The military minister system of the Ming Dynasty was different from that of civil servants, which was mainly reflected in the central departments.
In terms of the setting up of central agencies, there are six civil servants, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, various temples, courtyards, supervisors, and later the cabinet. However, there is always only one central agency for military ministers, which is the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army.
The Governor's Office of the Fifth Army is in charge of military affairs, commanding the various military divisions and garrison posts. It is mainly responsible for selecting generals to send troops to suppress rebellions, training officers and soldiers, managing farmland, military status, and recommending middle- and high-level generals.
In contrast, the Ministry of War controlled the power of deploying troops and appointing low-level generals. The two checked and balanced each other and unified military power in the hands of the emperor.
During the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Five Military Governor's Offices was actually being continuously weakened. This phenomenon had begun to appear gradually during the Zhengtong years.
The most obvious point is that since Sanyang came to power, fewer and fewer official seal officials have been selected for the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
The reasons for this are complicated. There are elements of Sanyang deliberately suppressing his relatives, and there are also elements of avoiding suspicion.
After all, Sanyang was already at the peak of his power in the court. If he were to select the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army Commander-in-Chief, it would inevitably make people suspicious of seeking military power.
Therefore, during the Sanyang era, there was no increase in any actual military ministers at the level of governor-general. They were either powerful but without positions, like Guo Sheng, who directly took charge of the affairs temporarily as a relative, or they were generals who guarded the local area, like Yang Hong. False teaching, not real learning.
This resulted in the Civil War, in which all the members of the Xunqi line were killed and injured. Especially after the second generation of Xunqi was killed and injured, there was not even a single seal official in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion who could stand up.
Otherwise, the Ministry of War would not have taken away the right to nominate the admiral of the Beijing camp so easily.
As for Li Xian, it is a special case. His post of governor was actually awarded, but it was not the actual title of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies in the Capital, but the actual title of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies in Nanjing.
In fact, this is the custom of the nobles. After they grow old, they either stay in the capital and become idle nobles, or they go to Nanjing to lead the army and take care of their old age.
Li Xian was originally the Commander-in-Chief of the Former Military Governor's Mansion, but just this year, according to the plan of the Commander-in-Chief, he, as the second-generation Commander-in-Chief, began to gradually hand over power to the third-generation Commander-in-Chief, so he was transferred to the Fifth Army Commander-in-Chief's Mansion in Nanjing.
At that time, Li Xian happened to be ill. After he recovered, he met the emperor's personal expedition, so he stayed in the capital.
This is why he can stand up today.
The Fifth Army Governor's Office is different from the civil servant system. The civil servants' six ministries and seven ministers are like carrots and pits. However, although the Five Armed Forces Governor's Office is clearly divided in name, in recent years, because there are too few actual governors, it has become It doesn't matter which prefecture they belong to, they are collectively referred to as the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Prefecture.
However, all actual governors can be transferred to different mansions at any time according to the needs of the imperial court, but they are all official seal officials.
Therefore, although Li Xian is the governor of the Nanjing Chinese Army Governor's Mansion, due to this convention, he still has the right to nominate candidates for the governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
Of course, it is just a nomination. To pass the court meeting, it still needs to be approved by the three parties of civil servants, relatives and the emperor.
In the current situation, since Li Xian dared to nominate, the ministers and relatives had naturally discussed it long ago, and the emperor was not in the capital, so the only people who actually had to solve the problem were the civil servants.
But this is precisely the hardest thing to solve...
Chen Yi, the imperial censor of Zuodu, was the first to come out and said: "Your Highness, there are rules for court affairs. The Governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion involves important matters and cannot be granted lightly. If the Marquis of Fengcheng has this intention, he should discuss it with the Ministry of War in advance. , if the court is still pushing forward, is there any reason for a sudden attack on the court?"
The next person to speak was Yu Shiyue, the minister of Dali Temple.
"Your Highness, at this critical moment, everyone should work together as one. The Xunqi family is the authority of the Baojing Camp. They disrupt the court and want to provoke civil and military disputes. This is actually an evil plan. I impeach Li Xian, the Marquis of Fengcheng. He is limited by power and ignores the overall situation. , please punish me, Your Highness!"
This is different from the little fight just now.
