Chapter 16 Zhu's father and son perfect the cabinet system (Please read, please vote for the monthly ticket, please vote for the recommendation!)
"You suddenly stopped being angry, and my son is still a little uncomfortable with it."

Facing Zhu Yuanzhang who had a sad face, Zhu Gang looked at him jokingly.

"Pfft-"

Zhu Biao on the side couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This is the truth. When has Lao Zhu ever had such a good attitude?

Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, and a hint of annoyance flashed across his face. He said, "The future of the world will be handed over to our descendants. One of you is the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the other is the future prince of the Ming Dynasty. You are both my legitimate sons. Of course, I have to consider your opinions and try to nip the hidden danger in the bud."

Lao Zhu's cruelty was never directed at his own family members, but at outsiders.

After all, in Zhu's view, the Zhu family was the only master of the Ming Dynasty, and the ministers were just retainers.

How dare a retainer oppose the decision made by his master? That would be disrespectful to his master, and it would be strange if Zhu didn't get angry.

But if his son mentioned Zhu Gang and Zhu Biao, the two people that Zhu Yuanzhang was most proud of, then Zhu Yuanzhang would also consider the pros and cons and decide whether it was worth it.

This is also a manifestation of human nature. It may also be that Lao Zhu had seen the darkness of officialdom when he was young and hated it deeply.

"So, Third Brother, do you have any ideas?"

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Zhu Biao turned to Zhu Gang with a sharp gaze and full of expectation.

The third child in their family has been smart since he was young and has his own ideas about everything. In addition, Zhu Gang directly pointed to the core and revealed Zhu Yuanzhang's intention to abolish the power of the prime minister.

If he had no ideas, Zhu Biao would not believe it. After all, they were brothers who grew up together. How could Zhu Biao not know about Zhu Gang's tricks?
"clever."

"Abolish the power of the prime minister, and place the power of the emperor above all living beings."

"If it is a diligent emperor, then of course it is fine. After all, they also enjoy the pleasure of having power concentrated and without checks and balances."

"But the disadvantage is that the emperor will be unable to extricate himself from the heavy government affairs all day long."

"After all, without the assistance of the prime minister, the affairs of the country will fall on the emperor alone. No one can bear it day after day, year after year."

Zhu Gang thought for a moment before looking at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and said with a smile: "So while abolishing the prime minister system, we should also establish a cabinet system."

"cabinet?"

Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise at the same time, obviously not familiar with the concept of cabinet.

"After the abolition of the Secretariat, you can set up a cabinet to assist in the administration and select talented people to serve as Grand Secretaries. Let them assist you in handling government affairs and provide advice, but the final decision-making power will still be in your hands."

"This way, we can disperse power and prevent powerful officials from becoming too powerful, and ensure that government affairs do not pile up. The old man can also withdraw from busy affairs and focus on the country's major affairs."

"The cabinet members are personally selected by the old man, and have no fixed terms of reference. They are all based on the trust and authorization of the old man."

"Such a flexible system can not only prevent disasters before they happen, but also make it easy for the old man and even future emperors to adjust it at any time to ensure that the imperial power is always stable."

Zhu Gang nodded, then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and explained.

As Zhu Gang finished speaking, a hint of joy flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, and then he fell into deep thought. As for Zhu Biao, he also frowned and carefully pondered the cabinet system proposed by Zhu Gang.

"The cabinet system you mentioned is indeed unique."

After a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head, looked at Zhu Gang, and nodded slowly, saying, "It can prevent powerful officials from monopolizing power, and ensure that we or future emperors will not be entangled in trivial matters of government affairs while holding the final decision-making power." "But the selection of cabinet members must be very careful."

Zhu Yuanzhang then looked at Zhu Gang and Zhu Biao with a stronger tone and said, "They must be both virtuous and talented, and loyal, so that we can ensure that the cabinet will become our powerful arm, rather than a potential threat."

"That's right. The establishment of a cabinet system can indeed replace the power of the prime minister, but it needs to be accompanied by strict selection to ensure that the university scholars are both capable of managing affairs and have no intention of usurping power." Zhu Biao also turned his head and looked at Zhu Gang.

"There doesn't need to be too many cabinet officials, just enough to assist the emperor in handling government affairs, and their official positions don't need to be high. After all, they have no actual power, only the power of suggestion. This can also prevent the cabinet from becoming too large."

Zhu Gang looked at Zhu Biao and nodded, with a hint of thought flashing in his eyes.

"But there is still a very serious problem, that is, what if the cabinet officials collude and intend to deceive the emperor and distort the facts?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed very satisfied with the cabinet system, but the cabinet system was not without its drawbacks, so he looked at Zhu Gang again and said in a deep voice.

"it's actually really easy."

"To prevent this malpractice, a rotation system and avoidance system should be implemented among cabinet officials to avoid the formation of a fixed cabinet circle."

"At the same time, the supervisory function of the Censorate should be strengthened so that it can be independent of the cabinet, directly responsible to the emperor, and supervise all officials including the cabinet ministers."

"In this way, if any misconduct is discovered, the censor has the power to directly impeach."

“In addition, the cabinet’s political affairs should be recorded in detail, and all proposals and decision-making processes should be archived for reference to ensure that each decision can be traced back to its source and increase transparency.”

"In this way, even if someone has bad intentions, the censor has the power to impeach them directly. After all, the evidence is there, who can deny it?"

Zhu Gang thought for a moment before looking at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and smiled.

"Ah."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded thoughtfully and said, "Indeed, the Cabinet and the Censorate complement each other, and supervision and assistance go hand in hand. This is indeed a good way to ensure the stability of imperial power and prevent abuse of power and deception of the emperor."

"In addition, I think we can appropriately enhance the reputation of the cabinet ministers, so that they can serve the master with honor and not become disloyal due to their inflated desire for power."

"At the same time, it should be made clear that the establishment of the cabinet is to relieve the worries of the imperial power, not to divide the imperial power. This point must be made clear at the beginning of the system design."

Zhu Biao also hesitated for a while before looking at Zhu Gang and Zhu Yuanzhang with a firm gaze and said.

"Brother, what you said is right. What scholars want is nothing more than fame and fortune. Although becoming a cabinet official does not give you much power, you can serve the emperor and naturally gain fame."

"Then if the imperial court issues an imperial decree, and a person is talented, knowledgeable, loyal to the emperor and patriotic, he can be admitted into the cabinet to assist in government affairs. Isn't this considered bringing honor to the family?"

Zhu Gang also smiled without comment.

"Then all the scholars in the world would like to flock to the cabinet." Zhu Biao also nodded and smiled.

The thoughts of scholars are almost written on their faces. All they want is to leave their names in history. If you want to control these scholars, all you have to do is give them fame, and a reputation for loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, so they will definitely be careful about their reputation.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you and the third brother to solve."

"As for Hu Weiyong, let him linger for a while longer."

Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hands, patted Zhu Gang and Zhu Biao on the shoulders, and a hint of coldness flashed across his lips.

(End of this chapter)