"Your Excellency, the Deputy Prime Minister is here." Cen Tianshi was busy reviewing the work summaries from various newspapers in the empire this year, as well as the implementation of the work plans of the ten years of the Apocalypse in various departments of the cabinet, when the voice of the attendant came from outside the door, and then Tuoba Si's figure pushed the door in, and said with a smile: "Why is Mr. Cen still busy so late?" ”

"Oh, Si Zhi, does life in the Northwest seem to be treated well in the past few years? This body board is much stronger than me. Cen Tianshi stood up, beckoned Tuoba Sizhi to sit down, and came over with two cups of tea and said with a smile: "How is it, is it a little uncomfortable to go back to the cabinet all of a sudden?" The reason why the emperor transferred you back from the northwest before the end of the year must also understand, right? ”

"I can guess one or two, but I don't understand the specifics too much." Tuoba Sizhi took the teacup and waited for Cen Tianshi to sit down and said, "I came here today to explain a thing or two to Mr., and at the same time, I want to listen to Mr. Advice." ”

"After presiding over the Imperial Council after the New Year, my current cabinet will be considered to have completed its mission, and when the Senate will re-elect a new prime minister, as long as the emperor is satisfied, then the second prime minister can be regarded as taking office. The emperor once said that I would form an imperial party after I retired, have you ever considered this matter? Cen Tianshi has been working all night for the past few days, so his spirit is not very good, and his logical thinking is also a little confused. But Tuoba Si understood very well in his ears, and quietly glanced at the helmsman of the imperial administration in front of him, in ten years, the scholar and political chief who was not in his early forties at the beginning had now completed ten years in the post of imperial prime minister. Although these founding heroes are basically the younger generation, but ten years of time have left obvious traces on their bodies, especially the prime minister in front of him, who is about the same age as himself, but his temples already have gray hair at this time, and then think about the changes in the empire and the rapid growth of national strength in the past ten years, although the emperor is at the helm, but it is undeniable that the prime minister in front of him has paid all his efforts, and he is indeed a respectable and admirable imperial hero. So Tuoba Si Ji nodded and said: "What do you need Si Ji to do, please instruct, Si Ji will never give up." ”

"Hehe, Si Zhi you're too nervous, it's not that serious." Cen Tianshi smiled along the deputy: "After I resign as prime minister after the year, you will stay and form a caretaker cabinet, and when the new prime minister takes office, you will hand over all the affairs of the cabinet to him." After Cen Tianshi said this, Tuoba Sizhi showed a clear look on his face, and the caretaker cabinet said that the white point was to wait for the transfer of power, which was of little use in terms of substance. In this way, although Tuoba Sijian shows that this is Li Xuanqing and Cen Tianshi's trust in him, this move is tantamount to cutting off his path to becoming the second prime minister when he takes over as Cen Tianshi. Therefore, after Cen Tianshi finished saying this, his eyes were also fixed on the deputy prime minister who had been in charge of various military districts although he was his deputy, as if he wanted to see his mind clearly.

"Okay, although it's a bit regrettable, compared to Murong and them, we are already considered the older generation. The caretaker cabinet is actually not bad, at least this also represents the trust of the gentleman and the emperor in Siji. Please rest assured, Si Zhi will do his part well, so that there will be no mistakes in the transfer of new and old powers. Tuoba Si said with a smile after a moment's hesitation: "When the matter is over, the formation of the party, Mr., will be counted as one of me, and it will be good to give Mr. a hand." ”

"Well, that's what I'm looking for today. In fact, don't be frustrated if you don't have a chance to form a cabinet this time, you and I have followed the emperor to create a cabinet so far, more shouldering the task of hollowing out and pioneering, rather than competing with juniors. The emperor said that the first cabinet was more about maintaining the stability of the empire, and from me onwards, it was necessary to create a new form of government and complete the political reform of the empire. The party system is a kind of normality in the political life of the future empire proposed by the emperor. I think I've passed on all the basic information to you before what a political party is, and you know a little bit about it. According to the emperor's will, the imperial political parties need to be maintained two or three, and only in this way can the imperial politics be controlled by one interest group for a long time in the future, which will produce many unnecessary drawbacks. ”

