Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 223 Taifu Temple and the Sixth Department of the Ministry of Industry
The matter of the tax-sharing system cannot be determined by just saying a few words in court.

Although the ministers wanted to have more financial resources, they did not want to be constrained in their work due to lack of money and food.

However, the tax-sharing system proposed by Zhu Youjian was a major adjustment of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal and taxation system. It could even be said to be a complete reorganization.

The difficulty of this made the ministers who wanted to understand couldn't help but retreat.

Even Bi Ziyan, who made the suggestion, and Guo Yunhou, who was appointed as the Minister of Taifu Temple, had this idea.

Zhu Youjian didn't care what they thought and expressed his thoughts:
"Taifu Temple is mainly responsible for collection and storage, tax collection and warehousing. From now on, they will all fall under the control of Taifu Temple."

"Taicang Bank and other warehouses will be combined in the future and managed by the General Warehousing Administration established in Taifu Temple."

"But grain and other food items must be listed separately and managed by a separate General Food Administration. From now on, the grain collected from each province will be directly put into the nearest warehouse and transferred uniformly by relevant departments."

“The Provincial Supervisory Grain Road, Supervisory Registration Road, etc. were changed to the Household Affairs Department of the Chief Secretary, responsible for collecting taxes and transshipment matters.”

"The Department of Household Affairs has one person in charge of the sixth rank, with various subordinate officials. It is personally managed by the Chief Secretary who participates in politics, and is recommended by senior officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"The Ministry of Household Affairs can directly issue orders to the Household Affairs Department to carry out corresponding management."

This measure is obviously to increase the power of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Bi Ziyan and Guo Yunhou were both confused.

Judging from the emperor's attitude, it can be said that he has been planning for the adjustment of the household department for a long time. Even many of the previous changes were in preparation for adjusting the household department.

If you don’t agree, the chief official of the Ministry of Household Affairs may change. Both of them may be appointed as Ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs, or neither of them may be appointed——

Only those who support the emperor's adjustment of the Ministry of Household Affairs can continue to do so in the Minister of Household Affairs.

Therefore, these two people fell into silence for a while. Among the other nine ministers, Fang Guanghuang seldom interfered in matters other than the official affairs. Su Maoxiang, the Minister of Punishment, and Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Work, had already joined the emperor. Lu Tunan, the general envoy, and Zhang Jiude, the minister of Dali Temple, were very Few people have spoken, and Wen Tiren, Wang Yongguang, and Cheng Jiming have not yet taken office.

Yuan Keli, Minister of the Ministry of War, looked at these officials who had been tamed by the emperor, and then looked at the four cabinet bachelors who had no intention of saying anything. He could only stand up and said:

"Your Majesty, this is a serious matter, so please consider it carefully."

"Taxation matters can affect the whole body. If it is not adjusted properly, it will affect the stability of various places."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly and said:
"What Yuan Qing said makes sense, so we started to change it from Beizhili, or Shuntian Prefecture."

"Beizhili does not have a chief secretary or a censorship department, and all officials have always been assigned to Shandong and Shanxi."

"It's not a good idea to have such an unfair name."

"I think the six ministries can all set up general affairs departments, and set up the Zhili Department below to directly govern the affairs of North Zhili."

"The same is true for the Six Ministries in Nanjing. The Zhili Department, which is in charge of the Vice Minister, is set up to directly govern the affairs of Southern Zhili."

"This attempt starts from the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"The Zhili Department of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs is personally managed by Bi Ziyan, the assistant minister, who is responsible for taxation and transshipment in North Zhili."

"How to set up the provincial household affairs departments in the future, we can accumulate experience from Beizhili."

This is to strengthen the power of the six northern and southern ministries and clarify the jurisdiction over the northern and southern direct governors. The six ministers were all moved by this.

To be honest, although the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty were very powerful, they were not very capable of intervening in local areas. Because there is no local coordination agency, the orders of the Sixth Ministry cannot be guaranteed to be implemented.

Therefore, the Sixth Ministry can only send officials to local areas on important matters. Not to mention that the efficiency is very low, and the results cannot be guaranteed.

