Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The reform of the local military system can be postponed, but there is one thing that cannot be postponed.

That is the question of whether memorials to the emperor should be drafted by the Cabinet after the establishment of the Privy Council.

This is the reason why the Privy Council’s affairs have been delayed for more than a month, and it is also the core of the power struggle.

Zhu Youjian wanted to gain the power to make quick decisions on military affairs, so naturally he wanted to issue imperial decrees directly without going through the cabinet.

However, Yuan Keli and other ministers of the Ministry of War disagreed with this.

Although they would become officials of the Privy Council in the future, they were also civil servants. When it came to limiting the power of the emperor, they stood firmly with the Cabinet.

Even if the emperor wanted to share the power he had taken from the cabinet with the Privy Council, these Privy Council officials, who were civil servants, still disagreed.

This made Zhu Youjian feel helpless, but he also felt that this was the consensus of the civil servants, or the overall will.

Just like when Yuan Keli almost had the power of the Prime Minister before, he silently accepted the suppression of Han Yu. These civil servants have their own set of principles in their hearts and do not completely obey themselves as the emperor.

His idea of ​​the Privy Councilor, who would write bills on military affairs like the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, did not receive the support of the Privy Council officials.

Civil servants instinctively maintained the authority of the cabinet and used the cabinet to limit imperial power.

He even felt that if he had not taken control of foreign affairs while the ministers were not paying attention, there would probably be disputes over the affairs of the Lifanyuan.

The civil officials did not want the emperor's behavior to get out of control, especially if he issued an imperial decree directly.

They wished they could lock the emperor in the palace and make him obey their orders in everything.

Zhu Youjian tried many times but to no avail, and he had promised not to use the imperial edicts at will, so he finally gave up the idea of ​​using the Privy Council to check and balance the cabinet, and instead merged the six departments into the Dali Temple and established an independent Dali Court.

The power that the Dali Yuan will eventually possess will be close to that of the Menxia Province, and it will be able to slightly restrict the Cabinet, which is actually equivalent to the Zhongshu Province.

Now, with the Five-Academy Plan approved and the Privy Council being established and improved, the matter of memorials must also be concluded in order for the court to function.

Zhu Youjian convened a meeting of his ministers to resolve the issue. His core demand was to have the power to make quick decisions in military affairs so that he could deal with the increasingly frequent wars and maintain the existence of the Ming Dynasty.

Facing the emperor's request, Han Yu proposed a solution, which was to retain the Anti-Rebellion Committee and have the Grand Secretary write and draft the bill. All military affairs could be decided by the emperor and the Grand Secretary.

Zhu Youjian frowned and said:
"The Anti-Rebellion Committee will continue to exist."

“But it is an inter-departmental coordinating body and its responsibilities do not fall entirely within the Privy Council.”

"I think we should send one or two Grand Secretaries to the Privy Council to take charge of military memorials, so that they can be submitted directly to me without going through the Prime Minister."

When this idea was proposed, the Cabinet Chief Huang Liji remained calm.

It seemed that what the emperor raised had nothing to do with him.

Han Yu, the second in command of the cabinet, was very reluctant.

He already regarded the position of Prime Minister as a sure thing, so how could he be willing to be deprived of his power as Prime Minister of the Cabinet?

So after considering it, he said:
"I think that military memorials can be handled by full-time university scholars, and there is no need to be on duty at the Privy Council."

"The Privy Council is outside the palace gates, so memorials to the palace still have to go through the Cabinet."

This is where the cabinet comes in handy.

Other outer court offices are outside the palace gates, only the cabinet is inside the palace, right in front of the Wenhua Hall.

Whenever the emperor had an order, he could easily call them over to write it down. As a result, the power of the cabinet grew, and it even became the master, defining orders that did not pass through the cabinet as imperial orders, which civil officials refused to accept.

Now, Zhu Youjian wanted to bypass this process by sending the cabinet ministers to the Privy Council to be on duty, but was resisted by Han Yu and others.

They believed that memorials should be drafted by the cabinet no matter what.

Zhu Youjian negotiated with them for a long time. Although he did not hear any fierce opposition from the ministers, he found that many ministers, like Han Yu, were softly resisting his idea.

Even Huang Liji and others who did not oppose did not express their support.

Because deep down, they don't agree with this.

This forced him to give up the idea and said:

"Then try another approach."

"Give one or two Grand Secretaries the title of Privy Councilor."

"When they receive military memorials, they can meet the emperor directly and draft his orders."

"What does Master Han think?"

After hearing the emperor make concessions and specifically mention his name, Han Yu knew that he had better give in as well.

Otherwise, the emperor might think that he was uncooperative and would not appoint him as regent.

So after considering it, he felt that this would be a deprivation of the Prime Minister's power, but he still had to agree and said:
"If there is an emergency, it is possible to do so."

"I think it should be limited to military secrets, but not ordinary military affairs."

Zhu Youjian listened to these remarks and had another idea. He said:

"Han Qing, this is very good!"

