Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

June 26th, Chang Chao.

The imperial court held a formal selection process to elect the next Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers, marking the beginning of this year's leadership transition.

The reshuffle plan had been agreed upon previously. Once the new prime minister is elected, the current prime minister will immediately resign and the handover will be completed within ten days.

At the latest, a month later, the new generation of Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers will all take office.

If the selected ministers are unable to reach the capital, the emperor will appoint an official to temporarily act in their place.

The method for the recommendation process has also been determined to be a collective recommendation for similar positions. Furthermore, there must be a gap between the number of candidates and the number of available positions—at least twice the number of available positions.

The court officials were terrified of the emperor's collective and equal-quota court recommendations, so they made special provisions for this.

Only positions of the same category can be collectively nominated. If they do not belong to the same category, they need to be nominated individually.

What does this mean? It means that if the position of Minister of Personnel is vacant, the position needs to be filled through a separate recommendation process, with at least two candidates.

If there are vacancies for Grand Secretary, instead of recommending candidates one by one, we can select all Grand Secretaries from more than twice the number of vacancies at once.

This reduces the number of elections and facilitates large-scale leadership transitions.

Otherwise, if we recommend them one by one, we simply won't be able to handle it all.

The cabinet has been set to have six Grand Secretaries, with Han Kuang, Yang Jingchen, Xu Guangqi, Wen Tiren, and Zheng Yiwei from the previous cabinet confirmed to remain in their posts, leaving only one vacancy.

The candidates for this position have been identified as Sung Ki-myung and Han Il-juan.

Originally, there were also candidates like Lin Yuji and Qian Xiangkun, both of whom were very competitive. Even if they weren't selected, being listed as candidates would still be a valuable qualification and would help them in their bid for the position of Associate Grand Secretary.

However, because Lin Yuji and Yang Jingchen were from the same hometown, and Qian Xiangkun and Wen Tiren were teacher and student, both were required to recuse themselves and could not serve as Grand Secretaries, so they were not included in the list of candidates.

Others, less qualified than them, ultimately failed to be included in the list of candidates despite much competition. Only two candidates were selected for the Grand Secretary position, based on a minimum requirement of twice the number of applicants.

In fact, everyone knew that this spot had already been reserved for Cheng Jiming.

As expected, the result of the court recommendation was that Cheng Jiming was the rightful candidate and was appointed as a Grand Secretary of the Dongge Pavilion, officially becoming a cabinet minister.

Han Il-juan, as a supporting candidate, did not suffer any loss and was listed as the first candidate for co-chairman of the university.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 35th year of the Wanli reign (1686), and was in the same cohort as Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, and others, so he was actually quite qualified.

Moreover, he served as a co-examiner for the imperial examination in the 44th year of the Wanli reign, was a mentor to Huang Zunsu, Hong Chengchou and others, and had connections with both the Donglin Party and the Jinjiang Party, making him someone who could be accepted by both sides.

Along with him, those nominated for the position of Assistant Grand Secretary included Meng Shaoyu, Minister of Rites of Nanjing; He Ruchong, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief; Li Biao, Right Vice Minister of Rites; Wu Zongda, Right Vice Minister of Justice; and Qian Qianyi, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who was later appointed Right Vice Minister of Rites.

From among the five, two were selected to serve as assistant Grand Secretaries. This was a collective recommendation process for similar positions.

However, the two assistant Grand Secretaries were concurrently held by other official positions. According to the division of labor in the court, one of them would serve as Minister of Rites and the other as Director of the Secretariat.

Therefore, the Grand Secretary Tingtui, who will co-organize this event, will also select the Minister of Rites.

Ultimately, Han Rizhuan became one of the two Associate Grand Secretaries because he was most accepted by various factions in the court.

Meng Shaoyu, who was strongly supported by the remnants of the eunuch party, unfortunately failed to be elected, and He Ruchong, who was relatively neutral, did not receive much support either. Li Biao, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites supported by the Donglin Party, stood out and became another Associate Grand Secretary.

