The Great Tang General

"I have received the order from the Supreme Being, and I will not refuse even if I die!"

After hearing Li Xuan's promise, Ge Luofeng stood up and bowed to Li Xuan solemnly.

If you can be enshrined in the Lingyan Pavilion and have your biographies recorded in history books, you will surely be glorious for eternity.

Although Yunnan is a weak country, with the help of the Tang Dynasty, it can definitely defeat Pyu and Zhenla completely.

The distance is thousands of miles and there are no very strong enemies, so it is by no means an unreachable chasm.

As Tang officials, they must be loyal to the end, complete the mission bestowed by the Supreme Being, and make their lives worthwhile.

"I also hope to explore the southern border during my lifetime."

Li Xuan helped Ge Luofeng up and spoke slowly.

The reason why Yunnan's Geluofeng was used is that the Nanzhao people were good at fighting in mountain jungles, especially Geluofeng, who repeatedly defeated the Pyu Kingdom and expanded the territory in history.

At its peak, Nanzhao was also quite powerful.

With Tang Dynasty backing Nanzhao, Nanzhao's troops will advance to the southwest, overcoming all obstacles. This is the most appropriate solution at present.

Not only can the Tang Dynasty preserve its energy, but it also pays the lowest price.

After drinking a few more cups, Ge Luofeng bowed and took his leave.

He would stay in Chang'an for two or three months and attend the morning court like other civil and military officials.

Before leaving, Li Xuan will host a banquet for Ge Luofeng again.

He would order the Tiance Mansion to prepare a thousand divine arm crossbows and five hundred sets of iron armor and bring them back to Nanzhao for use by the Nanzhao army in its expansion.

In addition, Li Xuan was given the title of Geluofeng Kaifu Yitong Sansi and was awarded the rank of general.

From now on, Yunnan will not only use the written language of the Tang Dynasty, but also learn the poetry and prose of the Tang Dynasty.

They also used the Tang Dynasty's calendar and introduced Tang Dynasty's customs.

The Tang Dynasty needed to make preliminary repairs to the road from Taihe City to Yizhou and strengthen the connection between Yunnan Protectorate and the Tang Dynasty.

This road is also the main route for communication between the Tang Dynasty and the Yunnan Protectorate.

Before we knew it, we had entered the 3458th year of the Chinese calendar, the fifth year of Qianyuan.

In the first month of this year, when the country was celebrating the New Year, Li Heng died of illness.

Historically, Li Heng lived slightly longer than Li Longji.

But in this time and space, he did not survive Li Longji.

As if devastated by Li Heng's death, Li Longji was unable to recover and couldn't even drink good wine.

I couldn't even watch the palace maids dancing.

It seemed as if he had entered the countdown of his life. He watched the sunset every day, thinking that he would end like the dusk.

A generation of emperors, endless loneliness...

After the new year, the Tang Dynasty began to readjust its officials.

Official system reform has also arrived.

Li Xuan appointed Liu Shan as the Minister of Commerce.

Gao Shi was appointed as the Minister of Culture.

Zhang Hao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was appointed as the minister of agriculture.

The rest who were removed from their humble positions and made meritorious contributions were selected as assistant ministers.

There were also adjustments to the ministers of various ministries.

The Minister of Rites Zhao Fengzhang retired due to old age, and Li Xuan appointed him as the Prince's Grand Tutor, allowing him to live out his retirement in Chang'an.

Lu Sigong was changed to Minister of Rites.

He promoted Zhang Xun, the former Jingzhao Yin, to be the Minister of Punishments.

Feng Changqing was dismissed as the Minister of War and Li Mi was promoted to be the Minister of War and concurrently the President of the Central Military Academy.

Feng Changqing was the Privy Councilor of the Privy Council of the Tiance Palace.

This is not a missionary position, but a fixed official position.

Zhang Xing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was the quartermaster of the Quartermaster Bureau.

With them here, we can keep Tiance Mansion running first.

After the rectification of the Uighurs is completed, the term of office of the Northern Military Governor's Office will be changed.

Li Xuan needed Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and Wang Nandi to lead their followers to attack the Uighurs.

Of course, the Southern Governor's Office still has a rotation of leadership.

Li Xuan allowed Zhang Shouyu to retire and return home, and ordered Gao Kai to take over as the governor of Hanzhong.

