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

Chapter 1120 Liaodong Province
Zhu Shenzhui nodded without comment and said nothing, but in his heart he agreed with Wen Tiren's suggestion and decided to temporarily promote Zhang Zhifa to the position of Prime Minister.

As for the candidates for additions to the cabinet, Zhu Shenzui also had a plan. He planned to let the Minister of Rites Qian Qianyi join the cabinet. Qian Qianyi had been eyeing the position of the cabinet over the years and was almost obsessed with it. If he was not allowed to join the cabinet this time, Qian Qianyi's mentality would probably collapse.

Zhu Shenzhu originally planned to wait until the cabinet was adjusted next year to let Qian Qianyi and Zhou Yanru join the cabinet. Now that Wen Tiren retired early, he was a suitable candidate to join the cabinet. As for Zhou Yanru, he could only wait and join the cabinet next year.

Although Wen Tiren asked for his remains today and the emperor agreed to his request, it was not so quick for him to retire as the Prime Minister. Moreover, the Liaodong war had just ended and there were many arrangements to be made in Liaodong. Wen Tiren had to finish the arrangements before retiring.

Wen Tiren also expressed his attitude towards this, telling the emperor that he would arrange this matter as soon as possible before leaving the cabinet. Zhu Shencui would not treat Wen Tiren unfairly after his retirement. In any case, Wen Tiren had made contributions to the Ming Dynasty over the years.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Wen Tiren had a smile on his face on the way back, and he looked much more relaxed than usual.

Today he formally proposed to the emperor to retire not on a spur of the moment, but had thought about it for a long time. It was just that the news of Sun Chengzong's death had just reached the capital, and the two things happened to happen at the same time.

Although Wen Tihen was keen on pursuing power, he was also an extremely intelligent person. You should know that in the original history, Wen Tihen was the only minister who served as the prime minister under Emperor Chongzhen for several years.

With Emperor Chongzhen's fickle personality and his frequent shirking of responsibility, it was not easy to work under him. One mistake could result in death. During his 17 years in office, Chongzhen changed 19 prime ministers and 14 military ministers. As for the number of cabinet ministers, the number was even greater, reaching more than 50.

This number is simply horrifying. You have to know that during the Wanli Emperor's reign, there were only twelve prime ministers. The number of prime ministers replaced by the Chongzhen Emperor was more than the total number of prime ministers replaced in the previous three dynasties combined. It is simply unimaginable.

However, under such circumstances, Wen Tiren served as the Prime Minister for four years under Emperor Chongzhen, which is a miracle. This shows that Wen Tiren was capable and good at being an official.

After joining Zhu Shenzhui, Wen Tiren continued to serve as the Prime Minister of Chongzhen until today. He has served as the Prime Minister for a long time. The Ming Dynasty today is no longer the Ming Dynasty in the past. The whole country is obviously recovering. In addition, Liaodong has won a great victory and the Jiannu has been destroyed. The rise of the Ming Dynasty is unstoppable. In this case, Wen Tiren took the initiative to retire out of his careful consideration.

Just as Wen Tiren said in his petition begging for his remains, he was no longer young.

It is no exaggeration to describe Wen Tiren as being in his seventies at the age of seventy-four. As he grew older, he had various problems with his body and energy. Wen Tiren was no longer able to perform well in the position of Prime Minister. Although he was attached to his official position and power, he also knew the responsibilities of a Prime Minister.

This time, Liaodong won a great victory, and Wang Jinwu, as the commander, could be said to have made an unprecedented contribution. Wen Tiren judged that after Wang Jinwu returned to the court, the emperor would certainly reward Wang Jinwu and other meritorious officials.

Wang Jinwu was originally the top man in the Ming army, and now he is also a cabinet minister. The emperor has given him two kinds of rewards. One is the reward of title. Wang Jinwu is now the first-class Ningshan Marquis. The next step is the position of Duke. It is a sure thing that he will be promoted from Ningshan Marquis to Ningshan Duke. Apart from the reward of title, there is Wang Jinwu's ranking in the cabinet. Now Wang Jinwu ranks third in the cabinet, and he is also the representative of the military nobles in the cabinet. Wen Tiren understands the emperor's intention very well. According to the emperor's plan, he originally wanted Wang Jinwu to serve as the second assistant, and in the future, the representatives of the military and nobles in the cabinet will basically be of this ranking to ensure the control of the imperial power over the army and the government.

In this case, Wang Jinwu's advancement to the position of Second Assistant is unstoppable, but the current Second Assistant is Zhang Zhifa. We can't let Zhang Zhifa leave the cabinet to make way for Wang Jinwu, right? In addition, with the strong First Assistant, Zhang Zhifa as the Second Assistant is basically a decoration. Once Wang Jinwu makes another step forward, will Wen Tiren use the position of First Assistant to suppress Wang Jinwu?
Wen Tiren knew the emperor's thoughts too well and saw all of this clearly. Moreover, judging from the existing system of the Ming Dynasty, even if he continued to sit in this position, it would only be about a year. Why would he offend the emperor and Wang Jinwu, who was at the peak of his career, for just a year?

In addition, Wen Tihen had already decided to retire at the right time. In his opinion, his achievements were enough to make him famous in history, so why should he continue to cling to the position of Prime Minister? It would be better to take this opportunity to retire voluntarily and leave a good impression on the emperor.

