The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 268 Cabinet
The conversation between the emperor and his ministers had an excellent start. Zhu Zhanji believed it was an effective conversation, and in this atmosphere, he was more likely to accept advice.

Li Xianmu pressed on, saying solemnly, "Besides tax laws, the most important thing for the court is the political system. In the dynasties before the Ming Dynasty, there were all kinds of systems, each with its own advantages and disadvantages."

In my opinion, it is nothing more than a struggle between decentralization and centralization. In order for local areas to cope with emergencies, such as rebellions in the interior or defense against foreign tribes on the frontier, it is necessary to decentralize power. However, excessive decentralization will inevitably lead to chaos. Decentralization to outsiders led to the chaos of the Tang Dynasty's regional military governors, while decentralization to the imperial family led to the Rebellion of the Seven States and the Rebellion of the Eight Princes.

Too much centralization of power is also not good. The Song Dynasty centralized power too much, so it was defeated every time it encountered an enemy. Even a small state like the Western Xia could ride roughshod over it. Internal rebellions were frequent and could not be stopped.

What kind of system should the Ming Dynasty implement?

Emperor Taizu's answer was extreme centralization of power, abolishing the position of prime minister and concentrating all power in the hands of the emperor, who would then control everything. At the local level, the three offices were separated, greatly decentralizing power.

In the early years of the Hongwu reign, the Ming Dynasty had just been established, and there were still many remnants of the previous dynasty and bandits from the war-torn period who were eager to cause trouble. Such arrangements were understandable.

But now that the Ming Dynasty's rule has stabilized, the court decided to establish governors in the provinces to oversee all powers of the provincial administration except for military power, because it believed that the arrangements made by the Taizu Emperor were outdated.

The cabinet system emerged because after Emperor Taizu abolished the position of prime minister, the operation of the court encountered problems and even became difficult to handle the enormous amount of government affairs, so it was introduced.

This is just the beginning. There are still many systemic issues that have not been resolved in the court and in the prefectures and counties. This is the first issue that Your Majesty must consider.

My suggestion, after careful consideration, is to first centralize power, and then, within that centralization, decentralize it.

As Zhu Zhanji listened, he nodded in agreement. The introduction of the governorship system was a result of the failure of the three-department system, and the introduction of the cabinet system was due to the inefficiency, chaos, and numerous errors in the central government's handling of affairs.

"Centralize power first? Then decentralize it? Please explain in detail, teacher."

“Starting from the Yongle era, I have put forward a series of suggestions, such as sending governors from the central government to supervise the provinces, which has become a system; transferring the generals guarding the borders to each other to prevent them from becoming too powerful in their local areas; including splitting up the provinces and dismantling those powerful provincial administrations.”

This series of policies actually had only one purpose: to strip local governments of their power, placing the imperial court above them, leaving only routine affairs in the hands of the local governments, while consolidating real power in the hands of the imperial court, making the local governments dependent on the imperial court for everything.

Therefore, local officials dared not harbor any thoughts of rebellion against the imperial court; this is the principle of centralized power.

Li Xianmu clearly explained his plan: "If these powers are in the hands of the court, then they are in the hands of His Majesty. His Majesty is the center of everything, so by doing this, His Majesty will be able to influence more people and things."

But with so much power concentrated in the hands of the imperial court, the court must be able to manage it; otherwise, it will inevitably fall back into the hands of the local authorities—this is the nature of power.

Zhu Zhanji's eyes lit up as he listened; no emperor is uninterested in more power.

"If Your Majesty wants to deal with this, there are only two ways. The first way is to be like Emperor Taizu, firstly you need to have extremely high talent, and then you need to be extremely diligent, getting up early every day and working on it until late at night."

But if I may speak frankly, I know how talented and energetic Emperor Taizu was; such a person is one in a million. Moreover, even Emperor Taizu did not handle affairs perfectly.

"Yes."

Zhu Zhanji immediately shook his head and said, "Emperor Taizu was a divine being who was different from ordinary people. How could his descendants ever compare to him?"

With the assistance of the cabinet, I am exhausted from dealing with so many memorials every day, let alone making decisions on my own.

Besides, which dynasty or generation didn't have a few incompetent or mediocre rulers? Expecting every emperor to be so diligent is simply a joke.

Let's get straight to the second method.

When he said this, Zhu Zhanji felt a little guilty, because he himself was the kind of person who loved to play. Asking him to be as diligent in his duties as the Taizu Emperor would be worse than killing him.

If you can't enjoy life before you become emperor, and you still can't enjoy life after becoming emperor, then what's the point of being emperor?

