When it comes to the most harmonious, stable and intimate relationship between monarch and minister in Chinese history, you will definitely think of the two pairs of monarchs and ministers, Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, especially Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, who can be called monarchs and ministers. The main reason for the model of relationship comes from a passage Liu Bei said when he asked Zhuge Liang before his death:
If you are ten times more talented than Cao Pi, you will be able to secure the country and finalize great events. If the heir can assist him, he will assist him; if he is not talented, you can take care of him yourself.
Translation: Your talents are ten times that of Cao Pi. You will definitely be able to stabilize the country and achieve great things. If my son can help, please try your best to help. If he has no talents, you can decide for yourself how to choose (replace). .
Judging from the deeds of Liu Bei's life, his character traits are generosity, kindness, respect for the virtuous, and never giving up. Apart from Liu Bei's death under Zhuge Liang's persuasion, Liu Bei may threaten the stability of the regime. Except for his adopted son Liu Feng, he never killed a minister in his life. Even those who betrayed him, such as Mi Fang, Huang Quan, Meng Da, etc., still treated their families well. Liu Bei had no reason to act sly and deliberately in the care of an orphan before his death. Testing Zhuge Liang and using conspiracy theories to speculate on Liu Bei's intention of entrusting an orphan is a subjective conjecture.
Liu Bei
Looking at the entire feudal society of China, the candidates chosen by the monarchs were selected after many aspects of investigation. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty entrusted the orphans to Huo Guang, Jin Rixi, Shangguan Jie and Sang Hongyang, as early as four years before the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave Huo Guang the "Picture of the Princes of the Zhou Gong Fu Cheng Dynasty" to confirm that Huo Guang was the candidate for the future Tuogu, which had been selected four years ago. , and after many aspects of investigation.
In the same way, Zhuge Liang was the candidate Liu Bei had planned for a long time, and there was no reason to test it again. So did Liu Bei deliberately tell Zhuge Liang to replace him before he died, forcing Zhuge Liang to show his loyalty?
Of course not, there is no need. Loyal people do not need to express their loyalty. Even if unloyal people express their loyalty, they will still usurp the throne without hesitation when it is time to usurp it, such as Sima Yi and Wei Ming Emperor Cao Ruilin. Before his death, he was entrusted to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi. Cao Rui was optimistic about Sima Yi. Before his death, he waited patiently for Sima Yi to come back and settled his affairs before he died. At that time, Sima Yi said something to Cao Rui:
Your Majesty, don’t you see the late emperor’s subordinates? Your Majesty?
The implication of Sima Yi's words is: Your father Cao Pi once asked me to help you, now you can go without worries. But as it turned out, Sima Yi didn't hesitate when it came time to usurp the throne.
Liu Bei trusted Zhuge Liang
Judging from the final results of Liu Bei trusting Zhuge Liang and Cao Rui trusting Sima Yi, character and morality are the criteria that determine whether the person who trusted Zhuge Liang is correct. Historically Judging from the situation, this is also the case. For example, the aforementioned Han Emperor Liu Chetuo was left alone by Huo Guang, Jin Rixi, Shangguan Jie, and Sang Hongyang. Even though Shangguan Jie and Sang Hongyang later joined forces with Yan King Liu Dan to abolish Huo Guang and Han During the reign of Emperor Zhao, Huo Guang was still a staunch force in putting down the rebellion and upholding Emperor Wu's legacy. Even after Huo Guang took over the power, he was still a loyal minister who firmly maintained the rule of the Han Dynasty.
From the perspective of a feudal emperor, the ministers he chose must be both capable and loyal. Loyalty ranks before ability and is an important factor in measuring candidates. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Therefore, the purpose of "abandoning hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism" is for the purpose of maintaining feudal rule. Confucianism talks about: three cardinal principles and five constant principles.
The so-called "Three Cardinal Guidelines" are that the king guides the ministers, the father guides the son, and the husband guides the wife. It means that the ministers absolutely obey the monarch, the son absolutely obeys the father, and the wife absolutely obeys the husband. The so-called "Five Constants" are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. They are moral constraints and a supplement to the Three Cardinal Guidelines. The Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Virtues are all to maintain the rule of the feudal kings. This is the so-called Confucian governance, so In the selection of talents in the Han Dynasty, morality was the first criterion. Those with talent but no morality were restricted from use. Those with morality but no talent were cultivated and used. Those with morality and talent were promoted and used. Those with no morals and no talent were promoted. Definitely won't use it.
Emperor Wei Ming Tuogu Sima Yi
This set of talent selection standards is also used for the selection of ministers Tuogu, but not every monarch can make the right choice, so Liu Bei chose Zhuge Liang, while Cao Rui chose Sima Yi. Two completely different choices brought completely different results, one was loyal assistance, and the other sought power and usurped the throne.
So the first element of the relationship between monarch and minister in feudal society is morality. What the monarch needs is absolute obedience. Although there are many enlightened monarchs who initiate generous and enlightened policies, such as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zheng dared to die to remonstrate without fear of offending. , until the emperor changed his mind, but not every emperor was Tang Taizong. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, during his reign, five prime ministers Li Cai, Yan Qingzhai, Zhao Zhou, Gongsun He, and Liu Quyou were killed. Although each had his own The reason, but they all died at the hands of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It has to be said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also had a murderous side. The reason was simply that he needed absolute loyalty.
