The next day, a routine pilgrimage was held in the palace, and Jingwen also had to participate. This pilgrimage is not a big visit, as long as the third-rank officials and above are adopted. And Jingwen belongs to the imperial history of the palace, but he and several other officials have to come to these routine visits every day, responsible for various etiquette, and are considered close ministers of the emperor.

The pilgrimage was soon over, and the dignitaries had left. And Jingwen and several of the officials in charge of etiquette were also ready to leave and return to their yamen to work. And conventionally, Jingwen also has to patrol the streets, but usually Jingwen walks around, and he doesn't really patrol the streets seriously.

"Keming has excellent ability and can be a phase, but it's not the right time!" Li Shimin suddenly let out a sigh of emotion, which happened to be heard by the people next to him.

Keming is Du Ruhui's expression, Li Shimin is actually helpless for Du Ruhui, thinking that Du Ruhui is not the prime minister. And after Jingwen listened, he knew that his opportunity had come.

"Your Majesty, in fact, it is not difficult to want Du Shangshu to be the prime minister!" Jingwen said.

"Oh?"

Li Shimin looked back and saw that it was Jingwen. Originally, Li Shimin was just emotional, but someone really dared to respond. Li Shimin only attaches importance to Jingwen's money, and he still has some doubts about Jingwen's ability. He became the imperial servant of this palace, and he just let Li Shimin get rid of those old ministers in the Wude years, and he didn't really attach too much importance to this position. But now Jingwen actually said that it was very easy to make Du Ruhui the prime minister, which made Li Shimin a little surprised. Li Shimin dreamed that Du Ruhui would be the prime minister, and now that Jingwen said so, it would be better to listen to it.

"Go down!" Li Shimin said to the person next to him, obviously not wanting others to know about this issue.

Li Shimin asked Jingwen: "Do you have any way to let Du Ruhui Shangshu be the prime minister?" ”

"Your Majesty, at present, it is a little difficult to make Du Ruhui Shangshu the prime minister. Because the position of the prime minister is four, the position is not enough. Since there are not enough prime ministers, why can't we increase the number of prime ministers? Jingwen said.

"Nonsense, the prime minister is the chief assistant of a country, where can he increase the number of places casually?" Li Shimin said unhappily.

But Jingwen asked very calmly: "Your Majesty, how does my prime minister of the Tang Dynasty embody his power?" ”

"The prime minister of my Tang Dynasty is divided into Zhongshu Province and is responsible for drafting edicts. The Menxia Province is responsible for deliberation, and the Shangshu Province is responsible for implementation. However, this is only their duty, and what really reflects the power of the prime minister is that they are qualified to discuss politics in the government hall. Li Shimin said.

In fact, many people in the Tang Dynasty paid attention to the three provinces and six departments, but in fact, there was another place that surpassed the three provinces and six departments, and that was the political affairs hall. The government hall is not really an institution, but a room, a room to discuss things. But this room called the political hall is not ordinary, only the emperor and the prime minister can enter, at most a few small officials are responsible for some writing work, but those small officials cannot become the protagonists.

The government hall is the place where the emperor and the prime minister discuss important national affairs, and whatever decisions the state makes, they all appear from here. In the political hall, after the emperor and the minister reached an agreement, they handed it over to Shangshu Province to draft an edict, and the Menxia Province deliberated, and then Shangshu Province implemented it. In fact, as long as there is an agreement in the government hall, the ministry will not object.

Only those who are qualified to enter the government hall can be called the prime minister. And in the imperial court, the people who can enter the political hall are only the Zhongshu Order of Zhongshu Province, the servants of Menxia Province, and the left and right servants of Shangshu Province. The left and right servants were not able to enter the political hall, but because Shang Shuling was once held by Li Shimin, the later ministers could not serve as Shang Shuling, so the left and right servants were able to become prime ministers.

In fact, this political hall has evolved over hundreds of years, and its significance is the separation of powers. The decision-making power of the prime minister was divided into several parts, and the original leadership system was changed into the current committee system. This is the reason why the imperial power is increasing, resulting in the power of the courtiers becoming smaller and smaller.

"Your Majesty, since the power of the prime minister is reflected in the qualification to discuss politics in the government hall, not in the office they hold, then this is easy to do. We can set up the position of deputy prime minister, and then let them be qualified to enter the government hall to deliberate, but the official position is still the same as before, but with one more right to deliberate. In this way, isn't the number of prime ministers increased? Jingwen said.

Li Shimin's eyes lit up, this method is very good. Because of the many advantages of this method, he could decentralize the power of the prime minister again and ensure the position of the emperor. Moreover, this is much more convenient for the emperor to select and employ people in the future. If the emperor has any cronies who are relatively young and unqualified to be prime ministers, then he can be appointed to have the qualifications to enter the political hall to discuss politics, and then transfer to a position of practical significance when he has the opportunity in the future, such as Shang Shu Servant.

Moreover, this method can also place those retired ministers, so that they can perfectly form an excess. Those who are ready to retire can be removed from the post of Shangshu and then serve as the so-called deputy prime minister, which can form a smooth transfer of power with the later prime minister, which is very helpful for the stability of the country.

Therefore, this deputy prime minister can not only increase the power of the monarch, but also give him another choice in the selection and appointment of people. To put it mildly, this position was clearly created to deepen the power of the monarch, and he further dispersed the power of the prime minister, dividing the power of the prime minister, which had been divided into four again, into more shares. If the prime minister's power is small, won't the emperor be stable?

"Jingwen boy, you are still a little crooked!" Li Shimin praised.

Jing Wen complained in his heart: "Is this called 'crooked talent'?" This is increasing your power, but it's just a crooked evaluation? ”

"What can this deputy prime minister be called?" Li Shimin asked suddenly.

Jingwen immediately replied: "Your Majesty, you can call it 'participating in political affairs'." ”

The so-called participation in political affairs, this word is what Jing Wen saw from later novels, and this status is equivalent to the position of deputy prime minister. And Jingwen didn't know at all, because of his behavior, the system of deputy prime ministers who participated in political affairs appeared more than ten years earlier, which can be regarded as changing history again.