My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 398 The Legend of the Ministry of Personnel, Part Three

In the current court, when it comes to selecting and appointing officials, Yang Sizhong, the Minister of Personnel, is naturally the best.

In Su Ze's view, even his mentor, Prime Minister Gao Gong, was far inferior to Yang Sizhong in his ability to judge people.

Back then, Yang Sizhong discovered many talented people in the Office of Transmission.

The Ming Dynasty achieved considerable diplomatic success in Korea, Ryukyu, and Southeast Asia, all of which were inseparable from Yang Sizhong's discerning eye for talent.

Su Ze also heard from Shen Yiguan that Tang Xianzu, who was arranged by Yang Sizhong to go to Korea, had already aroused fervent admiration in Korea.

Tang Xianzu was originally a successful candidate in the provincial examination and was going to return to participate in this year's metropolitan examination. However, from the king to the common people, no one in Korea was willing to let Tang Xianzu leave Korea. So they surrounded the place where he lived and refused to let Tang Xianzu return to his country.

It is said that Tang Xianzu was moved to tears by the enthusiasm of these Koreans and composed a song on the spot.

This little song depicts the hardships he faced on his path to the imperial examinations and expresses his longing for the future.

This little tune has become wildly popular in North Korea, resonating with disillusioned scholars there.

Despite the shared sentiment, the Koreans were still reluctant to let him return to the Ming Dynasty, especially since Tang Xianzu wanted to return to the Ming Dynasty to participate in the imperial examination.

Korean scholars unanimously believed that with Tang Xianzu's talent and reputation, he would surely pass the imperial examination with flying colors, and then he would not return to Korea.

Thus, Tang Xianzu missed this imperial examination.

Su Ze almost burst out laughing when he heard this; he never expected Tang Xianzu to be so unlucky.

However, Tang Xianzu's reputation in Korea also enabled Feng Xueyan, the chief of the Korean Tongzheng Bureau, to thrive in Korea.

He first persuaded Korea to set up troops along the Yalu River to join forces with the Ming army in Liaodong to suppress the remnants of the Jurchen tribes.

Although the Koreans were weak in combat, the Ming Dynasty's expectation of them was to strictly guard the border, as long as the Jurchens were not allowed to escape into the territory of Korea.

Li Chengliang, the Liaoyang General who was reinstated, led his troops to defeat the Jianzhou Jurchen tribes twice and successfully beheaded the leaders of the two rebellious tribes on the banks of the Ya River.

In addition, Feng Xueyan persuaded the King of Joseon to hold a military examination in Joseon and establish a small navy.

The role of this naval force was to assist the Ming Dynasty's navy in escorting merchant ships and preventing Japanese pirates from roaming the seas and harassing Korea.

Su Ze noticed a Korean man named Yi Sun-sin who had become the top scholar in the Korean military examination. These newly appointed Korean military scholars were now training with the Ming Dynasty navy at the Jeju Island naval base.

If the Korean State Administration Office has become a significant force in the Korean court.

The Ryukyu Administration Office had already risen above the Ryukyu court.

After Wu Shaozu, the head of the Ryukyu Administration Office, helped the Ryukyu royal family expel the infiltrating forces of Japan, the Ryukyu king entrusted almost all of the Ryukyu's national affairs to Wu Shaozu.

Wu Shaozu originally thought that his control over the Ryukyu government would be opposed by the Ryukyu nobles.

Unexpectedly, the entire Ryukyu Kingdom, from top to bottom, took these things for granted. Some nobles even requested to become Ryukyu's vassals.

Wu Shaozu was naturally very happy. He felt that as long as Ryukyu submitted to the Ryukyu government, his office in the Ryukyu administration could be abolished, and he could return to his country.

However, due to various considerations, the officials in the court rejected Ryukyu's request to become an annexed country.

Left with no other choice, Wu Shaozu could only remain in Ryukyu as the retired king.

It must be said that Wu Shaozu did indeed govern Ryukyu very well.

Wu Shaozu leveraged the geographical advantages, defining Ryukyu as a transit center for maritime trade and proposing a tax-free policy to attract surrounding ships to dock.

Although ships entering the port were exempt from taxes, Ryukyu was able to generate substantial income and create numerous jobs through these maritime trade services.

The best job among them is that of a navigator who is fluent in Chinese.

Foreign ships would now first go to Ryukyu, where they would hire a navigator who was familiar with the laws of Ming Dynasty ports, and then this navigator would guide the ships to Ming Dynasty ports.

These navigators served as translators and guides; they also knew the specialties of major ports in the Ming Dynasty and were familiar with customs declaration and other tax procedures.

In other words, hiring such a Ryukyu navigator is equivalent to hiring a bosun, translator, and business and tax advisor.

Ryukyu was originally a small country, but now the number of ships entering and leaving the Ming Dynasty is increasing day by day. This job alone can bring a large number of high-quality jobs to Ryukyu.

Not to mention ship supplies, purchase of nautical charts, and crew expenses, all of which can bring a lot of revenue to Ryukyu.

