Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 351: I Want to Trouble the Duke of Yansheng

At this moment, the Liaodong border army had been reorganized by Li Ruhua, Yuan Keli, Xiong Tingbi, and Ma Gui for six or seven years, and after last year's great battles and victories, its appearance was different from the Ming army that Nurhaci faced many years later when he officially rebelled against the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Jing, Ma Gui, Yu Zigao... these were all newly conferred titles by Zhu Changluo. The emperor offered a higher reward to the government troops: one of them must be the one to guard Liaodong forever.

Now, the imperial decree is that the rewards for this round of war will be given after the rebellions in Jianzhou and Korea are quelled, but the first batch has already begun.

That is the part of the Beijing Camp and the Yongwei Camp that returned to Beijing, as well as generals such as Li Chengliang, Zhang Weixian, and Dayun.

One is the Duke of Ningguo, one is the Marquis of Xiliang, and one is the Earl of Zhongzheng. This is the news that needs to be conveyed to Liaodong as soon as possible to continue to encourage them.

Zhang Weixian will replace Li Chengliang as the governor of the Beijing camp, and Dayun will serve as the left general of the central army.

The Ming Dynasty even had its first female countess. Qin Liangyu made many key suggestions in this battle, which not only repaid the emperor's trust in her, but also fully demonstrated her ability.

Now Qin Liangyu is the commander-in-chief of the Yongwei Camp, and Ma Qiancheng, the Zuoye Lieutenant General, not only has the Baigan Camp but also the Jurchen Camp under his command.

More than half of the troops were killed in the Battle of Jinzhou, and one thousand of the remaining people were selected and disbanded and incorporated into the Yongwei Camp.

In addition to them, the Yongwei Camp will recruit 1,000 people from the original three tribes of Duoyan and four tribes of Chahar Lingnan to form the Mongolian Camp. This is the emperor's confidence in ruling all ethnic groups in the world, and also the emperor's grace to the "surrendered" ethnic groups.

Small Jurchen leaders such as Tang Guda are now living in Beijing in fear.

Afterwards, Li Chengliang set off for Nanjing to officially take up the post of Left General of the Front Army - although he was nearly a year late, it was enough for his life.

Although the biggest purpose of this trip was to stabilize the south of the Yangtze River, it also meant to provide guidance to Duke Wei, Admiral Cui Sheng of the Yangtze River Navy, Qi Zuoguo, Wang Chengxun and others.

In the next step, the Ming Dynasty will also start planning the construction of the East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet.

After Xuanfu Town was expanded and Jizhou Town was changed to Liaoxi Town, the jurisdiction of the Five Military Governor's Office was also slightly adjusted.

In the future, Xuanfu Town and Jizhou Town will be under the jurisdiction of the Central Army Governor's Office, and the focus of the Rear Army Governor's Office will be further west.

Dayun was going to the north to take charge of many affairs in Xuanfu Town and Jizhou Town.

Not only was the Jizhen border army reorganized, but also the opportunity was taken to lay off some people and relocate the injured border troops from the four towns of Xuanda, Jizhou and Liaodong as police officers of the Chengde Prefecture Security Bureau and the Liaoning Provincial Security Department.

Mobilizing people to move to border areas, dealing with newly acquired land, selecting officials and recruiting clerks, building city roads and houses... every room and four courtyards are busy.

Zhu Changluo was more concerned about the planning of the coal and iron industry belt along the Luan River, from the future Chengde Prefecture to the present Shuntian Prefecture Jizhou and Yongping Prefecture.

The problem facing him now is that Chengde Prefecture is a new system, while places such as Zunhua, which now belong to Shuntian Prefecture, and Yongping Prefecture in the lower reaches of the Luan River, are still the old system.

I'm afraid many things are not going smoothly.

Therefore, one thing was officially put on the agenda.

That is, in addition to the direct jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, Northern Zhili had to set an example for Southern Zhili by establishing a province and reforming its system.

"Let's make plans first, but don't make it public. Let the officials in each prefecture do a good job of spring ploughing and autumn harvest this year, and finish this year's Northern Zhili provincial examination. Nominate the right candidates, and decide on them by the end of the year."

Of course, there are necessary reasons for the existence of Northern Zhili and Southern Zhili.

Of course, it would be beneficial to the safety of Beijing if the areas around it were more dispersed. It would also be easier to manage even if the distances were relatively close. It would just cost more.

Because Southern Zhili was too rich and too far away from Beijing, they were allowed to continue to disperse. There were six other departments in Nanjing to coordinate some of the affairs of the various prefectures in Southern Zhili, which was still a greater cost in exchange for stability and security.

But for Zhu Changluo, these are necessary costs that can be cut.

As for security, it was to use a canal to strengthen control in the short term, and in the long term to add the Beiyang Fleet, plus the railway that he expected to see in his lifetime.

The emperor returned to the state of previous years, spending a lot of energy on the Institute of Research and the Baijia Garden.

Then he looked at Tian Le's resignation letter that Wang An brought over in astonishment. "What is this for?" Zhu Changluo called Tian Le over and looked at him in confusion.

