Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Although he had an idea in mind, Han Yu did not ask the Donglin Party to take action in private, nor did he discuss it privately with Yuan Keli, who was on good terms with the Donglin Party.

After all, it was under the banner of "returning power and authority to the lord, returning government affairs to the various departments, and returning the use and dismissal of punishments and rewards to public opinion" that he regained the emperor's trust and was able to serve in the cabinet.

Even if he had his own ideas about the distribution of power, he could only let the emperor make the decision.

Therefore, after a regular meeting to deal with the disaster in Shaanxi, Han Yu requested in front of all the ministers:

"I am here by order of your majesty to serve as the chairman of the treason trial committee."

"The Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee has a greater responsibility. Your Majesty, please appoint a minister to take the main responsibility."

After these words were spoken, all the ministers in Wenhua Palace fell silent.

Because they all knew that the reason the emperor did not appoint a director was that this position was difficult to appoint.

As the chief minister, Huang Li Ji would be a prime minister who was extremely respectful to all other officials in previous dynasties. Such a person would not be able to be a deputy unless his superiors were the emperor, the crown prince, or a nominal noble.

However, Huang Liji lacked the ability and prestige to support Yuan Keli in the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee. He wrote Yuan Keli's decision into a draft in the name of the Prime Minister, and after being approved, it was issued as an imperial decree.

This was something that everyone knew, and the court had long since tacitly accepted this situation. Now that Han Yu suddenly spoke out on this, everyone knew that he was stirring up trouble.

Huang Liji glanced coldly at Han Yu. He had long known that this Donglin leader would not be so obedient after entering the cabinet. Now that the other party took action on this matter, he thought about it and said with a pleasing look:
"Your Majesty, I am overwhelmed with the affairs of the cabinet and cannot bear more responsibilities."

"Your Majesty, please allow me to resign as a member of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee, and let Minister Yuan serve as the director."

"The committee's draft was written by Xu Xueshi."

He took the initiative to request to withdraw and handed over the task of drafting the bill to Xu Guangqi, who had been appointed as a member by the emperor some time ago.

In this way, Yuan Keli could serve as the director in his capacity as the Prime Minister with justification.

But are Han Yu's moves so easy to counter?

After saying his resignation, Huang Liji saw that the emperor did not respond for a long time, and Yuan Keli also stood there without saying a word.

Only then did he realize that something was wrong. He had just miscalculated:
The reason why the emperor did not appoint Yuan Keli was not because he cared about his face, but because Yuan Keli, as the Minister of War, was not suitable to be the director.

After all, the Minister of War is a military position, and the orders issued by Yuan Keli may not be accepted by civil officials.

Moreover, Yuan Keli, who holds military power, cannot have too much power, otherwise the emperor will feel uneasy.

This is the reason why the emperor let Yuan Keli actually preside over the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee but did not appoint him as the director.

After Huang Liji thought about it for a while, he finally understood it completely.

This made him so angry that his teeth itched, and he secretly sighed at Han Yu's ability:
This person's grasp of the emperor's thoughts has reached perfection.

If I wasn't careful, I would fall into his trap.

Zhu Youjian, who was sitting on the throne, saw this brief confrontation and discovered that Han Yu was superior to Huang Liji in the use of political tactics.

No wonder this person wanted to be the Prime Minister and did not take Huang Liji and others seriously.

But he kept Huang Liji because he was obedient. Ability was not his top priority.

So he looked at Han Yu who was stirring up trouble and said:

"Master Han asked this question, so I think there must be an answer."

"Why not just speak out directly so that you can discuss it together!"

When Han Yu heard this, he knew it was a real test. It was no big deal for him to surpass Huang Liji. After all, when he was the Prime Minister, Huang Liji was not even a Grand Secretary.

The obstacle for him to become the Prime Minister was actually the emperor. Only if the emperor thought he could be the Prime Minister could he take over in the future.

Therefore, Han Yu chose to obey the emperor in the name of "returning power to the emperor" when he entered the cabinet this time. He also wanted to show his ability so that the emperor would think he was more useful.

When he raised the problem, he naturally thought of a solution, so as to avoid the emperor thinking that he only knew how to stir up trouble and had no ability to solve the problem.

In response to the emperor's question, Han Yu said:
"Since I became the chairman of the Treason Trial Committee, I think the committee is a good idea. It allows multiple government offices to work together to handle urgent matters."

“However, there is an urgent need for institutional norms on how the committee should be set up.”

"I believe that all committees should include a university scholar who is responsible for writing and drafting."

"The relevant ministers, such as the Shangshu and Shilang, will also join us to discuss the matter together."

This was an affirmation of the committee system, and Zhu Youjian nodded in approval.

The name of the committee came from the various special committees he had seen in later generations, but he had no idea how to set them up in this era.

I just think that setting up a committee is necessary to facilitate cross-departmental cooperation, which is a form of horizontal management as opposed to vertical management.

Now Han Yu said that all committees must have a university scholar to write and draft, and officials from other relevant government offices must join in. Zhu Youjian's thoughts gradually became clear -

This is an institution that allows ministers outside the cabinet to share the power of drafting bills.

The participation of ministers from various relevant government offices will also ensure that the committee's decisions will be implemented without any doubt.

This is an organization that integrates decision-making and execution to improve efficiency.

As these thoughts were turning over in Zhu Youjian's mind, he heard Han Yu say:

"The committee includes multiple government departments and has too much power and responsibility. I think it should be temporary."

"For example, the Treason Trial Committee chaired by me should be disbanded immediately after the trial is over." "The same goes for the Suppression of Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee."

