Chapter 5387 The Struggle Between Civil and Military Officials

Chapter 5387 The Struggle Between Civil and Military Officials
Liu Ji took out a seal from his bosom; it turned out to be the official seal of the Grand Secretary.

He pointed to the seal knob: "Do you see the tortoise and snake intertwined on this seal knob? The god Xuanwu, with a tortoise body and a snake neck, represents the intertwining of civil and military affairs. His Majesty has granted me retirement today, and tomorrow you will be the person in charge of this Hall of State Affairs. You have always had some complaints about me, and you must be wondering why I always stir up such a fierce struggle between civil and military officials in the court."

The wind and snow outside the window grew stronger, and the faint sounds of bells and chanting were almost inaudible amidst the howling wind.

Ma Zhou took a sip of yellow wine, pondered for a moment, and nodded, saying, "So why can't we have both civil and military officials working together and uniting as one? The military is in charge of external affairs, and the civil officials are in charge of internal affairs. Military generals expand the territory and sweep away the barbarians, while civil officials are honest and dedicated to governing the country. This is the rule of the Three Dynasties and the era of Great Harmony."

Liu Ji laughed and said, "Why is Prince Bin so naive? The Buddhist saying 'greed, anger, and ignorance' are the root of human misfortune. You can't take the rumors recorded in those history books as true. You must know that history is created by people and history books are written by people. As long as you are human, you have a position and you have selfishness. Even sages are the same."

Ma Zhou frowned: "History books cannot be entirely trusted, but they can't be entirely untrustworthy either, can they?"

When people from later dynasties compile the history of previous dynasties, in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of their rule, they inevitably insert their own agendas, either slandering the chaotic governance of the previous dynasty or whitewashing the peace and prosperity of their own.

But surely not all history books are made up, right?

Liu Ji smiled and shook his head, filled his wine glass and took a sip. The mellowness of the rice wine, the spiciness of the ginger, and the sweetness of the longan... blended into a unique fragrance in his mouth.

Instead of answering, he asked, "Can we call today's world a golden age?"

Ma Zhou stated decisively: "Of course! No ancient golden age has ever been as prosperous as today."

"Could Prince Bin imagine how future historical records will describe this prosperous era?"

Before Ma Zhou could answer, he continued, “The government is efficient and the people are harmonious, the resources are plentiful and the people are prosperous, the rites and music are flourishing, people live in peace and contentment, and all foreign tribes submit to us. It is no less than the reigns of Cheng Kang and Wen Jing, and far surpasses the reigns of Zhao Xuan and Guang Wu… That is roughly it.”

Ma Zhou nodded.

The current golden age far surpasses that of the reigns of Emperors Chengkang, Wenjing, Zhaoxuan, and Guangwu, and even the Kaihuang era is inferior to it in many ways.

What's wrong with that?

Liu Ji showed not a trace of pride or excitement about the prosperous era he had created during his tenure as prime minister; instead, his brows were filled with gloom.

"But even in such a prosperous era, is it truly a time of peace and tranquility? Is it a time of plenty with no one starving? Is it a time when the young are cared for and the old are supported?"

Ma Zhou remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Of course not."

He understood Liu Ji's meaning: with so many "prosperous times," how could they not even achieve "everyone having enough to eat"? What was the point of talking about "universal harmony"?
Throughout history, there has never been a dynasty where everyone could have enough to eat!
Liu Ji took another sip of wine, and even though the rice wine was mellow, his face turned red and he felt the effects of the alcohol.

"When you are prime minister, you must look down on the empire and observe it carefully. Your thoughts and actions must be based on the people of the world. If even your own people cannot have enough to eat and wear, what use are all your great achievements and glorious military exploits?"

He seemed slightly drunk, his expression filled with reminiscence: "In the early years of the Zhenguan era, I was an Imperial Censor. I often saw the late emperor and the prime ministers busy with state affairs until late at night... One day, Duke Wei knocked on the palace gate at night to offer his strategy for pacifying the Turks. The two prime ministers, Fang and Du, put on their robes and lit candles to argue with him until dawn—not about whether or not to fight, but about whether to establish prefectures and counties or tributary states after the conquest. The general only had the Langjuxu Mountain in his eyes, but the prime minister had to think about the grain transport, taxes, and the registration of border residents ten years later."

