Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 431 Isn’t this more advanced than constitutional monarchy?

It was early April in the ninth year of Xingde in the Ming Dynasty.

Jinling Royal Academy, Lecture Hall of Arts and History.

Zhu Gaoxu, who is over 90 years old, put his left hand behind his back and stroked his beard with his right hand as he stepped up to the fifth-level podium step by step.

Afterwards, more than [-] students under the podium bowed in unison and shouted in unison: "Meet the teacher!"

此刻，大讲堂内这些年纪在12岁至22岁之间的学生，乃是朱高煦还未就藩海外的十七个儿子（首封亲王）、180八个孙子（二代亲王或亲王世子或首封郡王）、83个曾孙（三代亲王或亲王世子或二代郡王或郡王长子）、35个玄孙（四代亲王或亲王世子或三代郡王或郡王长子）。

Because the lectures are held in the Royal Academy, strict entrance rules must be followed. Therefore, in the lecture hall, no matter whether the emperor or his father or his son, only the etiquette between students and teachers is discussed.

Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head and returned the greeting: "Everyone, sit down!"

After hearing this, all the students sat down one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and wrote "Outline of the Core Political System of the Ming Dynasty" in block letters on the blackboard. Then he turned around and glanced at the students and asked, "Who can tell me what the core political systems of the Ming Dynasty are?"

A young lord sitting in the front row wearing a blue shirt raised his right hand high.

Zhu Gaoxu looked expectant, nodded and said: "Tell me."

"Teacher, fellow students, this is your courtesy, the prince of Prince Wozhou Yin, Zhu Qitong."

Zhu Qitong bowed his hands to Zhu Gaoxu and the students, and then said loudly: "In the eyes of the students, there are six core political systems of the Ming Dynasty, namely the constitutional system, the governor's office system, the cabinet system, the virtuous courtyard system and the great dynasty system , provincial and national parallel system.”

The parallel system of provinces and states is an administrative division system in which provinces and vassal states run parallel to each other at the same level. This was the ancestral system established by Emperor Gao, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who ordered that the kings be renamed and establish their kingdoms overseas. It is naturally the core politics of the Ming Dynasty. system.

The constitution system is a series of rules and regulations set up around the Ming Dynasty Constitution.

The "Da Ming Constitution", also known as "Huang Ming Ancestral Instructions" and "Huang Ming Zong Lv", is the fundamental program of all laws in the Ming Dynasty.

This constitution is similar to the Constitution and Fundamental Law of the Ming Dynasty. It is the ancestor of all laws of the Ming Dynasty, so it is called "Zonglu".

The Constitution of the Ming Dynasty and the Laws of the Ming Dynasty are laws and regulations that must be obeyed by the princes of the Ming Dynasty, their vassal states, and the people under their rule.

According to the rules jointly set by Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di in the early Qianxi period, the Constitution of the Ming Dynasty was revised and optimized every five years, while the laws of the Ming Dynasty were optimized once a year. During special times, such as wartime, the emperor could summon all civil and military officials to hold the Huangji Hall for the people of the world. The Great Dynasty will formulate a temporary constitution or Ming Dynasty law.

Amendments to the constitution can only come into effect if they are proposed by the emperor or more than one-fifth of the wise people of the Mingxian Yuan, and must be approved by the Huangji Palace National People's Congress with a majority of more than two-thirds of the members participating in the meeting. The remaining laws and regulations and other bills must be passed by the National People's Congress with more than half of the participants to take effect.

The full name of the governor's office system should be the metropolitan governor's office and local governor's office system.

According to the constitution, the Metropolitan Governor's Office is the highest military commanding agency of the Ming Dynasty, responsible for the highest military decision-making and military command. According to the lines, principles, and policies jointly formulated by the ministers at the Imperial Military Conference or the Great Court Meeting and the needs of the security and development of the Ming Dynasty, Determine military strategy and lead military construction.

