[Lightscreen]
[We mentioned earlier that because of the Mongol Empire's overwhelming military success, the Mongols genuinely believed their system was superior.
This was one of the reasons Kublai Khan's adoption of Han administrative practices angered the other khanates.
Of course, even if Kublai imitated Han institutions, he was still Mongol by birth. So the early Yuan administrative structure, though based on Han models, was drastically reshaped.
Let us begin with the Song dynasty's "Two Offices and Three Departments."
Kublai looked at the Privy Council and the Secretariat system and nodded.
Not bad.
He kept it.
But two offices alone were not enough. The Emperor needed to sit in the center and coordinate everything. Otherwise how could imperial authority expand?
So he added the Censorate.
The Secretariat handled civil administration.
The Privy Council handled military affairs.
The Censorate handled supervision and answered directly to the Emperor.
It was essentially a modified Three Departments system.
As for the old Chancellery and Department of State Affairs?
Kublai waved his brush.
Abolished.
However, although the Department of State Affairs was scrapped, the Six Ministries remained. They were simply placed under the Secretariat. Their functions stayed the same.
This is precisely why history textbooks spend so much time explaining the Three Departments and Six Ministries.
Across dynasties, the Six Ministries, the actual working organs, rarely changed. But the restructuring of the "Three Departments" always reflected the balance of imperial power.
For example.
Take Zhu Yuanzhang: he could wave his hand and abolish the prime minister during the Hongwu era, and things still ran fine. But try abolishing the Six Ministries?
Yeah, good luck with that.
All right. Back to Yuan.
The structure was set. Now came staffing.
Because the system resembled earlier models, Han scholars were more familiar with it. In most departments, the top official was Mongol, but the deputies, assistants, clerks, and actual administrators were largely Han literati.
After running this arrangement for a while, Kublai noticed a problem.
These Confucian scholars were excellent at drafting memorials and arguing procedural points.
They were terrible at raising money.
And Kublai needed money.
He launched wars frequently. Campaigns were expensive.
Fortunately, the Yuan court was a melting pot of ethnic groups.
If Han scholars could not accumulate wealth, others certainly could.
A Central Asian official named Ahmad Fanakati was quickly promoted.
What Kublai did not anticipate was that Ahmad Fanakati rise triggered ethnic tension within the bureaucracy.
On one side were native Han literati.
On the other were Semu officials from Central and Western Asia.
Different languages. Different customs. Different diets. Different appearances.
Peaceful coexistence was unlikely.
Verbal disputes escalated to physical clashes.
Soon, it evolved into something very Yuan.
Assassination.
In 1282, while Kublai was away from Dadu, someone forged an order in the name of Crown Prince Zhenjin to summon Ahmad Fanakati. On the way, Ahmad Fanakati was ambushed and hacked to death.
The culprits were quickly captured.
Their confession stated the Crown Prince had nothing to do with it.
Kublai had just lost his wife and did not pursue the matter deeply.
The case was closed in haste.]
Pang Tong chuckled.
"When the Han realm is unified, we can adopt the Six Ministries system. Kongming may finally rest."
The Three Departments and Six Ministries had appeared too frequently in the light screen. From scattered names and repeated references to official duties, Zhuge Liang and the others had already pieced together most of its structure.
If necessary, they could even ask Emperor Taizong of Tang.
He certainly knew it well.
But Zhuge Liang believed institutions must fit circumstances.
During their time in Jingzhou, Yizhou, Hanzhong, and Guanzhong, territory was limited and population sparse. Concentrating authority within a central bureau and letting two or three men decide matters was more efficient.
If they truly established Six Ministries now, efficiency might actually decrease.
However, with the restoration of the Han nearly within reach, planning for the future thirteen provinces required dividing authority and strengthening central governance.
That much was unavoidable.
Below, Cao Cao watched the two strategists laughing together. Liu Bei's laughter was open and carefree. Guan Yu's gaze shifted between the screen and Liu Bei.
Cao Cao felt a sour taste in his mouth.
So he decided to pivot to something interesting:
"Zhang Fei, how long did the Left General live?"
Zhang Fei replied lazily and to the point: "Longer than you."
After a brief silence, Cao Cao muttered quietly:
"Earlier, when I asked Yunchang about your end and you wouldn't say, it must not have been good."
"Did the Left General avenge Yunchang?"
Zhang Fei sighed:
"Of course."
Cao Cao nodded:
"Good."
A moment later, Cao Cao suddenly asked:
"And did anyone avenge you?"
Zhang Fei hummed, hesitated, then said:
"Of course."
Cao Cao went quiet, just chuckling softly.
Zhang Fei suddenly really wanted to punch that Cao thief.
---
[Lightscreen]
[Three years after Ahmad Fanakati assassination, a stubborn censor submitted a memorial to the Yuan Emperor:
"Your Majesty is advanced in age. Should you not consider yielding the throne to the worthy?"
The Censorate official Shang Wen, who supported the Crown Prince, knew this would cause trouble and withheld the memorial.
But a Semu official named Da Jigui Asan, a friend of the slain Ahmad, discovered it. He retrieved the memorial and delivered it to Kublai.
As expected, Kublai was furious.
He did not punish the Crown Prince, but he summoned him and scolded him harshly.
The Crown Prince reacted bluntly.
"You scold me? Then I might as well die."
In January 1286, Crown Prince Zhenjin, heavily burdened and anxious, fell ill and died.
This son, raised on Han culture, had been central to Yuan's smooth sinicization.
His sudden death struck Kublai deeply.
Modern scholars sometimes compare Zhenjin and Zhu Biao.
Both had powerful fathers.
Both carried enormous expectations.
Both were overworked and physically frail.
Zhenjin was Mongol by blood yet physically weak. Shock alone could send him into fatal illness. Meanwhile, his father Kublai, after losing his son at seventy-one, began overeating and drinking heavily, yet still lived to eighty.
As for Zhu Biao, according to Tan Qian's Guoque, he died of a back carbuncle.
Today that seems minor.
In antiquity, without understanding infection or bacteria, once treatment was delayed it became fatal. Xu Da, a formidable general, also died of the same condition.
But Zhu Biao's illness was only the trigger.
The deeper cause was exhaustion.
From the tenth year of Hongwu onward, all state affairs were first reviewed by Zhu Biao. After he processed them, Zhu Yuanzhang conducted inspections.
That was manageable.
Until the chancellor was abolished.
After that, Zhu Biao effectively handled the work of a prime minister plus half the emperor's duties. In his final years, he was repeatedly sent to Xi'an to inspect relocation plans for the capital.
Frankly speaking, the fact that Zhu Biao endured as long as he did was already a miracle.
The carbuncle was merely the spark.
Old Zhu was always the type to judge others by his own standards. He thought since he "rarely got sick, and even when I did, I kept ruling as usual," everyone else should too.
But he never considered:
Old Zhu, it's not that others aren't trying hard, it's just that you're on another level.]