The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 492: Treating the Heart and Matters
Before we knew it, it was the end of the year and everyone was busy summarizing the year.

Since Chen Jingke proposed the digital management model, the workload of the court has skyrocketed.

The end of the month and the end of the year are the busiest times.

However, Chen Jingke felt relieved. The more perfect the Ming Dynasty's administrative system was, the more relaxed he felt.

I read books and discuss national affairs every day, just watching others busy themselves.

I feel so relieved.

After work that day, Qiu Guangan found Chen Jingke and talked about a lot of things.

What? I'm old. I really want to be a few years younger.

He also chatted a few words in a flowery manner, his accent still the same but his hair turning grey. Children meeting him did not recognize him and asked with a smile where the guest came from.

I wonder if people in my hometown still remember him.

Chen Jingke could hear the hidden meaning in his words, so he said directly:

"Do you want to continue or quit?"

Qiu Guangan said without hesitation: "Retire."

Chen Jingke asked curiously, "Just like that? No regrets at all?"

Qiu Guangan sneered and said, "You're saying it as if I can stay if I stay."

Then he said solemnly: "The court stipulates that the term of office of cabinet scholars is five years, and they can only be re-elected for one term unless there is a major event."

"I've been doing this for exactly ten years, so it's time to quit."

"Otherwise, the people below will scold me for not practicing."

Chen Jingke squinted and said, "You old man are really cunning. Even after retiring, you still want to give yourself a golden face."

The term of office of a Cabinet Scholar is a maximum of ten years. This rule has been established long ago, but has never been implemented.

Because there were only two people who met this standard before.

Li Shanchang and Xu Da.

They have special identities, and the court also needs them to stand in the front, carry the banner, and stand up for change.

So they had been in office for more than ten years and only retired two years ago.

The person who served as Cabinet Scholar for the longest time was Qiu Guang'an.

This year marks the tenth anniversary.

In fact, all the civil and military officials in the court were watching him, including other cabinet scholars.

See if he retreats or not.

If he does not step down, the rule that cabinet scholars can serve for two terms will be meaningless.

This would make the other cabinet scholars happy because they could also serve for a few more years.

It's hard to reach the top, who would want to give up power?

If he retired according to the regulations, the people below would be happy.

One person can serve for a maximum of ten years, which gives others more opportunities.

In short, whether he retires or not is not just a personal matter, but also a major issue related to the transition of power.

He took the initiative to retire, setting an example and implementing this rule.

It can be said that in the end, it also added a dazzling touch to his political career.

From now on, no matter who mentions this matter, they have to praise it.

That's why Chen Jingke said that he was using this incident to flatter himself.

This was of course a joke, but Chen Jingke was still very happy that he took the initiative to retire.

He was the one who made the rules, so naturally he was always thinking about how to implement them.

But how to persuade Qiu Guang'an to retire?

After all, he is his staunch ally and has worked diligently for him for so many years.

He felt really bad for dissuading people from doing this.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Guangan actually offered to retire on his own initiative, and even emphasized that he would retire in accordance with the rules.

This made Chen Jingke both moved and impressed.

In the Ming Dynasty system, Cabinet Scholars were already at the pinnacle of officialdom. To give up on something just like that required tremendous courage.

As an ally, he did everything he could, truly starting and ending well.

Chen Jingke did not try to keep him, but instead accompanied him to reminisce about the glorious past and expressed his approval of his official career.

Finally, he asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates to recommend for your replacement?"

Qiu Guangan stood up, patted the non-existent dust on his butt, and said as he walked out:
"That's between your Majesty and you. Don't even think of asking me to work like a slave again."

Chen Jingke admired it even more. Recommending others before retirement is the best time to keep favors.

If the person he recommended really gets this position, then this favor would be enormous.

Especially at present, there are not many candidates to succeed him, and it can even be said that the choice is already clear.

The current Minister of Revenue is Pei Youwei.

A member of Zhu Biao's core team and with a background in the Academy of Mathematics, he served as the Minister of Revenue in the early years of Jianzhang, and it has been five or six years now.

Both the ability and qualifications are sufficient.

The key is that Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke were both very satisfied with it.

Qiu Guangan doesn't have to do anything, just mention his name and he can get a favor for free.

He actually gave up like that.

Really lived to the fullest.

Afterwards, Chen Jingke found Zhu Xiongying and told him about the matter.