Under this form of government in the Ming Dynasty, theoretically speaking, although the emperor maintained the lofty status of the emperor, he had lost the supreme power of the past to follow his words and decide life and death with a single word, leaving only legislation. power and military power.

According to the provisions of the constitution, the emperor's legislative power can only be reflected by convening and presiding over the imperial meeting of the people of the world, and his military power is reflected by his status as the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses.

But in fact, the Ming Emperor had the allegiance of the Twelve Guards (private army) and overt or covert institutions and yamen such as the Royal Commercial Bank, the Royal Bank, and the Tiandi Reform Association. He was still the most powerful and wealthy person in the world.

The cabinet is the highest administrative body and decree-executing agency of the Ming Dynasty. It consists of a chief assistant, six secondary assistants (six ministers concurrently serve), a number of cabinet members (officials such as ministers of various deployments, auditor general of the Audit Office, president of the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty and other officials concurrently serve) and their It is composed of the yamen in charge of each department.

The cabinet was originally established by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. After vigorous development during the Yongle period, it fully matured during the Qianxi period. After the 22nd year of Qianxi, it was customized to become the highest administrative agency and decree execution agency of the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, the cabinet was the highest-level administrative and order-execution yamen in the Ming Dynasty, which oversaw the local yamen of each province and the administrative yamen of each vassal state.

The Minister of Administration of the Cabinet, referred to as the cabinet member, assists the work of the chief minister of the cabinet. He is entrusted by the emperor or the chief minister or the executive meeting of the cabinet to be responsible for certain aspects of work or major special affairs.

Candidates for cabinet members are nominated by the chief minister of the cabinet. They are decided by the National People's Congress or selected by the cabinet in case of emergency, and appointed by the emperor.

Under normal circumstances, the six ministers concurrently serve as cabinet ministers, and officials such as the Minister of Deployment, the Auditor General of the Audit Office, and the president of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty also serve as cabinet ministers.

As members of the cabinet, cabinet members serve five-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

The salary of the cabinet members is the same as that of the second assistant, but their power and ranking are listed after the second assistant.

The cabinet implements the system of chief assistant responsibility, and all ministries and departments implement the system of minister and minister.

Candidates for the chief minister of the cabinet, six ministers, and ministers are recommended by the annual National People's Congress, or in emergencies, candidates are recommended by the upper court in the court, and are finally appointed by the emperor. They are responsible for the emperor and the entire court ( That is, the country of Ming Dynasty) is responsible for it and is supervised by the emperor and officials.

The appointment and dismissal of officials of the fourth rank and below shall be carried out by the Ministry of Personnel in accordance with normal procedures and in accordance with the law.

There are strict requirements for the qualifications for senior officials of the third rank and above. They must have at least two years of excellent governance experience at the county level, two years at the government level, and three years at the provincial level.

The number of years in politics must not be less than ten years, and the age must not be less than 37 years old and more than 65 years old. For particularly outstanding candidates, the age limit can be appropriately relaxed to no less than [-] years old and no more than [-] years old.

These high-ranking officials of third grade and above can serve for a maximum of three terms, based on a term of five years and two terms of ten years.

In other words, the maximum age for the first assistant, second assistant, and cabinet member to take office is 80 years old.

In other words, when a third-grade official reaches the age of 65, he loses the qualification to join the cabinet.

The so-called chief assistant responsibility system means that the chief assistant comprehensively leads the work of the cabinet, and the chief assistant is responsible to the emperor and the entire court on behalf of the cabinet.

Secondary assistants and cabinet members assist and are responsible for the work of the first assistant.

On major issues in the work of the cabinet, the chief minister has the final decision-making power.

The chief assistant has the right to propose to the emperor and the National People's Congress the appointment and removal of secondary assistants and cabinet members, but he does not have the right to decide who should go and who should stay. That is, the chief assistant has no personnel power.

