Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1274 Prime Minister System

Since the Song Dynasty did not have a prime minister, it had to establish a cabinet. However, to prevent the cabinet from becoming too large in the later stages like the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Mincheng was cautious and changed the cabinet to the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), with the chief minister called the prime minister and ordinary cabinet members called assistant ministers.

Although the Ming Dynasty currently has the Zongli Yamen (Office of Foreign Affairs), with Zhang Xijun serving as its prime minister, the Zongli Yamen is not only newly established, but also cannot replace the cabinet in terms of authority. However, Zhu Mincheng has now directly taken over this office to replace the cabinet system, which means he is directly implementing the prime minister system in the Song Dynasty.

Of course, this Prime Minister system differed from later ones; it was merely an office assisting the monarch in handling government affairs, and its actual power was not significant. More importantly, the Prime Minister's Office had no military power other than administrative authority, let alone the power to mobilize troops. As a prince of the Ming Dynasty, the current Prince of Song, Zhu Mincheng was acutely aware of the importance of military power. If the monarch could not control the military, power would inevitably fall into the wrong hands. This can be seen from the changes after the Tumu Crisis in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Mincheng would absolutely not relinquish his control over the military.

To this end, Zhu Mincheng proposed not only to emulate the Ming Dynasty by establishing a General Council and a Three Armies Office to replace the Five Armies Commandery, but also to designate future emperors in the name of the first Song King as concurrently holding the military post of Grand Commander of the Three Armies. In this way, the monarch would be the highest military controller of the country, possessing actual military power, while the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry) would only handle political affairs and would not be involved in military matters, thus ensuring the stability of the Song Dynasty.

Zhu Mincheng had long ago decided on Sun Hao as the prime minister of the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry). Sun Hao, formerly the chief secretary of the Prince's residence, now held the title of prime minister, but frankly, his actual power hadn't increased much; it was merely a change of title. His daily duties remained the same: assisting the emperor in governing the country.

But a prime minister is still a prime minister, and he can assist the monarch in overseeing the six bureaus and other government offices, which is a significant advancement for Sun Hao. Furthermore, Sun Hao advised Zhu Mincheng to expedite the establishment of various government offices, quickly improve the administrative structure of the Song Dynasty, and appoint officials at all levels.

This was not only to stabilize the Song state and to promote the officials of the former vassal states, but more importantly, Sun Hao believed that since the Ming Dynasty had recognized the establishment of government offices and territories in the outer vassal states, and the outer vassal states had become de facto kingdoms with real power equivalent to that of the vassal states, then the situation in the Ming Dynasty would probably change drastically before long.

Previously, neither the enfeoffment of Prince Song nor Prince Yong had caused much of a stir in the Ming Dynasty. From the perspective of court officials or members of the Ming imperial family, Prince Yong's enfeoffment was due to the fact that he was the son of the retired emperor, who had long since lost power and now only held the title of retired emperor. As for his sons, they were even less favored and their status was extremely awkward.

While His Majesty's decision not to harm the Retired Emperor and the princes, considering various factors, is undoubtedly merciful, it's impossible for him to simply let them go. Otherwise, Zhu Shenzhui wouldn't have placed the Retired Emperor and his princes in the palace, ostensibly for their comfort and support, but in reality, it was tantamount to imprisonment.

If these people were released from the palace, problems might arise no matter where they were placed in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, with the changing world order and the Ming Dynasty's expansion overseas, Zhu Shenzhui considered the idea of ​​granting them a fiefdom. Thus, Prince Yong was granted a fiefdom in the New World. Now, Yong Kingdom is more than ten thousand miles away from the Ming Dynasty's mainland. Given such a distance, and the fact that Prince Yong is all alone, even if he had the will, he would be powerless to do so.

As for Prince Zhu Mincheng of Song, although he volunteered for the post of Prince Song, those unaware of the situation believed it was a result of the struggle for the crown prince position. Most people thought Zhu Mincheng and Crown Prince Zhu Minlan were full sons of the emperor, and Zhu Mincheng should have had a chance at the throne. However, the emperor's decision to send him away suggests that the two brothers were secretly vying for the position, and the emperor, not wanting to see his brothers turn against each other, used the pretext of a distant posting to send Zhu Mincheng to a remote location.

This would not only resolve the issue of the succession struggle and solidify the position of Crown Prince, but also allow Zhu Mincheng to keep an eye on Prince Yong in the north from the New World, preventing him from causing any trouble. Many people shared this view, and even some officials under Zhu Mincheng's command, though perhaps not saying it aloud, probably thought the same thing.

Regardless of the truth of these matters, the enfeoffment of these princes has become a reality. Furthermore, with the imperial court now officially allowing these princes to establish their own offices and become de facto princes, the situation is bound to change.

What was once seen as exile by many has been completely changed. Now, although those enfeoffed overseas are far away, they possess real power. Compared to the princes within the Ming Dynasty, these princes are practically rulers, a stark contrast in power.

In the Ming Dynasty, even princes who were enfeoffed had virtually no power other than living a life of debauchery behind closed doors in their fiefdoms. They were not only closely watched by local officials, but also constantly investigated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot. If they accidentally did something out of line, they could easily be stripped of their titles and imprisoned.

