Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 691 Great Court Assembly = Congress?

Chongzhen was about to turn around and leave when a laborer rushed over.

"My lord, I have a grievance!" The laborer shouted as he ran, "I have a grievance, I have a grievance!"

Lu Jiude and the accompanying imperial guards hurriedly protected Chongzhen, lest Chongzhen would encounter accidents.

But this was simply superfluous. The laborer had just run a few steps before he was tripped by the new army and fell to the ground, and then the whip rained down on the laborer.

The laborer screamed in pain, but still insisted on complaining to Chongzhen.

"My lord, I have grievances, I really have grievances, I am wronged!"

Chongzhen pushed away several eunuchs including Lu Jiude and the imperial guards, but found that it was Meng Xueli, but Meng Xueli at this time had long lost the prestige he had when he was outside Chaoyang Gate that day.

"Your Majesty, I have been wronged." Meng Xueli was rolling all over the floor in pain, but he still didn't forget to cry out for his innocence.

"Although I received the more than 50 taels of silver, I did not collect it for myself, but for the sake of the Holy Majesty. I originally planned to hand over the silver to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Really?" Chongzhen said, "What about Gu Mei and a dozen beautiful maidservants?"

Meng Xueli almost blurted out that it was for the sake of you, the Holy One, but he swallowed it back, because if he really wanted to say that, he would really have no way out.

At that moment, Meng Xueli said again: "My lord, the reason why I accepted Gu Mei and a dozen beautiful maidservants was to stabilize Gong Dingzi and other ministers, because the situation in Beijing was very complicated at that time, and I only had three thousand servants under my command. My son, controlling more than [-] Manchus in the inner city is already stretched, so I can only entrust the second minister with the surrender of the outer city."

Chongzhen smiled and said: "Meng Xueli, I gave you a chance. When Zhang Huangyan first entered Beijing, if you could hand over the dirty silver and Gu Mei and other beauties in time, you would be fine. It's a pity that you didn't."

Meng Xueli was speechless and could only blame himself for making up nonsense.

Several Qin Wang scholars accompanying him also cast contemptuous glances at Meng Xueli.

Meng Xueli is really a scum of the scholar camp.

……

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed, and the time came to the first ten days of August in the 22nd year of Chongzhen (1649).

After nearly two months of exhausting boats and cars, Lu Zhenfei and other thousands of Beijing officials and their entourage finally arrived in Beijing. Chongzhen still sympathized with these ministers and gave them a three-day holiday.

Three days later, Chongzhen held a grand court in Huangji Hall.

This was also the first time after the Jiashen year that Chongzhen held a grand court meeting.

Prior to this, the Great Court Meeting was basically just a formality and did not discuss any substantive content, but starting today, this formality will be eradicated by Chongzhen.

Chongzhen decided to carry out a thorough reform of the Dachaohui.

After the big and small officials who participated in the court meeting had bowed to each other, Chongzhen went straight to the point: "Before starting the court meeting, I want to establish a rule. In the future, if there are no special circumstances or major changes, no more court meetings for officials above the seventh rank will be called. Just for the sake of formality, the ministers and workers had to get up before the fourth watch. In order to prevent the emperor from losing his dignity, he didn't even dare to drink his saliva. Then thousands of people gathered in front of the Emperor's Palace and stood there for several hours. Why bother?"

"Is it because the prime minister of the cabinet is too leisurely, or is it that the officials of the six ministries really have nothing to do?"

"Such a big country is waiting to be governed, and so many government affairs are waiting to be dealt with. Where is the time to waste?"

After a short pause, Chongzhen went on to say: "If everyone has no objections, how about including this rule in the Huangming Zu Xun from today?"

Chongzhen's move seemed to be sympathetic to the officials, but in fact he had other plans.

Lu Zhenfei and other cabinet members were still very vigilant, and instantly realized the mystery.

"My lord." Lu Zhenfei hurried out of the shift and asked, "What do you mean by special circumstances and major changes?"

Chongzhen said: "Major changes are easy to understand, such as the invasion of a strong enemy, or the sudden death of the old emperor, or the occurrence of serious natural and man-made disasters. All officials, large and small, in Beijing need to gather together to discuss countermeasures. At this time, we will call a court meeting , it can be said to be a matter of course, as for the special situation I just mentioned..."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "For example, the emperor's opinions are seriously at odds with the cabinet, and no one can persuade the other. At this time, it is necessary to call all officials above the seventh rank in Beijing to discuss state affairs together."

The Chongzhen Reform Dachaohui did not simply want to eradicate formalism.

In fact, Chongzhen wanted to transform the Dachaohui into a Ming version of the National Assembly. All officials above the seventh rank in Beijing will automatically become members of the Ming version of the Congress, and all officials above the seventh rank in Beijing also include military ministers, that is, military ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. , which allows the emperor and the cabinet to reach their intentions through the Congress.

Conversely, the cabinet can also prevent the emperor's bad intentions through the Great Court Meeting.

This guarantees that even if there is another Bao Zong who engages in seven twists and three in the future, he will definitely not be able to drag Daming into a situation of eternal doom by himself.

This is equivalent to putting the power of the emperor and the cabinet in a cage.