Decisions, orders and administrative regulations issued by the cabinet, as well as proposals submitted to the emperor and the Huangji Palace National Assembly, and the appointment and removal of officials of fourth grade and below must be signed by the chief minister to be effective.

Cabinet meetings are divided into "imperial cabinet meetings", "cabinet meetings" and "cabinet emergency meetings", all of which are convened and chaired by the chief minister.

Major issues in the work of the cabinet must be discussed and decided at the imperial cabinet meeting or cabinet assembly. This process is called "cabinet resolution".

The "Imperial Cabinet Meeting" is held in the Wenhua Palace led by the chief minister and all members of the cabinet. The emperor, as the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, attends the meeting. It generally discusses major administrative issues of the imperial court or major matters involving many yamen, usually every two months. or once a quarter.

The "Cabinet Assembly" is composed of the Chief Assistant, the Second Assistant, the Cabinet Secretary, and relevant cabinet members. It generally discusses important matters in the cabinet work, bills submitted to the emperor or the Great Council, administrative regulations to be issued by the cabinet, various deployments, and various localities. The yamen usually meets once a month to consult the cabinet on important matters.

The "Cabinet Emergency Temporary Meeting" is composed of the emperor, the first assistant, the second assistant, cabinet members, and cabinet ministers. It generally discusses cabinet work and urgent matters of the court.

"Who has any objection to what Prince Yin said?"

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal Prince Yin to sit down, then scanned the people in the lecture hall and asked loudly.

His voice was full of energy, and he didn't sound like an old man in his 90s at all.

"Teacher, the students have something to say!"

A fat young feudal prince raised his hand.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Speak."

"Teacher, fellow students, this is your courtesy, the prince of Prince Wozhou Mo, Zhu Qitie."

Zhu Qitie bowed his hands to Zhu Gaoxu and the students, and then said: "Since the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have had the system of the Great Chaohui, but it is inappropriate to regard the Dachaohui system as the core political system of the Ming Dynasty."

He swallowed nervously and then added: "The parallel system of provinces and states became a custom in the Yongle period, the system of the governor's office and the cabinet became a custom in the early Qianxi period, and the constitutional system was formed in the middle of the Qianxi period. Customized in the late Qianxi period."

"However, the system of the Xianmin Yuan only took shape in the late Qianxi period. It was not until His Majesty Emperor Xingde issued the "Da Ming Xianmin Order" five years ago that it became customized."

"Therefore, students believe that the core political system of our Ming Dynasty should be the parallel system of provinces and states, the constitutional system, the governorship system, and the cabinet system, excluding the imperial dynasty system and the virtuous academy system."

The Xianyuan system is the Xianminyuan system of the Ming Dynasty. This system was attached to the Imperial Palace National People's Congress in the Huangji Palace.Huangji Hall Tianxia National People's Congress, referred to as the Dachaohui, is the system that the "Great Chao System" in the mouth of Prince Zhu Qitong of Prince Yin and Prince Mo Prince Zhu Qitie refers to.

The Great Court Meeting was the highest authority of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor convened the main officials of the cabinet, the governor's office and other central government offices at all levels, as well as all local provincial, prefecture-level, county-level officials and a few township-level officials. The ten-thousand-person meeting held in Huangji Hall is held once a year.

The provincial-level and prefectural-level chief officials here include the provincial-level, prefecture-level, and county-level chief officials of the overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty, such as the governor of a place, the governor of a state, and the lord of a city.

The key point is that those attending the meeting also included overseas pro-vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty!

The Ming Xian Min Yuan, referred to as the Ming Xian Yuan, is a permanent institution of the Huangji Palace National People's Congress, which is authorized by the emperor to exercise legislative power.

The Mingxian Yuan has the power to interpret the Ming Dynasty Constitution and Ming Dynasty Laws, the power to supervise the implementation of various laws, the power to supervise the work of other imperial yamen, and the power to recommend personnel for officials in other imperial yamen.

"You sit down first."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and motioned for Zhu Qitie to take a seat, then looked around the crowd and said again: "Who else wants to speak?"