"I have previously ordered the Tongzhengsi to set up an official document department, and have the Jinyiwei Confidentiality Department move in to be responsible for military secrets and silver seal secret reports."

"Now it seems that we should go a step further and set up a Military Affairs Section under the Official Documents Office to be responsible for military secret memorials."

"Other matters such as finance, etiquette, and vassalage should also be divided into special departments."

"Select reliable personnel to serve in the Tongzhengsi."

When this proposal was made, Tongzhengshi Lu Tunan's eyes lit up.

If we were to say who was the most hurt in this adjustment of the five hospitals, it would be him.

Originally, the Tongzhengshi and Dalisiqing were ranked last among the Nine Ministers, both of them were of the same rank, the third rank. The Tongzhengshi was a little higher in status, slightly higher than Dalisiqing.

As a result, in this adjustment of the five ministries, the Tongzhengsi did not change at all, and was not even merged into the Executive Yuan with the six ministries and other government offices.

The Dali Temple suddenly transformed itself into the Dali Court, one of the Five Courts.

Although it ranks fourth among the five courts and cannot be compared with the Administrative Council and the Privy Council, the official positions of the Dali Temple have been upgraded. The officials of the Dali Temple also have greater room for promotion.

In contrast, the positions of officials in the Tongzhengsi remained almost unchanged. Only Yang Sichang was transferred to the Privy Council due to his personal ability.

Especially the six departments that once belonged to the Tongzhengsi were assigned to the Daliyuan this time. Lu Tunan, the Tongzhengshi, was very sad about this.

Now, not only is he ranked last among the Nine Ministers, there are even voices saying that this third-rank official position of Tongzhengshi is not worthy of the title of Nine Ministers, and that the title of Nine Ministers should be given to the head of Lifanyuan, which is also one of the Five Academys.

Now that the emperor finally thought of the Tongzhengsi, he said excitedly:
"I think the department level is too low. The official document department should be upgraded to the official document office, with the military affairs department, finance department, etiquette department, and vassal department under it to be responsible for the corresponding memorials."

"In the future, when memorials arrive at the Tongzhengsi, they will be processed by the Gongwen Office and sent to the Grand Secretary in charge."

This process is not much different from the previous one, but the Tongzhengsi has an additional classification power. Some agencies have also been added to it, which can give the officials of the Tongzhengsi some comfort.

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval, thinking that this would help him to divide the work among the Grand Secretaries, and that it would not increase the number of officials in the cabinet, nor expand the power of the cabinet. So he immediately issued an order:

"The memorials classified by the Tongzhengsi can be directly handed over to the relevant Grand Secretary through the Inner Court's Secretariat."

"The memorials from each department were drafted by one or two Grand Secretaries in charge, then processed by other Grand Secretaries and finally confirmed by the Prime Minister."

"The Department of Confidentiality has appointed someone as deputy director, specifically responsible for confidential memorials."

"Memorials from the Grand Council can be presented directly to the Emperor by the Grand Secretary in charge."

"Because it involves military secrets, the Wuying Hall, which stores maps and sand tables, must be specially set up to handle the affairs of the Military Affairs Office."

"All confidential memorials must be handled by people who have access to confidential information and records must be kept."

"If there is any leak, I will punish you severely!"

Zhu Youjian repeatedly emphasized the importance of confidentiality.

As the officials got used to the Jinyiwei Confidentiality Department, the confidentiality work gradually became more in-depth.

Zhu Youjian's previous ideas for the Confidentiality Bureau are being realized one by one.

Han Yu listened to the emperor and the minister of internal administration speaking in unison to confirm these things, which made him feel helpless.

In the past, he would not take a small figure like the Tongzhengshi seriously at all. Apart from the empty title of one of the Nine Ministers, the Tongzhengshi was not even as good as a Shilang.

However, the current emperor has given the Nine Ministers with nominal powers real power. As one of the Nine Ministers, the Tongzhengshi has the power to participate in regular meetings and recommend the Nine Ministers in the court.

Nowadays, many people believe that the Nine Ministers are no less powerful than the Grand Secretaries. As a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he has to be polite when facing the Minister of Public Security.

So when faced with Lu Tunan's words, Han Yu did not refute directly, but seriously thought about the pros and cons for himself.

The matter of classifying memorials from the Ministry of Public Administration made Han Yu frown slightly.

Because the memorials were classified by the Tongzhengsi, the Prime Minister no longer had the power to distribute memorials to the Grand Secretaries. These memorials would be directly handed over to the Grand Secretaries in charge, and the Prime Minister could only handle them for the second time after they were handled.

This will weaken the power of the Prime Minister and will be very unfavorable to future Prime Ministers.

At the same time, the emperor set up the Military Affairs Council in the cabinet and let the Grand Secretary in charge of military affairs handle military secrets in the Wuying Hall, which was also a division of the cabinet.

Over time, the two groups of people who do not work in the same place but have the power to draft bills may become two yamen.

