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  Zhu Yuanzhang finally revealed his killing intent, and with a profound tone, he said: "My position as emperor can only be taken by you, sir!"

  Generally, after extreme tension, people's minds will relax, and Liu Ji was no exception. He finally made a mistake, and this mistake was fatal.

  He didn't think much and replied to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I am not unaware of my own abilities, but I have a strong sense of justice, Your Majesty can take your time to choose."

  This remark is extremely inappropriate. Without mentioning his self-proclaimed prime ministerial talent, he even says something like "hating evil as if it were an enemy". As Liu Ji said, who is the evil one?

  Liu Ji's dizziness had not yet passed, and he added another sentence: "The current people, in my opinion, do not have the right ones" (Currently, all people, I sincerely do not see their feasibility).

  Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Ji had a falling out over this!

  From then on, Liu Ji no longer gained the trust of Zhu Yuanzhang. Although he understood that his status was far from what it used to be, he still insisted on serving in the court and supporting the Zhe Dong group. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was not so easily gotten rid of.

  In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang personally wrote a letter to Liu Ji and said: "You are so old now, you should stay at home with your wife and children, why bother staying here with me?"

  This means I'm firing you, get out! Liu Ji had no choice but to return to his hometown.

  At this time, another important member of the Zhe Dong Group, Yang Xian, lost Liu Ji's help and was soon squeezed out by the Huai Xi faction. He himself was also in danger of losing his life and was killed by Hu Weiyong on a pretext.

  In this struggle, the Huai West Group ultimately won a complete victory.

  Liu Ji understood that he had failed, and now his only wish was to live a quiet life at home, spending the rest of his days in peace. But in this struggle, those who failed would have to pay the price.

  Hu Wei Yong became the Prime Minister, he did not let go of Liu Ji, instructing his subordinates to falsely accuse Liu Ji. At this time, Liu Ji had no official position, what could they possibly accuse him of? But as the saying goes, "if you want to add a crime, how can you worry about having no words?" It is indeed a reasonable and famous saying. Liu Ji's crime was occupying a piece of land with royal aura. The so-called royal aura is actually an unclear thing, it exists if you say it does, and it doesn't exist if you say it doesn't, it all depends on what your purpose is.

  Then Zhu Yuanzhang again issued an edict to punish Liu Ji, the official position was gone, what else could be punished? Zhu Yuanzhang had a way, he deducted Liu Ji's pension.

  Liu Ji fell into despair, but his wisdom played a role again. He did not wait for death on the spot, but unexpectedly returned to the capital.

  This was indeed a very clever move, he understood that Hu Weiyong's fundamental reason for dealing with him lay in Zhu Yuanzhang. As long as he returned to the capital and stayed under Zhu Yuanzhang's nose, letting him feel at ease, his own life would be guaranteed.

  But this time, he was wrong again.

  In the first month of the 8th year of the Hongwu era, Liu Ji fell ill. Zhu Yuanzhang sent Hu Weiyong (note this) to visit Liu Ji. The doctor accompanying Hu Weiyong prescribed medicine for Liu Ji. After taking the medicine, Liu Ji's condition worsened and he died soon after.

  As for the cause of Liu Ji's death, after the case of Hu Weiyong was exposed later, the doctor confessed that he was instructed by Hu Weiyong to poison Liu Ji to death. This also became one of Hu Weiyong's crimes.

  But many people knew that Hu Weiyong and Liu Ji had a feud, and Zhu Yuanzhang also knew it, yet he sent him to visit Liu Ji. And for someone as influential as Liu Ji, Hu Weiyong wouldn't dare to take action easily, otherwise Liu Ji wouldn't have been able to live under his nose for five years, it's very possible that he got Zhu Yuanzhang's tacit consent. Regardless of whether this matter was ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang or not, there is no doubt that Zhu Yuanzhang bears responsibility for Liu Ji's death.

