Keywords: institutional structure; Authoritarianism; Bureaucratic monarchy; Imperial power; Xiangquan
First, the unique bureaucratic monarchy structure in which imperial absolutism and bureaucratic politics coexist.
The history of China's ancient political development shows that absolutism and bureaucracy have always been the two main lines running through China's ancient political system, and they have formed the institutional structure of the empire. Among them, imperial absolutism is in the core and leading position, which affects and restricts the development and change of bureaucracy.
The common sense of institutional change theory is that any political form or political system is a product under specific historical conditions and a concentrated reflection of various contradictions and conflicts in the political, economic, social, military and ideological and cultural fields at that time. China's ancient autocracy sprouted in the Warring States and was established and consolidated in Qin and Han Dynasties. After this process, autocracy reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it also came to an end. In 22 1 year BC, Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, unified the world by "continuing the fierceness of VI, taking it for a long time, swallowing the princes who died in two weeks, and repeatedly establishing Liuhe as the supreme". Since then, the first unified autocratic centralized dynasty in the history of China was established by Qin Shihuang.
The unification of Qin dynasty changed the feudal form of non-centralized aristocratic rule into the form of centralized autocratic bureaucratic rule politically; Economically, the feudal form of the landlord's economy, which divided the land into land, was transformed into the economic form of the landlord renting the land; Then the feudal system was replaced by the county system, which completely eliminated feudal rule. A unified dynasty faces the following situations: on the one hand, the unity of the country and the expansion of its territory; On the other hand, feudalism disappeared and absolutism was established. At this time, it is even more impossible for autocratic individuals to rule the vast country. Therefore, bureaucracy, as a supplement to absolutism, has gradually matured. In fact, bureaucracy sprouted with the emergence of absolutism as early as the Warring States annexation war, but it was far from mature after the reunification of Qin. After the unification of Qin dynasty, the bureaucracy was formally established in the system. From then on to China in the late Qing Dynasty, bureaucracy always existed as a supplement to absolutism, and the system design since Qin Dynasty was basically arranged around the institutional framework of absolutism and bureaucracy.
Following the analytical thinking that the institutional structure determines the institutional arrangement in the theory of institutional change, the authoritarian institutional structure must be reflected in the institutional arrangement. After Ying Zheng, king of Qin, destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he set out to establish a new kingship system around strengthening absolutism. The Qin Dynasty established an emperor system that lasted for more than 2,000 years in China, flattened aristocratic politics, and implemented social hierarchical mobility. The system of three public officials and nine officials was established in the central government, and the enfeoffment system was abolished in local areas, and the county system was implemented, forming a situation in which emperors and officials ruled the world. Officials are divided into central and local systems, forming a bureaucratic pyramid from low to high. [1] The establishment of officials in the bureaucratic system is mainly arranged according to the needs of the position. Although there are many personnel needs, it is more important to arrange around the system. Under such bureaucratic politics, a highly centripetal government organization centered on the emperor was formed.
Han inherited the Qin system and perfected the bureaucratic system initiated by Qin. The emperor system is more perfect, the bureaucratic system is more perfect, and the appointment of bureaucrats is more standardized; The judicial system, supervision system and election system are more perfect. The whole political operation mechanism and process basically revolves around absolutism and bureaucracy. Successive dynasties inherited the Han system and further improved the bureaucratic political system.
The uniqueness of China's ancient bureaucracy lies in that it is both an institutional arrangement and an institutional structure. Bureaucracy, as an institutional arrangement, is determined by the institutional structure of absolutism and produced as a supplement and by-product of absolutism. As an institutional structure, bureaucracy is a supplement to absolutism, but it is easy to form a governance system with unique quality. It is not only a tool of the emperor's personal despotism, but also gradually formed its own operational logic in the evolution of past dynasties. Therefore, bureaucracy is not only a simple institutional arrangement, but has risen to the height of institutional structure. The ancient political history of China shows that absolutism and bureaucracy are two main threads intertwined in the ancient social scene of China. Although bureaucracy is a supplement to autocratic imperial power, the history of bureaucratic changes in China for more than 2,000 years shows that bureaucracy also plays a role as the institutional structure of the empire.
Second, the conflict and integration between the autocratic imperial power and the enlightened government of the prime minister.
