Chapter 280 The emperor is still there, but things have changed
Chapter 280 The emperor is still there, but things have changed
The civil service yamen in Beijing can be roughly divided into six departments, six departments, six divisions, five temples, three courtyards, three prisons, two offices and the remnants of the original Zhongshu Province.
There is no need to go into details about the six departments and departments, but these six departments range from being independent to a certain yamen to being subordinate to a certain yamen, and the official grades range from the third rank to the ninth rank. The general affairs envoy is the most prominent, and the general administration envoy is the most noble.
One of the Nine Qings, the Shangbaosi Department is in charge of the official seal of civil servants, the Xingren Department is responsible for running errands for the emperor, the Senglu Department and the Daolu Department are in charge of the world's monks, and the Jiaofang Department, which is responsible for Lehu, is under the Ministry of Rites.
And relatively independent.
As for the five temples, Dali Temple is one of the three ministers, and the minister of Dali Temple is also one of the nine ministers. Taichang Temple is only in charge of rituals and music, Taipu Temple is in charge of horse administration, and Honglu Temple and Guanglu Temple have been introduced in the previous article.
The three hospitals are the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Hanlin Academy, and the Taiyuan Hospital. The three eunuchs are the Imperial Academy, the Qintian Jian, and the Shanglin Yuan Jian. The second mansions are the Zongren Mansion and the Zhanshi Mansion.
The remnants of the Zhongshu Province will either be reduced to small and transparent Zhongshu Sheren, or they will become the current cabinet.
For a long time, the establishment of the central government office in the Ming Dynasty has three points that cannot be ignored.
First, there are a large number of departments and officials who serve the emperor's legal system and enjoyment. Among them, things related to sacrifices, sky viewing, and etiquette are related to the emperor's supreme authoritative legal system "ordered by heaven", and vegetable gardens like Shanglin Yuanjian, too
Imperial medical institutions such as hospitals, kitchen departments such as Guanglu Temple, and some departments under the Ministry of Rites and Works all serve the material and spiritual enjoyment of the emperor.
Secondly, all major matters in terms of direction and review of the country's practical affairs must be handled centrally, but the grades of the chief officials who handle the actual practical matters are too low. In fact, the highest level is only the fifth grade, and they cannot even wear red official robes in the capital.
, how much say do they have?
Thirdly, due to the emperor's requirement to control power, all important decisions must go through the emperor in principle. The overwhelmed emperors gradually allowed the rise of the ceremonial supervisor and the cabinet, but that was just laziness.
In fact, power is still highly concentrated.
Zhu Houcong is also very clear that the existence of this structure must be the "optimal choice" that meets current needs in a large sense.
Before making this decision, he thought for a long time whether this would be a little too hasty.
But after thinking about it, the biggest hurdle is actually the emperor himself: whether he is willing to delegate power, whether he dares to delegate power, and whether he wants so many personal services.
After the Ming Dynasty, imperial power was concentrated to its peak.
When things go to extremes, things must turn against each other. Later, China had no real remnants of hereditary imperial power, while many countries around the world still retained some so-called royal families.
Zhu Houcong weighed it for a long time and decided to take this step.
He can still retain the core power, and in essence still maintain a highly centralized imperial power, but in terms of specific powers to handle government affairs, officials need to be given space. This is also a way to win people's hearts - more official positions
, greater power, better treatment.
In the Jinshen Hall, which has been renamed the National Policy Hall, the conference has not yet been held, and it is still a classroom.
Those who attended the lecture were the governors of various provinces, the political envoys from Zuo, the governors of the two capitals, the nine ministers of Nanjing, and the civil servants of the border towns. This time, the old and new advisers, and the chief officials of the yamen in Beijing were also sitting here.
.
The person in class was naturally Zhu Houcong.
"Guangdong has the Chief Envoys' Department, including the Du'an Envoys' Department, the Punishment Department, the Public Security Department, the Ducha's Department, and the Taxation Department. Under the Chief's Envoy, except for land tax, all other subjects and taxation have been moved to the tax department.
