Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The appointment of Liu Lishun was widely welcomed by all sectors of Beijing society.

They hoped that this renowned scholar would bring a new atmosphere to the capital.

Liu Lishun lived up to expectations, first proposing to the emperor to define the powers of the parliament and to draft relevant articles in the "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention".

This attracted the attention of both the government and the public, and many people actively offered suggestions.

Faced with the surging public opinion, Liu Lishun, who was in charge of establishing the Shuntian Prefectural Council, first invited Chen Jiru, who was in charge of the National Assembly's Citizens Committee, to establish the Citizens Committee in the Shuntian Prefectural Council.

After the Citizens' Committee was established, the first subordinate body it formed was the Citizenship Committee. It was responsible for determining the eligibility of citizens to participate in elections, identifying those with the right to be elected, and determining voters and candidates.

Then there is the Citizens' Rights Committee, which is responsible for determining the time of corvée labor and protecting citizens' rights to resist rent and taxes.

Liu Lishun also placed the tasks of receiving citizens' opinions, reporting situations, and requesting solutions to problems on the Citizens' Rights Committee. Any opinions expressed by citizens through letters or visits must be processed.

This is a crucial channel for uploading information, enabling the parliament to truly reflect public opinion.

Zhu Youjian followed the example of the petition system and handed over this task to the parliament.

He hopes that communication between the top and bottom levels will be as smooth as possible, so that the government can be efficient, people can live in harmony, and all industries can prosper.

The call to restore the rites and music had been going on for several years, and the capital city was probably the most affected place. Many scholars and commoners were very enthusiastic about participating in politics and hoped for the establishment of the Shuntian Prefecture Council.

Upon learning that they could express their opinions at the parliamentary preparatory office, they flocked there, lining up to offer their suggestions.

The Shuntian Prefectural Council Preparatory Office met with visitors every day and compiled their demands to submit to the relevant government departments.

The number of letters received was countless, with many people offering suggestions to the parliament.

Liu Lishun instructed the officials in the preparatory office to write down all the issues raised and to forward them to the relevant government departments for resolution.

After some issues were resolved, people in the community quickly began to use the Civil Rights Commission as a place to seek redress and appeal the grievances they had suffered.

Liu Lishun was immediately in a bind, because although this part of the work fell under the category of etiquette and law, it was clearly not the focus of his current work.

Seeking justice for the people is very important, but if he is busy with this, when will the council be able to get things done?

After working in Zhuolu District and Suzhou-Songjiang New Area for several years, Liu Lishun has come to understand the importance of having a focus in his work. To reduce such incidents, the most important thing is to establish new systems of etiquette and law, so that officials and the public have guidelines to follow and can resolve problems under the guidance of these guidelines.

Therefore, he believed that the most important thing at present was to establish a parliament and improve the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking it over, Liu Lishun went to the Supreme People's Court, which was undergoing reform, and asked them for help in resolving the issue.

After assuming the post of Left Chief Justice amidst controversy, Wang Zhichen was eager to do something.

Upon learning Liu Lishun's purpose, he readily agreed:
"If we can help the people of the capital seek justice and gain their approval..."

"Who can criticize me, the Left Chief Justice?"

With the June reshuffle of the Nine Ministers drawing ever closer, Wang Zhichen urgently needed to produce results to gain the recommendation of the court officials—

He hadn't forgotten that the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was appointed by the court, and so was the Left Chief Justice.

After thinking it over, Wang Zhichen said:

"The Supreme Court's Supervisory Office is responsible for supervising trials."

"If there are problems with the trial of a case, especially procedural flaws, the Superintendent General has the right to request a retrial and assign the case to the relevant Court of Justice."

"Scholar Liu need not worry about this matter; the Supreme Court will send people to the parliament."

The plan is to send someone to the Shuntian Prefecture Council to take charge of this matter.

However, Liu Lishun felt this was inappropriate, and he said:
"Parliamentary matters should be handled by Parliament itself."

"Furthermore, classifying and communicating petitions is not troublesome; it can be done entirely by legislators without the need to add more officials."

"In the future, members of the Civil Rights Committee will forward petitions to the relevant government departments and monitor their progress to provide an explanation to the petitioners."

"The Supreme Court can establish a liaison agency within the Oversight Administration; there is no need to send anyone to the Parliament."

This completely treated the Supreme Court as an office that cooperated with the parliament, which displeased Wang Zhichen.

Just by looking into Liu Lishun's eyes, he knew that this was a person who was focused on getting things done and didn't care about those complicated details.

