From Gao Pragmatic's point of view, there are many types of strength.
Like Yan Song, he relies on guessing the emperor's thoughts at all times, thinking about what the emperor wants in everything, being anxious about the emperor's urgent needs, doing everything appropriately, and not being afraid of what others say. This is strength.
Like Xu Jie, he relied on forbearance for many years, won over party members, and established a wide range of opinions. He had obviously been complicit in the evil, but in the end he was able to clear his name. Instead, he had unparalleled prestige for a while, and was praised as a good person in the country. This is strength.
Like Gao Gong, relying on the emperor's students' unparalleled support for him, even if he is not the first assistant, he is actually the first assistant. The disciples would rather die than rebel. This is strength.
Just like Zhang Juzheng, relying on internal and external collusion and relying on the Queen Mother, the emperor was deeply afraid of saying "What can I do if Mr. Zhang hears about it?" This is strength.
Like Ye Xianggao, relying on... well, relying on whatever nonsense reasons, anyway, if someone can be alone for seven years, that can be regarded as strength.
But are these strengths really considered strength? In other words, are these strengths considered hard power?
No, these don't count.
What is hard power? Except for you, it’s useless for anyone else to be the first assistant. That’s what hard power is!
It stands to reason that for the Ming Dynasty, this situation is simply ridiculous - without you Zhang Butcher, the emperor would have to eat pigs with hair? If you change the chief minister, the world will not be able to operate normally, and the sun will cease to rise and the moon will set.
Already?
This kind of situation actually happened at certain times. For example, Zhou Gongdan was the hero of Zhou Dynasty. He was the hero of all the people and the whole country's heart. He was irreplaceable. Another example is Cao Cao.
However, those were all abnormal phenomena that appeared under special circumstances in a special era, and they did not seem to be what could happen in the Ming Dynasty. After all, with the system designed by Zhu Yuanzhang, it seemed impossible for someone within the imperial court to threaten the imperial power.
Unless the world is in chaos and reaches the point where Chongzhen has nothing to do with Zuo Liangyu - but after all, Zuo Liangyu is only a minister of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact he is a separatist regime. He has not taken advantage of the situation to become the chief minister.
Therefore, Gao Pragmatic's desire to possess this kind of strength is unreliable no matter how you look at it.
But he is really working towards this goal.
Because he knew that otherwise, it would be impossible to change the deep-rooted power structure of the Ming Dynasty and achieve the best system under his ideal imperial system.
When Gao Pragmatic looked at the history of the Ming Dynasty, he saw that the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty was already the predecessor of Panzi politics.
He was pragmatic and didn't care whether his predecessor was high or not, and he didn't want to delve into it, because he was an extremely pragmatic person. In his opinion, he never saw anything happening in the Ming Dynasty in the end - even when it perished.
Does the cabinet system mean it’s broken?
As long as the Chief of Ceremonies, who represents the imperial power, does not approve it, your cabinet's draft is just a piece of straw. Can it be implemented as an administrative decree?
Historically, Emperor Wanli had a stalemate with the civil service group because of the dispute over the country's foundation. After many official positions were vacant, the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel and other departments recommended successors. When the votes came to the emperor, Wanli picked a few missing people.
It is true that big things will happen and approval is required. Most of the vacant official positions are not approved for succession. What is the result? The result is that these positions have been vacant for many years.
Why is this? Because from a institutional perspective, the final and sole decision-making power on the appointment and dismissal of these officials lies with the emperor. Whether it is the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, or even the cabinet, they only have the right to recommend, not to appoint or remove. The predecessor of this position
If an official dies of illness and the emperor does not approve the recommendation of the cabinet or the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of War, then he can only leave it empty until he is in the mood to approve it.
Does it mean that courtiers need to be recommended by court to join the cabinet?
Naive! If the emperor disagrees, even if you recommend him a hundred times, he will not be able to enter the cabinet. What's more, there is another way to enter the cabinet called "by special order". This is like writing code for later generations, and Zhu Yuanzhang has long been retained
There is such a "low-level vulnerability".
