Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Also appointed at the same time as Geng Ruqi was Shen Shixing's eldest son Shen Yongmao.

Because of the abolition of preferential treatment, he was forced by Zhu Youjian to come to the court last year to serve as the Privy Councilor.

However, because he was already seventy years old, Zhu Youjian did not assign him any real job, and he was reinstated for only one year.

After his term of office expired in September this year, he did not continue in office.

However, Shen Yongmao did not return home, but actively campaigned in the court to seek the position of Lancang River Inspector General.

Obviously, he wanted to seek a fiefdom in New Jiangnan to establish a foundation for the Shen family overseas.

Zhu Youjian had no objection to the Shen family choosing New Jiangnan as their fiefdom, but because the Shen family was too powerful in Jiangnan, he did not want Shen Yongmao to be in charge of New Jiangnan.

However, it was not known whether Shen Yongmao's activities had worked or other ministers did not want to go to overseas wild places. Zhu Youjian waited for several months, but no other ministers volunteered. After considering it, he had no choice but to send Shen Yongmao.

The new Jiangnan was also officially named, using the ancient name of Suzhou Prefecture, and was called Pingjiang Protectorate.

The chief officer of this protectorate was not a governor or a military commander, but like the three major protectorates south of the desert, it had a governor-general and appointed military generals to manage it.

Shen Yongmao, the inspector of the Lancang River, was only responsible for regulating the river, dredging the waterway, and coordinating the management of the Lancang River basin. The person directly in charge of Pingjiang Protectorate was Pingjiang Governor Jiang Qilong.

This man was the deputy general of the army supporting Shu. When Zhu Youjian just ascended the throne, he fought for power on behalf of the military generals and was refuted by the civil officials.

At that time, Zhu Youjian had just ascended the throne. Although he was saved, the issues he raised were downplayed.

Now that the She'an Rebellion was over, he saw Jiang Qilong's name when he was commending his merits, so he appointed him as the governor of Pingjiang, responsible for the development of the new Jiangnan.

The two appointments were issued together by the Lifanyuan. All those who knew about it felt the emperor's emphasis on overseas expansion.

Shen Yongmao and Geng Ruqi were both real governors and governors-general. The emperor sent them abroad, which showed the importance he attached to overseas affairs.

At the same time, the fact that these two people volunteered to serve overseas also changed the mentality of some officials. They felt that there must be something worthwhile in overseas posts, otherwise these two people would not have taken the initiative to go there.

Officials from the Lifanyuan suddenly received many invitations asking how many positions were available overseas.

Just as the trend of serving overseas was about to take shape, a piece of news from Han Fan affected this:
"King Han died?"

"When did it happen? Have you found out the cause?"

"How is the Crown Prince of Han now? Has anything happened to the Han clan?"

Upon receiving the news of King Han's death, Zhu Youjian immediately became nervous.

Because the King of Han died at a very unfortunate time. He only went overseas to establish a vassal state for two years before he died overseas.

This easily makes people think that the conditions overseas were too difficult, and even a prince like the King of Han would die in the wilderness.

Huang Liji, the head of the Lifan Yuan, said:
"It happened last month, and Han Fan reported it to me via a speedboat."

"According to Han Fan's doctor, he died of illness due to exhaustion."

"King Han had anticipated this and wrote a memorial before his death."

"I hope that the Crown Prince can take the throne as soon as possible and bring peace to the Han clan both inside and outside."

Zhu Youjian received the memorial and read what King of Han Zhu Danshen said before his death, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With this memorial, no one can say that the King of Han was forced to death by being sent overseas. It is very important for calming people's hearts.

Because of this, he had to be cautious about King Han's dying request, and discussed with Huang Liji and others:

"King Han requested that the crown prince take the throne in front of the coffin. Although it is not in accordance with etiquette, it is for the sake of stabilizing the Han clan."

"What are your opinions? Do you think it should be allowed?"

Huang Liji had already thought about this matter, and immediately replied:

"Although Han Fan has many affairs, they are far less than the imperial court. It is not that it cannot function without the King of Han."

"Now the Han vassal has officials such as the Chief Secretary and the Military Commander, each of whom performs their duties. Even without the King of Han, they can handle the affairs of the Kingdom of Han."

"I think we can follow the old rules and let the Crown Prince of Han observe mourning. After the mourning is over, he can inherit the throne of Han."

This method is completely old and no one says anything about it as it is still used.

However, Zhu Youjian had to consider that making the Prince of Han wait for three years to succeed to the throne would cause his power to slip away and fall into the hands of ministers such as the Chief Clerk and the Commander of the Army.

Perhaps in the future, overseas vassal kings will be completely trapped in a cage by officials just like the vassal kings in the mainland.

So he didn't like this method in his heart, and after thinking about it, he said:
"As a subject, the King of Han is allowed to replace the year with the month, mourn for three months, and succeed the throne of Han."

