The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 313 Awakening
The cabinet was silent.

The doors were tightly shut, the atmosphere was heavy, and even the light seemed to fall silent, not daring to move.

The five cabinet members sat separately, none of them speaking.

Li Xianmu closed his eyes slightly, while the other four looked extremely solemn, silently observing him. They wanted to speak but didn't know what to say, and fell into deep thought once again.

After returning from the Huagai Hall, Li Xianmu told several people about the Empress Dowager's possible concerns, including both good and bad news.

The good news is that the Empress Dowager eventually agreed to what they were going to do.

The bad news is that the Empress Dowager had no choice but to agree, and if anything went wrong, the situation would be irreversible.

This is not exactly a high-stakes gamble.

However, this was a rare instance of the cabinet being pushed to the brink of collapse, the first time in its ten-year political career.

Seeing the tense atmosphere in the cabinet, Yang Rong frowned slightly and was the first to speak sternly: "Things have come to this point, there's no point in thinking about it anymore, this matter must be accomplished!"

Otherwise, what face would the five of us have to sit idly by and command all the officials?

This stern shout was like a thunderclap from the sky, instantly breaking the stagnant atmosphere in the cabinet, and the expressions of Yang Shiqi and the other two softened.

"That makes sense, but this matter is bound to be difficult, and it will certainly not be easy to resolve it quickly and efficiently."

"Is it really that difficult?" To everyone's surprise, Li Xianmu, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, who was sitting at the head of the table, suddenly spoke up and asked a very strange question.

Even Yang Rong, a staunch supporter of Li Xianmu, was somewhat puzzled at this moment.

This matter is naturally difficult; otherwise, why would the atmosphere among the five people in the cabinet be so tense?
What did the Prime Minister mean by these words?

Seeing the questioning looks from the group, Li Xianmu's eyes sharpened, and he repeated, "Is it really that difficult?"

Having said that, Li Xianmu pointed to himself and said softly but firmly, "I, Li Xianmu, am the chief regent appointed by the late emperor before his death. I am here by order of the late emperor to assist the emperor and stabilize the common people. What makes you, my ministers and officials, dare to obstruct me?"

boom!
Like a thunderclap, it struck the other four members of the cabinet, each of them staring at Li Xianmu in shock, completely stunned by his words.

Immediately following was a tingling sensation that spread from his tailbone directly to his scalp. And Li Xianmu was not the only regent in the cabinet.

They were jolted awake by Li Xianmu's words!

The four regents appointed by the late emperor before his death have an indisputable legal basis at this time, as long as they do not encounter the Empress Dowager or the Empress Dowager.

Historically, regents have always fought each other and tried to seize power. However, when regents are to unite, there should be no dissenting voices in the court!

Even the emperor should listen to their advice, let alone the ministers of the court.

With the words "remembering the mandate" attached to them, from this moment on, they were no longer on the same path!
Seeing that the group had been awakened, Li Xianmu once again spoke sternly and loudly: "We are the regents appointed by the emperor. Although this is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, we are entitled to at least one or two privileges to suppress the privileges of all other ministers!"

Shouldn't such privileges be used at this time?

Once this is accomplished, we can suppress the students even without the title of regent!

The reason why regents have more legal authority than ordinary ministers is that they have the late emperor's last will and testament. Once the late emperor is invoked, who would dare to disobey?
The cabinet members understood immediately and replied in unison, "We obey the Grand Secretary's command!"

……

As expected, the cabinet's proposal was leaked out, and almost immediately someone verified its authenticity through spies in the palace, thus naturally gaining the opportunity to confirm its veracity.

Even Li Xianmu personally went to see the Empress Dowager, and after the Empress Dowager approved the matter, he found out everything.

The very next day, an imperial censor submitted a memorial. Their memorial was not a direct request for the Empress Dowager to retract her decree, but rather stated that some rumors and gossip had recently emerged in the capital, and they hoped that the Empress Dowager could dispel them.

On the surface, it was a denial of rumors, but in reality, it was a way to shut up the Empress Dowager.

A ruler's word is law. If the Empress Dowager herself says that this matter is a rumor, then it is not easy for her to go back on her word and push the matter forward again.

The person behind this move handled it with remarkable ease, hoping to completely erase the matter without offending anyone.

However, these memorials, once they entered the cabinet, simply "disappeared".

It never even reached the Empress Dowager; it was dealt with directly in the cabinet. As for how it was dealt with, it was simply detained and kept hidden.

