It's summer in the capital, and the lotus flowers on the east side of Shichahai are in full bloom. On the east bank is the Shangshu Gaofu, which has finally become quieter recently.
Two women were sitting in a pavilion near the water in Gaofu Mansion. One person in Jinshui wore a bun in the style of an unmarried girl and wore a light aqua long-sleeved jacket. He looked at the blue waves and new lotus flowers with a cold expression; the other person wore a high bun with a cherry blossom golden step in her hair and wore light pink. Wearing a Sihe Ruyi shirt and a beige Yunlan pleated skirt, she is concentrating on making tea. Judging from the proficiency of his movements, his tea making skills are considered to be among the best.
These two people are Liu Xin and Narita Kai - the one with a bun is Liu Xin, and the one with a gold walking stick on his hair is Narita Kai.
"Sister Liu, it is a great joy for me to defeat the main force of the Mongolian army twice in one day. Why do you still look unhappy? Could it be... It's not that you are unhappy, you are just thinking about how long it will take for me to return to Beijing. ?”
Hearing Narita Kai's teasing laughter from behind, Liu Xin slowly turned her head, looked at her and sighed softly: "I would also like to be as happy as you, but it's a pity... you and I have different identities, you only want him It would be nice to come back earlier, but I still have to think about what he will face when he comes back - after all, I can't let him waste thousands of taels of salary that year, right?"
Narita Kai burst into laughter, thought for a while and said: "Sister Liu's family owns a lot of shares in Jinghua Pharmaceutical. I think you can get a lot of it in a year. A salary of several thousand taels is not enough for Sister Liu's family." It doesn’t seem like it’s a big deal.”
"That's two different things." Liu Xin shook her head and said, "Besides, the shares in Jinghua Pharmaceutical are not actually mine. I just hold them on behalf of the Liu family."
"I see, but even if the salary is only a few thousand taels, it is much more than my little sister's regular salary." Narita Kai sighed half-seriously and said: "The salary of the Secretariat is so high. It's a pity that my little sister has such a high salary." He has no talent, otherwise he should find a way to squeeze in."
Liu Xin couldn't help laughing and said, "Why, isn't your husband worth thousands of taels of silver?"
Narita Kai was taken aback and said hurriedly: "Hey, Sister Liu, you can't say this nonsense, I don't mean it."
"Okay, okay, I know your husband is very valuable." Liu Xin rolled her eyes at her, looked annoyed, and said, "But just because he is very valuable, there are more troubles."
Narita Kai asked curiously: "Just now, sister Liu said that the master will face...what when he comes back?"
"What? Of course there are all kinds of troubles." Liu Xin said with a troubled look on his face: "I knew that his defeat of Yuan this time would be a troublesome job, whether he fought well or not well.
You see, some time ago, the officers and soldiers could not find the main force of the Mongolian army. They spent almost two months wandering around in Monan, just following the horses' hooves and eating ashes. As a result, the court said weird things and all kinds of strange things. He even used Li Guang as a metaphor for him..."
"Li Guang?" Narita Kahi asked in surprise: "Isn't the flying general Li Guang a famous general in the Han Dynasty? Why is it so weird to compare Li Guang to your husband?"
"You have read a lot of Chinese books, but the depth is not that interesting." Liu Xin smiled without malice and said: "There are two reasons why it is strange to compare Li Guang to your husband. : Firstly, Li Guang was a military general rather than a civil servant; secondly, a big reason why "Li Guang was difficult to seal" was that he got inexplicably lost on several expeditions, which was really outrageous compared to Wei and Huo. That’s why it’s ‘difficult to seal’.”
That's true. Let's not talk about Wei Qing for now. Huo Qubing, a divine general who is like a satellite navigation system, can hit every target accurately on the grassland, and actually achieved the feat of destroying five countries in six days. In this comparison, although Li Guang is very capable personally, he is naturally not good from the perspective of leading troops.
Because of this, when Gao Jingshi failed to catch up with the main force of Tumen for two months, it was obviously a strange mockery to say that he was Li Guang. Otherwise, could it mean that his personal strength was comparable to that of Li Guang? It's so funny that if Li Guang comes over with an arrow, he will be rewarded with a double blow.
After hearing the explanation, Narita Kai said displeasedly: "These people are too mean. I am a handsome man, not a general. Why should I compare him with a general?"
