Chapter 402: Entered the Cabinet in One Year, a Young Cabinet Minister?
"Shouren, have you been promoted again?"
In the palace of the capital, the eunuch who delivered the edict had just left. A group of people gathered around Xu Xin to look at the imperial edict in his hand. Wang Hua, the number one scholar, was a little sour when he spoke. He had worked for more than six years before he could go from the fifth rank to the sixth rank. From the fifth level, it still depends on Xu Xin's merit and blessing.
Then...the brat in front of me who drank tea calmly and casually placed the imperial edict on the table had only been promoted to the sixth-grade Hanlin Academy for a few months. Now he was the bachelor's degree student from the fifth-grade Hanlin Academy and was on the same level as him. , this, this, this... how can he still have the dignity of a parent?
"Go, go, you worthless brat. It's been six years since you graduated from the fifth level. Look at my great grandson!"
Xu Xin didn't need to take action. Mr. Wang first taught the champion father a lesson. Such a scene made everyone in the hall cover their mouths and laugh, especially Xu Xin's several concubines. In such a relaxed and harmonious family, The atmosphere felt extremely comfortable.
"From the fifth grade, I can barely enter the pavilion!"
Xu Xin's words silenced the entire hall, and both Mr. Wang and Wang Hua widened their eyes.
"My little ancestor, you don't want to say such things!"
Wang Hua's reaction was fierce, but he was also worried that if the words spread, it would be detrimental to Xu Xin.
It is not that the Ming Dynasty has never had such a situation, but it was still in the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, the cabinet system was not perfect and the power was not much. How can it be like now, where there is already a group of people who recommend cabinet ministers? There are basic rules that everyone must abide by.
"Is that what your Majesty means?"
Mr. Wang was more calm. After looking at the imperial edict, he asked tentatively. Xu Xin nodded. He said thoughtfully: "No wonder you were promoted to the bachelor's degree at the Hanlin Academy in January this year. Calculate the time. "It has been a year since I became an official in the court."
"It is not that there are no young ministers in our dynasty. Duke Peng and Shang Gong from the previous dynasty also joined the cabinet from the fifth rank to participate in aircraft maintenance!"
Mr. Wang said this, but Wang Hua was still a little doubtful.
"The first time Peng Gong and Shang Gong entered the cabinet, it was Jingtai...The court was in chaos at that time, but now...I'm afraid people will be unconvinced!"
Wang Hua frowned and held different opinions on this matter.
However, neither Wang Hua nor Mr. Wang thought there was a problem with Xu Xin's ability.
They know the abilities of their Wang family’s Qilin’er better than anyone else. The paper-thin three-ge elder in the current cabinet is nothing compared to Xu Xin. However, the current Ming Dynasty was not one where those who had the ability could directly ascend to power. era.
Speaking of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet, it is also a very special product. To be precise, it is similar to the Prime Minister's Office after decentralization.
Since ancient times, the conflict between prime minister power and imperial power has never stopped. Powerful emperors can change the prime minister at will to take the blame. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che liked to do this. In his era, the prime minister basically did not end well.
But a powerful prime minister can also suppress the imperial power and even seek to usurp the throne. There is absolutely no point here to point to a certain Cao thief.
In order to avoid losing power, the emperor often constantly weakened the power of the prime minister and strengthened the imperial power. Especially some monarchs with strong energy and strong personalities liked to monopolize power.
The most typical representative is Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty in this world, also known as Zhu Chongba. Coming from a commoner background, many of the things he did were down-to-earth and casual, but he also left behind many problems and hidden dangers, such as the military household system.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the rebellion case of left prime minister Hu Weiyong and took the opportunity to abolish the prime minister system and no longer establish it. At the same time, he established the ancestral system and strictly ordered his descendants to never discuss the appointment of a prime minister again.
Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister, which caused a problem. Many political affairs that should have been handled by the prime minister now had to be handled by the emperor himself.
Zhu Yuanzhang himself was very energetic and could barely keep going, but he dealt with political affairs until late every day. The emperor after him was... very sad.
Especially after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Jingnan War broke out. His son Zhu Di raised troops from Beijing to Nanjing. The reason he found was that his nephew Zhu Yunwen violated the ancestral system.
After Zhu Di usurped the throne, he also felt deeply that he was unable to handle political affairs without a prime minister. However, the reason he found for the rebellion was that Zhu Yunwen violated the ancestral system. Of course, he himself could not reconsider the establishment of the prime minister, so he thought of a compromise and selected a group of people. Entering Wenyuan Pavilion, providing staff advice to the emperor and "participating in aircraft maintenance", it is called the "cabinet".
After Emperor Taizong Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet became customized, and the cabinet system officially came into being.
Yes, Zhu Di was called Emperor Taizongwen in this era. As for why later generations would have the theory of becoming an ancestor. Xu Xin said that he didn't know either. After all, he only occasionally heard Zhu Di being called Emperor Chengzu when he was surfing the Internet in later generations.
Of course, whether it was Taizong or Chengzu, it didn't matter to Xu Xin. What mattered was the cabinet.
The cabinet during Taizong's Yongle period was just an organization with the nature of the emperor's secretary. The rank of cabinet bachelors at that time was very low, and they were generally only fifth- or sixth-rank officials.
At that time, the cabinet was not of high rank, and the selection was decided by the emperor alone. The emperor could decide who would serve as a bachelor in the cabinet at will according to his own needs, and he could leave the cabinet at any time.
But later in the Renxuan period, the elders of Sanyang Pavilion assisted the government. As their status became higher, they continued to receive more positions and titles, and the power of the cabinet increased. During the Ming Dynasty's orthodox dynasty, the cabinet encountered certain suppression, but in a civil fortress... the civil servants finally won, and the cabinet seemed to have the power of the Prime Minister's Office in the past.
During the Chenghua Dynasty, because the emperor was very skilled, the cabinet gradually became a decoration in the later period. Wan'an and other three cabinet elders were called the three paper cabinet elders, which meant that they did not do practical things and only knew to obey the emperor's orders.
But from the perspective of the emperor, this is a good thing!
However, the cabinet elders of the Chenghua Dynasty were not very honest after the death of Emperor Chenghua last year.
Last year, there were three cabinet elders in the cabinet. Wan'an was the chief minister. The other two, Yin Zhi, was introduced into the cabinet by the evil man Li Zisheng, and Liu Ji made friends with the noble Wan Xi.
Among these three people, Wan'an and Yin Zhi have been kicked out. The evil man Li Zisheng, who was good friends with Yin Zhi, has been imprisoned and will soon be convicted and finished.
So now the cabinet only has the newly promoted cabinet chief minister, Liu Ji, who is known as "Liu Cotton". This cabinet minister has average ability and is used to changing his mind according to the situation.
Emperor Hongzhi wanted to remove him and sent someone to tell him to resign, but he was thick-skinned and pretended not to hear it. However, Xu Xin felt that it was a good time to have such a soft-tempered Prime Minister. At least if he wanted to enter the cabinet, there would not be so much resistance.
Xu Xin had been in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. If he continued to follow the normal promotion in the officialdom, he didn't know how much time and energy he would have to spend. He didn't have time to endure that.
Although the fifth rank entering the cabinet would cause controversy, he was not afraid of criticism. As long as the current emperor continued to support him, he, the "little cabinet elder", would be as stable as a mountain.