My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 239 Prerequisite Task? "Request to Supplement the Grand Secretary's Memorial"

Su Ze did want to help, but he ran into a wall when he tried to persuade Gao Gong.

Su Ze visited Gao Gong, hoping to gauge the cabinet's opinion.

It was the same study with the high arch, but this time it wasn't as tidy as the previous times.

The high-arched desk was piled high with various documents, the most eye-catching of which was a large volume of paperwork.

The Civil Code of the Ming Dynasty.

Su Ze then remembered that this was the civil code he had petitioned the court to compile.
It seems to have been handed over to Li Yiyuan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, for editing. How come it was finished so quickly?

The request for civil law was made last June, and the first draft was completed in just six months. This Minister Li must either be very proficient in judicial work or have outstanding leadership skills.

As for why this draft of the "Civil Law of the Ming Dynasty" appeared on Gao Gong's desk, Su Ze quickly figured it out.

The cabinet currently has only four cabinet ministers, with Grand Secretary Li Chunfang on long-term leave.

Faced with the increasingly heavy workload of the court, the three Grand Secretaries also divided up their responsibilities.

When Gao Gong was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, he also drafted the proposals for the Ministry of Justice.

When Zhang Juzheng was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he also had to draft proposals for the Ministry of Works.

Zhao Zhenji was in charge of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites.

This copy of "The Civil Code of the Ming Dynasty" was naturally first sent to Gao Gong's desk.

Gao Gong pushed up his glasses and looked at Su Ze, asking:

"You want to get involved in the Ministry of Works' affairs too?"

Su Ze said quickly:

"Prime Minister, river management is a vital matter concerning the livelihood of the people."

Gao Gong lowered his glasses, pointed to the mountain-like "Civil Law of the Ming Dynasty," and said to Su Ze:

“Now the Ministry of Works is concurrently managed by Grand Secretary Zhang. Grand Secretary Zhang is busy with the ‘Accounting Records’ that you submitted a memorial requesting to be implemented. There are more documents on his desk than on mine.”

Su Ze looked at Gao Gong with a troubled expression, only to hear Gao Gong say:

"River management is indeed an important task, but the cabinet is simply not able to handle it all."

Su Ze quickly said, "Master, please enlighten me!"

Gao Gong said:

"Or you could bring Grand Secretary Li back to the cabinet?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ze quickly put on a bitter face and said:
"Master is joking with me. How could I possibly have such an ability?"

Su Ze knew that the serialization of "Journey to the West" was about to end, and that Grand Secretary Li was busy at home working on the manuscript. If the completion of "Journey to the West" was delayed, the readers of "Yuefu Xinbao" might burn down the newspaper office.

"Either you try to persuade His Majesty to appoint additional cabinet ministers."

"Ah? Such important matters of the court are not something for a disciple to submit a memorial to, are they?"

Gao Gong glared at Su Ze, who was trying to play dumb, and then said:

"For important matters such as appointing new cabinet ministers, all officials have the right to submit a memorial."

"But to get His Majesty's approval, we need someone of considerable influence."

"Moreover, this matter is not suitable to be raised by the Grand Secretaries and the Nine Ministers."

Now Su Ze understood Gao Gong's meaning.

If the proposal to add cabinet ministers is made by the cabinet elders themselves, the other cabinet elders will feel that the elders who are submitting the memorial are trying to bring people into the cabinet and change the political balance of the cabinet.

In particular, when Gao Gong was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, if he wanted to add cabinet ministers, the Ministry of Personnel had to draft a list.

This kind of situation, where things might seem suspicious, is even less suitable for Gao Gong to bring up.

Meanwhile, the nine high-ranking officials are all on the list of candidates to be added to the cabinet.

It would be inappropriate for them to propose adding more cabinet ministers.

So this matter is stuck here.

Those who held little weight in the emperor's eyes submitted petitions requesting the addition of cabinet ministers, but the emperor didn't even glance at them.

Ministers who held sway over the emperor were deemed unsuitable to submit memorials for these reasons.

However, Gao Gong quickly realized that there was a special minister in the court named Su Ze.

