Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 38: Nanjing title addition
Seeing Huang Li reluctantly drafting the decree, but unable to say that the "Three Dynasties Essential Code" was compiled by them based on the edict sent by Wei Zhongxian, Zhu Youjian felt happy in his heart. These ministers usually liked to fool the emperor, so they pretended not to know and added fuel to the struggle between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party to see how they would respond.

Then, Zhu Youjian looked at Yang Jingchen, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and thought of another person who was often mentioned together with Lu Xiangsheng, and asked:
"Sun Chuanting was a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, right?"

"What's your current position?"

Yang Jingchen thought for a moment and realized that there seemed to be such an official in the Ministry of Personnel, and replied:

"Sun Chuanting is no longer in the court. I heard that he took leave and returned to his hometown."

Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard this and scolded:
"Nonsense! How can you ask for leave at will?"

"Is he from Shanxi? I ​​remember that when he was the magistrate of Shangqiu, he did a good job in preventing the White Lotus Sect. I gave him an official position and went to Shaanxi to investigate the situation of bandits."

"Remember, let him investigate secretly and don't disturb the place."

When Yang Jingchen heard this, of course he understood that the emperor was not scolding Sun Chuanting for taking leave, but that he knew such a person from somewhere and wanted to reuse him. So he asked himself to be promoted to Sun Chuanting and go to Shaanxi to investigate the situation.

This made Yang Jingchen remember the name Sun Chuanting in his heart. At the same time, he understood the emperor's concern for Shaanxi and felt that if he wanted to be reused, he must pay more attention to Shaanxi.

Now, if Sun Chuanting is given an official position, what kind of official position should he add?
After all, Sun Chuanting had also served as a doctor in the fifth-rank inspection department, but it was too low for him to be promoted to a local chief fifth-rank judge and deputy envoy. It was more suitable for him to be a fourth-rank judge and deputy envoy.

But the emperor also said not to disturb the local area, so it was inappropriate to appoint officials as the Shaanxi Prosecution Commission. The Supervisory Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is only of the seventh grade, which is also not suitable for his transfer.

"Could it be that His Majesty wants Sun Chuanting to directly serve as the censor of Qiandu?" 』

Startled by this guess, Yang Jingchen finally understood what Jane in the Emperor's Heart was. The fourth-grade censor of Qiandu seems to have the same rank as the deputy envoy, but he is already qualified to serve as governor. This is undoubtedly a step to the sky for Sun Chuanting——

From a doctor who took leave to return to his hometown, he became a candidate for governor.

This promotion made Yang Jingchen envious and embarrassed at the same time:

This is very difficult to deal with. Except in the early years of this dynasty when the governor system was unclear, there is no such example!

It is normal for a doctor to be promoted from the third rank to participate in politics. Although the fourth rank of the imperial censor is lower, it cannot be promoted like this!
You can't pretend not to know what the emperor means. Could it be that you have to take back the first thing the emperor tells you?
Thinking that the emperor might be testing whether he could use it, Yang Jingchen racked his brains and came up with a way:
"Your Majesty, I think that based on Sun Chuanting's qualifications and achievements, he can be given the rank of Cong Sanpin to participate in politics."

"Because of the investigation, let him serve as the supervisory censor to secretly patrol Shaanxi. If the investigation is successful, he will be promoted to the censor of Qiandu."

Such a change split Sun Chuanting's promotion of the censor of the capital of Qian into the following steps: first, he was promoted from the fifth rank to being a doctor, to participating in politics from the third rank, and then to being promoted to the fourth rank, the censor of the capital. Use a third-grade title as a transition to reduce possible criticism.

This approach was appreciated by Zhu Youjian. By doing this, Yang Jingchen could reduce criticism and protect Sun Chuanting, and he also used the additional title of General Secretary he had just decided to show his support for him.

Such a thoughtful and capable official is worthy of his appointment. Zhu Youjian immediately praised:
"Yang Qing has considered it carefully and can just do it like this."

"Let Sun Chuanting work hard and don't ask for leave casually."

He asked again:

"Who is the current doctor of the literary selection department?"

"How long have you been in office? What about your reputation?"

Yang Jingchen replied:
"Zhong Zhou Jiachun, the doctor of the Wenxuan Department, was transferred from the doctor of the Ji Xun Department in March this year."

"Feng Ping, I just took up a post in the Ministry of Personnel last month, so I don't know much about it yet."

