Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 157 Unqualified Idle Official (Part [-])
However, if it is said that Long Qing refused to further expand the power of the cabinet, how can he explain that he allowed Gao Gong to concurrently serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials as a scholar of the Wuying Hall?You must know that the Minister of the Ministry of Officials is known as the "Heavenly Official" and is in charge of personnel affairs, and Li Chunfang, the chief assistant in the cabinet because he ranks ahead of Gao Gong, does not dare to compete with Gao Gong, and Gao Gong is equivalent to mastering administrative power.

It stands to reason that this power itself is already very huge, but Emperor Longqing was still dissatisfied, and even let the person recommended by Gao Gong take the seal of the supervisor of ceremonies. Also gave the high arch!

In the original history, everyone must admit that in the end of Longqing's reign, anyone who opposed Gao Gong would bow down and step down in the end, without exception.

Why is it always said that Gao Gong is the only courtier in Longqing's mind who can be completely trusted?This is the reason: Not only was Longqing able to completely and thoroughly delegate power to Gao Gong, but he also supported Gao Gong to such an extent that "to oppose Mr. Gao is to oppose me".

Then, Gao Yushi guessed that Long Qing's reluctance to continue to increase the power of the cabinet formed a paradox with this trust?He thinks not.The reason is that what Long Qing trusts is not the cabinet system, and he does not want to go against the original intention of the Taizu not to have a prime minister. What he trusts is and only Gao Gong!

There is a big difference.If Long Qing really trusted the cabinet system itself, and subconsciously believed that having a prime minister in a practical sense was a good thing, then he shouldn't care about who would be the powerful "prime minister".However, the fact is that before Xu Jie was "unfavorable to the people in the country" and there was a slight sign that he was in power, Long Qing decisively let him go home to retire.It can be seen that in his mind, Gao Gong can hold great power, but the cabinet itself cannot have such a practice. The power of the position of chief assistant should still be limited to "assistant", not "zai".

Therefore, he would rather let Gao Gong concurrently serve as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and would rather appoint the seal of the chief of ceremonies recommended by Gao Gong, and use these actions to greatly strengthen Gao Gong's power and prestige, rather than directly hand over these powers to the cabinet.Because as long as these powers are separated, if there is no one like Gao Gong in the future, the power will still be dispersed, and there will be no overhead to the emperor.But if these powers evolve into the power of the cabinet, then the person in charge of the cabinet—such as the chief assistant—may actually become the prime minister.

You must know that the current cabinet already has power to discuss power. Some people regard the cabinet as the "Zhongshu Ministry" and call the cabinet ministers "prime ministers", mainly focusing on this point.The cabinet's discussion of power is mainly reflected in the drafting of votes, and its document operation mechanism basically has three aspects.

First of all, although the cabinet has not been "shut down" in the system for all the political affairs that are requested and approved by the six ministries, it is not prepared to be consulted afterwards, nor does it mean that they may not be consulted, but all must be drafted by the cabinet, and all It can be "refuted".In addition to the above-mentioned six parts, all the chapters and performances except the above-mentioned six titles are requested and approved, and then "published and drafted", and all chapters are also submitted to the cabinet for approval and drafting.

Secondly, the various divisions played a role and closed the White Cabinet.In December of the third year of Jingtai, Emperor Jing ordered the Ministry of Officials to select and employ other officials. The stereotype that "the cabinet must not shut down white affairs".With the formation of the cabinet system, the divisions generally have to discuss with the cabinet to reach an understanding on the handling of major issues before going to the shuffle.For example, Wang Qiong, Minister of the Ministry of Officials at the time of Zhengde and Jiajing, said: "The power of the cabinet is gradually increasing, which is no different from the establishment of a prime minister. The power of the six ministries is gradually lightening, and everything is more happy to be followed by the cabinet's order.

Thirdly, the foreign governors, governors, chief soldiers, and patrol censors directly wrote to the cabinet to ask for instructions.Especially since Zhengde, the governors have written to the cabinet in the form of exposing posts, asking for advice on military, political, financial, and endowment strategies, and the cabinet is in the middle and remote to give strategies, which is a common practice.Therefore, whenever civil upheavals subside and border affairs are stable, all cabinet ministers must be rewarded without exception for their hard work in strategizing.

All the emperor's decisions were made through the above three documents.Since all must be approved by the cabinet, it is different from the "preparation consultants" such as Hanlin bachelors in the past, the cabinet's discussion of power is active and relatively stable.

In addition, the cabinet vote has a certain restrictive effect on the imperial power.First of all, in terms of bill drafting, the emperor's right to approve redemption should not go beyond the cabinet bill drafting in principle, and bill drafting becomes an administrative order after approval.Secondly, if the emperor took the initiative to issue edicts and central decrees to deal with political affairs, he had to send them to the cabinet as a rule to "discuss whether it is possible or not".If the cabinet disagrees, theoretically, the edict and the central decree can be "sealed back" and "performed", that is, to refuse to draft the decree.

University scholar Xu Pu once said: "Since he came to the throne, there has never been a fall from the inside. Once the door of luck was opened, the last one was safe. The ministers dare not obey the imperial edict." Play a few thirty sparse ".

Again, the cabinet ministers secretly revealed the cabinet's views and positions, and the emperor had to pay attention to it.Secret disclosure is one of the ways for the cabinet to speak out and perform affairs. "Chinese and foreign ministers work to seal things. Outside there is the Secretary of General Administration, and inside there is the Huiji Gate. All have number books. Only the cabinet can enter the secret disclosure. ...... A thousand words from the outer court , it is better to ban secret phrases".

Through bill drafting and refutation, the cabinet can not only make suggestions for the emperor, handle the national government affairs, and relieve the emperor's heavy burden; it also cooperates and checks and balances with the six ministries with executive power to improve the quality and efficiency of governance.This is the main reason why the cabinet has a tendency to become "prime minister" and the cabinet masters are regarded as "prime ministers".

Of course, if the emperor doesn't care about his face at all, he can still bypass the cabinet. For example, Jiajing always did this kind of thing in the era of Daliyi. His Majesty has been around for a long time, and the internal and external ministers and workers know it too." Therefore, Jiajing, a very cunning emperor, became the representative of the faint emperor in later generations.

Of course, Long Qing has seen and understood his father's skills, and he certainly doesn't want to be named as a foolish emperor in the future, so his actions are very cautious: Gao Yushi's prince's companion is a new one that the emperor wants to set up, but Although this position is held in the Hanlin Academy, it has no rank, and it is the so-called "not popular" according to the convention.It's just such a trivial matter, you can't say I'm messing around, can you?
As for his contribution to the book, although I have given a Bachelor of Attendance, it is a "Fake Bachelor of Attendance"-the "false" here is not true or false, it is equivalent to an "Honorary Bachelor of Attendance"-it is not actual Assuming the position of serving as a bachelor is purely for the prince's sake and to give him a name. You can't say that I am messing around, can you?

It is precisely because Gao Yushi has figured this out that he feels that not only some people in the history circles of later generations have underestimated Long Qing, but he may have underestimated this benevolent king before—his benevolence may be true, but Kindness does not mean lack of means.

Look at how well he did today. By setting up a new official with no rank, he not only regained face for the prince, but also showed his favor to Gao Gong. He revealed a little bit of his majesty as an emperor.

awesome.

(End of this chapter)