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

Chapter 1010 Ninth Grade Sesame Official

Hong Chengchou was right. A few days later, the imperial court officially issued an order. Hong Chengchou, the former governor of Huguang, was transferred to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang because of his outstanding achievements in Huguang. He was also given the title of Minister of War and Deputy Chief Censor, and was given the titles of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and Grand Doctor of Imperial Households.

After the internal bandits of the Ming Dynasty were pacified, the imperial court gradually took back the part-time positions that the Chongzhen Emperor had given to officials at all levels who were responsible for suppressing the bandits. For example, when Hong Chengchou was the governor-general of the three frontiers, he was given the title of Minister of War, so that he could command the army to suppress the bandits. In addition, in order to encourage Hong Chengchou to do a good job, the Chongzhen Emperor specially gave him the title of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince.

But afterwards, after the internal troubles were quelled, Zhu Shenzui began to adjust the positions of officials at all levels who participated in the encirclement and suppression of bandits, including not only military generals but also civil officials such as Chen Qiuyu, Hong Chengchou, and Sun Chuanting.

The first thing was to abolish their so-called temporary positions such as Governor-General of Five Provinces and Governor-General of Three Borders, and also to take back the title of Minister of War. In addition, Chen Qiyu was transferred back to Beijing to formally take over as Minister of War, Hong Chengchou was transferred to become Governor-General of Huguang, and Sun Chuanting was promoted to Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. The administrative jurisdiction and powers were redivided to avoid the excessive expansion of local power and the possibility of strong branches and weak trunk in the future.

Therefore, apart from the Governor-General of Huguang, Hong Chengchou only had the title of Prince's Guardian given to him by Emperor Chongzhen. The latter was just an honorary position with no real power.

Now, Zhu Shenzhui, while transferring Hong Chengchou to be the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, also returned the title of Minister of War that he had taken away to him, and even gave him the title of Deputy Chief Censor. In addition, his position as the Prince's Guardian was changed to a higher-level position of the Prince's Grand Tutor, and he was given the title of Guanglu Dafu, which was unique among the current frontier officials.

The reason for doing so and making it public is very simple. According to the court's explanation, the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang is not only responsible for the military and political affairs of Zhejiang and Fujian, but also because the war in Xiaoliuqiu has not made any progress, Hong Chengchou will also be responsible for the military operations in the war in Xiaoliuqiu after he arrives in Fuzhou.

For this reason, in order to facilitate the mobilization of troops and the subsequent command of cross-sea operations, the court gave Hong Chengchou the additional title of Minister of War, and also gave him the authority of Deputy Censor-in-Chief to rectify military affairs and ensure the smooth progress of the war.

As for the titles of Prince Grand Tutor and Guanglu Dafu, they were rewards for Hong Chengchou's political achievements in Huguang. No one could say anything about it, and these actions also strengthened Hong Chengchou's decision to go to Fujian and Zhejiang.

Within two days after the imperial edict was issued, Zhu Shenzui summoned Hong Chengchou again and had a conversation with him in the Qianqing Palace.

This conversation was much more direct than the last one, and during the conversation Zhu Shenzui also made clear things to Hong Chengchou, asking him to not only be in charge of the military and political affairs of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces after taking office, but also to pay attention to the military situation in Xiaoliuqiu, which had not made any progress.

In it, Zhu Shenzui expressed his dissatisfaction with Zheng Zhilong's lip service over the past year, and asked Hong Chengchou to go to Fujian to give Zheng Zhilong a warning, asking him when he could solve the Dutch problem in Xiaoliuqiu and expel the Dutch who occupied the island.

In addition, Hong Chengchou also had to pay attention to Zheng Zhilong's actions to see how loyal he was to the court, what he had done in Fujian over the years, and what he was thinking privately. Not only Zheng Zhilong, but also what his subordinates were thinking, who was a loyal minister, and who was wearing the official uniform of the court but was not loyal to the Ming Dynasty, all of these had to be distinguished clearly.

