Emperor Ming: Your Majesty, you have caused me so much suffering.

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs—that's my alternative secretariat.

Xing'an was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to pay his respects, saying, "I beseech Your Majesty's instructions."

"You two, please take your seats and write this down!"

Zhu Qiyu recalled his work in the secretariat within the system in his previous life, and realized that he could learn a thing or two from it by changing the title.

"From now on, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs should be more meticulous in its work. The four departments of the Secretariat, the Ceremonial Office, the Inner Study, and the Scripture Factory will remain unchanged."

These four offices form the core of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. The Special Documents Office is where the receipt, management, and distribution of memorials and petitions are handled. There is no need to change the others.

Xing'an nodded slightly. As long as this core base is not lost, the power of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will not be weakened too much.

"Afterwards, we need to add a Records Office, a Detection Office, a Confidential Affairs Office, a Finance Office, and an Inner Palace Office."

Xing'an's eyes gleamed with greed. If he had all these powers in his hands, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would practically be a one-man show.

As Cheng Jing took notes, he prepared to offer his advice: the Directorate of Ceremonial already wielded considerable power; to further increase it would surely cause problems.

Just as Cheng Jing was about to speak, he heard Zhu Qiyu's voice.

"The Records Office is responsible for recording the entire proceedings of court discussions and impromptu audiences with the Emperor. Minutes of regular meetings, recording the speeches of all parties and agreed-upon terms, should be prepared and copied. Drafts of conversations between the Emperor and his ministers should also be recorded, unless they are confidential. The Records Office must promptly remind and inform the Emperor of any official appointments, such as court assemblies, sacrifices, and inspections of schools."

In the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Diarists were all concurrently serving as members of the Hanlin Academy. As a result, some meeting minutes have not been passed down, and some memorials and dialogues are no longer available, which is a very bad thing.

Human memory is limited. If court officials quarrel and misbehave, they can review the records afterward, learn from the experience, and make up for it next time.

Even if there are mistakes in the implementation of policies, at least the meeting minutes can reveal where the problems lie.

Xing'an looked puzzled. Most emperors didn't like others recording these things, but this emperor seemed quite happy to do so. Although this wasn't exactly a power, being able to stay by the emperor's side at all times would definitely be a sought-after job in the future.

"The Office of Inspection and Rectification is responsible for registering all imperial edicts and decrees, recording the issuance date, the responsible department, and the deadline. Upon the deadline, it will verify the implementation status reported by each department and compile a list to be submitted to me. It only keeps records and has no authority to impose penalties or interfere with the execution of the Six Ministries. Any matters that are not completed by the deadline will be listed separately and submitted to me for my disposal."

Zhu Qiyu was most dissatisfied with the lack of a concrete sense of time among court officials. They didn't specify whether it was three or five days, or fifteen days, or even a month or thirty or forty days. This led to procrastination and delays in government affairs.

Even worse, he was almost completely unaware of the progress of some matters, and Zhu Qiyu had to personally summon court officials to inquire about the progress, which was quite speechless.

The key issue is that some political responsibilities are unclear, leading to buck-passing when problems arise. These issues must be recorded in detail so that accountability can be clearly identified by following up with a form.

"You two shall register according to the form I previously used. Do you have any questions?"

Upon hearing this, the two immediately thought it was a good idea. In this way, political affairs would be clearly visible, and they had already thoroughly studied the forms that Zhu Qiyu had used before, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

"This servant has no objection."

"The Confidential Office is responsible for sealing documents, managing fire confidentiality (preventing leaks and burning of files), and storing copies of official seals. It also oversees the conduct of eunuchs within the Directorate of Ceremonial. If any eunuch or clerk privately communicates with officials outside the office, leaks documents, or intercepts memorials, I will execute them immediately!"

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs could see the original text of memorials and reports. If some unscrupulous individuals deliberately intercepted some memorials and reports and did not present them to the emperor, the court officials would misunderstand that the emperor was withholding them, and in the end, the matters reported in these memorials and reports would be left unresolved.

Some were even deliberately kept, and when the emperor was tired and unable to deal with the memorials, they were handed over to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs to write them on his behalf. At this time, they could take out these memorials and deal with them privately, representing the emperor's opinion.

Therefore, the process of sending and receiving these memorials and reports must be supervised. As for collusion and malpractice later on, that's a matter for the future; once more people know about it, it's impossible to keep it completely secret.

Xing'an Tongchengjing was startled when he heard Zhu Qiyu's murderous words. If Wang Zhen were still alive, he would probably have died many times over in the hands of the current emperor.

"This servant obeys the decree."