"The second method, I'll keep you in suspense for now. When Your Majesty reviews memorials, are there many that you merely glance at and briefly consider before replying?"

"Exactly." Zhu Zhanji had a lot of grievances in his heart and complained, "There are so many memorials to review, but I only read each one for a few dozen seconds. Some officials even talk a lot of nonsense, so I just cross them off and throw them back. I don't even want to look at them."

Those concerning major national policies were consulted with the cabinet, while the rest were directly reviewed and approved.

“Your Majesty, this is the reality. Whether you review them carefully or hastily, they are legally valid and all government offices must enforce them. This is the power Your Majesty cannot fully utilize, but which your subject can!”

Zhu Zhanji's expression suddenly changed. He hadn't considered this issue before. How many of the memorials he reviewed were ones he didn't want to agree to, but passed because he didn't have time to examine them carefully?
“Teacher!” Zhu Zhanji looked at Li Xianmu.

Li Xianmu said solemnly, “Now the Great Ming Dynasty has an outer court and an inner court. The outer court has the Six Ministries, the Five Offices and other government departments. Every day there are many matters to report, no matter how big or small, how simple or complicated. They all rush into the Hall of Literary Glory. Every matter requires Your Majesty to spend time thinking about it, which is very inappropriate.”

Considering the current reality of the Ming Dynasty, the solution lies in the Grand Secretariat established by Emperor Taizong. As the Grand Secretary appointed by the late Emperor, I believe that the current Grand Secretariat system is still too wasteful.

Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong are both outstanding individuals capable of serving as prime ministers, while Yang Pu, Jin Youzi, and Huang Huai are all capable of leading large ministries. It is not appropriate for the Ming Dynasty to only assign them their current duties.

Your subject suggests that, in the future, memorials submitted by the Office of Transmission should first be sent to the Wenyuan Pavilion for review by the cabinet ministers. The cabinet ministers should mark the key points of the memorials, write their preliminary opinions on small slips of paper, attach the slips to the memorials, and then send the memorials to the Hall of Literary Glory.

In this way, when His Majesty reads a memorial, he can see the key points at a glance, and at the same time, there are one or more suggestions. His Majesty does not need to start thinking from the beginning, but can expand his thinking by referring to the cabinet ministers' thoughts.

Those important national affairs can still be discussed slowly by the cabinet ministers, while those less important trivial matters can be glanced over in just a few breaths, saving the most tedious work.

I believe this is the most suitable central government system for the Ming Dynasty at present.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhanji fell into deep thought. What Li Xianmu said was indeed a good idea. He had only been on the throne for a few months, but he was already deeply troubled by the memorials. It was necessary to reduce his burden.

None of the solutions he has considered so far are as good as Li Xianmu's ideas. The cabinet ministers are all capable officials who are well-versed in national policies, and handling affairs is not difficult for them.

Seeing the emperor deep in thought, Li Xianmu unleashed his true trump card: "Moreover, this method can not only prevent a foolish ruler from wreaking havoc on the court to a certain extent, but also prevent ministers from having too much power."

As Your Majesty just said, which dynasty or generation has not had incompetent and mediocre rulers?
If the emperor cannot come up with a solution to a problem, then this solution can help the emperor govern, and may even be used to teach the emperor.

Furthermore, since the final approval power rests with the emperor, it is not so powerful as to affect the stability of imperial power.

"When Emperor Taizu said I was a prodigy, destined to bring peace and prosperity to the Ming Dynasty, I was unworthy of such praise. But after much thought and devising this system, I finally have some confidence that I can one day meet Emperor Taizu, Emperor Taizong, and the late Emperor."

Li Xianmu's face was full of emotion, and the image of his maternal grandfather's aged face, along with the satisfaction and expectations he held for him, floated into his mind.

From a young age, he possessed extraordinary talent to an unbelievable degree. His photographic memory was merely a given, and anyone who met him knew that his future was destined to be brilliant.

Perhaps it was because she was too beautiful and refined, and people always judge others by their appearance; or perhaps it was the infectious talent brought by her semi-saintly appearance, coupled with blood ties and family affection.

Whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, or Zhu Gaochi, they all treated him extremely well. Although he had the desire to revitalize his family, his desire to revitalize the Ming Dynasty was also genuine.

Zhu Zhanji had already figured everything out, and upon hearing Li Xianmu's感慨 (sentiments/reflections), he was deeply moved.

What a loyal minister!

When formulating policies, they were also concerned about powerful ministers in later generations bullying the emperor, so they made special restrictions.

It is truly rare in history for a subject to do this.

(End of this chapter)