On the basis of ensuring that the Zheng Group's navy and army were under the control of the court without causing turmoil or affecting the political situation, Zhu Shenzui also gave Hong Chengchou the right to act at his own discretion and to submit secret memorials at any time. In addition, the local Jinyiwei in Fujian would also cooperate with Hong Chengchou, leaving it to Hong Chengchou to figure out how to do everything.

As an emperor, Zhu Shenzhu would not ask for too much, he only cared about the results rather than the process. Moreover, Hong Chengchou was not an ordinary official, his talent was second to none in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with Hong Chengchou's experience in officialdom and understanding of military affairs, he was the most qualified for this job, and that was why Zhu Shenzhu gave this task to him.

In addition, Zhu Shencui also told him that this time when he went to Fujian to take office, Zhu Shencui would allocate a new army to accompany Hong Chengchou to Fujian as his personal guard.

According to the newly established governor position in the Ming Dynasty, since the governor was responsible for the military and political affairs of one or two provinces, the governor not only had military and political power, but also in order to ensure that the governor's authority and suppression of the local areas were not affected by other things, Zhu Shenzui specially authorized the governor to have a standard-bearing army that directly obeyed the governor's command. The size of this army was not large, generally around two thousand people, and they directly obeyed the governor's command.

Hong Chengchou already had a group of standard-bearing soldiers in Huguang, but after he was transferred to Fujian and Zhejiang, according to the rules, the original standard-bearing soldiers could not be taken with him to take office. This was also to prevent local governors from privately building up retainers based on the standard-bearing soldiers, maintaining their own military power and eventually turning into vassal states, controlling military power and breaking away from the control of the court.

According to Zhu Shenzhu's initial setting of the Du Biao soldiers, the Du Biao soldiers were transferred from other places to the Governor's Office to be commanded by the Governor. Although the Governor had the jurisdiction and command of the Du Biao soldiers, in fact, this Du Biao soldier was sent by the central government to assist the Governor. This approach also avoided the relationship between this army and local forces. In addition, the soldiers of the Du Biao soldiers generally had an actual term of office, and they were usually replaced in three to four years, which ensured that they would not be affected and cause the army to be out of the control of the central government. Just like now, when Hong Chengchou took office in Fujian and Zhejiang, the central government would reassign a Du Biao soldier to him, but the Du Biao soldiers assigned to him by Zhu Shenzhu were different from his previous Huguang army. On the surface, there seemed to be no difference, but in fact, this army came from the most elite new army of the Ming Dynasty. There were a total of 1920 sergeants in the two battalions of the new army, plus commanders and auxiliary soldiers at all levels, with a total of more than people, which was exactly the number of one Du Biao of the Governor.

The commander of this standard-bearing troop was also carefully selected by Zhu Shencui. Not only was the commander an old man who had followed Zhu Shencui during the Jingnan Campaign and had rich combat experience, but his loyalty was also impeccable.

In addition, Zhu Shencui also added a civilian position of joining the army among the standard-bearing soldiers. This civilian position could be said to be an assistant to Hong Chengchou in commanding the standard-bearing soldiers. This person was also specially selected by Zhu Shencui. This person was unknown and few outsiders had heard of him, but he became very famous in later generations.

This man's surname is Yan, his given name is Yingyuan, and his courtesy name is Liheng. He is from Tongzhou, the capital. In the early years, Yan Yingyuan served as a Dianshi in Jiangyin. Dianshi is a low-ranking official, just a ninth-rank official. In terms of official position, he has just left the class of clerks and entered the level of officials.

According to the classification of official positions in later generations, the so-called Dianshi is the director of the county public security bureau, an official under the county magistrate in charge of arrests and prisons. When Yan Yingyuan was Dianshi in Jiangyin, the pirate Gu Sanmazi led hundreds of warships to invade Huangtian Port. Yan Yingyuan led his troops to defend the port and fired three arrows in a row, and all the people fell down.

