Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian clearly underestimated the influence of parliament.

This newly established institution represents the checks and balances between the people and the officials:

People can make their voices heard in parliament.

After the resolution of the Zhuolu District Council gradually spread throughout northern Zhili and was recognized, voices from all over the country requesting the Council to hold a meeting suddenly surged.

The Ministry of Public Administration received many petitions every day requesting the establishment of local parliaments.

Lu Tunan and the officials of the Ministry of Public Administration were busy classifying the memorials according to the emperor's regulations, and reviewing those that did not comply with the regulations and telling them the reasons for not accepting them.

After the expansion of the Tongzhengsi, there were only a dozen officials, who were too busy to handle the work. Lu Tunan asked the emperor to send the Zhongshu Sheren to help.

Zhu Youjian was also a bit troubled by so many memorials concerning the parliament. He really had not expected that the gentry of the Ming Dynasty would be so enthusiastic about establishing a parliament.

After hearing Lu Tunan's request, he summoned Liu Zongzhou and asked:

"I have decided to convert the Central Military Governor's Office into a small meeting hall as the place for the daily work of the Congress in the future."

"Has it been fixed now? Can we hold the Congress?"

Liu Zongzhou heard this and replied:

“The small hall has been renovated, but the construction of the National Assembly has not yet been finalized.”

"This matter is mainly handled by officials from the Council of State and the Center for Etiquette and Law, but most of the Councillors do not participate in specific affairs, and most of the officials from the Center for Etiquette and Law are part-time employees from other government offices."

"I request that a special official be appointed to be responsible for the preparation of the National Assembly."

Zhu Youjian nodded, thinking that in such a situation of overwhelming public sentiment, he really needed to do something to let the people know that he was willing to give up power and let them use parliament to protect their rights.

So he appointed:
"The Office for Preparatory Work for the National Assembly was established, with Mr. Liu as the director."

"Fang Zhuangli, in his capacity as Chief Advisor, served as Deputy Director of the Preparatory Office."

“The Office of the President is responsible for the day-to-day work of the congressional preparation process, as well as the agencies and various committees that need to be established in Congress.”

“In the future, the Etiquette and Law Research Center will be changed to the Etiquette and Law Committee under the National Assembly, which will be responsible for drafting etiquette and laws and discuss the formulation of etiquette and laws with members of the National Assembly.”

“The first thing to do is to formulate an election law to determine issues such as the qualifications of voters and representatives.”

Liu Zongzhou knew about the election law before, but he did not expect that the emperor would change the etiquette and law research center, which now belonged to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment, into the etiquette and law committee under the National Assembly.

This is a great benefit to the Congress. It also means that the work of remaking rituals and music that he is responsible for will mainly be transferred to the Congress in the future.

So he asked:
"Your Majesty has established a preparatory office. I wonder when the National Assembly will be fully established?"

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and responded:
"My previous plan was to use ten years to perfect the election system and establish a parliament in Northern Zhili."

“Then spend another 10 years advising conferences across the country.”

"Finally, 20 years later, when you have basically completed the revision of rituals and music, you will convene the first National Assembly to vote on the revised rituals and music, and have them implemented throughout the Ming Dynasty."

"But now that all parts of Northern Zhili are requesting to establish a parliament, I'm afraid it will happen sooner."

"Sir, you can find a few more places to pilot and establish prefecture and county councils."

Zhu Youjian had never expected the enthusiasm of local gentry for establishing a parliament.

He thought that the parliament he established to collect taxes might be resisted by some landowners.

Unexpectedly, many gentry seemed not to care about the loss of tax revenue at all, and hoped that the parliament could be established even more than he did.

This made him feel that his previous predictions had been somewhat wrong, or that the misdeeds of corrupt officials had become intolerable to many gentry.

These people can't wait to have a parliament established to protect their interests.

But at this time, Zhu Youjian could not agree to their request——

If the Ming Dynasty could not be sorted out from top to bottom during the establishment of the National Congress and the Parliament, Zhu Youjian would not easily delegate power to them.

The election method has not yet been determined, the administrative divisions of various regions have not been adjusted, and the Ministry of Revenue has not yet determined a new tax system. Even if the gentry in various regions are eager to establish a parliament, this matter can only be delayed for the time being.

The establishment of the Congress Preparatory Office and the increase of parliamentary pilot projects are to give these people an idea, so that they can actively cooperate and support the court's reform.

Liu Zongzhou was unaware of this and was very enthusiastic about organizing the National Assembly. Zhu Youjian handed over all the memorials related to the National Assembly and the Parliament to him for processing, and allowed these memorials to be published in newspapers and discussed in newspapers.

This finally solved the troublesome issue and transferred the pressure to Liu Zongzhou.

Liu Zongzhou attached great importance to this matter. He used his reputation to recruit many court officials and celebrities from the opposition to join the National Assembly Preparatory Office. Based on the experience of running the parliament in Zhuolu District, he prepared to establish the National Assembly.

