At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 760

Cheng Yu took advantage of the victory in this battle to return to the peak of the first battle, letting everyone know that the super eagle dog who had the emperor's trust was back.

Although he no longer holds the power of Shangshutai, he is no longer the prime minister of the Wei State, and he cannot continue to be under one person and over ten thousand people, but as the captain of Sili, the power he holds in his hands is even more capable of killing people.

Cheng Yu swept away the haze of losing Shangshutai's real power, reloaded, and once again stood on the cusp of the court of the Wei Empire, despite the wind and rain, without moving.

Guo Peng was very satisfied with this, and he really wanted to see how long this old minister who took the initiative to share the firepower for him could last.

While Cheng Yu was away gathering fire to punish corrupt officials for him, Guo Peng set about continuing to optimize the court departments and distribute power.

Speaking of which, after both Shangshuling and Shangshupushe resigned, the emperor never set up a new Shangshuling and Shangshupushe, and Shangshutai lost its head.

Cheng Yu became the Captain of Sili, and Tian Feng was expelled to the south of Caiyun as the governor of Yunzhou. Both of them are no longer in Shangshutai, and the leadership of Shangshutai has existed in name only.

However, as a subordinate department, Shangshutai's service department still exists completely.

The Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Education, a total of nine departments are intact.

But now the Nine Books of Shangshu are no longer responsible to Shangshuling and Shangshupushe, but are directly responsible to the emperor.

A long time ago, many departments were directly responsible to the emperor.

Later it was actually responsible to the emperor.

Now, he is simply and directly responsible to the emperor.

There is no Shangshu order, no Shangshu servant shot, Shangshutai exists in name only, and only nine books are intact and waiting for the emperor's dispatch.

The unprecedented concentration of imperial power was in the hands of Guo Peng alone.

However, it is not without problems that the nine ministers are directly responsible to the emperor.

That is, there are too many government affairs in the country, and the existence of the Shangshutai link is removed, and all government affairs are directly directed to the emperor himself, which is a great burden for the emperor.

In other words, it is an unsolvable burden that cannot be completely handled no matter how hard you try.

The imperial power is huge, but the things to be done also have an exponential impact. The number is completely beyond anyone's imagination.

When Cheng Yu and Tian Feng were still in power, it wasn't just the two of them who handled these matters, they also had dozens of subordinate officials to handle them together.

The performances submitted by the administrative departments and officials will be processed and screened by the Shangshutai. Only a small number of matters that must be decided by the emperor will be sent to Guo Peng, and other trivial matters will be dealt with.

This has been the practice since the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Guo Peng didn't like such things, so after the large-scale popularization of paper and the appearance of memorial books, he directly took away all the power of Shangshutai.

He stipulated that when the officials needed to do things, they should use the memorial to write formal articles, and hand the memorial directly to the emperor, who would handle it in person.

He gave a considerable number of officials the qualification to directly write memorials and hand them over to the emperor, telling them that they could directly contact the emperor himself through the memorials.

No matter which department wants to do something, or what local officials have to report and deal with, they can write it clearly in a memorial book and hand it directly to the emperor, saving the intermediate links, and the emperor will handle it himself, which greatly expands the imperial power.

The imperial power was pushed all the way to the top by someone Guo.

But in this way, more and more departments are directly responsible to the emperor, and the pressure on Guo Peng is also increasing.

There are as many memorials in the central area as autumn leaves, and it is impossible for the emperor alone to handle them.

At this time, the cabinet, which was originally a good helper in the struggle for power, took advantage of the trend.

Before Guo Peng took control of the real power of Shangshutai, the cabinet was only the guardian of the imperial power and had the power to audit accounts as a deterrent to Shangshutai.

Moreover, the cabinet at that time was not an official department of the country, and the capital and assistants had no rank. Both Wang Can and the earlier Cao Cao were working in Bai, and had no actual status.

Later, as Guo Peng's power continued to increase, and in order to better connect with Shangshutai, Guo Peng set up the cabinet as the official state power organ.

As a result, the cabinet became the real power department, and Cao Cao had a rank because of this, and he was no longer a temporary worker working for nothing.

Chapter 1307 One Thousand 210 Seven Dealing with the Cabinet Is Far Easier Than Dealing with Shangshutai

Guo Peng stipulated that the position of the first assistant of the cabinet is [-] shi, the position of the second and group assistants of the cabinet is [-] shi, and the position of the cabinet member is [-] shi.

The rank of cabinet officials is generally not high, and it can even be said to be very low compared to their power.