Then, between Han Rizuan and Li Biao, the officials recommended Han Rizuan as Minister of Rites, and Li Biao was appointed Director of the Secretariat.

This position was directly appointed by the emperor, but because the Director of the Secretariat was located between the inner and outer courts, it required the acceptance of the court officials.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian respected the opinions of his ministers and selected one person from among the assistant Grand Secretaries to serve as the Grand Secretary.

With this, the appointment of Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet was completed, Cheng Jiming became the new official Grand Secretary, and Han Il-juan and Yi Pyo became Associate Grand Secretaries.

The new cabinet secretaries form a 6+2 structure.

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with this number. Six Grand Secretaries provided enough manpower to help with affairs without creating a bloated and chaotic situation that would make it difficult to reach a decision.

If things get busy, there are two assistant Grand Secretaries to help. If a Grand Secretary is unavailable, an assistant Grand Secretary can fill in.

He addressed the new cabinet members:

"With the emergence of a new cabinet, the previous cabinet must make a proper handover."

"Shi Fenglai, formerly a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, has been transferred to the position of Senior Minister."

They arranged Shi Fenglai's retirement benefits, allowing him to settle down peacefully.

Thus, all four Grand Secretaries left behind by the Tianqi Emperor upon his death—Huang Lijie, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, and Li Guopu—have left the cabinet.

The old officials of the Tianqi era were all swept away in the cabinet. Yang Jingchen, who could be considered a remnant of the eunuch faction, was also promoted by Zhu Youjian.

This left many officials connected to the eunuch faction feeling a profound sense of loss, knowing that a new era entirely dominated by the current emperor was about to begin.

Shi Fenglai was somewhat disappointed that he could only be transferred to the position of Senior Minister.

He had dreamed of becoming the head of the Court of Colonial Affairs, just like Huang Lijie, and becoming one of the officials equivalent to the Nine Ministers.

To this end, he even went to Korea to bestow titles, preparing himself for dealing with vassal states.

Unfortunately, the emperor was comfortable using Huang Liji and had no intention of replacing the head of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

His efforts were ultimately in vain, and he could only become a minister of state with a nominal title.

For a moment, Shi Fenglai considered giving up the honorary title of Senior Advisor and returning to his hometown, but then he remembered that the court was undergoing a reshuffle and that Senior Advisors had the power to participate in the court's recommendation process. He ultimately accepted the appointment, deciding to wait and see after the reshuffle was completed.

Then, Zhu Youjian formally conferred official titles upon Cheng Jiming, Han Rizuan, and Li Biao, thus formally completing the cabinet's reshuffle.

The three subsequently lost their power to recommend officials.

Grand Secretaries are not allowed to participate in the imperial decree.
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After the Grand Secretary came the Nine Ministers.

Guo Yunhou, Minister of Personnel; Bi Ziyan, Minister of Revenue; and Shang Zhouzuo, Minister of Works, have been confirmed to remain in their posts. The Minister of Rites has just been appointed; only the Ministers of Justice and War need to be nominated.

The Privy Council's reshuffle has been postponed until next year; there's no need for a change this year. The Court of Colonial Affairs, directly under the emperor's control, is not required to participate in the reshuffle. Yang Suoxiu, the Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review, is relatively obedient and was also retained by Zhu Youjian.

The chief officials of the Censorate and the Supreme Court were among the Nine Ministers, and they were appointed through a court recommendation process. Other officials in the two courts were recommended by ministers and selected by the emperor.

Zhu Youjian found the process of recommending officials one by one cumbersome and inconvenient for him. He proposed grouping the officials of the three judicial departments together for collective selection.
"The Minister of Justice, the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief, and the Left and Right Chief Justices are all professional officials of the Three Judicial Offices."

"Select five out of ten candidates to be the main candidates, and I will assign them the positions."

