Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 170 The Thoughts of the Minister of Industry

After the matter of revising the history of the country is confirmed, it is natural to appoint a chief executive.

"Chronicles of the Imperial Dynasty" is easier to say. Things before Wanli have little impact on the present. Zhu Youjian appointed Huang Lizhi as president, and not many people objected.

But in "Chronicles of Three Dynasties", there were many people who opposed his appointment as president. Many people are worried that Huang Liji compiled the "Chronicles of the Three Dynasties" based on the "Three Dynasties Essential Code".

Under the opposition of these people, Zhu Youjian considered and appointed:

"The "Chronicles of the Three Dynasties" were compiled together with the Records of the First Emperor."

"The British Duke Zhang Weixian, the Duke of Chengguo Zhu Chunchen, and the Duke of Dingguo Xu Xigao serve as supervisors."

"Grand Scholars Huang Liji and Sun Chengzong serve as presidents."

"Grand bachelors Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, Li Guopu, Han Xu, Zheng Yiwei, Xu Guangqi, and senior ministers Zhu Guozhen and Lai Zongdao all serve as vice presidents."

"Zheng Yiwei, a great scholar, also serves as the chief editor and is responsible for the specific compilation. Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, and Kong Zhenyun, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishments, both serve as the chief editors."

"Senior Minister Lai Zongdao also serves as the chief school officer, while Living Lang Yuhuang and Ni Jiashan serve as collation officers and are responsible for proofreading and corrections."

"The rest of the compilation officials are concurrently appointed by officials of the Hanlin Academy and selected by the president and vice president."

After clarifying these positions, Zhu Youjian appointed Zheng Yiwei, a bachelor of the neutral faction, to be responsible for the specific compilation. At the same time, let the two living men around you serve as proofreaders, so that when they find content that is not to their liking, they can make corrections in the name of correction.

This appointment takes care of all aspects. Most of the officials were satisfied, and no one raised any objections.

In order to ensure that the compilation of these books was completed smoothly and that money and food would not be wasted due to interruptions due to someone leaving the company, Zhu Youjian ordered:

"The three books, Chronicles of the Kingdom, Chronicles of the Three Dynasties, and Records of the First Emperor, all have Lai Zongdao as the vice president and chief officer."

"Lai Zongdao was responsible for the preliminary preparations for compiling these three books. It mainly involved determining the style of the books, the words that need to be avoided, as well as the pen and ink, money, food, manpower and other logistical matters needed to compile the books."

"In March next year, I want to know how many editors are needed to compile these books. The Hanlin Academy will also recruit Shuji scholars as needed to be responsible for the compilation of these books."

This person is responsible for the early preparation and post-production of the compilation of these books. Zhu Youjian believed that Lai Zongdao, an official who once flattered Wei Zhongxian, knew who to listen to now. These historical books must be compiled according to his ideas.

After hearing this, the ministers had nothing to say about the decision. Who told Lai Zongdao to have time to do these things now that he has no actual job?

They just want to be responsible for the preliminary preparation of these books, but they don’t have the time yet!
Therefore, the reputation of the vice president and chief campus officer must be determined by Lai Zongdao.

Some officials who want to leave a name in history are very envious of this. But they are unwilling to resign from their actual positions. I can only watch Lai Zongdao get this opportunity.

At the same time, it also made them sigh again. The emperor really remembered the merits of his ascension to the throne. Even officials like Lai Zongdao, who flattered Wei Zhongxian when the late emperor was dying, received so many preferential treatment.

Naturally, there is no need to worry about other crimes that are less serious than Lai Zongdao.

This made Xue Fengxiang, the only one among the Nine Qings who failed to pass, feel more relieved. He knew that even if he was kicked out, he could still be the senior minister.

At the same time, he was thinking in his mind whether he should take the initiative to plead guilty and be able to stay in office like Meng Shaoyu.

But his situation is very different from Meng Shaoyu. Not only because he wrote forty-seven books praising Wei Zhongxian, but the situation was much more serious than that of Meng Shaoyu. It was also because the Ministry of Industry he was in charge of was responsible for the construction of the residences of Wei Liangqing and others, and he was more careful than when he built Prince Xin's residence. If the emperor remembers this incident, he will hit the muzzle of the gun if he takes the initiative to plead guilty. At that time, the emperor would probably drive him out rather than keep him in office.

