Chapter 69 Characteristics of the Ming Dynasty
The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang paid attention to another angle, which was Zhu Qizhen's temple name.

"Emperor Yingzong? What merits and abilities did Zhu Qizhen have to be named Emperor Yingzong? With his bastard appearance, if he were your descendant, you would beat him to death!"

This time, Xiao He and others did not say anything about Liu Bang's casual words. Instead, they nodded in agreement. If this were their descendants, they would strangle him to death first, so as to avoid bringing disaster to future generations and bringing disgrace to their ancestors.

"Eh?" Liu Bang noticed something else. "How could he restore the monarchy? He had already established a new emperor, but the new emperor Zhu Qiyu didn't just kill him? He kept him alive?" He couldn't help but sneer. As the founder of the Han Dynasty, he never believed in benevolence, especially for someone who had a fundamental conflict with him. How could he keep him alive?

Don't say that the emperor should be a role model for the world, maintain the reputation of the royal family, and not cause scandals... So what? What is face? What is substance? Is face more important or substance more important? Of course, substance! What you eat is yours, don't you understand!
He couldn't help but look down on Zhu Qiyu. Although he seemed to be good at managing the government, there were some problems in other aspects.

The ministers of the early Han Dynasty also agreed with his point of view. These people were all brave warriors who fought on the battlefield to conquer the world. None of them would be soft-hearted or give up their substance for the sake of face. Such people would have died in the middle of the war. How could they have waited until the Han Dynasty was established and shared the glory?
[The follow-up process is still ongoing, but Zhu Di is finally about to ascend the throne.

On the first day of July, Zhu Di held a grand ceremony to worship the whole country in the southern suburbs of the capital, and at the same time, he offered sacrifices to the tablet of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty and issued an edict of amnesty for the whole country. In addition, he also exempted taxes and corvée labor in places that had experienced the Jingnan War to varying degrees. This can be said to be a traditional process, nothing special.

However, he still did something special.

In the 16th year of Yongle, Zhu Di had a subtle expression. He felt that he knew what Tianmu was going to say. He felt a little guilty, but also a little righteous. However, he still hoped that those who were still alive in the time and space would have good luck.

[He issued an order: from June of this year onwards, the reign title will still be called the Hongwu Year, which means the thirty-fifth year, and next year will be the first year of Yongle.

Well, he worked really hard to erase the mark of Emperor Jianwen and directly take over his father's reign title. So I am naturally the Emperor Taizong! I am the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, no one else! 】

The thirteenth year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, his troubled brothers (Zhu Di thought), and the high-ranking ministers in the palace all looked at Zhu Di with subtle eyes. They seemed to be asking the same question: What are you trying to achieve by doing this? This obviously didn't achieve the goal?

Zhu Di now was not as thick-skinned as he would be in the future. His face turned red and he was so embarrassed that he wanted to dig a tunnel with his bare hands immediately so that he could quickly leave this place where he could not stay for a moment.

But he couldn't. So he had to smile bravely and resolutely kept silent, not giving others more opportunities to watch the fun.

[In September, Zhu Di conferred titles on his meritorious officials.]

Qiu Fu was conferred the title of Duke of Qi, Zhu Neng was conferred the title of Duke of Cheng, Zhang Wu, Gu Cheng and 13 others were conferred the title of Marquis, and Xu Xiang and 11 others were conferred the title of Earl. In addition, Zhang Yu, who died in battle, was posthumously conferred the title of Duke of Rong. Zhang Yu's son, Duke of Ying, Zhang Fu, who served in four dynasties, led four expeditions to Annan and three expeditions to Mongolia, was conferred the title of Earl of Xin'an in this reward.

In addition, Li Jinglong's title of Duke of Cao remained, and Zhu Di did not make any changes.

He also restored the titles of his unfortunate brothers. 】

tomorrow.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up: "This Zhang Yu is a good one. Not only he is good, but his son is also good!" Such a talent must be quickly grabbed into his own bowl, so he stared at Zhu Di, "Fourth Brother, do you have this Zhang Yu with you now?" If so, send him over to us quickly!
What could Zhu Di say? He also wanted Zhang Yu, but he didn't know where Zhang Yu was now! He could only say obediently: "Dad, I don't know Zhang Yu yet. Maybe he will come to me later."

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a sigh of relief and had to give up. However, he had already made a decision to have people pay close attention to all kinds of information about Zhang Yu!
[In order to better handle government affairs, Zhu Di ordered his tutor Hu Guang, compiler Yang Rong, editor Yang Shiqi, reviewer Jin Youzi, and Hu Yan to be on duty at Wenyuan Pavilion together, and together with Jie Jin and Huang Huai, a total of seven people participated in the maintenance work, and assisted Zhu Di in deciding national affairs every day.