Even the chief minister of the cabinet who holds the most power is not as high as the [-] stones of the nine ministers.

As the leader, Shoufu holds very important power, but the level is the level of the local county guard. This is a typical low position, and it is at the same level as Sili Xiaowei.

The process of the cabinet becoming a formal department is also the process of Shangshutai's power constantly weakening.

During this process, the cabinet became the guardian of the imperial power, which established a good channel for Guo Peng to seize the real power of Shangshutai.

Many things are handled directly through the cabinet's connection with the Shangshutai department, thereby bypassing Shangshuling and Shangshupushe, and indirectly evading Shangshuling and Shangshupushe.

As a result, the cabinet group assistant system has gradually matured.

Which auxiliary minister is connected with which Shangshutai office, and who is specifically responsible for assisting the emperor in handling certain aspects of affairs and running errands, has gradually become a regulation during this process.

By the time Shangshutai completely existed in name only, the cabinet had also developed into a normal power organ.

The first assistant Cao controls the overall situation and also holds the power of auditing, while the second assistant is mainly responsible for the daily operation of the cabinet.

Qunfu has seven or eight people, or six people, responsible for docking with various administrative departments, and accepting inquiries from the emperor at any time, helping the emperor handle specific affairs, and reducing the burden on the emperor.

In this process, in the process of expanding the imperial power, the power of the cabinet is also constantly expanding.

The chief assistant of the cabinet is the official position of the emperor's confidant. He can see the emperor at any time, and he must be ready to be summoned by the emperor at any time. Usually, the emperor goes on tour, and the chief assistant of the cabinet must go with him.

The cabinet's secondary assistants and group assistants are gradually following the trend, holding important powers respectively.

Although these are not expressly stipulated, the real power is in the hands.

Therefore, at the moment when Shangshutai is completely dead in name only, the power of the cabinet has become very large.

The memorials from the central government are sent directly to the emperor, but there will be a special person to classify the memorials for the emperor, and the emperor himself decides, some things are handled by the emperor himself, and some things are handed over to the cabinet.

It is different from when Shangshutai existed. Shangshutai is within the system, and can distribute the emperor's power in an open and smooth manner without hindrance.

Many things are decided by the Shangshutai rather than the emperor. This is a formally determined regulation.

Unless the emperor and Shang Shutai disagree.

However, that also requires the emperor to truly understand those things.

The emperor didn't know about many things from the beginning to the end, and they were all dealt with by Shang Shutai. Whether it was in line with the emperor's wishes, then Guo didn't know.

So this made someone Guo feel unhappy.

When it was the turn of the cabinet, the cabinet itself was not qualified to handle government affairs on behalf of the emperor. It was the emperor's request, and the cabinet followed suit.

In terms of the system, the status of the cabinet is far inferior to that of Shangshutai, and the status of the chief assistant of the cabinet is also far inferior to that of Shangshuling.

As long as the emperor is not happy, this power can be deprived.

But whoever really looks down on the chief minister and the cabinet because of this is purely out of their minds.

Cao Cao himself is not only the chief assistant of the cabinet, but also a relative of the emperor, and he also holds the power of auditing, which can be described as powerful.

Although his rank is only two thousand shi, the nine ministers of [-] shi have to be careful to make a smile in front of Cao Cao, and dare not really put on the air of a high rank.

This was also the direct reason why Cao Ren was worried about the Cao family at that time.

Shang Shutai held so much power, but he was also beaten by the emperor to deprive him of real power. The actual prime minister, Cheng Yu, became a vase.

Now, the power of Shangshutai has been transferred to the cabinet, and the chief assistant of the cabinet is regarded as the actual prime minister. Isn't this another reincarnation?

Last time it was Shang Shutai who was unlucky, what if it is the cabinet this time?

With such worries, Cao Ren voluntarily retired, reducing the power of the Cao family in the military and political system of the Wei Empire, and reducing Guo Peng's suspicion, so that the Cao family survived the previous tax turmoil without any danger.

Although Cao Hong was really miserable, he was forcibly cleared his land, and then forcibly demanded taxes, and he was honorably upgraded to a big taxpayer, but his whole person is not good.

But even so, if Cao Cao's title of "actual prime minister" is not removed, it will be very dangerous for a day.

Who is Guo Peng, can he allow Xiangquan to hinder the operation of imperial power?

Obviously it is impossible.

