Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The division of power between the various government departments and the National Assembly was established, and the National Assembly was further integrated into the government.

However, due to numerous changes, the various departments of the imperial court also needed to be integrated and power redistributed.

Liu Hanru, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, perhaps having received some instruction, spoke up:
"Your Majesty, the Six Ministries are responsible for collecting and reviewing any omissions or errors from the Six Departments and other offices."

“In the past, most of the various departments of the imperial court belonged to the Six Ministries, and the Six Offices corresponded to the Six Ministries, so there was no omission in the investigation.”

"However, the Six Ministries are currently only under the State Council, and no supplementary or supplementary functions have been assigned to the other ministries. I humbly request Your Majesty to assign them."

Other supervising secretaries echoed this sentiment, hoping that the various government departments, such as the Five Courts and the Six Ministries, would be assigned to the six supervising secretaries.

Alternatively, additional officials could be appointed to various departments to fill in any gaps or omissions.

This was a self-rescue measure taken by the Six Ministries after the establishment of the Supreme Court. They hoped to strengthen their power to avoid becoming truly subordinate to the Supreme Court in the future.

The ministers had mixed feelings about this; they hoped that the Six Ministries would limit the emperor's power and have the right to reject the emperor's decrees.

They also did not want the Six Ministries to reject their decrees and restrict their power.

Each department had its own agenda, as Grand Secretary Han Kuang said:
"The Sixth Department is responsible for filling in the gaps and is indeed indispensable."

"Now that the system of five agencies and six ministries has been implemented, I believe that in addition to the six ministries of the State Council, the other four agencies can also be staffed with supervising officials."

The intention was to use these officials to limit the power of the various courts.

The Privy Council does not agree with this. Privy Councilor Yuan Keli said:
"The term 'Six Subjects' has a long history, and I believe it should not be changed drastically."

"Military orders from the Privy Council are already subject to approval by the Department of War, so they can continue to be managed by the Department of War."

"The number of supervising secretaries in the Ministry of War can be increased to ten or even more, and they will be responsible for reviewing official documents from the Privy Council, the Ministry of War, and the Five Ministries."

Wang Zaijin, the Left Censor-in-Chief, said:

"The affairs of the Censorate did not require the Six Ministries in the past, and they do not need them now."

"The Censorate has its own censors; there is no need for the Six Ministries to fill vacancies."

Left Chief Justice Wang Zhichen was even more displeased, because the Six Ministries were now nominally under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, so how could subordinates be allowed to audit their superiors?

He said:
"The Supreme Court mainly handles judicial affairs, with decisions made by the various levels of court officials."

"The Six Ministries are not necessarily as familiar with etiquette and law as the Minister of Justice, so there is no need for them to interfere in the trials."

The Court of Colonial Affairs was even more unwilling, and its head, Huang Liji, said:
"The Court of Colonial Affairs is directly under the Emperor's jurisdiction and is not subject to interference from other departments."

"The affairs of vassal states should also be adapted to local conditions and not entirely follow the etiquette and laws of the Ming Dynasty."

After this debate, it was concluded that the State Council and the Privy Council were constrained by the Six Ministries, while the other three ministries did not need the Six Ministries.

The six supervising secretaries were naturally dissatisfied with this. Liu Hanru, considering the discussions among the supervising secretaries after the reduction in regular court sessions, and the vacancies arising from this reshuffle, submitted another memorial to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, although the Censorate and the Supreme Court are familiar with etiquette and law, it is still difficult to guarantee that there will be oversights."

"Just as the emperor and the officials of the court are indeed wise and intelligent, they still need the six departments to fill in the gaps and make up for deficiencies."

"I believe that official documents issued by the two courts should be approved by the Ministry of Justice."

"Officials appointed by various departments must go through the Ministry of Personnel."

"Decrees issued by the Cabinet must be approved by all six ministries."

“The policies of the Cabinet’s subordinate agencies, such as the Finance and Economic Committee, need to be approved by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works.”

"The orders of the Anti-Corruption Commission need to go through the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice."

"The decrees of the Rites and Etiquette Committee need to be approved by the Rites Department."

"The orders of the Survey and Rescue Commission need to go through the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue."

"Only in this way can we identify and address any shortcomings, making our policies more comprehensive."

They swept through all the government departments, including even the cabinet's subordinate committees.

By taking advantage of the emperor's fear of the cabinet, they gained the emperor's approval.

However, there were omissions in his statement, namely that the Planning and Development Committee, which was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Secretary, and the Supervisory and Executive Committee, which was under the jurisdiction of the Vice Grand Secretary, were not included.

Zhu Youjian inquired:
"The affairs of the Planning and Development Commission and the Supervisory Commission are difficult to categorize. How do you think they should be categorized?"

