Above: Daming's Court (5) High Arch and Zhang Juzheng brought the cabinet to the peak
Ten years after Wanli, Zhang Juzheng died of illness, but the Wanli Emperor could still clearly feel Zhang Juzheng's breath. The imperial court was full of Zhang Juzheng's people, and the implementation of the policy was also in accordance with the precedent formulated by Zhang Juzheng, and the entire imperial dynasty still operated according to the inertia of Zhang Juzheng's era.
Ming ShenZong Zhu Yijun Year number Wanli
Whether or not the Wanli Emperor liked Zhang Juzheng and his reforms, his immediate priority was to take over the court without Zhang Juzheng. Wan Li could, like his father, appoint someone else to replace Zhang Juzheng and then control the cabinet through him, and thus control the imperial court. He could also let the civil servants fight each other in the palm of his hand like his grandfather.
But Wanli prefers to go directly to the front desk, face everything in the imperial dynasty, and lead Daming to the peak again. To this end, he decided to eliminate Zhang Juzheng's influence first, the method was ready-made, imitating Hongwu's move against Xiang Xiang and taking Zhang Juzheng's knife.
At first, it went well, using Zhang Siwei to quickly make Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao stink and wipe out their henchmen. Wan Li did not understand why it was so smooth, not that he had an overwhelming advantage over the civilian officials like Hongwu. Rather, the civilian clique wants to use the opportunity to take back the power it has taken back from the cabinet.
At this time, Wanli was very diligent, he went up to the court, opened the sutra, approved the recitation, presided over the sacrifice, and even walked to the Temple of Heaven to pray for rain in the blazing sun. But he soon discovered that the civil servants of the imperial court were not as ambitious as he had hoped. On the contrary, they were keen to fight each other, and they did not care about the court, but only the interests of their own party or group.
A classroom in which emperors and courtiers learn the spirit of governance
And what about the Cabinet at this time? For the emperor, Wan Li did not want to produce another Zhang Juzheng, so they could only be cautious and cautious, and did not dare to cultivate power. As a result, the cabinet ministers were weak in the struggle with the foreign civil officials, and they had no chance of winning, and they returned to the gap between the emperor and the civilian officials.
If the upper part obeys the emperor and the lower one cannot fight the civilian official clique, what should be done after the emperor and the civilian official clique have a contradiction? The cabinet ministers can only be with the mud, and the two sides cannot be offended. In fact, the emperor is still placed alone on the opposite side of the civil official clique, and the emperor will not have any chance of winning.
For two thousand years, civil officials have been advising emperors to stay away from "villains", and there are countless examples in various allusions and historical records about "villains" harming the imperial dynasty. So why do emperors like to be close to these "little people" who have more than enough to do and have more than enough failures?
If it is said that the "villains" are good at flattery and make people happy, then isn't it the same that the emperor can achieve the same effect by raising some handsome clowns? The real reason was that, with only a few profits to be shared, these villains were willing to betray and help the emperors suppress the clerical clique. Therefore, from the perspective of the emperor maintaining his own power, the "villain" is a necessity for the emperor.
However, Zhang Juzheng's ten years of painstaking education have yielded fruitful results, and Wanli is far away from the "villain". But the price was that he became truly alone. Obviously, he has the power of heavenly authorization in his hands, but he cannot use it effectively.
Shen Shixing was also jokingly called the first bureaucrat of Daming by posterity
Wan Li once talked to Shoufu Shen Shixing about the drawbacks of using literature to control martial arts, and he pointed out:
Recently, they are governors and other officials, who on weekdays despise and abuse generals, restrain them, and are not allowed to spread them. Something is used to use him. And as on all sides but with some credit. The governors were promoted and rewarded, and they all recognized their own merits, and when they were wrecked, they pushed the generals and some minor military attaches, and pretended to be vain.
Of course, Wan Li did not casually talk with Shin Shixing to find a topic, he hoped that the cabinet would help him reform the problematic military system. However, due to various practical concerns, Shen Shixing could only use the words "civilian and military generals, each with his own authority, and his merits and crimes need to be verified" to make peace.
What could the emperor do without the support of the cabinet and the civil bureaucracy? This is the pain of Wanli as an emperor, when he wants to be a good emperor, he finds that he as an emperor can not solve the problems of the imperial dynasty, and even try to solve the problem.
