Chapter 40 Checks and balances, checks and balances, balances upon balances!
Zhu Zhanji's voice fell, and the three generations, Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaochi, all started brainstorming at the same time.
The eyes of the grandparents and grandchildren fell on Zhu Zhanji, and they all expressed admiration.
Obviously, Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi all recognized the answer given by Zhu Zhanji.
"Yes, that's a good answer."
Ji Boying raised his hand and flicked it, and a golden shadow passed by the wind. Zhu Zhanji subconsciously raised his hand to catch it.
Opening his palm, he saw a golden ball. To be precise, it was a ball wrapped in gold paper.
"This is chocolate."
'chocolate?'
Zhu Zhanji was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously plucked the gold paper away, revealing a black 'stone' inside.
"Master Immortal, this..."
“You can eat it.”
After receiving Ji Boying's reply, Zhu Zhanji did not hesitate and stuffed it into his mouth.
Instantly, my eyes straightened.
Chocolate was introduced to China hundreds of years later during the Kangxi period, and its aroma was far less fragrant than that of later generations.
"Is it delicious?"
Zhu Gaochi swallowed his saliva and subconsciously asked, "There is a reason why he is fat."
Among the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, the one who pursued food the most was the Hongxi Emperor who only sat on the Dragon Throne for ten months. An encyclopedia could be written about his various unofficial histories about his food.
"Very good."
Zhu Zhanji nodded firmly.
"Eat, eat, eat, you only know how to eat in your head?!"
"Listen carefully to the Immortal Master's lectures."
Old Zhu Di glared at Zhu Gaochi, who straightened up and looked at Ji Boying seriously.
Ji Boying pushed back a few stray strands of long bangs, glanced at the sky outside, and then glanced at the four emperors of tomorrow on the table. An hour was coming, and the sky was almost dark in Yongle time and space.
.
"I don't have enough time, so I won't ask you one by one."
Ji Boying lightly tapped the table with his fingertips.
"What I say next are the key points."
Both Lao Zhu Di and Little Zhu looked tense. They all subconsciously thought that the immortal master had other important matters to deal with. Only Lao Zhu knew what it meant that there was not enough time.
"Brother, please speak."
Lao Zhu took a deep breath, feeling that the answer he wanted had finally arrived.
"First, establish the ancestral system. It is not advisable for the prince and the kings to use eunuchs to accompany them, and the eunuchs who are close to him, regardless of their position, must be replaced every three months."
The eunuchs who are close to him are changed every three months. In this way, no matter how scheming the eunuch is, he cannot gain the trust of the powerful if he cannot get close to him for a long time.
For example, if Wang Zhen, who was the teacher of the God of War, could only teach Zhu Qizhen for three months, the God of War would never be obedient to him.
According to this established practice, even after the prince ascends the throne, he will not be too close to the eunuchs in the future.
"Of course, this is just to reduce the future monarch's trust in eunuchs as much as possible, but it cannot completely eliminate it."
After Ji Boying said this first point, Zhu Zhanji felt a little uncomfortable.
The eunuchs who play crickets with him are all masters. They will be replaced every three months. Where can I find new ones to play with?
Lao Zhu and Lao Zhu Di both nodded, obviously agreeing with this method.
"Second, give the cabinet the legal status it deserves, and clearly define the chief minister of the cabinet as the chief of the hundred officials in the court. You decide the official rank yourself, but it must be above the six chief officials."
"My suggestion is, start with Yipin."
The growth of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet from a secretariat to the center of the empire was a gradual development process, including the gradual improvement of the status of the cabinet. The final historical choice was to make it superior to the six ministries, and it took nearly a hundred years to complete this choice.
It's like crossing a river. Instead of trying to cross the river one by one, it's better to just build a bridge across the river.
"In addition, a complete set of assessment mechanisms for cabinet entry needs to be established. The specific assessment requirements are determined by you. The final decision-making power lies in the hands of the emperor. The emperor will grant authority to cabinet ministers, institutionalize cabinet entry and grant imperial power, and stop ministers from seeking to join the cabinet.
