Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 163 Cabinet
Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

"Yuchi Jingde, Cheng Yaojin!"

"Your humble servant is here!" Yuchi Gong stepped out without hesitation. He was summoned back to the capital recently, but he didn't expect to encounter this incident. It goes without saying that he would go to Lizhou to bring back the second daughter of the Duke of Yingguo.

Cheng Yaojin was stunned for a moment. Logically, Heizi took up one spot, and the other should have gone to the introverted and cautious brother Shubao. He didn't expect that it would be his turn?

But think about it, Brother Shubao's health has not been as good as before in recent years, and it is really not suitable for him to travel around, so this burden falls on him.

He no longer hesitated, put away his cheerful expression, and stepped out of the line with dignity: "I am here!"

"Wu has a daughter who is extremely rebellious. Not only has she killed loyal officials, her sister and brother, and her mother, she has also disrupted the government and plotted rebellion. Her signs of rebellion have been exposed. Now I order the two of you to take 5,000 people to Lizhou and bring her back. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!" Li Shimin considered it and gave Wu Shigui some face by not having him executed on the spot.

"Yes!" The two looked at each other. Although they didn't understand why His Majesty was so soft-hearted, they still did as he was told and went down to prepare immediately.

The sky curtain changed again, and this time it was a role-playing show in which one person played two roles, which everyone was already used to.

【If science fiction movies were like this! 】

[People nowadays: Did the rich people finally escape on Noah's Ark, leaving us poor people running and crying on the ground? ]

[People from 2424: Yes, that’s right, but your technology was not mature at that time, so Noah’s Ark sank and the capitalists were buried in the Milky Way]

[People nowadays: Huh? Is it so beautiful? Science fiction movies also say that the earth's environment will deteriorate in the future and humans will suffer the consequences. Is this true?]

[2424 people: No? ? Oh~ I see! Speaking of which, it’s all thanks to your ancestors who didn’t have many children. The environment has improved as the population has decreased.]

[People nowadays: Huh? Is it so beautiful? ? . According to the routine of science fiction movies, have you experienced AI rebellion and AI war?]

[2424 people: You guessed it right, AI won]

[People nowadays: So humanity is doomed to fail? ]

[2424 people: Of course not. It’s so great to have a boss who gives clear instructions, is easy to communicate with, and is not easily emotional, to direct us in doing things. We no longer have to look at the faces of those idiot bosses.]

[People nowadays: Huh? Is it so beautiful? Then you must have experienced Star Wars? ]

[People in 2424: Working 4 hours a day is pretty tiring, and we only have 5 days off on weekends. We really don’t want to fight with aliens.]

[People nowadays: Wait a minute, wait a minute, you guys work two days and rest five days??? Is that so wonderful???]

[2424 people: Uh, working 2 and resting 5 may be a bit advanced for you people in the post-slavery era]

【People today: post-slavery era?】

[People in 2424: Because your technology has developed, but you still live like slaves, this is called the post-slave era]

[People nowadays: Humph, I’ve become a slave! ! Aren’t you afraid of aliens coming to invade the earth if you’re so bad? ]

[People from 2424: We don’t have many resources in this crappy place. It’s impossible for them to use a wormhole to cross 4 light years to steal two trucks of oil during the New Year? Selling the solar system wouldn’t be enough for the fare. Besides, we’re hoping they’ll dare to occupy us. Did you know? Aliens don’t even have the concept of work. How wonderful.]

[People nowadays: Huh???]

Jinling City.

Many people who seek to make a living in restaurants, teahouses, electrical appliance stores, docks, etc. are heartbroken. If working five days a week and having two days off are considered slaves, then what are we?
"Don't even mention working two days and taking five days off. Even working five days and taking two days off, or working six days and taking one day off is also a very good thing."

"Stop dreaming. Even the ministers of the imperial court have a day off every ten days. What about us?" The porters at the dock were talking about it. Those who made a living at the dock were afraid of the scorching sun, the cold wind in the coldest days of winter, and the continuous rainy season. They worked day and night and dared not stop for a moment.

The food and clothing that you earn by breaking your sweat may lead to your death, back injury, or death in a woman's bed one day.

"At least I'm still free, I can do whatever I want." said a dark and skinny man. Compared with the maids he had heard of who were sold at a young age, this was at least a good way out, she could earn a living on her own.

