Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 277 No one can underestimate the Royal Horse Supervisor
"Do you want to send internal officials and eunuchs to accompany eunuchs out of town and border fortresses?"

After hearing what Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Di frowned and said: "Aren't you afraid that the eunuchs will repeat the disaster of the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty after they take over the power to lead the army?"

"It's all my son's fault for not making it clear."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled bitterly and said: "That's right, because the achievements of Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, and Qingyao are very dazzling. Going to sea to admiral a fleet has become the highest pursuit of many eunuchs. My son does intend to send the accompanying eunuchs as imperial envoys to patrol the borders on behalf of the emperor. Army or navy, but their duty is to supervise an army, which is no different from the eunuchs who temporarily served as supervisors in the past."

Historically, the first guarding eunuch in the Ming Dynasty was Wang Yan, who guarded Liaodong during the Yongle period. This person was sent outside as an internal officer of the Royal Horse Prison.

Although the guarding eunuchs were not included in the imperial establishment of civil and military officials, they represented imperial power and were actually one of the highest local officials.

Although the authority of the guarding eunuch is unclear, it overlaps with that of the local military chief, the chief soldier, and the chief official of the political power, the governor. He can intervene in anything. In this way, the guarding eunuch, chief soldier, and governor are called "three halls."

Historically, the garrison eunuchs in Jiubian, in particular, interfered seriously with military power. Whenever there was a war in Jiubian, it was customary for the general to lead the army, the garrison eunuchs to supervise the army, and the governor to supervise military affairs.

Moreover, every year, Jiubian burns wasteland to prevent the nomads from approaching, and the guards are also led by the guarding eunuchs in collaboration with the general soldiers of each town.

It was precisely with this in mind that Zhu Gaoxu intentionally divided the power of the imperial eunuchs and assigned the power of guarding or supervising the army to the internal officials and eunuchs.

After all, Zheng He and Wang Jinghong served as chief military officers many times when they went to sea. However, if a eunuch holds the position of chief military officer, he will always be regarded as interfering in politics. Therefore, it is better to let a eunuch supervise the army or supervise an army than to have a chief military officer. Some.

After this customization was formed, the military eunuchs were still just agents of the Ming Emperor in supervising military affairs, and still did not have the power to command an army.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu added: "Grandpa said that if you want to be a true emperor, you must firmly grasp the power of the military. No one or yamen can control the power of dispatching troops and the power of leading troops at the same time. This is called the separation of soldiers and generals. I The system of the Ming Dynasty did not allow eunuchs to lead troops in rebellion."

Zhu Di nodded and said, "Indeed."

Although the Ming Emperor sent eunuchs to supervise the army or admirals to supervise the camp guards in various places, they gave the eunuchs the power to control the army.

However, the military power held by the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty was not complete, because they were also held by military generals and civil servants.

The three parties restrained each other and could not control the military power alone. In the end, they could only obey the emperor's orders.

The most important point is that the recruitment system has been implemented in the Beijing camp. In five or six years, the regular soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will become professional soldiers, completely breaking away from the old-style soldiers as generals.

Without real things such as military pay and supplies, who would foolishly rebel based on passion and unattainable promises?

Unless the court is so corrupt that it can't even pay military salaries!

"Since the eunuchs accompanying the internal eunuchs are often sent abroad, your promotion of the imperial eunuch's status should be to check and balance the ceremonial eunuch."

After Zhu Di thought about it for a moment, he saw through Zhu Gaoxu's plan.

"Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from dad's discerning eye."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled slightly and said: "Dad set up a forbidden army to prepare for the guards. It was called raising horses, but it was actually to prevent rape and insult."

He was referring to the middle period of Yongle, when Zhu Di selected people who were good at riding and archery from the people living in the grassland to form the Four Guards including Teng Xiang and Wu Xiang to be responsible for raising horses. Among the four guards, he selected the best ones to join the ban and raise horses. The four imperial guards inside are extremely powerful.

Although the Four Guards "are called horse breeders, they are actually forbidden soldiers", but the Four Guards Guards are still horse breeders in name, so they are related to the Royal Horse Supervisor who manages the royal horses.

Zhu Di personally conquered the desert three times. The horses used during the expedition were provided by the Royal Horse Supervisor. In addition, the Royal Horse Supervisor was also responsible for the horses of Teng Xiang and other imperial troops, so the eunuchs of the Royal Horse Supervisor had to accompany the king.

After Qingyao left the palace, he worked in the Royal Horse Prison.

Recommended by Zhu Gaoxu, he was promoted step by step from Yuma Jian Dianbu to Yuma Jian Shaojian, and got the opportunity to accompany Zhu Di on his northern expedition.