In other words, from now on, the Dachaohui will be the real supreme authority of Ming Dynasty.

As for whether doing so would put shackles on himself?Chongzhen was not worried.

Because what Chongzhen wants to do must be in the interests of Ming Dynasty, and must be supported by the majority of Beijing officials, so even if the proposal is brought to the Dachao Council for a vote, Chongzhen is confident that his intention will be achieved.

For example, if the liquidation of the northern gentry was submitted to the cabinet for a vote, it would definitely be vetoed.

But if it is submitted to the Great Court Council for a vote, it will definitely be passed, because the vast majority of Beijing officials are from the south, and instead of protecting the interests of the northern gentry, they will only make things worse.

There is also the establishment of Beijing Guozi Supervisor, which will definitely get the support of most Beijing officials.

Whose family does not have a few nephews and juniors, and the number of scholars has increased to 20. The North and South Imperial College recruits [-] students every year, and the chances of their nephews and juniors will greatly increase. This is a great thing, why should they oppose it?
So Chongzhen is not worried that doing so will weaken his imperial power. First, he does not draft, second, he does not want to start large-scale construction projects, and third, he does not want to resort to militarism. In addition, he has just wiped out Jiannu, and his reputation is growing. Compared with the cabinet ministers and Liubutang Officials, low-level sixth-rank or even seventh-rank officials obviously trust him more.

Of course, Chongzhen's greatest strength is the more than 5000 people from various departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Lu Zhenfei also realized: "What the Holy Majesty said about Beijing officials of the seventh rank and above, does it include all the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

"Of course it is included." Chongzhen said, "All the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are officials of the Ming Dynasty, and their grades are enough. Why is there any reason to exclude them from the Dachao Conference?"

Lu Zhenfei frowned when he heard that.

This is a bit outrageous, how much is the Ministry of Internal Affairs doing now?

Even if there are not six thousand, there are at least five thousand, and the Guangbing Division has more than 3000 for the affairs. If we want to do this, isn't the emperor's decision on all major national affairs?What else does the cabinet need to do?
At that moment Lu Zhenfei became anxious: "Your Majesty, you said something first, and all government affairs are handled by the cabinet."

"That's right, I said that all government affairs are handled by the cabinet." Chongzhen nodded, "The special circumstances I mentioned never include specific government affairs. Applicable, for example, if the official court of the third rank and above in Beijing introduced a minister who I am very dissatisfied with, but he cannot use the imperial decree to remove him, what should we do at this time? We can only call a grand court meeting, and all the seven ranks in Beijing The above officials shall appoint or remove them."

Lu Zhenfei and the other five cabinet members thought, sure enough, the Holy Majesty wants the right to make decisions on important matters.

The so-called resolution through the Great Court Conference is just a cover. There are so many low-level officials of the sixth and seventh ranks in the Manchu Dynasty, which one is not a fan of the Holy One?Not to mention the five or six thousand from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, if it is true that important matters are brought to the Great Court Conference and handed over to all officials above the seventh rank to make decisions, then the Holy Majesty must have the final say.

However, many low-level officials were refreshed when they heard this.

Because according to the concept put forward by the Holy Majesty, the supreme power of Ming Dynasty is neither in the hands of the emperor alone, nor in the hands of several cabinet ministers, but in the Dachaohui, and in the hands of all officials above the seventh rank !This is simply an unprecedented event, but it is remarkable.

From now on, these low-level Beijing officials will no longer be insignificant decorations.

A low-level Beijing official may not be able to do much, but as long as there are enough low-level Beijing officials who can unite, it is enough to make the chief minister and even the emperor bow their heads!This is a big deal!
There are already quite a few farsighted officials who have foreseen the benefits of this proposal.

This is an eternal good government that can restrain both the emperor and the cabinet. Once passed and written into the emperor's ancestral instructions, it will ensure the smooth operation of the Ming Dynasty's political situation to the greatest extent, and it will not be because of one or two emperors who behaved illegally or a few. The court situation was turbulent due to the powerful ministers.

In today's world, this proposal is irrelevant.

After three generations, this proposal will become crucial.

Many officials in the main hall expressed their support one after another.

Even Zhang Shenyan, the second assistant, expressed his support, and his attitude was extremely firm.

Lu Zhenfei and other prime ministers also began to quickly weigh the pros and cons.

It is unacceptable to transfer the decision-making power on major matters such as laws, taxation, military use, and the selection of prime ministers to the Grand Court Council, but the Grand Court Council can also veto the emperor, which inevitably makes people look forward to it.

You know, this is fundamentally different from the fact that the Six Divisions gave the matter the refutation of the imperial decree.

Because the six subjects only have the right to refute the matter, but not the power to make decisions, but according to the idea just now, the Great Court Council has the final decision-making power. Once the Great Court Council makes a decision, not only the cabinet, but even the emperor It needs to be obeyed, which puts great restrictions on the imperial power, and prevents the country and the people from being harmed by the appearance of a foolish king.

Similarly, this system can also avoid the emergence of a powerful minister who has power.

Isn't this kind of governance that countless civil servants have been pursuing so hard throughout the ages?

(End of this chapter)