Many maids with unfortunate fates were married to bad families. They had to get up before dawn to help the master, mistress, young masters and young ladies get up, eat, drink, defecate and urinate, sweep the courtyard, and coax a bunch of monkeys jumping up and down to grab food. When the master, mistress and family finished breakfast, just when they were about to pick up the bowl, the mistress ordered them to go buy vegetables, and bought them back for a copper coin at a time.

After running around Jinling City and buying roast duck from this place, goose liver from that place, pork head from the north and south of the city, and Fuluji dim sum, I came back sweating all over. Just as I was about to pick up the bowl to finish the uneaten bowl of porridge, I was immediately called to fetch water. After fetching water and putting down the bucket, I was called to cook and wash clothes.
Then they had to deal with the little monkeys jumping up and down and making a lot of noise. If these monkeys cried or made a fuss, if they were a little slow, if the master made the mistress angry, etc., they would be scolded.

Normally, if the master's gaze lingered on a maid for more than a few breaths, he would be slapped and cursed.

They are even afraid that you will eat one more bowl of porridge, and they don't let you stop for a moment, as if they are not working you to death to justify the price you paid.

"Work five days and rest two days. How great." A group of men pulled their coarse cloth shirts to fan themselves, and drank the most broken and cheapest tea prepared by the tea master in the teahouse in big gulps, their eyes and hearts full of envy.

Working two days and resting five days is a dream that I cannot even imagine. In the future, will we really see such a day when there are no stingy and greedy bosses? No employers who treat people like donkeys?
If these can really be achieved, AI is not unacceptable. Although there are dozens of people here, the number of words they can recognize combined does not exceed a hundred, and no one can clearly explain what AI is.

But they can still tell who is good to them.

In front of Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. In his opinion, these people in later generations were too lazy. When they were lazy, they would always want to take advantage of others.
The ministers below were all silent. It turned out that except for the houses they lived in, they could not even take vacations as well as ordinary people.
"AI rebellion? Artificial intelligence war?" Everyone in the science department was puzzled. In the past, they had seen many videos of AI helping to draw pictures, writing texts, chatting, giving suggestions, and constantly optimizing and modifying based on opinions.

So people gradually understood what the so-called artificial intelligence means. It means that AI is gradually approaching the way humans think, and has even surpassed humans in many areas, such as Go and chess.

Its super learning ability proves its great value.

"Will AI get out of control if it continues to develop?" Everyone was shocked. Can humans really create something that still has self-awareness?

“Maybe that’s where AI is heading now.”

"."

Liu Ji and others were a little stunned. Not to mention the principles, they haven't even touched the threshold of AI yet. All they heard were some fragments.

The scenario where AI will rebel has not happened yet, but it has partially confirmed the concerns of some people.

[Today's topic: What are the pros and cons of Zhu Yuanzhang abolishing the prime minister system? ]

【In fact, from a long-term perspective, this matter almost does more harm than good. 】

[First of all, it is easy to see Zhu Yuanzhang's personality traits from historical materials. One is that he is suspicious and has a strong desire for control; the other is that he wants to solve all problems and lay a solid foundation for the rule of future generations. ]

【From this perspective, the outbreak of the Hu Weiyong case in the 13th year of Hongwu, and Zhu Yuanzhang's subsequent abolition of the prime minister system, has a bit of the flavor of "Zheng Bo defeated Duan Yu Yan". We used to think that the Hu Weiyong case led to the abolition of the prime minister system, but in fact, if we start from Zhu Yuanzhang's personality characteristics, it is not necessarily true.】【However, compared with some systems formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang (the system of royal family support), the abolition of the prime minister system is really not very wise. It is like throwing away food because of choking, or not using this mouth because the disease comes from the mouth】

[Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang had considered abolishing the prime minister system, but the effect was not very good.]

[First of all, we must make it clear that power and responsibility are equal. The position of prime minister is so important that it is not just to collect salary without doing any work. So after abolishing the prime minister system, Zhu Yuanzhang directly connected with all officials. The first thing he faced was an overwhelming number of memorials. It is unrealistic for one person to govern such a vast country.]

[Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a humble family and was full of energy. He also had Zhu Biao by his side to assist him, so he was able to handle government affairs.]

[What about the second and third generations? Not all emperors had as much energy as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di. Just look at the emperors of the Ming Dynasty who cultivated immortality, played badly, studied abroad, and opened zoos. They didn't have the energy and ability. Zhu Yuanzhang was too conceited and overestimated his bloodline.]

