Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The reform of the Supreme Court was a major event.

In the Chongzhen era, when official positions were fixed, every ministerial post was extremely valuable.

Only by reaching these positions can one make meritorious contributions, receive the additional title of one of the Four Assistant Ministers bestowed by the emperor, and possess the power of court deliberation, court recommendation, and court interrogation.

At the same time, ministers also have the power to recommend personnel. For example, officials of the Supreme Court and the Censorate, according to the system established by the current emperor, are recommended by ministers and selected by the emperor.

This further illustrates the importance of ministers; anyone who has the potential to become a minister will not give up this opportunity.

Capable ministers actively recommended individuals to the emperor to increase the strength of their own factions.

Although the emperor explicitly stated that officials of the Censorate and the Imperial Censorate should not form factions or join any social groups, they still had acquaintances who could potentially be placed within these groups.

However, this reform of the Supreme Court was overseen by Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren. These two individuals were clearly the ones who would reap the greatest benefits.

Of course, now that the Supreme Court is under the emperor's watchful eye, the two officials dare not openly plant their cronies.

They first wrote down the emperor's instructions in accordance with the regulations on departmental functions, internal structure, and staffing established by the Ministry of Personnel—that is, the "three-fixed regulations"—and submitted them to the emperor.

Looking at the memorials submitted by the two men detailing the functions, internal structure, and official staff of the newly reformed Court of Judicial Review, Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction and inquired:
"The most important thing in institutional reform is the leader."

"Who do you think is suitable to serve as Left and Right Chief Justices?"

These are two positions of the Nine Ministers, and neither of them dared to act arbitrarily; both said that the positions were to be decided by the higher authorities.

Zhu Youjian chuckled:
"The positions of the Nine Ministers should, according to custom, be recommended by the ministers in court. How can I presume to appoint them on my own?"

"However, with the leadership transition imminent, we need to finalize the structure of the Supreme Court first, and we can temporarily appoint someone to act as its head."

"If you have someone you like, please recommend them, and I will choose from them."

Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren exchanged a glance, and then they stopped being polite.

Because of the restriction that a maximum of two ministers could be related to him, Yang Jingchen could not arrange for anyone other than Lin Yuji from his hometown, nor could he arrange for anyone related to him.

Therefore, he recommended people who were former members of the eunuch faction and had been close to him:

"Foreign Minister Cao Sicheng is now assisting in the affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs. He previously served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and was concurrently appointed as the Minister of Revenue."

"I believe that he has sufficient qualifications and achievements, and is familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel and knows how to set up an office. He is qualified to serve as the Left Chief Justice."

This person was a member of the imperial faction whom Zhu Youjian had subdued. He had worked quite diligently when he served as the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

However, because he was listed as a traitor and did not receive the support of the ministers, he did not obtain a ministerial position in the last court recommendation. Zhu Youjian arranged for him to serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Court of Colonial Affairs.

However, the Ming Dynasty was surrounded by vassal states, and apart from its interactions with Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had little to do. It was somewhat of a waste to place such a loyal minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After careful consideration, Zhu Youjian agreed:

"Cao Sicheng is suitable to go to the Dali Court for reform."

"However, the Supreme Court is a judicial office, and the person in charge of the court must have judicial experience."

“He is suitable to be the Right Chief Justice, but not the Left Chief Justice.”

Cao Sicheng was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of Justice, in charge of the Censorate, to fill in the gaps and deficiencies in the reform of the Supreme Court.

This is slightly less powerful than the Left Chief Justice, but in any case, it still places him among the Nine Ministers.

He has five months to serve as the acting Right Vice Minister of Justice. Whether he can hold the position during the reshuffle in August depends on the court's recommendation at that time.

This was Zhu Youjian's reward for his merits, giving him the opportunity to serve as one of the Nine Ministers.

If Cao Sicheng could only serve as Right Chief Justice, then the candidates recommended by Wen Tiren were even less qualified.

However, he still recommended it:

“Zhou Yanru, the Vice Censor-in-Chief, has judicial experience in the Censorate.” “The Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review are both called the Censorate, and the Supreme Court is modeled after the Censorate. I think it is appropriate to transfer Zhou Yanru to the Supreme Court.”