Many people think that as long as the emperor has a resolute and domineering attitude, there is nothing he cannot do, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Diyun. This is a bit of a surprise, not to give you a national jade seal and you can become a real emperor. Even if Wanli forcibly gave orders, without the support of the cabinet and the civilian bureaucracy, how would he deal with the following people, Yang Fengyin, and Yin? There are countless holy decrees in history that have been lost by their subjects.
After the officials scolded the cabinet and the emperor, Gu Xiancheng and Wang Dexin demanded that Wanli defend the Ke Dao officials, even if their impeachment of the sons should not be convicted, and hoped that the emperor would not favor the cabinet ministers. This was all bullied to the head, and Shen Shixing only proposed to be fined, and later changed to demotion and external transfer at the strong request of Wanli.
Except for a very small number of people, most people will slowly lose enthusiasm under the basin after basin of cold water. The Wanli Emperor is one of most people. The emperor slackened off, but the civilian clique did not intend to spare the emperor. They began to attack the emperor himself directly.
In the seventeenth year of the Wanli Calendar, the most famous song of the Ming Dynasty, "Wine Color, Wealth and Qi Four Proverbs", was born. It is famous not because the content makes sense, but because it is extremely absurd. There is no evidence throughout the text, and the emperor is insulted and attacked only by relying on the theory of catching wind and shadows.
This is not only a great insult to the emperor himself for the Ming Dynasty he represents. Then the cabinet did not want to offend the civil servants and did not want to deal with it. Shen Shixing suggested that Wanli leave The Song in the middle (that is, ignore it), Wanli could not swallow his breath, did not agree, and in the end the cabinet did not fully support the emperor, but only let him go to his post and return to his hometown on the grounds that Luo Yuren was ill and unable to perform the work.
The incident dealt a heavy blow to the young emperor, and both the civil servant and the emperor lost their right to be respected in each other's hearts. This, in turn, has provoked more serious conflicts.
In the ninth year of the Wanli Calendar, Wanli was blessed with a palace girl on a whim, and as a result, Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor, was born. Unfortunately, Wanli did not like the mother and son. In the fourteenth year of the Wanli Calendar, the Wanli favored Zheng clan gave birth to the third son of the emperor, Zhu Changxun (actually ranked second, because the second son of the emperor had died prematurely). The civilian officials felt that they smelled an unusual smell, so the protracted struggle for the country began.
The original purpose of this struggle for the country was to compete for the right to speak in the imperial court. The civil officials hoped to use this opportunity to completely suppress the emperor and make him honestly a bodhisattva with his clothes draped, and Wan Li hoped to use this opportunity to suppress the civilian official clique and regain control of the power of the imperial dynasty.
Emperor Ming Zuxun Zhu Yuanzhang presided over the compilation can be understood as the constitution of the Ming Dynasty
Why do you say that, because they don't have to argue at all to make a prince. The "Imperial Ming Ancestral Training" is written very clearly, "Standing up to the head, the father dies and the son succeeds, the brother and the brother"! Sejong succeeded to the throne in this way, and there was no controversy in the entire imperial dynasty at that time.
If Wan Li just wanted to make Zhu Changxun crown prince, it would be very simple, he only needed to make Zheng Guifei empress. Once Concubine Zheng guifei became empress, Zhu Changxun was a concubine, the first heir of Wanli's existing sons. (It should be noted that in this case, it cannot be called the eldest son, because the eldest son pays attention to the original match)
The matter of establishing a separate state after the abolition was not at all foreign to the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong deposed Empress Hu and established another Sun clan; Emperor Daizong deposed Empress Wang; Emperor Xianzong deposed Empress Wu and established another Wang clan; Sejong deposed Empress Zhang and established another Fang clan.
As for the reasons for the abolition, Empress Hu was forced to depose herself because she had no children at the suggestion of Xuande; Empress Wu was accused by Chenghua of asking eunuchs (saying that she entered the palace because her father bribed eunuchs); and Empress Zhang and Jiajing did not even give specific reasons. So if Wanli wants his empress Wang Clan to give way, is it very difficult?
Explanation: Empress Li (Wanli's biological mother) may have sympathized with her daughter-in-law, but if the emperor was resolute, Empress Li would inevitably favor her son, both politically and affectionately.
From this, we can see that Wanli has a more convenient, gentle and reasonable way to make Zhu Changxun the crown prince. The reason why he chose this not very reasonable way to fight with civilian officials was to use this matter to establish authority and expand his power.
