Ming Dynasty: He was ordered to give lectures in prison, but Lao Zhu eavesdropped and made people nu

Chapter 151 Reforms in all dynasties have failed, and the biggest problem lies with the emperor

Lin Che shook her head.

"More than that, the biggest problem with the failure of reform is still the emperor!"

"Even if everyone in the imperial court is a good official who prays for the people, the various new policies are in line with the actual situation."

"But if the current emperor is a mediocre and cruel person, his interference in the structure of the court will only accelerate the court on the road to destruction!"

"The emperor who is at the top of the pyramid of power and cannot be restrained."

"If you become a foolish king, then all the hard advice from your loyal ministers and good generals will be useless."

"The bureaucrats in the imperial court will begin to corrupt from top to bottom at an alarming rate."

"No matter how prosperous a dynasty is, it will always be full of decay."

Lin Che said this and asked Zhu Ping a question again.

"A foolish emperor will not only lead to the corruption of the power structure from the inside out."

"It will also lead to the emergence of other factors that undermine the power structure of the imperial court."

"What can you think of?"

Zhu Xi thought back to the course he had attended some time ago.

He immediately replied firmly:
"If the power in your court is imbalanced, sir, will your relatives start to interfere in politics?"

"The Eastern Han Dynasty in history was the result of the mediocre Emperor Ling."

"As a result, my cousin He Jin, who was born a butcher, interfered with the imperial government's decrees."

"Yes, you finally learned to apply what you have learned!"

Lin Che praised Zhu Ping.

But he changed the subject and said:

"But you're only half right."

"When the emperor was in a coma, apart from his relatives running rampant, what about the lack of arrogant and domineering servants of the emperor's family?"

Lin Che said it during the previous lecture.

The closest to the emperor were the eunuchs and relatives.

Especially eunuchs, because they are closest to the center of power.

In ordinary times, they would dare to use the power of the emperor to extort officials who have no backing.

If the emperor is in a coma and only cares about pleasure.

A eunuch who can directly exercise most of the power of the emperor.

There was a turmoil in the court, and even the most powerful ministers had to retreat and did not dare to directly compete with him.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were many great eunuchs who caused harm to the imperial court.

For example, Wang Zhen, who encouraged the emperor to personally conquer the country, caused the famous "Tumu Fort Incident" in history, which almost destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

Another example is Liu Jin, the great eunuch who was the leader of the "Eight Tigers". He deceived the superiors and deceived the inferiors. He was so powerful that he was even called the "Emperor" by later generations. All the power of the court was in his hands.

There is also the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who is known as the "Nine Thousand Years Old". He has the final say in the appointment and dismissal of Ming officials, as well as major and minor court affairs.

These eunuchs were one of the reasons for the final demise of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that he can't talk to Zhu Xi about this yet.

He could only give some examples from previous dynasties.

"For example, Zhao Gao stole the power of Qin II."

"Directly in the court, playing the trick of calling a deer a horse, and eliminating dissidents in front of the emperor."

"For another example, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was obsessed with Yang Yuhuan in the later period, and actually let Gao Lishi, a eunuch, get involved in the military power."

"So much so that after the Anshi Rebellion, there was a strange scene where leading eunuchs appeared and dethroned the emperor."

Lin Che took a sip of tea and moistened her throat, just as he was about to continue speaking.

Zhu Ping suddenly interrupted:
'There is also Tong Guan, the eunuch of the Song Dynasty. '

"Not only did he lead the army as a eunuch, he also became a king because of his military exploits."

Lin Che was speechless.

This guy doesn't know much about other things.

But as long as the military is involved, you can always get involved.

Lin Che didn't even bother to correct Zhu Ping's fanaticism about military affairs.

He coughed and continued:
"Based on the above example, eunuchs started dynasties with exclusive power."

"Their power structure is corrupting faster than ever before." "Of course, relatives are just as harmful, but do you know what they have in common?"

Zhu Xi poured tea for Lin Che, thought for a while, and answered with some uncertainty:

"Is it because the eunuch's relatives gained their power by pleasing the emperor?"

Because I was surrounded by eunuchs and maidens since I was a child.

Almost everyone tried their best to please him.

In order to obtain rewards and higher status.

Therefore, for Zhu Xi, this problem is simply not difficult.

Lin Che glanced at Zhu Xi in surprise.

Unexpectedly, this kid could directly see the crux of the problem.

Can't help but ask curiously:

"How did you come up with that?"

"I…"

Zhu Fang subconsciously wanted to answer truthfully, but suddenly thought that he could not reveal his identity.

After hemming and hawing for a long time, I suppressed my blush.

"You have thought of the answer, but you can't tell the reason?"

Lin Che glanced at Zhu Xi in confusion.

However, she did not struggle with him on this issue and continued to teach:
"Eunuchs and relatives may seem to be two different groups, but they are actually the same in nature."

Lin Che continued to peel off the cocoon.

"That's what you just said. They relied on pleasing the emperor to get high-ranking officials and generous salaries. On the other hand, those scholars relied on thousands of troops to cross the single-plank bridge and passed the imperial examination level one level."

"The positions of the two are different."

"Coupled with the varying degrees of difficulty in obtaining official positions, a natural antagonism formed between eunuchs, relatives, and civil servants."

"Civil officials looked down upon eunuchs who only wanted to boast about getting to the top. If eunuchs have interests contrary to them, they are naturally incompatible."

"Qiu Shiliang, the great eunuch of the Tang Dynasty."

"Having dominated the officialdom for more than twenty years without losing the holy family, he was the idol and goal of countless eunuchs at that time."

"When Qiu Shiliang retired and returned to his hometown, almost all the eunuchs went to see him off.

"I also asked him for advice on the secret of being favored by the emperor for so many years."

"Qiu Shiliang waved his hand and gave a very simple answer."

"That is a matter of indulgence and enjoyment. The emperor has full arrangements every day."

"Don't let the emperor have leisure time."

"Otherwise, as soon as the emperor is free, he will naturally go to study, and when he encounters problems, he will ask civil servants to answer them."

"The more I read this book, add in discussion questions, and go back and forth, the closer the emperor and civil servants will get."

"Then the eunuch will naturally fall out of favor."

Speaking of this, Lin Che paused for a while. She talked too much in one breath and her mouth felt a little dry.

Seeing this, Zhu Chong quickly filled up the tea.

Lin Che took a sip of tea before continuing:

"In order to avoid falling out of favor, eunuchs and relatives will take advantage of the opportunity to arrange confidants among the courtiers."

“But such a move will inevitably trigger strong resistance from civil servants.

"The most famous example is the struggle between the eunuchs and civil servants of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which ultimately led to the disaster of the party!"

Lin Che quoted from scriptures and explained to Zhu Xi why eunuchs and relatives were naturally in opposition to civil servants.

Zhu Xiang was a little uncertain.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, the status of eunuchs was extremely low. Emperor Hongwu learned from historical lessons and deliberately suppressed these eunuchs.

His attitude towards his relatives is the same as towards eunuchs.

Internal ministers are strictly prohibited from interfering in government affairs.

As a prince, Zhu Xi is still very clear about all this.

Therefore, he didn't really care about what Lin Che said.

It even feels a bit alarmist.

(End of this chapter)