Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1223 The Dynastic Structure
Zhu Shenzhui's decision to establish a governor-general in Takgon, Burma, and appoint Zhang Xianzhong as the governor-general was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but in reality, he had long planned to do so. The changes in Burma simply prompted him to do this ahead of time. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong was fortunate enough to become the first candidate for the Ming Dynasty's overseas governor-general.

Zhu Shenzhui saw the problems of the Ming Dynasty very clearly. To be honest, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had given great thought to the establishment of the political structure and official positions of the Ming Dynasty, including the move of making princes into vassal kings on the frontier.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang came from a poor family and had little formal education, he read a lot of books after joining the rebel army. Moreover, he was extremely talented and, in just a few years, not only learned how to read articles but also gained insights from them.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was constantly considering the political structure and official positions of the Ming Dynasty and made many adjustments to them. Even his sending princes to the border was based on deep considerations. It must be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was not only fully qualified as a founding monarch, but also accomplished many things that many dynasties failed to do.

Judging from the political structure and official positions set up by Zhu Yuanzhang, almost every aspect was taken into consideration. It not only changed some of the inherent shortcomings of previous dynasties, but also made up for many loopholes because of his wisdom. As a result, the political structure and official positions of the Ming Dynasty were the most reasonable and perfect in thousands of years of Chinese history.

Later historians often evaluate the Qing Dynasty as having reached the pinnacle of feudal society in terms of its political structure and official appointments, making it the culmination of feudalism. This assessment is not entirely wrong. However, to be precise, the Qing Dynasty was able to achieve this not because of its own inherent characteristics, but because it inherited the Ming Dynasty's system and then supplemented it with elements specific to the dualistic nature of the Qing Dynasty, thus creating the later system.

Therefore, the dynasty that truly embodied the essence of feudal society was not the Qing Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty, specifically the political structure established by Zhu Yuanzhang at the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang considered almost everything when setting up this structure, perfecting it through mechanisms of checks and balances and mutual supervision. Theoretically, it was flawless, and the fact that this political structure operated smoothly for nearly three hundred years demonstrates Zhu Yuanzhang's wisdom.

However, even the most perfect system will undergo various changes in its implementation. For example, the system of enfeoffing princes and the centralized system of the central court, which Zhu Yuanzhang adopted at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, only lasted for a few decades. After Zhu Yuanzhang died and Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, things changed. Emperor Jianwen began to reduce the power of the princes, fearing that his uncles were too powerful in the local areas. Coupled with the influence of the civil official group, the problem of the methods used eventually triggered a major change, which led to the Jingnan Campaign of Zhu Di.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne through the Jingnan Campaign, he did the same thing as Emperor Jianwen: to weaken the power of the princes. However, unlike Emperor Jianwen, who failed to do so, Zhu Di succeeded. This difference stemmed from the difference in their abilities and methods.

Because of this situation, the pattern of princes being granted fiefdoms on the frontier, which had continued throughout the Hongwu reign since Zhu Di, was broken. After the Yongle reign, as the reduction of the power of the princes gradually took effect, coupled with Zhu Di's deliberate suppression and vigilance against the princes, the princes of the Ming Dynasty eventually went from being protectors of the royal family to being objects of strict vigilance by the royal family.

From Zhu Di's own perspective, his idea of ​​reducing the power of the princes was not problematic, because Zhu Di himself had risen to the throne through the Jingnan Campaign after being born a prince. Once he became emperor, he would inevitably fear that his brothers or nephews might follow suit and rebel like he had. Especially since he was getting old, if he were to die one day and the succeeding emperor lacked his prestige and ability to control these rebellions, then the throne might be seized by someone else.

Under such circumstances, how could Zhu Di possibly feel at ease? Therefore, as soon as he became emperor, he began to reduce the power of the princes, a complete 180-degree turn from his attitude when he was a prince himself. This is the principle of "where you stand determines where you stand," or, as the Western proverb goes, "the dragon-slaying boy becomes the dragon himself." Zhu Di, upon becoming emperor, immediately did the same thing as the Jianwen Emperor.

While Zhu Di's actions consolidated imperial power and weakened the power of the vassal kings, they also completely destroyed the system that Zhu Yuanzhang had painstakingly devised, which combined enfeoffment with centralized power.

With most of the power of the vassal kings stripped away, they became mere figureheads. Coupled with the imperial family's vigilance and wariness towards them, subsequent Ming emperors exercised extremely strict control over them. Ultimately, this led to the vassal kings, including members of the imperial family, being raised like "pigs." Over time, this group not only failed to become a shield and protector of the imperial family but instead became a burden and trouble for the Ming Dynasty. This is the main reason why the Ming Dynasty, which still held half of the country and was no less powerful than the Qing Dynasty, ultimately perished due to internal strife, even after Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself from a crooked tree.

After dealing with the vassal kings, the Ming dynasty's noble class also suffered a setback after the Tumu Crisis, losing their power in the court and causing the political structure that Zhu Yuanzhang had initially set up, in which the imperial family and nobles assisted the royal family in fighting against the civil official group, to completely collapse.

