Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The news that Yuan Keli had decided to stay on quickly spread through various channels.

The ministers in the imperial court reacted in various ways to this.

Grand Secretary Han Kuang was both worried about being ousted from power by Yuan Keli and relieved that Yuan Keli would remain in office.

In conversations with other members of the Donglin Party, Han Kuang said:
"The Emperor persuaded Privy Councilor Yuan to remain in office, which shows that the Emperor still seeks stability in this reshuffle."

"The political landscape will not change significantly, which is good news for us."

As the Grand Secretary, who held the highest position in the court, Han Kuang could be considered a beneficiary of the system.

For him, stability is a good thing, and there is a high probability that he will remain in office as the chief minister.

This means he has more time to earn merit and receive the earldom promised by the emperor.

Cheng Jiming was also very happy, because if the emperor wanted to maintain stability, he, as the Assistant Grand Secretary, would most likely become a formal Grand Secretary.

He asked Han Kuang:

"Have His Majesty revealed how many Grand Secretaries will be selected next?"

Han Kuang stroked his beard and laughed:

"His Majesty's intention is to maintain the number of official Grand Secretaries at six, and to add two to four more Associate Grand Secretaries, with a total number not exceeding ten."

“Sun Chengzong will step down from his position in the cabinet after being granted a title, and Shi Fenglai will most likely also step down when the cabinet changes.”

"One more Grand Secretary is needed to reach the required number of six."

Following Li Guopu's death, the current cabinet consists of Grand Secretary Han Kuang, Vice Grand Secretaries Shi Fenglai and Yang Jingchen, as well as Xu Guangqi, Wen Tiren, and Zheng Yiwei.

Sun Chengzong's absences while supervising military operations are usually not included in this calculation.

After several years of practice, Zhu Youjian believed that it would be better to have six Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet, so he decided on six.

This means that if Sun Chengzong and Shi Fenglai do not retire after the other five Grand Secretaries step down, the cabinet will only fill the vacancy by appointing one more person.

Cheng Jiming looked at Han Kuang expectantly, hoping for good news. As the Assistant Grand Secretary, he was the most likely candidate to be promoted.

He did not disappoint him, Han Kuang said:

"His Majesty's intention is that the other five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet should be retained in the next term if possible."

"You, as the Associate Grand Secretary, can now be formally transferred to this position."

"However, the procedures still need to be followed, and it requires the minister's recommendation."

Cheng Jiming's face lit up with joy upon hearing this, and the others congratulated him as well.

With the emperor's approval, and given the power of the Donglin Party, it would have been easy to push Cheng Jiming to the throne.

With Cheng Jiming's entry into the cabinet, the Donglin Party now has two Grand Secretaries.

In addition, with the neutral but pro-Donglin Party figures Hsu Kuang-chi and Cheng Yi-wei, they were able to control the cabinet.

Han Kuang felt highly motivated because of this, believing that the next three years would be a good opportunity for him to make contributions.
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After his initial joy, Cheng Jiming asked:

Has the list of candidates for Grand Secretary been finalized?

When will His Majesty issue a decree?

This was one of the biggest changes to the imperial recommendation system, where candidates for each position required the emperor's approval.

Only those approved by the emperor could have their ballots printed and their resumes made public.

Those not approved by the emperor cannot even be included in the candidate list.

Moreover, according to the current emperor's custom after ascending the throne, as long as one is included in the candidate list, it means that one has been approved by the emperor and will likely have the opportunity to be given important responsibilities.

Han Kuang also attached great importance to this list and had already consulted the emperor. At this moment, he revealed:
"This time, the court will select one Grand Secretary as the chief recommender and two as assistant recommenders."

"As long as there are no major problems, Zheng Tui will most likely be appointed as a Grand Secretary, and the two accompanying him will be Associate Grand Secretaries."

"The number of candidates is twice the number of positions, which means six people."

"The Ministers of Rites in both capitals, as well as the Left and Right Vice Ministers in Beijing, will all be selected."

"There are two more spots available, reserved for other officials who came from the Hanlin Academy." With this list revealed, the candidates are easy to guess.

