Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty's parliament was established by Zhu Youjian, so he naturally anticipated the various problems that would arise in the election.

Even at last year's music festival selection, he deliberately arranged for people to demonstrate bribery and forced voting, and let the newspapers in Beijing disclose it, forcing the Congress Preparatory Office to formulate a more complete election method.

Liu Zongzhou and others have been busy for a year, and the voting method for this year's music festival has been improved a lot.

Although some people still use money and prestige to win votes, they have put an end to things like openly buying votes and forcing elections.

Zhu Youjian thought this was enough, but after reading the memorials of Liu Zongzhou and Ni Yuangong, he realized that he had overlooked the difference between the Ming Dynasty and later generations.

That is, in the Ming Dynasty, slaves, hired workers and tenants were much more dependent on their masters than in later generations.

This made him look at the contents of the memorial and sigh:

“It’s a tough task to build a congress in 20 years!”

"With the current state of the Ming Dynasty, if the election method is not properly formulated, the parliament will be controlled by landlords, factory owners, and big businessmen."

“The probability of an oligarch in parliament rather than representing public opinion is very high.”

It is well known in later generations that oligarchs are prone to emerge under the electoral system.

In fact, the elections have not been well received in the West, and some scholars even believe that:
The essence of Athenian democracy was drawing lots rather than elections.

Plato's "The Republic" once said: In a democracy, official positions are usually decided by drawing lots.

Aristotle's "Politics" records that democracies often use the rule of drawing lots, while oligarchies are decided through elections.

Montesquieu wrote more clearly in "The Spirit of the Laws": elections by drawing lots are of the nature of democracy; elections by selection are of the nature of aristocracy.

Zhu Youjian thought about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty and combined it with the election situation of various countries in later generations, and believed that this statement was reasonable:

Most electoral countries are oligarchies, not democracies as many people believe.

If the Ming Dynasty did not formulate a perfect method for parliamentary elections, it would likely move towards an oligarchy.

Those oligarchs can not only manipulate public opinion, but also hold it hostage to threaten the emperor's position.

Zhu Youjian, who was very worried about this, summoned Liu Zongzhou, who was in charge of remaking the rituals and music, as well as Qian Qianyi, Cheng Jiming, Wen Tiren and others who were in charge of the ritual and law committee. He passed the memorials of Liu Lishun and Ni Yuangong to them and said:
"The parliament of the Ming Dynasty is to represent the will of the people and must not be controlled by a small group."

“Do you think there is a perfect way to make the parliament truly represent the public opinion?”

Everyone looked at the memorial and looked at each other in confusion.

Because they are preparing to form parliaments in more places, they actually have a better understanding of the issues in these elections.

The reason they didn't tell the emperor was because they had concerns in their hearts.

At this time, Liu Lishun and Ni Yuangong pointed out that they must give an explanation.

However, no one knew what Liu Zongzhou was thinking and he remained silent.

Seeing this, Qian Qianyi took the lead and said:

“The parliamentary elections are indeed full of problems.”

"In addition to possible control by landowners and business owners, it is also possible that it is controlled by religion."

"I visited some districts and counties and found that some folk religions were using the elections to stir up trouble."

"Your Majesty, issue an immediate decree to strictly prohibit religious forces from interfering in elections!"

Zhu Youjian looked serious when he heard this, realizing that this was a very serious matter. If it was not properly resolved, the elections in the Ming Dynasty might allow religious forces to spread, and various religions would use parliament to interfere in politics.

Knowing the dangers of this, he praised Qian Qianyi and said:
"Mr. Qian has put a lot of effort into the Taichang Temple!"

"But didn't I order that religious councillors be appointed?"

"Why are there still some religions stirring up trouble in elections?"

Qian Qianyi was so delighted by the emperor's praise that he worked even harder:
"Your Majesty's regulations on designated religious members have indeed prevented monks, Taoists, and priests from participating in the election."

“But there are some people who stay at home and they are believers of some religions and they have been offering sacrifices for a long time.”

"These religions will stand up for them and call on their followers to elect them as members of parliament."

"How is such interference in elections different from vote buying and forced voting?"

"I think it should be strictly prohibited and they should be dealt with according to the law!"

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"Religious interference in elections should be strictly prohibited."

“You need to write this into the election law and put in place strict measures.”

"The Taichang Temple, the City God Department, and various religious associations must conduct strict inspections during elections."

"Mr. Qian is fully responsible for this matter."

Qian Qianyi happily accepted the order, knowing that this would be a great achievement.

As long as you can do this well, you will most likely be rewarded with years of service and accumulate merit for promotion.

Minister of Rites Cheng Jiming added:

"Besides religion, clan interference in elections is even more serious."

