Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After Qian Qianyi proposed standardizing the levels of laws and regulations, the court officials offered their suggestions.

The Vice Minister Yang Jingchen, who instigated this incident, said:
"His Majesty's edicts are equivalent to provisional laws, and I believe that the cabinet's decrees should also be equivalent to the second-level provisional laws."

"The decrees of the five courts and six ministries are equivalent to the third-level temporary regulations."

“The decrees of other departments, especially local government offices, are equivalent to the fourth level.”

"Lower-level laws and regulations must not contradict higher-level laws and regulations, and all levels of government must implement the laws and regulations of their superiors."

This proposal was approved by all the Grand Secretaries.

They wanted cabinet decrees to have authority second only to imperial edicts.

However, it was different for other government offices. Imperial edicts were equivalent to laws and no one objected, but cabinet decrees were also equivalent to laws, and they did not recognize them.

Especially those relatively independent government offices, they had no desire to be under the control of the cabinet.

Wang Zhichen, who had just taken office as the Left Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said:

"If cabinet decrees take precedence over those of the five branches of government, wouldn't that allow them to arbitrarily interfere in the affairs of the five branches?"

"What if the Supreme Court is trying a case that may involve a cabinet minister, and the cabinet orders intervention?"

"Trials should be independent and free from interference from other government departments."

"I believe that the decrees of the Cabinet should be at the same level as those of the Five Ministries, while the decrees of other ministries should be at the next lower level."

The Privy Council and the Censorate also disagreed, as they did not want to become subordinates of the Cabinet.

Even the Six Ministries were like this; although their State Council was nominally inactive, it was still a first-rank government office on par with the other ministries.

All six ministries can issue orders through a single ministry of the State Council; a single ministry can be on par with the other ministries.

Furthermore, they believe that decrees issued by the cabinet should be discussed and approved by the relevant ministries.

Imperial edicts are issued after a process of deliberation by various ministries; there's no reason why the cabinet should be an exception.

The Six Censors were very enthusiastic about this; they needed to protect the power of the Six Censors.

After the emperor forbade the Six Ministries from rejecting edicts that did not violate etiquette and law, their greatest power became the power to reject cabinet decrees.

Only by opposing the cabinet can they demonstrate their worth.

Liu Hanru, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel and Zhu Youjian's tutor during his time as a prince, said:

"Your Majesty's word is law, and your edicts are naturally equivalent to laws."

"However, the decrees of various government departments should not have this authority."

"In my opinion, whether it is the decree of the Cabinet or the decrees of the Five Courts and Six Ministries, they are at most equivalent to temporary regulations."

"Which decree is of a higher level depends on the rank of the issuing authority."

"With the change of leadership imminent, His Majesty's order to clarify the official system and determine the ranks of various departments is precisely the way to establish the hierarchy of government orders."

This was endorsed by many officials, especially Liu Hanru, whose special status led people to believe that he had received the emperor's authorization.

After extensive discussion, the court officials concluded that the emperor's edicts were equivalent to laws, and the decrees of various government departments were equivalent to regulations.

However, this would limit the power of the ministers, so Cheng Ji Ming suggested:
"I believe that the conclusions of the court assembly should be equivalent to laws."

“Anything decided in the court assembly is usually promulgated by imperial decree, which is undoubtedly equivalent to law.”

This respected the power of the court officials, especially after the emperor changed the court sessions to once every five days, the number of court meetings became less and less, and decisions were usually made at regular meetings.

The regular meetings were court assemblies led by the ministers, which was conducive to the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet exerting their influence.

Therefore, some of the Nine Ministers were unhappy. Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Personnel, said:
"The conclusion of the court deliberation should be equivalent to the law."

"Like the results of a court trial, it is the highest judicial conclusion. Cases not covered by law can be referred to based on court trial precedents, which is equivalent to the status of law."

This view was endorsed by the other nine ministers. This was because cabinet ministers were not allowed to participate in court deliberations, discussions, or trials; the nine ministers were the ones who led these meetings.

They can use this power to exert some checks and balances on the cabinet.

Zhu Youjian also acknowledged this point and praised it, saying:
"The Great Ming Code contains many approved and formally approved articles."

"In the future, it should be standardized to specify whether it is a resolution of the court assembly or a resolution of the imperial deliberation."

"If it falls into either of these two categories, an imperial edict can be issued according to the established system. After 'By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees,' add phrases such as 'Approved by the Great Ming Dynasty' or 'Resolved by the Great Ming Court,' and attach the meeting minutes to the archives to record the reasons for such a decision."

"These edicts, once approved and issued, are equivalent to provisional laws."

"If there is a conflict with the existing legal provisions, it can be stated in the edict that certain legal provisions are temporarily repealed."

The emperor's authority was used to safeguard the power of the court.

This earned the praise of the court officials, who all bowed down and lauded the emperor as a sage ruler.

Zhu Youjian accepted the praise from his ministers and then said:

"These kinds of edicts are called imperial edicts, but in fact they are equivalent to government decrees."

"Under the imperial decrees, there are the decrees of the cabinet, the five courts, the six ministries, and other departments."

"These decrees are equivalent to third-level regulations."

"It's only temporary. If it's to be implemented long-term, for example, for more than three years, it needs to be submitted to parliament and formalized in the form of a bill."

"From now on, we can divide the work like this: the various departments of the court will be responsible for short-term policies, while the National Assembly will be responsible for long-term policies. This will prevent some measures from being unable to be implemented in the long term due to changes in official positions."

This involved allocating a large portion of the existing powers of the various government departments to the National Assembly.

The courtiers were naturally unhappy, and even Han Kuang, who proposed turning the long-term plan into law, did not want all long-term policies to go through the National Assembly.

He said to the emperor:

"Your Majesty's idea is excellent, but now that the National Assembly has not been established, and the court has many measures that cannot all be enacted into law, the National Assembly would be too busy."

"I believe that a ten-year period should be used as a benchmark. Measures that take more than ten years must be enacted into law."

"But less than ten years..."

He paused for a moment, thinking that it didn't need to be made into a law.

Zhu Youjian interrupted, saying:

"Measures with a term of less than ten years or more than three years can be enacted into legislation, or they can be left unenacted."

"Measures lasting less than three years do not require legislation."

"This is the division of power between the various government departments and the parliament."

"In this way, whether officials in various departments serve one term or three, they can continue to implement certain policies."

"My decree is the same; at most, certain legal provisions will be repealed for nine years. In the tenth year, a vote must be taken on whether to formally amend the law."

He gained the support of his ministers by limiting his own power.

Because these officials did not know whether they would serve one term or three.

During their term of office, they do not want to be interfered with by Congress.

However, if he were to step down, he would propose that his actions be submitted to Congress and formalized in the form of a bill.

This leaves a mark, letting people know what they left for future generations during their tenure.

Therefore, policies with a term of three to ten years are set quite flexibly. They can be enacted into legislation, stipulating an implementation period of thirty or even sixty years, or they can be issued directly as government decrees, with further discussion in the tenth year.

In the future, this will also become a place for disputes between the various government departments and the parliament, and the emperor can use it to divide his officials and the common people. (End of this chapter)