Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Inside the Fengtian Hall, the atmosphere changed instantly after Zhu Yuanzhang uttered a single sentence.

Many of the people present looked completely bewildered.

I was taken aback by what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Many people were momentarily doubtful, wondering if they had misheard.

Wait... what is the emperor saying?!

The Secretariat and the position of Chancellor were abolished?

The Emperor... he's not drunk, is he?
Are you out of your mind?

How could someone say such a thing?
This is the prime minister system!

The prime minister system has continued for so many years.

He actually wants to abolish it?

This is just too unbelievable!
It’s so outrageous!

Does he know what he's saying?
Do you know how much trouble this will cause?

At this moment, many people quickly exchanged glances.

Many people, however, began to have their own doubts...

However, regardless of the reactions, one thing is certain: none of the people present could remain calm. That's for sure.

Even Liu Bowen was deeply shaken at this moment.

The feelings in my heart are hard to express.

For the past few days, he has been pondering the next candidate for prime minister before His Majesty.

It can be said that every possible aspect has been considered.

The arrest of Wang Guangyang also confirms that his previous deductions about Wang Guangyang were correct.

Wang Guangyang's acceptance of the convicted official sent by Hu Weiyong as a concubine was merely one of the contributing factors.

The most fundamental reason is that Wang Guangyang failed to restrain Hu Weiyong.

After being promoted back to the Central Secretariat, he did absolutely nothing.

He plays chess, drinks alcohol, and is obsessed with women; he knows nothing about many things.

The key point is that this method is used to resist those in power and vent dissatisfaction with them.

However, even though he guessed Wang Guangyang's fate, he still failed to guess His Majesty's thoughts on a larger scale!
I originally thought that taking this opportunity to remove both Prime Ministers Wang Guangyang and Hu Weiyong and thoroughly clean up the Secretariat would be a very big and remarkable achievement.

But once again, reality proved that I was wrong about this.

It's still too petty.

What the leader actually wanted was to abolish the position of prime minister and the Zhongshu Sheng system!
No... what was he thinking when he took over?

How dare he?

How could they dare to do something like this?

This was something I never dared to imagine before.

The person who came to power actually planned to do this!
Not only Liu Bowen, but Li Shanchang was also extremely surprised at this moment.

For a moment, I felt like my brain wasn't working properly.

The shock in my heart was beyond words.

It is said that after learning that Hu Weiyong had actually rebelled, and then so smoothly risen to power, and was slapped to death, he was in trouble.

While he felt relieved by Hu Weiyong's fate, he couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

I wonder if the emperor will appoint me as prime minister and let me return to the Secretariat.

After all, I have performed quite well and been quite obedient all this time.

Moreover, by this time, he had completely severed ties with those people.

I do have the ability.

Even the renowned Liu Bowen, in terms of his contributions to gaining power and conquering the world, could not compare to my own.

Otherwise, why was he himself enfeoffed as the Duke of Han, while Liu Bowen was only the Earl of Chengyi?
In this situation, apart from himself and Liu Bowen, there is currently no one else more qualified to enter the Secretariat and become the prime minister.

Although we know that this is unlikely, we can't help but hope for it.

But then, they heard this news from their superiors!
Li Shanchang was in an indescribable mood!

Upon assuming power… he actually intends to abolish the Secretariat! And abolish the position of Chancellor!
No... what was he thinking when he took over?
How could someone even think of something like this?
This is the Secretariat, the office of the Prime Minister, and it has been in place for so long!

If one feels that the Central Secretariat, which oversees the Six Ministries, has too much power.

That's perfectly acceptable. We can split the Secretariat into three departments and continue using the Three Departments and Six Ministries system!

This system of three provinces and six ministries has long been proven to be very effective.

How come they act so decisively when they reach a higher position?

They actually abolished the Secretariat and the Chancellor!
How could this be?
If everything is ruined, who will do the work?
Just like how there have always been emperors for thousands of years, many people would feel awkward if there were no emperor on the throne.

They felt as if they couldn't live without the emperor.

Over the years, many people have become accustomed to having a prime minister to lead the officials and get things done.