  Liu Ji was resourceful and had many plans throughout his life, making great contributions to the establishment of the Ming dynasty. He accurately judged situations, thought carefully, and could predict the direction of events. Although he didn't have the magical powers that folk tales attributed to him, such as summoning wind and rain, his judgment and predictive abilities were truly remarkable. Like Zhuge Liang, he has become a symbol of wisdom remembered by the people.

  In my opinion, he is indeed worthy of this honor.

  Hu Weiyong has triumphed, with the help of Zhu Yuanzhang he defeated the Zhe Dong faction and eliminated Liu Ji, the number one strategist in the land. Now that he holds great power, Li Shan Chang also has to give him some face.

  But was he really the ultimate winner?

  He did not understand the real reason for his victory, it was not that he was stronger than Liu Ji, but because Zhu Yuanzhang stood on his side. Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear about the struggle between the two major factions, and the reason why he did not come out to mediate was that no matter who won or lost in this struggle, the ultimate winner would be him. Whether it was the victory of the landlord surnamed Hu or the victory of the landlord surnamed Liu, as long as the highest status of the Zhu landlord was guaranteed, it would be fine.

  Zhu Yuanzhang chose Hu Weiyong not because he was strong, but on the contrary, it was precisely because Hu Weiyong posed a small threat to Zhu Yuanzhang that Zhu allowed him to become the winner. However, foolish Hu did not understand this point.

  After overthrowing Liu Ji, Hu Weiyong became even more arrogant and tyrannical. He was corrupt and accepted bribes, suppressed anyone who disobeyed him, and even dared to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang's authority. He privately intercepted memorials from his subordinates, promoted or demoted officials, and executed prisoners without Zhu Yuanzhang's approval.

  In 1373, the sixth year of the Hongwu era, Hu Weiyong squeezed out another Grand Councillor, Wang Guangyang, and monopolized the power of the Grand Council for seven years.

  But what is puzzling is that Zhu Yuanzhang did not show any reaction to Hu Weiyong's offense, which is very unusual.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was a man with an extremely strong desire for power, who rose from the flames of war and was the most outstanding talent of his time. Li Shanchang was slightly autocratic and was forced to retire by him. Who is Hu Weiyong? He has no military achievements or political merits, yet he dares to be so arrogant!

  It's really puzzling, many historical records have recorded various stories of Hu Weiyong's illegality and Zhu Yuanzhang's disregard for him, and from this, it can be inferred that Hu Weiyong's crime was deserved, and Zhu Yuanzhang's defense was justified.

  When we uncover the facade of facts and analyze their essence, we will find that there is much to write about.

  In history, the famous Duke Zhuang of Zheng was never loved by his mother. His younger brother relied on their mother's doting and made all sorts of unreasonable demands to him, but Duke Zhuang always satisfied him. Until finally, when his younger brother plotted a rebellion, Duke Zhuang sent troops to destroy his younger brother.

  Later generations often thought that Zheng Zhuang Gong was benevolent and righteous, passing it down as a beautiful story. However, some people pointed out that Zheng Zhuang Gong was actually a hypocrite who wanted his brother's life and therefore tolerated his lawlessness.

  When we deeply understand this story, we will have a clear conclusion about Zhu Yuanzhang's abnormal behavior - it is a conspiracy.

  This conspiracy has different expressions in various languages, the idiom is "to catch by releasing", the academic name is called "boosting to kill", the vulgar language is "what you want to take, must first give it", and in Xiaobing Zhang's words, it is "don't look at today's excitement, be careful about settling accounts in the future".

  But we still have a question, to deal with a small Hu Weiyong, does Zhu Yuanzhang need to use so many brains and tolerate him for seven years?

  Not bad, as long as we carefully analyze history, we will find that Hu Weiyong is not Zhu Yuanzhang's real target. What Zhu Yuanzhang really wants to destroy is the huge thing behind Hu Weiyong.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to tolerate Hu Weiyong's arrogance, letting this clown perform to his heart's content. To use a phrase from Go, it can be described as "not seeking small gains, but having great plans". He had gone through so many hardships, and Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and Wang Baobao, the heroes of the time, were not his match, let alone the insignificant Hu Weiyong!

