The position of prime minister has a long history in China, he was the supreme administrator in ancient times, the real "one person is above ten thousand people". The joint name of the word Zai was first found in the "Han Feizi Xianxue", which shows that it has a long history and is almost accompanied by the emperor. The ancient ritual system, "three princes sit and discuss the Tao". That is to say, the emperor summoned the civil and military officials to discuss, and the three dukes (referring to Sima And Situ, and Sikong) had to have seats and give tea; the prime minister usually sat calmly and talked calmly, and did not lose dignity and dignity in front of the emperor. It can be seen that the status of the "Three Dukes" at that time was very high.
The chancellor system evolved into a three-province system in the Tang Dynasty. In the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui created a three-province, six-part system. In the Tang Dynasty, this system was further developed and improved. In the Tang Dynasty, the duties of the prime minister were assumed by the three provinces, and the governors of the three provinces were the prime ministers, each of whom performed the statutory powers. The "three provinces" refer to Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, and Shangshu Province. The division of labor among the three provinces is clear, with Zhongshu Province responsible for decision-making, Menxia Province responsible for deliberation, and Shangshu Province responsible for implementation.
This system is developed and improved on the basis of comprehensively drawing on the lessons learned from the previous generation. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, when Tang Taizong's ministers summarized the gains and losses of the previous generation of governance, they had a dialogue with Zhang Xuansu, which was included in the Zizhi Tongjian, and the original text was as follows:
Shang (Emperor Taizong of Tang) heard that Zhang Xuansu, who had joined the army in Jingzhou, summoned him and asked him about the political path.
(Zhang Xuansu) said to him: "The Sui lord is good at self-discipline and does not allow the group of subjects; the group of subjects is afraid, only know that they are only obedient, and they dare not violate it." With the wisdom of one person to decide the affairs of the world, so that there is half of the loss, there are many perverse, and there are many hypocrites, and there is no need to die! His Majesty can choose the people and divide the tasks, and the high arch Mu Qing and examine their success or failure to punish them, why worry about it? Moreover, the subjects looked at the end of the Sui Dynasty and left the chaos, and there were only more than a dozen people who wanted to compete for the world, and the rest were all baoxiang party and all wives, waiting for the ears of the way to return. It is also rare to know that the people are in trouble, but the Lord of man cannot rest on his ears. "
He was promoted to the rank of Imperial Attendant.
In the first half of this passage, the focus of the first half is on "dividing responsibilities into things" and "judging their success or failure to punish them", which is actually the same as the current "performing their duties and performance appraisals". It is precisely under the impetus of this concept that the "three provinces and six parts system" of the Tang Dynasty is more complete and more scientific than that of the Sui Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, the issuance and implementation of a policy or order was carried out in strict accordance with this procedure:
First of all, the Zhongshu Province made a decision to draft the edict, and after the emperor approved the drawing edict, it was sent to Menxia Province for deliberation; after the review and consent of Menxia Province, the edict could take effect; if Menxia Province opposed this edict, it would refute the original edict and submit it to Zhongshu Province for redrafting. Each edict or order is drafted by Zhongshu Province, and must be examined and approved by Menxia Province before it can be sent to Shangshu Province for implementation.
It can be seen from this that the so-called "Holy Will" (edict) does not represent the personal will of the emperor, but is the embodiment of the collective wisdom of the prime minister. In this way, the prime minister has the power to make decisions and execute, and the emperor only exercises the power of decision or veto.
This system was well upheld in the Tang Dynasty. Although there are also monarchs who circumvent the procedure and give orders, this is only a special case, not a rule. Emperor Zhongzong of Tang had been enfeoffed with an official post without going through the two provinces under the Zhongshu Gate, and he felt weak in his heart, and did not dare to seal it according to the conventional format, but instead used a diagonal seal; the character "敕" in the book did not dare to use a Zhu pen, but an ink pen. It can be seen that Tang Zhongzong was still in awe or jealousy.
It can be seen from this that the Tang Dynasty was not only culturally vigorous, but also very advanced in system construction, and the highest decision-making of the imperial court was more democratic and more scientific.