[You even encountered a young ruler like Wanli, can the entire empire still run smoothly? ]

[Although Zhu Biao died of a cold, it was also related to his poor health caused by years of hard work in handling government affairs.]

[So after Zhu Biao passed away, Zhu Yuanzhang also passed away a few years later. If Zhu Biao hadn't been there to handle government affairs, it would have been hard to say who would have passed away first. In his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang had an extremely hot temper, and he would get angry at any time. This was very similar to not getting enough rest for a long time.]

There was silence in front of the Fengtian Hall.

Although the existence of the "Cabinet" was known from the sky, and it vaguely replaced the Secretariat to draft imperial edicts and review memorials, no one expected that this was done during the Hongwu Dynasty.
"Hu Weiyong case. The four major cases of Hongwu?"

"Did Duke Zheng defeat Duan in Yan?" Wang Guangyang, Liu Ji and the others pondered in their hearts, and were so frightened that they dared not speak.

Hu Weiyong's face was pale, and he had already knelt on the ground trembling, claiming that he was innocent.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was so gloomy that he wanted to kill someone. Firstly, his plan was revealed before it was implemented, and secondly, Tianmiao once again put him in an embarrassing situation!

This is not the first time. If it continues, it will not only lead to alienation between the emperor and his subjects, but more importantly, it will make the emperor lose face!
Really damn it!

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and muttered "power and responsibility are equal". It was obvious that he had not considered this point. What he didn't know was that he would later promote "Palace Grand Secretary" as a regent.

There are usually six Grand Secretaries of the Palaces and Cabinets, which are often referred to as the four palace and two cabinet scholars.

"Biao'er." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly came to his senses. He was no longer the fool he used to be, so he quickly went over to help Hu Weiyong up. "What crime did Hu Weiyong commit? Tianmu's lies are nonsense and cannot be taken seriously."

Then he praised Hu Weiyong again for his handling of political affairs, and finally said sincerely: "If you don't let me down, I will definitely not let you down."

Although Hu Weiyong was a little arrogant, he was decent in his work, hardworking, and able to please others. More importantly, he was able to allow the Huaixi and Zhejiang East factions to check and balance each other. The people under him were messing around and fighting each other like wild dogs all day long, and they thought he was blind!
It was only then that he began to understand why the Fourth Brother was determined to move the capital. Perhaps this was related to the faction of Huaixi and the eastern Zhejiang faction in Nanjing City, which had developed over several decades and were subject to too many constraints. They were far less effective than the territory of Beiping Prefecture itself.

Hu Weiyong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. When he woke up, he felt his scalp tingling, sweat soaking his back, and his legs and feet weak. He also knew that his life was temporarily saved.

"Find a time to retire." Hu Weiyong was really scared in his heart. It turned out that one of the four major cases of Hongwu was named after him. Who wouldn't be panicked?

He quickly reviewed in his mind what he had done over the past year or so, to see who he had offended. He could not stay in the court for even a moment.
After hastily appeasing Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang's attention returned to what Tianmu said about "equal rights and responsibilities". It was obvious that Tianmu was right. It was not only a problem of energy, he had no confidence in the quality of his future generations.

He was a little annoyed. The theory of "power and responsibility equal" was correct. The so-called power was nothing more than the power to handle various affairs. It was obviously impossible to prevent the prime minister from becoming too powerful and causing chaos while asking them to handle things like cattle and horses.

Moreover, judging from the original history, there is actually not much difference between the cabinet and the prime minister. Zhang Juzheng is a good example.

[The second problem that must be faced after abolishing the prime minister system and returning power to the emperor is the emperor's ability to handle government affairs.]

[We must be clear about the fact that every prime minister, whether the left or right prime minister, has been trained at the grassroots level and climbed up step by step. Their ability to handle political affairs is basically at the forefront of the current dynasty. If you abolish the Secretariat, can you guarantee that your descendants will all be wise and intelligent? ]

[It is obvious that the emperors who grew up in the deep palace were obviously inferior to the previous generation, and the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were even more famous for being weird. Let alone other things, if we observe the demolition households and wealthy businessmen around us who became rich overnight, basically by the third generation, all kinds of arrogant and dandy problems will emerge. The same is true for the royal family.]

