The next day, in the Imperial Palace, Zhu Youzhen was on the throne.

The officials of the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Crime, the Ministry of Industry, the Inspectorate, the Dali Temple, the Guozijian and other departments and the six departments were all present, plus four cabinet ministers, a total of 32 people.

Everyone knows that today is the day of Tingtui, and all of them are not smiling and stand solemnly.

Tingtui is a political form pioneered by the Ming Dynasty, and it is also a kind of primary democratic politics.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, decided: 'When the imperial court encounters major political affairs, or encounters vacancies in the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs, it will be ordered to order the officials of the six ministries, nine secretaries and three grades or above, and give the meeting in the matter, so as to discuss and measure it appropriately, and then report to me to make a decision. ’

Among them, the pros and cons of political affairs are discussed and discussed, which is called court discussion;

Among them, the proposal for the promotion and appointment of personnel is called the court push.

After Zhu Yuanzhang customized, all the ministers of the cabinet in the past dynasties were issued according to this example, and even the three dynasties of Renzong, Xuanzong, Xianzong, when the ministers were powerful, the officials above the three grades were pushed out by the court.

However, in the later period of Wanli and the Apocalypse, due to Wanli's lazy government and Wei Zhongxian's domineering, for more than 20 years, Tingtui was a mere formality.

It is only now that the ministers finally have a decent court push, so the ministers who participated in this court push attach great importance to it and are very excited.

"Let's get started."

Zhu Youzhen nodded at Wang Chengen.

After Wang Chengen bowed, he got up and opened a piece of paper covering the center of the hall.

There are three names written on it.

Han Yi, Sun Chengzong, Xue Fengxiang.

When they saw this, they nodded their heads or stroked their beards, and there was no difference.

Although the ancestral system stipulates that officials who participate in the court promotion will not be made public before the court push, the purpose is naturally to prevent officials from colluding privately, bribing votes and canvassing for votes, so as to maintain the fairness of the court push.

However, in the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, there were very few people who really obeyed the ancestral system, and the candidates for the officials who were recommended by the court were all discussed by the emperor and cabinet ministers, so it was not easy to be known in advance.

At the beginning of Taizu, he also killed ministers for the leakage of secrets by Tingtui, but the later kings did not have the authority of Taizu, so they all turned a blind eye to this.

But this also leaves hidden dangers for future party struggles.

After announcing the list of court pushers, I saw Xue Fengxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and then stood up.

"Your Majesty, please retire."

"Exactly."

After Xue Fengxiang bowed, he withdrew from the hall.

This time, the court pushed the cabinet scholars, and they were two out of three, because the cabinet had passed the gas in the early stage, Xue Fengxiang knew that he was here to accompany him, so he didn't make any waves in his heart.

Then Wang Chengen commanded several eunuchs to send the chips down.

The ministers who participated in the court push each had two chips, which were then thrown into three boxes with the names of the three men printed on them in the center of the main hall.

Finally, the chips are counted, and the ones with the most chips are sorted and presented to the emperor for selection.

It stands to reason that the emperor should get the most votes to enter the cabinet, but the emperors of the Ming Dynasty also directly promoted the officials who were ranked lower in the cabinet to enter the cabinet.

However, the scholars and doctors despised the officials who were directly promoted, because it broke the rules.

The scholars of the Ming Dynasty have always used court push as an important means to resist the imperial power, if someone is directly promoted by the emperor Jian into the cabinet without court push, then the appointment and dismissal of officials in the future, the emperor can make a decision, which is undoubtedly unfavorable to the entire civil official group.

Therefore, with regard to the officials who were promoted to the cabinet by the Central Decree, the entire civilian-bureaucratic clique naturally vigorously opposed it from the perspective of the overall interests.

For the sake of the interests of the entire civil bureaucracy, most of the officials who were promoted were also stubborn, and few of them complied with the central decree and joined the cabinet.

Over time, the Tingtui Cabinet became the only channel for selecting high-ranking officials.

However, this time the court pushed, Zhu Youzhen made a slight change.

After dividing the chips, Wang Chengen led the ministers to the side hall, and then entered the main hall in turn.

In this way, it is impossible to verify who the ministers voted for.

This move can not only truly reflect the wishes of voters and avoid being kidnapped by morality, but also increase the cost of trust for officials to form a party.

Although the change from an open vote to a secret ballot was only a small change made by Zhu Youzhen, it laid the groundwork for changing the political rules of the court in the future.

After a stick of incense, the officials finished throwing their chips and returned to the main hall.

In front of everyone's eyes, Wang Chengen opened the three wooden boxes, and then began to sing votes publicly.

In the end, Sun Chengzong had to raise 27, Han Yi had to raise 23, and Xue Fengxiang had to raise 12.

Sun Chengzong and Han Yi won more than half.

Zhu Youzhen was very satisfied with this result, so he drafted a decree on the spot and promoted the two to the cabinet.

There was no objection to this result.

Sun Chengzong is the teacher of the first emperor and the leader of Donglin, and entering the cabinet is the proper meaning of the question.

Han Yi was the first assistant of the former dynasty, and was later persecuted by the eunuchs, and after Wei Wei was executed, the official should be reinstated.

Therefore, this court push did not set off a big wave up and down the government and the opposition.

After the knocking incident, with the entry of Sun Chengzong and Han Yi, two veteran Donglin Party members, into the cabinet, the Donglin Party had a person to talk to among high-level officials, and the previous small actions that were disorderly disappeared.

This is naturally what Zhu Youzhen is willing to see.

After the number of cabinet assistants was increased to six, Zhu Youzhen divided the labor among the six people.

Sun Chengzong was in charge of the Ministry of War and the affairs of the Nine Sides, Han Yi was in charge of the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites and the affairs of taxation, Li Guopu was in charge of the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple and the Inspectorate, Zhang Ruitu was in charge of the Ministry of Industry, Shi Fenglai was in charge of the Ministry of Officials, and Huang Liji was in charge of the general affairs and presided over the affairs of the cabinet.

At the same time, Zhu Youzhen also reformed the cabinet's decision-making mechanism.

After the reform, the cabinet ministers have independent voting power on the matters for which they are responsible, but in case of personal difficulties, they can also ask the first assistant to convene a cabinet office meeting to discuss the cabinet ministers.

If the discussion is indecisive, the first assistant of the cabinet shall preside over the vote, and the ministers shall have one vote, and the first assistant shall have two votes, and according to the result of the vote, the first and auxiliary ministers of the cabinet shall form a collective vote.

Moreover, in order to alleviate his own pressure, Zhu Youzhen also changed the daily court meeting to once a month, and the daily affairs were decided by a small court meeting attended only by the cabinet ministers.

Every day, Zhu Youzhen presided over a small court meeting in the Qianqing Palace, and the cabinet ministers reported their respective affairs in turn, and Zhu Youzhen wore red on the spot.

In case of unresolved matters, they can also discuss with the cabinet members, and if necessary, expand to six ministries and nine secretaries to participate.

In addition, in order to enhance the efficiency of the cabinet, Zhu Youzhen also increased the number of cabinet office personnel.

Each cabinet assistant minister is assigned a duty secretary, and each duty secretary has a secretary, a left and right secretary, and four secretaries.

Eight people serve a cabinet minister, Zhu Youzhen thinks it should be okay.

In addition, Zhu Youzhen also equipped each cabinet minister with two eunuchs, one to be in charge of the cabinet ministers and the secretary Lang's food, clothing, and daily life, and the other is naturally the eyes and ears.