Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 80: People's hearts are different, so fairness will naturally emerge.
Zhu Youjian put down the last memorial, looked up at the water clock, and realized that it was already noon.

He let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with exhaustion.

Gao Shiming, who was sitting on a brocade stool to the side, breathed a sigh of relief almost at the same time as the emperor.

He dared not make any big movements, but by bending over, he subtly moved his already stiff back.

Serving this new emperor and reviewing his memorials was far more tiring than serving Emperor Tianqi.

Although Emperor Tianqi also reviewed memorials, he usually only looked at the important ones and left the rest to the Directorate of Ceremonial for approval.

Unlike this gentleman, who asks about almost everything and wants to talk about everything, as if he is full of novelty.

"The affairs of the world are distributed in all directions, yet converge at the central hub. Even the smallest streams can clog the main stream." Zhu Youjian tapped his fingertips on the table, his voice tinged with impatience. "But in my view, these tributaries of the world are now converging without any sense of priority!"

Gao Shiming couldn't figure out Zhu Youjian's meaning for a moment, so he didn't dare to respond and remained silent.

Yes, the very top of the Ming Dynasty's main stream is now almost completely blocked by these trivial details.

For Zhu Youjian, the daily work of the Ming emperor was so uneconomical that it was outrageously low in cost-effectiveness.

Today, these 173 memorials took him more than an hour to process, but not a single one required his decision.

It cannot be said that there were none at all; one military report from Ningxia was somewhat important: "The Western barbarians invaded Zhenshuobao in Ningxia, but General Wu Jinzhong of Hongguang Camp repelled them."

Good news? Zhu Youjian sneered inwardly.

He specifically asked Gao Shiming, and this kind of "refusal" expression, to put it bluntly, means a small-scale border friction.

Since Altan Khan paid tribute during the Longqing era, the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol tribes to the west entered a period of relative peace.

But peace among the top leaders doesn't necessarily mean peace among the lower-level leaders.

The Mongol tribes were a loose alliance. The chieftains at the top said they wanted peace, but they couldn't stop the smaller tribes below from lacking food and clothing and from crossing the border to steal a few horses or rob a few people from time to time.

What's even more interesting is that the border troops would occasionally sneak out to cause trouble for these small tribes.

It's hard to say who's right and who's wrong right or wrong at the moment.

Regardless, the border generals began to accumulate a continuous stream of achievements from then on.

Even beheading three or five people could be written into a report of victory and sent to the emperor to claim credit and reward.

Zhu Youjian could even imagine how General Wu had written this memorial with such seriousness, and how it had gone through layers of post stations, expending countless manpower and resources, to finally reach him, all in the hope of making it reach the ears of the emperor.

But he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wasted his energy on such trivial matters.

The thought of the impending chaos in the empire, coupled with the glossy "good news" before him, filled Zhu Youjian with irritation.

His gaze wandered among the memorials on the desk, and he picked up another one at random.

"According to the memorial submitted by Wen Gaomo of Huguang, the emperor requested that the four altars for the sacrifice at the Xianling Mausoleum be maintained and that the road guards be ordered to perform the sacrifices on his behalf."

It's that kind of annoying stuff again.

Xianling is the mausoleum of Xingxian Prince, the father of Emperor Jiajing.

An imperial inspector from Huguang Province submitted a memorial requesting that the local officials be allowed to perform the sacrificial rites on his behalf.

Zhu Youjian almost laughed.

If you want to perform the sacrifice, then go ahead and do it. At most, I'll let you embezzle 100 catties of cold pork, okay?

However, this matter involved "rites and etiquette." In the eyes of civil officials, rites and etiquette were paramount, and even the most trivial matters had to be reported to the emperor for a decision.

He could almost see the Imperial Inspector Wen stroking his beard, carefully choosing his words with a serious expression, and writing this memorial, which concerned the "face of the ancestors," in a beautiful and elaborate style.

Could you at least report on the local work? Finance and taxation, litigation, military system, armed forces, warehousing—aren't all these things more important than this?
I'm truly speechless at the insane system designed by the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor either chooses to be selectively blind, delegating power to the cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial, thus enjoying a leisurely life, but also sowing the seeds of the loss of power.

Either you end up like now, worn out by endless paperwork.

He opened another book, and this memorial was somewhat different; it came from Zhejiang.

"Li Sancai, the magistrate of Hangzhou Prefecture, submitted a memorial stating that his mother was old and requested to return home to care for her..."

A seventh-rank official requested to resign and return home to care for his mother.

Zhu Youjian's gaze softened slightly.

This was the most humane memorial he had seen all day. He could even imagine the struggle and anticipation that Judge Li had felt while writing the letter under the lamp.

He picked up his pen and wrote "Approved" on the memorial.

But this moment of warmth was quickly replaced by a greater sense of absurdity.

