After Wu Zetianwu became emperor, in order to control corrupt officials, she set up a report box to encourage whistle-blowing. All persons who report the guilt of a crime and negligent official shall be appointed as soon as it is verified; Even if the report is not true, the whistleblower is not liable. For a long time, di Renjie, Wei Yuanzhong, and others have been reused, and the ranks of officials have been vigorously reorganized.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination system began to replace the Jiupin Zhongzheng system and became the main way for scholars to enter the shi. After Wu Zetian came to power, while implementing the examination system, he also opened up other ways to elect officials, such as self-promotion, reporting of evil officials, examination of officials, examination of the temple, and opening of martial arts. This practice of multi-channel selection of officials and talents had a double impact on the rule of officials at that time: on the positive side, it created better external conditions for all kinds of talents to stand out; On the negative side, it makes the ranks of officials mixed and muddy. Wu Zetian also seemed to have some understanding of this, so while opening up the channels for selecting officials, he also adopted various measures to rectify the ranks of officials. Specifically, Wu Zetian's rectification of the ranks of officials mainly has the following aspects:
First, set up a copper box (report box) to encourage whistle-blowing. All persons who report the guilt of a crime and negligent official shall be appointed as soon as it is verified; Even if the report is not true, the whistleblower is not liable. "So the whistleblowers from all sides swarmed, and everyone held their breath." In such a harsh political environment, except for a very small number of unscrupulous officials and internal favorites, officials had no choice but to restrain their greed and pervert the law.
Second, separate platforms should be set up to strengthen supervision over officials. In the early Tang Dynasty, the Sui system was followed, and the highest supervision department of the imperial court was the Yushitai, which was responsible for inspecting the compliance of officials at all levels below the prime minister and reporting the impeachment of officials who violated the law and discipline. Wu Zetian changed the Imperial History Terrace into a Suzheng Platform, not only adding supervision officials, but also strengthening their supervision functions. As soon as Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he changed the original Yushitai to the Left SuZhengtai ( Zuosu Zhengtai ) , which was dedicated to picketing the hundred officials and military brigades of the central government , and added another Right Suzhengtai , which was specifically responsible for the inspection of officials in the Gyeonggi region and local prefectures and counties , and increased the number of supervision officials from the previous eighteen to forty. [page]
Immediately, the pattern of "the left is based on the Cha Imperial Court, and the right is Cheng County", so that the left and right sides are superimposed to correct each other, and the left Taiwan officials are also chazhou county. At the same time, in order to ensure that the operation of supervision had a legal basis, Wu Zetian ordered Wei Fangqian, a servant of the Punishment Department of Shangshu Province, to draft the "Forty-Eight Articles on Customs and Honest Inspections" specifically for the examination of local officials. Because a considerable number of the supervision officials in Wu Zetian's time were cool officials and were given the power to kill and seize, local officials were afraid of them like tigers, so there were very few and few people who dared to test the law by example and engage in various corrupt acts. Especially in the late Wu Zetian period, the local officials who heard about the arrival of the emissaries of the imperial court and committed suicide are endlessly written, which shows how strong the deterrent power of this supervision system is!
Third, attach importance to the appointment of senior administrative officials. Wu Zetian attached great importance to the selection and appointment of senior administrative officials, especially prime ministers. The prime minister is the highest administrative officer under one man and above ten thousand people, and he has a lot of reason, so whether he wins people or not has a greater stake in feudal rule. Although Wu Zetian also used his nephews Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi and other close associates as prime ministers, he mainly used their special relationship with himself to monitor other courtiers, and the administrative power was generally in the hands of other prime ministers. The chancellors of the Wu Zetian period, such as Di Renjie and Wei Yuanzhong, held real power in the dynasty for a long time. Among the prime ministers of the past, Di Renjie and Wei Yuanzhong were all famous. It is precisely for this reason that not only can the extravagance in the palace not be transmitted to the entire ranks of officials through the intermediaries of high-ranking officials, but also through their leading role, the entire bureaucratic contingent can form a good atmosphere of self-denial and diligence in government affairs.
Fourth, we should vigorously rectify the corrupt phenomena that arise within the ranks of officials. During the Wu Zetian period, there was also a phenomenon of redundancy in the ranks of officials, but Wu Zetian also used various means to eliminate officials, and even showed no mercy to incompetent people and killed them. Needless to say, this purges were carried out mainly within the political context, but they also had a considerable impact on the cleansing of the ranks of officials. [page]
As we all know, the problem of cool officials is a compelling political phenomenon in the Era of Wu Zetian. In the past, most researchers only saw wu Zetian's trust in cool officials reuse one side, but not much research on his unavoidable side. Wu Zetian's dictatorship at the beginning, and then ascending the throne as empress, changing the name of the country to Zhou, which was an act of usurpation and a typical palace coup d'état for Li Tangzong and his former subjects, which was bound to meet with strong opposition. In order to consolidate his dominance, Wu Zetian could only resort to cruel means to deal with those who resisted or tried to rebel against him. For armed rebels, she can suppress them by military means; For other political opponents, she can only use cool officials to subdue. It is undeniable that the Cool Officials were the worst quality officials at that time, among which the most famous rulai Junchen, Hou Sizhi, Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, and Wang Hongyi all climbed to high positions by informing. These people are cruel and bloodthirsty. In the early days of his reign, Wu Zetian often turned a blind eye to their illegal behavior in order to co-opt these people, but as his dominance became more and more consolidated, the status of cool officials gradually declined, and he was even severely punished.
It was precisely because Wu Zetian created such a political environment that was relatively clear on the whole, coupled with her emphasis on and protection of talents and giving full play to the role of the supervision department, that there was a situation in which "the wise and wise people at that time also competed for use" as stated in the "Zizhi Tongjian". During her reign, officials performed their duties and did not have overall corruption, which enabled the people of the world to live and work in peace and contentment, the country was free from internal and external troubles, and the society was relatively stable. The attainment of this situation cannot but be recognized as related to Wu Zetian's rectification of the rule of officials. Of course, there were many drawbacks in the officialdom of the Wu Zetian period, the most important of which were two aspects: First, she herself was profligate and lived a luxurious life, such as the Great Ming Hall, the Buddhist Temple and the "Tianshu", the indiscriminate sealing of the same surname king, and the extensive internal favor, which had a certain impact on the ranks of officials; The second is to reuse cool officials and indiscriminately kill innocents, resulting in many unjust prisons. This is also undeniable.