In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished Zhongshu Province through the Hu Weiyong case, and the six ministries and various courts were directly sent to the emperor, and the imperial power was further strengthened. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, university scholars were set up to jointly assist the prince, and the cabinet began to take shape. After Ming Chengzu succeeded to the throne, the cabinet system was formally established and reached its peak during the Jiajing Longqing period.
From the establishment of the cabinet system to the fall of the Ming Dynasty, a total of seventy or eighty first assistants, who had worshiped the first assistants, among which Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, and so on were the representatives of the first assistants of the Ming Dynasty.
A native of Jingzhou, Hubei, he was gifted and intelligent since he was a child, and he was a high school scholar during the Jiajing period. During the Longqing period, he entered the cabinet as a second assistant, and was promoted to the first assistant after Wanli came to power.
During the ten years of serving as the first assistant, Zhang Juzheng assisted Wanli to implement a series of reforms, implementing a whip law in finance, implementing the examination method in the administration of officials, and reusing famous generals such as Qi Jiguang in the military. In 1582, Zhang Juzheng died of illness, and was later liquidated by Wanli.
A native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, he has gone through three dynasties: Hongzhi, Zhengde and Jiajing. In the eighth year of Jiajing, that is, in 1529, he entered the cabinet as the first assistant.
Zhang Xuan served as the first assistant for 6 years, and was honest and honest as an official, suppressed the power of eunuchs, reformed the imperial examination and the imperial court etiquette system, and cleaned up Zhuangtian, and the social atmosphere was new. It laid the foundation for the short-term "Jiajing Zhongxing" after that.
Zhang Xuan died at home in 1539 at the age of 64.
A native of Luoyang, Henan, he was a jinshi during the Tianshun period, and served as the first assistant during the Xiaozong period. After the four dynasties of Yingzong, Xianzong, Xiaozong, and Wuzong, he was an official.
Liu Jian served as the first assistant for 8 years, restraining eunuchs from gaining power, killing Liu Jin and other eunuchs, establishing Confucianism, and punishing neglect of government. Liu Jian dared to tell the truth, offended a group of courtiers, and the officialdom went through ups and downs several times. In 1526, at the age of 94, Liu Jian died, which was praised by later generations.
A native of Xinzheng, Henan, a 20-year jinshi in Jiajing, and a teacher of Emperor Longqing. In 1571, he served as the first assistant.
During his tenure, he reused famous generals to curb foreign invasions, adopted friendly policies with minority regimes, and stabilized the borders of the Ming Dynasty unprecedentedly.
Gao Gong was born in a family of eunuchs, was strong, arrogant, and had a dominant cabinet, which caused the dissatisfaction of Empress Dowager Li, Feng Bao and others. In 1572, after the Wanli Emperor ascended the throne, Gao Gong was dismissed and returned to his hometown. In 1578, at the age of 65, Gao Gong died of illness in his hometown of Xinzheng.
A native of Jiangxi, born in a poor family, he rose step by step from the bottom to the first assistant of the cabinet.
Yang Shiqi is a genius in the early Ming Dynasty, has gone through five dynasties, served as a cabinet assistant for more than 40 years, served as the first assistant for 21 years, is an important member of the creation of the Ming Dynasty "Renxuan's rule", diligent and love the people, in the Renxuan period, admonished to stop using foreign troops, rest with the people, the Ming Dynasty's national strength reached its peak in this period. He died at the age of eighty.
A native of Chengdu, Sichuan, a fourteen-year-old high school jinshi, a veteran of the Four Dynasties, and the father of the famous Yang Shen.
In 1512, he served as the first assistant, and during his tenure, Yang Tinghe reduced taxes, alleviated class contradictions, and resumed agricultural production. We should put things in order, redress unjust cases, eliminate redundant officials and soldiers, and pay attention to the selection and promotion of qualified personnel in order to implement the new policy. This reform resulted in a full treasury in the early years of the Jiajing Dynasty, a great improvement in the financial situation, and a relative easing of class contradictions"The world is now governed"。In 1524, Yang Tinghe angered Emperor Jiajing because of the Great Ritual Incident, was dismissed and returned to his hometown, and died of illness four years later.