Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Even after the court session ended, many officials were still discussing it.

It should be said that this change was not as significant as in previous years, but the emperor ordered the drafting of laws and regulations to be incorporated into the official system. This signifies that the previously altered official system will stabilize and be implemented for a considerable period.

Under this new official system, finding opportunities for promotion is their biggest concern.

Many mid-level officials gathered together to discuss:
"With the addition of ministerial officials, our opportunities for promotion have increased."

"But the requirement that ministers have more than ten years of local experience is a bit of a problem."

"Ni Hanlin, you are the Junior Grand Master of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, only one step away from becoming a minister. What are your plans for the future?"

Among this group of officials, Ni Yuanlu's promotion was relatively fast.

Because he was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the Renxu year of the Tianqi reign (1622) and a student of Yuan Keli, Ni Yuanlu was highly valued by the emperor.

He first served as the head of the Translation Bureau at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and after the establishment of the Crown Prince, he was appointed as the Junior Chamberlain.

This is a fourth-rank official position, which, both in the past and present, qualified him to serve as a vice minister. He had always wanted to become a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

However, he was immediately embarrassed when the emperor's new regulations were announced. Because he had always served in the imperial court, he had no experience in local government.

In front of everyone, he certainly couldn't say that he was unwilling to go to the countryside, so he cupped his hands and said:

“Since His Majesty has made such a decree, I, Ni, will go to serve as an official in a local area.”

"It's time to do something practical, just like the top scholar in the imperial examination."

It is widely known that Wen Zhenmeng was given a part-time post in Shuntian Prefecture by the emperor.

They used to think the emperor was being a bit harsh on this top scholar, but now they understand that he was being groomed for great use.

However, Wen Zhenmeng served as a part-time official in the local government for less than five years, which also did not meet the ten-year requirement, allowing some people to take the opportunity to stir up trouble.
"The top scholar is already nearly sixty years old. How can he become a high-ranking official in the imperial court if he is sent to a local post?"

"His Majesty once said: 'Old rules for old people, new rules for new people.'"

"I think the rule of serving ten years in this place should be aimed at those who passed the imperial examination after the first year of Chongzhen's reign."

“We, the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) during the Wanli and Tianqi reigns, cannot abide by this rule.”

Many officials immediately echoed this sentiment.

They were all unwilling to serve as officials in local areas; staying in the capital was much more comfortable.

Moreover, if they are sent to local areas and no one in the central government comes to their aid, they may end up in low-ranking positions.

Unlike in the capital, where officials could be promoted very quickly and seniority was much easier to accumulate.

It can be said that officials in the capital are generally unwilling to take up local government positions.

Those mid- to high-ranking officials who held positions in a department or a general administration, wielding more power than local governors and viceroys, were even more focused on becoming ministerial officials and were unwilling to even become governors or viceroys.

If the current system were to be followed, a fifth-rank official would be transferred to the position of a fifth-rank prefect, which they felt would be a huge loss.

Therefore, these people clamored and even jointly submitted a memorial to the throne, explaining the difficulties involved.

Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Personnel in charge of selecting officials, also believed that the sudden implementation of this method was not conducive to the selection of officials.

In the past, officials in the capital and local officials were basically on two separate tracks, especially Hanlin officials, who almost never had any experience in local areas.

Selecting court officials using this method mostly resulted in the selection of local officials.

This change is far too significant for the imperial court to bear.

After careful consideration, Zhu Youjian decided to compromise with them and agreed:

“Sages have said that killing without teaching is cruelty, failing to warn is violence, and delaying orders until the deadline is thievery. There were no such rules before, so it is inappropriate to suddenly impose these requirements on them.”

"However, the current cabinet ministers are equivalent to prime ministers and need to have the ability to handle affairs. In the selection of various official positions, priority should still be given to those with local service experience."

"The new methods must be fully implemented for those who pass the imperial examination after the first year of the Chongzhen reign."

"Ni Yuanlu, Jiang Dejing, and this batch..."

After a moment's thought, Zhu Youjian said:
"When they are sent out to take up positions, priority will be given to assigning them official posts in Shuntian Prefecture and Beizhili."

I've decided to put these people through some tests and see how they fared.

Guo Yunhou was somewhat embarrassed:

"Most of these people are candidates for the position of Grand Secretary. If they are sent to local areas, how will the officials of the Grand Secretariat be selected?"

The emperor's earlier establishment of the Secretariat clearly indicated his intention to promote the people he had cultivated around him.

Guo Yunhou, trying to discern the emperor's intentions, listed them as the most likely candidates.

Now that the emperor wants to send these people out to gain experience, Guo Yunhou feels very troubled.

Zhu Youjian frowned and pondered for a moment, feeling that he still needed to train them a bit, otherwise, if they were promoted to the cabinet as in history, they wouldn't be able to play a significant role.

He said:
“The Jinshi graduates of the Jiwei and Renxu years are still young and have enough time to gain experience.”

"If there is a shortage of scholars in the Imperial Secretariat, some can be selected from those who passed the imperial examination in the year of Bingchen."

