Chapter 460: Fifty-six Years of Tiangong
It is very likely that the seventy-year-old Zhu Jianxuan will no longer have children. The screening range for the future heir to the throne has finally been basically locked down, but there is still no news about who it will be.

In the past two years, some people in the court began to speculate whether Zhu Jianxuan would choose the crown prince during the grand audience on his 70th birthday.

After all, according to Confucius, one should not be in charge of affairs after the age of seventy.

As a result, at the grand audience ceremony when Zhu Jianxuan was 70 years old, he still did not mention the issue of succession.

On the day of the Grand Audience, after receiving the gifts, Zhu Jianxuan first followed the convention and conferred the title of prince on the princes who were over 40 years old and had passed the complete training.

Then he came up with an arrangement that no one had expected.

Zhu Jianxuan issued an imperial edict, announcing the establishment of the Council of State and the creation of the post of Grand Secretary.

All the princes who were granted the title of prince were given the official title of Councillor of State.

The Council of State does not take part in state affairs, but can supervise the actions of all official agencies and personnel.

If more than one-fifth of the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State sign their names, official direct questions can be raised about the specific actions and policies of any department, official, or state-owned industry of the court.

Relevant officials and agency heads must give positive and reasonable explanations.

The Grand Secretary will decide whether to conduct a face-to-face hearing, an inquiry session, or a written report based on the specific circumstances of the matter.

After the relevant institutions, persons in charge and parties concerned have made the best possible explanations in accordance with the requirements of the Council of State, the Council of State’s Grand Secretaries will collectively review and vote on whether to approve it.

If more than two-thirds of the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State secretly cast their votes of approval for the explanation of the person involved, then the corresponding institutions and individuals will be considered to have passed the questioning.

The Council of State recorded the entire incident and included it in the report submitted to the emperor regularly for archiving.

If more than two-thirds of the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State vote that they do not agree with the other party’s explanation, the voting results must be submitted to the emperor immediately.

If the emperor specifically decides that no action is needed, then the head of the relevant agency can be removed and the matter can be turned into a judicial review process.

If the number of people who both approve and disapprove exceeds one-third but does not reach two-thirds, the proposal will be submitted to the emperor to decide how to proceed.

In the future, the central government’s annual financial budget and year-end data reports will need to be submitted to the Council of State for collective review.

If more than half of the Grand Secretaries in the Council voted against it, the voting result would also be submitted to the emperor.

Unless the emperor specifically instructs that it can be passed, it will have to be sent back for redoing.

The Council of State established by Zhu Jianxuan was somewhat similar to the modern House of Lords or Senate, but its power was clearly under that of the emperor.

They were responsible for helping the emperor filter and discover problems, and it was up to the emperor to decide whether to take any action.

When Zhu Jianxuan’s imperial edict was announced, everyone in the hall was extremely surprised and confused. They couldn’t understand what the emperor was going to do.

To ordinary feudal lords, nobles, and bureaucrats, this Council of State seemed to be a new supervisory body.

Similar to the Censor, but with higher status and greater power.

But is this really a new supervisory agency, or is it simply a new observation stage for the princes?

Will it be abolished in the future or will it continue to exist?

The princes who had not completed the practical training were also surprised at the establishment of this institution, but the older princes who had completed the practical training suddenly realized it.

Their collective decision-making arrangements over the years may have been prepared for this council.

Let the older princes adapt to this kind of life in advance, get used to arguing with each other in relatively equal meetings, and establish basic rules of collective procedure.

The princes were given fiefs according to their industries, and then granted almost unlimited supervisory powers, and all princes were required to make decisions collectively.

Their father had made these plans twenty years ago.

Such an arrangement was probably not simply for the purpose of testing them, but was most likely part of the court’s formal structural reform.

Then some of them immediately began to speculate that the role of this Council of State in the future would be to assist the future emperor and make use of capable princes?
The princes and ministers had no administrative power, but they could investigate anyone, and if they wanted to take any action against court officials, they needed the emperor’s approval.

If the emperor and his brothers can get along, the princes can also help the emperor deal with the ministers.

Can this relationship be maintained in the long term?
These arrangements were indeed something Zhu Jianxuan had been planning for many years.

Zhu Jianxuan himself understood that it was not appropriate for him to continue to be in charge after the age of 70 as his body functions could no longer support it.

The bodies of animals will age, and this is something that cannot be controlled. Personal subjective motivation can at most slightly slow down the aging process.

Although I am still able to hear and see clearly at the age of seventy, I can no longer handle government affairs at a high intensity for a long period of time.

