The question raised by Zhu Gaochi is quite acute and has happened before.
This was the case with the system of four auxiliary officers, which rotated through the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. As a result, the transfer of power and responsibilities was unclear. Measures originally designed to strengthen the imperial power actually delayed the handling of matters.
Now that Zhu Yuanzhang said that the members of the cabinet are not customized, they are similar to the previous four auxiliary officers. Wouldn't this be the same old path of failure again?
He thought about it and felt that this matter was difficult to handle. If it really encountered a difficult political issue, could he still change people at will?
You must know that it is a taboo to make great efforts, then weaken again, and finally be exhausted. Changing generals at the last minute is a taboo.
He had a frown on his face, but Zhu Yuanzhang was amused. He patted his head and said, "Why did you get into a dead end? What's wrong with not changing people for a long time? Is it possible that they can still hang on after the work is done?" , whether to go or stay, isn’t it still a matter of your words?”
The words woke up the dreamer, Zhu Gaochi opened his mouth wide, and his ears suddenly turned red. He had just entered a dead end but did not know it. This sharp point made him extremely embarrassed.
"My grandson is stupid and has not thought clearly about such a simple question. I am really ashamed."
Zhu Gaochi hit a dead end, and only after being awakened by Zhu Yuanzhang did he realize how narrow his thinking was.
He only saw the disadvantages caused by the lack of customization of members, but he did not expect that the lack of customization of members itself was the most beneficial measure to strengthen the imperial power.
Even if a problem cannot be solved for a long time, or the difficulty has reached a critical point and it is impossible to replace someone midway, so what?
The members of the cabinet are decided by the emperor alone. It is you today and him tomorrow, and it has nothing to do with the matter.
Zhu Gaochi's thoughts were racing, and he had even thought of something further afield. With the emperor's operation like this, the cabinet had truly become an accessory to the imperial power.
As long as the emperor is still there, the cabinet can be established anytime and anywhere without any input from the ministers, and the location does not need to be limited to one place. The cabinet can be found wherever the emperor is.
Zhu Gaochi, who looked more and more serious, thought for a while and asked again: "Grandpa Huang, why do you want to expand the number of people in the cabinet? My grandson still feels that the cabinet of fourteen people is too bloated."
"Since you decide the personnel of the cabinet, why not the number of people?"
"Still...can you still come like this?"
Zhu Gaochi swallowed with some difficulty.
He thought just now that he had broken through the limitations of thinking, but Zhu Yuanzhang's words made him realize that the limitations of thinking were really not that easy to break.
There is no customization of personnel or the number of people. Everything revolves around the emperor. Within a certain range, the emperor can summon as many people as he wants.
If a simple problem can be solved by one or two people, then naturally only one or two people will be summoned.
If it is a complex problem that even the emperor finds difficult, it will naturally require collective efforts to solve it.
This is not about decentralization, but about brainstorming. After all, one person is poor and having more ideas is not a bad thing.
However, in this case, wouldn’t it mean that the advantage of civil and military checks and balances is lost?
Zhu Gaochi only felt that the thoughts in his mind were chaotic, and he was a little confused for a while. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang pitifully and said: "Grandpa Huang, the more my grandson thinks about it, the more confused he is, and the more doubts he has."
"It's a good thing to have doubts. It's better to think about it seriously than to have an empty head. What we're talking about, you don't need to get into trouble. The staff and number of people in the cabinet can be divided according to different things. For simple things, only one or two people can do it. If it can be done, there is no need to have any checks and balances; when there are more people involved in complex matters, you have to guard against these ministers making decisions that are not beneficial to the world because of their interests. Only then are civil and military checks and balances needed. Everything should be done according to the situation, because Change along the way, never rest on your laurels or be rigid and conservative.”
Zhu Gaochi was confused after hearing this, but the doubts in his heart were relieved a lot. He silently kept the emperor's words in his heart, and asked again: "There is no customization of personnel and number of people. Of course, the cabinet department can be restricted, but what Sun'er said before about the cabinet department The problem of low departmental efficiency has still not been solved, and quarrels are still inevitable when facing those important issues."
After just a conversation, the topic suddenly changed. Although Zhu Gaochi received more teachings, the problems that troubled him were still not solved.
Efficiency is the crux that troubles him. Practical men hate endless quarrels, but where interests conflict, quarrels cannot be avoided. This is really frustrating.
Confrontations of interests turned into arguments, arguments turned into personal attacks, then into comparisons of merits, and finally into meaningless invective.
When Zhu Gaochi was in the cabinet, most of the ministers were restrained, but when Zhu Gaochi left, the scene suddenly became lively, and Lan Yu even wanted to take action.
In the past two days, due to issues with the assessment system, fierce quarrels broke out many times in the cabinet department, and two chairs were broken. I heard from other people that Lan Yu used too much force in her excitement and broke the chairs.
Substitution seemed unable to solve this problem. Zhu Gaochi eagerly waited for the answer, but he did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang asked him what he thought first: "We want to hear your method first."
"Just now, Grandpa Emperor Cai expanded the staff of the cabinet. His grandson did think of a way. He chose a person with both ability and political integrity as the intermediary to mediate the conflicts between the two parties so that the discussion could return to normal. It would be better for this person to be a member of the clan, who can be used as a mediator based on his status. Suppress the ministers."
"What if this middleman intentionally favors one party?"
"this……"
Zhu Gaochi was blinded by his words, and he became visibly panicked.
Yeah, what if this middleman is intentionally biased?
Choose another one?
Doesn't this show that he doesn't know people well?
Zhu Gaochi felt like his brain was going to smoke. His original idea was pretty good, but why was the flaw revealed by Grandpa Huang in an instant?
He couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. After all, he was still only a fourteen-year-old man. Even though he was talented and well-read the Four Books and Five Classics, his ideas were still immature.
Seeing his appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand and knocked him, saying, "Have you lost your confidence just by this little blow? When we were your age, our father, mother, and eldest brother were all forced to death by the son of a bitch Hu Yuan." , which caused our family to be ruined and we were wandering around. In this way, we have not lost our hearts and are still working hard to live. If you encounter some problems now, you will be depressed and slack, how can you achieve great things!"
Zhu Gaochi stared blankly at Zhu Yuanzhang's stern yet loving look. His nose felt sore and he almost shed tears. He choked up and said, "My grandson knows his mistake. Please rest assured, Grandpa Huang, he will never do this again."
"This is the right thing to do. This is our grandson. Let me tell you, no matter what difficulties you encounter, don't think about giving up. Do it with real swords and guns! When you go through these ravines, you will find out , this is nothing, they are all defeated by your hands."
"My grandson will remember Grandpa Huang's teachings."
Seeing Zhu Gaochi wipe away his tears, Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly relieved. Only then did he keenly notice that the successor's mentality had changed slightly.
Although it is small, this is not a good sign. If it continues like this, the successor may become timid again.
It's already troublesome enough to have Zhu Di who is timid in front of him, but if there is another Zhu Gaochi, then the two father and son may just work as his repeater from now on.
You can't really create a great-grandson of the emperor, right? This little guy still hasn’t seen a shadow yet!
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately changed his subject and gave some earnest instructions to nip this weak change in the bud.
After solving this incident, it is natural to solve Zhu Gaochi's doubts. The heart disease is difficult to cure. This heart disease is often suppressed.
He reached out and wiped away a tear from Zhu Gaochi's face, and said: "It's not difficult to turn a meaningless quarrel into a meaningful discussion, but it requires some institutional support. Let me tell you, listen. Just use it.”
…
