Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 122 Adjustment of Ranks of Disciplined Officials
There is no precedent for the official position of Protector of the Army, and it is the title of a military attache. Civil servants generally think it is inappropriate. Yuan Keli said:
"The military attache protects the army from the rank of second rank to the rank of second rank."

"Civil officials are called guardians, which is not suitable for some people."

Zhu Youjian thought about it and said:

"Civil and military officials are all Zhuguo from the first rank, and the rank from the first rank is Zuozhuguo and Youzhuguo."

"The Shangzhu Kingdom was said to have been changed to the Left and Right Zhu Kingdoms, but Zhang Juzheng, Ye Xianggao, Gu Bingqian and others were added to the Shangzhu Kingdom."

"I have decided today that the Shangzhu Kingdom, Zuozhu Kingdom, and Youzhu Kingdom will all be awarded the first-class honors, and they will be awarded to ministers with meritorious service."

"The civil and military honors from the second grade to the second grade should also be unified and called protector of the country and superior protector of the country."

"The military attache's guardians and superior guardians, and the civilian officials' zhengzhiqing and zhengzhishangqing are no longer needed in the future. They will be replaced by protectors of the country and superior protectors of the country."

Unexpectedly, in order to set up a guard army, the emperor even changed the names of the civil and military ranks. The ministers recognized the emperor's determination and knew that the establishment of the guard army was inevitable. At most, there was only a dispute over the name.

The honorary rank of Protector of the Country obviously comes from Protector of the Army and Zhuguo, and it does sound nice. However, the civil servants did not want to have the same rank as the generals, so the Minister of Rites came to Zongdao and said:

"Your Majesty, the ranks have been customized for a long time and should not be changed easily."

"It is also inappropriate to have the same civil and military ranks."

Zhu Youjian even changed his official position so much, and he had no scruples about his rank, saying:

"If there was customization, why would the Shangzhu Kingdom and the Left and Right Pillar Kingdoms still be in chaos?"

"The first-grade civil and military officers have the same rank, the second-grade rank can also be the same, and the distinction starts with the third-grade."

"Nowadays, the rank of the temple minister is classified as the third rank and the third rank. The Shaoqing is the fourth rank. The second rank of the civil servant is still called Qing. It is already somewhat inappropriate."

"The second-grade honors of civil and military officials all conflict with their official positions, so we should simply change them uniformly to avoid confusion among outsiders."

Speaking of his reasons, Zhu Youjian continued:
"In addition, the civil servants who govern Yin with the third grade of qualifications and the Shaoyin with the third grade of qualifications remain unchanged."

"The Zhengzhi Yin of the fourth rank was changed to Da Shu Yin, the Zan Zhi Shaoyin of the fourth rank was changed to Shang Shu Yin, the correct concubine Yin of the fifth rank was changed to Zhong Shu Yin, and the Xie Zheng Shu Yin of the fifth rank was changed to Shao Shu Yin. "

"Add the chief concubine chief of the sixth rank, the chief concubine chief of the sixth rank, the chief concubine chief of the seventh rank, the chief concubine chief of the seventh rank, and the minor concubine chief of the seventh rank."

"The great common people of the eighth rank are the common people, the common people of the eighth rank are the upper common people, the middle common people of the ninth rank are the middle common people, and the minor common people are the minor common people of the ninth rank."

"All civil service levels must have honorary ranks to facilitate the awarding of meritorious officials."

This is an overall change in the rank of civil servants, in line with the upcoming grinding method. When the ministers thought of this, no one dared to speak against it.

Although many people in the court opposed the Grinding Method, the ministers present knew that the emperor was very firm in the implementation of the Grinding Method. If he opposed this, he would probably be kicked out of the court on charges of treason.

So no one said anything against it. Yuan Keli asked:
"Does the rank of military attaché need to be changed similarly?"

Zhu Youjian had already thought about this and said:

"The military attache's rank as a light chariot commander in the third rank and as a light chariot captain in the third rank remain unchanged."

"The rank of a fourth-rank superior cavalry captain was changed to a large captain, a fourth-rank cavalry captain was changed to a superior captain, a fifth-rank flying cavalry captain was changed to a middle captain, and a fifth-rank flying cavalry captain was changed to a junior captain."

"The sixth-grade Yunqi Lieutenant was changed to senior colonel, abbreviated as Colonel, and the sixth-grade Wuqi Lieutenant was changed to colonel. The seventh-grade lieutenant colonel and the seventh-grade major were added." "The eighth-grade deputy lieutenant, referred to as captain, and the eighth-grade captain were added. Lieutenant of the ninth rank, second lieutenant of the ninth rank."

