Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 54 Adjustment of the Five Temples
This change is a bit big, and many people cannot accept it. The emperor had made too many changes today. They were worried that this was Lord Jianwen who was reforming the official system indiscriminately. Huang Liji, the chief minister of the cabinet, advised:
"Your Majesty, Dali Temple and Taichang Temple are important, so they can be designated as the third grade."

"Guanglu Temple and Honglu Temple are not suitable for upgrading."

When the ministers of Guanglu Temple and Honglu Temple heard this, they were furious. The other departments didn't say anything, just the two of them. Is this looking down on them and not wanting them to do things?

But considering that Guanglu Temple is also responsible for meals and banquets, and Honglu Temple is also responsible for ceremonies, they really have no confidence and cannot confidently say that they are as important as Dali Temple and can be ranked alongside them. I can only look at the emperor helplessly, hoping that the emperor will be arbitrary.

Zhu Youjian thought for a while, but it didn't go as they expected. His purpose of adjusting the five temples was not simply to unify the grades, but to let these temples take charge of a certain section and conduct professional management of related affairs.

In the future, he will make more adjustments to Ming Dynasty's institutions, adjusting the distribution of power while improving management capabilities. Adjusting the five temples and other peripheral institutions of the imperial court now is just an appetizer. He wanted to use this matter to see how the officials viewed his adjustment of the organization.

Starting from Taipu Temple, Zhu Youjian changed his official positions one by one:

"Taipu Temple and Taichang Temple have been promoted to the third rank. The original ministers of Taipus Temple in Beijing and Taipus Temple in Nanjing remain unchanged. They are still in the third rank and are responsible for horse affairs in the north and horse affairs in the south."

"Xingtaipu Temple and Yuanma Temple in various places, as well as the Chariot and Driving Department of the Ministry of War, the Tea and Horses Department of various places and other institutions related to horse administration are all placed under the new Taipu Temple to unify the horse administration across the country."

"The postal and postal responsibilities of the Ministry of War's Vehicle and Driving Department were also taken over by Xintaipu Temple."

Such an organization that is responsible for horse administration and postal services across the country is enough to become a third-grade yamen. Everyone in Taipu Temple was happy and felt that the emperor was improving their status.

The doctor in the driving department was equally happy after Zhu Youjian appointed him as the fourth-rank Taipusi Shaoqing. But losing the military department of a division for no reason is not so happy.

Although the Secretary of the Ministry of War is away and the ministers are doing nothing, they still have to fight to prevent the subordinate officials of the Ministry of War from complaining and thinking that they are useless and lose their authority in the Ministry of War.

Facing the opinions of these people, Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said:

"The Ministry of War has added an Ordnance Department, which is responsible for the manufacturing of firearms and other ordnance."

"Get ready now. How to set it up will be decided after Yuan Keli, the special supervising ordnance minister, comes to Beijing."

"The Minister of Taipusi can temporarily let Qin Shiwen, the right minister of the Ministry of War, return to the capital."

"From now on, Taipu Temple will be supervised by the Ministry of War, and officials will be selected by the Ministry of War."

This is to add a third-rank yamen attached to the Ministry of War. How can the Ministry of War be dissatisfied? Moreover, after Qin Shiwen returned to Beijing, he concurrently served as Minister of Taipusi Temple, which obviously meant that although Taipusi Temple was not under the direct control of the Ministry of War, it was managed by the Minister of War, and there was almost no difference between it and direct management. It would be outrageous if the Ministry of War were dissatisfied.

Moreover, the responsibilities of the Ordnance Department are obviously not comparable to those of the Vehicle Driving Department. Of course they can accept the loss of a driver's department in exchange for the affiliated Taipus Temple and the directly affiliated Ordnance Department.

After dealing with the affairs of Taipus Temple, Zhu Youjian promoted the sixth-rank chief minister of Taipus Temple and Taichang Temple to the fifth-rank official. However, the original official rank remained unchanged and was changed to the sixth-rank chief minister of the same rank, leaving the two temples He selected officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and served as the prime minister of the fifth grade temple.

Now except for the original Si Cheng who was a little dissatisfied when he became the principal, the other officials all agreed. Especially the heads of the Sixth Department and Yuanwai Lang thought that it would be good to serve as Si Cheng. At least the level would be improved and the name Si Cheng would sound good.

Taking into account the increased authority of Taipu Temple, if Taichang Temple is not upgraded, it will not have the confidence to be ranked ahead of it. Zhu Youjian transferred almost all functions related to religious worship such as the Senglu Department, Daolu Department, temple priests, Confucian Temple, and City God Temple to Taichang Temple, which greatly increased the authority of Taichang Temple and regained confidence.

At the same time, as an appeasement to the Ministry of Rites, Zhu Youjian stipulated that Taichang Temple would become the transfer institution of the Ministry of Rites, with the Ministry of Rites responsible for supervision.

In addition, a new Department of Ritual and Music was established in the Ministry of Rites, which was responsible for the functions left by the temple priests such as formulating posthumous names and temple names. It was also responsible for sorting out music and dance, folk poetry, drama and folk arts, promoting spiritual civilization, and managing the Jiaofang Department.

The Department of Education was newly established to be responsible for national culture and education, and the Department of Ceremony was divided into tribute examination and school functions. In the future, it is planned to add functions such as standardizing language and characters, disseminating Chinese characters, formulating textbooks, accrediting teacher qualifications, and awarding degrees. Add functions to the Department of Ceremonies such as standardizing local laws, folk township covenants, clan and family laws, sorting out folk customs, and eliminating bad habits.