He knew in his heart that Mingxianyuan was an institution established to balance the powers of the cabinet.

In fact, the introduction of the constitutional system was something he specially set up so that the Zhu family dynasty could rule the Ming Dynasty for a long time. The purpose was to legitimize the power in the hands of his descendants.

Of course, there are some things that cannot be studied deeply, because if you study them deeply, other things will be involved.

In addition to these explicit systems, the Ming Emperor also held intelligence agencies such as the Tiandi Reform Society, the Jinyi Guards, and the Jinyi Secret Guards.

The Tiandi Reform Society is also known as the Tiandi Society and the Reform Society, and its president is the Ming Emperor himself.

This organization is intended to control the world's thinking, introduce new ideas, reform old ones, and actively develop.

Members of the Tiandihui act secretly and are a secret organization. They are composed of retired soldiers and disabled and determined patriots. They promote the progress of the world, monitor public opinion, and lead the trend of the times.

The village chief in the countryside, the leader of the village, and the professor of the school may all be members of the Tiandi Reform Association.

"Teacher, students have different opinions."

A tall and thin boy raised his hands and stood up.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Speak."

"Teacher, dear classmates, my student is Zhu Qi Al, the crown prince of Prince Xuezhou Heng."

Zhu Qilan bowed his hands to Zhu Gaoxu and the students, and then said: "Students have been living in Jinling from Snow Island for two years. In order to understand the people's sentiments, in the past two years, students have often been incognito on the streets or in the countryside during the holidays. Sometimes they have also Hang out in local schools and listen to students discussing the political successes and failures of the imperial court."

"There are many discussions among the people that besides His Majesty the Ming Emperor, only nine people have the most power in the world. They are the Military Counselor of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, the Left and Right Ministers of Mingxian Yuan, and the Left and Right Duyu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Shi, the minister of Dali Temple, the chief envoy of Xuanjing Division, and the Tongcai Ling."

"Therefore, the people call these nine people the Nine Phases, and this system is also respected by scholars as the Virtual King and Real Phase System."

"The governor's office, cabinet, court and other systems all serve this virtual monarch and the real system. Therefore, students believe that the core political system of the Ming Dynasty is the system of the virtual monarch and the real system and the parallel system of provinces and states."

Zhu Gaojiu narrowed his eyes, looked at Zhu Qilu up and down with admiration, then nodded and said: "Please sit down."

"Thank you, teacher."

Zhu Qilu raised his hand and saluted, then sat down.

In fact, the current phenomenon of "virtual monarch and real system" is precisely the result of Zhu Gaoxu's deliberate guidance and design for many years.

The Huangji Hall Tianxia National Council was the highest legislative body and the highest power body of the Ming Dynasty, while the emperor and the Jinyiwei and Mingxian Yuan directly under his control formed the highest supervision and feedback body of the Ming Dynasty.

The Metropolitan Governor's Office was the highest military decision-making and command office in the Ming Dynasty. Powers were jointly exercised by the emperor and the Military Council Governor.

The cabinet is the highest government order execution and administrative yamen in the Ming Dynasty, and the chief officer is the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Mingxian Yuan is the executive yamen of the highest legislative yamen of the Ming Dynasty, and its chief officials are the left and right Xianmin chiefs.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate was the highest supervisory office in the Ming Dynasty, and its chief officials were the left and right censors.

Dali Temple is the highest judicial office in the Ming Dynasty, and its chief officer is the Minister of Dali Temple.

The Xuanjing Division was the highest procuratorate in the Ming Dynasty, and its chief officer was the Chief Secretary.

The Tongcaishi Division was the core yamen for financial and economic decision-making in the Ming Dynasty, and its chief officer was the Tongcai Ling.

Common people are accustomed to calling the chief minister "Wen Xiang", the Military Supervisor "Wu Xiang", the Du Yushi "Cha Xiang", the Minister of Dali Temple "Fa Xiang", the chief envoy "Shi Xiang", and Tongcai. The order is "Ji Xiang", and the virtuous people are called "Yi Xiang".

