Although the Central Political Court was specially set up by the Yuan Dynasty, it was also established on the basis of absorbing the management institutions of the harem of the previous generation, especially the Middle Palace, and combining the characteristics of the Mongolian nomads themselves. Before its establishment, harem affairs were mostly handled by the Ear and its governing body. After its establishment, it was exclusively in charge of the wealth of the Middle Palace and other matters, and the system of ears still exists. The creation of the Central Political Court also reflected the traditional customs of nomads respecting women's property and status, and the role of the nomads in the establishment of the official system in the Yuan Dynasty also reflected the essence of the dual model of "inner Mongolia and foreign Han".
In the Central Official Office of the Yuan Dynasty, a similar institution to the Central Political Yuan was the Huizhengyuan established by Chengzong for his mother Kuo Kuozhen after he ascended the throne. In the 31st year of the Yuan Dynasty (129), Emperor Chengzong, in order to thank his mother Empress Kuo Kuozhen for supporting his accession to the throne, used the money and grain of the Zhan Shiyuan to select legal labor, and returned to the Empress Dowager's throne, and changed the Zhan Shiyuan to the Hui Zhengyuan to take control.
In the Yuan generation, the establishment of the Huizhengyuan basically depended on the existence of the Empress Dowager. We know that the Kublai Khan period was a period of sound and perfect official system in the Yuan Dynasty, "the ancestors established the Chen Dynasty, so they were the rulers of a generation, and the scale was grand. ”
The reason why the Zhongzhengyuan (Zhongyufu) was established in the Chengzong Dynasty was, on the one hand, the natural result of the inherent needs for a complete political system; On the other hand, it is also related to the actions of Chengzong, after Chengzong ascended the throne, the Boyuewu clan Bruhan gained power and gradually participated in political affairs, especially after Dade was officially canonized as empress, granted the canon, and treasure in October of the third year, Chengzong changed the Zhongyufu to the Zhongzhengyuan the following year, and upgraded its rank to the second grade, becoming one of the fifteen central courts of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Central Political Yuan has a huge organization and many subordinate organs, and there are as many as ten organs of the third product alone. Zhong Ruisi, who holds the queen's treasure book; Uchishoji was in charge of the craftsman's construction repair and other services, as well as the storage of agricultural and animal husbandry products, providing meals and uniforms to the empress, and preparing the empress's gifts.
In addition, there are other related institutions, such as the Shang Gong Bureau, which is in charge of the "Battle of Miscellaneous Works", and the Yulie Chi Bureau, which is "in charge of the matter of tailoring and sewing"; The Drinking Bureau, the Rank Zheng Seven Grades, the Brewing Ceremony, for the Inner House, and the sacrificial banquet to enjoy the gifts given by the guests; Liaoyang and other places of gold, silver, iron and metallurgy are promoted to the division, rank the fourth product, and take charge of gold and silver gangue and other courses. It is divided into the province of Zhongshu and the Central Political Yuan.
Some of the subordinate organs of the Central Political Yuan were originally set up, and after the establishment of the Central Political Yuan, many were added one after another, so that it became a large-scale bureaucracy, which also reflected the characteristics of the Mengyuan bureaucracy "set up according to things".
During Emperor Shun's reign, he once took 100,000 salt and introduced it into the Central Political Yuan. It is precisely because the Central Political Yuan has a lot of property in its hands, and sometimes it will also divert its property for other purposes. During the calendar years, Emperor Wenzong had transported the reserve grain in Jiangnan of the General Administration of Finance under the Central Political Yuan to Dadu for working expenses.
It can also be seen that the Central Political Yuan has huge grain reserves and large assets. Most of the chiefs of the Central Political Yuan were served by close attendants or eunuchs, mainly Mongolian or Seme. The selection of officials in the Yuan Dynasty "According to the 'constitution' formulated by Kublai Khan, the three major systems of the Privy Council, the Imperial History Platform, and the Xuanzhengyuan had to choose their own personnel.
