Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 112 Group of Jinshi in the same year
Mao Wenlong and others led a thousand warriors and entered Beijing more than ten days ago.

Before that, on November 9, news of Wei Zhongxian's death had reached the palace.

Zhu Youjian was relieved to learn that Wei Zhongxian had hanged himself. Knowing that the overall situation of the eunuch party has been decided, the only thing left is how to deal with the rebellious officials.

Yuan Keli, the associate minister of the Third Law Department, was responsible for these, and Zhu Youjian was very relieved.

Yuan Keli did not live up to his expectations. After serving as the Associate Minister of the Three Justice Departments, he first released Geng Ruqi, Hu Shirong and other officials who had been wronged, and let them serve as officials appointed by Zhu Youjian to review the officials of the Ministry of Justice.

These people were unjustly convicted by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and were naturally merciless during the review. Many officials of the Ministry of Punishment temporarily refused to accept their fate after being dismissed by Yuan Keli, and then separated the judicial functions of the Ministry of Punishment and urged Li Ruogui, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, to reorganize the Thirteenth Department of the Ministry of Punishment.

Dali Temple was also very active in getting the judicial functions separated from the Ministry of Punishment. The restructuring of the Three Law Divisions is progressing rapidly.

The new yamen of Weiwei Temple also took over the patrol camp in the capital under the leadership of Yuan Keli, Liu Qiao and others. While establishing the patrol team, it also established four general administrations: the General Administration of Public Security, the General Administration of Criminal Investigation, the General Fire Department, and the General Administration of Health. And appointed subordinate officials to establish the Dongcheng District, Xicheng District, and Nancheng District Tingwei Offices.

The merger and restructuring of the Wucheng Military and Horse Division, and the merger of the Wucheng District into the Three Cities District, have begun to advance.

This made Zhu Youjian very satisfied, feeling that capable ministers were different. Lu Tunan has not yet completed the adjustment of the General Affairs Department. Lai Zongdao was also troubled by the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple, and Guanglu Temple. Compared with Yuan Keli's methodical and rapid progress of work, the abilities of these two people are too poor.

If there were more ministers like Yuan Keli in the court, he would not have to do everything personally and arrange the affairs of the six ministries in every detail.

Thinking of what happened in the court, Inspector Zhu You sighed and felt that it was really difficult to do things.

After confirming the opening of the Mingfa and Mingshu departments three days ago, and the special birth system for Yuanshi, Zhu Youjian planned to make persistent efforts and confirm the implementation of the grinding method today.

However, this was very controversial in the court, especially among low-ranking officials, who reacted extremely fiercely. None of them want to go through the qualifications step by step and become senior officials in more than ten or twenty years.

There were too many voices of opposition, and there were no competent ministers to push for it. The forced grinding law could not be implemented at all. Zhu Youjian could only put it aside temporarily and turn to the establishment of the martial law system.

Yuan Keli pushed hard for this matter. Although there was a lot of opposition in the court, they could not hold back Yuan Keli, who was co-president of the Third Law Division.

In addition, many courtiers were worried that the emperor would use the Central Edict in the future. After Zhu Youjian made it clear that he would not use the Central Edict once the martial law system was in place, the martial law system was reluctantly passed and discussions began on the specific terms.

Because of this incident, Yuan Keli was criticized by many civil servants. In the eyes of many people, the emperor's edict was completely ineffective, and there was no need to exchange it for the martial law system. Once martial law is implemented, the emperor has the right to monopolize power, which will greatly damage the power of civilian officials.

These people have a good idea, but the edict has no effect on civil servants at all. However, it is still of some use to generals and nobles. If the emperor does not clearly promise not to use the edict, disputes will inevitably arise in the future.

Many ministers thought of the controversy arising from the imperial edict during the Wanli period and the emperor's appointment of Wei Zhongxian during the Tianqi period, turning the court into a one-spoken court. They finally acquiesced to the passage of the martial law system and did not oppose it in court.

Objections from lower-level officials did not prevent the matter from passing. But they were also appointed by Yuan Keli and became the main force in formulating the terms of martial law——

Yuan Keli wanted to take advantage of them and strictly restricted the emperor's use of martial law.