The courtiers murmured amongst themselves, some disagreeing. This was because the five positions had varying degrees of authority and responsibility, and were actually quite different.

Some people have already set their sights on a certain position and do not want to take up positions with little real power, such as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief or Right Chief Justice.

Wang Zhichen, the Left Chief Justice, said: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Justice, the Left Censor-in-Chief, and the Left Chief Justice are all heads of ministries, so they can be classified as one category."

"The Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and the Right Vice Minister of Justice are only responsible for internal supervision within the two courts. I believe they should be appointed separately."

This was supported by many officials who believed that the first three should be classified as one category, and that the power of the latter two was completely incomparable.

Some even believe that the Right Censor-in-Chief and the Right Minister of Justice should be excluded from the Nine Ministers, thus reducing the number of the Nine Ministers.

There are now thirteen ministers among the nine ministers, which is far too many.

However, this was not supported by the officials, because having more positions for the Nine Ministers would mean more opportunities.

Officials from the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review, in particular, were most opposed to this. Even though the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief and the Left and Right Court Judges were easily selected from other departments, they were unwilling to reduce the number of one of the Nine Ministers and diminish the influence of the two courts.

In addition, apart from the Nine Ministers, the other officials in the two courts were appointed by the emperor from a recommended list. If the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and the Right Vice Minister of Justice were not among the Nine Ministers, they were still positions that could be appointed by the emperor.

This was something the officials did not want to see, so after discussion, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and the Right Vice Minister of Justice remained among the Nine Ministers.

Their separate recommendations were also rejected. It was deemed inappropriate to recommend the right-hand officials of two different government offices separately; there was no reason to group them together.

Individually recommending candidates would be too cumbersome. Recommending them one by one would take too long for the election period, and since all the candidates are officials from the three judicial departments, it would be difficult for them to leave the field. There is no need to hold elections one by one.

The final decision was to select five candidates from among the nominees. The top three candidates with the most votes would serve as Minister of Justice, Left Censor-in-Chief, and Left Chief Justice, while the bottom two candidates would serve as Right Censor-in-Chief and Right Chief Justice.

Internally, it was divided into two levels, ranked according to actual power.

Zhu Youjian's reform of rites and music was a way to govern the country by rites and laws, and he also attached great importance to the three judicial departments. The candidates selected this time can be described as full of talents.

Because etiquette and law were inseparable, many officials from the Ministry of Rites who came from the Hanlin Academy were listed as candidates for the chief officials of the Three Judicial Offices.

For example, Lin Yuji and Qian Xiangkun were both qualified to become Grand Secretaries.

Meng Shaoyu, Minister of Rites in Nanjing; He Ruchong, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief; Wu Zongda, Right Vice Minister of Justice; and Qian Qianyi, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who was later appointed Right Vice Minister of Rites, were all candidates for Assistant Grand Secretary.

Acting Left Vice Minister of Justice Wang Zhichen, Acting Right Vice Minister of Justice Cao Sicheng, Nanjing Minister of Justice Zheng Sanjun, Beijing Garrison Commander Li Banghua, Governor-General of the Three Border Regions Sun Chuanting, and Governor-General of the Two Lakes Min Hongxue were also heavyweight figures who enjoyed great fame in the court and among the people.

It can be said that the competition for the top positions in the three judicial departments this time was exceptionally fierce, and it was also the department with the largest reshuffle.

The six officials in Beijing, three officials in Nanjing, and three officials who originally served in local positions also took full account of the interests of all parties.

Being included in the candidate list means that they are favored by the emperor and are very likely to be promoted.

Of course, they all hoped to become the rightful heir and obtain the position of one of the Nine Ministers.

This time, Zhu Youjian did not interfere much because all twelve candidates were people he could accept.

The final results of the court recommendation were that Lin Yuji, Zheng Sanjun, Wang Zhichen, Qian Xiangkun, and Li Banghua ranked in the top five.

