Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

To adjust the division of responsibilities among the ministers in charge of assisting the emperor, we must first summarize their achievements.

The first person Zhu Youjian mentioned was not the Grand Secretary, but Yuan Keli, who presided over the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief.

Zhu Youjian praised him, saying:

"Yuan Qing's committee for suppressing the rebellion and providing disaster relief did a good job."

"Not only was the Liaodong rebellion quelled, but the civil unrest in Shaanxi and Shanxi was also basically suppressed."

"We must continue to work hard on disaster relief and prevent any new problems from arising."

Yuan Keli knew the emperor valued disaster relief, and had recently mentioned that the main contradiction was the conflict between population and land. He said:

"Your subject will do his utmost to provide disaster relief and ensure the safe relocation of the victims."

"After the unification of various religions and the revision of scriptures, some believers in Shaanxi caused trouble. Should we be more lenient towards them?"

Zhu Youjian replied without hesitation:
"Religions that are unwilling to work together to achieve great harmony are not what the Ming Dynasty needs."

"Emperor Taizu's proclamation for the Northern Expedition stated: 'Those who submit to me will live in peace in China forever, while those who betray me will flee to the borderlands.'"

“If someone causes trouble, just kick them out; that will help alleviate the conflict between people and land.”

"Let them cause some trouble in the Western Regions, which will make it easier for us to advance in the future."

Yuan Keli opened his mouth, wanting to offer some advice.

But thinking of the continuous stream of disaster victims being relocated from Shaanxi, he ultimately fell silent.

The riots by those religious followers used to be a big problem, but now the Ming army is equipped with new firearms and can easily suppress them.

Now that they're causing trouble, it's a good opportunity to relocate them and alleviate the conflict between people and land.

After Zhu Youjian finalized the matter, he turned to Wen Tiren and said:
"Has Scholar Wen, who presided over the Committee on Ritual and Music Education, taken any measures in this regard?"

"Religion is a form of education, and we must pay more attention to it."

Wen Tiren secretly groaned, because he hadn't taken this matter seriously.

The unification of various religions was initiated by Qian Qianyi, and he and Qian Qianyi had long been enemies due to their struggle for power.

How could Qian Qianyi possibly cooperate with him and include the unification of various religions in the achievements of the Ritual and Music Education Committee?

He could only say to the emperor:
"This matter is under the jurisdiction of Qian Qianyi, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and I have no right to comment on it."

By admitting that he hadn't taken any action, he had put Qian Qianyi in a difficult position once again.

Zhu Youjian frowned upon hearing Qian Qianyi's refusal to allow Wen Tiren to intervene. He asked:

Wasn't Qian Qianyi a member of the Committee on Rites and Music Education?

"Can't you hold a meeting?"

He was very dissatisfied with Wen Tiren, believing that he had not exercised the power of the committee.

Thinking that other ministers might also have similar misunderstandings about the committee, Zhu Youjian solemnly emphasized to them:

"The principle of collective decision-making must be upheld: the minority must obey the majority, and the individual must obey the collective."

"Different opinions can be reserved, but the decisions made by the assembly must be implemented."

"If anyone refuses to comply, they must immediately request a transfer from their superiors; otherwise, they will be demoted for incompetence."

"This matter needs to be specifically supervised, Scholar Yang..."

Turning to Yang Jingchen, he instructed:
"The Cabinet will establish another supervisory committee to integrate the supervisory functions of the Censorate and the performance evaluation and promotion functions of the Ministry of Personnel and other government departments, specifically to supervise the implementation of court systems such as the deliberation system."

"Imperial edicts and cabinet documents are also subject to supervision and implementation by the Supervisory Committee. Those who refuse to comply may be warned first and then dismissed."

The powers that had just been granted to the cabinet at the court meeting were implemented, and a special committee was established.

Yang Jingchen was extremely excited when he heard this, because it represented a significant amount of external power.

Moreover, being part of the same faction as the Ministry of Personnel under his command, he, as the second-ranking minister, still wielded considerable influence in personnel matters.

Even when Grand Secretary Han Kuang was in charge of the Planning and Development Commission, the implementation of policies still required his cooperation.

His position as the second-in-command is now secure.

However, every gain has its loss, Zhu Youjian continued:
"You are the Vice Grand Secretary, in charge of the Standing Committee, responsible for the daily work of the Cabinet."

"Now that the supervisory and executive committee has been added, there are even more trivial matters."

"The Integrity and Judicial Committee will be handed over to Wen Xueshi so that he can learn properly what the judiciary is."

"Don't treat the imperial system as a mere formality; it must be implemented."

These words made Wen Tiren feel ashamed, and he repeatedly apologized to the emperor.

But deep down, I was extremely relieved, knowing that I had gotten through what had just happened.

However, the Committee on Rites and Music Education could not be left to him any longer. Zhu Youjian glanced at Cheng Jiming and instructed:

"Scholar Cheng is the Minister of Rites, so the Committee on Rites and Music Education will be put in your charge."

"However, you are not yet a formal Grand Secretary and do not have the right to draft imperial edicts. Scholar Wen needs to stay for a few more months to help draft imperial edicts."

