Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

The next morning, wisps of incense smoke drifted from the bronze incense burner inside the Wuying Hall.

Sun Chengzong, Sun Chuanting, and Hong Chengchou stood on the left, while Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen stood on the right.

"Wang Dehua, issue an imperial edict to Li Banghua in Baoding, ordering him to return to the capital and assume the post of Minister of Military and Political Affairs!"

"As you command!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengzong stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the most urgent matter at hand is to raise funds for the soldiers outside the city and to provide compensation for the soldiers who died in the Battle of Shuntian Prefecture!"

Sun Chengzong was not interested in whether the military and political bureau established by Zhu Jian was a replica of the cabinet. He believed that the most important thing was the military pay. A mutiny of 60,000 to 70,000 troops in the capital was no small matter.

The one million taels of silver distributed before the war will at most last until the end of next month. If the soldiers haven't received their pay by the end of next month, they will riot. If the court can't raise enough pay in another month or two, a mutiny is very likely...

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "I know what I'm doing!"

"Chengchou, in the name of the Military and Political Bureau, issues a troop rotation order, appointing Sun Yingyuan to lead his 3,000 troops to Xuanfu to relieve the remaining border troops there. Zhou Yuji will be transferred to Datong for troop rotation, and Wang Tingchen will be transferred to Shanxi for troop rotation! The border troops being relieved of their posts shall go to the capital to collect their military pay!"

The three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi currently have more than 10,000 soldiers left. The largest force, more than 8,000, is under the command of Wang Pu, the general of Datong. The other two towns together have about 5,000 to 6,000 men. These are all elite border troops from the vicinity of Shanxi.

"I obey your decree!"

"I hereby declare that I am training 200,000 new soldiers near the capital. You are in charge of this matter! I will give you two months to train 50,000 new soldiers first, and the rest can be trained slowly. First, replenish the troops of Generals Gao Jie, Liu Guoneng, Cao Bianjiao, Zhou Yuji, Sun Yingyuan, and Wang Tingchen to 12,000 men each!"

Sun Chuanting stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Yes! But what about the military pay, equipment, armor, and other necessities for the new army?"

"Separate the artisans from the Ministry of Works' Ordnance Bureau and the Imperial Household's Armory Bureau, and establish them as the Ordnance Department under the Military Administration Bureau. They will be responsible for the unified manufacture of weapons!"

Zhu Jian integrated the two departments capable of manufacturing weapons and armor into one, using them to produce weapons and armor to equip the new army. Although the newly established Ordnance Department was supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Military Affairs of the Military and Political Bureau, in reality, Zhu Jian himself had the final say. Now, all the power of the Military and Political Bureau came from the emperor.

"What should we do if officials from the Ministry of Works obstruct the craftsmen?" Sun Chuanting asked nervously.

Sun Chuanting believed that the Ministry of Works would not easily release such a department that could extract illicit gains, and would certainly obstruct it.

"kill!"

"The nation is in peril now. The Military and Political Bureau is in charge of all affairs. Anyone who disobeys the orders of the Military and Political Bureau will be executed!"

Zhu Jian felt no guilt about the murder. He believed that anyone who dared to stop him must have ulterior motives, and that killing them was the right thing to do.

Upon hearing Zhu Jian kill someone directly, Sun Chengzong was shocked and stepped forward to advise, "Your Majesty, wouldn't that earn you a reputation for indiscriminate killing?"

"If they don't stop them, there will be no problem! If they do stop them, then they brought it on themselves, and they can't blame me!"

Sun Chengzong said, "Your Majesty, why not imprison him first?"

"If we don't kill a few, the rest won't learn their lesson. Just putting them in jail won't stop others from doing the same thing!"

Zhu Jian was determined to kill a group of officials, regardless of whether they were honest or corrupt. In his eyes, there were no good or bad people, only those who did things and those who didn't. Only when these officials who obstructed the court's reforms were they considered good officials, could they be considered good officials.

"emperor!"

Seeing that Sun Chengzong was about to speak, Zhu Jian waved his hand to interrupt him: "Grand Secretary Sun, there's no need to advise on such trivial matters. Natural disasters are frequent now, and we are beset by internal and external troubles. We cannot act as we did during times of peace and prosperity!"

Seeing this, Sun Chengzong could no longer offer any advice. The current situation of the Ming Dynasty required a strong approach.