"What candidates have the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites nominated these days?"

Guo Yunhou opened his folder and replied:
"In the Bingchen year of the Wanli reign, the top three Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) were Qian Shisheng, He Fengsheng, and Lin Han."

"Qian Shisheng is currently the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, He Fengsheng is the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, and Lin Han is the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy."

“Qian Shisheng is already qualified to serve as a minister, and He Fengsheng’s position as vice minister is a fourth-rank official, which is higher than the fifth-rank official position of academician of the Secretariat. Neither of them should be included as candidates.”

"Lin Han's position as Director of the Imperial Academy is a sixth-rank official, and his honorary rank is a fifth-rank official, which is just right for him to be transferred."

Zhu Youjian nodded, then looked at He Fengsheng's resume and said:

"Include He Fengsheng in the list of candidates, and give him a higher official rank."

"Thus, He Fengsheng and Lin Han from the Bingchen year of the Wanli reign, Chen Zizhuang, He Wuzhou, and Jiang Yueguang from the Jiwei year of the Wanli reign, and Wen Zhenmeng and Fu Guan from the Renxu year of the Tianqi reign."

“Selecting five or six people from these seven would meet the requirements for a competitive election. Furthermore, since the Directorate of the Secretariat works for the Cabinet, it is granted the Cabinet veto power, and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs of the Inner Court would be the same.”

"This matter needs to be arranged as soon as possible. The cabinet is very busy and needs their assistance."

The plan is to finalize the cabinet and the agencies that will assist it as soon as possible.

From the moment the discussion began about incorporating the official system into the Civil Service Law, the imperial court entered the preparation stage for the leadership transition.

Zhu Youjian naturally had to personally arrange the affairs of such an important institution as the Secretariat.

Guo Yunhou knew that the emperor would not allow the Director of the Secretariat to remain in power, especially since this office was jointly established by the inner and outer courts, and the inner court had a great deal of say in the matter.

Now that the emperor had finalized the list of candidates, he hurriedly agreed:

“Some people are still in other places. I will send them a document and ask them to come to the capital as soon as possible.”

Zhu Youjian nodded, thinking that some of these people had local experience and could still play a role in the future.
-
Thinking of local officials, Zhu Youjian said:
"The decision made the day before yesterday to replace no more than half of the governors and viceroys is certainly conducive to stability, but it may also allow some officials to become too powerful in their localities, creating a risk of regional separatism."

"Therefore, my requirement is that governors and viceroys should not be granted a third term after serving a second term in a certain place, and the limit should be three terms of nine years, after which they must leave office."

“Even if they are to remain governors-general, they will still have to be transferred to a different location.” “In addition, at least 20% of the officials in the governor-general’s office and the three ministries must be transferred from outside each time there is a change of leadership.”

"There should also be more exchanges between provinces, with more than 20% of officials being transferred to the central government or other provinces."

Guo Yunhou noted it all down, knowing that the emperor was taking precautions against local officials.

However, he was truly suffering in his heart, because this kind of leadership change made the Ministry of Personnel's workload too great.

He petitioned the emperor:
"Now that the Grand Secretary has been officially appointed, shouldn't we appoint a few ministerial officials to share these responsibilities?"

Zhu Youjian grunted and nodded, saying:
"We can propose this to the cabinet and discuss the arrangements together."

"The exchange between officials in the imperial court and local areas is very important. There should be special officials in charge of officials in the imperial court, local areas, frontier areas, and technical areas, and they should be allocated accordingly."

"This was also the original intention of the imperial court in establishing ministerial officials, to coordinate and manage the affairs that were scattered in various departments."

"Furthermore, when appointing officials in various departments, you must respect the opinions of each department, which also requires setting up liaison offices for officials."

“If this task is difficult, we can consider setting up a committee within the cabinet.”

Upon hearing the emperor's idea, Guo Yunhou hurriedly said:
"Easy! Easy!"

"There is no need to set up a committee in the cabinet."

"The Ministry of Personnel will respect the opinions of officials in various departments when appointing them."

"The allocation of local officials will also be in accordance with His Majesty's requirements."

They feared that the emperor would establish an official committee within the cabinet and seize power from the Ministry of Personnel.

Even if he were to become the chairman of the committee, he would still be subject to interference from the cabinet.

Zhu Youjian did not have a strong desire to establish an official committee, because the Minister of Personnel was a position that could check and balance the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

If the powers of the Ministry of Personnel were also transferred to the cabinet, the cabinet would become too powerful and effectively sideline the emperor.

Therefore, at most he gave the cabinet the power to interfere in the affairs of ministerial officials, and gave them the power of veto and dismissal.

The appointment of officials was handled by the Ministry of Personnel, while the appointment of ministers was handled by the Court of Imperial Appointment.

He was quite satisfied with Guo Yunhou, as the man rarely went against his opinions. Even when speaking on behalf of officials, he was rather tactful in offering suggestions.

So after briefly mentioning the threat, they quickly changed the subject to discuss how many officials should be appointed to the Ministry of Personnel and what powers the council should have.

