Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63 Early Court Reform (I)

According to the tradition of holding small meetings for major matters and large meetings for minor matters, the morning court attended by the emperor and hundreds of officials was undoubtedly a meeting for dealing with minor matters.

To be more precise, most of the time, the morning court barely dealt with anything. Its purpose was simply to read out previously decided matters and get the emperor's approval.

Like many other traditions, the tradition of holding morning court sessions began with the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. From the outset, Taizu was dedicated to governing the country, yet unwilling to delegate power, he wanted to maintain control over all matters himself. Consequently, he stipulated that 185 matters must be reported to the emperor in person.

If it was only in the morning, the reports would probably have to be submitted from dawn until dawn. Therefore, in order to prevent the court from spending the entire morning just reporting on matters, Zhu Yuanzhang thoughtfully set up afternoon and evening reports in addition to the morning reports, so that everyone could work and submit reports in a timely manner after receiving the imperial edict.

The first major change occurred after the Zhengtong Emperor Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne. Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne at the age of nine and lacked the relentless energy of Taizu. Therefore, new rules were established at court: the morning court session was limited to eight matters, and memorials were required to be submitted to the emperor in writing the day before.

Once this precedent was set, “reporting after the decision is made” replaced “reporting in person and waiting for decision” as the new rule.

After hundreds of years and several generations of simplification, the imperial court proceedings set by Taizu had become a formality: the morning court was no longer held in the main hall, the pomp of Han generals standing on both sides was removed, and the ceremonial processions of horses and trained elephants neighing forward were all abolished.

But even with such simplification, morning court is still a very torturous thing.

This kind of torture was not only for the emperor, but also for all officials.

The emperor held court in his own home, a short walk away from his private sittings. Therefore, even if he had to get up early, he could still stay up later than his ministers. Officials, however, had to rise before dawn and rush to the palace gates to be monitored by the ceremonial officers. Coughing and spitting, even stumbling and falling, not to mention being caught, would result in a report.

So, after persisting for two months, Zhu Changluo decided to sympathize with the officials' suffering.

"The court is almost over." In front of Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet, was a note that had been handed to him not long ago by Wang An, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

"Are you going to draft an imperial edict?" Deputy Minister Ye Xianggao put down the brush in his hand and looked towards the main seat.

"Yes." Fang Congzhe gave a wry smile. He dragged out the word "yes" with a sigh.

"Our Lord Fang is old, please be understanding." Liu Yirong did not forget to retort Fang Congzhe while writing furiously.

"The Emperor's will is to change the daily morning court session to the morning court session at the beginning of each ten-day period. The morning court session will not only announce the affairs of each department or office." In other words, the morning court session will only be held on the first, eleventh, and twenty-first days of each month. And only those matters that are necessary for all officials to know will be announced.

This is much more relaxed than the rules Zhang Juzheng had formulated for the young Emperor Wanli, which required morning court sessions on the third, sixth, and ninth days of every ten days.

Fang Congzhe glanced at Liu Yirong and then said in agreement, "I am indeed old, so I will trouble Elder Liu to write this imperial edict."

Hearing Fang Congzhe's words, Liu Yirong's pen trembled violently. It was this mistake that forced him to rewrite the nearly completed document on the table. "What?"

"I am old and I am afraid that I don't have enough energy to complete this important imperial edict, so I would like to trouble you, Lord Liu, to be the main writer." Fang Congzhe looked tired and his voice sounded as if he had aged a lot.

"Yes, Lord Liu is indeed young and strong. He even got a new concubine this summer, right?" Shen agreed.

"Instead of asking about the family affairs of his colleagues, Lord Shen might as well pay more attention to the affairs of the 'White Lotus Cult.'" Liu Yirong immediately counterattacked and glanced at Ye Xianggao inconspicuously.

Liu Yirong still remembered that when Matteo Ricci died, Ye Xianggao was among those who petitioned the emperor to allow him to be buried in Beijing. He thought that he could use the Jesuit issue to completely push Ye Xianggao, who was "neutral and leaning towards the East," into opposition to the Zhejiang Party.