Ma Zhou held the wine pot and poured wine for him.

Snowflakes were swept up by the wind and hit the windowpane, soft and delicate.

Liu Ji continued, “The ultimate principle of the universe lies in balance; this applies to all things, including the imperial court. Do you know why the Grand Protector of Anxi was unable to mobilize grain supplies, and why the Commissioner of the Hedong Circuit was unable to hold the military seal? It wasn’t a lack of trust, but rather the need to draw a galaxy between the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Warriors, when united, can burn away the dust of the barbarians; scholars, when gathered, can nourish the prefectures and counties. But if water and fire are contained in the same vessel—that would be the chaos of the Three Kingdoms period, or the flames of war at the end of the Han Dynasty.”

Civil and military affairs should complement each other, yet also be mutually exclusive.

Liu Ji downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, his eyes slightly unfocused: "My mistake was that I was too selfish, not in the struggle between civil and military officials."

“You must remember that His Majesty needs someone to say what he cannot say. When the Anxi army requests an additional 100,000 bolts of silk, we civil officials must kneel and remonstrate that ‘the people’s livelihood is in ruins’; when the border tribes rebel, the generals should hold up their military tallies in the court and say ‘tolerance will surely lead to great trouble’... The more earnestly you and I contend, the more the imperial judgment will demonstrate its divine might—but even in the face of the supreme imperial power, we cannot bow down and be subservient to it; we must leave some room for maneuver.”

He stood up, pushed the prime minister's seal in front of Ma Zhou, and leaned down to say, "The inkstone of the Council of State must be ground with sand from the frontier, and the maps of the Ministry of War must be dipped in ink from the south. The real calamity is never the struggle between civil and military officials, but the day when generals begin to learn to write elegant parallel prose and prime ministers become obsessed with discussing battle formations—at that time, the marrow of the Tang Dynasty will be hollowed out."

After saying that, he straightened up, pushed open the door, and walked into the swirling snow.

Ma Zhou didn't move, his gaze fixed on the prime minister's seal before him, pondering Liu Ji's words, his hands unconsciously pouring and drinking wine...

By the time they finished the pot of yellow wine, it was already dark outside.

The wind has stopped, but the snow has not yet stopped.

Before I knew it, the temple bells that were ringing for evening prayers had fallen silent.

All was silent, and snowflakes fell softly.

The next morning, Liu Ji sent a memorial to the palace. Before the emperor could reply, he took his family, who were already prepared for the journey, loaded valuables onto a carriage, left Chunming Gate, and traveled lightly. After a short stop at the pavilion, he crossed Ba Bridge and headed south along the Shangyu Road, returning to his hometown in Jingzhou.

*****
Inside the imperial study, Li Chengqian was taken aback as he watched Ma Zhou place the seal of the prime minister before him.

what is this?
The emperor, a high-ranking prime minister, retired without even waiting for the emperor to "decline and offer his position three times." After submitting a memorial, he and his family returned to their hometown within a few years. He even privately handed over the prime minister's seal to the new prime minister, making the emperor appear "harsh and ungrateful."

It is clearly a silent protest!
But he couldn't vent his anger on Ma Zhou, so he asked in a deep voice, "What did you talk about in private when you met yesterday?"

Ma Zhou was not surprised that His Majesty knew about his private meeting with Liu Ji.

Since Li Jingye took office as the commander of the "Hundred Cavalry Division", the "Hundred Cavalry Division" has been increasingly strict in its surveillance of officials in the court, even to the point of being unscrupulous. This is completely different from the mild style of Li Junxian's time, which has caused quite a bit of criticism from both the court and the public.

Ma Zhou considered for a moment and said, "It's nothing much. He just reminded me to be diligent in my duties, fair and honest, and also reminded me that my position and perspective should be different, and that I should look at issues from the perspective of assisting Your Majesty."

