In Chinese and Western cultures, the cabinet system is nothing new, but although it is called the cabinet system, the cabinet system in China and the West is basically two things, and the difference between them is by no means covered by one word.

As we all know, the cabinet system in China originated from the Ming Dynasty, and its emergence itself was also because of a very famous historical event - that is, the Hu Weiyong case, the particularity of this case naturally needless to say, in short, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system for more than 2,000 years, and changed the boundary between imperial power and prime minister's power.

When the imperial power is too large, the heavy government affairs of the empire will be piled up on the emperor alone, even Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who has worked for a long time 007, will feel hard work, and when it comes to his descendants, because he does not have such a strange ability as Lao Zhu, he decisively decentralizes power to officials, which also leads to the emergence of the cabinet system.

That is to say, the cabinet system in China is due to the excessive concentration of imperial power, which leads to the phenomenon of decentralization, so the emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not want to give too high a high official position to the ministers who worked for him, which led to the early cabinet scholars, almost all of them participated in political affairs as advisers, and the official character was only a small positive five products.

At the same time, because the emperor was not at ease with the ministers, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty only had the right to suggest, that is, the power to draft, and did not have the right to make decisions, that is, there was no power to wear red, so in the early days, the ministers were drafted, and the emperor himself was clothed in red, so as to ensure that the emperor had the greatest power.

But the problem is that even if it is just red, the emperor needs 007 to go to work every day, which is too cruel for the emperor, so the power of wearing red slowly transitions to the emperor's most trusted people - that is, the eunuchs in the inner court, they began to study and participate in politics, and as mentioned earlier, their role is not eunuchs, but royalists.

This system continued to the Qing Dynasty, and even the military aircraft department system that the Qing Dynasty changed was nothing more than a copy of the cabinet system, and did not go beyond the scope of this limitation.

However, whether it was the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty or the military aircraft system of the Qing Dynasty, it did not achieve the state that the emperor really wanted, and it was precisely because of these two systems in the Ming and Qing dynasties that the division of power and responsibility of the cabinet became difficult, and even led to the excessive power of the Wenchen group.

To put it simply, the role of the cabinet or the military aircraft department is to assist the government, so the emperor must give the cabinet a certain amount of power, and because there is no prime minister, the general affairs of the six ministries are delegated to the ministry, which makes the power of the scholars become greater, so that the cabinet to coordinate the six ministries also becomes logical.

But the problem comes, the cabinet has huge power, but the power and responsibility are not consistent, all the responsibilities actually belong to the emperor himself, and the emperor will naturally not take responsibility, which leads to problems, although the whole court is responsible, but no one can really bear the responsibility, and dare not hold the emperor accountable, can only choose not to do it.

Second, in terms of legal theory, since the cabinet does not have the name of the prime minister, it naturally has no responsibility for the prime minister, so even if the head of the cabinet is replaced, the head and assistant cannot be held accountable, because they have no power on the surface.

For example, Yan Song in the Jiajing period is a typical example, "Yan Song does not have the name of the prime minister, but has the power of the prime minister; He has the power of the prime minister, but not the responsibility of the prime minister. This sentence is exactly the drawbacks of the cabinet system, and it is precisely because of the inconsistency of the power and responsibility of the first assistant that the Ming Dynasty has many party disputes, such as Yan Song was defeated by Xu Jie, and Xu Jie was driven away by Gao Gong, which also reflects the uncertainty of the cabinet itself.

The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty itself is not comprehensive enough, let alone perfect, it itself is not sound enough, there will be a joke that Chongzhen replaced the nineteen first assistants in 17 years, and the court has been trapped in this meaningless internal friction and party struggle for a long time, which also made the Ming Dynasty fall.

Therefore, after the establishment of Dachu, although Ning Yu also established the cabinet system, he has always hoped to be able to change on the original basis, and the direction of change is naturally to make the cabinet consistent with its powers and responsibilities, that is, the responsible cabinet system.

Ning Yu looked at the confused people on their faces, and said earnestly: "I really want to govern the world together with the cabinet, and I don't just want the cabinet to be a department that can only vote, this power of red should have been granted to the cabinet a long time ago!" ”

When the cabinet ministers heard this, their hearts trembled, it can be said that all the ministers who enter the cabinet, no one will expect to be able to wear red, you must know that you have a voting system, plus a red system, it is equivalent to half an emperor, who dares to ask for such power, isn't that waiting to find death?

"The ministers don't dare, and I ask Your Majesty to take back the holy order." Cui Wancai suddenly panicked, and hurriedly refused, if he dared to agree, he was afraid that someone would participate in his ill-intentioned intentions tomorrow.

Ning Yu shook his head and said, "This right to wear red is naturally not given to you for nothing, you should listen to me first." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Although the ministers have infinite doubts in their hearts, they can only look at it for now.

"In my view, since the Cabinet is to live up to its name, it is natural that the position of the Cabinet needs to be strengthened, and in the future, the Cabinet will be fully involved in the administration, and all the Cabinet Ministers will be given the position of subordinate to the first rank, and have the power to vote and wear red on relevant matters, but all news needs to be reported to me and the State Council, and the Cabinet must not interfere with the Privy Council."

Ning Yu first raised the status of the cabinet, and then said with a smile: "The term of office of the cabinet is still five years, of which the cabinet will be elected by the party, you can all go down to register the party openly, and then participate in the selection of the next cabinet through the identity of the party, and those who have priority votes in the State Council, and after passing the relevant review of me, they will become the next ruling cabinet." ”

"The party candidates who have the power to form a cabinet will become the first assistant to the cabinet under my appointment, while the party that loses the election will be the opposition party, which will be in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple, forming a system of checks and balances."

