bookbashuk Chapter 164 Advantages and Disadvantages
Chapter 164 Advantages and Disadvantages
Chapter 164 Advantages and Disadvantages
"Does the Grand Chancellor mean for me to speak with Ziqian and ask him to persuade His Majesty?" Hai Wenqing asked.
"No."
Han Zhang shook his head and said, "He may not be able to dissuade His Majesty. I want to ask Baekhyun to find out exactly how far His Majesty intends to investigate the rebels."
"Does the eldest son know the consequences of doing this?" Hai Wenqing asked, frowning.
If he were to speak to Wang You and ask him to persuade the emperor, he would be willing to give it a try.
He was unwilling to ask Wang You about the Emperor's purpose.
If a ruler is not discreet, he will lose his ministers; if a minister is not discreet, he will lose his life.
Regardless of whether the official was right or wrong, the fact that he entrusted Wang You with the responsibility showed that he trusted Wang You.
He is Wang You's teacher. If he goes to inquire about the official's purpose, Wang You will be in a dilemma.
Even though the emperor was dissuaded and abandoned his original plan, he completely lost trust in Wang You.
She might even resent Wang You's betrayal.
"I know this will affect your students, but the Emperor has just ascended the throne and is beset by internal and external troubles."
Han Zhang said with great concern, "If chaos breaks out within the Song Dynasty again, how will the court respond if the Liao Kingdom sends troops?"
When war breaks out, countless lives will be lost.
Hai Wenqing remained silent for a long time before saying, "I can try asking him, but if he doesn't want to talk, I won't force him."
Thank you, Baekhyun!
Upon seeing Hai Wenqing's agreement, Han Zhang rose and bowed respectfully.
"What are you doing, sir?"
Hai Wenqing quickly got up and helped Han Zhang up.
"I know this is a difficult matter, but the country is in dire straits. I beg you, Baekhyun!" Han Zhang said in a deep voice.
"This matter is difficult to handle for the time being!"
After hearing Wang You's report, the Emperor said, "Now I can't even truly control the Palace Guard. If I mobilize troops to arrest people, it's easy for the news to leak out."
When he said he couldn't control things, he didn't mean he couldn't give orders, but rather that he didn't dare to trust them.
The generals of the Palace Guard were all from the previous emperor's time.
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It's hard to say how loyal these people are to him.
If we leave this to them, the news might leak out before they even start.
The reason he wanted to give important positions to relatives of the empress and the Imperial City Guard was because there were too few people he could trust, which made him feel insecure.
"In that case, why not take action against those merchants first?"
Wang You suggested, "These merchants are quite wealthy. Taking action against them first will not only replenish the national treasury but also allow the officials in the court to relax."
"That makes sense!"
The official said, "Then let's deal with those merchants first. Once we've dealt with them, we can handle the officials!"
"Your Majesty, I will obey your decree and make the arrangements immediately," Wang You said, bowing.
"Go!" the official said, waving his hand.
"Father, I shall also take my leave!" Zhao Sheng said, bowing.
The two bowed and left the Dragon Pavilion. After descending the steps and finding no one around, Zhao Sheng whispered, "Father told me what you said to him earlier. Can you tell me your concerns?"
Wang You thought for a moment and said, "Does Your Highness know the duties of a prefect?"
"The prefect's duty is to supervise the local area," Zhao Sheng said.
"That's right. In order to prevent the situation from recurring in the Tang Dynasty where military governors carved out their own territories, held military power, and became states within a state, Emperor Taizu abolished the military governor system and established the prefecture system."
Wang You paused and said, "The rank of prefect is very high, and he does not have specific military and political authority, but any major military and political decisions in a prefecture must be reported to the prefect."
If the prefect felt there was anything amiss, he had no right to interfere directly; he could only report it to the imperial court.
But does Your Highness know that the prefects in various regions have now effectively become the highest-ranking local officials, which contradicts the purpose for which the Taizu Emperor established the prefecture system?
"Why has this situation arisen?" Zhao Sheng asked, frowning.
"We'll talk about that later. Does Your Highness know why the military governors of the Tang Dynasty had such great power?" Wang You asked.
Zhao Sheng asked uncertainly, "Because the military governor's power is too great?"
That's just the result, not the process!
Wang You shook his head and said, "The Jiedushi (military governor) was first established in the second year of Jingyun during the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang. In the early days, he was only a military commander in charge of border defense, responsible for leading the border troops to defend against foreign enemies."
During this period, the Jiedushi (military governor) was merely a military official position.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the military governors concurrently held positions such as the inspector (supervisor of local administration) and the agricultural commissioner (manager of finance), thus concentrating military, personnel, and financial power in one person, forming the highest military and political entity in the region.
At this time, although the power of the military governors was great, the number of them was not large, and they did not threaten the safety of the Tang court. They still had to obey the orders of the court.
