Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Is there a difference between a province and a protectorate?
This was naturally included in Zhu Youjian's system.

The province has three offices: the Provincial Administration Commission, the Provincial Surveillance Commission, and the Provincial Protectorate Commission.

The Protectorate General consisted of only the Military Command and the Military Guard Command, with the Military Command in charge of military affairs and the Military Guard Command in charge of civil affairs, effectively placing it under military control.

Inland areas would primarily be governed by provinces, with protectorates only established in unstable border regions.

Within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate General, important and prime locations were naturally designated as garrison posts.

Areas of low value were granted to nobles, who were then allowed to bring in people to populate and stabilize the frontier regions.

Therefore, the governance of provinces and protectorates is completely different.

After deciding to establish the Liaoning Protectorate, Zhu Youjian hesitated somewhat when looking at the Jinning Protectorate planned by Liu Zunxian:
"Should a protectorate be established on this side of the Songhua River?"

"I have heard that the Songhua River, the Nen River and the estuary where the Songhua River flows into the Heilongjiang River are all plains."

"Is it possible to immigrate there and have it become a province in the future?"

This was part of his earlier plan to use the three major plains of Liaohe Plain, Songnen Plain, and Sanjiang Plain to accommodate the disaster victims who would suffer from a future severe drought.

However, this idea was ruthlessly extinguished by Liu Zunxian, who pointed to the map and said:

"According to the report of Kong Zhenyun, the Inspector General of Heilongjiang, the upper reaches of the Nenjiang River are barely suitable for reclamation."

"However, the confluence of the Songhua River and the Nenjiang River is covered with swamps."

"The same applies to the confluence of the Songhua River, the Asu River, and the Heilongjiang River at the Three Rivers Estuary."

"Although these two areas are flat, they cannot be cultivated."

These words made Zhu Youjian frown deeply, and he asked:

Why can't the land be cultivated?

What difficulties are there?

Liu Zunxian said:

"The biggest challenge is the ice jams."

"In rivers that flow from south to north, the lower reaches freeze in spring and winter, but the upper reaches remain unfrozen, and the water will still flow across."

“Every winter and spring, ice jams occur. The river water spreads and turns into swamps.”

“The Songhua River, the Asu River, and the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River are all like this, and the Sanjiangkou area is completely uncultivable.”

This left Zhu Youjian speechless, because for the Ming Dynasty at that time, it was truly an unsolvable problem.

In later generations, to prevent ice jams, two methods were used: first, to blast the ice layer downstream; and second, to build reservoirs upstream to control water levels.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty didn't even have explosives, let alone gunpowder to blast through ice.

Building reservoirs is even more difficult, as there is currently no experience in constructing large reservoirs.

Therefore, he could only say:
"Could we build diversion channels or designate a flood discharge area?"

"How can we prevent ice jams from causing too much damage and reclaim other areas?"

Liu Zunxian was unable to answer this, so Shang Zhouzuo, the Minister of Works, said:

"That might work, but the workload would be too large."

"It may take decades or even centuries to renovate."

That would take too long. Zhu Youjian sighed and decided:

"In that case, let's set up a Protectorate first."

“In areas where large-scale land reclamation is possible, garrisons should be established; in areas requiring long-term development, fiefdoms should be established and governed by feudal lords.”

"The Heilongjiang Provincial Governor's Office should make good plans and govern this area in a unified manner."

He then asked Liu Zunxian:

Are there any suitable conditions for establishing a garrison along the Songhua River?

"Is it possible to cultivate land and become self-sufficient?"

This is a necessary condition for establishing a Protectorate General; otherwise, relying on the imperial court for grain transport would lead to its abandonment, just like the Nurgan Regional Military Commission.

Liu Zunxian was well aware of this, and this year he even sent people to the Heilongjiang Provincial Governor's Office to conduct a thorough investigation, and they reported back:
“A garrison can be built on the upper reaches of the Nenjiang River.”

"It flows from north to south, and by the time the upstream thaws, the downstream has already melted."

"According to our investigation, wheat can be grown in this area."

“Especially the middle reaches of the Songhua River, which was originally the site of Huining Prefecture of the Jin Dynasty, has relatively good conditions and can also be developed.”

This relieved Zhu Youjian, making him feel that things weren't entirely bad.

Huining Prefecture is the area that is now Harbin, and it was indeed the central region of this area.

He nodded and said:

"Then we will establish the Jinning Protectorate in Huining Prefecture to continue to annihilate the Jurchens and suppress the surrounding area in the future."

"Jinning Protectorate..."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Youjian finally decided:

"Like other protectorates outside the Great Wall, they are allowed to be divided and granted fiefdoms."

"But the highest rank is a count's domain; no vassal states are permitted." This decision drew unanimous praise from the court officials.

They could all see that the emperor actually did not want to grant this area a fiefdom, believing that this plain could be cultivated.

However, the development cost was too high and it would take too long, so they had no choice but to grant it away.

Some meritorious officials who thought they were destined to be ennobled were already planning to select fiefdoms in the Jinning Protectorate.

The appointment of the Jinning military governor by Zhu Youjian, which was not yet officially granted, attracted the covetous eyes of many.

