In Zhou Yafu's house, there are only two people in the study: Zhou Yafu and Drama Meng.

Because the two were discussing things at this time, Zhou Yafu couldn't help frowning after listening to Ji Meng's words, and after thinking for a while, he said, "How could this Chao Buzhi make such an rude request?" As an outsider, how can Brother Drama get involved in the battle of the court, especially the battle between the prime minister and the imperial doctor, even if I, Zhou Yafu, are involved, if I am not careful, I am afraid that I will inevitably lose my reputation. ”

Ju Meng sighed and said, "So Ju Mou rejected them." ”

"That's right." Zhou Yafu nodded and said.

It is not unreasonable for Zhou Yafu to say so seriously, because in the history of the Western Han Dynasty, that is, before Emperor Wu, there were four characters who had been pulling back.

These four roles are, not a prime minister who is fighting alone, and the personnel of the prime minister's mansion are all recruited by the prime minister himself; Places that will never take into account the overall situation, such as princes and kings; the heroes who endlessly dig into the corners of the government, such as Ju Meng, Guo Xie and others; Give a little sunshine to the businessman, before Emperor Wu, salt and iron were not monopolized by the state.

Of these four types of people, the former two are the most severe.

Because the Western Han Dynasty actually implemented a virtual monarch system of government, the specific administration was in charge of the prime minister.

During the time of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, there was a time when the emperor and the prime minister sat together and chatted.

Emperor Wen of Han asked Prime Minister Chen Ping, what are the duties of the prime minister?

Chen Ping's answer was very subtle, he first summed up the duties of the prime minister in two words, these two words are called: "Lord and Minister".

What is called "lord and minister", the popular interpretation is the leader and leader of the courtier.

This is the same as Liu Bang asked Han Xin back then: "How much do you think I can lead troops?" ”

Han Xin: "Up to 100,000." ”

Liu Bang asked puzzledly: "What about you?" ”

Han Xin said proudly: "The more the merrier, the more the merrier!"

Liu Bang said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Then I can't beat you?" ”

Han Xin said: "No, the lord is a talent who controls the generals, not the soldiers, and the soldiers are specially trained soldiers. ”

In this way, Liu Bang's mood is a little better, but there is always a thorn in his heart for Han Xin.

However, Chen Ping further explained and said: "The prime minister, the son of heaven is in charge of yin and yang, and the four seasons are in order, and the lower is suitable for all things, and the princes of the four Yi are appeased outside, and the people are attached to the inside, so that the doctors can each have their own duties." ”

According to Chen Ping, the prime minister's jurisdiction includes almost the entire imperial government affairs, including internal affairs, foreign affairs, and personnel, so the prime minister in the early Han Dynasty is equivalent to the modern head of government (state, affairs, yuan, president, and president), which is roughly not bad!

Is Chen Ping bragging? Definitely. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the empire implemented the prime minister's responsibility system, and from Xiao He, the prime minister held the power of the entire country's affairs. Therefore, before Liu Bang died, Empress Lu was most concerned about the choice of prime minister.

"If Xiao Xiangguo dies, who should take over?"

"Cao Shen!"

"What about after Cao Shen?"

"Wang Ling is available, but he is too stupid, let Chen Ping assist him. But Chen Ping can't take on the big task alone, he can order Zhou Bo to be the captain, with these three people, the world of the Liu family will be safe! ”

In fact, as Liu Bang expected, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Wang Ling, Chen Ping, and Zhou Bo, these five people, successively served as prime ministers, and the Han Empire government under their auspices continued the Huang Lao politics in the early Han Dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the rise of the Western Han Dynasty.

It is precisely because the world is peaceful that the people praise the prime minister, not the queen mother and the emperor who live in the court.

This kind of pattern in which the prime minister dominates and the emperor instead lives behind the scenes, the ancients called it "the monarch is weak and the minister is strong, and the king is the minister", and today it is called the "virtual monarch government", in this political pattern, the emperor is the head of state who is unified but not governed, and the prime minister is the real ruler.

Behind this pattern is the shadow of Huang Lao, Lao Tzu has clouds: "I have three treasures, one is kindness, two is thrifty, and three is not daring to be the first in the world." ”

The Han Empire implemented a monarchy, and the throne of the Son of Heaven was passed down from generation to generation by the Liu family, which ensured the stability of the throne, but there was an uncertain factor, that is, the question of the virtue and foolishness of the heir.

No one can guarantee that Liu Bang's descendants will always be wise and martial, once there is an incompetent or even dereliction of duty, how will the imperial court be embarrassed?

Therefore, the emperors of the early Han Dynasty adhered to the Taoist concept of non-action and entrusted the power to govern the affairs of the country to the court headed by the prime minister.

The influence of the prince on state affairs sometimes even exceeded that of the royal family. Even if there is a conflict between the opinions of the prime minister and the emperor, the prime minister often insists on his own opinion, and the emperor cannot be blamed for this!

Empress Lu wanted to make her mother's family the king, and she couldn't make the decision, so she had to be cheeky to ask for Wang Ling, but Wang Ling didn't give face and said: "Back then, the first emperor and the ministers swore an oath that they would not be kings unless they were Liu, and they could not be princes without merit." ”

Empress Lu had no choice but to go to another prime minister, Chen Ping, and got permission to get what she wanted. For Wang Ling, although Empress Lu was not satisfied, he could not blame him, so he was promoted to Taifu, which actually deprived him of his right to be a minister.

Compared with the autocratic dictatorship of the emperor, the prime minister's responsibility system obviously has three major advantages.

First, the prime minister (three dukes) is not hereditary in the family, and he can be appointed as a meritorious.

Second, the prime minister is not a lifelong system, and he can be removed once he makes a major mistake and is incompetent.

Third, the number of prime ministers (three princes) is relatively flexible, and they can be single-handed, or two, three, or even more, to implement collective management.

Therefore, it is not an empty statement to say that the prime minister's responsibility system is a relatively scientific, rational and flexible part of ancient Chinese politics.

Under the dominance of Huang Lao's thought, the Son of Heaven did nothing, and the virtuous minister ruled, which was the biggest "royal road" in the early Han Dynasty and the biggest foundation for the rise of the Han Dynasty.

This kind of prime minister responsibility system was implemented from the beginning of the Han Dynasty to the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it was still an effective political principle, but the ambitious young son of heaven finally could not bear the constraints of the prime minister against him, and a political struggle to seize power from the hands of the prime minister was soon staged in the Wu Dynasty, and finally ended in the decisive defeat of the prime minister's side, thus returning to the old problem of "Qin Emperor Trap".

This is because the prime minister was not elected by the political party and lacked the kind of military support under the Japanese shogunate system, so once the prime minister of the Han Dynasty faced the emperor's seizure of power, he had almost no power to parry, with the exception of Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Sima Yi and the like.

To give a simple example, in the sixth year of Emperor Wu's founding, Tian Wei became the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty, he went to see the emperor, sat there and talked about state affairs, said that he wanted to appoint this person as a lang official, and said that he would send that person to be the county commander, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty couldn't interject for a long time.

Finally, when Tian Wei drank tea, Emperor Wu of Han had the opportunity to say, "Are you finished?" I'm going to appoint a few officials, too! ”

From Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, the emperors of the Han Dynasty have always guarded the duties of the head of state, but now Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is no longer doing it, he feels that it is not enjoyable, like taking the work of the head of government to do it himself (this is also the phenomenon that the class and the son are not in agreement, and the book and the mayor of the city are often found in later generations)!