"In my opinion, we should even separate the suppression of insurgency and disaster relief now."

Zhu Youjian was also worried about the excessive power and responsibility of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee. Otherwise, he could have appointed Yuan Keli as the director to preside over the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee.

After hearing what Han Yu said, Zhu Youjian remained calm and waited to hear what he had to say.

I only heard Han Yu continue:
"Your Majesty once said that the suppression of rebellions mainly focused on suppressing the She'an Rebellion in the southwest and the Jianlu Rebellion in Liaodong, and disaster relief mainly focused on relieving drought in Shaanxi and other places."

"The two matters are actually not that related and should not be put together."

"I think it can be divided into a suppression committee and a disaster relief committee, and both should be established at the same time."

Zhu Youjian agreed with this, but also felt a little worried.
"I put the two things together because if disaster relief is not done well, there may be unrest."

"Suppressing insurgency and disaster relief are two things that are usually linked together."

To this, Han Yu replied:

“Even if two things are connected, they still have a primary and a secondary order.”

“If the unrest is not serious, we can just let the disaster relief committee step up disaster relief and quell the unrest.”

"Or your majesty can ask the director of the Anti-Rebellion Committee to join the Disaster Relief Committee."

"I think that Minister Yuan of the Ministry of War can lead the suppression of the rebellion."

"The cabinet chief, Huang, can preside over the disaster relief."

After hearing this, Huang Liji looked at Han Yu with some surprise.

Only then did he realize that Han Yu was fighting for power for the cabinet.

Whether the committee was written by a university scholar or he was recommended as the chief minister to be the director of the disaster relief committee, it was all a fight for power for the cabinet and to prevent Yuan Keli and other nine ministers from continuing to expand their power.

Zhu Youjian also understood Han Yu's intention at this time, but he did not feel disgusted by it, because he was also worried that his reforms were too large and might cause problems.

The reason why the director of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee had not been appointed before was because of this concern. After all, it was too dangerous to let the Minister of War take charge of both the army and the government.

Even if he believed in Yuan Keli's loyalty, he could not give this power to his subject.

Now Han Yu proposed to divide it into two committees, which really relieved his worries. With the checks and balances of the cabinet, he did not worry that the power of the Ministry of War would be too great.

So Zhu Youjian said happily:
"What Han Xueshi said is very good. From now on, the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee will be divided into the Anti-Rebellion Committee and the Disaster Relief Committee."

"Both committees are supervised by Prime Minister Huang himself, Yuan Bingbu presides over the Suppression Committee, and Xu Xueshi presides over the Disaster Relief Committee."

"At the same time, Yuan Bingbu served as deputy director of the Disaster Relief Committee, responsible for mobilizing troops for disaster relief and, if unrest was likely to occur, even quelling it."

"Mr. Xu has made great contributions in training soldiers and has considerable military insights. He also serves as the deputy director of the Anti-Rebellion Committee."

"Prime Minister Huang is fully responsible. All decisions of the two committees must be approved by Prime Minister Huang."

In this way, they held concurrent posts, and Huang Liji nominally supervised the work. It seemed that there were some changes from before, but the core was still the same. It was just that Yuan Keli was in charge of suppressing the rebellion, and Xu Guangqi was in charge of disaster relief.

Zhu Youjian also made adjustments to the committee members. Li Changgeng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue who was in charge of military pay, Xue Fengxiang, the minister of the Ministry of Works who was related to engineering and military equipment, and Liu Qiao, the minister of the Ministry of Defense, were included in the anti-insurgency committee.

The Minister of Personnel Yang Jingchen, the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of the Imperial Household Guo Yunhou, the Minister of the Imperial Household Chen Qiuyu, the Minister of the Imperial Guard Liu Qiao, and the Governor-General of Immigration Zhang Mengjing were included in the disaster relief committee.

After this adjustment, Yuan Keli's power was greatly reduced. Compared with the past when he had the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Revenue as his subordinates, his power shrank dramatically.

In fact, if the emperor had not thrown the Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang into the Anti-Rebellion Committee, the only subordinate of Yuan Keli's Anti-Rebellion Committee would be Li Changgeng, who was in charge of military pay.

Cross-departmental power just makes it easier to collect pay.

After this adjustment, the ministers finally knew who Han Yu was targeting.

Yuan Keli, the Minister of War who was almost the Prime Minister before, had his power returned to the Ministry of War after this adjustment. Even though he still served as the Deputy Director of the Disaster Relief Committee, he was no longer the leader.

This changed the way many officials viewed Han Yu. They believed that he was really capable and lived up to the people who pushed him to the top.

He was one of the few people who could change the emperor's decisions and even changed the emperor's distribution of power.

This was the purpose for the ministers to propose adding more cabinet ministers.

Let officials who were not charged with treason argue with the emperor to prevent the emperor's power from becoming too powerful, and they could only carry out the orders.

Han Yu did not disappoint their expectations and successfully made his voice heard in the distribution of power.

This was a great victory for all the civil servants, and Han Yu's reputation among the civil servants rose sharply.

At the same time, many ministers turned their eyes to Xu Guangqi.

Before, they thought that the emperor disliked Xu Guangqi because of religious issues.

Only now did I realize that the emperor wanted to make important use of Xu Guangqi and confirm his loyalty.

This time, Xu Guangqi was appointed as the director of the Disaster Relief Committee, and ministers such as Yang Jingchen and Bi Ziyan were his subordinates in the committee.

His power is rising rapidly, and he has become one of the most powerful people in the court.

It can even be said that Han Yu gained the most in terms of prestige. Xu Guangqi was the one who gained the most in terms of actual power. (End of this chapter)