Chapter 4304 The Way of Balance
Fang Jun nodded and said: "Lian Po is old and can still eat."
Li Chengqian was amused by these plain and vulgar words, and was in a good mood: "Yes, although Shen Guogong is old and has been an official for many years, his foundation in the court is really strong. Looking at the court, he will be promoted by him and accepted by him." There are so many kind people.”
As a former famous minister of the Sui Dynasty and the first official minister after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Shilian's foundation was definitely stronger than imagined. Apart from anything else, is it possible for an ordinary person to be able to single-handedly support Changsun Wuji, who lost his father and was kicked out of the house by his stepmother during the Sui Dynasty, to become the leader of Guanlong?
Even though he has become an official now and lives in seclusion in his mansion without caring about the government affairs, his eyes and ears are still spread all over the government and the public.
If we can get the support of Gao Shilian, it will be of great help to stabilize the political situation...
"In addition, His Majesty should also promote some officials for his own use."
It is said that once the emperor has one courtier, the court is now filled with Zhenguan ministers. These people are loyal to His Majesty Li Er, but they do not have high recognition of Li Chengqian. Once someone is deceived, there may be big trouble.
This means promoting some people to important positions as confidants, one for their own use, and another to give a signal to the officials. If you want to make progress, please come and swear allegiance to me...
Li Chengqian was quite moved by this, but he was confused: "I also know that this is an urgent matter, but first the pheasant slaves conspired to rebel, and then Cen Wenwen died of illness, and the government and the public were in turmoil. At this time, Jian was promoted to a high position. , will definitely affect the position of the original Zhenguan ministers. When the late emperor was here, these guys were unruly and often contradicted the late emperor. If their interests are affected now, wouldn't it cause a riot? "
"One carrot, one pit", this sentence is also applicable to the court. There are only so many official positions. Once you go up, others have to get down. Especially the officials of the Zhenguan Dynasty mostly followed His Majesty Li Er and worked hard and made great achievements. Those in important positions This is especially true for ministers. Now that your new emperor has taken office, you will demote them and remove them from their posts. Who can be willing to do so?
A good-tempered person is silent and resentful, while a bad-tempered person may even cause trouble on the spot.
In this troubled autumn, if it causes uproar in both the government and the public, it will be more than worth the gain, and Gao Shilian cannot suppress it...
Fang Jun advised: "There is no need to be too hasty. The methods should be gentler. You can first promote some young officials into the central government to convey a message of 'only those who are worthy of promotion' to the outside world, so that everyone can understand that His Majesty's 'whoever is obedient will be used.'" 'The intention, and then slowly figure it out But. Of course, it is very dangerous for an emperor to directly fight with his ministers. It will damage the harmony between the emperor and his ministers. Your Majesty might as well introduce a person with enough status, qualifications, and ability to stand alone and uphold your Majesty's will to fight with the ministers. Fight.”
Li Chengqian nodded in recognition. Struggles are everywhere in the political arena, between ministers and ministers, between civil and military affairs, between monarchs and ministers... and if you want to maintain the stability of the political situation while fighting, you must pay attention to methods and methods. It is best to hide behind the scenes. Behind the scenes, a spokesperson is launched to fight against the ministers according to his own will.
If he were a more immoral emperor, he could abandon his spokesperson after the struggle, blame all negative influences on this spokesperson, and then severely punish him to calm down the public anger.
This method has been common throughout the ages and has achieved remarkable results...
Li Chengqian touched the short beard under his chin and asked: "Who do you think is suitable?"
Fang Jun took a sip of tea and said, "For example, Xu Jingzong."
"Xu Jingzong?"
"He was one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Dynasty at that time. He was a late minister of Emperor Taizong. He worked hard with Emperor Taizong and made great achievements. He has deep qualifications. He has a smooth personality and quick wit. He supervises the history of the country. He has outstanding ability and outstanding literary talent. Although he is a scholar, Although he has the reputation of being greedy for money, his prestige is not small. Moreover, Xu Jingzong is currently serving as a secretary in the academy, but he is depressed and frustrated. If your majesty gives him a promotion, he will definitely be grateful for your kindness and serve him wholeheartedly. Your majesty will obey him. "
When he was in the Palace of the Prince of Qin, Xu Jingzong was young, had little merit, and was ranked at the bottom. Even though His Majesty Li Er was the emperor and a group of ministers, he did not receive much attention because of his status as an "old minister of the Qin Dynasty." When he was a year old, he was the supervisor of the history of the country. He was just a writer, an official position that seemed noble but was in name only.
Until now, instead of being promoted due to his more senior qualifications, his official position was confined to the academy. Looking at the court, no one knew what kind of abilities Xu Jingzong had.
But Fang Jun clearly knows that this person is the kind of example of "a blockbuster without making a splash". As long as he is given a suitable platform and strong support, he will surely rise to the top.
It may not be appropriate for Xu Jingzong to be a pragmatic official. This person is cunning, slippery, greedy and bound to do bad things; but if he is allowed to stir up trouble and stir up trouble, exclude dissidents and suppress his opponents, he will be unfavorable.
Fang Jun even thought that there was another Li Yifu who was kicked out by him. These two people could simply ride on the "crouching dragon and phoenix chick" among the traitors, and let them deal with Liu Jie. Liu Jie would not have an easy life... …
After all, looking down from the emperor's position, it actually doesn't matter whether he is a virtuous person or a treacherous person. The first thing is loyalty, the second is ability, and the rest doesn't matter at all.
Balance is the way to go.