Without the prime minister in charge, it always feels awkward and disorienting.

Seeing the reactions of his court officials to his words, Zhu Yuanzhang was not at all surprised.

"After abolishing the positions of Chancellor and Secretariat, the Six Ministries will be under our control."

"By directly dealing with us, the emperor, we can eliminate middlemen and their markups."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again, giving a clearer answer to those who were probably doubting life and thinking that what he said was a lie.

Let them know they didn't mishear.

He himself, as the emperor, was not wrong either.

He himself wanted to abolish the position of prime minister and the Secretariat.

The goal is to put power in the hands of the emperor.

The Six Ministries were the ones who actually got things done, a fact that Zhu Yuanzhang understood long ago.

This is why, since the Three Departments and Six Ministries system was introduced, the three departments at the top have undergone various changes.

However, when it came to these six parts, the situation remained stable and unshaken.

It was precisely because he understood these things that he dared to take action against the Secretariat and the Prime Minister.

His statement at this time that there are no middlemen making a profit is not just a result of later influences, but also a reflection of his speaking habits.

I believe this kind of expression conveys the corresponding meaning more clearly and concisely.

More importantly, the status of commerce is still too low.

Now that he has already promoted business development, he should do more to promote it from all aspects.

Used to enhance the status of businesses.

This matter cannot be accomplished overnight, nor can it be superficial.

It is necessary to demonstrate one's emphasis on business and provide corresponding support in all aspects.

Only in this way can we guide the direction of society step by step.

Only then can we promote and facilitate the further development and prosperity of commerce...

"To rise to power... Your idea of ​​rising to power is very good."

Hu Weiyong, that traitor, actually dared to assassinate the emperor; his actions are utterly outrageous!
His ability to achieve this was largely due to his position as prime minister and the immense power of the Secretariat.

His Majesty's decision is perfectly normal!

In the midst of silence, Liu Bowen broke the stillness and uttered these words.

With something this big happening, he couldn't possibly remain silent.

Even knowing that speaking up at this moment might displease his superiors, he still had to say a few words.

The Secretariat and the Chancellor did indeed wield considerable power, given that previously there was a separation of three departments. However, during the Yuan Dynasty, the Ministry of Personnel and the Chancellery were abolished, leaving only the Secretariat.

This means that the power of the three provinces was concentrated in the Central Secretariat.

One can imagine how powerful the Secretariat was.

It was indeed detrimental to imperial power.

Those who become prime ministers can indeed easily seize power through the Secretariat.

However, there is one more thing he didn't mention.

The fact that the prime minister of the Central Secretariat wielded such great power was not simply because the Yuan Dynasty had haphazardly altered the system, failing to grasp its essence and instead being overly crude.

Many things are done simply because they are easy to do.

Another, even bigger reason, is the inadequacy of the system.

To be precise, it was the abolition of the imperial examination system that had a serious impact.

Even though the imperial examination system for selecting officials was no longer in place, officials were still indispensable and needed to be appointed.

So what channels are available for appointing officials nowadays?
Besides the Imperial Academy established by the emperor, which allowed its students to become officials, and the hereditary official positions, the most important thing was recommendation.

Recommendations for official positions accounted for a particularly large proportion of the total number of appointed officials.

More than half.

While the imperial examination system allowed for some degree of manipulation in the process of becoming an official, it also provided opportunities for personal gain.

Even after the Song Dynasty began to formalize the palace examination system, officials who passed the imperial examinations were collectively referred to as "disciples of the emperor."

However, even during these scientific expeditions, it was still unavoidable to engage in things like networking and building connections.

However, compared to recommendation, that was far superior.

After all, most officials who passed the imperial examinations did not consider themselves to be the emperor's protégés.

They are not grateful to the emperor.

However, they also do not acknowledge or appreciate others, believing that their ability to become officials is related to others.

Because they truly earned their positions through their own abilities.

Officials who are recommended will naturally develop a sense of gratitude towards those who recommended them.

Because he was able to become an official through someone's recommendation.

They are more likely to band together and form factions.

This is actually even more detrimental to the court's rule.

This is actually one of the important roles and reasons why the imperial examination system replaced the recommendation system.

