My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 435 Promotion to Fourth Rank

Newspaper office.

"Brother Zilin, the memorials impeaching you have flooded the Office of Transmission."

Shen Yiguan looked at the composed Su Ze and was truly impressed by his composure.

It's already the end of October, and Su Ze has submitted his memorial four days ago. Now, all four cabinet ministers have resigned, and the court's administration is almost paralyzed.

The person who started all this was sitting comfortably in the newspaper office, reading and drinking tea.

"Didn't I already submit a memorial apologizing? I even suspended all my duties at the Ministry of Justice."

Su Ze took a sip of tea, enjoying his rare last moment of leisure.

Shen Yiguan stared at Su Ze and asked, "Lord Hai has submitted a memorial requesting that you be appointed as the Chief Censor of the Secretariat. Now, the court is saying that Lord Hai is a member of Su's faction."

"Did the Soviet Party actually exist?"

Shen Yiguan stared intently at Su Ze, unable to understand why Hai Rui would recommend Su Ze for the position of Zhongshu Jianzheng at such a time.

Doesn't this confirm his identity as a "Soviet party member"?

But if Hai Rui wasn't a member of the Su faction, why would he risk public condemnation by supporting Su Ze at this time?
Shen Yiguan was also full of questions. What promises did Su Ze make to Hai Rui that would make Hai Rui abandon his good reputation and strongly recommend him for the position of Zhongshu Jianzheng?

Now Hai Rui has also been impeached by his ministers and has returned home to stay indoors.

Shen Yiguan was also full of questions: Did Su Ze have a secret society? Was there really a Su Party?
Su Ze smiled and said:

"Don't you know whether there are Soviet Party members or not, Brother Jianwu? Aren't people outside saying you're a key member of the Soviet Party?"

"Brother Zilin, stop joking. How are we going to handle this?"

Shen Yiguan never expected this incident to be so big.

Even his superior, Wang Shizhen, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, submitted a memorial opposing it. As one of the Nine Ministers' offices, the Court of State Ceremonies was unwilling to be completely controlled by the Grand Secretariat.

Wouldn't Wang Shizhen, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, then become a lackey of the Grand Secretary?

Among the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, a group of people emerged who explicitly opposed strengthening the power of the Grand Secretariat. These people were all clearly opposed to establishing the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery.

In the clear stream, a completely different scene unfolds.

The current cabinet is too demanding; the Six Ministries and the Censorate are all struggling to breathe.

If the five offices under the Secretariat and the Chancellery were established, the days of the entire Six Ministries and the Censorate would be even more difficult.

This time, the Six Ministries and the Censorate went all out, focusing on the ancestral law, and impeached Su Ze for "summoning the soul of the Secretariat" and attempting to "restore the prime minister system abolished by Emperor Taizu".

They also impeached Gao Gong for being Su Ze's mastermind and having ulterior motives.

Several other cabinet ministers, however, "coerced the emperor by resigning."

Although these impeachments seemed impressive, Su Ze felt that the Six Ministries and the Censorate were far less powerful than they were when he transmigrated.

It seems that the performance evaluation system has left enough psychological scars on these officials in recent years, making even their counterattacks so weak.

In the past, the label of "traitor" would have already been attached to him, and the Six Ministries and the Censorate would have been heading straight for Zuoshun Gate.

The current level of attack is too weak, not to mention ministers like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng who experienced the Yan Song era, even Su Ze felt it was too little.

Luo Wanhua succinctly put it:
“Brother Jianwu, the discussions in the outer court are irrelevant; it all depends on His Majesty’s attitude.”

Shen Yiguan nodded repeatedly.

Su Ze looked at Luo Wanhua in surprise. This top scholar had been running a newspaper for many years, and his political acumen had finally been honed.

"Brother Zilin, stop teasing me. How confident are you?"

Su Ze was naturally very confident, since the system had already deducted his prestige points.

However, Su Ze still said to the two of them:

"I am as confident as my mentor is."

Upon hearing this answer, everyone present fell silent.

Half a day later, Shen Yiguan finally spoke:

"Was this orchestrated by Grand Secretary Gao?"

"No, no, the Prime Minister was merely going with the flow."

Shen Yiguan grasped the key point: the four cabinet ministers resigned together, abandoning cabinet affairs and running away. In other words, the cabinet reached a consensus to support Su Ze.

Everything suddenly became clear, and Shen Yiguan immediately said:
"No wonder Brother Zilin is so calm! It turns out the Grand Secretaries are backing you up!"

"So, this really can happen?"

Shen Yiguan then asked:
"Brother Zilin, are you really going to take up the post of Inspector of the Secretariat?"

Now Luo Wanhua also looked at Su Ze.

Anyone with a bit of political acumen could see the importance of this position as the Chief Censor of the Secretariat.

This position is crucial for communication between the Cabinet and the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers. It receives orders from the Cabinet and also serves as the Cabinet's secretariat and advisory body.

