Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"What do you all think of Wen Tiren's idea?"

While somewhat tempted by Wen Tiren's proposal, Han Kuang did not make a decision immediately but instead consulted with ministers of the Donglin School.

Currently, there are quite a few people from the Donglin Party in the imperial court. Among them, the most prominent are naturally the two Grand Secretaries, Han Kuang and Cheng Jiming, as well as the two Nine Ministers, Zheng Sanjun and Li Banghua.

Cheng Jiming disagreed with Wen Tiren's character, saying:
"Wen Changqing is a man who is most adept at flattering the emperor."

"He has always been the emperor's mouthpiece in the cabinet."

"Moreover, he has a history of attacking Donglin, so such a person is not trustworthy."

Bringing up Wen Tiren's past attacks on Qian Qianyi shows that such a person is capable of anything and has no bottom line.

Qian Qianyi has now withdrawn from the Donglin Party and established his own practical school of thought, but at the time he was the leader of the new generation of the Donglin Party.

Wen Tiren almost impeached him at the time, because he wanted to cut off the Donglin Party's lineage.

We must be wary of such a ruthless person. Cheng Jiming does not believe that cooperating with him is the right thing to do.

Li Banghua also said:
"The head of the Grand Council is someone who can be called the Second Grand Secretary of the Cabinet."

"Shi Fenglai, who was nominally in charge of the Grand Council, was already known as the Second Grand Secretary."

"If Wen Tiren gets this position, he may become the second prime minister."

"At that time, Han Gong will have to deal with more than just Yang Jingchen."

The number of deputy ministers is usually one, but there have been two since the current emperor changed the cabinet system.

Furthermore, the fact that each of the six ministries had one minister paired with two vice ministers, and the cabinet had one chief minister paired with two deputy ministers, was acceptable.

It was only because the emperor relied more on Yuan Keli in military matters that he put him in charge of the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief, while the Grand Secretary of the Military Affairs Bureau was only responsible for drafting resolutions according to the committee's decisions.

The preliminary draft of the rites and laws also clearly stipulated that if the cabinet's proposals were not personally approved by the emperor but were approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial, military matters must be countersigned by the Grand Council.

Therefore, the actual deputy minister in military affairs is Yuan Keli.

However, this candidate can be changed. As long as the Grand Secretary in charge of the Military Affairs Office becomes the director of the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief, he can use this position to make the Grand Secretaries obey his decisions, regain the power of the Second Grand Secretary, and threaten the position of the Grand Secretary.

Li Banghua had previously worked in the Ministry of War and was well aware of the intricacies of the matter.

Therefore, he reminded Han Kuang that he should not easily hand over this position to Wen Tiren.

Thinking about the consequences of Yang Jingchen and Wen Tiren both becoming deputy ministers, Han Kuang frowned.

He was already troubled enough by having one assistant minister, let alone having another one added to the mix.

The thought of Wen Tiren replacing Yuan Keli made Han Kuang uneasy.

Unlike Yuan Keli, who leaned towards the Donglin faction and was focused on getting things done, Wen Tiren didn't have much talent for getting things done and instead concentrated on figuring out personnel matters.

This made him the second-in-command in military affairs, which caused some trouble in the court.

For a time, he began to favor rejecting Wen Tiren and not giving the man more power.

But Zheng Sanjun said at this moment:

"It would be better if Wen Tiren became the second prime minister!"

"If both of them become secondary ministers, do you think they will still stand together?"

"Wen Tiren is not willing to be subordinate to others, and he will definitely clash with Yang Jingchen."

"Han Gong can let them fight each other, while he himself can learn from the Emperor and remain calm and composed no matter what the turmoil is."

This is a saying that circulated in the court and among the people after the emperor used fishing as a way to demonstrate the delegation of power. Many people say that the current emperor is "unperturbed by the storm, sitting firmly on his fishing platform."

Zheng Sanjun believed that Han Kuang could do the same, letting the two deputy ministers argue while he, as the chief minister, mediated between them.

Han Kuang was also somewhat tempted by what he heard, but he couldn't make up his mind.

He knew that using Wen Tiren was dangerous, as this man could turn against him at any time.

But if he doesn't use it, there's no one to help him solve his military problems—

The emperor held onto military power too tightly and never used his men.

Yuan Chonghuan was constantly suppressed, partly because of his teacher's influence.

Furthermore, after the establishment of the Privy Council, most military affairs were decided by the Privy Council.

The cabinet had little say in military matters, and the emperor placed greater emphasis on the Privy Council.

Especially after the unification of power and responsibility, if Han Kuang intervenes in military affairs, he will have to bear the corresponding responsibility.

Wen Tiren was able to persuade him to consider this matter because he understood his unwillingness to take responsibility.

Therefore, after Zheng Sanjun gave his reasons, Han Kuang's thoughts changed again.

For this reason, he began to convince himself to support Wen Tiren.

