It is not yet the busy farming season in the five northern provinces, and the peasants are all idle, they are either visiting relatives and friends, or wandering around to catch the market, but the imperial court is building roads on a large scale, and they are not idle, they form the main road construction army in the provinces.

These poor and frightened Ming people, in order to earn a remuneration for road construction, chose to get rid of the habit of idleness before farming, and they were busy everywhere on the road construction site.

Zhu Youzhen was even busier, he had to demarcate the construction routes for the provinces, and he also had to keep his eyes open and keep an eye on all those who opposed the reform, especially the hundred officials of the clan and the Jingshi.

Now there is no cabinet, and there are still many government affairs that he needs to deal with, so even if he leaves the capital for the sake of exploring the route, it can't be too long.

March 15, the third year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1630 AD), was the day of the court meeting, and on this day, Zhu Youzhen finally threw out his political reform plan.

This reform has a far-reaching impact on the Ming Dynasty, and can even change the national trend of the Ming Dynasty.

However, for most officials, political reform is only a change in position, or even just a change in title, and it has nothing to do with ordinary people, let alone half a dime, so Zhu Youzhen did not discuss with the scholars of the six ministries in advance, and he simply planned to make his own decisions.

At the court meeting, the head of the household department is still the secretary of the household, and he is from Yan Qi: "Your Majesty, at present, the five northern provinces are building roads on a large scale, and the silver of the household is spent like flowing water. ”

"Bi Aiqing doesn't have to worry, the road construction in the five northern provinces is a year or two, and after a year or two, the road is completed, so naturally there is no need to spend so much money." Zhu Youzhen also thought that the five central provinces and the five southern provinces would have to build roads, but at that time, the taxes of the imperial court would inevitably increase, "Aiqing only needs to examine whether every expenditure is reasonable, and strictly control the expenditure." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the minister understands, and the minister will strictly control the expenses!"

Zhu Youzhen saw that there was no more silence at the court meeting, "Ladies and gentlemen, what else do you have to play?" ”

The ministers, you look at me, I look at you, they are all silent, they obviously have nothing to say.

"All the Aiqing have nothing to play, but I have some things to talk to about with the Aiqing," Zhu Youzhen looked at Huang Liji first: "Huang Aiqing, is the matter of the national flag I said last time falling?" ”

"Back to His Majesty, the minister has already designed one, it is a blue sky and white sun, but in any case, the moon cannot be added, because there is no final finalization, so it is not reported to His Majesty." Huang Li lowered his head extremely much, he felt a little ashamed that he hadn't completed the national flag for so long.

"Blue sky and white sun?" Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment, "Yes, the blue sky and the white sun are a warning to the hundred officials of the Ming Dynasty, with the white sun on their heads, they should behave like the blue sky, and when the court meeting is over, show it to me!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Huang Li bowed and retreated to the front of the ministers.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Zhu Youzhen's gaze swept over the ministers, "I have not had a cabinet since I ascended the throne, and I often feel that without the assistance of the cabinet, I have handled government affairs and have often had problems, so I plan to restore the cabinet." ”

"The Cabinet?" The ministers' eyes lit up, and they didn't know who would be lucky enough to enter the cabinet, although the level of the cabinet was not high, not as good as the books of the ministries, but their real power was very great.

"However, my cabinet is slightly different from the previous cabinet, because it is dedicated to handling government affairs, so this new cabinet is called the Government Affairs Yuan, and the original first assistant is now called the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister is a government minister, and all ministries are directly under the leadership of the Prime Minister and are responsible to the Government Council, and the Prime Minister of the Government Council is only responsible to me."

"Prime Minister?" This is a new term, and Huang Liji doesn't understand it very well, but he feels that the cabinet and the six ministries were originally mutually restrictive, and now how did the six ministries become under the leadership of the cabinet? "Your Majesty, this Prime Minister of the Government Council, why does it look like a Prime Minister?"

Wang Yongguang also had questions: "Your Majesty, the six ministries are under the jurisdiction of the Government Council, so in addition to Your Majesty, who can be restrained by the Government Council?" ”

"The two Aiqing don't need to worry, this government affairs yuan, naturally there are people who restrict, I will explain later," Zhu Youzhen planned to explain the affairs of the government affairs yuan first, "As for the six ministries, due to the needs of the new Ming Dynasty, I plan to expand to ten, and these ten ministries are all under the leadership of the government affairs yuan." ”

"Ten? 陛xià, which ten? Li Chunye didn't know what new tricks Zhu Youzhen was going to come up with.

"In order to cooperate with the new policy, I have integrated the original six ministries, as well as other institutions designed by the imperial court, into ten ministries," Zhu Youzhen glanced at the ministers again, fully mobilizing everyone's curiosity for knowledge, "abolishing the Ministry of Officials and setting up the Ministry of Personnel." ”

"The Personnel Department? What kind of institution is it? ”

"It is the original Ministry of Officials, which is responsible for the assessment and promotion of officials, including the governors of the provinces, and the officials of the Ten Ministries except for the ministers and deputy ministers."

This was similar to the duties of the previous ministry, except that the name was changed, and the ministers did not have any objections, but they were concerned about who the new Minister of Personnel was.

"Minister Wang Yongguang!"

Zhu Youzhen's words, there is no surprise, Wang Yongguang was originally a secretary of the ministry, and the ministers all congratulated Wang Yongguang.

"For the Ministry of Households, I plan to divide it into two, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for expenditures, and the Ministry of Taxation is responsible for collecting taxes from various places."

