My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 241 The System Unleashes Its Power, Flooding the Imperial Tomb

Yang Sizhong looked at Su Ze's memorial and thought, "So you're not pretending anymore? You're directly interfering with the cabinet ministers?"
Su Ze wrote in his memorial:

"Your Majesty, I humbly believe that the Grand Canal and river works are indeed vital to the nation's survival. The transport of grain to the capital ensures the stability of the nation, while the smooth flow of waterways ensures the well-being of the people."

"However, the various affairs of the Grand Canal are currently divided among the Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy Department, the Ministry of Revenue's Canal Transport Department, and the Grand Canal Commissioner. The responsibilities are scattered and the coordination is ineffective. The Ministry of Works is only responsible for the maintenance and defense of the Yellow River, the Ministry of Revenue is only responsible for supervising and urging the transportation of goods, and the Ministry of War is only responsible for protecting the canal and preventing any disturbances. Each has its own responsibilities but no overall authority. In recent years, the river has frequently suffered from disasters and the canal has been repeatedly delayed. This is mainly due to the lack of clear responsibility and the tendency to shirk responsibility when things happen."

After reading it, Yang Sizhong agreed with Su Ze's opinion.

As Su Ze said, the affairs of the Grand Canal were divided among different government departments, and there was no clear division of responsibilities between the imperial court and local authorities.

If it involves important military or national affairs, such a division is understandable and can be seen as a way to check and balance each other.

However, the problems with the Ming Dynasty's canal management system were entirely due to the ancestral "shit mountain code".

Later, although a Grand Canal Transport Commissioner was established and stationed in Huai'an, and he was given the supervisory powers of a governor and the title of Vice Minister of Works, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner could only truly control the Huai River section of the Grand Canal.

With a governor in charge of the canal transport, river management became even more chaotic.

Every time a flood occurs, the prefectures and counties end up passing the buck to each other, and the imperial court can't even hold anyone accountable.

Therefore, Su Ze's proposal to create a cabinet minister specifically responsible for canal affairs is indeed quite reasonable.

"The Cabinet is the central authority for all state affairs, and it should assign specific responsibilities to handle important matters. I humbly request that the Cabinet specially appoint a Minister in charge of the Grand Canal, grant him an official seal, and give him overall command of the Grand Canal and the Yellow River. All matters concerning the dredging of the canal, the construction of dikes, the transshipment of grain, the security along the route, and matters involving the assistance of prefectures and counties shall be under his jurisdiction."

"The Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy Department, the Ministry of Revenue's Grain Transport Department, and the Grain Transport Commander-in-Chief, among other government offices, were all under his command and control, thus unifying authority."

Su Ze's statement above was indeed correct, but the subsequent memorial revealed his true intentions.

"The minister should be selected from among senior officials who are skilled in practical matters and knowledgeable in river transport to serve in the cabinet."

"Therefore, the river works and canal transport are under the central government's control. In case of danger or emergency, he can make decisions on his own without being hindered by other ministries and departments. If assistance is needed, he can issue a direct order, saving the need for repeated paperwork."

"Only a seasoned and capable minister is qualified for this position."

Theoretically, the candidates for cabinet ministers were the ministers and vice ministers of the six ministries and the heads of the nine ministerial offices.

Among these people, who are the "mature and capable ministers" that Su Ze mentioned, who are also familiar with "river works affairs"?
Those would naturally be the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

Only Lei Li, the Minister of Works, could live up to this name of "mature and experienced".

Furthermore, since the goal is to select officials to enter the cabinet to handle river works, there is no reason for the Vice Minister of Works to bypass the Minister of Works and enter the cabinet.

Su Ze practically openly supported Lei Li's entry into the cabinet in his memorial to the throne.

Goodness, but thinking about it this way, it seems that Lei Li does indeed qualify.

Lei Li was also a veteran official who had once overseen the restoration project of the Forbidden City.

He was an old acquaintance of the current emperor, and he did not collude with Yan Song and his son during the reign of the previous emperor, thus his integrity remained unblemished.

As the Minister of Works, Lei Li did not participate in the political turmoil after the Longqing Emperor ascended the throne, so he was considered to have no political stain.