  He humbled himself in this way, only because his target opponent was too powerful. This opponent was not Li Shan Chang, nor the Huai Xi group, but the system of prime ministers that had continued for thousands of years behind Hu Wei Yong.

  Since Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor, he has always felt that this system is too restrictive of his power. He has always believed that his reign was won by his own ability, and yet someone wants to share power with him, which is simply unreasonable!

  However, this system has a long history, and whether it is the minister or the general people, they all think that the prime minister is indispensable. To abolish this system, there must be sufficient reason, and Hu Weiyong's arbitrary behavior as a wicked person can provide him with an excuse.

  He gazed quietly at Hu Weiying, waiting for an opportunity to arise.

  Hu Weiyong's countermeasure

  Hu Weiyong was a despicable person, but he wasn't stupid. As his behavior became more and more outrageous, his fear of Zhu Yuanzhang grew greater. However, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't take action against him, which gave Hu a bad premonition. He knew Zhu well - this man either did nothing or went all the way, never compromising.

  After a long time of thinking, Hu Weiyong came up with a wonderful countermeasure, which was to pull people into the water.

  In his view, in order not to be killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, he must ensure that there are enough people standing on the same side as him. As the saying goes, "the law does not blame the crowd", you Zhu Yuanzhang can't catch all the ministers at once, right?

  As for the means, it's also relatively simple. First, find a good target, then seal the deal with a promise, have everyone eat together, take a bath, and then put on some entertainment programs. After emotions are intertwined, find a topic that both parties care about to discuss. During this time, you need to invest some emotions. If you can shed some "sincere" tears during the conversation, the effect will be better.

  After this set of rituals, both parties became sworn brothers and then formed an alliance, vowing to share good fortune and face adversity together.

  If you analyze the phrase "dragging someone down" carefully, you'll find that there are many problems with it. If it's a good place to go, no one needs to be dragged, and yet people need to be dragged into this "water", which is either a boiling pot or a fiery pit. As the saying goes, "You take the risk, I reap the benefits". Once trouble arises, the promise changes to "When there's hardship, you're in charge; when there's good fortune, I'll enjoy it".

  Those who were pulled down by him include Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Ji'an, Chen Ning, the Imperial Censor-in-Chief, and Mao Xian, the Commander-in-Chief, among other senior officials. For a time, all the officials in the court were Hu Weiyong's informants.

  But Hu Weiyong was not satisfied, he also wanted to win over the most important person - Li Shan Chang!

  Because Li Shan Chang was not only highly respected and admired, but also had a rare treasure on his body, that is, the Iron Certificate of Pardon.

  We need to mention the "免死铁券" (Iron Certificate of Pardon), in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's highest reward for his ministers was this certificate. Its function is that if a minister commits a crime in the future and the锦衣卫 (Imperial Guards) come to kill him at home, as long as he hasn't lost it (it's unlikely anyone would lose it), and takes it out before being beheaded, he can avoid death. Many ministers thought about their heads and tried every means to get one, because no matter what kind of gold or silver certificate, none were as useful as this iron certificate. Those who were lucky enough to get one would place it in the main hall of their home and show it off to visitors, as if having this certificate meant they had two heads.

  Li Shan-chang had such a treasure, and there were two more. Hu Wei-yong was desperate to curry favor with him, and these two iron certificates were one of the important reasons. Although Hu Wei-yong couldn't take them away for his own use, as long as Li Shan-chang didn't die, he would have a powerful backer.

  But the effect of this iron certificate is actually problematic, because the iron certificate was given by the emperor, just like a check, whether it can be cashed depends on the bank that issued it. The emperor is the issuer, he says it's valid then it's valid, he says it's expired then it's expired. It's hard to imagine that the emperor would change his mind about killing someone because of an oral IOU he once issued. To put it in a phrase we often use today: "I can lift you up, and I can also knock you down!"

