperial edict in a blink of an eye, then looked at Ma Rixi, and said as if he didn't know, "Is there something wrong with the edict?"
"Since Emperor Xiaowu established the Secretariat to participate in government affairs and Emperor Guangwu returned to Taige, what important matters in the imperial court are not decided by Zhongtai? Since we are the Secretary and assist His Majesty in government affairs, we must do our best to imitate others.
Ma Rixi looked at Dong Cheng and directly expressed his dissatisfaction, saying: "If the Shangshutai only writes edicts for the system, then just call a few Taixue students from Taixue who are good at literature, and why bother Taiwan Province?"
Lords!"
He has made it very clear. By doing this, the emperor has deprived the Shangshutai of the power to participate in and discuss government affairs, and only regarded the Shangshutai as a department for writing edicts, especially when foreign officials such as Da Sinong and Shaofu gained more and more weight.
, and today, when the Six Cao Shangshu continues to be weak, Shangshutai is not even an executive department. If this matter is allowed to develop, then their title of "Recording Shangshu Shi" will be worthless, Ma Rixiben
I thought Dong Chenghui, who loved power the most, would be the first to object, but unexpectedly he looked disapproving.
"I don't agree with what Situ said. When the Chancellor's Desk was first established, wasn't it just for the purpose of writing imperial edicts?"
Ma Rixi heard the teasing tone in Dong Cheng's words, and his expression changed a long time ago, but he said bravely: "Now the Shangshu Taiwan is no longer the original Shangshu Taiwan, Cardinal Taige, this is the imperial system. Taiwei must know
The situation is planned for us now! If this is the case in the future, then what kind of ministers can we be?"
Dong Cheng did not hesitate and nodded: "What Situ means is that he wants to argue with your Majesty again."
It was not once or twice that the emperor bypassed the minister's desk to make decisions. In the past, it was either trivial matters or urgent matters that required immediate edicts, and everyone tolerated it. But this time, they clearly knew that the three princes who recorded the affairs of the minister were all in the minister's desk.
They were in the Taiwan office, but refused to send someone to summon them to the Propaganda Office for discussion. This was a major matter of changing the local system. The emperor actually made a decision with two close ministers, one of whom was Jia Xu, who was not yet a close servant. After a while of discussion, the emperor made a decision.
This would be too treating the important affairs of the imperial court as a child's play, it would be too hasty, and it would not take the authority of the chancellor's desk seriously.
Even the new Shangshu Ling Yang Zan, who was a stranger to Ma Rixi and others, had common interests with Ma Rixi in this matter. They did not want the emperor to be so careless and careless.
The ministers discussed changes to the system, and at the same time they did not want to see the power at hand being weakened, so they wanted to take this opportunity to protest.
But Dong Cheng's words made everyone feel embarrassed. They all remembered that the emperor had also bypassed the Sangong and Zhongtai decisions on the matter of recording ministers, and directly summoned foreign court officials to implement the salt and iron monopoly. That time, he also incurred the same consequences.
It overcame the opposition of almost all ministers and even set off the most solemn court discussion since the emperor ascended the throne.
Everyone knows what the outcome will be.
When everyone thought of the aftermath of that incident, they who had been so confident were all discouraged for a moment. They looked at each other with some fear. Even Ma Rixi's face darkened.
When Dong Cheng saw this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart: "Uncle Ma Weng, you are the only one who still wants to imitate Huang Ziyan? Never forget the past and learn from the future. I suffered a loss at the hands of Huang Ziyan once, how can I do it again?"
Will I suffer a loss by following you?'
Everyone was in a deadlock for a while, worried about the effectiveness of the mass protest, but also unwilling to watch the power of the Central Office be transferred elsewhere by the emperor. This was because the emperor took away the power of the Shangshutai to approve the memorials and transferred the administrative power to it.
Since becoming a foreign official, this is the third time that the Chancery has been weakened! If it is further reduced, the Chancery will be nothing.
At this time, Sikong Shi Sun Rui saw that the scene had cooled down, burst out laughing, tried to smooth things over, and said in a different way: "Your Majesty and Mr.
He established the rules for the imperial court to select officials to serve as subordinate officials to Cao Cao in Hedong, and even clarified the duties of each Cao Cao under the prefectures and counties, so that they could be directly subordinated to the ministers of the imperial court to facilitate the management and deployment. Although there are some slight
There are obstacles, but everything is good governance. With just a few modifications, the edict can be drafted and sent to Hedong. It’s just that”
He deliberately lengthened his tone and successfully attracted everyone's attention. Even Yang Zan, the minister who had been dealing with him for a long time, became curious and couldn't help but look at the scholar Sun Rui.
