Cutting 1719

Chapter 544
In both Chinese and Western cultures, the cabinet system is nothing new, but although they are both called the cabinet system, the cabinet systems in China and the West are basically two things, and the differences between them are so great that they cannot be covered by one word.

As we all know, China’s cabinet system originated from the Ming Dynasty, and its appearance itself was also due to a very famous historical event—that is, the Hu Weiyong case. Naturally, the particularity of this case does not need to be said. In short, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system for more than 2000 years , Changed the boundary between imperial power and phase power.

When the imperial power is too large, the heavy government affairs of the empire will be piled up on the emperor alone. Even the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who has been working in 007 for a long time, will feel hard and tired. The wonderful ability, so the decisive decentralization of power was given to officials, which led to the emergence of the cabinet system.

In other words, China's cabinet system stems from the over-centralization of imperial power, which led to the unavoidable phenomenon of decentralization. Therefore, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not want to give too high an official position to those ministers who worked for him, which led to Almost all the cabinet masters in the early days participated in political affairs as consultants, and their official ranks were only a small five-rank.

At the same time, because the emperor was not at ease with the ministers, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty only had the right to make suggestions, that is, the power to make proposals, and had no decision-making power, that is, the power to wear red. , by the emperor himself to wear red, so as to ensure that the emperor has the greatest power.

But the problem is, even if it is just wearing red, the emperor needs 007 to go to work every day. This is too cruel for the emperor, so the power of wearing red has gradually passed to the hands of the emperor's most trusted people-that is, the eunuchs of the inner court. Start reading and studying, and participate in politics, and as mentioned earlier, their role is not eunuchs, but royalists.

This system continued into the Qing Dynasty, and even the modified military aircraft department system in the Qing Dynasty was nothing more than a replica of the cabinet system, and it did not exceed the scope of this limitation.

However, both the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty and the military aircraft department system of the Qing Dynasty did not achieve the state that the emperor really wanted, and it was precisely because of the two systems of the Ming and Qing Dynasties that it became difficult to divide the power and responsibility of the cabinet, and even As a result, the power of the Wenchen Group is too excessive.

To put it simply, the role of the cabinet or the military affairs office is to assist the government, so the emperor must give the cabinet a certain amount of power, and because there is no prime minister, the general affairs of the six ministries are delegated to the ministries and cabinets, making the power of the ministers Become bigger, so that the cabinet will coordinate the six ministries and it will become logical.

But here comes the problem. The cabinet has huge power, but the power and responsibility are not consistent. All the responsibilities actually belong to the emperor himself, and the emperor will naturally not bear the responsibility, which leads to problems. He is the person responsible, but no one can really bear the responsibility, and dare not hold the emperor accountable, so he can only choose to let it go.

Secondly, in terms of legal principles, since the cabinet does not have the name of the prime minister, it naturally has no responsibility for the prime minister. Therefore, even if the chief minister of the cabinet is replaced, the chief minister cannot be held accountable, because they have no power on the surface.

Yan Song in the Jiajing period is a typical example, "Yan Song has no name as a prime minister, but has the power of a prime minister; he has the power of a prime minister, but not the responsibility of a prime minister." This sentence is exactly the drawback of the cabinet system. , and it was precisely because of the inconsistency of the powers and responsibilities of the chief and assistant that the Ming Dynasty had a lot of party disputes, such as Yan Song was defeated by Xu Jie, and Xu Jie was expelled by Gao Gong, which also reflected the uncertainty of the cabinet itself.

The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty itself was not comprehensive enough, let alone perfect. Because it was not sound enough, there was a joke that Chongzhen replaced the 17th Chief Assistant in [-] years, and the court fell into this meaningless situation for a long time. The internal friction and party struggle in the Ming Dynasty also led to the defeat of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, after Ning Yu established the Great Chu, although he also established the cabinet system, he always hoped to make changes on the original basis, and the direction of change was naturally to make the cabinet have the same powers and responsibilities, that is, the responsible cabinet system.

Ning Yu looked at the confused crowd and said earnestly: "I really want to govern the world together with the cabinet, not just let the cabinet be a department that can only draft votes. This right to wear red should have been granted a long time ago. The cabinet!"

When the cabinet ministers heard this, their hearts trembled immediately. It can be said that no one who enters the cabinet will expect to be able to wear red. You must know that you have a ticket system, and with the red system, it is equivalent to half a person. The emperor, who dares to have such power, isn't that just waiting to die?
"Your Majesty, if you don't dare, please take back the sacred order." Cui Wancai was panicked, and quickly refused. If he dared to agree, someone might want to participate in the performance tomorrow with ulterior motives.

Ning Yu shook his head and said, "Of course the right to wear red is not given to you for nothing, you should listen to me first."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Although the ministers had infinite doubts in their hearts, they could only look at it first before speaking.

"In my opinion, since the cabinet is to be worthy of its name, it is necessary to strengthen the status of the cabinet. In the future, the cabinet will fully participate in the administration. All cabinet ministers will be crowned with the position of Cong Yipin, and they will have the right to vote for relevant affairs. And put on red power, but all news needs to be reported to me and the Council of State Council, and the cabinet is not allowed to interfere with the Privy Council."

Ning Yu first raised the status of the cabinet, and then said with a smile: "The term of the cabinet is still five years, and the cabinet will be selected by the party. You can all go to the party to register with the party, and then use the identity of the party to participate in the next In the selection of the next cabinet, those who have priority votes in the State Council and pass my relevant review will become the next ruling cabinet."

"The party candidates who have won the right to form a cabinet will be appointed by me as the chief assistant of the cabinet, while the defeated party will be the opposition party, which will be in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple, forming a system of checks and balances."

