Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

The Grand Council was an important central office of the Ming Dynasty. It was originally established to implement military reforms, but in essence it was a method used by Zhu Yuanzhang to divide the power of the Secretariat.

In the past, the position was not as important as it is today, because at that time there was the Prime Minister Hu Weiyong who was in charge of the six ministries, and all memorials had to be reviewed by the Prime Minister first before being brought to the palace for imperial decree.

This is exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang could not tolerate.

The prime minister not only participates in central decision-making, but is also the head of administration, supervising the execution of various departments. This status and role enable the prime minister to influence or even challenge the imperial power to a certain extent.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the existence of the prime minister threatened his own power, especially when he found that the prime ministers began to make decisions on their own without his consent, which made him more determined.

Zhu Yuanzhang had his own views on the political system. He believed that the prime minister system was an outdated system, a system that constrained the emperor and a system that increased political costs.

Why must those memorials have to go through the prime minister first? Wouldn't it be more efficient to let the officials from the six ministries communicate directly with him? Why must the prime minister be involved?

If there must be a prime minister, then this prime minister can only be himself.

So from the very beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang had planned to abolish the prime minister system that had been in place for a thousand years, and he was just waiting for an opportunity.

He wanted to establish a simple and efficient political system, allowing the emperor to directly manage the six ministries, let the six ministries be directly responsible to the emperor, let the emperor directly hold the power of state affairs, let the emperor directly communicate with the people, let the emperor directly understand the people's sentiments, and let the emperor directly solve problems.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that this would reduce intermediate links, improve administrative efficiency, increase the emperor's prestige, and enhance the trust of the people.

This is also the reason why he chose Hu Weiyong to take over the position of prime minister at that time.

Because he saw at a glance the ambition and desire for power in Hu Weiyong's heart.

This man would never be able to retreat at the peak of his career like his teacher Li Shanchang.

If you want to kill someone, make him crazy first.

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's deliberate arrangement, Hu Weiyong was forced into a desperate situation step by step.

Otherwise, even if Hu Weiyong had ten times the courage, he would not dare to rebel under Zhu's nose.

Although Hu Weiyong was a victim of this change, he was not wronged at all.

Forming cliques for personal gain, taking bribes and perverting the law, colluding with Japanese pirates, and launching rebellion are all facts.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang could not tolerate the prime minister system, why could he tolerate the Grand Council?

That’s because the current Grand Council is fundamentally different from the prime minister.

Zhu Yuanzhang even elevated the status of the Grand Council and expanded its authority, changing it from being used to handle military affairs to being responsible for the entire Ming Dynasty government. He also moved the original meeting place directly outside the corner gate of the imperial palace to facilitate communication.

One of the most important reasons is that after Hu Weiyong was arrested and imprisoned, Zhu Yuanzhang took all power into his own hands. He found that even with his vigorous energy, he gradually felt powerless in the numerous and complicated affairs.

The six ministries had a lot of affairs to deal with, and more than a hundred memorials were sent to him almost every day, which was a great test of the emperor's ability to handle state affairs.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang thought he had no problem at all, he had to consider the successors of the Ming Dynasty. In order to reduce the pressure of handling government affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to set up other institutions that could replace the prime minister's functions or assist the emperor in handling government affairs. Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang set his sights on the Military Affairs Office. Instead of setting up another institution, it would be better to use the existing one.

In the original time and space, after abolishing the prime minister system, Zhu Yuanzhang also established the cabinet system.

Unlike the prime minister, whether it is the cabinet in the original time and space or the current Grand Council, their function is to assist the emperor in handling a large number of government affairs, which is equivalent to the duties of a secretary.

It can be understood as helping the emperor to list the key points of each memorial. He only has the power to make suggestions. It can be said that he is completely a tool for the emperor to handle government affairs. He is not as powerful as the prime minister, who may be out of control at any time.

During the reign of Emperor Zhu Di, Zhu Di inherited and developed the cabinet system established by Zhu Di. The rank of cabinet ministers was not high as before, but compared with the cabinet during Zhu Di's reign, Zhu Di's power over the cabinet was improved.

The most distinctive feature of the cabinet during this period was that the positions were high but the titles were low. Zhu Laosi did not allow the cabinet to develop without limit. He established a series of systems to restrain the cabinet ministers and prevent them from centralizing power and breaking the law like the prime minister.

It’s a pity that after Yongle.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were either physically weak or lacked the ability to handle government affairs, so their ability to handle government affairs was greatly reduced, and the status and power of the cabinet gradually increased.

During the Xuande period, most cabinet ministers were concurrently the Shangshu of the six ministries. At this time, cabinet officials could even reach the third rank, and the power they obtained was far greater than that of the six ministries.

At this time, the cabinet was not yet controlled by a figure like the prime minister, and due to the "Three Yang Cabinet" policy established by Xuanzong and Yingzong, the cabinet did not have the opportunity to monopolize power. It can be said that the "Three Yang Cabinet" made an indelible mark on the short-lived stability of the Ming Dynasty's political situation.

It was not until the Jiajing period, when the self-proclaimed "Taishang Daluo Tianxian Zi Ji Changsheng Shengzhi Zhaoling Tong Sanyuan Zhengying Wangxu Zongzhang Wulei Dazhenren Xuandujing Wanshou Emperor", who sang "Clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the bottle" all day long, that the Jiajing Emperor, who completely destroyed the cabinet system that Zhu Yuanzhang had worked so hard to establish, began to completely destroy the cabinet system that Zhu Yuanzhang had worked so hard to establish.

Under Emperor Jiajing, the original cabinet system evolved into the so-called prime minister cabinet.

Although the chief minister of the cabinet is not the prime minister in title, he still performs the duties of the prime minister.

If Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the prime minister system he had worked so hard to abolish would be restored by his unworthy descendants, he would be so angry that he would jump out of his coffin.

Among them, the more famous one is Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet during the reign of Emperor Jiajing.

The power held by Wanli's chief minister Zhang Juzheng was even more exaggerated, even exceeding the authority of the prime minister. The little emperor had to call him "father".

Fortunately, he is Zhang Juzheng. If someone else sat in this position, the consequences would be disastrous.

In this world today, the Grand Council has replaced the cabinet of the original time and space, but its function remains the same.

What the young eunuch had delivered to the cabinet earlier was military intelligence from the front lines. In recent days, there have been victories on several battlefields, and all the defeated small countries have raised their flags in surrender and submitted to the government.

Yang Xian took a look at the military reports delivered today.

It looks like the war on the front line is finally coming to an end.

But the war within the Ming Dynasty has just begun. (End of this chapter)