In particular, Liu Lishun was highly regarded by the emperor and had already worked in local government for four years. After six years, his ten-year term of local service would be completed, and he would definitely become a minister of the court. It was also possible that he would become the Grand Secretary in the future, which was in line with the emperor's standard of "the prime minister must rise from the local government."

Why would the emperor bother with someone as favored as Jian? Especially since the Shuntian Prefecture Council now acts as the legislature, it's only natural that the Supreme Court would cooperate.

Therefore, Wang Zhichen ultimately decided to sell Liu Lishun out to curry favor and agreed:
"It's easy to talk to the Supreme Court, and I can also help smooth things over with the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice."

"From now on, all matters related to the Three Judicial Offices shall be transferred to them."

Liu Lishun was overjoyed and repeatedly bowed to Wang Zhichen in gratitude.

With the cooperation of the three judicial departments, it would be even easier for him to request cooperation from other government offices.

Soon, he took the agreement he had reached with Wang Zhichen and went to negotiate with other government departments.

The officials in these government offices also knew that he was a favorite of the emperor, and after the Supreme Court took the lead in agreeing, they followed suit.

Thanks to Liu Lishun's efforts, the Shuntian Prefecture Council established connections with the five ministries and six departments of the imperial court, as well as the three offices of Shuntian Prefecture.

Considering that other parliamentary committees would also have dealings with other government departments, Liu Lishun set up a special office in the parliament to be responsible for the exchange of official documents with other government departments.

The National Assembly Preparatory Office also quickly set up an office and established corresponding contacts based on communication between Liu Lishun and other government departments.

The parliament and the Ming Dynasty's institutions were further integrated and no longer appeared separate.

Liu Lishun was highly praised for this, and many officials believed he had the talent of a prime minister.

The story didn't end there. Adhering to the principle of serving the people, Liu Lishun had these four characters engraved on the Shuntian Prefectural Council's website. He also established the "Citizen's Daily," a publication dedicated to matters related to ethnicity, civil rights, and people's livelihood, especially petitions and their feedback.

This earned him the support of the people of the capital, who believed that he was truly putting his ideals into practice.

In comparison, the officials in the imperial court truly seem to be doing nothing of substance.

Many officials and common people believe that they are not worthy of the position of minister.
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Grand Secretary Han Kuang, of course, did not care about these rumors, nor did he believe that Liu Lishun could threaten him.

He had long understood the current emperor's style of personnel management: he would try to use the older generation to maintain the status quo and use the new generation to get things done.

As long as he can maintain stability in the court, the emperor will not be easily replaced.

Of course, as the Grand Secretary, he also needed to produce results, especially in the area of ​​reforming the rites and music system, which was of utmost concern to the Emperor. Soon, in his capacity as Director of the Planning and Development Commission, he submitted a proposal:
They requested that the plan, which would take more than three years to implement, be put to a vote in Congress and enacted into law.

This idea came to him after the Naval Act was drafted, and part of the Naval Act was derived from the shipbuilding plan of the Planning and Development Commission.

Han Kuang had initially thought this century-long plan was nothing but a pipe dream, and even if the emperor insisted, it would likely be scrapped after the current emperor's death. However, the enactment of the Naval Law gave him hope that it could be implemented. He said at the court assembly:
"Your Majesty, officials serve three-year terms, and sometimes they are transferred midway through their term."

"If a plan takes more than three years to implement, it is very likely to be abandoned halfway."

"I believe that plans longer than three years should be voted on in the National Assembly and Parliament. After being drafted into law, they should be followed by subsequent officials."

This proposal is clearly in his favor.

As the first director of the Planning Commission, he was clearly the one in charge of many long-term plans that were eventually enacted into law.

If a law is enforced for more than a century, it means that it will still have influence a century later.

The remarkable success of the plan will surely earn him a place in history.

This was an incredibly tempting prospect for scholars who aspired to leave their mark on history.

Han Kuang couldn't resist the temptation and proposed to turn the long-term plan into law and implement it continuously.

This also shows that he values ​​parliament and supports the emperor's restoration of ritual and music.

He believed the emperor would support the proposal, otherwise there would have been no Naval Act.

However, Zhu Youjian did not immediately agree to his proposal.

He realized that this would allow Congress to interfere in government affairs and, through legislation, meddle in the administration of the court.

Now that the Planning and Development Commission is taking the initiative to formulate a plan and submit it to Congress for review, will Congress not know how to take the initiative to formulate legislation and interfere with the actions of various government departments in the future?

Therefore, this matter must be handled with utmost care, and he decided to listen to the opinions of his ministers.

