Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The emperor would relinquish the power he had seized; this was a consensus among all officials and a reflection of their experience in dealing with the emperor.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, apart from Emperor Taizu who firmly held onto power until his death, Emperor Chengzu, who was most similar to Taizu, relinquished much power to the Crown Prince to oversee the country in his later years due to impatience with state affairs.

The current emperor is following the example of Emperor Jiajing, who later went into seclusion in the palace to cultivate Taoism, allowing Yan Song, Xu Jie and others to seize power.

Therefore, the ministers in the court were very patient and, unable to contend with the current emperor, planned to seize power in the future.

In particular, the emperor had promised his ministers that power would be redistributed when the rites and music were re-established.

They had assumed the emperor would relinquish power after the establishment of parliament, but they never imagined that in the very first year of Chongzhen's reign, the emperor would relinquish power so drastically.
Giving the cabinet the power to issue orders to the outside world is a real way of freeing up the power of the prime minister.

Once the cabinet holds the position of prime minister, it will possess the power of the prime minister.

Grand Secretary Han Kuang was thrilled by this, feeling that the emperor was truly a sage ruler who could allocate power at will, granting the cabinet unprecedented authority.

In the future, as this power continues to expand, the cabinet may even be able to exercise the emperor's power.

No wonder the emperor granted the second-in-command the power of deputy director, using the second-in-command to check him.

Thinking of the trouble Yang Jingchen had caused this time, Han Kuang, who wanted to test how much power the emperor was willing to relinquish, spoke up:
"His Majesty once said that the Cabinet's draft should have at least two clauses, one of which should be drafted or approved by the Grand Secretary."

"However, I have never heard of the draft proposal submitted by the Second Grand Secretary, nor have I expressed my agreement with it."

"I believe it should be revised and sealed by the Cabinet."

This suggestion was echoed by Yuan Keli and others.

They were all terrified by the emperor's actions, fearing that he would use this method to issue decrees indiscriminately in the future.

It would be much better if the Grand Secretary were in charge. If the emperor wanted to use treacherous officials to issue imperial edicts, he would be constrained by the Grand Secretary.

However, Zhu Youjian did not agree, not wanting to give the Grand Secretary too much power.

He argued:

"What I said before was about the drafting of memorials, and the final choice is mine."

"If the Grand Secretary finds it inappropriate, he may draft another clause, which I will then choose."

Han Kuang was speechless, never expecting the emperor to be so shameless.

Need I say more about the results of his and Yang Jingchen's separate drafts of the imperial edicts on this matter? It was inevitable that Yang Jingchen's edict would be accepted.

If he argues his case, he will inevitably clash with the emperor; if he acquiesces to the decree, the ministers will think that he has not fulfilled his responsibilities as chief minister.

Considering the potential consequences, he quickly withdrew after his initial probing.

But while he retreated, the others did not. Yuan Keli said:
"Although it is His Majesty's power to select candidates for the draft, the contents of the draft should be communicated to the other Grand Secretaries."

"Only if the other Grand Secretaries have no objection can the document be issued."

He wanted to bring other Grand Secretaries together to restrain the emperor and his treacherous officials.

But Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:

"If even one Grand Secretary opposes the imperial edict and it is not issued, how can the court function in the future?"

"As I have already said, the independent voting power of each Grand Secretary will now need to rely on the committee in charge."

"The draft can only be prepared after the committee has discussed it."

"What else do you have to worry about? Don't you trust the various committees?"

Then he turned to Yuan Keli and said:

“Yuan Qing, you are the director of the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief, and you also have a share of this independent voting power.”

"The Grand Secretary, who serves as the Vice-Chairman, needs your consent to draft and affix his seal to the vote. Otherwise, you may exercise your veto power to overturn the committee's resolution."

With so much power in hand, why worry about someone making arbitrary votes?

Yuan Keli fell silent, because the emperor had clearly explained the committee's operating mechanism.

Although he will no longer be a Grand Secretary, as the Director of the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief, he can still share the power to draft votes through the position of Grand Secretary, who will serve as the Vice Director.

It is easy to imagine how tempting this was for non-Hanlin officials who could not become Grand Secretaries, as they could share the cabinet's power to draft proposals through committees.

At this moment, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, asked:

"As the Director of the Finance and Economic Committee, will all financial and economic documents requiring official seals be discussed and approved by the committee in the future?"

Zhu Youjian affirmed: "The Finance and Economics Committee takes the initiative to implement policies, which naturally requires collective discussion and agreement before the seal can be used."

