Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The impact of this martial arts conference in the capital is unprecedented.

Not only can the influence of the military scholars not be compared with theirs, even the fame of the civil scholars cannot compare with theirs.

Many people who watched the fight talked about what happened at the martial arts conference with great interest. The names of Ji Jike, Cao Bianjiao, Gao Yingxiang, Chen Wangting and others became well-known among the people.

What made the common people most envious was that they all got official positions. The lowest one was a centurion of the sixth rank, and the highest one was a thousand households of the fifth rank. They were all recruited into the Imperial Horse Administration and became generals of the Warrior Battalion.

This camp was separated from the Four Warrior Guards Camp by the emperor. It was led by Ji Jike, the world's number one warrior, and recruited strong men from all over the country who came to the martial arts conference to form the world's number one camp.

Every soldier in the camp can be considered elite and has the opportunity to serve as a centurion.

For ordinary people, this is a ladder to heaven.

Let them realize that "learning literary and martial arts, and serving the emperor" is not just empty talk.

Military men with excellent martial arts skills, like scholars, have the opportunity to be employed by the emperor.

Therefore, after this martial arts conference, there was a wave of martial arts competition in the capital, and more and more people were learning martial arts. Some people were brave and aggressive, looking for people to compete with.

Civil officials and scholars were extremely disgusted by this, and many of them submitted memorials to the emperor, asking him to ban this chaos.

Some people even strongly advised the emperor to be close to gentlemen and not favor military men.

The harsh words in the memorial made Zhu Youjian's veins pop out.

Even at court meetings these people were restless and kept talking about these things over and over again.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Youjian finally understood why Emperor Wanli was so angry that he didn't want to go to court to handle affairs, and why Emperor Zhengde punished his ministers who advised him.

The truth is that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty had long been spoiled, and this kind of atmosphere had formed. The more fierce the words, the more famous they could get. Even if they were demoted for a while, they could still overturn the case and return with the support of the civil servants in the future.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian could not punish them at all. The punishment he imposed now would turn into merits for these people in the future.

This forced him to ignore these memorials and miss the court meeting for the first time since he ascended the throne.

However, his tolerance did not win the understanding of the civil officials. Some people thought that the emperor was backing down and gave him more intense advice. They even extended it to other things, saying that the emperor's previous actions of raising the status of craftsmen, appointing them as officials of the Shaofu Temple, and summoning monks and Taoists were all corrupt.

Some even pointed out the policies implemented in the court and said that they should be implemented in this way or that way. Some even impeached the ministers in the court, believing that they did not assist the emperor well.

Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, Yang Jingchen, Xue Fengxiang and other people who were connected with the eunuch party were all scolded. Facing impeachment, these people could only wait for punishment behind closed doors.

Faced with this situation, many ministers in the court were worried, because they realized that if this matter was not handled properly, the first confrontation between the emperor and his ministers during the Chongzhen reign would probably come.

At that time, whether the emperor punishes officials with the caning in the court or retires to the palace and no longer attends court meetings, it will not be a good thing for the current court.

After the chaos in the late Wanli period and the Tianqi period, the court urgently needed a wise ruler to rectify the current situation.

After the current emperor ascended the throne, he pacified Chahan and conquered the pirates, easily solving the two external threats. Many ministers regarded the emperor as a capable and wise ruler.

What made them even more satisfied was that although the current emperor had taken all the power, he was willing to give it up and always respected the ministers' opinions. He even wanted to continue to give up power during this period. Not only did he decide to establish a national congress, he also handed over a lot of power to the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee.

In addition, the emperor revised the rituals and music with reference to the Zhou Li, implemented the feudal system and the well-field system, and praised the purple pavilion meritorious officials and purple pavilion wise officials. This gave the ministers the motivation to make meritorious contributions and saw the opportunity to be rich and prosperous for generations.

These capable ministers sincerely support the current emperor and want to obtain a fiefdom like the Duke of Jiangling.

Opening up fiefdoms required the efforts of military generals. Although they were somewhat uncomfortable with the emperor's elevation of the status of military men, they did not openly oppose it.

Most of those who are making noises in the court are middle and low-level officials. These people are still far from being wise and meritorious officials, and have not benefited from the emperor's policies. Many of them are even suppressed by the Mokan Law and find it difficult to quickly become ministers.

The censors were especially dissatisfied with this. Under their leadership, many civil officials launched the first counterattack against the emperor's emphasis on military men.

The ministers in the court were mostly civil officials, and they were happy to see this happen at first. But when the quarrel became more and more intense and it looked like a confrontation between the emperor and his ministers, they could no longer sit still and gathered together to discuss the matter.

