Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

This court assembly established the division of power between the various government departments and the National Assembly, and also clarified the authority of the Six Ministries in upholding the rites and laws.

After the court session ended, the officials realized even more that the establishment of a parliament was inevitable and was increasingly affecting the court's structure.

The public generally welcomed this, hoping to gain the right to participate in politics through parliament.

They were very concerned about the morning assembly and the joint parliamentary session on April 16.

They wanted the powers of Congress to be enshrined in the "Great Ming Ritual and Law Convention"—

This set of rules of etiquette, still in the draft stage, is attracting increasing attention. Some have even drafted their own imagined provisions, which have been published in newspapers.

The courtiers who had been in charge of formulating the rites and laws were extremely nervous about this.

They wanted the rules and regulations to be formulated under their leadership, rather than with the participation of the general public.

Grand Secretary Han Kuang believed that such articles should be banned and not allowed to be published in newspapers.

Zhu Youjian chuckled upon hearing this:

There's no need to worry like that!

"Suppressing the people's voices is more difficult than preventing a river from overflowing. Am I the kind of person who blocks the channels of communication?"

"Moreover, the truth becomes clearer through debate, and the legal provisions will be more accepted by the people after being discussed by the public, making them easier to implement in the future."

He also said:
"In this way, the drafted articles of etiquette and law will be published so that the public can discuss them together."

"I hope that the Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention will be a covenant truly agreed upon by the emperor, his subjects, and the people."

"Whether it is the emperor or the common people, everyone must follow this rule."

The cabinet and the parliamentary preparatory office were ordered to compile the draft articles and publish them publicly.

He wanted to see if the scholars and common people of the Ming Dynasty could come up with any new ideas.
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The emperor's decision left Han Kuang feeling quite helpless.

However, he could not bear the reputation of suppressing dissent, so he could only convene the cabinet members and members of the preparatory office for the National Assembly to compile the legal provisions.

After organizing the text, they found that many articles could be derived from it, and the framework of the first chapter of the three-chapter agreement, "The Institutions of the Ming Dynasty," was basically established.

"The first article of the Etiquette and Law Convention is the definition of the Great Ming Dynasty, which establishes the boundaries between the Celestial Empire, the Empire, and the vassal states."

"The second point should naturally be that the imperial court has the power to determine court assemblies and court deliberations."

"These two points were decided some time ago, so we can put them directly in the document."

Looking at the draft articles that had been discussed earlier, Han Kuang said.

He hoped that the power of the imperial court could be placed at the forefront.

However, the people in Congress disagreed. Although Liu Zongzhou was not present, Congress was not without people.

Liu Lishun, who was in charge of preparing the Shuntian Prefecture Council and exercising some of the powers of the National Assembly, said:

"While the power of the imperial court is certainly important, placing it second is somewhat inappropriate."

"In my humble opinion, this clause should specify that the power of the Ming Dynasty is shared and governed by the emperor, his subjects, and the people."

"I have also drafted a proposal these days, and I would like to ask you all to take a look."

He showed the draft of the code of conduct to the public, and the members of Congress all agreed to it.

As the chief minister, Han Kuang naturally saw it as well, and it read:

The Ming emperors ruled the country together with their subjects, and established the Ming National Assembly to represent public opinion and discuss national affairs with their subjects.

The Ming Dynasty's National Assembly was divided into the Advisory Council and the Consultative Council. Advisory ministers and advisors at all levels were appointed by the Ming emperor, while members of the National Assembly were elected scholars from among the citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Members of the Advisory Council and the Consultative Council enjoyed equal powers.

Each vassal state and local province/prefecture/county may establish a local council, with seats allocated according to the status of scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and their property. Scholar councilors are appointed by the government at all levels, while representatives from the agricultural, industrial, and commercial sectors are elected by the citizens of the Ming Dynasty from among the scholars.

The National Assembly and local councils of the Ming Dynasty had the power to draft laws and regulations, audit financial revenues and expenditures, determine taxes and corvée labor, and supervise Ming officials and impeach officials who violated the law.

The specific provisions regarding the subordinate bodies of the National Assembly, its election methods, and the timing of its meetings were stipulated in the relevant articles of the *Da Ming Hui Dian* (Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty).