Nodding slightly, Zhu Youjian understood. Yang Jingchen did not take the opportunity to praise him at this time, which means that Zhou Jiachun's reputation is not very good, or his relationship with Zhou Jiachun is not good. No matter which point, Zhu Youjian was a little worried. Thinking that there would be major changes in officials after the fall of the eunuch party, Zhu Youjian ordered:
"The Literary and Selection Department has a lot of affairs. Now it still needs to add titles to officials in the DPRK and central court and determine the candidates for permanent DPRK officials."

"I thought I would send a servant to take charge of it, and Yang Qing would take care of it first!"

"Especially when an official has not passed the exam and needs to be promoted, the list must be confirmed by you, the minister in charge of the Literature and Selection Department, who often participates in meetings to make decisions."

Yang Jingchen was overjoyed when he heard this, and was not dissatisfied at all that one of his ministers personally took charge of the Literature and Selection Department. Even though the official position of the Wenxuanshi doctor is not high, the list of official promotions and promotions across the country is determined by the Wenxuanshi doctor, which can be regarded as a low-ranking and powerful person.

The emperor put him in charge of the Wenxuan Department, which gave him the power to intervene in the Wenxuan Department. He could legitimately interfere in the affairs of the Wenxuan Department without having to worry about the criticism of the Minister of Personnel and other ministers. This undoubtedly gave him a basic base in the official department.

After taking over the task, Yang Jingchen thought of the emperor's words about increasing the title and asked for instructions:

"Your Majesty, what are the regulations for the promotion of the title of General Secretary, and how should it be determined?"

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said:

"If you pass the examination in nine years, you will be promoted or demoted immediately."

"If you pass the exam in six years, you will be granted the rank of Dengji by adding three levels to the original official rank. If you are in the fifth rank, you can be awarded the rank of third rank."

"If the exam is completed in three years, two levels will be added. If the exam is less than three years, one level will be added."

"If you still have special honors and have been commended by decree, then you can add one or two more levels as appropriate and list them as candidates for promotion."

"First, we should work out the additional titles of the six ministers and the foreign ministers, and determine the candidates for the permanent court officials."

Yang Jingchen obeyed the order and took on this task. The issue of title promotion not only involves the Literary Selection Department, which is responsible for the promotion and demotion of officials, but also involves the Merit Examination Department, which is responsible for official examinations, the Honors Examination Department, which awards official titles, and the Verification Department, which assigns official titles to casual officials, married women, and titles based on grade. It can be said that the entire official department was involved.

After Yang Jingchen took over this task, he had a reason to get involved in the various departments of the Ministry of Personnel. As a minister who had not been in the Ministry of Personnel for a long time, he would establish his authority.

At the same time, thinking of his fellow countryman who served as the general envoy, Yang Jingchen asked:
"Your Majesty, do officials with the title of General Secretary need to go to the General Secretary to register their names?"

"Are there any distinctions between left and right when consulting, advising on politics, and participating in politics?"

Zhu Youji thought for a while and felt that the name of the General Affairs Department would give the General Affairs Secretary too much influence and might be confused with the officials who actually worked in the General Affairs Department. Thinking of the several ministers of the Ministry of Industry, the local ministers of the Ministry of War, and various censors, Zhu Youjian felt that the titles should be standardized, and said:

"You don't need to go to the General Affairs Department to register your name, just file it with the Ministry of Personnel."

"There is no need to differentiate between left and right, just add the words shenyou, general affairs, and political participation, and add Nanjing in front to distinguish them from actual general affairs officials."

"The full names of the three additional titles are: from the fourth rank, Nanjing General Affairs Department, to consult, from the fourth rank, Nanjing General Affairs Department, general administration, and from the third rank, Nanjing General Affairs Department, to participate in politics. This will be the case from now on."

"The additional titles of local governors must also be standardized in the future. With the word "Nanjing" added, they are called the Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, the Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, the Censor of the Deputy Capital of Nanjing, and the Censor of the Qiandu of Nanjing. There is no need to distinguish the left and right, it is simply used as an additional title."

"All those with additional titles that are not their own positions will be added with the word "Nanjing", and there will no longer be a distinction between left and right. These people with additional titles must be kept in separate registers, and their numbers must be counted at any time."

The word Nanjing was added to these titles. Although Zhu Youjian did not add real power to the Nanjing Yamen, it increased Nanjing's influence in the minds of officials. In this way, if there is a problem with the Beijing court, they can take up actual duties in Nanjing according to their additional titles and supplement the Nanjing court institutions. Local officials with additional titles from Nanjing will also accept the orders of the Nanjing court from the bottom of their hearts to avoid confusion.

Zhu Youjian would not state this intention clearly, and he himself felt that it would probably not be used at all. However, considering the invisible role played by the Nanjing court in his ascension to the throne, he decided to deepen the impression of Nanjing in people's minds and guard against possible chaos.

(End of this chapter)