Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 276 Traditional Ming Dynasty and the Innovative Emperor

"Futai... no, Great Heavenly Official, why did you become the Great Heavenly Official?"

Among the mountains in the southwest of Daming, Pingxi Posthouse is crowded today in late April.

In addition to the officials of all ranks in Sizhou Prefecture where Pingxi Posthouse is located, the governor of Guizhou, officials of the three departments of Guizhou, and the prefects of Zhenyuan, Shiqian and Tongren, which are adjacent to Sizhou Prefecture, all came to see Chen Jian off to Beijing to take up his post.

The person who spoke was Liu Jing, the Right Commander-in-Chief of the Right Military Commandery, who was promoted to Marquis of Zhangyong.

The Guizhou officials looked at Liu Jing strangely.

They came to see Chen Jian off because Chen Jian was going to be the Minister of Personnel.

Marquis Zhangyong was actually reluctant to let Chen Jian be the great celestial official. Could he speak?
Now Liu Jing, as the Right Commander of the Right Army, was in charge of the Dusi and Xingdusi of Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Sichuan. Did he not want Chen Jian to leave the southwest? What did he want to do?
Pingxi Posthouse has both water and land posthouses. Starting from Zhengzhou, Henan, you can reach here via Nanyang, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Changde, Chenzhou, and Yuanzhou. Going forward via Qinglang, Zhenyuan, Pianqiao, Qingping, Pingyue, Xintian, Longli, Guizhou Posthouse, Xianqing, Pingba, Puli, Anzhuang, and Pu'an, you can reach Nanning Posthouse in Yunnan, and finally reach Dianyang Posthouse in Kunming.

This is one of the Ming Dynasty's main land routes.

But starting from Zhenyuan Prefecture, through Yanghe River to Yuanjiang River, then into Dongting Lake to the Yangtze River, the rest of the journey can be taken by water.

Chen Jianxian bowed to all the officials and said, "Everyone, Bozhou has been newly pacified, and the prefecture and state have undergone major changes. You still have many official duties to attend to. I cannot refuse your kindness. Since you have been sent to the border of Guizhou and Hunan, please return to the yamen as soon as possible."

In front of the new Grand Official, they dropped their official duties and showed their courtesy. What should Chen Jian think when he considered their promotion later? Should he accept their kindness or neglect his duty?
But being an official is all about human relationships and social skills, and officials at all levels in Guizhou do not think there is anything wrong with this.

Didn't Zhang Yonghou escort him all the way from Kunming? Is this necessary?
Anyway, the post stations are now under the management of the Privy Council. The highest-ranking official in the southwest of the Privy Council does this, so others don't think it's inappropriate.

It's traditional.

That’s why Pingxi Posthouse is so bustling inside and outside today.

After Chen Jian insisted on persuading them to leave, he looked at Liu Jing helplessly.

Only then did she reply, "Since you have been promoted to a marquis, what else do you have to worry about? Even if I become the Minister of War, can I ask His Majesty and the Privy Council to transfer you to another place?"

"Every year, there are people rebelling everywhere!" Liu Jing frowned. "I thought that since Bozhou was pacified, the chieftains, big and small, should be cautious. But it turned out that only in Bozhou, the chieftains were changed to officials. I don't know how many chieftains in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan are ready to make a move. My Lord, I am just a rough man who wields swords and guns. I would rather fight with foreign enemies than deal with these troubles."

Bozhou was originally part of Sichuan. After the Battle of Bozhou, the local people were changed to officials, Guizhou took some places that originally belonged to Bozhou and incorporated them into the Pingyue Military and Civilian Government, and there were some other changes.

Although Qin Liangyu's family became the emperor's personal soldiers due to their contribution to the suppression of the rebellion, the influence of the policy of converting natives into officials still existed.

The current emperor is eager to make progress, and many chieftains in the southwest are indeed worried that in the future, the chieftain system will be completely transformed and they will lose their ancestral hereditary foundation.

