I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 922 Where is Qi Jiguang?

The emperor is planning to decide on the new councillors, academicians and their specific official positions during the two-day meeting.

After it is finalized, the New Year's Day ceremony five days later can be arranged in order according to the new list, determining who will sing the praises, who will lead the presentation of the congratulatory letter, and who will stand in which position.

These are all very particular!

The New Year's Day ceremony marks the official debut of the new councillors and academicians in front of royal family members, relatives by marriage, nobles, and civil and military officials.

Then it will be officially announced through mouthpiece newspapers such as "Huang Ming Dynasty News" and "China Political News".

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs!

These etiquette rules are the most important components of sacrifice.

Once the Grand Secretaries and the Bachelors have determined that the new political situation in the court has been formed, the number of officials to be appointed as the Councillors will be determined.

From top to bottom, step by step.

Zhu Yijun said: "Let me first talk about the reform of the Imperial Household Department.

The reform plan of the Imperial Household Department was distributed to all the ministers two days ago."

Zhu Yijun briefly explained the significance of the reform of the Imperial Household Department again, and the ministers listened carefully.

The emperor was willing to abolish the eunuch system and restore the inner court system of the Qin and Han dynasties, with civil and military officials serving as close ministers in the inner court, and the ministers also readily accepted it.

The establishment of the Imperial Household Department and the use of eunuchs to control court officials was a relatively special political system of the Ming Dynasty.

It was gradually formed after repeated considerations by the predecessors Chengzu, Xuanren and Yingzong within the framework of the ancestral system established by Emperor Taizu, in order to handle state affairs quickly and conveniently while not letting power fall into the hands of others.

It is a very abnormal political system.

Because among the promoted eunuchs, there were many bad ones and few good ones. They said they had no desires and were loyal to the emperor, but in fact they were very selfish and rarely cared about state affairs. They only took their personal likes and dislikes as the criterion, acted recklessly and trampled on public property.

It just so happens that these people represent imperial power and have extremely great authority. Their various evil deeds have caused great damage to the normal handling of state affairs and the operation of the court.

It is a good thing that the emperor has abolished the eunuchs and returned to the right path.

There were also a few advisors who showed joy on their faces.

They believed that if the Silijian was changed to the Mishujian and regular civil and military officials were appointed as close ministers, the power of the court would sooner or later return to the hands of the civil officials.

But most of the advisors knew the situation.

The Emperor is such a shrewd man, how could he leave such a big loophole for you.

Times have changed, my Lord!

Today's education is no longer the private education dominated by private schools and academies as before. The right to education is controlled by aristocratic families and great scholars.

National education, vocational and higher education, education was unceremoniously taken back as "nationalized" by the court.

From the most basic primary school to the highest Wanli University, everything was controlled by the state.

The chief academic officer, school director, professors, and teachers were all recruited, appointed, dismissed, and evaluated by the Ministry of Rites.

Education is divided into different disciplines and majors, and the syllabus of educational subjects is formulated by the Ministry of Rites, and the content of textbooks is reviewed by the Ministry of Rites.

Then the junior high school entrance examination, college entrance examination, provincial examination, and national examination are screened and divided one by one.
Do you think that students taught and tested in this way can still be under your control like in previous subject tests?

It is now very obvious that there is a tendency for the civil service group to fragment.

What do you mean?
Civil servants do still form factions, but it is not like before when they had very unified opinions and were relatively united.

Today's civil servants also form small groups for various reasons such as classmates, fellow townsmen, and benefactors and former officials. These small groups will form a large group because of similar political ideas and interests.

However, this group is very unstable. Once external or internal changes occur, it will disperse, and small groups will regroup to form different large groups.

For example, now everyone in the court claims to be a member of the New Party, but they are divided into two factions: the progressive and the conservative. And the two factions are further divided into large and small branches.

For example, the conservative factions include the Shanhe faction, the Northwest faction, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang faction, the Huguang faction, the Southwest faction and the Lingnan faction.

The progressive faction includes Luanzhou faction, Huzhou faction, Zhejiang-Fujian faction, Nanhai faction, and Northeast faction.
Because they rose in different provinces, each had its own sphere of influence, and represented different interest groups. Not only that, the factions were intertwined with each other, and it was complicated.

