Gao Pangshi was stayed by the emperor in the Spring Harmony Palace, and about twenty people at home were allowed to accompany him. Gao Qi was the highest-ranking person among them. To a certain extent, he played a role similar to that of a housekeeper, so he also received
Specially allowed, you can enter and exit the palace at any time, but you need to register and explain the reason for entering and exiting the palace.
The reason Gao Qi registered for leaving the palace this time was that Duke Jingguo needed to temporarily prepare some of the things he was used to in daily life. The Nanjing Palace Supervisor was originally a Qingshui Yamen that was very idle, and the various systems were very lax.
His status was special and his reasons sounded completely reasonable. Naturally, no one dared to question anything, and they happily let him out of the Forbidden City in Nanjing.
What Gao Qi didn't know was that as soon as he left, the Nanjing garrison eunuch Tian Yi had already reported relevant matters to the emperor and came to the palace gate.
Tian Yi waved his hand and asked the miscellaneous people who came to see him to leave. Only the inner court eunuch who was responsible for guarding the palace gate was left, and he asked directly: "After our family entered the palace just now, did any of the attachés from the Duke of Jingguo leave the palace?"
The palace eunuch hurriedly bent his back and said, "The guards inside the palace know that Duke Jingguo's cousin Gao Qi just made a note to leave the palace, just before the blink of an eye."
Internal garrison refers to the "imperial eunuch who guards Nanjing". This is also the duty of the garrison eunuch, but it has a different name from the garrison eunuchs in other areas. The garrison elsewhere is all "the imperial eunuch who guards XX local eunuch", except
Nanjing is the "imperial eunuch who guards Nanjing". It can be seen that this position emphasizes the word "guard".
However, he was not the only "garrison" in Nanjing, there was also a "Nanjing garrison minister", so we had to divide "inner garrison" and "outer garrison" according to the difference between the inner court and the outer court.
Regarding the power system of "Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty", the most common theory in later generations is the theory of "three important ministers", that is, the Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, the ministers of Nanjing garrison, and the eunuchs of Nanjing garrison are the three giants of the Nanjing system. This statement is indeed correct, but
The simple word "parallel" cannot actually explain the details of the power structure of the "Big Three".
To put it simply, are there any differences between these three giants, or are there differences in their actual power? Of course they are.
Nominally speaking, "Nanjing Minister of War, Counselor of Machinery" ranks first, "Nanjing garrison eunuch" ranks second, and Nanjing garrison minister ranks third.
However, the reason why "Nanjing's Minister of War, Counselor and Mechanical Affairs" ranks first is actually mainly because he took advantage of the overall power of the civil service group in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. It does not mean that his actual power or even status can really be ranked first among the three important ministers in Nanjing.
.
In fact, according to the "ritual system", the "Nanjing garrison ministers" must be served by nobles. According to the Ming Dynasty system, each of the Nanjing nobles is a "super grade" and should theoretically be the one with the highest "status".
; If we do not consider etiquette but consider intimacy, then the "Nanjing garrison eunuch" should be the highest status because he is a foreign missionary of the ceremonial supervisor and the emperor's "relatives three thousand miles away". In short, in any case, it is not
It should be "Nanjing Ministry of War Shangshu Counselor Machinery" ranked first.
But what I just said is only "in name" after all, so what about in reality? This starts with the real power organ in Nanjing - the "Nanjing Defense Hall Meeting".
The two-capital system is not a unique product of the Ming Dynasty. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, Luoyi was established as the eastern capital; the Eastern Han Dynasty used Luoyang as the capital and Chang'an as the western capital; the Sui Dynasty established Chang'an as its capital, and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built Luoyang as the eastern capital. Since then,
The Tang, Song, Yuan and other dynasties also had two capitals.
Strictly speaking, the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty were formed after Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing. After Renzong ascended the throne, the situation changed somewhat. In the first year of Hongxi, Renzong decided to move the capital to Nanjing, still using Yingtian as the capital, and called Beijing
For "walking in".
