Primer on the Zheng Government

The Government of the Zheng Dynasty is a large and complex organisation. Here's a primer so we know what to look out for, in our particular period, as we potentially end up leading this beast of a machine.

As befits the traditional view, we will structure this primer with the Emperor as a central point - radiating out from the Son of Heaven, to the Inner Court, then the Dynastic Court, and finally the Regional Governments.

The Emperor's Role
The idea of the Mandate of Heaven, and of the Emperor as Son of Heaven, form the ideological underpinning for a monarchical system, heavily based around rituals.

That said, when it comes to actual administration, there is always a tension surrounding the role of the Emperor. Is he supposed to be an activist ruler, with an agenda that is aggressively pursued, taking a role in the formulation of policies? Or should he be impartial, remote and at a distance from the day-to-day squabbling of the Dynastic Court, only stepping in when conflicts required the irrevocable judgement of a heavenly arbiter?

This is a challenge many an Emperor faces. Of course, there are also those who choose not to face it at all, and instead seek purely the luxuries and wonders that their hallowed position provides. For who is going to deny the Son of Heaven what he wants - whether it be treasures, or women, or fun?

Rank and Appointment
An official in the Imperial Government generally will have a rank and an appointment.

The Appointment is simply a description of the official's duties. The Minister of Rites, as his appointment suggests, handles ritual matters throughout the Empire.

The Zheng Court has nine ranks for its officials, and each one is subdivided into two - making a total of 18 ranks. Within the story, if they are displayed, they will simply be given as a number and letter. For example, the Chief Minister is a Rank 1b, while the Deputy Chief Minister is a Rank 2a.

It is possible for officials to have ranks, but not appointments. This usually happens among the junior ranks; not every officer of rank 6a will have a title, but they will nonetheless have that rank and be paid for it.

Titles
Titles, unlike ranks and appointments, are honours to be earned. Some titles reflect ancient official appointments that no longer have any power, but are given honorary status; an example of this is the Lord Preceptor (Chinese: 太傅), a rank from the Han Dynasty, which is now awarded to meritorious officials.

Inner Court
The Son of Heaven is the focus of the Inner Court, which is dedicated to fulfilling the needs of his person as well as his family. The guards that surround him, the eunuchs and women who maintain and work in the majestic Yonghua Palace Complex, and the consorts who serve to please the Emperor and bear children bountifully - all these are included within the Inner Court.

Under the Department of Household Affairs and the Department of Palatial Affairs, a crew of thousands of eunuchs and women labour to keep the palace in shape, and to satisfy every need of the Emperor's that they can.

Eunuchs and Women
To ensure the purity of the Imperial bloodline, men who are whole are not allowed within the Rear Palace. Therefore, the many roles of the Inner Court must fall to either women, or to those who have suffered terrible mutilation to become eunuchs.

The Inner Court is also the only place where women can achieve official rank. The consorts, in fact, are all considered high ranking officials themselves; below them, the thousands of palace ladies can also experience career advancement and become powerful within the confines of the palace walls. The most senior of them can even rise to oversee one of the Twelve Offices, agencies which take care of defined affairs in the Palace.

Dynastic Court
The Dynastic Court is the portion of the government that's responsible for administering the Empire itself. Its members are, or are meant to be, highly educated and skilled men of virtue and honour, willing to serve and possibly to die for the cause of a well-run state.

While there are thousands of officials serving in the heart of the government, in Jiankang, the real circle of officials from the Dynastic Court that you will have contact with is relatively small - restricted to the small cluster of the absolute elite. To even be in the same room as the Son of Heaven, after all, is an honour to be earned. This small group is usually called the 'Hundred Officials' (Chinese: 百官), and are seen as the administrative core of the Empire.

Branches of Government
Traditionally, the Dynastic Court is headed by the Chancellor - the Head of the Hundred Officials.

During the Zheng Dynasty, in order to dilute the power of the chancellors, the founding Emperor split the powers of the chancellorship between several posts. This, then, led to the creation of a system with three Departments, each with a part of a Chancellor's functions. This prevents the concentration of administrative power in the hands of anyone besides the Emperor himself.

This smaller circle of government can be largely divided into three groups of offices:


 * 1) The Three Departments and Six Ministries (Chinese: 三省六部), the main advisory and executive agencies of government
 * 2) The Nine Offices (Chinese: 九寺), offices with specialised functions
 * 3) The Five Commands (Chinese: 五都督), the senior military command

There is another group of powerful officials, namely the Regional Commanders, but they will be dealt with in the section below.

Regional Government
The Zheng Dynasty is subdivided into three levels of regional government: province, commandery, and county.

Province
The first is the Province. Each Province is led by an Inspector-General (Chinese: 刺史); the current Zheng Empire has 13 of them. However, there are only 12 Inspectors; the 'Inspector' of the Directly Administered Region is, naturally, the Emperor himself.

Commandery
Under the provinces, there are commanderies (Chinese: 郡), which are led by a Governor (Chinese: 郡守). The current Zheng Empire holds a total of 59 commanderies, including Jiankang.

Ideology
Within any large organisation, ideological splits are almost inevitable. In your period of the Zheng Empire, a few questions will likely be of particular significance.

Hawks and Doves
There are officials who view the Zheng Empire's destiny as a triumphant return to the north, and its original heartlands. But there are also officials who, for a multitude of reasons, are against launching such expeditions.

Thus far, evidence has been firmly in favour of the Doves, but this is not to say that the Hawks don't have influence. The prospect of regaining those lands, and the wealth they contain, is enough incentive for many a civil servant or general to beat the war drum.