Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 354 How to change the official system of the Tang Dynasty

The Tian family was ruthless. No matter how hard Li Ye tried to harmonize the atmosphere, it was still very awkward. The guest of honor was a little embarrassed and could only keep drinking.

After a while, he gradually became drunk.

Li Ye asked Zhu Yeyoutong to take Li Keyong, Liu and others back to the palace.

Not to mention His Majesty's treatment of Prince Li, it is the best among all the kings.

The courtyard pavilion, with carved railings and jade columns, is full of honor. More than two hundred servants have already cleaned the palace, and they all knelt at the door to welcome their master home.

"This……"

"Mom, go in!"

Li Keyong's face was flushed, and under the stimulation of alcohol, he felt a little high. His mood...he hadn't gotten used to it yet!
"This cell is pretty good!"

Mrs. Liu rolled her eyes and looked at Li Keyong, why is this guy so arrogant?

Li Keyong sighed deeply. He regretted it. He should ask the emperor to change his place. Even if he became a tribal leader on the grassland, it would be better than this.

However, when I thought of His Majesty the Emperor's thunder, a chill came out of my back inadvertently.

Before receiving the imperial edict, he secretly went to Yunzhou. The city wall, which was more than ten feet long, including the city gate and towers, collapsed. This further confirmed Prince Li’s guess. How could this be possible with manpower...

What would happen if the thunder from the sky hit someone...

Can't even think about it.

"never mind!"

Li Keyong shook his head and stepped into the palace...

If you can't beat me, just join. Isn't it okay to give in?
……

The Tang Dynasty was unified, and all the kingdoms had not come to court yet. The emperor couldn't stop thinking about whether he should live a decadent life without shame or boredom, or continue to forge ahead. He wanted both.

Datang's first five-year plan is halfway through, but the goals have been achieved, which is not ideal.

The goal of the first five-year plan was to build roads. All roads in the Tang Dynasty were connected to Shangguan Road. His Majesty the Emperor named it "National Road".

There are more than 200 national highways to be built throughout Datang, with a total length of over [-] miles.

Li Ye plans to spend 20 years to do this well. The five most important avenues now are

Bianjing—Luoyang—Chang’an

Bianjing——Xiangzhou——Xingzhou——Zhaozhou——Youzhou

Bianjing——Xuzhou——Suzhou——Wenzhou——Guangzhou

Bianjing——Caizhou——Ezhou——Tanzhou——Guizhou

Bianjing—Caozhou—Yanzhou—Mizhou (now Qingdao)—Dengzhou (now Yantai)
This road is not simply a matter of tamping plain soil. When it encounters mountains, it is necessary to open a road and build a bridge when it encounters water. The earth requires three layers of soil to compact the foundation. It is paved with green bricks on the sides and then filled with fine sand. The road is eight feet wide and can pass six cars side by side. carriage.

In places with difficult terrain, checkpoint gates must be built.

This matter is of great significance to Datang.

Li Ye also wanted to use cement directly, so Xu Yanshi searched for rocks and fired them. Not to mention, he actually prepared cement with a certain strength.

But the cost... cement not only needs to be burned before it can be used, but also needs to be ground into powder. With Datang's technical level, there is not much other way except using a donkey to grind. As for hydraulic power, just think about it, and then think about it. His Majesty the Emperor felt desperate when thinking about steel bars. Even small stones in this era require massive manpower to complete. There is still a long way to go!
After preliminary calculations, the price of making a pound of cement can buy 1 yuan of bricks. Li Ye thought about it and let it go. He will wait until some great god invents the steam engine!

However, the development of cement could not be stopped. His Majesty the Emperor allocated tens of thousands of dollars from internal funds to develop cement proportions.

Li Ye describes the technology tree of the Tang Dynasty.

As for government affairs, the Three Provinces and Six Ministries system of the Tang Dynasty has become very mature after the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty must have been good. There were also the inner court and the outer court of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Adding a military aircraft department to help the emperor handle internal and external military and political affairs was just a change of the soup without changing the medicine.

From the founding of the Tang Dynasty to the present, there have been few powerful ministers.

The problem is that at the decision-making level, His Majesty the Emperor has too much power.

Among the three provinces, the Menxia Province has the power to refute. If the emperor's decree violates the law, the Menxia Province has the power to directly revoke the imperial edict.

During the reign of Xuanzong, Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling did not give Xuanzong much face. He kept Xuanzong from coming to power many times and rejected all the imperial decrees that were illegal, which made Emperor Xuanzong miserable.

You must know that if the imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty was not stamped by Zhongshu's disciples, the local states could refuse to implement it.

Tang Xuanzong was such a smart man. He immediately thought of a countermeasure. If Zhang Jiuling was disobedient, he would be replaced by an obedient one. After that, Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong came to power, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty could finally be unscrupulous.

In addition to finding an obedient prime minister, Xuanzong also found another strange way. He used a Hanlin bachelor's degree from the Hanlin Academy and an imperial edict to directly spare the prime minister and issue the imperial edict. This method was very simple and Li Ye liked it. He issued the edict. Ninety percent of the imperial edicts are true.

So, the system was good, but it was all ruined by the emperor himself, and the world collapsed, starting with Xuanzong.

Under the current historical conditions, don't talk about a constitutional monarchy or a parliamentary system. If you really dare to do this, powerful ministers will appear immediately. Without that foundation, it is impossible.

The British parliamentary system also went through hundreds of years of competition, during which there were countless wars between Parliament and the king.

Only because of bloodshed can the two sides compete. In the Tang Dynasty, without this history, if you restrict the royal power, you are seeking death.

Li Ye thought so.

At the local level, the power can be divided between the observation envoys and the chief envoys, but at the central level, a single move can affect the whole body, and His Majesty the Emperor does not dare to make a big move.

Wanting to return to the ancestral system, Zhongshu and his disciples decided the national policy together, and His Majesty the Emperor was reluctant to part with it.

Unrestricted rights fascinate people. As long as the emperor enjoys the pleasure of issuing orders, it will be painful to give up!

But everything was decided by the emperor, and the Tang Dynasty remained the same as before.

There are two problems that need to be solved to limit imperial power. One is how to prevent the emperor from issuing direct edicts. The other is how to determine the candidate for the prime minister?

"Can the candidate for prime minister be recommended by the emperor, approved by the six ministries, and then publicly appointed, or should the six ministries recommend him, approved by the emperor, and then publicly appointed?"

Li Ye talked to himself, undecided.

After thinking about it, he also let out a long sigh.

Even so, for the emperor, overthrowing it was just a matter of words.

His Majesty the Emperor found out helplessly that if he wanted to limit the imperial power, he could only support a political group that could compete with the imperial power. This group could not threaten the existence of the imperial power.

We cannot have a parliament that enjoys financial power, decision-making and legislative power, but can we have a political team that can elect the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty?

give it a try?
Li Ye shook his head. The emperor would not be worried about reforms that cannot be controlled!We can only delegate power little by little and see what the execution results are like?
We must first solve the problem of who should choose and who can be chosen!
Of course, the prime minister still has a term of office!

(End of this chapter)