使職獨立審斷權的行使與唐後期司法政務運行──以財政三司為中心

Research on the Mechanism in Which Emissary Systems and the Late Tang Government Run theirs Judiciary Affairs

唐後期使職層出不窮，深刻影響著當時的政務運行機制。使職「從權」、「不經」的色彩，也使此階段司法政務運行更多地顯示出無序和混亂的狀態。通過考察唐後期使職獨立審斷權的行使情況，可以看到無序和混亂，主要體現在使職所掌司法政務是在其本使系統內上報，並自行申奏於宰相、皇帝，獨立於尚書刑部司所掌州縣司法政務申奏程序。這種看法延續了唐後期人們在反思家國劇變時的批判性思考，也繼承了傳統政治史視角下從權力消長模式得出的習慣性結論。在「新制度史」視野下，研究者更多注意使職與國家發展面臨的「新形勢」、「新問題」之間的關係。使職行使獨立司法審斷權，是其職掌和體制特點所要求的，也是由於維持其運轉而經營公廨本錢等事務衍生出來的。這些政務活動，往往源於國家行政體制在商品貨幣經濟和租佃制經營方式衝擊下生成的制度增量。與此同時，唐後期州縣也已成為使職系統（節度觀察使）的一部分。正是同屬使職的事實，又為日後兩者所掌司法政務重歸一途提供了可能。換言之，在不斷成為「問題」的同時，使職系統也在不斷地試錯中沿著制度發展的內在理路，提供了解決問題的新思路，並完成了向使職差遣體制過渡的歷史使命。唐宋制度轉軌由此得以實現。 During the later period of Tang Dynasty, the administrative affairs of the government were basically operated by a number of emissaries who were specially appointed by the emperor, instead of those officials who served in the traditional organizations such as Xingbu-Si (刑部司) of Shangshu-Sheng (尚書省) and Dali-Si (大理寺) etc.. The change means that a new administrative system including the new operation mechanism of judiciary affairs was established. It was called emissary system. Since the Tang dynasty, this system was criticized in many ways, for example causing confusion in the judicial system in Late Tang and Five Dynasties. At the same time, however, emissary system also provided a new approach to solving the problem which was created all by itself. In order to solve the confusion of the judicial system, a new emissary called Shenxing-Yuan (審刑院) had been established in early Northern Song Dynasty, which was in charge of judiciary affairs that were run by emissary system and the traditional organizations. And then, the transformation of the judicial system during the late Tang Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty was realized, which was an important link in the evolution of political systems during imperial China.