Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 166 Zizhengyuan and becoming an official
When the ministers heard that the emperor had set up a national history museum and asked Zhu Guozhen to compile history, they were all envious.

They don't want Zhu Guozhen to be the only one who is good at leaving his name in history.

In particular, Huang Liji and other great scholars had long been arranged by the emperor to compile history books. The more they study, the more they feel that Chinese history and world history can last a lifetime.

Originally, they were worried that after they became officials, other bachelors would take over the work of editing books. Now when I heard the emperor said that he could still study in the Hanlin Academy after becoming an official, he immediately expressed his support. Huang Liji said:
"The cabinet already belongs to the Hanlin Academy. I think we can remove the imperial titles and titles and directly call them bachelors of the Hanlin Academy."

"We can set up a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and let Zhu Guozhen study in the Hanlin Academy."

Not to mention other officials, even the Hanlin Academy scholars were dissatisfied with this statement.

Because of the high power of the cabinet bachelor's degree, even if he became an official, no one would dare to despise what he said despite the title of bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. With such a great bachelor in the Hanlin Academy, who would listen to the words of a Hanlin Academy bachelor? How should the Hanlin Academy be managed?

Not to mention the term "bachelor of the Hanlin Academy", which shows that except for officials from the Hanlin Academy, other officials who want to study after becoming official have no chance. How can those officials who have no experience in the Hanlin Academy agree with this?

Therefore, the ministers unanimously expressed that they could not call this position a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy as Huang Liji said. Because the cabinet belongs to the Hanlin Academy, and is directly called a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, it is possible that he will still be treated as a bachelor of the cabinet.

It is necessary to change the title to confirm that those who go to the Hanlin Academy to write books are official officials and are not performing actual duties.

Zhu Youjian was very happy after hearing this, and told the ministers something he had been thinking about for a long time:
"All the academicians of Hanlin Academy don't agree. How about changing the name to Zizhengyuan?"

"It's not called a great scholar, it's just called a counselor."

"As a result, the ranks of casual officials after official service are determined. The first and second grades can be called senior ministers."

He also gave examples:
"For example, if an official of the third rank is promoted to official position and becomes a casual official of the second rank, he is called the minister of the second rank, and if he is the first rank official, he is called the minister of the first rank."

"Three or four grades can be called senior ministers, such as senior third-grade senior ministers or fourth-grade senior ministers."

"Then he will study in the Hanlin Academy as Senior Minister or Senior Minister."

"For example, Zhu Guozhen, who used to be the Shaobao and the Taibao of the Crown Prince, was promoted from the first rank. He was allowed to write books at the National History Museum of the Hanlin Academy as a minister of the first rank."

This is another new organization, but it obviously treats veteran ministers preferentially, and all ministers are very enthusiastic.

When someone has not become an official, most of the ministers agree with him. It is believed that the emperor imitated the great scholars of Zizhengdian in the former Song Dynasty and set up official positions for dismissed officials to show his favor. Just because some ministers have no experience in the Hanlin Academy and cannot be called bachelors, they are called ministers or ministers.

Thinking that they could still exert their talents and still be respected after becoming an official, the ministers all believed that the Zizhengyuan should be established.

However, some people are worried that the emperor will replace the ministers of the court with senior ministers. They are especially worried that the emperor will replace the senior ministers from false ministers to real ministers like he established the fourth assistant ministers.

After all, it is very common for ministers who have become officials to be reinstated. It would be very troublesome if they used their status as senior ministers to fight for power with the ministers in power.

Therefore, they hope that the emperor will clarify the power of the Counselor Council and confirm that the Counselor Council will not become a real official.

Zhu Youjian was speechless about the vigilance of the officials. He felt that if these people did not focus on restricting the emperor, the Ming Dynasty would definitely be stronger.

However, at the request of the ministers, he had to make a statement. At the same time, he put forward his own conditions and discussed them with the ministers:
"Officials from the Zizheng Yuan will not hold actual positions. If they do, they will be formally reinstated."

“There must be a special purpose for an official to resume his official duties.”

"Those over the age of sixty and under the age of seventy will serve one term at a time. If there is no new purpose after the three-year term, they will automatically resign."

"Those over the age of seventy will be promoted year after year. They must have a special purpose to stay in office every year, otherwise they will automatically resign."

After thinking about this for a long time, Zhu Youjian said:
"For example, Han Xu, he is 62 years old this year. If there is no intention to stay in office after three years, he will automatically resign from the cabinet."

"Wang Xiangqian, the governor of the Great Wall, is eighty-two years old this year. I will send an imperial doctor to check his health every year and then decide whether to stay in office."

"I really can't bear to let such an old minister wander around the border."