"If we don't need to use the seal, then we'll follow the normal procedure. All Grand Secretaries can draft proposals, one of which must be drafted or approved by the Chief Grand Secretary, and then submitted to me after the Chief Grand Secretary affixes the seal."

"If I agree to one of them, I will send it to the Six Ministries for a copy. If I disagree with all of them, I will send it to the Cabinet for further discussion."

"The difference between using the seal and not using the seal is whether or not one has the title of Cabinet."

"With this title, one can submit a memorial independently and urge the implementation of cabinet decisions in the name of the cabinet."

"Without this title, the Prime Minister would need to invoke the title of the Cabinet."

With this explanation, the courtiers immediately understood:

The emperor was worried that the Grand Secretary's power was too great, so after giving the cabinet external powers, he distributed the cabinet title among the Grand Secretaries.

Each Grand Secretary can use the name of the Cabinet when using the official seal.

This greatly weakens the authority of the Grand Secretary, because the Grand Secretary who holds the seal can completely bypass the Grand Secretary.
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The ministers had reservations about this, because the Grand Secretary was the head of all officials, and they relied on him to restrain the emperor's power.

Now that he no longer has that power, who can stop the emperor from acting recklessly?

Even if some people want to share cabinet power through this system, they dare not speak out.

Bi Ziyan said tactfully:
"The Cabinet Committee can use the name of the Cabinet, but without the approval of other cabinet ministers, it is suspected of acting arbitrarily."

"Moreover, using the name of the cabinet requires at least the Prime Minister's approval."

"I believe that regardless of whether the seal is used, the draft should be drafted by the Grand Secretary or approved."

"This way, when the emperor is tired, he can directly adopt the Grand Secretary's draft proposals."

Yuan Keli and others offered their support, and the court officials were in complete agreement on this point:
To limit imperial power as much as possible, and not to give the emperor the power to issue decrees at will.

They believed that with the Grand Secretary's intervention, this incident could be largely avoided.

If the Grand Secretary knew in advance, he would certainly advise the Emperor against it.

Han Kuang, on the other hand, was conflicted at this moment.

Because he knew that if it were a matter like this, his draft edict would not be very effective, and he would instead be challenged by the court officials to a contest with the emperor.

It would be better to remain ignorant; at least then you'd have a reason to deny it.

Now the court officials believe he must draft another imperial edict or agree, which forces him to make a choice. He cannot use the excuse of ignorance to shirk responsibility.

This is a risky power; it can strengthen the authority of the Grand Secretary, but it may also cause conflict with the Emperor.

He chose to remain silent and did not comment on the matter.

After some thought, Zhu Youjian understood the intentions of his ministers.

If he wants to remain in power, then disagreeing is the best course of action.

However, since he is now shirking his responsibilities and delegating authority, he naturally needs to find someone to take responsibility.

If the prime minister does not express his opinion on the proposed vote, how will he take responsibility?

Therefore, after consideration, Zhu Youjian was inclined to agree.

However, this power could not be given away for nothing. Zhu Youjian decided to clarify the powers and responsibilities of the Grand Secretary and the Second Grand Secretary, along with the power of the Deputy Grand Secretary's countersignature.

The final draft of the etiquette and law provisions is as follows:
The Ming emperor oversaw all affairs of the Ming dynasty and appointed Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet to assist him.

Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet participated in state affairs and had the authority to draft imperial edicts. Formal imperial edicts required the Cabinet's drafting.

All Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet have the independent power to draft proposals, and the Chief Grand Secretary should draft or approve one of the proposed proposals and affix his seal.

Cabinet drafts must not be released or leaked without the emperor's approval; violators will be punished for falsely conveying imperial edicts and leaking secrets.

When a document is to be approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial, it must be countersigned by the Vice Grand Secretary for political matters and by the Privy Council for military matters before it can be sent to the relevant ministry for discussion. If the Vice Grand Secretary or the Privy Council is unwilling to countersign, a request must be submitted to the Emperor for a final decision.

Upon seeing these provisions, the courtiers immediately understood:
The emperor guarded against not only the chief minister, but also the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

This is clearly a concern about a repeat of the situation in the early Wanli period:
Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao joined forces to monopolize power in the imperial court.

Therefore, the power of the Second Grand Secretary and the Privy Council Deputy Grand Secretary was granted to check the power of the Grand Secretary and the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Even if they unite in the future, there will be someone to check and balance them. (End of Chapter)