Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 176 Yu Xiangdou, Feng Menglong, Ling Shuchu

Jiuqing Tingtui is the official method that Zhu Youjian prefers to adopt more and more.

Because he found it easy to control the candidates, there were only a few officials in Jiuqing, and it was clear who recommended them, and there was no hiding of the inside story.

Moreover, when Zhu Youjian sees the candidate he likes, he can just click on it. He doesn't even need Jiuqing to confirm whether he will be recommended as the main candidate or the accompanying candidate, so he only has the choice of positive recommendation.

Jiuqing also likes this method because it increases their power. This gives them more say in personnel matters than before.

In the officialdom, subordinates will fawn over whoever can control their subordinates' official status. Of course Jiu Qing would not disagree with the emperor giving them more power.

The same is true for departmental recommendations, which gives each department more say. The Ministry of Personnel may be dissatisfied, but it cannot stop other ministries from wanting this authority.

In particular, the magnificent study room of the Ministry of official affairs has been determined to be retired next year. He himself did not like to hold power, so he ignored the complaints of some officials in the Ministry of Personnel. There is no objection at all to Jiu Qing Ting Tui and Bu Tui.

Yang Jingchen, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was Zhu Youjian's confidant, and it was even less likely that he would oppose the emperor's proposal and destroy the good relationship with the emperor.

Dong Qichang, the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has not yet taken office, and according to the age system set by the emperor, Dong Qichang is already seventy-three years old, and he may not remain in office after one year. The people in the court didn't pay any attention to him.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's changes to Ting Tui and Bu Tui are currently going smoothly. With his support, Jiuqing's power and prestige further increased. I have more confidence to compete with the cabinet bachelors at the regular meeting.

Therefore, after Zhu Youjian proposed that the General Affairs Department's participation in politics should be recommended by Jiuqing Ting, General Affairs and Counseling Departments, none of the officials present objected. Instead, according to the emperor's instructions, he began to recommend candidates.

Although the authority of the Ministry of Personnel has been reduced, it still has the greatest say in personnel affairs. In accordance with the emperor's request, the Ministry of Civil Service Shangshufang Zhuangwei thought of several candidates and recommended:
"Yang Sichang, the former doctor of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was in charge of new salaries during the Tianqi period. He was quite talented."

"Now that his father Yang He has been reinstated as the military envoy of the three northwest provinces, Yang Sichang can also be reinstated."

Zhu Youjian knew Yang Sichang. When he was in Xinwangfu, he had read Yang Sichang's "Collection of Local Officials". Moreover, this person was also somewhat famous in later generations and was somewhat related to Lu Xiangsheng.

Although he can't remember what Yang Sichang did specifically, Zhu Youjian still likes him. There is no other reason, it’s just that it sounds familiar.

In addition, Yang Sichang used to be a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs, which was very beneficial to the Ming News Agency's self-financing. When a doctor is promoted to participate in politics, it is also a normal transfer.

So Zhu Youjian had already decided on this person. But he didn't say it immediately, but asked others:

"Is there anyone else?"

"You can bring it up."

Guo Yunhou, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, proposed that Ding Kuichu, who participated in Shandong's political affairs, could be transferred to the General Affairs Department to participate in politics.

This person was originally the deputy envoy of the Shandong Ancha Division and the Daming Bingbei Road. However, after Zhu Youjian appointed Lu Xiangsheng, the prefect of the Daming Prefecture, as the Bingbei Road, he was transferred to Shandong to participate in politics.

Hearing Guo Yunhou specifically pointed this out, Zhu Youjian was a little embarrassed for a while. He realized that he was not familiar with government affairs before and was too eager to promote Lu Xiangsheng, so he made this omission.

Therefore, Ding Kuichu should compensate and arrange a position for him. This person had previously served as the head of the Shaanxi Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs and a doctor in the Chief Guest Department of the Ministry of Etiquette. He also had local experience and met the candidate conditions.

These two people are the most suitable candidates. Others proposed Jiao Yuanqing to participate in politics in Sichuan, Lu Zhiqi in Jiangxi to participate in politics, etc., but they are not as good as these two.