Although Zhang Zhifa was not very capable, he was more sensible and obedient. Letting him temporarily take over the position of Prime Minister would allow the emperor to better control the cabinet and prepare for the major cabinet adjustments next year. Wen Tiren took all of this into account and asked for his death at the most appropriate time. As expected, the emperor was a little surprised, but he finally agreed to his request. When this matter was over, Wen Tiren could leave the capital and return to his hometown to retire without any regrets.

"This old fellow is really tactful..." As Wen Tiren expected, when he left the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Shenzhu couldn't help but smile and shook his head. Zhu Shenzhu had already considered the arrangement of the cabinet after Wang Jinwu returned to Beijing, but before he could figure it out, Wen Tiren took the initiative to ask for his death and retired. This attitude was exactly what he wanted. It was good that Wen Tiren left, which meant that the last prime minister of the Chongzhen Dynasty had come to an end. He could make advance arrangements for the cabinet, and when the cabinet was officially replaced next year, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty could be rebuilt according to his own ideas, which would also facilitate the implementation of subsequent reforms.

Since Wen Tiren took the initiative to make such a choice, Zhu Shenzhu naturally wanted to show his appreciation for his hard work over the years. When Wen Tiren officially leaves, Zhu Shenzhu will certainly reward him. Whether it is the honor after retirement or the treatment, he will definitely not be treated unfairly. This can be regarded as the result of the ten years of harmony between the two.

Putting Wen Tihen's matter aside for the moment, arrangements have been made for Sun Chengzong's funeral. The decree has been issued to have Prince Song go to Gaoyang to preside over the funeral in his place as a prince, and along with it come other honors that the emperor has bestowed upon Sun Chengzong after his death.

Apart from these things, Zhu Shenzui was more concerned about the follow-up of Liaodong.

Although the war in Liaodong has ended, with the capture of Shenyang City, the main force of the Jiannu in Liaodong was annihilated. Now the Ming army is persuading the surrender of some of the remnants of the Eight Banners who are still resisting in various parts of Liaodong, and the overall return of Liaodong to the Ming Dynasty has been determined.

It won't be long before the entire Liaodong region will be completely under the control of the Ming Dynasty. The Jiannu, who had been causing trouble for thirty years, will be wiped out and will no longer pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

But this is not enough. In Zhu Shenzhu's view, Dorgon, Bumbutai and the young emperor Fulin have not been caught yet, which is a big hidden danger. The investigation and arrest of their whereabouts must continue, and the roots must be eradicated. Regardless of life or death, their whereabouts must be found out and this problem must be solved in the end.

But while searching for their whereabouts and completely resolving this hidden danger, it is more important to make many subsequent arrangements for Liaodong.

The first thing is the political status of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were thirteen provinces. Later, because of Zhu Di, it was changed to two capitals and thirteen provinces. This territorial pattern has continued to this day.

Among the provinces of the Ming Dynasty, Liaodong was special. In the initial administrative division, it belonged to Shandong, and later the Liaodong Regional Military Commission was established. This was why Yuan Chonghuan, who had already become the governor of Ji-Liao, still sought the post of governor of Shandong. After getting the post of governor of Shandong from Emperor Chongzhen, he turned around and controlled Mao Wenlong, directly cut off Mao Wenlong's logistical supplies, and finally forged an imperial edict to kill Mao Wenlong.

You must know that before Yuan Chonghuan, the positions of Governor of Ji-Liao or Liaodong Governor and the Governor of Shandong or Shandong Governor were held by different people. There has never been a situation where one person has all the powers. Even when Sun Chengzong served as the Governor of Ji-Liao as a cabinet minister, Shandong was directly controlled by the Governor and the Governor sent by the emperor.

After Zhu Shenzhu ascended the throne, although most of Liaodong fell into the hands of the Jiannu, it still belonged to Shandong in the Ming Dynasty's administrative division. This is why Zhu Shenzhu appointed Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin as governors of Shandong, set up a navy in Shandong, opened up foreign trade, and Li You replaced Zheng Hongkui as the current admiral of the Beiyang Navy.

But now that Liaodong has been recovered, it is no longer appropriate to continue to be under the jurisdiction of Shandong as before. Because even before, Liaodong and Shandong were not connected administratively, and there was a northern Zhili and Bohai Sea between the two places. Moreover, in the early Ming Dynasty, Liaodong was even more special because the court set up the border king. In addition, Zhu Di later set up the Liaodong Dusi in Liaodong. In this way, although Liaodong was administratively under the jurisdiction of Shandong, it was difficult for Shandong to effectively govern Liaodong, which created a special situation different from other provinces in Liaodong.

In view of these reasons, Zhu Shenzhui decided to separate the entire Liaodong directly from Shandong in terms of administrative affiliation and set up a province specifically in Liaodong to carry out effective rule, thus changing the previous situation where the ownership of Liaodong was unclear and the local generals were too powerful.

In the future, Liaodong will become a new province of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will officially change from two capitals and thirteen provinces to two capitals and fourteen provinces.

Not only will the Liaodong Provincial Administration be established, the imperial court will also set up a governor's office in Liaodong to govern the administrative regions of Liaodong and the Nurgan Regional Administration further north of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the rule of the Korean region. This also proves that Zhu Shenzhui not only wants to restore the rule of Liaodong, but also gradually incorporate Korea into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and extend the Ming Dynasty's tentacles from Liaodong to the north to reach the more northern territories.

(End of this chapter)