The science and technology officials of the Ming Dynasty had many different titles, and each title had its origin.
Kedao refers to the internal division, which is divided into six sections for Shizhong and thirteen Taoist censors. The two are also called Fengxianguan. Their name comes from the power of hearing and reporting, which means the official in charge of the law.
Going back further, giving Shi Zhonghe the censor can be traced back to the pre-Qin era.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties, three provinces and six ministries were established. After the establishment of three provinces and six ministries, the ministry was assigned to the lower provinces. It began to have the power of sealing and refuting. It was responsible for reviewing seals and refutations of imperial edicts and memorials, and could refute the memorials of hundreds of divisions. From then on, Derived from the power of supervision over six departments and one hundred divisions.
What is different from that in the work is that the official of the imperial censor, who was established since the Qin Dynasty, is the censor.
In the pre-Qin Dynasty, there were historians who served as Shishi and were responsible for recording the opinions of the emperor and his ministers. Because they had been familiar with the government for a long time and were good at collecting information, they gradually became the official position of the emperor to supervise his ministers. This was the role of the censor to rectify official evil and supervise hundreds of departments. source of power.
In the initial official system, there were supervisors and admonishers. The supervisor was the censor, who returned to the censor station and was responsible for impeaching and inspecting officials' faults.
As for the position of admonishment officer, it is said that it originated from the time of Emperor Shun in ancient times. There was Nayan, who was responsible for presenting the situation to the emperor, pointing out the emperor's faults, and correcting them. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was an admonishment officer who was responsible for admonishing the emperor. Discuss government affairs.
In the Tang Dynasty, the admonishment officers and the ministers were both assigned to the province. In the Song Dynasty, the admonishment court was set up, and its powers were further strengthened. It was responsible for admonishing the emperor, correcting the prime minister, and even had the power to report affairs after hearing the news.
However, with the gradual improvement of the system, the powers of supervisors and admonishers began to compete with each other. Although the admonishment court was established in the Song Dynasty, it was to prevent the prime minister from controlling the admonishment court. The admonishment officers were personally selected by the emperor, and thus became a means for the emperor to check and balance the prime minister. .
As a result, supervisors and admonishment officers gradually merged, and there was a tendency for Taiwan and admonishment to become one.
This trend was finally established after the establishment of Ming Dynasty.
When Emperor Taizu founded the country, he did not distinguish between admonishers and supervisors. Instead, he established six subjects and thirteen roads, one to supervise the six departments of the imperial court, and the other to control the affairs of the world. However, whether it was the minister or the censor, there were rumors and rumors. Correct the officials and remonstrate the emperor's power.
So this is where the difficulty lies.
Originally, in the Song Dynasty, the imperial censor supervised all officials, but since he himself was under the jurisdiction of the prime minister, the scope of supervision included the prime minister.
In order to deal with this situation, the admonishment officer became independent. Although he still belonged to the prime minister, he had the power to admonish and command, so he could control the subordinates and the superiors.
This kind of power, under the deliberate guidance of the emperor, was gradually used on the prime minister, who was the leader of hundreds of officials, and became a sharp weapon in the struggle between imperial power and prime ministerial power.
When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it was also intended to set up a censor to control the big and small.
However, who could have expected that His Majesty Taizu would withdraw the Central Secretary and abolish the prime minister because of the Hu Weiyong case, causing the prime minister system since the Qin Dynasty to completely disappear.
As a result, the admonishment officials lost their purpose, and the power of admonishment was naturally used again by the emperor.
To be fair, the remonstrance officer has been established since the pre-Qin period and has continued to this day. Although the names of the official positions have changed many times, the right to remonstrate has always existed, which naturally makes sense.
The emperor is not a saint, and he will definitely make mistakes sometimes. Therefore, the emperor also needs someone in front of him who can not flatter and dare to tell the truth.
The purpose of the censor's existence is to be able to express his opinions directly.
Even the original Emperor Taizu recognized this. Otherwise, he would not be so polite and scientific, and always emphasized the need for smooth communication.
In this sense, it is not wrong to remonstrate with the emperor; it is only wrong to remonstrate with the emperor.
Come to think of it, this is what the emperor meant by what he just said.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Yi spoke.
"Your Majesty, admonishing the emperor, supervising the affairs after hearing the news, and supervising the hundred divisions are the duties of the officials. According to the opinions of the ministers, the problem of the officials now, as your majesty said, is that the supervision of the hundred divisions is not strict. The powerful and powerful people are afraid and pay too much attention to the affairs of the Heavenly Family, while a few people, in the name of hearing about things, ignore the truth and impeach them indiscriminately."
"Therefore, I think that in order to solve the problem, I should boost the confidence of the officials and maintain the power to supervise the entire department without interference from outside forces. The officials should exercise their powers without being retaliated by the powerful."
