My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 438 Establishing Authority in the Six Departments
The remaining task is to select the deputy heads of each department.

According to Su Ze's system design, the chief of each department was the Grand Secretary's political secretary, but in reality, the deputy chief was in charge of the daily work of each department.

Therefore, the work of the deputy director requires higher administrative skills.

The Office of Censors, the Office of Personnel, the Office of Revenue, the Office of Military Affairs, and the Office of Justice and Rites (as corrected earlier, the Office of Justice and Rites was assigned to Yin Shidan as his secretary, and education was a matter of the Ministry of Rites).

Su Ze wrote down a few candidates on a piece of paper.

For the position of deputy head of the household affairs office, Su Ze chose his old subordinate, Wei Yun.

Wei Yun is currently in charge of collecting commercial taxes in Shuntian Prefecture. He is a veteran of the Ministry of Revenue, familiar with its affairs, and highly capable.

Su Ze had no good candidates for the positions of Clerk and Military Officer.

The clerk's office is easy to deal with; we just need to ask Gao Gong for someone. They're from the same school, so they can definitely be used.

Su Ze, who works in the Ministry of War, doesn't really know many people besides the Minister and Vice Minister of War. If all else fails, he can only consult with Grand Secretary Zhao.

Su Ze, from the Ministry of Justice, favored Lin Bingzheng, the Shanxi Provincial Education Commissioner.

Lin Bingzheng had served as a local official, was knowledgeable in criminal law, and promoted primary education in Shanxi, which he did quite well.

Such pragmatic officials were well-suited to assist Shen Yiguan in handling the general affairs of the Ministry of Justice and Ceremonial.

For the time being, a deputy chief officer may not be appointed for the Kongmu Office.

The remaining positions for senior officials are open for people to fill.

The sudden establishment of such a large government office has drawn the attention of the imperial court.

Such a crucial department must be the result of collusion between various forces. In any case, Su Ze only needs to keep the middle-level positions in his hands.
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Just as Su Ze had predicted, with such a powerful new government office, there were indeed quite a few people coming to make requests and try to bribe officials.

However, Su Ze underestimated the scarcity of good positions in the Ming Dynasty.

When Su Ze returned home from the cabinet, he saw a terrifyingly long queue in front of the main gate, even longer than the queue at the Grand Secretary's house before the New Year.

Seeing this scene, thanks to the quick thinking of the personal steward, he immediately ordered the ceremonial guards to be put away and returned to the mansion through the side gate of the Su residence.

When Su Ze returned, his wife Zhao Lingxian came over immediately.

"My lord, there are too many people at the door who want to pay their respects to you. I have already sent people to persuade them to leave, but they all refuse to leave."

Zhao Lingxian and Su Ze had been married for many years and had seen and experienced many things.

She was raised in a family of officials and never lacked manners in her daily interactions with others.

However, she was also stunned by the people waiting to pay their respects. Among those visiting cards were some very famous and powerful figures from the capital.

"These are all people who left visiting cards."

Su Ze glanced at it and saw several familiar names.

For example, there were nobles whom Su Ze knew, such as Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi and Duke Chengguo Zhu Shitai, as well as some other meritorious officials whom Su Ze had never even heard of.

In addition, many officials who had interacted with Su Ze also wrote letters of recommendation, recommending "talented individuals" to Su Ze.

Thinking about this, Su Ze felt a headache coming on. If Xu Wei were here, he would have been able to handle these things properly in the past.

Su Ze had no choice but to say:

"Tell the people outside to leave their visiting cards and letters of recommendation and leave immediately! If they don't leave, I will send their visiting cards to Vice Censor-in-Chief Hai!"

This move did indeed scare away many people. Now everyone knows that Hai Rui is also a "Su Party member." If they are targeted by this great Ming swordsman, they might not be able to avoid being killed by the swordsman, even though they were just seeking an official position.

The crowd gathered at the entrance dispersed immediately, but Su Ze still had to process the many more visiting cards and letters of recommendation he had received.