  Change your mind, there are many variables in it. The emperor doesn't have to kill you necessarily. He can lock you up, beat you half to death, and then secretly find someone to harm you, and report a sudden illness and death. This way, he has both maintained his reputation and fulfilled his wish, killing two birds with one stone. It's not that I don't keep my promise, it's just that you're not lucky enough.

  At that time, Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang attached great importance to these two blank cheques, which fully demonstrated their political level compared to Zhu Yuanzhang was only at the primary school level.

  After Hu Weiyong revealed his intentions, Li Shan-chang did not take him seriously. Unlike the foolish Hu Weiyong, he had personally witnessed countless heroes and talents fall at the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, and was deeply aware of Zhu's terror. He would never make the mistake of opposing Zhu. He could hardly believe that the minor figure he had chosen years ago now dared to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang, and even wanted to drag him down with him. Times have changed, indeed! He firmly rejected Hu Weiyong's request.

  Hu Weiyong is not good at seeing problems, but he has a set of ways to deal with people. He found that Li Shan-chang didn't know his tricks, so he started to take the route of pulling relationships. Coincidentally, Li Shan-chang's younger brother Li Cunyi was Hu Weiyong's son-in-law, so Hu Weiyong pulled Li Cunyi down. Li Cunyi got benefits and kept persuading Li Shan-chang. At first, Li Shan-chang scolded Li Cunyi severely, but later he listened to him more and more, and finally acquiesced. He said a meaningful sentence: I am old now, after I die, you all can do whatever you want (吾老矣，吾死，汝等自为之).

  Li Shan Chang was pulled down into the water like this.

  Hu Weiyong finally felt at ease. All the civil and military officials in the court were his people. What could Zhu Yuanzhang do to him? If he could be emperor, why couldn't he?

  Now it seems he is indeed a clown who knows no shame.

  But Hu Weiyong's activities indeed gave Zhu Yuanzhang a difficult problem, after all, so many ministers were in one party, Zhu Yuanzhang had to consider how to divide and dissolve them, in order to eliminate Hu Weiyong's power, but this was not easy at all, what a difficult problem

  However, Zhu Yuanzhang solved this difficult problem with just one sentence after listening to the secret agent's report on Hu Weiyong's abnormal behavior, and his level was quite high:

  Then kill them all!

  The Things of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang Chapter 27

  Chapter word count: 4442 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:51

  In the matter of killing, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been a man of his word. He watched Hu Weiyong's every move with cold eyes, waiting to see what tricks he would come up with. Meanwhile, Hu Weiyong was also actively preparing for a showdown with Zhu Yuanzhang, knowing that he and Zhu would eventually clash head-on.

  That day will come soon.

  During an outing, Hu Weiyong's son fell off a horse and was killed by the wheel of a passing carriage. In a fit of rage, Hu Weiyong had the driver of the carriage killed without reporting the matter to the judicial authorities. The incident reached Zhu Yuanzhang, who ordered Hu Weiyong to explain himself.

  Hu Weiyong rushed to Zhu Yuanzhang's place, and on the way, he had already thought of all the excuses and words. As soon as he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he hurriedly poured out his grievances, saying how pitiful he was, how filial his son was, and how the carriage driver did not follow traffic rules, violating regulations by driving over the line, etc. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude was very strange.

  He just remained silent, staring at Hu Weiyong with a cold gaze.

  Hu Weiyong still didn't know the meaning, and continued to talk about his grievances. Until he realized that in this conversation between two people, only one person was speaking all along, he stopped, looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, and found that Zhu Yuanzhang was also staring at him.

  Frightening silence.

  Zhu Yuanzhang finally stood up and walked in front of Hu Weiyong, saying in a calm and clear voice: "A life for a life!"

  Then he floated out without looking at Hu Weiying again.

  Hu Weiyong was stunned, he sat still in his chair, staring blankly ahead like a wooden chicken.

  Suddenly, Hu Weiyong's hands began to tremble. He used his body to press down on his own hands, but it was no use. His entire body shook violently, just like a person with epilepsy.

  He could no longer suppress the fear in his heart, this was a natural reaction of his body.

