Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2300: Three Triumphant Returns (XII) Three Memorials

In the capital, in the cabinet's chief minister's duty room, three memorials were spread out on the table in front of Gao Youshi. The people who submitted the memorials were Liu Jing, the governor of the Western Expedition, Wang Tingzhuan, the governor of Gansu, and Xiong Tingbi, the inspector of Gansu. The three memorials were as follows:

  "Your Majesty, I, Liu Jing, bow my head and respectfully report:

I have been chosen by Your Majesty to lead the royal army to conquer the Western Frontier. After years of hardships on the battlefield, I finally achieved victory in Kashgar. I have followed Your Majesty's instructions and tried my best, not daring to be negligent. I have hereby reported the recent battle situation and the situation I have encountered, and I hope Your Majesty will give me your approval.

Since we set out from Hami, our army has been unstoppable and our morale is high. When we arrived at Aksu, the Mongolian army hid its tracks and the Chahar cavalry quietly withdrew, which I felt was very strange. After discussing with the generals, I decided to take a prudent approach, to defend Aksu and then advance slowly. During this period, our army strengthened the city defense and ensured the smooth flow of food. The soldiers obeyed your orders and the officers were willing to fight to the death to repay your majesty's deep kindness.

Then, I planned a two-pronged attack, aiming to cut off the enemy's reinforcements and directly attack the enemy's vital points. I personally led the main force to advance to Barchuk in the southwest, and sent another force to advance to Wushi in the northwest.

When I led my army to the east of Kashgar, I encountered the tight defense of the Mongolian army, and the situation was quite difficult. At this time, I recalled the golden bag given by Yuanfu before the battle, and after reading it, I found the four words "open the box and raise the flag". I followed the plan and raised Yuanfu's flag high, which greatly boosted the morale of the whole army.

The Mongolian army saw this scene and mistakenly thought that the Yuanfu was personally on the battlefield. As a result, the whole army was terrified and abandoned the city and fled overnight. I investigated and immediately gathered elite cavalry to pursue, but the Mongolian army had already set up an ambush in a dangerous place. I judged the situation and decided to postpone the attack to avoid sacrificing innocent people. The enemy was impressed by the Yuanfu's prestige and abandoned the city and fled; I was trapped in the terrain and could not advance again, so the two armies retreated.

  After this battle, our army successfully took over Kashgar, and the Mongolian army retreated to Andijan. I secretly thought that although this battle failed to achieve annihilation, it successfully recovered Kashgar, and Yarkand and other places would have become empty cities. The recovery of the Western Regions is imminent, so how can it not be a great victory?

I know that I have a heavy responsibility on my shoulders, and I will work harder to live up to your majesty's high expectations. I will now report the battle situation truthfully. Now that the Western Regions are about to be pacified, the Mongolian army has fled. Our troops should turn to defend the place, or rest for a while and then pursue again. I pray for your majesty's holy judgment. I am extremely terrified and will wait for your orders. Respectfully report. "

"Your Majesty, I, Wang Tingzhuan, bow my head and respectfully report:

I have heard that the Western Regions will soon be pacified, and I think that the stability of the border is a major national strategy that must be carefully considered. Despite my limited knowledge, I would like to offer a strategy for pacifying the Western Regions for your wise judgment.

I think that political integration comes first. It is advisable to set up a Protectorate of the Western Regions, unify government orders, send talented people, centralize power in the court, discuss major plans with the leaders of various ethnic groups, respect customs, and seek peace. Only in this way can we ensure that the prestige of the court spreads far and wide and wins the hearts of all quarters.

Military deployment is the most important thing. It is advisable to build border troops, such as the Ili First Army advocated by Yuan Fu, to prevent foreign invasions and internal strife. Then strengthen border troops training, establish Jinyiwei corresponding stations, ensure intelligence flow, and hopefully the border will be safe. This is a move to consolidate the foundation and strengthen the roots, to resist strong enemies and defend the territory.

