Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 592: The Ming Dynasty's New and Old Transition
Being in the officialdom is like seeking salted fish but not getting them. Going against the current and constantly seeking higher positions is the instinct of people in this circle.
Now the institutions of the Ming Dynasty court have undergone drastic changes, which is a rare opportunity for officials to move up. If you miss this opportunity, you may have to wait until the dynasty changes to have such an opportunity again.
Therefore, even a deputy official like Fang Zhuangli was overwhelmed, not to mention the officials above him.
"Fang Zhenghua, how many people have come to you to seek jobs recently?"
With a slight smile, Fang Zhenghua bowed and said, "Thanks to the emperor's trust, I have served him closely for more than ten years. So many people think that I can accomplish many great things... Well, after more than a month, I have received about seven or eight hundred visiting cards."
"Hahaha, Fang Bingbi , you're a celebrity too."
"Hey, Your Majesty, please don't make fun of me. More than 90% of these visiting cards can be ignored, but there are still a few that I dare not push away."
"Oh? Which gods and Buddhas can't even you stop them?"
Fang Zhenghua reached into his bosom, took out a small book and flipped through it: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother wants to ask for jobs for her relatives, and the relatives of the Queen and Concubine You also want to take this opportunity to gain some real power..."
"Haha~ Am I that scary? Why did my mother and daughter-in-law come to you instead of me when they wanted to ask for an official position for their relatives? Besides, our Ming Dynasty has its own ancestral system. Relatives of the royal family can only enjoy titles but cannot have real power."
Your Majesty, you have the nerve to say that. Since you became regent, I don't know how many ancestral rules you have abolished. Recently, you even blatantly abolished the ancestral rule of Taizu that "no more prime ministers" should be appointed.
However, Fang Zhenghua could only complain in his heart. He said he didn't dare to say it out loud. He twisted his facial muscles and forced a smile: "Maybe it's because Prince Consort Lu was recently transferred to the Imperial Guard Division as a battalion commander, which made everyone mistakenly think that the emperor doesn't care about the relatives holding real power."
"Uh..." Zhu Youdong was helpless after being pushed by Fang Zhenghua. He scratched his head and said, "Where is the specific list of personnel? Show it to me."
Fang Zhenghua was very careful in his work. He not only recorded the names of the people whom the concubines greeted, but also made detailed notes of their ages, daily moral conduct, etc.
"They are just ordinary people." Shaking his head, "I know about this. I will go back to the palace and explain to them later. If they want to be officials, they can just take the exam. Forget about asking the head of a department for help."
"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Your Majesty, for relieving my stress."
"Alas, it seems that this matter cannot be delayed any longer. If it is delayed any longer, not only will the officials be unstable, but even some irrelevant people will have thoughts in their minds that they shouldn't have."
After standing up and pacing around the room for a few times, Zhu Youdong said, "Notify the three cabinet elders, the three heads of the Ministry of Personnel , and ten people including Cao Huachun, Wei Zhongxian, Tian Ergeng, and Ma Chengzhao to wait in the third meeting room of the Huangji Hall at 2 o'clock this afternoon. Tell the three heads of the Ministry of Personnel to bring the preliminary candidates for each department. I want to come up with a rough framework today."
"As you wish."
Since the establishment of the three-province and six-department system in the Sui Dynasty, there have been minor adjustments in successive dynasties over the past 1,300 years. However, Zhu Youdong's approach of completely abolishing this system and establishing a new modern government system is still a bit radical. Because of this, the entire Ming officialdom is in turmoil: not to mention the Beijing officials, but also the local officials, whose minds are also greatly involved: after the central institutions have been adjusted, the local institutions must also follow suit.
Zhu Youdong originally thought that more time was needed, especially for some newly established departments, and the appointment of the first chief officer should be done with great caution: his character may determine the character of the department for the next several decades or even hundreds of years...
As a result, within just a month, the officials who were seeking official positions almost blocked the three heads of the Ministry of Personnel from going to work, and the entire officialdom fell into turmoil. Faced with such a situation, Zhu Youdong had no choice but to cut the Gordian knot and appoint the heads of various departments as soon as possible, not seeking the best, but seeking safety.
After two days of closed-door consultations between the core ten-member group from the cabinet, military, Ministry of Personnel, inner court, and intelligence and the emperor, the heads of various departments were finally appointed after a major reorganization of the Ming central government's institutions.
The Prime Minister was Wen Tiren, and the Vice Prime Ministers were Yuan Keli and Li Dai.
When a country is in a strict order, personnel is the most important thing in internal management. So Zhu Youdong thought about it and decided to let Sun Chengzong continue to be in charge of the personnel department responsible for the transfer of officials.