Having made clear the political system structure of China ancient society, it is not difficult for us to understand a series of institutional arrangements designed around this system structure. Although the imperial institutional arrangements are often full of personnel needs, they are mainly determined by the institutional structure.
The institutional structure of the coexistence of imperial autocracy and bureaucratic politics will inevitably form a political pattern of dual power centers of imperial autocracy and bureaucratic administration. The common sense of China's ancient political history is that imperial power is at the peak of power and the only leader of the country, but the actual administrative power is in the hands of the bureaucratic political system rather than the emperor. For most of the time in China's ancient autocratic bureaucratic society, the prime minister was the core of the bureaucratic political system, and the prime minister was the leader of the government, responsible for handling all government affairs of the country. On the one hand, the imperial power is supreme, on the other hand, the prime minister is the de facto head of government. The exclusiveness and expansibility of political power determine that this political pattern of dual power centers will inevitably lead to power and power struggle. The ancient political history of China tells us that the struggle between imperial power and relative power is a big topic in the political history of China, which has always existed in the autocratic and bureaucratic society of ancient China. It was not until the abolition of relative power in the early Ming Dynasty that absolutism reached the point where there was no restriction, and the struggle between imperial power and relative power came to an end. Below we will see how imperial power and relative power struggle with each other.
In the bureaucratic politics at the beginning of Qin dynasty, the restriction of relative rights was already noticed. The Qin dynasty divided the central officials into three levels, the first level of which was composed of the prime minister, Qiu, and Yushi, the so-called three fairs. The prime minister is responsible for almost all state affairs, mainly state administrative affairs; Qiu is the emperor's strategist and staff officer; Yushi is in charge of the supervision of officials, the leader of the central and local supervision systems, and is responsible for ensuring the normal operation of the bureaucratic system, especially the loyalty of the bureaucratic system to the emperor. The three are not subordinate to each other and each has its own government. The three have their own emphasis on the division of labor and contain each other, effectively preventing monopoly and monopoly, thus ensuring the absolute authority of the monarch. It can be said that the unique separation structure of administrative, military and supervisory powers under the autocratic imperial power in China's ancient political system has been formed. [2] This decentralized structure is mainly to take into account the administrative efficiency based on the division of labor, but also to limit the rights of the relative person and prevent it from being too strong. This is similar to the decentralized structure in western society. On the one hand, it reflects that the ancient society of China paid attention to the balance of power very early, but it is more obvious that the autocratic imperial power restricted the relative power.
During the Western Han Dynasty, the bureaucratic political system continued to develop. It can be seen from the secretaries of the emperor and the prime minister that the prime minister had great power at that time. The emperor appointed Shang Liu as the minister, namely Shang Yi, Shang Shi, Shang Guan, Shang Xi, Shang Yu and Shang Shuling. The Prime Minister appointed "Thirteen Caos" as his secretary, that is, a Western Caos, which was used by the President's History Department. Second, the 2,000-stone-long officials that Cao Dongzhu wanted were dismissed, including military officials. Cao Sanzu mainly sacrificed to agriculture and mulberry. Four plays of Cao, ruling over the memorials of various yamen. The word Cao belongs to the civil litigation part of the law. Liu Lvcao is in charge of postal service. Seven commandant Cao, the main pawn Cao transshipment. Eight thieves Cao, in charge of thieves. Nine fixed Cao, the main crime law. Cao, ten soldiers in charge of the military service system. Eleven-year-old Jin Cao is in charge of money, salt and iron. Twelve Cang Cao, in charge of Cang Gu. Thirteen Huangge, the main book records everything. [3] From the "Six Honors" and "Thirteen Caos", it can be seen that the government affairs of the whole country are concentrated in the prime minister, not the emperor. In fact, the prime minister at that time was not only in charge of the administrative affairs of the whole country, but also responsible for the appointment, dismissal, rewards and punishments of officials, and sometimes participated in the command and planning of military operations. Xiangfu was the largest organ of the central government at that time.
