Zhu Yuanzhang personally designed and formulated several important political systems, and carried out bold changes and innovations in the previous political systems.

In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong plotted against him, and Zhu Baba's classmates abolished the post of prime minister, and his descendants were not allowed to reinstate.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the prime minister system, which had been implemented for more than 1,600 years, has been abolished, and the six ministries are directly responsible to the emperor, and the prime minister and the monarch are combined.

The Ming Emperor held power alone, and in the history of world politics, only the state of Louis XIV can be compared.

In the history of world politics, the political system of the Ming Dynasty also belonged to a rare autocratic government, implementing a state system of separation of military power, administrative power, and supervision power.

Due to the large number of state affairs, the emperor could not deal with it, and in September of the 15th year of Hongwu, the four auxiliary officials were dismissed, and the cabinet was set up in imitation of the Song Palace. Most of the subsequent Qing dynasties also inherited the political system of the Ming Dynasty.

The cabinet was only an adviser to the emperor, equivalent to the position of chief of staff, but later the status of the cabinet gradually improved, and the cabinet chief assistant became the de facto prime minister, "although there is no name of prime minister, but there is the reality of prime minister."

The reply of the recital is the exclusive responsibility of the emperor. Most of the positions of cabinet scholars were held by Shuode Suru or ministers of the court, and they were only written according to the emperor's will, called "the decree should be written", and their power and status were far inferior to those of the prime ministers of the past, and they only had the status of the black market, but not the legal status.

During the Xuanzong (Zhu Zhanji) period, due to the entry of Yang Pu, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong and other three Yang into the cabinet, Xuanzong approved the cabinet to state its opinions in the chapter, which was called the "vote draft" system, and granted the eunuch agency celebrant "Zhu Approval". The law of voting can remedy the disadvantage of the monarch who does not want to meet with the ministers, but the cabinet ministers communicate with the emperor thanks to the celebrant and the celebrant of ceremonies.

It opened the door to the dictatorship of the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to strengthen the monitoring of the subjects of the whole country, Ming Taizu also set up a spy agency Jinyiwei, Ming Chengzu set up the East Factory, and Ming Xianzong set up the West Factory, collectively known as the "Factory Guard", led by the eunuchs, since then the power of the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty has not been increased.

The rise and maturity of the civil bureaucracy gradually became a powerful force in influencing the policies of the imperial court, and even the emperor himself could not but have scruples in the face of the pressure of such courtiers.

After arriving in Hongzhi, the situation was already beyond the control of the Ming emperor.

Emperors have become sources and symbols of power, but they have no way to be free to do anything.

For example, Wu Zong's southern tour, the ministers who had a great sense of power were all opposed.

Jiajing's great ceremonial event and Wanli's national capital dispute.

At this time, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had become the supreme rulers of the country who had retreated into the background, but the executive power had almost completely fallen into the hands of the cabinet and the six ministries.

With the imperial history of the Imperial Court and the six branches of the Imperial Procuratorate, this group of people in this dynasty is of humble taste, but the political status is very high, and they have played a key role in all political movements; At the top, they admonished the emperor, left and right, and impeached, picketed hundreds of divisions and officials, inspected and inspected local officials, etc.

From the central to the local yamen, from the emperor to the hundred officials, from the major state affairs to social life, they are all within the scope of the supervision of the officials, which not only deters the hundred officials from guarding the way and performing their duties, but also requires that the emperor's own actions should conform to the way of heaven itself.

In addition to the speech officials, officials such as the Hanlin Yuan, the Sixth Ministry, and the Cabinet have also become the main force in the reprimand and impeachment on many occasions.

In 1577, Zhang Juzheng's father died, and he should return to his hometown as a rule, but he stayed in office after the emperor saved him; Other ministers of the DPRK and China believed that filial piety was the greatest importance of this dynasty, and Zhang Juzheng should not miss his position. Angry officials decided to impeach the minister. First two Hanlin, and then two officials of the Criminal Department, risked being severely punished by the emperor and went up to impeach Zhang Juzheng. Although the four officials were indeed punished with rods, they earned a good reputation as loyal servants in the court.