Economic development is the basis. It is advisable to revive the Silk Road, attract merchants and travelers, develop resources, encourage farming, improve irrigation, increase the national treasury, and stabilize people's livelihood. This move can make the Western Regions prosperous and make it a rich place for our Ming Dynasty without having to introspect for a long time to replenish it.

Culture and education are the soul. We should respect local customs as the basis and promote Chinese studies as the key to education. We can establish schools, popularize education, hold exchanges, and enhance friendship. Culture is the foundation of the world. We should make slow progress and make our famous teachings shine in the west, and the people in the border areas will be loyal to the court.

The social livelihood is the root. We should pay attention to people's livelihood, build the foundation, implement the king's law, carry out disaster prevention and control, so as to ensure the health of the people. Since ancient times, if the people's livelihood is safe, the country will be safe, and if the country is safe, the world will be safe. Therefore, the way to keep the people safe is also the way for all ages.

The religious policy is to be harmonious. We should respect faith and allow freedom of religion, but we should also manage it appropriately to prevent extremism and avoid conflicts, so as to maintain harmony among the people. If all religions are harmonious, people's hearts will be united, and people of all ethnic groups will work together to protect the Ming Dynasty.

The strategies I have proposed are all based on loyalty and for the long-term benefit of the country. If your majesty approves, I will do my best to achieve prosperity in the Western Regions and protect the Ming Dynasty. I am extremely anxious and am waiting for your orders. I will report to you. "

"Your Highness, I, Xiong Tingbi, bow my head and respectfully report to you:

I, your humble servant, have been ordered by the Emperor to inspect Gansu and temporarily monitor the Western Regions. Today, the war in the Western Regions has been won, the false rebels have fled again, and the borders are now at peace. I am extremely pleased, and I would like to report the war situation and offer a plan for monitoring.

When the Western Regions were first settled, a Protectorate-General could be established to govern them. This was a major national strategy. However, the Protectorate-General was very different from the provinces in the interior, so supervision needed to be done with great caution. The Protectorate-General was located in the border areas, with many ethnic groups and different customs, so the establishment of a supervisory agency had to take into account their differences.

In my humble opinion, it is advisable to establish an inspection office in the Protectorate to monitor the Protectorate and its subordinate prefectures and counties. The powers of the inspection office should cover administration, military affairs, finance, and justice to ensure the fairness and efficiency of the Protectorate. The officials of the inspection office should be selected from people with both moral integrity and ability, good reputation, and capable and experienced people to adapt to the complex situation in the Western Regions.

The powers of the Censorate should be clearly defined to ensure that it is not subject to interference from all parties and to avoid abuse of power due to excessive power. The Censorate should have the power to assess and audit officials at all levels of the Protectorate, and to investigate and impeach illegal acts. However, in view of the special circumstances of the Western Regions, all major cases should be reported to the court, decided by the Censorate, reviewed and confirmed by the Cabinet, and then reported to Your Majesty for judgment.

In addition, the Censorate should establish communication with the various government offices under the Protectorate to ensure information exchange and timely discovery and resolution of problems. The Censorate should also report its work to the court regularly and accept the guidance of the Censorate and the supervision of the Cabinet.

The strategies I have proposed are all based on loyalty and for the long-term benefit of the country. If your majesty approves, I will do my best to improve the supervision of the Western Regions and ensure long-term peace and stability in the border areas. I am extremely anxious and am waiting for your orders. I will report to you. "

These three memorials each have their own focus.

Liu Jing's memorial mainly explained the course of the war, and finally asked the court about the next move - whether to switch to defending the already acquired territories in the Western Regions, or to pursue the Chahar tribe again after a little rest.

This was something he should have considered, after all, Gao Youshi's previous orders were divided into several situations. The most basic one was that he only needed to defeat the Chahar tribe and recover the homeland in the Western Regions. Under this situation, there were of course some minor problems, such as the Ili River Valley was indeed in his hands, but the Fergana Basin was not yet.