The result of Jiu Qing's court test was, not surprisingly, Yang Sichang and Ding Kuichu in the lead.

Zhu Youjian immediately appointed Yang Sichang as the Secretary of General Affairs to participate in politics and be responsible for the preparation of the Ming Dynasty News Agency.

Ding Kuichu was appointed Zuotongzheng, with the title of Congsanpinzhengzheng. This is also a promotion for him.

For the position of Youtongzheng, Zhu Youjian appointed Yang Shaozhen, the envoy of General Affairs Guanyoushen, to be promoted to the position, and he was also given the title of Congsanpinzongzheng.

The position of Zuo Shen was held by Zhu Youjian, who was restored to the Zuotong political administration and the Zuo Shen of Han Dynasty. He was promoted to the rank of fourth rank counselor. This person is from Nanjing Yingyangwei, and has a hereditary Yingyangwei family. Previously, because his promotion was not in line with the eunuch party's wishes, he was deprived of his official rank and ordered to be promoted. After Zhu Youjian heard about his background, he immediately ordered him to resume his duties and continue to serve as the left counselor.

As for the right counselor of the General Affairs Department, Zhu Youjian appointed Chen Zizhuang's father, Chen Xichang, to serve as the right counselor. This person previously served as an official, but now he is Chen Eryi, so Chen Xichang cannot be reinstated. Therefore, Zhu Youjian appointed him as the right counselor, and also promoted him to the rank of fourth rank counselor——

They all gave Shizhong a nominal seventh rank, but in the eyes of many people, it was equivalent to a fourth or fifth rank. In the past, the title of Si Cheng, Shaoqing or even Zhengqing was usually added. Zhu Youjian appointed him as the right counselor, which was not considered a super transfer.

In this way, all the officials from the fourth-rank counselor and above in the General Administration Department were completely replenished, with a total of seven officials.

There are so many high-ranking officials, so of course we cannot let them have a hard time. Zhu Youjian thought about the responsibilities of the General Administration Department and ordered:

"The General Affairs Department has a General Affairs Department, which is personally managed by the General Affairs Envoy and is responsible for the daily affairs of the General Affairs Department."

“There is also a document office that is responsible for receiving various memorials, numbering, archiving, classifying, and grading memorials, and deciding on preliminary processing opinions.”

"The Official Documents Department is under the personal control of Zuo Shenzheng, who pays attention to confidentiality matters. The Jinyiwei Security Department sends people to follow up and is responsible for military secrets and silver seal secrets."

"A chapter memorial office is set up to take charge of official memorials, and Zuo Tongzheng is in charge of it."

"The Complaints Office is set up to take charge of matters such as public submissions, redress of grievances, and filial sons and wives, etc., and is under the personal control of the right." "The Refutation Office is set up, and all documents that are refuted must be filed and filed. The Left is responsible for The counselor will personally take charge and discuss with the general envoy whether the document should be refuted. The reasons for refuting the document should be clear, and inform the supervisor why the document has been refuted and how to modify it before it can be sealed."

"Set up a copying office to be responsible for transcription, copying and other matters, as well as the management of archived memorials. The right counselor is in charge of it."

"Whether these departments and offices should have chiefs, governors and other officials will be decided by the general affairs envoy and discussed with the Ministry of Personnel."

After dividing the work for the General Affairs Department and letting the Security Department intervene, Zhu Youjian asked Lu Tunan to select a few people from the Zhongshushe to work part-time, build several places in advance, and run them on a trial basis.

If there were any mistakes in the process, he, the general manager, would figure it out. The Secretary of General Affairs could not solve the problem by himself, so he wrote a memorial.

Lu Tunan heard that the General Affairs Department had added so many officials and established so many institutions. I was both happy and a little bit disappointed.

The good thing is that there are more officials in the General Affairs Department, and the voices in the court will naturally become louder. What is disappointing is that he, the General Affairs Envoy, can no longer decide the affairs of the General Affairs Department as he pleases.

From now on, confidential memorials should be discussed with Zuo Tongzheng, especially the officials sent by Jinyiwei; official memorials should be discussed with Zuo Tongzheng, who was in charge of the Zhang Memorial Office; public memorials should be discussed with You Tongzheng, who was in charge of the Chenqing Office.