The chief officials of all departments attended the provincial affairs meeting, plus the governors of each province, and the future provincial Xiangxianyuan chief accompanying the two, there were nine people in total."
Zhu Houcong looked at them and pointed to the structure diagram that had been prepared next to him: "The same is true in Beijing. From now on, the general principle is that national policies, provincial affairs, government affairs, and county affairs will decide major matters, while the actual work will be done by various ministries.
The governor, the prefect, the county magistrate, and I all just grasp the direction and coordinate the various government offices. In addition to military affairs, criminal names, public security, constitutional inspections, and taxation, the chief envoy oversees the civil affairs of a province, starting from the fourth-level government.
The order oversees the civil affairs of a government, and the sixth-grade county magistrate oversees the civil affairs of a county."
"As for the center of the imperial court, the cabinet should not be unclear from now on." Zhu Houcong said lightly, "The name is a fifth-grade bachelor, but in fact he is the prime minister. The word cabinet means that he only bows to the emperor internally. From then on,
The cabinet was renamed the State Palace. It is still on duty in the Wenhua Palace, but one of the three former palaces is left, and the meeting is held there. Living in the country, in front of me, is the most important thing in the country!"
The middle is not allowed to be blasphemed.
When entering the Forbidden City, civil and military officials could only use the side door, and only the emperor always used the middle door.
As for the three main halls of the former dynasty located on the central axis, one hall is now reserved for the use of the State Palace, and the cabinet has also removed this word. How trustworthy is it?
"The title of Bachelor of Science will be changed to a title, and all the ministers of state in the State Council will be of the first rank; there will also be a Prime Minister and Minister of State of the first rank." Zhu Houcong looked at everyone, "There will be many practical matters in the future, and the Palace of State will handle them with approval.
No need to go through Zhu’s approval again.”
"All the members of the Zhongshushe belong to the State Palace. There is one Zhongshu Supervisor, the third rank, to assist the Prime Minister and the Minister of State; there are six Zhongshu Ling, the third rank, to assist the six ministers of state. Each of the six ministers of state is in charge of one task.
There is no order of precedence.”
This really gives the Prime Minister, Minister of State and Prime Minister some real power, but it is not without checks and balances now.
"As for the National Policy Conference, there are seven ministers in the State Palace, all of whom serve as counselors. The nine ministers are still the same as before, and they all serve as counselors. However, among the nine ministers, the general affairs envoy is changed to be subordinate to the national policy conference. The general affairs envoy is the second rank and the general affairs envoy
There are two deputy envoys, both of the third rank. One person is responsible for communicating with Zhongshu Supervisor and issuing imperial edicts. The other person is responsible for communicating with the Six Sections and the Imperial Inspectorate. Each of the six subjects has a principal and a deputy responsible for serving matters.
, Zheng, from the fourth rank, there are six general affairs committees, and the third rank. The six departments are all responsible for the affairs, and the general affairs committees form six scientific committees, which are not responsible for impeachment. They specialize in providing advice and suggestions on the military and civil affairs of the six departments, and the general committee of the six departments.
Participate in national policy meetings."
First, the National Policy Conference was used to restrict the entire State Palace, and then the National Policy Conference was connected with the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Six Sections through the General Affairs Department to check and balance the entire State Palace. Within the State Palace, each minister of state was responsible for one department.
Each has two votes and can put pressure on the Prime Minister and Minister of State at national policy meetings.
But it's not over yet.
"In addition to the chief of the imperial study room, the assistant director of the Beijing Ying Rongzheng under the Metropolitan Procuratorate participates in the national policy meeting. The Wuying Palace has a military affairs meeting, with one general staff and several staff officers. One of the military affairs general staff, one of the five military governors, the capital
There is one battalion admiral, one chief security officer, and one chief tax officer, so a total of twenty-four people will be present at the national policy meeting. At the enlarged meeting every three years, just like today, many more people will be present."
The military's right to speak in national policy meetings has been further enhanced. Originally, only Cui Yuan represented the honorable ministers of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, and only Yang Yiqing, an important minister from the border town, was present. First, Wang Shouren and then Yao Rong attended on his behalf. Now, a total of
There will be five people linked to military interests.