Liu Xin curled her lips and said: "That was before. The news of the victory at Lightning Lake and the victory of naturalization came yesterday, and the wind direction in the capital changed immediately. Starting from this morning, the whole court seemed to be celebrating the New Year, no matter which faction of officials Everyone started praising his martial arts, and your husband suddenly changed again, from Li Guang to Han Xin."
Han Xiaoxian called him a soldier, and Narita Kai also knew this. Hearing this, he immediately smiled and nodded: "That's pretty much it."
However, Liu Xin couldn't help but rolled her eyes and said, "Is this 'almost'? This is a big problem!"
"Ah? Why?" Narita Kai was stunned and hesitated: "Isn't this a very high compliment?"
"Praise? Humph..." Liu Xin shook her head helplessly and said, "Don't just look at the surface. There are many connections here. Let me ask you, is Han Xin a civil servant or a military general?"
"Well, it should be a military commander." When Narita Kai heard her question, he immediately realized that something was wrong. Why was he still comparing himself to a military commander?
"Then let me ask you again, how did Han Xin die?" When Liu Xin asked this question, a cold light flashed in her eyes.
It was at this moment that Narita Kai remembered that although the secretary-general of the Beijing Secretariat was now engaged in clerical affairs, she was also a general and a tiger girl. She was the person who once easily pacified a country in southern Xinjiang. In comparison, her military exploits were much more dazzling than her own in Ninja City.
"Han Xin, Han Xin was killed by Empress Lu. The current empress... probably wouldn't do this, would she?" Narita Kai stammered in reply.
Liu Xin felt dumbfounded. Of course Queen Wang would not kill Gao Pragmatic. She didn't have the power or the courage. Of course, the most important thing was that she didn't have the motive.
It has been said in all dynasties that the harem must not interfere with politics, but the Ming dynasty did this more thoroughly than in previous dynasties. Unless the emperor does not personally govern, the queen mother can be considered to be involved in politics to a certain extent, but she will still be constrained by the cabinet, and even the entire court is a supervisor.
Under the Ming Dynasty's system and customs, if the cabinet did not cooperate with the Queen Mother, then in fact the Queen Mother's regency would have no room for performance and would be purely in name only.
As for the queens, it goes without saying that except for Zhu Yuanzhang's Queen Ma who had some influence on the government at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the other queens were basically just decorations in politics, even Zhu Di's Queen Xu was no exception.
The empress of the Ming Dynasty ordered the killing of a minister, which probably can only exist in female channels. To put it harshly, even if the minister appeared in the harem and the queen personally ordered his death, no one would dare to execute it, because only the emperor had this power in the Ming Dynasty, and most emperors would not do this. ——Even if you really want to kill, you have to find another way.
Liu Xin said helplessly: "I'm not talking about the queen... Han Xin's death was ultimately because his existence threatened the imperial power. Do you understand this?"
"Oh... I understand." Narita Kahi suddenly realized: "Is this the master of great power?"
I thought I was definitely right this time, but Liu Xin still shook her head and said decisively: "No, it is never the success of the master, but the strength."
"It's not about high skill, but great potential?" Narita Kai murmured to himself.
"Does Guo Ziyi have great achievements? But once he handed over the military power and rested in Beijing, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was not afraid of him, let alone had to kill him!" Liu Xin spread his hands and said: "It can be seen that no matter how great his achievements are, it is not a threat. The emperor's capital is only a real threat if he is powerful - and this is your husband's biggest trouble now. He is not only high in merit, but more importantly, powerful.
You see, no matter his personal financial resources or connections in the court, he is now the only one who belongs to the court. What's more, he has controlled various borders many times. Now, except for the Tieling Li family, almost all the generals of the nine borders are under his sect.
In addition, he is also a local official (the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs), controlling the world's financial power. It can be said that he has both soldiers and food. Except for the other half of the tiger talisman in the emperor's hand, he probably controls 80% of the world's troops. If you were the emperor, wouldn't you worry? "
Narita Kai was stunned for a moment, and suddenly asked in a carefully lowered voice: "Sister Liu, can I really... do that?"
Seeing her strange attitude, Liu Xin couldn't help but be wary: "What kind of thing?"
"Threatening the imperial power!" Narita Kai looked around and stamped his feet vigorously.
Liu Xin frowned and said, "Why are you asking this? Your husband is devoted to serving the country with loyalty - don't you know that he and the emperor have been in love since they were young?"
"Hey, I know all this, but I'm not asking what he wants, but what he can do." Narita Kai pulled Liu Xin's left arm sleeve and begged: "Good sister, just tell me, it's the master I told you to teach me!"
Liu Xin said helplessly: "What do you understand by the word 'threat'?"