"Many clans choose one person, or even the entire village."

This situation gave Zhu Youjian even more headaches.

Because the clan cohesion is very strong at this time, the family needs to rely on the clan to resist various risks.

It is simply impossible to completely break up clans, and it is also difficult to prevent clans from interfering in elections.

He could only say to Cheng Jiming:

"We must encourage the public to separate their households, so that each household head has autonomy and can independently decide who to vote for."

"Also, we should try to split up the clan as much as possible, and split the clan if there are more than five generations."

"Also, I have previously given the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice the responsibility of regulating folk village agreements and clan family laws. In the future, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice, and local ritual and legal institutions must take up this responsibility."

"It must be made clear that whether it is a village agreement or a clan rule, they are not laws and do not have the power to impose punishment on people."

"Violating village and clan rules will not result in punishment, but will only be condemned morally by some people."

"A clan forcing its members to elect a certain person is a forced election and is illegal."

This would abolish the clan's coercive power, leaving them only able to restrict others morally.

In order to prevent certain clan leaders from having too much prestige and influence, Zhu Youjian thought of the collective deliberation system he was promoting and continued:
“The clan cannot be controlled by the clan leader alone. The clan elders should be elected to form a collective council with the clan leader.”

"Important matters in the clan should be decided by the clan assembly, and daily affairs should be decided by the collective council."

"All of this must comply with the collective discussion system in etiquette and law: matters involving more than three people must be discussed collectively."

This statement gave Cheng Jiming a fresh start and made him realize that the collective system can be used not only by the official government but also by the private sector.

He even thought of the increasingly loose Donglin Party. If the Donglin Party also elected committees at all levels and discussed affairs according to the principles of collective deliberation, that is, minority obeys majority, individual obeys collective, and lower level obeys higher level, the organization would definitely be tighter.

It is not impossible to use Donglin Party members to manipulate a local parliament or even a congressional election.

With the power of the Donglin Party, if they really manipulate elections, they will definitely be more powerful than the so-called clans and religions. After thinking about these things, Cheng Jiming looked at the emperor on the throne and shuddered. I wonder if the emperor has noticed these things, and whether he will realize that political parties and societies can also manipulate elections?
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Zhu Youjian certainly knew this, and he even knew that elections in later generations would be dominated by political parties, and that they were the main force interfering in elections.

Shi Kefa also mentioned the Wenshe in his report on his trip to Chuzhou and Hezhou to set up the Advisory Council, and believed that the influence of various societies in Jiangnan was too great and it was easy to manipulate elections.

So after restricting the clans, he began to restrict the societies, saying:

"I have previously asked the Ministry of Revenue and the Civil Affairs Department to be responsible for the affairs of assembly and association. Now I have made it clear:"

"Gatherings of more than 200 people and associations of more than 20 people need to be reported to the government."

"Whether it is a society, party, association, faction or any other name, when forming a group, the names of responsible persons and members must be reported. Secret associations are not allowed, otherwise they will be regarded as underworld organizations and the participants will be recorded in their resumes."

"If the members of a society cross regions, they need to report to the next higher level. If they cross counties, they need to report to the prefecture level; if they cross prefectures, they need to report to the provincial level; if they cross provinces, they need to report to the Ministry of Revenue. Without permission, they are not allowed to carry out activities privately."

"A society shall not force its members to elect someone, otherwise it will be treated as a forced election."

"As for how to prevent social groups and cliques from interfering in elections, Master Wen will be responsible for formulating measures."

When Wen Tihen heard this, he immediately became excited, because everyone in the court knew that although he was not a member of the eunuch party, he stood on the opposite side of the Donglin Party.

The reason why he got to the top was because he attacked Qian Qianyi, which made the rising leader of Donglin fall flat on his face, and now he has only reached the level of assistant minister.

Qian Qianyi and others hated him very much. The reason why he was not very active in the past two years was because he was being watched by the Donglin Party and it was inconvenient for him to do anything.

Now the emperor has entrusted him with the task of preventing social groups from interfering in the elections, and has also specifically mentioned factions. This immediately excited him, as he knew that the emperor wanted him to deal with the Donglin Party.

He said happily:

"I will do my utmost to strictly restrict associations and crack down on gangs."

Thinking of the emperor's actions in the past two years, he proposed:
"In addition to interfering in elections, I think we must also prevent social groups and cliques from interfering in politics and uniting to suppress dissidents in the government."

"I believe that there should be no more than two Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers from the same society."

"People in the same society should also abide by the avoidance system. When people in the society serve as ministers, they cannot serve in the positions of officials or officials, nor can they belong to the same government office."

This undoubtedly caused an uproar, and Cheng Jiming, Qian Qianyi and others opposed it.