Faced with such a huge relative power, any successful emperor will not ignore its existence. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperor intends to strengthen his power, gradually expand the organization of Shangshu, and give Shangshutai greater power. As a result, Taiwan Province forces encroached on the rights of Sangong. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shangshutai's authority was continuously expanded, and Shangshutai became a quasi-foreign minister. Through Qiu's command of Shangshu affairs, Shangshutai's position rose to the top of the bureaucratic system, thus becoming a government in another sense. Taiwan Province officials encroached on the three administrative powers, which was the expansion of imperial power. The emperor expanded the authority of his secretary "Shangshu" to make him master the administrative power, which is the expression of imperial absolutism, or the expression of autocratic imperial power restricting mutual rights.
Due to the expansion of autocratic imperial power, since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, besides the expansion of bookshelves, the number of attendants and counselors around the emperor began to increase. Some of them are "literary attendants" who prepare consultants and consults, and go in and out of the palace in the name of various doctors, negotiators and servers. There are also things to accompany the emperor and respond to, or to plug the teeth to alleviate the boredom of the emperor, in the name of constant waiters and waiters. [4] In fact, these attendants and advisers are the eyes and ears of the emperor to understand state affairs, and the essence of absolutism determines that the emperor cannot but interfere in the operation of the government. With the expansion of autocratic imperial power, these two parts of attendants and consultants gradually evolved into the special secretary team of the emperor in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The emperor upgraded the specifications of attendants and consultants to Zhongshu Province and Xiamen, which was obviously the result of the emperor's control of administrative power. Because Shangshutai usurped the power of the prime minister and became the actual central organization, Shangshutai became the de facto prime minister, thus gradually transitioning to the sense of an official. The establishment of Zhongshu Province is to divide the power of Shangshutai. Zhongshu province is responsible for drafting imperial edicts, and it is important to be in charge. At first, the province under the door was only the follower of the emperor, and it only played a role in cleaning up the mess around the emperor. Over time, the power of the province under the door has become more and more powerful, and it has become a formal audit institution after obtaining the "blockade right". During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there were not only the embryonic forms of three provinces, but also six embryonic forms under the jurisdiction of Shangshu Province. Because the authority is limited to administrative affairs, the division of labor and authority of Shangshu Province has been refined. During this period, the ministries under the jurisdiction of Shangshu Province generally included the following: Shangshu, the official department, was responsible for the assessment and promotion of officials; Du Zhi Shangshu, in charge of the national financial revenue and expenditure; Ancestor minister, in charge of ceremonies and sacrifices; Zuo Minshang Shu, in charge of household registration; Five soldiers are ministers in charge of the military; All officials are ministers in charge of prisons; The ministers in the temple are in charge of the palace guards; Cao Tian Shangshu, in charge of reclamation affairs; Shangshu is in charge of the construction of the palace. [5] Of course, the actual departmental settings vary from dynasty to dynasty, and the departmental functions are also chaotic, and there are many overlaps in the division of labor. It reflects the trend of division of labor in Shangshu Province and clearly reflects the transitional color of the system in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The embryonic form of the system of "three provinces and six departments" in Wei and Jin Dynasties was originally the embodiment of imperial power usurping relative power and expanding autocratic imperial power. The three provinces all originated from the court secretaries, attendants and consultants around the emperors of the inner dynasties. Their job is to serve the emperor, and they should not predict state affairs. However, in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the original "three publics" system was abandoned and became a de facto government agency. This is determined by the institutional structure of absolutism. Because autocratic imperial power is bound to expand its own power, especially to a talented emperor, the expansion of imperial power is more obvious.
The expansion of imperial power is not unlimited expansion. The institutional logic of bureaucratic empire is that bureaucracy is not only an institutional arrangement, but also embedded in the institutional structure. That is, bureaucracy is not only an appendage of absolutism, but also has its own operational logic, and it is a relatively independent governance system. Bureaucratic groups are also classes with their own special interests. Therefore, imperialist absolutism cannot seize relative power indefinitely, nor can it monopolize power. The institutional structure determines that a government agency established according to the will of the emperor but independent of the emperor must be formed outside the emperor to implement the rule of the whole country. In other words, the expansion of imperial power cannot go against the logic of bureaucracy. Therefore, the system of three provinces and six halls has become a formal institutional arrangement because of the institutional framework. The establishment of the system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties gave us strong persuasiveness.
Sui and Tang dynasties inherited the evolution of Wei and Jin dynasties. The first institutional innovation and the second institutional inheritance completed the second great institutional change in the history of China. During this period, China's ancient bureaucracy became mature.
