Zhu Yuanzhang no longer set up the post of prime minister after Hongwu killed the prime minister Hu. The administrative work of the central government is in charge of officials, soldiers, punishments, ceremonies, households and the Ministry of Industry, respectively in charge of personnel, national defense, justice, education, finance and construction. The ministries are headed by Shangshu, and the left and right assistant ministers are the first and second deputies. The six ministers in the early Ming Dynasty had great power. Together with Duchayuan, General Political Department and Dali Temple, it became the Sixth Division of Jiuqing. The prime minister was abolished, and six emperors played directly. As a result, political power is highly concentrated, and the burden of managing state affairs has also increased. According to statistics, there were as many as 1 1,660 music plays at home and abroad in eight days, involving 339 1 events. In September of the 13th year of Wu Hong, in the 4th year of Jian 'an, Ming Taizu set up four assistant ministers according to the antique system, who were called officials in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and assisted the emperor in reading chapters and playing music in chronological order. In spring and summer, each official chooses three old Confucian scholars and takes turns to serve at the end of each month. Qiu Guan winter officials are not specially set up, and both spring officials and summer officials are responsible. This system has been implemented for about two years. In the fifteenth year of Wu, he went to the Qing Dynasty, changed the imitation of the Song Dynasty, and set up a grand college. Liu Zhongzhi, the minister of rites, is the academy hall, and Song Na, a bachelor of Hanlin, is the academy hall. The Academy assessed Wu Bozong as a bachelor of Wuyingtang and Wu Shen as a bachelor of Dongge. College students are the attendants and civil servants of the emperor, who have both consulting and consulting skills. Their ranks are not high, they are only five grades, and they are also civil servants.
After Cheng Zu ascended the throne, according to this system, the civil servants in imperial academy were briefly selected to join the Wen Yuan Pavilion, and the civil servants who entered the pavilion were ready to consult and put forward letters patent. Wenyuan Pavilion was originally a place where emperors and civil servants studied. Built in the palace, it began to have the name of cabinet, which is different from the outer court. Hanlin Jie Jin, Hu Guang, Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong were elected to the Cabinet. In the second year of Yongle, after the establishment of the Prince, Jie Jin became a bachelor of Hanlin and a bachelor of You Chunfang. Chunfang belongs to Master Zhan and is the tutor of the Prince. Yang Rongji lecture and Yang Shiqi lecture. Jane also chose Huang Huai, a scholar and calligrapher from China, as the editor of the Imperial Academy. In science, Jin Youzi won the evaluation of imperial academy. Hu Yanyan, an expert in astronomy and a former magistrate of Tongcheng, was recommended by Jie Jin and awarded by imperial academy. Three people also entered the cabinet at the same time. The seven people who entered the Wen Yuan Pavilion are still university officials, and they have no other official positions. But they were treated by the emperor, who participated in government affairs and became the emperor's staff. Unlike the foreign ministers of the six countries, the civil servants who entered the cabinet were ordinary people.
In the 22nd year of Yongle, Judy died, and Prince Gao Chi succeeded Renzong. The following year, it was changed to Yuan Hongxi. Zhu Gaochi died after ten months as emperor. Prince Zhan Ji succeeded to the throne and was renamed Xuande the following year. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne, and Yang Pu, the academician in charge of the new Hong Wen Pavilion, was on an equal footing with Yang Shiqi of the Wen Yuan Pavilion. In the first year of Xuande, six cabinet ministers joined Wenyuan Pavilion, including five former ministers such as Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Yang Rong, Huang Huai and Jin Youzi, and Zhang Deying, the former left imperial adviser of Dongfang Palace, was added as assistant minister of rites and a university student of Huagaidian. In February of the following year, Chen, a former scholar in the East Palace, entered the cabinet as a senior minister and a university student, with a total of seven people, equal to the number of cabinet ministers. After the Three Dynasties, he was promoted by Fu. He is the most famous of the seven people, and he is also the most relied on by Xuanzong. He was vaguely equated with later records. Zhang Ying's achievements in the cabinet were mediocre, and he was transferred to Nanjing does for four years. Chen Shan was also dismissed for lack of academic knowledge and taught young eunuchs to learn calligraphy. In the second year of Xuande, Huang Huai resigned due to illness, and in the sixth year, Jin Youzi died of illness. There are only three ministers in the Cabinet, namely Yang Shiqi, Wuhua Temple Secretary Yang Rong and Yang Pu. They are called Sanyang. During the period of Injong and Xuanzong, most cabinet ministers were the guards of the East Palace in the previous two dynasties, and they were also important ministers who were ordered to help set up. Stronger and more attached to the new king. The emperor often called them old teachers, not their names.
