Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The proposal put forward by Zhu Youjian was obviously based on the Nine-Rank System, but it simplified the levels and distinguished them from the official ranks.

The purpose is the same, which is to transfer the power of reviewing public figures from the literati to the imperial court and strengthen the imperial court's supervision over public figures.

There are also disadvantages, that is, the evaluation may be unfair and controlled by the aristocratic families.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian only set up three levels, and gave the review power of three-star figures to the Censorate and the National Assembly. Two-star figures who were required to declare their property were also supervised and occasionally spot-checked.

Although this cannot completely avoid the drawbacks, it will prevent the local big families from controlling them. In order to get a higher rating, those influential public figures will certainly move closer to the court and obey the court's authority.

The purpose of the officials supervising public figures is to suppress these people, so they naturally agree with this. In particular, the star rating proposed by the emperor has nothing to do with the official rank, which is more recognized by them than the Nine-Rank System.

Some people even thought that a few more stars should be added, such as "Fifty Knows the Will of Heaven", "Sixty Ears Are Obedient", and "Seventy Follows the Heart's Will", but this was not recognized.

Because many ministers do not think they have reached this level, and of course they do not think that anyone in the common people has reached this level.

Even if a few of them appear occasionally, there is no need to specifically rate them. If they have made contributions, they can be granted the status of Yuanshi.

In the future, when there are more characters who are obviously above three stars, it won’t be too late to increase their levels.

In this way, the supervisory committee, ethics committee and star rating issues were finally passed smoothly after discussion and improvement by the ministers.

The newspaper industry, which has grown rampantly before, will see a major overhaul among practitioners.

Thriving industry associations and candidates preparing to run for parliament will also face regulation.

According to the newly established system, association members and parliamentary candidates need to obtain a two-star rating or above, which means they must have established a family, declared their property, completed tax payments and served in the military.

Although this requirement is not high, it excludes many opportunists and those who seek personal gain. If a person's reputation is too bad and he or she is reported many times, his or her star rating may be lowered.

Zhu Youjian also ordered the Morality Committee to select moral models every year, commend these people, and grant them three-star rank and public status.

This was something that had been decided before, but it was only finalized now. Because the right to be elected requires the status of a public official, it is obviously difficult for poor families without permanent property to obtain this status through donations, so Zhu Youjian requested that more moral models be selected from these people and granted the status of public officials.

Moral models include the types of intelligence and integrity, virtuous and upright, filial piety and hard work in the fields, and filial and incorruptible people under the traditional system of recommendation, as well as new categories such as helping others, being brave to do what is right, being honest and trustworthy, being dedicated and devoted, and respecting the elderly and loving family, which are summarized in the eight virtues of filial piety, brotherly love, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame.

This approach is obviously helpful in promoting positive energy and improving moral conduct. Confucian officials who are familiar with the books of sages will naturally not object to this.

Moreover, many officials felt that they had turned the tables: at a time when the emperor and the people were constantly expanding their power, the officials' authority was established.

Obviously, they had realized that what the emperor said about ruling the world together with the people was not empty talk, and they intended to maintain the status of officials while re-establishing rites and music.

Zhu Youjian had some understanding of the officials' mentality and was happy to see it happen.

It is not good for officials to have too much power, as it may undermine the monarch and cause them to harm the people at will.

But it is also not a good thing for the people to have too much power. We cannot leave all matters to Congress and let lawmakers who have no experience in governing handle them.

The most ideal situation is that officials and the people reach a balance, with the emperor making the final decision, thus forming a stable pattern in which the emperor, ministers, and the people govern together, and the three parties compete with each other and depend on each other.

The ministers had noticed this before, and after today's court meeting, the feeling became even more obvious.

Li Ruoxing, the Minister of Personnel, sighed as he left the court:
"Mencius said: The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important."

"Your Majesty is really practicing it!"

This statement was recognized by many officials, but some people also said:

"It is true that the people are noble, but it is not necessarily true that the king is humble."

"And where are the positions for us, the ministers?"

"This revision of rituals and music cannot destroy our status. From now on, I will obey your majesty and the parliament."

The officials laughed when they heard this, and they did not think this would happen. But some of them thought deeply, because they did realize that the status of officials was declining.

Many people took this opportunity to talk about the Beijing Inspection and the third purge of Shanxi officials using the Beijing Inspection method. They complained that officials were subject to more and more constraints and that it was becoming increasingly difficult to be an official in the Chongzhen Dynasty.

Seeing that these people were about to complain about the current emperor, Yang Jingchen, the university scholar in charge of anti-corruption and judicial affairs, coughed and said:
"The people are the most important, the society is second, and the king is the light."

"We are loyal to the court and the country, so we are naturally the ministers of the country."

