My father is Jiajing

Chapter 300: The Impassioned Young Elder

cabinet.

The Ming Dynasty's cabinet was located in the Wenyuan Pavilion behind the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City, near the Donghua Gate and behind the Wenhua Hall.

This was originally the royal library, and on a daily basis it was a secretariat where noble Hanlin scholars compiled dictionaries and were always ready to consult the emperor on political views.

But with the distortion of the political strongman Zhu Yuanzhang's obsession with power and his extremely selfish concept of viewing the country as his home.

Therefore, the prime minister system, which could have balanced the imperial power and facilitated co-governance, was abolished by Zhu Yuanzhang in an extremely bloody and cruel manner, resulting in both imperial power and prime ministerial power being concentrated in the emperor alone.

It is no doubt that Zhu Yuanzhang was very energetic. He could shoulder all the work that should have belonged to the Prime Minister of the Secretariat. However, the rulers of later generations could not be as energetic as Zhu Yuanzhang and do everything.

Therefore, after the prime minister system was abolished, the cabinet system was born in a subtle way.

First, in the 15th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang imitated the Song system and set up the Huagai Hall, Wuying Hall, Wenyuan Pavilion, and Dongge. Among them, Shao Zhi, the Minister of Rites, Wu Bozong, the Censor, Song Ne, the Hanlin Academician, and Wu Chen, the Classicist, were the four Grand Secretaries respectively.

However, these four grand secretaries were just decorative mascots, used only to highlight Zhu Yuanzhang's false appearance of respecting literature and Confucianism, and had no real practical use.

Although Zhu later appointed the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace and recruited senior scholars such as Bao Xun, Yu Quan, and Zhang Changnian to serve as tutors for the crown prince, with a rank of fifth grade, their main power was only that of an advisor.
But this undoubtedly set an example for the later cutie Jianwen and good uncle Yongle, giving them guidance on their route. When they were unable to handle government affairs, they would select some people to serve as grand secretaries and bachelors to advise on government affairs.

Therefore, during the reign of Jianwen, the cute little Jianwen, who was determined to become a wise and benevolent ruler, recruited a large number of learned scholars as scholars, the most famous of whom was Fang Xiaoru.

But unfortunately, although Hou Fang Xiaoru was well-read and had the knowledge of a great scholar, his political ability was almost ideal, comparable to that of the great sage Wang who lived hundreds of years ago.

Therefore, with the active assistance of great Confucian scholars such as Fang Xiaoru, Emperor Jianwen took only four years to hand over the country to his good uncle, His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan.

Prince of Yan ascended the throne as Emperor Yongle. Although he had the same ambition for power as Zhu Yuanzhang, he was a tough guy who could not sit still.

Therefore, during the Yongle period, because of the long-term wars abroad, Emperor Yongle had to rely heavily on civil officials to govern the country.

Therefore, Emperor Yongle also learned from his good nephew and selected some political elites with practical talents such as Xie Jin, Hu Guang, and Yang Rong to serve in the Wenyuan Pavilion and participate in the affairs of the state, which was called the Cabinet, to assist the Crown Prince Zhu Dapang, who was the regent, in handling state affairs at home.

Thus, the cabinet system was formed.

During the more than 100 years of development that followed, the cabinet gradually evolved from an advisory body into a power center with certain powers of deliberation and decision-making, and also held the power of "voting".

Although the power is not as great as that of the original prime minister, in a sense, the cabinet minister can be regarded as a kind of prime minister.

Therefore, the status of the chief minister of the cabinet also rose accordingly, becoming the career pinnacle that countless officials in the Ming Dynasty looked forward to.

However, there are still many restrictions in the cabinet. For example, because the original Wenyuan Pavilion was the territory of the Hanlin Academy's Hanlin nobles, if you want to enter the cabinet, you must have the status of a Hanlin.

Although this rule is unwritten, it is still an iron rule that cannot be broken. Even the emperor rarely breaks such a tacit rule.