They also had the authority to supervise the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers' offices, and could oversee the implementation of national policies formulated by the cabinet ministers.

In Shen Yiguan's view, this position was practically tailor-made for him by Su Ze.

If Su Ze really takes up this position, then as people say, he will truly become a "shadow Grand Secretary," that is, a Grand Secretary who is not a Grand Secretary.

Therefore, Shen Yiguan truly suspected that Hai Rui and Su Ze were colluding. Otherwise, why would Hai Rui risk his reputation to "cooperate" with Su Ze and recommend him for the position of Zhongshu Jianzheng?

Su Ze is completely innocent.

He really didn't want to take this position.

According to Su Ze's idea, after establishing the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery, they should keep a low profile and gradually increase the presence of this department to reduce the resistance of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.

If it were Gao Gong, he would probably find a capable but somewhat weak-willed former protégé or subordinate to fill the position.

But Hai Rui's recommendation memorial put him in a very difficult position.

Since Hai Rui recommended himself, other capable officials naturally wouldn't want to take on the position of Zhongshu Jianzheng.

Because whoever becomes the Chief Censor of the Secretariat will be compared to themselves, so doing a good job is expected, and doing a bad job is considered a lack of ability.

No young and promising official would want to put himself in this situation.

Su Ze recalled his surprise attack on the cabinet, putting Gao Gong on the fire to roast.

Indeed, "the one who started it all will have no descendants." He himself pushed Gao Gong to expand the power of the cabinet, while Hai Rui pushed him to take on the position of the chief inspector of the Central Secretariat.

It is conceivable that if the emperor had actually agreed to Hai Rui's memorial and appointed him as the Zhongshu Jianzheng official, his leisurely days would have been over.

Thinking about this, Su Ze felt bitter again.

Just as everyone was talking, Shen Shixing suddenly arrived at the newspaper office.

Since taking up the post of Military Selection Officer, Shen Shixing has been very busy with official duties and has rarely visited the newspaper office.

Upon seeing Su Ze, Shen Shixing cupped his hands and said:
"Brother Zilin, your memorial has been approved!"

"what?!"

Luo Wanhua and Shen Yiguan both looked at Su Ze in surprise. They had anticipated that Su Ze's memorial might be approved, but they did not expect that the emperor would approve it so decisively.

Su Ze was also stunned for a moment; the power of the system was indeed terrifying.

Shen Shixing said:
"I heard that Grand Secretary Yin went to the palace to meet the Emperor and persuaded him to establish the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery."

"His Majesty has issued an edict that the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery will be established under the Grand Secretariat, with a fourth-rank official appointed as the Chief Secretary. Five additional departments will be established to handle official business, and young, capable officials will be selected to fill these positions." It was actually Yin Shidan?

Su Ze had many guesses, but he never expected that it was Yin Shidan who went to the palace to meet the emperor and persuaded him.

How exactly did he convince them?
More than anything else, Su Ze was concerned about this matter, and he asked:

"How Grand Secretary Yin persuaded His Majesty."

Shen Shixing asked in confusion:

"It seems that Grand Secretary Yin is really retiring and has submitted his resignation to His Majesty."

Shen Yiguan said:
"The resignation letter of Grand Secretary Yin should have already reached the Office of Transmission."

Su Ze stood up and said:

"Go to the Ministry of Justice first and see Grand Secretary Yin's resignation letter."

Everyone stood up with Su Ze and rushed toward the Office of Transmission.

The transparency of official documents in the Ming Dynasty was unbelievable.

Many Ming Dynasty officials' notes contain numerous excerpts of memorials to the throne.

When something major happened in the imperial court, officials would rush to the Office of Transmission or other relevant government offices to directly copy down the memorials.

Su Ze wasn't used to it at first, but he gradually got used to it. It seems that the Ming Dynasty is the only truly transparent government.

When Su Ze arrived at the Office of General Affairs, a queue had already formed in front of it.

These people had come to inquire about the establishment of the five offices under the Secretariat. Seeing that things were not going well, Su Ze immediately pulled everyone and led them into the Office of General Affairs through the back door.

After finishing his work at the Ministry of Justice today, Su Ze immediately went to the Ministry of Revenue and found Xu Shuli, the revenue officer who was extremely busy.

"Grand Secretary Yin's resignation letter?"

Xu Shuli was surprised that Su Ze wanted to see this. He pulled out Yin Shidan's resignation letter from a pile of memorials.

Su Ze took the resignation letter and started reading it.

After watching it, Su Ze exclaimed, "Wow!"

Grand Secretary Yin, your theory on the form of government looks so familiar!

However, upon closer examination, Yin Shidan's theory actually aligns with the general trend of history.

A counterintuitive historical fact is that from the Industrial Revolution to before World War I, monarchies were constantly being strengthened.

After the Industrial Revolution, the resources available to monarchs increased dramatically, overwhelming the aristocratic feudal class that had once suppressed royal power.

This trend has emerged in France, Russia, and Prussia.

The feudal lords and landowners who relied on land taxes could no longer resist the monarch.

