Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 218: Reform of the Imperial Civil Service Selection System
The chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Hua, has been very troubled recently because the emperor Zhu Houzhao's change to the selection system means that he, the chief minister of the cabinet, has the power to recommend the minister of rites. As a result, many officials have visited him recently.

But Wang Hua didn't know how to select the Minister of Rites, so he found the Minister of Personnel, Zhang Cai, hoping to still select officials who were suitable for the Ministry of Rites through the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluation files.

In order to choose a Minister of Rites that 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 capable of doing practical things. They could only choose from officials who had experience in local governance, and they did select a group of them. There were many civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, and although they were all selected based on the eight-legged essay, it was not difficult to find a few honest officials.

"Your Majesty, I recommend Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites. He was the magistrate of Xiuning County and later the Censor-in-Chief. He has served as the Assistant Censor of Huguang, the Deputy Censor of Zhejiang, the Counselor of the Provincial Governor, the Left and Right Provincial Governors, and the Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture. He is currently the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He is fifty-six years old!"

Wang Hua finally recommended an official who had been left alone in Nanjing. Zhu Houzhao knew that Wang Hua had put a lot of thought into it and praised him highly.

At this time, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai could not help but say, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister recommended Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites. From the perspective of the selection system, there is nothing to refute. Ouyang Dan was originally a third-rank official, and he has completed the examination and is waiting to be promoted. However, there are hundreds of third-rank officials in the world who are in urgent need of promotion. What I want to ask is, how should these hundreds of people be used? If we talk about qualifications, they can all be demoted to regular officials, but there are few people like Ouyang Dan who started from prefectures and trained in local areas. Most of them are first- or second-class Jinshi, and most of them are officials in Beijing, and few are sent to other places. However, the court cannot abandon these people."

"This is a problem. The selection of officials has always emphasized background rather than experience. Beijing officials are easier to promote than officials outside the capital, Hanlin officials are easier to promote than Jinshi, first and second class Jinshi are easier to promote than third class Jinshi, and Jinshi are easier to promote than Juren. As a result, most of the Hanlin officials have reached the positions of vice ministers and ministers even though they have no experience in local administration, while capable local officials mostly stop at the third rank. Even if we emphasize the importance of honest officials now, we cannot ignore those who are already in high positions, but it is okay to go back to the training system and retrain them," said Zhu Houzhao.

"Rebuild it?"

The cabinet chief Wang Hua and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel Zhang Cai looked at each other, and Zhang Cai took the initiative to ask: "Your Majesty, do you want them to go to the Imperial University to study? Just like the children of nobles and candidates for official selection? But they are all important officials in the court. If they are all sent to study for three to five years, wouldn't the court be empty?"

"Not to the Imperial University of Peking. The Imperial University of Peking focuses on academic research and education. Training officials for government is only a temporary expedient. It is unrealistic to ask these officials who have been in office for a long time to study at the Imperial University of Peking for three to five years. I know this. What I mean is to set up a school dedicated to training officials, called the National School of Administration."

Zhu Houzhao stated his purpose. He also knew that it was difficult to make the officials in the court become the officials needed by himself, the emperor, and the Ming Dynasty. At least the number of them was small. Sometimes the court had to take the initiative to reform the officials. Cadre training was a very important aspect of state and enterprise management in later generations, and the Ming Dynasty could not do without it.

“National School of Administration?”

In recent years, new schools of thought have emerged, and words such as "country" and "nation" have appeared in large numbers. Some radicals have even used this to refute that many great Confucian scholars of the Yuan Dynasty were only loyal ministers of Confucianism and were only traitors to the country and nation, and even that the Yanshenggong Mansion was unworthy of its ancestors. This has angered many great Confucian scholars, and they have demanded that the court suppress these people who spoke out of turn.

However, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao refused on the grounds that the imperial court was the government of the world's scholars and people and had the obligation to protect the people's freedom of speech but had no right to stop them from speaking. Therefore, the great scholars could only debate and fight with those with new and rebellious ideas in newspapers, academies and major literary societies, and there has been no sign of stopping until now.

Even Wang Hua, Zhang Cai and others who were in high positions in the government knew something about it, and had even participated in it secretly under pseudonyms. Therefore, they also knew what the country meant, what the administration meant, and what the academy meant. But what surprised them was that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty seemed to be intentionally applying the new ideas and practices emerging among the people to the court.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask, why is it called the National School of Administration?" asked the Cabinet Chief Minister Wang Hua. He didn't know whether he should accept the emperor's application of new ideas to court politics, so he decided to ask in order to find out the emperor's intentions before deciding whether he should advise him.