The top-level structure has been determined, followed by the six departments and other yamen.
These departments are more or less linked to the new system in Guangdong. Among them, the Ministry of Rites has separately established the Department of Cultural and Educational Purification and the Department of Religious Affairs in terms of culture and education, the Ministry of Industry has specially set up the Department of Technical Litigation and Purification, and the Ministry of Household has specially set up a higher-level department.
They are almost in a parallel state, with the chief officer being the second-rank Taxation Department, and the Ministry of War has newly established two departments, namely, the Recruitment Department and the Armament Department.
In contrast, all the departments under the six ministries are headed by a certain right minister, so the number of right ministers has greatly increased; and the general director responsible for the daily official affairs of each department is designated as the fourth rank.
Next is Taipu Temple. This department underwent the biggest change after Ma Zheng was taken away by the Qun Mu Superintendent. Its new identity became the Director-General of Public Security.
The department no longer exists, and the officials in charge of horse administration have no connection with this line. However, the Directorate-General of Public Security suddenly changed from a relatively marginal department to an extremely important department.
This chief of public security can participate in national policy meetings, and he has the rank of second-grade military attache!
As for Guanglu Temple, Taichang Temple, Xingrensi, Senglusi, Daolusi, Shanglinyuanjian, etc., they have either been merged into Liubu and other yamen, or will be changed into enterprises under a certain ministry.
Finally, there is the Hanlin Academy.
"The Imperial Academy is hereby reinstated to include scholars with all kinds of arts and arts. It consists of the Wenhua Garden, the Classics and History Garden, and the Baigong Garden. From now on, the Hanlin bachelor's degree will be a meritorious title and will not be awarded without merit. Except for the Baigong Garden, the rest are as before. Wenhua Garden
The imperial edict waiting room under Huayuan is still located in the palace."
From not being admitted to the Hanlin cabinet to not being awarded the Hanlin title without merit, from being the best Jinshi to the establishment of the Baigong Garden, the way for Hanlin elites to rise has been completely changed.
The emperor's wishes were too clear: focus on practicality and efficiency.
To this end, they did not hesitate to provide more official positions of fourth rank and above, and they did not hesitate to give up the power of some government affairs to be decided independently by the State Council.
At a glance, the important departments in Beijing's government agencies have not actually undergone major changes. Some of the interests of the six departments have been removed, but some powers have been added. Although Taipu Temple was the most severely punished, it has transformed into a much more prominent position.
Directorate General of Public Security.
In fact, the biggest changes can only be felt personally by those who are in the second rank or above: the establishment of the State Palace and the changes in the National Policy Conference.
Then comes the extremely important question: how to financially guarantee so many additional officials and the salaries of so many honorary titles in the future.
"Three years." Zhu Houcong looked at them, "Many of the expenses in the palace have been purchased. Within three years, all purchases will be made. After three years, if the new law can take shape, the income of the financial plan will be
and expenditures will eventually be separated. If I feel relieved at that time, the treasury will begin to implement unification. From then on, budgets, final accounts, and various ministries can be clarified."
The total amount of money and assets confiscated during the "treason and property raids" that started last year was a huge amount, far more than the money confiscated in the Qian Ning and Jiang Bin cases.
In the early days of implementing the new law, it was really about enriching the country.
Now Zhu Houcong is cutting back on his expenses and has also set up 16 state-owned enterprises to increase revenue.
Spend these three years with the money gained from ransacking homes. If the new method can really bear fruit, it will be able to enter its own cycle.
At that time, we will really be faced with how to manage the Ming Dynasty's financial affairs well, and a Ministry of Finance that can manage unified management and know the generally accurate revenue of the country's entire fiscal revenue is indispensable, and a unified treasury is indispensable.
Today, the emperor's own inner treasury and the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue are still managed separately, which is quite confusing.
If Zhu Houcong hadn't often lent money to the Ministry of Revenue, many things would have been called "treasury deficit" now.