If it is like what the emperor said, the Zhili Department in the north and south will be established, and the household affairs department will be established in each province. The Ministry of Revenue's ability to intervene in the two capitals and thirteen provinces is completely different from before.

By analogy, by establishing the Department of Civil Affairs, the Department of Etiquette and Law, the Department of Industry and Commerce, etc., the six ministries' ability to intervene in local areas will be qualitatively improved.

Several ministers had to carefully consider this consequence. Seeing that the atmosphere was solemn, Xue Fengxiang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who had already surrendered to the emperor and followed the emperor's lead, said somewhat flatteringly:

"I think this is good. The Ministry of Industry should also set up the Zhili Department of the General Affairs Department to take charge of the affairs of North Zhili."

“The Industrial and Commercial Section of the Local Government Affairs Bureau should also accept orders from the Ministry of Industry.”

Very satisfied with his knowledge, Zhu Youjian immediately said:

"Industry and commerce have never been separated. Since the local government is responsible for industry and commerce, the Ministry of Industry should set up a business agency."

"It is planned to add a Commerce Department to the Ministry of Industry to be responsible for commercial affairs."

"In the future, market supervision and management, trade procurement and tendering, workshops and chambers of commerce, contracts and contract specifications will all be managed by the Department of Commerce."

"The General Affairs Department was also established at the same time, with the General Affairs Department and Zhili Department under it, responsible for daily affairs and North Zhili affairs."

This commercial organization that had long been wanted to be established was officially placed in the Ministry of Industry.

From then on, the Ministry of Industry officially had jurisdiction over commercial affairs.

Xue Fengxiang felt happy and heard the emperor say:

"Ge Datong, the chief of the field division, was impeached a few days ago."

"The second suggestion Bi Qing mentioned just now is farming. I think farming affairs will be managed by the Ministry of Household Affairs from now on."

"The General Agricultural Administration was established in Taifu Temple, which consists of the Farming Department, the Official Land Department, the Land Taxation Department, the Agriculture Department, etc., which are responsible for collecting land taxes and unified management of agricultural affairs."

"Biqing's family, Guo Qing's family, what do you think?"

Being chased and questioned by the emperor, who also had the power of the Ministry of Works in his hands, the two of them had to answer.

Bi Ziyan could not overturn his previous suggestion, so he could only say tactfully:
"In addition to farming, the Tuntian Division also has tombs, monuments, and beasts."

"I think it should be under the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Household Affairs is not responsible for these matters."

Zhu Youjian said "hmm", pretended not to hear his rejection, and said to Xue Fengxiang:

"Then leave these matters at the Ministry of Industry."

"They all belong to construction, so they should be placed in the Camping and Maintenance Department. There is no need to establish a new organization."

"In order to make up for the loss of the Farming Department of the Ministry of Works, the weights and measures responsibilities were separated from the Water Resources Department and the Science and Technology Department was established."

"The word "ke" is from "Wo" and "Dou". The person who fights is the one who measures."

"The Department of Science and Technology is specifically responsible for measurement matters, weights and measures standards, technical standards, etc."

"The patents mentioned earlier are also managed by the Department of Science and Technology."

"In this way, the Ministry of Industry has six departments: the General Affairs Department, the Battalion and Maintenance Department, the Yuheng Department, the Water Resources Department, the Science and Technology Department, and the Commerce Department, as well as the Shaofu Temple for supervision."

"These must be gradually improved. I will give you one year."

In this setting, Zhu Youjian regarded the Department of Construction as the Ministry of Construction, the Department of Yuheng as the Ministry of Resources, the Department of Water Resources as the Ministry of Water Resources, the Department of Science and Technology as the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Commerce as the Ministry of Commerce, and Shaofu Temple as the Ministry of Commerce. Academy of Engineering and State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, etc.——

Industry, engineering, commerce and other related matters were stuffed into the Ministry of Industry.

In the future, with the development of industry and commerce, the Ministry of Industry will become more and more important and will by no means be an insignificant yamen.

(End of this chapter)