The pirates were terrified and dared not commit crimes again. During his tenure, he suppressed the salt pirates and calmed the civil unrest, and his achievements were outstanding. The people of Jiangyin were grateful for his kindness and painted his portrait in the community school as a souvenir.

Although his official position was not high, his reputation was very good during his tenure. Later, the court planned to transfer him to Guangdong as a chief clerk, which was considered a promotion in terms of official rank. However, Yan Yingyuan's mother was seriously ill at the time and he was unable to go. Later, Zhu Shenzhu entered the capital under the banner of clearing the court of evil and pacifying the national crisis, which changed the situation in the Ming Dynasty. Yan Yingyuan, who had just returned to the capital, stayed in the capital and did not take up his post. He served his mother at home. After his stepmother died, he moved out of the city and built a hut to observe mourning for three years.

Three years later, Yan Yingyuan returned to the capital. Since he still held an official position, he naturally had to report to the Ministry of Personnel. However, due to previous reasons, his original position as chief clerk had already been replaced, so the Ministry of Personnel could only let him wait in Beijing for placement.

At this time, Zhang Xijun was ordered to go to Jiangnan as governor. When he left Beijing, he asked the Ministry of Revenue for some people to accompany him to Jiangnan. Because of Yan Yingyuan's experience in Jiangyin and his original official position, the Ministry of Revenue transferred him to Zhang Xijun as a chief clerk under the governor.

Because Yan Yingyuan had not only served as an official in Jiangyin, but also as a Dianshi, he was very proficient in criminal law, and he was serious, talented, bold, careful, and capable. Yan Yingyuan quickly stood out under Zhang Xijun. In the Jiangnan case, Yan Yingyuan, as the chief clerk under Zhang Xijun, not only did his job well, but also played a significant role in assisting Zhang Xijun in investigating the case and arresting the criminals with his outstanding ability.

In the subsequent reward system, Zhang Xijun deliberately put Yan Yingyuan's name at the top, which made Zhu Shenzhu pay attention to this person. Others did not know Yan Yingyuan, but Zhu Shenzhu was very familiar with the name Yan Yingyuan. You should know that this person was a famous person in later generations and was also known as one of the three officials who resisted the Qing Dynasty. In this way, Yan Yingyuan's name caught Zhu Shenzhu's attention.

After confirming that Yan Yingyuan was indeed the person in his memory, Zhu Shenzui immediately felt a desire to recruit talented people. He not only promoted Yan Yingyuan, but also transferred him back to the capital from Nanjing to take up a post.

It happened that at this time the original Beijing Camp in the capital had been replaced by the New Army, which was undergoing a large-scale reorganization. Considering that Yan Yingyuan had not only served as a prefect, but also led troops to fight in battles himself, he was no stranger to military affairs.

For this reason, Zhu Shenzui transferred Yan Yingyuan into the New Army as a civil servant, and made him serve as a military officer of the New Army while serving as the head of the Ministry of War, to assist in the reorganization of the New Army.

In this way, Yan Yingyuan stayed in the Ministry of War and the New Army for more than a year. His abilities were greatly developed in the New Army. In addition, although he was a civil servant, he did not discriminate against soldiers. Instead, he loved them like his own sons and set an example himself. He had a great prestige in the New Army. Even Wang Jinwu knew Yan Yingyuan and had specially met with him. He also intended to let Yan Yingyuan transfer directly from a civil servant to a military position.

If Zhu Shenzhu had not known about this in advance and stopped it, Yan Yingyuan might have become a general under Wang Jinwu. This alone was enough to show that Yan Yingyuan was not simple, so this time when Hong Chengchou went to Fujian and Zhejiang, in order to help Hong Chengchou open up the situation in the local area and to ensure that everything was foolproof, Zhu Shenzhu specially transferred Yan Yingyuan to the Governor's Office of Fujian and Zhejiang, and asked him to serve as an official of the Governor's Office and join the army, and go to Fuzhou together.

(End of this chapter)