"It's similar to taking turns sitting in the banker, isn't it?" Tuoba thought for a moment and said, "If this is the case, it can largely prevent the high-level power of the empire from being held by the same person and group, and it also provides new impetus for the empire to continue to move forward and develop. Moreover, different political parties must have their own governing programs when they come to power, so that the shortcomings in the development of the empire will be gradually filled by these governing programs. But what kind of way does a political party come to power? ”

"The emperor has already thought about this, you and I plus Yang Qiu need to prepare again, you and I are responsible for forming two political parties, and Yang Qiu is responsible for running the election method, and institutionalizing and legalizing it, so that the latecomers can provide enough models so that they must not deviate from the rules formulated by our generation." Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "The Senate will be re-elected from this year to complete the system of local councilors, these councilors are directly elected from all over the country, and they also represent the interests of various regions and various interest groups, but in general, they must be a group that is in line with the maximization of the interests of the empire." This group of members is re-elected every two years, replacing those who are unqualified and those whose terms have expired, and maintaining the number of members in the Senate, so that whoever can hold a majority of seats in the Senate will win. If the candidate for prime minister selected within the party can be approved by the emperor, then a new cabinet can take office. ”

Tuoba Sizhi nodded and said, "In this case, in fact, the key to the competition of political parties is the seat of the Senate, and the number of members of the Senate is to compete for it, right?" And what does the election of legislators rely on? ”

"The prestige of the province where the councillor is located, the voice of the people, and the talents and qualities of the councillor itself, if the people are willing to elect a certain councillor, then this councillor must represent a certain voice of the people, and he himself has his own views on certain issues and the development of certain empires, and only in this way can the people withdraw from participating in politics." Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "Yang Qiu has been tinkering for nearly a year, and a complete charter was formed only a few days ago, and the emperor is reviewing it these days, if there is no problem, we will try this election method in this political party election." Once passed, the Cabinet, the military, the courts, and even the royal family and media will publicize it widely throughout the empire, thus creating an opportunity for us to form a political party in advance. ”

"Now that the empire is vast, do all the provinces have a fixed number of councillors?" Tuoba Si Ji thought for a moment and asked. Today's Tang Empire is thousands of miles away from east to west, and the north and south are about the same, such a vast empire, dozens of internal provinces, even if each province arranges two parliamentarians, it is still a scale of 100 people, and it doesn't seem to be arranged like this by Li Xuanqing.

"All ordinary people with imperial household registration can participate in the election of parliamentarians, and the preliminary principle is two to five people in each province, and the exact number is subject to the emperor's personal decision. Military districts are not allowed to participate in elections, and are directly appointed by the military region's yamen. In this way, the number of representatives of the royal family, the legal court and the military will not be small. Although according to the emperor's intentions, the representatives of the royal family and the military will not participate in the statement, but only supervise the authenticity and fairness of the election, but they basically represent the emperor's attitude in the Senate. Cen Tianshi nodded and said: "This charter is basically not a big mistake, as long as the details can be further optimized, then the team of the Senate can be formed." In addition to being an elective body for political parties, the formed Senate is more responsible for deliberating on major decisions of the Empire, such as the annual Imperial Conference, and the political life of the Empire will revolve around the Senate in the future. ”

"Don't worry, sir, I think I understand. It's no wonder that the Senate has been building a lot of construction recently, and this is an early expansion. Tuoba Si said with a smile: "But this is okay, it just puts all the open and secret battles in the officialdom on the table, and there is less conspiracy and trickery, at least there can be a little more clear stream above the officialdom." ”

"This political situation only solves the distribution of power at the top, and the lower levels still need to follow the promotion system that was previously established, and after the prime minister is established, the cabinet can exercise the power of the prime minister as the administrative center of the empire, thus forming the transfer of officials up and down." Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "There must be a lot of things we didn't think of, but the big framework is here, and the meaning of our existence is to check and fill in the gaps, and fill in all these loopholes." In this way, the merit is complete, and the upper is worthy of the emperor and the lower is worthy of the people. ”

"Sir, rest assured, this advice will definitely be done." Tuoba Si said with a smile: "Regarding the political party, I have been the head of the military district in the northwest for several years, and I can be regarded as a little experience, and I will discuss it with my husband when the time comes." ”

"Okay, it's not too early, the emperor should be waiting for you and me in Changqing Palace, let's go, go and try the skillful craftsmanship and eat together." Cen Tianshi laughed and pulled Tuoba Si out of the cabinet building and went straight to the Changqing Palace, there were really lights on there, Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi were discussing something, and from time to time they would bow their heads to read the information.