After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the central institutions of three provinces and six ministries were restored and improved, and a government system of separation of powers was established, which was drafted by Zhongshu Province, reviewed by the provincial government and implemented by Shangshu Province. The system of the three provinces in the Tang Dynasty was more perfect. Mr. Qian Mu called the prime minister system in Han Dynasty the leader system and the prime minister system in Tang Dynasty the committee system. In other words, "in the Han dynasty, one person held the administrative power of the whole country, while in the Tang dynasty, the relative power was held by several departments, and many people were responsible for it, which was decided by various departments at a meeting." [6]
The Tang Dynasty implemented a centralized deliberation system for prime ministers. In fact, the governors of these three provinces are separated from their departments and are solely responsible for handling state affairs. Deputy officials of the three provinces became the actual leaders of the three provinces. Later, the emperor simply canceled the position of chief executive in the three provinces, and only set up a deputy, who entered the government affairs hall. This reduced the official position of the prime minister and facilitated the emperor's control over the prime minister. In the Tang Dynasty, the functions and powers of the former prime minister were officially distributed to the three provinces, that is, the power of the former royal family was returned to the government. In this way, the rank of the prime minister has been lowered, but his authority has been expanded, which is obviously a reasonable and efficient administrative system. Because this not only increases the administrative affairs handled by the prime minister, but also reduces the level of the prime minister, in other words, reduces the power of the prime minister, thus ensuring the normal operation of the political mechanism and the authority of the autocratic imperial power.
Restricted by the bureaucratic political system structure, there is no absolute unrestricted autocratic imperial power under bureaucratic politics, and the dual structure of power is inevitable. However, the essence of emperor's autocracy is that power cannot be sidelined. Therefore, the emperor always tries to check and balance the power of the prime minister and other power departments within the government to prevent the power of a certain department from expanding to the point where it threatens the authority of imperial power. From the decentralization of the three provinces in the Tang Dynasty, it can be seen that the prime minister system was designed in the Tang Dynasty, and collective deliberation can improve the correctness of decision-making. The division of the three provinces makes the power between the prime ministers check and balance each other, so as not to produce the phenomenon of monopoly of one power; The reduction of the rank of prime minister weakened the power of prime minister. Therefore, it can be said that the system of three provinces and six departments in the Tang Dynasty can not only ensure the government's handling of state affairs, but also restrain the excessive expansion of relative power, and find an appropriate balance between imperial power and relative power.
The system structure of absolutism and bureaucracy determines that imperial power not only excludes relative rights, but also depends on the role of relative rights. The relationship between the two reached a fusion in the Tang Dynasty. However, after five dynasties and ten countries' turmoil, this integration was broken. In Song Dynasty, the relative rights were severely divided, and Zhongshu Province and Privy Council were collectively called two governments, which were in charge of administration and military affairs. Menxia and Shangshu provinces do not listen to the supreme decree. The highest decision-making power in the Song Dynasty lies with the emperor, not the prime minister. The emperor not only has the right to consent, but also has the right to participate in opinions. Moreover, in the Song Dynasty, the remonstrance officer was personally appointed by the emperor, independent of the government, and there was no chief executive, so it became an institution to supervise the government represented by the prime minister. All these facts show that the absolutism in Song Dynasty was on the rise and the relative power was declining.
At this point, we can make a summary of the struggle between imperial power and relative power. Judging from the unique system structure of absolutism and bureaucracy in ancient China society, the essence of absolutism and the system logic of bureaucratic empire determine that the struggle between imperial power and relative power is inevitable. The essence of absolutism determines that imperial power is expanding all the time, and its expansion is endless without the checks and balances of power. The supremacy of imperial power determines the infinity of its expansion. However, it is not enough for autocratic imperial power to rule a huge empire by its own strength. Therefore, the political structure of absolutism rather than feudalism also determines that bureaucratic politics rather than aristocratic political facts is the best way to rule absolutism. Only bureaucracy can guarantee the authority of absolutism. Therefore, the unified bureaucratic empire essentially rejects aristocratization. Bureaucracy can not only ensure that the empire has as many taxpayers as possible, but also make the members of bureaucracy mobile, which is convenient for the emperor to master the personnel power. Therefore, the development of aristocracy is not only restricted by the internal logic of its system, but also by the external shell of the system. As Professor Zhang Ming said, "Door-to-door politics, in the final analysis, is a distorted bureaucratic politics. As long as the logic of bureaucracy still exists, this distortion will be corrected sooner or later "[7]. In short, absolutism determines bureaucracy, and bureaucracy has its own relative independence. The prime minister is the core of bureaucratic political operation mechanism and occupies a leading position in the whole political system. Influenced by the combination of absolutism and bureaucracy, the dispute between imperial power and relative power has always existed, which is the inevitable product of the unique institutional structure in ancient China.
