From Shangshuling to "Three Books in the Same School"
As we all know, most of the grass construction in the early Tang Dynasty inherited the system of Sui Dynasty, and initially established the system of three provinces and six departments. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the "three publics" of pro-government gradually faded out and became honorary titles, basically forming a system with the governor of Shangshu as prime minister. At the same time, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province were established in the imperial court as consultants and censors to help the emperor exercise his power.
At the beginning of Sui Dynasty, Zhongshu and Menxia provinces moved out of the Imperial City. In the process of exploration and improvement, a relatively perfect system of three provinces was finally formed in the early Tang Dynasty, that is, "Zhongshu Province is responsible for drafting imperial edicts, Xiamen Province is responsible for reviewing them, and Shangshu Province is responsible for implementing them". But in fact, this process is gradually formed. At the beginning, because the six departments are actually subordinate departments of Shangshu Province, in fact, Shangshu Province and the governor of Shangshu Province are still real prime ministers, while Zhongshu Province and Xiamen Governor have not always played the role of this right.
In the early years of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, because the ministers were not awarded because of their high position, the ministers in Shangshu Province took the left and right ministers as governors, so the left and right officials in Shangshu Province obtained the status of prime ministers in legal status. At the same time, as the governor of Zhongshu province, the assistant minister is also the prime minister as the governor of Xiamen province. At the same time, the emperor also set up a government affairs hall for the prime minister as a special place for the prime minister to discuss and handle affairs.
Let's talk about the title of the first prime minister here, that is, the origin of "the three products of the same book" (renamed as "the three products of Fengge Luantai" in Wu Zhou). In the early years, although the left and right servants were all prime ministers, from the official position, the left and right servants were senior officials subordinate to the second level, while the middle servants and the middle secretariat were only the third level. In the early years, Shi Zhong and Zhong Shuling even ranked behind the six books of Shangshu. Even after the middle Tang Dynasty, assistant ministers in Zhongshu and Xiamen, who started as prime ministers only, were arranged after the first six films. Therefore, it is different from later adding "the same book and three products" to lower-ranking officials to improve their official positions. The purpose of "three products with the same book" is to improve the status of assistant ministers and secretaries, so that they can obtain the same status as ministers and servants. In the 17th year of Zhenguan (643), Li Ji was the third calligraphy of Prince Zhan Shitong, which was the first time that this figure appeared. Later, this title was used as a symbol of political participation. Although the rank is higher than the three products, you have to add this title to become a prime minister.
The appellation of "Tongsanpin" was most frequently used in the periods of Gaozong, Wuhou and Zhongzong, but gradually decreased in Xuanzong. In the second year of Su Zong's stay in Germany (757), Li Lin was knighted for the last time.
Shi Zhong and Zhong Shuling
With the change of the system in the three provinces, the position of prime minister actually changes with the change of the position in the three provinces. Because the door province has the most important power to refute imperial edicts and memorials among the three provinces, and the early government offices were all located in the door province, with the left and right servants gradually becoming honorary positions to reward meritorious veterans, no longer managing provincial affairs and gradually withdrawing from the ranks of prime ministers, the governor of Shangshu Province gradually fell on the left and right ministers with lower positions. Therefore, in the early Tang Dynasty, a three-province operation system with the province under the door as the core was gradually formed.
The final result of this change is to finally establish the prime minister status of Zhongshu Province and Menmen Province. Long Shuo, April 4, 2002. It was changed to the left phase of Dongtai and the right phase of Xitai. February 20th of the first year of Tianbao. It was changed to the left phase and the right phase respectively, which confirmed the identity of the prime minister. From the last years of Zhenguan, the relative power of ministers and servants was weakened and was completely excluded from the prime minister by Xuanzong.
Improve the status of the secretariat
The biggest change in the prime minister system in the middle Tang Dynasty was the establishment of the post of Zhong Shuling. And this result is composed of the following three aspects. One is that Pei Yan moved the government to Zhongshu Province. Secondly, in the eleventh year of Kaiyuan, the secretary said that the yamen was changed to Zhongshumen, and the seal was placed under Zhongshumen. Third, Yao Chong, Li, Yang and other powerful ministers have long controlled state affairs with the order of the Secretariat.
In 683 A.D., after the death of Emperor Gaozong, Pei Yan was promoted to be the official department minister, and the government affairs hall originally located in Menxia Province was placed under the Central Book Province, which made the official department minister play a leading role in the government affairs hall. The relocation of yamen is a sign of great changes in the political system of the Tang Dynasty. Menxia province began to lose its pivotal position among the three provinces. The functions and powers of Zhongshu Province began to change from the previous military orders to the seal of the Senate, and then gradually changed from the issuing organ to the administrative adjudication organ.
After Wu Zetian came to power, she had the position of the actual prime minister in the government hall, and her advantage in the power structure was more obvious, thus becoming the core prime minister. Since Pei Yan, the promotion from servant to minister has become a common mode, and the pattern of equality and mutual restraint among the governors of the three provinces has been broken.
