Chapter 183: Hong Wu's Last Question

Zhu Qizhen listened and said, "Guogong, please speak." ”

Yang Hong paused slightly, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister is a person born during the Hongwu period, and now in the whole world, there are not many people like Lao Chen. When he was young, he had never seen his grandfather, but he had heard his father say that his grandfather had followed Emperor Taizu to fight the world. ”

"It's still fresh in my memory."

Yang Hong's grandfather is Yang Jing. He was one of the founding generals, and he died early, so he was not implicated in the big case in the last years of Hongwu, and even so, General Yang was also stripped of his title.

Yang Hong's lineage is not a lineage, he was assigned to the Longmen Institute, Yang Hong is young to guard the Dushi Pass, this lonely place in the Ming border defense line, a guard is the entire youth, and then through the war exploits step by step.

Zhu Qizhen naturally knew these things. But he didn't know what Yang Hong wanted to say.

Yang Hong's tone changed and said: "The old minister has never had the honor to meet Emperor Taizu, but Emperor Taizu is wise and martial, and he has reopened the world. The old minister often hates, I am late, I can't have Emperor Gao, otherwise I will serve Emperor Gao, and I won't hate it. ”

Zhu Qizhen listened, and his heart was a little pantothenic. Yang Hong's implication is that even though the emperor treats me so politely, in my heart, you are still not as good as Emperor Gao.

Although Zhu Qizhen admits that in many places, he is not as good as Emperor Taizu. But Yang Hong said it so bluntly, Zhu Qizhen still felt a little uncomfortable.

But he doesn't have to deal with a dying man.

Yang Hong said: "The system set by Emperor Taizu has been unusable a lot, and the ministers are in the army and know the system of the guard very well. There are many drawbacks in it, and it has long been unusable. ”

"The world will attribute the credit of the north to me, Shi Heng, and Guo Deng, but they don't know that this is Your Majesty's victory over the imperial court."

"It's just that what Emperor Taizu thinks in his heart, as ordinary people can know, may be wrong in some details, but above the big government, Your Majesty must be careful."

"Your Majesty, refresh the accumulated shortcomings, change the politics of the Taizu, and the Ming Dynasty is today. It's just that Your Majesty is in power, and it is naturally like an arm, but after a hundred years of Your Majesty, what should the kings of future generations do? I am afraid that there will be something unbearable to say, and it will reappear today. ”

Yang Hong's horses were very good, but the words that followed made Zhu Qizhen frown.

Yang Hong is not an ordinary general.

It can be said that all the ministers of the Privy Council and the Cabinet today are not ordinary ministers. At this point, the difference between civil and military can be ignored.

Yang Hong did not speak on political matters.

It's not that he doesn't have a point of view on a lot of political matters, it's that he knows what can and can't be said, what can and can't be done.

Now Yang Hong's words are indeed a man's death, and his words are also good.

Such a person, except for Yang Hong, it is estimated that no one dares to say it.

What Yang Hong is talking about?

Is it?

It is the Cabinet that has great power.

In Zhu Qizhen's reform, the cabinet became the core of the leadership of the civilian bureaucracy, and even among the ministers, there was also a participation in it. Although on Zhu Qizhen's side, he can suppress all kinds of situations single-handedly.

No matter what happens, he can't turn over Zhu Qizhen's palm.

But what Yang Hong said is very right, what should the king of the future generations do?

He suddenly thought of how trembling he was when he first ascended the throne, there were strong ministers on the outside and the queen mother on the inside. Within a few years, the powers were withdrawn one by one.

But you must know that Yang Shiqi's power at that time was far inferior to that of the current cabinet.

At least Yang Shiqi does not have the power to directly lead the six departments. But in Zhu Qizhen's reform, this was improved.

This naturally improves administrative efficiency and increases the efficiency of Daming's decision-making.

Many historians say that there is no good government, and it starts with the abolition of the prime minister.

Not without reason.

Remove the prime minister and divide the power of six departments. The emperor controls everything, but there are too many things for the emperor to decide, and it is impossible for the emperor to take on such responsibilities.