[Looking at Zhu Di's lineage, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Zhanji, etc. are all okay, and then there is this amazing thing called Zhu Qizhen. If you think about it, the Ming Dynasty did not have a cabinet at that time, and all officials directly communicated with Zhu Qizhen, after Zhu Qizhen was captured, if there was no leader, no one to preside over the government, and no Yu Qian, then the Ming Dynasty at that time would definitely be the second Southern Song Dynasty]

【Then there was Zhu Jianshen, and the following Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen. Among these people, except Chongzhen who was more concerned about political affairs, the others were more lame than the others. Of course, people on the Internet think that Chongzhen might as well not have worked hard.】

[From the above, we can see how ridiculous it is to put an entire country on one person. If the monarch is wise, it's ok. But if the monarch is a bastard, then the entire empire will have to pay for his actions, and even be buried with him.]

[Later, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually realized this problem, so he recruited a group of palace scholars as political advisors and top aides. They were responsible for drafting imperial edicts and reviewing memorials. Later, during Zhu Di's reign, it became a cabinet system. The Six Ministries, the Dali Temple, the Five Military Commanderies, etc. were still directly under the emperor. The cabinet only had the power to draft political affairs and could not directly interfere in the specific affairs of the Six Ministries.]

[But to be honest, although the cabinet system has dispersed power, as it has evolved, it is actually not much different from the original prime minister system.]

[Zhu Di also realized that he could not accomplish all these things. He wanted to re-establish the Secretariat, but the ancestral system could not be violated, so he set up a new cabinet with an undetermined number of people.]

[The power of affairs was divided into two parts. The six ministries would first submit memorials to the Imperial Palace, which would then pass them on to the Cabinet for review. The cabinet would write down their opinions on how to deal with the memorials on a small piece of paper and attach it to the paper before submitting it to the Imperial Palace. This was called a "piao ni". The Imperial Palace would then pass it on to the six ministries, which was called a "ti fu". After a lot of wrangling back and forth, they would finally reach a consensus. After the emperor agreed to sign it, it would be sent to the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department to be stamped before it would be officially effective. This was called a "pi hong" (pi hong)]

[From this we can see that the six ministries and the cabinet check and balance each other, but the efficiency is a little bit poor.]

[It was almost customary for the cabinet ministers to be selected from the Hanlin Academy, and the Hanlin officials were selected based on their eight-part essays. Most of these people had no experience in grassroots governance, so their ability to handle government affairs was generally not as high as that of previous prime ministers. People like Zhang Juzheng were all gifted and hard to come by.]

"Sure enough!" Zhu Yuanzhang sighed inwardly. It was unrealistic for such a large country to be shouldered by one person. No one could guarantee the ability of the next emperor to be elected, whether in terms of energy or ability.

Even if one is capable, if he is ambitious and does not spare the people's efforts, it will still be a disaster.

"Grand Secretary of the Palace? Cabinet system?"

"It seems that the efficiency is much lower, but it is precisely because the six ministries are still directly under the emperor and do not form a direct hierarchical relationship with the cabinet, the cabinet's power is not that great." Liu Ji pondered. In his opinion, the abolition of the prime minister system is a foregone conclusion, but His Majesty has not made up his mind yet.

He did not have a good relationship with Hu Weiyong. Regarding the Hu Weiyong issue, he wanted to give the man a beating when he was down. However, although Hu Weiyong had been arrogant at times in the past year, he had not revealed any flaws.

He also knew that His Majesty had no intention of dealing with Hu Weiyong at this time, so Hu Weiyong was still safe for the time being.

"What do you think about the reform? Should it be reformed?" Zhu Yuanzhang simply took the opportunity to talk about this matter under the sky curtain and took the opportunity to test his ministers.

The ministers looked at each other, and none of them dared to say a word.

Finally, Hu Weiyong stood up and said, "I think the cabinet system is better than the prime minister system. This is my humble opinion. It is up to your majesty to decide whether to change the system or not!"

This is to sacrifice one's official position to save one's life.
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then they all agreed.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect things to go so smoothly. But he still had to wait and see and think more about the matter.

"The advantages of the cabinet system: it shares the emperor's pressure and prevents powerful ministers from taking power; the disadvantages: it helps to increase the emperor's authority, and the eunuchs take advantage of the situation to become more arrogant. In addition, it is easy to develop into party disputes."

"Hahaha, the Ming Dynasty's factional struggles are world-famous."

(End of this chapter)