Chapter 218 Reform of the Imperial Civil Service System
Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, has been very troubled recently because Emperor Zhu Houzhao changed the Quanxu system, which means that he, the chief minister of the cabinet, has the power to recommend the Minister of Rites. Therefore, many officials have visited him as the chief minister recently.
But Wang Hua didn't know how to choose the Minister of Rites. He found Zhang Cai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, hoping to screen out officials who fit the Ministry of Rites through the examination files of the Ministry of Personnel.
In order to choose a minister of the Ministry of Rites who would satisfy the emperor, Wang Hua, Zhang Cai and others did not dare to be careless. Because the emperor Zhu Houzhao liked officials who were pragmatic and pragmatic, they could only choose officials with experience in local governance. There were a lot of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty. Although they all relied on stereotyped writing, it was not difficult to find a few official officials.
"Your Majesty, I recommend Ouyang Dan to be the Minister of Rites. This person served as the magistrate of Xiuning County and later as the Supervisory Censor. He has served successively as the Supervisor of Huguang, the Deputy Supervisor of Zhejiang, the Chief Envoy to participate in politics, the Right and Left Chief Envoy, and the Yingcheng Envoy. Tianfu Yin is now the right deputy censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He was fifty-six years old! ”
Wang Hua finally recommended an official who had been put aside to work as a idle official in Nanjing. Zhu Houzhao also knew that Wang Hua had put his thought into it and praised him very much.
At this time, Zhang Cai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, you are the first to recommend Ouyang Dan to be the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. From the perspective of the civil service system, there is nothing to refute. Ouyang Dan was originally a third-rank official, and he is waiting to be transferred after passing the examination. , but there are hundreds of third-rank officials in the world who are in urgent need of promotion. I would like to ask What is important is how to use these hundreds of people. In terms of qualifications, they can all be moved to the official position. However, like Ouyang Dan, there are few who started in the state capital and practiced in the local area. Most of them were first or second grade Jinshi, and most of them were from Beijing. Officials are rarely allowed to go abroad, but the court cannot abandon them.”
"This is a problem. The selection of officials has always emphasized family background over experience. Beijing officials are easier to promote than foreign officials. Imperial officials are easier to promote than Jinshi. First- and second-grade Jinshi are easier to promote than third-grade Jinshi. Jinshi is easier to be promoted than Juren, so that officials in the Imperial Academy are more likely to be promoted. Although there is no place to govern However, most of them have reached the position of minister or minister, while most of the local capable ministers and officials are no longer in the third rank. Now even if they are reinstated as officials, these high-ranking officials cannot be ignored, but it is okay to go back and rebuild." Zhu Houzhao said.
"Reinvention?"
Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Zhang Cai, the minister of civil affairs, looked at each other. Zhang Cai took the initiative to ask: "Does your Majesty want them to study at the Capital University? Just like the sons of nobles and elected officials? But they are all They are high officials in the court. If they all study for three to five years, the court will be empty.”
"It's not about going to the Capital University. The emphasis of the Capital University is on studying and educating people. Training officials for political service is only temporary. It's unrealistic to let these officials who have been in office for a long time go to the Capital University to study for three to five years. I know what I mean. Yes, set up a school specifically to train officials, called the National Administrative College.”
Zhu Houzhao stated his purpose. He also knew that it was difficult for the officials in the court to become the officials he, the emperor, and the Ming Dynasty needed. At least there were not many. Sometimes the court had to take the initiative to transform officials and cadres. Training is a very important aspect of national and enterprise management in later generations, and the Ming Dynasty could not do without it.
"National School of Administration?"
In recent years, new learning has emerged one after another, and terms such as "country" and "nation" have appeared in large numbers. Some radicals have even used this to criticize many great Confucian scholars in the Yuan Dynasty who could only be loyal ministers of Confucianism. To the country and the nation, they could only be traitors, and even derived from it. The Shenggong Mansion was ashamed of its ancestors, which aroused the anger of many great scholars and asked the court to suppress those who spoke nonsense.
However, the Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao refused on the grounds that the imperial court was the government of the people and had only the obligation to safeguard the people's freedom of speech but had no right to silence the people. Therefore, the great Confucians could only publish in newspapers and periodicals, in academies and major universities. In the literary society, I debated and fought with those with novel and rebellious ideas, and I still have no intention of stopping even now.
Even Wang Hua, Zhang Cai and others who live above the temple also know something about it, and even participated secretly under pseudonyms. Therefore, they also know what the country is, what the administration is, and what the academy is. But let them What is shocking is that His Majesty the Ming Emperor seems to be intentionally applying new ideas and practices that have emerged among the people to the court.
