Chapter 361: Statement of Interests
Yang Guang nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand, saying, “My dear ministers, please stand up!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

After all the ministers returned to their seats, Yang Guang slowly said, “The late emperor has told me many times that we should be considerate of our old ministers. I have decided to implement it. From today on, all ministers over the age of 60 can have seats and do not have to stand during court.”

Yang Guang waved his hand, and the guards brought out hundreds of couches with fixed tables on them. Some were placed in the first row, and some were placed in the last row. There was a name on each couch, and everyone took their seats.

Soon, veteran ministers such as Gao Jiong, Yang Su, Yuwen Shu, Yang Xiong, Yang Da, Yu Qingze, Xue Shixiong, and Shi Wansui took their seats one after another. The officials also placed the four treasures of the study on their desks. Of course, Crown Prince Yang Zhao had a special status, so he also had a seat.

Seeing that there were a few more couches, Yang Guang smiled and said, “King Qi and King Chu, you can also sit down. King Chu goes to the right, and King Qi goes to the left!”

As a result, Xiao Xia’s position changed and he was rearranged to the side of the civil officials. Counting in a row, he was the eighth, just behind the seven prime ministers.

After working for half an hour, the seats were finally rearranged. Yang Guang asked, “Do you have any memorials?”

Just as Gao Jiong was about to speak, Yuwen Shu stood up and said, “Your Majesty, I have something to report!”

Yuwen Shu seized the opportunity to be the first spokesperson for the imperial court after the emperor officially ascended the throne.

“My dear Yuwen, please speak!”

Yuwen Shu took out a memorial and presented it, saying, “Your Majesty, there are too many general administration offices in various places, which has seriously affected the government affairs of various places. I suggest that we carry out reforms and only retain ten general administration offices in the frontier areas. All other general administration offices should be abolished. The military offices in each county should be managed by the county government to facilitate the cultivation and training of the soldiers. In order to distinguish them, I suggest that the military office in the interior be renamed Yingyang Office, the military office in the frontier area be renamed Piaoqi Office, and the Chang’an Guarding Army Office be renamed Huben Office.”

Of course, Yuwen Shu’s memorial was a reform plan proposed based on the requirements of Emperor Yang Guang. Its core was to abolish the General Administration Office of the Interior and hand over the military office to local governments, but to set up a military governor’s office and a grand military governor’s office in the frontier areas.

Yang Guang looked at the memorial and nodded, saying, “It can be submitted to the cabinet for discussion. If you have any additional suggestions, please submit them to the cabinet as well.”

The main purpose of the court meeting is to pool ideas, but it must also follow the rules of the court. First of all, it cannot overstep its authority. For example, a minister in the Ministry of War may have a good plan, but this idea must be reported to the vice minister, and then the vice minister will report to the minister, and finally the minister will decide whether this plan can be proposed at the court meeting, and then who will propose it?

Now everyone can see that the reform plan was finally proposed by the Minister of War Yuwen Shu, and he certainly would not give others a chance.

At this time, a resolution to approve the plan could not be made. It had to be submitted to the Cabinet’s Political Affairs Hall for discussion, and a resolution would be made by the Political Affairs Hall, and finally approved by the emperor. The court meeting provided an opportunity for everyone to participate in the discussion of the plan.

At this time, the Minister of Revenue Wei Chong stood up and said, “Your Majesty, I also have some doubts about this plan.”

“Minister Wei, please speak!”

“Your Majesty, abolishing the General Administration Office is not as simple as abolishing it. There are many issues involved. For example, should the financial allocation to the military government be handed over to the county government, how to give it, and how much to give? These must be made clear. Secondly, the General Administration Office also assumes the functions of the Transportation Office. Once the General Administration Office is abolished, should the Transportation Office be established? And what about the General Administration Office’s supervisory function over the counties? Should another Supervisory Office be established?”

Yang Guang nodded. “What Minister Wei said makes sense. Therefore, abolishing the General Administration Office is not something that the Ministry of War can decide alone. Prime Minister Gao, tell me what you think!”

Gao Jiong stood up and said, “Your Majesty, last year I mentioned the suggestion of establishing a prefecture to the late emperor. Because the late emperor was not in good health, this issue was not discussed in depth. Today, I would like to take this opportunity to mention the significance of establishing a prefecture. It is actually complementary to abolishing the General Administration Office. This is just like the establishment of prefectures in the Han Dynasty. A prefecture is composed of more than a dozen counties, such as Hebei Prefecture, Hedong Prefecture, Guannei Prefecture, Jingji Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, Shandong Prefecture, etc., as well as the South, Northwest and Liaodong. The main functions of the prefecture are transportation, supervision and criminal law review, but it has no military power.

