Chapter 333: The Court

Wen Tiren and the other members of the Grand Secretariat held an indifferent, neither-for-nor-against attitude toward the two newly promoted Grand Secretaries.

Wang Yingxiong and Zhang Zhifa had long since prepared to step aside at any moment. Both knew they no longer held any standing in the Emperor's eyes, so they now only hoped to retire to their hometowns with some respectable honorary title when the time came.

Wen Tiren, for his part, did not worry in the least that his position as Chief Grand Secretary might be taken from him.

In his view, although the addition of new Grand Secretaries was already a settled matter, and the newly appointed ministers were all in their prime with outstanding abilities, his seat would remain quite secure for at least three to five years. By five years hence, he would already be approaching seventy, so stepping down then would be of no great concern.

As for the senior ministers whom the Ming court valued most in the Emperor's eyes, Wen Tiren had also made detailed analyses and judgments.

Whether it was Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangsheng, or Chen Qiyu, Yang Sichang, Fan Jingwen, and Hou Xun — none of these men, as things currently stood, possessed the ability to grasp the overall situation, nor did they have the skill to discern His Majesty's intentions. Moreover, they were all men who had long wielded great power and made decisive kills, having developed the habit of brooking no dissent, unable to tolerate others questioning or disrespecting them. Who could say what sort of scene might unfold if this group were gathered together?

Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng were both renowned for military merit. Over the years they had been leading troops in battle, achieving virtually nothing in pacifying the people and governing the populace. The Grand Secretariat was a place for assisting the Emperor in handling domestic affairs. Now that the roving bandits had been destroyed and Jianzhou was hard-pressed to hold on, the Emperor's focus would surely shift to the matter of settling and enriching the people within the Ming realm. Whether these two could accomplish anything in civil governance remained to be seen.

Although Sun Chuanting and Chen Qiyu were accomplished in both civil and military affairs, both had considerable flaws in temperament. Chen Qiyu's abilities went without saying — he possessed outstanding vision and insight in military strategy — but once he gained power he was prone to complacency, and with that came loss of composure, and problems worthy of criticism would soon appear. This made it very difficult for him to become Chief Grand Secretary.

Sun Chuanting had risen with astonishing speed. In Shaanxi, in barely over two years, he had already achieved remarkable accomplishments in both civil governance and military affairs. From His Majesty's daily words and deeds, one could discern that Sun Chuanting was among the civil officials His Majesty valued most, and the most likely candidate to become Chief Grand Secretary.

But Sun Chuanting likewise had the flaws of being overly rigid in temperament and lacking in seniority. This could only be improved through several years of tempering within the Grand Secretariat; there was absolutely no possibility of him being pushed to a high position in the short term.

Although Fan Jingwen and Hou Xun excelled in domestic governance, their strengths were those of specialists in particular fields. They lacked the vision to command the overall situation and could not become the Chief Grand Secretary favored by the Emperor. They could only offer the Emperor more professional counsel within specific domains.

Although Yang Sichang was competent in talent, bearing, and flattering his superiors, unfortunately his seniority was too shallow and he had no extraordinary achievements. He was even older than Sun, Lu, Hong, and Chen — the favorites in the Emperor's eyes — and could never in this lifetime ascend to the position of Chief Grand Secretary.

If he were unwilling to accept this and stirred up trouble, he would likely end up being loathed by His Majesty. However, judging by Yang Sichang's skill at being all things to all people, he would naturally recognize the situation and carve out a place for himself within the Grand Secretariat.

As for Minister of Rites Zhang Guowei and Minister of Justice Feng Ying, their chances of entering the Grand Secretariat were extremely slim, let alone becoming Chief Grand Secretary.

Li Banghua, far away in Nanjing, possessed the qualifications to be Chief Grand Secretary by any measure, but his overly loyal and upright nature would probably not endear him to the Emperor. The position of Left Censor-in-Chief was the most suitable for him. Although the Emperor thought highly of him, he would likely not let him enter the Grand Secretariat — at most, he would add an honorary title.

If Zhu Youjian knew what Wen Tiren was thinking at this moment, he would certainly give him a thumbs up. Old Wen's speculations were almost exactly what he himself had in mind.