Before anyone else could react...

The cabinet then issued an imperial edict bearing the official seal, ordering the dismantling of various ministries. Except for the Ministry of Personnel, all other ministries with complex responsibilities were to be dismantled and new departments were to be established.

The five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet will each be in charge of some departments, including the five ministries that have been split up, such as the Ministry of Works, as well as the Court of Judicial Review and the Court of State Ceremonies, which have public functions of the court.

The most explosive thing was that it even included the Censorate!
As an independent body separate from the Six Ministries and Five Courts, the Censorate has always been independent of the imperial court's administrative system since its establishment. No one expected that the cabinet would take action against the Censorate this time.

Many people think the cabinet has gone mad.
This directly angered all the major administrative departments of the imperial court. Even the founding emperor had never done this before. Wasn't this putting himself in direct opposition to everyone?

But after most people had read the cabinet's initial plans, many fell silent.

This plan naturally did not specify how to divide the Six Ministries, Five Temples, and Censorate, as this was no simple task.

However, there is a general idea regarding the composition of the departments after the split. First and foremost, this reform does not involve the dismissal of officials. In essence, it is merely a reorganization of departmental functions, rather than a genuine attempt to use this opportunity to eliminate officials.

This provision put most lower-level officials at ease, at least they didn't have to worry about waking up tomorrow to find themselves suddenly unemployed.

Secondly, the newly established department cannot possibly be equipped with a Minister of the Second Rank and two Vice Ministers of the Third Rank, as it is now, along with so many other officials.

The split departments will be smaller, with middle and lower-level officials being reassigned to the new departments, while the fates of the three leaders in each department will differ.

The newly established ministry has only one minister and one vice minister. The minister is a second-rank official, while the vice minister remains a third-rank official.

The expressions of the high-ranking officials who saw this were quite interesting. According to this model, the most opposed ones would naturally be the current Minister and many Vice Ministers.

The Minister was demoted in both rank and power, so he naturally vowed to defend it to the death. Although the Vice Minister's official position remained unchanged on the surface, his power was reduced, so he was naturally dissatisfied.

You have to understand that in the past, the Ministers were among the Seven Ministers or Nine Ministers, people who stood at the pinnacle of the Ming Dynasty. After being split up like this, they were practically reduced to beggars.

As for the Vice Minister, he was originally a second-rank provincial governor who came to the capital and was promoted to the position of Vice Minister. However, after this division, it is no longer considered a very high promotion.

As for governors of the second rank being transferred to the capital, it was a lateral move, not even considered a promotion. Governors of popular regions, such as Jiangnan, Henan, and Shandong, looked down on the position of vice minister.

but……

Many people probably figured out the secret behind it.

After this reform, the number of departments in the capital will inevitably increase significantly; in other words, the number of ministers will inevitably increase significantly.

Some of the vice ministers will inevitably be promoted to ministers. Although the ministers of the future will not be as powerful as before, they will still be the heads of their respective departments, which is worse than being someone else's deputy.

Even more turbulent are the dispatched governors and provincial treasurers. Will they also have the opportunity to be transferred back to the capital to serve as ministers in this newly established department?

In modern society, where development is relatively good in various regions, there are still many people who want to become officials in the capital. How much more so in ancient times, when the capital was the most prestigious place, the vast majority of middle and high-ranking officials were eager to advance and take charge of affairs in the capital.

This was naturally a loophole that Li Xianmu had left long ago; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone so crazy as to offend all the high-ranking officials in the country.

Even the founding emperor had to divide and conquer factions, so what right did he have to truly be an enemy of the world?

As expected, a large number of memorials were submitted opposing the imperial edict after it was issued, but the number of these memorials was far less than anticipated.

The five cabinet members immediately realized that this first step was the right one, and sure enough, many people were still observing or making some preparations.

In the capital, it was a scene of everyone displaying their unique abilities, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.

Numerous passenger ships were hired, countless fine horses galloped out of the capital, and countless people carried letters, rushing through the night to inform relatives, friends, teachers, and others of the sudden major events that had occurred in the capital.

Perhaps only the 600-li and 800-li express courier services can match their speed.

This is an opportunity for countless people to turn their lives around and return to Beijing!

Those in the provinces were a step behind, but officials in the capital received countless visiting cards piled up at the doors of the five Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet on the very day the imperial edict was issued.

The five cabinet members naturally knew that these people were all there to seek promotions, wanting to know if they had any hope of advancement. In particular, the four vice ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, where Yang Shiqi and Hu Ying served as ministers, all came to inquire about this matter.

