After Zhu Jingyuan watched Shen Fu leave, he sat on a chair and thought about other issues.
The history of China, the Ming Dynasty, the Zhu family, and the people, their present, and their future.
And the past, present and future of his own emperor.
What exactly are the kings and emperors of China?
The original pictogram of the character "王" is an axe, so it should have been the person in the group who wielded the axe, military power and punishment.
The ax is also an important ritual tool in sacrificial activities. There are always ax-shaped embroideries in the twelve chapters on the ceremonial attire of later emperors.
The original pictogram of China's national character is "嗗 Ge", which is an area guarded and controlled by the army.
The origins of the titles of monarchs and countries in Thailand are obviously different.
The English word king is derived from the root word kin-, which is usually related to clans and families, and has the same origin as gen-, which means blood and reproduction.
Therefore, the meaning derived from the British king should be the leader of a group of descendants of the same ancestor.
The original meaning is closer to the clan leader of China, but it is indeed an exaggeration to directly translate it to king.
The word "kingdom" is translated as "kingdom" with the abstract noun suffix -dom added to it, adding the meaning of decree and ruling.
It can be seen as a place where clan leaders adjudicate collective affairs. It may be more appropriate to translate it into tribe or tribe.
However, during the European Middle Ages, the scope of kings' rule continued to increase, and their actual power also continued to rise.
Finally, it also had an actual status similar to the king and kingdom of the East.
Emperor, translated as emperor, comes from the Latin noun imperator, which literally means "commander, commander-in-chief" and later became a ruler.
In fact, it seems to be relatively close to the meaning of the king of China.
Empire, translated as empire, comes from the Latin imperium, which means "command, rule, control" and is extended to jurisdiction.
The original intention should be an area ruled by a military commander.
So it seems very appropriate for this empire to be directly translated into kingdom.
The status of the "king" of China reached its peak in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Originally a commander-in-chief and clan leader with military power, he once again gained the status of a religious leader through King Wen's performance of the Book of Changes.
King Zhou was already the emperor and co-lord of the world at that time.
Therefore, the status of the Zhou Dynasty should correspond to that of Rome. People in the Han Dynasty also said that Rome "all countries looked up to as the capital of Zhou."
However, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, subordinates who were supposed to be vassals of the Emperor of Zhou also became kings one after another, causing the king's status to begin to dwarf.
To put it bluntly, the larger the quantity, the less valuable it is.
After the First Emperor destroyed all the kingdoms, he did not continue to use the title of Emperor Zhou.
In addition, a more noble title - "Emperor" was created.
The original hieroglyph for the emperor was a symbol that looked like a peacock's tail feathers, with "王" written horizontally on the lower side.
The original meaning should be the crown of the Shang king, or a ritual vessel symbolizing the power of the Shang king, which may be decorated with peacock feathers.
In the Zhou Dynasty, Wang Zheng, who was lying horizontally on the side, came over and placed it directly under the crown symbol, which had the meaning of great harmony and beauty.
After Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, the upper part of "emperor" became "自", meaning the beginning.
Emperor can also be extended to a more advanced king.
There is no definite interpretation of the origin of the emperor's pictogram. It has been a relatively abstract symbol from the beginning.
Like a rice character, a short horizontal line is added to the upper end, and two short vertical lines are added to both ends of the middle horizontal line.
Some people judged that it may be wood tied together, similar to the cross brackets of a brazier.
But there is no way to explain the long horizontal line in the middle and the vertical lines at both ends. No horizontal sticks are needed to tie the brazier frame.
However, the meaning of this symbol can be deduced based on the content of the oracle bone inscriptions.
In the early Shang Dynasty, the emperor was the most noble object of sacrifice.
The businessman couldn't even ask the emperor directly. Instead, he had to ask his ancestors to speak to the emperor.
The emperor will not respond directly and do anything himself, but will "emperor" the gods of nature such as wind and earth in the four directions to do something.
It looks like a symbol similar to the supreme god.
But by the middle of the Shang Dynasty, Emperor became the honorific title given to his late father by the Shang king.
In the end, the living King of Shang also took the imperial title.
Along with this change process, in the early Shang Dynasty, there were dedicated people responsible for sacrifices. Later, this position was taken over by the Shang king himself.
At the same time, the imperial title was eventually taken over by the Shang King.