What is balance? Left and right, literature and martial arts, right and wrong, black and white... balancing both is the only way to achieve balance.
It is actually not a good thing to have "everyone is upright in the court". The ministers have unified their views in private, and even the emperor has been ignored. If the emperor dares to object, he is a "foolish emperor", because the ministers are all "honest gentlemen", so why should they oppose the opinions of "honest gentlemen"? Isn't it just "foolish and ignorant"?
Good people can do wrong things, not to mention where do so many good people come from? In the officialdom, how many of them do it to understand the people who are hanging upside down and save the common people from water and fire? Even if he did have such an ideal when he first entered officialdom, in such a big dyeing vat where interests are paramount, his heart became evil within a few years.
The more a person flaunts his integrity, the more likely he is to commit male theft and female prostitution.
The best way is to get a treacherous person to stand in the front and fight against the "honest man". Not only can he carry out his will and attract everyone's anger, but after the incident is over, he can cut off the treacherous person and reap a wave of praise for being "clearly aware of everything." This kills two birds with one stone. , why not?
There are always some people who have to eliminate the traitors as soon as they come to power, and then force themselves to fight face-to-face with a group of "honest men". Regardless of whether they can win the fight or not, even if they win, they will not escape the reputation of a foolish king. Scorned by people, infamy for eternity...
Li Chengqian is a smart man, so he naturally understands what Fang Jun said. He sighed and said helplessly: "I am not a strong and intolerable person. Even if I make mistakes occasionally, I can be considerate and tolerant. But if you let me know that it is my nature." The treacherous people are so arrogant and arrogant, it makes me feel very uncomfortable just thinking about it.”
After a pause, I felt that these words were not reserved enough. He is already an emperor and still has to worry about such a thing. What should those who cannot be emperor think?
"Don't worry, Erlang. I know what I know. I will discuss it with the ministers later and recruit a group of talents to rush into the center. The official position does not need to be too high, but it must be in a prominent position and attract people's attention."
He could ask Fang Jun about some things, but he had to make up his own mind about some things. This was not only the emperor's self-esteem, but also to protect Fang Jun.
Otherwise, do you really think that the minister who was "obedient like a puppet on a string" by the emperor would have a good end?
What's more, he understands Fang Jun's character and is not interested in this kind of power to cultivate talents. The famous generals under his command are all shot on the battlefield and will never take such shortcuts.
Fang Jun said happily: "That's exactly what it should be."
What does it mean that the king and his ministers get along with each other? The ministers can fight to the death for the king, and the king can protect the ministers at all times and give absolute trust. If the king and the ministers do not trust, it will naturally last for a long time, and it will be a good story for eternity.
Originally, the same was true for him and His Majesty Li Er, but it was a pity...
*****
Li Chengqian was very fast. After Fang Jun resigned and returned to the military camp outside Xuande Gate, he summoned Shangshu Zuopushe Li Ji, Zhongshu Ling Liu Jie, Shizhong Ma Zhou, and Libu Shangshu Li Xiaogong to discuss matters at Wude Hall. .
In the afternoon, the imperial court issued an edict and read out many personnel appointments.
Du Zhenglun was appointed as the Minister of Huangmen and participated in political affairs, Liu Xiangdao was appointed as the Yushi Zhongcheng in charge of the Yushitai, Shangguanyi was appointed as the Secretary, Han Ai was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of War, Cui Renshi was appointed as the Minister of Affairs, Laiji was appointed as the Secretary of the Zhongshu, Xu Jingzong was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Fang Fang was appointed as the Minister of Rites. Junren Jinwuwei General...
Among them, Xu Jingzong's appointment sparked a lot of discussion.
It stands to reason that after the death of Xu Jingzong, one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Palace, there were not many people with more seniority than him in the court. His knowledge was also outstanding in his time, and he had supervised the compilation of national history, which was enough to serve as a minister.
But the problem is that Xu Jingzong was repeatedly suppressed during the Zhenguan period. His official position was always bouncing between the fourth and fifth ranks, and he never really stepped into the high-level ranks from the third rank or above. Moreover, he had a bad reputation due to his "greed for money and excess". , now he has risen from a mere academy director to become the Minister of Rites, the first of the six departments. This level of promotion has skyrocketed to 90,000 miles, which is unacceptable...
There are many jealous people, so there will be divergent discussions.
However, in the early morning of the next day, Liu Xiangdao, who had arrived at the Yushitai to take up his duties, publicly issued a document. In view of the current extravagance in the officialdom and the push and pull that led to low efficiency in government affairs. Unjust, false and wrong cases were being brought to trial in various places. Shi investigated and rectified violations of law and implemented a one-month "rectification campaign", which immediately caused an uproar in both the government and the public.
The word "rectification" is unheard of. We have been in office for thousands of years, and there are always some irregularities and illegalities. No one cares about it. If it is too much, it will be investigated and confirmed by the Yushitai and then handed over. Law enforcement, have you ever heard of such a large-scale purge investigation?
Our officials have a noble status, so wouldn’t it mean that all of them are culprits and suspected criminals?
This is an insult, it is intolerable, but what is intolerable!
Yushitai hasn't done the hot work yet. Once the power is in hand, will he execute the order? You are so arrogant, Liu Xiangdao, you want to make the world an enemy!
As a result, before the "rectification movement" of the Yushitai began, Li Chengqian's imperial case was filled with memorials for impeaching Liu Xiangdao from officials at all levels in three provinces, six ministries and nine temples... (End of this chapter)