However, Renzong reigned for less than a year, and the move to Nanjing failed midway. After Xuanzong came to the throne, he did not agree with moving the capital, but continued to maintain some of Renzong's practices, still calling Beijing "Xingzai" and Nanjing "the capital".
It was not until Yingzong came to the throne that the relationship between the two capitals was clarified at the institutional level, with Beijing as the capital again and Nanjing as the remaining capital. After that, the two-capital system was customized until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty are different from other dynasties in that they have their own inherent characteristics, the most obvious of which is the official system. Other dynasties generally only have "jingzhao" in the remaining capitals, and the highest local officials of the "remaining" type, rather than the official system.
Government offices at all levels are established in the administrative areas.
The official system of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was basically a replica of Beijing, and the ranks of Nanjing's officials were the same as those of Beijing. However, in order to distinguish them, the word "Nanjing" was added to the titles of Nanjing officials as usual.
Nanjing is far away from imperial power, so the emperor naturally has to send important ministers and confidants as the absolute core of the political power. However, after all, there is only one emperor, so Nanjing does not need to set up a cabinet like Beijing to prepare the emperor's advisers. Therefore, compared with the six ministries in the north and south Beijing,
The cabinet still has its uniqueness and uniqueness.
Since it was necessary to set up important ministers in Nanjing, the Ming Dynasty first set up four official positions: Nanjing garrison, coordinated garrison, garrison eunuch, and counselor machine maintenance, forming a leading organization called the "Nanjing Garrison Hall Conference" to manage Nanjing and South Zhili.
Related matters.
After Yongle moved the capital to Beijing in the 19th year, he ordered the officer in charge of the military governor's office to guard Nanjing. The official name at that time was "Control Nanjing Guards Station".
After Renzong ascended the throne, he appointed Li Long, the Bo of Xiangcheng, to guard Nanjing. During the Xuande period, "guarding" was changed to "garrison", and the regulations for Nanjing's garrison were stipulated that Nanjing's garrison should be held by nobles such as dukes, marquises, and uncles. At the same time, Nanjing's garrison should also lead the Chinese army.
Governor's Mansion.
There are specific records about the functions of the Nanjing garrison: "Every day, the Nanjing garrison responds to the military affairs with the counselor at the garrison hall. On the first day of every month, the garrison, counselors and other officials and officials from various palaces will work with the garrison to discuss
Joint business."
It is not difficult to see from this that the "Nanjing Garrison Hall Meeting" is the highest authority, so later in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" there was a saying that "Nanjing has (internal and external) garrison and counselor and machine maintenance as important positions".
Specifically, the establishment of the Counselor for Machinery was later than that for the garrison, and it should have been established in the early years of Zhengtong. According to records, in the 10th year of Xuande: "Yingzong ascended the throne, ordered Shaobao, and Huang Fu, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, became the Counselor for Machinery."
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court believed that the power of Nanjing's top officials was still too concentrated, so it was convenient for the third year of Jingtai to add one more person to the collaborative garrison, who also served as a duke, marquis, uncle and other nobles. As a rule, the collaborative garrison would also be responsible for the affairs of the five mansions.
During the Chenghua period, the imperial court ordered the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing to concurrently serve as the Counselor of Machinery Affairs. Since then, a customization has been formed [Note: Please note here that before Huang Fu was the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing as the Counselor of Machinery Affairs, but from here on, it was clearly designated as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing.
He came to serve concurrently]. As a result, the status of the Minister of War in Nanjing was improved, ranking first among the six departments in Nanjing.
A well-known example is that before and after the fall of the Ming Dynasty in original history, Shi Kefa, the Minister of War in Nanjing, was elected as the leader of Nanjing. The reason was that Shi Kefa also held the important position of Counselor and Machinery Affairs.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty had a strange attitude towards civil servants. While they relied on them, they used various means to restrict them. While they trusted them, they had to find someone to check and balance them. This was the reason why eunuchs were able to interfere in government affairs.
