The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 411 Principles and Logic of Collective Decision-making
At the New Year's court meeting in the 27th year of Tiangong, Zhu Jianxuan issued his own New Year's edict, announcing several new reforms and adjustments.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty's central court had different feelings after hearing this, but their final choice was the same. They bowed their heads and accepted the order honestly:

"I... obey your order."

Zhu Jianxuan was quite satisfied. After giving some encouragement and instructions, he announced the end of the court meeting.

Officials from various departments of the court returned to their work and gradually implemented Zhu Jianxuan's arrangements.

The monarchs of overseas vassal states left Beijing and returned to their home countries with their entourage.

The princes, who had already grown up, formally bid farewell to their parents and set off for their training locations this year.

The twelve oldest princes, led by the eldest prince Zhu Jingkun, took a train south to Guangdong.

The Ming Dynasty was already able to fly passenger planes directly from Shuntian Prefecture to Guangzhou, but the princes still habitually took the train.

The apparent reason is that train carriages are more spacious, luxurious and stable.

It's actually for safety.

If there are not many people on the train, even if it suddenly overturns and derails, it is highly likely that no one will die.

Although airplane accidents are rare, when they occur they are major accidents.

The emperor, princes and monarchs of vassal states basically did not take airplanes, and the wealthy class in the private sector also had doubts about the safety of airplanes.

This will of course slightly affect the popularity of the air transport industry.

But for most needs, trains are fast enough, and now planes are used for emergencies.

People who have extremely urgent matters will still take a plane even if they know it is more dangerous.

As long as major accidents do not occur every now and then, the aviation transport industry will naturally develop and promote itself. It is only a matter of time.

Zhu Jianxuan's twelve oldest princes each had a carriage, plus several auxiliary carriages, forming a special train to take them to Guangzhou.

According to the agreement after the princes received the mission, everyone gathered in the conference room on the train after the train departed.

After the twelve princes sat down, more than half of them spoke immediately.

What they said was similar. They all wanted to preside over the meeting and take the lead in the topic.

There were a few brothers who didn't speak at the first time. After they finished the first paragraph, there was a little awkward silence at the scene before they spoke:
"It seems like everyone wants to host the meeting..."

"This is really troublesome."

“Was there a vote?”

"There's no way this vote will produce any results, right?"

"We don't need to ask the emperor for permission for this matter, do we?"

The eldest prince Zhu Jingkun said with a stern face:

"Asking the emperor for advice on matters like this will only lower the emperor's opinion of all of us.

"Father clearly said that we should work together, but we are arguing and attacking each other."

Zhu Jingkun judged that he had only said half of it, and kept the other half in his heart.

If this group of people asked the emperor to ask someone to preside over the meeting, although everyone's evaluation would be lowered, their own evaluation would probably be the lowest.

Because he is the eldest brother and the governor, he is responsible for liaison with the court and he should have the responsibility to preside over the matter.

I can't even occupy the position assigned to me by my father, and I will definitely be considered useless by my father.

Some princes thought of similar possibilities as Zhu Jingkun, so for a moment they really wanted to report this matter.

But Zhu Jingkun's next words stopped their impulse.

Whoever discloses this matter will be labeled as someone who is attacking each other and may be disliked just like the eldest prince who failed to seize the opportunity.

There was a brief silence at the scene, and then the Ninth Prince Zhu Jingtan expressed his thoughts:

"I suggest that we each take one minute to publicly convince others to support us, and then we all vote together.

“If the votes cannot be concentrated, or if the gap between several people cannot be widened, then we will publicly persuade them again and vote again.

"This cycle continues until one person gets more than two-thirds of the votes.

"In short, we cannot ask Father to make a decision on this matter. We must discuss the result among ourselves."

After Zhu Jingtan finished speaking, the eldest prince Zhu Jingkun said with a smile:

"If you just want to argue and delay, I can completely ask why I adopted your suggestion? What qualifications do you have to make suggestions?
"Have the Emperor and other brothers allowed you to make a suggestion? Should we first vote on whether you are allowed to make this suggestion?
“But in order to solve the problem, I now agree with and support your suggestion, and I hope everyone will vote to decide whether to adopt your suggestion.

"I suggest that everyone raise their hands to show support for my ninth brother's suggestion."

When Zhu Jingkun was speaking, the muscles on Zhu Jingtan's face twitched slightly uncontrollably, and he knew that his elder brother was trying to deceive him.

