Chapter 1161 New Policy in Luoyang

On the third day after the Guanlong Army took control of Luoyang, the court began to operate again. Li Ye ordered that all the more than one million guan of military salaries seized from the Shen Ce Army be used to pay the salaries of all officials, and all the salaries owed to all officials be paid off, and one month's salary was given as compensation.

For a time, the whole court cheered. This was a major event that concerned everyone's vital interests. Even if they looked down on Li Ye, the salaries that had been owed for several months were actually received, and one month's salary was added. These officials who looked down on Li Ye had to shut up.

At the same time, Empress Dowager Zhang issued several decrees in a row, removing all positions and titles of 32 eunuchs including Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen, and Cheng Yuanzhen, and severely punishing them in accordance with the Tang Dynasty law.

Li Ye, the King of Qi, was enthroned as the General of the Regent, and according to the proposal of the Regent, the two-phase system established by Li Fuguo was abolished, and the new Political Affairs Hall system was re-implemented.

The Political Affairs Hall was packed with people. Except for Li Mi who was in Chang'an and Privy Councilor Duan Xueshi who was still in Jiangnan, the other seven ministers were all present. Even Li Xian had just returned from Jiangnan West Road to report on his work and was invited to the Political Affairs Hall.

Zhang Li read out the appointment of Li Ye, the regent. Li Dai was appointed as the right prime minister and the minister of the Central Secretariat. Zhang Li was appointed as the left prime minister and the minister of the Imperial Secretariat. The seven assistant prime ministers included Li Mi, the Minister of Personnel, Liu Yan, the Minister of Revenue, Wei Jiansu, the Minister of Rites, Dugu Lie, the Minister of War, Pei Zunqing, the Minister of Punishment, Li Xian, the Minister of Works, and Duan Xueshi, the Privy Councilor.

Then there were the Imperial Censor Yan Zhenqing and the Imperial Counselor Cui Huan. Although they were not assistant prime ministers, they were qualified to participate in the Political Affairs Hall.

Zhang Li also read out a series of reform measures, including the plan to establish the left and right prime ministers plus seven assistant prime ministers. The left prime minister was fully responsible for the White Tiger Hall. All memorials in and out were to be graded and standardized by the White Tiger Hall and reviewed for compliance.

Each ministry has a left and right assistant minister, which not only retains the officials of the court, but also respects the chief official of the Qi Wang Mansion.

At this stage, this is actually a balanced measure. Although it has advantages and disadvantages, the biggest benefit is to make the two courts merge and stabilize as soon as possible.

The hall was quiet, and Li Ye delivered his first policy speech.

"My fellow prime ministers, the eunuch party has been eliminated, the country has been renewed, and the new Tang Dynasty court has begun to operate. I am fortunate to be the regent. I would like to say a few words to you here. When I was in the Qi Wang Mansion, I often led the army to go on expeditions, sometimes for several months or even half a year, but even if I was away, the Qi Wang Mansion and Guanlong were still operating normally. Why can this be done? The key lies in institutional norms.

In my opinion, the court is like a palace. Some officials are beams, some are pillars, some are tiles, and some are foundations. Someone must be responsible for maintenance and repair, remove decay, and update parts. Someone must be vigilant at all times to prevent fires.

If a king wants to be a beam, and He has to be a pillar, take care of the eaves and the frame, and even the tiles. He stretched his hands too far and snatched the power of the ministers. In the end, he did everything, but nothing was done well. He even enjoyed himself behind closed doors. The ministers were at a loss because the power was in his hands.

I don't approve of such a king. If a wise king emerges, it is a blessing for the world. If a foolish king emerges, it is a misfortune for the people of the world. Therefore, our ancestors formulated the three-province and six-department system. Its essence is the division of power between the king and the prime minister, collective consultation, and division of labor and cooperation."

Li Ye's speech won warm applause from the officials of the Political Affairs Hall. This is Li Ye's attitude. The prime ministers certainly support the division of power and the increase of prime minister power.

Li Ye waved his hand, and everyone quieted down again. Li Ye continued: "Establishing decentralization is not just talk. For example, a disaster occurred in a certain place, and relief money and grain were required. Who should be in charge of this matter? It should be the Ministry of Revenue, but the money and grain are not small, and the prime minister needs to approve it. The army must be mobilized to maintain order, and the Privy Council must also intervene. There is corruption in the relief money and grain, and the people are angry. The Censorate handed the impeachment letter to the emperor, and the emperor also intervened. What do you think should be done?

So in order to solve this problem, a temporary disaster relief office will be established, and people from various departments will be sent to participate, which is equivalent to the three-division trial. But the question is who will decide to establish a temporary office and who will make the judgment?"

