Chapter 10 Secretary Supervisor
The power of military commanders in the early Ming Dynasty was much greater than that of military commanders in the early Tang Dynasty. This is determined by the system. In a word, this world was conquered in this way. Even Zhu Yuanzhang had to accommodate these generals. Moreover, the influence of generals in wartime is far greater than that in ordinary times. It can be said that the wealth, power and potential gained by conquering a city are far beyond the imagination of later generations of local officials.
Most of the world was conquered by the Wuxun Group. How great is their potential power. One can imagine.
Zhu Yuanzhang's influence among the nobles is not as high as many people imagine. On the one hand, it is Zhu Yuanzhang's origin. When Zhu Yuanzhang first joined the rebel army, he was under Tang He. The qualifications are not deep. Many people were above Zhu Yuanzhang in power at that time, but were ranked below him. Although the situation is like this, are you really convinced?
On the other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang was harsh to his subordinates. Zhu Yuanzhang was able to win the world because of the strict laws. For the sake of the laws, he would not hesitate to put his beloved Hu Dahai's only son to death. However, just as it is said in historical records, Liu Bang's men abandoned their families and careers to follow Liu Bang. Isn’t it just for glory and wealth? It was okay for Zhu Yuanzhang to be harsh when he was conquering the world, but now that it is time to take control of the world, you are still like this, which makes you feel sorry for your old brothers.
In a word, today's Ming Dynasty is far from normal.
From this perspective, many things in the early Ming Dynasty can be understood.
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Zhu Yuanzhang found out less than an hour ago. Today, plus yesterday's nearly a thousand memorials, I have already gone through it.
This efficiency is too high.
He only has dozens of memorials on hand that cannot be decided today and need to be discussed with ministers tomorrow. The rest was taken care of.
This is also because, although many Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied with Song Lian's proposed disposal methods. But Song Lian is still good. Get rid of these dissatisfactions. Many other places were good, and even in some matters, Zhu Yuanzhang had to admit that Song Lian's handling methods were more thoughtful than Zhu Yuanzhang's.
If the memorials you reviewed before were discussion questions and answers, you need to think about solutions. Nowadays, reviewing memorials has become a judgment question. You only need to check whether it is right or wrong. If you feel it is wrong, you can return it. You can also dispose of it yourself. The efficiency is naturally much faster.
But Zhu Yuanzhang still hesitated. Because this is about decentralization after all. For Zhu Yuanzhang, who is addicted to power, he feels uncomfortable in his bones.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Prince, someone made a suggestion to me. Let me set up bachelors to share government affairs, just like today. Let the bachelors draw up the votes, and I will just wear red. What do you think?"
The prince suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Zhu Biao suddenly came over this time, but he didn't understand the reason for Zhu Yuanzhang's sudden action. Now imagine that the bachelors share the government affairs. It can be regarded as solving a mystery of the prince.
After a moment's thought, the prince began to think. It's still not good to do it this way.
The prince thought for a long time and said: "Father, this matter is of great importance. I can't think of right or wrong for a moment. My father just dismissed the prime minister, and now he has set up a cabinet to draw up votes on my father's behalf. I'm afraid that I will In the future, although he will not have the name of prime minister, he will have the reality of being prime minister. However, he has lost his original intention of deposing the prime minister."
"But my father stays up all night every day and works day and night. I am very worried about my father's dragon body. By doing this, I can share the work for my father. I am also happy to see the results. But if I make a decision, please ask my father to be holy. Cut."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, half satisfied with Zhu Biao's words.
He was satisfied that Zhu Biao could see that in doing so, he was actually treating the cabinet as the prime minister in disguise. But not satisfied, Zhu Biao said both ways.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, tell me. Do you think it is good or bad?"
He Xi knew that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to know not only his opinions, but also historical evaluations of the cabinet system.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, I have heard that one of the methods used by subordinate officials to deal with Shangguan is to give Shangguan enough things to do. Human energy is limited. When Shangguan is busy with these affairs, the constraints on them It’s much less.”
As soon as these words came out, the room suddenly dropped a few degrees.
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed not to move at all, but in fact his breathing was a little heavy.
When Zhu Biao saw this, he immediately said: "Brother He, why don't you talk nonsense?"
"What?" Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was a little cold and he said, "The emperor feels that we can't even hear a few words of truth. He Xi, please continue."
Zhu Yuanzhang was not an emperor who could accept advice.
This is not to say that Zhu Yuanzhang refused to admit his mistakes. But because he was too suspicious, when anyone advised Zhu Yuanzhang, the first thing Zhu Yuanzhang thought of was never the content of the admonishment, but the motive of the admonishment. Who are you here for and what is the purpose? In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, almost all courtiers were unclean, and in fact, this was also true. Officials who can climb up to the top, whether they are civil servants or military generals, all have their own small circle. Once Zhu Yuanzhang saw their advice from this perspective, he naturally did not dare to believe it easily.