"Shanxi is currently suffering from frequent natural disasters, and local governments are failing to provide adequate relief. The Military and Political Bureau has ordered the transfer of Zhang Bingwen, the Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong, to the position of Governor of Shanxi, overseeing the Shanxi Provincial Administration Commission, the Provincial Surveillance Commission, and the Provincial Military Commission!"

Zhang Bingwen, while serving as the Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong, defended Jinan and resisted the Qing army. The following year, he died for his country, and his wives and concubines went to Daming Lake to commit suicide in his honor. Several of his maids also drowned themselves in the lake. In Zhu Jian's view, he was a man of principle and could be put to good use.

Sun Chengzong asked, "Should I be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs?"

The position of governor is not a fixed one now; it is usually established temporarily to deal with local crises. The addition of the military rank of admiral has become the norm. Zhu Jian did not mention this, so Sun Chengzong reminded him.

"No, military affairs will be under the unified command of the Military and Political Bureau! But he can control the provincial garrisons, government officials, and so on! Write the imperial edict and affix its seal now!"

The normal procedure for appointing a governor was presided over by the Minister of Personnel, with the participation of high-ranking officials such as the Nine Ministers and the Censorate in the capital. A list of 2-3 candidates was formed, and a final agreement was reached. The Ministry of Personnel or the Grand Secretariat drafted a specific list based on the imperial edict, which was then approved by the emperor and stamped with the imperial seal before being issued as an imperial edict.

Zhu Jian established the Military and Political Bureau with the aim of abolishing the cabinet, the Ministry of Personnel, and other officials of the Censorate, which constituted a form of dictatorship.

This was mainly because Zhang Juzheng, during his tenure, reinstated the system of prime ministership that had been abolished during the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty.

If an imperial edict is issued without the drafting and seal of the Grand Secretariat, lower-ranking officials will not even recognize it, regarding it as a blank edict. Similarly, without the Grand Secretariat's consent, officials appointed by the emperor will not accept their appointments and will not take office. Therefore, the emperor can only govern the country by relying on the Grand Secretariat.

The cabinet's responsibility to draft imperial edicts was given by the emperor. Initially, the cabinet only drafted the edicts and could not negate them or issue them with an official seal.

As a result, Zhang Juzheng infringed on the rights of the emperor, and the drafting and issuance of documents by the cabinet became a practice where the emperor's word was not valid without the cabinet's approval, which remained in place until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Jian's establishment of the Military and Political Bureau, riding high on his great victory, marked the beginning of a complete replacement of Zhang Juzheng's cabinet system.

Zhu Jian thought for a moment and then said, "In addition, appoint Deng Qian, the Shandong Provincial Councilor, as the Governor of Zhili, in charge of the three ministries! He will also be exempt from military duties! The Governor's office will be located in Baoding!"

During the Battle of Jinan against the Qing army, Deng Qian stood guard on the ramparts for ten days and nights until his arrows and stones ran out. After the city fell, he was executed by dismemberment. His mother, Lady Huang, refused to eat in the countryside and followed her son in death. She was a loyal and upright man with a strong backbone, and could be considered a capable leader.

Upon hearing the word "yamen" (government office), Sun Chengzong, who was writing the imperial edict, paused and looked at Inspector Zhu with a puzzled expression: "Yamen?"

The position of governor was temporary, unlike the Three Departments which had their own offices. Therefore, when Sun Chengzong heard the word "office," he thought Inspector Zhu had made a mistake...

"Yes, I intend to establish a permanent provincial governor's office to oversee the three provincial offices. Currently, the three provincial offices are of equal rank in each province, and when it comes to disaster relief and grain procurement, they pass the buck to each other, causing stagnation in government affairs. Therefore, from today onwards, provincial governors will be permanently appointed in each province, but they will not concurrently be in charge of military affairs!"

Sun Chengzong nodded slightly after hearing this. He also believed that the position of governor should be permanent, but the reason it wasn't was due to resistance from the imperial court, which was now much less...

Currently, the governors of Shanxi (Zhang Bingwen), Henan (Zhang Qiping), Shandong (Song Xuezhu), and Zhili (Deng Qian) are all capable individuals. Therefore, Zhu Jian entrusted them with the administrative and civil affairs of these four provinces, while military power remained in the hands of the Military and Political Bureau...