In addition, the subordinates of the Central Political Yuan, such as Xuanxuan, Tirimachi and Bi Lanchi, are mostly selected from the three examinations of the Yamen and are selected from the nine-rank officials, and are related to the color and Han people. At some times, the Central Political Yuan even became a tool for the empress to accumulate wealth and interfere in government.
After the Zhu and Zhang cases were discovered in the seventh year of Dade, the imperial court immediately ordered Dong Shixuan, the right Cheng of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, to go to Beijing without Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan's goods, and in addition to giving each of them 60 hectares of land to Bald Chi and Tarahai, all the property of Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan Jiangnan belonged to the Central Political Yuan. In the first year of the Great Year, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province was specially set up to manage the "Jiangnan submerged assets, and collect the funds assigned by them for internal reserves", and Lu Kezhi was appointed as the chief administrator of the capital.
The Jiankang and other financial divisions under the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Financial Endowment General Administration were in charge of the Jiankang Road Record Department, Liyang Prefecture, Taiping Road Fanchang County and other eight roads and 15 prefecture divisions and counties, "cutting off Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan's money and grain"; In Songjiang Prefecture (present-day Shanghai) alone, "in the seven years of Dade, Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan's fields were cut off, and the two taxes in autumn and summer were paid, with a total of more than 100,000 stones of grain." ”
Therefore, some scholars believe that the "Zhu and Zhang case" was planned by Empress Brahan, and the economic purpose was the property of Zhu and Zhang. But there is no doubt that the assets of the Zhu and Zhang families did sufficient the treasury and the Central Political Court, and also provided part of the economic basis for Brahan's later intervention in government and even his struggle for the throne. Although the Central Political Yuan was the institution in charge of the property of the central palace, because of its close relationship with the empress, at some times, the central political governor would also participate in the political struggle of the palace.
After the death of Chengzong, Empress Brahan wanted to obey the government and establish Ananda, the king of Anxi, and the envoys of the Central Political Court at that time, Timid Lie and Daoxing, belonged to the latter faction that firmly supported Bruhan. After the defeat, Timid Lie and others were condemned together with Zuo Cheng Prime Minister Ah Hutai. As the institution in charge of wealth under the empress, the Central Political Yuan was also very large because of the wide source and large amount of the empress's assets, although the division of labor was fine, there were many overlaps, which also reflected the serious phenomenon of redundant officials in the Yuan Dynasty.
The selection of officials in the Central Political Yuan, like other institutions, is controlled by the province. Empress Mengyuan enjoys privileges in political affairs and economy, and her status is very high, and the Central Political Court is often only for the empress's personal pleasure, but there are also some empresses who are thrifty by nature and are not good at squandering.
From the perspective of name and function, the Central Political Yuan not only has the functions and powers of the traditional bureaucracy of the Han dynasty, but also deeply imprints the characteristics of the Mongolian nation itself. Since the late period of the Shizu Dynasty, the phenomenon of indiscriminate bureaucracy and promotion of official ranks has appeared, and it has further developed during the Chengzong period, reaching its peak during the Wuzong and Renzong periods.
The Central Political Court also came into being with this trend, and it is greatly related to the actions of Empress Brahan, who was powerful and favored by Chengzong at that time, and it is understandable that the Central Political Yuan, the institution serving the Central Palace, was set up at this time. Its establishment also reflected the indiscriminate establishment of institutions by the Mongolian Yuan aristocracy to their own preferences and for their own services, so that the phenomenon of overlapping functions in the Yuan Dynasty bureaucracy was very serious.
In fact, after the establishment of the Central Political Yuan, it was also opposed by ministers. Zheng Jiefu, who was the guardian of Chengzong in the seventh year of Dade, pointed out in his "Taiping Strategy" that "the Yamen are complicated, things are not one, ten sheep and nine shepherds, do not know what to follow", "The Central Government Yuan is established under the throne of the Zheng Palace, and the craftsmen are subordinate to the Jinyu Mansion... The leaders of various departments are all over the world, each in charge of each other, and does not control each other", and attacked the government and many other bureaucratic organs for overlapping functions, resulting in low efficiency.