Therefore, Liu Jing’s question was actually: Should our army first ensure the stability of the Ili River Valley, or continue to advance and take over the Fergana Basin?

If the Fergana Basin is to be taken, it will fall into the second situation, that is, to capture the two major strategic blocks defined by Gao Youshi's Western Region Strategy at one time - the Ili Basin and the Fergana Basin, so as to build these two places into two fists for the Ming army to carry out strategic deterrence against Central Asia.

Can the Fergana Basin be conquered? When Gao Youshi went to the Imperial Guards' Jingbei Camp to discuss the reform of the Ming Dynasty's military establishment, Qi Jiguang had made suggestions on this, but they were a bit risky and had high requirements for implementation. Wang Tingzhuan's memorial proposed a comprehensive strategy for the stable development of the Western Regions, including suggestions in politics, military, economy, culture, society, and religion, aiming to lay the foundation for long-term stability in the Western Regions.

As the governor of Gansu, he was originally responsible for logistics in this Western Expedition, so he naturally had to pay attention to the settlement work after the recovery of the Western Regions. Moreover, it was obvious that he saw Gao Youshi's intention in making him the governor of Gansu - now he was in Gansu, but in the future he would be in charge of the Western Regions.

When Gao Youshi was in power, the first chief administrator had to be from the Practical School, or more specifically, from the "Gao Party". This was beyond doubt, and even if Gao Youshi hadn't said it, the world was prepared for it, and it didn't feel it was excessive.

Xiong Tingbi's memorial focused on the construction of the supervisory system of the Western Regions Protectorate, and suggested the establishment of a special supervisory agency, the Chayuan, to ensure the fair and efficient operation of the Protectorate and its subordinate agencies, and emphasized the information flow and supervision mechanism between the supervisory agency and the central government.

The system of the Censorate itself is not strange, as it is the same in all provinces of the Ming Dynasty. It is just that Xiong Tingbi clarified the functions of the Censorate of the Western Regions Protectorate and mixed in some private goods. For example, according to his memorial, he clarified the cabinet's supervisory power over the Western Regions Censorate.

You must know that the Censors' Offices in various provinces of the Ming Dynasty essentially operated around one provincial inspector, and the position of inspector was quite special. He did not even have to be accountable to his superior office, the Censorate.

That’s right, when the censor was given the title of “inspector”, he was only responsible to the emperor himself. Only when the inspector censor handed over his inspection duties and returned to the Metropolitan Censorate to become a simple supervisory censor, would he be responsible to the chief official of the Metropolitan Censorate, the Left Censor-in-Chief.

If the future supervision system in the Western Regions adopts Xiong Tingbi's suggestion, it will form a dual leadership system of "Guidance by the Censorate and Supervision by the Cabinet" - of course, in theory, the final decision-making power still lies with the emperor. However, it is well known that once the cabinet also has clear supervisory power, it will actually replace the emperor's direct management to a great extent - just like the current administrative power of the court, everything must first pass through the cabinet, and the emperor can only make decisions according to the cabinet's suggestions in most cases.

Sir Humphrey once said something like this: We have to give the Prime Minister a few options so that he feels he can choose. But two of the options are similar, and the remaining one is basically impossible to achieve, such as declaring war on France or bombing Warsaw.

The cabinet can also influence the emperor in this way. For example, there are three suggestions for the emperor, two of which are almost right, and the other one is something that no normal person would choose. So the emperor will most likely have to issue an edict according to the cabinet's wishes.

But then again, the Ming officialdom was slightly better than the Ying officialdom in most cases. The reason was that the Ming cabinet was rarely controlled by the same faction, and as long as there were cabinet elders from different factions, the two sides might fight each other, and then it would be difficult to completely manipulate the emperor's thinking.

Fortunately, the current cabinet is basically ruled by Gao Youshi...

Let's talk about the supervision system. Don't ask why the cabinet has the power of supervision and becomes the leader of the Western Regions Inspection - look at the development of the governor of the Ming Dynasty. The governor was originally sent by the court to supervise local officials, but over time he became the most powerful local official who led the three departments of the province.