  When discussing with his fellow party members at home, he felt that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed too weak to be attacked, and each department had its own people, while Zhu Yuanzhang did not have any trusted followers. As the number of his fellow party members increased, he constantly felt his own strength growing. In the flattery of his fellow party members, he seemed to see himself replacing Zhu Yuanzhang as the supreme ruler!

  But when he really faced Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he felt that he was far away from the person in front of him. He himself was also a talented person, but his opponent seemed not to be human, but a shining cold knife.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was able to reach this point, from the wind and rain of the thatched cottage to the solitary lamp of Huangjue Temple, from the sword lights and shadows of Chuzhou to the beacon fires of Poyang Lake. He rushed out of the thousands of horses and men, standing up from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He had gone through countless hardships, endured countless sufferings, feared no authority, and was not afraid of any enemy. One by one, the heroes of the world fell before him, he saw more dead people than Hu Weiyong saw living people!

  Hu Weiyong finally understood why Li Shanchang was unwilling to be an enemy of Zhu Yuanzhang, it wasn't that he didn't have ambition, but because he feared.

  Without a fight, Hu Weiyong already understood that he had gotten on the wrong stage, and he was not in the same weight class as Zhu Yuanzhang at all.

  But it's too late for regrets, let's just go down this road till the end.

  There are many different accounts of what happened afterwards, and many historical records state that Hu Weiyong was planning to rebel and was exposed by others, so Zhu Yuanzhang took action against him. However, some historical records also state that there were other hidden circumstances behind this matter, and in my view, the latter may be more credible.

  In the tenth month of the twelfth year of Hongwu (1379), Champa (now central Vietnam) sent an envoy to Nanjing to pay tribute. However, Hu Weiyong did not report this matter to Zhu Yuanzhang, which should be considered a serious diplomatic incident. When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that the Champa delegation had arrived in the capital, his long-accumulated anger finally erupted, and he severely reprimanded Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang (then Left Supervisor of the Imperial Censors) for their handling of this matter.

  At this time, Hu Weiyong's most correct response was to admit his mistake. Who hasn't dozed off sometimes? However, he and Wang Guangyang shifted the blame to the Ministry of Rites, thinking that would settle the matter.

  Zhu Yuanzhang fully demonstrated his creative thinking and applied it to the handling of this matter. He did not follow Hu Weiyong's lead in investigating who was responsible for the affair, but instead executed Wang Guangyang first and then detained all officials related to the case.

  If it's not you then it must be him, so I'll just arrest both of you and that way I won't go wrong.

  The knife is already on Hu Weiyong's neck, and when it will be cut down is just a matter of time.

  He didn't have to wait too long.

  Tu Jie was a close associate of Hu Weiyong, and at that time he held the position of Yu Shi Zhong Chen. I believe everyone is familiar with this official position. He played a very important role in the Hu Weiyong group, launching public opinion attacks on political enemies, forming cliques and plotting evil deeds, none of which could be done without him, and Hu Weiyong always regarded him as his trusted confidant.

  However, this relative redefined the meaning of "partner in crime" - a partner who would bring you to death.

  He saw that Hu Weiyong was doomed, so he reported Hu's plot to the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang had been waiting for this moment, and he ordered the immediate execution of Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, and other key members of the Hu faction, as well as the extermination of Hu's three clans. Then he commanded a thorough investigation into who else was involved in the plot, and if anyone was found to be implicated, they would be put to death!

  The notorious Hu Weiyong case thus began, and it was proven that verifying the facts was very difficult because it was too troublesome, while sentencing everyone to death was easy. The interrogation methods at the time also facilitated the development of this case. When the officials in charge of the case caught a suspect, the first treatment they provided was not coffee or tea, but a severe beating. After the beating, they would talk, and some people who had grudges against the officials being interrogated would take advantage of the situation to get revenge, which was also understandable as it was just part of doing business and settling personal scores at the same time.