Li Ye smiled at Liu Yan and said, "Liu Fuxiang, tell me about the decision-making process of the rescue of the locust plague in Qingzhou last year."

Liu Yan stood up and nodded to everyone, and smiled: "Last year, a locust plague broke out in Baima County, Qingzhou, affecting the five counties of Baima, Huachi, Panjiao, Anhua, and Anding. Several local horse bandits Taking the opportunity to plunder the people, the governor of Qingzhou urgently asked for help from the Qi Wang Mansion.

When the memorial arrived at the Qi Wang Mansion, it first entered the White Tiger Hall, which directly classified it as orange level and sent it to the desk of Prime Minister Li Mi.

Li Mi applied to the Qi Wang for a quota of 2,000 troops, immediately convened the cabinet, and established the Qingzhou Emergency Response Office on the same day.

Because of the approval of the Qi Wang, the Privy Council urgently dispatched 2,000 troops to Qingzhou to fight against horse bandits and maintain order. The Prime Minister also approved 10,000 strings of money and 2,000 stones of grain for emergency relief to the victims on the same day.

Then the temporary office rushed to Qingzhou to investigate and understand the disaster situation, and formulated a relief plan. After the cabinet approved it, it could be implemented. The whole process was very smooth. The most critical thing here is the White Tiger Hall's classification, so there is no need to go through the lower government offices to review and approve it in turn, shirk each other, and waste time. Then we have a complete disaster relief process and system, so we will do it according to the system. "

"Excuse me, Prime Minister Liu, what if the White Tiger Hall officials make a wrong classification?" Dugu Lie raised his hand and asked.

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Classification is not something that can be done arbitrarily. It must be based on evidence. We have classification cards and files. For ordinary cases, we look at the classification cards. If it is special, we look at the files and classify it based on similar cases in the past. Then there is a special review. If it is really not possible, we will ask the Minister for instructions.

We have set up Baihutang for three years without making any mistakes. Facts have proved that it can indeed perform its duties and operate efficiently! "

Wei Jiansu nodded, "This White Tiger Hall seems to be somewhat similar to the Provincial Taiwan Hall. It specially accepts memorials from various memorial halls."

Liu Yan smiled slightly and said: "Wei Fuxiang is right. Baihutang is indeed inspired by the provincial and Taiwanese stations, but has also been improved. The provincial and Taiwanese stations are only divided into departments, but the Baihutang is not only divided into departments, but also divided into levels. Which are the departments? Approvals, which ones were approved by the Prime Minister and which ones were approved by the King of Qi. Later, an orange level for urgent matters was established. Finally, the White Tiger Hall had to conduct a compliance review before it was issued. In the future, the White Tiger Hall would be responsible for connecting with the Jinzou Academy. "

Li Ye said to everyone again: "Everyone, I just used the White Tiger Hall as an example to illustrate the importance of the system. Just like I said about a big hall, everyone must perform their duties, so that the hall can stand tall and not fall down for thousands of years.

Then I will talk about the military and political affairs. Military and political affairs are not the same thing as those in the political hall. The political affairs are convened by the right minister. The military and political affairs are equivalent to the small court meeting. They are initiated by the supervising country to discuss major military and state affairs. All ministers and above are ministers. To participate.

For example, if Dugu Fu is also the Minister of the Ministry of War, then behind you will sit the Minister of War and the Minister of War. When conducting military and state affairs, Dugu Fu will discuss with his subordinates at any time and listen to everyone's suggestions before expressing opinions on behalf of the Ministry of War.

Do you understand? The assistant prime minister is actually the representative of the six ministries and the Privy Council, and is the minister with real power. "

Everyone nodded silently. These were all mentioned in advance when talking to everyone alone. It was indeed a big reform. In the past, power was transferred horizontally, and each prime minister took turns to hold the executive pen and take turns to be the prime minister.

Now that the executive pen has been abolished, power is distributed vertically, increasing the power of the right prime minister and the power of the assistant ministers, reducing the power of the minister, and also reducing the power of the emperor, making power more concentrated in the political hall. It effectively prevented the eunuchs from having exclusive power.

In the past, the emperor had too much control and had to do everything personally. Once he lacked energy, he would hand it over to the eunuchs for approval. This is where the eunuchs' exclusive power came from.

No longer. The emperor is only responsible for military and political affairs and the appointment and dismissal of prime ministers. Other matters are left to the political hall. The left prime minister is responsible for supervision, not the content, but the compliance system.

Li Ye took the initiative to limit his power. On the one hand, he wanted the support of the civil service group, but more importantly, it was also for the long-term peace and stability of future generations.

The first major decision made by the Zhengshitang was to move the capital back to Chang'an.