For a time, the opening of the National Assembly was in full swing in the government and the opposition. Many people were eager to establish this institution as soon as possible.

As authorized newspapers, "Dibao" and "Jingbao" published many memorials of this kind.

Ming Pao and Datong Daily were gathering places for scholars, but discussions were mostly held by students.

With the momentum of the parliament's establishment, the sales of these four newspapers exploded, and their influence also broke through the capital and penetrated into the entire northern Zhili.

Many gentry in northern Zhili subscribed to four newspapers, and some even actively wrote articles and submitted them to the newspapers for publication.

As a result, the business volume of postal companies in various parts of Northern Zhili increased significantly, and some even began to make money.

The postal company in the capital was jointly run by the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Household Supervision Department. When postal companies in various places raised funds, many relatives of eunuchs participated.

These people were well-informed and knew how much money the postal companies in the capital made. So when the Imperial Household Department recruited local merchants to set up branches, many eunuchs asked their relatives in their hometowns to actively participate.

Now that these companies have started to make money, local gentry have suddenly realized:

This line of work has been taken up by someone else, and I have no chance to participate now.

Thinking about the emperor's plan to set up salt companies in various places and recruit local shareholders, these gentry suddenly felt that they could not bear it and could not give this opportunity to others.

Compared to the postal industry, which has meager profits, the salt industry is extremely profitable.

However, if one wanted to invest in the salt company, one had to abide by the court's property tax and land and rent restrictions and obtain priority rights to invest.

This prompted many gentry to express their support for the policies adopted by the Zhuolu District Council and request the establishment of a local council.

After learning that Liu Zongzhou was in charge of the National Congress Preparatory Office and wanted to add several pilot proposal meetings in northern Zhili, some local gentry even linked up and formed a delegation to go to Beijing to make a request.

This trend even spread to other provinces. Especially in Suzhou and Songjiang in South Zhili, there were more people engaged in industry and commerce. After some Jiangnan merchants in Beijing learned that the parliament had been established, they could get 20% of the seats as long as the tax revenue from industry and commerce was above 20%. They also requested to establish a pilot project in South Zhili, believing that the pilot project should not be limited to North Zhili, but should take other provinces into consideration.

Compared with the landlords and gentry, these wealthy industrialists and businessmen are more eager for political rights. They need to use their status as parliamentarians to protect their wealth.

In particular, the "Private Occupation of Huangshan Trees and Plants Case" initiated by the eunuch party in Huizhou led to the destruction of the family of Wu Yangchun, a Huizhou merchant in She County.

This made many businessmen feel a sense of crisis, especially the landlords and gentry.

After learning about the actions of the Jiangnan merchants, merchants staying in guild halls in other provinces also took action and requested to establish pilot projects in various provinces.

Seeing that this situation might lead to a nationwide trend, Zhu Youjian had to order Liu Zongzhou to set up a new pilot project as soon as possible.

After discussing with others these days, Liu Zongzhou has selected several places, among which Tianjin, next to the capital, ranks first.

There was no county here before, only Tianjin Sanwei. Then the Tianjin Military Preparation Road was established, and now it has been changed to a coastal defense area.

Referring to the experience of merging the three guards of Zhuozhou and Zhuolu into Zhuolu District, Liu Zongzhou believed that the three guards of Tianjin could be merged into Tianjin District. In this newly established district, a parliament was also established:
"The three guards of Tianjin were all under military control, which was no longer appropriate as Tianjin became more and more prosperous."

"Now that the three guards of Tianjin have been assigned to the Tianjin Coastal Defense District, the guards have begun to be restructured, and it is urgent to establish a government office to manage this area."

"I think we can model the Tianjin District after the Zhuolu District and establish the Tianjin District with the three Tianjin guards."

Speaking eloquently in the court, Liu Zongzhou, as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, proposed to set up a district in Tianjin.

Zhu Youjian had already thought about the restructuring of Tianjin.

Because he also realized that it was inappropriate to continue to implement military control in Tianjin.

Without professional government offices and tax collection agencies, Tianjin suffered a great loss in tax revenue, and various civil disputes were difficult to handle.

Zhu Youjian had previously thought about setting up a prefecture and county in Tianjin to specifically manage this area.

However, Zhu Youjian was not sure whether to set up a prefecture or a county.

If a prefecture is established, Tianjin Prefecture will become independent from Shuntian Prefecture, which will be quite unfavorable for the integration of Beijing and Tianjin.

Moreover, now is the Age of Exploration, and Zhu Youjian hopes that Shuntian Prefecture will be close to the sea so that the goods in the capital can be transported through the sea without restrictions. The construction of the Beijing-Tianjin Highway was to promote this.

At the same time, because the capital belongs to Shuntian Prefecture, the fact that Shuntian Prefecture is close to the sea can also make officials in the court feel closer to the sea psychologically.

So he thought about it and decided not to set up a government in Tianjin. Instead, he planned to keep Tianjin in Shuntian Prefecture to promote the integration of Beijing and Tianjin.

