Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 142: Waiting for the equal number of ministers
Because the review of the eunuch party is ongoing, the officials who were deregistered by the eunuch party have not yet fully recovered. This time Tingtui is also different from before, with some novel methods.

Having already planned to promote his favorite candidate, Zhu Youjian said to the Minister of Personnel:

"The Ministry of Personnel lists the candidates who have passed the review and are qualified to serve as ministers, and then lists the vacant ministers."

"According to the order of officials, households, soldiers and torture workers, they will be promoted one by one."

"Those who have not been nominated for the previous position will automatically be included as candidates for the next position."

"Who are all qualified to serve as ministers now?"

Yang Jingchen, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was promoted to a special supervisor and promoted. He was also the emperor's confidant. Of course he knew the emperor's intention of doing this and replied:

"Dong Qichang, the former Minister of Rites in Nanjing, Xu Guangqi and Wen Tiren, the former right ministers of the Ministry of Rites, and Kong Zhenyun, the envoy to the government."

"Li Qiyuan, the former Minister of Household Affairs, Min Mengde, the former governor of Pianyuan and governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, Zhai Fengchong, the former governor of Yansui, and Bi Maokang, the former governor of Yunyang."

"These eight people have been revived by His Majesty and listed as candidates for court promotion."

In fact, Dong Yingju, the former Minister of Household Affairs, was also ordered to be resurrected by the emperor. It's just that the emperor asked him to choose eight people, and Bi Maokang came back just now. So Yang Jingchen ignored Dong Yingju and only mentioned these eight people.

Knowing this well, Zhu Youjian continued to ask:

"Who are the available ministers?"

Yang Jingchen immediately replied:
"The right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the left minister of the Ministry of War, the minister of special supervision of ordnance, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and the minister of special supervision of the Ministry of Works."

"There are six vacancies for ministers in total."

Zhu Youjian pretended to think for a while and said:

"Bi Ziyan was transferred from the special supervisor, Qian Fa Shilang, to the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the household department recommended another special supervisor, Qian Fa Shilang."

"The Minister of Military Pay will also select a person who will be responsible for military pay."

In this way, there are eight positions, corresponding to eight people.

The ministers were all slanderous after hearing this, knowing that the emperor wanted to arrange eight people as ministers.

This kind of recommendation without any difference is really something they have never experienced before.

But if it’s wrong, it seems hard to say——

Naturally, the ministers who met for the first time did not understand the matter of equal election.

Zhu Youjian didn't give them time to think, and directly asked Yang Jingchen to preside over the court.

Yang Jingchen distributed the votes according to the previously reformed court recommendation method and said to the ministers:
"The one I recommend first is the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Please start checking."

Let the officials of Honglu Temple get the ballot papers with the names of eight people printed on them, and the former court recommends the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Ministry of Personnel is the head of the six departments. Although he is only the right minister, in the eyes of the ministers, he is stronger than the left minister in the general department, so it is natural to recommend people with high status.

Li Qiyuan, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Dong Qichang, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites of Nanjing, received the highest votes and were promoted as the main and accompanying candidates.

Zhu Youjian thought for a while and decided not to recommend Li Qiyuan, and said:
"Dong Qichang served as the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and was given the title of minister of the second rank."

"Li Qiyuan was formerly the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and was given the title of Minister of Political Affairs of the Second Rank, and attended the regular meetings as a non-voting delegate."

"He should take up the position of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and now he is promoted to be the Minister of Pay for the Military Supervisor."

As soon as he said this, all the ministers understood, and most of them checked the name Li Qiyuan as the candidate for the post of Minister of Military Supervision.

Nowadays, no one knows that Jiubian owes millions in wages. In the eyes of the ministers, this is a hard job. The emperor let Li Qiyuan take the job, which also saved the ministers from tangles.

Zhu Youjian nodded, very satisfied with the result.

Li Qiyuan served as the Shangshu of the transfer department and also served as the governor of the three sides. Zhu Youjian thought it would be better for him to oversee military pay.

If this person is easy to use, you can also consider serving as the governor of the three provinces, or setting up a governor of the three provinces on top of the admiral to be responsible for suppressing bandits. Then he was the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Zhai Fengchong was recommended by the ministers. He once applied for the construction of Changpingcang to prepare for shortages. In the eyes of the ministers, he had the ability to work in the Ministry of Household Affairs.