"In the future, the emperor, ministers, and people will rule together, and we, the ministers, will be in the middle."

"Never underestimate yourself."

This explanation made the ministers' eyes light up when they heard it, and they felt that they had found their position as ministers.

At the same time, he was somewhat stunned when Yang Jingchen said this, and was surprised why this die-hard imperial party promoted by the emperor dared to put his subjects before the monarch.

However, when they thought that the status of the people would be even higher, they felt relieved:

Obviously, Mencius' words were just talk. Even if the king, ministers and people rule together in the future, "the king is the most important, the ministers are second, and the people are the least important."

But no matter what, the ministers must join in and occupy a central position.

The idea previously proposed by the emperor that "the Son of Heaven and the people rule the world together" began to be replaced by the idea that they accepted more, "the emperor, his subjects and the people rule the world together."

Yang Jingchen was praised by many officials for interpreting "Sheji" as "the minister of Sheji". They believed that although he was loyal to the emperor, he still remembered his responsibilities as a minister.

Such an official who maintains the status of the ministers is obviously able to represent the ministers. If he becomes the chief minister in the future, many people will be convinced.

Han Yu felt deeply pressured as he watched what was happening before his eyes.

Because until now, he, as the prime minister, has not clearly put forward his own strategy for governing the country, and has been pushed forward by the emperor and his ministers.

Especially what happened in Shanxi made him truly feel that his position was unstable.

If the emperor had not suppressed the impeachment trend in order to maintain stability, he would probably have been forced to resign by now.

But the emperor could protect him once, but not necessarily the next time. Especially now the prime minister is a term-limited position, and he will step down at the end of August next year.

Given his current performance, the emperor is likely to let him leave when his term expires. It is unclear whether he can even last until the year after next, and he may leave midway.

This made him deeply feel that it was not easy to be the Prime Minister of Chongzhen Dynasty, especially since he still had such great power:
“With great power comes great responsibility.”

"The emperor has implemented a division of responsibilities in the cabinet, and the requirement is to unify power and responsibility."

"I am the director of the Finance Committee. If I want to satisfy the Emperor, I must solve the financial problems."

"Especially since there will be a war in Liaodong next year, it will be another expense."

When he first took office as the Prime Minister last year, he had a deep discussion with the Emperor that the two biggest problems facing the Ming Dynasty were the Jianlu Rebellion and financial difficulties. It was not that he did not want to intervene in the Jianlu Rebellion, and he even presented the Emperor with the "Five-Year Strategy for Suppressing Liao" written by his disciple Yuan Chonghuan.

But the emperor ignored it and just asked him to concentrate on his job.

Han Yu was a little resentful about this at first, but after seeing that other Grand Secretaries received the same treatment when submitting memorials on military affairs and that only the Grand Secretary in charge of the Grand Council's military affairs were taken seriously, he realized that the emperor was promoting the separation of civil and military powers and did not want others to interfere too much in military affairs.

Being of a soft character, he could only put military affairs aside and leave them to the Grand Secretary and Privy Councilor of the Grand Council to handle.

Because of this, he avoided another crisis, which was the Zhang Cunren espionage case related to the Shen Qi collusion case.

The previous case was the root cause of his downfall. Shen Qi was the umbrella for the merchants who colluded with the enemy. The reason why the Shanxi merchants dared to collude with the enemy was because they had the connections of Shen Qi and others.

The Zhang Cunren spy case had a greater impact, and many people believed that this spy was more dangerous than Wu Changchun during the Tianqi period.

The case of Wu Changchun led to Wei Zhongxian conferring the title of Earl on Wei Liangqing. Although the reward in the case of Zhang Cunren was not that high, he was still awarded a Viscount.

If he is involved in this case, even the emperor may not be able to be saved, and the prime minister must be replaced.

Therefore, he was now very glad that the emperor did not adopt Yuan Chonghuan's "Five-Year Plan for the Pacification of Liaodong". Otherwise, if Yuan Chonghuan went to Liaodong and the Zhang Cunren case broke out again, Yuan Chonghuan's heavy use of Zhang Cunren would have caused a greater impact. He, as a teacher and recommender, would also be punished together with Yuan Chonghuan.

At the same time, he also felt that Yuan Chonghuan was not useful. This man's subordinates Zu Dashou, Shen Qi, and Zhang Cunren had successively committed major crimes. Who knew whether he was involved or what hidden dangers he had.

Now he only hoped that Yuan Chonghuan would behave himself in Yunnan and not cause any more trouble. He also decided not to interfere in military affairs and focus on finance.

