armyinform Chapter 1287 The best era?
Chapter 1287 The best era?
Chapter 1287 The best era?
Su Che's words made Zhang Yue smile but remain silent.
The Su Shi brothers and the Cai Jing brothers actually had different political ideas from Zhang Yue.
Actually, this is all normal.
Although Cai Jing and Cai Bian had similar governing philosophies, there were differences if we further break them down, otherwise the two would not have fallen out in the future.
Even the brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe were the same, their ideas were also different. The reason why the two brothers still had a close relationship was probably because their brotherly feelings were deeper, and they also did not experience the test of being in a high position together.
Now Zhang Yue was being carried on a sedan chair to the Zhongshu Hall. He only had one year left in his term as prime minister and was unwilling to make any more trouble.
He wants to be better to those around him.
The Su Shi brothers, Su Shi was appointed as Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites after returning to the court because of his meritorious service in the diplomatic mission to Goryeo, and Su Zhe was appointed as You Jianyi Grand Doctor.
This is also a new change after the Yuanfeng reform.
The Censorate was abolished due to overlapping functions with the Censorate, and the official ranks of Left and Right Censors, Left and Right Censors, and Left and Right Correctors were established, officially known as censors.
Among them, the Left Counselor, the Left Censor-in-Chief, the Left Corrector, and the Secretary-in-Chief belonged to the Menxia Province and the Housheng Province; the Right Counselor, the Right Censor-in-Chief, the Right Corrector and the Secretariat Sheren belonged to the Zhongshu Province and the Housheng Province.
The latter province is also called the outer province.
Since the implementation of the three-province and six-department system in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the two provinces of Zhongshu and Menxia have been divided into internal and external provinces.
After the reform, although the two provinces of Zhongshu Menxia and Outer Provinces nominally belonged to the two provinces of Zhongshu Menxia, their original intention was actually to be independent of Zhongshu Menxia and to perform a supervisory role over the two provinces.
Su Che, as the Right Counselor, was in charge of the Secretariat.
However, now the Secretariat is just another name of Zhang Yue's original official system of Xiangdingsi. Chen Guan, who was in the Xiangdingsi with Su Che at the beginning, has been appointed as Yousijian, and even Huang Shang has been appointed as Youzhengyan.
Zhang Yue was not only generous to those who followed him, but also ensured that they would have enough to eat in the future.
Zhang Yue has always had a creed that he must do his best and do his utmost for his brothers!
At the same time, during this reform, Chongwenyuan was changed into the Secretariat, while Zhaowenguan and Jixiandian University Scholars were abolished. The title of the prime minister that had been held for hundreds of years was also cancelled, and supervising the compilation of national history was only a task assigned by the prime minister or the ruling official when compiling history.
In particular, the system of official titles in the library was abolished, and only officials appointed outside the capital were given titles such as Zhilongtu Pavilion.
The original intention of the official title was that Emperor Taizong wanted to create another system in the official system to allow officials with library titles to have a fast track in promotion, specifically for promoting ministers of literature (his own confidants).
Countless big men such as Yan Shu, Yang Yi, Ouyang Xiu and others came from this line, and "library position" was also a necessary condition for becoming an important official in later generations.
Now, Zhi Longtu, Longtu Pavilion Scholar, and Zhi Scholar Library positions have all become history, and the system of literary ministers has collapsed and no longer exists.
The original intention of the government was that through the Yuanfeng reform, the system of library positions no longer existed and was integrated into the normal official system.
But Zhang Yue came from the Imperial Academy and ruled the country with "righteousness", which was equivalent to forming a new system. In fact, the ideas of the two are exactly the same.
In the future, the system of ministers of literature will inevitably be replaced by the system of ministers of classics.
After merging the systems, a new system was created within the original system, with the intention of allowing Zhang Yue's own governing ideas to continue.
Next, we will pass the Kaocheng system, reform the imperial examination system, and secretly reorganize and replace the personnel.
Zhang Yue rested his head on the sedan chair, looking at the sky outlined by the palace walls, the expression on his face kept changing.
There was still very little he could accomplish during his tenure, and he could only go this far. In another year, his career as prime minister would come to an end.
But if I leave, what will happen to those who follow me?
Zhang Yue opened his eyes, and Su Che followed closely beside him.
Zhang Yue said: "Ziyou!"
Su Che said: "Prime Minister!"
Zhang Yue asked, "I heard that Zizhan used the name of Wen Lugong to criticize Zhang Zihou for proposing to monopolize salt in Hebei?"
Zhang Yue looked at Su Zhe, who said, "Yes, Prime Minister, it is true!"
Zhang Yue shook his head. The cause of the incident was that Zhang Dun felt that Hebei was not well prepared for war and the court could not allocate extra money, so he went back to the old idea and proposed to implement the salt monopoly system in various parts of Hebei.
This time, Zhang Dun thought, one, all the provinces in the country have salt monopoly, why can't the people of Hebei Province share this imperial grace? Shaanxi is also a border area, and it also has salt monopoly, why can't Hebei do the same?
Another reason was that there were too many unscrupulous merchants in Hebei who made huge profits. The court did not make any money from the official salt monopoly, but instead benefited the unscrupulous merchants who resold salt.
