Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 143 The Court of Imperial Sacrifices' "New Internal Regulations" [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

The next morning, Yan Maoqing entered the palace through the Donghua Gate and went to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to take up his post.

Yes, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is located inside the palace.

The government office was located to the right of the Wenhua Hall, outside the main gate of the Cining Palace, and not far from the office of the Grand Secretariat, all on the southeast side of the palace.

However, unlike the court officials who attended court, they had to enter the palace through Chengtian Gate. Entering and exiting the palace through Donghua Gate was one of the privileges of cabinet ministers, officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and some palace staff.

As Yan Maoqing passed through Donghua Gate, he couldn't help but recall a major case that occurred during the Wanli era.

—The Clubbing Case.

Cining Palace was the Crown Prince's official residence, yet an unidentified man was allowed to enter the palace through the Donghua Gate, wielding a jujube wood stick, and storm into Cining Palace, charging all the way to the eaves of the front hall to assassinate the Crown Prince.
Even after all the investigation, they couldn't find anything conclusive. They only found two eunuchs to take the blame, and then the matter was dropped.
"This is absolutely ridiculous!"

Yan Maoqing cursed inwardly, and then...

He looked at the jujube wood stick in his hand!
To be precise, it is not exactly a jujube wood stick, but a scooping net with a jujube wood stick as its handle.

It wasn't that Bai Sheng hadn't put thought into preparing fishing gear for him, but rather that most of the other fishing gear had some hooks or barbs attached, and the guards at Donghua Gate blocked him from entering the palace.

Honestly, if they don't allow it, they don't allow it. What were those guards looking at them like?
Hey?

Did the Emperor have a rule that fishing gear cannot be brought to work?
Fuss!
With a sense of "I am the only one who is sober while everyone else is drunk," Yan Maoqing stood there with the net, asking around as he went, and eventually found the Imperial Household Department amidst increasingly strange looks.

Then he met a dozen or so demoralized subordinate officials and received their greetings amidst their equally strange looks. He also learned about the current situation of Crown Prince Zhu Zai Rui and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

It turns out that Zhu Zaiyi was not living in Cining Palace at all.

Instead, they resided in Zhongcui Palace, one of the six eastern palaces of the inner court…

This is the proper imperial harem, the residence of the concubines and beauties.

The name Zhongcui Palace was changed by the emperor in the fourteenth year of the Jiajing reign; it was previously called Xianyang Palace.

At that time, Consort Wang, the birth mother of Zhu Zai Rui, was pregnant with the emperor's child. She claimed that she had dreamed of a fairy wearing a star crown and feathered robe who gave her a baby, which is why she became pregnant.

In addition, the Emperor had recently experienced the grief of losing his eldest son, who died just one month after birth. If this imperial offspring were a prince, he would be a prince with a legendary background from birth, and therefore the Emperor placed high hopes on him.

Therefore, Xianyang Palace was renamed Zhongcui Palace.

The name "Zhongcui" implies gathering the essence of the world and the spirit of excellence, which shows how much importance the emperor attached to this prince.

Later, Consort Wang proved her worth and indeed gave birth to Prince Zhu Zai Rui.

So, less than two years later, the emperor made the still young Zhu Zaiyi the crown prince, and Consort Wang was also promoted from Consort Zhao to Imperial Noble Consort because of her son.

Even now, Zhu Zaiyi is not yet six years old and still needs to be cared for by his mother, wet nurse, eunuchs, and palace maids.

Therefore, he lived with his mother, Consort Wang, in Zhongcui Palace.

Under these circumstances, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices would naturally be unable to truly function. It would probably have to wait until the Crown Prince came of age and officially took over the Cining Palace before he could truly begin to perform his duties.

This is also the main reason why these dozen or so subordinate officials are now half-dead, and even the position of Crown Prince's Chamberlain has been vacant for a long time without any impact.

As for the Crown Prince's education...

In terms of etiquette, etiquette, and daily life, they were naturally taught by Consort Wang, wet nurses, eunuchs, and palace maids.

As for cultural enlightenment, it was previously the responsibility of Xia Yan, a teacher appointed by the emperor, and Tao Zhongwen, who was in charge of three different departments.

However, Xia Yan has now been dismissed from his post by the emperor and is now living in seclusion, unable to enter the palace.

Tao Zhongwen has been living a secluded and frugal life for some time now, and it's even difficult to meet him. So, things have been put on hold for the time being.

Therefore, these officials of the Imperial Household Department did not know how to make arrangements and could only wait for the Emperor's decision...