  Then they would ask the same party, those bookworms couldn't withstand a beating, and they would drag out many so-called accomplices, as long as they knew them, had met them once, borrowed money from them, or owed them debts. The officials in charge of the case were overjoyed, reported to the emperor, and went on to arrest others, so the case grew bigger and bigger. From the time it broke out in the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), they investigated for several years, and more than 10,000 people were killed.

  Hu Weiyong's carefully planned and organized plans for many years were destroyed, and it turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang could easily eliminate him, just like pinching a small ant to death.

  No matter from which angle to look, Hu Weiyong is just a clown. His only effective work was to take tens of thousands of people with him to the Yellow Springs.

  We almost forgot about the informant Tu Jie, whose ending was quite dramatic. This person who played a comical role in the Hu Weiyong case was taken to the execution ground immediately after the case was solved and was executed together with Hu Weiyong. I wonder what kind of feelings these two people would have when they met on the execution ground.

  Hu Weiyong is dead, and this result is exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang needs. Now he sits on his dragon throne, looking at the ministers below, these poor survivors who served with Hu Weiyong in the same court, some of whom had more or less contact with him, watching as their colleagues were taken out and killed one by one, their hearts filled with fear.

  Isn't it over yet? We just want to live on.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did not think so, in his view, there were still many things to be done.

  Don't rush, the good show has just begun.

  It is noteworthy that Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of Grand Chancellor just one month after executing Hu Weiyong. He cancelled the establishment of the Secretariat, and arranged for the personnel to be dispersed to other institutions. Such a major move was carried out with lightning speed and efficiency, which makes us suspect that he had been preparing for it all along, just like Song Jiang in Water Margin, who refused to take over after Chao Gai's death, but once he reluctantly agreed, he immediately organized a grand celebration.

  In any case, Zhu Yuanzhang achieved his goal, the detestable position of Chancellor was finally abolished, and everything was in his grasp. However, he did not realize that this would be the greatest mistake of his life for his dynasty and his descendants.

  To explain this issue, we must first introduce why the position of Chancellor is a must. Below we will begin to elaborate.

  How was the prime minister refined?

  Many friends will ask, isn't it interesting enough to understand the historical facts? Why do we still need to talk about these essential things of history? We have a necessity to let everyone know the benefits of doing so.

  Everyone knows that historical facts are rich and colorful, and there is a lot of room for play when writing about them, making them more interesting to read. However, the so-called historical connotations and laws are quite dull. But please note that grasping these connotations and laws can give you unimaginable abilities.

  Many people admire Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, these two embodiments of wisdom. They can often foresee the direction of things, even if they live in rural areas and rarely enter the city, they can still understand the overall situation and accurately predict the future trend, such as Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan and Liu Bowen's Anfeng Battle. Why can they know what will happen in the future?

  This is because they are not satisfied with seeing the surface of things, but have a deep understanding of their internal development laws. We know that what people fear most is the unknown. If everyone knew their future, they would no longer be afraid. But before the invention of time machines, we can only learn from Comrade Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen.

  For example, after we know the law of how landlords are made, next time when you see a peasant leader in history books, you don't need to read on and can make a judgment about his future. As long as this person is not killed during the uprising, you can be sure that there will be one more landlord in the next dynasty. This is the power of law. When you grasp those laws and connotations that others do not know, you have grasped the key to opening up the future!

  The reason I explore these historical laws with everyone is not only to tell you about the growth path of emperors and generals, but more importantly, I hope that through this exploration, each and every one of us can embark on the path of Liu Bowen and Zhuge Liang.

  I firmly believe it is very likely.

  Let's start from here, still in our own way. This time, our protagonist is still Zhang San. He has just finished being a landlord. This time, we will still use him as the protagonist, but in this chapter of the Grand Councilor, he cannot directly become the Grand Councilor, and must first become the village head.

  Zhang San became the village head of a certain village, he began to manage, every day he would walk from the east end of the village to the west end, checking if Jia's family door was locked properly, whether YI's couple had a quarrel, the village is not big, can take two or three trips in one day, after finishing, go home and sleep, this is the management life of the village head.

  Soon Zhang San became the head of the township, which was very large. He had to spend a whole day walking around it, so he started going on rounds every two days and left the work to the village chief in charge.

