Ming Dynasty: Every day, Zhu Yuanzhang is in trouble

My eldest brother-in-law's thoughts are indeed far-reaching.

I have actually seen things that are so far away.

What he thought was absolutely correct.

According to the history that Mei Yin knew, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the Secretariat and the prime minister system.

It was really as he had just said.

All power was directly taken over by the emperor.

There is no middleman like the Secretariat and the Prime Minister to make a profit from the price difference.

And Lao Zhu is indeed a man of super energy.

Both father and son took on this heavy burden.

Moreover, it did a very good job.

But it is really hard work.

There is no need to say much about Lao Zhu, he is a real man of super energy.

He is incredibly energetic.

Despite such high-intensity work, he still lived to be 71 years old.

He is the longest-lived emperor among all the emperors of the Zhu family.

But my brother-in-law Zhu Biao was not like that.

Everyone's physique is different. Some people are born energetic and only need to sleep a little bit a day.

But most people don't have this kind of talent.

Zhu Biao belongs to the normal category.

It's impossible to endure following his father every day.

As a result, this young man was eventually exhausted.

A minor illness cost him his life.

Zhu Yuanzhang lost his crown prince, and the Ming Dynasty also lost an outstanding successor.

As a result, so much trouble occurred later.

When Lao Zhu was in power, some changes were actually made regarding these issues.

For example, after he took power back to the emperor, he established a system of four seasons officials.

He wanted to ask others to share his worries, but he was also afraid that others would encroach on the emperor's power.

Be very careful and cautious about this.

The effect is not significant.

The things that Zhu Biao, the elder brother-in-law, considers are all very practical matters.

People like Lao Zhu are extremely energetic and diligent in their government affairs.

Among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, there were only two.

One is Zhu Yuanzhang himself, and the other is the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian.

However, their great energy and diligence led to completely opposite results.

Zhu Yuan was diligent in his work, which showed that he had real ability.

Although he did a lot of things, there were indeed some mistakes.

It laid many traps for the Ming Dynasty.

But it is undeniable that the ability is really good.

Under his diligence, the Ming Dynasty was generally governed quite well.

The national strength is growing.

There weren't any major problems.

Even if corrupt officials are cut off one by one like leeks.

However, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, there were not many major problems.

But Emperor Chongzhen was completely different.

Although he is diligent, he has no ability.

He is the kind of incompetent emperor that Zhu Biao mentioned.

The harder he worked, the more chaotic the Ming Dynasty became.

If I wasn't so diligent, I would follow the original process.

Maybe the Ming Dynasty could last a little longer.

Just hold on for a few more years.

But the result was that after Chongzhen, an extremely diligent emperor who was determined to govern the Ming Dynasty well, came to power.

This operation directly accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

He stepped hard on the accelerator of the car which was already sliding towards the abyss.

It can be said that the demise of the Ming Dynasty was due to many reasons, and there were problems in all aspects.

It is not caused by just one factor.

However, Chongzhen, the emperor who died at the gates of his country, is also involved and bears a certain unshirkable responsibility.

My brother-in-law's concerns are all correct.

It is not reliable to rely solely on the emperor and the crown prince to support the central administrative system.

Not a long-term solution.

Many thoughts are spinning rapidly in my mind.

Mei Yin quickly looked at Zhu Biao and spoke.

"Brother, your concerns are indeed reasonable.

These things have to be considered.

It’s really not okay if you don’t consider it.

In my opinion, the most reliable way is to establish a corresponding system.

However, the binding force of the system is limited.

Because no matter how good a system is, it still needs people to implement it.

The same system, when implemented by different people, will produce different results.

For example, now, after abolishing the Secretariat and the Prime Minister, my father has been able to make decisions on his own with the help of my eldest brother without any chaos.

But if any other emperor were to do it, it would definitely not work. The same principle applies.

Next, we may be able to use some better systems to solve this problem.

If different emperors met different ministers, the effects would certainly be very different.

