Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 36 Regular Participation in Meetings
For officials like Liubu Langzhong, Zhu Youjian was actually not worried about their nonsense at the court meeting. Although these people only have the fifth rank in the court, once they are released to the outside world, they will be senior officials such as the fourth rank Chief Secretary to consult, the fourth rank Chief Inspector and Deputy Envoy, and even the third rank Chief Secretary to participate in politics. They are high-ranking officials. These people will not risk their future easily and make strange remarks in the court.

But the head of the Six Ministries is different. Their rank is only the sixth rank. Normally, they are only the fifth rank as inspectors. However, they may also become the counselors of the fourth rank Chief Secretary and the fourth rank chief inspectors and deputy envoys. Their profits from winning positions are very high, so they are naturally very motivated.

Moreover, for the ministers in the court, the head of the Six Ministries is a position that can be held by new scholars, and there are a group of new people every three years. This allows them to feel no pain when using the six chiefs as cannon fodder, and they can find people to supplement them at any time.

Those Jinshi who have just become officials are also easily deceived. If they are not careful, they will become passionate and dare to risk their lives for the so-called saint's teachings and the country, which even makes it unbearable for the emperor.

Zhu Youjian's Chang Dynasty mainly excluded these people. Lest they accidentally make a big fuss and give themselves a surprise attack.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian also noticed that the transfer and promotion of officials in the capital were very irregular, and there was a lot of room for manipulation. The establishment of senior officials from the fourth rank to consult, the fourth rank to general administration, and the third rank to participate in political affairs and increase titles are also to standardize the promotion of officials. This prevents certain people from trying to promote or suppress officials.

From now on, it will be enough for the officials in the capital to be promoted to half a rank. We cannot let the officials all think about being officials in the capital and not do their jobs well.

Exchanges between Beijing and local officials should be strengthened, and officials with administrative experience should be promoted.

The level of the director of the six departments is also too high and cannot be directly held by a new scholar.

The number one scholar is just compiled from the sixth rank, while the heads of the six departments are directly the sixth rank. Although they have no possibility of becoming bachelors in the future due to the unspoken rule of the Ming Dynasty that "non-officials cannot join the cabinet". But the level of the sixth grade is too high. If you make some achievements, you can be promoted to a high-ranking local official.

For example, Lu Xiangsheng was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. It was only five years before the seventh year of Tianqi. He had been promoted from the head of the Household Department of the sixth rank to the prefect of the Daming Prefecture of the fourth rank and deputy envoy of the Shandong Ancha Division. Zhu Youjian was surprised when he found out about the rapid promotion of his official position.

However, this is just routine for the six officials. Because Lu Xiangsheng had done well in Linqingcang, he had been promoted to a fifth-grade Yuanwailang when he was sent out. When he became a fourth-grade magistrate, it can only be said that the treatment was better when he was sent out, but it was not an over-promotion. Later, he was praised by the court again for his contribution to Linqingcang, and was appointed deputy envoy of the Shandong Administrative and Inspection Department. On the basis of this position, Zhu Youjian asked him to organize the military preparations of Daming, Guangping, and Shunde, and his actual power was further improved.

The example of Lu Xiangsheng's rapid promotion made Zhu Youjian realize that the promotion of officials in the capital was too fast, so he introduced the promotion of General Affairs Secretary to regulate this.

The officials in the court did not understand this intention for a while. Zhu Youjian will improve the bureaucracy step by step in the future, allowing the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty to see what real bureaucracy is. Use the bureaucratic politics developed and perfected in later generations to impact the current civilian politics and give the Ming Dynasty a little bureaucratic shock.

"I jumped from the fifth grade to the fourth grade, and from the fifth grade to the third grade, don't think about such good things casually in the future. Everyone should go through qualifications, or make achievements and then seek promotion! 』

Thinking fiercely in his heart, Zhu Youjian smiled and said to the ministers:

"I heard that there was a Chang Shen in the previous dynasty. What is this Chang Shen? How is it different from the Chang Dynasty?"

The Minister of Rites came to Zongdao but did not answer. Meng Shaoyu, the Minister of Rites, said:

"In the Tang and Song Dynasties, officials who attended the Chang Dynasty every day were called Chang Shen officials."

"There are also officials who attend court meetings every five days and six times a month, called Liushen officials."

"Officials who are above the imperial court officials in Beijing and participate in the Shuowang Dynasty are called Shuoshen officials and Wangcan officials."

Zhu Youjian said with a smile:

"In this way, from now on, officials who attend regular court meetings on March 69th and nine court meetings every month can be called regular court officials and nine-partner officials."

