明代阁臣署理部事研究

Study on the Cabinet Member Acting as Minister in Ming Dynasty

史书中对于明代大臣进入内阁表述为“以某部尚书(或侍郎)兼翰林学士(或殿阁大学士),入阁预机务”,其中入阁阁臣所兼的尚书都是显示地位的虚衔。但是,在明代的阁臣中,江渊、焦芳、方献夫、严嵩、徐阶、严讷、高拱、孙承宗和杨嗣昌九人,都以阁臣兼尚书并实际管理所兼任的部门。明朝在初期便形成了内阁不能干预六部事务的传统,以上阁臣在不同时期署理部事,引起了官僚集体的很大反应。关注阁臣兼管部事以及其他官员对此的反应,可以看出明代政治运行中的一些价值取向。

History books describe the ministers’entry into the cabinet in Ming Dynasty as"Shangshu(or Shilang)and Hanlin Scholar(or Diange Scholar)joining the cabinet for government affairs",and Shangshu is only a nominal title to show status.But among the cabinet members in Ming Dynasty,Jiang Yuan,Jiao Fang,Fang Xianfu,Yan Song,Xu Jie,Yan Ne,Gao Gong,Sun Chengzong and Yang Sichang all held both the titles of cabinet member and Shangshu and actually managed the ministries.In the early Ming Dynasty,there was a tradition that the Cabinet could not interfere in the affairs of six ministries,so these cabinet members’serving as ministers in different periods aroused great response from the bureaucrats.The response of cabinet members/ministers and other officials can show some value orientations in the political operation of Ming Dynasty.