Liu Jing gritted his teeth and said, "Great Heavenly Official, please look at the family of the Duke of Qian! If there is a small rebellion, it is not right to suppress it, and it is not right not to suppress it! In the third year of Longqing, the title of Lord Chaobi was revoked, and now his sons and grandsons are trembling with fear!"

He was talking about Mu Chaobi, the grandfather of Mu Rui, who is now the deputy commander-in-chief of the Right Army Military Governor's Office.

In the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing, Na Jian, the chieftain of Yuanjiang Prefecture, rebelled and Mu Chaobi conquered and suppressed him; in the 44th year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing, he conquered and captured the rebel Afang, and in the first year of the reign of Emperor Longqing, he pacified Feng Jizu of Wuding Prefecture.

It should be said that when Mu Chaobi came to power, the lineage of the Duke of Qian had another descendant who could lead troops in battle. Even if many of these victories were due to "bullying" the weak, he was not a playboy at all, right?
Chen Jian heard this and said solemnly, "Marquis Zhangyong! Lord Chaobi is arrogant and unruly, has no moral integrity, and is hiding fugitives. He even used a military talisman to send people into the capital to spy on the imperial court! Are you saying that the late emperor and Lord Taiyue were too harsh on the Duke of Qian?"

Liu Jing looked at him sternly, and after a while he said awkwardly: "That's what I mean. It's not good for me to stay in the southwest. I don't have so many twists and turns..."

In his opinion, the lineage of the Duke of Qian was quite embarrassing. If they wanted to stay in the southwest forever, they would have to control some military forces and work hard to suppress the local chieftains for the Ming Dynasty. It was not easy to produce a talented descendant, and it was even more difficult to require this talented descendant to be virtuous, loyal and decent.

Mu Chaobi certainly had his guilt and personal reasons, but Mu Chaobi was stripped of his title and imprisoned in Nanjing until his death, and as a result his son was terrified.

In the first year of the Wanli reign, Mu Changzuo participated in the expedition to capture the rebellious barbarian Luo Si. In the eleventh year of the Wanli reign, he conquered Yue Feng and subdued Luo Xiongman. During the Ming-Myanmar dispute at that time, he repelled the Burmese troops together with Liu Jing and other generals.

Liu Jing also respected Mu Changzuo very much, but in the 23rd year of Wanli, Mu Changzuo claimed to be ill and let his son Mu Rui inherit the title.

Liu Jing thought that Mu Changzuo was really seriously ill, but after meeting him in Kunming when he was appointed Right General of the Right Army, he found that he was in very good health.

Now Mu Rui dared not to intervene in anything. The emperor asked the nobles to participate in Changminghao, and Mu Rui was very enthusiastic about it, with the intention of becoming a rich noble to make the court feel at ease. As the right commander of the right army, Liu Jing was very happy to fight against the Burmese soldiers again, but he was busy running around in Yunnan and other places.

Most of the chieftains in the southwest are in Yunnan. Without the help of the Duke of Qian here, he has to rely purely on military intimidation, which will inevitably cost him a lot of effort.

In the past, most of these arguments were handled by the governor Chen Jian. If the Duke of Qian could help, perhaps it would be much easier.

Now that Chen Jian was leaving, Liu Jing felt very reluctant to let him go.

He had already been promoted to marquis, and seeing that Mu Changzuo no longer cared about their old friendship, he couldn't help but think that with Mu Changzuo's ability, he probably saw through him.

So if I serve as the Right General in the Southwest for too long, will he be suspected of being disloyal in the future?
"You don't have to worry too much about this." Chen Jian comforted him, "When I go to the capital to thank the emperor, I will report the current problems in the southwest. Don't think too much about it. With your temperament, I am not worried about you having an army, let alone His Majesty and the Privy Council?"

"..."

Liu Jing looked at him speechlessly: Is this a compliment or a mockery or disparagement?
"You have escorted me for thousands of miles. I am afraid that the Military Discipline Inspection Office in the Privy Council will inevitably impeach you. Go back quickly." Chen Jian sighed. "I will take a boat to Huguang starting tomorrow. Is this an ordinary civilian boat that you helped me find?"