"We should consult Mr. Liu more on the affairs of this committee; he is in charge of revising the rites and music."

Cheng Jiming and Wen Tiren accepted the order and took over the arrangement.

Then, Zhu Youjian arranged for Zheng Yiwei to preside over the Finance Department and appointed him as the deputy director of the Finance and Economics Committee to assist Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, in drafting imperial edicts.

The drafting of the motions for the Committee for Suppression of Rebellion and Disaster Relief was still done by Shi Fenglai and Xu Guangqi. Xu Guangqi also served as the deputy director of the Planning Commission, assisting Han Kuang in formulating plans.

With this, the division of responsibilities among the Grand Secretaries has been basically completed. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be working together with other advisors and ministers in the latter half of the year to oversee the six committees.

These six committees will serve as components of the cabinet, each responsible for formulating policies in a specific area.

Furthermore, under Zhu Youjian's authorization, he supervised the implementation by the Six Ministries and other government departments.

From now on, unless there are major events, Zhu Youjian will not interfere, leaving the implementation of the measures he has formulated to the cabinet.

After being reminded by Han Kuang, Zhu Youjian paid more attention to the implementation of the policy.

In the preceding years, he formulated countless measures, but because he had not yet established his authority, he did not urge local authorities to implement them effectively.

Now that his prestige has soared to unprecedented heights after the Liaodong campaign, and he has enough power to subdue the locals, he naturally wants to implement these policies one by one.

He asked Han Kuang, who had pointed out the problem:

"Han Qing previously said that he would implement a small plan to improve the administration and ensure that the court's policies are put into practice."

"Has everything been decided yet? What are the plans for this year?"

Han Kuang was very diligent in trying to stay in his position, and immediately responded:

"I, along with Scholar Xu, Minister Bi, and others, have decided that this year's plan is to compile a large number of imperial edicts."

"The number of households, changes in household registration, surplus population statistics, as well as the number of acres of land, the number of high-standard farmland, the number of privately owned land and rented land by farmers, etc., should all be included in the statistics."

"Then, based on the Yellow Register, taxes will be levied, surplus labor will be relocated, and policies such as the unified tax system will be implemented."

Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction and approved:

"The Tenth Intelligence Division is number one in statistics."

"Your Planning and Development Committee should also emphasize statistics when formulating plans."

"I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate supervise and see which regions have produced the best Yellow Registers." "Only accurate statistical data can guide the court's governance."

"Your Planning and Development Committee did a good job in making the creation of the Yellow Register your top priority."

Han Kuang smiled, and Yang Jingchen, eager to impress the emperor, flattered him, saying:
"The Supervisory and Executive Committee will oversee the implementation of this plan."

"We humbly request Your Majesty to allow officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to join the Supervisory Committee for oversight."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard belonged to the inner court, and Zhu Youjian was naturally pleased that Yang Jingchen had taken the initiative to invite the Embroidered Uniform Guard to join him, and agreed:
"I will arrange for the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to join the committee."

"Your supervisory committee members should send more censors to the local areas to avoid being deceived."

"If a censor is deemed incompetent, an application can be made to have him removed."

Yang Jingchen was given the power to intervene in the Censorate, with the intention of using him to replace unsatisfactory censors in the future.

Yang Jingchen was delighted to hear this, as it meant that his influence over the Censorate would increase, bringing him closer to the power of the Grand Censor.

From this arrangement, he also understood why the emperor had put him in charge of the supervisory committee.

The position of Grand Secretary is shifting to that of Chancellor, so the Second Grand Secretary will likely have the power of the Censor-in-Chief.

The other Grand Councilor with the power of countersignature can be regarded as the Grand Commandant.

The three of them were the Three Dukes of the new era, the three most powerful people in the imperial court.

Having reached this position, one can be said to have reached the pinnacle of a minister's power.

What Yang Jingchen could think of, the other ministers could naturally think of as well.

These people looked at the three men with envy, thinking to themselves that they must take all three positions.

Wen Tiren, in particular, had just been reprimanded by the emperor and then transferred to take charge of the Anti-Corruption Commission. This was Yang Jingchen's previous position, and he is very likely to take over the position of Second Grand Secretary in the future.

This excited him, making him feel that he could do more to show the emperor that he had the ability to check and balance the chief minister.

Anyway, as long as he doesn't make any major mistakes, he won't be dismissed. Wen Tiren thinks he can test him more in the future.
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After making these arrangements, Zhu Youjian then said to Han Kuang:
"The creation of the Yellow Register is the main task this year."

"But development plans are also needed in the industrial and commercial sectors."

"In industry, we should quickly investigate the advantageous industries in various regions and set up industrial parks specifically for industrial and commercial operations."

“Each prefecture and county should have a dedicated deputy in charge of the industrial park.”

"This matter must be taken seriously, and we need to repair more houses and make more preparations."

“In the future, surplus rural laborers will first be resettled in the industrial park, and only those who cannot become skilled workers after training will be forcibly relocated.”

Han Kuang carefully remembered it and then said:

"The Planning and Development Commission also formulated plans for industry and commerce."