Third, the dispute between imperial power and relative power and the end of bureaucratic distortion.
The conflict between the dual power structure of imperial power and relative power is based on the balance of power. Once this balance is broken, one side of the conflict will destroy the other sooner or later. The absolutism of the Ming Dynasty was strengthened unprecedentedly, and the imperial power was fully developed and expanded. In the traditional political structure, the political forces that are relatively independent of the imperial power and have certain restrictive effects on the imperial power are excluded or placed under the absolute control of the imperial power. The political system does not have any restriction mechanism that can effectively prevent the emperor from abusing his power. The imperial power intervened, dominated and controlled all aspects of the country's political life and became a highly monopolized political force. [8]
The endless strengthening of absolutism will inevitably lead to some distortion of bureaucracy. Because it violates the parallel and balanced institutional structure of absolutism and bureaucracy.
In the 13th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, completely and once and for all solved the long-standing contradiction between monarchical power and relative power, and ordered the execution of Prime Minister Hu on the grounds of "rebellion", thus abolishing the Prime Minister system that has been used in China for more than 1,500 years. The official department, the criminal department, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry are directly responsible to the emperor himself. The emperor "is in charge of the work" and "decides everything by himself", and the imperial power is integrated with the relative power. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang made an "ancestral motto": "The prime minister system cannot be restored at any time, and offenders will be executed."
The abolition of the prime minister has strengthened authoritarian politics as never before. As Mr. Wu Han said, "This highly centralized situation in which all power is in the hands of the emperor was never seen before the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, after the development of 1000 years, feudal absolutism formed a highly centralized political system that Zhu Yuanzhang never had in history. " [9]
However, the abolition of the prime minister seriously violated the objective law of this bureaucratic monarchy since Qin Dynasty. The key link of this bureaucratic monarchy lies in the balance between bureaucracy and imperial power, and the effectiveness of bureaucracy. The prime minister system is the core link to maintain this balance and effectiveness. After all, the prime minister is the leader of the government, and he handles all state laws and regulations. The abolition of the prime minister broke this balance, and the coefficient of the prime minister sharing affairs was on the emperor. "If a person monopolizes the program, he can't do it without extraordinary energy, super memory, perseverance, mastery of government affairs, high sense of political responsibility and obsession with power." [10] Therefore, after the waste stage, it is necessary to seek some kind of institutional compensatory substitution.
1. Supplement to the lack of relative rights: Cabinet system
In essence, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty was a partial restoration of the prime minister system by the emperor after Zhu Yuanzhang, or an alternative compensation mechanism. At the end of Ming dynasty, the cabinet was not the prime minister in the sense of system, and its establishment was always temporary. Strictly speaking, members also have their own responsibilities, and joining the cabinet is only a part-time job. Moreover, the six departments, as executive organs, are not subordinate to the cabinet and cabinet leaders in terms of system. In fact, there is no legal basis, so there are frequent frictions between the cabinet and the six ministries. [ 1 1]
Before the abolition of the prime minister, the six ministries were led by the prime minister and had legal legitimacy. The dual power center pattern in which imperial power and relative power coexist is a relatively efficient and reasonable administrative system. After the fall of the emperor, the original power of the prime minister was granted to his secretary team, which undoubtedly greatly strengthened the power of the monarch. The powers of the cabinet are different from those of the prime minister. Bachelor of Temple Pavilion is a secretarial team around the Emperor, which belongs to factors outside the system and has not been given legal status within the system. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Cabinet never developed into the highest legal administrative body. As far as the nature of its power is concerned, the power of the cabinet is completely dependent on the imperial power, and only through the trust or authorization of the emperor and the combination with the imperial power can the cabinet members have political functions. Without the emperor's "approval of red", the right of "ticket" is not power. It can be said that cabinet power is only an extension and expansion of imperial power. This power attribute determines the political dependence of cabinet university students on the emperor.
