In the bustling and impetuous modern society, Zhu Xiongying is a senior scholar obsessed with the study of Ming Dynasty history. His study is like an ancient treasure house that has been dusted by time. All four walls are occupied by towering bookshelves. The layers of ancient books are yellowed and old, exuding the unique atmosphere of time, as if building a time tunnel leading to the Ming Dynasty. Every ancient book is like a window for his dialogue with the Ming Dynasty. If you lightly touch the spine of the book with your fingertips, you can feel the echoes of that magnificent history.
Regarding the political system of the Ming Dynasty, he was like an experienced chess player, knowing every move and strategy. From the tortuous journey of the cabinet system from its infancy to maturity, to the subtle and complex power checks and balances among the six ministries of officialdom, household affairs, rituals, military affairs, punishment, and industry, he was able to analyze and explain it in a clear and thorough manner. He knew very well that the cabinet had gradually developed from a simple organization that provided advisors to the emperor to an important center capable of checking and balancing imperial power and coordinating government affairs. Behind the scenes were countless power games and collisions of political wisdom. There is a clear division of labor among the six departments, and they also restrict each other. The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment and removal of officials, the Ministry of Households is in charge of money and grain taxation, the Ministry of Rites is in charge of rituals and sacrifices, the Ministry of War is in charge of military affairs, the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of justice and prisons, and the Ministry of Industry is in charge of engineering construction. The decision-making of any one department may affect the whole body.
In the economic field, whether it is the prosperous silk trade in the Jiangnan water towns and exported overseas, merchant ships shuttled across the rivers and lakes, or the rise of Shanxi merchants in the north with their extraordinary business wisdom and courage, with business names all over the country, the economic context and development ups and downs behind them,
