Di Ming

Chapter 432 The Grand Tutor's Heart is Known to All!
In the dimly lit hall, the officials stood solemnly, all looking at the young regent who sat upright beneath the throne.

Zhu Yinlang said, “The first thing to do is to change the time of the morning court session. Ministers usually have to get up at 3 a.m. to prepare and wait at the Meridian Gate. They enter the palace at 5 a.m. to attend court, while it is still dark.”

"So much so that the emperor and his ministers who attended the court meetings were very tired. Even during the founding period, the court meetings were held every day without fail. Emperor Taizu was full of energy and attended court every day without fail."

"But by the time of the Xuande reign, things began to loosen up. The regular court sessions became twice every three days, once every two days, once every three days... After the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, the regular court sessions were almost abolished, and the retired emperor did not attend court for many years. Although it was the retired emperor's laziness in governing, it was also related to the early morning court sessions."

"In Beijing, there was no longer any occasion for court officials to wear the official robes they wore when attending regular court sessions."

"In particular, His Majesty is only fifteen years old, his qi and blood are not yet sufficient, and his bones are not yet strong. He needs to sleep more to conserve his energy and should not get up early in the middle of the night. Therefore, the time for the morning court should be postponed even more."

"Therefore, I intend to change the morning court session to 7:15 AM, a delay of more than an hour. In addition, the court sessions will be held on odd-numbered days, except for public holidays. What do you all think?"

This final question wasn't actually seeking the opinions of the officials; it was merely a formality. It was simply a way to get everyone's approval, leaving no room for doubt.

Zhu Yin, who served as regent in the Southern Dynasties, deeply resented Wanli Emperor's lazy governance and made the first move to regulate the court assembly system. He reversed Wanli's decadent ways and restored the court assembly system.

That year, the Grand Secretariat submitted a memorial to Emperor Wanli, stating, "This year, all regular court sessions have been suspended, which is contrary to ancestral regulations." They advised the restoration of regular court sessions.

The Emperor Bai Jin wrote in vermilion ink: "I am unwell, so the request will not be granted."

While it's true that Emperor Baijin's health was compromised, he indulged in fine wine, beautiful women, mahjong games, singing and dancing in the harem without any problems.

Even if someone has a foot ailment, does that mean they can't sit on the throne and attend court assemblies? Yuan Shikai also had a foot ailment; did that delay the training of troops at Xiaozhan?
Therefore, as soon as the new emperor's enthronement ceremony ended, Zhu Yin resumed the court assembly. However, after resuming it, he found it to be quite tiring, so he proposed reforming the court assembly time.

To ease the burden on the officials, the court session was postponed by more than an hour. This allowed the officials, including Zhu Yin himself, to get an extra hour of sleep.

"In my opinion, the Grand Tutor's move is a wise one!" Duke Xu Xiaobai of Wei was the first to stand up and agree. "Although court assemblies should have been resumed long ago to correct the Emperor Emeritus's neglect of state affairs, assemblies held too early are also harmful. If court officials get up too early, they will catch up on sleep in their offices after court, which will affect official business."

"I have heard that back when court sessions were still held frequently in Beijing, ministers would sleep until noon after the sessions, only able to attend to official business for half a day. This caused a backlog of affairs and delays in government affairs. However, because it was an ancestral system, no one dared to object. Today, the Grand Tutor's reforms to these corrupt practices will not only improve government affairs but also benefit both the emperor and his ministers."

The chief eunuch, Zong Qin, also said, "Postponing it to the beginning of Chen Shi (7:30 AM) would be best. Without having to get up so early, the officials will be at their most energetic, and it won't affect official duties after court. The Emperor can also sleep more, which is beneficial for his health. I agree."

The officials unanimously agreed, even those who resented Zhu Yin's monopolization of power felt it was necessary to postpone the morning court session. Summer was bearable, but getting up in the middle of the night in winter was simply unbearable.

The Grand Tutor postponed the morning court session by more than an hour, which is a great honor!
However, someone still put forward a more radical view: Xu Yuanzheng, Minister of Justice, said, "Your Excellency, I believe that while reforming the court assembly is a good idea, it would be better to simply abolish the regular court sessions."