Speaking of military power, I would like to add one more thing. It is not impossible to hand over the military office to the local government, but the Ministry of War must not let it go. On the contrary, the Ministry of War must increase its control over the military office. Otherwise, once chaos occurs, the governor will have money and soldiers, and countless small warlords will appear. Of course, small warlords are easier to deal with than big warlords. From this point of view, I agree to abolish the General Administration Office. “

“Could Prime Minister Gao summarize it?” Yang Guang asked again. Gao Jiong bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I agree to abolish the General Administration Office, but we must strengthen the control of the Ministry of War over the local military offices, and strictly control the power of local government offices over the military offices. The mobilization of military offices to suppress bandits must be approved by the Ministry of War. Secondly, regarding the establishment of a provincial-level government office, I will submit a detailed report to Your Majesty and the Council of State Affairs.”

Yang Guang said cheerfully: “Abolishing the General Administration Office is a big deal. It is not only a matter for the Ministry of War, but also involves financial power and civil affairs, and even material transfer and supervision power. Therefore, each ministry must put forward its own views and suggestions on abolishing the General Administration Office, and then submit them to the cabinet for discussion and revision, and finally come up with a more complete plan. That’s it! Is there anything else to discuss?”

At this time, an official from the Honglu Temple ran over and whispered a few words to the Minister of Rites Su Wei. Su Wei stood up and said, “Your Majesty, the Turkic envoy is outside asking for an audience!”

Yang Guang’s expression immediately turned ugly. He said to Su Wei, “Prime Minister Su, go and receive them. They are not suitable to appear at the court meeting!”

Yang Guang knew very well that the Turkic envoy must want to talk about the matter of Princess Nanyang, but he did not want to talk about it in detail.

Su Wei stood up and left. Yang Guang lost his mood and said, “Today’s court meeting ends here. Dismiss!”

He stood up and left, Xiao Xia hurriedly chased after him, “Father!”

Yang Guang turned around and asked, “Xia’er, is there anything else?”

“I have something I want to discuss with my father.”

“Okay, come to my study later.”

Yang Guang walked away quickly, and Xiao Xia followed the ministers out of the hall, walked around and went to the imperial study in Ganquan Hall.

Xiao Xia waited outside the palace for a while, and an eunuch came up to him with a big smile on his face and said, “Your Highness, please come in!”

Xiao Xia followed the eunuch to the Imperial Censorate in Ganquan Palace. To his surprise, Gao Jiong, Yang Su and Su Wei were all in the Imperial Study. Xiao Xia saluted his father and then paid his respects to the three prime ministers.

Yang Guang asked with a smile: “What’s the matter, my son? If it’s a family matter, we can talk about it at noon!”

Xiao Xia said slowly: “I want to talk to my father about the Turkic prince’s proposal to Princess Nanyang.”

Yang Guang chuckled, “What a coincidence, we are also talking about this matter, why don’t you sit down and talk about it, please take a seat!”

The eunuch brought a soft cushion, Xiao Xia sat down, and said to his father: “I have dealt with the Turkic Crown Prince Duojishi. He looks rude on the surface, but he is actually very scheming. He wants to marry Princess Nanyang not because he admires the princess, but because he has other intentions.”

“Go on!” Yang Guang seemed somewhat interested.

“The succession to the throne of the Turkic Khan is somewhat different from that of our Central Plains. They emphasize brotherly inheritance, and generally the younger brother succeeds the older brother, rather than the son succeeding the father. Dujishi is the son of Qimin Khan. Logically, the throne of Khan should not be his, but the Khan’s younger brother Chijishe should succeed him. However, Qimin Khan still wanted to pass the throne to his son Dujishi, which resulted in Dujishi’s position as the heir to the Khan being unstable. Dujishi wanted to marry Princess Nanyang, and his real intention was to use the princess to stabilize his position as the heir to the Khan.

Secondly, who will succeed the Turkic Khan in the end is ultimately determined by strength. It is still unknown whether it is not Dujishi who will inherit the Khanate. If Dujishi is not the Turkic Khan in the end, what will happen to Princess Nanyang? What will happen to the reputation of our Great Sui Dynasty?
Finally, even if Du Jishi inherited the Khanate, Princess Anyi would still have to marry Du Jishi according to Turkic customs. Wouldn’t that mean Du Jishi married two aunt and niece princesses of the Sui Dynasty? How would future generations judge him?”

(End of this chapter)