He was very dissatisfied with the Ministry of Personnel's complete control over the appointment of mid- to low-ranking officials. In particular, the lottery system they used was too arbitrary and not intended to select capable officials.

He implemented a system of voluntary selection of officials to address the shortcomings of the lottery system. However, while voluntary selection of officials was feasible in the imperial court, it was far too difficult to achieve this in local areas.

Communication is still too inconvenient now; it's difficult to promptly inform others when someone has been selected for an official position.

Therefore, the method of drawing lots was still in use, which greatly displeased Zhu Youjian.
"The selection of government officials should prioritize competence and strive to select officials based on their merits."

"I know it's impossible for all official positions to be filled by volunteers, but for important positions, we must give outstanding officials the power to choose."

"The Ministry of Personnel should submit the names of outstanding officials and determine the vacant positions during the reshuffle."

“Each position must invite at least three outstanding officials to volunteer for the position.”

"I hope that the government officials of the Ming Dynasty are capable of doing their jobs, and give them room to perform their duties."

This instruction made Guo Yunhou secretly groan, knowing it was another big problem.

The voluntary selection of officials had been implemented for several years and had many problems, but since the emperor was doing it according to the "Theory of Selection," he still had to continue it.

The only solution is to find ways to improve it and extend it to more official positions.
-
After making his assurances to the emperor, Guo Yunhou, thinking that the Nine Ministers would be appointed soon, proactively reported to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, the local prefects are now downgraded to the fifth rank, while the prefects of certain important places are given the title of Provincial Administration Commissioner and can participate in the Provincial Administration Commissioner's meetings."

"I believe that this would give the Provincial Administration Commission too much power. We should give these prefectures special treatment and promote them back to the fourth rank, bringing them under the direct control of the court."

"If each province had one or two prefectures directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, the possibility of local separatism would be lower."

"Moreover, there are even more official positions available for officials of the fourth or fifth rank in the imperial court to choose from."

This proposal reminded Zhu Youjian of municipalities directly under the central government and cities with independent planning status.

After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Your idea has its merits."

“Some important and large prefectures should indeed be elevated to a higher level and placed under the direct administration of the imperial court.”

"My opinion is that those prefectures with many districts, counties, administrative offices, and taxes can be appropriately upgraded to become prefectures directly under the court."

"These directly administered prefectures, like those in the Northern and Southern Directly Subordinate Prefectures, had their finances set at the second level, directly allocated to the imperial court."

"You can discuss with the Ministry of Revenue which prefectures can be designated as directly administered prefectures. It would be best to decide on this when the provinces and prefectures are converted into districts and counties."

He appreciated Guo Yunhou's suggestion and entrusted the matter to him.

This minister, who had served as Minister of Revenue and then Minister of Personnel, was very suitable for this task.

When Guo Yunhou heard that the emperor had designated the directly administered prefectures as second-level financial institutions, just like the directly governed prefectures, and that they would share profits directly with the imperial court, he was immediately impressed and felt that the emperor's approach was even more shrewd.

What local separatist regimes need most is money and grain, of course.

The finances of the directly administered prefectures were directly managed by the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court and were not shared with the provinces, which naturally weakened the power of those provinces.

Taking into account local military and political affairs, he suggested:

"I believe that the garrison districts of the directly administered prefectures can be upgraded to garrison districts, which will also be directly managed by the Ministry of War."

"In this way, each province's directly administered prefecture is a relatively independent region. If trouble breaks out in other places, it can be ordered by the imperial court to dispatch troops."

"The change of leadership in the special municipalities can be done earlier or later to prevent local unrest."

Zhu Youjian nodded repeatedly in approval of the suggestion, praising it:

"Guo Qing's considerations are so thorough, he is truly qualified to serve as the Minister of Heaven."

"This leadership transition is unprecedented, so it must be fair and just to set a precedent for future generations."

"I hope that Minister Guo's great name can serve as a model for future generations."

"I will not treat you unfairly. You can choose your fiefdom anywhere, and I can reserve one for you in advance."

This is a blatant promise, implying that as long as Guo Yunhou does this well, he will be granted a high-ranking noble title in the future.

Guo Yunhou was so happy that his beard stood on end, and he said to the emperor:
"It is only natural and right for a subject to be loyal to His Majesty."

"Where the fiefdom is to be granted is entirely at Your Majesty's instruction."

Zhu Youjian didn't want to take responsibility for this. Apart from those who were punished for making mistakes and those whose fiefdoms were designated by him, he tried his best to let other nobles choose their own fiefdoms. Whether things turned out well or badly in the future, they couldn't blame him, the emperor.

He said to Guo Yunhou:

"Everyone has the right to choose. How to choose a fiefdom should be based on one's own merits."

"If Minister Guo is willing, he can send someone to join other nobles in establishing their own fiefdoms."

"How should the official positions of the vassal states be determined, and which ones must be appointed by the imperial court? As the Minister of Personnel, Minister Guo should also assist the Court of Colonial Affairs." (End of Chapter)