Why did Shen Shixing insist that the new post of Prince's Attendant must go through the cabinet, and why did Long Qing insist on setting it up directly without going through the cabinet? The young prince Zhu Yijun certainly couldn't understand the reason, and even Concubine Li Guifei didn't necessarily understand it completely.
Obviously, but Gao Pragmatism thinks he can see one or two key points.
Shen Shixing's insistence was contrary to Long Qing's insistence, largely because both of them guessed that once the matter was reported to the cabinet, Gao Gong, as the cabinet's second minister, would definitely oppose it and might act pragmatically on Gao's behalf.
Spare excuses.
It's not that Gao Gong didn't want to see his nephew become a promising man. He was only a few years old and became an official without passing the formal scientific examination. He was the most noble Hanlin official. But this was the custom of the Ming Dynasty. Gao Gong
As Gao Pragmatic's elder relative and third uncle, he had to resign under such circumstances, and Gao Pragmatic would then have no choice but to resign.
You know, these days, even if a cabinet minister is inexplicably impeached by an official, he must resign, and when he does, he will "self-suspend" and wait at home for the emperor's next words. Although generally speaking,
Nine times out of ten, the emperor would issue an edict to retain him, and sometimes he would even issue an edict to scold the official at the same time. In some cases, the emperor would directly reprimand the official, dismiss him or even exile him, with a court stick, etc., but the attitude of the cabinet minister
It still needs to be done. Although this cannot be said to be a system, it is an unspoken rule that no one will violate.
The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were so obsessed with reputation that they even formed a rule that was accepted by civil servants all over the world.
Therefore, when Shen Shixing found that he could not persuade the emperor to give up this idea, he thought of this method of "saving the country through curves". However, Emperor Longqing was not a young king after all, and he could see Shen Shixing's idea, so he directly rejected this idea.
Instead, we found a different approach and established a new purpose.
Gao pragmatic believes that this should be the most direct and main reason, but there is another possibility that cannot be ignored, that is, Long Qing may have complete trust in Gao Gong personally, but he may not be wary of the cabinet system itself.
This kind of vigilance is inevitable for a mature emperor, and the source of vigilance is whether the cabinet minister has really become the prime minister.
As we all know, in the Ming Dynasty, there was no prime minister after the Hu Weiyong case. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, dismissed the Zhongshu Province in the thirteenth year of Hongwu on the grounds that the prime ministers in the past dynasties had too much power.
"The affairs of the world". He also issued an edict to the world: "In the future, the successor king will not be allowed to establish a prime minister. If any minister dares to petition for the appointment, the civil and military officials will immediately impeach him and impose severe punishment."
However, there is no need to set up a prime minister, but someone has to do what the prime minister does. Zhu Yuanzhang himself is a workaholic. He can take care of the prime minister's affairs by himself, but it is impossible for all subsequent emperors to do this. So.
By the beginning of Yongle, Emperor Zhu Dijian was appointed as Jie Jin, Huang Huai and other seven people were appointed to the Wenyuan Pavilion to prepare consultants and participate in aircraft maintenance. From this, the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty began to take shape.
After Renxuan, the development of the cabinet has continuously shown that it is inextricably linked to the prime minister system. This connection is not only reflected in the title of "prime minister" given to cabinet academicians, or the prime ministerial awareness of cabinet ministers.
, and more importantly, the power of the prime minister is an indispensable force in the Ming Dynasty's political system, and there are various manifestations of the resurrection of the dead that can be vaguely seen in the cabinet.
In fact, in Gao Pragmatic's view, generally speaking, the so-called prime minister should have two requirements: he must have the power to discuss matters, and he must have the power to supervise the execution of officials. The former includes entering the palace to discuss national affairs with the emperor and make plans. The latter refers to
After the decision is made, the prime minister will supervise its execution by the officials, as well as the examinations, removals, rewards and punishments after the execution.
In addition, the prime minister should also open a house and equip his subordinates. Under an autocratic monarchy, there is no office to collect and master materials. Not only is it impossible to supervise the execution of officials, but when discussing affairs with the emperor, they can only talk empty words.
, it is impossible to put forward wise political opinions. Therefore, discussing political power, supervising the execution power of hundreds of officials and the opening of the prime minister's government are the three basic prerequisites for discussing the transformation of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet system into prime ministers.