The emperor deliberately designed it this way to fragment the civil service group. In this way, he established the inner court, with regular civil and military officials as close ministers, and did not worry about being linked to the civil and military officials of the "outer court".

Besides, even when the Imperial Household Department was rampant in the past, there were many Jinshi civil servants who knelt down and licked the eunuchs and were willing to be their running dogs!
Zhu Yijun glanced around and took in everyone's expressions.

He knew that some ministers would be secretly delighted, thinking that Wanli's new policies would return to the old path.

But Zhu Yijun was very confident because these guys had no idea that he had changed his tactics.

There is another point that these guys don’t understand. The essential difference between the inner court and the outer court lies in the different sources of power!

After Zhu Yijun finished explaining the purpose of the reform of the Imperial Household Department, he asked, "What opinions do you have, my ministers?"

Everyone was silent and shook their heads.

"Since there is no objection, then I will make the decision on my own."

The ministers murmured in their hearts.

The Secretary General is the inner court. How dare we speak nonsense?

"I appoint Feng Bao as the Chief Secretary, Yang Jinshui as the Left Junior Secretary, and Zhang Siwei, Pan Yinglong, Fang Fengshi, and Xue Lin as the Right Junior Secretary."

Everyone looked at each other.

Appoint these four people as the Right Junior Supervisor?

What is the emperor up to?

Keep listening.

"The second is the reform of the military government. The military government was established during the Jiajing period when my grandfather personally let me supervise the military administration. It has been nearly twenty years now.

There have been some changes during this period, but no major changes. Now is the time for major changes to adapt to the changing times. "The Rong government involved military power, and even Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui were very taboo about it and did not dare to discuss it easily.

So, Your Majesty, you have the final say on how to change it, and your ministers just nod their heads.

"What I mean is that the Five Military Commandery is too general, its duties are unclear, and it is difficult to coordinate and manage the increasingly large Ming navy and army.

Moreover, as the Ming Dynasty expanded its territory, warfare became increasingly complex, and with the development of thermal weapons and communication technologies such as wired telegraph and wireless telegraph, a more professional military management model was needed.

Zhu Yijun briefly spoke a few words about the significance of the Rong government reform, and then directly announced the content.

"The Five Military Governor's Offices were abolished, and the Army Department, Navy Department, General Staff Bureau, Political Work Bureau, Joint Logistics Bureau, Military Procuratorate and Justice Bureau, and the Higher Military Administrative Court were established.

The chief officers of both the army and navy are called governors-general, and their deputy is called deputy governors-general.

The head of the General Staff Bureau is the Chief of Staff, the head of the General Political Work Bureau is the Chief of Political Work, and the head of the Joint Logistics Bureau is the Chief of Joint Logistics.

The Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of the Navy respectively have the Secretariat, Military Affairs Department, Military Training Department, Finance Bureau, Ordnance Bureau, Personnel Bureau, Military Procuratorate and Court and other departments.

The General Staff Bureau is divided into the Secretariat, Operations Bureau, Military Preparation Bureau, Military Training Supervision Bureau, Personnel Bureau and Intelligence Headquarters.

The General Political Work Bureau is divided into the General Secretariat, Propaganda and Education Bureau, Organization Bureau, and External Liaison Bureau.

The General Logistics Bureau is divided into the Secretariat, Finance Bureau, Quartermaster Bureau, Ordnance Bureau, Medical Bureau, Supply and Support Bureau, Construction Bureau and Audit Bureau.

The above are the military management agencies of the Ming Dynasty’s navy and army.

The military operations department is divided into the 12th Army Command, the Border Army Command, the Navy Patrol Command, the Fleet Command, and the Marine Corps Command.

Zhu Yijun pioneered the division of military units into management and combat departments.

The administrative department is responsible for functions such as national defense construction planning, military organization, officer selection, conscription and demobilization, military training planning and inspection, weapons planning and acceptance, military expenditure budget and auditing.

The combat department is responsible for maintaining the daily training of the army and navy, and dispatching and fighting according to orders.
Zhu Yijun squinted his eyes, looked around at everyone, and continued speaking.

"Since Lord Zili, the military government no longer has a chief military envoy. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there are only two chief military envoys, Lord Ruzhen and Lord Zili."

The ministers applauded.

Everyone knows what the emperor is thinking.
Military power is no longer concentrated in the hands of one or two people.

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun are very special.