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask, why is it called the National Academy of Administration?" Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, asked. He didn't know whether he should accept the emperor's application of new ideas to court politics, so he decided to ask. After you understand the emperor's intentions, you can decide whether you should remonstrate or not.
"Do I need to explain the reason? The establishment of this school is a place for cultivating national scholars, not for cultivating my servants. When there is a king, there are ministers, and when there are ministers, there are people. If the people accumulate the people, they will become a country, and the people will use their families as their home. group, the country is In the world, you are both my ministers and officials of the people, and you are the men of the country. Don’t you want me to treat you as a man of the country? Do you want me to treat you as a domestic slave?”
When Zhu Houzhao said this, Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, suddenly understood and hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "My emperor is wise!"
"Your Majesty intends to educate the country's scholars, which is indeed a well-intentioned move. However, all the officials in the world are already talented people in the court. If you educate them again, wouldn't it undermine the method of selecting officials and make people in the world laugh, saying that the current method of selecting officials is useless? Those who choose are all useless people!”
Zhang Cai, the official minister, said.
"If people in the world laugh, they are actually laughing at it. Most of the officials in the court are useless. This is a fact!"
When Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhang Cai, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was speechless for a moment. He did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor was so direct and did not care about the opinions of the people in the world. But when he thought about it carefully, His Majesty the Emperor seemed to have really not cared much about the opinions of the people in the world since he came to the throne. .
"Common people need to learn it in social studies, county schools, and even elementary and middle schools, and scholars need to learn it in universities, Imperial College, etc., and I, the emperor, also have banquets to learn it, and princes and others have palace studies to learn it. Don’t court officials need to study humbly? Even if you are talented, you still have two more to go.”
Zhu Houzhao continued to ask, and asked Wang Hua: "Wang Hua, you are the number one scholar. Can you tell me whether your knowledge has reached a state where you no longer need to ask others for advice and learn from others."
"I am just the number one scholar among the 298 candidates of Xinchou Ke in the 17th year of Chenghua. There are many people in the world who are ignorant of all kinds of learning. And the sage said that if three people walk together, they must have my teacher. No one needs me." Wang Hua would naturally not be proud to say that he has learned a lot and has no need to study anymore. In fact, although literati are proud of themselves, there are few who dare to be arrogant enough to say that they are superior to others.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao said:
"Even Wang Huashang did not dare to say that he did not need to study. Who among the scholar-bureaucrats really did not need to study? He drafted a decree and organized the Ministry of Civil Affairs to establish a national administrative college. The schooling period was one year. Officials of the third rank and above were selected from the local government and the fourth rank from the two capitals. The officials above are trained in rotation, and the local officials of the fourth rank and above and the two Beijing officials of the fifth rank and above are trained regularly to prepare for the selection of officials in the northern and southern capitals and local administrative officials.”
"Zhang Cai, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. You will also serve as the wine sacrificer at the National Academy of Administration. However, the training must be done by Zhang Cong. He is the first student of the Capital University and has served as a local county magistrate. He is familiar with it. New Deal, Wang Hua, please make a submission and recommend Zhang Cong to be the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the director of the National Academy of Administration. The former right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs will be among the first batch of students of the National Academy of Administration. "Zhu Houzhao. After such an announcement, Zhang Cai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was quite happy because he did not expect that His Majesty intended to put the National Administration Academy under the control of the Ministry of Personnel. This meant that although he, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, had lost the power to recommend high-ranking officials, he could not recommend senior officials. Getting the opportunity to be a teacher of a high-level official means that he can organize a large political force in the future, at least to ensure that no one dares to criticize him casually.
But Zhang Cai, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was more envious of Zhang Cong. He had to admit that His Majesty was indeed deliberately reusing the students who chose to enter the Capital University at that time. These students were archived separately by His Majesty the Emperor as soon as they graduated, and they were also selected as students. As the name suggests, outstanding scholars selected from the Capital University are assigned to serve at local and grassroots levels.
And these selected students were promoted very quickly because their files were placed on His Majesty's desk.
Xia Yan was already the right minister of the Ministry of War and was on his way to the West. The person who did the same thing back then was Emperor Yongle's most trusted minister Zheng He, which shows Xia Yan's status in the emperor's heart.
Zhang Cong has also been promoted from the local county magistrate to the censor of the governor's capital of Hetao. Now His Majesty the Emperor has transferred him to the capital and promoted him to the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He is also in charge of the National Academy of Administration. He is obviously letting him cultivate his own political power and intends to let him. He took over the position of first assistant.
Zhang Cai knew that he was already in his sixties and his health was deteriorating, so he had no chance to be the first assistant, but he was sure that both Xia Yan and Zhang Cong would be the first assistant.