The same is naturally true when it comes to treating Nanjing's official system. Nanjing is the capital and a key area of national wealth. Of course, the emperor is not at ease in handing over Nanjing to the nobles. What's more, the nobles in Nanjing are all the founders of the country.
In terms of trust level, it was not as good as Jing Nan's. As mentioned before, the emperor also wanted to check and balance the civil servants of the Six Ministries of Nanjing.
Therefore, not long after the Nanjing garrison was established, that is, at the beginning of Renzong's accession to the throne, eunuchs from the inner court were sent to garrison Nanjing - Zheng He was the first Nanjing garrison eunuch, and then a deputy garrison eunuch was added. In fact, in the late Ming Dynasty, because the eunuchs were so powerful
, the number of deputy guard eunuchs sometimes even reached six or seven.
Finally, back to the previous question, who is the real leader in Nanjing, the military counselor and the Nanjing garrison eunuchs? The "counselor" who is the military counselor first excludes the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. After all, the "counselor" originally meant "participation in the painting."
"One of them is a position of "assistance" nature.
This leaves only the internal and external guards. On the surface, the Nanjing garrison ministers and the Nanjing garrison eunuchs are at the same level. Since the two are divided into internal and external areas, they are not subordinate to each other. But as mentioned before, the garrison eunuchs are
The foreign mission of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, he himself was a temporary official in the Supervisor of Ceremonies. With this obvious difference of familiarity and distance, the actual status of the Nanjing garrison ministers was greatly reduced.
Still the same sentence: The power structure is a concentric circle. The closer the circle is to the core, the higher the power status. Therefore, why do subordinate leaders often have to be polite or even respectful to the secretary of the superior leader? Because the secretary is far away from the leader.
closer.
The cabinet was originally just an advisory body to the emperor. Why has it now become the "prime minister's office" that leads the six ministries? Because the cabinet is closer to the emperor.
Under such circumstances, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, every time the "Nanjing Guard Hall Meeting" was held, the garrison eunuchs were often listed first, which also proved that the status of the garrison eunuchs was higher than that of the Nanjing garrison.
The Minister of Military Affairs in Nanjing is very interesting. When the three important ministers in Nanjing are mentioned in official discussions, he is often ranked first. However, when he actually participates in the "Nanjing Garrison Hall Meeting", he is usually ranked first.
at last.
As for real power, there are too many situations to be distinguished, and it is difficult to explain clearly. But if we only talk about ordinary times, then the situation is roughly like this:
The functions and powers of the Military Affairs Counselor of the Nanjing Ministry of War are similar to those of the Beijing Ministry of War. They are in charge of personnel, logistics and other general affairs of the Nanjing and Southern Zhili armies. They do not directly control the military. At the same time, they often have a certain say in the military affairs of the southern provinces and can give suggestions to the Beijing Central Committee;
The Nanjing garrison minister manages the forty-nine guard posts under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Governor's Office. His powers are similar to those of the Fifth Army Governor's Office in Beijing. He is the commander of the Nanjing city defense.
Unless there is an imperial order for him to lead troops in battle (rarely, almost never).
In addition to the powers mentioned in the previous chapters, the Nanjing garrison eunuchs also have military power over the seventeenth emperor's personal army in and around Nanjing (including the Jinyi Guard, Xiaoling Guard and other special guards near Nanjing).
, as well as the Jianghuai and Jichuan naval forces responsible for river safety.
Doesn’t it make it clearer when you look at it this way? Yes, the Minister and Counselor of the Nanjing Ministry of War has the largest scope of machine maintenance management, but his management is very general, and it is basically difficult to directly intervene in detailed affairs; the Nanjing garrison minister is like a mascot, nominally commanding the army,
In fact, he only controls but does not lead. He is basically a person who looks after the statistics of the South Zhili Health Center.