Although the cabinet during the Yongle period "not only relied on writing and calligraphy for its merits", by the end of the Yongle era, the cabinet "had no official subordinates, could not arbitrarily control the departments, and the departments were not allowed to be responsible for their performance", and the rank of cabinet ministers was no more than five ranks.
Therefore, the Yongle Dynasty basically maintained the "six ministers and ministers" pattern since the 13th year of Hongwu in terms of the central auxiliary government system.
During the Renxuan period, the cabinet ministers were promoted to Sangu, with a rank from the first rank, and the official rank exceeded the six ministers; Renzong first promoted Yang Rong, a great scholar, to be the minister of the Ministry of Industry. From then on, everyone who entered the cabinet was promoted to the minister one after another, so "
Cabinet positions are increasingly respected."
Next, in the Yingzong Dynasty, "all the great scholars were ministers of the Jin Dynasty, such as Bao and Fu. They had respected tastes and lived close to each other. They were able to express their opinions and comments, and the decision-making mechanism was all drawn up by voting. The importance of the cabinet power was determined by the Han Dynasty, and the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty.
He is not particularly famous among the prime ministers."
The voting system started with Renzong, but the system had not yet been formed at that time, and ministers were still ordered to discuss important political matters. Yingzong was only nine years old when he succeeded to the throne, and the empress dowager who actually took charge was unable to discuss with the ministers in person, so the cabinet voting system was basically
Take shape. "For all Chinese and foreign memorials, the (cabinet) is required to use a small note to write in ink (to draw up opinions on how to deal with it), and paste it on each side to enter it, which is called an edict." For the monarch's reference, whether to agree or disagree, it is approved with a red pen
, becomes a decision-making. It is said that "the positions of the cabinet are the same as those of the ancient prime ministers, and they are based on the presiding vote."
At the same time, the emperor continued to promote officials to his trusted ministers. "In the days of Tianshun, Xian was the chief assistant, Lu Yuan and Peng Shi were assistants, and Xian was appointed the most specialized." During the Hongzhi period, Qiu Jun entered the cabinet as the Minister of Rites.
, in the court hierarchy, Xiaozong Dingqiu Jun was ranked above Wang Shu, the official minister. At this time, the cabinet began to surpass the six departments in terms of status.
In the history of Gao Pragmatic's previous life, from Jiajing to the beginning of Wanli, it was a period of consolidation and all-round development of the cabinet's position. Not only did cabinet ministers "rank above the six ministers in the imperial succession", but there were also ministers like Zhang Cong, Xia Yan, and Yan Song.
, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and other powerful chief ministers, they can all say that "although they do not have the title of prime minister, they actually have the title of prime minister."
For example, it is said that Zhang Cong "is in the cabinet, and he ranks among the six ministers to become the prime minister." Before Jiajing, the chief assistant of the cabinet presided over the drafting, and all government affairs were discussed by the cabinet ministers. The chief assistant only wrote the draft, but starting from Zhang Cong, the chief assistant
Not only did he preside over the vote, but he also "pointed at all the officials in the cabinet, and no one dared to resist."
Yan Song served in the cabinet for twenty-one years. He "stealed the joy and anger of the master and gained power."
Song didn’t know that there was Your Majesty.”
The above are all things that have happened in the Ming Dynasty where Gao Jingshi is currently located. In the original history, it was even more exaggerated in the early years of Wanli: Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant, served as a cabinet minister for sixteen years.
"The Lord", "The six ministers are waiting to explore the purpose. If the six officials are judged inferior, they will be wary and hold their breath, and dare not make any similarities or differences."
"Like this." At this time, the cabinet had completely surpassed the six ministries in terms of power and status, just like the ancient prime minister system.
Gao Jingshi used to think that the history books underestimated Emperor Long Qing, but after these two simple contacts, especially Long Qing's performance today, Gao Jingshi suddenly felt: maybe even I have underestimated Long Qing! He was so persistent,
The reason why I refuse to leave the small matter of setting up new princes to accompany the princes to the cabinet is not to mention that it is impossible because they value my high and pragmatic talents. It is even possible that it is not just because I want to win face for the princes, but... he
Reluctant to allow the power of the cabinet to be further expanded in his hands!
