The Queen Mother is not an ordinary woman, otherwise she would not have been so strong not to let her husband Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youzhi marry a little wife. Such a woman is not only strict with her husband, but also very concerned about her only son. After all, this empress dowager has only one daughter and one biological son, and this Wuzong Emperor Zhu Houzhao is her only son. After losing her husband, she only had one such son. She had to think about the future for herself and her son, and she couldn't help but mention the cabinet officials. Although she also feels that it is right for cabinet officials to help her son with government affairs and let him have more time to enjoy, she cannot ignore everyone's worries and opinions.

Although Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao is absurd, he is definitely a filial child and a good emperor. After listening to his mother's advice, he also felt that he had to give some restraint to the cabinet officials. So he thought about it for a night, agreed on some terms that bound the cabinet officials, and asked the celebrant to write it and tell it to the cabinet and all the officials.

First, cabinet officials are directly responsible for the emperor, and the emperor personally appoints and dismisses them. However, they must accept the supervision of civil and military officials and the royal family, and cannot do things that exceed their authority. If a cabinet official is found to be corrupt or endangering the imperial court, the ministers can join the royal family to suspend the cabinet official and hand it over to the emperor.

Second, cabinet officials can hold other official positions, but only one. The Cabinet as an organization, like the six ministries and yamen, has no subordinate relationship with each other. The heads of the six ministries cannot directly manage cabinet officials, and cabinet officials cannot interfere in the internal management of the six ministries. When there is a matter that needs to be coordinated, the Cabinet officials discuss it with the relevant departments.

Third, cabinet officials have the right to handle routine affairs, especially those reported by some localities, and cabinet officials have the right to dispose of them first. Of course, matters involving the six yamen need to be resolved together with the chief officials of the six ministries. Cabinet officials have the final decision, and if they cannot solve the problem or have different opinions, they will be decided by the emperor.

Fourth, the ministry has the right to recommend lower-level officials, but it does not have the right to decide. Cabinet officials have the right to directly appoint local officials below the seventh grade, and the appointment and dismissal of officials at the grassroots level in Beijing is also presided over by cabinet officials. The cabinet has the right to make suggestions and supervise officials of the seventh rank and the fifth rank or less in the local government and the sixth rank or less in Beijing. However, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the emperor or convene a "court council" to decide whether to hire or not. For the local high-ranking officials and the main chiefs of the six ministries in the capital, the cabinet officials have the right to recommend, and must be appointed by the emperor himself.

Fifth, cabinet officials have the right to approve the recitals on behalf of the emperor. This requires a formal order from the emperor, or when the emperor is young or when the emperor is ill. In order to distinguish between the emperor's decision and the meaning of the cabinet officials, Zhu Houzhao, the emperor of Zhengde, adopted a unique way of doing things. This way of doing things affected the Ming Dynasty and the subsequent situation. All orders issued by the emperor, or holy decrees issued by the celebrant on behalf of the emperor, need to be approved with a cinnabar red pen. All recitals approved by cabinet officials on behalf of the emperor must be in blue ink. Later, the official version of this method was officially stated, and the order issued by the emperor or the celebrant was called "Zhu Approval", and the pride of the cabinet was "Blue Approval".

Sixth, cabinet officials are assigned shifts and are rotated internally. All the pieces they have reviewed should not only be backed up, but also kept on file. The originals are left in the Brunei Pavilion for easy access and review, and the copied ones are sent to the original place. The responsibility lies with the person, and whoever makes a big wrong decision will be responsible to the end.

Seventh, cabinet officials are not allowed to make decisions on some major matters. For personal issues involving the emperor, the emperor himself or the empress dowager or empress must be consulted. If it involves the royal family or the feudal king, it must be reported to the clan. When it comes to the corruption of officials, it is necessary to investigate it in conjunction with the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Important issues related to the six ministries must be signed by the top executives of the relevant departments before the cabinet officials Xiamen University decide. Major military affairs need to convene a "court meeting" to decide the results and report to the emperor for the final decision.

Eighth, the "court council" is the highest meeting among officials. It is usually convened by cabinet officials, with the participation of the six main heads of the ministries, and when there are disagreements, everyone votes to decide. Generally speaking, the "Imperial Council" is composed of cabinet officials and high-ranking officials such as the Six Ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The four official cabinet officials have two votes each, the other cabinet members have one vote per person, the six Shangshu and the squire have one vote each, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Grand Governor of the Houjun Governor's Mansion stationed in the capital, and the eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant supervisor and others have one vote. Any decision made by a majority of the votes is passed by the "court meeting." When reporting to the emperor, it is necessary to state the reason for the matter and the number of votes, and finally the emperor decides the outcome.

Ninth, cabinet officials cannot directly control the army, cannot leave the capital, and cannot assume direct command positions to lead troops in war. You cannot exercise your rights during the period of rest or recuperation. Cabinet officials cannot tell secrets that should not be told to anyone in private, nor can they support private soldiers.

Tenth, cabinet officials and their immediate family members are not allowed to marry the royal family. It is not allowed to have an in-law relationship with a local official of the third rank or above. Cabinet officials were not allowed to make friends with feudal lords in private. There will be no direct contact with border guards.