He had to find other ways to keep his position as Minister of Industry.

Considering that in order to rise to this position, Xue Fengxiang did not hesitate to rely on the eunuch Wei Zhongxian. Of course, Xue Fengxiang was not willing to let his official career end here.

This made him start to consider whether he should completely surrender to the emperor like Yang Jingchen and become the emperor's confidant. Although this reputation is not good, the real power is real. I didn't see that even if Yang Jingchen was involved in a counter-case, it would not affect his promotion speed. Next year, he is very likely to become the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the head of the Nine Ministers.

With this example in mind, Xue Fengxiang also began to consider becoming the emperor's confidant. The reputation of being attached to the emperor is at least better than being attached to the eunuchs.

Zhu Youjian didn't know Xue Fengxiang's plans, but he was actually a little confused about how to deal with Xue Fengxiang.

Xue Fengxiang's rebellious behavior is certain, and according to the circumstances, it should be classified as Level 6. If Zhu Youjian wants to drive him away, just convict him like Lai Zongdao.

However, Zhu Youjian had no one in his entourage. After driving Xue Fengxiang away, even if the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry was vacant, he would have no confidants to appoint him.

He has replaced four of the second six ministers, and Guo Yunhou is about to be replaced. The remaining Xue Fengxiang and Zhu Youjian really couldn't move any further, lest people think that they were impatient with the former emperor's old ministers.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian did not want to make any major changes to the Ministry of Works for the time being, and planned to keep Xue Fengxiang for a while, and then replace him when he adjusted the Ministry of Works.

Xue Fengxiang guessed this consideration, so he thought he had a chance to become the emperor's confidant. The emperor adjusted all the bureaucracies including the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple. The Ministry of Household Affairs was almost certain to be adjusted, but they just had to wait for Bi Ziyan's arrival. There is no reason why the Ministry of Engineering would make an exception and not make any adjustments.

In fact, Xue Fengxiang had heard some rumors about the adjustment of weights and measures from Qintian Monitor, which was a matter under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry. It can be seen that the emperor wanted to adjust the Ministry of Industry, but was just waiting for the opportunity.

This made him feel that as long as he took the initiative to adjust the Ministry of Industry, he could become the emperor's confidant and get a chance to stay in office.

However, the difficulty here made Xue Fengxiang a little discouraged and a little scared.

Regardless of the fact that the Ministry of Industry is ranked at the bottom of the six departments, he, the Minister of Industry, does not have a high status among the nine ministers - now he has very little say in the Standing Committee, not even as good as the Secretary of General Affairs.

But the Ministry of Industry, like the Ministry of Household Affairs, is a government agency that deals with money and food. Every slight change has a lot of interests at stake.

If he dares to touch other people's interests, some people will dare to fight against him. This is very different from the changes in other departments.

In fact, Zhu Youjian also knew this difference, so he put the second department of household workers at the end to make adjustments. Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Industry, are still in office. He only sent Gao Shiming, the imperial eunuch and chief seal, from the inner court to supervise the expenditure of the second department of household workers. It is planned to carry out detailed restructuring after being assisted by capable ministers——

Although Zhu Youjian has adjusted so many yamen since he ascended to power, he is actually very cautious. Needless to say, the adjustment of temple supervisors is not a big deal since these are marginal yamen. Problems arise. In the Ministry of Personnel, he only adjusted the division of labor between the two assistant ministers, and in the Ministry of War, he replaced the Driving Department with the Ordnance Department. More often, ministers such as Fang Zhuangwei, Yang Jingchen, and Yuan Keli were appointed to manage the affairs.

Only the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Three Laws were completely pragmatic, and Zhu Youjian made great adjustments. Many yamen were assigned to the supervision of the Ministry of Rites, and the three departments of law were reorganized as a whole.

Although such changes involve a lot of power distribution, most of them are concentrated in the court. After Zhu Youjian dismissed a group of officials on charges of treason, it was completely possible.

But the adjustment of the Second Department of Household Workers does not know how many benefits will be involved. If someone touches it during the adjustment process, things could get serious.

Zhu Youjian has no plans to make major adjustments to the Second Department of Household Workers until there are no capable officials to head the two departments and until supervisory agencies such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate are adjusted and improved to avoid problems.

His main purpose now is to take power and adjust the distribution of power in the court. Then he would think of ways to refresh the official system and implement his will throughout the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)