In the fifteenth year (A.D. 1382), according to the system of Song Dynasty, the imperial advisers were Gaihuatang, Shenshentang, Wuyingtang, Wenyuange and Dongge. He also set up a college student in Wenhua Hall to assist the prince, and his ranks are all positive five.
After Ming Chengzu acceded to the throne, Jie Jin, Hu Guang, Yang Rong and others were sent into the meridian gate to participate in the maintenance, which was called the Cabinet.
During the reign of Injong, Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong were appointed as college students of Gaihuatang and Shenshentang, which increased their power.
During the Sejong period of the Ming Dynasty, Gaihua Hall was changed into a relay hall, and Shenshen Hall was a building pole hall. The status of a university student ranks before the six ministers, and its status has been greatly improved.
Although the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty did not have the name of prime minister, it had the power of prime minister.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhongshu Province was abolished, the prime minister system was abolished, and four assistant officials were replaced, but it proved that they were not adjutants, so the cabinet system was used as the emperor's assistant administrative department.
Cabinet was not originally the name of an organ department. At the earliest time, Zhu Yuanzhang used so-called literary attendants, such as learning soil, editing, proofreading, editing and reading, to help with some literary and ink work in the Hanlin Academy. The specific duty is to help the emperor read the chapters sent by various organs and seal them, and draft treatment opinions according to the emperor's intention. These people can't participate in the research of major government affairs, let alone deal with any problems. Just because they often work in the palace hall and are always waiting for the emperor's call, they are gradually called cabinet bachelors or university students. Some of the people transferred there are called "joining the cabinet."
The functions and powers of the early cabinet can't be compared with those of the original Chinese book province, and there is a world of difference between the cabinet bachelor and the prime minister. At that time, it was stipulated that no palace staff could be set up under the cabinet university, and the cabinet university itself was just a small official with five products. It could only obey orders, could not interfere in the affairs of various organs, could not participate in imperial edicts, could not issue any instructions or orders in the name of departments or individuals, and could not close the cabinet. It can be seen that the cabinet at that time was completely an auxiliary office, and the so-called university students were just clerical staff closer to the emperor. Their duty is only to "explain the work of various departments", and they can only show that they are purely transactional, not governmental, in the name of "The Hanlin Academy also refutes the articles of various departments and works for an official". During the Hongwu period, the cabinet and its university students had a "low status", and "the emperor had his own salty handle, and the university students made a fresh decision".
Zhu Yuanzhang reversed the practice of gradually upgrading attendants to officials since Qin Dynasty, but downgraded the established state organs and officials to attendants again. This pattern remained until his death. Zhu Yuanzhang managed to try it out for more than ten years, mainly because he himself had superior conditions different from those of later emperors. He is a "pioneer among the people", "difficult to prepare a calendar and familiar with the state of things". As the founding king of entrepreneurship, he enjoyed high authority, rich political and military experience and talent, and was extremely diligent in political affairs, so he was able to promote the operation of the state machine at that time with such a system. But this is a change and an extraordinary situation, which can be applied for a period of time, but not for a long time. Because, in fact, it is impossible for an omnipotent and supreme emperor to monopolize the power, hold the small power and perform all the ruling functions with both hands.
By the reign of Judy, the Ming emperor, the actual functions and powers of the cabinet and its university students had undergone obvious substantive changes. Judy adopted a gradual transition form to modify the central auxiliary political system ordered by her father. After the victory of usurping the throne, he immediately selected seven promising young scholars from all over the country, including Jie Jin, Hu Guang, Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, Hu Yan, Jin Youzi and Huang Huai, and used them. He solicited their opinions on major military affairs such as peace and war, storage, employment, conscription or exemption from compulsory service, and consciously absorbed them to participate in discussing the core secrets of the country. In the twenty-second year of Yongle, when Judy was in power, the rank of cabinet bachelor was not high, but it was the rank of "five products". But in fact, they often participate in the discussion of major government affairs, and even six important ministries can conduct higher-level deliberation in the order for the emperor's reference.
After Hongxi (Emperor Renzong of Zhu Gaochi) and Xuande (Emperor Xuanzong of Zhu Zhanji), the situation changed further, and the position and role of the cabinet were further improved. Because when Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, the cabinet college students appointed by Judy, such as Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi and Yang Pu, were still in office. In the past, the position of the veteran and the position of being familiar with government affairs assisted the government. The young emperor had to hand over a lot of government affairs to the cabinet, and the power of the cabinet gradually increased. As for the emperors after orthodoxy (Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen), almost all were lazy or trusted eunuchs. Some people have not been to the DPRK for more than 20 years, and the daily affairs of the country can only be pushed to the cabinet. Originally, it was stipulated that the cabinet could only do things according to orders, and the cabinet university students were only auxiliary staff to prepare consultants, but in fact they gradually took over the work of drafting letters instead of the emperor, and were also responsible for drafting the "draft" task of the memorial; Originally, it was stipulated that six departments and other state organs were directly led by the emperor, and the rank and power of cabinet university students were much lower than those of six departments (originally, cabinet university students were officials with positive five products and ministers with positive two products), and all units were not allowed to close the cabinet because of something. However, some later university students also served as ministers, while others enjoyed lofty political titles such as Taibao, Taifu, Shaobao and Shaofu, and their ranks were higher, and all six ministers were related. According to the ranking order, among the cabinet college students, they are divided into the first record, the second record and the group defeat. The first record is "Ran Yan, Han and Tang Dynasties, and he is not under the name of the Prime Minister." In this case, there are "power phases" like Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's permanent abolition of the rule of the prime minister was completely destroyed.
