The prime minister system and the cabinet system were the two major systems of governing the country in ancient China.

The prime minister system first originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. However, at that time, he became a prime minister, a prime minister, etc., and "zai" means to dominate; Xiang, originally a person who is courteous, has the meaning of assisting.

From the origin of the prime minister, I am afraid that the earliest can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, there are ministers, Zai and other names, but they are not used as official titles, the reason is that the Shang and Zhou dynasties are aristocratic politics, and the prime minister is the head of the bureaucracy. For example, Shang Zhou is more similar to a family business, with the boss being the general manager, and the centralized society is more similar to the current joint-stock enterprise, which naturally needs a separate general manager.

Another reason is that due to the limitations of the social level at that time, the monarch did not need to deal with too many affairs, and assistants were not necessarily necessary. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China's social and economic experience had undergone tremendous changes, the feudal system was dismantled, the aristocratic regime was hit by the professional bureaucracy, and prime ministers began to appear in batches. During this period, the names of the prime ministers were Xiang, Lingyin, Xiangbang, etc., and the bureaucracy represented by the prime minister gradually appeared on the stage of history as a monarch to replace the aristocratic power.

After Qin unified the six kingdoms, when reforming the political system, the prime minister established the status of the prime minister as the number one assistant to the monarch, and officially became an official system. The prime minister of the Qin Dynasty was not fixed, sometimes one minister, sometimes two ministers, and the eunuch was the prime minister, and Zhao Gao once held this position.

The early Han Dynasty was probably the most majestic era of the prime minister, the prime minister's authority was so heavy that he approached the emperor, and the prime minister and the emperor accepted the worship of hundreds of officials at the same time. However, the good times did not last long, the prosperity and decline, the eloquent Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to power, and the power of the prime minister was greatly weakened during the time of Emperor Wu.

The reason is very simple, some people think that Emperor Wu wants to weaken the power of the prime minister, because the power of the prime minister threatens the imperial power. I am afraid that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought that the prime minister was incompetent and did not make joint decisions on state affairs with him. Through the department of Shangshutai, Han Wu bypassed the prime minister and directly made decisions on state affairs. In this way, the prime minister loses the power to discuss and participate in politics, that is, the prime minister's authority has been encroached upon. But it's hard to say that Shang Shutai shared the power of the phase, because during the Han Dynasty, who knows which brother of Shang Shutai? It can only be said that the imperial power has encroached on part of the prime minister's power, but at this time, the prime minister still did not lose his identity as the head of the hundred officials, nor did he lose the authority to supervise the hundred officials, so the prime minister of the Han Wu period was not the legendary shelf.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's destruction of the prime minister's system, I don't think it's as serious as the historians say, because the prime minister's power is fundamentally derived from the imperial power, and the authority between the emperor and the prime minister is not very clear.

But Huo Guang is different, Huo Guang is not the prime minister, theoretically speaking, his status is lower than the prime minister, why should he command the prime minister? Huo Guang had to gradually increase the power of Shangshutai, and the regent of later generations of relatives became a common practice, and we naturally saw that the power of Shangshutai increased day by day, and it is worth mentioning that in the Western Han Dynasty, it was commonly called the system of three princes and nine secretaries, and the three princes were all prime ministers. In fact, the Taiwei in the Three Princes is not permanent, in fact, only the prime minister and the imperial historian are permanent. It is called Erfu, so it is not only the Song Dynasty that has Erfu.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Guangwu felt that the three divisions (Da Sima, Da Situ, Da Sikong) were very unhappy, so they gave the big characters to go, and then our Guangwu Emperor was also a very energetic emperor, at the same time, he also liked to bow down to the like, so there was a document spirit on the Shangshutai to directly issued, at that time people said what to return to the cabinet, the three public reserve position, it can be seen that once the leader likes to bow down, the assistant will become a waste of firewood, and the secretary will become a fragrant glutton,

According to this law, we can always look down, once the secretaries are valued by the leaders, and the positions are mentioned again and again, they are the leaders of the hundred officials, plus he often gets along with the leaders and can discuss major matters with each other, then they will become real prime ministers.

Therefore, in the era of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, after the power of Shangshutai gradually increased, the prefect who held Shangshutai in his hand became a real prime minister, but the emperor still needed a secretary, so Zhongshu also rose up according to this cycle. As a result, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province, and Menxia Province gradually took shape.

Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian ruled the world and established a three-province system, and the governors of the three provinces were all justifiable prime ministers. In fact, Shangshu Province is in charge of implementation, and the so-called county officials are not as good as the current management, so Shangshu Ling is the most powerful. Zhongshu Province is the secretary of the leader, the proposed recruitment and the like, this is the closest to the leader, the provincial supervisor of the door refutes, approves the documents, and sees if it is passed, it seems that the power is very great, even if it is a rubber stamp.

This system was not changed until the Tang Dynasty, when Tang Taizong Li Shimin increased the power of the province. However, Comrade Li Shimin seized power in Xuanwumen, the old bureaucrats could not be removed, the corpses were vegetarian, and the new cattle could not be arranged to be prime ministers. Li Shimin creatively adopted a method to put the real prime ministers in the air, on the one hand, old guy, you have made a major contribution to the revolution anyway, and there is no need to trouble you about some trivial matters. With the messy names of gains and losses in the senate and the discussion of the government, some petty officials such as potatoes and sweet potatoes have gained the real power of the prime minister to "participate in and discuss politics." has been waiting for the old guy to finish the vegetarian meal, and these comrades who have gained and lost in the senate will become regular. This is the real three provinces and six ministries.