The style of this provision was consistent with that of provisions drafted under the emperor's instructions, and Han Kuang and others quickly realized that:
Liu Lishun came prepared, and may even have had the emperor's support.

As the head of the court officials, Han Kuang, after careful consideration, decided to uphold the power of the officials and said:
"Since it is a system of joint governance by the emperor, his ministers, and the people, I believe that the power of the ministers should be placed second."

"The representation of public opinion by Congress can be placed later."

"In this way, the first item is the power of the emperor, the second is the power of the ministers, and the third is the power of the people. This is in accordance with the order of the emperor, ministers, and people."

"Don't you all agree?"

A group of scholars spoke up in support of his proposal.

The order of the morning assembly and the parliament is not insignificant; it represents the status of both.

If Parliament precedes a court session, subsequent court sessions must respect Parliament's resolutions.

If the assembly precedes the parliament, it means that the parliament is merely a supplement to the assembly and does not have supreme power.

With the two sides unable to reach an agreement, the final result was naturally to request the emperor to make a decision.
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Zhu Youjian was speechless as he watched them argue over the order of the legal provisions.

But this is indeed a big question, as it represents who will be the highest authority in the future.

When he initially formulated the rites and laws, he referenced the constitutional monarchy. In his exchanges with Liu Zongzhou, he mentioned that parliamentary deliberations were superior to court deliberations.

That was to establish a parliament as the highest authority, modeled after a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

However, after several years of practice, his thinking changed. He believed that a parliamentary system was not so suitable for the Ming Dynasty, and a semi-parliamentary system was more appropriate.

Under this system, the emperor would not be a mere figurehead, but rather exist as a hereditary president with certain powers.

The emperor could appoint the Grand Secretary as prime minister, who would be responsible for taking the blame and dealing with parliamentary disputes.

In this way, Congress is no longer suitable as the highest authority, and ministers cannot be made to obey them completely.

In particular, his decision not to grant parliament the power to elect officials, but instead to allow senior ministers to participate in the court procession, meant that parliament could not completely replace the court assembly.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhu Youjian ultimately decided to compromise and addressed Han Kuang, Liu Lishun, and others, saying:

"Since it is a system of shared governance by the monarch, ministers, and the people, then let's follow the order of monarch, ministers, and the people."

"However, the court assembly and the parliament are of equal status, and both have the same power."

"If a dispute arises, just like this time, bring it to me for resolution."

The intention was to seize the power of judgment and increase the emperor's authority.

But this was clearly unacceptable to the ministers, Han Kuang said:

"What if the decisions of the DPRK and the DPRK keep conflicting?"

"Are we just leaving it to His Majesty to solve all along?"

Liu Lishun then said:

"I believe that we can convene a joint meeting, similar to the meeting on April 16th."

However, Han Kuang did not agree with this, and he said:

"How are voting rights calculated at the liaison meeting?"

"There are few people in Parliament now, but there will be more than the court ministers in the future."

This was clearly a problem, and after thinking it over, Liu Lishun suggested:
"The Emperor said that the court assembly and the parliament are of equal status, so let's calculate it as a total of one hundred votes, with the parliament and the court assembly each having fifty votes."

“Then, based on this number of votes, distribute them equally among everyone in the assembly and the parliament.”

This was clearly troublesome, and it left the emperor out of the picture. Zhu Youjian was quite displeased and feigned impatience, saying:
"If a serious conflict arises between the DPRK and the National Assembly, and it cannot be resolved."

"The Emperor and the Cabinet have reached an agreement to dissolve Parliament and hold new elections for members."

"Or reach an agreement with the parliament to demand the resignation of the entire cabinet and to re-appoint the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet."

"That way, there will be no conflict. What do you think?"

This was the common practice in later generations, but Han Kuang, Liu Lishun, and others looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard it.

They felt that dissolving parliament or having the cabinet resign en masse was too drastic and that such a large-scale movement should not be tolerated.

Their idea was to get together and discuss it, and eventually reach a compromise.

However, the emperor disagreed with this, and the result of the discussion was that both methods would be adopted: first, a joint meeting would be held to discuss and try to bridge the conflict.