The concept of the term "Jiangnan" has been different in successive dynasties, and the geographical limitation of Jiangnan in the Yuan Dynasty mainly refers to the three Jiangnan provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Huguang, as well as the northern part of Henan Province according to the Yuan people, that is, the territory controlled by the Southern Song Dynasty before the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, which roughly includes the area south of the Yangtze River in present-day Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
By the first month of the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1276), the Song court sent envoys to surrender, and Lin'an was immediately occupied by the Yuan army. By February of the 16th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1279), the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty were completely wiped out in Shan Mountain, Guangdong, and the Southern Song Dynasty was finally destroyed. Jiangnan was the most economically and culturally developed region in the Yuan Dynasty and was highly valued by the rulers.
It can be seen that the Mongolian Yuan rulers have different policies and attitudes towards the north and south, and coupled with the failure of the early Yuan dynasty, it is difficult for the southerners to gain something in the career path. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were not very comfortable with the newly annexed southern lands, and after unifying the whole country, they continued to take some measures to consolidate their rule in Jiangnan.
In the 26th year of the Yuan (1289), those who scattered the people of the Song and Zhao clans living in Jiangnan to Jingshi; Hundreds of thousands of newly attached troops were transferred to various towns, and some were transferred to the front lines of Japan, Annan and other countries; The control over the civilians in Jiangnan was stricter, and until the first year, several edicts were issued to enforce the prohibition of Jiangnan weapons, and "those who have bow and arrow weapons in the people will be severely punished." In the 26th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1289), Taifu and Yushi Dafu Yuxi Timur said to Shizu that "there are more than 400 thieves in Jiangnan".
In the following year, he gave the governor of the province, Hufu, and commanded the army of a province. The strike of the Privy Council is also a reflection of the stability in the Jiangnan region. The Imperial History Tai of Jiangnan Provinces was also ordered in the first year of Dade (1297) to supervise the three provinces of Jiangnan. Shipping was also more mature and established during this period, especially after the case of Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan, two grain transport households around the sixth year of Dade, was handled, and in December of the seventh year, the imperial court adjusted the shipping agency, merging the original 30,000 households of grain transportation by sea into one, with six members of 10,000 households, and shipping could still operate normally.
In November of the first year of Yuan Zhen, he set up the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Gold and Silver Dongye Transit Envoy to be in charge of taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The water conservancy in the Jiangnan area, especially in the Taihu Lake Basin, was ungoverned, and during the Dade period, the Dushui Yongtian Division was set up to manage it.
After Chengzong came to the throne, after nearly two decades of development, the Jiangnan region enjoyed social stability and economic prosperity. As soon as Chengzong took the throne, he immediately dismissed the Battle of Annan, allowing the people of Jiangnan who had suffered from the battle to rest and recuperate. "The first ministers of the Southern Lands were attached, the new officials were the new people, the official palace had many difficult battles, and the encroachment on the fishing, and the arrogant devourers took advantage of the situation, and those who were shorter than the supporters led the destruction of the family. ...... After Yuanzhen and Dade, the world was cleared and people were rested. ”
"Chengzong ascended the throne... At that time, the imperial court abided by the law and did not dare to change orders slightly. The four sides are safe, the conscription is resting, the southeast is abundant, and those who travel thousands of miles do not collect food, and there is no or doubt. "After Shizu pacified Jiangnan, Jiangnan tax collection continued to follow the Southern Song and Song tax laws, but the summer tax was only levied in Jiangdong and western Zhejiang, which had a better economic foundation, and the rest of the regions were exempted from autumn tax.
In the second year of Emperor Chengzong's reign (1296), the Jiangnan summer tax was fully levied, which was first implemented in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, and finally implemented in the third year of Dade (1299). Although the amount of summer tax is not very large, the total number of summer tax banknotes in the three provinces of Jiangnan in the first year of the Tianli calendar (1328) is only 19,273 banknotes and 33 banknotes, but it is after all the embodiment of the perfection of the tax system.