Hu Zongxian was responsible for suppressing the Japanese pirates in the southeast, and he promoted generals such as Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou.

Tan Lun was Hu Zongxian's deputy during the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast.

Later, he moved to the north, and after Hu Zongxian returned to Beijing to take charge of military affairs, he took charge of the northern military affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

He was the supreme commander in managing the Northeast, conquering the Chahar tribe, launching the expedition to the northern desert, and conquering the Tumed tribe.

The two men had very high prestige in the Ming Dynasty's army and navy, and Zhu Yijun trusted them very much, so he treated them with the utmost honor.

Now that the two have retired from official careers one after another, there is no one else in the Ming Dynasty who has such prestige in the army as they did.

Qi Jiguang had a high prestige in the army, but the navy had generals such as Lu Tong, Liu Tao, Yu Dayou, and Li Chao, with whom he had some close and some ordinary relationships.

His military achievements are outstanding and are not necessarily lower than his.

Even in the army, there were famous generals such as Xiao Wenkui, Dong Yiyuan, Ma Fang, Liu Xian, Li Chengliang, and Xue Lin. Although their military achievements were slightly inferior to his, they were enough to balance his power.

The emperor went with the flow and dismissed the chief military envoy in the name of honoring Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun.

But without a chief military governor, how can the military government function? Will it still be like the previous five military governorships, each operating independently?

While the ministers were secretly guessing in their hearts, Zhu Yijun spoke again.

"The General Office of the Military Government was established, with Xiao Daheng as the Military Government Envoy and Chief Clerk of the General Office of the Military Government.

The duty of the General Office is to summon all military envoys in accordance with the imperial edict, hold military meetings, and discuss the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

The military government has left and right prime ministers. The left prime minister is ordered to take charge of the daily affairs of the military government, coordinate the various departments and general bureaus of the military government, and supervise the implementation of the resolutions of the military government meeting.

Everyone understood that the emperor moved the Advisory Bureau model to the Rong government.

The Military and Political Conference was established as the highest military decision-making advisory body in the Ming Dynasty, and the post of Zuo Pushe was then established.

Zuo Pushe was a powerful official, but he could not directly issue orders to the various departments of the military government. He had to go through the military council. The military council was only a decision-making body, and the military office was a lowly and powerful official.

The military is divided into management and operations departments, which operate independently without affecting daily operations.

However, for major decisions, such as large-scale troop movements, the military government had its powers decentralized and controlled by the Military and Political Conference and the General Office.

One thing leads to another, Your Majesty, you are becoming more and more adept at this.

Zhu Yijun continued: "Appoint Qi Jiguang as the military envoy, the left servant and the governor of the Army; Liu Tao as the military envoy, the right servant and the director of the Senior Military Affairs Council; Yu Dayou as the military envoy, the right servant and the governor of the Navy; Xiao Wenkui as the military envoy, the right servant and the chief of the general staff; Xue Lin as the military envoy and the chief of political work; Xie Dongqi as the military envoy and the chief of the joint logistics."

Xie Dongqi was originally a minor official in the Imperial Household Department. When Zhang Juzheng was the governor of Shandong, he discovered his talent while rectifying the horse administration and promoted him all the way. In the second year of the Wanli reign, he entered the Ordnance Bureau as a director and concurrently served as the director of the Sixth Bureau and the director of the Institute of Chemistry.

The breakthroughs in three acids and one base, the breakthroughs in electricity and electromagnetism, and the rapid development of various firearms and artillery using smokeless gunpowder would not have been so fast without his supervision.

Zhu Yijun can cheat, but in actual work, there must be capable people to coordinate and supervise.

Next, Zhu Yijun announced several military and administrative envoys, including Liu Xian, Dong Yiyuan, Ma Gui and other commanders of the army and border troops, and Li Chao and other fleet commanders.

"According to convention, several military envoys must also enter the Council of State. Now I declare that Liu Tao, Yu Dayou, Xiao Wenkui, Xiao Daheng, Xue Lin, and Xie Dongqi will serve as councillors."

When the sharp-eared people heard this, they were stunned. Where is Qi Jiguang?

He was the left servant, but he was not even a counselor!
Could it be that the emperor read the roster incorrectly or missed something?

But those who were quick-witted immediately understood what was going on and were horrified.

No way!
(End of this chapter)