Su Shi opposed it, but he couldn't do it openly because Zhang Dun saved his life in the Wudai Poetry Case.
So Su Shi submitted a memorial of opposition in the name of Wen Yanbo.
Su Shi responded sharply to Zhang Dun's memorial, saying that Shaanxi's salt administration was to produce salt from the sea, while Hebei's was to produce sea salt, and it would be more difficult to implement official monopoly.
Su Shi also admitted that there were unscrupulous businessmen who made profits from the price difference, but the problem of official salt monopoly was more serious. Taking his experience as the Tongpan of Hangzhou as an example, in order to implement official salt monopoly to crack down on private salt monopoly, the imperial court arrested 17,000 private salt dealers in Liangzhe Road in just one year, and the government jails were full of people.
The people of Liangzhe are easier to bully. If you try it with the fierce and militaristic people of Hebei, you will die if you try.
Afterwards, Zhang Dun continued to fight back, saying that my method is different, will never exploit the people, and will be convenient for both officials and civilians, and he put forward a series of proposals for salt law reform.
Su Shi said, Zhang Dun, this is the level you are at. This method will not only cause public resentment, but also fail to make any money.
Of course, the debate between Zhang Dun and Su Shi is still going on here. Who will be right in the end? No one knows.
But Zhang Yue knew clearly that in another time and space, the imperial court implemented salt monopoly in Jingdong and Hebei respectively through Richard and Wu Juhou. At the beginning, the imperial court made a lot of money from the official salt monopoly in Hebei, but in less than two years, the salt price in Hebei skyrocketed and the people were living in misery.
Su Shi got everything right.
But Su Shi and Zhang Dun were surprised that the people of Hebei did not rebel.
Afterwards, Zhang Dun took the initiative to distance himself from Wu Juhou, saying that the matter had nothing to do with him.
While the Song Dynasty was an official monopoly, the Liao Kingdom followed the example of the Dangxiang and secretly sold salt to the Song Dynasty.
By the way, the price of salt in the Liao Dynasty was ten cents per catty.
Historically, after the Song Dynasty briefly conquered Youyan, it also implemented the official monopoly of Hebei here, and millions of Youyan people were delighted to receive big gift packages.
The price of salt in Youyan rose from ten cents per catty to two hundred and fifty cents per catty.
Zhang Yue said to Su Che: "Zihou is indeed not good financially, but no one is perfect."
"He had been in Dingzhou for a year and the people were stable. Most of the two-family households under his rule rebelled against the Song Dynasty and joined the Liao Dynasty, but after he took office, he eliminated the two-family households such as Lu Liujin who relied on the Liao Dynasty to become bandits. This kind of courage is not something that ordinary officials can do."
Just as the Song Dynasty did not dare to impose a salt monopoly on the people of Hebei before, the Song Dynasty also gave preferential treatment to the households on the Song-Liao border, levying only symbolic taxes and even taking care of them in times of disaster, for fear that these people would become guides.
However, these dual-ownership households were not only ungrateful, but also gathered together to become thieves, coming to the Song Dynasty from time to time to rob, and then fleeing back to the Liao Dynasty.
After Zhang Dun took office, he did not tolerate these people at all. He suddenly sent troops to wipe out many gangs of thieves from two households, thus stabilizing the security in the border areas.
After hearing what Zhang Yue said, Su Che also changed his mind and said, "What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right."
Zhang Yue said, "I agree with what you said just now about judging by deeds rather than by heart."
"I have always been honest in my dealings with people, but it is difficult to do so after becoming an official. When I first became an official, I often wondered how high an official position would be considered high. Now that I am in this position, I understand what it means to be 'once the mountain is high, all the mountains are low', so I am always cautious, lest I lose my power one day and have nowhere to go. You should also think about this, you have my protection now, but what about the future?"
"So Ziyou should always look at the good in people. We officials all have many sides. We can't generalize them as good or bad, good or bad. In the end, it often depends on which side of me you see."
Su Che immediately said, "Prime Minister, it was my brother and I who spoke rashly."
Zhang Yue said: "Ziyou, what you want to do is your own decision. I am the prime minister now, I cannot judge people by their likes and dislikes, everything should be based on the country and the people!"
"Especially now that I am in the prime minister's position, everything in the government must be peaceful!"
When Su Zhe heard what Zhang Yue said, he suddenly thought, to put it another way, after Zhang Yue resigned from his position as prime minister, you can make whatever trouble you want!
Su Che said: "Prime Minister, I understand."
Zhang Yue nodded.
Su Che didn't know that Zhang Yue had also repeatedly told Cai Jing, Cai Bian and others this truth.
What Su Che didn't know was that many years later, he would miss the era when Zhang Yue was the prime minister.
At that time, he would remember that Zhang Yue was still able to use his reputation to suppress the new and old parties and reconcile the conflicts between the two parties so that they would not fight each other to the death in the court.
Although most of the old party officials in the world are pedantic, they are generally gentle and tolerant gentlemen.
The New Party officials are committed to reform and advancement, but they appear to be a little impatient and reckless.
Although officials from the two parties were fighting openly and secretly, they still maintained a decent appearance and were still eating from the same pot, working for the entire Song Dynasty.