If it does not matter whether Gu Xingzu and others are punished or not in the eyes of the civil servants, then the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion is an existence that cannot be compromised.
Every actual governor of the Five Army Governor's Mansion has a weight in the court that is comparable to that of Jiuqing. That is real power!
Even when it comes to military and political affairs, the weight of these actual governors is enough to equal that of the Seven Ministers.
Apart from anything else, when it comes to the selection of mid-to-high-level generals, once it is recommended, apart from Jiuqing, the only people who are qualified to participate are the actual governors and governors who have been appointed.
Li Xian's words are no less than a proposal among civil servants to select and confer three senior officials at the level of six ministers at once.
Is there any reason for the civil servants to agree with this?
Therefore, this time the civil servants took action against two Jiuqing-level figures. Chen Yi accused Li Xian of breaking the rules of court promotion and conducting a surprise attack. Yu Shiyue even pointed out that Li Xian's move was to snatch the nomination of the Beijing camp. right.
You must know that the admiral minister of the Beijing camp is only a dispatch, not an official position. Therefore, this time, although the imperial minister is recommended by the court, he is the admiral minister of the Beijing camp.
But in fact, the court recommended the actual commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army Governor's Palace. After all, the court's custom was that only the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army Governor's Palace could supervise the Beijing camp.
The reason why the admiral of the capital camp should be placed in the imperial court is simply because there is no actual governor in the capital today.
Now Li Xian opened his mouth and wanted to nominate three at once. Although he did not say it explicitly, the courtiers subconsciously believed that he was taking this opportunity to take back the nomination rights from the Ministry of War.
After all, as long as there are actual governors, there is no reason for the Ministry of War to nominate additional admiral ministers.
Regarding the two people's doubts, Li Xian seemed very calm and said: "I didn't discuss it with the Ministry of War in advance. It's because I didn't think carefully. However, the position of Governor of the Five Army Commandery Mansion has always been reported to the emperor first. If the emperor is still undecided, then nothing can be done." There is no reason to directly appoint someone from the court council. Now that the emperor is not in the capital, I follow the rules and report to the king first. How can it be said that I am arrogant?"
After a pause, Li Xian continued: "What's more, the situation is critical now. It is precisely because the matter is so important that it has to be discussed. The Zuo Army Governor's Office has jurisdiction over the Liaodong Governor's Office, and the Rear Army Governor's Office has outside the Shanxi Governor's Office. They are both critical on the border. At the Guard Station, the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Governor's Mansion is in the Guard Station in the capital, and is in charge of the prisons of the five armies. This is also an urgent and necessary matter, so why can't we report it at the court meeting?"
After saying this, all the officials were stunned.
It's not that he was suppressed by Li Xian, but that he has not spoken so confidently in court for a long time.
You must know that Sanyang has been in power in these years, and the affairs of the government have been mainly peaceful. In addition, there is an old man from England, and the civil servants have not overly tortured the honorary, so the honorary basically does not speak much in the court. .
As a result, many newly promoted officials in the court have not seen their relatives arguing for themselves in this way for a long time.
What Li Xian said does make sense.
The governor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion has been directly appointed by the emperor for many years. Only a few times when the emperor was hesitant, he would be recommended. Relatively speaking, the recommendation was rare.
Whether it is the Zuo Army Governor's Mansion or the Rear Army Governor's Mansion, they are responsible for border guard affairs. Not to mention the Chinese Army Governor's Mansion, it is the core of the Five Armed Forces.
At such a critical moment, Li Xian proposed to appoint three governors, but it was difficult to find any fault.
Even though it would be inappropriate to report it directly at the court meeting, he has already said that in these critical times, one must obey authority in urgent matters. If civil servants persist in this point, it will appear to be petty.
However, it will definitely not be passed, but if you want to object, there must be sufficient reasons, and there must be people with enough weight to stand up and make the final say.
Two important ministers had just spoken out against it, and even Qi Qing like Chen Yi spoke out.
Then among the remaining people in the court, there is someone who is important enough to make the final decision.
One is Yu Qian, the newly promoted minister in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War, and the other is the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Tianguan Wang Zhi, who is the head of the hundred officials!
So all the officials present focused their attention on the two of them, but what was surprising was that both of them lowered their heads and did not stand up immediately...