Later, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out. Although it was eventually quelled, rebellions broke out in various places, and the imperial court was severely weakened and unable to quell the rebellion.
In order to quell the rebellion, and because the Tang court also realized that the power of the military governors was too great and wanted to limit it, but the situation at that time made it difficult to limit them, the only option was to increase the number of military governors.
This is similar to the restoration of the provincial governor system at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
But rights are easy to give away, but difficult to take back.
The reason why the military governors held military power and the court lost control over the local areas was not due to the official positions themselves.
Rather, the imperial court granted the military governors too much power.
"But the imperial court did not grant the prefect these powers," Zhao Sheng said, frowning.
"Your Highness is mistaken. The court simply did not give it directly, or rather, it did not give it all."
Wang You shook his head and said, "The rank of the prefectural governor is higher than that of other officials in the prefecture. Although according to their authority, they do not have the right to directly interfere in local government affairs."
However, the prefect had the power of supervision, and all local military and political affairs had to be reported to the prefect.
If the prefect discovers a problem and points it out directly, will the local officials in charge of military and political affairs listen or not?
"But the imperial court doesn't grant prefects this power; if they notice a problem, they need to report it directly to the imperial court," Zhao Sheng said.
"That's the problem. When the position of prefect was established, Emperor Taizu had already considered this situation and made clear requirements."
In reality, you can't report every trivial matter to the imperial court, can you?
Although it's a small matter, it presents a problem, and we can't just ignore it, can we?
Secondly, the prefect had the right to impeach local officials. If any problems a local official had, once the prefect reported them, they could not be kept secret from the imperial court.
The prefectural governor, whether in terms of official rank or power, exerted significant checks and balances on local officials.
Secondly, the rank of prefect is high, and once he leaves office and is transferred to another position, he will be in a high-ranking and powerful position.
In this situation, which local official would dare disobey the prefect?
"If it's really as you say, then why didn't the Song Dynasty see a situation like the Tang Dynasty where military governors held sway over their troops?" Zhao Sheng asked.
"Does Your Highness believe that this is the reason for emphasizing civil affairs over military affairs, and that emphasizing civil affairs over military affairs is a good strategy?" Wang You directly pointed out Zhao Sheng's thoughts.
Zhao Sheng asked, "Isn't that right?"
"Yes, but no."
Wang You shook his head and said, "First of all, civil officials and military generals are different. Border generals serve in their posts for a long time."
The term of office for a prefect is generally three years, after which he must be transferred. No matter how much power he has, he does not have the conditions to govern a place for a long time.
Secondly, the Song Dynasty implemented a military system that emphasized a strong central government and weakened local forces, with only a small number of local militia and no capacity to maintain their own power.
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"If that's the case, then what's there to worry about?" Zhao Sheng countered.
"While it may not amount to wielding military power, it is inevitable that an official who controls the greatest power in a region will engage in corruption."
Moreover, the imperial court established the position of prefect in order to strengthen its control over local areas.
This not only defeats the court's original purpose but also completely strips the court of its control over local areas.
Wang You said, "If a local area is disorganized, even without a supervisory mechanism, officials will spontaneously supervise each other."
Officials are even more cautious in their actions because they are worried about being caught doing something wrong.
As long as there is fear in one's heart, even if one does evil, the evil one commits will be limited.
In Wang You's view, the Song Dynasty's system had many good aspects.
In terms of the imperial examination system, it was perfected during the Song Dynasty. Although the imperial examination system underwent some changes during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the overall framework remained largely the same.
Secondly, in terms of decentralization and centralization, it represents the pinnacle of feudal dynasties.
The Secretariat-Chancellery was in charge of administration, the Privy Council was in charge of military affairs, and the Three Departments were in charge of finance. The three were independent of each other to prevent powerful ministers from seizing power.
Military power was centralized within the Imperial Guard system and placed under the emperor's control.
Throughout the Song Dynasty, there were virtually no instances of military generals or members of the imperial family rebelling.
Although some civil officials have become powerful ministers, they did so based on the emperor's trust.
Moreover, the Song Dynasty was the longest-lasting dynasty after Qin unified China.
Some might say that the Song Dynasty, with each dynasty lasting only a little over a hundred years, was far inferior to the Tang and Ming Dynasties.
In fact, the Northern and Southern Song dynasties were one and the same.
Some might say that's nonsense, and if we really count it that way, it should be the Han Dynasty, which lasted for four hundred years.
This view is incorrect; the Song Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were fundamentally different.
Because the bureaucratic institutions (such as the Three Departments and Six Ministries), local governance model, imperial examination system, and tax policies of the Southern Song Dynasty almost entirely followed the "ancestral laws" of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was no structural subversion.
The period between the Northern Song and Southern Song dynasties was like that of a company where the original chairman had disappeared.
In the absence of a designated heir, he inherited his father's shares as the only son and was nominated by some of the company's veterans to be the new chairman.