The responsibilities of the cabinet of Ren and Xuan Dynasties have not been clearly defined, but they actually participated in the important military affairs of the court in different forms, such as administration, supervision, justice, military affairs, foreign affairs, and gradually became the emperor's assistant from the initial bachelor. In the imperial court, there are more than six departments below the emperor, and the decision-making core composed mainly of cabinet ministers assists the emperor, so cabinet ministers are also called auxiliary ministers. This change of political structure was basically formed in Xuanzong period, and was inherited and developed by emperors in previous dynasties, which had a far-reaching impact on politics in Ming Dynasty. The elders and ministers who served as ministers before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, although not in the cabinet, often became part of the highest decision-making core around the emperor, such as Shang Yi, an official of Xuanzong Dynasty, and Xia Yuanji, an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Wang Shu, Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia, the filial officials, are also called Hongzhi three gentlemen. This has never happened since Xiaozong. Military affairs were basically handled by the cabinet until the last emperor, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian Mingsizong ascended the throne, except that he had the right to be castrated twice for a short time.
Institutionally, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty had no executive power. Its task is only to hand it over to the General Political Department according to the emperor's idea, which is called a draft vote and submitted to the emperor for approval. Ye, the first official of the three cabinets from the end of Wanli to the apocalypse, knew this well and was deeply touched. He said, I am a cabinet minister, but I am not a prime minister. A little stronger in one or two places stole the power of the monarch, occupied Cao Cao's position in the six countries, and finally brought trouble. I have been a servant for six years and have been blessed by hundreds of people, so I dare not bully them. Those who try their best to listen to the Lord are afraid to hear anything about him. According to the system, all kinds of affairs are handled by the cabinet first and then submitted to the emperor for approval. The emperor's approval was given by e.
Except Zhang Cong in Jiajing Dynasty, all cabinet ministers in Ming Dynasty were from Hanlin, and their writing style was very good. Yang Shiqi in Ren Xuan period and Li Dongyang in Xiaowu period are recognized as literary leaders. After that, Ming Yingzong's power cabinet gradually concentrated in Huiji, and Huiji became the de facto prime minister. Cabinet ministers in Ming Dynasty, especially the records, except Yan Song, were mostly responsible and competent, and the relationship between the emperor and ministers was basically harmonious. Therefore, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, although several eunuchs monopolized and some emperors neglected political affairs, under the leadership of the cabinet, the state machine basically operated normally.
As an emperor, the most important thing is to know people and be kind, tolerant and generous. When Zhu Youjian first came to power, Wei Zhongxian was isolated from the world and the government was in good weather. Unfortunately, after some achievements, he thought he was the son of heaven, so he was willful. He removed Han's excellent records and began to record the eunuchs' remains. A large number of competent ministers such as Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Chengzong and Lu Xiangsheng were either killed or exempted. The cabinet records of sixteen years in power are all except Zhou Yanru and Ren Wenwen, two eunuchs who have been in office for a long time. People call it the Fifty Phases of Chongzhen. Since 16, more than 50 people have served as cabinet members. With such an emperor, the Ming Dynasty is bound to perish.
Attachment: Hu case, party prison in Ming Dynasty. Hu, a native of Dingyuan, Anhui Province, surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang in Hezhou in the 15th year of Yuan Dynasty and was appointed as the commander of Yuan Dynasty. Later, he served as the chief book, magistrate, provincial judge and secretary of Taichang Temple, and participated in politics in Zhongshu Province. From the sixth to thirteenth year of Wu, the left was the prime minister, dominating one side and threatening the imperial power. During the thirteen years of American rule, Wu Hong was convicted of conspiracy and divided into six departments. The prime minister system, which has been implemented for more than 1000 years since Qin and Han Dynasties, has been abolished. Zhu Yuanzhang took this opportunity to establish a party prison. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Li Shanchang, Ji 'an Hou Lu Zhongheng and others were killed on charges of colluding with Hu. Records showing traitors are distributed all over the world, involving more than 30,000 people. Hu is the last prime minister of the nine nationalities in China.