Ming Dynasty: Charge, Emperor Yongle!

Chapter 103: The Separation of Civil and Military Power, and the Wealthy and Powerful Prince Yan, Zhu Di!

"Wang Guangyang, the Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, was negligent and lazy in his duties. He was stripped of his official post and demoted to Governor of Hebei Province, in charge of the civil administration of Hebei Province."

"Chen Heng, the commander of Beiping Guard, was loyal to the country and made outstanding military achievements. He was promoted to the position of Assistant General of Hebei Province and was in charge of the military and political affairs of Hebei Province."

"Prince Gang of Jin is virtuous and talented, and is permitted to establish his own government office."

"The same applies to Prince Di of Yan!"

Zhu Yuanzhang then issued three more edicts, which once again sparked discussion among civil and military officials.

The Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, a first-rank official, was thus demoted to the lowly position of Governor of Hebei.

In comparison, the establishment of government offices by the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan became less important.

Governor of Hebei, Lieutenant General!

Li Shanchang and other observant individuals noticed these two official positions that had never appeared in the Ming Dynasty before.

The Prince of Yan must have been enfeoffed in Beiping, but Zhu Yuanzhang appointed officials from Hebei first. If there is no connection between the two, who can believe it?

"Summon Hu Weiyong to step forward!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

"His Majesty has summoned Hu Weiyong, the Left Vice Minister of the Secretariat, to come forward and meet him!"

The eunuch serving in front of him immediately repeated it, his sharp voice echoing outside the Fengtian Hall.

"Your subject Hu Weiyong pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

With a heart full of trepidation, Hu Weiyong stepped forward and kowtowed in greeting.

"Hu Weiyong, the Left Vice Minister of the Secretariat, is capable and resourceful, a Zhang Liang or Zhuge Liang of our Great Ming Dynasty."

"The Right Chancellor of the Central Secretariat of Jin was a first-rank official."

boom!!!!

In an instant, all eyes turned to Hu Weiyong, Li Shanchang’s protégé, who had risen to the position of Right Chancellor of the Central Secretariat.

"Your subject, Hu Weiyong, kowtows to express his gratitude for Your Majesty's divine grace!"

Hu Weiyong was overjoyed and bowed without hesitation.

From this day forward, he will be the Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, second only to the Emperor in the Ming Dynasty.

"Just as I expected!"

Li Shanchang's eyes grew even deeper, and his heart sank; he was not happy for Hu Weiyong.

As the head of the Ming Dynasty's civil officials, how could he not see that Zhu Yuanzhang had deliberately created the current situation? The Huaihe River region's faction controlled the Secretariat and the Six Ministries, while the Zhejiang East literati controlled the Censorate and the local judicial commissioners. The situation he had painstakingly weakened in Zhejiang East had been restored to the state it was at the beginning of the founding of the dynasty.

"Proclaim the imperial decree!"

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored their thoughts and continued to wave his sleeve.

The eunuch took out another imperial edict, held it up high, and read aloud: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Grand General's Office shall be renamed the Five Military Commands Office, with Duke Xu Da of Wei appointed as Grand General, of the first rank."

"Wang Baobao, Duke of Yuan, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Vanguard Army; Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army; Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army; and Deng Yu, Duke of Wei, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Right Army, all of whom held the rank of Second Grade."

"yes!"

Xu Da, Wang Baobao, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, and Deng Yu all stepped forward and responded loudly.

Upon hearing this, the nobles of Huaixi were overjoyed. Feng Shengcai had just been stripped of his military power because of the Hexi incident, but now he had been reinstated as the Left Army Commander, a second-rank official. Didn't this mean that His Majesty's dissatisfaction with them had been eliminated and that he intended to reuse them?

"The Duke of Han, the Right Chancellor, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, the Grand Commander, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies shall remain."

"If any of you have matters to report, please speak now; otherwise, the court may adjourn."

"Yes."

The officials withdrew from Fengtian Gate one by one. They still needed to process what had happened that day, and no one took the initiative to submit a memorial.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang gave Zhu Biao a look, then turned and entered the Fengtian Hall.