To convince others of this decision, Han Kuang pondered for a long time before posing a question to them:

"Do you think the next Grand Secretary might come from the Donglin faction?"

Everyone shook their heads, agreeing that it was impossible.

The current emperor has always been wary of the Donglin Party. He had previously suppressed them, but now he is trying to break them up.

The four of them are still able to sit down and discuss things because of their past friendship. However, the academic societies behind them may not necessarily stand together forever.

The Donglin Party had already split into several parts, but based on some consensus, they were collectively referred to as the Donglin School.

This school of thought is even being challenged by the pragmatic and scientific schools, and its position in academia is becoming increasingly unstable.

In this situation, they'd be lucky to produce even a Grand Secretary; they shouldn't even dream of continuing to hold the position of Grand Secretary.

The emperor, who already held the power to appoint the chief minister, would never allow the chief minister to continue to come from the Donglin Party.

After receiving this answer, Han Kuang then said to them:

"Since the next Grand Secretary won't be from the Donglin faction, what difference does it make who becomes the Second Grand Secretary now?"

"By maintaining good relations now, we can keep Donglin members in the cabinet in the future."

"It's better to send Wen Tiren to the Grand Council than to use Yang Jingchen's people."

"Besides, Xu Guangqi is ranked higher than Wen Tiren in the cabinet. With him keeping Wen Tiren in check, he won't become the second prime minister anytime soon."

With the emperor not allowing political parties to interfere in military affairs, the Grand Secretaries who headed the Grand Council were either enemies of the Donglin Party or neutral parties.

In Han Kuang's view, Wen Tiren's hostility towards the Donglin Party was far less than that towards Yang Jingchen.

The one surnamed Yang is the remnant of the eunuch party; Wen Tiren merely rose to power by opposing the Donglin Party.

This person is someone who can be won over; he poses far less of a threat than Yang Jingchen.

Especially after Wen Tiren took charge of military affairs, the success or failure of the Burma campaign had no impact on him as the prime minister.

He was unwilling to take on this responsibility; he had already made up his mind.

Cheng Jiming and Li Banghua could not dissuade him, so they could only remain vigilant.

They felt that cooperating with Wen Tiren was not a good choice and that they might suffer great losses in the future.

But Han Kuang made the decision, and they could only listen. Ultimately, Han Kuang was the leader of the Donglin faction, and it was only through him that the faction was barely maintained.
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Soon, Wen Tiren, who had gained Han Kuang's approval, began to be active in military affairs, frequently speaking out and offering suggestions, and writing drafts for military memorials.

In the past, his actions would have led to impeachment or criticism.

However, Wen Tiren now enjoys the tacit approval of the Donglin faction and is an ally of Yang Jingchen.

No one opposed him when he did these things; in fact, he received a lot of support.

In particular, Wen Tiren, for his own benefit, strongly supported the nobles' decision. He also collaborated with the Privy Council to determine the priority targets and formulate a battle plan accordingly. The nobles' opinions were given great weight in this plan; one could even say that the military action was taken on their behalf.

This naturally garnered him the support of the nobility, especially Wen Tiren's public support for the war, which disregarded his reputation and earned him many supporters in the Privy Council and the Five Ministries.

Those civilian and military officers who wanted to make a name for themselves hoped that there would be more people in the court who supported the war.

They all believed that Wen Ti-jen could assume more military responsibilities within the cabinet.

After realizing Wen Tiren's intentions, Zhu Youjian was also pleased with this:

Although Wen Tiren was not knowledgeable in military affairs, he was competent as a mouthpiece.

Zhu Youjian needed to have someone in the cabinet to ensure that military proposals met his expectations in order to control the military.

It could be said that he could use a less loyal chief minister, but the Grand Secretary in charge of the Grand Council had to be one of his own.

This was the reason he had placed Shi Fenglai in the Grand Council before, but this time Shi Fenglai has completely retired, and someone else needs to be arranged.

Considering Xu Guangqi's advanced age and his repeated illnesses in recent years, Zhu Youjian issued the following order:
"Wen Tiren was appointed as the assistant military advisor and concurrently served as the deputy director of the Committee for Suppressing Rebellion and Relief."

They groomed him to be a Grand Secretary who would head the Grand Council in the future, so that there would be someone left after Xu Guangqi's death.

Wen Tiren got his wish and focused even more on military affairs.

He knew his position in the emperor's eyes and had little ambition for becoming the Grand Secretary for the time being.

They also wanted to take advantage of the war profits and credits earned over the past few years to earn a high-ranking title for their family.

Therefore, instead of falling out with Yang Jingchen as Han Kuang and others had expected, he devoted himself to cultivating good relations with various factions and was quite diligent in his work.

This earned him even more praise from the court officials, who considered him a qualified Grand Secretary of the Grand Council.

The cabinet situation remained stable, with the Donglin faction, anti-Donglin faction, and neutral faction coexisting.