Liu Hanru did not want to target all ministers, especially the most powerful Grand Secretary and Second Grand Secretary, so he said:
"The affairs of the Planning and Development Committee and the Supervisory and Executive Committee are difficult to categorize. They should be jointly reviewed by the six departments to supervise whether they comply with etiquette and law." "As long as it does not violate the current etiquette, law and law, there is no power to veto it."

"Just as an imperial edict that does not violate the rites and laws cannot be rejected by the Six Ministries."

This brought a smile to Zhu Youjian's face, and Han Kuang and Yang Jingchen also approved of it.

They don't want the Sixth Discipline to restrict them; instead, they want to use the Sixth Discipline to restrict others.

Yang Jingchen, who was in charge of the reform of the Supreme Court and had considerable influence over it, proposed:

"Your Majesty, I believe that the Supervisory Committee should also be subject to supervision, and that official documents could be approved by the relevant departments, such as the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice."

"The same applies to the Censorate and the Supreme Court; the two departments of Personnel and Justice among the Six Ministries can be responsible for approving official documents."

“Judicial matters are handled by the Criminal Department for approval, and matters involving the appointment and removal of officials are also notified to the Personnel Department.”

"As long as the content of the official document does not violate etiquette and law, it should be approved normally."

The reduction in the number of departments that can review orders from the Supervisory and Executive Committee has put Han Kuang in a difficult position.

Compared to the Supervisory Committee, which he was in charge of and was mainly related to the Ministry of Personnel and the Three Judicial Offices, Han Kuang was in charge of the Planning and Development Committee, which was related to almost all government offices.

The six departments jointly reviewed this treatment, which was ultimately accepted by Han Kuang, while his supervisory and executive committee members politely declined.

Han Kuang understood Yang Jingchen's meaning, but he had no choice.

Since the Planning and Development Committee can theoretically formulate plans involving all government departments and command all government departments, if he does not want to give up this power, he can only have the six departments jointly review the plan.

Fortunately, the Sixth Section could only review whether the policies of the Planning and Development Commission were in accordance with etiquette and law, which gave him some comfort.

As the head of the civil service, he quickly thought of a solution and said:

"Your Majesty, although the Court of Colonial Affairs can issue imperial edicts directly, whether they conform to the rites and laws needs to be reviewed by the Ministry of Rites."

"Even if the Ministry of Rites has no right to veto, officials and the people should be informed whether it conforms to the rites and laws."

"If the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs act recklessly, there will be someone to restrain them."

This prompted a response from the court officials, who did not want the emperor's power to be unrestricted, even if it was only within the Court of Colonial Affairs.

As long as the results of the review by the Ministry of Rites do not conform to the laws of rites, even if they do not have the power to veto, they can still create public opinion to make the emperor rescind the decree.

The outcry from these people was so loud that the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs were completely silenced. Even many officials in the Court of Colonial Affairs believed that the emperor's power within the Court needed to be checked.

Zhu Youjian was furious, but faced with the unanimous opinion of his ministers, he could only express his opinion:

"The Ministry of Rites can review the decrees of the Court of Colonial Affairs and has the power to reject orders that do not conform to the rites and laws, especially those that violate the rites and laws of enfeoffment and inheritance."

"However, the affairs of vassal states are complex and sometimes require special handling. If the Court of Colonial Affairs feels that it must be carried out even if it violates etiquette, it can apply to me for a special decree to handle the matter on a case-by-case basis."

"The Ministry of Rites has no power to reject special edicts issued by the Court of Colonial Affairs."

They used the restrictions imposed by the Court of Colonial Affairs to gain freedom of control over themselves.

The courtiers cheered, feeling they had achieved a great victory. They had finally intervened in the Lifan Yuan, the emperor's private domain.

Some people wanted to stop while they were ahead, while others wanted to continue their efforts and not give the emperor the power to issue special decrees.

However, this was met with resistance from the nobles, who feared that they might need a special decree from the emperor if something happened to them.

Many ministers in the court also held titles and shared the same idea.

These people wanted to retain the emperor's power to issue direct decrees to the Court of Colonial Affairs, but they also wanted such decrees to go through the council of nobles, so that the emperor would not be able to arbitrarily deal with the vassal states.

Zhu Youjian understood their meaning, and after careful consideration, finally agreed.

What happened today made him realize that if he wanted to use the Court of Colonial Affairs as his own private domain to exercise power, he needed supporters.

Civil officials were dedicated to gradually limiting imperial power, and the only ones who could help them were the nobles. Therefore, they granted the noble council the power to issue direct decrees to the Court of Colonial Affairs.

If a standing member of the Noble Council disagrees with a certain decree, they can raise their opinions for discussion, or even request a plenary session of the Noble Council to deliberate on the matter.

The emperor and nobles joined forces to control the Court of Colonial Affairs.

After losing their military power, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty finally found a piece of land to keep for themselves.

An emperor with sufficient energy could also exercise power within the Court of Colonial Affairs. (End of Chapter)