This was also the prototype of the Ming Dynasty cabinet in the future.

"Cabinet?" Old Zhu was somewhat puzzled and dissatisfied. "Old Fourth, can't you do the work yourself? Can't you do it yourself? Are you going to be lazy in the future?" After Old Zhu abolished the prime minister, he has been doing the work himself. What's wrong with you? Are you lacking in practice?

[Let me say a few more words here.]

The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty was actually a part of the civil service system and was established and improved during the Yongle period.

Why did the cabinet system come into being?

We all know that Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system, and the emperor directly connected with the six ministries throughout his life. Although the imperial power was concentrated, it was also more tiring.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no problem with 007 and was very happy, but Zhu Di did not, or rather, most emperors did not.

Therefore, Zhu Di established a cabinet, but the rank of the cabinet was not high, only the fifth rank, and it was only an advisory role. Zhu Di used it very well, and the emperors who followed him also used it very well, so it was continued.

However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the power of the cabinet gradually increased, and it became a central decision-making institution, with power above the six ministries, and to some extent also assumed some of the functions of the prime minister. The powerful cabinet chief minister was roughly equivalent to the prime minister.

Ming Dynasty, the 13th year of Hongwu.

Zhu Yuanzhang was originally very happy when Tianmu said that he had abolished the prime minister system and replaced it with the emperor directly connecting with the six ministries. He felt that this was a major innovation of his - hey, not only does it prevent those black-hearted people from obtaining huge power to embezzle and accept bribes, it also strengthens the power of the emperor. How can it not be a good thing?
He enthusiastically taught his sons: "... There are some people who are very open with you and very sincere with you! You can't let such people appear..."

Then he heard Tianmu talking about the changes in the cabinet's powers: It has expanded! It has expanded into a giant! How can this be tolerated? We have worked so hard just to let you unworthy descendants come up with the same thing again?

His smiling expression gradually turned gloomy.

Zhu Di saw that the situation was not good, and immediately retreated behind Zhu Biao and a group of brothers, shouting: "Dad, I don't know! Besides, this is none of my business! I'm not doing anything now!"

"So you are planning to do it in the future?" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "Hey, let's talk about why the sky curtain said that Fang Xiaoru, who was executed by you, would be executed with ten clans. How did the power of those literati become so great? It turns out that it all started with you! I abolished the prime minister, and you created a copy of him for us, right!"

He took a breath and thought again, "Oh, that captured bastard, he was captured, how many soldiers died in the battle? In this case, the power of the civil officials must have expanded!"

The important officials present were also shocked when they heard this. Most of the important officials of the Ming Dynasty were still the founding officials, and most of them were military generals. Even the civil officials were not the pure literati-style civil officials of later times.

At this time, the highest official was a first-rank military general, the six ministers were only of the third rank, and civil officials basically could not be granted the title of duke or marquis.

In this case, everyone belongs to the faction of military generals, or at least is closely related to the faction of military generals. If the military generals decline in the future, how can they survive?
Zhu Di felt a little aggrieved: "I could definitely control myself at that time. As for what happened later, I didn't expect it!" "There are so many things you didn't expect! Can't you think about it more?" Zhu Yuanzhang cursed, "I didn't expect Zhu Yunwen to abolish the feudal system, and I didn't expect you to rebel!"

Han Dynasty, the first year of Yuanshuo.

"The prime minister was deposed?" Liu Che pricked up his ears. He was very interested in this.

The ministers below all felt bitter in their mouths and black in front of their eyes. His Majesty was really too much of a troublemaker. What did he want to do? Would he also want to abolish the prime minister system and give it a try?

[However, although he is comparable to the Prime Minister, he is not completely equivalent to the Prime Minister.

In order to counter the power that restrained the cabinet, the Ming emperors introduced eunuchs. In the inner court, the Silijian was established to hold the power of "approving red".

Zhu Di also created the "pihong" system. First, the cabinet ministers would make suggestions on the memorials, write them on a piece of paper and paste them on the memorials, which was called "piaoni". Then they would present them to the emperor, who would write his comments in red characters, which was called "pihong". During the Yongle period, Zhu Di made his own "pihong".

Later, in order to control the cabinet and reduce the emperor's burden, the responsibility of approving was transferred to the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department who were trusted by the emperor. If the cabinet wanted to implement its own opinions, it had to get the approval of the Imperial Household Department.

The Silijian was completely dependent on the emperor. They could influence the emperor indirectly, but they could not directly affect the emperor, unlike the late Tang Dynasty, when they could depose and enthrone emperors. During the Ming Dynasty, although the power of the Silijian continued to expand, it was always subject to the emperor.