Cancel the regular court sessions? The officials looked at Xu Yuanzheng, and the vast majority of them were unconvinced. Even though the retired emperor in Beijing had not attended court for many years, the system had not abolished court sessions.

The Grand Tutor's reform of the court assembly was already quite good, so why be so radical and want to cancel it altogether?
Zhu Yin said calmly, "Why does the Grand Minister of Justice suggest abolishing the regular court sessions?"

Xu Yuanzheng raised his tablet and said, "In my opinion, there are more than 500 officials who can participate in the regular court sessions. Although this is far fewer than the grand court sessions, the number is still too large. Everyone has their own tablet and they are all talking at once, which is not conducive to discussion or to maintaining secrecy."

"Moreover, there are very few political matters that can be decided directly in the regular court session. Afterwards, they still need to be discussed by the cabinet, the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the court. Therefore, the role of the court session is not very significant. Moreover, each court session takes a long time, which is quite inefficient."

Xu Yuanzheng meant that the court assembly was more of a formality than a substance, and there was no need to hold it.

Zhu Yin, of course, disagreed and shook his head, saying, "Canceling the court assembly is absolutely unacceptable. The Grand Minister of Justice's words are inappropriate. There is no doubt about this matter, so let's just leave it at that."

Xu Yuanzheng was rebuffed. His attempt to test Zhu Yin was met with a ruthless rejection, leaving him no choice but to retreat in frustration.

Zhu Yin, however, gave Xu Yuanzheng a deep look. He certainly saw through him more deeply than this Minister Xu.

Many self-proclaimed wise people in later generations believed that the Wenyuan Pavilion and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs were the centers of government affairs in the Ming Dynasty, and that the deliberation process was conducted through court recommendations. Therefore, they argued that court assemblies were merely a useless formality and not important.

This idea is incredibly naive; it's just an excuse for a lazy emperor who doesn't attend court.

Was it just a useless formality? Then why did the later Qing emperors still enjoy attending court so much? Were they stupid?

How many people are in the cabinet? How many people are in the Directorate of Ceremonial? Only the Nine Ministers and above are qualified to participate in the court recommendation and have the right to vote; it's a very small circle.

If the court assemblies are not held frequently, it means that all the major powers of the country, including legislation, administration, judiciary, and military affairs, are concentrated in the hands of this small circle!

Is this still available?

This highly centralized, cross-dimensional, and comprehensive power model, involving only a very small number of people, not only affects decision-making but also its implementation. This distorted centralization of power leads to a disconnect between the court and its officials, internal and external divisions, and significantly exacerbates factional strife.

This is why, starting in the mid-to-late Wanli period, factional politics rapidly rose, becoming a major reason for the Ming Dynasty's demise.

The root cause was that Emperor Wanli neglected court assemblies, which provided fertile ground for the rampant growth of factional politics.

Because the court assemblies were abolished, the once widespread participation in politics and deliberation became a closed-door game for small circles. The transparency of the court was reduced, conflicts of interest intensified, and most court officials lost the ability to speak out directly and influence the government, and could only form cliques and stick together.

The second negative consequence of the neglect of court assemblies was the alienation between the emperor and his officials, increasing the cost of political trust, causing a crisis of confidence at the highest levels, and weakening the unity of the ruling team. This was equally detrimental to the administration.

The third negative consequence is the damage to the national system of etiquette and the disruption of the highest level of order. Once the top beam is crooked, the moral climate of the entire officialdom and the nation deteriorates.

In Zhu Yin's view, the court assembly was like the parliament, legislature, or legislative body of later generations—the highest and most extensive system of deliberation. You can't say that the parliament or legislature is just a formality simply because major issues are proposed and decided within a small circle, can you?
Of course, Xu Yuanzheng, as the Minister of Justice, one of the Nine Ministers, could not possibly be unaware of this, or perhaps he did it intentionally, due to his stance.

If that's the case, then their intentions are even more impure.

Is it appropriate for such a person to serve as the Minister of Justice, one of the three judicial departments?

Zhu Yin made a definitive statement: "The court assembly system will continue to be improved to achieve perfection. That's all for now. The next court assembly will use the new time. This is the first thing."