Not only Zhang Cai thinks so, but Wang Hua also thinks so. He knows that His Majesty is determined to innovate and intends to make officials younger. Zhang Cong will be the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs when he is only over 40 years old, and Xia Yan has just passed his thirtieth year and is only a few years away. He is already the right minister of the Ministry of War. It is also time for the Jinshi of his generation to abdicate in favor of talents, and hand over the position of chief minister with increased authority to these young and powerful officials.
"I obey the order!" Zhang Cai accepted the order and asked again: "Your Majesty, may I ask whether the decision for teachers and students of the National School of Administration should be made by the cabinet or the Ministry of Civil Affairs, or should Zhang Cong make the decision after he comes to Beijing."
"The National Academy of Administration is the academy of the Ming Empire. If it is not owned by Zhang Cong, the Ministry of Personnel is naturally responsible for it. It is reviewed by the cabinet and handed over to me for final review. Any promotion or demotion of an official must follow organizational procedures, and the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for management. The official organization represents the imperial bureaucratic organization, and you, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, are the head of the Ministry of Personnel, so you are responsible for selecting the first batch of teachers and students;
You can count yourself as a teacher. In the cabinet and the nine ministers of the two capitals, you can choose your own teachers. Jiao Fang, Xu Jin and other old guys who have enjoyed good fortune at home can also be transferred to the capital to be teachers. Although they have resigned, they still They are also my ministers and members of the organization. Although they are old and infirm and cannot take care of secular affairs, it is still necessary to teach young officials and pass on their years of experience in governing the country. ”
Zhu Houzhao continued: "As for the students, it is your responsibility to select them. Send a group of your mid-level officials who are going to be promoted to important ministers to the capital first, especially those who will be promoted to ministers, ministers, chief envoys, and inspectors of various ministries." Messenger.”
For words such as "organization" and "procedure", officials such as Zhang Cai, the Minister of Civil Affairs, also understood the meaning. They did not know whether these words were made up by His Majesty or existed in ancient times, but they had to admit that these words were indeed It expressed some meanings very appropriately, so that they all accepted it calmly. After all, it is common for languages to have new words appearing from time to time or some ancient words becoming popular.
Zhang Cai, the Minister of Civil Affairs, is now shocked that His Majesty the Emperor wants to re-employ veterans who have served in official positions. He has to admit that His Majesty the Emperor really does not want any talent to be idle, and even if he has been promoted to official positions, he will bring him back to continue working. Because of this, Wang Shudu was captured and took charge of the civil service many years after he became an official. He finally died in the second year of Zhengde.
Zhang Cai had to secretly lament that in the future, those who want to be promoted to important ministers of the Ming Dynasty must be trained by the National Academy of Administration. This means that in the future, all officials in the world will be proud to enter the National Academy of Administration. Officials must also give priority to recommending and promoting officials who have been trained by the National Administrative Academy, otherwise it will violate the rules set by the emperor.
The functions of the Hanlin Academy will be weakened as a result, and it will no longer be a prime ministerial institution.
The chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Hua, recommended Gui E, a graduate of the Capital University, Li Shi, who was also a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhai Luan, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, as candidates for governor of Hetao. It can be seen that Wang Hua still instinctively cares for the Hanlin Academy. Officials, I hope to let them go to local governors to sharpen their political experience, so that they can take on big posts in the future.
The cabinet and the nine ministers participated in the vote to approve Wang Hua's recommendation of these three people to the imperial court. Zhu Houzhao naturally chose Gui E to be the governor of Hetao. The reason is very simple. Gui E is a selected student.
This will also let the world know how much the current emperor values people who graduated from the Capital University, thus causing more and more people to be willing to sign up to join the Capital University in the future.
Ouyang Dan was also recommended by Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, as the Minister of Rites. The other cabinet ministers and Jiuqing did not want to refute Wang Hua's reputation, and they also knew that unless there were truly legitimate reasons, even if they rejected Ouyang Dan, Wang Hua's recommendation He is still someone Wang Hua values, so there is no need to block him and waste energy.
Zhu Houzhao also agreed. He appointed the chief minister of the cabinet. As an emperor, he naturally had to support his work, and officially issued an edict to appoint Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites.
Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, also knew how to cooperate with the emperor's work, and recommended Zhang Cong, the governor of Hetao, to be transferred to Beijing as the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the minister of the National Academy of Administration. After all, if he did not cooperate, the emperor Zhu Houzhao could directly remove him as the chief minister of the cabinet. , change to someone obedient.
Other cabinet ministers and Jiu Qing could not help but agree. Just like Wang Hua recommended Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites, who would be willing to find trouble to give eye drops to the chief minister.
But what really surprised the civil servants of the empire was the National Administrative Academy proposed by Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet. They were discussed for a while. After all, only Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Zhang Cai, the minister of civil affairs, knew about this concept, while most officials Still don't know.
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(End of chapter)