"Uncle Xu, Mr. Li."

"please!!!"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao led the way, his attitude humble and refined.

"Your Highness, please."

Xu Da and Li Shanchang quickly let Zhu Biao go first, while they followed behind. The crown prince was also a ruler, and Zhu Biao showed them respect, but they dared not have any thoughts of overstepping their bounds. The others remained silent and followed him into the Fengtian Hall.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, grand master chairs were placed on both sides, and the eunuchs had prepared tea early in the morning.

"Please have a seat."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his sleeves and sat down on the dragon throne with an imposing air.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Shanchang, Xu Da, and the others sat down with trepidation, not daring to relax their guard in the slightest.

"Your Highness, give them the things."

"Yes, Father."

Zhu Biao immediately relayed the imperial edict: "Guards come here."

"Yes."

The eunuchs attending to Xu Da, Li Shanchang, and others distributed folded paper notes.

"Huh?"

Xu Da, Li Shanchang, and the others looked on in astonishment.

"You all take a look first, and then I will speak."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked down into the deep, secluded path.

"I obey your decree!"

Everyone opened the folded book in their hands and carefully examined its contents, their expressions suddenly changing drastically.

The memorials held by Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, and the Six Ministers concerned the allocation of provinces and provincial officials, while the memorials held by Xu Da and others concerned the arrangements of border troops, capital troops, imperial guards, and local troops. These can be considered major national policies and strategies.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even convene officials and military generals for a political discussion; he had already prepared these documents himself, and letting them review them was just a formality.

"Now that the world has been initially settled, except for Yunnan, Liaodong, Annam and other places, all the former Han Chinese lands are in the hands of our Great Ming."

"I have decided to emulate the Han, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties and formulate a strategy for governing the Great Ming Dynasty."

"The central government unified the administration through the Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the Censorate, while the local government established a three-tiered administrative system of provinces, prefectures/directly governed states, and counties."

"Provinces are divided into governors and vice-generals, who are high-ranking civil and military officials in the local area. There are also judicial commissioners, provincial judges, directors of the Ministry of Works, provincial administration commissioners, and directors of education, who are in charge of criminal cases, impeaching officials in the province, and managing the Ministry of Works, taxes, and education respectively."

"The governor was recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and reported to the emperor through the Secretariat for appointment. The deputy commander was recommended by the Ministry of War. The judicial commissioner was directly under the Ministry of Justice. The provincial judicial commissioner was directly under the Censorate. The director of the Imperial Works was directly under the Ministry of Works. The provincial administration commissioner was directly under the Ministry of Revenue. The education commissioner was directly under the Ministry of Rites. Each prefecture and county had its own subordinate official offices and appointed officials."

"The deputy general commands the troops of a province. A prefectural commandant is appointed in the prefecture, with 1,000 prefectural soldiers. A county commandant is appointed in the county, with 300 county soldiers. A patrol inspectorate is appointed in the township, with 20 soldiers under its jurisdiction."

"The Prefectural Commandant, County Commandant, and Patrol Inspector are directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, and are appointed and dismissed accordingly."

"The directly governed prefectures were under the direct jurisdiction of the central government and were responsible for border defense and trade. They were headed by a prefect in charge of civil administration and a commander of the guards in charge of military administration."

"The country was divided into sixteen provinces: Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jianghuai, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Hebei."

"And Xining Prefecture, Lanzhou, Luanzhou, Jizhou, Enshi Prefecture, Huaihua Prefecture, Chenzhou, Yongzhou, Xiangxi Prefecture, Qiongzhou, Nanxiong Prefecture, Lianzhou, Chaozhou, Leizhou, Liuzhou, Wuzhou, Baise Prefecture, Yongzhou, Ganzhou, Bozhou, Tongren Prefecture, Chishui Prefecture,

The twenty-five directly governed prefectures included Anshun Prefecture, Zhenyuan Prefecture, and Si Prefecture.

"Whoa!!!"

As Zhu Yuanzhang's voice rang out, the Fengtian Hall fell silent. Li Shanchang, Xu Da, and the others were still in shock and had not recovered for a long time.