There is no legal basis for the power of the cabinet, but the Cabinet University participates in the central decision-making through "face-to-face", "secret report" and "drafting", so the power of the cabinet embodies a certain degree of decision-making power in the power operation mechanism. [12] Although the secretaries of these emperors were in the central government and involved in confidential affairs, they were still officials of imperial academy, with a rank of only five, which was far from that of six ministers. Therefore, the main political function of the cabinet is to improve and strengthen the efficiency of autocratic imperial power.
It can be seen that the autocratic politics of the Ming Dynasty is a relatively clever politics. On the one hand, the emperor made the cabinet "have the reality of prime minister" and skillfully transferred the power of the original prime minister to the cabinet, which greatly shared the busy government affairs for himself; On the other hand, the emperor made the cabinet "without the name of the prime minister", and the cabinet administration had no legal basis. In essence, the secretary team authorized privately because of the trust outside the imperial system has a relatively low level, which greatly prevents the possibility of cabinet dictatorship. Of course, the role of this cabinet system can only be to strengthen the autocratic imperial power. It still goes against the bureaucratic structure and is essentially a distortion of the imperial political system.
2. Institutionalization of eunuch autocracy
In a sense, the autocratic power of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty was also a supplement to the lack of relative power. Eunuch autocracy appeared in all previous dynasties, and the eunuch autocracy in Ming Dynasty was the most serious. Professor Zhang Ming believes that the autocratic power of eunuchs in Ming Dynasty is institutional. The key point is that after the abolition of the Ming dynasty, the emperor monopolized the power, but he could not fully cope with it. [13] The process of handling government affairs in the Ming Dynasty was that the imperial edict was first sent to the emperor by the General Political Department, and then handled by the emperor himself or drafted by cabinet ministers. Cabinet ministers drafted opinions on behalf of the emperor, and then posted them on the throne to the emperor. Finally, the emperor copied it again with Zhu Bi and issued it as a formal decree. However, in a big country, there are many daily commemorative activities, especially in emergencies. In addition, the emperors after the Ming Dynasty were often lazy, so the eunuchs who served with pen and ink beside the emperor won the "batch of Zhu Quan" for the emperor to copy the throne.
The acquisition of Criticizing Zhu Quan marked the institutionalization of eunuch dictatorship in Ming Dynasty. At this point, the eunuch has officially entered the national government affairs circle, and the eunuch has the final say in government affairs. This is obviously better than the "voting right" of the cabinet.
In the dual-track organization where the central decision-making center, cabinet and emcee coexist, the imbalance of power is decisive, which also causes endless disputes over the cabinet. Because Li Si holds the final decision of Zhu Quan, cabinet ministers often take the initiative to build good relations with Li Si, making their handling opinions a formal decree. Later, due to the fatuity and laziness of the emperor, Jian gained the power to answer and play at will, and also the power to convey the instructions of the emperor. At this time, the cabinet's "right to vote" has been completely shelved, and Li Jian has become the supreme decision-maker with a real conscience. This is obviously a distortion of bureaucracy.
The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty completely controlled the state affairs, controlled the cabinet and formed the eunuch party. But its power is parasitic on the imperial power after all, and it needs the protection of the imperial power to obtain the power outside the system. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the eunuch's authoritarian power distorted bureaucracy at best. Instead of threatening the imperial power, it strengthened the imperial power, which is also an important embodiment of the unprecedented strengthening of the imperial power autocracy in the Ming Dynasty.
3. The pinnacle of absolutism
Under the bad politics of despotism and bureaucratic distortion, it is difficult to produce good institutional performance. The collapse of the Ming empire is evidence. However, the establishment of the Qing Empire did not bring new atmosphere to China. The institutional structure, absolutism and bureaucracy of the Qing dynasty are still evolving along their own trajectory. As Professor Zhang Ming said, "As far as the autocratic imperial power is concerned, the Ming and Qing dynasties have the same spiritual vein, and all institutional arrangements revolve around how to strengthen the emperor's power". [14] The institutional arrangements of the Qing Empire showed strong institutional inertia of absolutism and distorted bureaucracy.