This is not caused by the emperor's mediocrity and laziness, many emperors in the middle of the Ming Dynasty have fought to the death with their ministers because of power, the emperor is the source of power, he can give people power or take away power, and control people's life and death, this is the only place where he can threaten ministers.

But the ministers of the Ming Dynasty were not afraid of death, and if the emperor removed a minister, more ministers would stand up to defend the power of the collective.

Therefore, the emperor was also suffering from not returning his administrative power as a ruler, so he could only gradually retreat to the deep palace and be the highest decision-maker. And the so-called court meeting is no longer much needed for the emperor's participation.

In the end, the personal freedom of the Ming emperor was too small to be added.

There is no freedom even in such a thing as the establishment of a prince. Compared with Kangxi's arbitrary change of the crown prince, Wanli's battle for the national capital shows the difficulty of Wanli being the emperor!

The end of the Ming Dynasty was already close to the constitutional monarchy of early Europe in various institutions, just as the princes of European monarchies were selected and required to be approved by the cabinet.

The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty was also set up to obtain the approval of the cabinet, and in Chinese history, the Ming Dynasty was the first case, and even the prince could not help himself.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty tried to establish a political system implemented according to their own ideas, but they were all rejected by the ministers without exception, unless they carried out a brutal massacre of the ministers in exchange for their own power, regardless of the pressure of public opinion.

But it was very unlikely that this would be done in the Ming Dynasty, and the massacre that began with Jiajing did not frighten the Ming ministers, but ended up intimidating the emperor himself. These emperors of the Ming Dynasty, one by one, spent their boring years in the deep palace, in fact, most people were very helpless in their hearts.

The system of the Ming Dynasty determined that it would be more beneficial for the emperor to hand over executive power to the operation of the country.

In short, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to exercise his rights, and there were many constraints.

The appearance of Wei Zhongxian disrupted the civil statecraft of the Ming Dynasty, and after his frenzied slaughter and persecution, administrative power was transferred to eunuchs, and ministers were stripped of their powers.

The eunuch dictatorship of the Ming Dynasty was actually a tool for the emperor to regain power.

The eunuchs were only profit-oriented, and after being castrated, they could only survive by relying on imperial power, except for the palace, which did not even have the ability to make a living.

Moreover, for those eunuchs, if the emperor thinks that he has too much power and contradicts him, the emperor is not happy that he can be overthrown with an edict, because then the emperor is on the side of the cabinet and ministers.

This is by no means comparable to the power of eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty, who were so powerful that they could kill the emperor.

For example, Yingzong is in Cao Jixiang, Xianzong is in Wang Zhi, Wuzong is in Liu Jin, and Sizong is in Wei Zhongxian, all of them.

Therefore, Wei Bao feels that the system of the Ming Dynasty is actually very advanced, and the reins are in the hands of the emperor!

Anyway, judging from the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian's assumption of power is definitely more conducive to the stability of the Ming Dynasty than the Donglin Party's disaster to the country and the people.

But there are pros and cons, and without this system, the power of civil officials would not be so inflated.

The political system of the Ming Dynasty led to an unprecedented expansion of the Ming elite, and the independence of the elite was established, both economically and ideologically.

It was increasingly difficult for a single elite or group of elites to reconcile with the interests of the monarch or emperor and with the interests of the empire; And the authority of the monarch gradually declined over time.

As a result, it became more and more difficult for the Ming emperor to control the civilian clique and to do whatever he wanted.

It has become a historical necessity to defend the monarchy, strike at the elite, go against the tide of history, seriously undermine the productive forces, and undermine the healthy stability of the economy and society.

However, Wei Bao still felt that the political system of the Ming Dynasty was more complete than that of previous dynasties, and the most influential one was the abolition of the prime minister system and the establishment of the cabinet system.

In history, there were many threats to the imperial power, and the permanent abolition of the prime minister system in the Ming Dynasty was a complete victory of the imperial power over the prime minister.

However, due to the huge and complicated government affairs, the emperor could never decide everything personally, so he had to set up cabinet assistants.

This situation determined that, on the one hand, the cabinet was indefinite from the beginning, and the functions and powers were not clear, and later facts also showed that even though the cabinet was favored by the emperor and developed rapidly, it never had a legal status and could not formally command the six ministries and hundreds of departments.

