Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 50 Yunzhi is defeated
On September 6th, when the sky was just getting dark, the officials came to the palace early according to the previous court time.

Although the emperor decided to go to court at eight o'clock after the autumnal equinox, today was the first time to attend the regular court according to the rules of the new court meeting. Many people did not dare to neglect and came early anyway.

Yang Jingchen, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, even took the officials of the Literature and Selection Department to compare the lists one by one, for fear that there would be mistakes and embarrassment to the emperor.

Zhu Youjian also got up early and sent Xu Yingyuan to watch in front of the palace gate to prevent anyone from making trouble, but he knew nothing about it.

Fortunately, such a thing did not happen. Maybe some officials were dissatisfied with Chang Chao's reduction in the number of people, but now that the eunuchs are in power, those with stiff necks are either kicked out of the court or killed by the eunuchs using various means. Others can serve as officials under the eunuchs, and of course they can bend and stretch.

Xu Yingyuan watched for a while and found that although there was some confusion, there was no sign of trouble. The only problem is that there are too many officials coming to court, and Zhongji Hall may not be able to accommodate them.

Zhu Youjian was puzzled when he heard this and asked:

"Only officials who have been promoted from the fourth rank or above can participate in the regular court. Why are there so many people?"

"Did Minister Yang's list be too loose and a lot of people were added?"

Xu Yingyuan also asked Yang Jingchen just now, and then explained:

"Shilang Yang was given the title according to the rules set by His Majesty. However, many people originally had the title of Shaoqing of the Five Temples and Chief Minister. The new title cannot be lower than the previous one, so there are many people."

"In addition, His Majesty allows all the officials of the Kedao to participate in the regular court. The Sixth Section will give fifty officials, the Thirteenth Section will have one hundred and twenty supervisory censors, as well as the censors of the capital, deputy censors, and censors of the capital. Many people from Shijia title came to attend the court meeting."

"So there are too many people coming to the court, and Zhongji Hall may not be able to accommodate them."

I understand, it is Wei Zhongxian's fault for indiscriminately issuing official titles. Yang Jingchen added titles to officials on this basis. It is strange that the number of officials is not overwhelming.

But now that the matter has come to this, Zhu Youjian can't blame Yang Jingchen. Because before yesterday, he had not noticed that Wei Zhongxian had given official titles to so many people indiscriminately. Now we can only make mistakes and include these people as Chang Chaoguan:
"After overthrowing the eunuch party, we must control the number of officials and reduce the number of people in the permanent court. 』

"That's it this time, let's establish the rules of Chang Dynasty first. 』

With this in mind, Zhu Youjian ordered Xu Yingyuan to ask Yang Jingchen about the number of officials at each level to see how many people the Zhongji Hall could accommodate and whether they could stand down.

After a while, Xu Yingyuan came to report, saying that Yang Jingchen had estimated that more than 100 officials from the Six Ministries came, and about 200 officials from the Science and Technology Department and those who had received the title of Science and Technology, plus the Supervisory Office of the Five Temples and other institutions. There were about 400 civil servants and other people who had been awarded titles.

Then more than 100 people from the nobles' relatives and the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army came, totaling about 500 people, and the Zhongji Hall could accommodate them.

Zhu Youjian was speechless. The Zhongji Hall covers an area of ​​more than 500 square meters. Of course, one person can fit in every square meter. But if people are crowded inside, how can they stand up and discuss matters?
It’s no wonder that after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chang Chao Palace Ceremonies were no longer held. The number of officials was increasing, and only the Huangji Palace could accommodate them. However, the Huangji Palace was too solemn and the etiquette was too troublesome, so it was eventually changed to the Imperial Gate Ceremony, where officials were asked to stand in the open space in front of the door.

Now that Zhu Youjian wants to re-establish Chang Chao's palace etiquette, the first problem he faces is this.

He originally expected two to three hundred people to attend, but now five hundred people came all of a sudden, which was too much. And the more people there are, the harder it is to decide things, and the court meeting becomes a ritual again.