The obvious improvement of the political status of the cabinet is mainly manifested in the power of "soliciting votes". The so-called ticket draft, also known as ticket draft and article draft, refers to the memorials from all walks of life in the country submitted by the cabinet bachelor "with a small ticket and ink book" and then submitted to the emperor for instructions. This is actually a draft of "Royal Approval" for the emperor to adopt. Under the autocratic monarchy system, it is conceivable to replace the emperor to master the power of drafting instructions. The so-called "endorsement department" represents the "king's words" with absolute authority. "All the yamen chapters have given you a ticket, and the power is in the world, and its feelings have to be heavy." However, the "draft" of the cabinet is only a preliminary opinion for the emperor's reference after all, and the final decision is decided by the emperor's royal approval (then called "approval of Zhu"). The common power of the cabinet and the actual status of the cabinet are also mainly reflected in the extent to which the proposed "draft" is adopted. During the period of Hongxi and Xuande, the "ticket plan" drawn up by Sanyang and the "ticket plan" drawn up by Zhang at the beginning of Wanli almost all turned into the blueprint of "approving Zhu", which is self-evident. However, after the orthodoxy, emperors of Chenghua, Zhengde, Qin Long, Apocalypse and other dynasties were particularly fond of eunuchs, and even handed over the power of "approving red" to eunuch leaders, and the functions and powers of the cabinet were bound to be restricted by eunuchs. In fact, there are cabinets and emcees to assist the government. After the middle of Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs suppressed and controlled the Cabinet.
In most cases, the cabinet university students are selected from the staff in imperial academy, such as reading attendants, lecturers and editors. After Tianshun, it became a system of "no scholar entered imperial academy and no academician entered the cabinet". This is because most newspaper officials in imperial academy are selected from those who rank highest in the imperial examinations. Imperial academy is regarded as the center of the elite scholars, and has always been an important work of the Imperial Command, so it is natural to select people from imperial academy to join the Cabinet. According to statistics, there were 1, 6 1 cabinet college students in the Ming Dynasty, of which 1.57 people passed the imperial examination in the court examination, accounting for 96.3%. 157 people, 13 1 people entered the cabinet through the academician courtyard, accounting for 80.03% of the total number of university students. It shows that the imperial examination is the highest official rank, and entering the Hanlin is the main way to enter the cabinet. Of course, whether these people who have no actual experience in leading military and political work and have been dancing in Hanyuan for a long time can make a difference after joining the cabinet depends on their subjective and objective conditions.
With the establishment of the cabinet system and the improvement of its functions and powers, the contradiction between monarchical power and relative power in history has emerged under new conditions. The emperor's request for the cabinet and its college students is to carry out the task to the letter and never allow the loss of imperial power. At that time, whether he could be elected to the cabinet or be prized and reused depended on whether he could faithfully safeguard the imperial power and humbly cater to it, and whether he was competent as a tool of the emperor's dictatorship. Therefore, there are many mediocre people, but few people are eager to keep profits and safeguard interests and dare to do anything. The emperor often decides the advance and retreat of college students because of his love and hate. Since the period of Hongxi and Xuande, people who had worked as assistants of eastern bureaucrats, advisers and lecturers before the emperor reached the summit, that is, people who had a certain personal relationship with the emperor himself, accounted for a considerable proportion of cabinet personnel, such as Gao Gong, Zhang, Zhu Guozhuo and Yuan. In addition, some people take careful catering as the first step. For example, since Zhu Houzhao, the leader of Wuzong, had no children, the prince Zhu Hou died for Mingshizong. After he acceded to the throne, he demanded that his father be regarded as an imperial system, which was opposed by courtiers. When the court discussion was boiling, Zhang Cong, Gui Calyx, Fang Xianfu and others tried their best to please, and advocated "following the system instead of inheriting", which triggered a so-called "debate on ceremony". Zhang, Gui, Fang and others have been called into the cabinet for meritorious service. After Zhu Hou died in middle age, he became superstitious about Taoism and engaged in metaphysical abstinence. Li Chunfang, Yan You, Guo Pu, Wei Yuan, Xia Yan, Yan Song, Xu Jie and others all joined the cabinet one after another because they were good at writing "green words" to tell God and "knowing with green words". The vast majority of these people are passive Nuo Nuo. They are well staffed, but they want to maintain high positions and high salaries. On the contrary, a few of them want to do something after joining the cabinet, demanding effective rectification of the declining political situation, hoping for "rise and fall", but they are considered to be "more powerful than the earthquake master." If they are suspected of being unfaithful to the emperor, they are often demoted or even executed. Xia Yan in Jiajing period and Zhou Tingru in Chongzhen period were two famous college students who were executed. Zhang was a feudal politician who actively presided over the reform and reform in Wanli, but his property was also plundered. This shows that the cabinet system established after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty did not become an auxiliary political system that fully adapted to the highly centralized monarchy in the late feudal society. Many old contradictions are showing up in new forms under the new historical conditions. China's feudal auxiliary political system is still in the process of development and evolution.