The ministers recommended by the imperial court can be vetoed by the emperor; ministers cannot veto the ministers appointed by the emperor's special decree.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Xu Youzhen" records that "all the sects in Russia were opened, and Youzhen announced to everyone, 'The Emperor has been restored to the throne!' He came to congratulate you. On that day, Youzhen was ordered to be a bachelor and join the cabinet to participate in machine affairs." On the day of Ming Yingzong's restoration,
Just order Xu Youzhen to join the cabinet. Is it too late for the court to recommend him? It is obviously impossible. He can only join the cabinet by special order.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Zhang Jue" records that "Juan Jue was angry with the court officials and plotted revenge every day." Zhang Cong, a man who stood up to the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty during the great ceremony, had already fallen into the eighteenth level of hell in official circles.
If someone expects Ting Tui to join the cabinet, then he is obviously dreaming. But he really joined the cabinet in the sixth year of Jiajing. How did he join the cabinet? Jiajing appointed him specially.
Taking a step back, so what if you join the cabinet? You are the chief minister of the cabinet. If the emperor disagrees with something, how can you force the emperor to agree? Cabinet ministers, even if they are the chief minister, use the method of "forcing" the emperor.
At its most extreme, it was just a threat to resign. Do you have any initiative? No. Not to mention, Xu Jie just tried to send a letter of resignation, but was rejected by Emperor Longqing, who already disliked him.
Approval directly, only to be stunned and pack up your bags to return to your hometown in Songjiang?
This is relatively light, let alone serious. If the emperor really dislikes you to the extreme, even if you are the chief minister of the cabinet, the emperor can directly terminate your official position and tell you to get out and leave. More
What's more, it's not a problem to confiscate your home and behead you - you said that you were promoted to the cabinet by the important ministers? What's the use? I, the emperor, is the supreme king in the world, and I can't kill you?
In the final analysis, the only thing that civil servants can restrain the emperor is the illusory posthumous name, which has no compulsory binding force at all. If the emperor is cruel, I will no longer have this bullshit reputation, and your civil servant group will not be able to do anything to him. This
Just like Longqing was pushed back if he wanted to return to Yudi to reminisce about the past, but Zhengde was able to go to the south of the Yangtze River to play with dragons and phoenixes, and to lead troops to kill captives at the Border Pass.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! What is the difference? It’s just that Long Qing has received a high level of sacred education, and he still cares about face to some extent; while the Zhengde young man ascends the throne and acts as he pleases, and things like face are important to him
"Fun" is not as important as anything in my eyes.
Therefore, it can be said that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could indeed not care about too many things, because the cabinet could indeed maintain the normal operation of the country. The emperor only needed to tell the chief of etiquette, "All cabinet votes will be approved as usual," and everything would be basically fine.
To be a free and hands-off shopkeeper.
But the problem is that if the emperor wants to take charge of something, no one or anyone can stop him from taking charge of it, and he can indeed take charge of anything - as long as he spares his face. Just like the Chongzhen Dynasty, there were more than fifty chief ministers in seventeen years.
Assistant, who can limit him?
However, the ruthlessness lies in the ruthlessness. Although this emperor is indeed an emperor who is determined to govern hard and is very rare to be self-denial and conscientious, his ability to govern is really a mess. It is obvious that the Qi Dynasty will slowly turn around the situation tomorrow.
Under the blockade, Boar Skin was almost killing himself, and the domestic bandits were also becoming increasingly weak. Unfortunately, Chongzhen came to power. Under his leadership, Boar Skin and the bandits not only recovered, but also worked together to suppress Ming Dynasty to death.
.
Therefore, to put it bluntly, if you want to cure the chronic illness that Ming Dynasty brought from your mother's womb, Gao Pragmatic must have the same power as Cao Mang. Without such power, even if you can "treat the symptoms" for a while, it will only be a temporary cure.
What is the use of the enhanced version of Zhang Juzheng, just to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty for a few more years? If there is another sage king like Chongzhen, or even a worse emperor than a sage king like Chongzhen who has good intentions and does bad things, Ming Dynasty will still burp.
Therefore, the strength in Gao Pragmatic's mind is, in the final analysis: Even the emperor cannot oppose my will!
As for having such great power but not wanting to usurp the throne in the end, he certainly has concerns about whether this will eventually kill himself and even his future descendants and disciples.
***The author has something to say***
By the way, can any of you readers guess what the "care" mentioned at the end of this chapter is? In addition, thank you to the "Space Call Me Alien" book friend for the tip.