Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

While the other ministers were oblivious to the intricacies of the matter, Han Kuang and Yang Jingchen were perfectly clear about it:
The other party has its eye on the position of the next prime minister.

Since the emperor implemented term limits, the positions of court officials have been exceptionally stable.

Unless a serious offense was committed, the emperor ignored all impeachments.

If someone were to start a political struggle for a position, it would be seen as a provocation by the emperor.

The purpose of reforming the rites and music is to maintain stability, not to create turmoil in the court and make the people of the world perceive it as unstable.

Therefore, under such circumstances, if there were to be large-scale changes in the positions of the officials, they would have to wait for the reshuffle every three years.

Han Kuang became Grand Secretary in September of the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, and it has been more than two years since then. The next year, in August of the fifth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, will be the time for the change of leadership.

As the first prime minister appointed by the platform, Han Kuang naturally had ambitions. He didn't need to achieve extraordinary feats, he at least wanted to be seen as someone who hadn't been mediocre.

However, the reality he faces is:

The emperor was too powerful and even promoted powerful ministers.

His position as Grand Secretary would have been considered above average in the past, but compared to Yuan Keli, who pacified Liaodong, he appeared rather unremarkable.

If Han Kuang steps down next year, he will definitely not be well regarded; at best, he will be considered barely competent.

He was certainly unwilling to leave this reputation in history, so he wanted to be re-elected and strive to serve another term.

This requires the emperor's support; otherwise, if the emperor does not issue a special decree to retain him, he, who is already 66 years old, will automatically retire after his term expires next year, according to the rule that a special decree can retain him for three years.

At that point, let alone continuing as the Grand Secretary, it won't be easy for him to even stay in the court.

That's why Han Kuang was so eager to please the emperor, hoping that the emperor would be more satisfied with him.
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If even the Grand Secretary Han Kuang was like this, then the Second Grand Secretary Yang Jingchen was even more so.

Having aspirations to become the Grand Secretary, he naturally resolved to curry favor with the Emperor.

He now understood that the current emperor harbored great ambitions. Pacifying Liaodong was not the end, but merely the beginning—

Otherwise, the emperor wouldn't have bestowed so many titles upon meritorious officials and granted high-ranking titles to many people who could have been granted titles but didn't.

This was clearly intended to encourage the officials to achieve great deeds, rather than to be satisfied with the pacification of Liaodong.

If he becomes the Grand Secretary, he will surely leave a mark on history.

Therefore, when the emperor insisted on bestowing titles upon the craftsmen, he disregarded public opinion and expressed his opinion:
In any case, for Grand Secretaries, whether or not they could become the Grand Secretary depended mainly on the Emperor.

What do scholars and public opinion matter? They are all irrelevant.

If the emperor trusts him, he, as the second-in-command, can naturally take over as the chief minister in August of next year.

Driven by this mindset, he and Han Kuang, the two leading civil officials, disregarded the opposition of other ministers and expressed their support for the emperor.

This naturally led many of their followers to defect and choose to support the emperor.
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Zhu Youjian smiled as he watched this scene.

This scenario was within his expectations, and it was also the reason why he set the term system with an evaluation every three years and a term of three years.

Unless one is completely without desires, the chief minister in his final year will almost always try to please the emperor.

The same applies to Grand Secretaries who aspire to become the Grand Secretary; they may even be more unscrupulous, choosing to endlessly pander to the Emperor.

Han Kuang and Yang Jingchen are like that. They used to be somewhat reserved, but now they have become more like Wen Tiren.

In the following year, Zhu Youjian's power will be amplified to an unlimited extent until a new Grand Secretary is established.

For policies that were previously formulated but encountered resistance during implementation, you can confidently entrust them to the two individuals to handle them and see who is more in line with your wishes.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Zhu Youjian smiled and said to the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet:
"Since you gentlemen have given your support, you may draft the decree."