In addition, like Wang Tingzhuan, Xiong Tingbi also guessed that Gao Youshi would continue to use him as the Inspector of the Western Regions, so his statement at the end of the memorial was almost the same as Wang Tingzhuan's.

Gao Youshi was faced with three memorials. He pondered for a moment and made up his mind. He knew that although the war in the Western Regions had achieved a phased victory, the real challenge was how to stabilize this newly recovered land and truly integrate it into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, the Western Regions had been lost for more than 600 years, and there were very few local Han people. There were only a few left among the traveling merchants, so there was a lot of work to be done in order to stabilize it.

Gao Yousi decided to first reply to Liu Jing and instruct him to continue to recover Yarkand and other places. Then, on the premise of ensuring the stability of key areas such as Yarkand, Kashgar, Aksu, Hotan, and Hami, he would temporarily stop the pursuit and switch to a defensive posture in order to concentrate on consolidating the existing achievements and lay a solid foundation for subsequent political and economic reconstruction.

But at the same time, he also asked Liu Jing to closely monitor the movements of forces such as Chahar, Kazakhstan and even Bukhara, and be prepared to deal with possible changes at any time.

Alternatively, if it was discovered that the Chahar tribe's foothold in Andijan was unstable, or if the Chahar tribe continued to attack other areas of Bukhara after capturing Andijan, Liu Jing would be allowed to have a high degree of freedom in the use of troops. He could take the initiative to launch an attack when the opportunity was fleeting and there was no time to request assistance from the court, and strive to capture the Fergana Basin.

Of course, as the admiral of the Western Expedition, Liu Jing also had his part to play in establishing the First Ili Army... In short, Liu Jing's job did not end with the basic end of the war in the Western Regions. Instead, it became more complicated and arduous.

Gao Youshi thought that the strategies proposed by Wang Tingzhuan were comprehensive and feasible, but Wang Tingzhuan's memorial was too grand and not detailed enough. Gao Youshi then organized these suggestions into a detailed plan and prepared to submit it to the emperor. Gao Youshi also expressed his approval of Wang Tingzhuan's emphasis on the importance of establishing the Western Regions Protectorate and the necessity of promoting Han culture on the basis of respecting local customs.

In fact, Gao Youshi had discussed with the emperor how to establish a system after the recovery of the Western Regions, and the establishment of a Protectorate was one of the ideas. Now that Wang Tingzhuan and Xiong Tingbi both thought that the establishment of a Protectorate was more reasonable, Gao Youshi adopted the elegant advice.

As for Xiong Tingbi's suggestion, Gao Youshi also believed that the construction of a supervisory agency was of vital importance. He agreed to set up a supervisory office within the Western Regions Protectorate and grant it the necessary authority to ensure that the policies of the Protectorate were effectively implemented.

But at the same time, he knew that Xiong Tingbi deliberately made some words vague. For example, Wang Tingzhuan mentioned that there would be Jinyiwei stations in various places in the Western Regions, while Xiong Tingbi emphasized that all supervisory powers should belong to the Procuratorate - it would be strange if the two of you did not "collude" with each other.

Gao Youshi bluntly ignored this deliberate ambiguity and clearly stated in his advice to the emperor that the Jinyiwei must be managed directly by the Jinyiwei governor or the pacification commissioner, just like other regions, and must not be handed over to the Censorate.

Civil officials cannot control all power in their hands, otherwise it will cause trouble in the future. Now that Gao Shishi is here, perhaps these problems can be suppressed, but what if he is gone? Absolute power will definitely allow the civil service group to cover the sky with one hand, and then it will become like the civil service group in the original history, playing the court to pieces.

  Less than an hour after the draft ticket was sent to the Imperial Household Department, the eunuch Chen Ju, who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, came to the cabinet in person and conveyed the emperor's oral order: summon Grand Secretary Gao Youshi to the Western Warm Pavilion for an audience.
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