Only the Nanjing garrison eunuch has the authority to manage and mobilize the main forces in Nanjing and surrounding areas on a daily basis. His actual power is similar to that of the imperial eunuch in Beijing.
However, because he was in Beijing, and there were two great figures, the Governor of Dongchang and the Chief of Ceremonies, above his head, he was completely under the eyes of the emperor. But what about the heads of the Nanjing garrison eunuchs? Nothing - the inner court system
In the mainland, people with higher positions than him were all thousands of miles away.
Therefore, as long as there was no emperor stationed in Nanjing, the garrison eunuchs in Nanjing could almost be said to be acting on behalf of the emperor.
At this time, Tian Yi narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard the palace supervisor's words and asked: "Cousin? Gao Qi...is he still in a hurry to leave?"
The palace supervisor's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He felt that he needed to be more cautious when answering this question. He muttered: "I can't tell if he is anxious on his face, but this person is young and his pace is indeed very fast."
"Haha, haha!" Tian Yi suddenly laughed and said with satisfaction: "Okay, very good, our family knows." After a pause, he asked again: "Where are Zhang Xin and Zhao Sheng now?
?”
The palace supervisor looked around and whispered: "It is said that Deputy Guard Zhang went to Duke Wei's Mansion, and Deputy Guard Zhao seemed to have gone to Chengshan Bo's Mansion."
Tian Yi seemed a little surprised. He hesitated and asked, "Are they not together?"
The palace supervisor replied: "This is what the Jin Yiwei reported. They said that after serving the emperor and entering the palace, the two of them went to Wuying Hall for a secret meeting, then left the palace through Xihua Gate and returned to the capital together (there are three "
"Circle", from the inside to the outside are the palace city, the capital city, and the outer city. The capital city here refers to the outside of the palace city and the outer city, mainly located to the west of the palace). Then we parted ways, one going to Wei Guogong's Mansion, and the other to Chengshan Bo's Mansion.
"
Tian Yi thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "It's too late to think about colluding with the confession at this time. Besides, the matter is already here. Instead of rushing to talk to Mr. Shen Ge before he enters Chunhe Palace tomorrow, he will go to see Er. An honorable minister, I really don’t know what to say.”
After that, he looked at the sky, sneered, and said: "Well, since they want to die, our family will always give them a try... prepare the sedan and go back home."
The palace supervisor hurriedly responded and immediately arranged for the bearers to come over. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he asked again: "Inner guard, today all the nobles in Nanjing are busy making contact, so you, the old man, can sit still on the Diaoyutai. The eight winds can no longer blow it."
"Ah ha?" Tian Yi heard this and laughed out loud, shaking his head and saying: "You have a lot of training in your eyes, but your eyesight is still shallow. Our family is not sitting on the Diaoyutai, nor can it be blown by the eight winds. We don't want to Go and make contact... To tell you the truth, our family is in a hurry to return home, otherwise when the nephew of Duke Jingguo comes to my house later, won't there be no one to receive him? "
The palace supervisor was greatly surprised: "Isn't he going to buy the utensils for Duke Jingguo's expenses? How come he wants to go to his uncle's house?" It turns out that this man is Tian Yi's nephew.
Tian Yi patted his nephew on the shoulder and sighed: "Just think about it yourself. My uncle is old and has only a few years left to live. If you are always so brainless, what will happen to your future?" After saying that, he walked straight towards the green nun's sedan that had just approached, leaving the palace supervisor's nephew scratching his head as he looked at his uncle's back with a sad look on his face.
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PS: Some book friends are asking when a new book will be released, which is a bit embarrassing. On the one hand, some people demand that the book should not be "unfinished" and must be written carefully in the style of the previous article; on the other hand, some people think that what should be done has basically been done, and by the time it is over Already...