  Due to his outstanding work, Zhang San became the county magistrate. He could no longer go out for a stroll every day, and all his time was spent reviewing reports from township heads and fully trusting them.

  Afterwards, Zhang San continued to rise through the ranks, from being a provincial governor to a minister of war and then to prime minister. The entire country was under his control (assuming there is no emperor). As a result, Zhang San became extremely busy, he didn't even have time to read memorials, every day he saw countless people, and was still busy until late at night. All the department heads wanted to see him, and he alone had to make decisions on their proposals. He was really too exhausted, so he found someone to help him with his work and gave some of his power to this person.

  The situation is roughly like this: Zhang San's position is similar to that of an emperor, and the person he finds to help him is equivalent to a prime minister in reality.

  Due to too many national affairs and the emperor's limited energy, he had to find someone to hand over part of his power.

  Everyone should have understood the origin of the Grand Chancellor by now. This story, although simple, contains a very profound theory in political science - the theory of separation of powers and checks and balances.

  There have been many wise emperors throughout history, who were no worse than Zhu Yuanzhang, yet they all adopted the system of chancellors. In a feudal society with imperial autocracy, emperors are unwilling to give up their power because once they share it with others, they risk being constrained. However, the inevitable contradiction between the infinite expansion of imperial power and the limited energy of the emperor himself led to the emergence of the chancellor system.

  In the end, the prime minister is indeed a hateful guy. He constantly gives opinions to the emperor and even dares to refute him. As an emperor, he wouldn't like this guy at all. He thinks that this person is just a worker he hired to do his bidding, giving him work and power, but this person wants to control everything.

  He not only has to take care of national affairs, but also his own private matters. If he wants to build a house, he will be in charge, saying it's a waste of money; if he wants to go out and have fun, he will be in charge, saying it's exhausting for the people. Some overbearing guys even want to control what he eats, rests, and sleeps with his wife, not only controlling but also speaking eloquently, calling it "for the sake of Your Majesty's health". His face often has an expression as if he is owed two hundred dollars.

  Who is the boss and who is the employee?

  The problem is that you can't lose your temper, those officials are all watching, and you have to accept his opinion with a good attitude. If you can't bear it and scold him, or even punish him, then trouble will arise. The reason will always be on the side of the prime minister, and history books will record that he dared to speak out, while you unfortunately bear the evil name of not accepting advice. The officials below will also stand on his side and look at him with admiring eyes.

  Those prime ministers are also very clear in their hearts, so when they do these things, they often fall forward and backward, as if they can't wait for you to beat them up.

  Ugh, these annoying guys!

  The Legend of Zhu Yuanzhang Chapter 28

  Chapter word count: 3778 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:51

  Because of these reasons, the emperors did not like those chancellors. They all wanted to abolish this position just like Zhu Yuanzhang, but the problem was that if they abolished this position, everything would have to be done by themselves. However, being an emperor is not just about working hard; they also want to enjoy life and are not athletes with strong physical strength. Therefore, this position has been retained until Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was diligent and hardworking from a young age, with a strong physique and robust spirit. He had a large appetite and could finish several bowls of food in one meal. Not only was he a top athlete in the ironman competition, but he also trained in long-distance running and had great endurance. In his view, sending the prime minister back home was just a matter of doing more work and getting tired himself, nothing more. Thus, the glorious deeds of model worker Zhu Yuanzhang were left in history.

  Mr. Wu Han once counted that from the 14th to the 21st of September in the 17th year of Hongwu (1384), within just eight days, he received 1,666 official documents, totaling 3,391 matters, averaging 200 files per day and handling 400 things.

  This is a chilling number, during the Zhu Yuanzhang era there was no labor law, he worked eight days without anyone giving him overtime pay. But he just kept working non-stop, which also made him very disgusted with those who couldn't get to the point in half a day. There's a famous story that illustrates this point, when the Minister of Revenue at the time, Ru Taosu, submitted a memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang had someone read it aloud to him, but after reading for nearly three hours, they still hadn't gotten to the actual content, just talking about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, benevolence, morality, and virtue. Zhu Yuanzhang made a swift decision, ordering them to stop reading, counting the characters, there were already over 10,000 words.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered Ma to summon Taizu Su to his presence. He had the guards give him a severe beating.