"During this period, he will govern the country as the crown prince and be in charge of all matters under the name of the funeral committee. After the imperial edict arrives and he ends his mourning period, the official succession ceremony will be held."

"When the Han clan is stable, I will come to Beijing to meet the emperor next year."

Zhu Tanshen's death was the first time that a vassal king died overseas. The way his affairs were handled would become a routine in the future.

The Lifanyuan had no objection to replacing years with months in mourning, because that was what they were doing now.

They had no objection to letting the Crown Prince of Han govern the country during the period of mourning.

However, they had some opinions on when the Crown Prince of Han would succeed to the throne. Huang Liji changed the subject and said:

"The tomb of King Han Xian is in Nanjing, and the tombs of the other kings of the Han vassal state are in their former fiefdoms, Pingliang."

"Now that the Han clan has been relocated overseas, where should the King of Han be buried after his death?"

Zhu Youjian instinctively wanted to choose a burial site in Han Fan's place, but after carefully thinking about Huang Liji's question, he suddenly realized that this was not a simple matter.

After allowing the vassal states to establish ancestral temples, if they were also allowed to choose locations for burial in the vassal states, they would become completely localized and cut off from the mainland.

On the contrary, if the burial is carried out in the interior, the imperial court will be able to control the ancestral temples and mausoleums, thus increasing its influence in this area. The vassal states will send people to worship their ancestors every year, and they will also have a constant connection with the interior.

Although this connection may cause disturbance to the local area and the mausoleum of the vassal king will also occupy land, Zhu Youjian considered the pros and cons and decided to place the mausoleum of the vassal state in the inland area.

"The inner vassal monarch should have his mausoleum built in the interior."

"Allow each feudal domain to bring the coffin back to the country and build a mausoleum in their hometown or in the two capitals."

"At the same time, it is allowed to set up a cenotaph near the ancestral temple of the vassal state for routine sacrifices."

"Let the Crown Prince of Han choose to bury the King of Han in Nanjing or Pingliang. The posthumous title of the late King of Han will also be jointly drafted by the Lifanyuan, the Ministry of Rites, and the Zongrenfu Zongzheng Temple, and it must highlight the King of Han's achievements."

Let the Lifanyuan and other government offices work together to formulate a set of measures to use the succession to the throne to strengthen the connection between the vassal states and the Ming Dynasty. This was Huang Liji's original intention. He used the mausoleum to remind the emperor that he could use this to strengthen his control over the ancestral temples of the vassal states.

So after the emperor made the decision, he immediately expressed his previous idea, and believed that this should be included in the feudal rites and even reflected in the inheritance rites.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with Huang Liji's proposals and was impressed by him. He thought that this old eunuch who was retained by him was not just a figurehead.

In fact, Huang Liji was able to become the Prime Minister during the Tianqi period, which was quite skillful. However, he was always gentle and did not dare to stick to his own opinions.

So in the eyes of the powerful emperor Zhu Youjian, Huang Liji was like a mouthpiece.

However, after Huang Liji became familiar with Zhu Youjian's temperament and was stimulated by the Donglin Party, he has now begun to take the initiative and plans to establish some achievements in the Lifanyuan.

The death of King Han seemed to be a difficult matter to Zhu Youjian, but to Huang Liji, it was an opportunity to establish merit and improve the Lifanyuan.

He wanted to take advantage of this incident to establish some systems to strengthen the control over the vassal states and leave his own mark in the process of improving the Lifanyuan.

Soon, Huang Liji directed the Lifanyuan to handle the King of Han's funeral. After communicating with the Ministry of Rites, Zongzheng Temple and other government offices, he proposed the establishment of a vassal state affairs committee to integrate various government offices involved in vassal state affairs to facilitate the handling of such matters.

After seeing the affairs listed by the Lifanyuan, Zhu Youjian approved it. However, he changed the name to the Vassal State Foreign Affairs Committee. All affairs, whether internal, external or foreign, were coordinated and managed by this committee.

Huang Liji, the president of the Lifanyuan, naturally served as the chairman of this committee, while Cheng Jiming, the Minister of Rites, the seal holder of the Zongrenfu and the Minister of Zongzhengsi, served as deputy directors.

The Lifanyuan began to integrate with other government offices and gained greater influence.
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At the same time, Han Fan was also dealing with the death of King Han.

The death of King Han Zhu Danshen was actually expected by many people in the Han clan.

Last year, Prince Zhu Shao of Han went from the capital to the Han vassal state as Zhu Danshen was preparing for his own funeral.

The reason for blocking the news from the outside world was that the Han vassal state had just been established and was not stable either internally or externally. The remaining Ezo tribes and the Japanese pirates were harassing them.

So Zhu Danshen held on until he was completely exhausted in September this year, and then he passed away.