On the other hand, although the emperor could not do without the cabinet, he was still worried that the cabinet would evolve into a de facto prime minister, and the authority shook the lord, so he used the celebrant to contain it, and there was a situation in which the "external minister" and the "internal minister" coexisted, and the internal minister was often closer to the emperor to gain more power.

On the whole, most of the prime ministers of the past dynasties were people of insight who had been influenced by Confucianism and had a high level of education, and although their concepts of loyalty to the monarch and concern for the country and the people had great class limitations, they still existed after all.

The eunuchs of the celebrant are mostly of low cultural quality, and they are favored by the emperor due to various unfixed factors, among which there are many cunning people, such people work together inside and outside the cabinet, and they can only hinder and contain the cabinet power, and it is easy to appear that the eunuchs are in charge of the Tianxian and control the cabinet, and the eunuchs have repeatedly abused their power, which is an important reason why the political day of the Ming Dynasty is darker and even out of control.

Wei Bao thinks that Daming's system is very good, but the operation is relatively large.

If it weren't for Wanli's decades of foolishness, plus the natural disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Daming's system, which has a very high degree of self-operation, will not be a problem for another three hundred years.

As long as there is a Ming monarch and cooperates with the earliest germination of capitalism in the world, the Ming Dynasty will be the first constitutional monarchy in the world and the first country to enter industrialization.

It's a pity that this kind of Mingjun's requirements are too high!

It is very difficult for the Ming monarch to get out, and the emperor who hides in the deep palace to hide and be idle, wastes the imperial power, and allows the eunuchs and the civil official group to make trouble, but it is easy to come out, and one is more than the other.

When it came to Chongzhen's little brother, although he changed the problems of his brother, father, grandfather, and grandfather, and was diligent in government affairs, it was a pity that I didn't know whether to say that Daming was terminally ill, it was too late, or whether to say that this little brother's political talent was too poor.

Little brother Chongzhen held back his strength to revitalize Daming, but let Daming get worse and worse in his hands until the building collapsed.

Many people in later generations, including Wei Bao, believed that if the apocalypse did not die, Wei Zhongxian would have been in power, and the Ming Dynasty would not collapse so quickly, after all, Wei Zhongxian's ability to control the world and control the court situation was visible to Wei Bao.

It is too difficult for the imperial power, eunuchs, and civil officials to cooperate well, and it requires powerful people in all three positions.

In Wei Bao's view, Wanli got up early, Wanli's mother Li Niangniang temporarily took charge of the imperial power, Feng Bao's eunuch position, and Zhang Juzheng's civil official group position should be regarded as the strongest configuration, which made Daming appear a rare period of Zhongxing.

In the sixth year of Longqing, Zhang Juzheng was the first assistant of the cabinet on behalf of Gao Gong, and all major military and political affairs were presided over by Zhang Juzheng, who served as the first assistant of the cabinet for ten years, and implemented a series of reform measures. Financially, the fields were cleared, the "one whip law" was implemented, and the general endowment and service were all paid in silver, and the Taicang millet could be supported for ten years, and the Zhou Temple accumulated gold to more than 4 million; Militarily, famous generals such as Qi Jiguang and Li Chengliang were appointed to the north of the town, and Lingyunyi and Yin Zhengmao were used to quell the rebellion in the southwest; In the administration of officials, the implementation of a comprehensive examination of the name of the real, the adoption of the "examination method" to assess officials at all levels, "although thousands of miles away, the downward and night pursued", the political system is solemn.

Zhang Ju was the only great statesman in the Ming Dynasty.

More than 2,000 years after the Han Dynasty, the characters really have a sincere heart and a strong spirit, and their foresight and foresight have been burned in the disaster of the country's enslavement, and they have been buried in the day when the world is faint and quiet. Resolutely take on the safety of the world with one body, work hard, do not doubt or disagree, can help the crisis and settle the leaning, and overcome the original one, the rest of the previous history, Jiangling is alone.

In terms of the achievements of governance, Zhang Juzheng is not only the only great statesman in the Ming Dynasty, but also rare since the Han Dynasty.

Zhuge Liang and Wang Anshi can barely be compared with him.