The separation of civil and military affairs from the central government to the local level, with the five departments standing side by side and directly under the jurisdiction of the Six Ministries and the Censorate, bypassing the Secretariat, effectively strengthened the power of the Six Ministries and the Censorate.

The garrison troops of the twenty-five directly governed prefectures were equivalent to the border troops, and the emperor directly appointed the prefects and garrison commanders, thus extending imperial power to every corner of the empire.

"Do any of you have any objections?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's dragon eyes stared at Li Shanchang and the others, emanating an invisible pressure of authority from his superior.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Although Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong were concerned about the dilution of power, they were not foolish enough to oppose Zhu Yuanzhang.

Minister of War Shan Anren, Minister of Personnel Zhan Tong, Minister of Rites Qian Yongren, Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi, Minister of Justice Zhou Zhen, and Minister of Works Xue Xiang all beamed with joy. From now on, they would no longer have to obey the Central Secretariat in everything, and they would have a mechanism for the promotion of officials who were rooted in the provinces.

"Heavenly Virtue".

Next, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his attention to military generals such as Xu Da.

"His Majesty."

Xu Da and the others quickly snapped out of their daze and straightened their expressions, knowing that it was time to discuss matters concerning the army.

"I recently established twelve Imperial Guards, namely the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Flag Bearer Guard, the Front Guard of the Imperial Guard, the Rear Guard of the Imperial Guard, the Central Guard of the Imperial Guard, the Right Guard of the Imperial Guard, the Left Guard of the Golden Guard, the Right Guard of the Golden Guard, the Left Guard of the Feathered Forest Guard, the Right Guard of the Feathered Forest Guard, the Left Guard of the Tiger Guard, and the Right Guard of the Tiger Guard."

"The Imperial Guards are in charge of the inner palace. Apart from the Embroidered Uniform Guards, there are a total of 61600 men, who are currently undergoing training."

"We have established four generals of expedition, four generals of garrison, four generals of peace, four generals of security, and the Dragon General, each commanding 25,000 troops, totaling 425,000 troops. This army is the army to protect the capital, hence the name: the Capital Army."

"In addition, Yingtian Prefecture has a Yingtian Military Commander who commands 12,000 Yingtian Prefecture soldiers and is directly under the Ministry of War."

"Another Grand Canal Transport Commissioner was appointed to oversee all matters related to inland canal transport and to command three thousand transport soldiers."

"The Jinling Navy was established at the original site of Longjiangwei, with jurisdiction over Zhenjiangwei, Taicangwei, Ningbowei, Wenzhouwei, and Quanzhouwei, commanding 3 troops and responsible for important matters of coastal defense."

"The Ministry of War is in charge of local military units, county soldiers, patrol soldiers, and grain transport soldiers."

"I obey your decree."

Xu Da and the others responded in unison and accepted the order.

Almost everyone selectively ignored one thing: in addition to the 14 border troops in the twenty-five directly governed prefectures and garrisons, the Ming Dynasty had an even more powerful border army, namely 168000 people in the northern, northern, and southern Mongolian regions. These three protectorates were not under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Commissions or the Ministry of War, but were directly under the command of the emperor.

"Tomorrow at the grand court assembly on the first day of the year, I will announce the candidates for governors and military commanders of each province."

"The Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the Five Military Commissions should promptly recommend local officials to improve the sixteen provinces from top to bottom."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again.

"Yes."

The assembled officials acknowledged the order, each taking their ceremonial tablets, and left the Fengtian Hall with heavy steps.

"Uncle Xu".

As Xu Da was about to leave, Crown Prince Zhu Biao called him back.

"Is there something you need, Your Highness?"

Xu Da turned to look at Zhu Biao and asked in confusion.

"Uncle Xu".

"The fourth prince is probably already waiting for you at the mansion."

"My father told me to tell Uncle Xu to be ruthless and not to hold back."

Zhu Biao joked with a smile.

"Well."

Xu Da was stunned for a moment, then left with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. It was probably because Zhu Yuanzhang had suffered another injustice at the hands of Zhu Di, and his older brother was in a difficult position.

