The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, as the organ in charge of the affairs of the palace, undertook the clothing, food, housing, and transportation of members of the imperial family. As a result, officials of the Ministry of the Interior have a privileged position unmatched by ordinary officials and can be invited to be favored at any time to obtain the opportunity for promotion. Moreover, the functions and powers of the Ministry of the Interior were often not bound by the state system, but acted according to the will and norms of the emperor.
The Ministry of internal affairs is the Erpin Yamen, whose highest official is the Minister in Charge of the Interior Ministry. This official said that many readers are familiar with it, but what exactly does the Minister of the Interior do, and what are the special treatments? It is estimated that it is difficult for readers who do not know the history of the Qing Dynasty to know, so this article will focus on a minister of internal affairs.
The specific duties of the Minister of the Interior Are: to handle the palace sacrifices, the ceremonies of the pilgrimage, the concubines, the prime minister, the princess, the princess, the princess, the palace banquet, the monitoring of the cabinet treasures, the palace and the Yuanmingyuan duty, inspection, appointment and removal, introduction of officials of the government, etc.
It can be said that the scope of work of the Minister of the Interior is very wide, which is also the fundamental reason why the Qing court set up a number of Ministers of the Interior. However, in general, the number of ministers of internal affairs during the Kang and Yong dynasties generally did not exceed 5, and after Qianlong, there were more than 5 people, and at most 10 people.
From the duration of his term of office, Qianlong's previous ministers of internal affairs served a longer term, and since then they have been frequently replaced. Because with the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty, the corruption of officials was serious, which was one of the main reasons for frequent turnover. Of course, there are also individual cases, such as Debao, the minister of internal affairs who was born in the Qianlong period, who served in office for nearly thirty years, and his son Yinghe also served as minister of internal affairs for more than twenty years in the Jiaqing Dynasty.
According to the Qing system, not only did the number of ministers of the Interior Ministry not have a uniform standard, but the status of the ministers was also the same, and there was no distinction between superior and inferior. However, many ministers of the Interior do not have only one position, but often hold other positions, so they have to be assigned shifts according to their original grades.
Therefore, there is often a foreman among the ministers of the Interior Ministry, which is similar to the situation in the Military Aircraft Division. The foreman has more power than other ministers, and if the minister is strong, then others are more dominant. For example, during his tenure as Minister of internal affairs, he had the final say in everything, after all, he was a university scholar and the chief military minister, and with the blessing of this status, he was naturally superior to others.
However, there is also a special situation, such as the equal status of several ministers of the Interior Ministry, which will cause unclear positions. For example, in the fifteenth year of Jiaqing, at that time, there was a special request to the emperor because the ranks of the ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were entangled, and the Jiaqing Emperor personally pointed out the order of several ministers at that time.
With the decline of the Qing Dynasty, the original ruling order was gradually undermined, and as far as the minister of internal affairs spoke ill of it, there was also corruption after Jia and Dao. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were more ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were not able to do enough, and with the decline of the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it also provided an opportunity for the rise of the internal supervision forces.
Originally, the eunuchs in the palace were under the direct control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and before Daoguang, we rarely saw the powerful inner prisons. Although this is related to the suppression of eunuch power in the Qing Dynasty, it is also inseparable from the management of the Internal Affairs Office. During the Tongguang period, eunuchs such as Li Lianying suddenly emerged, and their power had actually surpassed that of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
However, after all, the minister of the Interior Ministry was a slave of the imperial family, and he had never been awarded to the Han people, even among the flag people, only the royal cloak could be elected. Thus, the Minister of the Interior also has some privileges that other Ministers of Ministries do not have. If there is something, it can be played at any time, and there is no time limit, while the minister of the ministry can only play it in the early morning. That is, the so-called "former ministers of the imperial court, military aircraft ministers, and ministers of the interior ministry have always played things without any time."
For example, whenever there is a festive festival, such as the emperor's holy birthday, palace celebrations, etc., the minister of the interior can enter the palace to congratulate him. Other ministers are required to celebrate in accordance with the rules and regulations in accordance with the prescribed procedures.
The reason why the emperor of the Qing Dynasty attached importance to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and gave privileges to the ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was two main reasons: First, the imperial family affairs were family affairs, and the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were ministers, and they were different from foreign officials, their duties were different, and the treatment was naturally different; second, the emperor believed that the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were sincerely serving them, while other ministers were not necessarily, and there may be suspicions of coping with errands.
It can be seen from this that although the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are all subjects of the emperor, in the eyes of the emperor, this distinction between the inside and the outside is not the same, and the internal and external distances, and the internal and external alienations shown are obvious.