After all, it is extremely rare to find a place where one can fight against the Jurchens and establish merit, and also choose a fiefdom as the foundation of one's family business.

Many ministers who were on good terms with the generals at the front were already planning to remind them to vie for the position of Governor of Jinning.
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However, the establishment of the Jinning Protectorate was not only related to this point.

Zhu Youjian pointed to the Andong Protectorate and said:

"This area was originally assigned to the Andong Protectorate."

"Now that the Jinning Protectorate has been separated, what should be the boundary between it, the Andong Protectorate, and Liaodong Province to the south?"

This is a more specific division, Liu Zunxian said:

"In this battle of Liaodong, the imperial court advanced by both land and water."

"I believe that all areas east of the Liao River that can be accessed by the Liao River should be incorporated into Liaodong Province."

"At the same time, he was appointed as the Liaodong Military Governor and concurrently served as the Liaohe River Inspector General, to uniformly govern the areas through which the Liaohe River flows."

This approach, centered on river basin management, earned praise from Zhu Youjian.

In this era, the advantages of water transport are unparalleled. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has a naval advantage, and can firmly occupy any navigable place.

He said to Liu Zunxian:

"What Minister Liu said is exactly what I wanted to say!"

"Let Sun Chengzong and Zheng Zhihu set up the Liaohe River Inspection Office and make unified plans for the Liaohe River basin."

Then, pointing to the Andong Protectorate, he said:

"So, the Andong Protectorate will only retain the Tumen River basin?"

"Isn't this a bit too small?"

Liu Zunxian drew a line on the upper reaches of the Songhua River and said:

“In addition to the Douman River basin, the mountainous areas in the upper reaches of the Songhua River can also be assigned to the Andong Protectorate.”

“When Yishiha inspected Liaodong in the past, he built ships in Jilin, and the shipyard still exists today.”

"Give this land to Andong, and even if Kim Ning gets out of control, Andong can quell the situation."

The upper reaches of the Songhua River and the Mudan River were allocated to Andong.

If foreign tribes cause trouble or a rebellion breaks out in Jinning, the Andong Protectorate can send troops from upstream to quell the unrest.

This completely relieved Zhu Youjian's worries, and he nodded in satisfaction, saying:

"Let Hong Chengchou and Kong Zhenyun discuss this division."

"In addition, the name Jilin was changed to Jilin, which is an auspicious woodland."

Having some knowledge of Northeast rice, he knows that famous brands such as Xiangshui rice and Wuchang rice are produced in this area.

Among them, Xiangshui rice is produced in Ningguta, which was later known as Ning'an.

During the early Qing Dynasty, when the Northeast was closed off, Shulan rice from near Wuchang was used as tribute.

It can be said that this area is very suitable for growing rice, and it produces high-quality rice.

Zhu Youjian planned to set up several military garrisons to serve as grain supply areas for the Andong Protectorate.

At the same time, in order to compensate for the losses of the Andong Protectorate, Zhu Youjian decided to place the Dongjiang Commandery under the administration of the Andong Protectorate after it was placed directly under the control of the imperial court.

After all, the areas under the jurisdiction of a province are not divided into fiefdoms, so it is inappropriate for Dongjiang territory to be under the jurisdiction of Liaodong Province.

Instead, it was more legitimate for the Andong Protectorate to govern it, and the Andong Governor-General concurrently served as the Minister stationed in Korea, thus eliminating the eastern threat to Liaodong Province.

The previously appointed positions such as Protector-General of Andong and Commander-in-Chief of Andong are no longer appropriate after it was determined that the Protectorate General of the Frontier would be managed by the Governor-General and the Protector-General.

Thinking of the situation at the front, Zhu Youjian gave the following order:
"Liu Xingzuo was appointed as the governor of the Andong Protectorate."

"In addition, the Heishui Protectorate was established in the Heilongjiang area north of the Jinning Protectorate."

"It administers all the places leading to the Heilongjiang River except for the Songhua River, Nen River, and Asu River."

"Zhang Tongchang was appointed as the Governor of Heishui, responsible for governing this area."

Zhang Tongchang was dismissed as the General Commander of Andong, and Kong Zhenyun was also dismissed as the Military Governor of Andong. However, his position as Inspector General of Heilongjiang was retained, and he was still responsible for the overall planning of the Heilongjiang River basin.

Meanwhile, due to a shortage of civil officials in the area, Zhu Youjian temporarily appointed him as the Protector-General of the Heishui Protectorate. His actual power remained largely unchanged; he simply lost the authority to intervene in areas outside Heilongjiang.

Furthermore, in order to counterbalance the Heishui Protectorate, Zhu Youjian decided to keep the coastal areas, including the Hanwang Kingdom, the Qingwang Kingdom, the Jiangling Kingdom, and the Cheng Kingdom, under the administration of the Andong Protectorate.

The Whale Fleet also belonged to the Andong Protectorate and was under naval control in this area.

The entire Northeast region was roughly structured as two provinces and four prefectures:

The two provinces of Liaodong and Liaoxi, and the four protectorates of Liaoning, Jinning, Andong, and Heishui.

They will jointly govern the Northeast, with the Liaodong Military Governor and the Andong Governor-General in charge. (End of Chapter)