But overall, it is definitely better than the current situation, where we have to deal with emperors whose abilities and attitudes are unreliable."

Hearing Mei Yin say this, Crown Prince Zhu Biao nodded very seriously.

He still agreed with what his second brother-in-law said.

The same rice feeds all kinds of people.

When facing the same thing, different people often have different ideas and different approaches.

The same is true for these systems.

But we can't stop eating because of choking.

We cannot think that no matter what kind of system we come up with, the effects it will produce in the future will vary from person to person, be greatly discounted, or even be directly the opposite.

They just expose themselves to the elements and give up on themselves without considering solving the problem.

This is obviously not possible.

At that moment, he listened carefully to what Mei Yin said next.

"Things are too complicated, and the Emperor and the Crown Prince alone cannot handle them.

We need some help.”

He paused and said, "For example, in the future we can set up an institution to select those capable, insightful, and skillful officials and let them join this institution.

Help the emperor to read memorials and handle government affairs.

They are the first to read the memorials submitted by the ministers.

After reading it, they will write down their corresponding opinions on how to deal with it..."

When Zhu Biao heard Mei Yin say this, he was stunned for a moment.

Why does the method proposed by my second brother-in-law sound no different from that of the Secretariat?

What the Secretariat did before was exactly these things that no one could survive!

He is also a patient man, and he knows that the questions his second brother-in-law is taking will definitely not be that simple.

There will definitely be other means later.

Then continue listening.

Mei Yin said: "But these people only have the right to participate in the discussion, not the right to make decisions.

Their opinions can only be used as a reference.

Next, they need to send the memorial and their opinions to the emperor for him to review.

Their suggestions for handling the problem will be adopted if possible.

If not, reject it directly.

Or you can keep it and not send it out.

In this regard, a provision must be made

That is, these memorials submitted by the officials must not be concealed by this agency, and all of them must be sent to the emperor..."

When Zhu Biao heard what Mei Yin said, his eyes lit up.

This seems to be a really good idea!
He had already seen the difference between the method proposed by his second brother-in-law and that of the Secretariat and the Prime Minister.

At first glance, they seem similar, but if you look closely, there is a huge difference.

There is simply a difference between cloud and mud!
There is also a prime minister in the Secretariat, who is in charge of all officials.

Moreover, the Prime Minister has the power to directly handle many memorials.
Especially on some minor matters, the prime minister can make all the decisions on his own without reporting to the emperor.

That is true power.

This is also one of the main reasons why my father hates and despises the prime minister system so much.

After all, the power of the Secretariat and the Prime Minister is indeed great.

The prime minister is in charge of all officials and is the head of them, so he naturally becomes the backbone of all officials.

They will stand with the officials.

In some matters, he will indeed be of help to the emperor.

But in some other matters, for their own interests, they would also go against the emperor.

Fight openly and covertly.

The struggle between imperial power and prime ministerial power has never stopped since ancient times.

Hu Weiyong has already started to take action.

He didn't dare to do much on big matters, but he would do favors for small matters.

There is no need to present it to the emperor, I can handle it myself.

All the memorials sent to my father have been screened.

If you want your father to know something, send it here. If you don’t want your father to know it, don’t send it here.

This is also one of the reasons why my father was angry.

I always feel like I'm looking at second-hand things made by others and I'm being fooled.

The idea your second brother-in-law has come up with now solves this problem very well.

Not only did it take into account the situation that the emperor did not have enough energy to deal with so many problems.

At the same time, it will also solve the problems of the Secretariat having too much power and deceiving the emperor.

When encountering some emperors who lack ability, letting these capable ministers in the court write down their opinions on how to deal with the situation and letting the emperor make the final decision can also make up for the emperor's shortcomings to a large extent.

Although doing so will still cause many problems in the future.

For example, some court officials would add some of their own personal opinions when handling the matter.

And the influence of these courtiers who helped the emperor handle state affairs among officials must be greater than that of ordinary officials.

Even in the future, it is possible that hidden phases will form.

But no matter what, the final decision-making power is still in the hands of the emperor.

