The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 256 Military and Political Affairs
Li Xianmu nodded slightly at the second-rank governor and censor-in-chief. Now the Ming Dynasty has second-rank governors and censor-in-chief, and the six ministers of the six ministries are also second-rank officials. The number of high-ranking civil officials is gradually increasing.

He was getting closer to his goal, and he was determined to restore the prime minister system in the Ming Dynasty. Now he was laying the foundation little by little.

The first step was to break up the provinces and promote a large number of high-ranking civil officials. There were plans to follow, but the changes that followed would not be easy to implement.

After confirming the rank of the governor and the censor-in-chief, Zhu Gaochi said in a deep voice: "The newly established province must have many complicated affairs. The governor sent there will have a heavy task. The candidate must be carefully selected. He must be a minister with practical talent."

Otherwise, if the local area is disturbed for no reason, or if local officials are allowed to take advantage of the situation, that would be disastrous.

Anyone with a little thought would know that there must be many things in the provinces that the imperial court is unaware of. Now that the provinces are being reorganized, especially the Southern Zhili province, which is divided into three parts, the newly appointed heads of the three provincial offices and the governors will certainly not be cleaning up the mess left by their predecessors.

Local officials, fearing their misdeeds will be exposed, will inevitably destroy evidence beforehand, such as by setting fire to granaries or archives.

All of this is highly possible. Dividing provinces is a very complicated matter; it's not something that can be accomplished simply by issuing an imperial decree.

Zhu Gaochi said earnestly, "Especially since the Southern Zhili was split up and the newly established Jiangsu Province is an important economic center of the nation, we must select important officials to go there."

Upon hearing this, Li Xianmu immediately said, "Your Majesty, I recommend Wang Gen, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to serve as the Governor of Jiangsu. He has served in Jiangnan for a long time, having served in Zhejiang and various other provinces in Nanjing. He has a high reputation and is capable of governing the country. He will certainly not fail in his mission."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and continued to ponder. After a long while, he solemnly said, "The division of Southern Zhili is a matter of great importance."

Wang Gen is a man of great talent. I have appointed him as the Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture and the Governor of Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, to oversee the division of Southern Zhili.

"If he handles the matter well, I will promote him to Minister upon his return to the capital."

No one found it strange that the emperor directly granted Wang Gen's request, nor did they doubt Wang Gen's abilities.

This is because Wang Gen was a rather unique minister in the court; his official career was both smooth and not so smooth, always falling short of expectations.

Wang Gen was Li Qi's only direct disciple and one of the leading figures of the Neo-Confucianism school. He enjoyed a high reputation among scholars, but because he was Li Qi's disciple, he was implicated during the Jianwen era and failed to pass the imperial examination.

He had entered the Grand Secretariat in the early years of the Yongle reign. Many of those people in the Grand Secretariat at that time are now serving as ministers or vice ministers and advisors to the emperor. Because he left the Grand Secretariat early and was not considered a member of the Crown Prince's faction, he did not receive any special favors during the Hongxi reign.

Later, in order to promote the development of the Mind School in Jiangnan, he requested to leave the capital and go to Zhejiang to serve as the Director of Education. This was somewhat of a wrong path. It was like an official whose ultimate goal was to become a Shichibukai, but instead of rising through the ranks, he plunged headlong into the system. The best outcome would be to become one of the Twenty-Four Heavenly Kings.

Fortunately, he had powerful backing, Li Xianmu, who eventually put him on the right track, allowing him to move step by step through the provinces south of the Yangtze River and the Six Ministries in Nanjing. He then seized an opportunity to return to the capital and serve as the Vice Minister of Rites.

Having reached this point, Wang Gen only needs to wait for a position to become available: Left and Right Censors-in-Chief, Ministers of the Six Ministries, Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and Commissioner of the Court of Transmission. These eight positions would allow him to advance further.

Now that there are governors and censors, not only is there more room for the promotion and transfer of high-ranking officials, but some ministers of the Six Ministries can also be transferred to make room for others.

After the selection of the person in charge of splitting up Southern Zhili was decided, a new problem arose: the fate of the civil officials had been resolved, but what about the military officials?

The Nanjing Five Military Commands Office was a mere shell, as many of its members had already moved to Beijing after the capital was relocated. The eunuchs in charge could be directly recalled, but the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Han had only been stationed there for a short time. How should this be addressed?
Li Xianmu said in a deep voice: "Not only can the Duke of Zhenshou not be transferred back, but they should continue to be stationed in Nanjing."

The Jiangnan region is a strategically important area and must be guarded against.

Especially now that the finances and grain supplies of Jiangnan are crucial to the stability of Jiaozhi (Vietnam), and ships bound for Jiaozhi must depart from the future Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commission, the imperial court must pay even closer attention to Jiangsu. Previously, there was the Nanjing Five Military Commandery.

Now that the Nanjing Military Governor's Office has been abolished, but Beijing still exists, it is still governed by the Five Military Governor's Offices. Now, all the garrisons in the country are under the command of the Five Military Governor's Offices.

Since the governor was appointed as the Censor-in-Chief to govern a region, this was to emphasize his status as a Beijing official rather than a local official, and other garrison commanders should follow suit.

It should be distinguished from the general.

When nobles and military officers were sent to garrison posts, they were appointed to the Five Military Commands; eunuchs were appointed to the Twenty-Four Directorates.

The title of "Guardian Duke" in the Ming Dynasty was originally established for military purposes. Although the Southern Zhili region was split up, the principle of maintaining stability in Jiangnan remained unchanged, and the duties of the Guardian Duke could not be altered.

Li Xianmu's words were quite clear: from now on, there would only be one set of six ministries and one set of five military governorates, and the Duke of Zhenshou would hold the title of governor of the five military governorates and continue to stay in Nanjing.

Furthermore, the garrison commanders of the State should be distinguished from those of the garrison commanders of the General; one is an official in the capital, and the other is a local official.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi pondered for a moment and said, "Mingda, what you say makes sense. The Duke of Qian is stationed in Yunnan as the Vice Commander-in-Chief and the General of Yunnan."

Now, the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies Commandery should be established, reserved for the exclusive use of dukes and marquises to guard the region.

Separating the military and political official systems is neither good nor bad. Li Xianmu still hoped that outstanding talents among the civil officials would enter the army, since the Ming Dynasty could not truly rely on the nobility.

However, eliminating the military's influence on national policy is something that must be done.

The military only needs to know how to fight and be able to fight; the less involvement in other things, the better. This is both a constraint and a protection.

Throughout history, too many outstanding generals and commanders have met humiliating and violent ends because they were involved in political struggles.

The group discussed the matter further, and it wasn't until sunset that they finally came to an end, having basically covered all the possible scenarios.

All that remains is for the imperial decree to be issued.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Prioritizing internal affairs over external ones, and emphasizing the central government over local areas, was a national policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty from its founding.

In the first year of the Hongxi reign, the central government of the Ming Dynasty implemented the policy of splitting and establishing provinces. From then on, the number of provincial-level administrative regions with registered households in the Ming Dynasty reached nineteen. This policy further weakened local power and made local officials more dependent on the central government of the Ming Dynasty. It marked the beginning of the restructuring of the relationship between the central government and local governments in the Ming Dynasty.

The system of provincial governors was fully established during the Hongxi era. The central court strengthened its supervision of local areas in all aspects. In the following decades, the central government of the Ming Dynasty made great strides forward and controlled the local powerful figures in all aspects.

Fundamentally, this system eliminated the possibility of local violent resistance against the central government. —From "Changes in the Political System of the Ming Dynasty"

(End of this chapter)