Su Ze then gave the following instructions:

“Select out the letters of recommendation from important officials.”

Under the glow of a whale oil lamp, Su Ze stayed up until dawn before finally finishing processing all the visiting cards and letters of recommendation.

There's no way around it; in officialdom, personal relationships are paramount.

It's not the refusal that's scary, it's the lack of manners that's scary, because that would truly offend someone.

For example, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi recommended several candidates to Su Ze, but in Su Ze's view, none of them met the requirements of the five branches of the Secretariat-Chancellery.

However, all of Xu Wenbi's recommendation letters contained the same content, leading Su Ze to conclude that he wrote them because he was too embarrassed to refuse and was asked to do so by others.

Su Ze only needed to politely decline such recommendations, and given his relationship with the Duke of Dingguo, Xu Wenbi wouldn't be angry about it.

The relationship between Duke Cheng, Zhu Shitai, and Su Ze was more distant. There was also a letter of recommendation written by Zhu Shitai himself, recommending a principal officer in the Ministry of War.

This is not something that can be refused immediately. Su Ze plans to have someone investigate the official's reputation and consider whether or not to appoint him.

All sorts of things had to be taken care of, both close and distant relatives. After Su Ze finished dealing with everything, he made up his mind to hire a capable advisor at a high price.

But this matter is not so easy. Such staff members have to handle a lot of Su Ze's private affairs. They must be trustworthy and have the necessary abilities and knowledge. Otherwise, causing trouble will only make things more complicated.

Su Ze gave a bitter smile. Everyone said that there were many "Su factions" in the court, but he couldn't even find a trusted advisor.
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On November 14th, Crown Prince Zhu Yijun submitted a memorial.

The five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery needed to work within the Forbidden City, and there were many official duties. In order to facilitate the commuting of officials, the Crown Prince requested that a piece of land be found near the Forbidden City to build a new-style earthen building as the dormitory for the five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery.

The Longqing Emperor naturally granted the request and allocated funds directly from the imperial treasury for construction.

The entire court praised the Crown Prince for his consideration for his subordinates, and the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery became a coveted place for officials in the capital.

However, Su Ze, the chief inspector of the Secretariat, is having a headache over the office space problem for the five departments under the Secretariat.

Su Ze, led by Liu Jun, the Imperial Secretary, was inspecting the offices of the Secretariat.

The Secretariat was also established by Zhu Yuanzhang, who was fond of "flat management" and did not appoint a chief official for the Secretariat.

However, every government office needs a department head, so the Secretariat would elect the oldest Secretary to be in charge of the Secretariat's official seal. In the outer court, he was generally referred to as "Secretary of the Seal".

Liu Jun was the Imperial Secretary of the Secretariat, and he had previously served as an Imperial Secretary to Li Chunfang.

After Li Chunfang retired, Liu Jun also requested to be appointed to a post outside the capital.

However, Gao Gong felt that Liu Jun was familiar with the affairs of the Secretariat and had a cautious personality, so he kept him in his post.

“Prosecutor Su, as you can see, the Zhongshulang is crowded and cramped.”

"I would like to petition His Majesty to relocate the Secretariat to another location and entrust this place to the five offices of the Secretariat-Chancellery."

Su Ze shook his head and said:

"What are you saying, Liu Sheren? The five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are newly established. The Secretariat Corridor is for the Secretariat to use as office space, which is an ancestral rule. How could I, Su, possibly usurp this position?"

Liu Jun was surprised that Su Ze was so easy to talk to, and she was somewhat touched.

Hearing Su Ze say this, the people in the Imperial Secretariat present were also deeply moved.

However, as touching as it may seem, the lack of sufficient office space is a fact. The emperor has personally allocated funds to expand the cabinet's offices, but building houses within the palace involves complicated procedures and slow progress.

According to the Ministry of Public Works, even at the fastest pace, it is unlikely to be completed until next year.

