Cabinet ministers have great power and enjoy extremely high honors. Naturally, everyone wants to be a cabinet minister, but this cabinet minister is not something that just anyone can do.
First of all, there is a rule that everyone agrees with in the Ming Dynasty: non-Jinshi cannot enter the Hanlin Academy, and non-Hanlin people cannot enter the cabinet. In other words, if you want to be a cabinet minister, you must first come out of the Hanlin Academy.
The Hanlin Academy has always been the most important talent reserve pool of the Ming Dynasty. Only Jinshi scholars can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only those in the first and second class can enter the Hanlin Academy. Those in the third class are not eligible to enter the Hanlin Academy.
This means that you must pass at least the second grade in the imperial examination before you can enter the Hanlin Academy. You will first study there, work as a secretary to the emperor, give lectures, etc. After being appreciated by the emperor, you can immediately become a member of the six departments.
For important ministers, after working for a few more years, they can become ministers of the six ministries and ministers. When appropriate opportunities arise, they can join the cabinet and become cabinet ministers.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian in the current imperial court all followed this path. They took the imperial examination to high school, entered the Hanlin Academy, served as shujishi, editor, editor, Zuo Shuzi, Zhan Shifu Shao Zhanshi, and served as a lecturer.
The six ministers, the six ministers, and the cabinet ministers all came from the same path.
It can be seen from this that in the Ming Dynasty, if you could enter the Hanlin Academy, you would basically be a minister of the Sixth Ministry and a minister. If the emperor appreciated you, it would not be difficult to join the cabinet.
With a well-established reserve pool of senior talents, if you enter the Imperial Academy, you don't have to worry about your future career.
Of course, there are some differences. If you are among the top few in the imperial examination, especially if you are the number one scholar, you will start writing and editing as soon as you enter the Hanlin Academy, and your promotion will be very fast.
For example, Xie Qian was born as a scholar, and at a young age, his rank was already quite high.
Xie Qian joined the cabinet when he was over 50 years old. Many ministers did not even have the third or fourth rank when they were over 50 years old, let alone join the cabinet. They were first in civil affairs and second in military affairs.
, can also convince many ministers, and he can be promoted quickly, and others will have nothing to say.
Just like Liu Jin, he was the number one scholar at a young age, stayed in the Hanlin Academy for a while, and was immediately promoted and promoted by Emperor Hongzhi. At the age of thirty, he was already the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Although many ministers felt that Liu Jin was too young and promoted too quickly, and they complained about it, because Liu Jin was the number one scholar, he was promoted faster and promoted faster, which was actually recognized and accepted by everyone.
After all, it is too difficult to be the number one scholar in ancient times. Thousands of people take part in the scientific examination every three years. Everyone knows how difficult it is to win the first place. All the ministers in the government and the public are from the scientific class.
, everyone is very clear.
The No. 1 scholar, the No. 1 scholar, is the Wenqu star in the sky. The promotion is faster, and everyone agrees. If the No. 1 scholar is promoted slowly, wouldn't the others be even slower?
Although the requirements for joining the cabinet are very high, for the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government, there are still a lot of people who meet the requirements. After all, they are all from majors. If the DPRK and the Central Government randomly select someone, they may be the top pick, the third best, the second best, etc.
.
As for the six ministers, ministers, Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu, and the emperor's ministers and bachelors, they are all top picks and are eligible to be selected as cabinet ministers.
Now that Xie Qian has returned home to retire, the ministers in the court are also focusing on this. Some people want to compete to join the cabinet, while others want to wait until the positions above are vacated to see if there is hope for them.
Move it up.
All of a sudden, the ministers in the DPRK were discussing in private.
"When Mr. Xie returns to his hometown to take care of himself, who is most likely to join the cabinet?"
"I think the most likely person is Liu Jin, the Minister of Civil Affairs. He is deeply trusted by the emperor, and he is a son of an elite. He has outstanding abilities and is expected to join the cabinet."
"Liu Gong is indeed the most promising to join the cabinet, but I think Liu Daxia, Minister of War, is also very hopeful to join the cabinet."
"The Ministry of War no longer has any real power. It only assists the governor's office in recruiting troops and arranging veterans' affairs. The possibility of him joining the cabinet is relatively small."
"Where's the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Ji Zhong?"
"He is a good candidate, but I don't think he can compare to Liu Gong."
"That's true~"
Both the government and the public were busy discussing who would join the cabinet, and they were also waiting for Emperor Hongzhi's intention.
There were two methods for selecting cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty, namely special recommendation and ting recommendation.
The so-called special appointment means that the emperor directly appoints ministers as cabinet ministers by decree, without going through the Ministry of Personnel.
This method can be roughly expressed in three forms. One is that the emperor himself selects and appoints them. The other is that the emperor adopts the recommendations of ministers or is appointed by the ministers. The other is that the current cabinet ministers recommend a number of candidates.
, and then selected by the emperor.
Tingtui is also called Huitui. As the name suggests, everyone comes together to recommend names at a meeting. Usually, the Ministry of Officials takes the lead, together with Jiuqing and the Ministry of Science and Technology, recommends a number of names, and then the emperor selects them.