"Ke Dao officials should supervise this matter and remember to remind me when the time comes. In particular, Li Ke Shizhong will be responsible for this matter."

This is to create exchange conditions out of thin air and use them to negotiate with the ministers. Before the Zizheng Yuan was established, Zhu Youjian used it for bargaining.

The older ministers in the court were shocked when they heard the emperor's proposal.

They know that if this system is implemented, it will probably be used for all veterans in their 60s and 70s. If these elderly ministers still want to hold actual positions in the court, they must have a special order from the emperor.

This is really disadvantageous for them. This means that without the emperor's special decree, they will voluntarily leave office at that time.

But when asked to directly oppose them, these people are a little afraid, fearing that they will be targeted and then impeached for "enjoying power and position"——

Especially the officials from the Department of Science and Technology, who had just been authorized by the emperor to supervise this matter, were staring at them eagerly.

These science and technology officials don't care about things after the age of sixty or seventy. Most of them are still young and need promotion opportunities. Impeaching a minister and removing him from office is a real achievement. And it can free up official positions, giving the officials below more opportunities for promotion.

Even Zhu Youjian, who added tasks to Kedao officials, planned to ask the old officials if they wanted to be Sima Yi when they dared to object.

However, before he could ask this question, Shangshufang Guangwei, who was over seventy years old and was responsible for the rise of officials, asked the emperor:
"I am seventy-three years old this year. I often feel powerless and have repeatedly begged for leave due to old age and illness."

"It is only because of His Majesty's trust that he has to serve as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

"I sincerely request Your Majesty to allow me to return to my hometown after serving as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for one year."

"Veteran ministers over the age of seventy only have to hold the actual post for one year, which is really a preferential treatment by His Majesty."

Directly apply the system proposed by the emperor to all officials over seventy, and set an example and implement it on themselves.

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed when he heard this and became even more satisfied with Fang Guiwei. Of course he wanted to apply the regulations on reinstatement of official posts to all officials in their 60s and 70s, so that it would be easier to control the official positions of senior ministers in the future. But I was worried that the backlash caused by this incident would be too great, so I started talking about officials returning from their official positions.

Now that Fang Guiwei took the initiative to request, it could be said that he had solved a big problem for him. This made Zhu Youjian extremely happy, and he said cheerfully:
"Qing Fang is mature and prudent. The court cannot do without ministers like you."

"Let's talk about next year's affairs next year. Fang Qing can take up his post with peace of mind."

Fang Guiwei was moved by the emperor's trust, but he really didn't want to do it anymore.

First, he is indeed old and somewhat incompetent. Moreover, the current emperor is a pushover, and he is worried that he will die from exhaustion if he continues like this.

The second is that he has no experience in the Hanlin Academy. He has reached the top when he is promoted to the official position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and it is impossible to be promoted to a higher position.

Coupled with the high power of the Minister of Civil Affairs, many people are eyeing this position. If he doesn't take the initiative to ask to go, he will probably be kicked out in the future.

Apart from anything else, Yang Jingchen, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who recommended him to the emperor as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was probably thinking about when he would leave office so that he could take over later.

Therefore, after Fang Guanghui became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he has been begging for leave, so as not to be thought to be in the way and be involved in the future.

In order to avoid being misunderstood and targeting himself for impeachment in the future, Fang Zhuanghuang still made a firm request after the emperor persuaded him to stay, saying that he would only stay in office for one year and retire next year at the latest.

Feeling helpless about this, Zhu Youjian could only accept Fang Guiwei's request with unbearable face and joy in his heart, allowing him to become an official next year.

In order to commend this veteran who helped him solve a big problem, Zhu Youjian also ordered:

"Fang Qing assisted me with great merit, and also promoted the grinding and survey method, which has made many achievements."

"He was originally the Crown Prince and Grand Tutor. He was promoted to the Crown Prince and Grand Master. He was given the rank of National Honors Master of the Right Pillar and received a first-grade salary."

"If you want to stay in Beijing after taking office next year, you can join the Council of Ministers as Senior Minister."

This praise clearly showed the emperor's attitude. It shows that he really wants to apply the age regulations just mentioned to all senior officials in their sixties or seventies.

Some veterans may secretly curse, but Yuan Keli, who is over sixty years old and has returned to office, agrees with this regulation. Because he did not want to be reinstated in the first place, but the emperor repeatedly issued decrees to reinstate his friend Dong Qichang, so he had to come to the capital to serve.

Now, after hearing the emperor's stipulations on the reinstatement of retired officials, he immediately made the same request and only served for one more term.

Sun Chengzong was also over sixty years old and was a retired official. In order to respond to Yuan Keli and to reduce the suspicion in the court about his out-of-town supervisor, he also expressed his willingness to serve for only one term. After three years, he would see the results and the court would decide whether to continue to serve. .