"Do I need to explain the reason? This school is established to train national talents, not to train my slaves. Where there is a monarch, there are ministers, where there are ministers, there are people, people gather together to form a country, and people form families, and families and countries form the world. You are both my ministers and officials of the people, and you are national talents! Don't you want me to treat you as national talents? Do you want me to treat you as slaves?"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, the cabinet chief Wang Hua understood it all at once and hurriedly bowed and said, "My emperor is wise!"

"Your Majesty's intention to support the country's talents is indeed a well-intentioned move, but all the officials in the world are already talents in the court. If you educate them further, wouldn't it damage the method of selecting talents and make people all over the world laugh at you, saying that the current method of selecting talents is useless and those selected are useless!"

Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai said.

"If the world laughs at you, then they are right to laugh. Most of the officials in the court are useless. This is a fact!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai 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 world. But when he thought about it carefully, His Majesty the Emperor did not seem to care much about the opinions of the world since he ascended the throne.

"Common people need to study in community schools, county schools, prefectural schools, and even primary and secondary schools. Scholars need to study in universities and the Imperial Academy. I, the emperor, also have the Imperial Lectures to study, and the princes have the Imperial Academy to study. Don't court officials need to learn with an open mind? Even if you are extremely talented, you still have two buckets of talent left."

Zhu Houzhao continued to ask questions and asked Wang Hua: "Wang Hua, you are a top scholar, tell me if your knowledge has reached perfection and you don't need to ask others for advice or learn from others."

"I am only the number one scholar among the 298 candidates in the Xinchou examination in the 17th year of Chenghua. There are many people in the world who are not proficient in any subject. Moreover, as the sage said, 'When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher.' Everyone needs to study hard." Wang Hua would naturally not proudly say that he is well-read and does not need to learn more. In fact, although scholars are proud in their bones, few of them dare to be arrogant enough to say that they are very talented.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao said:
"Even Wang Hua dared not say that he did not need to learn, so who among the literati really did not need to learn? I will draft an imperial decree to order the Ministry of Personnel to establish a National Administrative Academy with a one-year curriculum. Local officials of the third rank and above, officials of the fourth rank and above in the two capitals will be selected for rotational training, and local officials of the fourth rank and above, and officials of the fifth rank and above in the two capitals will be trained regularly, in order to prepare for the selection of officials in the two capitals and the local chief officials."

"Zhang Cai, you are the Minister of Personnel, and you will be the chief academic officer of the National School of Administration. However, Zhang Cong should be asked to do the training. He is the first student of Imperial University and has served as a county magistrate, so he is familiar with the new policy. Wang Hua, you draft a memorial to recommend Zhang Cong as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and concurrently the Assistant Director of the National School of Administration. The former Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel will be the first batch of students of the National School of Administration." After Zhu Houzhao's instructions, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai was quite happy, because he did not expect that His Majesty intended to let the Ministry of Personnel manage the National School of Administration. This meant that although he, the Minister of Personnel, had lost the power to recommend senior officials, he had gained the opportunity to be a teacher of middle- and high-level officials, which meant that he could organize a large political force in the future. At least he could ensure that no one would dare to attack him casually.

However, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai envied Zhang Cong more. He had to admit that His Majesty was indeed intending to make use of the students who chose to enter the Imperial University at that time. These people were kept in separate archives by the Emperor as soon as they graduated, and were also named "selected students". As the name suggests, they were outstanding scholars selected from the Imperial University to serve in local and grassroots positions.

This group of selected candidates were indeed promoted quickly because their files were placed on the Emperor's desk.

Xia Yan was already the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and was on his way to patrol the Western Ocean. The person who did the same thing back then was Zheng He, the most trusted eunuch of Emperor Yongle. This is enough to show the status of Xia Yan in the emperor's heart.

Zhang Cong was also promoted from a local county magistrate to the governor of Hetao and the chief censor. Now, His Majesty the Emperor has transferred him to Beijing and promoted him to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he is also in charge of the National School of Administration. It is obvious that the Emperor is allowing him to cultivate his own political power and intends to let him take over the position of Prime Minister.

Zhang Cai knew that he was already in his sixties and his health was deteriorating, so naturally he had no chance to become the Prime Minister, but he was certain that Xia Yan and Zhang Cong both wanted to be the Prime Minister.

Not only Zhang Cai thought so, but Wang Hua also thought so. He knew that His Majesty was determined to reform and intended to make officials younger. Zhang Cong was only in his forties and was about to become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Xia Yan had just passed his thirties and was already the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. It was time for his generation of Jinshi in the Chenghua Dynasty to step down and hand over the position of Prime Minister with increased power to these young and powerful officials.