By the time I am eighty years old, I will probably have even less energy.

Therefore, there are some strong men in history who, for various reasons, only gained actual supreme power when they were old.

But in the end, he did not go any further and did not obtain the highest public status.

Many of them are because they are still capable of making key decisions and maintaining overall stability through their influence.

But if they were asked to manage the government themselves, they would not have enough energy to do so.

So just give up the specific affairs and become a detached supervisor and guide. This will make things easier and increase the overall efficiency.

But Zhu Jianxuan was the emperor after all, and officials and people all over the world were accustomed to this cognition. His existence was also the basis for stability in the world.

As long as he is the emperor, anyone with special intentions will be suppressed as much as possible in their greed and usurpation ideas.

There is no need for me to give up this identity voluntarily, unless I really don’t have much time left, then I need to start arranging the transfer of power in advance.

Zhu Jianxuan’s arrangement for the Council of State, in addition to being a royal senate for the future, was also to prepare the princes to take over the government on his behalf at any time.

When necessary, he only needed to issue an edict to allow the Council of State to do things without the emperor’s approval, and they could take over the highest power.

After Zhu Jianxuan’s grand pilgrimage at the age of 70, he personally guided his sons to set up the Council of State.

He personally watched their meetings and integrated the rules of procedure that had been formed during their previous internal discussions to form the basic rules of procedure for the Council of State.

He also appointed his eldest son Zhu Jingkun as the Speaker of the Council of State, responsible for presiding over daily meetings.

He also explained to them on the spot that in the future the Council of State would cooperate with himself and the future emperor to control the country.

In the future, all the children of the Prince of the Council of State can be chosen by the Prince himself as his successor after they have completed the complete empirical training.

He can inherit the title of prince and the position of Grand Secretary in the Council of State.

The future emperor’s own son, if he passes the complete administrative training, can also obtain the same prince status.

However, each generation of emperors in later generations could only arrange for a maximum of nine princes to enter the Council of State as grand secretaries, and all the princes and grand secretaries of the Council of State would jointly supervise and implement the duties.

Although these older princes still have some ideas about the throne, most of them are no longer so eager.

The main reason was the age issue. They could see that their father would live to be eighty or ninety years old, and they would be sixty or seventy years old by then. Even if they became emperor, their energy and physical strength would not be enough to cope with the complicated affairs that the emperor had to deal with.

My father should have realized this, so he has clearly been interested in training younger children over the years.

It is very likely that the heir will be chosen from among the younger children.

In addition, as the industries in their hands continued to expand, the fifteen princes of the American Industrial Company headed by Zhu Jingkun had increasingly larger industrial scales in America.

The Ming Dynasty began to export large quantities of grain, feed, wine, meat, canned food, and other crops and processed agricultural products.

Start to focus more and more on the immediate and practical interests.

While Zhu Jianxuan knew that the Council of State was being established, he did not forget to continue arranging internships for his young sons and assigned them to take control of certain industries in batches.

The fifteen princes of the sixth batch were first sent to Yili to preside over the affairs of the Western Regions, where they completed their internship in the provincial government.

He was then sent to Moscow to oversee routine affairs in eastern Europe and western Siberia.

After a local regional assessment on a continental scale, he was ordered to establish a European automobile company in Moscow and develop all industries within the automotive industry chain.

The seventh batch of fifteen princes were first sent to Korea to complete their internship in the provincial government.

He was then transferred to Xihaifu, that is, Constantinople, to be in charge of the development of inland Asia and along the glacial rivers.

After passing the large-area assessment, the company planned to build its own Xihai Airlines near Xihai Prefecture to produce aircraft engines and various types of aircraft and operate the air passenger and cargo transportation industry.

The fifteen princes of the eighth batch were arranged by Zhu Jianxuan to go to Yingtian Prefecture to preside over the affairs of Southern Zhili, where they completed their internship in the provincial local government.

Then he was sent directly to Australia to take charge of the affairs of Australia and the South Pacific Islands and complete an internship at the regional level.

When the eighth group of princes went to Australia, it was the 54th year of Tiangong, and Zhu Jianxuan was already 77 years old.

After this group of princes had worked in Australia for two years, it was already the 56th year of Tiangong. Zhu Jianxuan was 79 years old and would be 80 next year.

At the beginning of the 56th year of Tiangong, Zhu Jianxuan recalled the eighth batch of princes to Shuntian Prefecture and gave them an unprecedented arrangement.