This is the idea of separating the collection of taxes from Zhu Youzhen's idea of levying industrial and commercial taxes and expanding the collection of agricultural taxes.

"Finance Minister Bi Ziyan, Tax Minister Huang Shijun."

Everyone congratulated again, Bi Ziyan is nothing, he was originally the head of the household department, and now the household department has a tax department, and his scope of authority has become smaller, but compared with expenditure, tax collection is more thankless, and he is more leisurely.

And Huang Shijun was originally the right attendant of the ministry, but now he is a minister, which can be regarded as a half-level promotion.

"The Ministry of Industry was changed to the Ministry of Communications, and the Minister was Li Changgeng."

This is another change that does not rise or fall, and now Zhu Youzhen is building roads on a large scale, and the functions and powers of the Ministry of Communications are even more prominent.

"In addition, a new Ministry of Water Resources, Minister Liu Rongsi."

Liu Rongsi was the best candidate for the establishment of the Ministry of Water Resources, he was an expert in river management, and when he was in Shandong, he was famous for managing the Yellow River and canals.

Liu Rongsi was promoted from the head of the household department to the minister of cement, and he was also promoted by half a level.

"Abolish the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, and set up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead, Minister Fang Fengnian, Vice Minister Huang Xiaofu."

"Your Majesty, what does this Ministry of Foreign Affairs do?"

Judging by the name, the ministers were in a fog, they had never heard of the term "diplomacy".

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the name suggests, deals with foreign countries, whether it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty or a Xiyi, the Ming Dynasty must contact them, understand them, learn their language and strengths."

"Oh!"

The responsibilities are clear, but the ministers feel strange, Fang Fengnian turned out to be the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and he was promoted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, so what about Huang Liji, the original Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites? He turned out to be the first assistant of the cabinet, and he did not reach the situation of Zhishi.

Zhu Youzhen also ignored the questions of the ministers, and he continued according to his own ideas, "Abolish the Guozijian and the Hanlin Academy, and re-establish the Ministry of Education, Minister Kong Zhenyun." ”

This is not an unexpected decision, Kong Zhenyun is a descendant of Kong Shengren, the original Guozi priest wine, however, Zhu Youzhen is now implementing compulsory education in the five northern provinces, and this Kong Zhenyun may have to be reused.

The crowd congratulated again.

"Abolish the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple, and set up the Ministry of Supervision, and the Minister Shang Zhou Zuo."

Since the Ministry of Supervision is the original Metropolitan Procuratorate, the ministers naturally know the responsibilities of the Ministry of Supervision, but when Shang Zhouzuo was the secretary of the Ministry of War during the Apocalypse, he was known for his uprightness, and it seems that the life of the officials in the future will not be easy.

Everyone reluctantly congratulated Shang Zhouzuo and stopped at once.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice was added, which was responsible for formulating new laws and popularizing the laws of the Ming Dynasty to all citizens, Minister Cao Sicheng; The Ministry of Industry and Commerce was added, responsible for registration, supervision, and support of industry and commerce across the country, and Minister Liu Zongzhou. ”

Zhang Sicheng was originally the imperial history of the left capital, and this time he became the Minister of Justice, which is also justifiable, but Liu Zongzhou, as the right attendant of the Ministry of Industry, was suddenly promoted to the Minister of Industry and Commerce that Zhu Youzhen relied on the most, which immediately attracted many envious eyes, but what Zhu Youzhen announced was the final ruling, and everyone could not object.

"The new ten ministries, all under the leadership of the Government Affairs Yuan, usually have their own office space, can you understand your responsibilities?"

"Understood!" The ten ministers replied in unison, in fact, they only understood a rough idea.

Zhu Youzhen is not in a hurry, and the positions of various ministers will have clear and specific contents in the future.

Only then did the ministers discover that among the ten ministries, there was no military department and no criminal department, and Huang Liji, Li Chunye and others, whom Zhu Youzhen relied on very much, as well as Qiao Yunsheng, the secretary of the criminal department, were not among the ten ministers.

"Could it be that among them, there will be a prime minister?" Everyone whispered, "But there is only one prime minister in the Government Council, and the other two will not be in charge, right?" ”

Zhu Youzhen quickly gave the answer: "Premier Huang Liji! Vice Premier Zhou Shipu! ”

"Your Majesty trusts! Panic! ”

"Huang Aiqing doesn't have to be too humble, whether it is qualifications or character, Aiqing is the prime minister, and everyone expects it."

The Prime Minister of the Government Council, this is a high-ranking official under the Ming Dynasty and above a hundred officials, which is greater than the power of the prime minister during the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and even the Ming Taizu, no wonder everyone is red-eyed.

"Your Majesty, since Taizu, I no longer set up a prime minister, because I am worried about the prime minister's dictatorship, and the current prime minister of the government council has too much power, in case it ......"

"Aiqing don't worry, I have my own way of restraining it," Zhu Youzhen didn't look at who was speaking, "What I just said is government affairs, and in the future, the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty will be under the leadership of the Government Affairs Yuan, and the ten ministries will each pay their duties, but my imperial court implements the 'three courts and ten departments' system, ten of which you already know, as for the three courts, ......."

Zhu Youzhen saw that all the ministers pricked up their ears, knowing that their appetite had been aroused, "The Government Affairs Yuan is one court, responsible for government affairs, and there are two courts, namely the Judicial Yuan and the National Defense Yuan!" ”