明代中枢政体的演进与反思——以“权臣论”为视角

A “Power Minister Theory” Approach to the Evolution of the Central Regime in the Ming Dynastyand Our Reflections

明太祖朱元璋秉持权臣祸国理念,以此作为阐释元朝何以败亡的重要原因,亦以此作为废除宰相制度的理论依据。明中期以后,将阁臣指斥为“权臣”的批评与阁臣关于“无权”的自叙纷纭而出,内阁政治的发展始终受制于权臣祸国论。权臣论视野下的明代中枢政体经历了如下律动阶段:其一,明初废相;其二,明中期内阁权力浮沉;其三,明后期内阁权力萎缩,趋于失能。此外,部分士大夫主张培育重臣,追求实现内阁、六部与科道分权分责的政治局面,此类呼吁构成明人对本朝中枢政体的反思。

Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, adhered to the idea of power officials harming the country, which was not only an important reason for the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, but also a theoretical basis for abolishing the prime minister system. Beginning in the Mid-Ming Dynasty, the criticism of denouncing the cabinet ministers as "power ministers" and the self-narration of the cabinet ministers on "powerlessness" were different. The development of cabinet politics had always been subject to the theory of power ministers harming the country. The central regime of the Ming Dynasty experienced the following stages.The first stage is the abolition of phase in the early Ming Dynasty. The second is the fluctuating cabinet power in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The third is the decline and depowering of cabinet in the late Ming Dynasty. In addition, some scholar bureaucrats advocated the cultivation of powerful officials and the pursuit of the political situation of the separation of power and responsibility among the cabinet, the six ministries and the bureaucracy. Such appeals constituted the profound reflection of the scholar group on the central regime of the Dynasty from the perspective of the theory of power officials.