He stayed directly in Shuntian Prefecture and took over the royal industrial group with all the other princes who had not been eliminated.

Zhu Jianxuan had a total of 163 sons, 25 of whom were confirmed at various stages to have lower talents or to have some physical or psychological problems.

Zhu Jianxuan personally examined these children and determined that they were not suitable to be trained as heirs.

They were not allowed to receive the same education as other princes, but were placed in regular schools to study with ordinary royal family members.

Regardless of whether or not one can complete normal studies, he will be granted the status and salary of a Duke.

The most special one was the sixteenth prince, Zhu Jingjian, who was sent to Hanover to be king and married the only granddaughter of the then King of England.

There are a total of 138 other princes who have passed all local internship processes, as well as those who are still in the learning stage and have not been eliminated.

The oldest of them is almost sixty years old, and the youngest just turned twelve this year.

The twelve-year-old prince was still learning middle school knowledge, and he would have to wait at least five years before he could participate in local internship.

As a result, he was directly thrown into the last batch of princes by Zhu Jianxuan.

Together with a total of thirty-two other brothers, he participated in the management of the Royal Industrial Group.

Over the past thirty years, Zhu Jianxuan has arranged the princes who have completed their internship in batches to go to the local areas to run certain industries.

Most of them are relatively basic, important, or industries with great potential.

However, these industries are usually concentrated in a specific category, rather than allowing them to participate in any industry without restrictions.

At the same time, the original royal industrial group itself is in all potentially important industries, as well as all industries with huge potential value and basic industries.

Such as the design and production of military equipment and supplies such as weapons, ammunition, munitions, vehicles, and the design and production of aircraft, rockets, automobiles, and warships.

There are also oil exploration, mining, smelting, chemical industry, pharmaceutical development, production, sales, hospital investment, construction, and operation.

The development and production of semiconductor chips themselves and the tools required for civilian and military computers, networks, and mobile phones.

There are also steel, machinery, engines, radar, tobacco, media, schools, etc.

Regardless of whether the previous batches of princes under Zhu Jianxuan were involved, the business of the Royal Industrial Company had been completely included.

Based on Zhu Jianxuan’s arrangements in previous years, most of the princes, royal family members, nobles, and ministers speculated that the Royal Industrial Company was allocated to the crown prince.

Zhu Jianxuan has now arranged all of the thirty-three youngest princes into the Royal Industrial Company. Does this mean that he will eventually choose an heir from among these thirty-three princes?
Does this also mean that the emperor will really decide on the final choice of the crown prince? But is the emperor’s only criterion for selecting an heir young?
Zhu Jianxuan did indeed prepare this way. These industries could only be handed over to the crown prince, the future emperor.

In the future, the official industries of the Ming Dynasty should be divided into three major areas.

There are official industries managed by court officials, royal industries managed by the emperor himself, and clan industries managed by princes.

Zhu Jianxuan’s criteria for selecting an heir is certainly not just about whether the child is young, but whether the heir’s age is appropriate is a very important prerequisite.

It is certainly not good for the heir to be too old.

If I die in my nineties and a son in his seventies succeeds me, what will I do if that old prince, out of joy, immediately follows me?
The successive deaths of emperors are not a good thing.

Because after the emperor ascends the throne, he must inevitably adjust the heads of various aspects of the court and replace the old bureaucrats left by the old emperor with a new generation who are most convenient for him to use.

This kind of large-scale top-level personnel adjustment is actually a controllable turmoil, and can even be regarded as a controllable coup.

This will affect the court’s issues and the efficiency of handling important affairs.

If this happens twice in a row, the Ming Dynasty’s large-scale industry and infrastructure may be basically stagnant for several consecutive years.

The successive deaths of emperors may also give rise to negative news and cause fluctuations in public opinion.

If he chose a prince between 30 and 40 years old to succeed the throne, at least the new emperor would not have any health problems, and there would also be the potential for decades of stability.

The new emperor also has plenty of time to slowly adjust the people in charge of various aspects, or even wait for some old bureaucrats to disappear on their own.

Zhu Jianxuan felt that the latter should be a relatively better choice for the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it is not good if the heir is too young. Teenagers are not mentally mature yet, and becoming emperor directly will almost certainly expand the power of the ministers.

If he became emperor in his early twenties, he might act recklessly due to his youthful vigor.

Zhu Jianxuan’s choice of successor was actually among the existing princes who were around 30 years old, and they might be around 40 years old when he died.

People around forty years old still have plenty of physical and mental strength and are mentally mature enough.

(End of this chapter)