He was specifically responsible for supervising the Minister of Qian Fa, and the ministers recommended Xu Guangqi to take the post. Xu Guangqi studied military science, farming, salt policy, and water conservancy books all over the place. Some people think that he is also suitable to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with this, and planned to discuss it with Xu Guangqi after he took office to see if he could cast silver coins on a large scale by referring to the Western Silver Ocean, collect seigniorage on the silver, and relieve the people of the burden of fire consumption.

There is a lot of potential for money law matters.

After that came the Ministry of War. The left minister of the Ministry of War was Min Mengde, who was recommended by the ministers to take the post. After all, he had been recommended by the court to be the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou. Although he had not taken up the post, his qualifications were slightly higher than those of ordinary governors, and he was more suitable to be the Zuo Shilang.

Moreover, Yuan Keli also made it clear that the Ministry of War needs ministers who are familiar with southwestern affairs. Min Mengde's experience is exactly in line with this point.

Then there is the special supervision of the Ordnance Minister, which is a bit controversial.

Previously, because Bi Maokang was directly appointed by the emperor as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War to watch the government, there was almost a controversy in the court.

The ministers were a little reluctant to recommend him as the Minister of Ordnance.

But the remaining two people, Wen Tiren and Kong Zhenyun, were even less suitable to serve in the Ministry of War.

In the end, Bi Maokang narrowly passed and was promoted by the court as the Minister of Ordnance.

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with the result and felt that it would be enough if he took office. As for the process, don't worry too much.

The last two remaining positions are the right minister of the Ministry of punishment and the minister of special supervision and work.

Because the Minister of Special Supervision of Dagong was transferred from the Minister of Dagong, and his position was slightly higher in the eyes of the ministers, Kong Zhenyun, the most junior candidate, was promoted by the court to be the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment.

Wen Tiren, who had more seniority, was promoted by the court to be the minister responsible for supervising the great work.

So far, all eight vacant ministers have been filled. Xu Guangqi, Wen Tiren, Kong Zhenyun and others who were favored by Zhu Youjian all became ministers.

By giving these ministers the title of Zhengsanpinzhengzheng envoy, Zhu Youjian felt that he needed to appease the ministers to prevent them from being dissatisfied with this equal promotion. So he said to the ministers again:
"There are also some vacancies for the chief ministers and young ministers of various temples. Let's recommend them today so that they don't remain vacant."

"Qualified candidates can be reinstated as appropriate if they are not defiant."

This order made the officials a little happy.

Just now, I was still complaining that the eight ministers were almost appointed without permission. At this time, it was too late to complain. They all spoke out about who should be resurrected and who should not be reduced to the people.

Zhu Youjian didn't want to attack a batch at once, but decided to attack them one by one, saying:

"According to the previous rules, Taichang Qing will be recommended by the subordinates. This departmental recommendation should be recommended by the personnel department and the supervisory department together!"

"First, choose the minister of Taichang Temple. Who can be recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites?"

Ministry recommendation was mainly recommended by the Ministry of Personnel. After Zhu Youjian ascended to the throne, he adjusted the five temples, built the Weiwei Temple and Zongzheng Temple, and clarified the relationship between each temple and the six ministries. Therefore, he defined the recommendation of the Ministry as the recommendation of the Ministry of Personnel and relevant departments.

For example, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, and Imperial College, as institutions related to the Ministry of Rites, are recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites.

As an institution related to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zongzheng Temple is recommended by the Ministry of Personnel in conjunction with the two ministries.

As an institution related to the Ministry of War, Taipu Temple is recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War.

As a related institution of the Three Laws Department and the Ministry of War, Weiwei Temple is recommended by the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple.

Only the minister of Dali Temple, as one of the nine ministers, needs to be recommended by officials of third rank or above.

Taichang Temple, like Dali Temple, is a third-rank yamen. Although the Minister of Taichang Temple is not as good as the Minister of Dali Temple and not as good as the Minister of the Six Divisions, it can also be said to be the first-class position below the Minister of Affairs——

The position that most Taichang Temple ministers moved to was the Sixth Right Assistant Minister.

So of course the ministers are very concerned about this candidate.

(End of this chapter)