Special slips and tingtui are two methods for selecting cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty. Before Wanli, most cabinet ministers were appointed by the emperor through special slips. After Wanli, most cabinet ministers were selected by tingtui.
Before the eighth year of Hongzhi, all cabinet ministers were selected by special officials. To put it simply, they were all appointed by the emperor himself. However, in the eighth year of Hongzhi, the cabinet was short of members, so Emperor Hongzhi ordered the officials to follow the example of the emperor.
Recommended by ministers and cabinet ministers.
So at that time, the Ministry of Personnel, together with the Six Ministries, the Supervisory Yuan, the Tongzhengyuan, Dali Temple and the Academy of Science and Technology recommended Geng Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Ni Yue, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Li Dongyang, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites and a lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhou, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.
According to the classics, the list of several people named Xie Qian, who was Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shi Mansion and served as a lecturer at Hanlin Academy, came out.
In the end, Emperor Hongzhi appointed Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian moved to the cabinet, thus creating a precedent for cabinet ministers to be recommended by the court.
Of course, this was also criticized by later emperors Hongzhi. He relied too much on civil servants and decentralized power too seriously, which led to the serious expansion of the civil service group and laid hidden dangers for party strife in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. At the same time, there were successive incidents in the late Ming Dynasty.
Several major court cases involving the emperor's death were speculated to be inextricably linked to the growing civil servant clique.
These are all things for later. At this moment, the courtiers are waiting for Emperor Hongzhi's order.
Did Emperor Hongzhi directly appoint ministers to the cabinet as before, or did he let everyone recommend a list of ministers through court recommendation like last time, and then the emperor selected them.
The difference is huge.
The cabinet ministers selected by special ministers are generally ministers who are deeply trusted by the emperor. Of course, relatively speaking, they will listen to the emperor's words more.
It's different when it comes to Ting Tui. To be honest, this Ting Tui, on the one hand, it depends on which minister is more virtuous and highly respected, and on the other hand, it depends on which minister has more colleagues, fellow villagers, etc.
The more people who support you, the more likely you are to get on the selected list. If no one recommends you or supports you, and you can't even get on the list, you have no chance of becoming a cabinet minister.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, cabinet ministers were often promoted by the court, especially after Wanli, they were all ministers recommended by the court. This is also one of the important reasons why the Donglin Party was able to control the power of the court.
Because the Donglin Party members were officials from the south of the Yangtze River, there were many talented people from the south of the Yangtze River since ancient times, and they produced the most officials. Who could compare with them in terms of court recommendation? Over time, they naturally came under their control.
Moreover, if an official from Tingjian can be appointed as the cabinet, the first person to thank is the person who recommended him. For the emperor, officials who are recommended by Tingjian are often not obedient, especially when the emperor is young, ignorant, and playful, it is very difficult for him to do so.
It is easy to form a party.
Te Jian is different. They are appointed by the emperor. They are basically the emperor's confidants and trusted ministers. They should act more like the emperor, and at the same time, they do not need to thank anyone for recommending them.
Even if you don't have the support of a large number of fellow countrymen and sects, you can still become a cabinet minister, and it is relatively difficult to form a party.
Of course, this still involves the issue of imperial power.
Te Jian is the embodiment of imperial power, while Ting Tui delegates power to his ministers.
If ting recommendation becomes the norm, Te Jian will slowly be replaced. By the late Ming Dynasty, if the cabinet minister has not been recommended by Ting Jian and is a cabinet minister appointed by Emperor Te Jian, other ministers will even look down on you.
Failure to cooperate with your work and embarrassing you will weaken the imperial power and transfer power from the emperor to the courtiers.
Once it reaches this point, even if the emperor continues to deal with his cabinet ministers and changes batch after batch, it will have no effect, because the recommended list will always be in the hands of those people.
Like Emperor Chongzhen in history, he changed dozens of cabinet ministers, but it still had no effect. After changing, it was still the same group of people, because the list recommended by the court was all their people.:.
This power is equivalent to a complete transfer from the emperor to the hands of the courtiers. Officials are their people. You have to use them whether you want to use them or not.
Everyone is waiting to see what Emperor Hongzhi will do.
Everyone did not wait too long. A few days later, Emperor Hongzhi directly issued a decree in the form of a special slip to appoint Liu Jin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, as the new cabinet minister. At the same time, he was promoted to Prince Shaobao, Grand Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and
Liu Jin was also appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Of course, this concurrent post is only the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel. The real Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is replaced by the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Hubu. Generally, cabinet ministers will concurrently hold the title of one of the six ministers, but it is different to hold the title of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel concurrently.
, the Ministry of Personnel is known as the Heavenly Official, and is in charge of the appointment, assessment, and promotion of officials all over the world. It has very great power. The lower-ranked cabinet ministers may not necessarily have as much power and influence as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
This operation of Emperor Hongzhi obviously showed great trust in Liu Jin. Now that he has become a cabinet minister, Liu Jin is still in charge of the staff. The main person to whom Zhong Zhong reports his work is Liu Jin. We provide you with the fastest Ming Zhenhai
Wang Gengxin, Chapter 1567, Liu Jin enters the cabinet to read for free.:.
