Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1008: Southern Issue
When Hong Chengchou returned to his residence from the palace, he locked himself in the room and concentrated on thinking about things.

Today's visit to the palace to meet the emperor brought him too many surprises. He originally thought that this trip to Beijing was just a simple report on his work, but he did not expect the situation to change like this.

At first, the conversation with the emperor was normal, but after reporting on the government affairs in Huguang, the emperor asked about his family affairs and then showed great grace to his parents.

Before Hong Chengchou could feel happy, the emperor suddenly told him that he was going to transfer him from Huguang to another place. This caught Hong Chengchou off guard. When he realized that the so-called other place was Fujian and Zhejiang, he was extremely surprised.

However, Hong Chengchou responded quickly. Although he was the governor, he was also a minister of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor asked him to go to Fujian and Zhejiang as the governor. Could it be that Hong Chengchou directly said he didn't want to go? Of course, this was not possible, so Hong Chengchou agreed directly and showed a clear attitude of "a brick of your majesty, wherever your majesty needs me, I will move there", which made Zhu Shenzhu very satisfied.

Zhu Shenzhu immediately told Hong Chengchou to stay in the capital for a few days, and the imperial court would appoint him in a few days. After the appointment, Hong Chengchou did not need to return to Huguang, but directly went to Fujian and Zhejiang to take up his post. From then on, he was the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

After just one visit to the palace, Hong Chengchou's post as Governor of Huguang was changed to Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, which surprised and made Hong Chengchou a little dizzy. On the way back from the palace, Hong Chengchou had a very complicated mood. He kept thinking about the whole experience of meeting the emperor, and at the same time, he was also thinking about the deep meaning of the emperor's arrangement.

In fact, for Hong Chengchou, whether it was the Governor-General of Huguang or the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, there was no difference for him. They were just the same official positions, and he was transferred from one place to another. Moreover, after going to Fujian and Zhejiang, Hong Chengchou could go back to his hometown to visit his family. The new Governor-General's Office of Fujian and Zhejiang was set up in Fuzhou, and Hong Chengchou's hometown was in Quanzhou, which was not far from Quanzhou. In this way, Hong Chengchou, who had not been able to go home for many years, could not only go home to visit his relatives, but also bring his parents to live with him, so that the family could be reunited.

This situation was a good thing for Hong Chengchou. Although he felt that leaving Huguang was sudden, and his administration in Huguang had not been completed yet, and he had not had time to do many follow-up things in Huguang, it was regrettable to leave at this time, but deep in his heart, he still preferred to go to Fujian and Zhejiang. What's more, Hong Chengchou's own words did not count in this matter, as the power of appointment was in the hands of Zhu Shencui.

But these are just side branches. Hong Chengchou knew very well that the reason why Zhu Shenzhui transferred him from Huguang to Fujian and Zhejiang was not as simple as it seemed. As a Fujianese, although he had served in Huguang for many years, he was familiar with the situation in Fujian and Zhejiang. Especially before, the Jiangnan case almost swept the entire officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. How could Hong Chengchou not know about this? In addition to some other circumstances, although Zhu Shenzhui did not tell him the real reason for sending him to Fujian and Zhejiang today, Hong Chengchou still guessed one or two.

Hong Chengchou, who had a high opinion of himself, understood his own abilities. In his opinion, his abilities were enough to rank among the top three among all the officials of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor also recognized him, otherwise he would not have been placed in Huguang in the first place. This time, he was specially transferred to Fujian and Zhejiang.

Since the emperor asked him to go to Fujian and Zhejiang, one can imagine his intention. It was definitely not as simple as just being a governor.

Hong Chengchou thought of the influence of Nanzhili on Zhejiang before the Jiangnan case, and the Zhejiang governor who was involved in the Jiangnan case. He judged that the reason why Zhu Shenzhui asked him to go to Fujian and Zhejiang was probably related to this matter. He deliberately merged Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and set up the Governor's Office in order to weaken the influence of Nanzhili on Jiangnan.

This possibility is very high. After all, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang has established his capital in Nanjing instead of the current capital. The current capital was only the residence of Yan Wang Zhu Di, and it was an important barrier in the north of the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Di defeated Zhu Yunwen in the Jingnan Campaign and ascended the throne in Nanjing, he began to move the capital from the south to the north and made practical preparations.

During the reign of Zhu Di, although the capital was still in Nanjing, there were plans to move the capital. Zhu Di's several expeditions to Mongolia were all based in the north. However, when Zhu Di passed away, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was still Nanjing. Later, Renzong succeeded to the throne and used the present capital as the temporary capital. After Xuanzong ascended the throne, the political center of the Ming Dynasty gradually shifted from Nanjing to today's capital. During the reign of Yingzong, the two capitals system of the Ming Dynasty was truly established, and the original capital Nanjing became the current southern capital.

Because of this reason, Nanjing's political status is very special. In addition, Nanjing continues to retain the six ministries that are equivalent to the capital. As a result, Nanjing's influence on Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan and the entire south is enormous.

For a long time, the throne of the Ming Dynasty was located in the capital, controlling the whole world, but in reality the emperor only controlled the northern region. Although most of the southern region was nominally controlled by the emperor, it was actually under the influence of the six ministries in Nanjing.

This political structure has never been seen in all dynasties, and it is unique to the Ming Dynasty. On the surface, the south and the north make it easier to manage the country, but in fact, due to the existence of Nanjing, the southern part of the Ming Dynasty has been out of the control of the northern capital in many cases. The court only has the right to appoint officials in the south, while the management power is in the hands of the six ministries in Nanjing. However, due to the strength of the southern civil service group and the southern gentry, it is difficult for the court to directly control the south. Moreover, over the past two hundred years, the southern civil service group and gentry have long formed a community of interests. Although they are still the ministers of the Ming Dynasty on the surface, and the place is also the territory of the Ming Dynasty, they are actually the real masters of the southern part of the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to control the politics, economy and military of the south.