However, the five offices under the Secretariat were about to begin operations and needed to find an office space close to the Cabinet.

The Secretariat was indeed crowded, and there were many different kinds of files, so Su Ze couldn't possibly ask the Secretariat to move.

Just then, Su Ze saw the person opposite him and asked:

"Liu Sheren, is that also the office location of the Secretariat?"

Liu Jun took a closer look and quickly said:

"Prosecutor Su, that's the Sixth Division's place."

Su Ze then remembered that the Six Ministries and the Secretariat were connected. He stepped across the threshold and saw an extremely spacious public building.

The six departments correspond to the six ministries, and each department has only two officials.

In other words, there were only twelve full-time employees in the entire six departments.

Even including the clerks who handled miscellaneous tasks, the number of people in the Six Departments was still very small.

As Su Ze stepped into the Sixth Department Corridor, Liu Jun's heart skipped a beat.

Although both the Six Ministries and the Secretariat were called "Ministries" and their offices were located in the same place, their power and status were incomparable.

The powers of the Six Ministries Censors included investigating the administration of the Six Ministries, reviewing memorials to the throne, participating in court discussions, and supervising the imperial examinations. They also had the authority to "reject" imperial edicts and "impeach" officials.

After Su Ze's performance evaluation system was implemented, the Six Ministries of Censors also had the responsibility of supervising the Censorate and evaluating its censors.

In addition, the censors could access all official documents, assess officials in the capital, and recommend talented individuals to the court.

It can be said that the position of Supervising Secretary of the Six Ministries was the most powerful seventh-rank official in the entire Ming Dynasty.

What was the Secretariat? It was just a small, insignificant department that helped the emperor and the cabinet process official documents. Its officials were mostly hereditary officials with educational backgrounds that did not exceed the level of a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination). How could it possibly compete with the Six Ministries?

The Sixth Division had impeached Su Ze multiple times, so naturally everyone knew him.

Upon seeing Su Ze enter, Yan Yonghe, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, was the first to greet him.

Like the Secretariat, the Taizu Emperor, who favored flat management, did not appoint heads to the Six Ministries.

However, within the same department, the one with the longest tenure who was responsible for keeping the department's seal was a senior official.

Among the six departments, the Personnel Department was the most prominent, so Yan Yonghe, a senior official in the Personnel Department, was considered the head of the six departments.

"Prosecutor Su is here at the Sixth Division. We are sorry for not welcoming you properly."

Although they said they were not welcoming him properly, apart from Yan Yonghe who came forward to greet him, none of the other officials even got up to greet him.

There was no way around it; Su Ze's reputation within the Six Ministries and the Censorate was simply too bad.

This time, the Six Ministries also strongly opposed the establishment of the five offices under the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and the Six Ministries were even prepared to go to the Left Shun Gate to petition the emperor.

Unexpectedly, Grand Secretary Yin persuaded the emperor with his memorial.

The emperor has already agreed, so what can the Six Ministries do?
The ministers are about to fight to the death, why does Your Majesty surrender first?
The entire Sixth Division was seething with anger, and seeing Su Ze only fueled their fury.

Seeing the spacious office environment of the Sixth Department, Su Ze smiled and said to Yan Yonghe:
"His Majesty established the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery, originally intending for us to share office space with the Secretariat Office. However, the Secretariat corridor is crowded, so I came here today to discuss with you all the possibility that our five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery may temporarily borrow the corridor of the Sixth Office for office work. What do you think?"

Upon hearing Su Ze's words, all the officials present stood up!
They glared at Su Ze!

Yan Yonghe, as expected of the most senior official in the Six Ministries, suppressed his anger and said:
“Prosecutor Su, I’m afraid this is inappropriate. The Six Ministries Corridor is the office of the Six Ministries, as recorded in the Great Ming Code. It was the office designated by Emperor Taizu himself, so how can it be changed?”

Liu Jun, the Imperial Secretary, was already trying to escape. If the gazes of the Six Ministries' censors could kill, Su Ze would probably be dead on the spot.