Moreover, during the Chengzong period, Jiangnan summer tax was also exempted many times. At the beginning of Seongjong, the amount of grain shipped by sea with "sufficient reserves in Gyeonggi" also decreased significantly compared with the Sezu period, and it was not until the sixth year of Daedeok that the number of grain transported gradually reached the number of the end of the Yuan Dynasty. An important symbol of the economic recovery and development of the Jiangnan region is the increase in population, because of the significant increase in the population of Jiangnan, the imperial court promoted many densely populated counties to prefectures during the Yuan Zhen period, and "more than forty counties in the middle and upper counties of the southern provinces of Li Jiangnan are prefectures".
Moreover, the imperial court also began to attach importance to the talented people in Jiangnan, "among the great virtues, I am asked for the wise Jiangnan, pass Kuanglu, and watch the waterfall in the mountains." Emperor Chengzong also adopted a policy of respecting Confucianism and giving preferential treatment to Confucianism, which led to a change in the attitude of the Jiangnan Shi people towards the imperial court, gradually changing from the previous resistance to accepting or serving the imperial court. Because Emperor Chengzong has been in the north for many years and deeply influenced by the old Mongolian customs, his policy towards the southerners in the Jiangnan region basically follows the conventions of the ancestor period.
According to Mr. Uematsu's "Research on the Social History of Jiangnan Political Affairs in the Yuan Dynasty", there were a total of 16 prime ministers in Jiangnan Sanhang Province between 1273 and 1306, while the number of Nan people was only 19 (only 12.2%).
In fact, in the seventh year of Dade (1303), the case of Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan was discovered, and not only the prime minister of Zhongshu Province was implicated, but also "the ministers of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province were particularly affected." The case also obviously had a certain impact on the career of officials in the Jiangnan region and the attitude of the imperial court towards the Jiangnan bureaucracy, and the southerners were further excluded. After the case, only Yao Xiao served in Jiangxi politics in the ninth year of Dade (130).
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong to Emperor Wenzong (1307-1332), only one Nanren appeared among the prime ministers of the three provinces in Jiangnan. The reason for this is that the Shizu Dynasty appointed some high-ranking officials to enlist the old bureaucrats of the Southern and Southern Song Dynasties or the Haomin of Jiangnan, and with the consolidation of their rule in Jiangnan, these high-ranking officials and wealthy people were bound to be attacked, killed, or deposed, and gradually moved away from the highest ruling class in Jiangnan.
Of course, in the local bureaucratic system at the road, prefecture, prefecture, and county levels, the Nan people still occupy a certain weight, and the Nan people can become officials through the way of "entering the post from officials", and landlords and wealthy people can even enter the government through buying officials. In June of the third year of Dade (1299), the imperial court decreed that "from now on, the Han people should be used for Han people" because of the official of Fujian Prefecture. The Yuan court also did not relax its vigilance against hidden dangers in the Jiangnan region, and in the first year of Yuan Zhen, he also "decreed the Tianqing Temple of Jiangnan Zhulu as a Xuanmiao Temple and destroyed the god lord of Song Taizu."
The new annexed armies of the Southern Song Dynasty were still in various places, and the defenders of the three provinces of Jiangnan were also re-merged and reorganized. In the third year of Dade (1299), the imperial court sent an envoy to Xuanfu, and Hong Junxiang sent an envoy to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to ask about the people's suffering; Qiannu served the edict to make Huaidong and West ask the people whether they could do so. Qiannu was diligent in consulting visits, promoting benefits and eliminating harm, and also played 30 things cheaper for the military and the people, and it was often adopted.
All go to the Gangnam area. There is no doubt that these two envoys to Xuanfu more or less improved the living conditions of the common people in Jiangnan and urged the officials to better perform their duties. During the Chengzong period, the policy towards the Jiangnan region was slightly relaxed, which also eased the contradictions in Jiangnan and the Jiangnan region also developed by leaps and bounds.