And deliberately formed parties within and outside the DPRK, and at the same time cut off the way for the inner court to interfere with the cabinet."
In certain periods of the Ming Dynasty, the reason why the ceremonial supervisors were able to control the cabinet was because the cabinet lacked a complete cabinet entry system, so that these eunuchs could take advantage of loopholes and support their own people to enter the cabinet, so as to control the outer court.
Because although the Supervisor of Ceremonies has the power to approve red approval, it must be approved by the cabinet, otherwise his approval of red approval will be a blank slate?
Cabinet ministers deliberately go to the DPRK to form cliques. Part of the reason is that they need the support of these party members to join the cabinet. However, if the right to join the cabinet comes from the system rather than personnel, then some honest ministers do not need to form cliques and still
You can serve the country by joining the cabinet.
In this way, there will still be cronies in the Ming Dynasty, but they will be much fewer.
After Ji Boying made his second statement, Zhu Zhanji asked again. This boy obviously got the benefit.
"Master Immortal, I have a question, if the chief minister of the cabinet is clearly the head of the hundred officials, what is the difference between him and the prime minister? Wouldn't it be a return to the old path?"
Before Ji Boying could answer, Zhu Gaochi beside him spoke.
"Zhanji, why don't you listen carefully to the immortal master's sermon?!"
Zhu Gaochi showed his strict father attitude.
"The Immortal Master has made it very clear before that the cabinet only has the power to discuss affairs. The chief assistant of the cabinet is designated as the chief of the hundred officials. This is to clarify the legal principles of the cabinet and to make the various ministries of the imperial court operate more effectively. Why go back to the old path?
"
Ji Boying looked at Zhu Gaochi in slight surprise. This big fat man's head was really easy to use.
"What Da Zhu said is right."
"Determining the chief minister of the cabinet as the head of the hundred officials can make the operation of the six ministries more effective. However, the cabinet does not have the superposition of essential powers. It only has power to discuss. It can be understood in this sentence. The prime minister has a false name, but the prime minister has no real power."
'There is a false name with appearance, but there is no real power without appearance.'
Both Lao Zhu and Lao Zhu Di's eyes lit up, and father and son looked at each other with amazement.
"The third point is to give the chief minister of the cabinet the power to face the emperor directly without reporting to the ministers."
"This is the core of how the outer court can counter the inner court when the eunuchs show signs of chaos. The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty are different from those in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The eunuchs in the Han and Tang Dynasties disrupted the government in front of the emperor, while the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty
It's because the emperor doesn't care about things and does things without telling the emperor. But being indifferent doesn't mean that the emperor is a fool. Looking at the descendants of your old Zhu family, although there are many weird ones, most of them are smart people."
Even Zhu Houzhao, when he learned that his Mr. Yang had been sent to Nanjing as a result of Liu Jin's malicious revenge, he immediately angrily rebuked Liu Jin. This kind of autocratic thing could happen largely because the cabinet could not meet with him in the first place.
to the emperor.
If the cabinet was given the power to face the emperor directly in the system, then as long as Liu Jin used the right to criticize the red people to retaliate against Yang Yiqing, the cabinet could meet with the emperor immediately, and this transfer order against Yang Yiqing would not be effective at all.
To put it bluntly, the setting of this system is to use the Supervisor of Ceremonies to check and balance the cabinet, and at the same time give the cabinet the conditions to counteract the Supervisor of Ceremonies in extreme circumstances, adding balance to balance.
"Of course, this situation is limited to when the eunuch shows signs of monopoly power. If the emperor just doesn't want to see people but is still in charge, then it doesn't matter."
After all, Mr. Wanli had not been in court for twenty-six years. When he set foot on Fengtian Palace for the first time in twenty-six years, none of the ministers knew the emperor. Wanli didn't know these ministers either, but it still didn't matter.
After Ji Boying finished speaking, Xiao Zhu spoke again.
"Master Immortal, why can't you just stop the appearance of Pian Hong Quan?"
Ji Boying glanced at Xiao Zhu and smiled.
Zhu Houzhao: 'My father has been working as a cow and horse all his life. What's wrong with me enjoying it?'