Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The fall of Shenyang had far-reaching and multifaceted impacts.

This signifies the basic end of the Liaodong war, and the imperial court will now withdraw from the wartime state, issuing an edict to enter a transitional state.

Rewards for soldiers at the front lines and punishments for officials in the rear were being rapidly implemented.

The civil servants were eager to get this done as soon as possible and regain power.

Meanwhile, the ministers of the Privy Council were busy making arrangements to reap the rewards of victory in the war.

The preparatory work for Liaoxi Province, which is closest to the capital, was subjected to their full intervention. At the provincial level, they only interfered with the Protectorate General, but at the prefecture and county level, they demanded that all of them establish military and civilian prefectures and military and civilian guards.

Border Defense Minister Liu Zunxian said:

"The Liaoxi area is covered with dense forests."

"It also includes important locations such as Shanhaiguan, which can be considered an extension of the Great Wall."

"The most important thing about this area is that it serves as a shield for the capital. I believe that military and civilian offices and military and civilian guards should be set up throughout it."

With this arrangement, the officials governing the area would all be military officers and civilian military officers.

The civil officials were naturally dissatisfied. Grand Secretary Yang Jingchen said:
"If they are both military and civilian prefectures, what is the difference between Liaoxi Province and the Protectorate General?"

"Are we to leave everything to the Protectorate General, and make the Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Surveillance Commission just decorations?"

He was a Grand Secretary, and his words carried considerable weight. Liu Zunxian couldn't handle the situation alone, so he turned his gaze to Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of War.

This means that the power to appoint military and civilian officers rests with the Ministry of War, and as one of the Nine Ministers, you must step forward.

Xue Fengxiang knew he was merely a figurehead, a way of showing the emperor's favor towards the late emperor's veteran ministers.

Always cautious and prudent, he followed Yuan Keli's lead and mostly entrusted the affairs of his department to Qin Shiwen, making him inconspicuous in the court.

Now that Liu Zunxian was holding him back, he had no choice but to stand up and say:

“There is a difference between a province and a protectorate.”

"The Provincial Protectorate is only in charge of military affairs; civil affairs and judicial supervision are handled by the Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Surveillance Commission."

"Moreover, now that the collective deliberation system is being implemented, provincial affairs must be discussed jointly by the governor, the left and right provincial administration commissioners, the provincial judicial commissioner, and the provincial protector."

That's well said. The Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Judicial Commissioner together have three votes in the assembly, so they can't be easily sidelined.

Even the governor, who doesn't have veto power, could be manipulated by them.

However, Yang Jingchen clearly did not mean that. He was not trying to gain power for the Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Surveillance Commission, but rather to arrange more civil officials to serve in the two provinces.

Having considerable authority over matters of the Ministry of Personnel, he watched as Guo Yunhou stepped forward. The two ministers, usually as invisible as men, began to argue about the matter.

Zhu Youjian found it interesting and was quite pleased with this scene.

The separation of civilian military officers and civilian officials to compete for power was a measure he was forced to take when the nobility and military officers were in decline.

It seems to be working well now. Civilian officers who have experienced the Liaodong War, especially those who held power during wartime, have begun to have a sense of urgency in vying for power.

Liu Zunxian's views did not represent his own; Yang Jingchen's views did as well.

This is a clash between two groups, and it is only now beginning to emerge.

Of course, since most civilian military officers come from civil service backgrounds, their struggles are currently quite amicable. Otherwise, Xue Fengxiang and Guo Yunhou, two semi-transparent remnants of the eunuch faction, wouldn't be able to compete against each other in the imperial court.

Ultimately, seeing that the situation had reached a stalemate, Zhu Youjian took the initiative to mediate:

"Liaoxi Province was newly established and is located in the northern frontier, so it faces great military pressure."

"For the time being, we will follow the border defense department's plan and set up military and civilian offices and military and civilian garrisons throughout."

"But once things are fully stable in ten or twenty years, and there is no longer much military pressure, and more people are growing and multiplying, then some places will be converted into prefectures and counties, and more civil officials will be added to govern them."

"There's no need to argue now; these ten years will serve as a transition period."

This temporarily resolved the dispute between the two parties and postponed the matter.

The Privy Council was naturally satisfied with this, as their proposal was fully approved by the Emperor.

The cabinet, the State Council, and the Censorate had no complaints, because they still had a chance to take it back in the future.

Moreover, Liaodong and Liaoxi are not peaceful right now, so even if civil officials are assigned there, not many people are willing to go.

It would be better to wait another ten or twenty years, until things are stable, before sending people over.

At this point, they could only watch as the border defense department presented its plans for the various prefectures in western Liaoning, which were then approved by the emperor.

Pointing to the map, Liu Zunxian said:
"The prefectures in western Liaoning generally follow the layout of the guard posts of the previous Da Ning Commandery, and are divided into five guard posts per prefecture, taking into account the direction of the mountains and rivers."

"Among them, the westernmost part is Kaiping Prefecture. The plan is to establish five guards, front, back, left, right and center, with the original Kaiping Guard as the center."