You can't do whatever you want in your comments and refutations, and you can't include other people's memorials. It can be said that his power is limited everywhere, unlike before.

But this is ultimately to improve the organization of the General Affairs Department and enhance the status of the General Affairs Department. Lu Tunan told the emperor that he must do this well.

Zhu Youjian improved the organization of the General Affairs Department and went to deal with the Daming News Agency. This is the public opinion platform he planned in his mind, a tool to enhance the authority of the imperial court and divide officials. Of course, he cannot give up just because the General Affairs Department does not pay attention to it.

So he said directly to the ministers:

"How much do you know about the people who have experience in publishing books and newspapers?"

"We can recommend a few people to serve as editors at Daming News Agency."

Although these editors are not official positions, Jiuqing like Lu Tunan looks down upon them. But for a scholar with no background, it is already a very good position.

Lu Tunan thought of a famous person in his hometown of Fujian and recommended:
"Jianyang, Jianning Prefecture, Fujian Province, has always been an important place for book printing. Not only are there private bookstores, but also bookkeepers serve."

"Various books produced by the imperial court, such as the Minglun Dadian during the Jiajing period, were printed in Jianyang."

"In recent years, Yu Xiangdou from Jianyang, who calls himself a Santaishan native, has published books such as "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", "The Chronicles of the Water Margin", "The Cases of the Lian Ming Companies", and "The Cases of the Companies in the Huangming Dynasty", and is quite famous in various places."

"I believe that with Yu Xiangdou printing books for decades and him serving as the chief editor, he will be able to run the news agency well."

Zhu Youjian was noncommittal about this, because he knew that printing is printing and editing is editing, and the two are different divisions of labor. It sounds like Yu Xiangdou is just a book printer, so he is not suitable to be the editor-in-chief.

But this person has been printing books for decades and should be very experienced in printing. It seemed very suitable for him to run a printing shop. Zhu Youjian said:
"Summon Yu Xiangdou to the capital to see his talents."

"If it can be used, then we will be responsible for printing."

"Are there any other candidates?"

Hearing that the emperor was dissatisfied with the choice of Yu Xiangdou, Shi Fenglai, a scholar from Jiaxing, said:
"Ling Shuchu, Huzhou, was born as a scholar. He was friendly with Zhu Guozhen, the former great scholar. He compiled "Comments on the Compilation of Books of the Later Han Dynasty", "Comments on the Compilation of National Policies" and "Collection of Dongpo Zen Xi".

"The dramas and operas he created were praised by Tang Xianzu."

Who is this? Zhu Youjian didn't remember for a while, and then heard Yuan Keli's recommendation:

"Suzhou Feng Menglong was born as a scholar. He once compiled "Essays to Tell the World", "Words to Warn the World" and "Everlasting Words to Awaken the World."

"It's impossible to proofread and supplement books such as "The Complete Story of Water Margin", "New Chronicles of Nations", and "Supplementary Stories of Sansui Pingyao".

Now Zhu Youjian remembered that Sanyan compiled by Feng Menglong and Erpai compiled by Ling Shuchu, collectively known as "Sanyan Erpai", are the pinnacle of Chinese classical short stories in vernacular.

Both of them were scholars and figures at this time, which Zhu Youjian did not expect. So he immediately ordered:
"Call two people to Beijing and temporarily appoint them as editor-in-chief."

"Whoever can run the newspaper well will be promoted to the editor-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty News Agency and be a special scholar."

The two people who would be known as each other in later generations were arranged by him to become competitors to see who was more attentive and help him achieve his goals.

The resources the emperor possessed were indeed not comparable to ordinary people. A specially gifted scholar can take advantage of scholars who failed in the imperial examination.

Even if Feng Menglong and Ling Shuchu don't come, after this news comes out, many people will flock to it, and they won't have to worry about not having talent.

　"History of the Ming Dynasty·Fire":
　　In December (the twelfth year of Hongzhi), a fire broke out in the bookstore in Jianyang County, and all ancient and modern book boards were burned.

　　This is the only record about the bookshop in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)