"At the same time, strengthen the interlocutor
In the assessment, Feng Wen is allowed to report something, but he is not allowed to make rash conclusions based on just a few words, and he is not allowed to ask for his reputation. If the affairs in the palace do not involve the court situation and do not violate the rules, the officials should not use it to deliberately offend the emperor. , in order to get the name straight. "
"A combination of these measures should be effective!"
As the leader of Feng Xian Guan, Chen Yi's words can only be regarded as quite satisfactory.
In fact, if you listen carefully, you will find that his core meaning is to strengthen the authority of Yan Guan and maintain independence. On top of this, there are restrictions on Yan Guan.
However, after hearing this, Wang Ao frowned and shook his head.
"The President's remarks are a bit too conservative."
"It is certainly necessary to boost the confidence of public officials, but this is easy to say, but it will be difficult to do it."
"How to maintain the power to supervise Baisi without interference from external forces?"
"How can we guarantee that the power exercised by the official will not be retaliated by the powerful?"
"Also, how do you judge whether hearing something is happening and making a conclusion based on just a few words? How do you judge whether speaking about official matters is just to gain recognition?"
"If an official still only reports on matters in the palace, how should he be punished?"
"If these problems are not resolved, what the General Constitution says will be empty talk!"
Zhu Qiyu sat on the throne, watching Wang Ao ask questions one after another, with a smile in his eyes.
It seems that Chen Xun's impeachment of Wang Ao is not without effect.
At least, the chief assistant is now better than before.
Therefore, sometimes, hitting a wall is not a bad thing, but can actually make people more awake.
The purpose of the cabinet was to reconcile internal and external affairs and ease the direct conflict between the emperor and the foreign ministries. This also meant that the cabinet had to face both the foreign dynasty and the emperor.
This sounds like nonsense, but the simpler the truth, the easier it is to be forgotten.
This is the so-called principle of simplicity.
Since it has to face both the foreign court and the emperor at the same time, the cabinet should consider the reactions from both sides.
When dealing with foreign dynasties, it is correct to find ways to improve one's prestige and establish one's status in the dynasty.
But what about treating the emperor?
Is it just relying on a smooth tongue?
The emperor is not a child, he can be obeyed by coaxing him.
The emperor is the king, the son of heaven, and the lord of all the people. Whether in the cabinet or in the outer court, before the emperor, they are all ministers.
Since you are a minister, you should share your worries for the king.
Cabinet, especially!
Even, to put it bluntly, for the cabinet, it is not an exaggeration to say that holy grace is the foundation of a career.
However, what Zhu Qiyu has to say is that to this day, no one among the cabinet ministers really realizes this.
If anything, it may be that Chen Xun, who once served as the second assistant to the cabinet, has profound experience.
Perhaps, it is precisely because of this that he can hit the cabinet's sore spot most accurately.
Many people regard Zhu Qiyu's promotion of ministers with practical experience into the cabinet as a means to suppress Qingliu.
All I can say is that it is indeed true, but it is more than that!
As an emperor, Zhu Qiyu must focus on the overall situation of the court. What he does is for the sake of the court, and will not simply suppress anyone or harm the interests of others.
For officials of the central court, the ability to reconcile internal and external affairs can be cultivated in long-term governance, but some traits and ideas cannot be cultivated.
The reason why Zhu Qiyu is an official with local experience is that they generally have problem-solving thinking and practical suggestions that go down to the smallest details.
This is what he wants from the cabinet.
In addition to coordinating internal and external affairs and serving as a buffer zone between the emperor and external dynasties, the cabinet's more important role was to prepare for consultation.
In other words, it was to give advice to the emperor.
The Hanlin is clean and talented, but there are enough talents and learning.
Many times, we talk in general terms. It sounds good on paper, but in actual implementation, we will encounter many problems.
This is the fundamental reason.
The cabinet essentially serves the emperor. Whether it is coordinating internal and external affairs or drafting memorials, it is essentially centered on the emperor.
However, Wang Ao has been going in the opposite direction during this period, thinking of expanding the status of the cabinet by wooing Qingliu officials.
This method is not wrong, but it goes against Zhu Qiyu's original intention of promoting him.
If what Zhu Qiyu needs is a chief minister of the cabinet who can wave the flag and coordinate internal and external affairs through clear flow, he can just let Chen Xunlai be the leader. Why bother to promote Wang Ao?
The reason why he asked Wang Aolai to be the first assistant was that he had a clean background and outstanding abilities.
Therefore, it is not wrong for him to control the cabinet through cabinet meetings and voting power, and it is also right for him to want to strengthen the cabinet's voice.
However, he failed to do what Zhu Qiyu wanted him to do. Naturally, it was inevitable that the cabinet would be ignored and even he himself would be impeached.
After all, unlike the six bureaucracies in the outer dynasty, which have inherent powers, the cabinet was promoted by the emperor Zhu Qiyu. Therefore, the cabinet must first be able to put forward its own unique insights and help the emperor reduce the pressure on government affairs. The next step is In various complex political struggles, balance the contradictions between the inner palace and the outer court.
