Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Despite it being a period of leadership transition, Zhu Youjian's actions in the Court of Colonial Affairs still attracted much attention from his officials.

The nine-rank system of vassal states and the establishment of twelve vassal chiefs were both systems that could potentially be written into the enfeoffment system.

Some ministers who sought to limit imperial power were deeply dissatisfied with the fact that the emperor and the Court of Colonial Affairs directly discussed and decided policies.

However, the ministers were in unison: they would allow the emperor to issue decrees through the Court of Colonial Affairs and respect the emperor's authority.

Otherwise, if the emperor gets angry and interferes with the leadership transition, it will be even more troublesome for them.

Even if the power of the Court of Colonial Affairs were to be contested, now would not be the time.

Having fought for imperial power for hundreds of years, they have ample experience.

Zhu Youjian was naturally aware of the thoughts of his ministers. After Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of prime minister and faced his ministers directly, the struggle for power between the emperor and his ministers had always been the main theme of Ming politics.

Through constant power struggles among civil officials, they gained control over personnel appointments through court recommendations and joint recommendations, administrative power through court deliberations, cabinet deliberations, and ministerial deliberations, judicial power through court interrogations and joint trials by the three judicial departments, military power through the Ministry of War, and supervisory power through the censorate and bureaucracy...

Almost all power in the Ming Dynasty was held by civil officials.

Zhu Youjian appeared very powerful to outsiders after ascending the throne, and could be considered the most powerful emperor after Emperor Jiajing.

However, he himself understood very well that his power was only temporary. He simply could not overthrow the three core powers of the civil officials: the court recommendation of ministers, the court deliberation of major affairs, and the court investigation of major cases.

His greatest power as emperor was actually to dismiss impeached officials. Historically, Emperor Chongzhen used this power to repeatedly test and replace officials who had been impeached by the court.

However, if officials are replaced too quickly, ministers will not be able to establish prestige, and the policies of the court will become empty words when they reach the local level.

Zhu Youjian learned from historical lessons and was always very cautious about replacing ministers. Even if some ministers were unqualified, he would grit his teeth and bear it.

To this end, he also established a term limit system, allowing officials to work with peace of mind during their term and not be dismissed unless they make a major mistake.

He also handed over the reins of power during the leadership transition to the new court ministers, allowing them to appoint their subordinates and local officials according to their own wishes to facilitate governance over the next three years.

Having delegated so much power, if his ministers still do not respect it, he will not hesitate to use his powers of dismissal and veto to uphold his authority.

Both of these powers were explicitly stated when Zhu Youjian granted veto power to the presiding officials. The emperor could veto the decisions of court recommendations and discussions, just as he could withhold a memorial from the emperor.

In other words, he can intervene in the leadership transition at any time.

Knowing the consequences, the ministers could only watch as the emperor reorganized the Court of Colonial Affairs during the transition period.

Ordinary officials did not have this understanding; they felt they could interfere in anything, including matters of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

This made Zhu Youjian realize that his power over the Court of Colonial Affairs was unstable, and even if it was written into the rites and laws, it could still be overturned by civil officials.

If they fight for power after consolidating their existing authority, it will be difficult for them and their descendants to hold out indefinitely.

Therefore, while formulating the code of rites and laws and establishing the relevant systems of the Court of Colonial Affairs, he decided to adjust the structure of the Court of Colonial Affairs to gain more supporters:
"The organizational structure of the Court of Colonial Affairs is still somewhat crude and needs to be more clearly defined."

"We must win over the nobles and get their support for the emperor to personally take charge of the Court of Colonial Affairs."

When Zhu Youjian was pressured by his ministers to relinquish some power during previous discussions on etiquette and law, he already had this awareness. He proactively limited his power to issue decrees to the Court of Colonial Affairs to the point where the aristocratic council would not object.

If the council of nobles deliberates and deems a royal decree inappropriate, they may offer their opinions.

But that wasn't enough. Zhu Youjian felt he needed to win over the nobles to the Court of Colonial Affairs, giving them a greater voice. This way, if civil officials tried to seize power from the Court of Colonial Affairs in the future, they would first face opposition from the nobles.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian summoned the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs, as well as some princes and nobles in the capital, to discuss the matter together.

He asked Huang Liji:

"How many officials are there in the Court of Colonial Affairs now, and what are their responsibilities?"

Huang Lijie said: "Besides me as the head of the academy, there are also Zhuang Tingchen, the Minister of the Inner Domains, Zhou Yongchun, the Minister of the Outer Domains, and Cao Sicheng, the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

"They are in charge of the affairs of the ministry and assist the Lifan Yuan (Court of Colonial Affairs)."

"If we add the Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, then there are six officials of the same rank."

As he spoke, he looked at Sun Chengzong beside him, then remembered something else and continued:

"The Marquis Sun was appointed by the Emperor as the Executive Director of the Court of Colonial Affairs, in charge of the Frontier Commission."

"I do not know if he is an official of the Court of Colonial Affairs?"

This was a legacy issue. Zhu Youjian didn't know how to arrange it at the time, so he set up the position of executive director and let Sun Chengzong, as an official of the Court of Colonial Affairs, take charge of the Frontier Committee.

Now a conclusion needs to be reached, Zhu Youjian said:
“From now on, all senior officials and nobles serving in the Court of Colonial Affairs can be called ministers of the Court of Colonial Affairs.”

"The senior officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs are the executive directors, ranked according to their additional titles."

"Huang Qing is the head of the Court of Colonial Affairs and also a regent minister, which means he is the chief director and can be called a regent minister."

“Sun Qing, as a regent minister, was ranked after him and was responsible for frontier affairs. He and Huang Fanfu jointly managed the Court of Colonial Affairs.”

"The Minister of the Inner Domains, the Minister of the Outer Domains, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs are all standing directors."

"The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, who was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is a director, but he can attend the Standing Council meeting of the Court of Colonial Affairs to coordinate the relationship between the Court of Colonial Affairs and other government offices."

"Finally, members of the royal family, meritorious officials, and nobles from vassal states will be selected from the noble council to serve as executive directors."

"These people are the ones in charge of the daily affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs. The Prince of Lu, the Duke of Yingguo, and the Duke of Shunren serve as executive ministers."

Three nobles were appointed in one go, bringing the number of officials in the Court of Colonial Affairs to nine.

This is the maximum number. According to the previously established meeting rules, each government office's meeting members should not exceed nine. Any more than that would require the establishment of a standing committee.

The Court of Colonial Affairs was such an institution, with many nobles serving there, naturally acting as its ministers. Zhu Youjian could only appoint standing directors as the higher-ranking officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

Some people present were confused by the emperor's sudden establishment of this official position, while others quickly understood.

Sun Chengzong said:

"Your Majesty, is the Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs a minister of the imperial court?"

"Are you qualified to participate in the court hearings and trials?"

This made the nobles present breathe heavily; they all wanted to obtain this power.

The ministers gathered together for repeated meetings during this leadership transition, which made them more aware of the power of ministers.

However, Zhu Youjian knew that it was impossible to grant all council ministers the same power as ministers, as the civil officials would not agree.

Furthermore, he did not want his vassal states to have too much say in the court, and said to them:

“A councilor with the title of one of the four assistant ministers can certainly attend the ministerial meeting.”

"If not, then you can only participate in the council meetings of the Court of Colonial Affairs."

"The council of the Court of Colonial Affairs is equivalent to the court assembly, and the noble council is equivalent to the parliament. The powers of the two are divided according to the relationship between the court assembly and the parliament."

"I and all the nobles will jointly govern the Court of Colonial Affairs." (End of Chapter)