As Su Ze left Gao Gong's residence, he felt like the protagonist in some canned video game, having to complete a prerequisite task before he could complete a main mission.

If we want to repair the river, we must first ask the emperor to appoint more cabinet ministers to reduce their workload.

What else could Su Ze do but go back and draft a memorial to the throne?
-
March 12, Cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng has completed the compilation of the first volume of the "Longqing Accounting Records".

Last year, the total annual revenue from various local land taxes, after being converted into silver, was 8.9 million taels.

This figure represents the peak of the Ming Dynasty's land tax, all thanks to the favorable weather and lack of major disasters last year.

Last year, the port's maritime tax and horse trade tax totaled four million taels.

It should be noted that in the past, the salt tax was second only to the land tax, amounting to a scale of one million taels.

In addition, last year the stamp duty revenue was 400,000 taels, and the shops operated by the Imperial Carriage Office, including those operated by the Crown Prince, paid 300,000 taels in profits.

Last year, the total revenue of the Ming Dynasty, including land tax, maritime tax, salt tax, and other miscellaneous taxes, was close to 15 million taels.

When this number was calculated, even Zhang Juzheng was shocked!
Zhang Juzheng had controlled the Ministry of Revenue for a long time. During the reign of the previous emperor, the Japanese pirates caused unrest, and natural and man-made disasters continued. Sometimes the court's annual revenue was only around seven or eight million taels of silver.

The fiscal revenue nearly doubled in the third year of the Longqing reign!

But the more you earn, the more you spend.

The accounts for the expenses of the nine high-ranking officials' offices and the operating costs of local government offices have not yet been released.

However, two battles were fought last year, and five million taels of silver were spent on border defense.

In addition, the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury funded the maintenance of the Grand Canal, the construction of ports and wharves, and the establishment of post roads and stations.

Last year, the Lingji Palace Grand Assembly and the Lantern Festival were held. In addition to other miscellaneous expenses, the imperial expenditure in the third year of the Longqing reign was the highest since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

With increased income comes increased expenses.

Spring plowing has just begun this year, but the court officials and officials are no longer paying attention to land taxes.

The Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, and unless there was a nationwide extreme disaster or a major event such as the invasion of the southeast by Japanese pirates, the annual land tax remained basically stable.

The surge in new taxes last year was the real focus of attention for the high-ranking officials.

The increase in annual revenue has also made various government departments eager to make a move.

However, the maritime tax collected at the port was all deposited into the emperor's private treasury.

The Ministry of Revenue now regrets that when they were discussing it back then, they gave up the maritime trade tax, and now they can't reach into the emperor's pocket.

The only consolation was that the minting losses for silver dollars and brass coins were controlled by the Ministry of Revenue, and this amounted to a sum of millions of taels.

This money was also tied to the maritime trade tax, and the Ministry of Revenue could also benefit from the maritime trade tax.

The amount of silver actually controlled by the Ministry of Revenue did not increase much, but the outer court had already reached into the Ministry of Revenue's purse.

Zhang Juzheng rubbed his temples. Sure enough, the Ministry of Works was already clamoring to manage the rivers and repair the canals.

The Ministry of Works got into a fight, but then the Ministry of Revenue got involved, since ultimately the Ministry of Revenue would have to pay for it.

Zhang Juzheng also had to keep an eye on this matter. In addition to the Ministry of Works, the reform of the General Administration of Customs and Postal Services also fell to Zhang Juzheng.

The Office of the General Administration of Posts and Telecommunications was established in various places to reorganize the postal routes and establish maritime post stations.

No matter how small the matter, Zhang Juzheng had to make the final decision.

Even a capable minister like Zhang Juzheng was finding the burden somewhat unbearable.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Gao Gong beside him.

The Ministry of Revenue was busy, and so was the Ministry of Personnel.

The first batch of clerks who passed the civil service examination have completed three months of initial training at the Imperial Academy and, after passing the Ministry of Personnel's graduation assessment, have been assigned to the prefectural and county offices of Shuntian Prefecture.

A total of 240 people were admitted to the civil service examination, and all of them passed the graduation exam. With the arrival of these officials, the collection of commercial taxes in the capital region was put on the agenda.