"The second thing is the system of leave and rest for officials!"

Upon hearing this, all the officials perked up. Was the Grand Tutor going to give them a holiday?

Speaking of the government's system of official holidays, it has long been a mere formality, a truly bitter pill to swallow. Originally, it was supposed to be a three-day holiday every ten days, but now it's just a "shadow holiday," with very few people actually getting a proper rest.

This so-called "ten-day rest" was not fixed in time; it was said that officials could choose their own days, but in the end, it became a non-stop rest because it was very difficult to get approval. The imperial court effectively deprived officials of their rest days.

It's one thing for ministers to have generous benefits, but for ordinary officials, it's difficult to get a normal day off throughout the year.

In the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign, Xie Fu, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi, submitted a memorial stating that "prefectures and counties choose their own days off and hold banquets on auspicious days."

Some officials have served for many years without ever seeing a notice of a ten-day break.

Later, they came up with a pretext of "bureaucratic expenses" to compensate themselves, taking one tael of silver as a "rest and vacation allowance" for each official matter they handled.

If the imperial court doesn't grant them leave, they'll embezzle money to make up for it.

Zhu Yin had been an official for many years and deeply resented the Ming Dynasty's vacation system. He recognized that the Ming Dynasty's system was highly contradictory; many aspects were meticulous and comprehensive, yet in others, it was extremely crude, inferior to that of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and even to the Han Dynasty.

For example, the holiday system is very inadequate. There are only holidays for New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, Spring Festival, and Lantern Festival, which add up to only about twenty days a year.

What are the consequences of officials not being able to take regular rest days? They become lazy and negligent in their duties, leading to low efficiency—in fact, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The emperor may think this will make officials work harder, but it's actually harmful. To compensate themselves, officials become even more ruthless and unscrupulous in their corruption.

Zhu Yin surveyed the officials and said, "From today onwards, the 5th, 15th, and 25th of each month will be the days of rest for officials. Whether they are high-ranking officials or low-ranking clerks, they may take leave. Except for urgent matters such as military affairs, banditry, disasters, epidemics, and murder cases, all other government affairs shall be suspended."

"Officials who are on duty without rest are also required to take compensatory rest."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, all the officials couldn't help but show their joy. From now on, they could finally take their regular days off!
But Zhu Yin continued, "In addition to the three days of normal rest each month, there will also be holidays on other festivals." "From the 25th of the twelfth lunar month to the 5th of the first lunar month, there will be an eleven-day Spring Festival holiday. Officials in the capital will actually have ten days off because they will be attending the grand court ceremony on New Year's Day."

"The Lantern Festival is from the 15th to the 17th of the first lunar month, and there is a three-day holiday."

"On the Spring Festival, there will be a grand ceremony, the distribution of sacrificial meat, and a village opera performance. There will be two days off."

"On the third day of the third month, the Yellow Emperor's birthday is celebrated, which is also the Shangsi Festival. People perform purification rituals, go on spring outings, and offer sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor. There is a day off."

"One day off each for Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Ghost Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Winter Solstice."

"On the Autumn Festival, a grand festival is held, and there will be a two-day holiday."

"A one-day holiday will be given on the Emperor's birthday."

Upon hearing this, the officials couldn't help but feel moved, and almost wanted to celebrate. The Grand Tutor's extended leave meant he would have nearly sixty days off a year, three times the previous amount!
Seeing everyone's undisguised joy, Zhu Yin found it somewhat amusing.

In later generations, there will be nearly 120 statutory holidays. Currently, less than 60 days have been designated, only half the number in later generations, yet the officials are all very happy, as it is far better than before.

The increase in officials' rest days by about forty days will actually stimulate a lot of consumption. As long as the new commercial tax is implemented in the future, the commercial tax revenue generated from the increased holidays alone will amount to hundreds of thousands of taels.

Furthermore, it can improve administrative efficiency, enhance festival culture, and stimulate the emergence of capitalism. Officials have considerable spending power.

Before Zhu Yin could finish speaking, he said, “Let’s restore the ancient Chinese ritual of hunting and temple worship on the autumn equinox, designate the autumn equinox as the Autumn Hunting Festival, give a three-day holiday, and hold autumn hunting and ancestor worship, practice archery, horsemanship and firearms, and compete in martial arts to demonstrate the martial spirit of the Chinese people.”