One of these two people belongs to the Donglin Party and the other leans towards the Donglin Party. Their support undoubtedly makes it impossible for Donglin Party officials in the court to object. Not to mention that most of the Donglin Party officials in the court today are young. They hope that the emperor will resurrect the Donglin Party officials, but they are worried that the Donglin Party ministers who were resurrected by the emperor will never leave, and they will have no chance to get ahead. Therefore, they supported the emperor's policy in their hearts and did not want to oppose it at all.

As for the eunuch officials, they are waiting for punishment and have no confidence to oppose. What's more, the current leader of the eunuch party, Huang Liji, has been impeached and has long wanted to find an opportunity to retreat.

Now that I heard the emperor's stipulation that officials over sixty years old should be reinstated for one term, I immediately felt that this was a good opportunity for me to retire safely, and took the initiative to request the emperor:
"Although I have never held an official position, I am already sixty years old this year." "I have been feeling powerless these days. I beg your Majesty to allow me to serve only one term."

"I will resign from the cabinet after two years at the latest."

Make it clear to all officials that he will be the chief assistant for at most two years. As long as he waits two more years, he will inevitably leave office. This will prevent other officials from worrying about him continuing to do so and keeping an eye on him for impeachment.

As soon as this request came out, many officials thought that Huang Li was very sensible and decided to endure it for another two years and let him leave office. However, impeachment cannot be completely relaxed in the past two years, lest Huang Liji be retained in office two years later by the emperor's special order.

Zhu Youjian was also very happy because his policy had received the support of the most important chief minister of the cabinet. Coupled with the support of the Ministry of Personnel's Shangshufang, it was impossible for the official to expand his power and oppose it. It can be said that this matter has been able to form a will and there will be no more twists and turns.

From then on, the power to retain senior ministers who were sixty or seventy years old fell into the hands of the emperor.

Officials over the age of sixty can only serve for three years at a time. If there is no special purpose after three years, he will not be retained.

Officials over the age of seventy can only serve for one year at a time. If there is no special purpose after one year, he will not be retained.

This further expanded Zhu Youjian's power and took the initiative to retain the veteran minister.

In the future, if he sees any old minister who is dissatisfied, he can just stay in office without issuing a special order, and there is no need to work hard to get rid of him. This is naturally very convenient for him.

But I don’t know that many old ministers thought the same thing. They were worried that the emperor would bother to drive him out, so they did not fiercely oppose this proposal——

Now that they are in their sixties or seventies, most officials are thinking about their posthumous reputation and do not want to fall out with the emperor when they are old.

In the past, many old ministers would ask to retire after being impeached. This is the reason. Except for officials who are greedy for power and position, no one will stay in office after being impeached.

The emperor's automatic resignation rule just allows them to retire with dignity. After being disliked by the emperor, the emperor would not show his dissatisfaction, be impeached by officials, and then request to be promoted to official position.

Not only was this process troublesome, but it was also very shameful to retire. It would be better to wait until the term was up and then retire voluntarily.

The question Zhu Youjian was going to ask about who wanted to be Sima Yi was completely useless.

This made him very happy and said to the ministers:

"All veterans who want to stay in Beijing can apply to go to the Zizhengyuan."

"The Senior Minister and Senior Minister do not need to attend the court meeting, but the General Affairs Department must convey the decisions made by the court to the Senior Council Yuan."

"In the future, I will also hand over some political affairs to experienced veterans and let them make suggestions as consultants."

"The court will seriously discuss these suggestions and formally respond to them."

To give preferential treatment to senior ministers, Zhu Youjian added several powers to the Zizhengyuan:
“If officials commit illegal acts, the Senior Minister and Senior Minister can supervise them.”

"When the imperial court holds court meetings and meetings, if necessary, senior ministers can participate."

"The senior ministers used to be important ministers. Although they lacked the energy to perform actual duties, they did have the energy to participate in small matters such as supervising and making recommendations."

"You don't want to have no power after becoming an official and be despised by some officials, right?"

This decision was really a good one. The courtiers felt really sad when they thought that many officials in the past suddenly changed from busy with traffic to desolate after becoming official. Although they have not yet taken office, they are worried that they will fall into that situation.

Nowadays, the emperor uses the empty position of the Zizhengyuan to allow officials who have become official officials to supervise officials and participate in court discussions. This way he has a little power and will not be completely ignored.

This made them feel that the emperor really thought about his ministers. Let the minister's situation after he becomes an official not be too different.

Some old ministers originally complained that the emperor was a little harsh on them, but they felt much better after hearing that officials who had become officials were treated so favorably. I feel that the emperor still treats his old ministers favorably, not that he wants to drive them out of the court completely.

