Chapter 385: Sishu enters the palace
After Hu Weiyong's rebellion, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abolished Zhongshu Province and Prime Minister, and took charge of the six ministries himself, but Lao Zhu was not a three-headed and six-armed Nezha after all, and so many government affairs could not be handled at all, so he imitated the Song Dynasty system and set up a palace scholar to assist him in handling political affairs. Zhu Yuanzhang was a strong founding emperor, with a black heart and a ruthless heart, and the ministers who dared to seize power were almost slaughtered by him, so the scholars of this period were only equivalent to advisers and secretaries, and had no real power.
Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen was a generous emperor, but this unlucky guy sat on the throne for less than four years before his uncle Zhu Di robbed him of the throne. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was eloquent and strategic, keen on opening up the territory, leading troops to drive the army for many years, and had no time to deal with the government, so the cabinet came into being.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di is also a strong emperor, and he does not lose his Laozi Zhu Yuanzhang at all, and the unique "Zhu Shi Clan" in history is his handwriting, so in the end of Yongle Dynasty, the cabinet actually does not have much power.
The real rise of the cabinet began from the Renxuan period, the country was peaceful, and the governance of the country had to rely on civil officials, so it was natural to begin to emphasize civil affairs over military force, and it was precisely because of the emperor's reliance on civil officials that the power of the cabinet began to gradually increase, and so on to the Chenghua and Hongzhi years, civil politics reached a small peak, and the cabinet also became a civil institution that was enough to resist the imperial power.
Especially at present, Emperor Jiajing has just ascended the throne and succeeded to the throne as King Pan, there is no foundation in the court, and the eunuch group that checks and balances the civil officials has suffered a devastating blow, so the power of the cabinet is even more extraordinary.
In fact, if you carefully compare it, the Ming Dynasty cabinet in this period is similar to the nature of the modern American Congress, and the president does not need to be present to meet the US Congress.
The emperor of the Ming Dynasty during this period was the same, in fact, all major matters were discussed by the cabinet first, and then handed over to the emperor for approval, even if the emperor did not adopt it, he could only send it back to the cabinet for reconsideration.
The so-called court meeting, although the emperor has a part to participate, but can only be a listener, the final result is discussed and discussed by the ministers below, for example, the selection of the Qin Messenger This kind of matter has to be handed over to the cabinet for discussion, the emperor can not decide on his own candidates, otherwise it is a violation, and the civil officials will be anxious with you.
This is the case of this emergency court meeting held in the Wenhua Hall today, the little emperor Zhu Houxi only plays the role of a listener, and the ministers below are always discussing and wrestling.
At this time, the results of the discussion came out, and Xu Jin was appointed as the Qincha to be in charge of all affairs, and to supervise the military affairs of the two prefectures in Shandong. The little emperor Zhu Houxi was quite satisfied with this result, and he had a refreshing feeling of raising his eyebrows, and immediately ordered Yang Ting and the decree, probably because he wanted to burp Lao Yang.
Yang Tinghe looked as usual, this is the result of the ministers' court discussion, compliance and legality, although he is the first assistant, but he can't object, and he drafted the holy decree on the spot and handed it to the emperor. The little emperor Zhu Houxi carefully read it and then stamped the emperor's treasure seal, and sent three hundred brocade guards to carry the holy decree and the seal letter of the Qin cha to ride out of Beijing on fast horses and rush to Shandong, one to pass the decree, and the other to be responsible for guarding the safety of Xu Jin.
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The Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty generally lived in Cining Palace, but now there are two Empress Dowagers in the palace, one is Empress Dowager Zhang, the biological mother of Emperor Zhengde, and the other is Empress Dowager Jiang of Xingguo, the biological mother of Emperor Jiajing.
It is said that Empress Dowager Zhang is both a lucky woman and an unlucky woman. Emperor Hongzhi favored the queen Zhang during his lifetime, and did not accept concubines in his life, the husband and wife loved each other and respected each other, and the monogamous emperor in history was probably only Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youjiao, from this point of view, Zhang is undoubtedly a lucky woman.
However, it is a pity that Emperor Hongzhi had a short life, hanging up in his thirties, and then Zhang's only son, Emperor Zhengde, also died young, and he didn't even have an heir to inherit the throne, so he had to choose a nephew from the side branch to inherit the throne, from this point of view, Zhang is undoubtedly an unlucky woman.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Zhang's status in the palace is a little embarrassing now, although the little emperor Zhu Houxi was forced by the pressure of the minister to recognize Emperor Hongzhi as the emperor's examination, but after all, he was not sincere, and the Empress Dowager Zhang had neither blood relationship nor parenting relationship, so naturally she was not close to her.
Empress Dowager Zhang also knew how to advance and retreat, before Zhu Houxi's biological mother arrived in Beijing, she took the initiative to move out of Cining Palace and lived in Shou'an Palace, just to live the rest of her life in peace, so at this time it was Zhu Houxi's biological mother Jiang who lived in Cining Palace.
Today, the Cining Palace is very lively, and the palace maids and eunuchs are busy running back and forth, because there are guests today, it is Xie Xiaowan, the righteous daughter of Yongxiu County Lord Xing who was recognized by Prince Xing before his death, and there are also three girls from the Fei family.
It was not surprising that Empress Dowager Jiang summoned her righteous daughter Xie Xiaowan, but why did she bring the three girls from Fei Ge's hometown?
It is said that it was because the emperor became acquainted with the three girls of the Fei family when he was exiled to Shangrao, Jiangxi, so the Empress Dowager Jiang summoned her to meet by the way. However, the old man serving beside the Empress Dowager Jiang knew that this was not the case at all, the emperor was about to be fourteen years old, and the matter of the big wedding should also be considered, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Emperor Zhengde, and not even have an heir to inherit the throne.
Empress Dowager Jiang's target is obviously the fourth and fifth girls of the Fei family, because she has also heard about the third girl Fei and Xu Jin, and the age of the third girl is too different from that of the emperor, the fourth girl and the fifth girl can be considered, and the most suitable age is naturally the fifth girl Fei Xiaoyu.
Because of this, Empress Dowager Jiang summoned all three girls from the Fei family under the pretext of actually wanting to personally understand the appearance of the fourth and fifth girls. Of course, the choice of the queen is not something that the Empress Dowager Jiang can say alone, she will worry about it at best, and even if she takes a fancy to it, the Fei family may not be willing to marry her daughter to the deep palace.
The most critical point is that in order to prevent relatives from interfering in the government, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that relatives were not allowed to be officials, and at most they would be knighted, with no real power, so anyone with political ambitions would not choose to marry the royal family.
"Look, isn't that Yue'er, the county lord of Yongxiu is here!" The palace maid standing at the gate of Cining Palace suddenly squeaked and screamed, and craned her neck to look into the distance.
At this time, I saw four sedan chairs carried by the eunuch walking towards this side, and next to the sedan chair in the front was followed by a sweet and lovely maidservant, who was the beautiful maid Yue'er.
Most of the palace maids who are now serving Empress Dowager Jiang in Cining Palace are brought from Xingwangfu, and Yue'er is also a palace maid from Xingwangfu, so everyone knows her.
Soon, the four sedan chairs were carried into the Cining Gate, stopped outside the Cining Palace, the sedan curtain was lifted, and four pretty girls dressed up walked out one after another.