Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 55: Internal strife in the eunuch party
After completing the organizational adjustment, Zhu Youjian made no major moves except for approving Li Yongzhen's resignation on September 7. Every day, he handles the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War as before, and pays no attention to other matters. It seems that he really doesn't care that Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch party are in power and has done nothing about it.

However, the emperor was not in a hurry, but others were anxious. Not only was Xu Yingyuan eager to replace Wei Zhongxian, Yang Suoxiu, who was sent to Nanjing by the eunuch ministers to serve as general envoy, also speeded up his connection with the party members and prepared to attack the eunuch party.

On September 9, the Double Ninth Festival, Zhu Youjian once again held a regular meeting.

Looking at the much reduced number of Changchao officials, Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction. There were more than 300 people in the Zhongji Hall, and it finally didn't seem so crowded. Moreover, there is not much difference in the number of officials between the Six Ministries and Five Temples and the Six Sections of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so they can check and balance each other. This was not far from Zhu Youjian's ideal regular meeting, which made him very satisfied.

After the regular dynasty begins, the first thing to do is to report the progress of organizational adjustments in various departments. This is not as simple as the integration of staff, but also requires the transfer of public affairs and the relocation of government offices. In particular, the Five Temples are scattered in the east and west of the capital, and are far less concentrated than the Five Houses and Six Ministries in front of Chengtian Gate. The Department of Vehicles and Driving of the Ministry of War, the Priests of the Temple of Rites, and the Department of Fine Food have a lot to do if they want to move there.

Zhu Youjian listened to the report and felt that it would be too troublesome to move them all over, not to mention that the temple and the division had changed each other, so it would definitely not work to directly govern the division under the five temples. So Zhu Youjian thought about it for a while and said:
"If the government offices can't be moved, they won't be moved."

"I think that each temple can set up a general administration and branch offices, which can be personally controlled by the fourth-rank Shaoqing or the fifth-rank temple prime minister, and handle official affairs independently in other locations."

"Taichang Temple can set up a general ancestral and sacrificial office to manage the ancestral and sacrificial bureaus of various mausoleums, altars and temples, as well as the sacred temples, etc."

"Set up the General Administration of Sacrifice to determine the specifications and regulations of sacrifices, and regulate ancestral halls such as rural ancestral halls, famous official ancestral halls, birth ancestral halls, and ancestral ancestral halls, as well as family temples, Confucian temples, Guan temples, Yuemiao temples, Chenghuang temples, earth temples, mountain temples, etc. Heshen Temple, Dragon King Temple, Mazu Temple and other temples to crack down on illegal sacrifices.”

"Establish a General Administration of Religion to manage Taoism, Buddhism, and newly introduced religions from the West. Regulate religious sites, religious charters, religious classics, religious schools, clergy, etc., monitor the trends of various religions, and investigate and crack down on illegal religions. "

“The Siyi Museum was renamed as the General Administration of Translation, and in addition to the eight museums of Mongolia, Nüzhi, Xifan, Xitian, Baiyi, Gaochang, and Myanmar, a Latin and other Western language museum, a Nanyang museum, a Korean museum, a Japanese museum, etc. were added. The General Administration is jointly managed by the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy, and jointly cultivate generals and translate classics from various places."

After adjusting the organization of Taichang Temple, the more Zhu Youjian thought about it, the more he felt that Taichang Temple was very important. Religion and sacrifice were very influential in this era, and translation was also very important. He planned to use this department to implement some plans and lead ideas. culture.

Therefore, he also stipulated that officials with religious beliefs cannot serve as senior officials in Taichang Temple to avoid disturbing sacrifices and affecting religious policies.

Taipu Temple and Guanglu Temple are relatively simple and easy to complete adjustments:
"Taipu Temple can set up a General Administration of Vehicles and Driving to manage vehicle and driving affairs. The original warehouses and pastures do not need to be changed to the location."

"Establish the General Administration of Horse Administration to manage various pastoral supervisors, count the number of horses, war horses, and stallions in Xingtaipu Temple and Yuanma Temple in various places, and introduce and optimize horse breeds, etc."

"The Tea and Horse Administration was established to manage the tea and horse trade in various places."

"Establish a General Post Office to manage post offices and postal services in various places."

"Guanglu Temple can set up branches according to locations to provide meals for various places."

If this explanation continues, the adjusted departments such as Taichang Temple, Taipu Temple, and Guanglu Temple will all have regulations to follow, so that they will not act independently and cause all kinds of troubles.

However, Zhu Youjian was still not at ease, and arranged for Yang Jingchen, the Minister of Civil Affairs, to determine the establishment and charter of each department to prevent them from acting recklessly. Bingbi eunuch Wang Wenzheng was also sent out by him to keep an eye on this matter.

At the same time, he also planned to replace the houses of the eunuchs, officials, and nobles involved in the case after overthrowing the eunuchs, and centrally place some government offices near Chengtianmen. Otherwise, if you have to run around to do errands, it would be too far. The areas near Zhanshifu and Taiji Factory are good, you can consider placing them there.

While thinking about this, Zhu Youjian suddenly saw that the former officials had all stood up for Yang Suoxiu in the matter and impeached Chen Yin, the Minister of Taipusi in charge of the Taiji Factory, Cui Chengxiu, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Li Yangde, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Zhu, the governor of Yansui. Tongmeng should return to his hometown to observe the rules.

He also impeached Zhou Yingqiu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, thinking that he was careless and unfaithful, and was unable to take charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel.

This speech shocked Zhu Youjian, knowing that the attack on the eunuchs had finally come. Cui Chengxiu wanted to retreat, but someone stepped forward to hold him back. Zhou Yingqiu was also involved, and two of the six ministers were implicated.

