"Three dukes and nine ministers?"
When Liu Che heard this name, he was slightly stunned.
"The Book of Rites":"Xia Hou's family had 100 officials. The emperor had three dukes, nine ministers, 27 great officers, and 81 scholars.”
In other words, as early as the Xia Dynasty, there were already three dukes and nine ministers.
However, the Western Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system. The person who assisted the emperor in governing the country was mainly the prime minister. There was also the highest military officer, the marshal, and the imperial censor who assisted the prime minister in governing the country, but they were not often set up.
Therefore, the Qin Dynasty did not have the system of three dukes and nine ministers. In the early Western Han Dynasty, there were only three dukes and no names of nine ministers.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the influence of Confucianism, people regarded high officials with a rank of two thousand stones as the ancient Jiuqing.
Therefore, in this era, Xu Yan was the first person to propose that the political system of the Western Han Dynasty belonged to the "three dukes and nine ministers".
Liu Che also thought that the system of "three dukes and nine ministers" mentioned by Xu Yan was very suitable for the current situation of the Western Han Dynasty court. He nodded and said,"A very apt way of putting it."
"Then what does Teacher Xu think of the system of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers? Is there anything that needs to be improved?"”
The young Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had just ascended to the throne and wanted to reform the old and reform the new.
Originally, he thought that it was Elder Huang's studies that hindered him.
Now, after listening to Xu Yan's narration, he realized that he was very wrong.
What he wanted to change wasn't Huang Lao's way of governing the country, but the current system of the Han Dynasty.
When Xu Yan heard this question, he thought about it for a moment and then asked,""Your Majesty, do you want to hear the truth or lies?”
"So what if it's the truth?”
"If it's a lie, then although the Great Han's Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system is flawed, it has been perfected through the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring, Autumn, and Pre-Qin dynasties. It is already a very mature system of governing the country.”
Xu Yan said leisurely, making an evaluation of the current system of three dukes and nine ministers in the Western Han Dynasty.
Liu Che frowned when he heard this. He seemed to have heard something from Xu Yan's evaluation. Then, he frowned and asked,"What about the truth?"
"The truth is that the current system of the three dukes and nine ministers of the Great Han Dynasty is very crude, like an old house on the flat ground.
Not only did it not have a solid foundation to bear its weight, even the pillars and beams of the house were full of worms. The entire house looked beautiful, but in fact, it could not withstand any wind and rain. Once it encountered a storm or a flash flood, it would collapse.”
Xu Yan said lightly, ignoring Liu Che's pale face as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
"Isn't Teacher Xu exaggerating things too much?”
"Although our Han Dynasty has some problems, after a hundred years of recuperation, our national strength has long been incomparable.”
"A few days ago, I even reported to the Prime Minister that our Great Han Dynasty is now peaceful and the national treasury is full. The grain in Ao Cang is piled up like a mountain, layer by layer. If we don't eat the lowest layer, it will go moldy.
The money that Kulit had collected over the years was also piled up in the warehouse. Before the old ones were used up, the new ones had already been piled up. After a long time, the rope used to string the money had already become moldy, and the copper coins were scattered all over the ground.
In addition, our Great Han Imperial Court has an army of 600,000 soldiers, and we have many civil officials and generals. Our national strength is far more prosperous than ever before, so why does Teacher Xu say that we are in imminent danger and are on the verge of subjugation?”
Liu Che said loudly, his voice filled with displeasure. It was obvious that he didn't believe Xu Yan's words.
Facing Liu Che's doubt.
Xu Yan did not get angry. Instead, he calmly replied,""Your Majesty, first of all, you are asking about the current system of the three dukes and nine ministers in the Great Han Dynasty, not about the current strength of the Great Han Dynasty.”
"Secondly, His Majesty said that the money and grain in the Great Han Dynasty's treasury are piled up like mountains and are completely inexhaustible. Or did he find someone to calculate if it was enough to use troops against the Xiongnu? How many times will it be enough for the army to go out?"
"Lastly, Your Majesty has lived in the palace for a long time. Have you ever personally visited the people at the bottom and seen how their lives are?”
Xu Yan admitted that the Western Han Dynasty was at its most prosperous time. After all, since Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the Western Han Dynasty had implemented a policy of recuperation. Six generations had passed, and more than a hundred years had passed. If they could not accumulate some money, they would have been destroyed long ago.
However, if you were to say how rich the Han Dynasty was at this time, how could money and grain pile up like mountains and not be used up?
That would be a joke.
The so-called full warehouse was only Ao Cang's warehouse. If they were to go to other places, who knows how many people would starve to death.
Just think about it. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he had only fought three wars against the Xiongnu, but it had already caused widespread resentment among the people. Half of the people in the dynasty had lost their homes. They had turned from good people with fields and land into slaves and refugees of illegal households.
In the end, if the situation was serious, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would have to issue an edict to punish himself.
From this, you can know how much of an exaggeration Liu Che's words of "the country is prosperous and the people are at peace" and "the treasury is full" were.
Of course, Xu Yan was not willing to argue with Liu Che about how much money and grain the Western Han Dynasty had and whether it was really prosperous and peaceful.
What he wanted to talk to Liu Che about was the influence of the Great Han Dynasty's Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system and the Hundred Schools of Thought.
To put it bluntly.
Only when Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, suppressed all the theories of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy could his theory of the study of things truly rise and become the mainstream theory of the Great Han Dynasty. Then, he gradually built the Xu family of Yan into a sage family.
Therefore, he paused and continued,"In addition, the reason why I compared the system of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to a dilapidated house is because the system of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers has never been improved since the founding of the Great Han.
It was like a house. When it was just built, it might be extremely sturdy and bright.
However, if this house had not been cleaned or repaired for more than a hundred years, how would it compare to a newly built house? Would there be worms in the pillars?”
Liu Che couldn't help but fall silent when he heard this.
Xu Yan's words made him unable to refute.
A house that was over a hundred years old could not be compared to a newly built palace even if it had been cleaned and repaired, let alone without any cleaning and repairs. The pillars and pillars would also be full of worms.
Furthermore, the grain and money in Ao Cang were piled up like a mountain. He was only following Prime Minister Dou Ying's words and not seeing it with his own eyes.
Therefore, he could not guarantee that Dou Ying was not lying.
And how was the life of the lower class of the Han Dynasty?
This question really stumped him. Because he had never paid attention to it, he did not know.
From Xu Yan's words, Liu Che instinctively sensed that the Han Dynasty, which was prosperous and powerful in his eyes, was not as stable as he had imagined.
However, Xu Yan seemed to have some misgivings and did not dare to tell him the truth.
Xu Yan saw that Liu Che was deep in thought and automatically avoided this topic.
Because some things could only be understood by Liu Che himself, just like how you could never wake up a person who was pretending to be asleep.
If Liu Che himself was unwilling to admit that there was a problem with the Great Han Dynasty and was unwilling to change the current system of the three dukes and nine ministers, even if Xu Yan's words were extravagant, it would be useless. Instead, it would bring disaster to himself.
Moreover, Xu Yan was not the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, the three dukes and nine ministers. He would only argue with Liu Che about these things in front of him.
With this time, it would be better to think about how to better deceive…No, it should be better to persuade Liu Che to " give up on the Hundred Schools of Thought and only pursue things."
When Xu Yan thought of this, he changed the topic and said in a deep voice,""In truth, the greatest problem with the Great Han isn't the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system, but the Hundred Schools of Thought.”
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