Second Grand Secretary Yang Jingchen clearly opposed this. He didn't want to become Grand Secretary in the future and still have to carry out Han Kuang's plans.

He said to the emperor:

"What the Prime Minister said makes sense, but the implementation period of the bills passed by the National Assembly is not indefinite."

"The draft of the Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention clearly stipulates that all laws and regulations have an implementation period and must be revised at least once every sixty years, with outdated clauses being abolished or amended."

"Therefore, the century-long plan bill formulated by the Prime Minister is inconsistent with etiquette and law, and a bill with such a long implementation period cannot be formulated."

Han Kuang hadn't thought of this for a moment, but he was familiar with the established rules of etiquette and law, and retorted:
"It is true that the laws and regulations are to be revised every sixty years, but before the expiration of the implementation period, a vote can be held in Parliament to decide whether to extend or amend them."

“Laws that have been in effect for a century can be renewed based on this provision.”

"Unless there are special circumstances, a vote can be held before the expiration date for renewal, until the bill is completed."

They argued back and forth, using the rules of etiquette as a basis for their debate with Yang Jingchen.

The ministers, including the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works, who were included in the Planning Commission, all supported Han Kuang. They also wanted to continue implementing their plans.

In particular, Zhang Jiude, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works in charge of water conservancy and the special supervisor of river management, submitted a memorial stating:
“Managing the river is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires the formulation of long-term legislation.”

"I believe that there should be long-term management laws for all major waterways, and that these laws should be implemented persistently."

Zhai Fengchong, the Minister of Agriculture, also believed that river management was related to farmland development and that a long-term law was necessary to increase the number of high-standard farmlands.

Inspired by the Naval Act, Border Defense Minister Liu Zunxian believed that a Border Defense Act should be formulated to ensure the continued work of repairing the Great Wall and maintaining border defenses.

Other officials with long-standing commitments also supported enacting the legislation. They saw the benefits in doing so and could be pioneers, setting a precedent for other officials to implement their policies.

Zhu Youjian saw through their selfish motives, but the support of so many officials who were doing practical work made him realize that turning the long-term plan into legislation was unstoppable.

However, out of concern for parliamentary interference, he asked his ministers:
"Putting long-term plans into law is certainly beneficial for policy continuity."

"But have you considered that in the future, with the proposal of its members, the National Assembly might enact laws that require all government departments to implement them?"

"Will you implement it then, in accordance with the congressional resolution?"

This was a problem that many of the ministers had not considered.

Even Han Kuang only saw the benefits of turning his plans into law. He never imagined that the National Assembly could also use its power to enact legislation to make him, the prime minister, comply with the laws they created.

This made him frown and feel very uncomfortable. It seemed that, in addition to the emperor, the prime minister would one day be overshadowed by the parliament.

Fulfilling the emperor's demands is troublesome enough; how can we possibly fulfill the demands of the parliament as well?
For a moment, his instinct to hesitate and back down kicked in, and he lost his previous enthusiasm.

However, Cheng Jiming, who supported him, was very firm, saying:
"Your Majesty, whether or not the long-term plan is enacted into law, it is inevitable that Congress will enact laws for the court to follow in the future."

"Otherwise, who would respect the rules and regulations they established?"

"This is bound to happen. What the court should do is guide, not prohibit."

Many ministers nodded in agreement, and Zhu Youjian also expressed his approval:

He also recognized that Congress, which holds legislative power, could not remain detached from political affairs, and the monetary and tax bills he had Congress enact were typical examples of political maneuvering.

Since this matter is unavoidable, what the imperial court needs to do is regulate it. It should prevent the parliament from interfering in every matter, big or small, and enact appropriate legislation.

After Cheng Jiming's reminder, Han Kuang quickly understood that since this matter was unavoidable, he couldn't let a minor setback prevent him from doing anything about it. Therefore, he quickly suggested:
"I believe that the bill enacted by Congress must involve major issues and take more than three years to be implemented."

"Daily affairs are handled by the various departments of the imperial court, and there is no need for the parliament to interfere."

"If any member of Congress proposes legislation for short-term matters, Congress should not accept it."

"Only long-term matters can lead to legislation."

This suggestion was approved by Zhu Youjian and his ministers.

They did not want the parliament to interfere in matters large and small, thus affecting the operation of the various government departments.

However, the possibility of Congress interfering in politics through legislation is still on the minds of many officials.

Then I thought of Liu Lishun's actions, which centered on the parliament and demanded cooperation from various government departments.

They began to realize that the parliament was no ordinary institution, and its full establishment would inevitably bring about significant changes to the existing court structure. (End of Chapter)