"The so-called State Council, that is, all the nobles above the marquis, as well as representatives of the army, as well as provincial and local representatives, and advanced representatives of various industries, the cabinet needs to report on its work at the State Council every year, and only the cabinet report through the State Council and I can participate in the income and expenditure statistics for the next fiscal year."

"If it does not pass the review, I have the right to directly remove the cabinet and announce the early election of the responsible cabinet, but the process still needs to be carried out from the front of the State Council, and a new responsible cabinet will be selected at that time."

"One year before the election of each responsible cabinet, the former National Council is automatically dissolved, and the emperor re-determines the candidates for the new National Council, and examines the summary report of the previous cabinet and the inaugural report of the new cabinet."

"In addition, all parties participating in the election must comply with the law, be subject to verification by the State Council and the Ministry of State, all financial accounts must be made public, and no party may accept political contributions from foreign forces, nor can any other individual donation."

.......

After Ning Yu's explanation, everyone couldn't help but be dumbfounded, this emperor directly encouraged everyone to form a party to compete, this is really the first time in Chinese history......

That is to say, from this day on, even if you want to be an official, don't think about leaving office and finishing the job, because the next cabinet still needs a party to run for election, and it is necessary to give the National Council and the emperor a satisfactory answer.

For Ning Yu, his power is not limited by the expansion of the power of the cabinet, because in terms of legal theory, the composition of the cabinet must be reviewed by the emperor and the State Advisory Council, and the candidates for the State Council are also circled by the emperor, so it is destined that the emperor's power is still overview, but the responsibility in government affairs is excessive to the hands of the cabinet.

That is to say, if the cabinet does not do well, it is naturally the responsibility of the cabinet, and then Ningyu can reorganize the cabinet openly, so that the people's grievances will be attributed to the cabinet and not to the emperor, and if the cabinet is good enough, the emperor will also have enough bargaining chips to restrict it, so that it will not affect the imperial power.

As for Ning Yu's stipulation that the cabinet should not interfere in the Privy Council, it is a long-term policy, which determines that the emperor always has the power to flip the table, and can also make the connection between the military and the political circles more dispersed, which is conducive to the emperor's control of the power in his hands.

Of course, Cui Wancai realized the hidden problems behind this system, and said with a wry smile at the moment: "Back to Your Majesty, I am afraid that in this way, every time the responsible cabinet serves, it will have an impact on the tenure of court officials, and I am afraid that it will not be conducive to the long-term governance of officials, especially for local officials, it is even more taboo.......

Ning Yu nodded lightly, Cui Wancai's words are not unreasonable, after all, once a son of heaven and a courtier, if every cabinet takes office, wouldn't they have to push their opponents aside and promote their own people? So how can policy coherence be maintained?

However, Ning Yu was more or less prepared for this problem, he stood up and smiled, and said: "I don't care what you will do then, anyway, the relevant bills will be submitted to me and the State Council, plus the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I think you will not break the rules unscrupulously." ”

Of course, everyone can also understand that there is another sentence in this, those who really break the rules unscrupulously cannot continue to gain the trust of the emperor and the State Council, so this cabinet will naturally not be able to maintain.

At present, everyone has understood that if you want to participate in politics in the future, you must hold a group, you must form a party, and only by forming a party can you truly assume the responsibility of a political party, and only then can you be qualified to participate in the competition for the ruling cabinet, and become the first assistant of the cabinet, you will also have the opportunity to form your own ruling team, so as to ensure that there will be no fights in the cabinet.

Moreover, due to the restrictions of the emperor and the National Council, coupled with the independent status of the army, it is equivalent to that the power of the cabinet will not be concentrated in a single person, and even the head of the cabinet cannot pose a threat to the imperial power, and if the ruling cabinet wants to maintain its status, and the ruling party wants to continue to govern, it must give an explanation to the emperor and the national council.

There was a bit of anxiety and expectation in everyone's expressions, they understood that when the responsible cabinet system was formed, it would be impossible to be a cabinet minister who was left and right, they must have their own ruling ideas, and they must also work hard to implement their own ideas, otherwise they will no longer be able to survive in Ning Chu's court.

In Ning Yu's words, he would rather his courtiers gradually grope their way forward in the process of governing, even if they make some mistakes, it doesn't matter, but he absolutely can't tolerate such courtiers who don't do practical things like light, and people like this are the real harm to the country.

After this conversation in front of the palace, two new types of parties within Ning Chu quietly emerged, among which Ning Zhonghai and Cheng Wang, the core members of the Xunchen faction, formed a faction called the 'Royalist Party', whose purpose was to maintain the stability of imperial power and the prosperity of Great Chu, and the other was formed by the Shilin faction A faction called the 'Qingliu Party', their purpose was similar to that of the Royalist Party, but there was an additional content to maintain the status of the gentry.

Since the establishment of the two parties, they have begun to set up a large number of newspapers to propagate the aims of the parties, and have begun to recruit new forces in preparation for the election in five years' time, and at the same time, other large and small parties in Nanjing, such as the 'Youth Party', the 'Progressive Party', and the 'Chu People's Party', have also begun to emerge, but they are not as noisy as the 'Royalists' and 'Qingliu Parties' because of their limited status.

When partisan politics emerges, the impact is not immediately apparent, but in the eyes of those who are interested, it becomes a great opportunity, because they find a shortcut to the pinnacle of power, that is, to organize their own party to compete for the ruling cabinet, and have the opportunity to become the head of the cabinet under one person and above ten thousand people.

Although the ruling cabinet needs the emperor's approval, which means that the cabinet chief assistant still has to pass the emperor's approval, in everyone's eyes, this is still much clearer than the past path, so for a time there were a large number of people who joined the party, forming a new wave in the entire territory of Dachu.