The officials looked at each other in surprise, not expecting that the Grand Tutor had added a martial festival, restored the autumn hunting and temple sacrifice ceremony, and even granted a three-day holiday!
Zhu Yin established the Autumn Hunt Festival, generously granting a three-day holiday, second only to the Lantern Festival in length, which was clearly a well-intentioned decision.

The aim was to strengthen the martial spirit and restore the robust and vigorous national spirit of the Han people. Therefore, the Autumn Hunting Festival not only involved hunting prey to offer as sacrifices to ancestors, but also included horseback riding and archery practice, firearms demonstrations, and martial arts competitions. It was a major festival.

For the entire nation to embrace martial spirit, the rulers themselves must first embrace it. Only when officials, as rulers, possess a martial spirit can they influence national policies and society.

Zhu Yin smiled and said, "The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. Starting from the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, we will implement the new holiday system. Does anyone have any objections?"

Just kidding, who would complain about taking a vacation? Of course, no one objects. Anyone who disagrees will be attacked by the masses.

The Grand Tutor's love for his officials is evident.

In Zhu Yin's plan, the sixty-day weekend was actually temporary. The ultimate goal was to increase it to seventy days and extend it to workers, craftsmen, and other social classes, benefiting everyone.

History has shown that even in ancient times when productivity was low, rest days were extremely important. A sound system of rest not only protected workers but also improved labor efficiency and contributed to economic and cultural prosperity.

Take himself, for example. As the regent, he held great power, but he didn't want to go to work every day.

Zhu Yin presented two lavish gifts to the officials, earning him considerable goodwill, and then brought up a third matter:
"The grain transport to the Northern Dynasty must continue; the canal transport cannot be stopped. Both the North and the South belong to the Ming Dynasty. Conflict and war are one thing, but they must be conducted with integrity and moderation!"

"The Ministry of Revenue shall handle the matter of the grain tribute as before. The remaining 1.8 million shi of summer grain shall be loaded onto ships and transported north as soon as possible."

What? Upon hearing this, many officials were stunned. Most of the Nanjing officials were from the south and had been resentful of Beijing for being relegated to a less prominent position there.

In the past, transporting grain from the south to the north was unavoidable, as Beijing held the power. But now, with the north and south divided and the Southern and Northern dynasties vying for supremacy, why hasn't the grain transport stopped? Did the grain from the south just blow in by the wind?

Many officials, especially those from the south, were very dissatisfied. They had originally thought that after establishing a separate court in Nanjing, they would no longer need to transport grain to the north.

Li Tingji, the Minister of Revenue, was from Fujian. He was the first to step forward and say, "Grand Tutor, although His Majesty and the Emperor Emeritus are father and son, they are both from the same dynasty, and both the North and the South belong to the Ming Dynasty. Even if they are father and son or brothers, once they divide their property, they must settle accounts clearly."

"Now, the retired emperor refuses to abdicate and is still clinging to power. The Northern Dynasty regards Your Majesty as a traitor and our dynasty as a false dynasty. They are already mobilizing troops and launching a large-scale southern expedition. The North and South are nominally one family, but in reality they are enemy countries."

"At this critical juncture of life and death, how can our dynasty continue to transport grain northwards? What benefit would it bring to our dynasty? Wouldn't this be prolonging the life of the Northern Dynasty and delaying the unification of the North and South? Although it is not aiding the enemy, how is it any different from aiding the enemy? I implore the Grand Tutor to reconsider!"

Fan Lun, a native of Suzhou and Minister of Rites, also stepped forward and said, "Grand Tutor, this is inappropriate. Every year, we transport more than three million shi of grain from the south, which is why grain prices in Jiangnan have always been high. If we stop the grain transport, grain prices in Jiangnan will surely drop. Wouldn't that be a good thing for the entire Jiangnan region?"

"If we continue to transport grain to the north, will the Emperor Emeritus acknowledge our dynasty? Will he not launch a southern expedition and regard us as traitors? If we give grain to the Northern Dynasty and they win, we will all be considered rebellious traitors."