Even the resignation of a seventh-rank official requires the emperor's approval! What's the difference between this and an administration discovering that the toilet paper is used up and reporting it up the chain of command to Jack Ma?
He put down the memorial in his hand and his gaze fell on the trees outside the window.

A sparrow is pecking at food, while several other sparrows chase after it, desperately trying to grab the food.

A meaningful smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's lips.

The key to checks and balances lies not in the separation of power, but in the separation of minds. If people's minds are different, then fairness will naturally emerge.

"Gao Banban," Zhu Youjian called out, his voice now calm.

"Your subject is here." Gao Shiming immediately responded, stood up, bowed, and awaited instructions.

"In your opinion, how many of these memorials on this desk truly require my personal review?" Zhu Youjian asked seemingly casually.

Gao Shiming was taken aback, not expecting the emperor to ask this question.

He hesitated for a moment, then answered cautiously, "Your Majesty, if we are talking about matters of state and military affairs, then only one or two out of ten will be correct. But if we are talking about ancestral rules and the dignity of officials, then... well, that's hard to say."

This answer was watertight, telling the truth without offending anyone.

Zhu Youjian nodded and then asked, "How do the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs usually select memorials for me?"

Gao Shiming replied, "The Grand Secretariat drafts the proposals, and the Directorate of Ceremonial approves them. Usually, the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat read them first, listing the important ones first and the ordinary ones later. The Directorate of Ceremonial also presents them to His Majesty in this order."

"What is important and what is ordinary? Is there a fixed rule?"

"There is no explicit written rule. It is entirely up to the Grand Secretaries and the Grand Eunuchs to decide."

"Discretion?" Zhu Youjian laughed. "Discretion is not a good thing. The downfall of all things often begins with discretion."

Gao Shiming felt a chill run down his spine and said no more, simply waiting quietly for instructions.

Zhu Youjian did not make things difficult for him. He changed the subject and said in a calm and unhurried voice, "Inform the cabinet that all memorials submitted to me from now on should be divided into four levels."

"Level A is the highest level. All matters concerning urgent military situations, major disasters, appointments and removals of officials of the fourth rank and above, as well as the appointments and removals of censors and supervising officials of various departments, fall under this category."

"B, the next level. This category includes all matters concerning ordinary military affairs, local disasters, the transfer of officials of the sixth rank or above, and the appointment and removal of county magistrates in important and strategically important areas such as Yingtian, Shuntian, and the Nine Border Regions."

Zhu Youjian paused here, seemingly unsure how to continue his story, and simply waved his hand:

"You can decide on grades C and D. In short, you should first decide on this ranking system, and then take it to discuss with the gentlemen of the cabinet to finalize the regulations. From now on, all memorials submitted by the cabinet should be classified according to their rank and sent to the Directorate of Ceremonial for further review."

"At that time, I will only look at the two categories, A and B, as well as all the memorials that are ranked differently by the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Cabinet."

Gao Shiming found it increasingly amazing the more he listened.

Once the boundaries were clearly defined, the power of the Cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs suddenly diminished.

And the emperor who gained that part of the power actually had a reduced workload?

Zhu Youjian continued, "First, draft a proposal outlining my intentions, present it to me for review, and then forward it to the cabinet."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Gao Shiming was already somewhat used to having his power taken away, so he simply cupped his hands in agreement and turned to carry out the order.

"Wait," Zhu Youjian called out to him, "There's no need to rush. It's getting late, it's time for dinner. Go down and eat first, then you can write."

He stood up, walked to Gao Shiming's side, patted him on the shoulder, and softened his tone: "These past few days have been filled with many matters, even I have been eating irregularly. You must be working even harder to serve me. Take good care of yourself. I hope to work with you for a long time and see the world at peace again."

Even though Gao Shiming had grown accustomed to the new emperor's methods of sometimes reprimanding and sometimes comforting, he still couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart at this moment.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I... I should order the servants to serve the meal first, so as not to delay Your Majesty's meal."

After saying this, he hurriedly withdrew to serve the meal.

Zhu Youjian watched his departing figure, his eyes becoming deep again.

Why should the Cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial be ranked together?
On the one hand, he was indeed impatient to waste time on these trivial matters.

But at a deeper level, it is necessary to build a firewall in the center of this power.

As long as it's not a perfect combination like Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng, who were close collaborators both inside and outside the government, and as long as there is more than one Grand Secretary in the Cabinet and more than one eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial, this double-check system can minimize information blockage and favoritism.

Finally, this hierarchical system also laid the foundation for his subsequent reforms of the official gazette and the military intelligence classification system.

It's just that I feel a bit sorry for Gao Banban, since I'm always taking power from him.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian still felt a little guilty.

Let's see what the future holds; perhaps you'll gain more than you lose.
After all, who ever said that there couldn't be a place for eunuchs in the Lingyan Pavilion?

Merit and demerit are judged by the deeds themselves, not by the person themselves; this is indeed true.

(End of this chapter)