He wanted to avenge the arrow shot at the gate of the palace a few days ago. I was hindering him at that time, and he could also hinder me.

But his final decision also demonstrated his sincerity, hoping to put aside the meaningless conflict and jointly negotiate to deal with the issues at hand.

However, the way he spoke gave people the feeling that he had made obvious concessions, which made people feel uncomfortable.

It was as if he was already presiding over the meeting, and his suggestions were made to him and supported by him.

But at the same time, Zhu Jingkun also raised his hand directly.

The other princes around thought for a few seconds and then raised their hands one after another.

The Tenth Prince spoke at the moment when everyone raised their hands:
"I suggest that we draw lots to decide the order in which we persuade others. Those who support this suggestion can raise their hands."

This time, it was the eldest prince Zhu Jingkun's turn to have his mouth twitch slightly.

Originally, according to age, it was a natural arrangement for me, as the eldest brother, to speak first.

As a result, everyone now has ideas and is trying to seize a small advantage.

Zhu Jingkun couldn't object because if he did, these brothers would think that he definitely supported speaking in order of age.

This made Zhu Jingkun very uncomfortable.

I just want to take the initiative that should belong to me, but it turns out to be so troublesome.

Zhu Jingkun could only raise his hand with a stern face to show his approval:

“Drawing lots is the fairest way.”

But this time someone disagreed, and the Fourth Prince also spoke with a stern face:

“Since we’ve already drawn lots, why not just draw lots to decide who will host the event? Why bother arranging the order of speeches?
"Does everyone think that some of us are incapable of presiding over a meeting?"

The tenth prince couldn't help but frown and looked at his fourth brother.

Zhu Jingkun smiled bitterly and said:
"No, I think the opposite is true, everyone thinks they are better than others and can do a better job as a host.

"So drawing lots to decide the host is not an option. At best, it can only be used to decide the order in which people speak."

The tenth prince immediately agreed:
“Brother Huang is right. We brothers have all been training in different places before and have never worked together directly, so we don’t know each other’s abilities.

"Naturally, we need to show our respective abilities in some way to gain recognition from other brothers."

The Tenth Prince's reason was supported by several princes, but some also opposed it.

The Seventh Prince immediately asked them back:
“But is the way of counting by drawing lots reasonable? How can you ensure that the drawing of lots is absolutely fair?

"We should know that there is actually no way to really make absolutely random numbers. Who takes the numbers first and who takes the numbers later may affect the final result."

Zhu Jingkun said with a straight face this time:

"Seventh Brother, you are just looking for trouble on purpose.

"There is really no way to achieve absolute mathematical fairness by drawing lots.

“But is this the time when we need absolute fairness in mathematical concepts?

"You can try writing down your words and include them in the report to your father."

Zhu Jingkun said and looked at the other brothers:

“If anyone else has similar ideas, they can think about it first.

“Is your thinking and reasoning just a way of stalling or are you exploring the rules of consultative decision-making?

"You can think about how to judge it specifically. Do you dare to write it to your father?"

The Seventh Prince frowned and shut up.

The princes discussed and pondered for a while, and finally decided to support drawing lots.

Everyone took out twelve new decks of Mahjong cards. After agreeing on the order of the card names, everyone opened a deck and took out one card.

In this way, the speaking order of the twelve brothers was determined.

From the moment the twelve brothers met, they started to do these seemingly unreasonable things, but in fact they were brewing basic principles and rules of consultation and deliberation.

The principles that have been established are: no unlimited procrastination or dragging one's feet, and the suggestions and reasons put forward must be aimed at solving the problem.

The basic rules are also rapidly emerging:
Everyone can make suggestions, and the suggestions will be voted on by others through a show of hands, and a decision will be made on the spot whether to implement them.

The host must be able to convince others to support him or her, and the way to decide whether to support is to vote by raising hands, and the order of speaking is determined by counting by drawing lots.

With these principles and rules, the next time you decide on a similar matter, you won’t have to go through the same trouble as you do now.

After the draw, the one who got the first place was the eleventh prince, who was the second youngest.

The eleventh prince held the cards in his hand and felt that this matter was a bit tricky. How could he convince other brothers to support him? He didn't know where to start for a moment.

We are all princes, and we are used to everyone around us cooperating with us, and both our superiors and colleagues are of lower status than us.

Used to doing things in a condescending way, now I have to convince a group of people of equal status who are wary.

The eleventh prince spent some time preparing his emotions and decided to give it a try:

“I think the moderator of the meeting is more important, as he should allow everyone to express their opinions while avoiding unnecessary arguments.