Then came Yan Maoqing, the Crown Prince's Chamberlain who hadn't even grown a full beard yet and arrived on his first day with a net.

"I see……"

After listening, Yan Maoqing frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked a question.
"Since the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is completely ineffective now, what are you doing here so early? Do you come this early on weekdays?" He had entered the palace right at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), only to find that the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had already counted down to Mao when he arrived.

The only Junior Chamberlain (a deputy position in the Chamberlain's Office, with a maximum of two members) also stated that all the officials under the Chamberlain's Office, including the Left Spring Palace, Right Spring Palace, the Registrar's Office, and the Bureau of Scriptures, were present and stepped forward one by one to introduce themselves and pay their respects.

Could it be that he's newly appointed today, and everyone's rushing to show off?

"To answer Your Excellency, although the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is unable to perform its duties, the day's work must still be done as usual. How could we, your humble servants, dare to fail the Emperor's grace?"

The Junior Chamberlain quickly bowed and handed over the roll call record.

"Minister, please take a look. This is the daily roll call record. Not only does it have everyone's signature, but I also required them to put their fingerprints on it. Even without you, Minister, we can ensure that the officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices are strictly self-disciplined."

"And they even made your fingerprints..."

Yan Maoqing took it and glanced through it briefly, and was immediately impressed by the young master's "strict self-discipline".

Isn't this the fingerprint attendance system that capitalists used to use to whip their cattle and horses a few years ago? How come it was already in the feudal era? Isn't that a bit too self-disciplined?
No wonder those people in the Hanlin Academy called you animals...

Through this incident, he had gained some basic understanding of the young master's character and couldn't help but ask:
"Hiss... What's your name again?"

"My name is Kong Jian. I became a Jinshi in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign. Like my superior, I was previously a Shujishi in the Hanlin Academy."

The young master, who looked to be nearly fifty, straightened his chest slightly and answered seriously.

Hmm... he's someone whose name hasn't been recorded in history books.

However, perhaps it was bad luck. If Zhu Zaiyi had not suddenly fallen ill and died on the second day after his coming-of-age ceremony, and if Zhu Houcong had not established a crown prince until his death, then the Court of Imperial Sacrifices would have been essentially ineffective during that reign.

He might have a sliver of a chance, at least to make an early appearance before the next emperor...

But let's get back to the point.

If history had unfolded this way, Gao Gong, the guy who went to be a lecturer to Prince Yu, Zhu Zaihou, might not have had the chance.

These are the thoughts in my mind.

A sudden thought flashed through Yan Maoqing's mind, and he suddenly realized that this "strictly self-disciplined" young tutor named Kong Jian might also have some value that could be utilized:
“I say, Kong Jian, since the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is not yet able to function effectively, I feel there is no need for such self-discipline.”

"Instead of keeping everyone tied to the government office and wasting their will, we should change the roll call system."

"Starting today, all departments of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices will implement a rotation system to ensure that each department has one person on duty. The rest of the staff do not need to come to roll call. All roll call records will be recorded as full attendance, and their salaries will be paid as usual."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, the half-dead crowd's eyes lit up, thinking that this minister who had parachuted in with a net was as handsome as Pan An.

"Minister, how can this be allowed?!"

Kong Jian's eyes widened immediately, and he said with a look of fear,
"The Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel frequently send officials to supervise. If they discover this, it would be considered dereliction of duty. How would we explain this to our superiors?"

Isn’t this exactly what I want?
Yan Maoqing smiled and said:
"What are you afraid of? I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong. I'll hold up the sky if it falls. Just do as I say."

"Besides, there are plenty of other ministerial departments with similar problems. There are also a lot of officers and soldiers in the Beijing garrison who are drawing salaries without working. We're nothing compared to them."

"As long as I don't say anything, and you don't say anything, when the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel come to investigate, they can just make up some excuse and say that I ordered the dispatch. Who would know?"

"Minister, even so..."

Upon hearing this, Kong Jian became even more anxious and wanted to say something more.

"Alright, that's settled then. You won't need to do the roll call anymore; you can take over."

Yan Maoqing casually picked out a sharp-tongued, monkey-faced official from among his subordinates, who looked like a clever little devil, and waved his hand, saying...

"Let each department discuss the order of duty first. I will go to Zhongcui Palace to pay my respects to the Crown Prince."

"Before returning to headquarters, come up with a charter, and we will officially begin implementing our 'new internal regulations' starting tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)