I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 620 The Importance of Checks and Balances

Daming's softness and weakness are not reflected on the surface, but are reflected in the lack of confidence in the imperial power.

The main crux of this is Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from grassroots.

The reason why he established Jinyiwei, an organization that monitors the words and deeds of officials and common people, was actually to prevent rebellion and seize the power he had earned so hard.

But Zhu Yuanzhang still made a common-sense mistake. He thought that as long as the surveillance was strict enough and the punishment was severe enough, all officials would be feared and the people would submit.

As everyone knows, it was precisely because of the harsh punishment that Daqin finally aroused the national rebellion.

From a certain point of view, emperors such as Zhu Yuanzhang and later Zhu Di were actually somewhat idealistic.

He thought that by relying on a strict system, the people would be able to live and work in peace and contentment, and the world would be peaceful and all officials clean.

It is precisely because of this kind of thinking that the Jinyiwei, Dongchang and even Xichang were born, which have caused people to talk about it, and have caused disasters for hundreds of years.

As everyone knows, talented and capable people are actually greedy and insufficient.

How could there be so many honest officials in the world to serve them.

If being an official is just to fulfill one's duty, then I am afraid that ninety-nine out of ten officials have been unqualified since ancient times.

It is not unreasonable to say that being an official for thousands of miles is only for money.

However, the officials of the Ming Dynasty couldn't do what the emperor thought everyone was poor. In order to hide the only one person, they resorted to deception.

Because everyone has secrets and braids, they had to collude with certain groups, and finally brewed, eunuchs, Donglin Party and other large organizations that harmed the country and the people, and even influenced the development of history.

When these organizations formed a certain scale, the emperor's eyes and ears had actually become blind and deaf.

What they hear and see every day is what they want him to know, so that the control of the government is only superficial, and they can't do anything that is really in the interests of thousands of people.

It even happened in the Ming Dynasty that an emperor who had been in power for several decades would actually have a strange situation where he would not go to court for 20 years.

This just shows how seriously the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were deceived.

The emperor's compromise with these ministers, officials and gentry groups is just a manifestation of the weakness of those in power.

If it is said that the Tang and Song Dynasties are too long ago, they cannot be compared.

In fact, it is entirely possible to make an analogy between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.

Needless to say, Kangxi and Yongzheng are both workaholics, and there are few emperors in Ming Dynasty who can compare with them.

Let's just talk about Qianlong. His life can be described as smooth sailing, and he enjoyed almost all the good luck of the Qing Dynasty.

He has been in power for nearly 60 years, and there are countless capable people around him.

But he was not deceived by others, and it can even be said that he was very clear.

You know, he doesn't have Jinyiwei or Dongchang as his subordinates.

But why has he been able to stay in power for decades and still have good eyes and ears.

The reason is not that he has such a great talent and strategy, no one in the world can deceive him.

It is that he knows people, is good at employing people, and knows how to check and balance.

Employing people to manage people is the main reason why he can maintain political clarity.

In contrast, under high pressure, the officials of the Ming Dynasty had already tried their best to protect themselves, and they still had the leisure to meddle in other people's business.

In order to protect their own interests, they had to hold together and fight more against one against that.

In the end, the allies didn't trust them, and even the emperor didn't trust them. In the end, the group could only grow bigger and bigger, and finally drowned the entire court, and no one was spared.

Maybe one or two people who don't agree with each other occasionally jump out, but the final outcome is probably not that good.

Daming's officialdom was actually in this state. No matter who he spoke to, he always said seven points and three points. In the end, the emperor would rather believe the words of the eunuchs than the courtiers.

This is also the main reason why the power of eunuchs remained strong during the Ming Dynasty.

However, what caused all this to happen was actually the lack of self-confidence of the Ming royal family, as well as the compromise with the weakness of the officials and the eunuchs.

Although Li Tian is aware of this, at present, he does not have any good solutions.

Don't look at Yang Shiqi and others, they are very loyal to themselves, they accept almost all the policies they put forward, and rarely raise objections.

But that is all based on the fact that these policies are beneficial to them.

If on that day, Li Tian moved their cakes and weaknesses, it is not certain whether they will continue to support themselves in this way.

For example, if Li Tian suddenly announced on that day that the privilege of non-payment of tribute by officials and scholars would be completely abolished, see if Yang Shiqi and others would fight Li Tian desperately.

Someone once said that governing a large country is like cooking a small dish. If the fire is too hot, it will easily burn, and if the fire is too low, it will be easy to get raw.

Whether it's the civil servant group, the honorable group, or the eunuch group that hasn't really risen yet.

What Li Tian really needs to do is not to eliminate them completely, but to know how to mediate checks and balances among them.

In the direct provocation of the nobles this time, Li Tian could have used thunderous means to kill chickens and monkeys, and even wiped them all out.

But he didn't do this, just because he didn't want the two forces that were originally balanced to be clearly divided into strengths and weaknesses.

In the original history, the change of civil fortress ruined in one fell swoop, more than [-]% of the noble essence of the Ming Dynasty, which led to the expansion of the civil official group, and it also opened the way for the Ming Dynasty to turn from strong to weak.

Later, the eunuch group rose up, and the two groups fought dog-eat-dog for hundreds of years, eventually exhausting all the accumulation of Ming Dynasty.

In the end, Jianzhou Jurchen, with a population of less than one million, took advantage of the loophole and stole the great treasure. It has to be said that this is a sad story.

Li Tian also knew that Da Ming, who had lost his balance, was in dire straits, that's why he endured it until now.

He has no way to change the inherent system that has been formed in the Ming Dynasty in one day, so he can only fully mobilize his knowledge far beyond this era, and try his best to make up for possible loopholes.

However, just repairing is not a long-term solution, and the time for a decisive battle will come sooner or later.

At that time, he will finally have to make a decision.

But the premise of all this is that the power in his hands must be able to hold the field.

And this power, to put it bluntly, is military power.

The new army is undergoing training in full swing, and up to now, some of them have been trained for almost three to five months.

It is still uncertain what their training results are and whether they can play their due role.

Now it is an excellent training opportunity.

(End of this chapter)