"The so-called Council of State Council is composed of all nobles above the marquis, as well as representatives of the army, as well as local representatives from various provinces, and advanced representatives of various industries. Every year, the cabinet needs to report on its work at the Council of State Council. Only the cabinet report is passed by the Council of State Council. And I can participate in the income and expenditure statistics for the next fiscal year."

"If the review is not passed, I have the right to dismiss the cabinet directly and announce the election of the responsible cabinet in advance, but the process still needs to be carried out from the previous State Council, and a new responsible cabinet will be selected at that time."

"One year before the election of each responsible cabinet, the original State Council will be automatically disbanded, and the emperor will re-designate the new State Council candidates, and review the summary report of the previous cabinet and the inauguration report of the new cabinet."

"In addition, all parties participating in the election must comply with the law, and must accept the inspections sent by the State Council and me. All financial accounts must be handled publicly. No party is allowed to accept political donations from foreign forces, nor accept other Donations from any individual."

After Ning Yu's explanation, everyone couldn't help being dumbfounded. The emperor directly encouraged everyone to form a party to compete. This is really the first time in the history of China.
That is to say, from this day on, even if you want to become an official, don’t think about resigning, because the next cabinet still needs parties to run for election, and you must give the Council of State Council and the emperor a satisfactory answer. , if the answer is not satisfactory, then it is almost a certainty that the next party will change parties.

As far as Ning Yu is concerned, his power is not limited by the expansion of the power of the cabinet, because in terms of legal principles, the formation of the cabinet must be reviewed by the emperor and the State Council, and the candidates for the State Council are all selected by the emperor. Delineation, so it is destined that the emperor's power is still in the overview, but the responsibility for government affairs has been excessively transferred to the cabinet.

That is to say, if the cabinet does not do well, it will naturally be the responsibility of the cabinet. At that time, Ning Yu can reorganize the cabinet openly, so that people's grievances will be attributed to the cabinet instead of the emperor. If the cabinet does well enough, the emperor will also have enough bargaining chips Restrict it so that it will not affect the imperial power.

As for Ning Yu’s policy that the cabinet should not interfere with the Privy Council, it has been a policy that has been practiced for a long time. This policy determines that the emperor always has the power to turn the tables.

Cui Wancai was of course aware of the hidden problems behind this system, and immediately said with a wry smile: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am afraid that every time a responsible cabinet takes office, it will have an impact on the appointment of court officials, and I am afraid that it will not be conducive to the long-term governance of officials. , especially for local officials, it is even more taboo.”

Ning Yu nodded lightly. Cui Wancai's words were not unreasonable. After all, once the emperor and the courtiers took office, wouldn't they have to drive their opponents aside and promote their own people after each cabinet took office?So, how to continue the coherence of the policy?

But for this question, Ning Yu was more or less prepared in his heart. He stood up and smiled, and said: "I don't care what you will do at that time, anyway, the relevant proposals will be submitted to me and the State Council In addition to the control of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I think you will not wantonly break the rules."

Of course, everyone can understand that there is another sentence in this, that those who really wantonly break the rules will not be able to continue to gain the trust of the emperor and the State Council, so naturally this cabinet will not be able to continue.

Now everyone has understood that if you want to participate in politics in the future, you must form a group and form a party. Only by forming a party can you truly assume the responsibility of a political party and be eligible to participate in the competition for the ruling cabinet. As the chief assistant of the cabinet, he also has the opportunity to form his own ruling team, so as to ensure that there will be no fights in the cabinet.

Moreover, due to the restrictions of the emperor and the Council of State, coupled with the independent status of the military, it means that the power of the cabinet will not be concentrated on a certain person, and even the chief assistant of the cabinet cannot pose a threat to the imperial power. To maintain its status, if the ruling party wants to continue to be in power, it must give an explanation to the emperor and the State Council.

There was a bit of anxiety and anticipation in the faces of the people. They understood that after the formation of the responsible cabinet system, it would be impossible to be a cabinet minister with both sides. They must have their own ruling ideas, and they must work hard to implement them. Otherwise, he would no longer be able to survive in Ningchu's court.

In Ning Yu's words, he would rather his courtiers gradually grope forward in the process of governing, even if they make some mistakes, it doesn't matter, but he absolutely can't tolerate those courtiers who are like the light and do not do practical things, people like this It is really harmful to the country.

After this conversation in front of the hall, two new factions quietly emerged in Ningchu. Among them, Ning Zhonghai and Cheng Wang, the core members of the Xunchen faction, formed a faction called the "Royalist Party", whose purpose is to safeguard the imperial power. Stability and the prosperity of the Great Chu, while the other is a faction called the "Qingliu Party" formed by the Shilin faction. Their purpose is similar to that of the royalist party, but there is one more content to maintain the status of the gentry.

Since the establishment of the two parties, they have started to set up large-scale newspapers, publicize the party's purpose, and start to absorb new forces, so as to prepare for the election five years later. The "Progressive Party" and the "Chumin Party" and other parties also began to emerge, but due to their limited status, they did not have the noisy momentum of the "Royalist Party" and the "Qingliu Party".

When partisan politics emerged, the impact was not immediately apparent, but in the eyes of those who cared, it became an excellent opportunity, because they suddenly discovered a shortcut to the peak of power, that is, to organize their own When political parties compete for the ruling cabinet, they have the opportunity to become the chief assistant of the cabinet with one person under ten thousand.

Although the ruling cabinet needs the emperor's approval, which means that the chief minister of the cabinet still needs to pass the emperor's approval, but in everyone's eyes, this is still much clearer than the past road, so there are a lot of people who join the party at one time, and in the whole A new wave was formed in the territory of Great Chu.

(End of this chapter)