The Ming Dynasty did not have a unified treasury, and the Ministry of Revenue had always been limited in the small financial structure. The emperor himself was the largest expenditure item in the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, the unified feeling of all the ministers present is: Your Majesty is really drawing your own blood to support the Ming Dynasty for the new law.
The emperor is really...
Next, some important candidates were "recommended" on the spot.
This formal national policy meeting was preceded by a half-class, half-discussion meeting, where everyone just recommended their favorite candidates.
Subsequently, the emperor will decide on the matter at a formal national policy meeting.
But everyone knows that now is the time for ventilation. As a smart person, you need to know now who will be responsible for what things in the future, so that you can give pertinent opinions during formal discussions and facilitate the elected people to carry out their work.
First, there are several newly established important ministers who can participate in national policies: the General Staff of the Military Affairs Council, the Director-General of the Public Security Department, the Director-General of the Taxation Department, and the General Secretary of the Sixth Section.
Then, there were several other important ministers serving the new imperial court: two general affairs envoys and deputy envoys, Zhongshu Jianzhongshuling, and the six chiefs and deputies were all assigned.
Finally, there are a new group of senior officials in the six ministries including the third-rank right minister, the fourth-rank general secretary, and other red-robed senior officials of the fourth rank and above in other ministries.
During this process, Nanjing Jiuqing was on pins and needles.
It seems that the six bureaucracies have not changed much, but the heads of the six bureaucracies in the north and south now have ministers of state who are in charge of government affairs.
At this moment, the grades of many officials within the yamen in Beijing have been upgraded, but it is not said that the same will happen in Nanjing.
In the future, it will also be a department under the Sixth Department. In the Beijing Sixth Department, the right assistant minister of the third rank will be in charge, and the general manager of the fourth rank will be in charge. In the Nanjing Sixth Department, the managers of the departments will only be the right ministers of the fifth rank.
Although the six departments in Beijing have always been the most important, at least their superficial titles are the same.
Nowadays, the gap in rank has widened. The various bureaucracies in Nanjing must first be managed by Beijing, and then they will be abolished.
The Nanjing Jiuqing looked eagerly at the heated discussion in the palace, knowing that this was just a bait thrown by the imperial court to these Nanjing Jiuqing first.
Should we jump on the train of Beijing government office restructuring and join the Beijing court or even the national policy meeting?
This means that from now on, we must respond to the call of His Majesty and the National Policy Council, and gradually bring all the officials in Nanjing to Beijing. When only a group of old, weak, sick and disabled people are left in the Nanjing government offices, it will be natural for the Nanjing government offices to be abolished.
With a good official position in front of them, looking at the real prime minister who is about to appear, looking at His Majesty who has obviously already planned it, and the new and old advisers now, they don't need to think too much, they just go crazy towards some old advisers with whom they have friendship.
Wink.
This time is a real big change in the top leadership of the imperial court.
From top to bottom, there are the Taxation Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Public Security Department. These three independent departments will obviously extend vertically to each county. They only accept the leadership of local chief officials, but are controlled by their superiors. This is completely new.
system.
The original six ministries and ministers of state have also greatly increased their autonomy.
There is no doubt that those who cannot keep up with the version will be the first to be eliminated. On the contrary, those officials in green robes have clearer powers and more pictures of promotion and transfer.
After a group of candidates were selected for these newly established important positions, there was a silence in the palace. They did not touch the Prime Minister, Minister of State and the additional minister of state, but discussed the positions to be established in Wuying Palace.
Military meeting.
Yang Yiqing was actually elected as the first candidate for the military general staff, which means that he will not become the minister of state, and he will completely enter the military attache sequence from now on.
But this also means that there can also be civil servants in the military affairs meeting.
"The Minister of War, the Minister of Household Affairs, the Minister of Industry, and the Minister of Military Affairs are all assigned to serve as staff members of the military affairs conference. There are also four staff positions. They can be both civil and military. They must know the military."
Not surprisingly, Cui Yuan immediately elected Gu Shilong, the new public minister who had resigned and wanted to avoid the limelight, and Ma Yong, the chief minister of the Guangdong Public Security Department who had made meritorious services.