"Lord Fang means that the cabinet should not reject the emperor's order, but directly draft an edict?" Han Yu raised his head and asked Fang Congzhe with a smile.

"Does Lord Han mean to return the imperial edict to the Imperial Household Department?" Fang Congzhe asked instead of answering.

After the imperial edict re-establishing the Western Investigation Bureau was issued, Fang Congzhe was granted the privilege of riding in a sedan chair in the Forbidden City. This was his first visit since Taichang ascended the throne. Fang Congzhe understood that this favor was more than just a special honor; it solidified his image with the emperor. The emperor, of course, offered this favor under the pretext of "compassion for the aged minister." However, choosing this timing to bestow the award would have led officials to believe that the establishment of the Western Investigation Bureau was a double act between Fang Congzhe and the emperor.

Fang Congzhe could certainly have submitted a petition to decline this favor. However, with the sharp conflict between the "Donglin" and "anti-Donglin" factions, refusing the emperor would have meant admitting defeat. Moreover, the newly established Western Factory was completely different from the Western Factory during the Chenghua and Zhengde eras. If the East Factory case were to be implicated, the entire city of Beijing would be in turmoil. However, within ten days, the factory supervisor Wei Zhongxian submitted a proposal to the emperor to close the case.

After careful consideration, Fang Congzhe decided to keep pace with the emperor as much as possible and hide himself behind the scenes.

It was just a reform of the early dynasty, not a matter of principle like "abolishing the eldest and enthroning the youngest."

Therefore, his first reaction when he received the note was not to oppose it, but to let the Donglin Party offend the officials.

Fang Congzhe thought: Since you, Liu Yirong, have jumped out, let the Donglin Party also taste the feeling of being in a dilemma.

"I...that's not what I meant." Han Yu was choked.

"Then let Han Ge Lao draft the edict," Shen Feng countered. "If I remember correctly, Han Ge Lao presided over the last imperial meeting on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, right?"

"I," Han Yu, was on the verge of tears: "I only said one sentence from beginning to end! And even that was interrupted by the Emperor."

"Everyone!" Shi Jixie tapped the table. "Have you all forgotten what happened in the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign?"

Well said! Liu Yirong and Han Yu praised in their hearts at the same time.

The fight in the duty room suddenly calmed down.

Shi Jikai's question seemed to be asking "you all," but its actual effect was to block Fang Congzhe's "Great Shift of the Universe." Because it was opposition, and the opposition was righteous and awe-inspiring.

In the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun issued a series of decrees to cancel court sessions. After this, the emperor and his ministers gradually drifted apart, and even then, they no longer met.

At this time, Liu Yirong and Han Yu no longer needed to speak: Come on, Prime Minister, have you forgotten it or not?
Ding! The bell rang, and it was time to dismiss the court.

"Huh? What is this?" Zhu Changluo rubbed his eyes, then picked up the notebook handed to him by Wang An.

"Your Majesty, this is the Jinyiwei's impermanence book," Wang An replied.

"Why are you giving this to me? If the Jinyiwei has something to report, just tell me the conclusion directly." Although Zhu Changluo said this, he still opened the Book of Impermanence.

"Luo Sigong said that the Jinyiwei who monitor Westerners can only understand part of the conversation. They can only record the rest using Chinese phonetic characters. But there is no one in the Jinyiwei who understands foreign languages, so we can only ask the emperor to make the decision." Wang An sorted out his thoughts and replied.

"What's all this writing?" Before the introduction of modern punctuation in the late Qing Dynasty, scholars relied on grammar and a sense of language to punctuate sentences. But the notes in this notebook were like garbled text. He could recognize each character individually, but when put together, Zhu Changluo couldn't even punctuate a sentence.

“.” Wang An couldn’t answer this question, so he could only remain silent.

"Ask that Jinyiwei to come to the palace tomorrow and have him translate for me," Zhu Changluo ordered.

"The slaves obey the order."

(End of this chapter)