Even Li Xianmu's Ministry of Personnel received visiting cards from two of his vice ministers.

The main reason is that although the Ministry of Personnel did not participate in the reform, meaning there was no decentralization of power, the Ministry of Personnel had little to delegate.

The Ministry of Personnel's responsibilities were very simple. Over the course of a thousand years, matters such as the imperial examinations were transferred to the Ministry of Rites as early as the Tang Dynasty.

Afterwards, its power was reduced time and again, until now, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the selection, evaluation, and awarding of titles and honors to civil officials throughout the country.

Military officers were assigned to the Ministry of War.

Grand Secretaries and Ministers of Personnel were recommended by the court or by special decree, while all other officials, both inside and outside the court, were either recommended by the Ministry of Personnel in conjunction with other senior officials or selected by themselves.

Their primary responsibility is to recommend officials; other responsibilities have essentially disappeared and become indistinguishable. Any reform would only be a waste of human and material resources, a pointless exercise. That's why they don't participate.

However, regardless of whether they participate or not, once all the other departments have finished their work, the Minister of Personnel will be demoted to the second rank, just like the other other departments.

What worried the Left and Right Vice Ministers was whether the Ministry of Personnel would also only have one Vice Minister left.

After all, all other ministries are like this, so why should the Ministry of Personnel be the only one to be treated differently?
The Ministry of Personnel was indeed special in the plan, since it would be inappropriate to entrust so many affairs to a mere vice minister.

Therefore, Li Xianmu gave a clear answer: "The purpose of the court's reform is to clarify the responsibilities of each department, not simply to regulate them. If a department cannot complete its tasks in the future, additional tasks will naturally be added."

Since the Ministry of Personnel is not taking any action, it won't be doing so anytime soon.

This reassured the two of them, and they left Li Xianmu's residence.

In fact, Li Xianmu had once considered splitting up the Ministry of Personnel.

After all, it's obvious to everyone that, following this restructuring, the Ministry of Personnel, which wasn't split up, now has more power and status than other departments, according to the theory of relativity in officialdom.

Therefore, he conceived the idea of ​​splitting the Ministry of Personnel into two, each responsible for the selection and appointment of officials in a portion of the provinces.

However, fearing that this would lead to a larger-scale confrontation between regional bureaucratic groups, they ultimately abandoned the idea.

This is by no means alarmist.

Throughout history and across the world, regional groups have always been one of the main forces in political struggles.

The mainstream groups in the Ming Dynasty court today are opposed because of their different ideologies of Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind.

However, the shadow of regional groups still lingers within both major groups.

Even the reason why Yang Shiqi was able to slightly rival Li Xianmu was because he had the support of the entire Jiangxi faction behind him.

Jiangxi is a land of outstanding people and abundant resources. Among the three provinces south of the Yangtze River in the past, it was the most outstanding. In the imperial examinations, there were many people who achieved the first and second class ranks. After entering officialdom, these people were able to rise to high positions more quickly.

It has formed an extremely profound power.

This is a historical issue that has existed since the time of Li Qi.

The Jiangxi faction had previously been subtly opposed to Li Qi, but there was no open and aboveboard confrontation.

Later, Li Xianmu subdued eastern Zhejiang, and with his conquest of Jiangnan, Wang Gen went to eastern Zhejiang to spread the philosophy of mind. In the end, he brought together the entire Zhejiang province, including western Zhejiang. Yu Qian even became the successor of the orthodox school of the philosophy of mind. The region that was most opposed to Li Qi at the beginning has now become one of the strongholds of the philosophy of mind.

Jiangxi once intended to align itself with Wang Gen, but lost the initiative due to historical reasons, and thus had to turn to confrontation. After all, they could not accept Jiangxi being subordinate to Zhejiang.

Ultimately, all these people gathered under Yang Shiqi's command. Jiangxi had a strong academic atmosphere, and its research on the philosophy of mind was naturally not weak, with remarkable results. Therefore, many Jiangxi students themselves were wavering between the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of principle. This attitude was also Yang Shiqi's attitude towards Li Xianmu.

They cooperate most of the time, but complete cooperation is impossible.

This is merely a tiny part of the regional politics of the Ming Dynasty; other kinds of open and covert struggles are endless.

Even Li Xianmu wouldn't dare to add fuel to the fire under these circumstances.

If factional strife truly becomes the mainstream in the court, then everything is doomed!

(End of this chapter)