Wen Chun, a native of Jiangxi and the Censor-in-Chief, also raised his tablet and said, "Grand Tutor, I agree with the words of the Grand Minister of Works and the Grand Minister of Rites. Since the North and South are in a standoff, it is not advisable to continue transporting grain to the North. Beijing is facing a grain shortage, which will make it difficult to sustain the operation, and it will inevitably fail sooner or later. When that happens, Ning and Yan will unite, and our Great Ming will be unified again, which will finally be a perfect ending."

Seeing that three high-ranking officials of the Nine Ministers level had expressed their objections, Zhu Yin's expression turned somewhat cold.

These high-ranking officials from the south also served as courtiers in Beijing. It's one thing if they don't share any familial ties, but why don't they care about the bigger picture?
Historically, the selfish, short-sighted, and unscrupulous actions of the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party have indeed had their roots.

However, Zhu Yin merely glanced coldly at the three of them and did not personally refute them.

If he, as the regent, were to personally step in and refute the argument, it would be beneath his dignity.

In reality, when the other party expresses disagreement, they are eager for a debate, as this would subtly diminish their own influence.

But he didn't refute it; many people stepped forward to refute it for him.

Sure enough, as soon as Wen Chun finished speaking, a third-rank official stepped forward and said:

"Your humble servant, Hao Yunlai, Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, opposes the remonstrances of the Grand Minister of Rites, the Grand Censor, and the Grand Minister of Works! I believe that the grain transport must continue to the north! The Grand Tutor's proposal is the only wise and decisive one!"

His appointment as Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou was issued yesterday, but he has not yet left Beijing.

"Oh?" Wen Chun glanced sideways, her expression slightly disdainful. "Then tell me, what are your reasons for opposing it? Why is the Grand Tutor's decision to transport grain to the north the only wise and decisive one?"

He looked down on Hao Yunlai, who had previously been just a prefect but had suddenly become the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, and believed that Hao Yunlai was just a favored official.

Hao Yunlai sneered, "It's fortunate that the Grand Minister of Revenue was once the Vice Minister of Revenue in Beijing. If Beijing loses three million shi of grain from the south, we can simply use the grain reserves from Beijing's three major granaries. Although it's last year's old rice, it's still no less than four million shi."

"Even if things get really bad, the Prince of Zhou in Henan, the Prince of Lu in Shanxi, the Prince of Heng in Shandong, and the Prince of Lu—who among them doesn't have a large granary? Just the princes in the north alone could easily amass millions of bushels of grain. You don't really think that if the Northern Dynasty were really pushed to the brink, they would just watch the princes starve from their large granaries, do you?"

"Even if the canal transport were to stop today and not a single bushel of grain were given to the north, Beijing could survive for two years. Do you really think that Beijing would go hungry immediately once the canal transport to the south stops?"

Hao Yunlai spoke eloquently, completely disregarding the bigwigs.

"If the canal transport is cut off, the first to be affected will not be Beijing, but the hundreds of thousands of canal workers and boatmen who rely on the canal for their livelihood! And the troops stationed along the nine borders!"

"If hundreds of thousands of canal workers and boatmen lose their livelihoods, what will become of them?"

"The Regent is a kind-hearted man who cannot bear to see the people suffer. How could he cut off Beijing's grain supply and leave tens of thousands of people without a way to survive? Aren't they citizens of the Ming Dynasty? What have they done wrong in the conflict between the North and the South?"

"Furthermore, what would be the consequences if the Nine Garrisons ran out of food? The Nine Garrisons are of utmost importance. If soldiers deserted due to food shortages, how many Ming civilians would die under the hooves of the Mongol cavalry once they marched south?"

"The Grand Tutor's meaning is that even for the sake of the people in the north and for the sake of border defense, we must continue to transport grain! The conflict between the north and the south should be put aside for now. Preventing the grain transport workers from starving to death and preventing the Tartars from advancing south are the most important things the Grand Tutor should consider!"

"The Grand Tutor's intentions are known to all under heaven!"

...

P.S.: Continuing the canal transport will definitely be controversial. Thanks for your support, goodnight. I have to stay up late tonight to prepare for next year's work, so that's all for now.

(End of this chapter)