"In the industrial sector, we will focus on steel, establishing steel industrial parks in places like Beizhili, Suzhou-Songjiang, Liaodong, and Foshan to usher in the steel era as soon as possible."

"The business group's plan is to establish a supply and marketing group to procure and sell the corvée labor supplies."

These two plans were approved by Zhu Youjian, who gave the following instructions:

"The steel industry must be taken seriously. The Ministry of Industry should establish a special Coal and Steel Administration to be specifically responsible for coal and steel, as well as related resources such as coal mines, iron ore, charcoal, and oil."

"The General Administration of Coal and Steel should supervise the establishment of relevant industry associations such as the Coal Association and the Steel Association, and include all practitioners in the industry."

"We need to understand their production capacity and technological level, establish a coal and steel research institute at the Wensi Institute, and promote the development of coal and steel technology."

Han Kuang readily agreed, knowing that his steel plan for industry had struck a chord with the emperor.

The emperor predicted that the next era would be the steel age, and of course he had to conform to that.

Zhu Youjian was not afraid of officials flattering him, but he was afraid of officials who did not follow his lead. He was pleased with Han Kuang's change and praised him a few more times.

Then, thinking of the coal and steel community of later generations, he instructed Huang Liji:
"The most important thing in the Iron Age was steel, and the strength of various countries also stemmed from it."

"The Court of Colonial Affairs should ascertain the development status of the steel industry in various countries, and the coal and steel industries of the vassal states should be forcibly incorporated into the supervision of relevant associations of the Ming Dynasty."

"From now on, the coal mines, iron mines, and oil mines of each vassal state shall be incorporated into the joint venture. Each vassal state shall be allocated a certain proportion, which shall not exceed the limit."

"In principle, the steel production of the Ming Dynasty should exceed the total output of all its vassal states and even all foreign countries."

"Countries whose steel production exceeds one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty should be the focus of our suppression to prevent them from rebelling."

Huang Lijie hadn't expected to receive a task after attending the meeting, so he quickly agreed.

The emperor's emphasis on this matter meant that the Court of Colonial Affairs should also attach great importance to it. Therefore, it naturally possessed the corresponding authority in its implementation.

Although he did not understand how the coal and steel joint venture was implemented, he knew that controlling coal and iron mines was a sure thing, and he could arrange for people to mine them in the vassal states.

This was clearly a profitable endeavor, and he was very enthusiastic about it.
-
After Huang Lijie was assigned tasks, Zhu Youjian had finally completed the adjustment and division of labor among his ministers.

This was also the first time he had held consecutive meetings in a long time, and he certainly wouldn't be so tired in the future.

In the future, he can have these people do his bidding and live a comfortable life.

After several years in power, he had a good grasp of his ministers' abilities. He only needed to supervise their execution, without having to arrange every single detail.

He didn't even need to do the things he was overseeing personally; he had already arranged for the Director of the Secretariat to be in charge of the cabinet.

Looking at Wang Chengen, the Grand Secretary, Zhu Youjian made the following arrangements:
“Support officials in all departments of the Secretariat and select capable officials from the inner court.”

"We must keep a close eye on the cabinet and prevent them from overstepping their authority. Everything that happens in the cabinet must be recorded and filed."

"If anything goes wrong, I will hold you accountable."

Wang Chengen hurriedly agreed, then said with some grievance:

"His Majesty has established a council within the Secretariat, which can only be attended by the scholars of the Secretariat, while the principal officials of the Secretariat can only attend as observers."

"Since the position of Grand Secretary is concurrently held by the Hanlin Academy Grand Secretary, I fear I will be isolated in the Grand Secretariat."

Clearly, after the emperor emphasized the principle of collective deliberation, he worried that he might not be able to handle the situation alone, facing the Grand Secretaries and numerous other scholars in the Secretariat.

Zhu Youjian paid no attention to this matter. Upon hearing Wang Chengen's complaints, he wanted to add a few more supervising eunuchs.

However, upon further reflection, he felt it wasn't really necessary and instructed Wang Chengen:

"The Grand Secretary of the Secretariat is a reserve candidate for the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet."

“You can observe carefully and write down the names of the scholars who are upright and cooperative.”

"This position is a good opportunity to screen candidates and prevent uncooperative Grand Secretaries from joining the cabinet in the future."

Wang Chengen then turned to joy, understanding the emperor's intention:

The Director of the Secretariat said it was very important, that they needed to keep an eye on the Cabinet.

However, its greatest power is to countersign cabinet documents, and given the cabinet's current power, it is unlikely that any major problems will arise.

Even if he is pressured by the Grand Secretary at the assembly, just remember his name; the emperor will certainly not give such a person an important position in the future.

Furthermore, as one of the two chief officials of the Secretariat, he had veto power over decisions made in collective discussions.

No one can force him to use the seal if he doesn't want to.

Therefore, he immediately abandoned the idea of ​​increasing the number of supervising eunuchs, lest having multiple supervising eunuchs would further diminish his power.

He decided to observe carefully and support officials within the Secretariat who were willing to cooperate. (End of Chapter)