This is also the main reason why several emperors of the Ming Dynasty intervened in the South many times and even used various methods to try to bring the South under the emperor's control.

Among them, Emperor Zhengde planned to lead his troops directly south on the pretext of Ning Wang's rebellion, and take the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion to thoroughly reorganize the south. He even planned to abolish the six ministries in Nanjing and directly command Nanjing from the capital to resolve the situation where the south was out of the control of the central government.

So when the news of Prince Ning's rebellion reached the capital, Emperor Zhengde jumped for joy, rubbing his hands and shouting with excitement. Then Emperor Zhengde began to mobilize troops in the name of suppressing the rebellion, and even ignored the objections of all officials to lead the troops to the south.

But Emperor Zhengde never expected that Prince Ning would be so vulnerable. Before he could mobilize his troops and leave the capital, news came from the south that Wang Shouren had easily defeated Prince Ning. It took only 43 days from Prince Ning's rebellion to his defeat by Wang Shouren, including the time he was captured. When Zhengde heard the news, he was dumbfounded. He was so angry that he cursed Prince Ning for being so useless. A dignified prince of the Ming Dynasty rebelled, and with such a big momentum and 100,000 troops, he was killed by a mere governor Wang Shouren in the blink of an eye.

Not only were 100,000 soldiers and horses wiped out, but Prince Ning himself became a prisoner of Wang Shouren. Prince Ning's Rebellion was put down, and Emperor Zhengde had no reason to continue his march south. This directly destroyed Emperor Zhengde's original plan and made him furious.

This was also the real reason why Emperor Zhengde later made decisions that were incomprehensible to future generations, including sending a message to Wang Shouren to let him release Prince Ning, and why he led his troops south to capture Prince Ning again.

This was not a childish temper of Emperor Zhengde, nor was it a sign of his stupidity. On the contrary, it was a helpless move of Emperor Zhengde in this situation. In order to complete his plan, he could only act like a rogue and do it on purpose in the face of the situation at the time. With this excuse, Emperor Zhengde still did not change his plan and led his troops south in a mighty manner. In the end, he deliberately performed a seemingly childish act of "capturing and releasing Prince Ning" in front of the world, but the deep meaning of it was not known to later generations.

Moreover, because of this incident, Emperor Zhengde had a very bad impression of Wang Shouren. If Wang Shouren had not been clever, he would have let Prince Ning toss around in the south for a few more days, and waited until his army went directly south to fight Prince Ning again on the pretext of suppressing the rebellion. This would not only have resolved Prince Ning's rebellion, but also allowed him to use the legitimate reason of suppressing the rebellion to reorganize Jiangnan, and even abolished the six ministries in Nanjing, thereby bringing all power in Jiangnan back to the central government.

At the same time, during the period of regaining power, Emperor Zhengde could also use the military power in his hands to reorganize the garrisons in various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River and strengthen the central government's control over the military power in the south. This can be said to be a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. Once accomplished, he, the emperor, would be able to completely reverse the situation that began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the imperial power falling into the hands of others, the civil servants dominating, and the collusion between local forces and civil servants. Unfortunately, this good plan was destroyed by Wang Shouren. Even though Wang Shouren's original intention was to do this for the Ming Dynasty and the people, in the eyes of Emperor Zhengde, Wang Shouren's doing this ruined his big plan.

Therefore, although Wang Shouren made great contributions and even founded the School of Mind, and could be called a rare "sage" in the Ming Dynasty, his career was not smooth. With his talent and ability, it was no problem for him to enter the cabinet, but Wang Shouren not only failed to serve in the cabinet, but also failed to enter the central government. After suppressing the Ning Wang Rebellion, Wang Shouren was directly thrown into Nanjing as an official, away from the Ming Dynasty court. Moreover, because of his "merit" in suppressing the rebellion, Emperor Zhengde specially gave Wang Shouren the title of Earl. Although it was a rare reward to become an Earl for military merit, the problem was that Wang Shouren was a civil servant! Being granted a title as a member of the nobles as a civil servant was equivalent to directly cutting off Wang Shouren's future career. For this reason alone, Wang Shouren would never be able to enter the central government again.

From this point of view, this was equivalent to Emperor Zhengde's revenge on Wang Shouren. He used this method to directly end Wang Shouren's official career to express his inner dissatisfaction.

After that, Emperor Zhengde simply stayed in the south and found various excuses to wander around the south. On the surface, he was traveling, but in fact he was looking for opportunities to reorganize the south and take action against the southern officialdom and garrisons, intending to fulfill his real intention of going south.

Unfortunately, Emperor Zhengde did not expect that it was precisely because of his actions that the civil service group and the southern gentry, including the officers of the garrisons, were worried, prompting these people to secretly unite. Coupled with the tacit approval of the bigwigs in the court who were already dissatisfied with what Zhengde had done, they launched a conspiracy against Emperor Zhengde.

This conspiracy eventually led to Emperor Zhengde falling into the water inexplicably in Qingjiangpu, Jiangsu Province. After falling into the water, the originally strong Emperor Zhengde's health became worse and worse after taking the imperial physician's medicine. After returning to the capital, his condition deteriorated day by day. Even later, Emperor Zhengde's request to change the imperial physician was opposed by the ministers. As a result, he eventually died for bizarre reasons.

(End of this chapter)