His qualifications and achievements are sufficient for him to be admitted to the cabinet.

Raylie only has two questions.

The first problem was his lack of formal education; he was not a junior scholar (庶吉士).

However, this was no longer a hard requirement for entering the cabinet after the Jiajing reign. During the Great Rites Controversy, in order to counter the outer court, the Jiajing Emperor promoted a group of officials who were not from the Shujishi (a type of official in the Hanlin Academy) to the cabinet, breaking the old precedent of the Shujishi monopolizing cabinet ministers.

The second problem is that Lei Li has been repeatedly writing letters to resign since last year, and he is already 63 years old this year.

However, this is not a major problem.

There were few long-lived emperors in the Ming Dynasty, but far too many long-lived ministers.

At sixty-three, Lei Li is at the prime of his life. If the emperor truly intends to give him more responsibilities, Lei Li will have no choice but to join the cabinet.

Thinking about it more carefully, Lei Li is indeed a very good candidate.

His relationship with the current four cabinet ministers is neither too close nor too distant. Precisely because of his advanced age and seniority, he has not aligned himself with any of them.

The Ministry of Works was originally a relatively insignificant department, so there was no need for them to try to win over or force Lei Li to take sides.

In other words, Raley's entry into the cabinet will not disrupt the political balance within the cabinet.

Thinking about it this way, it seems there are no obstacles to Lei Li joining the cabinet?
But Yang Sizhong quickly shook his head.

The appointment and removal of cabinet ministers still depend on the emperor's wishes.

Unfortunately, nominally, cabinet ministers were assistants to the emperor in handling government affairs, and were the emperor's "private ministers" in the inner court. Therefore, the emperor's trust was more important than ability.

Often, ministers who enjoy high prestige in the outer court are even less likely to be admitted to the cabinet.

The appointment and removal of cabinet ministers depended entirely on the emperor's will.

Yang Sizhong picked up Su Ze's memorial and headed toward the cabinet.

As he walked, Yang Sizhong pondered.

If the emperor truly appoints Lei Li to the cabinet this time, it would be enough to demonstrate Su Ze's influence in the court.

Yang Sizhong quickly shook his head again. Didn't he, the newly appointed head of the Office of General Affairs and Postal Service, know Su Ze's influence in the court?

Officials who encountered Yang Sizhong along the way all stopped to greet him respectfully.

The Office of General Affairs and Postal Services is not what it used to be.

Theoretically speaking, Yang Sizhong now controls the postal network through which the Ming Dynasty's decrees are transmitted.

Military intelligence from thousands of miles away, and reports from a remote prefecture or county in the Ming Dynasty, all had to be gathered at the imperial court through the network of the Office of Transmission.

The Office of General Affairs and Postal Service had become a core department of governance in the Ming Dynasty.

The cabinet ministers increasingly valued him as the Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review, and the officials did not want to offend Yang Sizhong, the Grand Secretary who held a lot of information.

Yang Sizhong is a cautious person, and he keeps his mouth shut.

But the less he spoke, the more people feared him.

Right now, the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Eastern Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are all using the postal system of the General Administration of Customs to transmit messages!

What is the significance of Su Ze's memorial?

Yang Sizhong returned to the Ministry of Justice.

Later, the Office of the Ministry of Communications laid out the postal network and had many connections with the affairs of the Grand Canal. Recalling his friendship with Lei Li, he wondered if he should pay him a visit today.
Yang Sizhong decided to visit Lei Li immediately and tell him about Su Ze's letter recommending him. This was a way of doing Lei Li a favor first, in case Lei Li really entered the cabinet as Su Ze had suggested, he would inevitably have to deal with this "Grand Secretary Lei" in the future.
-
——[Simulation Start]——

The memorial requesting the establishment of a special minister in charge of the Grand Canal was sent to the cabinet that same day. To avoid suspicion, the three cabinet elders did not express their opinions, and the memorial was sent directly to the palace.

The emperor was not opposed to Lei Li as a candidate, but Lei Li was not the emperor's most preferred candidate.

Upon receiving the news, Lei Li wrote a letter requesting to retire and return to his hometown.

