Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

Recently, I can only write anything until late at night, so my day and night are reversed.

So——I’m going to have a science lesson today to help me adjust to the time difference.

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About the Neishutang founded by Zhu Zhanji.

People nowadays actually have two completely different evaluations.

One is that the Neishutang provided the power foundation for the eunuchs to monopolize power and was the root cause of the eunuch disaster in the Ming Dynasty.

Another view is that the Neishutang improved the cultural level of the eunuchs and helped the emperor to check and balance the cabinet.

Melon is more of the latter.

Up to now in this book, the matter of teaching the young eunuch to read has been only briefly mentioned.

Because of--

During the Yongle reign, the Inner Study Hall was not built with much fanfare.

Even during the Xuande Dynasty, it was still only in the cultivation stage.

The real rise of eunuchs was during the time of the God of War.

I saw some comments saying Zhu Zhanji was nothing.

So, let me give you some scientific knowledge about the hexagonal warrior that I admire quite a bit.

[The development of the entire inner book hall is phased, not achieved all at once.]

Generally speaking, it was divided into three steps and completed by three dynasties.

The first step is to select literate eunuchs.

It mainly occurred during the Hongwu period.

Zhu Yuanzhang reorganized the Secretariat and abolished the post of prime minister. The emperor directly faced the six ministries and became an emperor who worked even harder than 996.

After working for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't take it anymore.

Therefore, eunuchs who were able to read and write before castration were selected, such as the sons of powerful officials who had committed crimes, young men captured in wars, and eunuchs voluntarily presented by vassal states.

The job of these people was to read the memorials, organize things, and share the emperor's work.

In addition, it is responsible for managing the twelve prisons, ten bureaus and three offices established by Zhu Yuanzhang to serve the royal family.

Therefore, there were basically no famous eunuchs during the Hongwu Dynasty.

The second step is to train the young eunuchs with potential to read and write.

It mainly occurred during the Yongle period.

There were not many eunuchs who were literate before entering the palace, and their backgrounds were complicated.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he used all the people he should and could use, but still felt that there was no one available.

One thing here is that Zhu Di did not trust the ministers in the court.

Throughout the Yongle reign, eunuchs traveled everywhere, sending envoys on behalf of the emperor, inspecting tours on behalf of the emperor, and so on.

What to do if there are not enough people?

Zhu Di came up with an idea. He selected some young eunuchs and had the old eunuchs teach them how to read and write.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang once banned eunuchs in the palace from learning to read.

The matter of teaching eunuchs to read was not made public.

The ultimate purpose of the eunuchs' literacy was limited to assisting Zhu Di in classifying and summarizing the memorials submitted by various officials, marking their importance and urgency, and so on.

There were many famous eunuchs during the Yongle Dynasty, most of whom had positive images, such as Zheng He.

The third step: Neishutang was formally established.

In July of the first year of Xuande, the Nei Shu Tang was roughly built. The "Ming Tongjian" records that Liu Chong, the head of the Ministry of Justice, was appointed as the Hanlin editor, specializing in teaching young Nei Shi books. Two to three hundred Nei Shi who were around ten years old were selected to study in the hall.

In the fourth year of Xuande, the Neishutang was first built and was under the jurisdiction of the Silijian. The Grand Secretary Chen Shan was ordered to teach the young eunuchs, and four Hanlin officials were appointed to teach.

From the rough draft to the formal establishment, this unspoken thing was turned into a system.

The people who taught eunuchs to read also raised their standards by several levels.

Whether it is the Hanlin editor or the Grand Secretary, they are teachers that ordinary scholars cannot afford even if they pay money.

The teaching quality of the inner academy in this palace is no worse than that of the Imperial Academy, the first institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty, and is even better.

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【Why did the Zhu family take these three steps? Didn’t the Zhu family know the harm of eunuchs? Just think about it and you will know it is impossible! 】

When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the dynasty, he strictly prohibited eunuchs from learning to read.

Why did the Xuande Dynasty still open inner study halls despite Zhu Yuanzhang's clear ban? In fact, it was a step-by-step adjustment according to the situation at the time.

Later generations scolded Zhu Zhanji, saying that he started the disaster.

But Zhu Zhanji was forced to this point.

[This involves another famous department of the Ming Dynasty - the Cabinet. ]

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During the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang established palaces and pavilions in order to have someone to assist in handling government affairs. This was the predecessor of the later cabinet.

During the Yongle period, Zhu Di officially put the cabinet into use.

Whether it was the palace or the cabinet, during the reigns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, it was not a system of joint rule by the monarch and his subjects, but rather a system of absolute authority by the emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang killed many military generals, while Zhu Di killed many civil officials.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di had offended all the court officials.

Before Zhu Di's last northern expedition, many civil servants were imprisoned in the prison.

As Zhu Di's close minister, the cabinet had very little power but extremely great risks.

The pay is low, the work is heavy and the risk is high; no one wants to do such a job.

In the end, Zhu Di died on the road.

The ministers accompanying the emperor at that time were Zhang Fu, Yang Rong and Jin Youzi.

There are still many theories about how he died, but I won't go into them here for now.

Anyway, as soon as Zhu Di died, people in the cabinet felt that their spring had finally come.

When Zhu Gaochi was the crown prince, he was a natural literati who did not like or was not good at wielding swords and guns.

In terms of personality, Zhu Gaochi was not as stubborn as Zhu Di, nor would he call for war and killing at every turn. During the Yongle period, he had always been the lubricant between the court officials and Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaochi was in poor health and his energy was far less than that of Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang. After he came to power, he had to rely heavily on court officials for state affairs.