As long as the emperor doesn't listen to them, there's nothing they can do.

Even if there is an extremely incompetent emperor, he will be fooled by his subjects.

There is such a system after the new emperor ascends the throne.

The main thing is that he is an emperor with ability and ideas, and he can gain power in a very short time.

Not to the point where you are completely unable to fight back.

This system is indeed very good and perfect in every aspect.

I came here to ask my second brother-in-law, and it turned out that I asked the right question.

Even though he knew that the method his second brother-in-law mentioned at this time was most likely something he had seen from some history.

But no matter what, it is useful to Zhu Biao.

He also felt that this was the idea given by his second brother-in-law.

What Mei Yin told Zhu Biao at this time was naturally the cabinet system that the Ming Dynasty would develop in the future.

But what he was talking about was not a complete cabinet system.

After all, in addition to the cabinet outside, a complete cabinet system also has a corresponding Silijian composed of eunuchs inside the palace.

But Mei Yin felt that there was no need to say these.

Because Lao Zhu definitely won't use it

Zhu Yuanzhang deeply hated the harem's interference in government affairs!
Most of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty Palace are illiterate.

There are also considerations in this regard.

According to the original history, the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty Palace were taught to read, but it was during the time of Zhu Zhanji, the so-called hexagonal warrior, that they wanted to be lazy and act like lazy dogs.

Only then was it given.

Let the eunuchs in the palace learn to read and write.

It was also from here that the system of eunuchs approving documents corresponding to the cabinet was gradually formed.

In the rotation of imperial power, the imperial power was further weakened.

The power of court officials increased greatly.

The power of the literati and scholars is growing stronger and stronger.

The emperor did this in order to resist the court officials outside.

Then he pushed the eunuch out.

Using eunuchs and court officials to counter the regime is a practice that has been around for a long time.

As the emperor's power was constantly being devoured, the struggle between the outside ministers and the imperial power became more and more fierce.

The emperor often uses two magic weapons.

One is the eunuch, and the other is the relative by marriage.

The formulation of systems is based on the actual needs at the time.

Only the system that conforms to the objective conditions at the time is a good system. There is no unchanging system.

Mei Yin felt that with Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao in power, the Ming Dynasty now needed a cabinet system.

However, there is no need for a cabinet system with a Silijian.

This is enough for now.

As for what happens next, we can just make some changes based on future developments.

Don't try to establish a system that will last forever.

This is simply impossible.

The world is developing and situations are changing, so the corresponding systems and some coping methods also need to change.

Otherwise, the old system will not be adapted to the new situation, which will inevitably lead to a series of problems.

It may even cause a disaster!

Zhu Biao couldn't wait to pick up the pen and write it down.

I feel that what my second brother-in-law said is all valuable advice.

Mei Yin saw Zhu Biao was so serious. After thinking for a while, he said, "Brother, in addition to this aspect, I think we can make some changes to the military system."

Zhu Biao raised his head immediately after hearing this: "Second brother-in-law, speak quickly."

He couldn't wait and seemed very surprised.

Originally, I came here this time to ask my second brother-in-law about what happened after the prime minister and the Secretariat were abolished.

How should the Ming Dynasty get along with each other?

Unexpectedly, my brother-in-law actually said something even deeper.

The solution mentioned by my second brother-in-law is already so good.

Then whatever is said will definitely be extremely good advice!

Mei Yin said: "As for the troops, it can be seen that father is a little worried about many things.

Then we can also set up an institution to deal specifically with military matters.

For example, it was named the Grand Council, but the Grand Councilor in it did not have any decision-making power.

Its greatest use is to serve as a mouthpiece to convey the emperor's military opinions.

Moreover, this Grand Councilor was not a high-ranking official.

They are just some low-ranking but powerful people…”

Mei Yin told Zhu Biao about the affairs of the Grand Council here.

The emergence of the Cabinet and the subsequent Grand Council can be said to have brought the emperor's power to its peak...

(End of this chapter)