The emperor rejected your memorial and also issued an edict to retain Lei Li.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige Points: 1060]

[Should I spend 1000 prestige points to force the memorial to pass?]

Can 1000 points really decide a cabinet minister?
Then what are we waiting for! Su Ze decisively chose "Yes".

[Prestige points deducted.] [Remaining Prestige Points: 60.]

However, Su Ze also knew that the prestige points needed this time were actually the result of a "special offer".

The most difficult part of adding cabinet ministers is actually getting the emperor and the cabinet to agree to send people into the cabinet.

Simply put, making a position vacant is more difficult than deciding on a candidate.

There are many ministers who are qualified to join the cabinet, but many officials miss the opportunity while waiting to join.

No matter how capable you are, if the previous cabinet has done a good job and the emperor is satisfied with the cabinet ministers' work, he will not arbitrarily add new cabinet ministers.

Conversely, if the emperor is dissatisfied with the current cabinet, even if someone's qualifications for entering the cabinet are slightly lacking, they can still enter the cabinet through a personal relationship with the emperor. However, in this case, both the cabinet and the outer court will fiercely oppose the candidate's selection.

The fact that both the emperor and the cabinet are willing to add cabinet ministers in this peaceful manner is extremely rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty cabinet.

Only when there are vacancies will candidates for cabinet positions be considered.

This time, Su Ze took advantage of the situation and, at Gao Gong's request, submitted a memorial requesting the addition of cabinet ministers.

Now, Su Ze took this opportunity to promote Lei Li, the Minister of Works, who was already qualified.

Therefore, only a “mere” 1000 prestige points are needed to push this memorial forward.

This can be considered as using minimal force to achieve maximum effect.

Now it's time to see how the system performs.
-
Just as Yang Sizhong was preparing to go to the Ministry of Works to find an excuse to discuss official business and visit Lei Li.

Suddenly, a young official from the Ministry of Justice requested an audience.

Yang Sizhong frowned. He remembered the young man's experience; it was the young man who had chatted with Zhang Xuan of the Nanyang Administration about crickets behind his back. His name seemed to be Wu Fan.

Last time, Yang Sizhong "exiled" Zhang Xuan to Southeast Asia. Too lazy to deal with this young official, he let him take over Zhang Xuan's work and be in charge of the affairs of several liaison offices along the Grand Canal, including Daming Prefecture.

Wu Jingli said to Yang Sizhong:

"Dayintai, urgent report from Fengyang: There has been too much spring rain this year, causing Hongze Lake to rise. The flood control dike at the ancestral mausoleum has breached, and the mausoleum is flooded."

Good guy!
Yang Sizhong immediately stood up and paced back and forth, asking:
"Was it a report from the Governor of Huai? What about the eunuchs guarding the tomb? What about the military reports from the garrisons? Has the report from Fengyang Prefecture and County been sent?"

This is where the benefits of the unified power of the Office of General Affairs and Postal Service become apparent.

The news of the ancestral tombs being flooded involves multiple departments. The Ministry of Communications and Postal Services can determine the authenticity of the news by cross-verifying multiple sources of information.

This is much more efficient than repeatedly confirming things in the past.

The territory of the imperial mausoleum was under the jurisdiction of Prince Zhihuan of Huaifu. The imperial mausoleum also had eunuchs and guard posts, and the prefecture and county governments also had to report to the authorities.

Wu Jingli immediately said:
"The eunuch in charge of the mausoleum also reported, but a few days earlier than the news from the governor of Huai'an, that the ancestral mausoleum stele pavilion was flooded and requested the court to reinforce the stone embankment."

Yang Sizhong has now confirmed that the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum has indeed been flooded.

The issue of the Ming Dynasty imperial tombs dates back to the Hongwu reign.

In the seventh year of the Hongwu reign, the imperial mausoleum was flooded, and the stone statues along the spirit path were submerged.

Emperor Taizu was furious and ordered the stone embankment to be reinforced for ten miles.

In the third year of the Yongle reign, the area was flooded again. This time, the stele pavilion was flooded, and laborers were conscripted to dredge the moat and drain the water.

After that, emperors of all dynasties experienced several instances of their ancestral tombs being flooded.