Then they moved their headquarters and cut some business operations.
The company is still the same company, and the system is still the same system.
Apart from a few shareholders who disappeared along with the chairman, there was no overall difference.
However, the situation was different in the Han Dynasty. The original heirs of the company were too young, so they had to ask their relatives to help manage the company.
As a result, the relatives seized control of the company, changing not only the name but also the system.
However, a member of the same clan as the original owner of the company was furious that the company had been taken away, so he started a new company, using the original name, and began to compete with the other party for business.
They ultimately won and brought down their opponent.
Although the company has the same name and does the same business.
But with the overall management style and rules changed, can it still be considered a company?
Secondly, Wang You believed that the Northern and Southern Song dynasties were one dynasty, and there was another key reason for that.
Dynasties have a lifespan, and the annexation of land and the accumulated problems that arise during the existence and development of a dynasty determine its lifespan.
Although the Eastern Han Dynasty called itself Han, Liu Xiu established the Western Han Dynasty step by step.
After its establishment, it eliminated the drawbacks of the Western Han Dynasty.
In addition to the accumulated problems, the old dynasty also had issues with resource allocation.
The Eastern Han Dynasty was a conquered empire, and not only did it result in the deaths of a large number of people during the war, but the purging of the nobles of the new dynasty also released a large amount of resources.
These resources can then be redistributed.
However, the Southern Song Dynasty was different. Not only did it remain unchanged in terms of its main body and institutions, but it also retained all the problems that existed in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Conversely, the loss of the north also led to a large influx of people into the south, increasing the internal demand for resources.
Regardless of how weak the Song Dynasty was in terms of foreign relations, its ability to exist for more than three hundred years is still commendable.
Later generations praised Emperor Chongzhen, saying that he refused to flee and instead hanged himself to preserve the integrity of the Ming Dynasty.
However, few people know that Emperor Chongzhen initially intended to move the capital south.
After all, there are real-world examples to support both the Jin and Song dynasties.
At the time, some ministers suggested moving the capital south, and Emperor Chongzhen even convened a meeting of his ministers to discuss the matter.
Because the Ming Dynasty's control over the south was already very weak at that time, moving the capital south would likely result in the dynasty becoming a puppet state.
After some discussion, two plans were finally developed.
One plan was for the Crown Prince to lead a group of officials south, while Emperor Chongzhen led the rest to stay behind and resist.
Once the crown prince has established a firm foothold in the south, Chongzhen will then lead the remaining ministers south.
Another option was to reverse the situation, with Emperor Chongzhen leading officials south while the Crown Prince led troops to resist them.
After some debate, those who supported the crown prince leading the expedition south gained the upper hand.
The reason is simple: the crown prince is young, and leaving first can ensure the safety of the heir apparent.
If Emperor Chongzhen were to pass away and there were problems with the heir apparent, who would inherit the throne?
However, Emperor Chongzhen rejected the proposal and chose to defend the capital to the death, calling on troops to come to the aid of the emperor.
It is impossible to verify what Chongzhen was thinking at the time, or perhaps he was thinking that they would all die together because he didn't want Chongzhen to leave first.
Or perhaps there were too many officials who wanted to be among the first to move south, leading to endless disputes. He worried that this would affect morale and chose to give up.
It could also be a matter of face, after all, our ancestors had the precept that the emperor should guard the country's gates.
It's even possible that he saw through the ministers' ambition to support the crown prince's southward journey.
After all, the crown prince was only a teenager at the time. Not to mention being sidelined by the officials in Jiangnan, the officials who accompanied him south might also sideline him.
Regardless of the possibility, his suicide preserved the last vestiges of dignity for the Ming Dynasty, which is still commendable.
However, the core issue that prevented him from leaving was that the Ming Dynasty lacked sufficient control over the south and he feared being sidelined.
If it weren't for this concern, there would have been no need for discussion; they probably would have already headed south.
This was not only because the dynasty was nearing its end, but also because of problems with the Ming Dynasty's system.
It should be noted that when the Northern Song Dynasty fell, the emperor and princes were captured.
Zhao Gou was just an ordinary prince, and normally the throne would never have been his.
Under the system of the Song Dynasty, as a prince, he had no trusted officials at all.
Even under those circumstances, they weren't worried about being sidelined.
This is enough to show that the system of the Song Dynasty had many merits.
But this is only one of the good aspects of the Song Dynasty's system.
Besides these advantages, the Song Dynasty's system had even more disadvantages.
First, there was chaos in the official system. The court added many departments but did not abolish the original ones.
Take the Privy Council and the Three Departments as examples; their power originated from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, respectively.
However, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue still existed, which resulted in a large number of additional officials being employed.
There are many similar institutions, which not only lead to the problem of redundant officials, but also to the problem of unclear responsibilities between many departments.