Commercial tax revenue became a key focus of the foreign court.

In fact, the maritime trade tax is also a kind of commercial tax. Since the maritime trade tax of several ports can collect four million taels, what about the commercial tax?
The court and officials alike were filled with anticipation for commercial taxes.

Gao Gong also understood the importance of officials, so he ordered the Ministry of Personnel to keep a close eye on the officials of Shuntian Prefecture, and also ordered the Six Ministries and the Censorate to send officials to conduct inspections.

The collection of commercial taxes has become a consensus in the imperial court, and the doctrine of the four classes of morality has also spread, with paying taxes itself being one of the "merchant virtues".

However, if local officials levy exorbitant taxes for their own political achievements, it will affect the normal commercial activities in the Gyeonggi region, causing the hard-won prosperity of the Gyeonggi region to decline again.

Gao Gong has been extremely busy with these matters these days, and the entire Ministry of Personnel is being put through a lot of trouble.

Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Justice, the first draft of the "Civil Law of the Great Ming Dynasty," compiled under the supervision of Li Yiyuan, the Vice Minister of Justice, has been completed and also needs to be reviewed by the Cabinet.

Gao Gong was busy with the affairs of the new officials during the day, and at night he would go back and review the "Civil Law of the Great Ming Dynasty" page by page.

Even this exceptionally energetic senior official has developed dark circles under his eyes from staying up so long.

Zhang Juzheng then looked at Zhao Zhenji's seat.

Grand Secretary Zhao's seat was empty. He had been busy with matters concerning the Military Affairs Bureau these days, and today he went to inspect the Bureau again.

The emperor was very concerned about the Military Affairs Bureau, but worried that the newly appointed Minister of War, Cao Bangfu, would not be able to win over the people in the Ministry of War, so he entrusted the work of supervising the Military Affairs Bureau to Zhao Zhenji.

These days, Zhao Zhenji is busy with the construction of the Military Academy, supervising the Ministry of Works to complete the construction of the academy's buildings, and also traveling between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites to complete the recruitment of the first batch of students for the Military Academy.

Zhao, who valued the demeanor of a renowned scholar and used to love lecturing, was always in a hurry, and even his beloved lectures on the philosophy of mind were suspended.

It's only March, and the cabinet is already this busy.

Zhang Juzheng picked up the memorial sent by the Office of Transmission. When he saw Su Ze's familiar handwriting and the title "Memorial Requesting the Supplementation of Cabinet Ministers" on the cover, Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up.
-
"Request to Supplement the Memorial of the Cabinet Ministers"?
Looking at Zhang Juzheng's memorial, the Longqing Emperor asked Li Fang, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who was beside him:

"Has the workload of the cabinet become this heavy?"

Li Fang quickly said:

"Your Majesty, the number of memorials drafted by the Cabinet this year is twice that of last year. In addition, there are many affairs in various departments, and many require the Grand Secretaries to coordinate. The Cabinet is indeed busier than in previous years."

Fearing the emperor wouldn't believe him, Li Fang added:
"The Grand Secretary was in charge of the civil service examination, the military supervision, and the accounting records, as well as the reform of the horse market in the nine border regions and the Office of Transmission."

A figure flashed through the Longqing Emperor's mind, as if all these things were related to Su Ze?

As the Longqing Emperor read the memorial from the "instigator," a smile appeared on his lips.

Su Ze's memorial was very simple: he said that the court was currently overwhelmed with affairs and the cabinet was cluttered with government affairs, and he requested that more cabinet members be added to share the burden of the senior cabinet members.

Finally, Su Ze even "threatened" the emperor that if no new cabinet ministers were appointed, and if any of the cabinet ministers fell ill from overwork, the court's administration would come to a standstill.

After reading the memorial, the Longqing Emperor then looked at the draft opinions that preceded it.

Second Grand Secretary Gao Gong, Third Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, and Fourth Grand Secretary Zhao Zhenji all agreed and requested the emperor to either invite Grand Secretary Li back or add more Grand Secretaries, otherwise the work of the Grand Secretariat could not be done!