Zhuge Liang's situation was more difficult than that of Zhang Juzheng, and he never had the opportunity to exert his economy in the whole of China.

Wang Anshi is full of ideals, but clumsy in implementation, and has the ability to gain the trust of Song Shenzong, but does not have the talent to comprehensively verify the reputation of the bureaucrats and magistrates.

Therefore, Wei Bao even felt that Zhang Ju was a great politician and reformer in the entire Chinese history, and he could be ranked alongside Shang Jun.

It's not easy to let such a big car as Daming ZTE pull back from the road that has gone astray.

Wanli was corrupted for decades, and then Zhu Youzhen himself, Zhu Youzhen's father, brother, and the game was corrupted, how solid is this foundation?

President Wei didn't think about being Zhang Juzheng, and he didn't think he had that much ability, but President Wei didn't want to see the people of Daming being devastated by the war and being covered with bones by natural and man-made disasters.

"President, Mr. Li is here, something happened."

On this day, Wei Bao was doing nothing in his luxurious mansion, dangling on the recliner, and Lin Wenbiao came to report.

Wei Bao is thinking about how to become famous, how to show his neutral position to everyone, so that the Metropolitan Procuratorate, as well as the entire Ming Imperial Court, and the neutral faction in the Ming officialdom know their position, accept themselves, and let themselves integrate into the Ming Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ming officialdom as soon as possible.

This incident has made Wei Bao depressed for the past few days, what is the matter at this time?

"What's wrong? Which Li Gongzi? Wei Bao opened his eyes and looked at Lin Wenbiao a little bored.

Lin Wenbiao's tone of voice just now was gentle, no matter how big the incident was, Lin Wenbiao could basically maintain his composure.

But it still caused President Wei's displeasure, indicating that President Wei himself is a little irritable now.

Grumpy is a sign of incompetence, indicating that President Wei can't find a way to prove that he is a neutral.

"It's Li Leshui and Li Gongzi." Lin Wenbiao replied: "He came to report the funeral, and Dongli Niangniang has passed." ”

"Huh?" Wei Bao was startled and sat up from the recliner, then stood up again.

Although I have only met Dongli Niangniang twice, Wei Bao and Li Chengnei are sworn brothers, they are Zheng'er who has kowtowed and burned yellow paper, and Dongli Niangniang also recognized Wei Bao's younger brother.

Wei Bao has some feelings for Dongli Niangniang, and he really hasn't been in contact with the death of a relative of his peers.

"Dong Li Niangniang has passed?" Wei Bao repeated Lin Wenbiao's words, of course he knew that if he did, he would die, it was just a euphemism.

Lin Wenbiao snorted, and seeing that President Wei's face was not good-looking, he said softly: "The president is mourning, right?" Dong Li Niangniang has always been in poor health. ”

"When?" Wei Bao was stunned and asked after a few seconds.

"I haven't asked Mr. Li yet." Lin Wenbiao replied.

"Let Leshui wait in the front hall, I'll change my clothes and go to Li's house!" Wei Bao said immediately.

Wei Bao generally wears well-fitting practice clothes in the house, which is more comfortable, and he has to wear official clothes when he goes out.

"Yes, President." Lin Wenbiao replied.

When he arrived at the front hall, Wei Bao appeared, and Li Leshui cried to Wei Bao's side: "Uncle, my aunt has gone." ”

"I know, I know, people can't be resurrected after death, let's do a good job of the future generations of the mother, now is not the time to be too sad." Wei Bao sighed and hugged Li Leshui's shoulders to comfort him.

Although he is not about four or five years old, Li Leshui is still a child in his early tens, and Wei Bao really looks like a generation older than Li Leshui.

"Help me go to the yamen to ask for leave, I'll be in the next few days"

Wei Bao immediately took Li Leshui and went to Li Chengnei's house accompanied by Lin Wenbiao, Fan Datou and Song Yingxing and others.

Song Yingxing is already an official member of the Heaven and Earth Society, and Wei Bao originally arranged for Song Yingxing to be the director of the Industrial Bureau.

However, Weijiazhuang's industry can be said to be not a start, it is still an infant stage, and it has to wait for education to catch up, and it has to wait for agriculture to develop before industry can move again.

