Chapter 13 5. Centralization and re-centralization

The experience of history will always attract attention, and the overturning of the past is of course a lesson for the past.However, as totalitarians, especially those "lords of great strategy" who tend to be autocratic and autocratic, almost no one would think that the collapse of the previous dynasty was due to excessive centralization.They will only come to the opposite conclusion.Therefore, the lessons they learn can only be autocracy, autocracy, re-authoritarianism, centralization, centralization, and re-centralization. The situation in the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties was roughly the same.

Mr. Zhou Gucheng summarized the consolidation policy of the Northern Song Dynasty in four sentences: gather military power at the central government, know state affairs through civil servants, improve the power of supervision, and give preferential treatment to the conquered ("General History of China").Song Taizu Zhao Kuangqi was a soldier.He was able to become emperor because he had military power.He knows the importance and danger of the army better than anyone else.So the first thing he has to do is to make sure that he and his posterity can absolutely command the army, and not the army command them.This incident was even said to be a dramatic story-the release of military power with a glass of wine.But things are not so simple, but manifested as a series of measures.

The army of the Song Dynasty can be roughly divided into four categories: Forbidden Army, Xiang Army, Township Army, and Fan Army.The imperial army is the central army, which is also the "elite army" of the empire; the Xiang army is the local army, that is, the soldiers of the states; Militia are not counted, they can only be regarded as stragglers, so historians also do not count fan soldiers.Obviously, among the armies, the most important is the Forbidden Army.What Song Taizu regained was this part of the military power.After retaking it, they all concentrated in the capital, unified command, unified drill, unified mobilization, and assigned the best instructors (the so-called "800,000 forbidden army instructors" in "Water Margin" are probably such characters).Among them, the most elite "Imperial Guard", the emperor also personally inspected.According to the needs of the country, the imperial army was transferred to the important border towns in turn, and was transferred once every three years.The generals in charge of the army are all civilian officials appointed by the central government.These civil servants are also on duty.The Xiang army in Zhenzhou also needs to be deployed.In short, those who train troops do not lead troops, and those who lead troops do not lead troops.There are no permanent troops in the local area, and there are no permanent generals in the army.This is called "Soldiers are impermanent, handsome, and commanders are impermanent" (the army has no permanent commander, and the commander has no permanent troops).

There are benefits to this of course.The biggest advantage is that it is impossible for anyone to turn the national army into their own private army.You must know that the reason why An Lushan and his like were able to rebel was because the army belonged to them, and the soldiers under them only recognized the commander, not the emperor.Once the commander-in-chief intends to rebel, disasters will happen in an instant.Even if they don't turn back for a while, it is also a confidant of the imperial court to support their own self-respect like the Jiedushi in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, defense against soldiers was like defense against thieves, and the possibility that military power was greater than imperial power was never allowed.In fact, the reason why Yue Fei was killed was because he had the "Yue Family Army" and a very inappropriate slogan "It is easy to shake the mountains, but difficult to shake the Yue Family Army".This violated the taboo of the Zhao and Song Dynasties.What's more, Zhao Song at this time is another shaky fleeing dynasty, how can it not be nervous, and it must go after it?In the final analysis, Qin Hui actually just helped Zhao Gou get rid of a heartache, as the saying goes, "What can a cypress do in a laughing area? Meet its desire" (Wen Zhengming's "Man Jianghong").

However, a wise man is bound to make mistakes if he has thousands of worries.Whether an army that is out of touch and has no cohesion like this can take the lead in a war and be invincible is another big question.The military power has been regained, but the army has also been abolished.In fact, there was the Song Dynasty, which was almost recognized as the dynasty with the weakest combat effectiveness.Not only was there no ability to regain the lost ground, but in the end even half of the country could not be kept; and the story of letting the widow go to battle and the general calling for nothing could only be staged in this dynasty.

This is really dumbfounding.The Tang Dynasty emancipated the mind, but as a result indulged the soldiers, which led to fatal disasters; the Song Dynasty strengthened the centralization of power, which resulted in the restriction of the army and the loss of resistance.The dilemma of the imperial system can be seen from this. So in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the highest authorities felt that it was necessary to reform the system. The restructuring began with Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who was also a totalitarian.His ruling methods can also be summed up in four sentences: strictly implement the centralized system, improve autocratic authority, massacre civil and military heroes, and rectify local officials (please refer to Zhou Gucheng's "General History of China").This is much better than Zhao Kuangyin.Zhao Kuang withdrew but seized the power of military generals and replaced them with civil officials, and Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to seize the power of civil officials.We know that there were prime ministers originally in the Ming Dynasty, and the prime ministers in the Ming Dynasty were called prime ministers.In the Ming Dynasty, there was originally a prime minister's mansion, and the prime minister's mansion in the Ming Dynasty was called Zhongshu Sheng.However, in the thirteenth year of Hongwu (AD 1380), Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the left prime minister Hu Weiyong's "rebellion" case, abolished Zhongshu Province, no longer appointed prime ministers, and the emperor directly governed six ministries.After the Qing people entered the customs, they inherited the Ming system and did not set up the post of prime minister. The system of prime ministers that had been implemented for 1,600 years since the Qin and Han Dynasties was completely abolished.This is a major change.