At that time, Hai Shou, the imperial eunuch's young eunuch, also accompanied Zhu Di on his northern expedition.

In this way, the practice of eunuchs accompanying the Ming emperor on expeditions began.

As a result, the authority of the Royal Horse Inspector was gradually reduced, and it eventually became the only military department among the 24 yamen in the inner court.According to Zhu Gaoxu's plan, in the future, if the eunuchs in the inner-official prison go out to supervise or supervise an army, they will also have military power, thus dividing the power of the imperial eunuch.

"But, this move seems to go against the ancestral system, doesn't it?"

Zhu Di asked with a smile.

Zhu Gaoxu said seriously: "Dad, my son has not violated the ancestral system. This is what the emperor meant."

What a person like Zhu Di. After thinking about it, I understood why Zhu Gaoxu said this.

As early as the first year of King Wu's reign before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang established the official system of the palace of Wu, there was a Horse Controller in the palace. The chief was the fifth rank, and his responsibility was to manage the horses and stables in the palace.

This is the third internal official yamen established by Zhu Yuanzhang, six years earlier than the predecessor of the Secretary of Li Supervision, the Internal Affairs Department.

In the 17th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang updated the internal official system and renamed the Imperial Horse Supervisor. The chief was the seventh rank, and his responsibility was still to manage the horses in the palace.

In the 28th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once again updated the official system of the inner court and formally established four divisions, eight bureaus and twelve supervisors. The chiefs of the twelve supervisors were the fourth grade, and the internal official 24 yamen system was basically established.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang continued to adjust the internal official system was related to the political fluctuations in foreign countries. After the Hu Weiyong rebellion, the prime minister system was abolished.

At the same time as the great turmoil in the outer dynasty, Lao Zhu increased the authority of the inner court and used internal and external checks and balances to maintain imperial power, that is, "fighting against each other and not daring to pressure each other."

"It stands to reason that the eunuch who goes out to supervise an army should be the eunuch who oversees the army. After all, there is a precedent (Qingyao)."

Zhu Gaoxu explained slowly: "But the Royal Horse Supervisor already supervises the four guards and holds a certain degree of tax and financial power, so the son must limit his power."

The job of the horse supervisor is to raise horses. If horses want to eat grass, they need a hay farm.

As early as the early Yongle period, the Yuma Jian had already taken control of more than ten forage farms in the three provinces of Beizhili, Shandong, and Henan, totaling more than [-] hectares. Each forage farm had a supervisor, a junior supervisor, and a postmaster. Shu Shaojian, but the fodder collected is not in kind, but converted into silver "zi grains of silver".

Because the Jingnan War did not take place, the Ming Dynasty was peaceful for a long time. With the large-scale migration of the population to the north and the reclamation of wasteland, the traditional forage collection model had already changed. By the eighth year of Yongle, the forage collection of the imperial horse supervisor had changed from Convert in kind to tax money.

This money is directly transferred to the Taicang warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. When it is necessary to purchase fodder, it is then allocated to the Royal Horse Supervisor to purchase fodder from the people.

As for the pastures, the duties of the Royal Horse Supervisor were to manage the atlas, inspect the pastures, raise a certain number of livestock specifically for the court, and ensure the efficiency of the pastures.

In the middle period of Yongle, the annual income of forage farms in the three provinces was 3 taels.

Because he had experience in managing pastures, Yuma Jian also began to manage Huangzhuang in the late Yongle period.

By the first year of Qianxi, that is, this year, there were more than 8 imperial estates under the supervision of Yuma, with a total area of ​​nearly [-] hectares, and an annual tax of about [-] taels.

Calculated in this way, the amount of money that the Royal Horse Supervisor can directly embezzle amounts to more than 10 taels. This is not a small amount!

"That's great! The Chief of Ceremonies assists the emperor in reviewing memorials and documents. He has a considerable say in the court's political affairs, but he has no military or financial power."

Zhu Di caressed his beard and said with a smile: "The internal officers will accompany you when they come in, and they will be the imperial envoys when they leave. Although they have less say in court affairs than the ceremonial officers, they have a certain degree of military power, but no financial power."

"Although the military power held by the Yuma Jian cannot be compared with that of the Imperial Guard, and he has no say in political affairs, he can be on par with the Secretary of Ceremony and the Imperial Guard by virtue of his considerable financial power."

Why is it said that the imperial horse supervisor can be on an equal footing with the ceremonial supervisor and the internal official supervisor by virtue of his "financial power"?

Because the imperial eunuchs were usually responsible for purchasing tributes, the amount of food stamps they handled was immeasurable, which would have a great impact on all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, Zhu Gaoxu can drive the consumption habits of people all over the world through the Royal Purchasing Commission.

(End of this chapter)