Because these people have respectively mastered the administrative execution power, military decision-making power, supervision and picketing power, judicial trial power, procuratorial review power, financial system support power, and legislative supervision power of the Ming Dynasty, they are like the real prime minister.

But in fact, the power held by these so-called "real prime ministers" is not as huge as ordinary people imagine!
For example, the cabinet is not the sole voice of the chief minister of the cabinet. It requires the participation of the deputy ministers, cabinet members, etc. in standing cabinet meetings to form decisions before decrees can be promulgated and implemented.

Because the purpose of meetings and assemblies is to centralize power and win people's hearts, and the purpose of each deployment officer's responsibility system is to clarify responsibilities and avoid internal friction and buck-passing.

The same is true for the top-level power framework settings such as the Metropolitan Governor's Office, Dali Temple, Xuanjing Department, Ducha Yuan, Mingxian Yuan, and Tongcai Department.

Zhu Gaoxu designed this to prevent a certain yamen from becoming privately owned by an individual and becoming a tool for private power exercise.

He knew very well that the emperor's energy was limited, but the affairs of the court were unlimited.

If the successor emperor is wise and capable, he can definitely make use of the royal commerce, royal bank and other yamen and institutions in his hands to achieve great results.

On the other hand, if the successor emperor is mediocre and mediocre, such as a carpenter, a monk, a traveler, etc., but does not like political affairs, then he can be a hands-off shopkeeper, because there are still "nine ministers" who can take care of things.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang was very energetic and relied on palace scholars to assist him in his later years.

However, there were too few emperors with extraordinary energy like Zhu Yuanzhang, so there were many cases of eunuchs intervening in politics in the Ming Dynasty in history.

The most terrifying thing is Emperor Chongzhen who "worked hard to govern" in history.

During his 17 years in office, there were fifty bachelors. Compared with the Song Dynasty from the founding of the Song Dynasty to the 30th year of Yuanyou, when Sima Guang, Lu Gongzhu, Lu Dafang, and Fan Chunren served as prime ministers, there were only 51.

In addition, during his reign, the diligent Emperor Chongzhen changed a total of eleven ministers of the Ministry of Justice and fourteen ministers of the Ministry of War, executed seven governors, killed 11 governors, and forced one to death.

If Emperor Chongzhen in history could be a hands-off shopkeeper and leave military and national affairs to the "Nine Prime Ministers" under Zhu Gaoxu's design system, the Ming Dynasty would not have perished so quickly!

Of course, history has no ifs.

But Zhu Gaoxu has already traveled through time.

In order to keep China at the top of the world for a long time, he racked his brains to design such a "virtual king and real system" that suited the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty.

It is unrealistic to establish a constitutional monarchy in China in this era. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaoxu are all powerful monarchs.

Zhu Gaoxu's successor, Emperor Xingde Zhu Zhantang, was no ordinary person either.

The Constitution of the Ming Dynasty is essentially still the ancestral teachings of the Ming Dynasty, but it has been perfected and patched with improvements.

With the Constitution, the Ming Emperor did lose the power to kill anyone he wanted, but this was mainly for officials who had not committed capital crimes.

In other words, if the emperor wanted to kill a dirty official, it would be easy to do so.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty did not become a constitutional monarchy, but a "limited virtual monarch and real system" that was extremely flexible and resilient.

The so-called "limited" refers to both the "king" and the "prime minister". Under the provisions of the constitution, the former has lost the power to act arbitrarily, but has gained the power to enjoy life and pursue hobbies like ordinary people, while the latter has gained the power to exercise discretion. Although the imperial court had the power to issue orders, it was difficult to truly integrate military and political power into one body.

The reality of a limited virtual king—isn’t this more advanced than a constitutional monarchy?
(End of this chapter)