"Lu Xiang is a talent bestowed upon the Ming Dynasty by Heaven. His title will be 'Zhongxing Fuyun' (Assistant to the Restoration of the Dynasty), while other earls will be titled 'Zhongxing Yiyun' (Supporting the Restoration of the Dynasty), and viscounts and barons will be titled 'Zhongxing Yiwei' (Supporting the Restoration of the Dynasty)." "Let them choose their fiefdoms in the areas they have already conquered, and allow them to develop weapons in their fiefdoms."

These artisans should also be included among the meritorious contributors to the restoration of the dynasty and treated the same as other meritorious contributors.

Moreover, given the considerable number of viscounts and knights conferred, it is conceivable that nobles from artisan backgrounds would be an indispensable group among the meritorious officials of the restoration.

Many ministers in the court opposed this.

However, Han Kuang, in his capacity as Grand Secretary, had already received the imperial decree and defended the emperor's actions:

“After Lü Xiang and others were granted titles, they should also not be allowed to serve as ministers or prime ministers.”

"I believe they are suitable to serve as artisan officials, but they should be cautious about taking on positions in other government offices."

He openly advised the emperor, but in reality, he was telling his ministers:

There is also an advantage to granting titles to these people, namely, that there is no need to worry about them becoming high-ranking officials or grand secretaries.

Although it seemed impossible to many, it alleviated some civil officials' concerns about the rise of artisan officials.

At least the upper limit of the artisan official system is fixed, and it is impossible to compete with them for official positions.

Zhu Youjian understood Han Kuang's intention and nodded, saying:
“Those who come from artisan families can be granted titles, so they must naturally abide by the rules of the nobility.”

"They will be concentrated in the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Equipment, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Inner Court. Transferring to other government departments requires a request from these departments or the status of a Yuanshi (a type of scholar-official).

They partially agreed to Han Kuang's conditions, but did not completely block the path for the artisan official to transfer to another post.

If any artisans are keen on becoming officials, they can be encouraged to try it out.

However, for most of the artisan officials, Zhu Youjian still hoped that they would engage in research or manage enterprises.

Han Kuang's purpose was not to argue with the emperor, so he naturally did not dispute the loopholes left by the emperor.

Instead, they spoke with delight about the current emperor's wisdom and the problems caused by the previous emperors' abuse of the artisan official system.

Zhu Youjian pretended to agree with Han Kuang and put on a show.

In reality, they were playing a double act, establishing the status of the artisan official system—

In the future, they will occupy a dominant position in government departments such as the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Equipment as professional and technical officials.

Those who made great contributions could be granted a noble title and become part of the bureaucratic group.

Being born into a family of artisans is not an obstacle to promotion; on the contrary, it provides access to a stable system.

They were subordinate to civil officials yet relatively independent, much like civilian military officers, and were part of Zhu Youjian's strategy to divide the bureaucratic group.
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Taking advantage of the great victory in Liaodong, Zhu Youjian then urged Han Kuang and others to complete the inspection and determine the rewards for local officials.

Sun Guozhen, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and Huang Yuntai, the governor of Tianjin, both made great contributions to logistics. Sun Guozhen even went to the front line in southern Liaoning.

These people should also be granted titles and their merits should be commended.

The same is true of Liu Lishun, who provided a lot of living supplies to Liaodong. He achieved remarkable results in the Su-Song New Area, which has become the biggest highlight of the imperial court in Jiangnan.

He and Cao Wenheng, the governor of Jiangnan, will also be granted noble titles.

Zhu Youjian decided to summon these people and the meritorious officials from the front lines to the capital. He ordered Yuan Keli to arrange for the personnel left behind at the front lines, while the other meritorious officials would come to the capital to be granted titles.

He also planned to hold a grand ceremony to announce his victory and present the captured prisoners, to inform the late emperor in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

At the same time, we hereby announce to the world:

Liaodong has been pacified, and the Ming Dynasty has achieved another victory! (End of Chapter)