Therefore, these veterans support this one after another. Although some young officials did not agree with this change and did not want to let the senior ministers affect the situation in the court, they were pushed back by the custom of being a third-rank or above court——

The senior ministers are all first- and second-rank officials, naturally above the third rank. The emperor asked them to participate in court promotion, which was in line with the custom.

As for the qualifications for court consultation, there was no system before, and the corresponding scope was defined according to the emperor's decree. Nowadays, it is also natural for the emperor to allow senior ministers to participate in court discussions.

Therefore, with the support of many ministers and officials who thought they were qualified to become senior ministers, the establishment of the Senior Council was decided on the spot. There is not even a need for a ministerial meeting to vote on this matter.

This made Zhu Youjian very emotional. He didn't expect it to be so simple. If I had known that it was so easy to set up the Zizhengyuan, I should have set it up long ago. The regulations for veterans aged sixty or seventy to remain in office should also have been established long ago.

In the future, when you find an old minister you don't like, you don't have to think about removing him. You just need to let him voluntarily leave office when he reaches his age and don't specifically stay in office.

It can be said that things have been going very smoothly until now. But in the end there was a little trouble, which Zhu Youjian needed to solve——

That is the issue of salary and remuneration for senior officials serving in the Zizhengyuan.

The salary for officials in the Ming Dynasty was very low. Only those who were honest and poor and could not survive on their own were given four stones of rice every year to prevent these officials from starving to death and losing face to the court.

Four stones of rice can barely make a living for one person in the countryside, but as everyone knows the prices in the capital, it is impossible to survive with this little money and food.

Zhu Youjian kept some officials who had become official officials in the capital and even asked them to study in the Hanlin Academy. Naturally, he had to pay some salaries to ensure their survival. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, the court will lose face.

Zhu Youjian was really unwilling to increase expenditures, but it was unjustifiable not to pay him a salary.

He carefully calculated that there might be dozens of senior ministers in the future, and there might even be hundreds of junior senior ministers, and they would definitely not be able to receive all their salaries.

So after comprehensive consideration, Zhu Youjian said:
“If the person who serves as a counselor is impoverished and cannot survive on his own and is known to everyone, he will be given a monthly subsidy of one stone and one meter per month.”

"If the Senior Minister or Senior Minister is revising books in the Hanlin Academy or has other tasks, one will be issued with the original color according to their grade, and the rest will be issued with treasure banknotes."

"When the finances are better in the future, we will continue to improve the benefits."

The salary of these officials has been reduced from about 30% of actual officials to 10%.

The minister, who has no job, only gives the poor a subsidy of one stone, a month and a meter.

The imperial court's annual increased expenditure will not exceed ten thousand shi.

This treatment can really be said to be very low. But the officials had to express gratitude.

Because of this kind of official treatment, the imperial court did not have it before. The emperor also intends to increase his salary in the future, but only after the financial resources are sufficient——

Nowadays, there are still millions of unpaid wages in Jiubian. Who dares to fight for the salary of a minister who has become an official.

The ministers could only thank the emperor for his kindness and praise him.

In this way, with the approval of the ministers, Zhu Youjian paid a little money and food and successfully established the Zizhengyuan.

Then, Zhu Youjian asked the Ministry of Personnel to count the ministers who were serving in Beijing, and prepared to give them to Fang Congzhe and others as senior ministers or ministers.

Zhu Youjian did not have an independent institution for the Zizheng Yuan for the time being. He only established the Si Affairs Office of the Zizheng Yuan in the Hanlin Academy. Wang Zuoyuan, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, concurrently served as the director of the Si Affairs Department. Responsible for official correspondence and handling daily affairs.

At present, the main role of the Zizhengyuan is to increase the title of official officials and let them go to the Hanlin Academy to study books.

This virtual institution that does not even have a government office seems to be just for the purpose of giving preferential treatment to veterans.

No one can imagine what matters Zhu Youjian will hand over to the Zizheng Yuan in the future and what matters he will bring to the Zizheng Yuan for discussion.

No one could have imagined that the virtual institution of the Zizhengyuan might become the Ming Congress in the future.

Zhu Youjian continued to steadily advance the modernization reforms of the Ming Dynasty.

　"Manuscript of Qing History":
　　Nate Jian, the president of the Zizhengyuan and the prince and minister.

　　Vice president, a minister of rank three or above. One person each.

　　The palm decides the public opinion. All matters concerning annual income and expenditure, laws and regulations, tax rates on public debt, and matters subject to consultation will be decided by the members of the Council and submitted to the Minister of State for decision.

　　There is one secretary-general of the Secretariat Office, please be brief. There are four first, second, and third secretaries each, who will make up for the appointment. The official document of the Accountant.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)