He secretly regretted it; he should have just moved out obediently instead of getting involved in this mess!
Su Ze said without fear:
“Yan, the Censor, is mistaken.”

"The five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are only temporarily borrowed; they are not intended to occupy your public housing."

“A few days ago at the cabinet meeting, Su also proposed that the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are involved in confidential matters and need to be supervised. He requested that the Six Ministries send censors to supervise the work.”

"Wouldn't it be better to have the five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery work together with the Six Ministries?"

Hearing this, even Yan Yonghe, who was usually the most composed, hardened his fist!
But Su Ze's words left Yan Yonghe speechless.

If the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery borrow office space for the purpose of serving the court, wouldn't it be too stingy for the Six Ministries not to lend it to them?
Moreover, the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery took the initiative to come to your door and ask the Six Ministries to supervise them. Why don't you want the Six Ministries?

The officials present softened their stance, and even the most eloquent censor could not find a reason to refute Su Ze.

After saying this, Su Ze left the Sixth Corridor with Liu Jun.

He was in a good mood.

The Zhongshulang was indeed a bit too crowded.

The five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery alone had forty or fifty officials. If you include clerks, the total number would probably exceed one hundred.

The Secretariat was already very crowded; if another hundred people were crammed in, it would be impossible to work.

In comparison, how many people are in the Sixth Department?
The following day, Su Ze submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that the five offices of the Secretariat and the Six Ministries be allowed to work together.

The memorial was indeed approved, and the emperor readily agreed, issuing an edict to allow the five offices of the Secretariat and Chancellery to temporarily operate in the Six Ministries Corridor.

The six supervising secretaries were indignant, but since the emperor had issued an edict, they had no choice but to muster all their energy to make good use of their supervisory power and thoroughly inspect the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery.

On November 16, Zhang Wei, who was serving as the Assistant Magistrate of Datong, replied to Su Ze through a fat pigeon, expressing his willingness to return to Beijing to take over as the editor-in-chief of the Yuefu Xinbao.

Luo Wanhua also formally agreed to Su Ze's request and took on the role of head of the Kongmufang (a type of business office).

On November 17, Shen Yiguan also completed the handover of his official duties at the Court of State Ceremonial and assumed the position of Chief Justice of the Department of Justice and Rites.

The three chief officials recommended by Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhao Zhenji had all handed over their old duties and came to report to Su Ze's command.

Su Ze simply called another meeting with all the middle-level managers and let them recommend candidates for their subordinates as administrative officers.

On November 21, the organizational structure of the five departments under the Secretariat was basically finalized, and Su Ze led everyone to move into the Six Departments Corridor.

The auxiliary body of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet has been officially established!
Because they shared an office with the Sixth Division, Su Ze didn't even need to emphasize work discipline. Everyone in the department was trembling with fear, afraid of being impeached by the Sixth Division.

The first thing the five departments under the Secretariat-Chancellery did after their establishment was to have Shen Yiguan of the Department of Justice and Rites, carrying an order from Yin Shidan, the Minister in charge of Education, Medical Care and Life Preservation, oversee the establishment of Life Preservation Bureaus in various regions and the inclusion of oaths of loyalty to the emperor in primary school education.

Even the public housing of the Six Ministries was occupied, so no one dared to underestimate the Five Ministries of the Secretariat and the Chancellery anymore.

Both matters were authorized by the emperor, and Shen Yiguan had the support of Grand Secretary Yin. Shen Yiguan traveled between various government offices, including the Ministry of Rites, and made an example of several officials who had performed poorly. As a result, the matter progressed quickly.

At this point, all the six ministries and nine ministerial offices had seen the fighting power of the five departments under the Secretariat and the Chancellery as the eyes and ears of the Grand Secretariat. The atmosphere in the court became more disciplined, and no one dared to outwardly comply with but inwardly defy the Grand Secretariat's decrees.

(End of this chapter)