"The Hala River bend north of Miyun is suitable for cultivation, and the Xingzhou Five Guards were originally established there. The plan is to re-establish these five guards with Chengde as the center, and together with the upper reaches of the Luan River, form the Chengde Prefecture to protect Miyun." This arrangement made Zhu Youjian nod repeatedly.

His purpose in building Chengde was to win over the various tribes of the grasslands.

Although it may not seem necessary now, Chengde's location was good, as it allowed direct access to the sea from Yongping via the Luan River.

To the east of Chengde Prefecture is Daning Prefecture, where various guards were re-established with the original Daning Guard as the center.

Its location is in the middle of Liaoxi Province, and the seat of Liaoxi Province may have been located here.

To the north of Daningwei is Quanningwei, and Quanning Prefecture was established under this name. However, the capital of Quanning Prefecture would not be located here, but rather in the Chifeng area to the south.

Zhu Youjian remembered that the Hongshan Culture was discovered in this area. It is the direct root of the main root system of Chinese civilization and must be taken seriously.

The remaining Naiman and Aohan tribes active in this area will all have to relocate.

The four prefectures in the west were roughly set up like this. As for the area 400 li outside Shanhaiguan in the east, Liu Zunxian divided it from south to north into three guards:

"The Liaoxi Corridor can be divided into three prefectures: Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Guangning, with Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Guangning as its centers."

“Each of the three prefectures will have five to ten guards, with a standing force of 10,000 to 20,000 troops.”

"The north and south are layered upon each other, responsible for the defense of Shanhaiguan."

This arrangement was praised by the court officials, because Shanhaiguan was of utmost importance to them.

Even though Liaodong has now been pacified, they, having been bitten by a snake once, still decided to stockpile heavy troops for defense around Shanhaiguan.

Liu Zunxian's arrangement embodies this point: he designated the three prefectures as an extension of the Shanhaiguan defense line.

Zhu Youjian had no objection to this, but he felt that dividing the Liaoxi Corridor into three prefectures, each of which was a bit too small.

He asked Liu Zunxian:

"How large are these three prefectures? Is there enough land to allocate?"

Liu Zunxian explained carefully:

"The area of ​​Shanhai Prefecture is approximately 50,000 square li."

"Based on the calculation that each military and civilian garrison is allocated 10,000 square li, it can provide for more than 100 hereditary officials and 5,000 hereditary soldiers."

"Two garrisons should be set up in the western mountains and forests, and the farmland and forests in the valley should be allocated more appropriately."

"The plains to the east are arable land, so we can allocate less land to them and set up three garrisons."

“There was originally a Guangning Qiantun Garrison there, which included the Guangning Zhongqian and Guangning Zhonghou Garrisons.”

“Each westward expansion has the potential to become a garrison.”

When Liu Zunxian explained his plan, he did so in a very logical and reasonable manner.

He planned to mainly employ soldiers and military households in Shanhai Prefecture, with each household required to provide men for service.

The five garrisons had a total strength of 25,000 men, with 12,500 regular troops serving along the Shanhaiguan Pass.

This number seems a bit small, but the pressure on Shanhaiguan was not that great after Liaodong was pacified, not to mention that there was the garrison in Yongping to assist in the defense.

Zhu Youjian approved the plan and determined that Shanhai Prefecture would be divided into five guards.

The three guards on the east were named Shanhai Vanguard, Shanhai Central Guard, and Shanhai Rear Guard, while the two guards on the west were named Shanhai West Guard and Shanhai North Guard, following the directional naming convention of Dongning Prefecture.

These names clearly indicate that they were established to guard Shanhaiguan Pass and will not be changed to prefectures or counties in the future.

Further north in Ningyuan Prefecture, when the border defense department wanted to set up the same structure, it was opposed by civil officials.

They didn't want to use a name with too much military connotations, so that it could be changed to a county in the future.

Ultimately, Ningyuan Prefecture established Ningyuan Guard, Tashan Guard, Jinzhou Guard, and Ningyuan West Guard, Ningyuan North Guard, and Chaoyang Guard to the west, for a total of six guards.

This is the size of a prefecture, which will facilitate future restructuring.

In the future, the three eastern guards may be changed to counties, while the three western guards are yet to be determined.

Further north, Guangning Prefecture was an even larger area, and within the Liaodong border wall, it was easy to establish guards such as Guangning Guard, Yizhou Guard, Dalinghe Guard, and Panshan Guard.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian also remembered that the Fuxin Coal Mine was located in this area, and the Fuxin Garrison was established outside the border wall.

Both Fuxin Coal Mine and Fushun Coal Mine are large coal mines, and they are also open-pit mines, making mining relatively easy.

What's even more remarkable is that they are all located relatively close to rivers, one on the south bank of the Xi River and the other on the south bank of the Hun River, allowing for the dredging of waterways and the transportation of coal by water.

For this reason, Zhu Youjian made the development of the two coal mines the core of the Northeast's development. This would facilitate the development of coal and steel in the Northeast and provide a source of fuel for the residents.

With an increasingly sophisticated heating and cooling pipe system, Northeast China will become an even more livable region. (End of Chapter)