Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Yang Jingchen's choice was correct; Zhu Youjian did indeed have something for him to handle.

Moreover, it wasn't just him; Wen Ti-ren, who was in charge of the Anti-Corruption and Judicial Committee, was also summoned to the palace.

Facing the two Grand Secretaries, Zhu Youjian said:
"Yang Qing is the former director of the Anti-Corruption and Law Committee, and Wen Qing is the current director of the Anti-Corruption and Law Committee."

"What aspects of judicial affairs do you think still need improvement?"

Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren exchanged a glance, pondering the emperor's intentions, and remained silent for a moment.

As Yang Jingchen's successor, Wen Tiren is ranked after Yang Jingchen in the cabinet and will not be the first to speak.

After careful consideration, Yang Jingchen replied:

"In terms of the judiciary, the Ministry of Criminal Justice is the area most in need of improvement."

"They lost their judicial authority and are now only responsible for the rule of law and prisons, which they complain about a lot."

"I believe that the Public Security Commission should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice, so that they can obtain law enforcement power."

This was the demand of officials from the Ministry of Justice; they had always wanted to seize the law enforcement power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Guard.

However, Zhu Youjian would not agree, because he needed to control the knife handle, which was the most important power in peacetime.

Zhu Youjian responded indifferently to Yang Jingchen's suggestion:

"The Weiwei Temple does a good job in law enforcement and cooperates with local garrisons, with sufficient personnel."

"What use is law enforcement power to the Ministry of Justice? Do they have enough money to support the police?"

"Besides, the Ministry of Justice isn't without options; it's just that they're unwilling to pursue them."

Yang Jingchen felt embarrassed upon hearing this. He knew what the emperor meant by the way out: to have the Minister of the Imperial Guard concurrently serve as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

This should be considered a mature policy, with officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of Imperial Studs, and the Court of Imperial Treasury concurrently serving as vice ministers in their respective departments, and subject to the supervision of the Six Ministries.

Only the Ministry of Justice was unwilling to accept the position of Imperial Guard, due to the bad reputation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were even less willing to open a channel for Embroidered Uniform Guards to transfer to the Ministry of Justice, lest people view Ministry of Justice officials differently.

As a result, the officials of the Imperial Guard were so angry that they no longer accepted the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and, with the emperor's support, monopolized law enforcement power.

In addition, the dispute over the director of the Public Security Commission has strained the relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Guard, making them the two most at odds in the court.

Now that the emperor has pointed it out to his face, Yang Jingchen has nothing to say.

Wen Tiren seemed to have spotted an opportunity and said:
"Grand Secretary Han and Vice Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Justice both agree that the Minister of the Imperial Guard should concurrently serve as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice."

"It's just that the people in the Ministry of Justice are too proud to admit their mistake, so they're delaying the matter."

"I believe that when the leadership changes, the chief officials of the Nine Temples should concurrently serve as vice ministers of the Six Ministries, thus clarifying the Six Ministries' supervisory authority over the Nine Temples."

"At that time, the officials of the Ministry of Justice would certainly not have objected."

This made Zhu Youjian nod, feeling it was a good idea.

Officials from scholarly backgrounds value their reputation, so they would rather forgo power than let the matter slip by.

However, when there was no one in charge during the leadership transition, the government used the name of the imperial system to forcefully suppress the matter, and the matter was thus easily resolved.

The Ministry of Justice could expand its power, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard could also gain the opportunity to be transferred to the imperial court as officials.

Therefore, he agreed:
"This can be done by including the Minister of the Imperial Guard in the Anti-Corruption and Law Committee, with Minister Wen handling the specifics."

"The position of Director of the Public Security Commission can be given to the Minister of Justice, but the Minister of the Imperial Guard must at least serve as the Deputy Director."

"The Ministry of Justice also needs to secure funding for the Imperial Guard Temple from the judicial budget."

This was the condition for the exchange, and also the reason why Zhu Youjian handed over the Weiwei Temple to the Ministry of Justice for supervision.