"The Finance Office will receive copies of the annual budget (national annual revenue and expenditure budget and final accounts) submitted by the Ministry of Revenue, as well as the quarterly accounts of the Taicang Treasury, the Jingtong Warehouses, and the Inner Transport Warehouses, and will compile and register them in a unified manner."

"Compile a summary of income and expenditure, including border troops, official salaries, river works, inner court supplies, military farm revenues, and commercial and salt taxes, and present it to the Emperor for review. For major projects and military deployments, budgets for funds and provisions should be prepared, and copies of old financial records, tax regulations, salt laws, and maritime trade tax registers from previous dynasties should be kept. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs is strictly prohibited from approving the expenditure of funds and provisions, and is not allowed to modify the original accounts of the Ministry of Revenue; it can only compile and archive them."

Zhu Qiyu planned to teach these eunuchs how to make bar charts and line graphs, which would look more sophisticated and be more intuitive than those dry numbers.

"Your Majesty, if it's to be this detailed, it would require a massive number of people!"

Upon hearing this, Xing'an felt a headache coming on. These accounts were the most difficult to handle, and if every detail was meticulously recorded, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would need to be expanded by dozens more people.

"Just record the total number. I won't ask about the details. The relevant officials can record it. What does it have to do with you? If there are any abnormalities, I will issue an order to retrieve them."

"This servant obeys the decree!"

Upon hearing this, Xing'an's brows relaxed. Copying down the total was quite simple. After all, the various departments of the imperial court submitted their year-end summaries, which were also based on this data. It was just a matter of helping to record it so that His Majesty could check it at any time. Sending two or three people would be enough to complete the task.

"As for the Inner Palace, it records all income belonging to the royal family's private property, including gold and silver, rent from palace estates, profits from royal shops, tributes from various regions, confiscated property belonging to the inner court, profits from mines and maritime trade, etc., and sets up separate accounts for each category. It also records the expenditures of the emperor's private funds, such as daily necessities for the harem, imperial meals, procurement of imperial utensils, rewards for members of the imperial family, special rewards for meritorious officials, and repairs of royal mausoleums and temples, etc."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jing sensed something was amiss and said, "Your Majesty, the palace estates are mostly managed by the Imperial Horse Administration, but there are also eunuchs specifically in charge of the palace estates. If..."

"Is it to be transferred to the Directorate of Ceremonial? Wouldn't that create an overlap in authority? Besides, what is an Imperial Shop? The palace doesn't possess such a thing. Moreover, maritime trade is almost entirely unprofitable. Your Majesty, is there perhaps an error here?"

Xing'an rolled his eyes at Cheng Jing, having forgotten to warn Cheng Jing beforehand. That imperial shop was no ordinary place; if it couldn't be returned to the Directorate of Ceremonial, Xing'an felt a heartache so intense he could hardly breathe.

"That's correct. This is what I will do from now on. You must keep quiet. As for the Inner Palace, the main focus will remain on registration. The specific implementation will follow the old precedent for now, and we'll decide based on the situation later. I need to know all the data at any time, rather than retrieving it from each of the twenty-four departments one by one!"

Sometimes having multiple departments can be a headache, with expenses incurred in various places, and the exact amount spent not always readily available. After Zhu Qiyu hastily ascended the throne, he discovered that his financial management was a complete mess, with even the accounting of the imperial treasury's inflows and outflows being extremely chaotic.

I know exactly where every single tael of my money goes.

Cheng Jing nodded thoughtfully, not daring to say anything more.

Xing'an's face showed a mixture of joy and worry, but at least there was still hope.

Whichever department the imperial store falls into will become incredibly wealthy. If the imperial merchants don't make money, then there will be no profitable business in the world.

"Remember, the newly added officials are here to record information and provide me with data for reference at any time. They are not here to interfere with your duties, or don't blame me for taking swift and decisive action. Just follow my instructions."

Xing'an and Cheng Jing immediately replied, "Your Majesty, we will obey your every command!"

Zhu Qiyu looked up at the table and asked, "Is everything properly recorded?"

"We respectfully request Your Majesty's perusal!" The two hurriedly presented the papers in their hands.

Zhu Qiyu examined it closely and was very satisfied. The division of labor was clear, and the two of them took turns recording, so there were basically no errors.

"Let's proceed accordingly!"

"Here you go!"

"Have the exam questions for the students of the Inner Academy been properly copied?"

Zhu Qiyu himself set the questions. A few days ago, he decided to go to the Inner Academy to see the true level of the students there.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready!" Xing'an immediately reported.

"Let's go to the inner study!"