Zhu Xiongying was very happy and said, "This Minister Qiu is very tactful. I can't be too stingy."

So, the next day he was promoted to Guanglu Dafu and Taishi.

The political signal was very clear, and everyone understood what it meant to confer the title of Three Dukes.

All the ministers were surprised. They didn't expect Qiu Guang'an to retreat like this?
Qiu Guangan also immediately wrote a letter of resignation.

Moreover, the reason for his resignation was not some cliché like begging for his life.

Instead, he pointed out directly that I withdrew because of the rules set by the Holy Emperor and the Supreme Emperor.

This is equivalent to putting the matter out in the open.

From now on, no one should pretend to be ignorant and unaware of this rule.

In short, Qiu Guangan got what he wanted and landed smoothly.

Zhu Xiongying rewarded him with some money and helped one of his descendants to serve as an official, and the matter finally came to an end.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Xiongying appointed Pei Youwei as the new cabinet scholar.

This appointment was completely within everyone's expectations and did not cause any opposition.

Although Pei Youwei holds a high position, he is actually not very old, only 51 years old this year.

This age is certainly not considered young, but among all the ministers in the court, he is definitely a youngster.

You can imagine how happy he is to be appointed as a cabinet scholar at this age.

However, just as he had just become familiar with his job, a major event came upon him.

That day, Chen Jingke brought up a topic and asked the seven cabinet scholars to go back and think about it, and then submit a policy paper to him.

The court established bureaucracy to manage people or to manage affairs. Which is more important and why?
Several cabinet scholars looked at each other.

Although Chen Jingke often gave special training to everyone, this was the first time he asked them to write policy papers directly.

This is really treating yourself as a teacher.

I didn't expect that after studying for most of my life, working as an official for most of my life, and even becoming a cabinet scholar, I would still be assigned homework.

The seven of them all felt it was quite strange.

But the atmosphere was mostly serious. Chen Jingke was acting out of character, so he was bound to make a big move.

Looking at this proposition, is it going to take action against officials?
Two years after the new emperor ascended the throne, is it finally time for change to begin?
The new emperor will bring about changes, and this is a problem that everyone can recognize.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao did this, so Zhu Xiongying, who was even more influenced by Chen Jingke, could not remain indifferent.

The reason why he hasn't moved now is that he has just ascended the throne.

First, to make his existence known to the whole country, and second, to calm the turmoil caused by Zhu's suppression of Neo-Confucianism. Now that the goal has been achieved, it is normal to start the reform.

Everyone originally thought that this time it would be stable for five or six years, but unexpectedly it would end in just two years.

Everyone couldn't help feeling heavy in their hearts, as change is the biggest test for those in power.

Who doesn’t want to be a university scholar for a few years in peace and then retire smoothly?
Unfortunately, this is destined to be wishful thinking.

People of insight all know that the Ming Dynasty’s transformation is far from complete.

It can even be said that the Hongwu and Jianzhang dynasties merely laid the foundation and made a beginning.

The real big changes are yet to come.

Now it’s finally time to begin.

Everyone was mentally prepared, so no one objected.

By this time, those who were truly determined to oppose reform had already been marginalized and would not have been able to enter the cabinet.

What everyone is worried about is that they don't know how the new emperor and his men will proceed.

They could only guess that this was a move aimed at official positions.

Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke said nothing, but just asked them to write the policy paper first.

Everyone was not in a hurry, because no matter how the changes were made, it was impossible to leave out the Seven Scholars.

Now the emperor just wants to see their attitude and understanding of this matter.

However, they did not play it safe, as this will most likely determine their ranking in the cabinet.

Although everyone is on the same level in name, who doesn’t want to be at the front?

So, after returning, they took out "The World of Great Harmony" and read it, and then wrote a policy paper based on their previous knowledge.

The person who attaches the most importance to this matter is Pei Youwei.

He had just come to power when the new emperor wanted to make changes, and he was really overwhelmed.

I even suspected at one point that Qiu Guangan knew this in advance and that was why he was in a hurry to retire.

He had no intention of complaining.

The most taboo thing during the process of change is to replace people. It is prudent for the emperor to deal with personnel matters first before making changes.

Besides, he is young and promising, and is looking to make a big splash, so how could he really be afraid of trouble?

It’s just that the emperor was too impatient. He should at least be allowed to work for two months to get the work sorted out.