During this period, except for Huguanghang Province and parts of Jiangxi, the Jiangnan region was basically stable. "Zhao, He, Vine, Yong, Qi, Quan, Heng, Liu, Ji, Gan, Nan'an, and other places have stolen the stolen hair, and the military and civilian officials are not strictly prepared, and the words are not enough, and they are all responsible." After nearly two decades of recovery and development, and Jiangnan was not greatly affected by the war, although the process of land acquisition by the landlords and the rich class did not slow down with the change of dynasties, and the life of ordinary peasants did not improve much, compared with the Yuan period, the society was stable, thieves were few, and the regional economy developed rapidly.
The Yuan Dynasty was a period of particularly frequent natural disasters in the history of the mainland, and the floods and droughts in the Jiangnan region were extremely serious during the Dade period. In the fifth year of Dade, "in June and Pingjiang, there were four roads of great water, with grain of 200,000 stone towns", "in autumn and July, the day was obscure, the storm rose in the northeast, the rain and hail were both blowing, the rivers and lakes overflowed, from Tong, Tai, and Chongming in the east, and Zhenzhou in the west, and the people were innumerable to the dead, with more than 87,000 stones of rice."
The natural disasters of Dade Bingwu (1306) and Ding Wei (1307) caused widespread famine in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were even worse, "it was the month, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, Jiangxi, Henan, and Lianghuai counties were hungry, and corn was folded in the salt and tea class banknotes, and officials were sent to provide relief".
Taking Zhenjiang as an example, "First, since Dade Bingwu and Ding Wei, the county is still suffering from the epidemic, more than half of the peasants have died, and 870 hectares of land have been deserted, leaving nowhere to go. "Although the government has also adopted various policies such as providing relief, grain, reducing taxes, opening mountains to listen to the people's harvest, implementing envoys to appease, and setting up pharmacies to benefit the people, the impact and impact of natural disasters and the famine caused by them on ordinary people in traditional societies is still difficult to eliminate.
In the summer of 1306, a large-scale famine occurred, and "the official lent rice to the people, and lost the warehouse in October." In the autumn, and the harvest does not go on, the price is twice as expensive as the loan, and the loser is twice as bad. The people repented and wept: 'It is better to be healed than to die.' 'Gong (Hao Ziming) suggested: The warehouse of next winter's loss. As a result, the people are relieved, such as more loans. ”
It can be seen that sometimes, the impact of disasters (famine) and famines can not be solved by relying solely on the relief of the government, but also requires some wise officials to truly be considerate of the people's feelings and relieve the people's worries, which was the case in traditional society and is the same now. Generally speaking, compared with the early Yuan Dynasty period, the Jiangnan area during the Chengzong period was socially stable and economically developed; However, the status of the Nanren still did not change significantly, and Dade was even more suppressed after seven years; However, the attitude of the people of Jiangnan towards the national dynasty also quietly changed, and many scholars began to accept the Yuan dynasty; The imperial court also took various measures to stimulate economic development and maintain social stability; Natural disasters are still frequent, and the impact on the people of Jiangnan is difficult to eliminate.
Because Yuan Chengzong spent a long time in Mobei to Fu the army in his early years, he was deeply influenced by the old Mongolian customs, so after he came to the throne, he was more inclined to the Mongol nobility, and the process of "sinicization" of the Mongols was also hindered to a certain extent. At the beginning of Chengzong's accession to the throne, he "ruled with an arch", and he could also exert himself to govern and implement benevolent government. For example, Jiangnan has repeatedly reduced or reduced taxes, set up bureaus to benefit the people in various roads, and set up envoys twice to declare appeasement.
During this period (129-1307), the Yuan Dynasty achieved remarkable results in domestic and foreign affairs, the Jiangnan region became increasingly stable, and the northwest region also reached a "peace treaty" in the eighth year of Dade, and only the southwest region had some wars, but it had also ended victoriously; It ended large-scale foreign wars and established normal diplomatic relations with Japan and other countries.