I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 924 The overall situation has been decided
The advisors present here are well aware that if the Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization is renamed the Committee for the Steering Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization, the meaning will be completely different.

It means that it is no longer a coordinating department, but a guiding department.

What does mentoring mean?
That means they can give you instructions and urge you to complete them.

For example, the Central Steering Committee of the Kaocheng System, which was just abolished, made officials' lives miserable in the early years of the Wanli period because it had guiding authority.

The Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization has been upgraded to a Steering Committee, and Zhang Siwei must also be upgraded. Otherwise, how can you, a counselor, guide the six ministries and local governors who are also counselors?

Zhu Yijun's next words confirmed everyone's guess.

"Zhang Siwei will be appointed as the Grand Councillor and continue to be the Director of the Steering Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization. Fang Fengshi will be appointed as the Grand Councillor and take over the post of Minister of the Ministry of Rites and will be the Executive Deputy Director of the Steering Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization."

The situation is clear.

Zhang Siwei was promoted to Grand Councillor, and was fully responsible for the new goals and tasks for the construction of the Ming Dynasty's spiritual civilization that the emperor and Zhang Siwei had proposed some time ago.

At the same time, he also served as the Right Junior Supervisor of the Secretariat, and with his status as a Grand Secretary, he had full control of the real power of the Secretariat.

Everyone knows that Feng Bao, who is almost sixty years old, and Yang Jinshui, along with the eunuchs who are no longer receiving fresh blood, are gradually withdrawing from politics.

Their official positions of Secretary General and Left Junior Supervisor were transitional.

The transition from the Silijian to the Mishujian, and the transition from the inner court controlled by eunuchs to the inner court controlled by civil and military officials.

Whether it is the Steering Committee for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization, the construction of new tasks and new goals for spiritual civilization, or the Secretary-General taking over the inner court, they are all in the pioneering process and are quite difficult.

The emperor used Zhang Siwei, who was flexible, flexible and ruthless, to rush forward and punch him, creating a situation. Five years later, it was clear that Fang Fengshi would take over and become the Secretary Supervisor and the Director of the Spiritual Civilization Construction Steering Committee, and at the same time become a Senior Academician.

By this time, all the ministers understood the emperor's arrangements.

The five Grand Secretaries and the Prime Minister must serve for a full ten years, while the rest serve for five years and are replaced in between.

Five years later, it was probably Liu Tao who succeeded Qi Jiguang and was appointed as the Grand Councillor. A certain Grand Councillor succeeded Wang Chonggu and became the Chief Censor and was appointed as the Grand Councillor.

A certain Advisory Bachelor succeeded Xu Zhenming as the Left Prime Minister of the Cabinet and was appointed as the Advisory Grand Secretary.

Fang Fengshi succeeded Zhang Siwei as Secretary Supervisor and Director of the Spiritual Civilization Guidance Committee.

They are all open cards and everyone can see them at a glance.

Is Zhang Siwei willing?
Of course I would, anyone would be willing!

Didn’t you see how excited he was!

Her face flushed and her body was trembling slightly. If she was alone, she would have burst into tears.

Zhu Yijun continued, "I have decided to establish an Economic Construction Steering Committee, with Pan Yinglong as the director. He will continue to serve as an advisor and take over as the right chancellor of the cabinet."

Well, the person who will succeed Xu Zhenming in five years is about to emerge.

Pan Yinglong was a Bachelor of Advisory Affairs, Right Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Right Junior Supervisor of the Secretariat, and Director of the Economic Construction Steering Committee.

He served as Wang Yi'e's deputy for five years, and then took over as Prime Minister ten years later. It was a natural progression!

"Wei Xuezeng is the right chancellor of the cabinet and concurrently the director of the Northeast Development and Construction Committee; Zheng Luo is the right chancellor of the cabinet and concurrently the director of the Railway Construction Committee; Hu Rugong is the right chancellor of the cabinet and concurrently the director of the Industrial Planning Committee. The three will continue to serve as academicians."

The four right chancellors all serve as the chairman of a committee.

What does this mean?
This shows that the emperor believed that Zhang Juzheng had laid a solid foundation by presiding over the cabinet for ten years and implementing the Wanli New Deal.

After having accumulated enough, we need to make great efforts to develop the economy. In the next ten years, the economic development of Ming Dynasty should enter the fast lane.