"Big brother, Mr. Cen, they're here, let's just have dinner." Qiaoxi heard the footsteps outside, looked up, and immediately smiled. Li Xuanqing looked up and saw Cen Tianshi and Tuoba Siji coming together, and immediately understood that he was afraid that the two of them had already talked about it, so he didn't say much and ordered the meal, and several people sat around the side hall and had a good meal before returning to the main hall, Cen Tianshi reported to Li Xuanqing about his previous conversation with Tuoba Siji.

"Brother Si Ji has been wronged, thank you Xuanqing." Li Xuanqing was taken aback by Tuoba Si Zhi as soon as he gave up his hand, and he was so anxious that he quickly stood up and said in a loud voice: "The emperor has tormented Wei Chen, for the great cause of the empire, for the emperor's wishes, he will not give up his thoughts." What's more, the formation of a political party is related to the great cause of imperial politics, and I am afraid that I have limited ability to think about it and bear the emperor's trust, so how can I talk about grievances. ”

"Regarding the political party, I will talk to you about my thoughts and Qiaoxi's thoughts in the next few days, and you two can use it as a reference in advance." Li Xuanqing said with a smile: "To be honest, the matter of a political party is also the first time I have encountered it, so in the process of your implementation, you will definitely encounter countless problems and things that have not been considered before, all of which require the two of you to cross the river by feeling the stones." Even Qiaoxi and I may not be able to help with this. However, there is one point that the Cabinet can then separate the Propaganda Department under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Civil Affairs into a propaganda department, which will serve as a propaganda mouthpiece for the Empire's domestic policy and so on, and on the other hand, as a management agency for new media and other institutions, so that each political party can not only use the new media group under the command of the Imperial Family to carry out policy propaganda, but also form its own independent propaganda newspaper to promote your purpose to the people and develop its own members. After a pause, he continued: "However, it should be noted that the registration files of all party members of the two political parties need to be handed over to the royal family for an archive. You two should understand what that means, right? ”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I will discuss the formation of a political party with Si Jian in the next few days, although the two parties will have to fight in the Senate and within the empire in the future, but as the first generation of pioneers, we need to unite in order to solve problems together." Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "There is one last point today, that is, the problem of party members and the military. ”

"The separation of military and government is an iron law, and this point cannot be violated at any time." Li Xuanqing waved his hand and said: "All political parties are not allowed to recruit party members in the army, and maintain the neutrality of the military in the administration. Of course, if you retire, you will no longer belong to the military establishment, and you can freely join any political party, and you can also take other ways of promotion to serve in various civil affairs posts. In addition, there is another thing that needs to be communicated with the two of you in advance, that is, the question of the ownership of the National Guard, at next year's Imperial Conference, the National Guard will be independent, no longer subordinate to the military and the government, as an independent branch of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff under the management of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, to carry out the suppression of small-scale conflicts within the country and what to call rebellions, and to assist the regular army in managing the tasks of prisoners of war and the removal of newly occupied land and stragglers, and also not to interfere in the affairs of local governments. As a result, only the armed personnel of the Ministry of Guards were left on the side of the Cabinet. ”

Cen Tianshi had been mentally prepared for the independence of the National Guard, and the position of the National Guard was rather embarrassing, and it was not a long-term solution to be constrained by both the military and the government. At this time, Li Xuanqing divided the National Guard into an independent division and gave it a clear task, which was also to further divide the responsibilities of the cabinet and the Tiance Mansion. And the concept of independent arms is also a constraint on the Tiance Mansion, but it is only managed by it, but I am afraid that it is also the same as Xuan Yingwei, which plays the role of supervising both the military and the government, and prevents the military and the government from trying to subvert the empire in later generations. However, these are nothing to the two people in front of them, and a clear division of rights and responsibilities will better allow future generations to act within the rules.

"With this out of the way, let's talk about the next prime minister." Li Xuanqing looked at Xu Tianxiang and the others who walked in outside the hall and said with a smile, but Tuoba Sizhi suddenly remembered something, and suddenly sat up straight.