Liu Zhiru was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Qu Huan was appointed as the new Governor of Dongyang.

The other military governorates rotate among each other, such as the governor of Shu County Lai Zhen and the governor of Nanhai Xin Yunjing.

At the same time, according to the original plan, all temples were merged, leaving only the Dali Temple, Taifu Temple, and Zongzheng Temple.

The rest of the merger was completed smoothly.

Now the Tang Dynasty should be called Nine Ministries and Forty-six Departments.

The Shangshu is of the first rank.

The assistant minister is of the second rank, and is mainly responsible for the promotion of governors.

The head of each department was a Langzhong, a third-rank official, who was usually promoted from deputy governors or prefects.

The deputy clerk was called Yuanwailang, which was of the fourth rank and was promoted from the local chief historian or the governor of a small county.

Counties are divided into large counties, middle counties and small counties.

The province with a population of more than 300,000 was reclassified as a large county. The governor of a large county was a third-rank official.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 people, the middle-level prefectures were of the fourth rank.

A county with a population of less than 100,000 is a small county. The governor of a small county is of the fourth rank.

County magistrates are also briefly divided into capital counties, large counties, small counties, and medium counties.

The counties of the two prefectures are called Jing counties, which are of the fifth rank.

A county with a population of over 50,000 is considered a large county and is of the sixth rank.

A county with a population of 30,000 to 50,000 is a medium-sized county, and is of the sixth rank.

A county with a population of less than 30,000 is considered a small county and is of the seventh rank.

A town specially established on the frontier, of the ninth rank.

Due to financial problems, each county could only have four officials appointed by the imperial court: the county magistrate, the county lieutenant, the county assistant, and the chief constable.

The other six departments were still classified as ninth-rank officials and their salaries were paid by the county.

However, officials outside the imperial court could also pass the examination and become imperial officials.

In the township, each township has five villages, and each village elects its own headman.

The difference is that the original "li zheng" no longer takes turns to serve as xiangzuo.

Instead, the township jointly elected a person of high moral character as the township head, and there were two deputy township heads. They enjoyed the treatment of non-official officials and needed to report to the county government to handle township affairs. They served one term every four years and could serve no more than two terms.

Taking advantage of Li Xuan's supreme prestige, he began to change the dilemma of "imperial power not reaching the countryside".

When industry and commerce develop in the future, the rank of township head will be adjusted.

At the local level, twenty-four provinces were planned.

After the prime minister gave the plan, Li Xuan personally planned it.

Although each province is divided according to local customs, it incorporates some alternative customs.

For example, Jiannan was changed to Bashu Province, but Xichuan, the original Snowland Protectorate, was completely occupied, and it was embedded in the snowy plateau like a nail.

A province was separated from the Snowland Protectorate, which was named Qinghai Province because of the Qinghai Lake in the area.

The area from Qinghai to Baihai has already met the conditions for establishing a province, and continues to weaken the snowy plateau.

The original Hexi Longyou was vast and sparsely populated. The "Ganzhou" and "Suzhou" before the prefecture was changed into a county were used to establish Gansu Province.

Gansu Province, according to the geography of the Hexi Corridor, was not bounded by Yumen Pass and Yangguan, but went all the way to Lop Nur, annexing part of the Anxi Protectorate.

The original Xizhou, Tingzhou and Yizhou were merged into Tianshan Province because the Tianshan Mountains are located within its territory.

This resulted in a part of the Beiting Protectorate being missing.

Due to the Guanzhong Plain, it was changed to Guanzhong Province, but Hanzhong was still included.

However, Jingzhao Prefecture, the center of Guanzhong Province, became independent and was renamed Chang'an Prefecture.

The area north of Guanzhong Province could not be called "Ningxia" as it was in history, so Li Xuan could only name it "Heyuan Province", meaning the province established by the Yellow River's impact on the plain, hoping that it would become the Jiangnan on the Saishang in the future.

Moreover, Heyuan Province covers a very large area, including Lingwu and the entire Hetao region.

To the north of the river is a good pasture, and because of the location of Yinshan Mountain, Yinshan Province was established.

The area east of the river is Shanxi Province. It is named after the area west of Taihang Mountain. The area south of the Yellow River is Henan Province.

After Henan Dao was changed to Henan Province, its area was greatly reduced, but some counties in Shannan were occupied.

At the same time, Luoyang Prefecture was established in Luoyang area, independent of Henan.