Moreover, to carry out industrial production and develop industry and commerce, a strong monarch is needed, and centralized power is essential.

Unfortunately, once we entered the modern era, training a new type of army, organizing overseas expansion and colonization, and breaking down tariff barriers all required a strong government to accomplish these tasks.

Therefore, almost all countries have chosen to strengthen the monarchy.

Therefore, Yin Shidan's choice was in line with the historical trend, which was to strengthen the monarch's position and gain national cohesion by further honoring the emperor.

This is a matter of course from the perspective of Confucianism, which emphasizes loyalty to the emperor.

Yin Shidan's resignation letter was also very cleverly tagged with Su Ze's primary school education, emphasizing loyalty to the emperor in primary school education, which was within his area of ​​expertise, and no one could find fault with it.

The emperor immediately granted the request, and from then on, all primary schools in the Ming Dynasty would recite an educational oath of loyalty to the emperor every morning to strengthen the children's loyalty to the emperor and their patriotism.

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh, these old foxes are really too shrewd.

What is education? It is the most fundamental operational code of a country.

Incorporating a large amount of content about loyalty to the emperor into primary school education is not as simple as the traditional Confucian education of loyalty to the emperor.

In modern times, the question of what makes a nation a nation has become a question that everyone ponders, namely, national identity.

A nation and an ethnic group are essentially a community imagined and constructed by all its citizens.

Education on loyalty to the emperor is tantamount to embedding the emperor into this community, making the emperor a bond recognized by all citizens.

It is precisely because we are all subjects of the Ming Emperor that we are compatriots of the same country and of the same ethnicity.

Primary education will inevitably be extended to education for all citizens, which means that this national identity will be strengthened forever.

The Ming imperial family's status would then surpass that of any other feudal dynasty, possessing sacred legal authority!
Yin Shidan abandoned his academic insistence on his own philosophy of mind and constructed the most basic national identity of the Ming Empire. His sacrifice for the Longqing Emperor was indeed too great.

Just then, the system popped up a settlement report.

The memorial requesting the re-establishment of the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery was passed.

[The Five Offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery have been established, and you have become the first Inspector of the Secretariat, leading the Five Offices.]

The five offices of the Secretariat-Chancellery became auxiliary governing bodies of the cabinet, providing policy advice and operational assistance, and gradually became one of the most important institutions in the Ming Dynasty.

The five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery gradually became the main base of the political administration system, promoting the standardization and modernization of the bureaucratic system.

The saying "Grand Secretaries come and go, but the five secretariats remain unchanged" later became a symbol of the deep-seated government structure, drawing heavy criticism from the public.

The dynasty's fate remains unchanged.

[Prestige Value +500.]

[Remaining Prestige: 3050]

As expected, I couldn't escape this position as the Chief Censor of the Imperial Secretariat.

Su Ze sighed softly.

According to the system, the five departments under the Secretariat have become a symbol of the deep government?
That's true. This kind of government system is equivalent to a long-term ruling system, and over time it will naturally develop its own consciousness.

Of course, that's a matter for the future.

This newly established Zhongshu Menxia Wufang (Five Offices of the Secretariat) still needs to be managed by himself bit by bit. Thinking about this, Su Ze felt even more overwhelmed.
-
On November 3, the Longqing Emperor, through Hai Rui's memorial, appointed Su Ze as a fourth-rank official in the Secretariat.

The five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery were established, with five sub-departments: the Department of Censors, the Department of Personnel, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Military Affairs and Rites, and the Department of Justice.

Following this, Su Ze, as the first Inspector of the Secretariat, began to establish the framework for the five departments of the Secretariat.

The Kongmufang was an agency responsible for document processing. It served as a political secretary to the cabinet, kept official documents of the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery, and was responsible for sending and receiving official documents.

In the future, the Kongmu Office would connect with the Tongzhengsi (Office of Transmission) externally and with the Silijian (Directorate of Ceremonial) within the inner court, becoming the core institution of the five offices of the Zhongshumenxia (Secretariat and Chancellery).

As the name suggests, the Lifang was responsible for liaising with the Ministry of Personnel and supervising matters related to the Ministry.

In addition, the Cabinet has just acquired the power to appoint officials of the seventh rank and below. The Office of Personnel is responsible for drafting a list of candidates, and then the Cabinet members select suitable candidates.

The Household Affairs Office liaised with the Ministry of Revenue, discussed budgets with the Ministry of Revenue, updated the annual "Accounting Records," and supervised the use of budgets by the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.

The Office of Military Affairs corresponds to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, and is also the liaison agency between the Cabinet and the two ministries.

The Criminal Investigation Department liaises with the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for reviewing major judicial cases.

When the Ministry of Justice encounters a judicial judgment that it cannot handle, the Criminal Division issues a judicial interpretation.

Each office is headed by a chief official, who is a fifth-rank official.

How the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery should select officials has once again become the focus of attention in the imperial court.

(End of this chapter)