If the conflict cannot be resolved and continues to erupt within a month, then it will end with one side stepping down.

To prevent the emperor from using this as an excuse to not select Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet or to abolish the establishment of a parliament, the court officials demanded that it be clearly stipulated that a vacancy for a Grand Secretary should not exceed one month, and a vacancy for a parliament should not exceed one year.

They still had a tacit understanding regarding limiting imperial power.

Zhu Youjian was too lazy to argue about these matters anymore, because he did not want the vacant government offices to delay national affairs and undermine the government structure he had established.

However, to avoid public outcry caused by frequent dissolutions of parliament, he added a clause that parliament should not be dissolved again before the three-year election period after it has been dissolved.

The same applies to the cabinet; once a cabinet resigns, it cannot resign again during the current term.

If conflicts occur during this period, we can only endure them for the sake of the country.

If it becomes unbearable, Parliament can impeach the Grand Secretaries one by one, but it cannot demand their resignation.

This was approved by Han Kuang and Liu Lishun, who all expressed their agreement. Both believed that things wouldn't escalate to this point, and that conflicts in the court couldn't possibly be this intense.

These agreements were placed in Article 4, which governed the relationship between the morning assembly and the parliament.

Thus, the general principles and first few articles of the "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention" were established.

In the first clause, Zhu Youjian added the power of sacrificial rites to his own authority—

He considered the possibility of becoming a figurehead emperor and using sacrificial power to secure his throne.

The first clause has been changed to:

The Ming emperor seized control of the entire country, established the Ming Dynasty, and ruled over all corners of the land.

The Ming Dynasty included, but was not limited to, the Ming Empire's homeland, overseas territories beyond the Great Wall, and vassal lands.

The Ming Emperor was the ruler of the Ming Dynasty, directly governing the Ming Empire's mainland and overseas territories, and serving as the core of the Ming Dynasty.

The vassal territories of the Ming Dynasty belonged to the lords or autonomous councils appointed by the Ming emperor and were governed in accordance with the rules and treaties signed with the Ming court.

The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty is the son of Heaven and Earth, and together with the Emperor and Empress, he governs the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and is the supreme god of the three realms.

The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty exercised the power of Heaven and Earth on behalf of the people, and conferred titles upon the righteous gods of the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty was in charge of all sacrificial rites; no divine edict could be issued without the Emperor's permission.

The second point concerns the powers of the court assembly, which had already been agreed upon and are now being refined:
The Ming emperor ruled the Ming court and oversaw all affairs of the Ming dynasty.

The Ming emperor convened court assemblies to handle state affairs, and all government departments of the Ming dynasty were required to comply.

The Ming Dynasty had grand court assemblies, regular court assemblies, and regular meetings, which the emperor convened regularly, with officials participating according to their rank.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty appointed and dismissed court officials, who assisted the emperor in handling state affairs.

All major matters were subject to court deliberation, ministerial recommendations, and court trials. The regents, assistant ministers, councilors, chief ministers, privy councilors, senior ministers, and the six supervising secretaries all had the power to participate. The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were excluded.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty had the power to veto decisions made at court assemblies, parliaments, deliberations, court recommendations, and court interrogations, but he had to explain the reasons.

The various government departments of the Ming Dynasty implemented a system of collective deliberation, requiring all matters to be discussed collectively by three or more people. All members of the collective deliberation were equal. The head of each department presided over the collective deliberation and had the power to veto its decisions.

The composition and timing of court assemblies at all levels were specifically stipulated in the relevant articles of the *Da Ming Hui Dian* (Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty).

The third article concerns the powers of Congress, which will be drafted based on the provisions just proposed by Liu Lishun.

The fourth article addresses the solution to conflicts between the court assembly and the parliament, drafting the previously discussed content into legal provisions:

The Ming Dynasty's parliament and the National Assembly were of equal status and possessed equal power.

When conflicts arise between the court and the parliament, they should be submitted to the emperor for mediation.

If mediation fails, a joint meeting can be held, with both parties having equal voting rights.

If the conflict remains unresolved, the cabinet can dissolve parliament with the emperor's support, and parliament can demand the cabinet's resignation with the emperor's support.