  It can be seen that after abolishing the Grand Chancellor system, Zhu Yuanzhang paid a heavy price, but he didn't mind because in his view, doing more work would do. However, things were far from being as simple as he thought.

  To more clearly illustrate the balance of power between the emperor and the chancellor, let us put it another way.

  The relationship between the two can be described as a game of tug-of-war. The emperor and his ministers are at opposite ends of the rope, pulling in their own direction. This sport has no referee, but there is an unwritten rule that one cannot go too far. Both sides have certain limits to their advances and retreats.

  This limit is precisely the boundary defined by thousands of years of political practice, telling both sides of the imperial court which things the emperor can do and ministers cannot interfere with, and which things ministers should manage and emperors should permit.

  In the game of emperors and ministers over thousands of years, this rule has been constantly improved. Both sides know what they should do and can do, and in such a rule, power reached a balance.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang did not follow the rules, changing everything. He pulled the ministers around and announced that they were all fired from then on. Then he took the rope back home to hang clothes.

  He seems to think that this solves the problem, and that power can be held by one person without the need for so-called balance.

  It turned out that he was wrong, the rules of history are not something that a small Zhu Yuanzhang can change. Since Zhu Yuanzhang did not like this balance, the god of history would arrange another opponent for him and his descendants to pull the river, and this opponent is different from those before.

  They don't follow rules either.

  We must note that Zhu Yuanzhang's unorthodox behavior only harmed himself and his descendants' hard work, but for the entire Ming dynasty politics, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Zhu Yuanzhang lifted the stone and hit his own foot, but did not hit this dynasty.

  There are many mysterious rules in our history and life, which are invisible and intangible, but always play a role. For example, the famous golden ratio, patterns determined by the golden ratio are the most beautiful, and the divided structure is the most reasonable. Many excellent erhu players have found that pulling out the sound at a certain position on the erhu string produces a very beautiful tone, and after verification, that position is exactly the golden ratio of the erhu string.

  These rules are really amazing. If you follow these rules, you will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort. And if you violate these rules, you will be punished by them.

  There are also mysterious rules in history that manipulate everything in silence, and no one can resist them.

  In this tug-of-war, historical rules also played a role. For over a thousand years, kings and nobles had determined their positions according to these rules, but Zhu Yuanzhang ignored them, believing he could thoroughly eliminate the system of chancellors. In a sense, he succeeded.

  He abolished the office of Chancellor and forbade its re-establishment. He used his own power to eliminate the title of Chancellor, but did he really win in this struggle?

  It turns out that the dialectics of history has played a big joke on him, and it has produced a group of people called cabinet scholars. These people are no different from the prime minister except for their names, and even more ironic is that their power is greater than any prime minister in the previous dynasty.

  They interfered in everything and controlled all matters. They not only managed state affairs but also the emperor's private matters, they did not allow the emperor to ride horses at will (Zhengde), did not allow the emperor to eat aphrodisiacs (Longqing), did not allow the emperor to choose his own successor (Wanli), and even created their own era of famous ministers, an era with almost no imperial power constraints (Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng)!

  Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to change the power balance that had lasted for thousands of years with his own strength, but ultimately suffered the punishment of historical rules. Zhu Yuanzhang came to the store of history and wanted to buy a bar of soap, but the dialectics of history forcibly matched him with a roll of toilet paper. If Zhu Yuanzhang knew in the afterlife that his actions had led to such a result, he would probably be left crying and laughing at the same time.

  Zhu Yuanzhang, you are great, but also insignificant.

  In front of this behemoth of historical rules, you are so weak and small, your resistance is so powerless.

  The great tide of history surges forward, overwhelming all in its path! Those who follow it will prosper, while those who resist it will perish!

  Indeed!