Zhu Yijun added: "All the newly established committees in the imperial court, including those with the word 'guidance', report directly to me through the Secretary General. The rest of the committees report to their respective departments, such as the Cabinet and the Censorate."

We say that the word "guidance" is special!
There are currently only two committees with the word "guidance" in their titles, namely the Guidance Committee for Spiritual Civilization Construction and the Guidance Committee for Economic Construction. They report directly to the emperor through the Secretariat, and their chief officers are given the title of Right Junior Secretary of the Secretariat. They are the heads of the inner court and close ministers of the emperor.

All authority comes from the direct authorization of the emperor and is directly under the emperor's guidance. Therefore, the level of the entire department and the chief officer is naturally one level higher than that of committees such as the Northwest Development and Construction Committee directly under the cabinet.

Having more authority also means that they are responsible for the formulation and promulgation of top-level strategies and policies.

Everyone knew what was going on.

Zhu Yijun continued to announce, "Mei Guozhen is the Minister of Personnel and remains as the Academician; Wang Guoguang remains as the Minister of Revenue and continues to serve as the Academician; Liu Yupu is the Minister of Punishment and remains as the Academician; Cai Maochun is the Minister of Rites and remains as the Academician."

Mei Guozhen was promoted to the Minister of Personnel because he had endured the wind and snow in the Zhangzhung Snow Region for five years.

The emperor has long said that if he is willing to go to the most difficult places to govern and make contributions to the Ming Dynasty, I will use him!
Wang Guoguang remains as the Minister of Revenue. This position is too professional and the responsibilities are too heavy. Wang Guoguang has done a good job in the past ten years, so he will continue to do it.

But everyone knew that Wang Guoguang would probably only serve for another five years, then be transferred to the position of Right Prime Minister, and then retire.

"Wang Daokun was appointed as the Minister of War and remained as the Academician; Yang Zhao was appointed as the Minister of Works and was promoted to the Academician; Yang Lingde was appointed as the Governor of Jiangsu and remained as the Academician; Song Yingchang was transferred to the post of the Minister of Xiangxiong and the Minister of Qinghai and remained as the Academician; Ye Mengxiong was transferred to the post of the Governor of Zhejiang and remained as the Academician.

Xu Wei continued to serve as the governor-general of the three borders, Yin Zhengmao remained as the governor-general of Sichuan, Ling Yunyi remained as the governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Liu Yingjie remained as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, and all remained as advisory scholars.

Song Yingchang was transferred to Xiangxiong and served as the Xuanzheng Envoy of Qinghai. He would be the one to be appointed in the next term.

Ye Mengxiong had been guarding and pacifying Nanhai for many years and had made great contributions, so he was moved to Zhejiang, where the climate was pleasant and it was easier to achieve results, to be the governor, as a form of care.

Everyone knows that the main reason is that Ye Mengxiong is old and his ability is inferior to Song Yingchang and Mei Guozhen.

As one of the three heroes of the New Deal, he gradually fell behind.

It's really sad.

Zhu Yijun paused for a moment and mentioned an important event, "Now the rebellious Toungoo vassal, Mang, has surrendered and been executed, and the chieftains in the Pagan area have all surrendered.

My attitude is very clear, chieftains are no longer allowed in the Ming Dynasty!
Although more than half of the Bagan region is mountainous and densely forested, there are alluvial plains in the lower reaches of the Nujiang River (Salween River) and the Lijiang River (Irrawaddy River). The terrain is flat, the land is fertile, and it is close to the sea. It is a rare land of fish and rice and is worth careful management.

There are several mountain ranges west of Bagan, which are connected to the Snow Mountain Range and form the natural boundary between us and the Indian region.

To the east is the southward extension of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which overlooks the three kingdoms of Siam, Chenla, and Nanzhang in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula, as well as the two provinces of Jinghai and Rinan. Its strategic location is very important. At the same time, the Pagan area is also an important barrier to protect the South China Sea region's access to the South China Sea.

Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, you will cooperate with the South China Sea Command and the Suzaku Fleet Command to conduct all-round operations against Pagan."

Ling Yunyi and Liu Yingjie quickly responded: "I obey your order!"

"Southern Sichuan borders Yunnan and Guizhou, and western Sichuan borders Xiangxiong and Qinghai. It is also a place where Tusi gather. Lord Shiting (Yin Zhengmao), I will trouble you."