In this way, there are four departments in the Ministry of Rites: ritual system, temple sacrifices, refined meals, and host and guest. After the priests of the temple were separated, a new Department of Ritual and Music was established. The functions of the Department of Ritual System were changed, and a new Department of Education was also established.

This change was so great that Zhu Youjian gave up his plan to hand over the host and guest department of the Ministry of Rites to Honglu Temple, and decided to keep tribute and foreign affairs in the Ministry of Rites. Because the Jingshan Department had similar functions to Guanglu Temple, he merged them together:
"The minister of Guanglu Temple remained unchanged from the third rank. The former fifth-rank Shaoqing was changed to the fifth-rank temple prime minister, and the sixth-rank temple prime minister was changed to the sixth-rank chief. The Fine Dining Department of the Ministry of Rites was renamed to Guanglu Temple, and the fine dining department manager was moved to Zhongzhong. A fourth-grade young minister."

"Honglu Temple has added the responsibilities of recording court affairs and counting votes. The official has been promoted from the fourth rank to the third rank. The former fifth-rank Shaoqing has been changed to the fifth-rank temple prime minister, and the sixth-rank temple prime minister has been promoted to the sixth rank. Chief."

"The remaining young ministers of the two temples will not be appointed for the time being. We will wait until the Hanlin Academy officials who preside over the rural examinations come back. From now on, the affairs of the two temples will be supervised by the Ministry of Rites like Taichang Temple."

After such adjustments, Guanglu Temple and Honglu Temple can also support the third-grade yamen. The two temples are half a grade lower than Dali Temple, Taichang Temple and Taipu Temple, but they can still be called the Five Temples.

Now Guanglu Temple and Honglu Temple were also satisfied. After all, after their levels were upgraded and their affairs increased, not only did their power increase, many of them also improved their grades.

Although the changes in the Ministry of Rites are very big, three supervisory agencies have been added to the Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Honglu Temple, and more positions can be transferred to the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

The cabinet bachelors and officials of the Ministry of Rites were even more satisfied with this. At this time, in addition to the Zhanshifu and the Imperial College, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Hanlin Academy, and Cabinet had three more transfer institutions: Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Honglu Temple. The strength of the Qinggui family has naturally grown stronger.

It is of course very cost-effective to exchange the less important temple priests and fine dining department for the education department, the ritual and music department, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Honglu Temple.

In this way, the ranks and responsibilities of the five temples have all been adjusted. Everyone looked at the newly released three-level ministers, or the third-level minister, the fourth-level Shaoqing, the fifth-level temple minister, the sixth-level chief minister, the sixth-level official, and the seventh-level minister. Governor Pin, I think it is indeed very standardized. The grades are more clear than before.

Zhu Youjian looked at the adjusted Five Temples and was also very satisfied. In particular, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Honglu Temple have become institutions for the transfer of nobles and nobles, which can provide some training opportunities for Hanlin officials.

Even if it is "clear but unnecessary, necessary but unclear", Hanlin officials cannot be allowed to sit on the bench all the time. They must accumulate a certain amount of administrative experience so that they can better assist themselves after entering the cabinet.

For other departments, Zhu Youjian made no further adjustments. Especially the six core departments, Zhu Youjian did not change most of the departments other than the Department of Rites.

He knew that it didn't matter if there were mistakes in the adjustment of fringe institutions such as the Five Temples. If something went wrong in the Sixth Ministry, it would be a major event that would affect the whole country.

Before he controlled the power of the country and had no capable ministers to assist him, Zhu Youjian would not change it at will, so as to avoid changing the official system indiscriminately like Emperor Jianwen did and leaving officials at a loss.

　"History of Ming Dynasty":
　　Dali Temple. Qing is a man of the third rank. There is one Shaoqing on the left and one on the right, each of the fourth rank. There is one prime minister on the left and one on the right, each of the fifth rank. ...Your Majesty, I am in charge of the decree of trial, rehabilitation and imprisonment. Shaoqing and Si Cheng praised it. The left and right temples are in charge of matters concerning the capital and the thirteenth chief secretary.

　　Taichang Temple. Qing is a man of the third rank. The two Shaoqings are of the fourth rank. The two temple ministers. The sixth grade. ...Taichang, who is in charge of matters related to sacrifices, rituals and music, is subordinated to his officials, and his government orders are submitted to the Ministry of Rites. All gods, earth, humans and ghosts have their own sacrifices every year.

　　Admiral Siyi Pavilion. There is one Shaoqing, the fourth rank, who is in charge of translating books.

　　Guanglu Temple. Qing is one person, from the third rank. The two Shaoqings are of the fifth rank. There are two temple ministers, from the sixth grade. ... Qing, in charge of matters such as sacrifices, banquets, wines, and shameful meals, leads the young ministers, temple chief officials, and their subordinates to identify their names, check their comings and goings, measure their rich appointments, and listen to the Ministry of Rites.

　　Taipu Temple. Qing is one person, from the third rank. There are two Shaoqings, the fourth rank, and one person was added in the eleventh year of Zhengde. There are four temple ministers, all of whom are in the sixth grade. ... Qing, I am in charge of the political orders of horse herding and obey the Ministry of War. Shaoqing has one person to assist in temple affairs, one person to supervise the camp and horses, and one person to supervise the horses.

　　Honglu Temple. Qing is one person and is of the fourth grade. There is one Shaoqing on the left and one on the right, from the fifth rank. The left and right temple ministers each have one person, from the sixth rank. ...Honglu is in charge of court gatherings, guests, good and bad rites.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)