Qian Qianyi unfortunately ranked sixth, missing out on a position among the Nine Ministers.

After receiving this result, Qian Qianyi could hardly believe it:
He had expected not to become a Grand Secretary, but the fact that his name was not among the five positions in the Three Judicial Offices and the Nine Ministers was something he could not accept.

He stared at Wang Zhichen's name with burning eyes; it was this man who had risen unexpectedly and taken his position as one of the Nine Ministers.

The regret of being just one step away from becoming a Nine Minister made him feel like the biggest loser in this court recommendation.

If they weren't in the imperial court, he probably would have lost his composure.

This result also surprised many people.

Given Qian Qianyi's influence, becoming a Grand Secretary might be difficult, but becoming one of the Nine Ministers shouldn't be a big problem.

Unexpectedly, he stumbled again and missed the position of prime minister.

What's even more surprising is He Ruchong. As the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, he was already one of the Nine Ministers, so he should have been one of the five recommended candidates.

However, he didn't get many votes and was behind Qian Qianyi.

Clearly, the court officials did not approve of him, believing that this refined and unassuming person was unsuitable to serve as an official in the Three Judicial Offices.

But if he doesn't serve as the head of the Three Judicial Offices, what else would be suitable for him? Currently, the only vacant position among the Nine Ministers is the Minister of War.

This was clearly not a task that He Ruchong was capable of, so Zhu Youjian had already decided to either let him retire or arrange for him to go to Nanjing.

Zhu Youjian was not surprised by Wang Zhichen's situation.

Although he allowed his ministers to act freely during this leadership transition, he still knew some inside information because he had the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Wang Zhichen had the support of meritorious officials from Liaodong and ministers from the Privy Council, the Ministry of War, and the Five Ministries. Most of the ministers with garrison backgrounds also checked his name, which is why he was able to rank third.

His appointment as the head of the Three Judicial Offices was actually the will of the civilian military officers and military nobles, who needed someone to speak at the regular meetings.

This was also what Zhu Youjian wanted to see. He did not want the civil officials to be monolithic, and he hoped that the civilian military officers would become independent as soon as possible.

After carefully considering the five names to be recommended, Zhu Youjian appointed them:
"Lin Yuji was appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief, Zheng Sanjun was appointed as the Minister of Justice, and Wang Zhichen was officially appointed as the Left Chief Justice."

"Qian Xiangkun was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, and Li Banghua was appointed Right Vice Minister of Justice."

"Those in the capital shall take office immediately, and those in other places shall be summoned to the court as soon as possible."

"Wang Zaijin, the current Left Censor-in-Chief, and Wang Yongguang, the Minister of Justice, will be transferred to the position of Senior Minister."

The positions of the five people were determined roughly according to the number of votes.

Traditionally, the Minister of Justice should be the head of the three judicial departments and should be appointed by the person with the most votes.

However, the Ministry of Justice's power has now been severely diminished, making it somewhat inferior to the Censorate.

Therefore, Lin Yuji, who received the most votes, was appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief. Zheng Sanjun, who received slightly fewer votes, became the Minister of Justice.

Most of the officials felt this was reasonable and aligned with actual power. Some even argued that the Left Chief Justice, who held judicial power, had more authority than the Minister of Justice and should be ranked higher.

However, Wang Zhichen is now in charge of the reform of the Supreme Court. Since he has become the chief advocate, it is only natural that he will remain in office.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian's appointment actually concealed a calculation: Zheng Sanjun was currently in Nanjing and it would take him at least a month to take office.

This period provides ample time for the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Guard to integrate and for the power of the Public Security Commission to be redistributed. The Ministry of Justice will at most have command authority over the Public Security Commission; in reality, it will still hold the reins of power.

Subsequently, among the three candidates, Yang Sichang, Liu Zunxian, and Sun Chuanting, the court officials recommended Liu Zunxian as Minister of War.

The new Nine Ministers have thus been appointed. (End of Chapter)