(The Cabinet is in front of the Wenhua Hall, and next to it are the Imperial Edict Room and Imperial Edict Room. The Wuying Hall is on the west side of the Huangji Gate)

This may take a long time, but the emperor has enough patience, because he is still young and can outlast his ministers.

Han Yu couldn't help but sigh that the current emperor was so smart and his mind was so flexible that when one plan failed, he would come up with another one, which was really exciting.

He figured this out, but Huang Liji and the others didn't. Or rather, some people figured it out, but didn't care.

After all, this is all a matter for the future, what does it have to do with them?

Even Han Yu did not continue to refute the emperor's idea, because his previous performance was enough to explain to the civil officials:
In any case, he left the power of drafting in the cabinet. What will happen in the future will be decided by future Grand Secretaries.

When Zhu Youjian saw that his proposal was finally passed, he felt deeply that this matter was not easy.

But no matter what, he now has the power to make quick decisions on military affairs, and will be more relaxed and at ease when handling military affairs in the future.

So he quickly ordered:
"Dongge Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi has been diligent in his duties over the past year. He has been awarded the title of Second Rank Minister of State Affairs and Second Rank Privy Councillor for his meritorious service in training the new army and protecting Korea."

"Transferred to Wuying Palace Grand Secretary, and will be directly in Wuying Palace, responsible for the military affairs office."

"Shi Fenglai, the Grand Secretary of Zhongji Palace and Minister of State Affairs, has been promoted to the title of First-Rank Privy Co-Director. He is also responsible for the memorials submitted by the Military Affairs Council and will be on duty with Xu Guangqi."

This appointment surprised all the ministers, even Shi Fenglai was a little surprised.

It was not unexpected for the ministers to appoint Xu Guangqi to be in charge of the Grand Council, because among the current Grand Secretaries, he was the only one who understood military affairs and was training a new army.

He was also the deputy director of the Anti-Rebellion Committee, and it was natural for him to handle military affairs.

However, the choice of Shi Fenglai was a bit surprising. He was the second assistant of the cabinet before Han Yu entered the court, but he was quite embarrassed because of presiding over the imperial examination.

Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, nor did he reprimand him, many people knew that the draft list of candidates for the imperial examination was rejected by the emperor. Even the establishment of the special examination was related to this incident.

Because of this incident, Shi Fenglai's reputation among the cabinet ministers dropped sharply. And because he did not meet the emperor's wishes on matters such as disaster relief, he became increasingly unknown in the cabinet.

Even when Han Yu took away his position as the deputy assistant, he did not make any noise. It seemed that he was planning to muddle through for two years like Huang Liji.

Unexpectedly, just when he accepted his fate, he was appointed by the emperor to be in charge of the Cabinet Military Affairs Office. From then on, he and Xu Guangqi had the final say in military affairs.

How could he not be overjoyed? He immediately thanked the emperor.

Han Yu frowned, vaguely guessing that the emperor was making plans for the future.

It seemed that the emperor wanted him to take over as the Prime Minister, but he assigned him the position of Second Prime Minister and sent him to Wuying Palace on duty.

Although the power of this second assistant was far less than that of the first assistant, he could make independent decisions with the emperor on military affairs.

In addition to Li Guopu, who had made great contributions in protecting Empress Zhang and had a great possibility of staying in office, the emperor planned to use these two people to check and balance himself in the cabinet.

This made me feel unsure whether I should be happy or sad.

What made him happy was that the emperor intended to use him and had no objection to his serving as regent.

What he was worried about was that the emperor did not trust him and wanted to keep two eunuchs to keep him in check.

This even gave him the urge to label Shi Fenglai and others as traitors during the trial of the rebellion.

However, thinking that the emperor had already examined the ministers in the court and dealt with them, he could only put aside this idea and accept the appointment.

In any case, the emperor was still willing to use him.

Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu can only bring trouble to us at most, but they cannot possibly compete with us.

As remnants of the eunuch party, these two people were resisted by many civil servants.

Unexpectedly, Han Yu would think of so many things because of his appointment of Shi Fenglai. Zhu Youjian himself did not have so many thoughts.

But he felt that Shi Fenglai had once opposed Wei Zhongxian's regency, so he had to give him some preferential treatment.

Another reason is that Xu Guangqi has little experience and needs Shi Feng to provide him with protection.

With Shi Fenglai in the front, even if there is a problem with the Military Affairs Office, he can be used to take the blame.

As for who has the final say on the actual affairs of the Grand Council, Shi Fenglai, who is able to please Wei Zhongxian, naturally knows what to do.

Since then, after the separation of the Executive Yuan and the Privy Council, and the division of military and political affairs, a subtle distinction between military and political affairs also emerged among the cabinet ministers.

The Grand Secretary who was on duty in the Wuying Palace and was in charge of the Grand Council, although nominally still belonged to the cabinet, in reality, he was different from other cabinet members.

Zhu Youjian further gained control over military affairs by dividing the cabinet. (End of this chapter)