My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 437 Team
With the issue of the Secretariat resolved, Gao Gong then asked:
"What are your thoughts, Prosecutor Su, on the selection and appointment of officials for the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery?"

This was Gao Gong representing the cabinet, asking Su Ze about his policy proposals, so the occasion was very serious, and Gao Gong addressed Su Ze by his official title.

Su Ze cupped his hands and said again:
"Grand Secretary Gao, esteemed ministers, I have only one principle: to appoint people based solely on their talent."

Gao Gong stroked his beard and nodded slightly, but Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji frowned.

The only one who remained expressionless was Yin Shidan, since he was going to retire and return to his hometown after finishing his work.

Zhao Zhenji asked:
"Only meritocracy? There has to be some standard, right?"

Su Ze said:

"Grand Secretary Zhao, apart from the Kongmu Office, please have the Cabinet decide on the candidates for the heads of the other offices."

Su Ze continued:

"My intention is to appoint people based on their talents, but the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are all meant to assist the cabinet ministers. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that all the cabinet ministers are in agreement with us. So, please let the cabinet discuss and decide."

Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji smiled.

The five departments are: the Clerk's Office, the Official Office, the Household Office, the Military Affairs Office, and the Criminal Office.

The Lifang (吏房) corresponds to the Ministry of Personnel (吏部), and the person in charge of the Lifang must be selected by Gao Gong, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

That household was chosen by Zhang Juzheng, and Zhao Zhenji was in charge of selecting the personnel for the Military Affairs Office.

The last torture chamber will depend on whether Yin Shidan has a suitable candidate.

What Su Ze wanted was the authority to manage personnel matters in his own office.

All four elders nodded in agreement with Su Ze's plan.

The five departments under the Secretariat and Chancellery are meant to serve the Grand Secretaries. If the Grand Secretaries do not trust the candidates, these five departments are essentially useless and meaningless.

Su Ze simply relinquished the power to appoint and dismiss the four heads of the household, letting the elders choose their own people, since he only needed to control the Confucian Book House.

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).

In other words, the remaining four departments are all business units. If they do well, they won't get any credit, and if they do poorly, they will be blamed. Su Ze simply didn't want to get involved in this selection of the head.

Su Ze's strategy of retreating to advance actually pleased the cabinet ministers.

The personnel arrangements have been finalized; the remaining issues are just minor details.

Next, it was Su Ze's turn to make a request.

Su Ze spoke first:

"Esteemed Grand Secretaries, the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery are of vital importance and assist the Grand Secretariat in carrying out its duties. Please grant the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery the authority to review and access the documents and archives of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers."

Su Ze added:

"Especially the Hanlin Academy."

Upon hearing this, both Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng nodded.

One of the most important advantages of people in high positions is their access to intelligence.

This is why the Hanlin Academy was a prestigious institution; it housed all the official documents and archives of the dynasty, which were extremely important reference materials.

For example, the Single Whip Law, which Zhang Juzheng wanted to promote, was first proposed by Gui E in the ninth year of the Jiajing reign. There are detailed memorials from Gui E in the Hanlin Academy, as well as reports on the implementation in some places.

Many famous officials in the Ming Dynasty quietly spent several years studying the memorials of their predecessors after entering the Hanlin Academy, before finally making a name for themselves.

By granting the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery the power to access the files and records of various government offices, Su Ze essentially created a second Hanlin Academy.

The four cabinet ministers naturally had no objection to this.

The five departments under the Secretariat and the Chancellery are there to assist them in decision-making, so naturally, the more capable they are, the better they are to be used.

A crucial aspect of decision-making is having sufficient intelligence.

Su Ze's request to grant authority to the five offices of the Secretariat-Chancellery is a reasonable one.

Gao Gong said:

"I will report this matter to His Majesty."

Su Ze knew this matter wasn't difficult, so he continued:

"The five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery concern central secrets and are located in the important location of the Grand Secretariat. I request that the chief officials of the Six Ministries be stationed in the five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery to supervise them."

This surprised Zhang Juzheng as well.

Su Ze is right. Since it is a central and important location, leaks and other such problems are inevitable in the end.

If a leak occurs, it will affect the cabinet ministers' trust in the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery.

How can a department whose mouths can't be kept secret be expected to assist the cabinet in its work?

Would the cabinet ministers still dare to entrust matters to the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery?
However, any major event always involves many government departments, and given the Ming Dynasty's lack of transparency, there are always things that are unclear.

Su Ze's request, which seemed like he was tying his own hands by having the Sixth Bureau send personnel to be stationed in the Fifth Office of the Secretariat to supervise, was actually also a way for the Sixth Bureau to regulate the discipline of this new department.

If a leak occurs in the future, and the six departments are brought in to testify, the cabinet ministers will naturally trust the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery.

Furthermore, the Six Departments system itself was designed by the emperor to control his ministers.

Although the censors later frequently criticized the emperor, the Six Ministries, as a supervisory system, mostly sided with the imperial power.

The selection of officials for the Six Ministries was also personally appointed and dismissed by the emperor.