Chen Jian really didn't want the journey to Huguang to continue like this.

"… This is a small matter that I, as the Right Commander of the Right Army, can still handle."

"Then go back quickly!"

Chen Jian's speed from Kunming to here was not slow. Although he was already 63 years old, he was still in good health. How could he do his job well without a good body and the ability to ride a horse?

The imperial edict issued at the end of March was delivered to Kunming by express in mid-April. After all, all the officials in the court were waiting for him, the Minister of Personnel, to take office as soon as possible so that they could quickly select the people for those important positions.

After receiving the imperial edict, he also knew the importance of it. After giving some instructions, he set off on horseback. Liu Jing came to escort him after hearing the news, and he only brought more than ten standard-bearers.

But it was he who brought people to escort them that ruined things. When they arrived in Guizhou, they alarmed officials from all levels of Guizhou. After all, it was too eye-catching.

Since he knew that there would be countless good positions after the two prime ministers and several chancellors were elected in the court, how many local officials would want to take the opportunity to curry favor with him along the way?
Chen Jian was on the way, bringing with him information about the emperor and the Privy Council's continued defense of the southwest after the great defeat of Burma and the restlessness in the southwest after the policy of aboriginal rule.

Jie Jingfu and others were already on the way, and Zhu Changluo stayed in the "living area" of the Zhayanghang Shipyard.

After visiting three shipyards, one large and two small, and carefully questioning the old shipbuilders recruited by Zhayanghang from Linqing and other places, as well as the new shipbuilders recruited from coastal areas such as Zhejiang and Fujian, he now had to finally unify his thoughts with the important officials of the Privy Council.

"Although it is safer to start with the easy and then the difficult, for the Ming Dynasty, there is actually no difficulty in the surrounding issues. If there is any difficulty, it is how to effectively govern after expanding the territory." Zhu Changluo focused on Xing Jie, "Let's talk about the southwestern border. More than 200 years after the founding of the country, there are still local chieftains of all sizes causing chaos. What is the reason?"

"The mountains are barren, the language is incomprehensible, the customs are different, and the officials and gentry are disgusted..." Xing Jie certainly understood, "Let the chieftains rule the people and allow the official positions to be hereditary. This is the simplest way."

"It's hard to take back what's been given. The more we try to educate them, the more they want to maintain their old habits. For example, the chieftains' children should go to school and be given official positions, but this cannot be done." Zhu Changluo shook his head. "In the final analysis, it's not these reasons, but poverty. The Ming Dynasty has not found a way to give these border barbarians a more prosperous life, and the southwestern provinces are even more difficult to exploit them to contribute more taxes to the country. The court can't win their hearts, so of course they support their chieftains as in the past."

"…Is the matter on the southwestern border related to your majesty's determination to destroy Korea?"

"Yes!" Zhu Changluo said decisively, "The Ming Dynasty needs a new successful example to change the minds of officials and citizens. Korea is similar to Jiaozhi. They have been accustomed to using the Chinese characters and rituals for many years. Chengzu recovered Jiaozhi, but he failed to win the hearts of the people due to improper governance, and eventually lost it again. The same is true for Korea. They applied to join the country, but they were rejected because of the difficulty of education. As for the Jurchens and Tatars in the northeast, the northern barbarians have been unable to completely eliminate the scourge for thousands of years."

He looked at everyone and said: "Now, the Ming Dynasty may be in the most favorable historical opportunity period in history."

"…I am stupid, Your Majesty, please explain clearly."

Xing Jie didn't understand why this was the most favorable historical opportunity in all dynasties to completely eliminate the threat from the northern barbarians.

During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the power of heaven was so great that it frightened the world. So what if the Khan of Heaven could do that? The Tang Dynasty also collapsed. After the Five Dynasties, the Zhao Song Dynasty lost the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

Chengzu launched several expeditions to the northern desert and drove the Oirat to the west. Later, the Tatars came, and now the Jurchens are growing stronger and stronger.

Why is it different now?

(End of this chapter)