What replaced the "prime minister system" was the "cabinet minister system".The so-called "cabinet ministers" are actually the emperor's political secretary.Because these senior secretaries come from the Hanlin Academy, and their offices are either in the hall (such as Wuying Hall) or in the pavilion (such as Wenyuan Pavilion), they are called "Diange University Scholars" or "Gemins".These people are respectfully called "Ge Lao" by the people, and "Fu Chen" by the emperor.In fact, the task of cabinet ministers is also to assist the emperor in handling state affairs, which is not much different from the original prime minister. Therefore, the people still regard "joining the cabinet" as "worshiping the prime minister", calling "the elder of the cabinet" as "the prime minister" and "the cabinet minister". "Chen" is "Xiangguo".Like the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was also dominated by civil servants.When the important officials of the imperial court go out, they will be generals, and when they come in, they will be cabinet assistants. This is called "going out to be a prime minister".

In fact, cabinet ministers and prime ministers cannot be compared.First, the prime ministers of all dynasties had their prime minister's mansions (such as the prime minister's mansion, Taiwei's mansion, and Yushi doctor's mansion in the Han Dynasty, and the Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province, and Menxia Province in the Tang Dynasty).For example, the Shangshu Province in the Tang Dynasty and the Zhongshu Province in the early Ming Dynasty both governed the six departments of officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers.The cabinet ministers did not have their own administrative agencies, nor could they directly command the six ministries.Later, in order to improve the status of cabinet ministers, six ministers were used as cabinet ministers, and things are naturally another matter.But this is a personnel matter, not a system.Second, the prime minister ranks in the first rank, and is an extremely popular minister, under one person and above ten thousand people.The cabinet ministers have different ranks. The lowest-ranked cabinet minister in Ming Chengzu Zhu Di's time was only from the seventh rank (deputy county level).Therefore, in order to improve the status of cabinet ministers, the only way is to add titles, such as "Taishi Shangzhu Guote Jinli Shangshu Huagaidian University Bachelor", the status is frighteningly high.Third, the prime minister has administrative and executive powers, and many things can be decided on his own in accordance with the established policies, and he will be executed first and then acted upon, or even executed without execution.This is beyond the reach of the cabinet ministers.Of course, some cabinet ministers in the Ming Dynasty, especially the chief assistant of the cabinet, had great actual power.For example, Yan Yu and Zhang Juzheng are called by historians as "there is no phase".However, these two people were also criticized in later generations, because they overstepped their powers and offsides, and as cabinet ministers they did the work of prime ministers.

However, even such "cabinet ministers" were later "sheltered" by Emperor Yongzheng and became "honorary positions".The one who is really in charge is the so-called "Minister of Military Aircraft".The minister of military aircraft meets the emperor every day to discuss military affairs.The emperor's order was issued in the name of the Minister of Military Aircraft, called "Ting Ji".The memorials outside were also sent directly to the imperial front by military planes, without going through the cabinet, and the "Military Aircraft Office" became the highest authority.Of course, this is something for later, we will talk about it later.

Another "feature" of autocracy and centralization in the Ming Dynasty was the "factory guard system".Factory refers to East Factory and West Factory; Wei refers to Jinyiwei.Jin Yiwei was originally the Imperial Forest Army.After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di usurped power, in order to strengthen the autocratic rule, he was specially appointed to be in charge of inspections, arrests and prisons. white leather boots), all of them turned pale with fright, and avoided them in fear.However, Zhu Di still felt that this was not enough, and in the eighteenth year of Yongle (1420 A.D.), he established the "Dongji Police Factory", referred to as "Dongchang", which was supervised by eunuchs and specialized in arresting "rebels" and "bewitching people".In the thirteenth year of Chenghua (AD 1477), Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty added the "Xichang", which was also supervised by eunuchs. He also pursued rumors, indiscriminately tortured, massacred innocent people, and created a large number of unjust, false and wrong cases.Dongchang, Xichang (in addition to a very short-term "inner factory" specially set up for the eunuch Liu Jin), and Jinyiwei constituted the totalitarian means of autocratic rule in the Ming Dynasty; synonymous with.