Zhu Jingyuan seriously suspected that it was King Shang who realized that the sacrifices had no practical use at all, and the gods would not provide any actual rewards or punishments.
That's why they try to attribute divine power to themselves, and then continue to use divine power to rule the country and their people.
Therefore, the emperor always has the connotation of divine power.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, literati may have borrowed the wisdom of the legendary emperors to persuade the current monarchs to behave a little better.
It may also be that ancestor worship has reached its peak.
People at that time may have done all kinds of bad things and realized that the legendary gods were of little use.
At the very least, God is full of uncertainty.
However, since the clear patriarchal system was formed in the Zhou Dynasty, the enfeoffment system was widely implemented for hundreds of years.
My well-documented ancestors are very reliable. My ancestors can leave me a solid family fortune and make me a noble, a prince or even the emperor.
So some people summarized and created the stories of many gods including the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
Claiming that they are the common ancestor of all humans.
In the end, Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms and believed that his achievements exceeded those of these legendary ancestors and emperors.
Therefore, he combined the names of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and called himself emperor.
At this time, the emperor was actually a synonym for the emperor, replacing the status of the king of Zhou.
In the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang once again divided the vassal states, and the status of the king and the kingdom gradually dwarfed and became a noble under the emperor.
In subsequent dynasties, the feudal system gradually came to an end, and the king eventually became the highest title in the clan.
The current emperor of the Ming Dynasty, according to the Roman-style enumeration of titles and powers, should have at least the following identities:
King of all kings, co-ruler of the world, supreme leader of all mankind, supreme controller of all powers, leader of all divine spokesmen.
The highest administrative head, highest military commander, highest judicial officer, highest legislative arbiter, and highest theocratic religious leader of the Chinese imperial court.
Even if the puppet emperor loses all real power, he is still the religious leader who controls the highest divine power, similar to the pope.
Is it a good thing that the emperor has this absolute and truly supreme authority?
From the perspective of aiming to gain absolute power, this is definitely a good thing.
In terms of power control, the King of England can be considered a primary school student, the King of France can be considered a middle school student, and the Emperor Lucia can be considered a college student.
As for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty... he must be at the academician level...
The Ming Dynasty was the most stable court in the history of China, and there had never been any de facto powerful ministers or harems intervening in politics.
Except for Zhu Di's domestic violence against his nephew, the Ming Dynasty was not conquered by the rebels until the end of his life. The capital was basically stable for two hundred and forty years.
This has never happened before in all dynasties.
The authority of the Ming emperors after the Renwu Dynasty has exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty in history.
Now Zhu Jingyuan's own authority has once again reached an unprecedented peak.
Some people have discussed that Zhu Jingyuan's status among emperors has surpassed all emperors in history.
On the basis of the founder of the First Emperor, there was another big step forward.
Became the true co-owner of the world.
But Zhu Jingyuan knows the principle of prosperity and decline.
Especially the next generation, the world they face will be many times more complicated than it is now.
It is an era when the Internet and even mobile Internet are fully rolled out, and the vast majority of billions of people will be truly enlightened and enlightened.
At the same time, the population of the Zhu Ming royal family will expand to tens of millions.
In the Internet age, the existence of the world's ruler is directly in front of everyone, and everything the emperor has will become particularly conspicuous.
The monarch is the natural target of taking the blame.
Once public opinion is at a disadvantage, the monarch's mistakes will be magnified infinitely.
How should the emperor and royal family deal with themselves in this era?
How should the future Emperor Ming and the future Zhu Ming royal family continue stably?
This is an issue that Zhu Jingyuan has to consider.
Zhu Jingyuan once considered learning from the so-called constitutional monarchy system in the history of the Thai and Western countries.
But after Zhu Jingyuan thought about it in depth, he quickly gave up the idea of a Thai-Western constitutional monarchy.
China's social development context and framework are completely different from those of the European and American countries, and may even be opposite in many places.
Historically, the countries in Europe and the West generally adopted the so-called constitutional monarchy system. The direct reason was that their centralization of power was incomplete and the internal power of the country could not be aggregated.
It does not have an advantage in the complicated and treacherous situation in the Thai-Western battlefield and external expansion.
If the King of England could completely control the domestic forces, then I would be the country. Why would there be a parliament?
If the bourgeoisie of the European and Western countries could fully control domestic power, there would be no need for the existence of a monarch to hang on to it.
