stonecrandall Chapter 934 Cabinet, 6 ministries, 3 departments!
Chapter 934 Cabinet, 6 ministries, 3 departments!
However, the evolution of the Ming Dynasty cabinet also provided Gao Yao with profound lessons. The system's greatest weakness lay in its heavy reliance on the proper functioning of imperial power. During the middle and late Ming Dynasty, many emperors neglected their duties, such as the Jiajing Emperor, who retreated to the Western Garden to practice Taoism, the Wanli Emperor, who avoided court for decades, and the Tianqi Emperor, who indulged himself in woodworking.
The absence of imperial power led to a power vacuum. The combination of the cabinet's drafting power and the Silijian's approval power made the cabinet chief and the eunuchs sometimes become the actual decision-making center, and even led to the phenomenon of deceiving the emperor and manipulating the court.
Furthermore, if cabinet ministers could gain the emperor's absolute trust, or through controlling public opinion and establishing connections within the imperial court, their power could similarly expand to unprecedented proportions, as evidenced by Zhang Juzheng's "power over the court and the country." This suggests that even the best institutions are subject to degeneration if they lack corresponding oversight mechanisms and a stable core of power.
Having discerned the strengths and weaknesses of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, Gao Yao was determined to implement a cabinet system that he had carefully considered and adapted. He did not copy it wholesale, but rather sought to extract its essence and discard its dross, creating a power center that was more suitable for the current situation, more capable of consolidating the regime, and more effectively functioning.
First, he clarified the cabinet's core role: to serve as the emperor's highest advisory and secretariat, rather than an independent decision-making body. The cabinet's Grand Secretaries' responsibility was to participate in government affairs, compile information from all sources, and provide detailed plans and analysis for final decision-making. All government orders required Gao Yao's red-ink approval before being issued to the six ministries for implementation. This fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the prime minister exercising arbitrary power.
Secondly, he strictly limited the composition and authority of the cabinet. The cabinet consisted of three to five Grand Secretaries, all selected from among the existing senior officials. Those skilled in governance and with a long-term vision, such as Xiao He, were naturally included. However, they no longer directly managed the affairs of the six ministries, as the prime minister had done in the past.
The six ministers of government reported directly to Gao Yao. The cabinet ministers had the power to advise and coordinate the six ministries, but not the power to appoint or dismiss personnel or to directly direct them. This achieved a separation between deliberation and administration, avoiding confusion of power and responsibility. At the same time, he deliberately maintained flexibility in the number of cabinet members, both to prevent a single person from dominating and to facilitate the inclusion of dissenters, ensuring a more comprehensive and consultative decision-making process.
Gao Yao maintained even stricter controls over military power. He explicitly stipulated that the cabinet could not directly interfere with military command and deployment. Military affairs were independently handled by a system of military officers headed by Cao Shen. Important military and national affairs were to be presided over by Gao Yao, who would convene key cabinet members and senior generals for consultation. However, he remained firmly in control of the final decision-making power and supreme command. This completely separated the military and the government, eliminating the potential for civilians to control the military or for powerful officials to threaten the regime through their control of the military.
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the middle and late Ming Dynasty when the cabinet lost control or colluded with eunuchs, Gao Yao added more preventive "patches" to the system design.
First, he planned to strengthen the supervisory system. He planned to further strengthen the independence and authority of supervisory bodies, granting them the power to report rumors and impeach officials. These reports could be submitted directly to the emperor, free from the control of the cabinet and the six ministries. Supervisory officials would focus on overseeing the powerful cabinet ministers. This would create a set of "eyes" independent of the administrative system, constantly on the lookout.
Second, introduce a rotation and performance review system. Grand Secretaries are not lifelong appointments. Gao should consider periodic minor adjustments, or rotate cabinet ministers across different areas of responsibility, to prevent them from becoming too deeply involved in a single area and developing a personal power structure. At the same time, require the cabinet to regularly report to him on major national policies, ensuring he maintains a clear grasp of the overall situation and avoids being misled.
Third, he clarified the absolute nature of imperial power. Gao Yao repeatedly emphasized the principle of "the supremacy of imperial power" on various occasions and in various documents. The cabinet system was designed to better implement and enforce the monarch's will, not to divide or replace it. The ultimate goal of all these institutional designs was to consolidate central power, and thus, to strengthen the foundation of Gao Yao's rule. He sought to leverage the wisdom of the masses while ensuring that his personal authority was unchallenged.
The implementation of the cabinet and six-department system also involved a more complex issue: the relationship between the central government and local governments. Gao Yao was well aware that even the most perfect central government system would be a castle in the air if it were not effectively implemented at the local level. The fall of the Qin Dynasty in its second generation was largely due to its harsh laws and the resulting loss of local control.
He realized that the key to local governance lies in striking a balance. On the one hand, local governments must be granted a certain degree of autonomy. China's vast territory is characterized by distinct customs and practices: the north is sparsely populated and emphasizes animal husbandry; the south, with its dense waterways and savvy agriculture; and the borderlands, with their diverse ethnic groups and distinct customs.
If all political matters were subject to directives from the central government, responses would inevitably be slow, even leading to the dilemma of "oranges grown north of the Huai River turning into bitter oranges." Forcing through one-size-fits-all policies would force local officials to deceive their superiors or oppress the people in order to meet their performance targets, ultimately leading to widespread public resentment and destabilizing the foundation of the country.
On the other hand, local autonomy must be limited to a minimum, as this can easily lead to the formation of separatist factions, which can become entrenched and difficult to control, leading to veiled compliance with central government directives and ultimately division. This new system must address the challenges of ensuring that local governments can handle government affairs appropriately while ensuring the authority and smooth implementation of central government directives.
Gao Yao's initial concept was to implement a parallel reform of the local administrative system while implementing the Cabinet-Six Ministries system. He considered drawing on the parallel "Three Departments" of the early Ming Dynasty and establishing officials at the county level to oversee civil affairs, criminal justice/supervision, and military affairs, respectively. These officials would be independent of each other and would report directly to the corresponding central departments. This would both disperse the power of local officials, preventing them from having absolute control, and strengthen vertical control from the central government over the localities.
At the same time, he demanded that the Cabinet and the six ministries fully consider local differences when formulating policies. Government orders should be more guiding than rigid, allowing local governments room for flexibility within certain principles. Furthermore, he also called for the establishment of a more efficient and confidential information transmission system and the regular dispatch of imperial envoys for on-site inspections, both to gather real public opinion and to monitor local officials' implementation of government orders, ensuring that the space for "policies from above and countermeasures from below" was minimized.
In the main hall of Guangming Palace, Gao Yao slowly opened his mouth, clearly and firmly proclaiming his carefully considered vision for a cabinet system to the entire court. He didn't dwell on the historical merits and demerits of the prime minister system, but instead pointed directly to its inherent flaws. He demonstrated the cabinet system's superiority in separating powers, balancing checks and balances, consolidating imperial authority, and improving administrative efficiency. Citing the Ming Dynasty system as a lesson, he affirmed the rationality of its initial design while also openly pointing out the lessons of its later degeneration, and elaborated on the various preventative measures he had devised.