It is said that the change of the government office to the Zhongshumen represents that the government office has gradually got rid of the concept of a place that only represents the prime minister's peace talks in the past, and has gradually become the highest power decision-making body of the prime minister within the system, thus forming a new highest government organ above the three provinces. This system is based on China's book province. Most of the provincial officials of Zhongshu have become officials below Zhongshu, which is also a direct reason why Zhongshu has greater power.
Third, the ministers of Xuanzong dynasty have been controlling state affairs with the command of secretariat. From Yao Chong in the early years of Kaiyuan, to Zhang Jiuling in the late period of Kaiyuan, and then to Li and Yang in Tianbao period, a set of central operation system was gradually formed. Great changes have taken place in the system of three provinces in Xuanzong period.
Of course, this change is only transitional. What really changed the historical process of this country was the civil war and the Anshi Rebellion.
The Influence of Anshi Rebellion on Prime Minister System
The outbreak of An Shi Rebellion brought a series of national wars to the Tang Empire, and also brought serious new problems to the rule. In order to adapt to the politics under the new system, after the mid-Tang Dynasty, the central government of the Tang Dynasty gradually formed a set of central systems that made the vocational system work. Especially in the financial aspects related to the war. In the process of the formation of postal administrative system, it inevitably had a great influence on the past three provinces and six departments system and the past prime minister system.
After the impact of the war, the original unified pattern of the six-part system in Shangshu Province was disrupted, and the departments and institutions in Shangshu Province were abolished. The financial and military problems brought about by the war have made the importance of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs gradually appear. In addition, all the official departments that have mastered the assessment of officials, as well as more than 20 other departments, such as the Water Affairs Bureau, whose department is an official wasteland, are mostly abandoned. Under the new ambassadorial system, officials in Shangshu Province gradually became the guards of officials. Even six important departments often use other officials to save trouble instead of their own officials.
Although both Dai Zongchao and De Zongchao made efforts to restore the status of Shangshu Province after the Anshi Rebellion, the Shangshu Province system has not adapted to the requirements of the new central government, which lost most of its territorial control and had to struggle for survival. It is still slowly weakening and gradually being eliminated by history.
Books in the same flat chapter.
Back to the Prime Minister himself. With the development of prime minister system and the need of real politics, a large number of junior officials became prime ministers from the middle Tang Dynasty. For example, the emperor will appoint middle-and lower-level officials as prime ministers, such as Zhongshu Sheren, Guizhi or Shiyu Zhongcheng. At this time, there appeared a prime minister with the color of the post, which was called "the matter of the same book". Of course, this title came into being much earlier than this era, and it became the fixed title of prime minister here. Moreover, as the title of prime minister, "Tongzhong Shumen Pingzhang" has been used until Yuanfeng Reform in the Northern Song Dynasty.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the name of the Prime Minister changed again. In the 12th year of Daizong Dali (A.D. 777), the title of "China's calligraphy is inferior to the other three" was abolished.
"Pingzhang" means identification, discrimination and extension to judgment. Those who get this title have the responsibility to deal with political affairs under the Chinese Book School. Zhenguan has a history of four years, and Dai Zhou took the Minister of Civil Affairs as the official. In eight years, Li Jing, the left servant, resigned due to illness, and ordered him to recuperate slightly, and went to Zhongshumen for his post on the third or second day. These are the early records of the appearance of this title. In the first year of Yongchun (AD 682), Guo Shiju, assistant minister of Huangmen, Cen Changqian, assistant minister of the Ministry of War and others were the same as the characters in the book. Since then, "Tongpingzhang" has also become the title of Prime Minister. After kaiyuan, the servants and shooters did not have "common rules and regulations", so they could not participate in the maintenance of the prime minister and were squeezed out of the ranks of the prime minister. The historical network "the same three products" and "the same flat chapter" belong to the nature of dispatch, and there is no hierarchy in itself. The person who holds this position will also serve as a career official street. All officials with more than five grades can be appointed by the emperor, and there is no qualification restriction, which is convenient for the emperor to choose cronies from middle-level officials to decentralize. "Tongping Zhang Shi" has gradually increased since Yongchun, and has become the only title for other officials to understand politics since the first year of Su Zonggan Yuan (758). In the three provinces as natural prime ministers, after the Anshi Rebellion, the secretariat and assistant minister often gave titles to the founding fathers and generals, and gradually became empty titles. Therefore, in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the real prime minister was "a matter of making peace under the same book". In addition, working in the secretariat, in the book, or in the same chapter is also a kind of empty job, called making. Although "Tong Ping Zhang Shi" is usually selected from five or more officials, when filling this position, most of them will become assistant ministers in Chinese books or under the door. This is because Zhongshu and Yamen have always been the central institutions of the government.