The Ministry of Labor is actually the Ministry of Social Security. Of course, it is impossible to have any social security funds or . However, providing relief to disaster victims, guaranteeing workers' minimum wages, and guaranteeing farmers' income are the most basic work to maintain national stability and prevent the lower-class people from rebelling. With the rise of the new bourgeoisie and the proletariat in Ming society, social security is becoming increasingly important at a time when farmers' income is relatively declining no matter how it is guaranteed. So Zhu Youdong split out a department specifically to do this work this time. As for the candidate for the first Shangshu, Zhu Youdong chose the current Governor-General of Nanyang, Chen Shiji: This one was close to the then Crown Prince when he was still a county magistrate. Over the past 20 years, his resume and experience are rich enough, and his loyalty is beyond doubt.
After Chen Shiji was transferred, Peng Ziqin, a former student of Fangshan, took over the position of Governor-General of Central and South China.
The Ministry of Revenue was the most split this time. Zhu Youdong chose Cao Sanxi as the first Minister of Finance: On the one hand, he had been in the position of bank president for too long and had to move. On the other hand, Zhu Youdong was well aware of his own profligate spending. In the past, Xu Honggang would occasionally push him back, but now Wang Shaozheng was weak and always encouraged the emperor to spend more money. Cao Sanxi, a tougher person, must be allowed to manage the country's purse. Otherwise, if I spend all my money now and there is a global war in the future, what will I do when I run out of money?
After Cao Sanxi resigned from the Royal Bank, Li Guojun, a mathematician from Fangshan School, took over the position of bank president. These two, one from a merchant family and the other the son of a clerk, both climbed to the high position of the second rank in the court. If it weren't for the dictatorship of the time traveler, it would be impossible.
Li Guojun's two former deputies, Wang Huaqin, became the director of the General Administration of Taxation, responsible for collecting all taxes in the Ming Dynasty. Wang Zhi took over as the director of the General Administration of Industry and Commerce. The former Minister of Revenue, Wang Shaozheng, was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture at the same level, specializing in agriculture. Cui Chengxiu, who served as an envoy to the Ottoman Empire for many years with Chen Zizhuang, became the Minister of Commerce.
Another department was split from the former Ministry of Revenue: the Audit Office. It was specifically responsible for economic supervision of government departments. Zhu Youdong assigned this department a chief officer who made officials all over the country tremble with fear: Prince Xin Zhu Youjian.
The Minister of Education was naturally Zhang Yicheng, who loved teaching and educating people, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who also managed the Fanyuan, was given to Chen Zizhuang.
The Minister of National Defense was still Yang Hao: the Ministry of National Defense of the Ming Dynasty was actually a military logistics department. The first director of the Military Service Bureau, which was independently responsible for conscription, establishment of reserve forces, placement of retired soldiers, and protection of the interests of officers and soldiers, was Li Shizhong, the chief of Zhu Youdong's guards when he was a child and the former president of the Ming Royal Military Academy.
The first Minister of Public Security was Prince Jian Zhu You (Muxue), who had been working as a magistrate in various places since graduating from Fangshan School.
The main responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice are prison management, prisoner reeducation through labor, litigation, popularization of law, and the future judicial examination of the Ming Dynasty. After repeated discussions, it was finally decided that Wang Zaijin, who had played an active role in the Confucius Mansion case, would be the first Minister of Justice.
The President of the Supreme Court was naturally Xiong Tingbi.
The first Minister of Construction was Wen Zhenmeng: Wen Zhengming's family was the most famous engineering family of the era. Almost all the private gardens of the top dignitaries in the Ming Dynasty were designed by his family. The Ming Dynasty had entered the industrial age, and the scale of cities would expand rapidly. Wen Zhenmeng, who had a profound family background, would take on the heavy tasks of national road planning, new city construction, and old city renovation.
The Minister of Heavy Industry was Yuan Yingtai, who had performed well in the construction of the Hetao Heavy Industry Center, while the Minister of Light Industry was Li Biao, who had served as the governor of Yingtian for many years and was familiar with light industrial production.
Minister of Science and Technology, Xu Guangqi.
Minister of Health, Wu Youke.
Minister of Propaganda, President of the Ming Political College, Zhang Shize.
After Chen Zizhuang, the former head of the Tongzhengsi, was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gu Bingqian, the former governor of Shuntian, became the Tongzhengshi. Sun Chuanting, the former governor of Fujian, took over as the governor of Shuntian. Hong Chengchou became the governor of Yingtian.
Zhao Yan was still the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.
Among this group of chief officials, the imperial tutor party still firmly occupies the core positions, but the teachers and students who really graduated from Fangshan School have begun to emerge . At the same time, after such adjustments, the average age of officials in various departments of the entire central government has dropped from 60+ to 45+.
This is the case in the central government. At the local level, teachers and students from Fangshan School will undoubtedly get more positions. The replacement of the old and the new in the Ming officialdom has gradually begun. The modern talents that Zhu Youdong has spent decades cultivating have begun to step onto the stage!