They all knew that this was aimed at the Donglin Party. If their fellow societies avoided it, no one from the Donglin Party would be able to serve as a censor or a provincial governor, and even each government office could only have one official.

Qian Qianyi, who was still thinking of becoming a prime minister with the support of the Donglin Party, was unwilling to see Wen Tiren's measures passed, so he said to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, a gentleman gathers together but does not form a party, while a villain forms a party but does not gather together."

"Gentlemen form literary and poetry societies because they share similar interests, but they are not forming a party."

"How can we ask them to avoid each other like relatives just because they belong to the same community?"

"With such regulations, who would be willing to register a society?"

Wen Tiren said calmly:
"A gentleman is magnanimous, and a villain is long-standing."

"Since we are all gentlemen, what's wrong with registering openly?"

"If you don't want to register, that's fine. All you need is that there are no more than 20 members and they all belong to the same county."

“Can’t a county of friends satisfy their interests?”

Qian Qianyi heard the sarcasm in Wen Tihen's voice and glared at him.

Cheng Jiming looked at the silent emperor and understood what the emperor meant.

Looking back on the emperor's appointments over the past two years, he already understood that some things, even if not stated explicitly, showed the emperor's intentions:

There were never more than two Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers belonging to the Donglin Party in the court.

Officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice were strictly investigated for their party backgrounds, and all Donglin Party members who could be transferred out were transferred out.

Obviously, Wen Tihen understood the emperor's intention, so he made this suggestion.

This made him say slowly:
"Your Majesty, I think what Wen Xueshi said makes sense."

“It should be tried in Parliament to restrict members of the same community.”

"The same restrictions apply to relatives of the same clan, ethnic group, and in-laws. Clan populations exceeding a certain number also need to be reported."

Zhu Youjian looked at him in surprise, and was very surprised that Ye Xianggao's disciple supported restricting the society.

Because anyone with a discerning eye could see that Wen Tiren was targeting the Donglin Party. Could it be that Cheng Jiming had figured out a way to allow the Donglin Party to circumvent restrictions?

With doubts in his heart, Zhu Youjian still said:
"Cheng Qing is honest and loyal, and is worthy of being an honest minister."

"How to restrict religions, clans and communities can be discussed in detail through court meetings."

"This court meeting will be chaired by Cheng Qing. My opinion is that any party with members from across the government or more than a thousand people should be closely monitored to prevent interference in the election."

"In short, we must make sure that the parliament represents the will of the people as much as possible. My world must be governed by all the people!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers present shouted "Long live the emperor" and were delighted that the emperor insisted on governing together with the people.

They were not unaware of the problems with the election of parliamentarians, but the reason they did not tell the emperor specifically before was because they were worried that the emperor would back down in the face of these problems and give up on establishing parliament.

It was not until today that they realized that the emperor's mind was more determined than theirs. Liu Zongzhou finally spoke:
"Confucius said: Promote the upright and set aside the crooked, and the people will be satisfied."

"Your Majesty, as long as you firmly establish a parliament and appoint honest ministers to take charge, the people will obey."

“Even if mistakes occur in the process, they can be corrected continuously and recognized by the public.”

"I believe that one day, the parliament will be able to continue to improve and represent all the people of the world."

Zhu Youjian clapped his hands in praise, stepped down from the throne, patted Liu Zongzhou's hand and said:

"Sir, what you said is very true. It touches my heart."

"The parliament is a new thing, and the process of forming it cannot be smooth sailing."

"Fortunately, there is a great sage like Mr. Liu presiding over this matter, which gives me some confidence."

"You all need to remember that matters concerning the parliament are related to the re-making of rituals and music."

"Any relevant matters must be decided by Mr. Liu, who has a veto power."

After clarifying Liu Zongzhou's position in these affairs, Zhu Youjian bowed to Liu Zongzhou and said:

"I entrust the future of the world to you, sir."

"I hope you can use the new ritual and music system to make people live and work in peace and contentment."

This was the second time the emperor bowed to his subjects after he lowered his seat to bow to his ministers last time, and it was directed solely at Liu Zongzhou.

Qian Qianyi and others were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out of their heads, knowing that if this matter got out, everyone would have to re-examine Liu Zongzhou's status once again.

The emperor granted the veto power over ritual and music affairs, which was a transfer of power belonging to the monarch.

From then on, Liu Zongzhou could almost be said to be the vice emperor in matters of ritual and music.

This made Qian Qianyi, looking at the court robes of the Minister of Taichang Temple on his body, hate Wen Tihen even more.

If it weren't for this person's frame-up, I might have been responsible for remaking the rituals and music.

Unlike now, he is only the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, not even one of the Nine Ministers of the court. (End of this chapter)