Without the support of the imperial family and nobles, the Ming emperor suddenly became truly isolated, while the power of the civil service increased dramatically. The supervisory system gradually became a mere formality, and officials at all levels colluded not only to extend their reach into the army, which had previously been jointly controlled by the imperial family and nobles, but also to alter the entire political landscape of the court. Under these circumstances, the Ming emperor also felt threatened and realized that imperial power could not possibly counterbalance the civil service group if things continued this way, and began to make changes.

This change involved establishing the Directorate of Ceremonial in the inner court, supporting the eunuch group to check the civil official group, and strengthening the authority of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to counterbalance it. In order to better control the Embroidered Uniform Guard and prevent it from becoming too powerful and out of control, the Eastern Depot was established in the name of the Directorate of Ceremonial. After the establishment of the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot was established to supervise it. Even during the Zhengde period, the Inner Depot was established to supervise the Eastern and Western Depots. These institutions were linked one after another, which can be described as painstaking.

Ultimately, the political landscape of the Ming Dynasty became what it is today. Even so, the power of the civil service group continued to grow stronger, to the point that the Donglin Party emerged in the late Wanli period, directly threatening the imperial power.

With the emperor's power waning, and unwilling to accept that power had fallen into the hands of the civil service, he could only try to seize power. This is why the Tianqi Emperor heavily relied on Wei Zhongxian to relentlessly suppress the Donglin Party. Unfortunately, the Tianqi Emperor ultimately failed to achieve his goal, falling just before the Donglin Party was about to be completely destroyed. The Chongzhen Emperor, who succeeded him, was initially misled and easily killed Wei Zhongxian, dealt with the so-called eunuch faction, and even suppressed the Embroidered Uniform Guard, thus cutting off his own arm and losing the initiative.

Later, Emperor Chongzhen gradually realized the truth and began to adjust the court's structure, including suppressing the Donglin Party. Unfortunately, Emperor Chongzhen's political skills were far inferior to those of Emperor Tianqi, and he himself had personality flaws. He was stubborn, impatient, indecisive, suspicious, and fickle. In particular, he was harsh and ungrateful, and his political vision was also poor. The country not only did not improve under his rule, but it became worse.

When Zhu Shenzhui was a member of the imperial clan, he carefully studied and analyzed the political landscape of the Ming Dynasty and deeply considered its current political structure. After he also became emperor through the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Shenzhui began to gradually change this structure to solve these problems.

In Zhu Shenzhui's view, the general direction of the political structure set up by Zhu Yuanzhang was not problematic, but the series of changes that followed were something Zhu Yuanzhang could not have foreseen. However, times have changed, and the Ming Dynasty of today is no longer the same as it was then, and the entire world order has also undergone tremendous changes. Directly restoring the political structure of Zhu Yuanzhang's era is not appropriate at present, and the structure that has been established since then has lasted for more than two hundred years. Abolishing and readjusting it would not only be extremely difficult, but would also cause many problems.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui ultimately adopted a gradual approach, making adjustments step by step. His first step was to further improve the Ming Dynasty's supervisory system. Previously, the Ming Dynasty's supervisory system was structurally sound, but the key problem was that it was practically defunct, having become a tool used by the civil service to attack political opponents, and had lost its original function.

Starting from this aspect is the most convenient approach. It not only allows for the reconstruction of the supervisory system but also enables the suppression of various civil official groups, including the Donglin Party, thus placing this powerful tool in the emperor's hands. After completing the reorganization of the supervisory system, the structure of the court was adjusted accordingly. Zhu Shenzhui spent several years gradually completing this task, including handling major cases such as the Jiangnan Case, and taking drastic measures, even executing many people.

Furthermore, there was the issue of supporting nobles and members of the imperial clan. Compared to the civil service, nobles and members of the imperial clan were naturally closer to the royal family. After all, one was a noble who shared the fate of the nation, and the other was a collateral branch of the imperial family, their own relatives. Their wealth and glory came from the Ming Dynasty, and once the Ming Dynasty was gone, everything they possessed would vanish like smoke.

The civil service was different. While there were many loyal and virtuous officials who were devoted to the Ming Dynasty, there were also many who took the imperial examinations and became officials for their own interests and for their families. The latter numbered far more than the former. Don't be fooled by their outward talk of loyalty and righteousness; in reality, there was a lot of filth behind the scenes. Indeed, in the original history, after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, quite a few of these civil officials defected to the enemy.

Using a passage from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," specifically the part where Lu Su advises Sun Quan against surrendering to Cao Cao, Lu Su tells Sun Quan that everyone else can surrender, but he, Sun Quan, must never surrender. This is because if others surrender to Cao Cao, they can still serve as officials under Cao Cao. For these people, it's just a matter of changing locations to continue preserving their status, wealth, and honor.

But Sun Quan was different. He was the lord, and what would happen to him if he surrendered? Would Cao Cao really give up his position to him? The logic was obvious. It was precisely because Sun Quan understood Lu Su's advice that he finally realized the truth and became determined to fight Cao Cao. This led to the Battle of Red Cliffs and the eventual division of the country into three kingdoms.

(End of this chapter)