At Yuan Keli's residence, officials from the Censorate such as Cheng Jiming, Li Banghua, and Liu Zongzhou, and high-ranking officials from the ministries and temples such as Dong Qichang, Li Ruoxing, Kong Zhenyun, He Ruchong, Li Biao, and Qian Qianyi all gathered together to discuss how to respond.

These people were all members of the Donglin Party or those who were inclined towards the Donglin Party, and they had extraordinary influence among the civil servants. Yuan Keli called them together to solve the current problem:
"Mr. Cheng, you are the Right Censor-in-Chief, and you have the responsibility to supervise the officials of the Ministry of Education."

"How do you think we should solve this situation now?"

After Yuan Keli and Huang Liji took charge of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee, he is now on par with the Prime Minister and has the power to interfere in other government offices.

In addition, he once assisted in the management of the three judicial departments, and the current structure of the three judicial departments was determined by him.

Cheng Jiming did not give a perfunctory answer to his question. After thinking carefully, he replied:

"Your Majesty has repeatedly instructed the censors to pay more attention to their duties and investigate illegal incidents."

“Nowadays, these civil officials are not focusing on their duties, but are making irresponsible remarks on important matters in the court.”

"I think they should be assessed to see if they have completed their duties!"

This is a solution, but if implemented at this time, it might cause dissatisfaction among the censors, who would think that they were openly retaliating and muzzling the censors' speech.

So Yuan Keli asked the disciple in charge of recording the daily life to write down this opinion first, and then asked Li Banghua:

"Brother Li, you are the Left Vice-Chief Censor, responsible for assisting the Censorate in managing its affairs."

"Is there any solution to the current situation?"

Li Banghua was even more radical and wanted to remove those officials from their positions directly, saying:

"Your Majesty has clearly stated that among the officials of the three judicial departments of the imperial court, those with experience in local judicial affairs shall be given priority."

"But because of the old ways of the old people, many officials who were promoted from county magistrates were reinstated or appointed as officials."

"Mao Yujian and others who caused the riot were mostly county magistrates. They thought they had governed the local areas, and they made unwarranted accusations against important matters in the court without any evidence, and they regarded the three judicial departments system as nothing."

"In my opinion, we should strictly enforce His Majesty's regulations and lay off those officials who were originally county magistrates." This proposal shocked everyone and some of them could not believe it.

Because the positions of Kedao officials were only filled during the official selection in February, now almost half of them have to be removed if they want to get the position of county magistrate.

How does one fulfill the responsibilities of the Kedao?

But what Li Banghua said was indeed a solution. The ministers in the court were somewhat annoyed with those censors who only knew how to talk nonsense.

They originally thought that the emperor's decision not to allow county magistrates to be promoted to the position of provincial governor was inconsistent with previous practice, but after comparing the provincial governors who were originally from the magistrates and the county magistrates, they now felt that it made sense.

After all, the prosecutor is a judicial officer, and most of them pay attention to evidence and law, so the memorials they write are well-founded.

Most of the officials who were originally county magistrates regarded themselves as ministers of the court and made random comments on various matters. They used their power to report rumors to the limit. They even made up stories and blackmailed other officials. Those officials who did not want to be impeached by them could only spend money to avoid disaster or help them do things. Such weird things were unacceptable to officials with conscience.

The ministers in the court had long been fed up with this kind of thing, and even hated those pretentious petty officials. After the emperor pointed out the origins of the officials in the Kedao, they looked closely and found that most of them were from county magistrates. They immediately found their target and supported the emperor's policies.

After listening to these people's attitudes, Yuan Keli looked at Dong Qichang and Li Ruoxing and said:

"Brother Dong, Brother Li, Yang Jingchen, the acting Minister of Personnel, is now awaiting punishment behind closed doors. You need to handle this matter."

"What positions do you think these officials should be transferred to?"

Instead of laying off people as Li Banghua had said, Yuan Keli just wanted to transfer these people out so as not to affect the situation in the court.

Dong Qichang was not in charge of much of the Ministry of Personnel. Li Ruoxing said:
"There is no rush for the transfer. There is something more urgent right now."

"Zhou Yanru, the Junior Secretary of the Guanglu Temple, has already taken the initiative to hand over his illegal income and declared his own property, and requested that this system be implemented among all officials."

"The Minister of Rites Wen Tiren responded and has asked all the yamen of the Ministry of Rites to implement it to show that the noble officials are honest in their duties."

"I have planned to implement a property declaration system in the Ministry of Personnel to prevent them from using favoritism and corruption in the selection of officials."