Therefore, Song Yingxing is now President Wei's secretary, or he can also be called Master, and he still stays with President Wei for the time being.

If President Wei wants to mix in officialdom, he must get a real master who has been a high-ranking official, or has supported a high-ranking official.

It's just that I haven't found it yet.

Li Chengnei's house was made by Wei Bao for Li Chengnei's family, and it was given to their family, a very spacious set of large courtyards, and it was leaning on the imperial city.

Li Chengnei's family has already arranged the house, and white cloth has been hung around the house.

Originally, Li Chengnei's family was going to enter the palace as soon as they received the news, but because Wei Bao was also half of the Li family, Li Chengnei thought that Wei Bao was in Beijing, so he had to wait for Wei Bao to enter the palace together.

This will be Wei Bao's second time entering the palace, last time, he was just a teenager doing business in Liaoxi, but this time, he is already a Ming official who has officially entered the Ming officialdom as a Tanhualang.

When Wei Bao arrived at Li's house, Li Chengnei and his wife were wiping tears.

The age of the three sons is not too young, and in this era, it is the age to be sensible.

The three of them don't have much contact with Dong Li Niangniang, not too little, they have to see each other at least four or five times a year, they have feelings, the three boys have red eyes, and the youngest son Li Leshui is even more tearful from time to time.

Li Leshui's performance made Wei Bao have a good impression of Li Leshui, who was so sensible when he was only in his early tens.

Wei Bao attaches great importance to people's filial piety.

"Brother, mourn, sister-in-law." Wei Bao entered the front hall and said to Li Chengnei and Li Chengnei's wife.

The two of them had red eyes, and they had obviously been very sentimental since they received the news.

Although before Wei Bao and Li Chengnei's family intersected, Concubine Li Zhuang, the mother of Dongli Niangniang, actually didn't help her brother's family much, but Li Chengnei had a good relationship with her sister.

Including Li Chengne's wife, knowing that Concubine Li Zhuang is an honest and upright person who does not care about the world, he will not blame her.

Wei Bao didn't say that it was okay, but when he said this, Li Chengnei was even more sentimental.

After a while of comfort, Wei Bao entered the palace with Li Chengnei's family.

Although Concubine Li Zhuang is only a concubine, she and Concubine Li Kang have both participated in raising the current emperor Zhu Youxiao and the letter king Zhu Youzhen.

To the Ming Dynasty, it is a credit to the royal family.

In particular, Concubine Li Zhuang is easy-going, upright, and is very respected in the palace and has a high reputation in the imperial court.

Therefore, the death of Concubine Li Zhuang is a big event for Daming Jingshi.

By the time Wei Bao and Li Chengne's family arrived at the palace gate and waited to enter the palace, many ministers had already come to hear the news.

Almost all the high-ranking officials came, whether it was the eunuch party, the Donglin party, or the neutral faction, this kind of appearance needs to be made, because Concubine Li Zhuang's reputation is really good.

Many people still don't know the relationship between Wei Bao and Concubine Li Zhuang, and Li Chengnei's family, and when they saw Wei Bao and the Li family together, they asked one after another. Otherwise, I thought that Concubine Li Zhuang had two younger brothers.

There are still many people who don't know who Wei Bao is, only the officials of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple know, and everyone knows that this godbrother of Concubine Li Zhuang is a new science and technology tanhualang, and they are all secretly surprised.

Although Wei Bao won the Xinke Tanhualang, he knew that there were still a few people in his officialdom, especially a group of high-ranking officials, who would care about everything, but they were just like people who watched the news in later generations, just browsed once, and they would not care about which champion the Xinke produced, which list and Tanhualang were particularly concerned.

Now everyone can take their seats.

No one will associate Wei Bao's seizure of Tanhualang with Li Chengnei, because everyone knows what kind of person Concubine Li Zhuang is, especially Concubine Li Zhuang, who does not deal with Wei Zhongxian and Kebaba, and has no influence in the palace, so no one will think of Li Chengnei going through the door for Wei Bao and letting Wei Bao win the fame of Tanhualang.