Who knows, for whom does this rooster cry? Is it a male? For personal reasons? For profit? For the name?
But He Xi is different.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew who He Xi was, a loner and out of place in this world. It also has the vision of future generations. The way of looking at people and things is different from that of people today. Therefore, he could better hear He Xi's advice.
Although He Xi said that he was being manipulated by the officials below. But Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, but he had not yet broken through his reason.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, please continue."
He Xi said: "Your Majesty wants to unite the king and the king, but you must know that although the power of the king and the power of the prime minister may infringe upon each other, the world is so big that no one person can rule it. Even if your majesty can rule it, can the prince or the grandson? Therefore, , Your Majesty selects the talented and appoints them to govern the world. The wise are used and the unworthy are discarded. This is the common principle. However, the system of the previous dynasty was extremely vulgar. It was far less refined than that of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Therefore, Your Majesty used If you feel it is inappropriate, you will gain or lose it, and if you dismiss the prime minister, you will go too far."
"The way of being a king is to select talents and appoint capable people, to make important decisions, to clear up big doubts, to guide the program, and to decide state affairs. The way of the prime minister is to carry out the orders of the emperor and travel in all directions. To support the emperor at the top and to bring peace to the people at the bottom. He is just a political governor. The two go hand in hand. Even if the prime minister is deposed, the power of the prime minister will still be there. I may fall into the hands of villains, which will be more harmful to the imperial court."
Zhu Biao suddenly became anxious after hearing what He Xi said. He said: "Father, little brother He has just arrived. I don't know the seriousness. Please don't blame me if I don't know."
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Biao'er, do you think my father is unreasonable?"
Zhu Biao cursed in his heart and said to himself: "You just don't make sense at all when you have time." But he could never say this.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Prince, you will move from the East Palace tomorrow and place it near the Qianqing Palace. I intend to reset the secretary prison. You will be responsible for it. From now on, all the memorials in the world will be handed over to you from the General Affairs Department. You first classify them, write abbreviations, and write them in one form. Two copies, one sent to me. The other to the Hanlin Academy, let Song Xueshi draw up a charter for me. Send it to me." He paused slightly and said: "As for what night, in the secretary's supervision Get a secretary."
Zhu Yuanzhang understood that many of He Xi's words were not his own meaning, but were summarized from the history of later generations. Zhu Yuanzhang looked down upon eunuchs the most. He never expected that later generations of eunuchs would actually have the most important power of criticizing people. Is it possible that the former Song Dynasty co-ruled the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, while the Ming Dynasty co-ruled the world with the eunuchs?
How ridiculous is this?
Since he knows, this trend is inevitable. Even if he doesn't do it, his descendants will do it. Why not perfect this system in his hands. The Secretariat originally existed, and like the Hanlin Academy, it was an official position in charge of books. When Zhu Yuanzhang established the country before, he felt it was redundant and abolished it. Now the re-establishment is to replace the Secretary Supervisor with the Secretary Li Supervisor who was the eunuch in later generations. Let the secretaries and supervisors and the cabinet check and balance each other.
Of course, it is not needed here in Zhu Yuanzhang. But future generations will need it.
No matter what, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't tolerate it. It was a joke that the eunuch had the power to criticize people.
This was already Zhu Yuanzhang's concession. It is absolutely impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to re-establish the prime ministership. Because of the most basic trust between monarch and ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang has none at all. How could Zhu Yuanzhang be willing to give power to a person who might be an enemy?
As for He Xi’s secretary. It was to give He Xi an identity to stay with Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, He Xi has no name or distinction. There is something out of place in the palace. With the identity of secretary man. You can justifiably stay in the palace. It also allowed He Xi to get closer to the prince. Save it for later.
The prince and He Xi immediately said: "My son, I obey your order." "I obey your order."
From this moment on, He Xi officially began to integrate into the Ming Dynasty.
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The prince and the new secretary Lang Hexi walked out of Qianqing Palace one after another.
The prince suddenly stopped in his steps. Said: "Brother He, since my father asked me to take care of you, I have something to tell you clearly. I admire you very much for your direct remonstrance in front of my father today. But it's best not to do this next time. Father, these days Over the years, the majesty is getting stronger and stronger. In one word, you can lift it up to the sky and throw it into the ground. The punishment is unpredictable and the power is unpredictable. If something happens by then, even I will not be able to save you. Such things will rarely happen in the future. Do it. Even if you really have to do something, just say hello to me in advance so that I can be prepared."
The prince's words were spoken with sincerity. It's quite heartwarming. These four words can be called being kind to others.
He Xi felt the prince's kindness and said, "Your Highness, I understand."
The prince said: "Call me brother."
He Xi said: "Yes. Brother Prince."
Just like Zhu Yuanzhang asked He Xi to call him uncle, they were all polite words. He Xi agreed in person and never dared to do so.
The prince said: "Father, I can only order people. You go and rest."
He Xi bowed and obeyed the order to return to the palace where he had rested.