Therefore, the official establishment of the cabinet still follows the basic principle of humble position. Cao Cao's rank is only two thousand stones, and all cabinet members' official positions are "Emperor Advisors".

They are a group of consultants, a group of senior consultants, not official officials.

Regardless of the fact that the cabinet has now divided the first assistant, second assistant and group assistant according to the actual situation, they are connected to different Shangshutai departments. In fact, these are traditional positions. gradually formed rules.

rather than a real official position.

There is no official job description, saying that the emperor asked a certain minister to formally connect with a certain department to share the pressure for the emperor. No, it was all formed spontaneously and became a practice.

It is equivalent to a group of temporary workers working temporarily.

It is much easier to clean up temporary workers than regular workers.

Dealing with the cabinet is also far easier than dealing with Shangshutai.

The purpose of giving them rank is to win people's hearts and let these tool people work honestly, but they cannot be given formal powers and duties, or their official duties cannot be planned, otherwise problems will arise.

Once a cabinet member has formal authority, he will automatically develop into the next minister, a real threat to the emperor's power.

At that time, the chief assistant of the cabinet will be the real prime minister without the title of prime minister, and he will still be the prime minister with the power of auditing, which is terrible.

Even so, when Cheng Yu was showing his prestige, Guo Peng also felt a little worried about the fact that the power of the cabinet was gradually increasing.

The cabinet is already an official department. In the process of future operation, it will be natural for the power to continue to grow. It will not be too obvious when I am alive, and it will be hard to say after I am dead.

He thought that he could smoothly control the situation of the cabinet and control all aspects of the cabinet, but the future generations of monarchs may not be so.

Maybe the cabinet can turn the offensive and turn the guest into the main, thus encroaching on the imperial power, just like the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng has six ministries, and all ministers bow their heads and say yes.

There is no Shangshuling and Shangshupushe, the emperor has all the power, so he is busy with affairs, so he must have a right-hand assistant to help share it, otherwise he will die of exhaustion sooner or later, so the cabinet must exist.

But if we continue to let the cabinet take on this role, let the cabinet connect with the nine ministers, sooner or later, the cabinet will still become the next minister.

After two or three generations of kings, titles such as Ge Lao and Grand Scholars will still be born, and the power of the cabinet will continue to expand.

Although it still needs to rely on imperial power, but... who knows what will happen?

chapter 1308

A humble position is the emperor's way of employing people, and it is the emperor's mind not to give important power departments a formal status.

Have the right to do things.

Without a title, he can be dismissed easily.

The real power is still in the hands of the emperor.

Unfortunately, the cabinet already has a formal institutional presence and rank.

Although Guo Peng can control it so that the cabinet members only have the power to do things according to the emperor's orders in the traditional sense, but have no actual positions, but the emperors after Guo Peng are not sure who will give the real power to the cabinet.

I think it took nearly a hundred years for the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty to develop into a complete body.

At present, after more than ten years of operation of the cabinet, the members of the cabinet have developed excellent administrative skills and are very good helpers of the emperor. It is unwise to dismiss the cabinet at this time.

If the cabinet were ousted for future worries, Guo Peng would be exhausted now.

But considering such facts, Guo Peng felt that he had to plan ahead and prepare a person who could usurp the power of the cabinet when necessary to check and balance the existence of the chief minister and assistant of the cabinet.

The inner court and secret agents can check and balance the cabinet in a certain sense, but Guo Peng does not want the inner court and secret agents to be too involved in daily administration.

The inner court and secret agents can restrict the cabinet in the internal affairs and intelligence of the palace, and can strike the cabinet when the emperor needs it, but Guo Peng is still unwilling to let them go deep into daily administration to form a routine.

The inner court and secret agents can follow orders to attack courtiers, but they cannot become formally in charge, just like the cabinet ministers are docking with the Nine Ministries but are not officially in charge.

If the eunuchs and secret agents were really involved in the daily administration, it would not be the effect that someone Guo wanted.

Like the Tang and Song dynasties, letting eunuchs lead the army to fight, gain access to military power, and become the leaders of the army, just because they will have no descendants and no threat, is really a great mystery in the wild world.

Eunuchs and secret agents should always be the arm of the emperor, following orders and handling affairs behind the emperor, maintaining the tentacles of imperial power, and intimidating officials, instead of really exercising administrative power and military power, they really go out to manage the country and the army.

They are not professional after all.

Harnessing people is their specialty, and managing people is not what they should do.

Therefore, he needs a tool department to check and balance the cabinet and become the cabinet's administrative enemy.