It's a pity that the "factory guard system" invented by Zhu Di and his like failed to keep their country.Daming, which has both the sun and the moon in its national name, is still wailing in internal and external difficulties.The next dynasty was the Qing Dynasty.Both the Qing and the Yuan were so-called foreigners entering the Central Plains.But their approach and destiny are quite different.Generally speaking, Yuan Ren's rule was not very successful.Many of their practices are not clever.For example, dividing the subjects of the world into Mongolians, Semu people, Han people, and southerners can only arouse strong resistance.What's more, Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, proclaimed himself emperor in the Central Plains, and he was never recognized by the Mongolian base camp.Therefore, the Northern Expedition of the Ming army was like a broken bamboo. Emperor Yuan Shun Tuo Guan Huan Tie Muer simply gave up resistance, opened the gate of Beijing in the middle of the night, and ran back to the prairie in one breath.From this point of view, the so-called Great Yuan can only be regarded as a powerful nomad who went to the Central Plains to live his addiction. The main leaders of the Qing Dynasty were different.Not only did they identify with and even be obsessed with Han culture, but they almost understood the essence of the imperial system.Indeed, as Mr. Huang Renyu said, the Manchu monarchs conformed to the Chinese tradition far more than the native-born emperors of the previous dynasties; and the functions and powers they could exercise were also better than those of previous dynasties (please refer to "The Great History of China").I guess, this is probably because they were able to successfully apply the experience of military centralization to political centralization; they were also able to flexibly apply the culture created by the Han nationality to the dynasty they established, and they were able to avoid its shortcomings in both aspects. Let's see how they act. First of all, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty clearly declared that the exercise of imperial power (including the prince regent and the empress dowager) and the succession of the throne (whether to establish a descendant, establish a head, or establish a virtuous person) were purely royal family affairs, and outsiders (mainly Han people) were not allowed to comment.This prevented the ministers of the DPRK and China from arguing over whether these decisions were in accordance with etiquette, and the Han Dynasty ministers of Confucianism were particularly enthusiastic about it.In fact, the Ming Dynasty was dragged to death in such disputes.The decision of the Qing people obviously learned the lesson of the death of the Ming Dynasty.However, they were able to blatantly disregard the tradition of "monarch and minister co-governance" in the past dynasties and exclude courtiers from these major decisions, which undoubtedly benefited from the fact that they were Manchus and could ignore the Han people. Secondly, they stipulated that Manchu princes and nobles, including the emperor's fathers, should all call themselves "slaves" in front of the emperor and the queen mother, which put an end to the "heart of disobedience" and "wrong thinking" of all "own people", and Those leaders of the Eight Banners, princes and kings have always been rebellious.In fact, at the beginning of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners had great power.The "Conference of Kings and Ministers" composed of them even surpassed the emperor, and Emperor Shunzhi and Emperor Kangxi were both suppressed.At this time, it is not enough to just talk about the "monarch, minister and minister", because it is something of the Han people, and it must be packaged in the Manchu tradition.The Han people were called ministers, the Manchus were called slaves, and one dynasty and two systems solved this problem. Third, they invented the "Secret Reserve System", that is, the emperor no longer canonized the prince during his lifetime, but only designated a successor, but kept it secret and kept it in a high cabinet. After the emperor passed away, the minister Gu Ming announced it in public.This avoids the occurrence of such incidents as the crown prince robbing the class and seizing power, the prince forming a party for personal gain, and the kings conspiring to seize the heir.Based on this foundation, they let the princes and grandsons, Belle and Beizi participate in state affairs, and even take charge of the affairs of the ministry. This obviously learned the lesson of the former Ming royal family who only enjoyed peace and could not defend their home and country, and ensured the strength of the royal family. , It should be said that it is painstaking and meticulous.The problem is that the imperial system has come to an end at this time, and the last few emperors of the Qing Empire could not even have sons.No matter how well-designed the establishment and storage system is, what can it do? It cannot be said that the policies of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were useless.After the Song Dynasty and before the Opium War, there were indeed no more separatist regimes and powerful ministers conspiring against each other, and there were no longer any local forces that were too big to lose.However, the empire has since become lifeless, lifeless, and can no longer radiate vitality.As a result, the Song Dynasty fell to the Yuan (Mongols), the Ming Dynasty fell to the Qing (Jurchens), and the Qing almost fell to the "foreigners" who came farther and had stronger military power.The so-called "it is better to give gifts to allies than to be slaves" is nothing but Ah Q-style self-deception.The dynasty still cannot escape the fate of extinction. How much can I ask you to worry?Just like a river of spring water flowing eastward.