Several people were stunned, and the atmosphere in the palace became slightly solemn.
There is no doubt that the several ministers did not want to be enemies of the imperial power, and they also had a desire for power.
In fact, except for the chief minister, all other cabinet members want the chief minister's power to be reduced, but unless the chief minister takes the initiative to give up power, they should not think otherwise.
For example, Xu Jie, who served as the first assistant after Yan Song, took the initiative to have his second assistant sign his name together in order to avoid the reputation of being authoritarian, thus winning a lot of praise.
And what about the emperor? Jiajing, Wanli's lazy administration, as long as the chief minister is obedient, no matter how arbitrary the power is, it will not endanger the imperial power anyway.
Zhao Shu looked calm, as if he didn't care about the loss of power.
But who knows about the entanglement between gains and losses? From the moment the cabinet was born, it could not compete with the imperial power.
"In the cabinet, he is the first assistant, the second assistant, and the group assistant. Although there is no explicit document, it is a common practice."
After a long time, Zhu Yixi smiled in her heart when she saw the obvious expressions on several people's faces, and then she said:
"It's not like this. As long as it involves the Household Department and the Work Department, the first assistant will take the lead in drafting, and the second assistant will countersign. The second assistant will take the lead in drafting the Rites Department, and the first assistant will countersign."
"The official department shall be jointly managed by the cabinet."
"Soldiers, punishments, all the auxiliaries are in charge, and the chief auxiliary is added."
To put it bluntly, it involves the issue of the right to speak about the six parts.
The first assistant's say lies with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works. One is the big money collector and the big spender.
As for the second assistant, the right to speak lies with the Ministry of Rites, because when it comes to sacrifices and imperial examinations, he can be regarded as a noble person. Although he cannot compare with the first assistant, he can still compete slightly.
But similarly, both the first assistant and the second assistant are deputyly assigned to the department in charge of the other party, so that there are at least two opinions on a matter and they will not monopolize the power.
The other group assistants will jointly act for the other ministries, but the first assistant will also act as a deputy, shaping the power of the first assistant.
The Ministry of Personnel involves personnel rights, so all cabinet members have the right to speak.
As a result, the chief assistant was reduced from being involved in everything to being specifically responsible for the household department and the work department, and his power was greatly reduced.
The power of the secondary assistants has obviously increased, and the same is true for the group assistants. They finally have the right to speak, especially in terms of personnel rights, and have equal say.
Zhao Shu and others looked dumbfounded and immediately began to think deeply.
Although Zhang Shenyan lowered his head, the emperor still saw a slight smile on his face and eyes; while young Yan Chongxin could not restrain his joy and raised the corners of his mouth.
The first assistant, Zhao Shu, smiled slightly, showing his sincerity: "Your Majesty, the Holy Ming——"
"In this way, the powers and responsibilities are clear without shirk, the cabinet is orderly without arbitrary power, the Ming Dynasty has such a sage king, the world is very lucky, and the people are very lucky."
Zhang Shenyan and Yan Chongxin's eyes showed disbelief, and they immediately bowed down and praised him in agreement.
Zhu Yixi felt much better after being flattered. She waved her hand and said, "In addition to the cabinet, the six ministries and the Procuratorate also need to be rectified."
At this time, Zhao Shu's calm face became a little uneasy. He cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is too radical and the officials will not be able to adapt to it for a while..."
"The six departments involve the operation of the imperial court. Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Zhang Shenyan and Yan Chongxin had no choice but to persuade him.
No wonder they are so nervous. The system of three provinces and six ministries has been in operation for more than a thousand years. It has been formed and everyone is familiar with it. If it is changed rashly, it is easy to cause trouble.
And the six ministries are not the same as the cabinet. To use a vivid metaphor, the six ministries are formal workers in state-owned enterprises, while the cabinet is contract workers, so it is okay for the cabinet to be manipulated by the emperor at will.
Because the cabinet is no longer in the order of the imperial court, there is no real organization.
"Don't worry, someone has a plan, you might as well listen to it."
The emperor was confident and told all his plans.
It turned out that after having an in-depth understanding of the power of the cabinet, Zhu Yixi went to the six ministries to understand its power structure.
Unexpectedly, he was shocked.
Originally, he thought that the six ministries at this time were equivalent to the central ministries in later generations, but who knows, they turned out to be quite different.
Because the six buildings look huge, they are hollow buildings.
In other words, there are fewer officials and more officials, and most of the people doing things are officials.
For example, the Ministry of Personnel is the head of the six departments. The chief officer is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel (one is called Dazai or Zhongzai), and his deputy is called Shilang.
It consists of four departments: in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is the Department of Literary Selection and Clearance of Officials, the Department of Inspection and Examination of Officials, the Department of Examination of Honors and the Department of Examination of Merits.
The chief officer of the department is Langzhong, and the deputy chief is Yuanwailang. Their subordinate officers include chief officer, Lingshi, Lingshi, etc.
For example, the minister of official affairs is the second rank, the minister is the third rank, the doctor is the fifth rank, the minister is the fifth rank, and the chief minister is the sixth rank.
There will be no more than twenty people in total, and the rest are subordinate staff, that is, writing, writing, etc.
Moreover, for example, between a doctor and a minister, one is of the third rank and the other is the fifth rank. They are two ranks and four ranks apart, which is equivalent to jumping directly from the department level to the ministerial level.
According to common sense, they basically have no hope of promotion.
But looking at it from another perspective, if you have connections, you can jump very quickly from the center.
For example, Zhang Juzheng has never been decentralized.
In the 26th year of Jiajing, he became a Jinshi and stayed in the Hanlin Academy for more than ten years. Then he went to the Imperial Academy to serve as a secretary (from the fourth grade), and then served as the minister of Yu Wang Zhu Zaihe.
When Emperor Jiajing passed away, Xu Jie directly promoted him to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites.
After that, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel entered the cabinet.
For people like Zhang Juzheng, as long as they stay in the central government for twenty years and gain connections, they can serve in the six ministries and have the opportunity to join the cabinet.
"The prime ministers and assistants must be from the state and county, and the fierce generals must be sent from the army——"
Zhu Yixi concluded with this sentence and said angrily: "The center only has officials from the upper and lower levels, but no middle layer. This will definitely make many people keen on the center and shy of the local areas."
"How many levels does it take to go from county magistrate to chief envoy? How many years does it take? How can the central government stay comfortable?"
"As long as you find connections and are willing to endure qualifications, you will definitely be promoted. What's the truth? Once you take the exam, you will be lifelong?"
The emperor's words were breathtaking, but they told the truth.
As long as you become a scholar, enter the Hanlin Academy, or enter the Sixth Ministry, it will be easy.
"Changes have to be made."
Speaking of which, Zhu Yixi directly restructured the system: "Among the six departments, the two and four ranks between the minister and the lieutenant must be filled."
"If there are three grades, there must be three grades, from nine grades to three grades, fourteen grades. They must be listed one by one for me, and they must be promoted in order. They must not jump away."
"Don't you want to stay in the Central Committee? Then give me a grade-by-grade climb and pass the qualifications. Don't think about such a beautiful thing."
As he spoke, the emperor became more and more angry.
How can there be fairness in this feudal society? Even the imperial examinations and official positions are unfair.
The three of them were stunned and in disbelief.
Having said this, Zhu Yixi continued to make a big move: "From today on, the period of closure of the Hanlin Academy will be changed from three years to two years, and the official positions in the Hanlin Academy, such as ministers, ministers, etc., shall not exceed half a year."
"If you serve more than two terms, you must go to serve in a local area."