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and gave the order:

"Then let Zhou Yanru act as the Right Deputy Chief Justice, in charge of coordinating the work of the three judicial departments."

"The Left Deputy Chief Justice should be selected from the current officials of the Supreme Court; we cannot overlook them."

Who are the current officials of the Supreme Court?
After the death of the Dean Cui Jingrong, Yao Shishen took over the administration of the academy.

He was included in the Donglin Party by some eunuchs and called a "scumbag" by others in the Donglin Party. So after the court issued an order that officials of the Censorate and the Bureau of Justice should not form factions, he had already distanced himself from any party or society.

What also hindered his appointment to the Supreme Court was his shared hometown with Xu Guangqi. However, this wasn't something that required him to avoid conflict of interest due to kinship; he only needed to avoid any involvement with Xu Guangqi in matters concerning him.

Therefore, as a representative of the original officials of the Supreme Court, he was appointed as the Left Deputy Chief Justice to continue to assist in the affairs of the Court.

Zhou Jiachun, who was in charge of the General Court of Justice, was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of Justice and continued to be in charge of the original affairs.

Lu Weiqi of the Criminal Trial Bureau was reassigned because he was a member of the Donglin Party.

The Vice Minister of Justice, who is responsible for supervising the General Administration and implementing the General Administration, also needs to be selected from other positions.

There was also the Nanjing Dali Yuan (Court of Justice), an institution that only had assistant administrators. Even after the reform, it remained the same, with the establishment of the Left Deputy Chief Justice as an assistant administrator.

Zhu Shishou, who was in charge of the Nanjing Supreme Court, requested to retire several times. Because he was a member of the Donglin Party, Zhu Youjian had already approved his request.

These four positions were reserved for recommendations from other ministers, and Zhu Youjian had not yet made a decision.

The most important thing to determine now is the Left Chief Justice.

After much thought, no suitable candidate could be found. This was because judicial and administrative affairs were often intertwined in the past, and the official specifically responsible for judicial matters was called a "judicial officer."

There were indeed ministers in the imperial court who rose through the ranks of judicial officials, such as Yuan Keli and Bi Ziyan. However, given their high positions and great power, it was clearly impossible for them to be transferred to the position of Left Chief Justice.

Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren racked their brains and finally found someone.

Wen Tiren said:

"Wang Zhichen, the military commander of the Great Wall, once served as a county magistrate and a sub-prefect. Due to disagreements with his superior, he was demoted to a lower-ranking official. Later, he served as a principal officer in the Ministry of Justice and also as a deputy military commissioner."

"He is quite familiar with the three judicial departments and has also served as the Minister of War in charge of the Ministry of Justice. He is familiar with court affairs and can be in charge of the reform of the Supreme Court."

This was a choice that Zhu Youjian had not even considered; Wang Zhichen had never been on his radar.

However, Wang Zhichen's resume is indeed suitable. After being demoted from the Liaodong military governor to the Great Wall military commander, he still did his best and can be called a loyal minister.

Upon learning that he came from the Tongguan Guard, Zhu Youjian was even more satisfied:

“He came from a military post and was hardworking and conscientious. Even after being demoted, he continued to serve diligently.”

“Wang Zhichen can serve as the acting Left Chief Justice; summon him to the capital as soon as possible.”

Soon, an imperial edict was issued, summoning Wang Zhichen back to the capital to serve as the Left Chief Justice.

After serving as the Protector of the Great Wall for five years, Wang Zhichen was given the opportunity to become one of the Nine Ministers.

This appointment caused a great uproar among some groups. This was because Wang Zhichen's position as the Liaodong military commander was replaced by Sun Chengzong, and his contributions in the Liaodong campaign were far less than Sun Chengzong's.

Now that even he has the opportunity to become one of the Nine Ministers, why shouldn't Sun Chengzong be given the opportunity?

Those who disagreed with the court's appointment began to rallied behind Sun Chengzong and cheer him on.

Sun Chengzong, who was about to enter the capital, was thus drawn into the turmoil. (End of Chapter)