But he had no say in the matter and could only go ahead with it.

And he has to perform well and prove to everyone that he is capable of doing this job.

Therefore, he wrote this policy paper very carefully and read through countless materials.

Five or six days later, seven cabinet scholars submitted their policy papers one after another.

Chen Jingke read it carefully and showed an expression of "as expected".

Everyone believes that managing talent is of paramount importance.

He also cited classics to prove how important it is to manage people's hearts.

They even quoted words from the World of Great Harmony to prove this point.

Chen Jingke was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

“As expected, the reason why the reform was not smooth was not only because of the people, but also because of the backward thinking.”

“Old ideas cannot drive new policies.”

Zhu Xiongying threw the policy paper on the table and complained: "Why didn't you point this out in the world of great harmony?"

Chen Jingke explained: "The Great Harmony World is just a framework, it is impossible to cover everything."

"Besides, I have mentioned this point, but I didn't say it in detail."

"But it's not too late now. Let's throw this topic out there and let the world discuss it together."

"It's just some fresh air."

Zhu Xiongying said: "You can talk to Fang Xiaoru about this matter. I just want to reach a consensus with the cabinet scholars as soon as possible."

So Chen Jingke summoned the cabinet scholars and walkers to give them a lesson and made his attitude clear:

“Managing people and managing affairs should be given equal importance, and even managing affairs should be more important than managing people.”

Pei Youwei wanted to refute, but before he opened his mouth, he found that no one around him was talking and everyone was writing frantically with their pens.

He immediately realized that this was not a real class, but more like a mandatory notification.

Tell everyone the royal family's thoughts and what the court is about to do.

Whether you agree or not, you must follow this method.

If you have different opinions, you can give feedback privately. Public questioning is opposition, and opposition means being marginalized.

After realizing this, he no longer planned to speak and picked up his pen to start taking notes.

This made many people who were waiting to see the joke very disappointed.

Chen Jingke didn't care what they were thinking and said to himself:

"In every dynasty, bureaucracy has been built around managing people."

"As long as the people don't rebel, it will be a great achievement."

"As for things... there is only one thing that bureaucrats need to take care of, and that is collecting taxes."

"It can't be said that there is no agency in charge. Water conservancy is one of the few government offices set up by the imperial court to handle matters."

"As for the Ministry of Works and the like, they are not really government offices. They are just special departments that provide services to the royal family and the rich and powerful."

"Let me emphasize that the management I'm talking about here refers to the government offices that serve the entire population, not an institution that serves a small number of privileged classes."

This point was a bit profound, and everyone took a while to think about it before they realized it.

The government office that Chen Jingke mentioned should be similar to the Gold Banknote Bureau, an office that handles specific affairs for the entire public.

Although the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Construction and other institutions were also responsible for work, they were more likely to serve the imperial court and were not directly facing the people.

If you think about it carefully, it seems that there are only tax collection and flood control, which are the government offices that handle specific affairs for the whole nation.

Those who are quick to react have already linked these words to change.

The changes in the imperial court added a lot of burdens to the yamen, and almost all of these burdens required the yamen to do specific tasks.

The government's shortcoming of insufficient staff was exposed.

Although the imperial court set up institutions to share some of the tasks, firstly, their powers were not clear, and secondly, there were still not enough people.

The most important thing is that everyone’s thinking has not changed.

It is my habit to manage people rather than things.

It seems that the new emperor's reform this time is aimed at this aspect.

And there is a high probability that some new institutions will be established to be responsible for specific affairs.

Thinking of this, everyone felt a lot more relaxed.

This is a good thing.

Speaking of reducing the number of officials, this is indeed a difficult thing to do and will offend people and get you criticized.

But it is a different story if you add new official positions.

Their work will be much easier if they receive universal support and praise.

Of course, they have to consider more to be able to sit in this position.

He would not blindly support the court in adding official positions. He had to consider whether the court's finances could afford it, whether the new positions were necessary, etc.

Whether the Ming ship was good or bad, it stumbled along for thirty years.

No one wants it to sink.

At least the current officials are still very positive and have high aspirations and ideals.

Everyone hopes that this ship will become better and go further.

Especially after the concept of Chinese civilization was proposed, everyone has one more thing to pursue.

Contribute to civilization.

As long as China is not destroyed, our name will not be forgotten either. This is the true way to live forever.

So, they support change, but not blindly.

(End of this chapter)