Actually, the issue of ancestral tombs was also mentioned in the newspaper a few days ago, and Pan Jixun gave an explanation.

The water level of Hongze Lake is higher than the ground level of the ancestral mausoleum, so if there is heavy rainfall, the water in Hongze Lake will overflow and flood the ancestral mausoleum.

And all of this is a problem related to the Yellow River.

The Yellow River diverts into the Huai River and flows into the sea, but the Huai River's estuary is too narrow.

It's like a large water pipe being inserted into a small water pipe for drainage, causing the small water pipe to become clogged.

This is why Su Ze requested the construction of the Subei Irrigation Main Canal.

The problem now is that the Yellow River diverts into the Huai River and flows into the sea, but the Huai River's estuary is narrow.

No matter how much you try to clear the blockages, it will only alleviate the problem.

The real solution is to build the Subei Irrigation Main Canal, increasing the waterway to the sea and allowing the Yellow River to flow more smoothly into the ocean.

Was it fate? Or was Su Ze able to see the celestial phenomena and foresee the ancestral tomb being flooded?
Yang Sizhong abandoned his thought about the answer to the question and quickly stood up to take the memorial from Huai Fu Wang Zhihuan from Wu Jingli.

"Don't reveal the news about the ancestral tomb yet. Wait for the reports from the military and the Fengyang prefecture and county before announcing it."

"My subordinate understands."

After finishing his report, Yang Sizhong hurriedly delivered it to the Grand Secretariat with Wang Zhihuan's report. Immediately afterwards, he went straight from the Grand Secretariat to the Ministry of War to visit Lei Li, the Minister of Works.

Oh no, soon it will be the fifth cabinet minister, the prime minister and special minister for canal transport, Raleigh.
-
March 16th.

The emperor officially issued an edict appointing Lei Li, the Minister of Works, to the cabinet as the Grand Minister in charge of the Grand Canal, responsible for coordinating river management and canal transport.

Lei Li, the new Grand Secretary, is different from the other Grand Secretaries. He is only in charge of river affairs. All matters related to the river in the capital and local government offices are handled by Lei Li.

Immediately afterwards, Prime Minister Lei Li, the Special Minister in charge of the Grand Canal, accepted his first task: to protect the ancestral mausoleum in Fengyang and to control the flooding of the mausoleum.

Lei Li quickly inquired through the Office of General Affairs and Postal Service and confirmed that the flooding of the ancestral mausoleum was caused by the destruction of the stone embankment, not by a flood.

The good news is that this time it was a close call, and all that's needed is to repair the stone embankment.

The bad news is that with the silting up of Hongze Lake, the stone embankment of the ancestral mausoleum is only one meter above the lake surface. This spring, there has been continuous rainfall. If this rain continues into the summer, the ancestral mausoleum will not only be flooded, but could also be completely submerged.

If such a thing really happens, the court will have to add more cabinet ministers.

For the newly appointed Grand Secretary Lei Li, who was over sixty years old, he was originally preparing to retire and return to his hometown, but he did not expect to take another step forward before retirement and reach the pinnacle of his career.

For the three cabinet candidates who were disappointed this time, if they were to be put in charge of river works, it would not be their area of ​​expertise.

With the added issue of the imperial tomb, the three of them also backed out.

None of the three had experience in river engineering and were unwilling to get involved in this mess.

"Brother Zilin, this was all part of your plan, wasn't it?"

Shen Yiguan looked at Su Ze. From requesting the addition of cabinet ministers to requesting the establishment of a special minister in charge of the Grand Canal, Su Ze's two memorials brought Lei Li into the cabinet.

Shen Yiguan then asked:

"So, Brother Zilin, you intend to treat Huang? I also want to co-sign this petition!"

Judging from Su Ze's series of actions, controlling the yellowing was his real purpose.

Su Ze also looked at Shen Yiguan. As expected of someone who had served as a Grand Secretary in the original timeline, his political acumen was indeed very high.

Having just spent 1000 prestige points, he is now penniless and unable to afford the proposed construction of the Subei Irrigation Main Canal.

So Su Ze just laughed it off and persuaded Shen Yiguan to leave.

Such a large project requires much more preparation.

More groundwork needs to be laid.

(End of this chapter)