"This time, I planned a major expedition and advocated abandoning Jinzhou and letting the enemy enter the border wall. Countless soldiers were killed and wounded, and the people were displaced. I am guilty of this. Moreover, I have been the Privy Councilor for many years and should not stay for long. Li Yutian has made great contributions in dealing with the situation and retaking Yanshan, so he is worthy of taking over."

Zhu Changluo looked at him speechlessly.

"Don't try to be so rude." He was a little confused. "Although you are older than him, you are in much better health. Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Did you hear something? Is there an imperial censor from the Inspection Office planning to impeach you?"

Tian Le shook his head again: "I haven't heard of it. I have three reasons for this request. First, I cannot start this. The Privy Councilor cannot be in office for a long time, otherwise there will always be hidden dangers in the future. Second, Your Majesty has appointed a consultant scholar, and I can still serve loyally. I have an open mind and am not afraid of the so-called rumors of meritorious service. Third, the civil officials of the Privy Council only come in and never leave. If I stay in the Privy Council for a long time, it will hinder the advancement of future generations. Your Majesty is wise, please approve it."

Zhu Changluo frowned and carefully considered the meaning of his words.

Come to think of it, Tian Le's sudden resignation does make sense.

The Privy Councillor was in charge of the military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and was truly second only to the emperor in the military. Apart from the emperor, the Privy Councillor had a limited term of office, which was indeed beneficial for the emperor to control the military in a long-term and stable manner.

The establishment of the Advisory Bachelor means that as long as the emperor still trusts him, Tian Le can play a big role even after retirement.

In addition, once a civil official enters the Privy Council, he can only move within the Privy Council system, and his promotion channels are narrower, so this issue must indeed be taken seriously.

But he looked at Tian Le and shook his head: "No. At most, you have been the Privy Councilor for only seven years. What are you worried about? I will take charge of the military and political affairs. After that, the border troops will be reorganized and the provincial governors will be restructured. There are still many channels that can be opened up and clarified in the Privy Council's civil official system."

After that, he bowed his head and said, "At least serve for ten years. Jianzhou Jurchen and Korea have not been pacified yet. If I want you to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple a hundred years later, it is not enough to just expel the Tatars. Even if you are worried about taking all the credit in the future expeditions to Southeast Asia and Japan, you don't have to cause trouble for me now. How much worry can I save if you manage the Privy Council? Next, I will make internal moves and promote new policies. I don't want the Privy Council to be in chaos, which will make me lose some confidence."

"With Li Yutian and Yuan Liqing, why should Your Majesty worry?"

Zhu Changluo put down his pen and laughed and cried: "Hey? What's wrong with you? What's the reason why you are so persistent now?"

He always spoke very directly to Tian Le. After all, Tian Le was his most important support along the way.

Tian Le hesitated for a moment, then raised his head and said, "I want to rely on my great merits to cause trouble for Duke Yansheng."

Zhu Changluo became serious and looked at him.

Tian Le bowed solemnly and said: "Shandong has a small land area and a large population. I am retiring. Your Majesty, please give me more money. I will go to Shandong to recruit servants and buy some land in Liaohetao to cultivate it."

"You said you wanted to cause trouble for Duke Yansheng." Zhu Changluo got to the point.

Tian Le looked up at him with a firm look in his eyes: "That's right. The six words 'the special favor of the Duke of Yansheng will not be removed, and officials and gentry will pay taxes together' are all empty words!"

Almost ten years have passed since he saw those twelve words. Now, when Zhu Changluo looks at Tian Le's eyes, he can't help but feel inexplicably moved.

He walked over and helped him up, then said, "You don't have to do this! Ever since I started studying, I have been determined to do this. Court officials are afraid of being criticized, and I don't care about reputation. But you are different. You are a minister, and I am the emperor. If you do it, future generations will find it difficult to deal with it, and you won't be able to achieve the desired effect. Only if I do it myself can I break the thousand-year-old academic shackles in one fell swoop, and let all the scholars in the world know that they should look forward instead of just flipping through old scriptures!"

Looking at Tian Le, Zhu Changluo said seriously: "I am doing this, but I must prepare it first. Just help me manage the Privy Council first. I have never forgotten those twelve words!"

It turned out that he was just worried that after achieving great success in the Tongliao League, he would forget his bigger goals, or would simply indulge in expanding his territory.

Although Tian Le held the position of Privy Councilor, what he was most concerned about was always the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the central government began to discuss the establishment of a province in Northern Zhili, he reminded the emperor that if he wanted to move towards Southern Zhili and Jiangnan, he had to move against Duke Yansheng first.

More than a thousand years of favors are no joke, and the things that the Confucian disciples may do to preserve the preferential treatment of the gentry are no joke either. One day Zhu Changluo will have to take direct action against the four words "official gentry preferential treatment".

Then Yanshenggong is the biggest and fattest chicken.

Tian Le knew about military affairs, so he also came to remind Zhu Changluo: Before taking any formal action, you must kill the chicken first.

But the goal that Zhu Changluo wanted to achieve was not only to solve the economic problems brought about by the preferential treatment of officials and gentry, but also the ideological problem of the Confucian gentry being superior!

(End of this chapter)