But Wanli underestimated the strength of the civilian bureaucracy, and he also overestimated the strength of the cabinet. Although Shoufu ShinShixing was biased toward Wanli in this matter, he did not dare to openly oppose the civilian officials. Just secretly persuade the emperor that if he really makes up his mind, don't be afraid of the opposition of the civil officials, and stick to it will inevitably succeed (the author thinks that this is in the mud, and the cabinet does not dare to stand up to support it.
Coincidentally, this secret disclosure of Shen Shixing was deliberately made public by someone with a heart (Li Ke gave Luo Dahong in the matter). The imperial Chinese officials were furious that the cabinet ministers had conspired with the emperor and launched a fierce attack on the cabinet, and the first assistant Shen Shixing and the second auxiliary Xu Guo were forced to resign.
After that, the other cabinet ministers no longer dared to align themselves with the emperor and completely fell to the side of the civil officials. The weak Wanli did not want to give up, and he tried to recall Wang Xijue to the cabinet. Wang Xijue realized that Wanli could not win in this struggle, and he hoped that Wanli would withdraw quickly, otherwise it would be too late to regret it later.
He suggested that Wanli let the eldest son of the emperor recognize the empress as his mother, so that the eldest son would be the eldest son or that the three princes should be crowned kings at the same time and go out of the cabinet to study (reading in the ming dynasty meant recognizing the status of prince). Wang Xijue hoped that Wanli would withdraw more decently, because the reason why Wanli dragged the eldest son of the emperor was that he was not a concubine and his mother's status was too low.
However, the cabinet's vote was proposed to attract the opposition of the courtiers, denouncing Wang Xijue and Thin Mud, and in the face of strong pressure, Wang Xijue was forced to withdraw the vote. Wan Li still did not give in at this time, and what he said to Wang Xijue actually revealed the true purpose of this struggle between the monarchs and the courtiers.
He is a man of the people, and he is ashamed to be held hostage by his subordinates. If you admit that you are wrong, where do you leave it?
The reason why Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue could not resist the attacks of the civilian officials was not that they were incompetent, but that their power was too weak. Isn't the reason why their power is weak because of Wanli's own choice? If it was before, whether it was Jiajing or Longqing, or the Wanli before the pro-government, what waves could the civil officials set off in this matter?
Many people think that Wanli is more cowardly, like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, can't they just pick up a steel knife? It was not that Wan Li was cowardly and did not dare, but he knew in his heart that the civilian officials also had steel knives in their hands, which were bigger and longer than his.
By this time, the civil officials had taken control of almost all of the Ming army, and the commander-in-chief who had been temporarily appointed had become a permanent post. The patrol system was subordinate to the Duchayuan, and the Ming Dynasty inspectors were either directly dispatched by the Duchayuan or given him the title of imperial history. The actual power of the Yanguan clique is far greater than most people think.
In the end, Wanli, who could not see any hope of success, still lowered his head, and Wanli crowned the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo as crown prince in the twenty-ninth year. It is worth noting that Wanli specially sent people to thank Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, who had already returned to their hometown, and thanked them for their contributions to the establishment of the reserve.
Paintings by prince Li Li
Although these two did not give much support to Wanli for various reasons, for the lonely, a little support was also a great comfort.
After the defeat, Wanli was not willing to "govern by the Ning clan, and sacrifice to the widow". Like Xianzong, he chose non-violent non-cooperation to express his dissatisfaction. He no longer attended court meetings, received foreign officials, abolished the scriptures, and the imperial court's performance was basically handled through the cabinet, and only came out to preside over the situation when major matters arose in the imperial court.
Note: Although Wanli did not go to the dynasty for twenty years, it did not actually abandon government affairs. First of all, the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty in his period were not handled at the court meeting at all, and it can even be said that the government affairs did not require the intervention of the emperor (cabinet votes, the celebrant Phi Hong). It is a fact that Wanli does not fill vacancies in officials, but it is mainly aimed at officials. Since the Yan officials controlled the patrol system of local power, Wanli's move did weaken the imperial court's management of the local area. But this is not necessarily a bad thing for civilians.
The purpose of the civil official was achieved, and although the emperor did not do bodhisattvas, he was well-dressed and settled behind. So was the court quiet? They were all idle people, and soon there was a bigger storm. Wanli's grandson also proved with facts that it was not that the civil officials were too powerful, but that his grandfather's method was wrong or that the level was not good.