By voluntarily allowing the Six Ministries to supervise, we were also reassuring the emperor that our five departments under the Secretariat and Chancellery were truly auxiliary institutions, not institutions meant to revive the spirit of the Secretariat.

Seeing how meticulous Su Ze was, Zhang Juzheng felt both disappointed and envious.

Thanks to Su Ze's efforts, another official, the Zhongshu Jianzheng, was added to the ladder of advancement to the cabinet.

In the future, one will likely need to serve as the Chief Censor of the Secretariat before being qualified to join the cabinet.

Next are some minor details.

For example, the clerks of the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery are temporarily still the old staff of the Secretariat.

However, Su Ze planned to select some officials with clean family backgrounds and excellent performance from among the high-ranking officials in the capital region to supplement the manpower.

Shuntian Prefecture has been implementing the civil service examination for four years now, and under the six-rank civil service system, many civil servants have now been promoted to the second rank.

These clerks were familiar with government affairs and had received training in the civil service examinations, making them truly capable personnel.

The cabinet ministers naturally had no objection to this; officials are the foundation of a government office, but clerks are also an important component.

In particular, institutions like the Five Offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery had a great need for civil officials.

The establishment of institutions like the Five Offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery gave those officials hope for the future.

If you can work in the central government, even if you're not an official, your benefits won't be bad.

Gao Gong also remarked that Su Ze's promotion of the civil service examination back then was indeed a far-sighted plan.

If it weren't for the civil service examination, the various government offices would simply not have enough clerks.

With these issues discussed, the framework of the entire organization can be considered established. Each of the five departments has a chief official, holding the rank of fifth grade. Apart from the clerk's department, the Grand Secretaries will discuss and select candidates for each department to serve as their personal political secretaries.

Another deputy chief was appointed, of the fifth rank. The deputy chief was responsible for presiding over the daily affairs of each department, researching and drafting the decrees and documents needed by the cabinet ministers, and communicating with the corresponding six ministries and nine ministerial offices.

Each office also has five to ten officials of varying ranks who are responsible for daily work.

Several clerks will be assigned, with adjustments made based on future workload.

Currently, the five departments under the Secretariat and the Secretariat share the archives.

Every ten days, one official from the Six Ministries will be dispatched on a rotating basis to be stationed in the Fifth Office of the Secretariat to supervise the work.

This official, responsible for security and confidentiality and overseeing the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery, could impeach the emperor or the cabinet at any time.

After a morning of discussion, the framework of the five departments under the Zhongshu Menxia was finalized.

All four cabinet ministers were very satisfied. With this department in place, the cabinet's power was indeed greatly enhanced!
Zhang Juzheng would no longer need to frequently visit the Ministry of Revenue to maintain firm control over its affairs.

In addition to the power to assess the Six Ministries and the Censorate obtained through the Examination and Assessment Law, Su Ze had just petitioned the cabinet to grant it the power to appoint and dismiss officials below the seventh rank and the power to manage the general affairs of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers. It can be said that this cabinet is the most powerful cabinet in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Apart from Yin Shidan, who was about to retire, the remaining three Grand Secretaries were all eager to take up their posts.

The cabinet's power is unprecedented, something none of its predecessors had been able to achieve!
The three cabinet ministers were all eager to make their moves and were thinking about how to achieve great things!
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On November 6, all of Su Ze's requests to the cabinet were drafted into memorials and submitted to the emperor, who naturally approved them all.

Following that, the four cabinet ministers each selected their own protégés to serve in the role, according to their own needs.

The chief examiner of the Ministry of Personnel was named Song Zhihan, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 44th year of the Jiajing reign. The chief examiner for that year was Gao Gong.

More importantly, Song Zhihan was also a fellow Henan native of Gao Gong.

Song Zhihan did not rank highly in the imperial examinations and was not admitted to the Hanlin Academy. He was initially appointed as the magistrate of Xiangling County.

However, Song Zhihan was quite capable, and in the second year of the Longqing reign, he was transferred back to the capital to serve as a censor in the Ministry of Personnel.

He was then transferred to the Ministry of Personnel as an assistant director, a typical core official of the Gao faction.

In fact, Gao Gong originally preferred Zhang Siwei.

Zhang Siwei is currently a Wenxuanlang, a fifth-rank official, so his transfer to the Zhongshu Menxia Fifth Office is considered a lateral move.

However, this would make Zhang Siwei Su Ze's subordinate. Gao Gong understood his disciple's temperament and ultimately gave up, choosing instead Song Zhihan, who was a fifth-rank official.

Zhang Juzheng chose Wang Zhuan, a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue.

This man was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign (1552), and also a fellow townsman of Zhang Juzheng from Jingzhou Prefecture.

Similarly, he did not rank highly in the imperial examinations and was initially appointed as the magistrate of Jishui County.

He also performed exceptionally well in local government and was transferred to the capital to serve as an official. Through his accumulated merits, he rose to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhao Zhenji's choice was Song Xun.

This man was no longer a fellow townsman of Zhao Zhenji, but Song Xun remained very close to Zhao Zhenji after entering officialdom.