Seeing his cabinet so united, the Longqing Emperor couldn't help but smile.

He said to Li Fang, "Since the masters all agree, let the Ministry of Personnel draft the list."

The appointment of new cabinet ministers requires the Ministry of Personnel to draft a list, which is then selected by the emperor.

The candidates for the new cabinet ministers are from the same circle of the Nine Ministers (both senior and junior).

However, Li Fang, having received the imperial decree, did not leave. Emperor Longqing looked at Li Fang, who, as the Grand Master of Ceremonial, also knelt down and said:

"Your Majesty, the affairs of the Grand Secretariat are heavy, and the affairs of the Directorate of Ceremonial are also heavy. Please, Your Majesty, grant the Directorate of Ceremonial an additional scribe."

The Longqing Emperor laughed out loud:

"I thought it was something serious. After the addition of cabinet ministers, the inner court should also be supplemented. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs should come up with a list."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

After Li Fang left, the Longqing Emperor recalled how, when his father was in power, the cabinet members fought tooth and nail, each trying to kick the other out of the cabinet.

Why is it that when they take office, the cabinet ministers all unanimously demand the addition of more cabinet ministers?
Has people's hearts changed? Or has the world changed?
-
This memorial was approved immediately without needing any prestige points.

——[Simulation Start]——

Your memorial requesting the addition of cabinet ministers was sent to the cabinet that same day, and all three cabinet ministers unanimously agreed with it.

The emperor approved your memorial and ordered the Ministry of Personnel to draft a list of candidates for cabinet ministers.

Prestige Points +500.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige Points: 910]

[This simulation does not consume any attempts; 2/2 remaining]

Su Ze had just put down the portable Ming Dynasty newspaper when Shen Yiguan rushed into the newspaper office:
"Brother Zilin! His Majesty has approved your memorial and ordered the Ministry of Personnel to recommend candidates for the Grand Secretariat!"

Shen Yiguan then looked at Su Ze with a playful expression and said:

"My colleagues are all asking me, Brother Zilin, who do you think will be admitted to the cabinet?"

Su Ze said speechlessly:
"The appointment of new cabinet ministers is a matter decided by His Majesty; how could it be my place to comment?"

The honest Luo Wanhua also chimed in:
"Yes, Brother Zilin only submitted a memorial requesting the addition of cabinet ministers. The Ministry of Personnel drafts the list of candidates, and His Majesty ultimately decides on the cabinet ministers."

Shen Yiguan glanced at Luo Wanhua, knowing the top scholar's personality, and was too lazy to explain to him.

Shen Yiguan continued to press for answers:

"Several candidates are considered for this round of cabinet appointments: Wang Honglu, Yin Shaozongbo, and Li Shaosikou. What do you think, Brother Zilin?"

Wang Honglu was Wang Shizhen, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies who distinguished himself on a mission to the grasslands.

Yin Shaozongbo was Yin Shidan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He had previously served as the Junior Chamberlain of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and had made meritorious contributions in educating the Crown Prince.

Li Shao Sikou was Li Yiyuan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who had just compiled the "Civil Law of the Great Ming Dynasty".

In the past, the merits of all three would have been enough to earn them a place in the cabinet.

However, in the Longqing era, when "all the wise men gathered," the three could only be said to be evenly matched.

The addition of new cabinet ministers will cause changes in the court's structure. Shen Yiguan looked at Su Ze, waiting for Su Ze's answer.

Su Ze did not answer Shen Yiguan's question, but Shen Yiguan did remind himself that adding cabinet ministers would have a huge impact on the current political situation.

Although the cabinet appears calm now, it is actually crammed with political affairs. It is only with the presence of a chief minister, Li Chunfang, who is adept at stabilizing the court, that a delicate balance is maintained.

Although he was Gao Gong's disciple, he was not a member of Gao Gong's inner circle, and Gao Gong never consulted him on the "dirty work" related to political struggles.

The Ministry of Personnel was in Gao Gong's hands. Did Gao Gong have other considerations in asking him to submit a memorial to add cabinet ministers?

And what about the other Grand Secretaries? Did they also have other ideas?
(End of this chapter)