There was nothing we could do about these officials Zhu Youjian. Although they were wise enough to protect themselves when the Eunuch Party was in power, they could not be implicated in the review of the Eunuch Party. He could only ask eunuchs such as Wang Tiqian, Gao Shiming, Wang Wenzheng, Wang Yongzuo, and Liu Ruoyu to review them one by one, so as to prevent those civil servants from laying waste to the terms of martial law.

At the same time, he was still a little lucky, knowing that he was not facing the main force of the civil service group. If those civil servants who dared to resist when the eunuchs were in power returned to the court, it would be even more troublesome to formulate a martial law system on their own. This made him determined to establish the martial law system and grinding system before those people returned to the court:
Martial law is about the power of the emperor, and the law is about dividing the civil servant group.

Both systems must be finalized, and they must be implemented as soon as possible.

With high hopes for the Mokan method, Zhu Youjian analyzed the reasons why Jinshi scholars in the Tang and Song Dynasties did not form political groups because of their friendship with each other in the same year. The most important thing was the Mokan method.

Under the grinding method, the grinding period for Jinshi is the same. Although some people get promoted faster after making meritorious service, it is not enough to widen the gap.

The higher you go up the promotion ladder, the more likely you are to become competitors in the same discipline. It is impossible for you to be good to me and to form a unified political group.

In addition, according to the system proposed by Zhu Youjian, many incompetent Jinshi will be eliminated at the fifth rank. Even if there is a group formed in the same year, there are not many officials.

According to the existing system of the Ming Dynasty, it is different. The three-year preliminary examination, the six-year re-examination, and the nine-year general examination are good in theory, but there are big problems in actual implementation.

Those with good connections are promoted very quickly, while those without good connections cannot catch up. As long as they accept their fate in their hearts, low-ranking Jinshi will naturally use the same year to attach themselves to high-ranking Jinshi and form a political group with the same year as the link.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian made up his mind to replace the existing system with the grinding method and divide the Jinshi group formed in the same year.

For example, in the second year of Tianqi's reign, he planned to support several leaders and not allow one person to dominate.

Wen Zhenmeng was the number one scholar in Tianqi's second year, so he was naturally the leader in this subject. Someone has already proposed calling him back to the DPRK, and this matter should be slowed down.

Huang Daozhou was Yuan Keli's most valued disciple, and he was as famous as Liu Zongzhou in the Second Week of Martyrdom. It would be easy to say that he was just dismissed from office, but unfortunately he is now in Dingyou and cannot be recalled for the time being.

Ni Yuanlu, another person whom Yuan Keli valued, is coming back to preside over the Jiangxi Provincial Examination, so we can see if it can be used.

In addition to Lu Xiangsheng who was supported by Zhu Youjian at the local level, Jiang Dejing and Ni Jiashan who were promoted in the court, as well as his teacher Liu Hanru, and the queen's teacher Chen Renxi——

In the second year of Tianqi, there were too many talented people in this department, and they could not be allowed to form a unified political group.

Most of the Jinshi in this subject are in their thirties or forties, which is when they are in their prime. Their official qualifications are also sufficient to serve as higher-level officials.

Zhu Youjian planned to support this department and try to divide the group of Jinshi students in the same year.

But for now, those who hold the most important responsibilities in the DPRK are the first few subjects. For example, in the thirty-second year of Wanli, Huang Liji, Sun Chengzong, and Xu Guangqi; in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, Li Biao, Qian Longxi, and Cheng Jiming who were in the same class as Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou; in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, Qian Qian Yi, Fu Zonglong, Yang Sichang, and Zhou Jiachun; Li Guopu, Yang Jingchen, Zhou Yanru, Liu Hongxun, and Wu Gang in the 41st year of Wanli; Qian Shisheng, Geng Ruqi, Chen Qiyu, and Zhu Dadian in the 44th year of Wanli.

Even Kong Zhenyun, Sun Chuanting, and He Wuzou who were in the 47th year of Wanli were lifted up by Zhu Youjian. There is also Yuan Chonghuan in this department, who has become a local official by virtue of military merit.

They have more seniority in the court and are more qualified to hold high-ranking officials than those who were Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. Many people are already Grand Bachelors, or candidates for Grand Bachelors.

Zhu Youjian had planned to promote the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the left minister of the Ministry of War, and the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, so that Wen Tiren, Xu Guangqi, and Kong Zhenyun could occupy the official positions first, and promote the restructuring of the Three Law Departments and the implementation of the Grinding Law.

(End of this chapter)