The current Minister of Rites in Beijing is Cheng Jiming, who is the strongest contender for the position of Grand Secretary and will undoubtedly secure one of the spots.

The Minister of Rites in Nanjing was Meng Shaoyu, a remnant of the eunuch faction and a descendant of Mencius.

The current emperor has quoted Mencius many times and seems to value him highly, suggesting that this person has a chance to enter the cabinet.

Qian Xiangkun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Biao, the Right Vice Minister, will also be included in the list of candidates.

Both of them had close ties with the Donglin Party, and Qian Xiangkun was even a member of the Donglin Party.

However, Hou Xun, who was listening nearby, raised an objection to this person:
"Qian Xiangkun is Wen Tiren's protégé. If he becomes an Associate Grand Secretary, will he get involved with Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren?"

"Should we think of a way to impeach him?"

The power of the Associate Grand Secretaries was less than that of the regular Grand Secretaries. They had no voting power in cabinet meetings and no right to draft proposals.

In theory, this position does not affect the cabinet vote, so there is no need to worry too much.

However, considering that Associate Grand Secretaries could see the Emperor as frequently as Regular Grand Secretaries and wield influence over him, Han Kuang said:
"Between master and disciple, one should indeed avoid each other due to humility."

"Otherwise, if the master and disciple are both in the cabinet, how can the disciple express his or her differing opinions?"

"I will suggest to His Majesty that we change the candidates."

They planned to use the emperor's well-established system of recusal to exclude Qian Xiangkun.

Cheng Jiming was somewhat uneasy about this and reminded him:
"His Majesty dislikes factional strife. If this matter is discovered, it may incur his wrath."

"Moreover, if we're talking about it, those of us who are listed in the Donglin Party are all part of the same faction."

According to the avoidance system established by the emperor, in addition to teachers and students, people of the same clan, lineage, relatives, society, and party also needed to avoid each other.

According to this logic, since he and Han Kuang were both members of the Donglin Party, they shouldn't have joined the cabinet together.

Han Kuang was somewhat numb upon hearing this, forgetting that he was still suspected.

If Qian Xiangkun were to be removed from office based on the master-disciple relationship, the Donglin Party would also face scrutiny.

So he hurriedly said to Hou Xun and the others:

"This matter must not be disclosed to outsiders. I will consult His Majesty again regarding the specific avoidance system."

Skipping over that topic, let's move on to:

"Have you thought of the other two candidates?"

"They may also be nominated as Associate Grand Secretaries and become cabinet ministers."

Cheng Jiming, as the Minister of Rites, was very familiar with officials who had come from the Hanlin Academy, and pondered:

"Han Rizuan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was probably one of them. He had served as the Minister of Rites in Nanjing and was already a minister of state."

"Even if I don't become a Grand Secretary this time, I still have a chance to be promoted and become one of the Nine Ministers."

"Lin Yuji, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, is also a possibility."

"He was a scholar from the Hanlin Academy and had made outstanding achievements in his position at the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing."

"The Emperor wants to increase the number of ministers who are good at financial management, and he will most likely be transferred to the capital in the next term."

This name made Han Kuang and the others take it seriously.

The achievements of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue in terms of finance over the past two years are evident to all. As long as Lin Yuji doesn't make any mistakes, he will most likely become one of the high-ranking officials.

What made Han Kuang pay extra attention to him was that Lin Yuji and Yang Jingchen were from the same hometown, both from Jinjiang.

Moreover, Lin Yuji and Zhang Ruitu were cousins ​​and related by marriage. It is said that he also had a good relationship with Hong Chengchou, a man who was able to unite the scholars from Quanzhou and Jinjiang who had passed the imperial examinations.

Han Kuang, who already sees Yang Jingchen as his biggest challenger, naturally does not want Lin Yuji to come to the capital.

However, the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue had achieved remarkable political results in the past two years, leaving him wondering how to stop Lin Yuji.

If he were to be recommended by Yang Jingchen and his group to be an Associate Grand Secretary, it would be quite detrimental to Han Kuang's control of the cabinet. (End of Chapter)