Thanks to this, Ryukyu became increasingly wealthy, and Wu Shaozu's prestige in Ryukyu grew ever higher.

Of course, Wu Shaozu's return to China is becoming increasingly unlikely.

The achievements of the first two officials had already earned them high regard from the various government offices in the capital, while Zhang Xuan, the head of the Nanyang Tongzheng Office, was the most outstanding among the three overseas Tongzheng Offices.

Of course, Zhang Xuan was able to achieve such results because, in addition to being the chief of the Nanyang Administration Bureau, he also served as the tutor of the Prince of Chu.

Manila welcomed the King of Chu of the Ming Dynasty as its ruler. However, the King of Chu was young, so Zhang Xuan, the Grand Tutor of the King of Chu, took over the administration of Manila's affairs.

Zhang Xuan's achievement in Southeast Asia was his rapid assistance to the King of Chu in expanding his territory.

The Kingdom of Manila-Luzon was originally a small kingdom consisting of the area around Manila City and some princely states outside the city.

Of course, Luzon is vast and sparsely populated. If Manila Luzon were placed in the Ming Dynasty, it would be about the size of ten counties.

The Kingdom of Luzon in Manila, by recognizing the King of Chu as its ruler, directly became the first tier in the Ming Dynasty's tributary system.

According to Suze's tributary system, Manila Luzon could enjoy many preferential treatments, and Manila Luzon's merchant ships could enjoy almost the same treatment as Ming Dynasty merchants.

Through this preferential treatment, Manila, originally a small city-state, immediately became a major power in Southeast Asia.

Then, after the Portuguese and the Ottomans went to war, Zhang Xuan once again demonstrated his excellent diplomatic skills.

Zhang Xuan kept contacting the envoys of both countries, offering them various deals, and ultimately obtained several Portuguese colonies in Luzon at a very low cost.

The price Manila Luzon had to pay was merely "verbal support for the Portuguese" and, during the war, not to cut off the Portuguese trade routes and to allow them to continue docking at Luzon's ports.

In doing so, the Portuguese effectively transferred all their influence in Luzon to the Ming Dynasty.

The local lords they supported naturally submitted to the Ming Dynasty without any burden.

As a result, the King of Chu, who was only a few years old, saw his vassal states grow several times over out of thin air.

When this news reached the capital, the officials were both happy and anxious.

The benefits that overseas land can bring are now evident to everyone.

Any official with a modicum of foresight no longer opposed overseas colonization; the only point of contention was the cost of colonization.

Zhang Xuan expanded the territory of the "King of Chu" without losing a single soldier, which naturally pleased everyone.

However, with such a large fiefdom for the King of Chu, this would become a problem once the King of Chu grew up.

Yang Sizhong's keen eye for talent meant that when Su Ze encountered a problem in selecting the head of the Public Security Bureau, he naturally thought of Yang Sizhong first.
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Mu Changyou, a centurion of the Imperial Guard, happened to be at the Ministry of Personnel on business.

Mu Changyou's work did not go smoothly. The Ministry of Personnel was the most well-informed department in the entire Ming Dynasty, so from the moment Mu Changyou stepped into the Ministry of Personnel, they knew that he was the younger brother of the current Duke of Qian and an officer in the Imperial Guard Battalion of the Capital Garrison.

As the younger brother of the Duke of Qian and a guard by the emperor's side, he was a figure that would earn him the respect of the Ministry of Personnel.

Despite his politeness, Mu Changyou visited the Ministry of Personnel three times, but the matter was still not resolved.

The matter Mu Changyou came to handle was very simple: to apply for a government office for the Imperial Guard.

As the emperor's personal guards, they naturally needed an office to work in, and this request did not seem excessive.

But the Imperial Guard has been stalled for a long time over this matter.

The reason is simple: the Imperial Guard wanted to apply for an office next to the Imperial Study to provide close protection for the emperor.

However, this proposal was quickly met with unanimous opposition from the civil servants.

Several shrewd individuals in the court had long seen through the thoughts of the nobles, who wanted to regain their position as military advisors to the emperor through the Imperial Guard, and even wanted to compete with the civil officials for control of the army.

This is something that neither the cabinet nor the Ministry of War can tolerate.

The offices of the Ming Dynasty's Grand Secretariat were located in the Wenyuan Pavilion, which was quite a distance from the emperor's living quarters.

The office of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs was located in the west wing of the emperor's sleeping quarters. This was because the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs was an inner court institution and needed to be close to the emperor.

What merit do you Imperial Guards have that you think you can get closer to the Emperor than the Directorate of Ceremonial?

What are their true intentions?!
Therefore, the suggestion given by the outer court was to have the Imperial Guards find a place outside the palace to serve as their office.

Of course, directly opposing it would make it seem like the civil officials were targeting the Imperial Guard.

At this point, the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Cabinet began to tacitly pass the buck.

The cabinet said that this matter was a matter for the inner court and should be arranged by the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs argued that the establishment of the new Beijing Garrison was the responsibility of the Ministry of War, and since the Imperial Guards were one of the new armies, their offices should also be arranged by the Cabinet.