"Other officials who participated in the Shuo Wang Dynasty are still called imperial ministers according to the convention of this dynasty."

"This is Chang Shenguan, how should we decide?"

Meng Shaoyu replied:
"In the Tang Dynasty, civil servants of the fifth rank or above, ministerial officers of the eighth rank or above, as well as Yuanwailang, supervisory censors, and Dr. Taichang, attended court every day, and were called Chang Shenguan."

"The Chang Chao officials appointed by His Majesty to participate in the Chang Dynasty seem to be the same as the Chang Chao officials of the Tang Dynasty. They can be directly called Chang Chao officials without further reduction." Wang Zuoyuan, another minister of the Ministry of Rites, said:
"The noon rituals set by this dynasty seem to be the same as Changcan."

"Your Majesty may appoint officials from the cabinet, five offices, six ministries, and six departments as permanent counselors."

"The General Secretary will invite people to report matters according to the usual rules. If there is something going on in other yamen, they are allowed to go to the imperial court to report matters."

This was not what Zhu Youjian was thinking about. He narrowed down the scope of officials mentioned by the two men and said to the ministers:

"I believe that the cabinet ministers must be regular members of the cabinet. Officials from the five offices, six ministries, and six departments can decide whether to be regular members based on the affairs under their jurisdiction."

"From now on, I and all the bachelors in the cabinet, regardless of time or place, will summon officials from the Three Laws Department or the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Households and other relevant departments according to the matters mentioned in the memorial."

"Officials from the Sixth Section attended the meeting with the corresponding departments to determine the imperial decree."

"This kind of meeting will be called the regular meeting from now on, and will supplement the regular meeting."

As soon as this decision came out, there was a lot of discussion in the court. Everyone can realize that when officials from the cabinet, six ministries, and six departments exist at the same time, the emperor can completely ignore others and directly issue decrees.

This is a good thing for improving the efficiency of issuing imperial edicts, but for officials in the court, it limits their power. They may not even know about the things Chang Shen decides in the future, let alone express their opinions.

Perhaps the only people who are happy to see this happen are the four bachelors in the cabinet. It is difficult for a single department of the Sixth Department and Sixth Section to resist when facing the cabinet. As long as they and the emperor agree, they can make quick decisions.

The Six Ministers obviously knew this. Xue Zhen, the Minister of Punishment, who had just loudly scolded the minor officials and supported the emperor in determining the candidates for the Chang Dynasty, objected at this time:
"Your Majesty, there are no officials from the Three Law Departments attending the meeting. What should I do if what Chang Shen has determined is contrary to the law?"

"Wouldn't that make a joke and make people think that there is no one in the court?"

Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs, also said:

"If it involves household registration, money and food, without the Ministry of Household Affairs attending the meeting, the matters determined by Chang Shen may not be implemented."

Xue Fengxiang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, also said that the affairs of the Ministry of Industry usually involve money and food. Lai Zongdao, the minister of the Ministry of Etiquette, said that it would be a joke if the decree was not in line with etiquette and law. Only Zhou Yingqiu, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was worried about being impeached by the ginseng, and Cui Chengxiu, the minister of the Ministry of War, who had already been impeached by the ginseng, did not Speak out against it.

Not speaking out is acquiescence, and Zhu Youjian is very good at this. Seeing that many officials who had been excluded from the Chang Dynasty did not care much about this, and there was no wave of opposition at all, Zhu Youjian immediately decided:
"Most of the cabinet ministers are concurrently appointed by the Minister of Etiquette, the Minister of Etiquette, and the edicts formulated will not violate etiquette and law."

"In the future, matters concerning the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War can be decided by the Standing Committee Meeting."

He also comforted the minister and said:

"Your consideration also has merit. Chang Shen can invite the six ministers and the chief officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Department of General Affairs to attend. If each department has something to do, you can also bring its officials to request an audience, and I will convene the Standing Committee. The meeting will handle it directly.”

"In this way, the permanent counselors of this dynasty, namely the cabinet bachelors and the nine ministers, can attend court meetings on a daily basis and see me at any time."

The ministers were also a little surprised by the huge concession. However, these people were all human beings, and they quickly figured out that the emperor was not excluding them from decision-making, but excluding the officials from the Department of Science and Technology, and only allowed relevant departments to participate in the meeting.

How to compete with the cabinet bachelors and nine ministers in the work of a single department? The emperor's approach was in line with their wishes.

In this way, with the support of ministers, the indifference of other courtiers, and the opposition of science and technology officials, Zhu Youjian's ideal daily decision-making body-the Changshen Meeting was finally determined amidst the clamor.

(End of this chapter)