Loyalty is a category of morality. However, loyalty and morality are extremely difficult standards to measure. They are too subjective and cannot be measured with numbers. After all, people’s hearts are separated from each other, and no one can judge today. People who are loyal to you will not betray you tomorrow. Therefore, many times, monarchs choose ministers based on their own preferences and make judgments with reference to talent, morality and other factors.
When loyalty and morality are difficult to measure, the monarch takes another important factor into consideration when managing the world: checks and balances of power. This is also the second element of the relationship between monarch and minister. The power checks and balances here do not refer to checks and balances on the power of the monarch. You must know that the power of the monarch at that time was supreme and could not be checked and balanced. The power that the monarch needed to check and balance was the power of his ministers.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Tuogu
To put it simply, the check and balance of power means that the power of any powerful minister cannot be dominated by the whole family. There must be checks and balances of other people or powers. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty let Huo Guang asked Jin Rixi, Shangguan Jie, and Sang Hongyang to divide part of Huo Guang's power without leaving Huo Guang's family alone. In the same way, Cao Rui asked Sima Yi to ask Cao Shuang to check and balance. Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang to ask Huo Guang to check and balance. At that time, Li Yan was also arranged to check and balance. As for whether the check and balance can be done and how effective it is, that is another matter.
The demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty is actually related to the imbalance of power. Originally, the Eastern Han Dynasty court was composed of three forces, namely eunuchs, relatives, and nobles. When the composition of these three forces in the court reached a relatively balanced power structure At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was actually the most stable. No matter whether the emperor was wise or mediocre, as long as the power of the imperial court was balanced, the political structure would be stable. Once the balance was broken, for example, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, his relative He Jin fought with the eunuch Zhang Rang and others. , and were all executed by the noble representatives Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others, the imperial court lost two forces and could no longer form a balance. The balance tilted and the regime ended.
To understand the balance of power, you can give an example. When the monarch’s ministers check and balance each other and no one can dominate, then more support must be sought when dealing with decisive matters of the court. , especially the emperor's support, is equivalent to asking for help from the emperor. At this time, the emperor's authority comes out. Whichever side the emperor falls to, whichever side will win, and the emperor is also happy to see his powerful ministers fight, and let himself Being in a decision-making position, this position is the most conducive structure for the emperor to control power, and because the emperor is the supreme ruler of feudal society, this structure is also conducive to the stability of the dynasty.
The Duke of Zhou assists the king
So when Liu Bei chose Zhuge Liang as the minister of Tuogu, he was not worried about Zhuge Liang's family being dominant, so he arranged for Li Yan to symbolically serve as his deputy. The minister's position checks and balances Zhuge Liang. When Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang, "You can choose for yourself," he did not really let Zhuge Liang decide how to choose or replace it, but a helpless expectation. Liu Bei knew very well that his son Liu Chan was At what level? His intention in saying these words is nothing more than to inspire Zhuge Liang and make Zhuge Liang assist Liu Chan with greater enthusiasm. Chinese people have always been reserved. If you praise and elevate a person in person, it may not be that person. So, for the same reason, when Liu Bei said that Zhuge Liang should be replaced by him, he was not really asking Zhuge Liang to replace him, but he was saying it politely. Next, Zhuge Liang expressed his loyalty. This was a natural politeness and there was no falsehood. Because Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang are both smart people, they can understand each other's thoughts without using too many words. This is called the understanding of the emperor and his ministers.
Don’t believe that Liu Bei has the intention to abdicate, just like you can’t believe that Qin Xiaogong had the possibility of abdicating to Shang Yang. In a feudal society where private ownership is dominated by society, there is no abdication system. Liu Bei The previous example of a monarch abdicating was King Yan Kuai during the Warring States Period. Under the persuasion of a villain, King Yan Kuai abdicated his position as king to his minister Zizhi. As a result, the Yan State was ruined and was destroyed by Qi State.
Even the abdication of Yao, Shun and Yu has always been doubtful because of the records in the "Bamboo Chronicles":
Shun imprisoned Yao, and later Yansai Danzhu, So that he will not meet his father.
Therefore, the ideal system of abdication can only exist in two extremes. One is a primitive society, when the products are extremely poor, and people do not have many selfish desires. The other is a public society, when the products are extremely poor. Abundance has satisfied all human desires.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang
So, looking back at the relationship between monarch and ministers in feudal society, there are two factors that reveal the mystery of the relationship: one is morality; the other is power checks and balances. Morality is used to select people and what kind of people they choose, while power checks and balances are used to manage people and how to manage their subordinates. This is the basic means used by feudal emperors to manage the world, and it is also an important factor for feudal monarchs to deal with the relationship between monarch and ministers.
From this point of view, we can understand why Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang and said what he said, just because he sincerely hoped that Zhuge Liang could safeguard the foundation, ideals and Liu Bei left behind after his death. This made Liu Bei's family a good story in the relationship between emperor and ministers in Chinese history. All this was because Liu Bei chose to entrust Zhuge Liang, a lonely and important minister.