After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

Chapter 294: Restraining 'Power'

In the eyes of all the civil and military officials in the court, Han's words were nothing more than another "Shang Yang".

Moreover, it was even more excessive and cruel than Shang Yang's, because this kind of "expansionary" reform was ultimately aimed at overthrowing their lives.

There is no need to talk about what happened before. He and the New Deal faction had already touched the interests of too many old aristocrats, landlords and literati.

Although they lost some of their profits at the beginning, Han compensated them in disguise through other means, so let them make a fuss as they please.

But this time, he actually wanted to use ropes and swords to tighten the reins on the entire imperial court and the bureaucracy, to restrain the public instrument called "power." How could this work?!

After a brief silence, the entire court was suddenly filled with noise, and voices of opposition rose one after another, pressing down on Han and Wang Jiefu like a raging storm.

In their view, the current core and pillars of the entire New Deal faction are Han and Wang.

Of course, these two people, one makes the plan and the other executes it, are definitely in cahoots and are birds of a feather.

However, for the sake of Han Da Xianggong and Lu Da Xianggong, let's just assume that Han's crime was unintentional and he spoke too quickly.

But they were not so kind to Wang Jiefu. They had to demote him completely and exile him to Lingnan to eat lychees!

Faced with the public outrage, Han and Wang Jiefu did not say much at this moment. After all, the facts were there, and no one would listen even if they explained anything.

It has been difficult to restrain the public tool of "power" since ancient times.

It can even be said that since the emergence of social classes, people have had no way to restrain the public instrument called "power".

The ancients actively sought constraints based on their personal conduct and moral integrity. For example, the thoughts of Mencius in the pre-Qin period and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were all examples of "the people are more important than the king."

They would all take the initiative to restrain themselves from abusing their power, which was a good reflection of the ancients' noble moral sentiments and the interests of national rule.

Once humanity is lost, morality declines, or the interests of national rule are no longer cared about, then "power out of control" will drag society towards destruction.

As for modern society, although efforts have been made to improve laws and establish supervisory bodies, due to the layers of social interest connections and internal erosion, things will ultimately be dealt with hastily, leading to an "imbalance of power" and "unfettered rule".

Han Ming's views, viewed hundreds of years later, are among the simplest and most commonplace arguments in modern society.

Everyone understands the simple principles of supervision and restriction, but no one will take the initiative to put shackles around their neck or hang a "Sword of Damocles" on their head.

We will never allow these ropes and swords to enter and fall into the hands of ordinary people.

How is it possible to let the people monitor and restrain them while they also have to constantly conduct self-reflection?

They are the ruling class of the Song Dynasty, the top of the Song Dynasty, and the people in charge of the Song Dynasty. How can they allow the peasants to bind them?

However, Emperor Shenzong, who was sitting on a high place, remained silent and just looked at Han with a deep gaze.

Han knew very well that he was like standing on the edge of a cliff, and if he took a wrong step he would be crushed to pieces.

However, he was able to figure out some of the thoughts of the new emperor, Emperor Shenzong, as can be seen in the famous "Yuanfeng Reform" in later generations.

The Yuanfeng Reform ostensibly enabled officials to stay in their positions and do their jobs, giving them fixed positions. At the same time, it eliminated some idle departments and officials, opened up the ranks for officials' promotion, and objectively reduced government spending and improved administrative efficiency.

The deeper meaning is that the power of the emperor in the early Song Dynasty was restricted by the prime minister, and the emperor's personal ambitions could not be effectively realized.

In view of this, in order to achieve his goal of absolute power, Emperor Shenzong implemented the Yuanfeng Reform, the purpose of which was to weaken the power of the prime minister and allow the emperor to directly manage the government.

Therefore, through reforms, centralization of power was strengthened and the power of the prime minister was weakened.

After the Yuanfeng Reform, centralization of power was increasingly strengthened, reaching its peak during the Qing Dynasty, when power was completely concentrated in the hands of the emperor alone. This was the most profound impact of the Yuanfeng Reform.

Han's move was not only to actively cater to the will of the superiors and restrain the expansion of power of the bureaucracy, but also to prevent Emperor Shenzong from suddenly taking action and forcing "reform".

Although the "Yuanfeng Reform" objectively improved the increasingly prominent phenomenon of redundant officials in the officialdom of the mid-Song Dynasty, it was conducive to the rational flow of officials.

But in the final analysis, this created a breeding ground for the monarchy of later countries, making the feudal forces so powerful that they became one of the three major mountains of modern revolution.

Mr. Han cannot take care of the Chinese land thousands of years from now, but at least he cannot allow the imperial power to be completely out of the control of the prime minister, and sink deeper and deeper into an irreversible situation.

This was a game between smart people. Han wanted to use the token of his allegiance by actively restraining "bureaucratic power" in exchange for the trust of Emperor Shenzong and at the same time dispel his idea of ​​"highly autocratic monarchy".

There was no question-and-answer session between Emperor Shenzong and Han Ming. At this point, they both knew clearly what the other was thinking.

The noise of the entire court seemed to have no effect on them at all. It was as if they were in another time and space, and the two of them just stared at each other.

"quiet--!"

Emperor Shenzong's voice was not loud, but it was full of power and no one dared to underestimate him. In an instant, the entire court fell silent again.

They stared at Emperor Shenzong with shining eyes, waiting for him to scold and reprimand the other party so that they could attack them collectively.

"Although Marquis Han's words are bold, they do make some sense."

"Emperor Taizong of Tang once said: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

“It is clear that for those who aim to rule and manage the entire world, self-reflection and reform are unstoppable.”

"Morality can only temporarily restrain people's hearts, but cannot effectively eradicate the selfishness and desires of rulers."

"If we want long-term peace and stability in the world, we must restrain everyone, whether they are officials or me!!!"

The first words Emperor Shenzong said made the officials standing below feel gloomy.

As the last sentence landed, everyone felt their ears ringing, their heads dizzy, and they were a little confused.

The official actually said "restrain yourself", isn't this actively endorsing Han?!

Even the emperor took the initiative to stand up and express his willingness to restrain his personal desires and abuse of power for the sake of the people of the world. What else can these people say?

Although the bureaucratic echelon did not become an appendage of imperial power like the "eunuchs", the power and personal interests in their hands were mostly based on the recognition of the country and the emperor.

It is simply a joke to say that these officials want to emulate the aristocratic families of the Sui and Tang dynasties, or even earlier, the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and despise imperial power.

These people are not the aristocratic families they once were. They are now called the literati and scholar-official class, and belong to the landlord class.

It emerged in the late Tang Dynasty and gradually replaced the aristocratic families to become the new ruling class in China.

This was partly due to one person and one thing: the person was Huang Chao, and the thing was the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms War, with the imperial examination being the most important.

This gave them more living space and upward channels. After the development of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, they had enough voice and were able to influence the court's politics, economy, military, culture, etc. to a certain extent.

However, if you want them to completely oppose the imperial power, the result may not be good, but no one will be saved, and it is hard to say whether they will suffer losses in interests or the rise of a new class to replace them.

Originally, the social resources they controlled were mainly knowledge, which is commonly known as the academic clique. Now, due to the promotion of the new policy, a large number of grassroots schools have emerged, and their right to speak has begun to be deprived.

If they were also subject to supervision and self-reflection, they would truly become slaves of imperial power.

Of course, Han is not a fool. How can he listen to the one-sided words of the ancient kings? Ultimately, power must be used to restrain power.

Looking at the Emperor Shenzong, whose expression had eased slightly, Han suddenly had an idea...