Thanks to the cabinet system at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, abolished the prime minister system and served as prime minister as a cabinet college student until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Imitating the Song Dynasty, the cabinet system set up a number of college students, including Gaihuatang, Wuyingtang, Wenyuange and Dongge, with only five official ranks. They were advisers to the emperor's attendants. They had no place to print letters. They were paid in imperial academy. This is the origin of the cabinet.
In August and September of that year (1402), Emperor Chengzu edited imperial academy, who was straightforward and participated in confidential affairs. Wenyuan Pavilion is located in the palace, and its ministers often serve the emperor in the palace, so it is called the cabinet. At that time, the imperial edict and imperial edict were formulated exclusively, and officials were not allowed to be overbearing to the department, and the chapter of the department did not go through the cabinet. All the chapters have answers from the emperor. The hall of supreme harmony in the Forbidden City entered the pavilion, which was called the people's pavilion, and then gradually rose to a bachelor's degree and a university.
During the reign of Hong, the power of the cabinet became more and more important. It could raise questions raised by the emperor, increase officials for teachers, and increase ministers and assistant ministers for university students. Since then, a number of ministers and assistant ministers have awarded the Diange University, and the six departments have gradually been entrusted by the cabinet and then implemented. When Xuande was orthodox, there were two rooms, east and west, which were run by Han Mo Guan. This is because the cabinet is subordinate and the cabinet system is ready. The emperor approved the internal and external suggestions and ordered cabinet ministers to draw up opinions and stick them on the sparse surface with small tickets and ink books, which were called purposes or drafts.
Then, it was approved by Emperor Zhu Bi, and it was called "Pihong". Major issues and major doubts are still discussed by the minister, and then handed over to the order after consultation. Yingzong acceded to the throne at a young age, and everything was decided by the cabinet and voted into a written law. The cabinet was responsible for approving and drafting decrees, and gradually became the central organization to assist the emperor in making decisions. The position of the cabinet is different from that of the previous generation, and it mainly votes to formulate rather than participate. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the person who presided over the cabinet affairs of university students was called the first assistant, the others were called the second assistant and the group assistant, and the court shifts were all above six in the Qing Dynasty.
From Jiajing to the early years of Wanli, the records were specially drafted, and the cabinet was the most powerful. There is no prime minister's name, but there is a prime minister's reality, and the six books are just pursued. Zhang Cong, Yan Song, Jeff, Gao Gong, Zhang, etc. He was a famous college student in Ming Dynasty, among which Zhang was the most prominent.
Because of orthodoxy, emperors often can't manage their own affairs, and cases are examined and approved by ministers of the Ministry of Rites, so the power of the cabinet is mostly in the hands of eunuchs. During the period of Qin Long and Wanli, ministers lived in harmony with each other, and sometimes they lived in harmony with supervisors in Li Si, thinking that they would help. At the time of the apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian was good at government, with the cabinet as its wing, and the internal and external power was vested in the official hall.
At that time, except for the emperor, there was a certain restrictive relationship between the cabinet and the official. Everything needs to be famous except the civil service system at that time. What is a famous teacher? That's the support of the emperor. Therefore, having cabinet records may be autocratic, but it is impossible to overhead the emperor. Even chrysanthemum can't do it.
Why didn't Wanli go to court for decades? Wanli grew up under the care and education of Harmony. In terms of ability, there is nothing wrong with being an emperor. The problem is that under the strict requirements of Zhang Hefeng for many years, his psychology has gone to extremes.
Long before Wanli was established? In the history of this dynasty, there is such a precedent that Qin Long, the father of Wanli, was a dull and mediocre emperor. During his five and a half years in the palace, he often held early dynasties at first, but he knew nothing about national politics. He came to the imperial court like a puppet, and often asked his college classmates to answer the statements of other officials. In the next few years, just like the early dynasties with literature, they simply avoided customs. The relationship between the monarch and the minister is quite harmonious.
At the beginning of Wanli, I just changed the "manuscript" of Zhang or other college students into calligraphy according to the guidance of others, even if I completed my duties. Some instructions in this chapter are extremely simple, such as "as intended" and "I know", which are similar to practicing calligraphy. Moreover, according to the usual practice, the emperor personally approved only a few copies, and other approvals were written by the eunuch in charge of the ceremony. This calligraphy represents the authority of the emperor. If you use calligraphy without the permission of the emperor, it is a "rectification movement" and should be sentenced to death according to the law.
After Zhang's death, Wanli was like a runaway horse, and both Zhang and Zhang were liquidated. By 1587, Wanli was only 24 years old, but it had been 15 years since he ascended the throne of the son of heaven.
He wants to abandon his long life and set up a young child, and replace his eldest son Chang Luo with his third son, Chang Xun, as the prince. This wish failed to come true, and the civil servants were drowned by saliva, which made his beloved woman Zheng Guifei very unhappy.
Therefore, Emperor Wanli used destruction and blows to fight against it.
Various legal ceremonies were held as usual, but the emperor no longer attended. There is a vacancy in a senior position, and he would rather leave it vacant than send someone to fill it, so that those civil servants have no hope of promotion except a few. The memorial of the courtiers' protest was constantly put forward to him, and he did not reply. Because he knew that as long as Zhu Pi was added to the script, whether it was a fierce rebuttal or a calm argument, these Zhu Pi and the original paper would be sent to the office in the case of reproduction and publication, which was exactly what the protesters hoped, thus achieving the purpose of selling fame and buying straightness and exposing their lack of manners. The most appropriate way is to leave these hateful scripts in the palace, that is, to detain them without instructions.
Therefore, officials with conscience feel unable to carry out their tasks and have to resign. Wanli treated these resignations with the same attitude, neither helping the case to stay nor allowing them to leave. Some officials left in a rage, and the official department suggested pursuing and questioning them, but Wanli also ignored them. At the end of his visit to Korea, a civil servant resigned voluntarily, which meant that a famous position was cancelled because no one came to fill the vacancy.
What is the actual situation of Wanli not going to court? Wanli didn't go to court, but he was too lazy to see the minister. It wasn't that he didn't care about state affairs at all. Why didn't anyone rebel or fly Wanli?
Wanli and his courtiers are familiar with poetry books, knowing that classic historical books are beneficial for courtiers to rebel against kings who have no choice. But there is no way to do this, and we must reach the level of Jie and Zhou, that is, to impose extremely cruel means on the officials and the people. However, this is not the case with the present Emperor Wanli, who ignored the above-mentioned documents and reviewed other memorials as usual.
In other words, he has a choice in slacking off and giving up his duties. He himself can confidently say that he pursues the tenet of "governing by doing nothing" of Taoism. In this case, the courtiers could not find any classical instructions to rebel. Therefore, despite the growing discontent and even anger, it has never developed into a civil war of "killing the husband alone" or "clearing the monarch".
The emperor's abdication of duty did not paralyze the government. Civil servant groups have formed their own automatic control procedures for many years. In the Year of the Ox, the Year of the Year of the Loong, the Year of the Sheep and the Year of the Dog, Beijing exams and court exams will be held as usual; The timely assessment of local officials and Beijing officials has not been cancelled.
The appointment and promotion of middle and lower-level civil servants shall be decided by drawing lots. The official department listed all the candidates. Except that an official is not allowed to be a local official of his origin or a superior and subordinate of his father and son, the decisive factor is not his moral character or intelligence, but a bamboo stick that has nothing to do with the facts. As usual, the emperor approved these routine affairs, and in most cases, Zhu Pi was replaced by the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.
This is one of the wonders of Wanli period! This is also the beginning of the demise of the Ming Dynasty.