The emperor has used this trick for a long time, and unexpectedly found that this trick has a big advantage, he changed the prime minister from institutional to temporary, I let you participate, you are the prime minister, I don't let you participate, you are Chai He, there is no need to cause major personnel changes. Later, this trick was learned by many emperors, and the names of the prime ministers in the future were stinky and long, look at how handsome the names of the prime ministers were before, the prime minister, Shang Shuling, Taiwei, Shizhong, Zhongshu Ling, and people shouted it well. You look at the name of the later prime minister, what is the same Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhang, Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin, listening to it all laughed to death.

Tongzhongshu has three grades, which means, buddy, you are not a third-grade official, and you are not a prime minister, but the emperor thinks you can do it, so let you try to be the prime minister, and the current deputy director level enjoys the same treatment. The most laughing dead man's Shangshu servant shot is obviously a second-grade master, but after Gaozong, he is not a real prime minister if he does not hang the same third-grade person.

For example, now, a division commander who does not hold the post of regiment commander cannot command the troops, and the three-province system, how to evaluate it, on the surface, the three provinces are in charge of affairs, divide labor with each other, and contain each other, which should be relatively good, but in fact, this system will be finished immediately after Li Shimin's time.

Therefore, the reason why a system is called a system is because it has stability, but people are dead, can we call it a system?

Then in the Gaozong period, the authority of Shangshu Province was stripped of 7788, Shangshu servants did not shoot grievances and hung the same three products, people did not dump him, he stood aside to discuss national affairs, and the three-province system existed in name only, and the Tang Dynasty began the political affairs hall system under the Zhongshu Gate. It turned out that the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty were all part-time, and everyone held meetings to study and study when they had something, and when they had nothing to do, they went back to the provinces to work. Later, more and more meetings were held, and meetings have become customized.

Anyone who can go in for a meeting is called the prime minister, and the place where the meeting takes place is called the political affairs hall. The government hall began to be set up in Menxia Province, and according to the natural practice, the governor of Menxia Province was a landlord and should be the prime minister. The meeting room is open at someone's house, why don't you let people in?

The emperors have a way, the position of the governor of the two provinces is vacant, so there is no real prime minister, there is no real prime minister, what should I do? Anyway, if you go to the political hall for a meeting, you can be considered the prime minister, and the name is the same Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi. This name, look at this name, water, it means to go to the door of the book to deal with the documents, so in the future, I often see the name of the prime minister under the door of the same book, and the name of the prime minister under the door of the same book.

Gaozong is dead, the strong woman Wu Zetian is in power, and Comrade Wu Zetian has no ideas... I fell in love with the name. Women love beauty more, so during the Wu Zetian period, even the official name felt beautiful. Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Wu Zetian felt that the name was not good, so he waved his pen and changed it. One was renamed Fengge, and the other was renamed Luantai. So, we saw such a funny name, with Fengge Luantai Sanpin, with Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi.

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the prime minister gradually marginalized with the rise of the eunuch group, the reason for this is the simplest reason for the barrel of the gun, with the corruption of the government military system, the political hall under the Zhongshu Gate has no soldiers available, and the eunuchs have also systematically mastered the military power, with the corruption of the government military system, the political hall under the Zhongshu Gate has no soldiers available, and the eunuchs have also systematically mastered the military power, so the middle and late Tang Dynasty is the most glorious era of eunuchs, they can even dominate the emperor and abolish it, and the eunuchs in any other era are not so bullish.

In the Song Dynasty, we are all familiar with the second government and the third envoy. What is the same as the Zhongshu Sect and the Privy Council are in charge of the two handles of civil and military, the three envoys are in charge of financial power, and what is the Privy Council and the three Ya are in charge of military power, but how long has this system been adhered to?

During the period of Shenzong, Yuanfeng reformed and started the three-province system, why did Shenzong carry out Yuanfeng reform, the reason is very simple, this guy is short of money. Why is there a lack of money, there are too many people who just eat and don't do anything. We can also look at the people who just eat and don't do anything. During the Han Dynasty, the three dukes and the like left behind, now everyone on the earth knows that this thing is an outdated star, but after all, people are regular civil servants, and the finance has to pay salaries... And it's high wages. The Tang Dynasty also left officials such as Shangshu Ling, Zhongshu Ling, and Shangshu left and right servants, and these officials now only eat and do not work. And the current prime minister's team is a set of ordinary affairs under the same Chinese book, participating in political affairs, and three envoys. Compared with the Han Dynasty, people are one set of leadership groups, and he is three, can he not feel short of money? So the system was restructured, and Shang Shufu and the like also had to eat and work, which saved a set of leadership teams, and it was said that it could save a lot of money, and Shenzong was still very happy.

The second mansion that we often talk about is also retained now, and although the Privy Council and the Ministry of War are also important, this thing helps to prevent rebellion, so keep it.