Dong Cheng knew that Shisun Rui's status among the Kansai scholars was no less than that of Ma Rixi. At this time, he also became interested and looked at him with a smile: "Just what? Junrong, if you have something to say, just say it, don't play around here.
mystery."
Dong Cheng has always called Shisun Rui by his cousin's name in such a rude way. If he continued as usual, Shisun Rui would not give him a good look at all, but now he only saw Shisun Rui smiling coldly, stroking his beard and saying
: "Your Majesty Xun Jun also has the authority to serve as a minister, and he can be regarded as a minister of the Ministry of Bi, just like us. It is not an exaggeration for your majesty to consult him to discuss important matters. However, this banning order Jia Xu is just a minister of agriculture.
How worthy and capable are the six hundred officials under my command to be able to participate in such state affairs?"
Everyone's expressions suddenly changed. Even Yang Zan couldn't help but secretly applaud Sun Rui because the other party keenly grasped a topic that could be used.
"I have never heard of such a theory that when there is a matter in the country, one does not ask the ministers, but the minor officials." Ma Rixi seemed to understand Shisun Rui's intention, and immediately interrupted the conversation: "This Jia Xu doesn't know the meaning of the classics.
I am a guilty minister, but I have been favored by His Majesty and have been serving in the court until now. Now I am still escaping from my subordinates to discuss important affairs, so I have to be impeached."
Ma Rixi wanted to use this to impeach Jia Xu. After all, Jia Xu, a six-hundred-ton official who monitored market prices, was really not qualified to discuss this level of political measures with the emperor. Even if the emperor appreciated him, he could not violate the imperial court's tradition.
Political rules that have been passed down for hundreds of years.
This time the emperor was being unreasonable, and Ma Rixi was absolutely sure that he could impeach Jia Xu. As long as Jia Xu was demoted, Ma Rixi would have a good talk with Xun You, his former subordinate, and rely on him to establish a relationship with him.
Xun You retained a little bit of "righteousness between monarch and minister", and with Xun You's intelligence, he would definitely not dare to discuss major affairs with the emperor alone in the future. In the end, the emperor did not have a considerate adviser who could make suggestions, so he had to return to the minister.
On the stage, I sat down with the three ministers who recorded the affairs of the minister and discussed the truth.
It is not that everyone has done this before to impeach Jia Xu. When the emperor proposed the salt and iron monopoly, everyone pointed the finger at Jia Xu and submitted impeachment memorials one after another, so that the emperor had to transfer Jia Xu from the chancellery. Now if
If the emperor wanted to keep Jia Xu at the risk of causing public outrage, he had to consider whether the deal was worthwhile.
Gaining one person and losing everyone seems to be an obvious choice, but... Yang Zan, who had been somewhat energetic just now, couldn't help but lose interest. If Ma Rixi only thought about this level, then it would be really difficult.
There is no need to mix it up.
Given Jia Xu's weight in the emperor's heart, was it so easy to compromise?
Even Dong Cheng was careful not to say anything in agreement. Yang Zan looked at Shisun Rui, as if expecting this "think tank" among the Kansai scholars. He had worked with him and Huang Wan to serve Wang Yun.
Sun Rui, the scholar who planned to kill Dong, would have something to say. He couldn't stop there.
Sure enough, Shi Sunrui waved his hand and said: "In the Battle of Hedong, in addition to His Majesty Tianwei and the soldiers of the Northern and Southern Army who fought hard, it was all thanks to his subordinates Ping Quanjian to detect the enemy's situation in advance and burn the rebels' food and fodder. Jia Wenhe himself even appeared frequently.
A good plan can be said to have made great contributions. For such great achievements, everyone else will be rewarded with tin, those with high honors will receive titles, and those with low merits will be rewarded. However, Jia Wenhe only gave gold, silver, silk, and silk, which was too meager. Now I think about that
With the ability to govern the country and such a great talent, how can we not ask His Majesty to favor him and bring him back to the center?"
Yang Zan suddenly seemed to be sighing with emotion and sighed in admiration, and then said seriously: "Sikong is indeed very wise, but I am not as good as me."