What comforted him was that before he died, he saw the latest firearms of the Ming Dynasty. After getting these new firearms, the soldiers of the Han vassal state won many victories against the natives.

Even the Japanese pirates who came from Japan were killed by the accurate muskets.

The situation inside and outside the Han vassal state has changed greatly.

Even the Japanese feudal lords who had secretly sent pirates to invade the Han clan did not send large numbers of pirates after learning of the death of the King of Han.

However, their not moving does not mean that Han Fan will not move.

Chen Xinjia, the chief of Han Clan, planned to take advantage of the passing of the old King of Han and the fact that the new King of Han had not yet ascended the throne to take control of Han Clan and establish some achievements:
"What does the court say?"

"Have you determined when the Crown Prince of Han will take the throne, and who will be in charge of the Han clan during this period?"

The Jinyiwei personnel in charge of communications said:
"The court ordered the Crown Prince Bingguo of Han to set up a funeral committee to be responsible for all matters during the funeral."

"The director of the funeral committee is the Crown Prince of Han. Officials such as the Chief of Han, the Military Commander, and some members of the royal family will serve as the funeral committee members."

Chen Xinjia had never expected this decision. Being overseas, he had no idea about the collective deliberation system being implemented by the court, nor did he know that committees at all levels of the court were being established on a large scale.

It was not until this well-informed Jinyiwei officer explained that he realized that the committee was a coordination agency and also a collective council. The chief officer had the right to convene a meeting and veto the meeting's decisions.

This meant that he, the Chief of Han, could not completely control Han after the death of the King of Han. Instead, the Crown Prince of Han could legitimately lead them.

This made him very unwilling, because he wanted to take advantage of the death of King Han to mobilize troops and make meritorious contributions to get promoted.

However, in order to ensure a safe and secure succession to the throne, the Crown Prince of Han would obviously not agree with his idea.

So he had wanted to steal Han Fan's power while Han Fan was leaderless.

Zhu Shao, the crown prince of the King of Han, did not stop him. According to the previous system, he could easily seize power.

However, the imperial court has now set up a funeral committee, and Zhu Shao, as the heir, has clearly become the person in charge of the funeral.

No matter how high Chen Xinjia's official position was, he could not compete with him for this position. During the period when the funeral committee was in charge of the affairs of the Han vassal state, the royal family funeral committee members in it would also compete for power and profit with officials from other surnames.

Chen Xinjia even saw the emperor's intention from this, which was to protect the status of the royal family when the power of the Han clan was transferred.

After clarifying this, Chen Xinjia thought about it for a long time and finally decided to go to the Prince of Han, Zhu Shao, and asked:

"Sir, the prince has passed away, and people are uneasy."

"I am worried about unusual movements in Japan, so I request to be sent as an envoy to Japan."

Zhu Shao was of mediocre ability. After his father's death, he was worried that he would not be able to control Chen Xinjia and other old ministers of the Han vassal state.

Hearing that Chen Xinjia was going to Japan as an envoy, he was very happy, but he looked reluctant and said:
"Chen Changshi assisted my father in establishing the feudal domain and made great contributions."

"Now that my father has passed away, the state affairs need to be handled by the Chief Secretary. How can the Chief Secretary leave me?"

He didn't want Chen Xinjia to go out and wanted to keep him.

However, Chen Xinjia knew that the Prince of Han was just being polite. If he stayed, he would only clash with the Prince of Han, and he would have little chance of winning.

He said to the Prince of Han:
"The Andong Protectorate sent a notice a few days ago saying that they would recruit Japanese soldiers to fight in the war."

"This is the reason why I am on this diplomatic mission to Japan."

"Let those Japanese fight the Jianlu instead of threatening the Han clan."

This reason was well accepted by the Crown Prince of Han, because he was also worried that the Japanese feudal lords would allow the Japanese pirates to come in again.

With the fighting power of the Han clan soldiers, they can certainly defeat the Japanese pirates, but the construction of coastal strongholds will be delayed.

So the Prince of Han said:

"The Chief Secretary is willing to share the worry, how can I stop him?"

"It's been a long journey, Chief Secretary. If you have any requests, please feel free to ask."

This is what Chen Xinjia was waiting for. He negotiated with the Prince of Han to withdraw from the Han clan in exchange for the opportunity to recruit Japanese soldiers and make achievements.

So he unceremoniously selected some officials close to him, and asked the Prince of Han to provide a batch of military equipment.

Although Zhu Shao felt a little distressed, he agreed to Chen Xinjia's request for the sake of Han Fan's safety and sent Chen Xinjia away so that he could control Han Fan.

Chen Xinjia quickly led those officials and officers who wanted to return home with merit to Japan. Here, they would recruit Japanese soldiers so that they could participate in the Liaodong War next year. (End of this chapter)