"Ah?" Narita Kai was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said: "Threat...is there any other understanding?"
"I actually asked him similar questions in a roundabout way. How about I tell you the general idea of his answer?" Liu Xin said.
"Okay, okay, big sister, please tell me, my little sister is all ears." Narita Kai was indeed interested.
Liu Xin thought for a while and said: "First of all, in the Ming Dynasty, there was never a problem of civilian officials threatening the imperial power, or even a problem of eunuchs threatening the imperial power. You must first know, what is a threat? Using power to force the emperor to do things, even Putting the emperor in danger would be considered a threat.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao held the emperor hostage to order the princes, which could be considered a threat. The rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty could also be considered a threat. The eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty who deposed the emperor without authorization could also be considered a threat. The emperors in these periods either had no decision-making power, were just puppets, or were in personal danger. For example, Tang Xianzong and Tang Jingzong were both killed by eunuchs.
Throughout the more than two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, no matter whether it was civil servants or eunuchs, they had never posed such a threat to the emperor. During the Great Ceremony Conference during the Jiajing period of the Shimiao, a large group of civil servants stood up to oppose Jiajing. This lasted for so many years. More than 200 courtiers were involved in the Zuo Shunmen crying remonstrance incident, but what was the use? When Jiajing was unhappy, he ended up with "one hundred and thirty-four people were beaten to death and sixteen were beaten to death". Even Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, lost power because of this.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty did produce some famous powerful ministers and eunuchs, but they were only the emperor's spokespersons. The power in their hands was given by the emperor. The emperor could give it to him as he wished, and take it away as he wished.
The great eunuch Liu Jin once dominated the world, but once Emperor Wu wanted to touch him, he easily got rid of Liu Jin. During the Jiajing period, Yan Song also had great power, but once he fell out of favor, Shimiao could easily destroy his family.
I know you want to ask why the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty could not threaten the imperial power, right? Because the system has already taken precautions for you. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Taizu abolished the prime minister and divided the power into six ministries. He also repeatedly emphasized in the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" that he would not allow future generations to set up prime ministers. This was a legislative precaution against civil servants.
From then on, the Ming Dynasty entered an era without prime ministers. Later, the highest-ranking civil servant was the chief minister of the cabinet, but the chief minister of the cabinet was still restricted by all parties. The Supervisor of Ceremonies can restrict your power of deliberation, while the executive power belongs to the six ministers. The officials can impeach you, and the factory guards can investigate and supervise you.
Even within the cabinet, you may face challenges from other ministers, who can replace you at any time. What's more, there are checks and balances between civilian officials and military generals.
Speaking of which, before the emperor took office, when Gao Wenzhenggong served as the head of the cabinet and assisted in the administration, it was considered the pinnacle of civil power. However, the prerequisite was the acquiescence of the emperor and the empress dowager, and the support of the director of etiquette. The relationship between.
To sum up, no matter from which aspect you look at it, on the political soil of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to give birth to the so-called "below one person and above ten thousand people" or even a powerful official who threatened the imperial power. "
Narita Kai was a little dazed when she heard it. After Liu Xin finished speaking for a while, she couldn't help but question: "Sister Liu, I understand all the principles you said, but the current situation is different!"
Liu Xin's heart tightened, but her expression remained unchanged. She just frowned slightly and asked, "What's the difference?"
"These civil servants you are talking about are really just civil servants. All their power comes from the emperor. They have no influence on nobles, ordinary generals, and eunuchs, and they have almost no strength of their own. In this way, Of course, they cannot threaten the emperor, but... Master is different!
You said it yourself just now. In addition to being the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and having many like-minded civilian colleagues in the court, he also has the financial resources to rival the country. He also has armed servants all over the world. He has a very high prestige among the generals of the town, and even has considerable influence on the ceremonial supervisors and factory guards... Isn't this very different from the previous powerful officials? "
Liu Xin didn't expect that her words would be used by Narita Kai. She originally wanted to emphasize that Gao Jingshi was in trouble but she had no objection. Now Narita Kai doesn't care about Gao Jingshi's original intention and just wants to know whether he really has this strength. The two sides are simply Not on the same channel.
However, Liu Xin felt that Narita Kai's asking this question was very problematic, and she couldn't help but ask: "Why are you asking this?" Judging from her expression, there was serious doubt in these words.
Narita Kai quickly waved his hand and said: "I don't mean anything else, I just feel that the current situation is like what it was like before Japan became a general to conquer the barbarians."
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