This is the typical dream lover!

Therefore, the cabinet concealed the news of Zhu Di's death and worked together to support Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi lived up to everyone's expectations.

After taking office, he immediately released all the people that Zhu Di had imprisoned.

During the short ten months he was in office, he did a lot of things and was indeed very dependent on the cabinet.

People in the cabinet felt that it was time for them to make their mark.

He was so proud of himself that he ended up getting a little too arrogant.

After Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, he wanted to replace the palace maids and renovate the imperial city. He was not feeling well and did not attend court for a few days. Because of these things, an official named Li Shimen wrote a long letter to scold him, saying that he was wasting people's money and resources, indulging in selfish desires, being lazy in state affairs, etc. Not only did he write the letter, he also scolded him in public.

Zhu Gaochi was so angry that he fell down.

After Zhu Gaochi fell down, he never got up again.

Zhu Zhanji naturally knew very well how Zhu Gaochi fell.

But he also knew that Li Shimen was not fighting alone. There were people standing behind Li Shimen, and he could not beat them for the time being.

So after Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he suppressed his disgust, released Li Shimen from prison, and even commended him.

As soon as Zhu Zhanji showed weakness, he was naturally pushed a step further.

The nickname "Cricket Emperor" was given at this time.

The censors took Zhu Zhanji's personal hobbies too seriously and gave him all kinds of advice.

The cabinet also sided with the censors and suggested to Zhu Zhanji not to neglect his duties.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty's finances, civil affairs, and military affairs were all in shambles, and the national defense, borders, and coastlines were all in turmoil.

Many of the problems that had accumulated in the early days broke out when Zhu Zhanji took over.

The problems are numerous.

Petitions accusing the royal family came in from all directions.

No matter what Zhu Zhanji wanted to do, there would always be people who opposed and criticized him.

Even a small boss in modern times cannot stand a group of employees criticizing him every day, so Zhu Zhanji began to think of a solution.

Zhu Zhanji's personality and behavior were more like Zhu Di's, direct and not bound by morality.

If you don't listen to me, then use someone who listens to me!

It’s better not to have a group of ministers who can’t be controlled at will!

So the phenomenon of eunuchs reading books happened.

Zhu Zhanji actually understood it very well.

The life and death of the uncontrollable courtiers all depended on the royal eunuchs, so it went without saying who he would use.

Moreover, the two parties can restrain each other, making the imperial power more stable.

As for the harm that eunuchs could cause, such as disrupting the government and bringing disaster to the country and the people, in Zhu Zhanji's view, it was not a big deal at all.

When the emperor went down to see his ancestors, there were more than just concubines who were buried with him. Eunuchs and palace maids could all be taken away with a single order.

Moreover, the Neishu Hall was officially built in the fourth year of Xuande, as all available historical materials show.

What happened before the fourth year of Xuande?

According to historical materials such as "Yuwei Miscellaneous Notes", "Ming Jingshi Wenbian" and "Hanlin Ji", Yang Shiqi, Yang Shirong, Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji began to draft the reply between October of the third year of Xuande and January of the fifth year.

The so-called draft approval is the famous "drafting power" of the cabinet in later generations - a symbol of the decline of imperial power in the Zhu family.

In other words, Zhu Zhanji lost the power struggle with court officials, forcing him to put the inner study hall out in the open.

In other words, this is a game between two parties, with each side taking a step back.

In the late Xuande Dynasty, the struggle and game escalated.

The eunuchs' "power to approve" corresponding to the cabinet's "power to draft" also appeared.

The struggle intensified.

Finally, Zhu Zhanji went offline.

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Finally.

The establishment of Neishutang was actually the product of struggle, and its original intention was for Zhu Zhanji to use it to check and balance the civil officials in the cabinet.

Moreover, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty did check and balance the cabinet under capable emperors.

Some emperors of the Zhu family had mediocre qualifications and abilities, which led to an imbalance in the power of the two major groups and chaos.

From a certain perspective, isn't the rise of the four great men, Wei Zhongxian, Wang Zhen, Liu Jin, and Wang Zhi, due to the fact that the civil service group was too incompetent?

In order to cover up their bad deeds, these four people were made examples and became notorious.

The eunuchs' reputation was damaged.

From then on, he became a street rat.

As for the eunuchs' monopoly of power and the harm they cause to the people, that certainly exists, but more importantly, whoever holds the pen decides the direction of public opinion.

Corrupt officials do not abuse their power and do not exploit the people. Isn't that enough?

Sneer——————a look of contempt!

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【By the way, let me talk about the system of the inner book hall】

1. Source of eunuchs: to to to people, around years old, while the number of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty reached at its peak.

(There were many eunuchs who killed themselves and entered the palace. Among the four great eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, only Wang Zhi became a eunuch after being captured.)

2. Teachers. Almost all lecturers come from the Hanlin Academy, and even the prefectures, counties and districts cannot compare.

3. Learning content. In addition to the Confucian classics such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, they also had to study courses such as "Zhongjianlu", which mainly strengthened their awareness of their eunuch identity. In addition, they also had a practical course called "panfang", which meant simulating the handling of specific affairs in preparation for the future performance of red-letter work.

4. Graduation conditions: In addition to the graduation examination, the emperor might personally conduct a random examination.

5. Destinations after graduation. The best choice is to enter the secretarial office or become the prince's tutor. The rest will be dispersed to various institutions according to needs.