But if it is set up as a county, the level is a bit low. It is difficult for a county-level government to govern Tianjin well.

The state is between the prefecture and the county, so it is more suitable. However, Zhu Youjian had already planned to abolish the state level in the local area, so he naturally did not want to set up a new state.

Now Liu Zongzhou put forward an idea, which is to establish a new Tianjin District based on the three guards of Zhuozhou and Zhuolu and the three guards of Tianjin.

The level of this district is similar to that of the former states, and the three departments are separate, which is suitable for urban management.

Zhu Youjian agreed with this and praised Liu Zongzhou a few words. He then asked Li Congxin, the river minister in charge of managing the Haihe River:

“Since Tianjin is going to set up a district, it has to be considered comprehensively.”

"Now the three guards of Tianjin are on the north bank of the Haibei River, and the south bank belongs to Hejian Prefecture."

"Should we assign Jinghai County on the south bank to Tianjin District and build a government office together with the three guards of Tianjin?"

Li Congxin had not expected that the establishment of Tianjin District would be related to him. After thinking for a while, he replied:

"I think Jinghai County should be incorporated into Tianjin District, so that the entire lower reaches of the Haihe River will belong to Shuntian Prefecture."

"In the future, when we manage the river, we will be able to reduce buck-passing, and it will also be more convenient to mobilize money and grain."

With his support, Zhu Youjian decided:
"Then we will assign Jinghai County to Shuntian Prefecture and merge it with the three guards of Tianjin to form Tianjin District."

“The jurisdiction of Tianjin District must be determined and separated from the surrounding counties and districts.”

"The prefectures and counties of Shuntian Prefecture must also be redefined and changed to districts and counties in the future, with the prefecture level abolished."

Shuntian Prefecture governed five prefectures: Tong, Ji, Zhuo, Ba, and Changping. Zhuozhou has now been changed to Zhuolu District. Tongzhou and Jizhou each had four counties, and Bazhou and Changping each had three counties.

Now that the emperor wanted to abolish them all, this immediately aroused opposition from many officials.

Yuan Keli said:

"Shuntian Prefecture governs five states and twenty-two counties. It is acceptable to abolish Zhuozhou, which only governs one county."

"If the four prefectures of Tongzhou, Jizhou, Bazhou and Changping are abolished, all the subordinate counties will be directly managed by Shuntian Prefecture."

"I think this method is not feasible. Even Tianjin should be set up as a prefecture, with Jinghai County and Tianjin's three guards converted into counties under its jurisdiction."

This statement respects reality.

However, this was quite inconsistent with Zhu Youjian's idea of ​​abolishing the state level, because in his idea, the local government should have three levels: province, prefecture, and county.

The current four-level system of provincial capitals, states and counties is too complicated. Not only is there a lot of redundant officials, but it is also very inconvenient to govern.

Now, taking advantage of the proposal meeting, he decided to sort out the local divisions to avoid making changes more difficult in the future after the prefecture, state and county councils were established.

It is better for local prefectures, states and counties. They can be split and merged to adjust the administrative divisions. States with many counties can be changed into lower prefectures, with a few counties separated from the original prefectures. States with few counties can be changed directly into counties, or changed into districts like Zhuozhou.

Although the abolition of the state-level system may cause a lot of noise, it will not cause much opposition. No one will rebel because of the administrative division adjustment.

But Shuntian Prefecture was different, it was a prefecture-level government, and if the prefectures were abolished, the counties would be directly managed. A prefecture directly managed 22 counties, which could not be managed well with the current management level.

Moreover, Shuntian Prefecture could not be split up, as Zhu Youjian did not want to reduce the number of places directly under the imperial court. Moreover, the people of Shuntian Prefecture were not willing to change their household registration.

As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Shuntian Prefecture could expand its territory, but the people living there would not be happy if the territory was divided and the people were assigned to other prefectures.

Maybe there will be trouble and they will demand to retain their Shuntian Prefecture household registration.

Zhu Youjian’s previous reluctance to set up a separate Tianjin Prefecture was also related to this concern.

It was for these reasons that Yuan Keli believed that Shuntian Prefecture should maintain its status quo and opposed the abolition of the state level.

However, Zhu Youjian also had his own considerations. That is, after all the states in other places were changed into prefectures and counties in the future, it would be unacceptable that only Shuntian Prefecture would still have a state.

Moreover, setting up a state level requires the establishment of a state assembly. For a place as large as Shuntian Prefecture, it would be too complicated and inconvenient to add a state assembly between the prefectural-level assembly and the district and county councils.

Therefore, he insisted on abolishing the state level, and asked Yuan Keli, Guo Yunhou, Liu Zongzhou and other ministers who also served as officials of Shuntian Prefecture to think of a better way to govern the counties of Shuntian Prefecture.

He believed that there were more ways to govern Shuntian Prefecture than just setting up a prefecture. With so many ministers in the court, they could definitely find a solution. (End of this chapter)