In this way, the emperor successfully restrained the cabinet and ensured his position. 】

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

"Eunuch?!" Zhu Yuanzhang, who was already in a bad mood, became even more angry. "Zhu Di, you bastard actually started to use eunuchs! Do you want them to learn to read? Otherwise, how can you approve documents if you can't read?"

"How is that possible?" Zhu Di fell to his knees with a plop. "Dad, you have to believe me. I could have done it in the cabinet, but how could it be that the eunuchs approved it? Besides, Tianmu also said that I approved it myself. Only future generations will find eunuchs!"

"Oh," Zhu Yuanzhang responded coldly, "Then at least you should work in the cabinet. As for approving documents, who made you the ancestor of those unworthy descendants?"

Zhu Di immediately jumped up from his kneeling position, and with swift movements and sharp eyes, he looked around for a suitable place to hide from his father. His father's words made it clear that if he couldn't hit his descendants, he could only hit his ancestors. So what was he waiting for? Of course, he quickly hid!
Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

"Depose and enthronize the emperor!" Li Shimin stood up suddenly in shock, but he was not able to stand steadily and staggered a few steps. Changsun Wuji, who was standing next to him, quickly supported him.

The two men looked at each other, with shock and worry on their faces and in their eyes. After all, one was the emperor and the ancestor of later emperors, and the other was a wise minister who served the country and the monarch, and was most likely the uncle of the next emperor.

Others also looked unhappy. Eunuchs messing up politics is not without precedent, such as Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty and the eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but none of them directly said "depose and enthrone the emperor"! Everyone has to use some secret means to cover up a layer of skin.

And now, in the early years of Zhenguan, there was no trace of eunuchs in power. How did the eunuchs later gain such great power?

Fang Xuanling cupped his hands and said, "I think the reason why eunuchs are in power may be similar to that of the Eastern Han Dynasty."

Everyone nodded. This was most likely the case. The Eastern Han emperor had no one and no power, so he had to employ eunuchs. The later emperors of the Tang Dynasty also had to employ eunuchs for this reason. So, the reason was very important.

Is it the expansion of the power of the prime minister? Or the power of the relatives of the emperor? Or the expansion of the local government?
Everyone started thinking about this problem.

Li Shimin sat down again and sighed, "It has come to the point of deposing and enthroning the emperor. I guess it must have backfired." But how could it backfire so fiercely? Could it be that he handed over the military power? No way?
He was shocked by his own thought and didn't want to believe it, but he felt that this might be the truth.

[Another institution established by Zhu Di was the East Factory.]

After Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he established the Jinyiwei, which was directly responsible to the emperor and was responsible for guarding the emperor's carriage, patrolling and arresting. It was not until the 20th year of Hongwu that Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the Jinyiwei had abused their power and taken advantage of their status to gain favor, so he eliminated many of the Jinyiwei's powers.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he re-employed the Jinyiwei, but felt that the Jinyiwei was not handy enough. So in August of the 18th year of Yongle, he established the East Factory to the north of Dong'anmen in the capital and used the eunuchs in the palace to take charge of the East Factory affairs.

From then on, the eunuch group began to become independent, and the Silijian mentioned earlier also became independent from this time and gradually embarked on the road to power. 】

Ming Dynasty, the 13th year of Hongwu.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di with a sneer, as if to say "You say, I want to see what else you can say."

When Zhu Di heard that he was really starting to employ eunuchs as secret service personnel, he could only kneel down again and said, "Dad, I was wrong."

Han Dynasty, the first year of Yuanshuo.

Before, the prime minister was abolished, and now it is the Jinyiwei Dongchang. How come there are so many interesting things in the Ming Dynasty? Emperor Wu of Han was very happy to see this, and his face was full of interest. As if he was inspired, he also began to think about the secret service agencies.

Then, the civil and military officials below heard the emperor mutter to himself: "It seems quite good. Should I try to make one? ... As for the name, should we call it the Embroidered Robe Envoy..." (The Embroidered Robe Envoy is currently believed to have first appeared in the second year of Yuanding, about fifteen years later)
Everyone shuddered all over. This was much more terrifying than trying to abolish the prime minister! Just looking at the sky, you can tell what this kind of organization is for. If one appeared in their lifetime, how could they live like this?

Can you go and persuade His Majesty?

I am a nobody and my influence is not great, why don't you go?

I can't do it. Besides, Your Majesty is just thinking about it. This thing is not that easy to do.

That's fine, but we must always pay attention to this aspect.

That's no problem.

After an exchange of glances, everyone felt relieved (self-deception) and looked at the sky again.

(End of this chapter)