"Your Majesty, I will fulfill my duties!"

Zhu Yijun read out the remaining names of the 26 advisors one by one and made arrangements for their current official positions.

These arrangements were finalized after he discussed them one by one with representatives of court forces such as Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, Wang Chonggu, Tan Lun, Wang Yi'e, Pan Yinglong, and Wei Xueceng.

Zhu Yijun said one last thing: "I received a petition from Peking University saying that they are short of a chief priest. Isn't that perfect! After Master Zhang retires, he can go to Peking University to serve as a chief priest and make use of his remaining energy.

Master Zhang, what do you think?

Zhang Juzheng smiled and nodded, "I will follow your Majesty's will."

The ministers thought that this arrangement was a good one.

Zhang Juzheng was supposed to go to the Constitutional Council after he retired.

But the Constitutional Council had the former cabinet minister Li Chunfang in it, and Zhang Juzheng was proud and arrogant, so how could he possibly go there to be his deputy?

But please ask Li Chunfang to give way?

He has more seniority than you and has been the emperor's teacher. Why should he give it to you?

The emperor also considered these issues, so he proposed a compromise plan and invited Zhang Juzheng to serve as the chief academic officer of Peking University.

The position of the university chief priest was derived from the position of the imperial academy chief priest, but the new university chief priest became an honorary position.

If you are willing to take charge, hold a school affairs meeting and everyone will agree.

If you don't want to be in charge, the school has a principal who holds real power and is responsible for daily operations.

On the academic side, there is a joint meeting of professors and a secretariat, so there is nothing to worry about.

After Zhang Juzheng retired, he became the chief academic officer of Peking University, which meant that he had completely retired and would not be involved in state affairs, so as to avoid any resentment from the subsequent Prime Minister Wang Yi'e.

But this position is well-known, and people will not forget Zhang Juzheng for a while, so he will not feel too disappointed.

Zhu Yijun then said something about the number and selection of officials in the court.

The candidates for the Grand Secretary and the Advisory Scholars have been decided, and the spheres of influence of the various factions in the court have been delineated. The next step is to negotiate and bargain with each other, insert their own court officials into their respective territories, and consolidate their faction's base.

There is bound to be an exchange of interests involved.

Zhu Yijun would not ask too many questions about these.

But all the candidate lists for the imperial court officials must be submitted to him for review. If he thinks that they are not suitable, he will naturally veto them and send them back for you to re-nominate.

At noon, Zhu Yijun invited everyone to have lunch in Xiyuan, and the meeting ended after the meal.

Pan Sheng, Fang Fengshi and Zhang Juzheng left Xiyuan in a carriage.

In the carriage, Pan Sheng was in a low mood.

He retired with Zhang Juzheng and did not retain the position of Advisor. Instead, he was appointed as the Left Grand Councillor of the Constitutional Council and became Li Chunfang's deputy.

Zhang Juzheng comforted him, "Siming, you helped me implement the Wanli New Deal for ten years and offended many people. Now that I am leaving, if you still stay in the court, you will become the target of public criticism.

It’s better to go to the Constitutional Chamber.”

Pan Sheng thought about it and realized that it was true.

He was friends with Zhang Juzheng, but not with Wang Yi'e and Pan Yinglong.

If they shamelessly stay in the cabinet, and then those villains whom they have offended before turn their spearheads against them, these two will not try hard to protect them.

The emperor doesn't think highly of my talents and won't give me any chance to act on my own.

It is indeed not bad that I can now escape unscathed and continue to make contributions in the Constitutional Council as the Left Doctor of the Constitutional Council.

He smiled and said, "Uncle, I have figured it out a long time ago, but I am a little confused as to why the emperor reused a villain like Zhang Siwei.

Not only was I surprised, but many people were also surprised.

Xingzhi, are you also quite surprised? "

Fang Fengshi shook his head: "Not really, the emperor summoned me to the West Garden a few days ago and talked about my new position, and I have a general idea of ​​it."

Pan Sheng glanced at him and didn't blame him for keeping his mouth shut.

If he had not kept his mouth shut and been so cautious, the emperor would not have promoted Fang Fengshi and placed him in such a key position.

Pan Sheng turned and looked at Zhang Juzheng.

"Uncle, can you guess what the emperor means?"

"I can make a rough guess."

"Oh, tell me about it."

(End of this chapter)