After being kicked a few times, the Imperial Guard finally realized what was happening and went directly to the Emperor.

Therefore, the emperor issued an edict ordering the outer court to find a suitable government office.

Then another round of passing the buck began among the six departments.

The Ministry of Personnel passed the buck to the Ministry of Revenue, saying that the allocation of funds and the arrangements of government offices were matters for the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue passed the buck to the Ministry of War, saying that the Imperial Guard Battalion was under the Ministry of War's jurisdiction.

The Ministry of War passed the buck to the Ministry of Rites, saying that setting up an agency within the palace was a matter concerning the court's regulations and also the palace's feng shui, so the Ministry of Rites was asked to find a solution.

The Ministry of Rites then passed the buck to the Ministry of Justice. Since it was a matter of imperial law, the Ministry of Justice should find the relevant laws and regulations and follow the ancestral laws.

The Ministry of Justice passed the buck to the Ministry of Personnel again. They found an article in the Great Ming Code that assigned offices to various ministries, which was originally the Ministry of Personnel's responsibility.

Then Mu Changyou was kicked out by the Ministry of Personnel again.

This time, Mu Changyou saw through the Ministry of Personnel's tactics, so he went straight to Yang Sizhong, the Minister of Personnel.

Unfortunately, Mu Changyou was still too inexperienced. He also had the airs of a nobleman, and Yang Sizhong played him for a round of tricks, so he was defeated in the end and did not get any results.

Mu Changyou had no choice but to go to the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Merit Evaluation and Censorship.

The Bureau of Merit and Merit Censorship was responsible for the inheritance of noble titles. Mu Changyou visited this bureau many times in order to help his elder brother inherit the title.

The assistant director of the Bureau of Merit Evaluation was named Tu Dashan. He was one of the few Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from Yunnan and was very enthusiastic towards Mu Changyou.

Mu Changyou was born into the Duke of Qian's mansion and had an eccentric father. In addition, his family had a lot of messy affairs, so he had to be more mature and steady than his peers from a young age.

However, this time, when he was representing the Imperial Guard on a mission, he got off to a bad start and was made a fool of by various government departments. It was inevitable that he would get a little angry.

He was of noble birth, and once he sat down, his resentment was vented even more.

"I had long heard that Minister Yang was a capable minister with the ability to judge people, but after seeing him today, I realize that's an exaggeration. He's just a sycophantic old official!"

Hearing Mu Changyou's complaints, Tu Dashan was terrified.

His former superior, Duan Hui, the Director of the Bureau of Merit Evaluation and Censorate, was none other than Minister Yang, who was now serving as a military commissioner in the harsh and cold land of Liaodong.

A while ago, Duan Hui wrote to him to complain that Li Chengliang, the military advisor in Liaoyang, was arrogant and almost never allowed him to get involved in military affairs.

Even local civil affairs were controlled by Li Chengliang's staff, rendering his position as military commissioner virtually meaningless.

Duan Hui submitted several memorials impeaching Li Chengliang, but all of them went unanswered. Recently, somehow Li Chengliang found out about the last one, and Duan Hui was beaten up on his way back.

After this incident, Duan Hui's resentment was almost overflowing, and he had already considered resigning.

You must not speak ill of Minister Yang behind his back.

This taboo has also been passed down from the Office of Transmission to the Ministry of Personnel.

"Young Master Mu, watch your words!"

Seeing Tu Dashan's attitude, Mu Changyou said even more nonchalantly:

"If we talk here, how could it possibly reach Minister Yang's ears?"

Tu Dashan didn't dare offend Mu Changyou, so he tried to smooth things over by saying:
"Young Master, your status is too high; such routine matters are indeed unsuitable for you. Perhaps we should ask the Imperial Guard to send someone else?"

Mu Changyou, however, did not want to give up.

He was not a graduate of the military academy and was ostracized in the Imperial Guard.

He has already made a bold statement in the Imperial Guard camp that he will seize a place near the emperor's bedroom to serve as his government office.

If we give up now, wouldn't all our previous efforts be wasted, and we'd be even less able to hold our heads high in the Imperial Guard?

Mu Changyou was filled with resentment. He was a highly respected nobleman, yet he had to worry about these mundane tasks every day—it was utterly stifling!
In the reception hall of the Ministry of Personnel, Su Ze waited for a while before Yang Sizhong entered.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

Yang Sizhong nodded slightly, dusted himself off, and said to Su Ze:

"I have just finished my inspection tour. What brings you here today, Zilin?"

Su Ze recounted his memorial requesting the establishment of a Public Security Bureau, and then expressed his concerns.

Yang Sizhong listened attentively, then lowered his head and said:
"Therefore, Zilin needs someone who has enough influence to keep order in the capital, but who will not interfere excessively in the affairs of the Public Security Bureau."

"So you're just getting a clay Buddha statue for the Public Security Bureau?"

(End of this chapter)