At 1:15 AM, at the residence of the Duke of Wei.

"Big sister, big sister!"

"Yan...Yan..."

Xu Zengshou burst into the study, panting, interrupting Xu Miaoyun who was checking the account books.

"To prolong life."

"What's all the fuss about?"

Xu Miaoyun looked up at him, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.

"Big sister."

Xu Miaojin, who had just run in, said urgently, "It's the Prince of Yan! The Prince of Yan has arrived!"

"Has the Prince of Yan arrived?"

Xu Miaoyun raised her beautiful eyes in surprise and said, "Quick, go out and greet him."

As she spoke, she hurriedly got up and walked outside. It was no small matter that a prince of the Ming Dynasty had personally come to visit her.

"Big sister, wait for us!"

Xu Zengshou and Xu Miaojin hurriedly followed.

At this moment, Prince Yan, Zhu Di, was wearing a dark blue robe with cloud patterns, a round collar, and narrow sleeves, a leather belt around his waist, and a black gauze hat, exuding a heroic air.

With an air of refinement, he resembled a scion of a noble family, carefully examining the layout of the main hall of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

"Tap tap!"

A series of light footsteps came from the inner room, and Xu Miaoyun appeared in front of Zhu Di.

She wore a simple, light blue boudoir dress, her eyebrows were like distant mountains shrouded in green, naturally dark without makeup, exuding a heroic spirit that combined strength and gentleness. Her eyes were clear and lively, like autumn water hiding stars, and her gaze often contained the wisdom to see into people's hearts and a gentle charm.

With her beautiful face, delicate and fair skin, phoenix neck and rounded shoulders, and dignified and serene posture, she possessed a unique elegance, refinement, nobility, and grace.

"have not seen you for a long time."

Zhu Di greeted him with a smile.

"It's been a long time!"

Xu Miaoyun stared intently at Zhu Di. From that night of their intimate encounter in the boudoir until now, about half a year had passed.

"Your Highness, Prince Yan."

Xu Zengshou and Xu Miaojin came out from the backyard and stepped forward to bow.

"To prolong life."

"We're brothers, why be so formal?"

"Let's invite Chang Sen, Feng Liang, Fu Zheng, and Jiu Jiang out for a hunt and drinks another day."

Zhu Di had been on good terms with Xu Zengshou and others since childhood. This group was the largest group of playboys in the capital, so he was naturally familiar with them.

"it is good."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zengshou was overjoyed and nodded quickly.

He originally thought that Zhu Di had made great contributions, and the relationship between the two sides could no longer continue. Who would have thought that Zhu Di would take the initiative to extend an olive branch.

"This must be Miaojin."

Zhu Di turned his gaze to the exquisitely beautiful Xu Miaojin and said warmly, "I brought back some jewelry and furs from the grasslands. Take a look and see if there's anything you like."

"Thank you, brother-in-law."

Xu Miaojin's eyes lit up, and her face lit up with a smile.

The moment Xu Miaoyun heard the word "brother-in-law," she blushed and scolded, "Miaojin."

"It's alright!"

Zhu Di chuckled and said, "We'll be family sooner or later, and Miao Jin is right."

"I've come today to apologize to my father-in-law."

"Come on, bring the things in."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The guard commander Zhang Wu hurriedly called for people to carry boxes of things into the Duke of Wei's mansion.

There were sixty large red-lacquered wooden boxes, filled with gold, silver, jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, as well as weapons and armor, which dazzled the eyes.

Duke Xu Da of Wei was always very strict with his family. Apart from the land bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang, the income was at most Xu Da's salary and grain allowance. Unlike other dukes and marquises who ruthlessly oppressed the people and seized farmland in Fengyang and Henan, they did not live a wealthy life. Xu Zengshou and Xu Miaojin had never seen such a scene before. They stared wide-eyed at the scene before them.

"You..."

Xu Miaoyun was somewhat bewildered by Zhu Di's extravagant spending.

A kind-hearted person came to apologize and brought sixty large boxes of gifts, almost as grand as the day the royal family made their betrothal.