"The main thing is to find out who is arguing as quickly as possible during a discussion. I think I have the ability to do that."

After the eleventh prince made an introduction, he listed some of the decisions he had made in the past and analyzed what kind of things were just arguments.

After the Eleventh Prince finished speaking, most of the princes present did not react at all. They all had stern faces and remained silent.

The eldest prince was very independent this time and expressed his approval with a smile:
"Old Eleven is right. The fundamental principle of internal consultation and joint decision-making is that you cannot use wrangling to undermine the consultation..."

The eleventh prince seemed relieved and smiled at the eldest prince:

"Thank you for your support, brother."

The Ninth Prince Zhu Jingtan could not help but frown, wondering in his heart what the real purpose of his eldest brother was, whether he was trying to show goodwill to the Eleventh Prince.

In the hope that in other subsequent discussions, Old Eleven will support him.

Regardless of whether he thought so or not, Zhu Jingtan felt that he should say something:
"Brother, do you mean to say that you support the eleventh brother as the host of the meeting?"

Zhu Jingkun wanted to grit his teeth in his heart. This Lao Jiu was really a rip-off. He just wanted to flatter him verbally and leave a good impression.

You want me to turn selling well into actual support, but that’s not possible.

Zhu Jingkun smiled and said:
"I now think what Eleventh Brother said is correct, but I haven't heard the opinions of other brothers yet. The final decision will have to be made after everyone has spoken."

At this time, the Seventh Prince found an opportunity:
"Then please don't deliberately argue and delay the formal discussion.

“Since the final decision will be made after everyone has spoken, don’t rashly express meaningless opinions in the middle.

“I think we need to establish a principle to reduce such unnecessary and meaningless expressions.

"That's a waste of all our time and it's actually a delay and a wrangling."

The ninth prince Zhu Jingtan immediately raised his hand to show his support:

"I support Brother Seven."

The eldest prince Zhu Jingkun took a deep breath in his heart and warned himself that these brothers were all monkeys:

"I was reckless. I also support Seventh Brother's suggestion. Let's make a new rule now to avoid invalid expressions from happening again."

The other princes looked at each other and raised their hands one after another to express their approval.

The eleventh prince also raised his hand somewhat awkwardly.

The meeting of the princes added new rules of procedure and then continued with the screening of the moderators.

The eighth prince spoke second.

Although the Eleventh Prince's speech had opened up new ideas, the discussion among the crowd gave the Eighth Prince a little more time to prepare.

But the matter itself was relatively simple. After the Eleventh Prince found a direction that was not wrong, it seemed that no one else had anything to say.

The eighth prince basically followed a similar line of thought, expressing that the host should maintain order to maximize the efficiency of the meeting, etc.

After the Eighth Prince finished speaking this time, all the other princes remained silent to avoid being attacked by others for making meaningless comments.

Several princes spoke one by one. Some of them talked about what they had done in the past, trying to prove their ability, but other princes did not take it seriously.

Most of the princes thought they were very capable, and they were critical of what other princes said and would not easily agree with them.

The eldest prince Zhu Jingkun was ranked seventh. After listening to the speeches of his six brothers, he felt that simply demonstrating his abilities would not be effective.

Zhu Jingkun thought about it for a long time, and when he spoke, he came up with a plan to retreat in order to advance:
“I think what my brothers said is very good. As long as we follow these rules in the future, we will be able to do a good job in the work assigned to us by our father.

“I think all of you are very capable, and we don’t know each other very well.

“I think that having just one person as the host is not the best choice, so I suggest that everyone take turns to host the meeting in the future.

“The chairperson is responsible for maintaining and coordinating order at the meeting, while the others are responsible for monitoring whether the chairperson’s actions are reasonable.

“After everyone has served as a host and we brothers have a basic understanding of each other, we will eliminate those who are not suitable to be hosts based on their hosting abilities.

"Let Eleventh Brother be the host of this meeting. For the next meeting, the host will be decided by drawing lots again."

After Zhu Jingkun finished speaking, all the princes present fell into deep thought.

Several princes thought that what Zhu Jingkun said was right. In fact, they didn’t care much about the host, but they instinctively wanted to seize the initiative.

If everyone takes turns to be the host, then it doesn't matter whether you have the first move or not.

What Zhu Jingkun is suggesting now is actually a collective compromise, or some kind of political deal.

If the stalemate continues and you can't overturn the table, then you can only trade.

(End of this chapter)