Although these are constraining the cabinet officials, the cabinet officials do not care at all. In contrast, their power and status have skyrocketed. In the past, the cabinet was nothing more than the dogs of the emperor's family, the servants of the emperor's side, but now they have their own status and sphere of influence. In the early days, the cabinet was inferior to the middle and lower-level officials of the six yamen, and the benefits and benefits were not as good as those of a local prefect. Even during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet was not as good as the middle yamen, and not only was no one patronized during the New Year's holiday, but also needed to borrow money for the New Year. Almost every cabinet official has lived a day of starvation. Now the status of cabinet officials has surpassed that of the six ministers, and the cabinet yamen is also on an equal footing with the six yamen. If authorized by the emperor, the cabinet will surpass the six yamen and become the first function yamen of the Ming Dynasty, and the cabinet officials will also become equal figures with the six Shangshu. Although even after becoming the first function of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet could not actually control the six yamen, nor could it bypass the ceremonial control system of the emperor. But at that time, the Cabinet was no longer an appendage of anyone, nor was it an institution that anyone could underestimate. Although the six yamen control the lifeblood of the entire main institution of the Ming Dynasty, because they have their own priorities, they cannot achieve the point where one department controls the overall situation. Only the cabinet, a kind of yamen, can truly achieve the role of regulating the world. Although the celebrant will be the biggest political obstacle to the cabinet, the celebrant is made up of eunuchs. Ordinary officials and scholars looked down on eunuchs, and even if they did, they did not have the opportunity to come into contact with them regularly. Anyone who gets too close to the eunuch will not end well. Therefore, once the cabinet suppresses the chief officials of the six yamen, the cabinet officials will be the spiritual leaders of the civil and military officials, and they can truly realize the rebirth of the relative power.

Since the cabinet officially handled government affairs on behalf of Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao, the cabinet suppressed various departments on the one hand, and on the other hand, it took more importance to deal with military affairs. There have been no major accidents for ten years, so that the royal family and the emperor can clearly see the ability and importance of the cabinet. For this reason, the six ministries and local officials acquiesced in the leadership of the cabinet, and the cabinet officially became the highest functional body of the Ming Dynasty. The four full members of the Cabinet are formally referred to as the First Assistant, the Second Assistant, the Third Assistant, and the Fourth Assistant. However, at that time, the four official members of the Cabinet were rotated, and they not only had a good relationship with each other, but also had equal positions of power.

Yang Tinghe was the last cabinet chief assistant during the Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao's period, and he was not only the last Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao, but also a strong cabinet chief assistant. It was also from that time that the first assistant of the cabinet established the highest position in the cabinet and became the prime minister who was not the prime minister. Under the chairmanship of Yang Tinghe, the cabinet woke up to the internal division of labor for the first time. Yang Tinghe was in charge of the day-to-day affairs of the cabinet, and the other three official members were in charge of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Households. The four cabinet members, as well as the six temporary cabinet members, almost covered the important positions of the main yamen in the entire capital. At that time, some people joked that Yang Shoufu could give instructions to the six important yamen without leaving the cabinet duty room, which shows how strong Yang Tinghe is.

However, after the death of Emperor Zhu Houzhao of Zhengde, the situation in which this cabinet controlled the Ming Dynasty changed. Emperor Zhu Houzhao of Zhengde was a hands-off shopkeeper, ignoring all government affairs and letting Yang Tinghe handle it. Although the new emperor Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is young and ignorant of government affairs, he will not let Yang Tinghe command alone. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi wanted everyone to know that he was the emperor and the one who gave orders, so he was always picky about Yang Tinghe's decisions. Although it seems that Yang Tinghe is right in hindsight, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is looking for trouble, people who have experienced it feel that Yang Tinghe has exceeded his authority. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu hated this Yang Tinghe even more, Yang Tinghe didn't know the little emperor's heart, but he felt that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu would not treat him well. Yang Tinghe still underestimated the ruthlessness of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, and also underestimated the methods of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. In the end, Yang Tinghe not only lost to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, but also ruined his family. Yang Tinghe was the first cabinet chief assistant who did not have good results, and the next few cabinet ministers did not have good results. It wasn't until Yan Song became a cabinet official that everyone saw the hope of the cabinet. Yan Song was not only at home with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, but also in the cabinet. He has been a cabinet official for 40 years alone, and he has been the head of the cabinet for nearly 25 years, which is a miracle and a legend.

Yan Song not only became the longest assistant to the cabinet in the history of the Ming Dynasty, but also the longest-serving official. When the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi was in the late period, the elderly cabinet became an inevitable phenomenon. At that time, Yan Song, the first assistant to the cabinet, was already in his eighties, and Xu Jie, the second assistant, was also in his seventies, plus the sixty-year-old Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, etc., creating the highest average age of the actual controller. Because of this, a large number of capable people were suppressed, and later there was a rare situation in which the heroes rose up. Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Tan Lun, Zhang Siwei and other capable people almost broke out collectively, so that the later emperors could not be selected.