It was roughly modeled on the military ranks of later generations, except that the general above the captain was designated as the captain by him. However, starting from the fifth rank, military attachés will confer casual officers to generals, so the military usually still calls captains generals, but they dare not call them generals or generals at will.

The ranks of civil servants were actually modeled on those of military attachés. Zhu Youjian was too lazy to give them complicated titles, so he simply distinguished them by senior, middle, and lower ranks.

Moreover, after the additional ranks were added, due to the vacancies of military attachés starting from the sixth rank and below, Zhu Youjian also decided:
"The military casual officers from the sixth rank and below imitate the Tang system, and add Zhiguo Xiaowei and Zhiguo Deputy Lieutenant from the seventh rank, Yihui Xiaowei and Yihui deputy lieutenant from the seventh rank, Xuanjie Xiaowei and Xuanjie deputy lieutenant from the eighth rank, From the eighth rank, you will be the captain and deputy lieutenant of Yugang, from the ninth rank, you will be the captain and deputy lieutenant of Renyong, from the ninth rank, you will be the captain and deputy lieutenant of accompanying Rong."

"Those who have no merit will only be awarded casual officers, and no rank will be awarded. Casual officers will be awarded initially, promoted and additionally according to their seniority."

"Members of honor will be awarded to those who have meritorious service, and to casual officials at the same time."

"To put it in one sentence: casual officials are based on seniority, and ranks are based on merit."

"Relaxed officials can be called sent-remuneration officials, which are mainly used to determine grades. The salary standard for official grades is determined by the casual officials they receive."

This is a complex system of adjustments. Zhu Youjian has only roughly finalized it at this time. How to actually implement it has to be left to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War.

Compared with the long list of official rank names such as casual official rank, postal salary official rank, post, dispatch, rank, and title in the Song Dynasty, the casual official rank, rank, position, and title in the Ming Dynasty are simpler.

For example, in history, the epitaph written by Kong Zhenyun for Yuan Keli is called "Epitaph of the Senior Minister Zhengzhi Shangqing, Minister of the Ministry of War, Jie Huan Yuan Gong". Position and Jiehuan are the names of Yuan Keli, which are relatively simple and clear. It is far less complicated than the Song Dynasty and makes people confused.

Just as a reward to the ministers, the positions of minister, minister, etc. were often awarded as additional titles. Most people don't know whether they hold actual positions.

After Zhu Youjian ascended to the throne, he looked at Zhengqing Shaoqing, the Minister of Manchu Dynasty, and even thought about what official position he actually held. Therefore, he redetermined the title independently and awarded it to court officials. The local area was distinguished by the word "Nanjing" because the censors and ministers who were given the title had corresponding responsibilities.

Future actual assignments will naturally be determined by the position. Lordships such as ranks and titles are awarded to ministers with meritorious services.

The casual officials were designated by Zhu You as sent-remuneration officials, who were responsible for determining their grades and salaries.

Due to financial difficulties, Zhu Youjian does not plan to distribute the honors separately for the time being. The Ming Dynasty's finances and taxation were in a mess. The actual money and food received by the court was only a few million, and even the officials' grade salary had to be distributed in discounts. Naturally, it was impossible to distribute additional honors and salaries. Even the imperial wives who need to be paid salary must be awarded carefully.

The adjustment of casual officials and honorary ranks is Zhu Youjian's preparation for future adjustments to finance, taxation and official salaries. The interests involved are naturally not small.

Although Zhu Youjian did not say it explicitly, the officials did not know this for the time being. But when they think about the fact that all official positions and ranks have to be renamed, Fang Guiwei and Yuan Keli feel that the workload is really terrifying. He deliberately advised the emperor not to make changes, but he also saw that this was in conjunction with the implementation of the grinding survey method.

As the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Fang Zhuangwei could not oppose the emperor on the grinding method. Otherwise, he, like Zhang Heming, who was over seventy years old, would be ordered to serve by the emperor because he was "unwilling to do things."

Yuan Keli, because he had previously promised the emperor to implement the grinding and survey method, could not sing the opposite tune at this time. If he had known that the grinding method promoted by the emperor was so troublesome, he would never have agreed.

Thinking about the fact that casual officials and ranks have nothing to do with actual duties, and any mistakes in adjustments can be remedied in time, the two reluctantly accepted the adjustment and decided to keep the officials below busy.

Just to reduce the workload, Yuan Keli thought of what the emperor said: "Old people use old methods, new people use new methods" and said:

"Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to change existing officials' ranks and ranks."

"You can make changes one after another when adjusting positions."

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and said:
"Then it's settled like this. We will try to adjust all officials within three to five years."

"Civilian officers take the exam every three years, and military attachés take the exam every five years. The new rank of casual officers must be determined when they are re-awarded after the assessment."

(End of this chapter)