Looking carefully, Zhu Youjian also recognized that Yang Suoxiu was elected as the general envoy of Nanjing by the eunuch party at the last court meeting. This made him feel happy, knowing that the eunuch party had begun civil strife:
“Wait and see, more people will appear. 』

"With the eunuchs in such chaos, others will see an opportunity!" 』

Not listening to Yang Suoxiu's impeachment, Zhu Youjian looked serious, scolded him for slandering people without evidence, and moved on to the next issue.

Yang Suoxiu was not discouraged. From the emperor's attitude, he could see that the emperor did not really punish him, but only asked him to produce tangible evidence. As the former official of the Ministry of official affairs, Zhou Yingqiu, the official minister of the Ministry of official affairs, did not know everything, at least he knew roughly. As long as there are traces to follow, isn't it easy to find evidence?
What's more, a high official like Shangshu can't be defeated by just one impeachment. Yang Suoxiu silently retreated to his position, preparing to let his followers collect evidence and launch the next attack in a few days.

Zhou Yingqiu was frightened to death when Yang Suoxiu, a former official, was impeached. He hardly said a word these days, wasn't it just to hide himself? Unexpectedly, Yang Suoxiu became jealous of something he did yesterday and began to impeach him. This frightened him so much that he almost collapsed and hurriedly confessed to the emperor.

Wen Yan comforted him a few words, and Zhu Youjian asked him to do his job well. He also listened to Yang Jingchen's report on the matter of title promotion, and then turned to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Liu Yingkun, the eunuch of Liaodong who was in charge of the division, asked for a silver coat of military ding. The old system was six coins per person. In the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian increased it to eight coins, for a total of 112,000 taels. This matter involved the Ministry of Household Affairs and was taken to Chang Chao Shang by Zhu Youjian for resolution. Zhu Youjian had already approved other matters regarding recommending Ma Dengyun and others for appointment at the regular meeting and did not need to be resolved at the regular meeting.

Guo Yunhou, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, has been very busy these days raising money and food for Dongjiang Town. He has also received reminders from Liaodong. He wonders if he should leave the affairs of the Ministry of Households to the emperor. If he continues to press like this, sooner or later he will not be able to solve it. .

Zhu Youjian ignored his thoughts. He had already approved Liu Yingkun's memorial. If Guo Yunhou can't come up with money, that's his problem. Liaodong affairs are related to the security of the capital, and no one dares to ignore them.

Guo Yunhou bit the bullet and agreed to the matter, and heard a letter from Shandong Governor Li Jingbai, which stated that the interest earned from casting money was 8,759 taels, which was less than a quarter of the rated figure of 40,000 taels. They complained that it was difficult to buy copper, mint money, and appoint officials. Nothing was easy. They asked Shandong to stop minting money.

Not to mention Guo Yunhou, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhu Youjian, who did not know much about the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, could all hear the problems in this kind of memorial. As long as you are not too stupid to make money, how can you only get this little profit? Li Jingbai is either an idiot or fooling people.

After being able to become the governor of Shandong, he actively built shrines for Wei Zhongxian in various places in Shandong. In his congratulations, he said, "Yao Tian is majestic, and the emperor's virtue is hard to name." Can you put pressure on Duke Wei?" This won the favor of Wei Zhongxian.

Is this kind of Li Jingbai a fool? Of course Zhu Youjian didn't think so. That is to say, Li Jingbai was not in front of him, otherwise Zhu Youjian could smash his memorial back.

With a serious look on his face, Zhu Youjian questioned Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs:

"Is the task set by the Ministry of Household Affairs so unrealistic? Shandong has only completed less than a quarter."

"How did you become the Minister of the Ministry of Finance? Do you know the difficulties?"

Of course Guo Yunhou didn't think it was a problem with the Ministry of Revenue, and hurriedly explained to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, the casting rate is determined based on the situation in each place. Shandong did not complete the task. It should be their own problem."

"Moreover, the matter of coining money is under the jurisdiction of the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and every province has a Baoquan Bureau."

The ball was thrown to the Ministry of Works. Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Works, hurriedly stood up and explained, saying that the Supervisor Qian Fashilang was here and the Ministry of Household Affairs also established Baoquan Bureau in the second year of Tianqi. The Ministry of Works had no control over this matter.

The two departments were arguing about this matter. Zhu Youjian had a headache hearing about it and could not pursue it further. All we can do is give the order:
"The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry will work together with the Ministry of Personnel as soon as possible to draft candidates for the special supervision of Minister Qian Fa, and the court will recommend Minister Qian Fa."

"The Vice Minister of Qian Law handles official affairs independently. He added the General Office of Qian Law and set up a directly subordinate office. There is a chief officer of the sixth rank as the chief of the department, a chief minister of the ninth rank, and two secretaries of the ninth rank to be responsible for daily affairs."

"The General Administration of Finance and Law has unified management of the Baoyuan Bureau in the capital, the Baoquan Bureau in various places, the Baobao Collection Department and other money-making and printing institutions."

"The style of Chongzhen Tongbao must be finalized as soon as possible."

Everyone was silent now, and everyone could hear that the emperor had established a new organization. But to say that this institution is unprecedented does not seem to be the case. After all, the imperial court established the Minister of Qian Law to unify the management of Qian Law. Now it is just an additional office to facilitate the work of Minister Qian Fa.

It's just that the establishment of the General Administration of Money and Law requires the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, the Baoquan Bureau of each province, the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the banknote printing agency. So which department this general administration belongs to needs to be explained.

Seeing that the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry were arguing over this again, Zhu Youjian decided:
"The Qian Law General Administration is supervised by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the special supervisor Qian Law Minister must have experience in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works."

"Ministry of staff should pay attention to this and do not look for unqualified candidates."

Candidate qualifications were quietly stipulated and professional officials were selected.

(End of this chapter)