"I obey your order!" Zhang Cai received the order and then asked, "Your Majesty, then I would like to ask, will the teachers and students of the National School of Administration be chosen by the cabinet or the Ministry of Personnel, or will they be chosen by Zhang Cong after he arrives in Beijing?"

"The National Academy of Administration is the academy of the Ming Empire, not Zhang Cong's. Naturally, the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for it, and it will be reviewed by the Cabinet and submitted to me for final review. The promotion and demotion of any official must follow the organizational procedures. The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for managing the official organization and represents the imperial bureaucracy. As the Minister of Personnel, you are the head of the Ministry of Personnel, so you are responsible for selecting the first batch of teachers and students.

You count yourself as a teacher. You can choose your own teachers from the cabinet and the nine ministers in the two capitals. Retired old guys like Jiao Fang and Xu Jin who are enjoying their lives at home can also be transferred to Beijing to be teachers. Although they have resigned, they are still my subjects and members of the organization. Although they are old and weak and cannot manage secular affairs, it is necessary for them to teach young officials and pass on their many years of experience in governing the country. "

Zhu Houzhao then said, "As for the students, you should also select them in the Ministry of Personnel. First, transfer a group of middle-level officials who are going to be promoted to important officials to Beijing, especially those who will be promoted to ministers and vice ministers of various ministries, as well as provincial governors and censors."

Officials such as the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai also understood the meaning of words such as "organization" and "procedure". They did not know whether these words were made up by His Majesty or had existed since ancient times, but they had to admit that these words did express some meanings very appropriately, so much so that they accepted them frankly. After all, for language, it is a common phenomenon for new words to appear from time to time or for some ancient words to become popular.

What shocked the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai now was that His Majesty the Emperor wanted to re-employ retired old ministers. He had to admit that his Majesty the Emperor really would not let any talented person sit idle. Even retired ministers would be brought back to work. As a result, Wang Shu was brought back to take charge of the Ministry of Personnel many years after his retirement, and finally died in the second year of Zhengde.

What Zhang Cai couldn't help but sigh secretly was that those who wanted to be promoted to important officials of the Ming Dynasty in the future must be trained at the National School of Administration. This means that officials all over the world will be proud to enter the National School of Administration, and the chief minister of the cabinet and the official selection of the Ministry of Personnel must give priority to recommending and promoting officials who have been trained at the National School of Administration, otherwise it would be a violation of the precedent set by the emperor.

The function of the Hanlin Academy will be weakened as a result, and it will no longer be an institution that reserves prime ministers.

Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet, recommended Gui E, a selected graduate of Imperial University, Li Shi, who was also a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhai Luan, a reader of the Hanlin Academy, as candidates for the governor of Hetao. It can be seen that Wang Hua still instinctively took care of the officials of the Hanlin Academy, hoping to let them serve as governors in local areas, hone their experience in politics, and be able to take on major responsibilities in the future.

The cabinet and the nine ministers voted in favor of Wang Hua recommending these three people to the emperor. Zhu Houzhao naturally chose Gui E to serve as the governor of Hetao. The reason was simple: Gui E was a selected student.

This also made people all over the world know how much the current emperor values ​​people who graduate from the Imperial University of Peking, and as a result, more and more people were willing to sign up to join the Imperial University of Peking.

Ouyang Dan was also recommended by the chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Hua, as the Minister of Rites. The other cabinet ministers and the nine officials did not want to offend Wang Hua, and they also knew that unless there was a truly legitimate reason, even if they rejected Ouyang Dan, the person recommended by Wang Hua was still someone he valued, so there was no need to stop them and waste energy.

Zhu Houzhao also agreed. As the emperor, he naturally had to support the work of the chief minister of the cabinet appointed by him. He also formally issued an edict to appoint Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites.

The Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Wang Hua, also knew how to cooperate with the emperor and recommended Zhang Cong, the governor of Hetao, to be transferred to Beijing to serve as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Assistant Director of the National Academy of Administration. After all, if he did not cooperate, Emperor Zhu Houzhao could directly dismiss him as the Chief Minister of the Cabinet and replace him with an obedient one.

Other cabinet ministers and nine officials had to agree, just like Wang Hua recommended Ouyang Dan as the Minister of Rites. Who would want to find trouble to offend the Prime Minister?

But what really surprised the empire's civil servants was the National School of Administration proposed by the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Wang Hua. They all started discussing it. After all, only the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Wang Hua, and the Minister of Personnel, Zhang Cai, knew about this concept, while most officials still didn't know about it.

Thanks to the book friend Chao Xue Chi for the reward of 100 Qidian coins

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(End of this chapter)