Therefore, the highest authority in the Ming Dynasty, apart from the emperor, was only a competition game among the Hanlin scholars, and had nothing to do with those who were capable but had no experience as a Hanlin scholar. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, except for some people with noble temperaments who were PUA to the extreme by traditional Confucian morality and believed that the country and the emperor were the objects of their lifelong loyalty, most of the rest of the people were indifferent to the concept of the country. Even if the Ming Dynasty fell, for them it was just a change of family and surname to rule the country.

After all, it was Zhu who started this bad thing. Who made him regard the Ming Dynasty as the private property of one family? So at the critical moment when the country was destroyed and the family was ruined, the Ming Dynasty naturally did not have the good luck of the Southern Song Dynasty, where a large number of loyal ministers and generals willing to fight for the country appeared. Some were just some ignorant clowns who were still fighting for the top spot in Jinling City.

Therefore, the sudden demise of the Ming Dynasty was also inevitable.

To use the words of fatalism, everything has its destiny, and what is owed must be repaid. No one can expect eternal immortality.

But now the cabinet is extremely lively!

Yan Shifan held in his hand the memorial he had written early in the morning, and began to question in the cabinet without going through the Ministry of Public Security.

"Everyone, take a look. This is the consequence of Shuntian Prefecture snatching the power of city construction from the Ministry of Works. Wang Youzhao and his men just wanted to take advantage and disregarded human lives. It just snowed and more than a dozen people froze to death. If it snows a few more times, hundreds or even thousands of people will freeze to death. If these workers and laborers are frozen to death, who will repair the outer city of the capital for His Majesty and the Ming Dynasty?"

"And Hai Rui was so audacious that he actually sent people to surround the scene and told the public that the people who froze to death were sheep. How could someone so cold-blooded and heartless, who regarded human life as worthless, do a good job of supervision?"

"So today, even if I don't want to keep this official hat, I will also impeach and execute Wang Youzhao and Hai Rui, the two officials who neglected their duties and took human lives lightly, and fight for justice for the workers and civilians who died!"

Yan Shifan gave an impassioned speech in the cabinet, holding up his own memorial.

Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, watched his son's performance in silence. He was also very puzzled in his heart. When did his son have such a strong sense of justice? It was really a bit surprising.

But when Yan Song heard that Yan Shifan's target was Wang Youzhao and Hai Rui, he understood. It turned out to be because of the Urban Construction Bureau. It seemed that his son was still unwilling to let Wang Youzhao and others steal his power.

However, out of caution, Yan Song did not express his opinion immediately after Yan Shifan's passionate speech. Instead, he looked at Xu Jie who was standing aside with a stunned expression.

Yan Song asked Xu Jie, "Zisheng, what do you think?"

When Xu Jie heard Yan Song's question and looked at the aggressive Yan Shifan, he could only sigh helplessly in his heart. It seemed that Wang Youzhao still did not understand his advice that day and eventually fell into Yan Shifan's trap.

Therefore, in order to ensure that he would not be implicated, Xu Jie said: "Of course, this matter should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate and the Dali Temple to take over the investigation, and at the same time, it should be reported to the emperor, who will make the decision personally. As ministers, we should not cross the rules and make rash conclusions."

After listening to Xu Jie's words, Yan Song nodded slowly and said in an old voice: "Zisheng is right. Shifan, since you are willing to seek justice for the workers and civilians who died unjustly, you must first accept the consequences. Give the memorial in your hand to the cabinet's secretary and ask him to go to the Western Garden to submit it to the emperor."

"Then you can call the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Supreme Court to investigate the faults of Wang Youzhao and Hai Rui in the name of the court. You must not interfere in their affairs."

After hearing what his father said, Yan Shifan was very unconvinced, but he still lowered his head and replied obediently: "Yes, son, I will do it right away."

Originally, Yan Shifan wanted to personally lead people to capture Wang Youzhao and Hai Rui, but unfortunately, now it is too easy for them, so he decided to let the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate and the Dali Temple get involved.

(End of this chapter)