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with this situation, which is why he was able to remain in power.

Otherwise, if the cabinet were controlled by a single party, he would never be able to sit comfortably in the palace.

Now that all parties are checking and balancing each other, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

This would allow him to relax a bit and let the court operate according to the system he established, serving as a model for the era of ritual and propriety.

If future emperors could learn from him, they would be able to secure their thrones.

Instead of the previous notion that only by becoming a workaholic could one firmly grasp the throne.

What he values ​​most now is ideology and military affairs, which the ancients called "sacrifice and war".

Therefore, he is very concerned about culture.

He was equally active not only in academic theory but also in popular culture. He used every means to connect with the people and let them know that he cared about them.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian came up with the idea of ​​celebrating the Emperor's birthday.

He addressed his ministers:

"The 24th of next month is the birthday of the Emperor, which is also the Little New Year."

"During the Tang and Song dynasties, the emperor celebrated the emperor's birthday with the common people, and a grand display of songs, music, and various plays was held in the capital."

"I intend to do the same for this year's Emperor's birthday celebration."

"It's just the right time to let people who have been busy all year take a break on the day before the Lunar New Year."

"Han Qing, you are the Minister of Rites, so you will take the lead in this matter and form a temporary committee."

He ordered Han Il-juan to form a Mansoo Sacred Reunion Festival Committee to be in charge of the celebration.

Han Rizuan, however, was not very happy and asked:
“The singing and music performances and various theatrical shows in Dachen all require money and grain.”

"May I ask Your Majesty where this money and grain come from?"

"Is it funded by the Ministry of Revenue?"

Upon hearing this, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, immediately said:
"The imperial court's funds and provisions are either used for fighting wars or for disaster relief."

"It's already the end of the year, and I really can't squeeze out any extra money."

The Ministry of Revenue complained that the taxes and expenditures received this year barely covered the costs.

If it weren't for the windfall from the sale of land in the Liaohetao region, many of these plans simply wouldn't have been possible.

Even so, that windfall couldn't sustain them. Especially after the autumn military exercises along the Grand Canal, the suppression of bandits in Henan consumed money and supplies comparable to a major battle.

Currently, the imperial court is still waging war against Annam and is preparing to conquer the Japanese pirates.

Bi Ziyan kept complaining, his words filled with the fact that he had no money.

This immediately dampened Zhu Youjian's joy.

The two did not outwardly object, but in reality they were making excuses.

If one ignores the situation, not only will one fail to share the joy with the people, but one will also be accused of wasting resources and causing hardship to the people.

This was unacceptable to Zhu Youjian, who valued his reputation.

He began to realize that, in addition to ideology and military power, financial power was also very important.

You must always have a source of income, otherwise you will be restricted in everything you do.

Fortunately, he had already begun to establish a royal consortium and separated the outer treasury from the inner treasury, thus gaining complete control over the inner court's finances.

If the outer court does not support holding celebrations, he can use the inner court.

Displeased, Zhu Youjian immediately addressed his ministers:
"The Emperor's Birthday is the Emperor's birthday, so the inner court will pay for the celebration."

"Since Minister Han is unwilling, then the inner court will take charge."

"Where is Li Yu from the Royal Orchestra? He's in charge of forming the celebration committee."

Han Rizuan did not expect the emperor to react so strongly, and he immediately rescinded the position he was to be given.

Although he didn't care much about the temporary position, if someone else got it, it would mean that the Ministry of Rites was losing power.

It is estimated that the emperor will do the same in the future, and the power to be in charge of celebrations will be transferred from the Ministry of Rites to the Royal Orchestra.

In his anxiety, he said:
"Li Yu is merely an actor; how can he shoulder such an important responsibility?"

"Your Majesty, I urge you to take Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty as a warning and not to favor actors."

The emperor was advised by comparing his heavy reliance on Li Yu with Li Cunxu's favoritism towards actors.

Li Cunxu's loss of the country due to his favoritism towards actors was a laughing stock, and Ouyang Xiu even left behind a famous preface to "The Biography of Actors".

Zhu Youjian was furious when he heard this; he never expected anyone to think of him this way.

But before he could lash out, some officials who were dissatisfied with the music officials had already begun to speak out.

They were already dissatisfied with the emperor handing over the power to revise music to entertainers, and now that Han Rizhuan had spoken, they immediately seized the opportunity to make a fuss.

These people are calling for the restoration of the rites and music, arguing that the creation of rites and music is the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites and should not be handed over to any royal orchestra.

Some even listed the expenses of the Royal Orchestra, arguing that with so many disasters plaguing the world, the emperor should use that money for disaster relief.

Zhu Youjian was so angry that his face turned ashen, and he felt that he had lost some of his authority in the court.

After the leadership reshuffle, in order to show that he was delegating power, he leisurely went fishing in the West Garden.

Some newly appointed officials seem to have forgotten the emperor's majesty. (End of Chapter)