Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 227: The Small Regime Takes Shape

The plaque on the door of the Marshal's Mansion was changed again, from Dinglubo Mansion to Dingluhou Mansion. The flowers, trees, pools and stones in the mansion remained basically unchanged, but many new institutions and departments were established to adapt to the rapid development of the Red Army.

The newly established Grand Council served as Danchu's staff agency, with only two members: Left Military Assistant Fang Yizhi and Left Political Assistant Yu Houji.

In the Ming Dynasty, the post of "Counzheng" was set up at the provincial level. It was a third-rank official and could be regarded as the deputy of the governor. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the "Counzheng" often served as the post of "Fenxundao". Fenxundao was an inspector. With the post of "Counzheng", he could completely interfere in local government affairs and in fact became the immediate superior of the prefect, which caused confusion between supervisory power and administrative power, and had far-reaching consequences.

Danchu changed Yu Houji to Zuo Canzheng to assist him in handling government affairs, and promoted Fang Yizhi to Zuo Canjun to assist him in handling military affairs. This was because government affairs were far more complicated than military affairs, and Yu Houji was energetic and good at handling complicated affairs. Fang Yizhi was knowledgeable and good at strategizing, so he was more suitable for handling military affairs.

The staff agency of the Grand Council, headed by Cen Danchu, had actually become the decision-making body of the Red Army, in charge of military and political power.

In addition to the two staff members, the Grand Council also had three shifts of clerks on duty day and night. Yu Houji and Fang Yizhi also took turns on duty at the Grand Council to handle urgent matters at any time.

The Intelligence Bureau has an important position and prominent role. It is transferred to the Marquis' Mansion and is directly responsible to Danchu.

In addition, the Marquis' Mansion also established three new institutions, namely the Secretariat, the Ceremonial Guard Bureau, and the Internal Affairs Bureau.

The Secretariat is responsible for managing documents, arranging Cen Danchu's schedule, and serving him at all times.

The Ceremonial Guard Division is in charge of security, ceremonial guards, and attendants, and is with Dan Chu day and night. Although it has no major powers, its position is quite important.

The Department of Internal Affairs is in charge of various miscellaneous affairs within the Marquis' Mansion. In addition to ensuring the daily operation of each department, it is also required to serve the families of each family.

After this reform, the Marquis' Mansion was divided into a Grand Council and four bureaus (Intelligence Bureau, Secretariat Bureau, Ceremonial Guard Bureau, and Internal Affairs Bureau) with clear responsibilities and functions, and a new look, as if it had become the highest authority of the Red Army.

As for the government, the Red Army requisitioned the former governor's office and renamed it the "Red Army Government," or "Military Government" for short.

The Guangxi Provincial Government Office was set up in Guilin. When Zhao Yi was the Provincial Government Office, it was first stationed in Nanning. Later, when Emperor Yongli visited Nanning, Zhao Yi served as an attendant and made great contributions, and the Provincial Government Office was quite sound. When Xu Biao rebelled in Nanning and expelled Zhao Yi, the Provincial Government Office was abolished.

In this era, rituals and music have collapsed, and the authority of the court has disappeared. Danchu wants to sort out the military and political affairs and improve administrative efficiency, so he can't care about so many things and simply establish a military government.

The head of the military government was called the head of the government, and Danchu was in charge of the government affairs. The left councillor and the right councillor were appointed as the deputy of the left councillor. When the left councillor entered the military council to work, the right councillor presided over the government. Under the councillor, there was a Tongzhi and a Qianshi to assist the left and right councillors in handling government affairs.

Due to the busy government affairs, there are different numbers of councilors under the Tongzhi and Qianshi, who are responsible for assisting government affairs.

The military government had ten departments. In addition to the five departments of Li, Hu, Bing, Xing, Gong (the Li Department was abolished), there were five more departments: Xuan, Fu, Shang, Xue, Ji. The Xuan Department was responsible for propaganda and enlightening the people. The Fu Department was responsible for uniting the chieftains and contacting the Dashi Army of the Loyal Camp. The Shang Department was responsible for commerce to encourage gentry and merchants to invest in industry and commerce. The Xue Department was responsible for education to eliminate illiteracy. The Ji Department was responsible for scientific research and improving technology and craftsmanship.

It sounds a bit awkward, but the Ministry and the Court were used exclusively by the six ministries of the imperial court. Danchu did not dare to call them Ministry rashly, and still called them Fang. In addition to the ten Fangs, there are other departments such as General Affairs, Zhaomo, and Chengfa, which do not need to be described in detail.

Under the military government, the prefecture, county (state), and township governments all followed this system and had ten departments within them.

In addition to the ten departments, there were also institutions such as Yong'an University, Yongning Company, and Salt Company, which were under the leadership of the military government.

In addition to the government, there were also the Executive Censorate and the Executive Dali Temple, which were responsible for supervision and judicial powers respectively, and maintained relative independence from the government.

The Censorate and the Dali Temple were both court agencies. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the supervisory agencies were mostly called the Censorate, and in the Ming Dynasty, the Censorate was changed to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The Dali Temple was still the highest judicial organ in the Ming Dynasty, but the imperial prisons were particularly developed in the Ming Dynasty, and the powers of the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice were often eroded.

At the beginning of the Dan Dynasty, it was named Xingyushitai and Xingdali Temple to show that it was still a subordinate institution of the Yushitai and Dali Temple. But in fact, Xingyushitai and Xingdali Temple were only responsible to the Marquis' Mansion and had no connection with the Censorate and Dali Temple during the Yongli Dynasty.