He would put more effort into surveying land and implementing a unified tax system, and strive to provide more money and food next year to help merchants in his hometown reduce the burden of military expenditures.
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Yuan Chonghuan, who was abandoned by Han Yu, also felt the danger at this time.

After the Shen Qi case and the Zhang Cunren case broke out one after another, he knew that his hope of returning to Liaodong was infinitely close to zero.

Even if the court had no one available, it would not use him, a peace-seeking person who was suspected of collaborating with the enemy.

In fact, if he had not been working in Yunnan, he would not have any connection with the Jianlu now. It is estimated that someone would have impeached him and put him in prison for interrogation.

Now, Xu Bengao, the Southwest Pacification Envoy, was ordered to come and question him, asking him to confess all the Liaodong peace-seeking faction and those suspected of colluding with the enemy:
"Taiwan Governor Yuan, this is just a routine questioning. Don't feel any pressure."

"The imperial court has seen everything you have done in Yunnan in the past two years, and has no doubts about whether you have colluded with the enemy."

"But so many of your subordinates are in cahoots with the enemy, and many officials in the court have doubts about this."

"I hope you can explain the peace talks clearly and shut those people up."

Yuan Chonghuan was so angry that his face turned blue, and he slammed the table and said:
"I am upright and honest, and I am not afraid of others' praise or criticism."

"Shen Qi and Zu Dashou did participate in the peace talks, but they secretly colluded with the enemy, which I was not aware of."

"As for Zhang Cunren, he was a student from Liaodong who volunteered to join the army. Who would have thought that a man with the title of scholar would actually be a secret spy for the Jianlu?"

"I really used this person wrongly. I should have reviewed it carefully."

He admitted that he had made a mistake in oversight, but denied all other accusations.

Xu Bengao and Qian Longxi were relatives, and Qian Longxi had a close relationship with Yuan Chonghuan. When Xu Bengao took office as the Southwest Pacification Envoy, Qian Longxi asked him to take care of Yuan Chonghuan. So he and Yuan Chonghuan also had a good relationship. Upon hearing this, he hurriedly comforted Yuan Chonghuan:
"Don't get excited, don't get excited, it's really just a routine question."

"If the court really suspects you, I won't be the one to question you."

"After all, we have never concealed our relationship."

After hearing these words, Yuan Chonghuan's expression gradually calmed down.

He knew that Xu Bengao was telling the truth and that the court had no intention of touching him.

Otherwise, the Three Judicial Departments should send someone to file a case against him.

If he does not cooperate now, the emperor will become more suspicious. When the time comes, if he really sends an imperial censor, he will not be as easy to deal with as Xu Bengao.

So he could only say:
"I will write a secret memorial to Your Majesty regarding the peace talks."

"I think once Your Majesty understands the whole story, he will dispel his doubts."

"As for the crime of negligence, I will also submit a petition to apologize and leave it to the court to deal with."

The words sounded confident, but they didn't explain anything.

If it were someone else, they would probably ask, but Xu Bengao was very considerate and said:

"In that case, please ask Yuan Futai to write a secret memorial and submit it to Your Majesty for your decision."

"As long as His Majesty approves, Yuan Futai will naturally pass the test."

The interrogation ended and Yuan Chonghuan was asked to sign the record.

Then his expression became even kinder, and he smiled and comforted Yuan Chonghuan:

"Brother Yuan, don't be discouraged. The emperor still trusts you."

"Otherwise, why would I let you, the governor, take charge of the general and hand over all the troops in Yunnan to you?"

"As long as Brother Yuan does well in the southwest, he will definitely be promoted in the future."

"Even like Yuan Shumi, he could become another Yuan Shumi."

Yuan Chonghuan shook his head and sighed:

"Even if I become the Privy Councilor, I can't go to Liaodong."

"That's where you can make achievements and be a man of action!"

Obviously, he still had the thought of returning to Liaodong and was always concerned about the affairs of Liaodong.

Otherwise, he would not have written the "Five-Year Plan for the Pacification of Liao" and presented it to the emperor through his teacher.

Now, after the Shen Qi case broke out, Teacher Han Yu said nothing and didn't even send a letter. It was obvious that he had given up on him and no longer expected him to interfere in Liaodong affairs.

The possibility of him going to Liaodong in the future is infinitely close to zero, and he may even stay in the southwest forever.

Xu Bengao didn't know how to comfort him. He also knew that Liaodong was a place for making achievements. Mao Wenlong and Man Gui had already been conferred the title of Earl, and there would surely be more titles in the future.

If possible, he would also like to go to Liaodong. But thinking about guerrilla general spies like Zhang Cunren, he felt it would be safer in the southwest.

Especially the situation in the southwest is also unstable. As long as the rebellious forces here are pacified, you can also gain merit and obtain a title. (End of this chapter)