"The Sixth Department is for service, and it is my focus to reduce the number. The current number of more than 100 people cannot be reduced for the time being." 』

"Two hundred Kedao officials are too many. In the future, the Kedao titles of Beijing officials will be changed. The Kedao has also made a rotation plan to reduce the six departments of the previous court and give them to Shi Zhonghe and the Thirteen Supervisors. The number of people in history should be controlled at fifty or sixty people. 』

"The titles of other institutions should also be standardized and the number should be controlled. The overall number of civil servants can be controlled at around 200. "More than a hundred nobles, relatives, and officials from the five governments came here. Why did they join in the fun? I didn't see them speaking at the court meeting?" 』

Knowing that this might be the reason for the first regular court meeting, nobles, relatives and officials from the five palaces were afraid that the emperor would forget them, so they all came to attend the court meeting regardless of whether they had official duties or not.

But most of these people were just making up the numbers, and few really dared to speak. Although Zhu Youjian felt that they were taking up space, he could only let them go. Maybe after a few regular court meetings, these people will find it boring, and most of them will not participate.

Based on this calculation, the number of officials in the Chang Dynasty can be reduced to about two to three hundred in the future, which is in line with Zhu Youjian's original idea. There are too many people here today, purely because there are too many officials from the Department of Science and Technology and Wei Zhongxian is using his official titles indiscriminately.

"If they want to come, they can just stand. Anyway, I'm not the one crowding." 』

"The most important thing is to establish rules and determine the new court system. 』

Thinking like this, Zhu Youjian ordered:
"Let the Duke and the Fourth Assistant Minister stand in order inside the palace, and let the others stand on both sides. Let them line up outside first and figure out how to stand."

"Hundred officials enter the class without ceremony. Those who have something to report first file it in Honglu Temple, and the matters are classified and arranged according to the temple supervisors of the Five Prefectures and Six Ministries."

"You, the eunuch Bingbi, are responsible for determining the order of business with the minister of Honglu Temple and showing it to me."

Xu Yingyuan was casually given an additional responsibility, and he was asked to happily tell Yang Jingchen and Honglu Temple officials to arrange the officials according to the emperor's order.

After struggling like this for a while, the ministers finally decided to get off work and enter the palace on time to attend court at eight o'clock in the morning.

Entering the Zhongji Hall, the officials first saw the newly hung plaque of "Zhongzhengpinghe" and the sixteen-character couplet "The human heart is only in danger, but the Taoist heart is weak. Only the essence is the only one, and the right to hold it is right".

This was written by Zhu Youjian himself and hung up. It means to remind himself to be upright and upright, so that he can be upright and peaceful for himself, and he can help others and the world.

Most of the officials who came to court were familiar with scriptures and naturally knew the origins of the plaques and couplets. Seeing the emperor hanging this in the Zhongji Hall, I secretly admired it in my heart.

On the throne, Zhu Youjian saw so many people crowded in the hall and it was inconvenient to salute, so he immediately ordered all the officials to skip the three kowtows and just bow. The ministers all thanked him and began to discuss matters.

The first was the affairs of the Five Governments. Zhu Youjian looked at the matters raised by the nobles who served in the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army, dealt with them as usual, and added rewards with the ultimate favor. After the nobles expressed their gratitude, they were all satisfied.

Then there are the affairs of the six ministries. According to the order of civil servants, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and labor, the civil servants are ranked first, so the first thing to discuss is the official position.

After reading to the ministers the edict confirmed at the regular meeting two days ago, Zhu Youjian went through the usual procedures for Cui Chengxiu and others to observe the system, and then came the most important thing today - Ting Tui.

　"Chongzhen Legacy": In the first year of Chongzhen, the eunuch Gao Shiming, the eunuch and eunuch in charge of the rites and rituals department, was ordered to write a plaque inscribed with respect to Heaven and Fazu, which was hung in the main hall of Qianqing Palace. Wei Jing Wei Yi, Yunzhi Jue's sixteen characters are in two couplets.

　　"Ziuzhongzhi": There are two golden lions on the left and right outside the Qianqing Gate. When he entered the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, Danbi said the four words "reverence to Heaven and the Patriarch of Heaven". On the fourth day of the eighth lunar month of the first year of Chongzhen's reign, he was hanged by the eunuch Gao Mingbi.

　　These sixteen characters come from "Shang Shu·Yu Shu·Dayu Mo".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)