The Tang Dynasty had a dual capital system, which established the control of the two capitals, East and West, over the Tang Dynasty and remained unchanged.

It was originally a part of Henan Province, but because it is the land of Qi and Lu and has some glorious cultural history, it was changed to Qi and Lu Province.

It is a bit far-fetched to call it Shandong as it was called in history.

Shandong in this era was generally considered to be "east of Mount Xiao."

The corresponding province is Hebei, which is named after the area north of the Yellow River.

However, in the area north of Hebei, controlled by the Tang Dynasty, the "Yanyun Province" was established, separating Fan Yang from Hebei.

Yanyun Province includes the original Yunzhong, Lulong, Yuyang, Liucheng and other counties, and also has a vast territory.

It was named after Yan area and Yunzhong County.

As for the Yangtze River, another mother river of China, no province can live across the river, and all provinces are divided into two by the Yangtze River.

A larger Badong Province was established, and the Jianmen Pass, which originally entered Shu, was divided into Badong Prefecture.

It is named after the Daba Mountains to the east.

Hunan and Hubei are divided into the north and south by Dongting Lake.

To the east of Hunan and Hubei, it is divided into Huainan Province, which means south of the Huai River.

Jiangnan Province was established west of Huainan, which means south of Changliang. Jiangnan, which includes Taihu Lake, Yangzhou, Lujiang and other areas, is one of the richest regions in the Tang Dynasty with fertile land for thousands of miles.

These people divided Huainan Road.

In the southern part of Jiangnan Province, Qiantang Province was established and named after Qiantang Lake.

In this era, Qiantang Province was not that wealthy, but it had a large population and a lot of room for development.

To the south of Huainan Province, Jiangxi Province was established, named after the fact that it originally belonged to the Jiangnan West Circuit.

In the south of Qiantang Province, the original Fuzhou and Jianzhou were taken to establish Fujian Province.

With eight mountains, one river and one piece of land, Fujian Province is now a place that is not contested by military strategists. There are only some Han people who came here during the period of the migration of scholars to the south, and they still need to be further enriched.

South of Jiangxi, Nanhai Province was established. It was named after the South China Sea. The original Nanhai County was the seat of government.

The original Lingnan was divided into three parts. Lingnan Province was designed to the west of Nanhai Province and south of Hunan Province. It is more wild than Nanhai.

The Province of Annan was established, ruling an area including Jiaozhi and Nanjun, with a population of over 300,000.

Although Annan Province is not large, the goal is to extend southwards.

The number of Tang Dynasty registered permanent residents in Annan was second only to the South China Sea region, so it was not that there was no one available.

The Tang Dynasty actually controlled these places, so there was no need to set up a protectorate.

Sooner or later, the Protectorate will be upgraded to a province.

In the original Qianzhong area, Qianzhong Province was designed. This place was the weakest under the control of the Tang Dynasty, so it was converted into a province.

Qionghai Province was established on Qiongzhou Island, named after the Qiongshan Mountain on the island and its proximity to the ocean.

The island is small and barren, and the officials were exiled here.

The prime ministers thought that Qiongzhou could barely be called a county, and it would be too cheap to set it up as a province of the second rank.

No minister would be willing to govern a place where there is no one.

But Li Xuan would start the great voyages during his lifetime and open up Southeast Asia for the descendants of the Chinese nation.

There must be a forward station.

Nanhai Province has its own responsibilities. So does Qionghai.

Even in the future, there will be unique features.

Once navigation is opened and people are relocated, the country will gradually develop.

It is an indispensable part of the Southern Strategy.

The original governors of Lingnan Road would scramble to go to Qionghai Province because of their official positions.

Although it is a remote and poor area, it is very easy to achieve political achievements.

Finally, Lushui Province was temporarily established in the north of Yunnan Protectorate, south of Bashu Province, Yaozhou, Shezhou, part of Rongzhou, and the southeastern part of Xueyu Protectorate.

In ancient times, when Zhuge Liang pacified the Southern Barbarians, he "crossed the Lu River in May and went deep into the barren land."

This province was established because Yizhou, the capital of Bashu Province, was too far away from Taihe City of Yunnan Protectorate.

If you want to connect to the Indian Ocean, there must be a heavy city node along the way.

The Yunnan Protectorate alone might not be able to suppress Nanzhao, so it was necessary to establish a political position.