The French bourgeoisie struggled three times and finally completely overthrew the monarch.
France can even be regarded as being destroyed three times.
The evaluation in the history books is actually very accurate. The constitutional monarchy is the product of compromise.
Neither the traditional aristocracy nor the bourgeoisie can have an absolute advantage.
Therefore, the monarch's identity as the master of the country and the constitutional document as an agreement document are used to gather all aspects of domestic power.
Then resist various external enemies and strive for greater interests in the international community.
Or it is to coordinate the complex relationships among all aspects of the country and stabilize the country's internal political and economic order.
At the same time, most of the countries in Europe and the West have parliaments.
Most of them were brought out from the Roman era. Rome was nominally a republic from beginning to end. Most Thai people have been accustomed to and recognized this method of discussing and deciding things.
This is why it is difficult for them to centralize power.
Most of the monarchs of the Thai and Western countries did not have the status of religious leaders, and most of them gradually gave up their legislative and judicial powers.
Constitution means that the parliament passes legislation to limit the monarch's remaining executive power.
Many monarchs find it difficult to accept this kind of constitution because they have only these administrative powers left.
The Emperor of Ming Dynasty has attributed all power to himself and has gathered most of the power of the entire country.
Why bother with the compromise solution of a Thai-Western constitutional monarchy?
Zhu Jingyuan felt that what he could refer to was not a compromise product such as the Thai-Western constitutional monarchy.
At that time, the bourgeoisie had not yet matured, so it had to use the monarch as a bridge to cooperate with the traditional aristocracy.
When the bourgeoisie truly matures and forms a mature monopoly bourgeoisie, they will have their own methods of controlling the world.
In fact, it controls most of the world's production means, controls the world's most important resources and assets, and controls most of the world's important organizations.
But he does not publicly express his ability to do so.
They themselves are invisible behind the scenes to a certain extent, and they put forward a group of particularly conspicuous spokespersons to withstand public attention, supervision and criticism.
This method worked well before I traveled through it.
However, the current Ming Dynasty and this world are completely different from any country in the previous life.
The key is that the largest asset owner in the Ming Dynasty was the Ming Emperor.
There is no way to be completely invisible.
Therefore, these plans cannot be copied directly, but can only be used for reference.
You can try to change the common people's general perception of the emperor in advance when the era of public media and the Internet arrives.
Try to establish a kind, high-end, and friendly image.
It usually focuses on helping various vulnerable groups, including the elderly and orphans, as well as the disabled.
You can often publicly attend related activities, directly ask the court to handle related matters, and even directly provide money to the royal consortium to subsidize related matters.
Special attention is paid to responding to natural disasters and personally leading rescue and post-disaster reconstruction work.
When a disaster occurs, he will appear in public, give direct orders to the court and the four major industrial groups, and always keep an eye on the progress of related matters.
Care about the construction of military power, the research and development of cutting-edge technology, space exploration activities and other cutting-edge industries.
Frequently attend related industry events, express views and visions for these industries, and provide policy and financial support for them.
Love popular culture and entertainment industry, including multimedia, film and television dramas, computer games, etc.
He often participates in mass entertainment industry activities and expresses his opinions and suggestions on the forum community.
All in all, when the emperor appeared in public, he basically participated in this form of affairs.
Non-participation involves all kinds of serious political meetings.
Let ordinary people think that the emperor himself is sincere and kind, he is concerned about and responsible for absolutely high-end industries, and he still likes down-to-earth entertainment products.
In fact, these things are really important.
But these things will basically not directly affect the vital interests of the vast majority of ordinary people.
At the same time, matters affecting ordinary people's vital interests and miscellaneous matters related to ordinary people's clothing, food, housing and transportation were handed over to court officials headed by Minister Jiuqing.
Let the main officials of the central government offices and government offices at all levels make regular public appearances on television and the Internet.
Moreover, they participated in various serious political activities, as well as various decision-making and discussion meetings involving practical and specific matters.
Let these officials, as representatives of the imperial court, directly face the people of the new era.
Let the people think that this is the division of labor between the emperor and ordinary ministers, and the maximum number of matters related to them can only be handled by the nine ministers.
It's not that the emperor has no power, but the level of power is too high and will not directly affect ordinary people.
The emperor was a higher level judge.
An Internet platform can be built for public evaluation of officials.