Emperor Yongli was constantly on the run, and the court was even in a state of displacement. Officials were constantly dispersed, and the court departments were incomplete. For example, the Dali Temple was not well-known during the Yongli Dynasty and almost did not work. If there were any major cases in the local area, they would decide them on their own and would not report them to the Dali Temple for review. If there were any major cases in the court, they would be handed over to the Jinyiwei for handling. The Dali Temple had long been in name only.

The Executive Censorate was in charge of the supervision. The chief official was called the Chief Minister. There was also a Junior Minister and a Assistant Minister to assist the Chief Minister in his work. Below the Assistant Minister, there were several Censors who could criticize and impeach civil and military officials, but they were not allowed to make trouble out of nothing. Censors were not allowed to leave Nanning at ordinary times. They could only inspect the local areas when there was something going on or when they were ordered by the Marquis' Mansion to prevent the phenomenon of the governors and inspectors fighting for power in the Ming Dynasty.

The first chief of the Imperial Censorate was Yan Wei, a native of Changshu and a member of the shogunate of Qu Shisi.

The Dali Temple was in charge of judicial trials. The chief judge was called the Zhengqing, and there was also a Shaoqing and a Qianshi to assist the Zhengqing. Below the Qianshi, there were several judges who were responsible for hearing major cases and reviewing death penalty cases. All cases involving death penalty and officials above the fourth rank needed to be reviewed by the Houfu.

The first acting Chief Justice of the Dali Temple was Mo Guangshu, who was from the Mo family of Yong'an.

The prefectures, states, and counties at all levels also set up executive censorates and executive Dali Temples, which remained relatively independent from the government and had relatively streamlined institutions and staff.

Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and Danchu also carried out drastic reforms on the Red Army.

The Military Advisory Office was established as the command body of the Red Army, and its chief officer was called the Marshal. The Marshal was also the supreme commander of the Red Army, and naturally Danchu himself was appointed.

The titles of Grand Marshal and Capital Marshal were usually reserved for the emperor and members of the royal family, and Danchu did not dare to use this title without permission.

Under the Marshal, there are the Left Assistant General and the Right Assistant General to assist the Marshal in handling military affairs. Danchu could not do everything himself, so the Left Assistant General took charge of daily military affairs on his behalf. The Right Assistant General was also the deputy of the Left Assistant General. When the Left Assistant General went to the Military Affairs Office to work, the Right Assistant General was in charge of daily military affairs. Under the Assistant General, there was one Tongzhi and one Qianshi to assist in military affairs.

Compared with the military government, the Red Army has a much more streamlined departmental setup. On the one hand, military affairs are not as complicated as government affairs. On the other hand, military officials are focused on one thing, and military situations are often urgent and need to be dealt with immediately.

The Military Advisory Office has an Operations Bureau, a Teaching Bureau, and a Logistics Bureau, which are responsible for military commands, military administration, and armaments respectively. There are also directly affiliated institutions such as the Military Academy and the Grain Station.

If there is a major war, if Danchu leads the army in person, he will set up a Marshal's Headquarters. Otherwise, he will appoint a general to lead the army and set up a General's Headquarters. The Headquarters are composed of key staff from the Military Advisory Office and serve as the front-line command agency.

With the Military Advisory Office as the commanding body of the Red Army, the authority of the Military Government Barracks was greatly weakened. The relationship between the two was somewhat similar to that between the Military Governor's Office and the Ministry of War in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, the authority of the Ministry of War in the Ming Dynasty continued to increase, while the authority of the Five Military Governor's Office continued to weaken, and it became a place for military generals to retire.

In wartime, power must be centralized, and it is necessary to establish a military government and a military advisory office. Although the military and political advisors are in charge of the military and government work, they are actually Danchu's subordinates. With Danchu's prestige, there is no need to worry about power falling into the hands of others.

The Military Advisory Office commands all the Red Army. Currently, the Red Army has three major branches: combat troops, defense troops, and militia.

The combat troops are mainly responsible for field battles. Currently there are seven combat troops, namely one personal guard battalion, four infantry battalions, one navy battalion, and one auxiliary troops battalion.

The garrisons are mainly responsible for guarding. Currently there are four main garrisons, namely the Nanning Garrison Battalion, Zhaoping Garrison Battalion, Kunlun Pass Garrison Battalion, and Zhennan Pass Garrison Battalion, with a total number of less than three thousand.

The military government is responsible for the training of the militia. In peacetime, they cooperate with the garrison troops and the military government to maintain public order and carry out production mutual assistance. In wartime, they cooperate with the combat troops to support the army. The military government is in charge of the militia and can dispatch garrison troops to suppress bandits and help maintain public order in peacetime.

By November, the Grand Council, the Military Government, the Military Advisory Office, the Executive Censorate, and the Executive Dali Temple were successively established and on the right track. In particular, the establishment of the Grand Council, the Military Government, and the Military Advisory Office unified the most important decision-making power, administrative power, and military power, eradicating the malpractices of fierce party struggles and multiple policies in the Ming Dynasty. The top-level powers and responsibilities were clear, efficiency was doubled, and the small political power began to take shape.

Danchu was also freed from the busy military and government affairs.

After marrying Li Cuiwei, the relationship between the Red Army and the Loyalty Camp was completely solidified. He finally had time to plan and seize Xunzhou.

(End of this chapter)