Maintaining police officers costs money; every law enforcement operation consumes a significant portion of that budget.

With the safety of the capital city at stake and the assistance of the garrisons stationed in various neighborhoods, Zhu Youjian was able to support himself.

Zhu Youjian did not want the inner court to bear the burden of police work in other places.

Furthermore, given the numerous merits the Embroidered Uniform Guard had achieved in recent years, yet there was only one position for its commander, Zhu Youjian needed to provide career paths for the high-ranking members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. One such option was to transfer them to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. With this transitional role, future Embroidered Uniform Guard officials could potentially be appointed as governors-general or sent to protectorates on the frontier as military commanders.

This future is far better than being confined to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and it can strengthen control over local areas.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian agreed to the position of Minister of the Imperial Guard concurrently serving as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, thus opening up the boundaries between the two government offices.

At the same time, this also allows the Ministry of Justice to supervise the Imperial Guard and prevent the Embroidered Uniform Guard from becoming too powerful, which is also essential for the Public Security Commission to fulfill its functions.

The position of Minister of the Imperial Guard was still too low, and he was ostracized by civil officials.

Without the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice and local judicial authorities, it is very difficult for the Public Security Commission to exercise its powers at the local level.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian knew that the weakening of the Ministry of Justice's power was a major concern for Yuan Keli, who had previously overseen the distribution of power among the three judicial departments. To reassure this veteran official, Zhu Youjian also had to grant the Ministry of Justice more power.

So after careful consideration, he came up with this solution:

They continued to keep a close watch on the Imperial Guard, while handing over operational duties to the Ministry of Justice.
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Wen Tiren was overjoyed when he heard the emperor's decision.

Because he was fighting for power for the Ministry of Justice, and successfully brought the Imperial Guard under its supervision.

With this achievement, he will surely establish his authority within the Anti-Corruption and Legal Affairs Committee.

As for opening up the path for Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) to become civil officials, Wen Tiren didn't care at all.

Because most of the officials in the Imperial Guard were sons of civil officials, these people were actually members of the civil service group.

Some civil servants verbally express their opposition, but secretly they secretly hope for it.

They also wanted their children to have the opportunity to become civil servants.

After figuring this out, Yang Jingchen looked at Wen Tiren with a playful gaze.

Wen Tiren's move, though seemingly controversial, actually won the hearts of many.

However, he couldn't do that because he was already the second prime minister and aimed to become the prime minister, so he needed to save face.

He couldn't possibly bring up something that would benefit the Embroidered Uniform Guard before becoming the head of the civil officials.

So Wen Tiren was given this opportunity to win people's hearts.

From this incident, Yang Jingchen clearly felt the threat posed by Wen Tiren.

Although they were allies, they were not on the same page. They only banded together for mutual support because of the threats from the Donglin Party.

At the age of 59, Wen Tiren could not possibly not covet the position of Grand Secretary.

In particular, he will be ranked third in the cabinet after the reshuffle, making the position of prime minister within reach.

Wen Tiren scoffed at Yang Jingchen's concerns.

Civil officials may seem prestigious, but in reality, the emperor would never cultivate such people.

Moreover, the title of regent minister was an honorary one, and the power to appoint them rested with the emperor.

The emperor also held the power to appoint the Grand Secretary and to rank the cabinet members, no longer following the order of entry into the cabinet as before.

Therefore, Wen Tiren had already made up his mind to flatter the emperor.

He would not object to anything the emperor proposed.
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The two, each with their own thoughts, then heard the emperor say:
"The Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Supreme Court are the three judicial departments that jointly manage judicial affairs."

"Now the Ministry of Justice has strengthened its law enforcement powers, and the Censorate also has supervisory and prosecutorial powers."

"Only the Supreme Court, although one of the five courts, does not demonstrate its authority. Local judges are often interfered with during trials."

"In order to strengthen the independent judicial power of the Supreme Court, I intend to establish court judges at various levels, modeled after the censors of the Censorate."

"The Supreme Court must truly become one of the Five Courts, instead of being ignored." (End of Chapter)