If an official made the people angry, the emperor would stand up at the right time and remove him in line with the people's sentiments.
In order to make this system more authentic and credible, the emperor also needs to effectively delegate power to the lower levels.
The devolution of power by the emperor of China is not like the way that the emperor of Europe and the West accepted the constitution of the parliament, completely transferring his power to a certain interest group.
Instead, some of the power is temporarily delegated to your direct reports.
The nature of the interest groups that compromise and cooperate is completely different from that of the bureaucrats who are directly subordinate to the emperor himself.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty only delegated power to the Nine Ministers, who could only serve three terms of nine years at most.
The normal term of office of the Ming Emperor was basically about thirty years. The key was that these nine ministers could be appointed and dismissed at any time.
Whether the emperor is a military commander or a religious leader, he still actually holds the highest decision-making power and still controls the entire empire.
As for decentralizing administrative power, it is not a big issue.
Delegating power does not mean not controlling the situation, or even that the ability to control will be reduced.
The actual approach is similar to "cleaning up non-performing assets."
The decision-making power of various matters that do not affect the overall situation is given to the corresponding ministers and nine ministers to be directly responsible.
This was done during the reign of Emperor Shizu Guangwu.
It had to be done.
There are too many things in the great Celestial Empire. Compared with when the country was closed to the outside world, the number of things increased exponentially. After industrialization began, the number of things increased exponentially again.
Even a workaholic like Zhu Yuanzhang is unable to handle so many complex affairs in this era.
In the process of delegating power, Emperor Shizu gradually developed a set of standards for determining whether the emperor needed to intervene in certain matters.
What level of severity, what level of personnel involved, and what level of cost must be reached before it needs to be reported to the emperor for direct knowledge.
How many levels should be further improved on this basis needs to be decided and dealt with by the emperor himself.
Make it clear what types of things, no matter how large, do not require reporting to the emperor.
What types of things, no matter how small, should be made known to the Emperor.
What Zhu Jingyuan has to do is to once again raise the standards of matters handed over to the emperor on this basis.
The rest of the low-level tasks will be assigned to Jiu Qing.
Zhu Jingyuan is now the true co-owner of the world and has to face more things than before.
Specific matters directly related to ordinary people at the lowest level are indeed trivial matters for Zhu Jingyuan.
Except for the special industries and industries in which he is directly involved, the matters that Zhu Jingyuan needs to deal with directly are basically at the level of rules and system construction.
Therefore, the image of the emperor that Zhu Jingyuan wanted to show is indeed true to a certain extent.
Zhu Jingyuan and later the Ming Emperor inevitably had to transform into legislators, adjudicators, and supervisors.
Actual administrative power and decision-making levels will naturally continue to decline.
This process of shifting the center of power is completely opposite to the historical power change process of the Thai and Western monarchs.
The Thai and Western monarchs first lost their status as religious leaders, then gradually lost their legislative and judicial powers, and finally lost some or even all of their executive powers after the establishment of the constitution.
The Ming Emperor would first give up part of his administrative power and focus on legislative, judicial, supervisory, and religious-related roles.
Putting it into company management means that the chairman of the group no longer manages most of the day-to-day affairs, leaving them to the subordinate ministers and branch general managers to handle directly.
He focuses on the system, direction, philosophy, and investment affairs of the entire group.
The actual number of affairs handled by the Nine Ministers should have already exceeded that of the prime ministers of previous dynasties.
It's just that the ministers of the Nine Ministers are only responsible for a single aspect, not all the affairs of a country, so they are not really prime ministers.
Based on his current and future status considerations, Zhu Jingyuan also began to formulate some new reform plans.
Strengthen and enhance the status and role of the legislative and judicial systems, and completely separate the legislative system from the administrative system.
The legislative power was separated from the Ministry of Punishment, and a Criminal Court was established that was not under the jurisdiction of Jiuqing and was directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor.
The Dali Temple, equivalent to the Supreme Court, was not originally under the jurisdiction of Jiuqing, but now its status has been further improved.
Establish a more detailed legal system and judicial system to clarify the boundaries of administrative power of ordinary officials, so that they can only move in specific spaces.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate was also separated from the administrative system and placed under the direct supervision of the emperor.
The financial power review and approval power was separated separately, and a final accounts center that was not under the jurisdiction of Jiuqing was established, under the direct supervision of the emperor.
(End of chapter)