Furthermore, many princes rarely even left their palaces, as they were not allowed to leave their fiefdoms. In this situation, losing personal freedom was no different from raising pigs; their days consisted of nothing but eating, drinking, and indulging in pleasure, seemingly contributing nothing beyond ensuring the prosperity of the Zhu family's descendants. This situation was frequently used by officials to criticize the imperial clan for wasting state resources and being utterly useless. The imperial clan members themselves complained, feeling helpless under the various regulations. What other choice did they have? Just like Zhu Shenzhui back then, if Zhu Shenzhui hadn't had a low rank, if the imperial clan's stipend hadn't been consistently delayed by the court, and if his father and brothers hadn't died early and his family hadn't been struggling to survive, he wouldn't have been driven to desperation by smuggling.

Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui was well aware of the difficulties faced by the imperial clan. After ascending the throne, he re-established the Imperial Clan Court, appropriately relaxing restrictions on the middle and lower-ranking members of the imperial clan. He even allowed ordinary members of the imperial clan to take the imperial examinations and become officials as ordinary citizens, or to seek other paths in life. Although there were signs of this policy as early as the Jiajing era, and there were also examples of the imperial clan taking the imperial examinations during the Wanli era, its actual implementation was largely symbolic. Moreover, the imperial clan had been idle for so many years, and it was not so easy to change things all at once.

The lower and middle-ranking members of the imperial clan were relatively well-off, but the key issue lay with the upper-ranking members, such as princes and dukes. Although their numbers were small, they constituted the vast majority of the imperial clan's resources. Their existence increasingly affected the Ming Dynasty's governance of the imperial clan and its administration of local areas. Therefore, Zhu Shenzhui initially replaced real fiefdoms with honorary titles, and later began to appoint princes to regional fiefdoms. In reality, his true target was not Zhu Mincheng, but these high-ranking members of the imperial clan.

However, judging from past experiences, even if the emperor described the enfeoffment as incredibly lucrative, even if he were to send his eldest son to the New World, the imperial clan members would not believe it. They all felt that Zhu Mincheng was merely a loser in the struggle for the crown prince position, and as for Prince Yong, it goes without saying that going to the New World was tantamount to exile. They were perfectly content in their fiefdoms, enjoying a life of luxury, so why would they go so far away to suffer?
But things are different now. With the change in policy, the princes who were granted fiefdoms have actually become true monarchs and have real power in their fiefdoms. How could the royal family not understand such a good thing?
Therefore, Sun Hao concluded that it wouldn't be long before the attitude of the Ming imperial family, especially the high-ranking members, towards being granted fiefdoms outside the Ming Dynasty would completely change. They would go from avoiding it to eagerly seeking it out. As long as one person took the lead in writing a petition to give up the Ming Dynasty's fiefdoms and actively seek fiefdoms outside the Ming Dynasty, then the imperial family members who were granted fiefdoms outside the Ming Dynasty would become highly sought after. At that time, a large number of imperial family members would be granted fiefdoms outside the Ming Dynasty, which would be equivalent to squeezing the living space of the Song Dynasty.

It should be noted that the number of members of the imperial family in the Ming Dynasty was enormous. Even if only one or two out of ten of them were willing to be granted such titles, it was still a considerable number.

Sending out twenty or thirty princes at once, even if half of them come to the New World, we still have to allocate territory to them, right? Although the New World is vast, land is ultimately limited. Once some territory is allocated, it will be equivalent to blocking the path for the future development of the Song Kingdom.

Therefore, Sun Hao suggested that, apart from setting up government offices and appointing officials, the most important thing for the Song state at present is to continue to expand its territory and extend its influence outward, especially to the east. Before the royal family members successively grant fiefdoms to the new continent, they should try to seize some good territories to avoid the embarrassing situation of being unable to continue to expand in the decades to come.

Now that the State of Song has gained the upper hand, it cannot afford to give up this opportunity. Only by becoming stronger and having more territory and population can Song better establish itself in the New World. In decades or even centuries, Song might become a major power in the New World. Regardless of whether the New World will experience the same period of warring states as it did during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Song will remain undefeated and become the hegemon of this region.

Zhu Mincheng wholeheartedly agreed with Sun Hao's suggestion. After discussing with Sun Hao for a whole day, Zhu Mincheng summoned his subordinates the next day to formally announce the imperial decree and began preparations for the establishment of various government offices and the formation of the army.

Following the Ming Dynasty's court structure, the Song Dynasty established three departments and six bureaus, and added a Zongli Yamen (Office of Foreign Affairs) similar to a cabinet, with Sun Hao serving as the prime minister and Li Dingguo, Jian Hu, and Cui Qi serving as assistant ministers.

In addition, Li Dingguo was appointed as the Supreme General of the Song Dynasty, in charge of the General Staff Office, and several generals were promoted to be his deputies, in charge of various military camps. Zhu Mincheng, as the ruler, was the Commander-in-Chief of the three armies and directly controlled the navy (nominally, as the navy had not yet been established).

Jian Hu was already in charge of construction, so he was naturally promoted to Minister of Works. Cui Qi was previously in charge of agriculture and temporarily headed the Bureau of Revenue. The Bureau of War was concurrently held by the Prince of Song himself. Officials were appointed to the Bureaus of Rites, Justice, and Personnel, and various levels of institutions similar to the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review were also established.

In addition, the establishment of local government offices in Xinjing according to the prefecture system, and the appointment of officials and police chiefs for effective management, was simply an adjustment to the previous temporary institutions, and was not too difficult to handle.

The key issue is that Zhu Mincheng has very few capable people. He appointed all the officials under his own palace, but still couldn't fill the positions in each government office. However, given the current scale of the Song Kingdom, there's no need to be all-encompassing. Let's build the framework first, with one person holding several positions initially, and gradually improve it later. There's no rush.

(End of this chapter)