When it comes to recommending officials, who has the most power?
He naturally became the prime minister.

In other words, to a large extent, the power to recommend officials was in the hands of the prime minister.

Whose favors were those officials who were appointed to these positions?
It is naturally due to the Prime Minister's kindness.

In this way, it is easy to cultivate a large number of followers.

This is also a major reason why Li Shanchang had disciples and former officials all over the country, wielded immense power, and dared to challenge the emperor.

At the same time, it was only after Hu Weiyong became prime minister that he had amassed such great power in just a few years.

This is the fundamental reason why, even if he wanted to rebel, he could mobilize so many people to help him do it.

He knew that those in power had always been dissatisfied with the imperial examination system.

They thought that people who passed the imperial examinations were useless.

He does not deny this.

Many people who rose through the imperial examination system were indeed incompetent in handling affairs.

However, they were able to put the power to select and appoint officials into the hands of the emperor.

Those officials selected through the imperial examinations, even if they were not grateful to the emperor, were generally not grateful to any other high-ranking officials in the court, and that was enough.

However, he only thought about it in his heart and didn't intend to say it to his superiors.

It's not that he was selfish and didn't care about the Ming Dynasty.

Rather, it was because by this point he understood that those in power were certainly aware of these things.

Especially in the last year or two, Your Majesty has promoted new learning, established many academies, and added many disciplines. You should also consider the promise made by the Emperor to reopen the imperial examination system in the next few years.

He understood perfectly well that there was probably a series of moves involved in taking over.

Abolishing the imperial examination system was just one of his methods.

It is to make room for new disciplines such as arithmetic and physics.

They were brought into the imperial examination system.

If it weren't for that move he made to take over a few years ago.

Therefore, when the imperial examinations are reopened, it will be very difficult for the authorities to easily incorporate these subjects into the examinations for talent selection.

This will inevitably provoke extremely strong opposition.

It must be said that the person in charge truly had a long-term vision.

Many things require taking one step and thinking two steps ahead, or even three steps ahead.

The advancement to the top was too fast and too significant!
In just a few years, he has gone from someone who didn't understand many things to someone who is now beyond even his own comprehension!
Just like the abolition of the imperial examination system, I initially thought His Majesty was acting impulsively and was being too presumptuous.

Little did they know, that was merely a tactic used by those in power.

Moreover, if it hadn't been at that time that the imperial examination system had been abolished and a system of recommending officials for appointment had been adopted.

How could Hu Weiyong's power have expanded to this extent in the past few years?
Would they rebel at this time?

Therefore, it will not be easy for someone in power to abolish the Secretariat and the prime minister system.

Looking back, it was a very clever strategy to rise to power!

It's so complex and ingenious that it's unbelievable!
In fact, Liu Bowen had clearly overthought this.

In his previous life, when Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the imperial examination system, he didn't think that much about it.

It was because the talent selected through the imperial examination system was far from what he had imagined.

He originally thought that the imperial examination system could select talents like Zhuge Liang.

Even if all else fails, they can still choose someone like Zhang Liang, Xiao He, or Chen Ping.

To govern the world for him.

As a result, all his hopes vanished after he encountered the selected talents.

In a fit of anger, he issued an order to abolish the imperial examination system and replace it with the previous recommendation system for appointing officials.

He also added that he would train officials through the Imperial Academy.

Developing new schools of thought and preparing to change the imperial examination system, etc., were all things he did after unexpectedly traveling to the future and returning to this world.

"But... with the six ministries directly under the new leadership, the administration is far too complicated and too much."

On the other hand, those in power... I'm afraid they'll find it hard to bear.

The dragon's body, especially the one in the highest position, is of utmost importance.

Liu Bowen carefully considered his words before speaking.

After Liu Bowen spoke, the others followed suit.

Express their opinions on this matter and offer gentle advice.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened quietly to their story, then smiled and said, "We've also considered this matter."

He then explained the cabinet system.

After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent once again.

Zhu Yuanzhang waited quietly for a moment, then looked at them and said, "We've finished speaking. Who supports this matter, and who opposes it?" (End of Chapter)