Song Xun was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the thirty-eighth year of the Jiajing reign. Because of his low ranking in the imperial examination, he was initially appointed as a judge in Yongping Prefecture.

Later, Zhao Zhenji recommended him, and he was promoted to the position of Supervising Censor of Shanxi.

During the late Jiajing and early Longqing periods, Altan Khan repeatedly invaded the border, and Zhao Zhenji recommended Song Xun to patrol the border.

Later, when Qi Jiguang distinguished himself in Dongshengwei, Song Xun was assisting Wang Yongji, the governor of Shanxi, in preparing military provisions in the rear. As a result, he was rewarded with merit and promoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Song Xun was a clear member of Zhao's faction and an official knowledgeable in military affairs, so it seems that Zhao Zhenji still had a strong desire to reform the Ministry of War.

What surprised Su Ze the most was Yin Shidan's recommendation: it was Shen Yiguan!
After thinking for a moment, Su Ze understood Yin Shidan's intention.

Shen Yiguan was a well-known member of the "Su Party," and since Yin Shidan was going to resign anyway, this was just doing him a favor.

If the person who will replace him in the cabinet is unwilling to appoint Shen Yiguan, then Shen Yiguan will naturally not serve for long.

In addition, Yin Shidan was a close friend of Zhu Dashou of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Zhu Dashou was also acquainted with Shen Yiguan's uncle, Shen Mingchen, so they were considered juniors in the same circle.

Su Ze silently noted it down; Yin Shidan had done him a great favor.

Su Ze voluntarily relinquished his personnel authority in the fourth branch of the government, which earned him praise from the Grand Secretaries, but also weakened his influence in the fifth branch of the government.

Now that Yin Shidan has proactively recommended his friend, Su Ze will gain an advantage, especially with the addition of the head of the Kongmu Office.

Even after Shen Yiguan leaves, his prestige will have already been established.

The remaining four candidates have been decided, and the last one is Kongmu's family.

Kongmufang is an institution that is set up in many organizations.

Kongmu originally referred to an archive catalog, but later became the title of an official in charge of documents and archives in ancient times, which was first established in the Tang Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty, many military governors (jiedushi) would appoint officials called Kongmu, who were the heads of confidential matters.

Starting from the Song Dynasty, many institutions set up clerks' offices, and it was said that "every clerk and every eye passes through their hands," which illustrates the importance of clerks' offices.

For the five departments of the Secretariat, the Kongmu Department is of paramount importance. If Su Ze wants to be a good Inspector of the Secretariat, he must control this key department.

Who will be in charge of this clerk's office?
For such a crucial position, Su Ze naturally thought of his good friend Luo Wanhua.

Luo Wanhua was meticulous in his work and did a good job in running the "Yuefu Xinbao" newspaper, which also caught the eye of the Grand Secretaries.

After Su Ze shared his ideas with Luo Wanhua, Luo Wanhua hesitated.

In terms of future career development in officialdom, Luo Wanhua was well aware that the future development of the five branches of the Secretariat-Chancellery would definitely be better than that of the editor-in-chief of the Yuefu Xinbao.

Although running a newspaper brought fame, being employed by the cabinet and spending all day in front of the cabinet elders was a great help to one's career.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty's numerous imperial examinations, countless talented individuals entered the court, but the total number of high-ranking positions remained limited.

Even if Luo Wanhua was the top scholar, there were many top scholars in the Ming Dynasty who were not successful.

Aside from prodigies like Su Ze, promotion in the Ming Dynasty always required the help of influential people.

However, ordinary officials are too far removed from the cabinet. The cabinet ministers are extremely busy, so it's difficult for them to even remember their names, let alone give them special treatment.

Luo Wanhua, as the chief editor of the newspaper, already has a "literary reputation." If he can train in the five departments of the Secretariat for a while and leave an impression of being a "capable person" on the Grand Secretaries, then even if he doesn't enter the Grand Secretariat, it won't be a problem for him to be appointed as one of the Nine Ministers.

Su Ze said, "Brother Yifu, you can't let go of the newspaper business, can you?"

Luo Wanhua nodded repeatedly.

Su Ze said:

“I have already written to our fellow classmates, Wang Jiaping, the magistrate of Penghu, and Zhang Wei, the assistant magistrate of Datong, asking them if they would be willing to return to Beijing to take over the newspaper.”

Upon hearing the names Wang Jiaping and Zhang Wei, Luo Wanhua nodded.

They had all worked as newspaper editors and were familiar with newspaper operations.

Both responded to Su Ze's call to gain experience at the grassroots level. Wang Jiaping was appointed as the magistrate of Penghu County, and Zhang Wei was appointed as the assistant magistrate of Datong. They both performed exceptionally well in their posts and received excellent grades in their performance evaluations for several consecutive years.

Now that Su Ze has already considered a successor for the newspaper, Luo Wanhua said:

“Brother Zilin, if you don’t mind, I, Luo, am willing to go to the Fifth Branch of the Secretariat.”

(End of this chapter)