In the feudal society of ancient China, the imperial power is supreme, the emperor will never allow any restriction on the existence of the imperial power, they try their best to transfer the power from the local to the central government, and then from the hands of other powerful ministers to their own hands, the emperor and the courtiers are more of a power confrontation and suspicion.
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, China had experienced the official eunuch system that had been formed by countless dynasties, which was changed by Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, who abolished the chancellor, took back the rights of the courtiers, and later established a cabinet body.
Since then, imperial power has continued to evolve and reach its peak. By the time of Emperor Ming, the cabinet system was maturing and the power was growing.
Cabinet official of the Ming Dynasty
The cabinet was originally formed to preserve imperial power and restrain courtiers. However, as the system continued to improve, the cabinet became more and more valued, and its rights continued to grow.
During the Ming Dynasty, the development of eunuchs also reached a historical peak, and they held more power than any previous dynasty.
Eunuchs and cabinets had the vague possibility of restraining the imperial power, but the emperor could not allow them to develop and endanger his rule.
Eunuch (stills)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > the beginning of the cabinet</h1>
Speaking of the establishment of the cabinet, it is necessary to go back to the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, who worked hard from a grass people to an emperor, and he valued this throne and this rule more than anyone. So it was also under his hands that the imperial power was constantly strengthening, but at the beginning, the power of the development of the phase power was very large.
The power of Hu Weiyong, the chancellor, threatened Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial power, and Zhu Yuanzhang could not let Hu Weiyong go, so he executed Hu Weiyong and a group of powerful ministers led by him.
The official positions of the chancellor and the zhongshu province were abolished, and the affairs of the court fell to the emperor. The emperor could not manage the disposition, so he set up a cabinet as an institution to assist him in handling the government.
Hu Weiyong (stills)
At the beginning of the establishment of the cabinet, there was no power, the cabinet only served the emperor, sorting out the emperor's wishes into documents and delegating them to various departments, and the actual power was still in the hands of the emperor.
However, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the emperor reused the ministers of the cabinet and let them also participate in the handling of affairs, and from this time on, the power of the cabinet began to expand.
At this time, it was basically the emperor who approved important government affairs, while some unimportant ones were approved by eunuchs and cabinet ministers. At this time, the imperial power had gradually divided.
Eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > imperial power</h1>
Although the emperor's burden was reduced, a series of efforts by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to abolish the chancellor in order to regain power were in vain.
At that time, most of the solutions of the song were from the cabinet ministers, and most of the instructions issued by the emperor came from eunuchs, and the power of eunuchs and cabinets had expanded to the point of affecting imperial power. Subtly, it even had an impact on the will of the imperial power.
They could largely decide the affairs of the imperial court, and the emperor could only see the chapters they had screened, and even the decisions on affairs were influenced by the cabinet, and the imperial power was sidelined. After Emperor Myeongsejong ascended the throne, the first problem to be solved was to weaken the power of eunuchs and cabinets.
Zhu Yuanzhang
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > weaken the rights of eunuchs</h1>
The rights of eunuchs were originally given by the emperor, and the growth of their rights was also because they participated in the selection process of the cabinet, and it was very simple to take back their rights, and it would not have much impact on the operation of the government, but the emperor's burden would be heavier.
Soon after Emperor Ming ascended the throne, he began to rectify the eunuchs' power, and the blow to the eunuchs was very large. Eunuchs do not have the support of the family, and if there is no emperor, they have no way back and retreat, so "strict rule of officials" is the best solution.
Ming Shizong
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > the right to handle the cabinet</h1>
Emperor Ming's actions frightened the eunuchs, who told them to keep to themselves and not dare to interfere in the affairs of the dynasty as before. His approach had a clear effect.
But for the expansion of the power of the cabinet, it is not so simple to solve. Because the cabinet is different from the eunuchs, the handling of eunuchs will not affect the operation of the imperial court, but the cabinet is closely related to the affairs of the imperial court.
If the rulers of the feudal period wanted to govern the country well, they had to listen to the feedback of the people, but the people and the emperor were separated by layers of officials, and their feedback had to go through the layers of officials to convey to the emperor. The cabinet is the last hurdle of the people's feedback transmission.
Without the assistance of the cabinet, the emperor could not access the most central government affairs, but all the government affairs had to fall to the emperor and wait for him to deal with.
More importantly, the current cabinet can no longer be easily abolished. If it is like rectifying eunuchs, it will cause the collapse of the imperial governance system, and the contradiction between the imperial power and the bureaucratic class will deteriorate sharply, with irreparable consequences.
Wenyuan Pavilion, the seat of the Ming Dynasty cabinet
What's more, during the reign of Emperor Ming Shizong, there were constant wars and chaos, and there were many political affairs, and he alone could not solve them.
Therefore, Myeongsejong decided to do the opposite, increasing the power of the cabinet before weakening their powers.
At that time, the head of the cabinet wrote a letter requesting that the cabinet be granted the power to select officials, but Myeongsejong agreed.
And after this, the management of cabinet power was continuously strengthened, and the first assistant of the cabinet was reused, and at this time, the first assistant of the cabinet already had the ability to abuse power.
Wanli's first assistant Zhang Juzheng
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > administer the cabinet</h1>
The power is concentrated in the head of the cabinet, which is equivalent to the position of the chancellor of the previous dynasties, so that the emperor only needs to manage the first assistant to control the cabinet, and returns to the original, the opposition between imperial power and xiang power.
At this time, the head of the cabinet was single-minded in supporting Ming Shizong and had always acted according to the will of Ming Shizong. In this way, the power returned to the hands of The Ming Dynasty.
This power conversion process was very cumbersome, but Myeongsejong played a big game of chess in order to prevent the collapse of the imperial system.
The first is to select an official worthy of his trust, to strengthen the management of cabinet power, and to concentrate the power of the cabinet on one person who obeys the emperor's orders. Equivalent to the emperor's indirect control over the cabinet's power, the cabinet's power returned to the emperor's hands.
Eunuch power is on the rise
This reform of Emperor Ming restored the power of the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty, and also laid the foundation for later rule, effectively preventing the fall of imperial power. Although the power of the cabinet has been strengthened, there is no need to worry, the threat of the cabinet to the imperial power has a positive significance in preventing the intensification of the contradictions in the class issue.
Since ancient times, the struggle for imperial power and xiang power has been continuous, even if Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the xiang, eventually there would be a similar xiang, with the first assistant of "xiang power", and the rectification decision of Ming Shizong made the imperial power re-concentrated in the hands of the emperor. It's a delicate balance.