There is a cabinet, and there is a celebrant and a celebrant superintendent. Although the cabinet chief assistant in the late Ming Dynasty already has a bit of a feeling of being a prime minister, it is not after all.

Without a person who can be in charge, it is impossible to solve certain problems of the imperial court as a whole.

The only person who can do this is Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng is also the only person who can be called the prime minister in the late Ming Dynasty.

But on the same page, Emperor Taizu is not a fool, why should he abolish the prime minister.

Is it that Emperor Taizu can't govern, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong?

No.

It's more about the long term. It's not that he can't cure these powerful prime ministers, but he is worried that future generations will not be able to do such things.

It's like now.

No matter who is the head of the cabinet, it will be easy for Zhu Qizhen to fiddle with them.

But what if the descendants of the world are hereafter? What if unfortunately a monarch dies young and a young lord is on the verge of court?

Seven ministers in the cabinet included the military, and if they were united, they would be enough to depose the force. How should future generations face the behemoth of the cabinet, relying on Shaofu, Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and eunuchs?

Zhu Qizhen's current system is actually formulated around Zhu Qizhen himself. Or rather, it revolves around a king who is capable of exercising power and holding power.

But are all emperors after the Ming Dynasty like this?

Not necessarily.

Even if the courtiers will not depose the king in the future, it is very easy to overthrow the emperor and let him rule by hanging the arch. Do you really think that the ministers are all plasticine?

The reason why they are plasticine is because Zhu Qizhen can knead them into plasticine. But will future generations have this ability?

This is a question that Zhu Qizhen has never thought about.

Because many people rarely think about the person after their death.

Generally speaking, people who think this way are old people.

It's just that Zhu Qizhen saw Yang Hong now, and remembered the high spirits when he first saw Yang Hong, and this matter suddenly came to mind.

But how to fix it?

Zhu Qizhen had no plan for a while.

Institutionally determining that even a young and incapable monarch could control the court is a paradox in itself.

Zhu Qizhen's reform was to modernize the Ming court, and to make the Ming court more efficient and professional. This, in turn, requires that those who are in charge of the state apparatus must also have the corresponding ability.

Very demanding.

If you want to adapt to a monarch who is too young to fulfill his responsibilities, it is fundamentally contrary to Zhu Qizhen's reform ideas.

This question is, in essence, a matter of choice.

Is it to choose the thousands of generations of the Zhu dynasty? Or choose the modernization, modernization, and industrialization of the Ming court?

Zhu Qizhen hesitated for a while.

He said to Yang Hong: "I know, I will think about it." ”

Yang Hong is a true loyal minister, but he is loyal to the Zhu family. It may not be the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Yang Hong's energy is almost consumed.

Zhu Qizhen could only press the quilt for Yang Hong, and then came out.

Back in the palace, Zhu Qizhen was thinking about the problems that Yang Hong had brought him.

In fact, he already felt it.

For undertaking the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty, even Zhu Qizhen is also a little powerless.

It is not that Zhu Qizhen's ability is insufficient, but with the advancement of various affairs, after the reform of the officials of the Ming court, the management will become more sophisticated.

Ruling the world with one person, this model is fundamentally unsustainable.

After modern times, the monarchy was completely lost all over the world. Even if they are preserved, most of them have become mascots, and this is probably the key.

It is to give you power, this power is so great, let you be in charge, can one person manage it?

The game between the monarch and the minister seems to be that the monarch has the advantage, because the power of the monarch is guaranteed from various systems, but this power is when the emperor faces a courtier alone.

If you look at it from another angle.

The monarch has always been a loner, but he has to face an endless number of elites who have emerged from all over the world, even if he wins one, there is another.

Zhu Qizhen has faced, San Yang, Cao Nai, Zhou Chen, Chen Xun, Li Xian, Yu Qian, Liu Dingzhi, so that even if he is a partner, he is also the opponent's minister.

But these decades have also been the decades when Zhu Qizhen was in the prime of life.

Today, Zhu Qizhen is forty years old.

Although his energy is not much worse than when he was young, he will grow old, he will die, and the king will be renewed, but the courtiers are still endless.