In Zhu Youjian's plan, after the Grand Secretaries were added the following year, Wen Tiren would continue as Chief Grand Secretary for a considerable period of time. Only after Sun Chuanting and the others had, over the course of several years, sorted out their thinking on how to govern and gained the experience required of a Grand Secretary would that be the time for Wen Tiren to retire.

Sun Chuanting was indeed the best candidate for Chief Grand Secretary in Zhu Youjian's mind.

By rights, the position of Chief Grand Secretary should have gone to Hong Chengchou, who was more tactful in handling affairs and gentler in his methods. But Zhu Youjian harbored an indelible psychological shadow toward this minister who had been listed in the "Biographies of Twice-Serving Officials." Especially when contrasted with loyal, brave, and upright famous ministers like Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou's image was instantly diminished by a large margin.

Considering matters from a longer-term perspective, Zhu Youjian believed that the present Ming dynasty had just emerged from years of war and chaos, and still faced the harsh effects of continuous natural disasters. The region north of the Yangtze could be said to be in a state where everything was waiting to be rebuilt.

At this time, what the top figures of the Ming dynasty needed was not conservative, preservationist bureaucrats, but pioneering ministers willing to take responsibility and dare to forge ahead. Sun Chuanting's temperament and abilities happened to fit this requirement. As long as he had Zhu Youjian's strong support, and with the joint efforts of all parties, they could strive to bring the initial shape of great governance to the northern territories of the Ming within ten years.

In Zhu Youjian's plan, as the times developed, the functions of certain important ministries and bureaus would need fine-tuning so that their responsibilities could better adapt to the demands of social development.

And the Censorate, which wielded enormous power, was one of the first ministries to need its powers adjusted.

While increasing the Censorate's supervisory strength, corresponding regulations should also be formulated to constrain the powers of the remonstrance officials.

Since the Niu-Li factional strife of the Tang dynasty, civil officials of successive dynasties had formed the vile practice of attacking one another by various means for their own interests, and the remonstrance officials of each period had played the primary role in these struggles.

Because remonstrance officials possessed a uniquely advantageous combat attribute and privilege — that of being able to memorialize on hearsay.

This privilege had been infinitely magnified by the civil ministers, giving rise to many fabricated charges out of thin air. Many famous ministers and good policies had fallen to these attacks laden with boundless malice.

Zhu Youjian concurred with the prevailing view of later generations. He believed that this privilege of memorializing on hearsay was more like chasing shadows and catching wind — fabricating something from nothing.

If this pernicious privilege were not restricted, the future court would soon return to the old ways. Quarreling, abuse, and personal attacks would play out endlessly, and the vast majority of ministers caught up in it would ultimately be defeated.

The primary powers of the remonstrance officials would remain unchanged, but the privilege of memorializing on hearsay would be abolished.

Henceforth, impeaching any minister must be backed by concrete evidence; otherwise it would be considered slander, punishable by the same penalty as the alleged crime.

Valid evidence was the foundation of impeachment. Every single charge against the person being impeached must be supported by sufficient evidence in order to convince the public.

Once Li Banghua returned from Nanjing, this rule would begin to be implemented in the Censorate, to put an end to the phenomenon of people using remonstrance officials to attack political opponents, so that court ministers could devote their energy to handling government affairs rather than worrying that offending others in official business would invite retaliation.

Although the remonstrance officials' duty was to supervise the hundred officials, this primary responsibility had been selectively ignored by most people before this.

The supervision of the hundred officials was directed at how court ministers handled their respective government affairs, not at personal attacks on someone's private morality. This point must be made clear.

Ouyang Xiu, the famous minister of the Northern Song, was one of the victims.

His political enemies instigated remonstrance officials to falsely accuse him of an improper relationship with his daughter-in-law. In shame and helplessness, he had no choice but to resign from his position as Assistant Councillor of State. And with his dismissal from office, this groundless slander also came to an abrupt end, and the public outcry was quickly quelled.

This was a typical case of slander, because in the end there was no evidence whatsoever proving that Ouyang Xiu had committed such an immoral act.

Zhu Youjian would absolutely not allow such vicious affairs to occur before his eyes. Whoever dared to test the law with their own person could go reclaim wasteland in Yizhou.