"Ministry and government officials have the duty to supervise officials, and they should declare their own assets to prevent them from bending the law for personal gain and failing to fulfill their supervisory responsibilities."

Yuan Keli nodded and understood why Li Ruoxing did this. Because Li Ruoxing was selected by the emperor to be in the Ministry of Personnel for his integrity, and the phrase "every thread of the people is the life of the people" is now hung in the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Metropolitan Censorate.

After the Ministry of Rites took the initiative to apply for property declaration in its subordinate offices, Li Ruoxing, as an official of the Ministry of Personnel known for his integrity, of course had to follow up immediately. Otherwise, he might be ridiculed and his reputation would be ruined.

Yuan Keli is now in charge of suppressing the rebellion and providing disaster relief, and he also feels that it is important to select honest officials. Otherwise, the relief funds allocated by the court will not reach the victims.

Seeing Li Ruoxing's idea, he immediately nodded and agreed, and asked all officials present to push for officials to declare their assets. He started with the officials in the departments of ke and dao and checked their backgrounds.

Some Donglin Party officials, like Li Sancai, were suspected of corruption, but most of them were honest and incorruptible. Even Qian Qianyi, who was from a wealthy family, was confident in declaring his property after he wrote "On Eternal Property" to distribute his property.

Faced with Yuan Keli's request, they responded one after another. They took the lead in going to the Independent Commission Against Corruption to declare their property. Then, led by Cheng Jiming, they launched a self-correction in the Censorate, requiring all officials in the Ministry of Justice to declare their property.

Now the officials in the Ministry of Personnel no longer had time to stir up trouble in the court, because their official positions were being threatened.

This threat is not to suppress by force, but in the name of investigating corruption and bribery. If they are dismissed on such charges, it will be almost impossible for them to regain their position in the future.

After all, it is an honor to be dismissed by the emperor for giving advice, but no one will sympathize with them if they are dismissed with the reputation of corruption and bribery.

Even if there is a chance to be reinstated, it will be with a stain.

So they were all busy dealing with their own affairs and eliminating potential troubles.

Emperor Zhu Youjian did not show up, but the ministers in the court who were brave enough to take on responsibilities kept them in line.

The prominence of the Kedao officials was completely suppressed.

This made Zhu Youjian, who lived deep in the palace and deliberately avoided this matter, very satisfied. He believed that the civil servants headed by Yuan Keli had passed his test.

These people neither joined the officials of the Ministry of Rites to threaten the emperor, nor took the opportunity to exclude the remaining officials of the eunuch party. Most of them worked hard to solve problems in the court.

This made Zhu Youjian feel that he could trust them more and let them govern state affairs.

What made him most comfortable was that Yuan Keli and others used the system they formulated to deal with the officials of the Ministry of Justice.

This allowed him to implement the various systems he had formulated when there was a power vacuum. In the future, they will be improved in practice and gradually become customary.

This is a more important matter for Zhu Youjian.

After all, as an emperor, it is impossible for him to handle all matters, big or small, personally. The most important thing is to establish systems and let officials at all levels implement them.

Yuan Keli and others promoted the problem of property declaration for officials in the Ministry of Justice, which was very much to his liking.

Therefore, after the crisis was resolved, Zhu Youjian awarded Yuan Keli the title of First-Rank Minister of State Affairs for his merits in presiding over the Ming Dynasty's legal system and appeasing pirates, further clarifying his status.

Except for the regent Huang Liji, no one could rank higher than Yuan Keli in the court.

It can be said that he can now be regarded as the second assistant. When the first assistant Huang Liji is not in charge of affairs, he can even possess the power of the first assistant through the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee.

Regardless of whether the ministers agreed or not, they had to regard Yuan Keli as an assistant minister and the de facto chief minister.

Because Yuan Keli was close to the Donglin Party, most of the Donglin Party's officials were able to accept him and believed that Yuan Keli was more acceptable than Huang Liji.

However, some people complained about Han Yu, thinking that he should not have made such a move. As a result, the emperor could not wait and appointed Yuan Keli to lead all the officials.

If Han Yu came to Beijing, his status as a Grand Secretary would make his position more legitimate.

The remaining officials of the eunuch party were different. Most of them felt lucky and thought it was best that Han Yu did not take office, lest the Donglin party become powerful and drive them out of the court.

Yuan Keli had served with them in the court before, and after his reinstatement he did not take advantage of their difficulties to attack them. He gained their recognition and support for him to be an assistant minister.

Yuan Keli, who was born in the neutral faction, successfully gained the recognition of most ministers with his own integrity and ability and became the core of the court! (End of this chapter)