"shine on you is better than blue". The essence of the expansion of autocratic imperial power determines that the expansion of imperial power will be endless until a new social force strong enough to threaten the rule of imperial power appears. The Qing empire did not correct the distortion of bureaucracy in time, but inherited the mantle of the Ming dynasty and constantly strengthened the autocratic imperial power, reaching its peak.
The operation of the central decision-making mechanism in the Qing Dynasty was entirely around the will and actions of the emperor. Only when the absolutism of the Qing dynasty developed did the emperor have the greatest satisfaction of power. The genius of the Qing emperor was that he not only centralized the imperial system, but also effectively prevented the political turmoil and cabinet disputes caused by the eunuch's authoritarian power.
The establishment of the military department marked the peak of imperial autocracy. After Yongzheng came to power, out of the need of fighting in the northwest, he set up the "Military Affairs Department" to handle the military affairs in the northwest quickly and confidentially. Later, the military department gradually became the decision-making center of the Qing Dynasty. Military aircraft have the same nature as the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty. Although the responsibility is great, it is at best a secretariat under the control of the emperor. All the military ministers were appointed by the emperor, and all the work was under the strict supervision of the emperor. The military department replaced the cabinet as the secretary team of the emperor, excluding the intervention of eunuchs, and brought the autocratic monarchy to the extreme. "Emperor Qianlong of Yongzheng was able to practice extremely autocratic politics precisely because they took the Ministry of War as the cardinal and comprehensively reformed and criticized all the institutions, systems and even the corresponding political culture that hindered the autocratic monarchy in the traditional politics of the Han nationality and the nation." [ 15]
In a word, in the Qing Dynasty, the absolutism of China's ancient imperial power reached its peak, and the imperial power was no longer restricted, but really became the absolute supreme authority. Reflected in political culture, the relationship between monarch and minister has become a complete master-slave relationship, and the autocratic psychology of imperial power has been satisfied to the greatest extent. The unprecedented strengthening of absolutism has also paid a heavy institutional price. The internal logic of the bureaucratic monarchy society in ancient China was broken, and the inefficiency of the system became more and more obvious. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Chinese Empire gradually declined.
knot
The dispute between imperial power and relative power is an inevitable product of absolutism and bureaucratic political system structure. As long as the pattern of dual power centers of imperial power and relative power exists, the struggle between them is inevitable. The relationship between imperial power and relative power has been evolving since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and it reached an appropriate integration in the Tang Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, due to the promotion of monarchical power, this integration was broken. The nature of the expansion of autocratic imperial power determines that relative power will come to an end sooner or later. The ancient political history of China shows that the monarchs of past dynasties constantly adjusted their systems in order to divide and weaken their relative power. Finally, history developed to the end of the struggle between imperial power and relative power in Ming Dynasty.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, absolutism was strengthened unprecedentedly, and the Ming emperor could not seek power outside the system after abolishing the prime minister, which led to the dispute between the prison cabinet and the institutionalization of eunuch dictatorship. These forces outside the system have stepped up their search for society, thus devastating the already fragile small-scale peasant economy and industry and commerce. Although the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were smart and capable, they had a prosperous time, but this extremely autocratic institutional structure was based on the small-scale peasant economy. At best, "Kanggan Prosperity" is a developed agricultural civilization, but it is obviously fragile when it is impacted by the advanced industrial civilization in the West.
In a word, the bureaucratic monarchy society in ancient China was originally a stable and stagnant society with only the rise and fall of dynasties and changes in productivity. The fatal flaw of bureaucratic monarchy society is that it prevents the whole society from cultivating new productive forces. However, after the abolition of the Prime Minister, the internal logic of bureaucracy was broken, which made the ancient society in China, which was originally backward in agricultural civilization, less efficient, and the social and economic development could not jump out of the cage of small-scale peasant economy. After the rise of western industrial civilization, that is, after16th century, China first lags behind the west in market development, then science and technology, and then productivity and social system. In the final analysis, these backwardness are the backwardness of the autocratic system. The unprecedented strengthening of the autocratic system made the Chinese Empire decline after16th century, and began to be enslaved by the West after19th century.
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