Fei Hong had previously recommended Zhang Jing, the water patrol censor who was quite knowledgeable during the Sichuan Rebellion, to serve as the new fourth-rank military commander, and Yang Yiqing recommended two more border generals.
Wang Qiong recommended Wang Shouren as the Minister of War, and this time he officially began to move the position of the Six Ministers in Beijing.
Subsequently, Yang Tan formally recommended Wang Qiong as a supplementary minister of state to take charge of official affairs.
The Great Heavenly Official cannot join the cabinet, but now the rules have changed.
The emperor is still there, but things have changed.
The six ministers moved, and finally pointed to the supreme position in the minds of civil servants: the prime minister, prime minister, and minister of state.
They originally thought that this must be Yang Tinghe's position, but unexpectedly, no one from the old advisers said anything.
Then, it was Yang Tinghe who saluted and said: "My younger brother Tingyi has been recommended to succeed Wang Bo'an as the governor of Jiangxi, and my minister Yongxiu has been recommended to be the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. It is not appropriate for me to attend the national policy meeting again. I recommend Fei Zi to be the prime minister of state affairs."
Minister Fei Gongliang joined the cabinet and oversaw the constitution of Sichuan. His virtues and talents are far-reaching and his prestige is great. I am already old. I ask Governor Yingtian to work with Governor Jiang Jingzhi of Huaiyang to assist His Majesty in clarifying the major problems of river transportation, maritime transportation, and the Yellow-Huaihe River Flood.
, and build a foundation for the Ming Dynasty for all eternity."
There was silence in the hall. For other people who did not often hang out in national policy meetings, this decision was too important.
The leader of the new party gives way to the leader of the "old party".
Let the old party implement the new law, and the leader of the new party guides Zhili with his sword. This is not a brave retreat, but a veteran who continues to charge.
There is a governor of Huaiyang and a governor of Yingtian in Southern Zhili. On the surface, they do not demolish Southern Zhili, but in fact the intention is obvious.
As for the two brothers Yang Tinghe, one is in Nanjing and the other is in Jiangxi, these two brothers are actually the governors of the important cultural and educational areas in the south of the Yangtze River. It is certain that the government and the public are talking about it.
Coupled with the fact that Yang Shen, who was the right minister in charge of the Provincial Cleaning Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the emperor trusted the Yang family, and the Yang family was going to work frantically to clear away the tax interests in Jiangnan.
Fei Hong was previously shocked by the idea of establishing a new prime minister, Prime Minister and Minister of State, but he really didn't know that Zhu Houcong and Yang Tinghe had made this decision.
In the blink of an eye, he understood the significance of what Yang Tinghe had said to Zhu Houcong before, so he felt very complicated.
Does this count as Yang Tinghe's compensation for not taking care of his mistakes in the past, which resulted in his ancestral grave being dug up?
In any case, this is also an important event in history. After more than a hundred years, the new official prime minister of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Houcong nodded: "Do you have any other candidates to recommend?"
He nodded as if he understood what Yang Tinghe said, but everyone else lowered their heads: Although all smart people in the world already know that Fei Hong is an acting insider, he does represent a relatively conservative faction.
.If Fei Hong becomes prime minister, this group of people will definitely take over the banner of the new law.
Sometimes they don't really oppose the new law, but they are unable to protect their own interests and future because they are not in office.
But that will change later.
Zhu Houcong then said: "That being the case, I would like to share my views on the new laws in the Jiajing Five Years. Your Majesty and others will also carefully consider their suggestions to formulate a rough strategy, and then review the details at the national policy meeting. I think that next year we will first clear the land and rebuild the land.
Yellow book, reform of the government office. When raising sons and officials in the world, it is advisable to mobilize them to serve as officials. Those who do not want to serve as officials, if they support the imperial decree, can be awarded the title of local sage. What do you think, governors, who are in charge of the administration of a province? "
The establishment of eighteen-level rural virtuous people, in addition to opening up a way for farmers, industry and commerce to rise, the most important purpose is indeed this.
After next year, if the local gentry in the Ming Dynasty do not want to become officials, then they will cooperate with the court to sort out the land and people in their families, and they will become rural sages.