"for what?"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "I conquered the world, but Hu Weiyong seized power wantonly and promoted people who were loyal to him. All the officials were obedient to him. The six memorials were sent to the prime minister's house first. Hu Weiyong read them before giving them to me for review... ...He treated me like a child and fooled me!!"
Long Yan was furious.
It frightened Li Qingzhao and Lin Daiyu.
They took a look and saw that Chu Zhen was sitting alone, unaffected by Emperor Hongwu's anger, and they felt relieved.
Just think of Zhu Yuanzhang as an old man who knows his destiny, rather than an emperor sitting on a dragon throne.
"Hu Weiyong deceives his superiors and is arbitrary to his subordinates, so he deserves to die, right?"
Chu Zhen smiled.
"Not only does he deserve to die, I also want to get rid of his followers as well!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's words have no deterrent power in modern times, but Chu Zhen knew that once he returned to his time and space and sat in the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty and said these words, the entire Ming Dynasty's civil and military officials would kneel down in fear.
"But you still haven't said why you abolished the prime minister system."
Chu Zhen took a sip of tea and said, "Is it to consolidate the imperial power?"
"imperial power?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this term for the first time, he disagreed: "The emperor has his own destiny, the emperor is ordered by heaven, and all officials are ordered by the king. How can there be imperial power?"
"Without imperial power, how can one coerce the emperor to order the princes? Where can one make three concessions and three concessions?"
Chu Zhen's words struck a chord in Li Shimin's heart.
His father, Li Yuan, had just staged a drama of "three resignations and three concessions" with Yang You, and finally became the emperor.
Chu Zhen said: "In my opinion, the abolition of the prime minister system means that the power of the prime minister to control hundreds of officials is attributed to the imperial power, and the emperor also serves as the prime minister."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, nodded reluctantly and said: "I am an emperor and do not need a prime minister!"
"Let me ask you, how many hours are there in a day?"
"Hmph! Do you think I don't know what you want to say?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not fall into his trap and immediately replied: "I have the energy to handle court affairs!"
"Ha ha!"
Chu Zhen couldn't help laughing and said with a smile: "You are a workaholic just like Zhu Di who conquered the world. You spend eight hours a day reviewing memorials, but what about the other emperors? They have lived in deep palaces since they were young, pampered, and the world is peaceful. How can you still Do you want to expect the emperor to be diligent in his duties? Being able to go to court is already considered a good thing."
"I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty... no, those grandsons don't even go to court?!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked.
"There were some emperors of the Ming Dynasty who were cultivators, some who were carpenters, and some who were imprisoned and imprisoned, but they did not go to court... In the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor did not go to court for one hundred years."
"Here, these turtle grandsons...the turtle grandsons born to the fourth child! I will destroy the Ming Dynasty when I get back! I will save you from being angry even after you die!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned red, and his beard was so angry that his beard fluttered.
Li Shimin thought about it. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was remonstrated by his officials when he did not go to court for more than ten days. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor did not go to court for a hundred years...
Chu Zhen glanced at Li Qingzhao with a smile. Mrs. Li's eyebrows were crooked and she whispered, "The officials of the Song Dynasty went to court every five days."
"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not go to court because he cared about Zhu Yuanzhang." Chu Zhen said.
"Putting your blame on me again?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was still angry and looked over with a glare.
He might as well be blamed for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. If he had not conquered the world, there would have been no such thing as the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and those descendants would not have had to go to court! !
"Historical records state that in September of the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Emperor Hongwu appointed four auxiliary officials. In the fifteenth year, he appointed several fifth-grade minor officials as bachelors to serve as special attendants and advisers."
"The Ming Dynasty cabinet took shape from then on."
After Chu Zhen finished speaking, he paused for a while and continued: "Although the cabinet scholar is only a fifth-grade official, according to the law, the closer you are to the emperor, the closer you are to the center of power. Even a fifth-grade official It can make all officials bow their heads."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and thought deeply.
Chu Zhen said again: "For example, Shangshu was just a minor official in charge of the emperor's books in the Qin Dynasty. He was no different from the other ministers such as ministers of clothing and food. They were all just ministers in the palace.
However, as the emperors of the Han Dynasty did not trust the external court, that is, the civil and military officials in the court, the emperor appointed people around him and asked ministers to draft political orders.
