Some are from the Pavilion Lao Xujie in the late Jiajing period.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the cabinet academicians were called cabinet elders. Ge Lao is a popular and respectful name for officials who joined the cabinet during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system and concentrated power on the emperor. He also established a cabinet, which was actually just a secretarial agency for the emperor to consult and draft edicts, without decision-making power.
Xuanzong of the Later Ming Dynasty died early and Yingzong was young when he came to the throne. Therefore, the cabinet minister "San Yang" and the Queen Mother *** were in power together. At this time, the cabinet powers were expanded accordingly.
After Ming Wuzong died without heirs, the throne was inherited by his younger brother (☆that is, Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty during Jiajing☆), and a dispute arose over the "Great Ceremony". At this time, the power of the cabinet was almost balanced with the power of the emperor. Cabinet ministers became real and anonymous ministers.
During Shenzong's reign, Zhang Juzheng's power was the highest in the Ming Dynasty.
There are usually multiple cabinet ministers (usually three or four), but they are divided into "first assistant" and "secondary assistant", and their powers are also different accordingly.
In the early Wanli period, Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister and had overwhelming power. His status was actually equivalent to that of the prime minister in the Tang and Song Dynasties, who was "below one person and above ten thousand people", or even worse. Although other officials who are also cabinet ministers are also called cabinet elders, they are only in formality.
Xu Jie (October 20, 1503 - June 7, 1583), named Zisheng, named Shaohu, and No. 1 Cunzhai. Han nationality, from Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty (now Songjiang District, Shanghai). A famous minister in the Ming Dynasty, he served as the chief minister of the cabinet from the late Jiajing Dynasty to the early Longqing Dynasty.
In the second year of Jiajing's reign, he passed the rank of Tanhua and was awarded the title of editor of the Hanlin Academy. Later, because of his disobedience to Zhang Fijing, he was denounced as an official in the Yanping Prefecture. Suffering from this setback, he became an official since then. Later, he became the Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and participated in important confidential affairs of the court. Xu Jie had secretly exposed the crimes of Qiu Luan, the Marquis of Xianning, and was trusted by Emperor Jiajing because he was good at writing Qing Ci. He stayed with Yan Song for more than ten years, and he was cautious and good at catering to the emperor's wishes, so he was able to stay in power for a long time.
In the forty-first year of Jiajing reign, he learned that Emperor Jiajing had heard about the illegal behavior of Yan Song and his son, so he ordered the censor Zou Yinglong to participate in the impeachment, and finally Yan Song was dismissed from office and his son Yan Shifan was banished to garrison. Xu Jie replaced Yan Song as the chief assistant. In the eleventh year of Wanli, Xu Jie died of illness and was given to the Grand Master with the posthumous title Wenzhen. Xu Jie is the author of "Shijingtang Collection", "Shaohu Collected Works", etc.
In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), after Xu Jie succeeded as the first assistant, he vigorously eliminated Yan Song's bad government and paid great attention to selection. He successively recommended Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others to the cabinet. He cherished talents very much and vigorously rescued Hai Rui, the head of the household department, who was sentenced to death because Shangshu accused the emperor of negligence. He was also very diligent and completed all the tasks assigned by the emperor on time even if he stayed up all night, so he was even more appreciated by Jiajing. At the same time, he often persuaded the emperor to stop the practice of frequently killing ministers in border towns. As a result, the number of Tiqi was reduced, and the number of imperial edicts and prisons was gradually reduced. Later, because of his meritorious service in commanding the Ming army to resist the Mongolian cavalry going south, he was promoted to Grand Bachelor of Jianji Palace.
After the death of Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong, Xu Jie drafted a posthumous edict to rehabilitate all the ministers who were convicted of opposing Emperor Jiajing in the Great Ceremony. The survivors were recruited and the deceased were given preferential treatment. On the day the edict was promulgated, many ministers shed tears of gratitude. During Xu Jie's reign, he also reduced the burden on the people and cleared up the salt tax. After King Jing's death, he gave the tens of thousands of hectares of Pitian occupied by King Jing to the people, which made the people happy and running around to tell each other. He also abolished many wasteful projects in the court, especially the expenditures of the emperor's Taoist religion. His approach was supported by the whole court, and people called him "famous prime minister".
After Xu Jie retired and returned home, his children roamed the countryside and purchased large amounts of land. The Xu family occupied an area of ??up to 240,000 acres. In addition, his children and domestic slaves committed evil crimes, which resulted in the accumulation of papers against him. Like mountains. Governor Yingtian Hai Rui and military commander Cai Guoxi handled the case impartially and punished his family. Xu Jie bribed his minister Dai Fengxiang with 30,000 taels of gold, and through Zhang Juzheng ordered his minister Chen Sanmo to remove Hai Rui and Cai Guoxi. Therefore, people at that time called him: "The removal of the prime minister at home can drive away the style of the court." Some people therefore called him a "power traitor."
In the eleventh year of Wanli, Xu Jie passed away at the age of 81. The emperor gave him the honorary title of "Grand Master" and the posthumous title of "Wenzhen". Qian Qianyi was quite approving of Xu Wenzhengong: "If you have negative expectations of things and believe in the Lord's family, when Fenyi (Yan Song) is arrogant and eliminated, you should be smart and self-sustained, and the yang and softness will be attached to Fenyi, and the yin will be tilted. Fenyi. After Yi's defeat, he did everything he could to reverse his policies and become a famous prime minister." Hai Rui's comments, which were sharp-eyed and forthright, are worth pondering: on the one hand, he affirmed that Xu Jie "has been diligent in state affairs since he came to power." He was criticized for being "a former emperor, unable to save himself from the mistakes of the gods and civil servants, and afraid of authority to keep his throne"; on the one hand, he was affirmed that he was an upright and honest official who "did not seek power or accept bribes"; on the other hand, he was accused of being "acceptable and obedient" and only He can be regarded as a "Licorice Pavilion Elder". "Name" and "Licorice Pavilion Lao" are not the same.