After a parliament is dissolved, a new election should be held within one year, and parliament should not be dissolved again before the new election.

After the cabinet resigns en masse, four to six Grand Secretaries should be appointed by the inner court within one month, and the cabinet should not resign en masse again before the change of leadership.

The relationship between the imperial court and the national assembly was specifically stipulated in the relevant articles of the *Da Ming Hui Dian* (Collected Statutes of the Great Ming Dynasty).

The fifth article, which follows, defines the cabinet's powers as previously agreed upon:
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty took charge of all affairs of state and appointed Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet to assist him.

There should be four to six Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet, with a total number not exceeding ten, including Associate Grand Secretaries.

The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were recommended by court officials of the fifth rank or above, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty decided on the division of labor and order of the Grand Secretaries.

Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet participated in state affairs and had the authority to draft imperial edicts. Formal imperial edicts required the Cabinet's drafting.

All Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet have the independent power to draft proposals, and the Chief Minister should draft or approve one of the proposed proposals.

The Grand Secretary can preside over cabinet meetings, and the cabinet seal can only be used on the conclusions of the cabinet meetings, which must be signed and confirmed by the participating Grand Secretaries.

Cabinet drafts must not be released or leaked without the emperor's approval; violators will be punished for falsely conveying imperial edicts and leaking secrets.

Draft proposals should be approved by the Emperor within a certain period, or approved by the Regent or the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs under the Emperor's authorization. When the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs approves the proposals, political affairs must be countersigned by the Second Grand Secretary, and military affairs by the Privy Councilor, before they can be copied and sent to the relevant ministries for discussion. If the Second Grand Secretary or the Privy Councilor is unwilling to countersign, they must petition the Emperor for a final decision.

All decrees issued by the Cabinet require the countersignature of the Secretariat and the approval of the Six Ministries.

The relationships between the cabinet's subordinate agencies and the various departments were specifically stipulated in the relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty*.

Then, the powers of the five courts were unified under Article Six:

The Ming emperors ruled over the political affairs of the Ming Dynasty, authorizing the State Council to handle government affairs and appointing the ministers of the Six Ministries to preside over the State Council. Specific provisions were outlined in the relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty* and the *Laws of the Ming Dynasty on Officials*.

The Ming emperor commanded the Ming army, authorized the Privy Council to handle military affairs, and appointed a Privy Council minister to preside over the Privy Council. Specific regulations were stipulated in the relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty* and the *Military Laws of the Ming Dynasty*.

The Ming emperor ruled over all officials, authorizing the Censorate to supervise and impeach them, and appointing a Grand Censor to head the Censorate. Specific provisions were outlined in the relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty* and the *Supervision Law of the Ming Dynasty*.

The Ming emperors governed the judiciary, authorizing the Supreme Court to adjudicate cases, the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Guard to investigate cases and enforce laws, and the Censorate to examine cases and redress injustices. Specific provisions were outlined in the relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty* and the *Criminal Law of the Ming Dynasty*.

The Ming emperor directly governed the Ming Empire and its vassal states, authorizing the Court of Colonial Affairs (Lifanyuan) to manage these vassal states. Affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs were discussed jointly by the emperor and nobles, without requiring drafting by the Grand Secretariat. Specific regulations were stipulated in the *Great Ming Feudal System* and relevant articles of the *Collected Statutes of the Great Ming*.

This order indicates the status of the Cabinet and the five branches of government:

As the emperor's assistant body, the cabinet formally established its position as the head of all government departments.

The five branches were the specific implementing agencies; except for the Court of Colonial Affairs, they were all required to implement the cabinet's decisions.

Of course, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were subject to the constraints of the Nine Ministers. The regular meetings attended by the Nine Ministers and the Grand Secretaries were the institution through which the court handled daily affairs. In case of temporary vacancies, the Nine Ministers would recommend officials.

Moreover, the fact that Parliament has the power to demand the resignation of the entire cabinet made all the Grand Secretaries feel uneasy.

From now on, they will not only have to please the emperor and his ministers, but also the parliament.

Yang Jingchen's worries have come true; the cabinet is caught in the middle, caught between the emperor, his ministers, and the people. (End of Chapter)