Gradually, the minister in charge of power became the prime minister and the head of the officials.
In the Tang Dynasty, because of Li Shimin, the left and right servants of Shangshu Province and their titles were the same as Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and they were equivalent to prime ministers. "
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned again.
Li Shimin, who was mentioned, was also thinking, why did the left and right servants have to add the title "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhang Shi" to be the prime minister?
He is now the minister, and his adjutants are servants.
But he was the king of Qin, and the ministerial order was only a false position, and the prime minister was still Shangshu Zuopu She Pei Ji.
Chu Zhen continued: "The Ming Dynasty abolished the prime minister and established a cabinet. Just like the minister of the Han Dynasty, the cabinet closest to the emperor also became the head of the hundred officials and was called the chief minister of the cabinet."
"The chief minister of the cabinet has become the prime minister again?!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's heart dropped.
I dare you to put up with Hu Weiyong for so many years, but in the end the prime minister was still not deposed.
"No, the chief minister of the cabinet is the head of the officials, but his power is far less than that of the prime minister."
Chu Zhen said: "The prime minister controls hundreds of officials and can appoint people below the fifth rank——"
"It's the sixth grade!" Zhu Yuanzhang corrected.
"Okay, it's the sixth rank. The prime minister can appoint sixth-rank officials, and all officials pay attention to the kindness of knowing and meeting people. As a result, the promoted officials only follow the prime minister's lead, and then form a party, which is one of the sources of party disputes."
"That's right!" Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to slap his thigh. He just couldn't see all the officials headed by Hu Weiyong and ignoring him as the emperor.
Chu Zhen continued: "The chief minister of the cabinet does not have this power and cannot control officials, so he is not the prime minister.
There is only one Zhang Juzheng. He is the emperor's teacher. He also has the power of approving red papers from the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and has the power to vote for the cabinet. Finally, he uses the examination method to intimidate all officials. Therefore, Zhang Juzheng is not the prime minister, but his power is the second among the prime ministers. One person can do everything except depose and establish the emperor. "
Zhu Yuanzhang's scalp was numb.
Where did this Ju Zheng come from? Is he the number one prime minister of all time?
He deposed the prime minister, but the result was that the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty was the best in history?
"...What is the right of the Supervisor of Ceremonies to approve red awards?"
Zhu Yuanzhang held it in for a long time before the problem came up.
Listening to the history of the Ming Dynasty made him feel aggrieved! !
Chu Zhen smiled and said: "Because the chief minister of the cabinet is not the prime minister, the Ming Emperor has great power, so what is the name of the emperor's seal of instructions and memorials?"
"For formal edicts, use a jade seal, and for ordinary memorials, just stamp them with my seal."
Zhu Yuanzhang replied with a bad expression on his face.
"Yes, that's what the eunuchs in charge of seals do. They seal and write inscriptions on behalf of the emperor. They are called eunuchs in charge of rituals and eunuchs in charge of seals. Their status is higher than that of eunuchs holding the pen. These two eunuchs, together with the chief minister of the cabinet, are equivalent to the prime minister."
Chu Zhen said: "The votes are planned to be returned to the cabinet, and Zhu Biao is returned to the eunuchs. It can be said that the emperor's throne in the Ming Dynasty is as stable as Mount Tai, and he can be in power without going to court."
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression finally softened, and he smiled smugly: "I deposed the prime minister to be of some use!"
Originally he thought that deposing the prime minister was a clever move, but when Chu Zhen said this, he only dared to say that it was "somewhat useful."
"Back to the previous topic."
Chu Zhen took a sip of tea and said, "What is the purpose of deposing the prime minister?"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned again and began to think deeply.
"Consolidating imperial power? But in my opinion, this led to the Ming Dynasty emperor being indifferent to political affairs, able to hold power without going to court, and manipulating eunuchs and ministers at will.
but? But the world will not change for the better because the emperor takes power. The emperor holds great power in the Forbidden City, but the officials in the provinces are amassing money, annexing land, oppressing and exploiting the people, which ultimately leads to the death of Ming Dynasty in Wanli! "
Wanli did not go to court for thirty years, and was praised as having great power.
However, the government was so desolate and corrupt that Chongzhen was unable to recover.