Only when both of these are done well can the cabinet be truly stable.
Wang Ao's current performance is very good. The point made by Chen Yi just now cannot be said wrong, but it is still inevitable that it is a bit false and has not been implemented in practice.
This is of course not because Chen Yi is not pragmatic enough, but because the pragmatic methods are not in line with the results he wants, so it is not convenient for him to say it based on his identity.
So at this time, if Zhu Qiyu comes forward to raise these issues, it will be regarded as a rebuke from the emperor to his ministers. If something goes wrong, it will trigger a conflict between the emperor and his ministers.
Therefore, someone needs to be the mouthpiece to say things that are inconvenient for the emperor Zhu Qiyu to say.
The cabinet must be hard when it should be hard, and be soft when it should be soft. If it is just trying to make peace between the emperor and the outer court, it would be too much to live up to the name of the cabinet.
Facing Wang Ao's questioning, Chen Yi said calmly.
"Since it is a discussion, everyone naturally has his or her own opinion. If the Chief Assistant has a different opinion, he can naturally put it forward and let everyone discuss it together."
What he just said was just an attempt to find out the emperor's attitude.
At the previous court meeting, he and Wang Wen were vying to admit their mistakes. In fact, they were essentially vying for the right to take the lead in rectifying the official atmosphere.
Yes, from the moment Chen Xun raised this point, the two of them were actually keenly aware of the opportunity hidden behind it.
It is obvious that in the end, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which is responsible for supervising all officials, has the upper hand on this point. Specifically, it is the three months extra salary that Mr. Chen has received...
However, what Chen Yi should have expected long ago is that the emperor's benefits are not so easy to obtain.
In particular, if the Kedao Censor, who has never been very popular with the emperor, wants to seize this power and does not want to throw it away after using it up, then he must pay a certain price.
The question is, what price does the emperor want Ke Dao to pay?
Admonish your Majesty? Rumor has it?
Before he could figure out the emperor's true intention, all Chen Yi could give was this vague and general answer.
Moreover, even if he figured it out, given his status, he was not suitable to give up these powers directly. Otherwise, he would be the first to be impeached by the officials.
Therefore, at this time, Wang Ao stepped forward to take over the conversation, and Chen Yi was actually happy to see it happen.
As expected, the emperor followed closely behind.
"General Xian is right. Everyone expresses his or her opinion and discusses it together. This matter is complicated, so it doesn't matter if you are wrong. Chief Assistant, do you think what General Xian said is too conservative?"
Well, do you have any good ideas? "
The eyes of the ministers below all looked at Wang Ao following these words.
Taking a gentle breath, Wang Ao bowed slightly and cupped his hands.
There is no doubt that this is both an opportunity and a test for him. Whether he is right or wrong, from now on, he will have a better understanding of the role of the cabinet.
Of course, since Wang Ao spoke out, he would not have any clues. After pondering for a moment, he spoke.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that I believe that there is nothing wrong with the general idea stated by Lord General Xian, but it still needs to be refined."
"Nowadays, the academicians are paying too much attention to the Heavenly Family. When they hear about the affairs, they often criticize and criticize them, and fight to get their reputation. This is simply because Your Majesty is merciful and cannot bear to offend others through his words. As a result, the academicians are rampant and unwilling to focus on their work."
"Master Zongxian said that the examination of science and education should be strengthened. He also said that if the matters in the palace do not involve the court situation and do not violate the rules, officials should not use this to deliberately offend the emperor. I think it is too vague and not clear enough. It is easy to Someone took advantage of me."
"In my opinion, if you want to solve the problem, you can start from these points."
"First of all, as Mr. General Xian said, the power to report matters based on rumors must be limited. When reporting matters scientifically, one must not make hasty conclusions based on just a few words."
"Secondly, when admonishing people on a scientific level, they need to have something to say. They cannot just talk about principles and principles on paper in order to win reputation."
"Three rules, six subjects and thirteen ways, you should strictly abide by your duties, take care of all the affairs of the court, all the affairs of the world, and the major affairs of the court, unless the court has made a decision and the ministers have discussed it together, you should not rashly submit a memorial."
"The fourth rule is that the six subjects are given to Shizhong and the thirteen censors. They must not misuse the power of admonishment to make arrogant comments about the emperor, not the heavenly family."
"If your Majesty has made a mistake or the Tian family has made a mistake, you can report it to the superior officials in the name of Shi Zhong and the thirteen censors. The officials, such as Du Ji Shizhong, Qian Du Censor, Deputy Du Censor, Du Censor and other officials, will jointly write the memorial. If all the superior officials are unwilling to play, only Ke Dao can play solo."
"If a solo is made, the court will discuss it. If it is found that the suggestion is false, the official who is making the solo cannot avoid punishment on the ground of hearing about the report. If it is found that the suggestion is true, the superior will be blamed for dereliction of duty and be demoted. .”
"This is a humble opinion of your Majesty's. Please correct me."