Regarding Liu Ji's remarks on the "civil and military struggle," he felt it was best not to elaborate. After all, once the influence of the "civil and military struggle" spilled out, it would inevitably affect the majesty of the imperial power. The civil and military struggle could balance the situation and make the imperial power more prominent, but it could also be seen as the decline of the imperial power. Otherwise, why would such a means be needed to balance the court?

During the Zhenguan era, there was never any talk of a "conflict between civil and military officials"...

"Hmm, those words are not bad."

Li Chengqian's anger subsided somewhat. Although he was quite dissatisfied with Liu Ji's unauthorized departure from the capital, he was not entirely without duty as he had instructed his successor to be "loyal to the emperor and patriotic" before leaving.

Moreover, Liu Ji was somewhat guilty about having to retire now that he was forced to do so...

Enough of that. We were once ruler and subject; let's part ways amicably.

The lingering desire for revenge in my heart vanished...

"Originally, we planned to formally hand over the reins after the New Year. Now that Minister Liu has returned to his hometown and handed over the official seal to you, then Minister Liu should take up his post and take over the affairs of the Secretariat this morning. In addition, you should also work with Minister Pei Huaijie and Minister Ren Ya to make the handover of the Chancellery and the Capital Prefecture respectively."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will contact Pei Huaijie and Ren Yaxiang immediately."

"Then you should go and do it now, my dear minister. There are many things to do before the New Year, so be careful not to make any mistakes."

"Here."

Ma Zhou stood up, put away his official seal, bowed again, and turned to leave.

Li Chengqian sat there, took a sip of tea, clicked his tongue, and looked somewhat depressed.

He found it difficult to be satisfied with the selection of the Grand Secretary.

Admittedly, Ma Zhou was superior to Liu Ji in terms of ability, reputation, and prestige, and he was also more principled and had a well-known respect for imperial power. However, Ma Zhou's weakness was that he was too principled.

In Ma Zhou's eyes, there is only "right and wrong," and absolutely no "compromise." To be as easy to communicate with as Liu Ji is as difficult as climbing to heaven...

But what can be done now?

The fact that Xu Jingzong, whom he favored, was not completely stripped of his power and banished from the capital was already a concession from the Crown Prince's side...

……

The official residence of the Secretariat was located inside the Gongli Gate, west of the Hongwen Hall. A row of pine trees was planted along the west wall of the Hongwen Hall, standing green and proud amidst the wind and snow.

Inside the main hall, all the officials of the Ministry of Personnel were gathered together. Ma Zhou sat in the main seat and meticulously handed over the reins to Pei Huaijie beside him. He had no need for his subordinates to remind or supplement him on any matters. He was well-prepared for everything and could explain even the smallest details in detail.

Many officials were extremely respectful.

Although it's inevitable that "people fade away after leaving office," Ma Zhou's promotion is a significant one, leaping from one of the prime ministers to the top prime minister... After all, "promoting the good and suppressing the bad" is also part of the officialdom's culture.

The handover of government affairs did not come to an end until noon.

Ma Zhou took a sip of tea, let out a sigh of relief, and nodded to Pei Huai: "That's the general outline of government affairs. Minister Pei should put in a lot of effort and get things under control as soon as possible. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. I'll answer everything I know without reservation."

Pei Huaijie was very respectful: "I have suddenly been appointed as the Attendant-in-Ordinary, and I am filled with trepidation and trepidation. I would be grateful if the Grand Secretary would be so kind as to give me some guidance on how to conduct myself."

Although he had already assumed great power in the Secretariat, he had no allies in the court and did not want to be a "lone minister".

Ma Zhou put down his teacup, his face cold: "If you don't know how to carry out the duties of a Chamberlain, why hold this position? I only have one piece of advice: do not betray His Majesty's trust, and even more so, do not betray the livelihood of the people. That's all I have to say. Take care of yourself."

Pei Huaijie blushed and felt a surge of resentment.