At the very least, a provincial capital city should be established to provide immediate support to the Yunnan Protectorate and provide logistical support for its development.

If Yunnan Province is established, Lushui Province can be removed.

This is the end.

Tianshan Province, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, Guanzhong Province, Heyuan Province, Yinshan Province, Bashu Province, Lushui Province, Badong Province, Shanxi Province, Hebei Province, Yanyun Province, Henan Province, Qilu Province, Hubei Province, Huainan Province, Hunan Province, Jiangnan Province, Jiangxi Province, Qiantang Province, Fujian Province, Nanhai Province, Lingnan Province, and Annan Province.

The structure of two capitals, twenty-four provinces, and eight protectorates had taken shape.

Especially in core provinces, central cities must be established.

Such as Yangzhou City in Jiangnan, Yizhou City in Bashu, Xiangyang City in Hubei, Liangzhou City in Gansu, etc.

Li Xuan also circled some cities with very high development potential, such as Qiantang City in Qiantang Province, Suzhou City in Jiangnan Province, and Fuzhou City in Fujian.

Once the ocean is established, the South will usher in great development.

All twenty-four governors were also appointed. Except for Qionghai, Lushui, Lingnan and Annan, all of them were promoted from prefects with excellent performance in assessments.

There are many factors to consider in these four places.

The governor appointed was a relatively young one with good political achievements.

Among them, Li Xuan appointed Du Fu as the governor of Badong instead of letting him stay in Bashu. Instead, he was appointed to Kuizhou where his poetry and prose had exploded in his previous life.

At this age, Du Fu's poetry writing had reached perfection, and his "quality rate" in his later years was so high that he could be said to be invincible.

Du Fu combined his beliefs and emotions in this life and took a completely different path.

In addition, many officials that Li Xuan favored emerged from the big stage and held high positions.

Such as Wang Yanchang, the governor of Bashu, Wei Lun, the governor of Nanhai, Wei Zhi, the governor of Qiantang, Chang Cui, the governor of Jiangnan, Zhang Renxian, the governor of Hebei, Liu Ji, the governor of Yanyun, and Xu Yuan, the governor of Qi and Lu.

Chang Cui originally served in Jiaozhi for four years, and had been working on building the road from Jiaozhi, Nanjun to Nanhai County.

But it has not been completed yet, so Li Xuan asked Wei Lun, the governor of Nanhai, to be in charge, and Xia Zheng, the governor of Annan, to cooperate.

It is a great achievement that this road is unobstructed.

The governor's deputies were two deputy governors, who were efficient and effective.

It had many departments similar to the Secretariat, and also retained a force of several hundred to a thousand yamen soldiers, including constables.

The clerks of the provincial government were promoted from outstanding local military officers.

The number of grassroots officials and clerks should be recruited according to the registered population of the province and should not be too large to avoid them being idle.

After the provincial government is established, the Tang court will not give up power to avoid unrest.

In June of the sixth year of Qianyuan, the imperial court officially handed over all local documents to the provincial governments, which were responsible for handling county affairs.

The governor-general managed local taxation, government affairs, and criminal justice, and executed the imperial decrees. He responded to the Ministry of War and the Tian Ce Mansion in raising food and fodder for the governor's office.

The power is very great.

But that does not mean they can appoint or dismiss county magistrates at will.

Recommendation and dismissal can only be completed with the consent of the court. Otherwise, it would be overstepping one's authority.

This is also a restriction on the power of the governor.

During the peaceful period, a major change did not affect the stability of the world.

Almost all officials were promoted in rank and had their salaries increased.

Some officials have been promoted greatly and have great ambitions.

It’s a pity that the prime minister was not changed this year. Li Xuan re-signed the edict, making Li Xian the chief prime minister, and Pei Zunqing, Liu Yan and Yang Wan continued to be re-elected.

Yan Zhenqing's first term had not yet ended.

At the same time, it also shows that several prime minister positions will be vacant in a few years.

After all, the Supreme One himself said that a prime minister can serve for a maximum of two terms.

Even if an ordinary prime minister is appointed as chief prime minister, several positions will still be vacant.

In mid-February, when the grass was green and the birds were singing, Li Xuan entrusted state affairs to the prime minister.

Entrust the defense of Chang'an to Luo Xing and Xue Cuo. Prepare to embark on a long-awaited journey... (End of this chapter)