However, there are a few insiders who know that Li Chengnei's family can have today, but it is stained with Wei Bao's light, before befriending Wei Bao, Li Chengnei's family did not even have food, shelter and clothing.

Everyone comforted for a while, and then lined up to enter the palace to mourn.

Whether it is the Donglin Party, the Eunuch Party or the neutral ministers, they will have a few words with Li Chengnei.

Tian Ergeng said to Li Chengnei: "Guodong, don't be too sad, you don't have to worry about the affairs of the yamen these days, and you can handle the funeral of your mother with peace of mind." ”

Guodong is the word of Li Chengne, and it can also be seen as another name of Li Chengneem, which is mostly used for the close relationship of the peers, or the upper to the lower person.

Li Chengnei arched his hand and said, "Thank you, Commander!" ”

Wei Bao knew Tian Ergeng, but he didn't have such a deep relationship with Luo Yangxing, and he also thanked him: "Thank you Lord Tian." ”

"Isn't this Lord Wei, I haven't seen you for a while, you are out of business now, not only is you good at trading, but you also have Tanhualang." Tian Er plough road.

"I have long wanted to visit Lord Tian, but our grade is too low, and we are in and out of the official career, so we are afraid that others will say that we are clinging to high-ranking officials, so we don't dare to visit Lord Tian for the time being." Wei Bao explained. If you really talk about it, Tian Ergeng is one of the few high-ranking officials and nobles that Wei Bao knew before he became an official.

Tian Ergeng originally wanted to laugh, but thinking that today was a condolence, he forcibly held back, nodded and said, "It's rare that Master Wei has this thought." ”

Before he didn't know Wei Bao's factional attributes in the imperial court, Tian Ergeng also kept a certain distance from Wei Bao. If I hadn't known each other before, I wouldn't have said such a thing.

Those who are eligible to enter the palace are at least high-ranking officials of Tian Ergeng's level, at least high-ranking officials of the third grade, because this is a royal family matter, and it is not a case that the emperor comes forward to summon him.

For example, the thousand-household level of Luo Yangxing, even if he is good friends with the Li family, he is not qualified to enter the palace.

The royal funeral is just more magnificent, in fact, the process is not much different from the folk.

Although Concubine Li Zhuang was in a marginal position in the palace in front of her, she was still very grand afterwards.

On the one hand, Wei Zhongxian was afraid of falling behind, and on the other hand, he also knew the relationship between the emperor and Concubine Li Zhuang, so he did not slack off in the slightest.

Everything is according to the specifications of the imperial concubine, and even close to the specifications of the imperial concubine.

The Ming Dynasty advocates simplicity, even if the funeral specifications of Concubine Li Zhuang are not low, but in Wei Bao's view, the rich families of the people are basically of this scale and specifications.

Kneeling in the mourning hall is generally kowtowing four heads, the deceased children are around the spiritual seat, after the person comes, others kowtow a few heads, and the deceased children must respond to a few heads, the so-called representative of the elders to return the gift, generally the eldest grandson on behalf of the thanks, directly under the male and direct female.

Concubine Li Zhuang has no children, her family is Li Chengnei's family, and Wei Bao must be added, so Wei Bao took the initiative to wear linen and filial piety with Li Chengneem's family and became a formal family, and Li Chengnei's eldest son Li Leshan naturally acted as the son of Concubine Li Zhuang.

Wei Bao is dressed in filial piety clothes, but he is even more handsome, and he can only say that people with high appearance are handsome no matter how they make it.

The condolences of the high-ranking officials and the people of the palace are separated.

The mourning shed is located in a designated place where the inner palace and the outer palace intersect.

If it is an ordinary concubine, there is no such high specification.

In the afternoon, the people of the palace came to mourn.

Wei Bao asked Li Chengnei, why didn't the emperor come?

Li Chengnei said that the emperor can come at this time, or not, and he will definitely come before the funeral.

Wei Bao sighed, secretly thinking that this emperor is really two hundred and fifty-one, you are indifferent to the government and politics, you like to play in the deep palace, you have raised you, and the mother-like person who has raised you for several years has died, you are still so lazy, you can't say it, right?

This is because Wei Bao wronged Zhu Youxiao, because Zhu Youxiao came not long after Wei Bao asked.

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